Agenda item

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

·  Bath and North-East Somerset Council (B&NES) and what is now the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon & Wiltshire Integrated Care Board (BSW ICB) made a decision not to extend the HCRG Care Group contract for the three-year extension term in May 2022.

·  The current B&NES Integrated Community Health and Care Contract will cease on 31 March 2024. The Council completed a detailed options appraisal, and a decision was taken to transfer Adult Social Care (ASC – Adult Social Work, Direct Payments and Adults with Learning Disabilities and Their Families) to B&NES Council in November 2022.

·  Three programmes were set up to deliver Community Services Transformation across the Council and Integrated Care Board (ICB):

• Programme One: Adult Social Care Redesign and Community Partners (Council led)

• Programme Two: Public Health (Council led)

• Programme Three: Integrated Community Based Care (Integrated Care Board led for Children’s and Adults Health Services)

The Director of Adult Social Care said that they had worked closely with HCRG on this process and that they support the transition. She added that all buildings and computers would be prepared for the start date of 2^nd April 2024 and that 28 days prior to this the Council would receive the list of staff members that are due to be transferred.

She explained that an engagement and communications plan was in place to keep staff informed.

Kevin Burnett commented that he recalled from a previous report that there was a key ‘To do list’ for this programme and asked if a framework for staff would be in place, was their sufficient resources and were there any areas of concern.

The Director of Adult Social Care replied that a new operation model was in place, although they want staff to be able to continue to do their current roles. She added that she did not think that there were any hidden costs within this process and that there was a plan in place to deal with the additional corporate overheads and subsequent uplifts.

Councillor Liz Hardman asked what the impact will be on Public Health with the likely incoming budget cuts and how would services commissioned through the Public Health Grant be affected.

The Director of Public Health replied that the Public Health Grant was ringfenced in order that it is used to provide certain services, some of which are mandated, such as Sexual Health Services, NHS Health Checks and Health Visitor Services.

She added that the grant must be used to achieve Public Health outcomes for the Council and that the grant does not increase alongside inflation or take account of any staffing pay awards or contractual uplifts.

Councillor Liz Hardman asked what the expectations of the Community Wellbeing Hub after April 2025 were.

The Director of Public Health replied that the Council was working across all sectors connected to the Hub to find a sustainable funding arrangement to enable a core programme to be maintained.

Councillor Joanna Wright referred to section 3.4.1 of the report (The Health and Social Care Act 2012) and asked if the Council was failing in any of its duties in this regard and were enough resources in place.

The Director of Public Health replied that the Council was not failing in any of its duties, but acknowledged that the current budget was tight.

Councillor Wright referred to section 3.4.5 of the report and asked for an explanation of what was meant by Children’s Safety Equipment.

The Director of Public Health replied that this would be items such as stair gates and fire guards.

Councillor Lesley Mansell asked if the Equalities Impact Assessments for the programme could be shared with the Panel at some point. She also asked what was meant by staff working under the ‘B&NES brand’.

The Director of Adult Social Care replied that it was important for staff to feel welcome as there would be slightly different processes to follow. She added that there was a training plan in place.

The Panel RESOLVED to:

i)  Note the progress updates for Community Services Transformation across Programmes One, Two and Three.

ii)  Note the progress update for the Community Wellbeing Hub and Direct Award 2024/25.