Agenda item

36.1     The Committee considered a report by the Director of Adult Social Care and Health updating it on the impact of reductions to individual care packages of (on average) 30%; a saving that was agreed through the Reconciling Policy, Performance and Resources (RPPR) process as part of the Department’s savings plan for 2013/14 to 2015/16.

36.2     The following additional points were made in response to questions from the Committee about the Carer Survey:

·         Benchmarking data for the results of the Carer Survey at a South East and national level should be available by November 2015.

·         In East Sussex, 77.4% of known carers receive a service from East Sussex County Council’s Adult Social Care Department (ASC), compared to 100% in many other local authorities. This is because ASC defines “information, advice and signposting” provided to carers as information, advice and signposting tailored to the specific needs of a carer, whereas other local authorities define it as general information provided to a carer; for example, leaflets posted to their address (which ASC also provides). The Care Act 2014, which comes into force on 1 April 2015, will require all local authorities to provide this personalised and tailored information and advice.

·         The proportion of carers who report that they have been included or consulted in discussions about the person they care for has fallen between 2012/13 and 2014/15. However, this figure is expected to rise to 100% at the time of the next Carer Survey because the Care Act 2014 contains a provision that entitles carers to their own assessment irrespective of the needs of the cared for person, meaning that they will be consulted individually.

·         In response to a reduction in the proportion of carers who find it easy to find information about services, ASC conducted an internet survey to discover how people access information online. Most carers search for information via Google (rather than starting their search from the East Sussex County Council website homepage) and the information that ASC provides is being streamlined and optimised to reflect carers’ searching habits.

·         Negative responses in the Carers Survey are not treated as a formal complaint against ASC, which are handled through a specific formal complaints process. Therefore, individual “dissatisfied” respondents to the Carers Survey will generally not receive a direct response from ASC (as they would with a formal complaint), but their data will be used to help inform the Department about how it can improve services for carers. However, if any responses to the survey raise safeguarding issues, ASC will make contact with the individual.

·         Whilst there has been a 30% reduction in care packages, ASC community care budget is demand led. This affects the pace at which savings can be made by the Department as it has to continue to meet the level of need for those who are eligible for care in East Sussex, regardless of its savings commitments. The new eligibility criteria due to published in the Care Act 2014 guidelines in October 2015 are likely to have an impact on demand for the service (as they will do nationally) and this could affect the Department’s ability to make future savings.

36.3     The Committee RESOLVED to request that:

1)    the updated Equality Impact Assessment is emailed to the Committee;

2)    the benchmarking data for the Carer Survey is emailed to the Committee when available;

3)    a report is brought to the 12 November 2015 meeting of the Committee containing an update on the continued impact of the reduction of care packages; a 6 month review of how the Care Act has been implemented; and how the Act has affected demand on services.