Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Roger Charsley, Diana MacMull and Mrs Gill Rose.

The Chairman and the Committee thanked former Councillors Carole Hubbard, Karen Roberts and Brenda Thompson for the work that they had undertaken to support the Portfolio and the PDS Committee.

The Committee considered a report outlining Co-opted Membership Appointments for 2010-2011.  The Chairman reported to the Committee that a nomination for a service user would not be further pursued.

RESOLVED that the following A&C PDS Co-opted Membership appointments be made for 2010-2011 without voting rights:

• Dr Angela Bhan, Bromley NHS Representative;
• Mrs Angela Clayton-Turner, Bromley Mental Health Forum Representative;
• Mr Richard Lane, Bromley Learning Disability Forum Representative;
• Mrs Leslie Marks, Bromley Council on Ageing Representative;
• Mr Keith Marshall, Disability Voice Bromley Representative;
• Mrs Lynne Powrie, Carers Bromley Representative; and
• Mrs Gill Rose, Bromley Housing Federation Representative.

Councillor Ruth Bennett declared a personal interest in Item 12 as a case worker for an MP.

Councillor Judi Ellis declared a personal interest in Item 12 as a case worker for an MP.  Councillor Ellis also declared that her daughter worked at Bethlam Hospital.

Councillor William Huntington-Thresher declared a personal interest as he sat on the Board of Broomleigh Housing Association.

Councillor Reg Adams declared that his wife was an employee of Bromley Community Counselling Service (BCCS)

To hear questions to the Committee received in writing by the Legal, Democratic and Customer Services Department by 5pm on Wednesday 16^th June 2010 and to respond.

No questions were received.

In respect of the minutes from 17^th March 2010, Councillor Ruth Bennett reported that there had been an article in a national newspaper suggesting that the tags worn by patients could be a breach of human rights.  The Chairman responded that she recalled a question had been asked of the representative from SLAM regarding this issue, and the Committee had been informed that patients felt more secure with the tags.  It was suggested that this issue be raised with SLAM when their representatives attended a future meeting.

Councillor Huntington-Thresher noted that he had been recorded as present at the meeting on 17^th March 2010 but reported that he had sent his apologies for this meeting.

In respect to the minutes of 14^th April 2010, Councillor Charles Rideout highlighted that Councillor Roger Charsley was a member of SLAM, not Affinity Sutton as recorded in the minutes.  Councillor Huntington-Thresher had recorded a declaration in respect to the Board of Broomleigh Housing Association.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meetings held on 17^th March 2010 and 14^th April 2010 be agreed, subject to the amendments outlined above.

The Committee considered a report providing an update on recommendations from previous meetings which remained outstanding.

In relation to Minute 112, the Chairman reported that she had attended a meeting between South London Healthcare NHS Trust and Bromley LINk and that the issues that had previously been raised by the LINk had now been resolved.  The Chairman also suggested that it would be helpful to coordinate the work of the Healthcheck Working Group with the work of Bromley LINk to ensure there was no duplication.

In respect to the issue of Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust locking wards, the Chairman queried whether a response had been received from Oxleas and it was confirmed that no response had been received but that the issue would be pursued prior to the next meeting.

With regard to the issue of undertaking a piece of work regarding missed appointments, the Chairman suggested that the issue be raised with Dr Chris Streather.

Turning to the issue of Disability Voice Bromley not being listed in the Membership of the new Mobility Forum, Leslie Marks reported that all interested parties would be invited to the first meeting of the Mobility Forum and it was hoped that this would be held in July 2010.

RESOLVED that the progress made on recommendations outstanding from previous meetings be noted.

To hear questions to the Adult and Community Portfolio Holder received in writing by the Legal, Democratic and Customer Services Department by 5pm on Wednesday 16^th June 2010 and to respond.

No questions were received.

The Committee noted the decisions that had been taken by the Portfolio Holder since the last meeting.

The Portfolio Holder introduced a report informing and updating Members of the Policy Development and Scrutiny committee on the work of the Supporting Independence in Bromley Programme.

The Director of Adult and Community Services (ACS) provided a brief overview of the programme and explained to Members that the Local Authority was currently two years into the national programme.  The Director explained that current indications were that the new government would continue with the programme. 

The Programme Manager, Supporting Independence in Bromley, presented an overview of the Supporting Independence in Bromley Programme, highlighting the main principles and aims of the programme and the benefits that it was envisaged that the programme would deliver.

Following the presentation the Committee considered the development of the programme and a Co-opted Member underlined the tremendous progress that had been made.  The Co-opted Member highlighted that three or four years prior, an excellent consultation had been undertaken regarding the provision of day centres and services for adults with learning disabilities, but noted that no action had since been taken.  Richard Lane reported that the Learning Disability Forum had expressed concern that real choice did not exist in terms of day service provision, and Mr Lane questioned whether this area needed further development.  The Director ACS suggested that this issue be considered in more detail at a future meeting of the Committee. 

The Committee was informed that there was a range of day activities available for adults with learning disabilities but that there was still more work to be done.  The Director ACS highlighted that the Thyme Out project had been very successful in supporting people with learning disabilities to deliver the grounds maintenance service across Bromley’s Civic Centre site, and noted that there was a range of other activities available for adults including work that was being undertaken with Bromley Adult Education.  The Director acknowledged that some unresolved issues remained and there were some aspects of the provision that had not been completed.

The Chairman reported that Members had expressed some concern about the way information was captured around the way adults spent their time and suggested that this issue be added to the Committee’s work programme.

A Member highlighted that the report stated that an expansion of the numbers of staff undertaking re-ablement work was required and the Member questioned whether this was a role for homecare staff and whether in future there would be fewer in house homecare staff.  The Director ACS clarified that re ablement opportunities were being made available to the highly skilled homecare staff and that there were a number of people who wanted to be re ablement facilitators. It was acknowledged that as more people take up re ablement services this would impact on the level and type of domiciliary services required in future. 

Another Member questioned how the success of the programme was being measured and how Officers were adopting best practice from other local authorities.  The Programme Manager for Supporting Independence in Bromley reported that a performance  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

The Adult and Community Portfolio Holder to present scheduled reports for pre-decision scrutiny on matters where he is minded to make decisions.

The Portfolio Holder updated the Committee on a number of events he had attended since the last meeting including the Disability Voice Bromley AGM and the Bromley Community Links Awards for Volunteers.

He reported that he was proud to continue as Portfolio Holder following the recent election.  The Portfolio Holder thanked former Councillors Carole Hubbard, Karen Roberts and Brenda Thompson for the work that they had undertaken to support the Portfolio and the PDS Committee.

The Portfolio Holder also reported that two DVDs had recently been produced: one DVD outlined Bromley Age Concern’s Care Brokerage Scheme and the other DVD was produced by Bromley Mencap and addressed the issue of mutual caring.

The Portfolio Holder introduced the Adult and Community Portfolio Plan for final approval.  On 14^th April 2010 the Adult and Community PDS Committee provided their comments to the Portfolio Holder and the updated Plan had been circulated for consultation.

The Portfolio Holder outlined the priorities of the Portfolio Plan and highlighted that the Plan contained measurable outcomes.  The Portfolio Holder stressed that finance would continue to be a challenge, and that there would be increased need for the services of the Portfolio with fewer resources available.

A Member asked about the employment opportunities available within the Borough for people with mental health problems and the Director ACS highlighted that there were a number of opportunities available, for example through Horizon House and Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust.

The Chairman suggested that further information be sent to Councillor Fookes for review, and following this the issue of supporting people with mental health problems into employment and retaining employment could be added to the Committee’s work programme as an area for Members to investigate.  Leslie Marks also highlighted that Bromley MIND work to help people cope with mental health issues.  It was suggested that when the Committee considered this issue, business representatives from Bromley Economic Partnership should be invited to the meeting to outline the work being done by local businesses to support people with mental health issues into employment.

A Member commented that there was no indication within the Portfolio Plan of the importance of the indicators and what targets were considered to be priorities.  The Portfolio holder reported that last year the Local Authority had met 33 out of the 36 targets and stated that at a future meeting  he would be happy to outline the key priorities for his portfolio.

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder be recommended to agree the final Portfolio Plan.

Ms Jennie Hall from South London Healthcare NHS Trust attended the meeting to provide Members with an update on the ‘A Picture of Health Programme’.  The presentation provided to the Committee is attached at Appendix A to the minutes.

In response to a Member’s queries around the current position of Orpington Treatment Centre, Ms Hall confirmed that the Treatment Centre was no longer open and that elective surgery had been transferred to the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH).  The Committee was also told that the plan to move orthopaedic surgery to Queen Mary Sidcup was still in place.

Dr Angela Bhan provided an update on the new Operating Framework that had been issued by the Government and the implications of the Framework in terms of a reduction in the 4 hour target for A&E and the change in the 18 week target for referrals from GP practices.  Dr Bhan stressed that there would continue to be a focus on patient safety and local monitoring of the target to ensure that waiting lists did not start to increase.

The Committee was told that a White Paper on the NHS would be published on 6^th July 2010 and that this would be significant in terms of the structure of the NHS.  A Public Health White Paper was also expected in the autumn.

A Co-opted Member asked Ms Hall to provide an update of other performance targets and the plans of SLHT to improve these.  Ms Hall highlighted that key priorities were outlined in the Trust’s Quality Accounts and that these had been drawn together with distinctive programmes of work and programme leads.

The Chairman suggested that the issue of patient falls be taken up in the Health Check Working Group as this tied in with other safeguarding issues.

The Committee considered a report providing an overview of the main issues raised and the lessons learnt from this year’s annual report on Adult and Community Services Complaints received April 2009 to March 2010.

The Chairman thanked Officers for an excellent report and noted that it reflected previous points that had been made by the Committee.  She highlighted that the Committee would be receiving the Complaints report in the current format on an annual basis.

The Chairman asked for clarification regarding when an issue became a complaint, and the Quality Assurance Manager explained that if a customer said they were complaining it was treated as a complaint.  The complaints procedure was then outlined to the Committee.

Referring to paragraph 4.2, a Member questioned whether the domiciliary care provider was still being used by the Local Authority.  The Director ACS explained that the contractor was still being used, however a range of issues had been picked up through the contract monitoring process and these had been addressed by the provider.

The Portfolio Holder raised the issue of complaints surrounding the issuing of Blue Badges, as several complaints had been upheld around this issue.  The Portfolio Holder noted that paragraph 4.1 of the report outlined the action that had been taken to correct the issues that had been raised and stressed the need to ensure progress continued to be monitored.  The Chairman reported that this issue had been added to the Committee’s work programme for July 2010.

A Co-opted Member asked for clarification surrounding whether a complaint was upheld or not.  The Quality Assurance Manager explained that following the receipt of a complaint an investigation was carried out. If sufficient evidence that supported the complaint was gathered, the complaint would be upheld.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

The Committee considered a report outlining the final outturn position for 2009/10.

The Director ACS highlighted the table in Appendix 1 of the report demonstrated that in the controllable part of the budget there had been an overspend of £165,000 and this represented a relatively small proportion of the total budget of £75.7 million.  The Director also reported that there had been an improvement in the position that had been reported in February 2010, as the Department had managed to contain some of the pressures that had been reported to Committee.

Referring to the Reasons for Variation and Section 3 relating to the provision of bad debt, a Member asked about the type of organisations that had been causing problems.  The Director ACS reported that this section referred to a specific issue in the part of the Council responsible for collecting payments.  The Director reported that action had been taken to improve the method of collection and that there was close monitoring to ensure that any problems were identified early.

The Chairman commended the Department for managing limited resources with an increased demand on services.

RESOLVED that it be noted that there was an overspend of £223,000 at the end of 2009/10.

The Committee considered a report providing an overview of the performance of Housing and Residential Services against the key objectives and targets for 2009/10, together with a summary of the key drivers and objectives for 2010/11.

The Assistant Director for Housing and Residential Services highlighted that the past year had been challenging due to the effects of the recession and a 300% increase in the number of applications to the housing register.

The Committee considered the Mortgage Protection Scheme and the Head of Housing Needs explained that 15 people had received the full package of support with 7 cases pending.  3 people had gone through the Council’s own scheme with 101 people receiving debt advice and support.  The Head of Housing Needs reported that a large proportion of the cases in the Borough had either been rescued or resolved.

A Member highlighted that the impact of the increase in applications to the housing register on current staffing levels should be considered and action taken to increase staffing levels if necessary.  The Head of Housing Needs reported that a temporary member of staff had been appointed to help with Bromley Homeseekers and the staffing situation was always under review to ensure that levels of demand were met.

The Portfolio Holder highlighted the need to get action right at an early stage to ensure effective use of limited resources in this area. The  Portfolio Holder, also stressed that the housing teams worked in a very innovative way with regard to the management of resources in order to meet the needs of local residents.

The Head of Residential Services outlined the successful work that had been undertaken to bring empty properties back into use, as well as work that was being undertaken with the Energy Savings Trust ito bring forward a new pilot project.

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder be recommended to agree the actions being taken to meet the range of housing duties and needs in Bromley and to deal with increased pressures on the service resulting from the recession.

The Committee considered a report setting out the action being taken to support young people and adults with learning disabilities to lead more fulfilling and independent lives, and to manage the cost pressures arising from growing numbers of children with a learning disability moving through to adult services.  The report sought Members’ endorsement of the development of a cross-Portfolio strategy which reflected the Council’s efforts to prepare children and their families to live more independent lives as adults in the community.

The Chairman reported that she felt that transition was happening too late for young people and that plans should be in place by the time a young person reached 10 or 11 years old.  The need to manage and change the expectations of parents was highlighted.  The importance of consultation with parents was also felt to be vital, and the Committee discussed the need to mitigate against risk factors in order to ensure that young people could independently access services and lead more independent lives.

The Assistant Director for Commissioning and Partnerships stressed that in order to help young people access mainstream activities, the infrastructure for facilities would have to be improved into the future.

The Assistant Director for Commissioning and Partnerships reported that the final strategy would come back to the Committee in March 2011 but that there would be further consultation and regular updates would be provided to the Committee.

RESOLVED that the preparation of the joint Adult and Community and Children and Young People transition strategy for learning disabilities be endorsed.

The Committee reviewed its work programme for 2010-2011.

The Assistant Director for Commissioning and Partnerships suggested it would be helpful to have a meeting of the Care Homes Reference Group in July 2010.

The Chairman suggested that representatives of Bromley and Bexley Advocacy Service be invited to the Committee’s January meeting to provide an update, and representatives of Bromley Sparks be invited to the Committee’s March meeting.

RESOLVED that the work programme for 2010-2011 be noted.