Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

Councillor Ian Edwards declared a non-pecuniary interest in agenda 8: Better Care Fund Plan Progress Update as he was the Chairman of H4ALL. He remained for the discussion of the item.

RESOLVED: That the minutes from the meeting on 27 November 2019 be approved.

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

The Financial Planning Manager introduced the 2020 / 2021 budget proposals for services with the remit of the Committee and provided a verbal summary. Members heard that the budget was presented in the context of the next three years to 2022/23, and during this period a total of £40m savings was required.

The Committee noted that Cabinet would consider the budget proposals on 13 February 2020 and the report would include comments from Policy Overview Committees. Members were informed that Council would meet to agree the 2020 / 21 budgets and Council tax levels on 20 February 2020.

It was reported that the proposals for 2020/21 included a fourteenth successive year for supporting over 65s meeting their Council Tax liability and included a number of new investments including a new Leisure Centre in West Drayton, a major programme of investment in the Borough’s highways, a programme of sports club rebuild/refurbishments, a libraries refurbishment programme, provision for investment in Youth infrastructure and the potential purchase of Uxbridge police station.

It was highlighted that in order to continue to provide front line services, the 2020/21 budget proposals included a drawdown from General Balances of £6,386k alongside a 3.8% increase in the headline rate of Council Tax, increasing available funding by £4,422k per annum.  This comprised a core Council Tax increase of 1.8% based on 90% of the 2% anticipated increase across London, alongside a 2% increase relating to an Adult Social Care Precept to fund ongoing pressures within Adult Social Care, equating to £43.31 per annum or £0.83 pence per week for a Band D household. Overall, there had been an increase in spending across Social Care, Public Health and Housing and this was due to the greater demand of people needing services and inflation.

It was explained that the care market was closely managed and officers worked closely with providers in relation to the viability of businesses.

Members sought clarification regarding the service transformation savings and it was noted that the utilisation of units was analysed and contracts had been rationalised to enable the release of Olympic House.  Quality assurance was also key in semi-independent accommodation. The different systems in relation to SEND work streams was explained to the Committee. Although it was the early stages, it was noted that the local authority had power to introduce a licensing scheme in areas where there was evidence of recurring issues with private rented accommodation.  Further details would be provided about housing voids and private rented accommodation.

The Committee welcomed the budget, particularly the balances without having to cut services and applauded the Cabinet for the direction provided. Members were pleased to see expansion in the area of housing delivery. 

The concerns regarding the inflation rates and contingencies on social care were noted.

Having considered the budget proposals, the following comments were asked to be submitted to Cabinet on the budget proposals: 

The Social Care, Housing and Public Health Policy Overview Committee supported the budget proposals and commended officers for producing a well  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55.

It was agreed that increasing the Corporate Parenting Panel’s meetings to six times a municipal year would be beneficial in managing the Panel’s workload.

It was discussed whether Members substitutes would be appropriate for the Corporate Parenting Panel as absence was unavoidable. It was noted that consistency of Membership was important for the young people of the Panel. It was considered that substitutes ought to be included to enable full attendance at meetings and attendance would be monitored on a regular basis. Details of the substitutes would be determined in due course.

The feedback from the Corporate Parenting Panel meeting on 17 December 2019 was noted.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee:

1.    Agreed to replace Councillor O’Brien with Councillor Makwana as a Member of the Corporate Parenting Panel with immediate effect;

2.    Agreed that Councillor Denys be appointed as Chairman of the Corporate Parenting Panel and;

3.    Agreed that Councillor Makwana be appointed as Vice-Chairman of the Corporate Parenting Panel.

4.    Agreed to amend the Terms of Reference of the Corporate Parenting Panel to meeting six times a municipal year and in private.

5.    Agreed the principal of having substitutes on the Corporate Parenting Panel and details would be determined in due course.

The Assistant Director – Adult Social Work and Head of Service – Learning Disability and Mental Health were in attendance to present the first witness session on Adult Autism: statutory background and local arrangements.

It was reported that the Autism Act 2019 committed the Government to having a strategy for meeting the needs of adults in England with autistic spectrum conditions. Following on from the Autism Act, the government published the first national autism strategy for England, ‘Fulfilling and Rewarding Lives’ (2010), which was then updated with ‘Think Autism’ (2014).

It was noted that the strategy for adults with autism in England set out a vision that:

"All adults with autism will be able to live their lives within a society that understands and accepts them, they can get a diagnosis and access support if they need it, and they can depend on mainstream public services to treat them fairly as individuals, helping them make the most of their talents."

In December 2018, the Government announced plans to introduce an updated national autism strategy which covered people of all ages in England for the first time. Publication of the updated autism strategy was anticipated shortly in January 2020.

It was noted that there were 15 challenges identified in the Think Autism 2014 strategy and this was issued to local authorities and statutory bodies. The Committee was provided with a local action plan 19/20 demonstrating the different initiatives that had been undertaken by the Council.

The Autism Partnership Board had been established to improve outcomes for people with autism and their families. It was confirmed that the Board met quarterly and in order to ensure meaningful engagement there would be a wider range of people attending the Board. The minutes would be reported to the different organisations involved.

Members found the report useful and noted the positive work undertaken by the Council particularly in respect of housing. The scoping report established a great framework and formed a good basis for the review.

It was emphasised that communication was key and it was important to let residents know about the different services available to both adults with autism and children with autism. Members commented that it would be useful to view

the local housing strategy and its reference to autism.

RESOLVED: That the Committee considered the information received from officers.

 The Health and Social Care Integration Manager and the Managing Director from the Hillingdon Clinical Commissioning Group introduced the report on the Better Care Fund Plan (BCF) and provided an oral summary of the key highlights.

It was explained that the BCF was a government initiative introduced in 2014/15 that was intended to improve efficiency and effectiveness in the provision of health and care to deliver better outcomes for residents. The 2019/20 plan was Hillingdon’s fourth and focussed on improving care outcomes for older people, people with learning disabilities and/or autism and children and young people. Previous plans had focussed on older people.

It was noted that some of the national and local metrics had not been met. A key success in the reduction in the number of delayed transfers of care and the fact that Hillingdon had the third lowest social care related delays in London was highlighted. The Committee was advised that the total projected number of delays for the year was expected to be significantly below the ceiling set for Hillingdon by NHSE.

The Committee was advised that stronger links had been established between Housing teams and both the Hospital and CNWL to avoid housing-related delays.  A query was raised about the delays shown in the report attributed to housing that concerned people whose needs did not fall within the Care Act. The people who fell into this category included asylum seekers, people from abroad, single homeless people or those with no fixed abode who did not have eligible social care needs.

It was explained that meeting some metrics, including emergency admissions, were challenging for a variety of reasons and the Committee felt that it would be helpful if future reports clarified the extent to which local performance was attributable to national and/or local issues. It was noted that some targets may be unrealistic given the demographics of the Borough and this would be taken into consideration when setting targets for 2020/21.

The Committee enquired about the initiatives in place to support older people who had fallen or who were at risk of falls and officers agreed to provide a summary to Democratic Services.

The Committee was informed that continuing data integrity issues meant that it was not yet possible to provide an update on the number of emergency admissions from care homes for the April to September 2019 period.  However, it was highlighted that advances in the information available about the reasons for admission from care homes to Hillingdon Hospital meant that it was possible for partners to target appropriate support to individual care homes.  This proactive approach was having a positive impact.

A query was raised by the Committee about two third sector engagement events held in June 2019.  These events were held in Uxbridge and Hayes Muslim Centre and attended by 63 locally based third sector organisations that have all subsequently had individual meetings with representatives of H4All. They had all signed up to the H4All Health and Care Network, which would help to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.

RESOLVED: That the forward plan be noted.

It was confirmed that the Children’s Safeguarding Board and Adults Safeguarding Board Reports would be provided to the Committee as an annual report. The Boards were still undergoing a transition period and reports would be prepared for Committee similar to previous reports.

RESOLVED: That the work programme be noted.