Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Cllr Sukhpal Brar substitute Cllr John Morgan.

None

The minutes of 8 November 2011 were agreed as an accurate record.

All items were considered in Part 1 with the exception of Item 5 which was considered in Part 2.

This item was included in Part 2 as it contained “information relating to any individual” and the public interest in withholding the information outweighed the public interest in disclosing it (exempt information under paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985 as amended.

Resolved –

That the Committee notes the information provided and use this to inform their review.

PERSONALISATION - STAKEHOLDER PRESENTATION(Agenda Item 6)

The Commissioning Manager provided a presentation on personalisation.

The following points were noted:

• Personalisation was a period of considerable change and provided a number of opportunities and challenges.
• Developing the marketplace was essential to ensure services could be provided.

•        Personal budgets aimed to provide increased: control, flexibility and choice.

•        How do personal budgets work?

1.       An allocation of money is given so users can buy services to meet their need.

2.      Based on assessed need and in line with the eligibility criteria.

3.      Support plans are drawn up to agreed outcomes to meet eligible need.

4.      Personal; budgets can be spent on activities to meet agreed outcomes

·           Personal budgets are calculated by?

1.   An assessment is conducted to identify needs

2.   Money is then allocated based on a person’s assessed needs using an automated resource allocation system provided by FACE

3.   Financial allocation: the maximum money that will be allowed

·           Options arising form personalisation

1.   Direct Payment – money given to the resident on a pre-paid card – to be introduced early 2012

2.   The Council manages personal budget on the service user’s behalf

3.    A mixture of both approaches – part of Personal Budget given to the service user and part managed by the Council on their behalf

• Pre-paid Cards will enable services to be paid for by card rather than cheque or cash. This will have several advantages including:
  1. Payment can be made in person or over the phone
  2. No added costs
  3. Auditing much easier – less paperwork
  4. Improved cash flow as payment is immediate

·           The uses of personal budgets?

1.        Arts and crafts

2.        Cookery

3.        Health & Fitness

4.        Meeting friends, making friends

5.        Support to get to activities / support once there

·           What does personalisation mean to the voluntary/community sector?

1.        Opportunities - Developing new services

2.        New sources of funding

3.        New partnerships, new ways of working

·           Future challenges included:

1.        Charging for services

2.        Competition

3.        New Council priorities

4.        Uncertainties

During the course of the presentation a number of themes were raised and the following points were noted:

• Hillingdon would be introducing personalised budgets for people with learning disabilities, people with physical disabilities and older people from January 2012.
• Hillingdon was not as advanced in providing personalisation as some other London Boroughs but the Council would be providing a greater degree of choice and control.
• Officers described how a number of service departments such as Adult Education and Adult Learning had worked together to ensure a range of provision was available to service users.
• A significant advantage of personal budgets was the ability of several service users to pool their budgets and access a range of tailored solutions to meet their needs – for example booking facilities at a local community centre to pursue art activities.
• To develop the marketplace, the Committee heard that ongoing work included trialling a marketplace development initiative which would coordinate a pilot programme of activities across the Council delivered  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

The Committee considered briefing papers on End of Life Care and the Tenancy Strategy as possible topics for the Committee’s second major review. Following discussions, the Committee requested Officers to provide a scoping report on the Tenancy Strategy to the next meeting.

Resolved –

1. That  Officers be requested to provide a scoping report on the Tenancy Strategy to 25 January 2012 meeting.

The Committee considered the Forward Plan from November 2011 to March 2012 and decided to comment on Cabinet Item 670 – Adult Social Care – Local Account to Cabinet as follows:

Resolved –

1. The Committee notes the ‘Local Account’ is a published statement about how well adult social care services are performing to meet the needs of local residents.
2. The Committee notes the Local Account includes the quality and outcome priorities for Adult Social Care which have been informed by the views of people who use services and their carers, and details the progress it has made towards achieving these in the past year.
3. The Committee notes this is the first Local Account which has been produced with input from key residents groups such as the Older People’s Assembly, Disabled People's Assembly and carers and will be available on Hillingdon’s website and provide links to other relevant information pertinent to the Account.
4. The Committee welcomes the Local Account as a new approach which is intended to be open and transparent with local residents about adult social care services.

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

Resolved –

1.      That the report be noted.