Agenda and minutes

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.

To receive any apologies for absence and notification of substitutes.

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors P Davey and V Kendall.  Councillor G Latty attended as substitute for Councillor V Kendall.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 10 November 2010

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 10 November 2010 be confirmed as a correct record.

To receive and consider the attached report of the Director of Adult Social Services

The report of the Director of Adult Social Services provided the Board with the judgement made about Adult Social Care for Adults in the City during 2009/10 and also provided a brief summary of the key points raised by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in making their judgements.

The Chair welcomed the following to the meeting for this item:

Dennis Holmes – Deputy Director, Commissioning

Stuart Cameron Strickland – Head of Policy, Performance and Improvement

John Lennon – Chief Officer, Access and Inclusion

It was reported that this would be the last performance report of its kind as the CQC was changing methodology and wanted Local Authorities to take a peer review role in monitoring performance with the CQC maintaining a more regulatory role.  The report gave a positive reflection of work undertaken in Adult Social Services in the previous two years showing improvements in several areas.  Members attention was brought to the overall assessment and judgement of outcomes as detailed in the report which should all were performing well or excellently.  Reference was also made to safeguarding issues for which the Council had been regarded as poor performing in 2007/08 and the success in improving all areas that included safeguarding issues.

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

• Future scrutiny involvement of performance monitoring – there would still be a role for Scrutiny to monitor the outcomes previously assessed and it would be useful to identify those areas which demonstrated issues where performance affected people’s lives and life quality issues.
• Correlation between health and wellbeing of staff and performance issues.
• In terms of reporting future performance, it was reported that for accountability purposes, this should be reported to the local population and how this was done could be developed with other local authorities. Safeguarding, quality of services and work between Adult Social Services and Health Partners were all highlighted as key issues.
• Independent sector care providers were inspected by the CQC and performance was rated as good in Leeds.  The Council also monitored independent sector provision.

RESOLVED –

(1)  That the content of the report; the final attached assessment letter and performance review report from the CQC for Adult Social Care Services in 2009/10 be noted.

(2)  That the Board congratulates all those concerned in Adult Social Services for the results of the Adult Social Care Performance Judgements for 2009/10.

(Councillors D Schofield and R Pryke left the meeting during the discussion on this item at 10.40 a.m. and 10.45 a.m. respectively)

To receive and consider the attached report of the Head of Policy and Performance

The report of the Head of Policy and Performance presented an overview of performance against the priority outcomes relevant to the Scrutiny Board (Adult Social Care).  Appended to the report was a summary of progress rating and selected action trackers from the Leeds Strategic Plan that were relevant to the Board.

Issues discussed included assessment times, safeguarding and adaptations.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

To receive and consider the attached report of the Adaptations Strategy Group

The report of the Adaptations Strategy Group updated Members on the progress of the Adaptations Strategy 2010-13 and asked the Board to recommend the endorsements of the Adaptations Strategy.

The following officers were in attendance for this item:

• John Lennon – Chief Officer – Access & Inclusion
• Liz Ward – Head of Service, Support & Enablement
• Andy Beattie – Head of Service, Housing & Pollution Control
• Mark Gray – Aire Valley Homes
• Simeon Perry – Housing Policy and Monitoring Manager

Members were informed of the multi agency approach involved in the development of the strategy and attention was brought to the draft strategy as appended to the report.  It was reported that the strategy had now been agreed across a number of organisations and there had been broad agreement on how to deliver and improve the provision of adaptations.  Further issues highlighted included the following:

• Health and wellbeing issues – reducing risk, increasing independence, reducing support needed and reducing hospital admissions
• The strategy aimed to deliver a high quality service in a more equitable and timely way
• Future increased demand on services due to the growth in the older population
• Comparison with other core cities – Leeds spent more and performed better than most
• Members attention was also brought to the Housing Adaptations and Strategy and Action Plan 2010-13 as detailed in the report.

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

• Impact of the current economic climate – there would be an inevitable cap on expenditure but Disabled Facility Grants continued to be supported
• The strategy addressed savings and ensuring value for money via methods such as recycling of used equipment and allocating housing that was already adapted to those in need.
• Means testing was used to determine whether individuals would make any contribution.
• The role of occupational therapists in assessing an individuals needs.
• Future housing developments and the consideration to consult planners and minimise the need for future adaptations – there was a supplementary planning document to the strategy which referred to life time homes.

RESOLVED –

(1)  That the progress on the Adaptations Strategy be noted

(2)  That the Leeds Adaptations Strategy 2010-12 be endorsed

(Councillor K Renshaw declared a personal interest in this item as she had a family member who had made use of the adaptations service)

To receive and consider the attached report of the Chief Officer for Health and Environmental Action Services

The report of the Chief Officer for Health and Environmental Action Services provided performance information on the completion time of adaptation schemes for Quarter 2, 2010/11.  Appended to the report were tables showing the performance of the ALMOs, BITMO and the Adaptations Agency.

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

• 71% of major adaptations had been completed within timetables over the corresponding period.
• Budget issues had affected the BITMO and Aire Valley Homes but there had been an increase in the work carried out since the production of the report.
• Budget allocations for the BITMO and ALMOs – it was reported that each ALMO individually set its budget for adaptations work and it was agreed to invite ALMO Board MEmbers to a future meeting to discuss this.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

To receive and consider the attached report of the Head of Scrutiny And Member Development

The report of the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development presented Members with an update on the position of the Boards recommendations following their inquiry into Major Adaptations for Disabled Adults.

The report referred to each individual recommendation and whether it was considered necessary to continue monitoring.

RESOLVED –

(1)  That the report be noted

(2)  That all recommendations within the report that were proposed to be no longer monitored be agreed.

(Councillor S Hamilton left the meeting at the conclusion of this item)

To receive and consider the attached report of the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development

The report of the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development detailed the Board’s Work Programme and also contained the Council’s Forward Plan and recent Executive Board minutes.

RESOLVED –

(1)  That the Executive Board Minutes and Forward Plan be noted.

(2)  That the Board’s Work Programme be agreed

To note that the next meeting of the Board will be held on Wednesday, 12 January 2010 at 10.00 am with a pre meeting for Board Members at 9.30 am.

Wednesday, 12 January 2011 at 10.00 a.m. (re-meeting at 9.30 a.m.)

The meeting concluded at 11.50 a.m.