Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Teji Barnes. Councillor Richard Mills was present as her substitute.

None.

It was highlighted that the Chairman and Councillor Davis were not included in the attendance list. The clerk confirmed that their attendance had been recorded, but that they had been omitted from the minutes due to a formatting error.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 23 March 2017 be approved as a correct record, subject to the above corrections.

It was confirmed that there were no part II items, and that all business would therefore be conducted in public.

Dr Steve Hajioff, Director of Public Health, introduced an informational item detailing the tender for the new open access Integrated Sexual and Reproductive Health Service. Dr Hajioff was supported by the report author and Consultant in Public Health, Sharon Daye.

The Committee was advised of the background to the service, with sexual health a major public health issue. As part of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, responsibility for commissioning sexual and reproductive health services transferred to Local Government on 1 April 2013. The contracts for these services were held by three main providers: The Hillingdon Hospital (for the provision of genitourinary medicine services - 'GUM'); Central and North West London Trust (for the provision of contraception and sexual health services - 'CaSH'); and Hillingdon AIDS Response Trust (for the provision of prevention and support services for residents living with HIV and AIDS).

This had resulted in a disjointed service, with commissioning seen as a inefficient process. In addition, the contracts for these services were due to expire on 30 April 2017. A competitive tender exercise was therefore undertaken, to ensure a more cohesive service delivery that effectively met the current and future sexual health needs of residents.

A sexual health and reproductive health needs assessment had been undertaken in early 2016, which was used to inform the development of a transformed service model for the provision of open access, clinical, and non-clinical sexual health services. Parallel to the needs assessment, a number of meetings and events were held with the Business Improvement Delivery teams, external stakeholders, GUM and CaSH service users, as well as attendees at Children's Centres, to agree sexual and reproductive health pathways, and to consider the core values of the service alongside deliverables and outcomes.

Key challenges were identified as:

a)     High Risk Groups – under18s; adults at risk of STIs and HIV infection, or Black African men and women; Women in their twenties and thirties having abortions and repeat abortions; users of sexual health services who experience repeat STI infections.

b)     Vulnerable Groups – due to the setting or circumstances in which they live, or because of risks related to behaviour.

c)      Unreached Groups and Communities - finding access to service difficult due to stigma or other service limitations (e.g. LGBT groups), or at additional risk of exploitation because of life circumstances (e.g. people with mental health difficulties, learning difficulties, people with learning disabilities, victims of sexual assault or domestic violence and/or trafficking).

d)     Discontinuation of Long Acting Reversible Contraception –clearer understanding of the duration, variable uptake, removal rates of Long Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC) across the Borough.

e)    Early targeted prevention and intervention - keyto reducing the number of high need interventions, repeat attendances to GUM clinics and repeat abortions, to help to prevent high risk groups from developing more complex problems:

f)       Male service users - evidence suggests that young men are unlikely to actively seek out information or advice on sex. This needs  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66.

Further to recent witness sessions, the Committee was invited to consider the suggested recommendations resulting from the review so far. These were:

1.    That Cabinet notes the findings of the Social Services, Housing and Public Health Policy Overview Committee, and acknowledges that LB Hillingdon is providing appropriate benefit services in line with government legislation.

2.    That the Cabinet Member for Social Services, Health and Housing requests that LB Hillingdon is represented on the Homelessness Reduction Bill 2016/17 steering group, or contributes to the group, once constituted.

3.    That the Cabinet Member for Social Services, Health and Housing requests that in 12 months, officers review the impact of the changes outlined on the working practices of the Council, focusing on:

·         The success of the recruitment carried out;

·         How Hillingdon is coping with the forecasted increase in enquiries and subsequent impact on officer caseloads;

·         Whether information systems are sufficient to support the work of the Council and the needs of the residents.

4.    That the Cabinet Member for Social Services, Health and Housing requests officers review the feasibility of returning housing deposits to the Council.

Members were supportive of the suggested recommendations, though it was understood that these could be amended prior to any final report.

With regard to recommendation number 4, suggested at the previous meeting, it was proposed that the Committee approve a further witness session to better understand the implications of the suggested recommendation, and its impact on the Council, before any inclusion in the final report to Cabinet.

RESOLVED:  That a further witness session be convened at the meeting of 28 June 2017, to inform the Committee of the implications inherent to the proposed tenancy deposit recommendation.

The Cabinet Forward Plan was noted.

The Work Programme 2017/18 was noted.