Agenda and minutes

All Members of the Executive were present.

Councillor Stephen Carr announced that this would be his last meeting as Leader, and thanked Members of the Executive and officers, past and present, for their support over the years.

Councillor Simon Fawthrop declared an interest as an employee of British Telecom.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions to this Committee must be received in writing 4 working days before the date of the meeting.  Therefore please ensure questions are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on Thursday 7^th September 2017.

No questions had been received.

Report CSD17122

In response to a comment from Councillor Peter Morgan in relation to Children’s Services (minute 273) the Leader commented that there were now good channels of communication with staff and partners.  

Councillor Kate Lymer enquired about progress with Banbury House (Minute 161) - the Chief Executive offered to check the current position.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meetings held on 19^th July 2017 and 9^th August 2017, excluding exempt items, be confirmed.

The Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director of Education, Care and Health Services gave an update on progress with the improvement of Children’s Services. Following the positive outcome of the latest monitoring visit by Ofsted on 8^th/9^th August, he emphasised three key issues –

(i)  The focus on combatting child sexual exploitation and the improved practice was recognised by Ofsted and the Commissioner.

(ii)  The Minister had written to the Council yesterday confirming that the Council should retain control of the delivery of children’s social care.

(iii) There were still considerable challenges involved in ensuring standards were improved within the financial envelope available.

In response to questions, the Deputy Chief Executive confirmed that the caseload promise was being met in terms of children in care, although the increase in referrals this week as children returned to school would push referral and assessment beyond the terms of the promise. With the help of HR, additional social workers were being recruited with 40 permanent staff due to join and a group of student social workers starting shortly. It was essential to support new and existing social workers, deliver on the caseload promise and sustain good practice in every case.

The Deputy Chief Executive also referred to the work of the Atlas Team in addressing child sexual exploitation. Where shortcomings had been found in this area, the Council had been prepared to inform Ofsted in advance, which was a positive shift in approach. The Atlas Team included four police officers as well as social workers to overcome the potential disconnect between services. It was intended that there would be another open day which would enable Members to meet the team and understand its work. 

The Leader thanked the Members, officers and partners involved in securing improvements to the service. The Portfolio Holder for Education, Children and Families placed on record his particular thanks to Jane Bailey, Director of Education, who was leaving the Council shortly. 

Report FSD17067

The Executive received a report setting out a proposal for the Council to join the London Business Rate pool pilot which provided financial incentives for all London boroughs.  For the pilot to proceed, the unanimous agreement of all Boroughs was needed, and confirmation was also required from Government that a London wide scheme could go ahead.  London Councils were formally seeking consideration of a pan London proposal with details of the options for consideration included within the report.

The likely additional income for London as a whole was £229m, with Bromley estimated to benefit by between £1.94m and £2.58m, depending on the distribution method chosen through borough Leaders at London Councils. The proposal could be disbanded after a year if necessary, and Members stated that the Council should be prepared to pull out if the benefits did not materialise.

The Director of Finance informed Members that the proposals were now completely separate from Fairer Funding; it was likely that full devolution of business rates would probably not happen until 2020/21 or even later, with Fairer Funding coming in after that.

The report had been considered by Executive and Resources PDS Committee on 7^th September 2017. The Committee had supported the proposals, but suggested a small amendment to the final recommendation which the Executive accepted.

RESOLVED that Council be recommended to:

(1) Support the London Business Rates pilot;

(2) Endorse the Leader agreeing the final arrangements at the Leader’s Committee of London Councils to implement a scheme substantially in the form proposed;

(3) Agree that the Leader –

(a) seeks to minimise the collective investment contribution; and

(b)  obtains assurances from Government that any additional funding received will not be offset by future corresponding reductions in Government funding.

Report ED18016

The Executive considered a report which sought approval to enter into a new contract with Riverside School for the purpose of providing short breaks for disabled children and young people for a period of three years from 1 April 2018, with a further allowance for a two year contract extension after that date on the basis on an exemption from tendering.  The current contract with Riverside School was working well, with good feedback from parents, and market testing had shown that there were no other providers capable of matching their quality and value for money. 

The Council had a statutory duty to provide short breaks to those assessed as being eligible for such provision and the duty extended to the Council providing an appropriate and relevant range and choice of short break services.

Officers confirmed that the contract value of £191,492 given in paragraph 9.1 of the report was the annual value, not the total value over three or five years. 

RESOLVED that approval be given to enter into a contract with Riverside School for the purpose of providing short breaks for disabled children and young people for a period of three years from 1 April 2018, with further allowance for a two year contract extension after that date on the basis of an exemption from tendering.

Report CS18060

The Executive received a report summarising the Public Health commissioning intentions for 2018/19, and seeking authorisation to continue the existing arrangements for sexual health services covering Genitor-Urinary Medicine for 2018/19.

The Local Authority had participated in a pan-London collaborative commissioning arrangement for the provision of integrated sexual health services in Genitor-Urinary Medicine (GUM) settings.  This was supported by an annually agreed Memorandum of Understanding and an Inter-Authority Agreement between all participating London local authorities.  A budget of £1.6m per annum was allowed for the provision of services through this collaborative arrangement which had proved to be an effective way to commission sexual health services for Bromley residents and had enabled significant savings to be realised over the past three years with actual spend reducing from £1.64m in 2014/15 to £1.55m in 2016/17. 

In addition, a number of new initiatives had been developed including the implementation of the London Integrated Sexual Health Tariff and a forthcoming London-wide online testing service which were expected to generate further efficiencies.  It was therefore proposed that the Council’s Executive give authorisation to continue these arrangements for 2018/19, with delegated authority provided to the Director of Public Health in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Care Services for subsequent annual renewal for the following two years.

The report had been scrutinised by the Care Services PDS Committee on 5^th September 2017, and the Committee had supported the proposals.

RESOLVED that

(1) The 2018/19 Public Health commissioning intentions summary in Appendix 1 to Report CS1806 be noted;

(2) The Council’s current participation in the pan-London collaborative commissioning arrangements for Sexual Health be noted and the continuation of these arrangements for 2018/19 be approved; and

(3) Authority be delegated to the Director of Public Health, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Care Services for subsequent annual renewal for a period of two years for 2019/20 and 2020/21.

Report CS18051

The Executive received a report setting out the findings of a review of the performance of Service Level Agreements with Bromley GP Practices for the delivery of specified Public Health programmes and outlining the 2018/19 commissioning intentions for the NHS Health Check Service and Sexual Health Services.

All registered GP Practices in the Borough had signed up via Individual Service Level Agreements to deliver one or more elements of specific Public Health programmes from 2014 to 2018.  44 out of the 45 registered GP Practices provided the mandated NHS Health Check Service and all registered GP Practices provided Sexual Health Services.  Performance by GP Practices varied, however all participating GP Practices had been identified as meeting the required clinical and quality standards specified in the Service Level Agreements and were able to achieve significantly more checks than any previous providers in a community setting. 

Due to an overall reduction in the percentage of NHS Health Checks, the need to appoint an alternative provider had been identified and following a pilot project, Bromley GP Alliance had been identified as suitable based on the number of checks undertaken during the pilot project and the provider’s unique ability to establish an Information Sharing Agreement with all participating GP Practices to enable access to patient records.  It was therefore proposed that an exemption from tendering be granted to support the continuation of NHS Health Checks and Sexual Health Services in primary care by enabling the Director of Public Health to establish a new round of Service Level Agreements with GP Practices for three years from 1^st April 2018 to 31^st March 2021.  It was also proposed that an exemption from tendering be granted to appoint Bromley GP Alliance as an alternative provider of NHS Health Checks through a Service Level Agreement for a period of three years from 1^st April 2018 to 31^st March 2021.

The report had been scrutinised by the Care Services PDS Committee on 5^th September 2017, and the Committee had supported the proposals.

RESOLVED that

(1) The award of Service Level Agreements to GPs for the provision of NHS Health Checks and Sexual Health Services by granting an exemption from tendering as per Sections 3 and 13 of the Council’s contract procedure rules for a period of three years from 1^st April 2018 to 31^st March 2021 be approved; and,

(2) An exemption from tendering be approved under Sections 3 and 13 of the Council’s contract procedure rules and a contract be awarded to Bromley GP Alliance as an Alternative Provider of NHS Health Checks for a period of three years from 1^st April 2018 to 31^st March 2021.

Report CS18044

The Executive received a report recommending the reallocation of preventative funds within Better Care Funding for 2017/18.

In September 2016, the Local Authority and Bromley Clinical Commissioning Group (BCCG) agreed to jointly commission a range of primary and secondary intervention services funded through the Better Care Fund.  These services were designed to reduce the requirement for unplanned care, prevent or delay the need for long term care packages and to support residents to remain independent for as long as possible.  Following consideration by the Council’s Executive at its meeting on 19^th July 2017, a contract to deliver these services was awarded to Bromley Third Sector Enterprise from 1^st October 2017. 

This represented a slight delay from the originally anticipated start date of 1^st April 2017, leading to an underspend of £825,500.  It was therefore proposed to utilise this underspend to offset cost pressures sustained by the Council and BCCG as a result of reduced preventative services in 2017/18. The money would be split 60% to the Council and 40% to the CCG on the basis of

the financial make-up of primary and secondary intervention services. Full details were set out in paragraph 3.6 of the report.

The report had been scrutinised by the Care Services PDS Committee on 5^th September 2017, and the Committee had supported the proposals.

RESOLVED that

(1) The reallocation of £825,500 of Better Care Fund originally allocated for preventative services be approved to be split between the Local Authority and the Bromley Clinical Commissioning Group on a 60%/40% split;

(2) The reallocated funding be put against overspends and pressures attributable to not having preventative services in place;

(3) It is noted that the preventative services have now been awarded and will commence from 1^st October 2017; and,

(4)  The agreement of the Joint Integrated Commissioning Executive to this action on 19^th July 2017 be noted.

Report CS18052

The Executive received a report providing an update on the use of temporary accommodation and housing support to meet current housing need and homelessness pressures across the Borough.  The report also set out key actions being undertaken to mitigate the growing pressures on housing supply and requested approval for officers to progress a number of schemes to assist in addressing the current pressures

The Executive noted that in common with all London Boroughs, Bromley had experienced a significant increase in the number of households at risk of homelessness or requiring temporary accommodation in recent years.  This was expected to continue to increase as further welfare reforms were introduced and in light of increased duties that would be placed on all local authorities when the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 came into force in 2018.  Detailed guidance on the Act was not expected until early in the New Year, but a significant amount of additional duties was anticipated.

To address this, the Council had undertaken a wide range of work including early intervention measures to prevent homelessness and significantly increasing temporary accommodation stocks within Bromley and the surrounding area.  The Council continued to work closely with developers and housing associations to maximise the supply of affordable housing in new development schemes.  A number of housing providers and developers were also committed to working with the Local Authority to bring forward property acquisition and refurbishment schemes, for which ten proposed core principles had been developed to assist in the timely progression of schemes before they were reported to Members.

It was confirmed that there were now over 1,500 households in temporary accommodation; Members commented that this figure contained people in a range of circumstances, and requested data broken down into more detailed categories. They also requested comparative data with neighbouring boroughs. This information would be available for the next update in November.

The report had been scrutinised by the Care Services PDS Committee on 5^th September 2017, and the Committee had supported the proposals.

RESOLVED that

(1) The updates provided regarding the current homeless pressures and actions being undertaken to address these pressures be noted;

(2) The core principles identified as an option in seeking alternative accommodation provision from providers be agreed; and

(3) Officers proceed in investigating and reporting back on any proposal from a provider that meets the core principles following the necessary due diligence arrangements.

Report CS18063

The Executive received a report outlining proposals to introduce mobile working across the Adult Social Care service and requesting that £200,000 be released from the Council’s Technology Fund to provide the additional IT equipment needed to support the implementation of the scheme.

Following concerns identified around the continuing high demand for Adult Social Care services, a mini-pilot scheme was undertaken in the Initial Response Service to identify how an increased level of mobile working could benefit the service, staff and service users.  The outcome of the eight week pilot scheme which focused on the Occupational Therapy service demonstrated improved productivity in assessments of 40-50% with a significant uplift in the number of service users assessed each week, both increasing the efficiency of the Occupational Therapy Service and supporting service users to retain their independence.  It had been identified that there were 149 posts with assessing responsibility across the Adult Social Care service that might benefit from increased remote working and realise the associated efficiencies, and that a similar move to remote working had recently been rolled-out across Children’s Social Care. 

The report had been scrutinised by the Care Services PDS Committee on 5^th September 2017, and the Committee had supported the proposals.

RESOLVED that the release of £200,000 from the Local Authority’s Technology Fund be approved to provide additional IT equipment to support the implementation of mobile working across the Adult Social Care service, as detailed in Report CS18063.

Item Withdrawn

The report was withdrawn.

There were no additional items reported from Executive and Resources PDS Committee.

The Deputy Leader, Councillor Colin Smith, led Members and officers in paying tribute to Councillor Stephen Carr for the way that he had led the Council for more than thirteen years, steering the borough successfully through a period of unparalleled austerity in local government.

RESOLVED that the Press and public be excluded during consideration of the items of business referred to below as it is likely in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings that if members of the Press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information.

The following summary

refers to matters

involving exempt information

RESOLVED that the exempt minutes of the meeting held on 19^th July be confirmed.