Agenda for Overview & Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday, 3rd February, 2016, 4.00pm
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Agenda and minutes
PDF 128 KBVenue: The Ronuk Hall, Portslade Town Hall. View directions
Contact: Cliona May Assistant Democratic Services Officer
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Procedural Business (a) Declarations of Substitutes: Where councillors are unable to attend a meeting, a substitute Member from the same political group may attend, speak and vote in their place for that meeting.
(b) Declarations of Interest:
(a) Disclosable pecuniary interests; (b) Any other interests required to be registered under the local code; (c) Any other general interest as a result of which a decision on the matter might reasonably be regarded as affecting you or a partner more than a majority of other people or businesses in the ward/s affected by the decision.
In each case, you need to declare (i) the item on the agenda the interest relates to; (ii) the nature of the interest; and (iii) whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest or some other interest.
If unsure, Members should seek advice from the committee lawyer or administrator preferably before the meeting.
(c) Exclusion of Press and Public: To consider whether, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, the press and public should be excluded from the meeting when any of the following items are under consideration.
Note: Any item appearing in Part Two of the agenda states in its heading the category under which the information disclosed in the report is exempt from disclosure and therefore not available to the press and public.
A list and description of the exempt categories is available for public inspection at Brighton and Hove Town Halls and on-line in the Constitution at part 7.1.
Minutes: (a) Declarations of Substitutes
41.1 There were no declarations of substitutes.
(b) Declarations of Interest
41.2 There were no declarations of interest.
(c) Exclusion of Press and Public
41.3 In accordance with Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 (“the Act”), the Committee considered whether the public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of any item of business on the grounds that it is likely in view of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during it, there would be disclosure to them of confidential information as defined in Section 100A (3) of the Act.
41.4 RESOLVED - That the public are not excluded from any item of business on the agenda.
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To consider the minutes of the meeting held on 25 November 2016 (copy attached). Minutes: 42.1 RESOLVED – That the Chair be authorised to sign the minutes of the meeting held on 25 November 2015 as a correct record. |
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Chairs Communications Minutes: 43.1 The Chair gave the following communications –
I would like to thank everyone who attended the extra scrutiny meeting last month to look at Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals (BSUH), I think that you have all been invited to the private workshop that officers have arranged to look at GP provision in the city.
I have attended a couple of regional meetings with health scrutiny colleagues recently. The first was at NHS England Southeast, and the second at our local mental health service provider Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust. Both meetings were really interesting and raised a number of items which I think that we all need to be aware of, so I have asked for reports on ambulance handover delays and on the closure of the detox ward at Millview to come to the March OSC.”
43.2 In response to Councillor Wares, the Overview & Scrutiny Support Officer confirmed that the minutes from the special meeting held 15 January 2016 to discuss BSUH were being finalised and would be distributed to all Committee Members and Co-optees.
43.3 The Chair noted that apologies were received from the OPC and from Healthwatch. |
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Public Involvement To consider the following matters raised by members of the public:
(a) Petitions: To receive any petitions presented by members of the public.
(b) Written Questions: To receive any questions submitted by the due date of 12 noon on the 27 January 2016.
(c) Deputations: To receive any deputations submitted by the due date of 12 noon on the 27 January 2016.
Minutes: 44.1 The Chair noted that a written question had been submitted by Mr Kapp; however, he was unable to attend the meeting.
44.2 The Chair read his question to the Committee –
“Why haven't invitations to tender been issued to third sector providers to provide better care for vulnerable patients, despite the Better Care Fund allocation of £20mpa this year, £20 mpa next year, the Childrens Mental Health Transformation Plan Fund of at least £330,000 next year, and the Locally Commissioned Services fund of £2.3 mpa next year?”
44.3 In response to the public question, the Chair read a reply from the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) –
“The CCG commission services through competitive procurement processes where appropriate and in line with procurement guidelines. Services funded via the Better Care Fund include a number of services that are provided by third sector providers. Locally Commissioned Services are those services provided directly by primary care, and as they are provided by GP practices for patients on their registered list these are not competitively tendered.”
44.4 RESOLVED – That the written question was noted by the Committee. |
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Member Involvement To consider the following matters raised by Members:
(a) Petitions: To receive any petitions;
(b) Written Questions: To consider any written questions;
(c) Letters: To consider any letters;
(d) Notices of Motion: to consider any Notices of Motion referred from Full Council or submitted directly to the Committee.
Minutes: 45.1 The Chair noted that there were no items for consideration from Members for the current meeting. |
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Update from Co-Optees To receive any updates from the non-voting co-optees. Minutes: 46.1 The Community Works representative stated to the Committee that an after school club at City Academy Whitehawk was closing down after the Easter holidays due to funding issues.
46.2 Zac Capewell, Youth Council representative, stated to the Committee that the Youth Council ran a PSHE (Personal, social, health and economic education) campaign, involving going to schools and talking to the students about general life skills. The representative added that it had been very successful. |
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Adult Social Care Scrutiny Monitoring Report (Copy of presentation attached). Minutes: 47.1 Denise D’Souza, Executive Director of Adult Services, explained to the Committee due to Officers hours being reduced and lack of resources, the service had been unable to produce a report. It was added that a report could be brought to a future Overview & Scrutiny Committee.
47.2 Brian Doughty, Head of Adults Assessment, introduced the presentation to the Committee and explained that there had been considerable changes made to how performance is monitored. It was stated that service users complete an annual survey and carers complete a biennial survey.
47.3 The Head of Adults Assessment stated to the Committee that the results from the recent service users survey was overall above average in most measures. The results from the carers survey were all above average and there was a significant improvement from the previous survey. It was noted that there were some significant issues regarding older peoples care due to the increase demand for residential services.
47.4 The positives from the surveys were outlined to the Committee, including; delays within social care are below average, employment within learning disabilities services, above average results for people with a learning disability living within their own homes or with family.
47.5 The Executive Director of Adult Services explained to the Committee that Brighton & Hove City Council (BHCC) were part of the Director to Director Challenge alongside other authorities. It was explained that directors from different authorities pair up and look at each other’s performance, discuss budgets and undertake learning and challenging activities.
47.6 It was stated to the Committee that the Peer Review Programme was a programme where authorities were reviewing each other. The Council was the first to be reviewed on learning disabilities and had begun to review other authorities.
47.7 It was stated that Adult Social Care were facing huge budget cuts and had to make a total savings of £43.9m over 2010-2020. Oliver Meadows, Local Government Association (LGA) member and Director had carried out a review of the service and had met with the Executive Director of Adult Services and the Chief Executive and offered savings advice.
47.8 The budget for Community Care was detailed to the Committee and it was stated that it was a service that provided services for over 3,500 people and this made up over half of the 2015/16 adults budget at £39.8m.
47.9 The Head of Adults Assessment explained the Direction of Travel map of the service, in the presentation. It was stated that the service wished to start with “good signposting”, which included giving users the right, detailed information. The second step of the map was to build stronger communities, which would prevent more services being used. Then the third step was to get people on the right track and offering preventative services that would help people stay independent for longer and get back to health after illness. The final step, which was detailed to the Committee, was that the citizen would become the care manager.
47.10 In response to Councillor Allen, the Executive Director of Adult Services confirmed that the next report to OSC would detail what other authorities are doing and how they are benchmarking.
47.11 The Head of Adults Assessment stated to Councillor O’Quinn that the response from people on direct payments was very positive and the team are looking into making this easier for people.
47.12 Councillor Peltzer-Dunn noted that Adult Services are “on track” to meeting the budget savings; however, they are overspending. In response, it was clarified that the department had set plans to deliver target savings, and they are on track to deliver these. It was added that there was not enough budget for Community Care services at the beginning of the year; however, the department intended to reach the budget savings.
47.13 In response to Councillor Page, it was clarified that there was an underspend in the Better Care Fund budget and that this money would be used to enhance other areas and plans and it would offset some budget pressure.
47.14 Councillor Deane questioned how workforce challenges were being addressed. The Executive Director of Adult Services explained that they were working with directors and the NHS and were exploring the idea of wages being higher to recruit people with more skills. It was added that they wished to recruit younger staff and retain them in the city; therefore, were exploring the reasons why people are moving out of the city.
47.15 Councillor O’Quinn expressed concern that GPs had voted to stop visiting older people in care homes. The Executive Director of Adult Services had not heard this but agreed it was an issue that needed to be explored with the CCG.
47.16 RESOLVED – The Committee agreed that a full report would be brought back to the next Overview & Scrutiny Committee. |
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Response to the Publicy Accessible Toilets Scrutiny Panel Report
Report of the Executive Director of Environment Development and Housing (copy attached). Additional documents: Minutes: 48.1 Jan Jonker, Head of Strategy & Projects, introduced the report and explained that it was the second update report to come to Overview & Scrutiny Committee.
48.2 The Head of Strategy & Projects detailed to the Committee that there are 39 dedicated public toilets in the city, as well as public toilets in libraries and public buildings. It was added that the “Use Our Loo” scheme, where businesses open their loos to public members, is being promoted.
48.3 It was explained that the public toilets in the city cost £855,000 per annum in staffing, cleaning costs and utilities.
48.4 Mr Jonker explained to the Committee that the West Pier Arches public toilets were a new facility and had introduced a charge to contribute to the costs of running. This had been successful.
48.5 The Head of Strategy & Projects stated to the Committee that subject to the final budget setting process, they are likely to have make budget cuts of £170,000. He explained that they would be looking at utilities costs, closure of toilets, reducing provision; in addition, also analysing the footfall on the sites and seasonal variation.
48.6 In response to the Youth Council representative, it was explained that the public toilets on the seafront were the busiest in the city and they were exploring the idea of having one toilet attendant monitoring all the seafront toilets.
48.7 Mr Jonker explained to Councillor Peltzer Dunn that they had been speaking to local businesses and encouraged them to join “Use Our Loo” scheme; however, the response was not positive as businesses wanted to keep the toilets for customer use only or they were not insured for the public to use the staff toilets.
48.8 In response to Councillor Allen, it was detailed that they had inquired into encouraging café toilets to be open to the public. Mr Jonker explained that Preston Park in Brighton had two sets of public toilets and it could be possible to make one set of toilets part of the café, which would still be open to the public, but they would be the café’s responsibility. Councillor Wares added that he was unhappy that the toilets in Preston Park were refurbished with the money from the parking scheme and that the toilets could be closed.
48.9 The Chair stated that she was aware that in some authorities, they issued toilet tokens to rough sleepers or other people who might be disadvantaged by any toilet charges being introduced. This had helped reduce any potential increase in street fouling. The Head of Strategy and Projects said that he would include the suggestion in his final report.
48.9 Councillor Page requested that the Committee received a third monitoring report. The Committee agreed.
48.10 RESOLVED – That the report be noted and a further update report to come to Overview & Scrutiny Committee in twelve months. |
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Musculoskeletal Contract update (Copy attached). Minutes: 49.1 Alison Dean, Commissioning Manager for Planned Care from the CCG, introduced the report and noted to the Committee that there was a misleading sentence in the report; in section 2, it should mention secondary services as well as community services.
49.2 The Commissioning Manager told the Committee that a new musculoskeletal service started in October 2014, which was procured by Brighton and Hove, Horsham and Mid Sussex and Crawley CCGs. It was explained to the Committee that there were delays due to problems that were out of their control.
49.3 Ms Dean explained to the Committee that it was a fairly expensive project plan; however, having the facilities on one site meant that patients wouldn’t have to travel to Haywards Heath hospital and that it would speed up the treatment for patients.
49.4 In response to the Committee, Ms Dean stated that it was a five year contract; however, they were hoping to extend this.
49.5 In response to Councillor Wares, Ms Dean reassured the Committee that despite the work on new models of care being delayed, there had been a continuation in services and patients had not been affected by the delays.
49.6 RESOLVED – That the Committee agreed to note the report. |
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Update on Sussexwide Stroke Services (Copy attached). Minutes: 50.1 Lisa Forward, Senior Programme Manager for Sussex Collaborative, NHS, introduced the report and explained that seven Sussex CCGs had worked together to improve stroke services.
50.2 Ms Forward explained to the Committee that there are two service types for dealing with strokes. These are; hyper-acute; the patient needing to get to the hospital within the first 72 hours, and acute; the care after the first 72 hours, including rehabilitation and discharge. It was detailed to the Committee that there were workforce issues; therefore, the services were not open seven days a week. The Senior Programme Manager explained to the Committee that the CCGs were exploring the option of having the two services co-located, although this could increase travel time for ambulances, it would ensure the patient had better care.
50.3 It was noted to the Committee that the CCG Governing Bodies were looking at how this could be achieved, the timeframe and the size of the workforce needed. Ms Forward added that a patient and service user consultation had been completed but required further work and discussions to happen.
50.4 In response to Councillor Marsh, Ms Forward explained that they had more current figures from the next quarter performance; however, these were not available when the agenda was published.
50.5 RESOLVED – That the Committee noted the report and agreed for an update report later in 2016/17. |
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Trans Equalities Scrutiny Panel Monitoring
Report of the Assistant Chief Executive (copy attached). Additional documents: Minutes: 51.1 Sarah Tighe-Ford, Equalities Co-ordinator, introduced and explained to the Committee that it was the third monitoring report to come to a Scrutiny Committee.
51.2 The Equalities Co-ordinator stated to the Committee that a full trans needs assessment had been completed and published in 2015, with a further 62 recommendations, which had strengthened the communication and relationship between the Council and the Trans community.
51.3 It was explained to the Committee that a sub-group of the city-wide Equality & Inclusion Partnership (EquIP) had been formed and the members of this group would continue to work on making Brighton & Hove a fairer place for the Trans community.
51.4 Councillor Deane commented that she had been alerted by the Trans community that there were intermittent problems in Palmeira Square due to the language schools in the area. Ms Tighe-Ford agreed to look into it.
51.5 The Councillors thanked Ms Tighe-Ford for all the work her and her team had done.
51.6 RESOLVED – The Committee agreed the recommendations and discharged scrutiny’s role in any further monitoring. |
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Adults & Children with Autism Scrutiny Panel Monitoring Report of the Assistant Chief Executive (copy attached). Minutes: 52.1 Natalya Garzon, Commissioning & Performance Manager and Jenny Brickell, Head of Integrated Children's Development & Disability Service, introduced the report and outlined the four main topics to review and improve. These were; joint children’s and adult’s priorities, mental health diagnosis pathways, carers, and training and awareness raising.
52.2 The Commissioning & Performance Manager outlined three key areas within all the main topics; transition between children and adult services, pathways to services and raising awareness. It was stated that a clearer diagnostic pathway for adults had been introduced and the CCG were looking into funding it further and training for Primary Care is being explored.
52.3 The Head of Integrated Children’s Development & Disability Service added that they wish to reduce the diagnosing waiting time for children with autism.
52.4 The Commissioning & Performance Manager clarified to the Committee that their team have established training on autism and have been delivering this training to all areas whilst providing ongoing support to individuals with autism and their employers.
52.5 In response to Councillor Wares, the Commissioning & Performance Manager explained that the Autism Champions Network is an opportunity for Champions to meet, share experiences together and be able to go back to where they work/live and raise awareness.
52.6 In response to Councillor Page, Ms Brickell clarified that children may not meet the criteria for help from services, however; the team were exploring what learning support services provide and the current support services available for children in school.
52.7 RESOLVED – That the Committee –
1) Noted the content of the update 2) That a further update is provided on progress in developing a joint strategy in February 2017. |
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Overview & Scrutiny Committee Draft Work Plan/Scrutiny Update (Copy attached). Minutes: 53.1 RESOLVED – The Committee agreed to note the workplan. |