Agenda, decisions and minutes

At this point, Members are asked to declare:

·        any personal interests not included on the Register of Interest

·        any prejudicial interests or

·        any disclosable pecuniary interests

which they may have in respect of business on this agenda.

The Cabinet Member was invited to declare at this point in the meeting any personal, prejudicial or disclosable pecuniary interests she might have in the business on the agenda. No interests were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 27 September 2012.

RESOLVED:       That the minutes of the last Decision Session of the Cabinet Member for Health, Housing and Adult Social Services held on 27 September 2012 be approved and signed by the Cabinet Member as a correct record.

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

This report introduces the contents of the City of York’s Local Account for Adult Social Care 2013 (Annex 1) and asks theCabinet Member to note the performance and priorities in the Local Account 2012 andapprove the Local Account, with any relevant changes, for general publication.

RESOLVED:             (i)         That the performance and improvements detailed in the Local Account 2012 be noted.

                                    (ii)        The Local Account, with any relevant changes, be approved for general publication.

REASON:                  Approval by the Cabinet Member will enable Adults, Children and Education (ACE) to engage in the regional Service Led Improvement Programme for 2012-13 and to meet its commitment to the Promoting Excellence in Councils’ Adults Social Care Programme Board, and good practice in producing an annual Local Account.

The Cabinet Member considered a report which introduced the City of York Council of York’s Local Account for Adult Social Care 2012. The Director of Adults, Children and Education, the Assistant Director (Adult Commissioning, Modernisation and Provision) and Performance & Improvement Manager attended the meeting. They provided the Cabinet member with a copy of the Local Account for her information and comments.

Officers drew the Cabinet Member’s attention to the following key performance improvements:

·        Overall Quality of Life – When we asked people using care services to self report against those things which contributed to their Quality of Life, the results for York were higher in every reported category than the regional and the average across other unitary authorities.

·        Value for Money – The adult social care budget in 2011-12 accounted for 17% of the entire council budget. This is lower than the 19% of budget which is the average council budget spent on adult social care in comparable local authorities. City of York has the lowest calculated spend per head of population on adult social care at £206 per year, compared to an average of £273 in areas of a similar size. We spend around 10% of our budget on care management and professional support which is the advised optimum level for care assessment and review processes.

Officers also drew her attention to the following areas for improvement.

·        To ensure that the actions in the service plans within City of York adult social care reflect the priorities agreed with York citizens through the Health and Wellbeing Board and continue to actively involve people who use services, in all levels of service design and decision making.

·        To continue to make support more personalised and deliver greater levels of choice and control; implementing through scrutiny a self assessment of our progress and identifying the priority areas for development.

·        To work with health colleagues to drive down the number of delayed discharges from hospital into the community through joint working, increased communication and increasing the availability of reablement.

The Cabinet Member considered two options as follows:

·        Option 1:To approve the Local Account for Adult Social Care 2012.

·        Option 2:To reject the content and analysis of Local Account 2012.

She expressed her support in principle for the Local Account for Adult Social Care 2012 and the good work which was taking place. She acknowledged that, as a result of reduced central government funding, some of the 14 areas of improvement may be difficult to achieve.

She asked that, once finalised, copies of the document be made available in libraries and on the council’s website and that key partners are provided with a copy by email. She also recommended that a report be taken to a future meeting of the York Shadow Health and Wellbeing Board

RESOLVED:       (i)      That the performance and improvements detailed in the Local Account 2012 be noted.

                             (ii)      The Local Account, with any relevant changes, be approved for general publication.

                             (iii)     That a report be taken to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

The Cabinet Member is asked to agree changes to the current contributions policy to support the development of a more consistent, transparent and fair approach to the way personal budgets are provided, and reduce some disincentives for people to take their personal budget as a direct payment. 

RESOLVED:             That option 1, to agree the proposed new contributions policy as in Annex A be approved.  The specific changes to the customer contributions policy would be as follows:

·        contributions to home care and day care services will be based on the actual cost of the support provided rather than a standard cost.

·        contributions will still be payable during temporary reduction or stoppage of support (eg hospital/holiday) in line with any contract agreements with providers.

·        where someone needs two carers to support them at the same time the personal budget and the costs of the support package will reflect the two carers.

·        where the personal budget is used to provide a short break, including up to eight weeks in a year within a residential setting, the customer contributions will be calculated on the basis of a non residential service.

Reason:                      To deliver a more consistent, transparent and equitable customer contributions policy and enable personal accounts to work in the same way for people who take a direct payment and those for whom the council commissions support.

The Cabinet Member considered a report which asked her to agree changes to the current contributions policy to support the development of a more consistent, transparent and fair approach to the way personal budgets are provided, and reduce some disincentives for people to take their personal budget as a direct payment.

The Cabinet Member was asked to consider the following three options:

Option 1:    To agree the proposed new contributions policy as in Annex A.  The specific changes to the customer contributions policy are:

·        contributions to home care and day care services will be based on the actual cost of the support provided rather than a standard cost

·        contributions will still be payable during temporary reduction or stoppage of support (eg hospital/holiday) in line with any contract agreements with providers

·        where someone needs two carers to support them at the same time the personal budget and the costs of the support package  will reflect the two carers

·        where the personal budget is used to provide a short break, including up to eight weeks (56 nights) in a year within in a residential setting, the customer contributions will be calculated on the basis of a non residential service

Option 2:    To retain the contributions policy as it is.

Option 3:    To agree selected changes.

The Assistant Director (Adult Assessment and Safeguarding) advised that the review was being undertaken within the context of the personalisation agenda. She explained that the consultation responses showed broad support for the principles proposed. She acknowledged there was a small concern raised from those directly affected but gave assurances that nobody would be asked to pay more than they could afford.

The Cabinet Member acknowledged the need to look at how funding is allocated and how people contribute proportionately to ensure that as many people as possible can receive the services they require. She recommended that the contributions policy is reviewed on an annual basis to ensure that  people are still contributing fairly and receiving the assistance they require. Officers assured her that everyone receiving a service is reviewed on an annual basis, including their financial assessment and that the Policy will be reviewed on an annual basis

RESOLVED:       That option 1, to agree the proposed new contributions policy as in Annex A be approved.  The specific changes to the customer contributions policy would be as follows:

·        contributions to home care and day care services will be based on the actual cost of the support provided rather than a standard cost.

·        contributions will still be payable during temporary reduction or stoppage of support (eg hospital/holiday) in line with any contract agreements with providers.

·        where someone needs two carers to support them at the same time the personal budget and the costs of the support package will reflect the two carers.

·        where the personal budget is used to provide a short break, including up to eight weeks in a year within a residential setting, the customer contributions will be calculated on the basis of a non  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.