Agenda item

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 that any required adaptations could be achieved.

She added that the configuration of Charlton House currently has bedrooms over two floors and that the proposed residential school would only need to use one of those floors. She said that kitchen and communal areas were already in place and that some work would be required to secure / update the outside area.

She said that the site would have the appearance of a school with a children’s home attached to it and that there would be day attendees as well as residential placements. She added that the proposed school would be for use by young people with autism and behavioural issues in the main.

Councillor Beaumont asked if a timeline for the school could be given if the proposal is agreed.

The Head of the Education Inclusion Service replied that it was hoped that this could be achieved in as minimal time as possible, given that money has been allocated for the project. She added that the Council itself cannot open the school and that therefore would be a tender process involving the Multi Academy Trusts and the independent sector to establish who would run it.

She said that internal pre-planning discussions had begun with the Planning department so that officers could be prepared for the next stages if approval from the Cabinet is received. She added that it was hoped that the process could be concluded within 18 months.

The Assistant Director – Operations said that a notice period would begin for residents, relatives and staff following any decision that is made by the Cabinet on 8^th February. She added that if the decision is to close Charlton House then it was anticipated that this would be done by the end of March 2024.

She said that a number of options for the use of the site were considered during the consultation process and that if approved this could also potentially help young people as they transition into Adult Social Care Services by being closer to the services they might want or need to access.

Councillor Liz Hardman asked why Charlton House was closing considering that of lot of effort had recently been put in to keep it open.

The Director of Adult Social Care replied that it had taken a long time to reach this position, 2 years. She stated that the commissioning market has changed and that the demand at present was provision for children and young people with SEND. She added that it was felt that the more that can have services provided for them locally that it will deliver better outcomes.

She explained that the majority of residents within Charlton House were bed-bound and that if it were to close, they would be given as much support as possible.

Councillor Hardman asked how far down the road was the process currently to change the use into a residential school.

The Head of the Education Inclusion Service replied that in advance of any possible decision she had been to have a general look at the site with officers from Property Services and that some internal discussions have been held with Planning officers.

She added that day placements would be offered as well as residential use and that potentially it could be used for respite care.

Councillor Joanna Wright referred to section 4.8 of the report (If Members accept the recommendations in this report and in particular the decision to de-register Charlton House, Members must be satisfied that a better use of public resources can be achieved.) and asked if the budget was considered a priority in making this decision.

Councillor Alison Born replied that the Council has to be able to live within its means and that the budget was one of many factors considered as part of the process.

Councillor Wright asked if discussions have yet been held with staff at Charlton House about potential redundancies.

The Director of Adult Social Care replied that communications with staff have taken place at each stage of the process, at the beginning and the end of the consultation and staff are aware that the matter is being discussed this week at both the Panel and the Cabinet. She added that no formal process has yet begun as a decision has yet to be formally made.

The Director of Adult Social Care added that there were enough vacancies within the CRC service for the 19 staff that work at Charlton House to apply for. She added that they could also discuss appropriate vacancies that exist across the Council.

She said that those staff that have stated a need to remain working in the Keynsham area will be assisted as much as possible.

Councillor Wright asked if the staff Unions have been or will be involved in the potential next stages of the process.

The Director of Adult Social Care read out the following wording that she had received on behalf of Unison.

‘We don’t have anything more to add at this point. We will await any decision regarding the status of the building first. Then we will look to negotiate with the Council regarding any changes to our Members’ terms and conditions.’

The Head of the Education Inclusion Service explained that the feasibility study was regarding the use of the building (Charlton House) and any adaptions that will need to be made. She informed the Panel that through the Safety Valve Project, B&NES was offered the opportunity to bid for additional capital funding. The bid was based on catering for the highest need children and young people (CYP) that are currently placed residentially out of the area and funded through the Joint Agency Panel (JAP). She said the Council was successful in securing £4m towards the project with an additional £1m being allocated through the High Needs Grant allocation.

Councillor Lesley Mansell queried how the Organisational Change process has been followed if staff are only going to be consulted formally once the Cabinet decision has been made. She added that transparency of any decision must be in place and that meetings with staff must include a union representative.

She added that she did not doubt that the proposed support for children and young people was needed.

The Director of Adult Social Care replied that a consultation with staff can’t start officially until any decision has been taken by the Cabinet. She added that she had attended four meetings with staff as part of the process so far and was aware that others had been held with Heads of Service.

She assured the Panel that the Organisational Change process has been followed and that they have continued to recruit staff to Charlton House whilst it has remained open. She added that the Council has every intention to support and keep staff within B&NES.

Councillor Eleanor Jackson addressed the Panel and said that she believed that for a home the size of Charlton House a minimum of 20 beds need to be occupied to make it viable and it currently only has 10 in use. She added that she had spoken with the CEO of Youth Connect South West and that he was very supportive of the proposed new residential school.

The Panel RESOLVED to support the following recommendations to the Cabinet.

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

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

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

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

Councillor Joanna Wright and Councillor Lesley Mansell abstained from voting on recommendation 5.

The majority of the Panel RESOLVED that they were not able to support recommendation 3 and those Members cited that they felt that they had not received enough information as to why Charlton House should close and that capacity of available spaces should be retained within the service.

They added that they were unhappy about the way the process had been conducted and felt that the decision had already been agreed prior to the consultation taking place.

They said that they would need to see further information of the costs related to this decision prior to it being made.

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.

The Chair asked for the Panel to receive further reports regarding this process following the decisions made by Cabinet on 8^th February.