Brighton & Hove City Council
People Overview & Scrutiny
4.00pm18 March 2025
Hove Town Hall - Council Chamber
MINUTES
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Present: Councillor O'Quinn (Chair), Sheard (Deputy Chair), Cattell, Czolak, Helliwell, Meadows, Shanks, Thomson, Goldsmith and Grimshaw |
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Other Members present: Lesley Hurst (CoE Diocesan Director of Education), Joanna Martindale (CVS), Dr Anusree Biswas Sasidharan, Keith Jago (Older People’s Council)
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PART ONE
33 Procedural Business
33 A Declarations of substitutions: Cllr Goldsmith for Cllr Mcleay. Cllr Grimshaw for Cllr Simon.
Apologies from the Youth Council reps, Becky Robinson (PACC), Maria Cowler (Catholic Diocese).
B Declarations of interest: There are none.
C Exclusion of the press and public: There are no part two items
34 Chair's Communications
34.1 The Chair gave the following communication:
Welcome everyone to our last scheduled meeting of the People Overview & Scrutiny Committee of this municipal year. I’d like to thank members of the committee for your involvement over the last year. I hope that you have all found the committee as interesting as I have. I think that we have held the executive to account, asked important questions, and made good suggestions to them on a range of topics.
Our first item today is a further update on the transition to adulthood strategy. Since we last looked at this at our October meeting a lot of work has happened on the strategy. This will be presented by Cllr Jacob Allen and Director for Adult Social Services, Steve Hook. We are also joined by Fiona England of PACC and Sally Polanski of Amaze, who have worked with the council on the strategy and presented to us on the strategy in October.
Then we will be hearing from Cllr Daniel and the Head of Library Service, Ceris Howard, on changes to libraries and customer services. Cllr Pumm had agreed to bring this item to the committee before he sadly had to stand down. Cllr Daniel has only just had libraries added to her cabinet brief a few days ago. Cllr Allen will also be remaining with us for this item as services transformation falls within his brief.
35 Minutes
35.1 The minutes of the meeting held on 07 February were approved as an accurate record. The minutes of the meeting held on 14 January were approved as an accurate record.
36 Public Involvement
36.1 There were no public questions, petitions, or deputations.
37 Member Involvement
37.1 There were no member questions.
38 Transition Strategy
38.1 Cllr Allen, cabinet member for Adult Social Care, Public Health and Service Transformation, presented the report to the committee. Key points included how the Transition Strategy aligned with the Corporate Plan, benchmarking and self-assessment, standards met, and the delivery plan.
38.2 Fiona England of PACC remained concerned about a number of issues but was happy that it is moving forward. PACC has limited capacity and so co-production would be higher if they had more funding. Fiona was positive that officers are committed to working with PACC. She felt that the delivery plan according to need was very positive. Fiona said that there were risks and to ensure the plan is delivered officers needed to push the details across the line.
38.3 Sally Polanski of Amaze said that the delivery plan was really clear on processes which they wanted. She said that they would be keen to do engagement with parent carers on the outcomes. Sally said that engagement with young people with severe disabilities will need to be built into engagement. She felt that the pathways in the appendix was really helpful. Sally was interested in commissioning and would like more detail on this. Amaze has produced a new website amazingfuturessussex.org.uk and can include details on transition on that.
38.4 Members raised the following issues: the need to consult with young people who have gone through transition, further details on the standards, reductions in benefits meaning younger people can’t claim incapacity benefits, additional transitional safeguards, independent living accommodation, outsourcing of services, all women services, IT systems sharing data safely and easily, how the budget affects the transition strategy, assessment and planning particularly around unforeseen events in young people’s lives, measuring and monitoring the council’s integrated working between departments, timescale to cabinet, voices from those who have suffered criminal exploitation, police involvement, the involvement of SENCOs, involvement of parents and carers, staffing requirements.
38.5 People Overview & Scrutiny Committee resolved to note the report.
39 Libraries
39.1 Cllr Emma Daniel, cabinet member for Children, Families and Youth Services presented the report to the committee. Keys points included the budget savings proposals agreed at budget council, eliminating wastage in the council’s estate, modernising services, and co-location of services.
39.2 Members asked questions on the following issues: which libraries would close, centralisation of services, the potential need to book a slot for help, the impact on older people, the impact of the PFI agreement coming to an end, what happens to the staff at Hove Town Hall and Barts House, what would happen to Hove Town Hall and Barts House, how the consultation and the needs and use analysis will work, the relatively short time frame of consultation, the need for older people to have face to face consultations rather than using technology, why the savings from closing Barts House and Hove Town Hall could not be used to keep libraries open, the need for further scrutiny when there are proposals, the willingness of staff who are university trained librarians to deal with customer services, the need for security staff at the libraries (as currently at Hove Town Hall and Barts House), if current co-location services have increased library footfall, engaging as many groups as possible with the consultation, ensuring that people know there are face to face services in the library, integrating services from partners like the NHS or Adult Social Care, the progress of Moulsecoomb Hub, the need for a good communications plan on the services offered by libraries, and if there will be signposting for certain needs to go to specific libraries.
39.3 The People Overview and Scrutiny Committee resolved to note the report.
The meeting concluded at 7.09pm
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Signed
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Chair |
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