Issue - meetings

The report will set out the outcomes following a consultation on the future delivery model for the Council’s three Community Resource Centres (CRCs) at Cleeve Court, Combe Lea and Charlton House.

Councillor Alison Born, Cabinet Member for Adult Services introduced the report to the Panel and highlighted the following sections from it.

·  The online consultation took place between Thursday 9 November 2023 to 5pm on Monday 18 December 2023 and included the following proposals:

o  To develop Cleeve Court residential home into a centre of excellence for dementia care including nursing care.

o  To enhance our offer at Combe Lea residential home to enable younger people with more complex needs to remain closer to home.

o  To close (de-register) the remaining 10 places at Charlton House Nursing home and then develop the site to provide alternative care provision and/or housing options that would meet the needs of the local community now and into the future.

o  To offer community groups/charitable organisations use of the day centre spaces at the community resource centres at a reduced rental rate if the organisations offer services that are accessible to the care home residents and the community.

·  The Council received 45 submissions on the CRC proposals. Over half (53%) of responses were positive towards council proposals for CRCs, nearly a third (31%) disagreed and 16% were unsure.

·  When considering those who supported the proposals, there was acknowledgement that the council needed to respond to the changing social care landscape, particularly around provision of specialist dementia nursing care. The importance of a stable workforce and its impact on morale, service provision and budget were also recognised.

·  The Scrutiny Panel is asked to give feedback to Cabinet on the following recommendations:

o  Recommendation 1: To develop Cleeve Court residential home into a centre of excellence for dementia care without nursing.

o  Recommendation 2: To enhance our offer at Combe Lea residential home to enable younger people with more complex needs to remain closer to home.

o  Recommendation 3: To de-register the remaining 10 places in use at Charlton House nursing home and then develop the site to provide a residential school for young people with complex needs.

o  Recommendation 4: To offer community groups/charitable organisations use of the day centre spaces at the community resource centres at a reduced rental rate.

o  Recommendation 5: To commence a full feasibility study in relation to the change of use for Charlton House to a residential school.

The Director of Adult Social Care thanked all involved in the initial consultation, including staff, residents and the public. She added that no formal consultation would be able to take place with staff until a decision has been made by the Cabinet.

Councillor Alex Beaumont commented that as the elected representative of Keynsham North he was concerned that should the feasibility study not support a change of use to a residential school that the Council could lose an important resource in Charlton House. He asked if further information could be given on the proposals for the residential school.

The Head of the Education Inclusion Service replied that she had looked at the building alongside officers from Property Services and that it was felt  ...  view the full minutes text for item 91