Agenda, decisions and minutes

At this point Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on this agenda.

Members were invited to declare at this point in the meeting any personal or prejudicial interests they might have in the business on the agenda.

No interests were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on Monday 8 September 2008.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the meeting held on 8 September 2008 be approved and signed by the Chair and the Executive Member as a correct record.

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered their wish to speak regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the Panel’s remit can do so. Anyone who wishes to register or requires further information is requested to contact the Democracy Officer on the contact details listed at the foot of this agenda. The deadline for registering is Friday 17 October 2008 at 5:00pm.

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

This report provides a background to Members about the inspection, some of the key issues arising from it and action taken so far and it informs Members of the detailed improvement plan in response to the CSCI inspection report.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised:

(i)                 That the report on the inspection by the Commission for Social Care Inspection be received;

(ii)               That the improvement plan, attached as Annex 1 of the report, be approved and the report be brought back to the next meeting to allow Members to make further comments and amendments;

(iii)             That a progress report on the improvement plan be brought back in six month’s time.

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:(i) To enable formal consideration of the inspection’s findings;

(ii)               To ensure the improvement plan is supported and implemented, and that Members have sufficient opportunity to read and consider the report in detail;

(iii) To ensure effective scrutiny of the improvement plan.

Members received a report which provided the background about the inspection by the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI), some of the key issues arising from it and action taken so far, and which informed them of the detailed improvement plan in response to the inspection report.

Jan Clark, the lead inspector for CSCI presented the inspection report to the meeting and copies were circulated to Members.  The inspection had focused on the areas of safeguarding vulnerable adults and delivering personalised and preventative services for older people.  The presentation outlined key strengths and key areas for improvement for each of these three services, and then discussed the Council’s capacity to improve.  The services had received the following ratings:

·  Safeguarding vulnerable adults – adequate;

·  Delivering personalised services for older people – adequate;

·  Delivering preventative services for older people – good;

·  Capacity to improve – uncertain.

The Director of Housing & Adult Social Services outlined the officer response to the report and referred Members to Annex 1 of the officer report, which set out the principal actions, the lead officers and the timescales for key milestones in the improvement plan.

Members expressed concern that they could not fully consider and respond to the report as they had only received copies at the meeting, owing to the CSCI embargo, and requested that a further opportunity be provided to comment on it at the next meeting.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised:

(i)                 That the report on the inspection by the Commission for Social Care Inspection be received;

(ii)               That the improvement plan, attached as Annex 1 of the report, be approved¹ and the plan be brought back to the next meeting to allow Members to make further comments and amendments;²

(iii)             That a progress report on the improvement plan be brought back in six month’s time.³

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:(i) To enable formal consideration of the inspection’s findings;

(ii)               To ensure the improvement plan is supported and implemented, and that Members have sufficient opportunity to read and consider the report in detail;

(iii) To ensure effective scrutiny of the improvement plan.

This report seeks Members approval for changes to the portfolios of the three Assistant Directors in the department who are primarily responsible for adult social care.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised:

(i)         That the changes to the portfolios of the Assistant Directors, as set out in Option 1, be endorsed and supported.

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:To align the senior management structure of the department more closely to the agreed objectives for adult social care.

Members received a report which informed them of changes to the portfolios of the three Assistant Directors in the department who were primarily responsible for adult social care.  The changes had been approved by the Staffing Matters and Urgency Committee on 13 October 2008.

The following portfolios had been created, as detailed in paragraph 8 of the report:

·  Commissioning and Partnerships;

·  Assessment and Personalisation;

·  Service Delivery and Transformation.

The post-holders affected by the proposals had been consulted and had consented to accept the revised portfolios with effect from 1 November 2008, as detailed in paragraph 9 of the report.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised:

(i)         That the changes to the portfolios of the Assistant Directors, as set out in Option 1, be endorsed and supported.

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:To align the senior management structure of the department more closely to the agreed objectives for adult social care.

This reports seeks Members agreement to write off a number of former tenants arrears.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised:

(i)           That Option B be approved and former tenants arrears of £20,497.04, as detailed in Annex A of the report, be written off.

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:In line with the Audit Commission’s Housing Inspection report, dated October 2002, and as the write offs could be contained within the bad debt provision of the Housing Revenue Account.

Members received a report which sought agreement to write off a number of former tenants arrears.

The report presented the following options for consideration:

·  Option A – To maintain the former tenant arrears on accounts;

·  Option B – To write the debts off on the understanding that they could be reinstated at a later date if necessary.

The Executive Member congratulated staff on the reduction in the amount being written off.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised:

(i)           That Option B be approved and former tenants arrears of £20,497.04, as detailed in Annex A of the report, be written off.¹

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:In line with the Audit Commission’s Housing Inspection report, dated October 2002, and as the write offs could be contained within the bad debt provision of the Housing Revenue Account.