Items
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Item |
8. |
Minutes of the previous meeting 17 June 2021  PDF 147 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
8.1 The Committee RESOLVED to agree the minutes of the meeting held
on 17 June 2021 as a correct record and agree the recommendations
made at the meeting.
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9. |
Apologies for absence
Additional documents:
Minutes:
9.1
Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Trevor Webb,
Nicola Boulter (Parent Governor Representative) and Simon Parr
(Catholic Diocese Representative).
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10. |
Disclosures of interests
Disclosures by all members present of personal
interests in matters on the agenda, the nature of any interest and
whether the member regards the interest as prejudicial under the
terms of the Code of Conduct.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
10.1 There were no disclosures of
interests.
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11. |
Urgent items
Notification of items which the Chair considers
to be urgent and proposes to take at the
appropriate part of the agenda. Any members who wish to raise
urgent items are asked, wherever possible, to notify the Chair
before the start of the meeting. In so doing, they must state the
special circumstances which they consider justify the matter being
considered urgent.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
11.1 There were no
urgent items.
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12. |
Reconciling Policy, Performance and Resources (RPPR) PDF 398 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
12.1 The report
was introduced by Philip Baker (Assistant Chief
Executive). He outlined
that this is the start of
scrutiny’s engagement in the budget setting process for
2022/23 and beyond. The State of the County report considered by
Cabinet in July set out the detailed financial planning context for
rest of the year and beyond. However,
the financial and policy position remains one of uncertainty and
there have been a number of developments since July which will be
covered in a RPPR report to Cabinet in September 2021. There have also been a number of significant
Government announcements which include:
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There will be a three-year financial settlement
following the spending review which is likely to be published on 27
October 2021.
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The Government is aiming for a balanced budget from
the financial years 2023/24 through to 2025/26.
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The Government has announced plans for Health and
Social Care reform which will be funded by a 1.25% levy on National
Insurance contributions made by employers and employees. Details
will be set out in a White paper which will be published later in
the year. The impact on East Sussex could be significant in terms
of the local care market and on local health partners.
12.2 The
Committee discussed the report and a summary of the key points
discussed is set out below.
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In response to a query regarding the one-off reserve contribution referred to in
paragraph 1.5 of the covering report, Members were informed by Ian
Gutsell (Chief Finance Officer)
that due to the pandemic some of the
pressures included in earlier financial planning had not
occurred. As a result an opportunity
had arisen to explore into the autumn the use of £8.855m
one-off funding for investment in areas that will help better
manage future demand for services or support the delivery of
priorities such as highways or climate change. It was also clarified that the savings set out in
the report are ‘legacy savings’ resulting from
decisions taken in previous years and that the Medium Term
Financial Plan for next year does not contain plans for new savings
to be identified.
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The Committee asked about the steps being taken to
address delays in children and young people receiving a diagnosis
from Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services
(CAMHS). In response the Alison
Jeffery (Director of Children Services) informed Members that the
Department is in discussion with colleagues from the local NHS
Trust about what can be done to streamline the referral pathway and
deliver quicker responses. Work is also
being undertaken to raise awareness amongst the wider workforce of
neural diversity in children. It is hoped this will result in more
children and young people gaining access to support in a more
timely manner, without necessarily requiring a formal
diagnosis. Furthermore, additional
funding has been provided by central government to support
children’s mental health. The
Department are therefore actively engaging with NHS partners to
help ensure the best use of the funding.
- With regard to the
Government’s announcement of introducing ...
view the full minutes text for item 12.
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13. |
Work programme PDF 387 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
13.1 The Committee discussed its Work
Programme which is comprised of a number of ongoing scrutiny
reviews, reference groups and planned reports. In particular, Members noted the
arrangements for an Away Day and the opportunity this would provide
to the Committee to discuss its priorities for scrutiny activity in
the coming months.
13.2 The Committee RESOLVED to note
the contents of its work programme.
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14. |
Annual Review of Safer Communities PDF 526 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
14.1
Michaela Richards, Joint Strategic Commissioner for Domestic and
Sexual Violence Abuse Services, introduced the report and responded
to a number of questions asked by the Committee. A summary of the key issues discussed is set out
below:
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Domestic abuse in the over 60s age
group: With
regard to the over 60 age group, the Committee noted the reference
in paragraph 1.5 of the covering report to a total of ‘only
26 referrals to the commissioned domestic abuse community service
last year’. Members asked
for more detail about whether the number of referrals was at the
expected level or was evidence of under-reporting of abuse in this
age group. In response, Members were
informed that this group are under-represented nationally for a
wide variety of reasons including: individuals not recognising
their situation as abusive, reluctance to disrupt family life, and
being less likely to know how to seek support. Against this backdrop the Department is working to
engage with and support this group in different ways. This includes, for example, raising awareness of
how people can access support as part of the Older People’s
Day in October and undertaking a needs assessment of the service to
improve refuge accommodation for older people.
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Anti-Social Behaviour and Drug Trafficking
rates: The Committee discussed the
negative impact on communities of anti-social behaviour (ASB) and
noted the sharp increase in reports of incidents (as referred to in
paragraph 1.2 of the covering report).
The Committee also noted the reference in paragraph 1.3 of the
covering report to the significant increase in the number of drug
trafficking offences. In both cases the
Committee sought clarification as to the reasons behind the
increases. In response, the Director of
Adult Social Care undertook to ask Sussex Police if it could
provide further context regarding both sets of data which could
then be shared with Members.
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Drug and Alcohol Treatment completion
rates: The Committee sought clarification
regarding the rate of successful completions for treatment for drug
and alcohol misuse. In response, the Committee were informed that
completion rates do not tend to be high across the nation as the
recipients of support have a chronic long-term condition, which is
managed with a substitute prescription. Sadly, many people are not
able to complete the full course of treatment. In response to a
further question, Members were informed that the definition of
treatment completion is that the individual is no longer using
illegal opiates and no longer needs prescription substitutes. The
Committee were further informed that with regard to the Hastings
area, additional funding had been provided via Project ADDER
(Addiction, Diversion, Disruption, Enforcement and
Recovery). This is a Home Office
initiative which engages with a number of agencies and charities to
provide education and support to drug users and provides support
for helping them end their dependency.
14.2
The Committee RESOLVED to note the report.
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15. |
Developing Care Markets Bedded Care Strategy PDF 208 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
15.1
Debbie Endersby (Head of Strategic Commissioning) and Sophie
Permain (Supply Development Manager)
provided the Committee with a presentation which included a
summary of the Care Quality
Commission (CQC) regulated care services in
East Sussex and an overview of current demands and service
challenges. Set out below is a summary
of the key points discussed by the Committee:
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Block Booking. In response to a
question regarding ‘block booking’, the Department
confirmed that it does ‘block contract book’ beds with
a number of nursing homes in East Sussex. The bookings are made as part of the
Department’s ‘Discharge To Assess (D2A)/Home
First’ pathway. Where
possible the D2A pathway aims to
avoid unnecessary admissions to hospital, and where an admission is
necessary, to ensure that people are discharged as soon as is safe
and practical, back to their own homes or to a D2A bed to have
their assessments and services arranged outside of
hospital. The number of discharge to assess
beds varies throughout the year, with approximately 90 beds in use
at present.
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Vaccination of care home workers:
The Committee discussed the potential impact of
vaccination legislation which requires all care home staff to be
vaccinated against Covid-19 by November 2021. More specifically, the Committee asked for
clarification regarding what steps are being taken to minimise the
impact on care home clients if significant numbers of staff lose
their jobs because they have refused to be vaccinated. In response Members were informed that in
terms of directly provided care services the number of staff that
have not been vaccinated currently stands at only two. It was
therefore anticipated there would not be a challenge with providing
continuity of service in this sector.
The Director of Adult Social Care also confirmed that there are
staff who are exempt from being vaccinated and therefore they would
continue in their roles.
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Overseas recruitment: The Committee discussed the proposed recruitment of care home
staff from overseas and asked whether more could be done to
increase rates of recruitment from the local
population. In response, Members were
informed that the Department actively employs a range of methods in
the local area to promote working in the sector. This includes, for example, attendance at
recruitment fairs. However, there
are a number of factors which mean recruitment remains a challenge
for the adult social care sector. These
factors include competition from similarly paid roles in the
leisure and hospitality industries and the nature of care work
itself, which whilst rewarding is also a challenging and demanding
job.
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Homecare referrals: The Committee discussed the increase in the
rate of homecare referrals and asked for clarification as to what
factors were behind the trend. In
response Members were informed that over 25% of the population in
East Sussex is over 65 years of age and therefore there has been
and continues to be a general increase in demand for support with
care. In the short term the Covid-19
pandemic may have contributed to a rise in demand for Homecare
...
view the full minutes text for item 15.
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16. |
Safeguarding Adults Board Annual Report PDF 309 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
16.1
Graham Bartlett, Independent Chair of the East Sussex Safeguarding
Adults Board introduced the report and responded to a number of
questions from the Committee. The key issues discussed
included:
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Referrals from doctors: The Committee asked about the role of doctors in making
referrals to the Safeguarding Adults Board (SAB), noting that this
has previously been highlighted as an area for improvement. In
response, Graham Bartlett informed the Committee that the East
Sussex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) have recently appointed
eight named GPs for safeguarding roles.
It is hoped this coordinated approach will have a wider impact on
adult safeguarding across the county. George Kouridis (Head of
Service Adult Safeguarding) also informed the Committee that
safeguarding reports from other medical staff, such as community
nurses, form a significant proportion of the referrals
received.
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Modern slavery and human trafficking:
The Committee asked for more detail about the modern
slavery and human trafficking training course which was undertaken
by SAB members and sought more information on how prevalent both
issues are in East Sussex. In response Graham Bartlett informed the
Committee that there is a general lack of awareness and
under-reporting of modern slavery and human trafficking activity.
As a result, one of the aims of the training course is to help
individuals develop the skills to identify possible indicators of
abuse. Mr Bartlett confirmed that the
training was applied to many different settings and that it was not
being offered due to a specific issue in East Sussex.
36.
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Conference on Adult B Safeguarding Adults Review
(SAR): The Committee asked about the
recommendation from the Adult B SAR to hold a conference, hosted
jointly with Brighton & Hove SAR, to look into key areas of
learning. Specifically, the Committee sought assurance that this
conference had now taken place, noting that it was delayed due the
pandemic, and asked for the key learnings taken from this. Graham
Bartlett confirmed to the Committee that the conference had taken
place and that it was very productive and informative. Members were
informed that details of the learnings and any policy changes as a
result of the conference will be set out in the next annual report
to the Committee.
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Joint working with the East Sussex Safeguarding
Children’s Partnership: The
Committee asked for clarification about whether the East Sussex
Safeguarding Children’s Partnership (ESSCP) and the SAB share
learning from serious case reviews and other
activities. In response, the Committee
were informed that the Chairs of the SAB and the ESSCP hold seats
on both bodies and that a partnership protocol is in
place. The protocol aims to help ensure
all work streams and learning are aligned towards best practice and
the safeguarding of both adults and children.
16.2
The Committee RESOLVED – to note the report and to thank
Graham Bartlett for his commitment and contributions as Independent
Chair of the Safeguarding Adults Board.
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