Agenda item

To receive a written report from the Cabinet Member for Health and Community Engagement and to question the Cabinet Member thereon, provided any such questions are registered in accordance with the timescales and procedures set out in Standing Order 8.2.1.

Council received a written report from Councillor Cunningham-Cross, Cabinet Member for Health and Community Engagement.

 

Notice had been received of fourteen questions on the report submitted by Members in accordance with Standing Orders.  As the guillotine had now fallen, Councillor Cunningham-Cross undertook to provide Members with written answers to the questions.

 

(i)      From Cllr Douglas

 

“The Cabinet Member gives an interesting overview of the potential impact of the Care Act 2014.  Given its imminent enactment, when does she envisage having more detailed information to share- what will change, when and at what cost?”

 

Reply:

I am slightly surprised by this question as Cllr Douglas attended my most recent cross-party ASC briefing during which we were given a comprehensive briefing of the implications of the Care Act by senior officers. In terms of presenting further information as it becomes available, I am happy to continue doing this through the cross-party meetings now established. This item will also be covered at the meeting of the HWBB on 22^nd October, which you would be most welcome to attend – or watch the webcast.

 

Briefly:

What will change

-      a shift in focus to early intervention/prevention e.g. community navigators and re-ablement

-      better information and advice (enabling people to make better decisions)

-      integration: better coordinated care including work to provide personalhealth and social care budgets for those with long term conditions

-      enhanced provision of support for carers

-      £72,000 cap on care costs

-      statutory safeguarding board

-      improving market oversight to enable us to manage risk better

 

When

-      Some changes come into effect April 2015; these include safeguarding board becoming a statutory body

-      The rest of the provisions (most that relate to money, including the care cost cap) come into effect April 2016.

 

What cost?

-      At this time we have estimated an additional £3.352m cost pressures in 2015/16 to deliver the Care Act.

 

(ii)      From Cllr Ayre

 

“Does the Cabinet Member agree with the conclusions drawn by external auditors that her predecessor's EPH project saw £600,000 of planned savings not delivered because "assumptions were flawed", "savings were double counted", "there was no effective challenge of assumptions" and the project suffered as "members made changes"?”

 

Reply:

I don’t believe Cllr’s Ayre’s question offers an accurate reading of the auditor’s report nor is it a true reflection of the service as it stands today.

 

(iii)    From Cllr Richardson

 

“Could the Cabinet Member confirm whether Her Majesty’s Government? (HMG) is making additional funding available to contribute towards the additional costs of the Cheshire West Deprivation of Liberty Safeguard (DOLs) ruling and if so what impact this will have on the predicted year-end deficit?”

 

Reply:

No, I am not able to confirm that at this time.

 

Currently the Dept of Health have surveyed all LA’s about the additional costs and we anticipate some recognition of the additional burdens to Councils however there is nothing firmed up on this a this stage. In 2013/14 there were 22 cases assessed with DoLs in CYC, to date this year there have been 90 and we expect to receive over 240. Latest estimated costs are £433k – cabinet has agreed a release of contingency funds up to £500k to cover this additional burden. Whilst of course any additional funding from government would be most welcome, I am not holding my breath.

 

 

 

(iv)    From Cllr Aspden

 

“What help is the Cabinet Member putting in place to help the York Coronary Support Group Trust run their fitness exercise classes following the decision to end the funding of Burton Stone Lane Community Centre?”

 

Reply:

Plans for the future of BSCC are in the very early stages and were shared with residents and community groups at a drop-in session on 22^nd September. At this session I, and council officers, met with representatives of the Coronary Support Group (amongst others) and will be continuing that dialogue with them. If it transpires that the group will no longer be able to use the centre to run their sessions, the council will ensure the group is relocated to a suitable alternative venue, as we recognise the importance of the sessions they provide.

 

The council has supported the group in the past and intends to continue that support, but difficult decisions are having to be made in light of Tory-LD cuts.

 

(v)     From Cllr Douglas

 

“The Cabinet Member reminds us that the city achieved White Ribbon status in May.  This is a commendable achievement.  Could she report on what specific action has been taken to eradicate violence against women and children since that time?”

 

Reply:

Since the Council received White Ribbon accreditation, work has been ongoing to develop a Domestic Violence Strategy with North Yorkshire, which concentrates on the issues most relevant to York. This work is being led by the Domestic Violence Board, which is chaired by my colleague Cllr Simpson-Laing.

 

The Council is in the process of organising staff awareness sessions, including promoting the “White Ribbon Day” (24^th November 2014) and is also working with the University of York to bring together the 2014 “Reclaim the Night March” in November.

 

Relationships have continued with the key partners and the work they are undertaking to promote the issues within their organisations particularly North Yorkshire Police, York Hospital, Aviva and International Service.

 

(vi)    From Cllr Runciman

 

“Will the Cabinet Member join me in welcoming Liberal Democrat Care Minister Norman Lamb's introduction of the first national waiting time targets for people with mental health problems, including a target for young people with psychosis to be seen within 14 days - the same target as cancer patients?”

 

Reply:

No.

 

Mental health services, in York and across the country, have suffered from decades of underfunding and I don’t believe a waiting time target will solve this. The ability of the health service and the Council to respond to emerging mental health needs is seriously undermined by your government’s cuts to local government and the wider health economy. This is an issue that requires investment, joined up thinking and strong leadership (which this current government is seriously lacking). As with all Liberal Democrat pledges, it’s not worth the paper it is written on.

 (vii)   From Cllr Richardson

“Could the Cabinet Member tell us the lessons learned from the inadequate audit report and whether the failing had occurred under her own watch or under that of her predecessor, Cllr. Simpson-Laing?”

 

Reply:

I believe the report to which you are referring covers the financial year April 2013 to April 2014 and, as I mention in my report, our auditors are satisfied that the work that has been undertaken since April 2014 “addresses the areas requiring improvement”.

 

A comprehensive list of these findings was presented to the Audit and Governance Committee on the 30^th July and is included in the papers for that meeting.

 

 (viii)  From Cllr Ayre

 

“What plans does the Cabinet Member have in place to reduce the city's consumption of sugar?”

 

Reply:

This is an area that has been identified during discussions with colleagues on the Health and Wellbeing Board (HWBB) as one where we can make significant gains in terms of improving the health of the city with relatively low levels of investment. It is one of the perverse effects of the promotion of low fat diets and low fat foods in recent years that many people attempting to make healthy choices are now eating far larger quantities of hidden (refined) sugars than they otherwise might have and so it is an area where giving people a better understanding of the health implications of excess sugar can make a big difference. The HWBB will discuss this issue at a future meeting and develop a strategy going forward – this work is still in very early stages.

 

 

(ix)    From Cllr Douglas

 

“Given the Cabinet Member’s commitment to community consultation could she confirm she is satisfied with the level and quality of consultation regarding cutting lunch time meals with elderly persons’ homes and the reduction and relocation of the young peoples’ counselling services at Castlegate?”

 

Reply:

We have not cut lunchtime meals in any elderly persons’ homes.

 

On the relocation of the Castlegate service, yes I am. The Council consulted with 80 people who use the services at Castlegate, 70% (56) of whom were content with the move to WO, this figure rises to nearer 90% when factoring in those who responded “don’t know”. The Youth Council and Looked After Children (show me that I matter) panel were also positive about moving to WO.

 

(x)     From Cllr Aspden

“Is the recent consultation on children's services a good example of engagement given that the 'transformation' of children's centres will be doing the opposite of what the parents and carers wanted?”

 

Reply:

I would urge Cllr Aspden to actually read the papers that came to Cabinet earlier this week that set out in some detail the responses to the consultation on children’s services. These quite clearly demonstrate that we are doing exactly what parents and carers asked us to do – in fact we have altered the direction of the transformation of children’s centres in response to the results of the consultation which engaged with 1700 parents, carers and childcare professionals. I’m not quite sure what the Liberal Democrat leader’s definition of engagement is but I’d be interested to hear why he thinks this was inadequate.

 

(xi)    From Cllr Richardson

 

“It is reassuring to hear the Health and Wellbeing Board is reviewing its workings.  Could the Cabinet Member share with us what she feels the major successes of the HWBB has been over the past 12 months?”

 

Reply:

Whilst much of the work of the HWBB is focused on developing long-term strategies for improving the health and wellbeing of the city that may take some years to bear fruit, the board has made a number of significant achievements in its first year. These include:

 

-      the opening of the Section 136 (under the Mental Health Act) “Place of Safety” at Bootham Hospital

-      undertaking case reviews for people who have been in hospital for morethan 100 days

-      a review  of the use of medication and how it is assessed in residential and nursing care, especially psychotropic drugs and medication for people with dementia

-      launching an online “living and breathing” JSNA

-      completion of the JSNA “deep dive” on mental health

-      raising the profile of the role of carers and strengthening links (carers attended the meeting in July 2013 to address the board)

 

(xii)    From Cllr Firth

 

“If the cabinet member is building links with the voluntary sector, could she outline if and how she worked with York Playspace to prevent their closure?”

 

Reply:

The Council had a long standing relationship with Playspace for many years, which spans the lifetime of the organisation. We have supported them financially – through a range of funding programmes including Shine, Better Play and Early Intervention – and provided ongoing practical support from officers in the Communities & Equalities team, Business Support team in CSES and CVS through our SLA as well as more recently Your Consortium (funding which they returned following their decision to fold). They have also worked on our Lottery and Playbuilder programmes.

 

My colleague Cllr Looker has also met personally with trustees of the organisation and worked hard with them to offer support to continue.

 

They are a stand alone constituted organisation and have not reached this decision lightly – first carrying out a consultation exercise to look at there future objectives and position. Regrettably the current climate for voluntary and community organisations is impossibly tough as local government is no longer able to offer the same levels of financial support as it once was. We remain committed to supporting our voluntary and community sector to thrive in York but this is never an easy task.

 

(xiii)   From Cllr Richardson

“Given the unexpected departure of the Director of Public Health, could the Cabinet Member assure members that the local authority has a suitably qualified Director now leading this critical function?”

 

Reply:

Yes

(xiv)  From Cllr Richardson

 

“The Cabinet Member reports on a number of consultation events that have taken place in recent weeks.  Could the Cabinet Member share the summarised qualitative data she received from the Local Plan consultation and show how this was reflected in the ongoing drafting process?”

 

Reply:

This data was received by the planning department (rather then myself) and so I recommend Cllr Richardson refer his question to the Cabinet Member for environment, planning and sustainability.