Agenda and minutes

To remind Members of the need to record the existence and nature of any personal, disclosable pecuniary or other registrable interests in items on the agenda, in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct.

Councillor Richard Somner declared an interest in Agenda Item 6, but reported that, as his interest was a personal or a other registrable interest, but not a disclosable pecuniary interest, he determined to remain to take part in the discussion.

Purpose: To receive new items and agree and prioritise the work programme of the Committee foe the remainder of 2016/2017.

The Commission considered the items for discussion and concluded that they would form the Communities Select Committee Work Programme.

Resolved that:

(1)       Integrated Health and Social Care would be added to the Work Programme.

(2)       Looked After Children placement sufficiency and stability would be added to the Work Programme

Purpose: To consider any items which an Urgent Decision is required to be taken by the Executive, in exception to the requirements of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

There were no items Called-In.

Purpose: To consider any items proposed for a Councillor Call for Action.

There were no Councillor Call for Action received.

Purpose: To introduce to the Select Committee the background to Health and Social Integration.

Tandra Forster introduced the report to the Committee and provided Members with a presentation to explain the Health and Social Care Integration plans underway.

Members heard that the Health and Social Care Act 2012 set the scene regarding the need for better integrated health and care services. It detailed the need of Local Authorities to join up local services and this was reinforced further in the Care Act 2014; the Care Act also expanded the role to include matters such as housing.

The purpose of integrating services was to meet the need of an aging demographic (nationally). It was recognised that people were living longer but not necessarily healthier lives. However, West Berkshire statistics suggested that the population was typically healthier than the national average.

The Committee received an illustration of the Council Budget versus the spend on the increasing number of people who required support. Tandra Forster stated that, based on this projection, by 2022-2023 the Council’s spend would only be able to pay for social services and no others.

The Committee heard that it was difficult to recruit younger workers to a profession which was physically tiring and offered limited pay. Care work was typically staffed by older people which also bought challenges regarding their own welfare and physical health.

Tandra Forster advised the Committee that the services were often tending to a small number of people but that they had significant needs which required a lot of resources. There were currently 1576 people receiving care out of a local population of 150,000 (approx).

Tandra Forster explained that Pioneer Bidding provided an opportunity to request funds to support and assist local systems of ‘early implementers’. The Berkshire West joint health and social care groups agree funding and oversaw the development, testing and implementation of innovative approaches to integration. The ten organisations consisted of: South Reading CCG; North & West Reading CCG; Wokingham CCG; Newbury & District CCG; Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust; Berkshire Healthcare Foundation Trust; Reading Borough Council; Wokingham Borough Council; West Berkshire Council and South Central Ambulance Service. The main priorities identified by the group were:

·         Frail Elderly

·         Mental Health

·         Children

Tandra Forster advised that it was not clear why they had failed to secure funding through the Pioneer Bidding system but they considered that the activity was useful as it created the information required for the Better Care Fund. Members heard that the Berkshire West 10 covered an area with a complex organisational structure in terms of health and social care groups. Some groups covered multiple areas outside of Berkshire West and this added to the complexity around who provided services. In response to questions asked by the Group, Tandra Forster advised that reports were produced to identify the learning from schemes funded by the Pioneer Bids.

The Better Care Fund was a national initiative aimed to accelerate integration. The Berkshire West budget was £10,669m, generated by a contribution from the local Clinical Commissioning Groups. Funding was provided on the basis that schemes met the key national  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Purpose: To update and inform on our progress of West Berkshire ensuring good placement sufficiency and stability for our Looked After Children and Care leavers and the challenges we currently face in ensuring good outcomes are achieved and good care is delivered.

Mary-Anne Cosgrove introduced her report to Members and advised that she managed the Children in Care Team, Family Placement Team and Leaving Care Team. She also worked closely with front facing teams within the service to consider processes which could lead to children being placed in care. Members heard that the report detailed the local need and plans in place to meet those needs. However, she stressed that it was not always possible to predict the demand on services so demand was forecasted based on the information the services had available to them.

The Committee was directed to Appendix A (Placement Sufficiency and Stability Report) which was due for final sign off in December 2016. Members heard that West Berkshire District Council served a population of 155,500 people. Of these almost 40,000 were children aged between 0 and 19 years.

The national Census indicated that the majority of the population living in West Berkshire was White British (91.2%). The next largest ethnic group was Other White, such as White European. There was a lower proportion of people from all ethnic minority groups living in West Berkshire than there were nationally and in the South East Region.

Of West Berkshire residents, as a whole, 5% defined themselves as coming from a black or minority ethnic (BME) background compared to 14% of people in England.

Mary-Anne Cosgrove stated that it is a District of contrasts, being one of the most affluent areas in the country yet with some communities experiencing high levels of deprivation.

In terms of Looked After Children, Members were informed that the number had decreased in the last year from 175 children to 155. The largest group of children was aged between 10 and 15 years old. Mary-Anne Cosgrove advised that this age range tended to include children with detachment issues and complex behavioural challenges.

In the last 12 to 18 months there had been a focus on ensuring children did not drift in care. All children accommodated under section 20 had their cases reviewed and for many the Local Authority made the decision to issue care proceedings to secure the children’s futures. Mary-Anne Cosgrove stated that there were concerns that the use of Section 20 to accommodate children had been misused by Local Authorities. However, the review ensured that the childrens’ needs were prioritised correctly. Members heard that the degree of parental responsibility held by the local authority was determined by the child’s legal status.

The Committee was advised that, wherever appropriate, the service would look to secure adoptive parents because this provided stable and permanent family surroundings. However, on occasions some children may be assessed as not being able to be adopted (perhaps due to age or individual needs). In these cases the team would look at permanency planning which offered benefits such as contact with siblings and parental responsibility.

West Berkshire was considered to have a healthy number of foster carers in place, although the demand for foster placements continue to be met by in-house  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.