Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

An apology for absence was received from Mr W Clark.

To report and note changes to the membership of the Board.

There were no changes to membership to note.

Members are invited to disclose any disclosable pecuniary interest they have in any item on the agenda which comprises

1          Details of any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain.

2          Details of any payment or provision of any other financial benefit (other than from the authority) made or provided within the relevant period in respect of any expenses incurred by you in carrying out duties as a member, or towards your election expenses.  (This includes any payment or financial benefit from a trade union within the meaning of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.

3          Details of any contract which is made between you (or a body in which you have a beneficial interest) and the authority

(a)     Under which goods or services are to be provided or works are to be executed; and

            (b)     Which has not been fully discharged.

4          Details of any beneficial interest in land which is within the area of the authority.

5          Details of any licence (alone or jointly with others) to occupy land in the area of the authority for a month or longer. 

6          Details of any tenancy where (to your knowledge)

            (a)     The landlord is the authority; and

            (b)     The tenant is a body in which you have a beneficial interest.

7          Details of any beneficial interest in securities of a body where

(a)     That body (to your knowledge) has a place of business or land in the area of the authority; and

(b)     Either –

         (i)        The total nominal value of the securities exceeds £25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body; or

         (ii)       If that share capital of that body is of more than one class, the total nominal value of the shares of any one class in which the relevant person has a beneficial interest exceeds one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that class.

In addition, you must also disclose other non-pecuniary interests set out in the Code of Conduct where these have not already been registered.

Note

A “disclosable pecuniary interest” is an interest of a councillor or their partner (which means spouse or civil partner, a person with whom they are living as husband or wife, or a person with whom they are living as if they are civil partners).

There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

To consider whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of any item on the agenda.

RESOLVED, that the press and public not be excluded from the meeting during consideration of any item on the agenda.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Scrutiny Advisory Board – Adults held on 7 January 2021 (copy enclosed).

RESOLVED,that the minutes of the meeting held on 7 January 2021 be agreed as an accurate record and signed by the Chair.

To consider a presentation by the Executive Director – People (copy enclosed).

The Executive Director – People introduced the Covid and Winter report and highlighted that the system had faced a huge challenge, not just the Council, but the 3^rd sector as well. 

The Assistant Director Adults (Deputy DAS) presented a report which included the following areas

·      Change to Demand Profiles and Volume

·      Impact of Covid on System Resilience

·      System Controls

The Assistant Director - Provider Services informed members that it was a special day as no care homes had a Covid outbreak.

During the discussion that followed, a member commented on the recruitment campaign to fill outstanding vacancies within the Adult Social Care structure and Cumbria Care services.  It was recognised that recruitment was a national issue. The Assistant Director – Provider Services outlined work that had taken place within the Council and in conjunction with health partners to promote opportunities for careers within services but acknowledged that there was more work to do in this area.

A member asked about the recent move to one to one visits within care homes, how staff in the care homes felt about the change and how the visits were managed. 

The Assistant Director – Provider Services explained the situation, outlining the use of visiting rooms for screened visits, the appointment system that had been put in place and the health and safety measures introduced.  It was noted that it had been a very emotional time for both residents and staff. 

In answer to a question on the take up of staff vaccinations and the recent national discussion for mandatory vaccinations for health staff, the Assistant Director – Provider Services remarked that Cumbria was bucking the national trend and 85% of staff had taken up the vaccine.  It was noted that, when taking into account those members of staff who were unable to have the vaccine for health reasons, it was a great response.  The work that the Director of Public Health had done in webinars to both staff and the general public had been good.  The Council had been offering support and guidance on further take up of the vaccine.

The Chair thanked the officers for their presentation.

To consider a report by the Executive Director – People (copy enclosed).

The Senior Manager Commissioning – Learning Disability, Mental Health and Autism and the Senior Manager - Mental Health & Learning Disabilities presented a report which included the following areas

·      National Context

·      Situation in Cumbria

·      Supported Living

·      Day Opportunities

·      Short Breaks

·      Social Work

·      Transition

·      People with learning disability and family carers

James Cox, Chief Executive Officer from West House gave an overview of the previous year from his perspective.  The Chief Executive Officer outlined the lack of contact with loved ones for the service users, praised the staff and noted that absence had been lower than normal which was a testament to their commitment.  To conclude Mr Cox highlighted the positivity of a reduction in bureaucracy, mentioned PPE and the increased costs that West House had paid for this.

Claire Doherty, from Chrysalis gave a presentation on day opportunities which included the following areas

·      Immediate response

·      Commitment to provide support where and how it was needed

·      Reshaping

·      Frustrations

·      Innovations and Partnerships

·      Next Steps

·      Transition

Emily Connor, a service user from West House spoke about her year, explaining that the tenants missed seeing and meeting their family and friends.  Emily praised the staff at West House, remarked about how strange it was to have a lockdown birthday and told members about her brother’s death to Covid.

A discussion then took place regarding the contribution made by the 3^rd sector in service provision throughout the pandemic.  Members acknowledged the huge contribution the 3^rd sector had provided and sought assurance that the Council would continue to support the 3^rd sector.  A member commented that day services had largely been closed throughout the pandemic and asked when the Day Services would re-open and in what form.

The Senior Manager - Learning Disabilities/Mental Health/Autism commented that there were plans for Day Services to open on a wider basis and a review was on-going.  It was noted that there was a need to work with individuals and families to understand what was needed and the review helped to understand the demand that would be required.  The Assistant Director – Provider Services commented that all Day Services were Covid safe and that Cumbria Care had supported people throughout the pandemic but in different ways. It was noted that more people were returning daily to Day Services but acknowledged that it had been a difficult journey and the Council needed to keep the areas of creativity and innovation that had been displayed throughout the last year.

The Chair thanked the officers and all contributors to the presentation.

To consider a report by the Executive Director – People (copy enclosed).

The Assistant Director Adults (Deputy DAS) presented a report which provided an update to Adults Scrutiny Advisory Board on the implementation of the new structure in Adult Social Care Operations.

It was reported that the new structure provided a dedicated Safeguarding Team which provided leadership, expertise, and operational support across Adult Social Care and underpinning the structure was the Advanced Practice Leads Team led by the Principal Social Worker which ensured that the highest standards of practice were embedded in the organisation and continuous improvement in practice, thereby improving outcomes for customers.

Members noted that originally implementation was planned for April 2020 but had been paused due to demands on the service to respond to the Covid pandemic.  A programme of work towards implementation continued throughout the summer and despite the continuing need to respond to the pandemic the new structure had been implemented on 2 November 2020. 

In answer to a member’s question on the restructure of Mental Health Services and the ultimate aim of the restructure, the Assistant Director Adults (Deputy DAS) reported that the principle of the restructure was to provide the best outcomes for people.  The Senior Manager – Mental Health & Learning Disabilities commented that two significant drivers were the transition to Adult Services and a focus on Mental Health and that it was important to grow expertise across the service to provide a resilient and robust service going forward.

The Principal Social Worker gave a presentation on Strengths-based practice and the role of the Principal Social Worker which included the following areas

·      What is a Strengths-based approach?

·      What does the Care Act say?

·      The Wellbeing principle

·      Seven key principles of strength based approaches

·      Strengths based principles in practice

·      The role of the Principle Social Worker

·      Advanced Practice Leads

·      APL Team Key Priorities

·      Principle Social Worker Key Priorities

A discussion then took place about the presentation.  The members appreciated the presentation and the detail within it.  It was asked if the discussion could be taken further at a future meeting.

The Chair thanked the officers for their presentation.

To consider a report by the Executive Director – People (copy enclosed).

The Senior Manager – Safeguarding presented a report providing an update and analysis of adult safeguarding activity in the third quarter of 2020/21, briefing members on progress against key areas of performance relating to ‘Making Safeguarding Personal’, providing a benchmark against other local authorities and describing actions planned to strengthen and consolidate improvements in adult safeguarding in Cumbria through the Safeguarding Adults Board.  The Senior Manager highlighted the rise in the number of enquiries and the age & gender comparison.

During the question and answer session that followed, a member questioned the presentation of the bar charts on page 40.  The Senior Manager – Safeguarding agreed to amend the bar chart’s presentation for future meetings.

RESOLVED,that the report be noted;

To consider a report by the Executive Director – People (copy enclosed).

Members received a briefing paper that informed of new or updated items of significance to the Adult Scrutiny Advisory Board. Members were informed that the Scrutiny Performance Working Group met on 25 March and received a paper on the increased and different ways of working that Homecare had developed.

Member received the Board’s work programme and were encouraged to submit potential items for consideration.  It was agreed that consideration be given for an item on workforce discussions and the strength-based approach.  It was further agreed that consideration be given for future meetings on how the Board work programme could include dementia matters.  The Chair asked if consideration could be given to a seminar to look at items in closer detail.

RESOLVED,that

(1)  the report be noted;

(2)  consideration by given at the next agenda planning meeting for the inclusion of the discussed items outlined above to be placed on the Board’s agenda.

To note that the next meeting of the Scrutiny Advisory Board – Adults is scheduled for 22 June 2021 at 10am.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Scrutiny Advisory Board – Adults would be held on 22 June 2021 at 10 am.