Agenda and minutes

[The Chair to welcome everyone to the meeting.]

Cllr Val Evans, Chair, welcomed everyone to the meeting and advised it was being live streamed to the press and public. A recording of the meeting would be available for viewing on the Council’s website at a future date.

[The Chair will explain how the meeting will proceed, how questions are to be asked and any matters of meeting etiquette.]

Cllr Evans explained the protocol to be followed during the meeting for asking questions.

Apologies were received from the following members of the panel:

Cllr Stephanie Haynes

Cllr Jacqueline Sweetman

Cllr Olivia Birch

Cllr Ellis Turrell substitute for Cllr Haynes

There were no declarations of interest recorded.

The panel members approved the minutes of the meeting held on 5 July 2022 as being a correct record.

[Becky Wilkinson, Director of Adult Services, to present report]

The Chair invited Becky Wilkinson, Director of Adult Services, to present the report.

The Director of Adult Services gave apologies for Sandra Ashton-Jones, Head of Service, who was unable to attend the meeting to present the report.

The Director of Adult Services introduced Leslie Johnson, Manager of the Carers Support Team and Rachael Murphy, Head of Adult Services, to the panel and advised they also would be available to answer any questions.

The Director of Adult Services presented information about the definition of a ‘carer’, the amount carers are estimated to save the economy and details about the numbers of carers in the City. The Director of Adult Services advised the panel that the local authority has a statutory duty to assess and provide support to carers.

The Director of Adult Services advised the panel that the issue of the level of support for carers was a main discussion item at the recent ADASS Spring Conference where there was recognition of the critical contribution that unpaid carers give to the social care sector.

The Director of Adult Services commented that some people supporting a family member, or a friend would not see themselves as a carer, but their efforts support the work of social care. There is estimated to be 27,000 people in Wolverhampton who identify themselves as a carer based on Census data in 2011. The Director of Adult Services advised the panel that the latest Census figures when published is expected to show an increase in the number of carers and commented on work being done to improve the support offered to them

The Director of Adult Services commented on the priorities of the Council’s commitment to All Age Carers strategy and the core values that support them. There is a linked action plan for achieving the priorities detailed in the strategy.

The Director of Adult Services commented that the strategy will be refreshed in December 2022 and will be regularly reviewed in discussions with different groups of people and feedback from the public about the issues of concern, for example, employment and financial wellbeing services, and the support for young carers to encourage them to contact the service for advice and support.

The Director of Adult Services commented on the importance of not only supporting people in Wolverhampton but also supporting Council employees, in recognition of the increasing pressures on people who may be looking after children and or relatives with additional care needs.

The Director of Adult Services highlighted the challenge in identifying young carers who may not consider that they are caring for somebody in their family and outlined work being done to identify and support them. A series of workshops is planned to talk with different groups about ideas for reaching younger carers.

A series of events hosted by Wolverhampton Cares and other organisations is also being planned to find out the views of older carers, and to promote the support available to them.

The Director of Adult Services reassured the panel that there  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

[Becky Wilkinson, Director of Adult Social Services, to present report]

The Chair invited Becky Wilkinson, Director of Adult Services, to present the report.

The Director of Adult Services advised the panel that the presentation would give a summary of Winter Plan 2022-2023 planning work.

The Director of Adult Services advised that the presentation was also intended to give assurance before the next planned scrutiny meeting in January 2023 of the work being by the Council and other key partners to date to prepare for expected increase in demand during the winter months.

The Director of Adult Services added that while the focus of the plan is on the role of RWHT, the Council has a responsibility around the Winter Plan to support the work of the hospital and people needing adult social care.

The NHS winter period covers the period October 2022 to March 2023. 

The Director of Adult Services advised the panel that the Winter Plan was developed through the One Wolverhampton Partnership and commented on the positive working relationships with health colleagues and praised the joint efforts made by everyone involved in drafting the plan.

The Director of Adult Services advised the panel that based on modelling work there is expected to be a deficit of 52 beds in January 2023 without any mitigation or extra bed capacity.  The Director of Adult Services commented on the role of adult social care in supporting this work.

The Director of Adult Services commented on specific areas of work in the Winter Plan, to either mitigate against the risks or create extra hospital bed capacity for example, reducing ambulance delays and admission avoidance, and gave details about the current funding available and where extra funding is needed to deliver the project.

The Director of Adult Services commented on the funding generally for the Winter Plan and advised that a decision is expected from the Government about the social care winter discharge monies and Wolverhampton’s share of this allocation. The fund will be in addition to the £1 million budget for urgent and emergency care and funds from the community infrastructure budget to support the delivery of the Winter Plan.

The Director of Adult Services commented that the RWHT are already experiencing levels of pressures on bed capacity in the last 10 days that would normally be expected in the peak of winter demand. The Council is looking at how it can help support efforts to reduce the pressure on the hospital.

The Director of Adult Services reassured the panel that the Winter Plan will be assessed by NHS England to check that Wolverhampton has everything in place as much possible to mitigate against the challenges detailed in the presentation. The Director of Adult Services wanted to formally note her thanks to health colleagues who have responded positively when asked to contribute to the adult social care budget to help deliver the Winter Plan.

The panel were invited to comment on the report.

The Chair thanked the presenter for the report.

The panel queried the potential funding stream gaps detailed in the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

[Meena Dulai,Head of Service Adult Improvement, to present report]

The Chair invited Meena Dulai, Head of Adult Improvement, to present the report.

The Head of Adult Improvement outlined the background to the development of the Transforming Adult Services Programme annual report. The report includes details about the key achievements, progress against outcomes and the priorities for the service in 2023 – 2024,

The Head of Adult Improvement invited Emma Cleary, Programme Manager, to give the detailed presentation to the panel.

The Programme Manager outlined the background to the development of the Transforming Adult Services Programme (TASP) which started in 2016. The Programme Manager advised the panel that the intention is to bring further updates on progress of the transformation programme annually. The TASP was refreshed following a review in 2021 where opportunities to help streamline and transform services for the better was identified.

The Programme Manager outlined the vision and aims of the programme during Phase 2 of the redesign programme and the key successes to date. The programme is aligned to the Our City: Our Plan The Care Act 2014 and the Wolverhampton City Strategy 2011-2026

The Programme Manager commented on progress against the programme outcomes in the TASP Annual Report 2021-2022 and the priorities for 2022- 2023.

The panel were invited to comment on the report and presentation.

The panel wanted to formally record their thanks and congratulations on the progress made to deliver the outcomes for the transformation programme. The panel asked that a future report detail be provided of the different projects in each of the Council ward areas.

The panel asked for more details of the financial context of the programme in future reports referencing the budget savings figure of £50,000 in the presentation to Outcome 3: Increased use of technology to deliver care services.

The Director of Adult advised the panel that an update on progress of the redesign of adult social care has been sent separately to members which gives information about specific projects.

The Director of Adult Services commented on increased demand on adult social care service and advised the panel that £9 million growth in the budget had been secured this financial year to respond to this issue. The Director of Adult Services reassured the panel that the reason for introducing the transformation programme is not to save money and the aim is to redirect funds through the redesign of services to better match changes in demand across the City.

The panel queried the progress made in achieving the priorities detailed in the Wolverhampton City Strategy 2011 -2026 and the Our City: Our Plan Strategy and asked for an assessment on where the authority is against those strategies, the success measures used to assess progress and specifically the gap between where the service is now and where it needs to be to achieve them.

The Director of Adult Service responded that the indicators for the service are detailed in Our City: Our Plan strategy and highlighted that an important measure of performance used is the proportion of older people (65  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

[Earl Piggott-Smith, Scrutiny Officer, to present report]

The Chair invited Earl Piggott-Smith, Scrutiny Officer, to present the report. The Scrutiny Officer advised the panel of future agenda items on the panel work programme.

The panel were invited to comment on the draft work programme.

The panel suggested that the Chair of Health Scrutiny be contacted to suggest that the report Our Commitment to All Age Carers 2022 be added to the work programme

The panel thanked the presenter for the report.

Resolved:

1.    The panel agreed to note the report.

2.    The Chair of Health Scrutiny Panel to be contacted to consider adding the report Our Commitment to All Age Carers 2022 to work programme for discussion.