Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and those present introduced themselves.

The Chair will draw attention to the emergency evacuation procedure as set out under Note 5.

The Chair drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure.

There were none.

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to indicate:

(a) The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest, (as defined in Part 4.4 Appendix B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officeror a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

The Chair, Councillor Dine Romero informed the Panel that she was standing as a candidate in the General Election on 4^th July 2024.

There were none.

Kevin Burnett referred to page 9 of the minutes and commented that it was his recollection that Councillor May would also use his Cabinet Member Update to include relevant information from the meetings of the Health & Wellbeing Board.

He also made the following observations on the minutes.

The Panel are still waiting to receive:

•  A Community Summit summary from the Education team.

•  Information relating to pupils involved in the Language for Life project.

•  A response to his question regarding changes to the HERS (Hospital Education Reintegration Service).

The Panel, with the above amendment in mind, confirmed the minutes of the previous meeting as a true record and they were duly signed by the Chairman.

The Cabinet Member(s) will update the Panel on any relevant issues. Panel members may ask questions on the update provided.

Councillor Alison Born, Cabinet Member for Adult Services addressed the Panel and highlighted the points below from her update report. A copy of the report will be attached as an online appendix to these minutes.

Community Support Services

The review of community support services started in April 2024, with a view to re-commissioning services over the period 2024/26. This work is being overseen by the new Community Services and Early Help Strategic Board which is chaired by Mandy Bishop (Chief Operating Officer), with input from relevant lead members and officers. Cllr Paul May and I are both permanent members of the board, with input from Cllr McCabe as required.

The Board monitors progress and supports decision making and risk management, with a focus on the successful procurement of contracts and delivery of planned savings over a two-year period.

Representatives of 25 local community service providers attended a meeting with lead members and senior officers on 14th May to discuss the work of the Board and the process and timescales of the review and re-commissioning processes. Further engagement meetings will be held with the sector in the coming months.

CQC Inspection

The government has recently introduced a new local authority inspection regime for adult social care and B&NES was told in April that along with South Gloucestershire and Wilshire Council, we will be inspected within the next 6 months. This means that B&NES will be one of the first 15 councils to be inspected by the CQC. To help inform the inspection team in advance of their visit to B&NES, officers were required to submit a significant amount of data by May 3rd which they did. We now await confirmation of the inspection date.

Visits to Services

Following the transfer of adult social care services back to B&NES Council, I have been visiting services with Suzanne Westhead and meeting with staff and service users. To date, I have visited the learning disability day services at Connections and Carrswood and the supported living services. I have also met people working in social work and occupational therapy teams. Staff have generally been very happy with the transfer process, are highly motivated and are pleased to be working for the Council.

Following implementation of planned changes to the Community Resource Centres, we also visited Cleeve Court and were delighted to see how the service is developing expertise as a specialist centre for people with dementia. We were also pleased to meet with some members of staff who had transferred from Charlton House and who have settled well in Cleeve Court.

Kevin Burnett asked if a timescale for the conclusion of the review of Community Support Services had yet been agreed.

The Director of Adult Services replied that they were not fully able to announce that at this stage, but said it was hoped that the specification details would be ready by September / October 2024 in advance of contracts needing to be in place by 31^st March 2025.

She  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

The safe transfer of Adult Social Care Services took place on 1st April 2024 for Adult Social Work (including Direct Payments team) and Adults with Learning Disabilities and their Families Day Services (including Shared Lives, Employment Inclusion and Supported Living) from HCRG Care Group to B&NES Council.

Councillor Alison Born, Cabinet Member for Adult Services introduced the report to the Panel. She explained that the safe transfer of Adult Social Care Services took place on 1st April 2024 for Adult Social Work (including Direct Payments team) and Adults with Learning Disabilities and their Families Day Services (including Shared Lives, Employment Inclusion and Supported Living) from HCRG Care Group to B&NES Council.

She stated that the transfer of ASC services saw a compliment of 237 staff from HCRG Care Group transfer to B&NES and that the Adult Social Care Directorate now represents 19.5% of the Council’s total workforce.

She informed the Panel that there were no disruptions to services that are provided and that the support from staff in Corporate Services was very welcome, especially IT, HR and Payroll Services.

She said that the overall feeling she has is that it went very well and that positive feedback had been received from many members of staff.

Kevin Burnett asked how the project had been able to cost less than anticipated and what were seen as the key benefits to the transfer of services.

He also referred to section 5.2.3 of the report and asked for clarity on the numbers shown in the table, whether the training was compulsory and when should it be completed by.

The Director for Adult Services replied that it was difficult to know when the project began how much it would cost in total which is why the initial figure was granted by the Council. She added that they had been able reduce costs by using our own staff for a lot of the project work instead of consultants.

She said that officers were currently working through to establish the overall benefits of the transfer, but initially felt that one of the main benefits was the area of purchasing budgets. She added that the staff satisfaction was also a key guide as to how beneficial the transfer has been.

With regard to training, she accepted that it would be clearer to give the figures as a percentage and said that for all the mandatory training, in time, it would need to be 100%.

She said that further information on the transfer and its progress could be shared with the Panel in the early part of 2025.

Councillor Hardman asked if there was anything that they would have liked to have done differently during the project.

The Director of Adult Services replied that they would have preferred to have known the names of all the staff involved and their contract / terms & conditions details prior to March, ideally two months before the transfer took place. She added that she would now wished that they had had involvement with more middle tier managers during the process.

Councillor Born added that TUPE legal requirements were met by HCRG.

Councillor Lesley Mansell asked if the Infection Control training will be given as a priority to those frontline staff who need it. She also referred to risk  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

This report presents the latest workplan for the Panel. Any suggestions for further items or amendments to the current programme will be logged and scheduled in consultation with the Panel’s Chair and supporting officers.

The Chair introduced the workplan to the Panel and the following subjects were noted as potential future items of discussion.

·  Further feedback on Adult Social Care transfer of services – January

Kevin Burnett raised the following issues for consideration that had been mentioned at previous meetings.

Public Health:

·  Public Health Update (include Care Homes / Infection Control / Covid Planning learning points)

·  System Improvement Framework – Public Health – September

·  Schools Health and Wellbeing Survey – January

BSW ICB:

·  Children’s Health Services & Young People’s Programme

·  Birth Trauma

·  SEND representative

·  Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS)

·  Pharmacies (Capacity / Strategy)

·  Primary Care Access Plan

·  Dental Services / Provision / Vans

Cabinet Member for Children’s Services:

·  School Streets

·  Alternative Provision

·  Suspension / Exclusion figures

·  Early Help – Savings / Progress

·  Charlton House

Councillor Ruth Malloy proposed a Suicide Prevention update. The Chair replied that she believed that this was possibly due in November.

Councillor Liz Hardman requested a Safety Valve Update.

The Panel RESOLVED to note their current workplan alongside these proposals for future work areas.