Agenda and minutes

www.swansea.gov.uk/disclosuresofinterests

Disclosures of interest – Chris Holley and Mark Child.

No declarations were made.

To receive the minutes of the previous meeting(s) and agree as an accurate record.

The Panel agreed the minutes of the meeting on 28 January 2020 as an accurate record of the meeting.

Questions must relate to matters on the agenda and will be dealt with in a 10 minute period.

No questions were asked by members of the public.

Kelly Gillings, Programme Director

Kelly Gillings, Programme Director attended to update the Panel on the key work streams of the three Transformation Boards, including case studies from across the Programme.

Discussions Points:

·         Page 10 - Regional ‘hospital 2 home’ (recovery) service – Experience suggests new approach is starting to make a difference.  Waiting for evidence to support this.  Panel queried if data had been analysed of people found not suitable for this service.  WG Partnership will need to have this information and Panel will want to see it.  Advantages of this service to Health are clear and the advantage for the Council is people can be assessed from home rather than an acute setting and this will save money for the Council by ensuring people are assessed at the right time and appropriate long-term arrangements are put in which are commensurate with needs.  

·         Page 38 – ‘Hospital 2 Home’ Recovery – At present the funding is not sustainable.  It partly relies on transformation fund which is time limited. The intention is to create a system that is financially viable, but it is not about doing it cheaply, it is about doing it well in a different way so it is contributing to sustainability and delivering the best outcomes for those leaving hospital.  ‘Hospital 2 Home’ Service is operational in all areas from December 2019/January 2020.  Overall indications are good that new model is working.  Panel will want to keep an eye on delayed transfers of care in Performance Monitoring item at Panel meetings.   

·         Page 17 – CYP Planning Group – P-CAMHS non-compliant in October.  Panel would like information on what the target is and how it is being missed and information on transition.

·         The Partnership is addressing how people are referred and there is now an officer in place in Swansea and Port Talbot.

·         Page 28 – Similar project in Gorseinon recently (Life Time Homes).  This was a good scheme and would be a good case study for the Partnership to look at. 

·         Page 31 – Social Value Forum – no clear definition from Welsh Government about what this means.

·         Panel queried how in terms of the case studies provided, the multi-agency approach has added value.  Informed better able to tailor a package to an individual’s environment and do it more readily and save money along the way. 

Actions:

·         Analysis of data for people found not suitable for ‘Hospital 2 Home’ Recovery Service to be provided to Panel when available.

·         Information on P-CAMHS to be provided to Panel.  What the target is and how it is being missed and information on transition.

Invited to attend are Cllr Mark Child, Cabinet Member for Care, Health and Ageing Well and relevant Social Services officers.

Link to Cabinet Papers for 20 February 2020, which contain the budget proposals (papers should be available online from 13 February 2020).

The Panel is asked to discuss and agree its views and recommendations on the budget proposals in relation to Adult Services which it would like to make to Cabinet.

 The conveners of each of the performance panels will feed in the views of their panel to the Service Improvement and Finance Performance Panel, which meets on 19 February and has been convened to specifically look at the draft budget.  Chris Holley, Convener of the Service Improvement and Finance Performance Panel will then attend Cabinet on the 20 February to feed in the collective views of the scrutiny performance panels.

Councillor Mark Child, Cabinet Member for Care, Health and Ageing Well, Dave Howes, Director of Social Services and Alex Williams, Head of Adult Services went through the proposed budget proposals in relation to Adult Services highlighting the main issues and answering questions.

The Panel agreed the following views and recommendations on the budget proposals in relation to Adult Services it would like to make to Cabinet:

•              Panel noted the change of Chancellor could lead to a delay in the announcement of the national budget, which may in turn affect the Welsh Government’s budget and therefore the Council’s budget.

•              Adult Services budget increased by 3.5% and inflationary pressures are 7%, so the Council needs to make the proposed savings next year to stay where it is.  This is a concern as not all of the proposed savings will be achieved in this financial year and the panel felt therefore the savings target next financial year seems to be ambitious.

•              Panel was concerned about the £500k proposed savings next year from review of senior staff structure across adults, children and poverty and prevention services.  Panel felt satisfied that the plan is to flatten out the structure at every level of the directorate not just at senior staff level and that there will still be at least two Heads of Service, which is essential given the size of the budget and issues the Directorate faces going forward.

•              Panel concerned about the review of opportunities for outdoor centres, the effect this could have on schools and the lack of confidence that this can be delivered.  Adult Services and Child and Family Services Panels would like to see a copy of the consultation for this.

•              With £750k proposed savings from review of mental health and learning disability packages next financial year, there was concern in the panel that this will be an issue as there is a shortfall of resource to undertake the review of the Health side.  The panel felt that this needs to be resolved as soon as possible if we are to keep to budget for 2020-21.

•              Regarding the £100k projected income from Local Area Coordination, the Cabinet Member stated he would like to see a committed funding stream so the scheme can be expanded and is sustainable.   The Panel would like to see this introduced.

•              The Panel acknowledged that the budget for Social Services is person driven and it would be misleading to focus on the number of people supported. 

•              Panel was concerned about the areas where savings are proposed and felt savings are being made which could be detrimental.  

•              The Panel will be revisiting the budget again in October so we can more closely monitor the outcomes of the planned efficiency savings. 

Following on from this meeting:

The convener will feed in the views of this Panel, along with the conveners of the other panels to the Service Improvement and Finance Panel, which meets on 19 February.  The convener of the Service Improvement and Finance panel will then attend Cabinet on 20 February to feed in the collective views of the scrutiny performance panels and write a letter to the Cabinet member.

Work Programme received and considered by the Panel. 

a)    Response from Cabinet Member (17 December 2019 meeting)

b)    Letter to Cabinet Member (28 January 2020 meeting)

Letters received and considered by the Panel.