Agenda and minutes

In accordance with his powers under Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972, the Chair consented to the submission of the following late items of business:

• Agenda Item 8 – Adult Social Care Commissioning Services and Neighbourhood Review Update – report late due to awaiting information as published in Executive Board Agenda for 21 July 2010. (Minute No. 14 refers)
• Agenda Item 10 – Inquiry Into Supporting Working Age Adults with Severe and Enduring Mental Health Problems (Minute No. 16 refers)

To declare any personal / prejudicial interests for the purpose of Section 81 (3) of the Local Government Act 2000 and paragraphs 8 to 12 of the Members Code of Conduct.

The following declarations of interest were made:

• Councillor Hanley – Agenda Item 8 – Adult Social Care Commissioning Services and Neighbourhood Network Review Update – Personal and Prejudicial due to his positions as a Director of Bramley Elderly Action and Member of Upbeat. (Minute No. 14 refers).
• Councillor Kendall – Agenda Item 8 – Adult Social Care Commissioning Services and Neighbourhood Network Review Update – Personal and Prejudicial due to her position on the Community Action for Roundhay Elderly (CARE) Management Committee. (Minute No. 14 refers).
• Councillor Lyons – Agenda Item 8 – Adult Social Care Commissioning Services and Neighbourhood Network Review Update – Personal and Prejudicial due to his position as a Member of Halton Moor and Osmondthorpe Project for Elders (HOPE). (Minute No. 14 refers).
• Councillor Varley – Agenda Item 8 – Adult Social Care Commissioning Services and Neighbourhood Network Review Update – Personal and Prejudicial due to her position as a Member of Morley Elderly Action. (Minute No. 14 refers).
• Joy Fisher – Agenda Item 7 –  Leeds LINk Annual Report – Personal as Co-Chair of the Leeds LINk and Agenda Item 11 – Leeds Safeguarding Adults Partnership Annual Report 2009/10 as a Voluntary Sector Member of the Safeguarding Leeds Committee (Minute No. 13 refers).

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillor Pryke and an apology was sent on behalf of Councillor Cleasby who would be arriving late.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 23 June 2010

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 23 June 2010 be confirmed as a correct record subject to the inclusion of Councillor Davey’s apologies for absence.

To receive and consider the annual report for the Leeds Local Involvement network for health and social care

The report of the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development provided the Board with the 2009/10 Annual Report for the Leeds Local Involvement Network (LINk).

The Chair welcomed Arthur Giles, Co-Chair of the Leeds Link and Emily Wragg, Shaw Trust to the meeting.

It was reported that this was the second annual report of the LINk and it gave a background to the role of the LINk and how it operates.  There had been a focus on raising the profile of the LINk and it was stressed that this needed to be raised across the whole city to represent the public and service users.  There was a desire to increase the membership of the LINk and Board Members were asked to consider joining.  New workstreams of the LINk had been developed and a draft work plan would be available by the end of the month.  It was agreed to circulate the draft work plan to the Board.

In response to Members comments and questions, the following issues were discussed:

• Potential interests of Member’s who joined the LINk – it was reported that there was no barrier to Elected Members joining the LINk and it was not envisaged that this would cause any concern at future meetings of the Scrutiny Board (Adult Social Care).
• The LINk worked closely with NHS Leeds, The Hospital Trusts and also with Adult Social Services, particularly in relation to the personalisation agenda.

The Chair thanked Arthur Giles and Emily Wragg for their attendance.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

To receive and consider the report of the Deputy Director, Strategic Commissioning. 

(Councillor Davey was elected as Chair for this item)

The report of the Deputy Director, Strategic Commissioning provided Members with an update on progress made with the review of the Neighbourhood Network Schemes (NNS) and other commissioning initiatives.  A report due to be considered at the Executive Board meeting on 21 July 2010 was submitted which detailed recommendations for the provision of  Neighbourhood Network Services and also included the review brief 'Independent Review of the Procurement and Commissioning for Neighbourhood Network Schemes'. Revised wording of the recommendations detailed on page 16 was also submitted to the Board.

The following officers were in attendance for this item:

·  Sandie Keene – Director of Adult Social Services

·  Dennis Holmes – Deputy Director, Strategic Commissioning

·  Nicole Jackson – Assistant Chief Executive (Corporate Governance)

·  Wayne Baxter – Chief Procurement Officer

Sandie Keene, Director of Adult Services addressed the meeting and gave the Board an overview of the report. It was reported that following the initial

commissioning process and subsequent proposals for awarding contracts for Neighbourhood Network Services, concerns had been raised regarding the decision making process and representations had been made.

 In view of the representations made, an independent review of the process was commissioned

The outcome of the review has highlighted lessons to learn,  including  the need for better communication and consideration of Member involvement at scrutiny level. However ,the review had concluded that there was no justification for re-opening the procurement process.

The following issues were also brought to the attention of the Board:

·  Positive outcomes of the review including the Council’s intent to award 5 year contracts to voluntary organisations with options to extend for a further 3 years.

·  The recommendations outlined in the report to Executive Board which included  the following:

1.  Organisations that had been recommended to provide Neighbourhood Network Services

2.  Organisations that would be offered shorter term contracts and to work in conjunction with the Council before being awarded longer contracts

3.  The potential development of a Strategic Partnership in 5 areas in the East of the City.

In response to Members comments and questions, the following issues were discussed:

·  All areas involved in the process had competing bids.

·  The Director of Adult Social Services ,in consultation with the Executive Member for Adult Health and Social Care and the Leaders of the Council appointed  the independent reviewers.  The review was overseen by the Director of Adult  Social Services and the Assistant Chief Executive (Corporate Governance).

·  Communication issues - It was acknowledged that communication could have been better which is detailed in the report. Apologies had been given to the Neighbourhood Networks.

·  With reference to the general commissioning report (page 3), reference was made to the award for Contracts for Hearing and Visual Services and the disadvantages for community groups who had requested information in Braille.  It was reported that these groups would be given an extension in line with the time they have had to wait for translated information.

RESOLVED –

  (a) That the report be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

To receive and consider two reports, the first being the report of the Head of Policy and Performance which presents the key performance information against the Leeds Strategic Plan improvement priorities relevant to the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Board for the year end 2009/10. The second report is the report of the Chief Officer for Health and Environmental Action Services which presents quarter 4’s performance information on the delivery of adaptation schemes to tenants and owner occupiers.

The Board considered the following reports:

• Report of the Head of Policy and Performance which presented Quarter 4 performance summarising progress against the Leeds Strategic Plan improvement priorities relevant to the Board.
• Report of the Chief Officer for Health and Environmental Services which detailed performance information on completion time of adaptations schemes for Quarter 4 2009/10.

The following officers were in attendance for this item:

• Dennis Holmes, Deputy Director, Strategic Commissioning
• Simeon Perry, Housing Policy and Monitoring Manager
• John Clark, Chief Executive, Aire Valley Homes
• Colin Moss, Adaptations Agency Manager
• Nesreen Lowson, Property Investment, West North West Homes
• Liz Ward, Head of Service – Support and Enablement

In response to Members comments and questions the following issues were discussed:

• Possible impact of budget cuts on service delivery – it was reported that new priorities from Central Government were not fully known and cuts had been made to the Area Based Grant.  The situation would be more clear in October following the announcement of the 3 year spending review.  Contingency plans were ongoing to anticipate the impact of any cuts.
• A new format for presenting performance information for adaptations had been developed in light of previous feedback.  It was reported that just under 500 adaptations had been carried out in Quarter 4 and Members attention was brought to tables in the report which detailed the performance of the different housing providers.
• Concern was expressed regarding the low numbers of adaptations carried out by Aire Valley Homes.  It was reported that the budget had been reduced on the previous 2 years but extra funds had been made available to clear any backlog.
• Complaints procedures – both public and private sector.
• Waiting times and impact of budget constraints on these.
• The role of the Adaptations Agency for private sector housing.
• Adaptations Strategy – an update would be provided to the Board at the September meeting.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

To receive and consider the report of the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development which recommends the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Board agrees its inquiry report on Supporting Working Age Adults with Severe and Enduring Mental Health Problems, or makes recommendation for change as appropriate.

Report to follow

The report of the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development referred to the Board’s Inquiry into Supporting Working Age Adults with Severe and Enduring Mental Health Problems and included the draft scrutiny inquiry final report.  Members attention was brought to the recommendations and progress  made following the inquiry.

The following officers were present for this item:

• Dennis Holmes, Deputy Director – Strategic Commissioning
• Michelle Moran, Director of Care Services and Chief Nurse, Leeds Partnership Foundation Trust
• Tracey Cooper, Project Manager, Adult Social Care
• Kim Adams, Adult Social Care

In brief summary, the following issues were discussed:

• Employment opportunities – incentives for employers, apprentice schemes and work with social enterprises.
• Citywide Home support  as outlined in recommendation 4 – this was being reviewed by those responsible for commissioning.

RESOLVED – That the inquiry report on Supporting Working Age Adults with Severe and Enduring Mental Health Problems be agreed.

(Councillor Schofield left the meeting at 11.45 a.m. during the discussion on this item)

To receive and consider the report of the Director of Adult Social Services  which introduces members of the Scrutiny Board to the 2009/10 annual report and the work plan for 2010/11.

The report of the Director of Adult Social Services introduced the Leeds Safeguarding Adults Partnership Board Annual Report 2009/10 and the work plan for 2010/11.

Dennis Holmes, Deputy Director – Strategic Commissioning and Hilary Paxton, Head of Safeguarding Adults were present for this item. 

It was reported that that there had been a significant increase in the number of referrals over the previous year and further details were included in the report.  Members were invited to comment on the report.

In brief summary, the following issues were discussed:

• Liaison between probation/prison service and Social Services.  It was reported that this was often complicated due to cross boundary issues.
• Additional staff had been recruited in response to the increase in referrals.
• CRB clearance of staff, risk assessments and monitoring processes.

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the report be noted.

(b)  That the work programme of the Adult Safeguarding Partnership Board for 2010/11 be endorsed.

To receive and consider the report of the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development regarding the formal consideration for further appointments of Co-opted Members to the Board

 The report of the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development made reference to the provision for Scrutiny Boards to appoint Co-opted Members and also the decision of the Board at the meeting of 23 June 2010 to consider the appointment of a Co-opted Member to represent the Leeds LINk.

RESOLVED – That a Co-opted Member be appointed from Leeds LINk.

To receive and consider the report of the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development which outlines the Scrutiny Board’s work programme for the 2010/11 Municipal Year

The report of the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development informed Members of the Board’s Work Programme and also included the latest Forward Plan of Key Decisions and Executive Board Minutes.

Issues discussed in relation to the Work Programme included Mental Health Crisis Support, Working Groups and the Residential Care Strategy.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted and the Work Programme be agreed and updated as appropriate.

Wednesday, 22 September 2010 at 10.00 a.m. (pre-meeting for all Board Members at 9.30 a.m.)

Wednesday, 22 September 2010 at 10.00 a.m. (Pre-meeting for all Members at 9.30 a.m.)