Agenda and minutes

Cllr David Benson substitute Cllr Wayne Bridges

Cllr Peter Kemp declared non-pecuniary interests as a member of the Board of CNWL and as a member of Trustees of Hillingdon MIND

Cllr Mary O’Connor declared a non-pecuniary interest as the Chairman of Hillingdon MIND

The minutes of 9 October 2012 meeting were agreed as a correct record

All items were considered in Part 1 with the exception of Item 5 which was moved into Part II

This Item was considered in Part 2 as it contained ‘information relating to an individual’.

The Head of Performance and Intelligence ASC,HH introduced the report. The Department aimed to resolve problems raised by residents at the earliest opportunity and to learn positively from mistakes.

It was noted that the number of housing complaints had fallen from 166 in 2010/11 to 159 in 2011/12. In comparison with the number of adult social care complaints had increased from 51 in 2010/11 to 69 in 2011/12. Officers explained that this was in part, to a review of care packages that took place during 2011/12 which resulted in a number of clients being dissatisfied with their offer.

During 2011/12, 15 complaints progressed to Stage 2 of the complaints procedure and four complaints progressed to Stage 3 of the complaints procedure which compared favourably with 2010/11 (4) and 2009/10 (3).

Other actions to improve services and customer outcomes included: improving customer care and communications issues (including reviewing written communications to customers), specific targeted action and visits to care providers and improved monitoring within Hillingdon Homes of their contracts.

Members made the following comments:

1. To congratulate officers on a clear and concise report.
2. To endorse the early intervention strategy employed by officers when dealing with complaints.

Resolved –

That the report be noted

The Telecare and Re-ablement Project Manager introduced the report and provided an update on the progress of the Committee’s recommendations from their 2010/11 review.

The following points were noted:

• The target for the number of new clients taking up the service for 2011/12 was 750.  This target was exceeded with 1,178 new users joining the service during 2011/12. 
• Although this was the first year, take up was very encouraging particularly amongst the older population

Evidence of savings achieved to date

• Data showed that a significant reduction in new long term residential and nursing care placements in 2011/12; the average falling from 8.08/week in 2010 to 3.77/week to end of March 2012; this included all adult social care placements.
• The number of people currently in receipt of long term Residential/Nursing placements for Older People had significantly reduced and in total the headcount was now at its lowest level since April 2009, representing a reduction of 112 placements since October 2010
• Evidence of the effectiveness of TeleCareLine and Reablement could also be measured by a reduction in spend of £460k (to £7.9m) for Homecare purchased in 2011/12 when compared with 2010/11
• An additional internal evaluation exercise was undertaken for a sample of new level 3 & 4 clients who joined the service between 1^st April 2011 & 31^st March 2012.  The analysis covered 195 clients and the considered the impact of TCL on supporting their needs for the period from the point the service was installed to 31^st March 12.  The results indicated:
  1. 48% of cases are considered to be assisting in delaying the demand for further services
  2. 10% have enabled a delay in residential care placements
  3. 42% have facilitated a smaller homecare package

Resolved –

1. That the report be noted

Reference was made to the work programme and timetable of meetings.

With reference to 4 December 2012 meeting, the Committee agreed to move this to 11 December 2012.

Resolved –

That the report be noted.

The Committee considered the Forward Plan from November 2012 to February 2013.

Resolved -

1. Cabinet Item 741a – Hillingdon Housing Strategy 2012-2015 Policy Framework: To request officers to provide a briefing note on the item
2. Cabinet Item 813 – Tenancy Strategy: To request officers to provide a briefing note on the item
3. Cabinet Member Decision Item 834 – Anti-Social Behaviour Policy for Tenants and Leaseholders: To request officers to provide a briefing note on the item.
4. Cabinet Member Decision Item 835 – Domestic Violence Procedures for Housing Staff: To request officers to provide a briefing note on the item.