Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies were submitted on behalf of Cllr Elias Mattu

There were no declarations of interest received.

24 November 2015

The minutes of the previous meeting were approved and signed as a correct record.

Cllr Patricia Patten referred to page five of the minutes relating to the ‘Building Schools for the Future (BSF) Community Offer’ and asked if any progress had been made in checking all schools to ensure the community offer is being fulfilled.  Tony Ivko, Service Director Adults agreed to pursue the progress and report direct to Cllr Patten.

Cllr Paula Brookfield, Chair informed the panel that the directory of access points for help and advice was now available. She welcomed that the directory included locations and contact information for food banks across the City. She requested, the Service Director to provide an update about welfare reforms. 

The Service Director informed the panel that the scrutiny review of Welfare Reform had been a driver in developing access to advice support and information about benefit changes and that the directory has been prepared as a result of the review.  The Directory would be available to public, Councillors, employees and partner organisations on Wolverhampton Information Network (WIN) from February 2016.  He asked that thanks be recorded to the Welfare Benefits Team for the work they have carried out on the Directory. 

Cllr Rita Potter, former Chair of the scrutiny review group, welcomed the directory, the importance of access to information and support, and the list of food banks.

Cllr Patricia Patten indicated that the language facility available on the WIN website provided access for hard to reach people.  The Service Director confirmed that there are also care navigators in libraries to assist people with enquiries on the WIN website and using other information sources.  He advised that the WIN website is becoming popular and that in addition to over 200,000 hits, there are several connections posted on twitter and it is fast becoming a first port of call for information, advice and support.

The Panel agreed the importance of keeping welfare reforms, food banks, information and support for the most vulnerable in society on the work programme for scrutiny; particularly with the introduction of Universal Credit (UC) in 2017.  Cllr Patricia Patten requested an update relating to how the City is preparing for UC to a future meeting.

Resolved:

1.    That the update is noted and thanks to the Welfare Benefits Team be recorded.

2.    That a progress report be submitted to a future meeting of the scrutiny panel to consider how the City is preparing for Universal Credit.

To provide verbal feedback on the main messages identified during site visits to Stowlawn Concierge control room and the Assistive technology suite based in Bilbrook.

Paul Smith, Interim Manager for Commissioning, Older People provided a verbal summary of the visits on 18 January 2016.  Nine Councillors attended the site visits to Stowlawn 24 hour control centre for concierge service which houses CCTV cameras across the City, and to a permanent telecare site with assistive technologies in Bilbrook.

He advised that the visits were well received and useful and that if required more visits could be facilitated at time that would be more convenient for Councillors who work. The Commissioning Manager advised that Wolverhampton Council and Wolverhampton Homes are giving consideration to providing a property in Wolverhampton that can be fitted out and utilised by residents to explore what assistive technology is available in a safe and supportive environment.

The panel raised a number of points for discussion including the following:

·         People with dementia

There was some concern about how assistive technologies will help people with dementia, particularly if the person was confused or disorientated.  Panel were advised that assistive technology will assist the carers of people with dementia. Assistive technology includes alert buttons in the house, texting and GIS tracking which can be used to locate people who may have wandered outside or become lost in an unfamiliar place. Sensors can be fitted in homes to assist their carers to monitor the individual’s movement in the house and can help to alert the carer to unusual behaviours such as losing track of day and night, not going to the kitchen or bathroom etc.

Carrying trackers outdoors can help carers to locate an individual who has become lost in hours rather than days which will help the person and their carers to be more confident in their safety.  The time spent to locate them could reduce risk of accidents and therefore prevent or reduce the longer term impact and recovery of the individual, which would save resources.

·         Telephone reminders

Contact by telephone is a good way to connect with an individual and is considered valuable to check if they are prepared for cold weather spells, ask if they have taken their medication, remembered a doctor’s appointment or just to say hello if they have not been out of the house that day. Panel recognised that people need contact and a phone call reminder from someone about a doctor’s appointment, or just to check the weather can reduce the individual’s isolation and potentially delay the early signs of dementia. 

·         Quality of Life

Assistive technology for use by the individual, by the carer or by family and friends is really important to make the individual’s quality of life better.  Sensors being fitted in homes to monitor movement could prevent bed blocking in hospitals and improve quality of life for individuals who remain in their own home longer or return from hospital earlier.

Councillors wanted more evidence of what we are getting in social capital, quality of life and sustaining individuals in their own homes. How do we prove that money is saved as well as satisfying  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Paul Smith, Head of Commissioning – Older People to provide an update on the Joint Dementia Strategy for Wolverhampton 2015-17.

Paul Smith, Interim Head of Commissioning, Older people provided an update on the progress on Joint Dementia Strategy for Wolverhampton 2015-2017.

Cllr Patricia Patten, Vice-Chair welcomed the forward thinking in the Joint Dementia Strategy.  She highlighted the need for an early diagnosis in people to be able to put in pace activities and technology to delay the onset of dementia.  She highlighted the need for Doctors (GPs) to be able to recognise the symptoms and spot dementia in its early stages.

Panel welcomed the progress particularly the change in culture, the dementia cafes, the many initiatives in place in the City and the close work with health partners and other organisations. Some panel members had attended dementia training and shared their experiences relating to how useful the training had been to them personally and in their role as ward Councillors. Panel highlighted the need to get the message out about dementia in different languages as often older people with dementia will revert back to their first language.

Cllr Barry Findlay raised the issue of SMART posters and highlighted the need for them to be shared across the City.  The Head of Commissioning advised that the Council does own the rights to the poster and that electronic copies could be shared with schools across the City.

Cllr Jasbinder Dehar welcomed progress with cafes and agreed that socialisation is good.  She asked what more could be done to encourage schools to become dementia friendly, bearing in mind that most of the young people have parents, grandparents and great grandparents.

Cllr Bishan Dass raised some points of concern relating to independent living and people being isolated in society, potentially not talking to anyone for days.  He considered older people from different cultural backgrounds, how lifestyles, eating and drinking can have a negative impact on their health. Tony Ivko recognised the issues when a person moves from independence to dependency.  He advised that there needs to be a referral to go to day care from the GP and suggested that there is a need to find ways to encourage community access to day care.

The group were united on the need to make early diagnosis of dementia.

Chief Inspector Tracey Packham informed the Panel that dementia awareness is available to police officers and is extremely useful in their role in many situations. 

Resolved

That all new Councillors at the start of the municipal year 2016 participate in the Dementia awareness training and that it is included in the Councillors toolkit.

That frontline employee’s including receptionist and new starters undertake dementia awareness training as part of the induction package.

That employee’s raise the dementia friendly City Status and if not already done carry out the training.

[To provide an update on the progress made against the Local Police and  Plan 2015-16]

Chief Inspector Tracey Packham provided a report to update the Panel on progress and performance against the Wolverhampton Local Police and Crime Plan for the first three quarters of the performance year from April – December 2015.

The Chief Inspector advised that the Wolverhampton Police and Crime Plan focus is on three main objectives:

·         Reduce crime

·         Reduce harm and vulnerability

·         Understanding and responding to community concerns

She highlighted the performance detailed in the report which was welcomed by the Panel. She indicated that there was recognition of the need to provide more support in some areas than in others and that despite the cuts the police are committed to neighbourhood policing in a refreshed approach to 2015, aligned closer to the community.

In response to questions she advised that the PACT meetings were still positive.  Panels considered that the types of issues raised were related to prostitution, parking. Anti-social behaviour etc. she advised that the local police teams work closely with Wolverhampton Homes (WH) where criminal investigations are not the best way forward there are other options such as tenancy solutions. She advised that that in response to specific community concerns around the police use of stop and search powers bi-monthly scrutiny panels take place to ensure issues are looked into and appropriate actions taken to policy and procedures.

Cllr Daniel Warren welcomed the reduction in overall crime, he indicated that the fear of crime often did not relate to the number of actual crimes in a community and the performance figures clearly show that there is a reduction in many types of offence.  Panel considered how many in the community did hear about crime.  They considered that there were usually only a few regular attendees at PACT meetings and that the wider community tended to hear local news by facebook or word of mouth. The Chief Inspector acknowledged that the PACT meetings need to be looked at and advised that there will always be people who perceive crime is higher than it is but that fear of crime was monitored in a twice yearly satisfaction survey.  She advised that the survey asks if the police deal with what matters and the outcome is usually high, 86-90%, demonstrating that people have confidence in local policing. She advised that the way police talk to people and use positive news to balance out the fear to show a visible police presence.

The Chief Inspector informed panel that as part of the Police 2020 programme the way policing is conducted at force level is changing, incorporating partners and the use of new technology. Installation of new technology can help to reduce fear of crime and prevent crime and gave the example of protecting vulnerable people from unwanted phone calls simply by screening calls.  Officers can also make better use of technology to follow up and give feedback to the public. 

The Chief Inspector advised that there are changes planned, the PACT meetings are to be reviewed in light of recent changes  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.