Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor David Jefferys and Councillor Terry Nathan.

Apologies were also received from Lynn Sellwood and Colin Maclean attended as her substitute.

Linda Gabriel declared that she was the Chair of Bromley and Lewisham Mind in relation to Item 13b: Contract Award for Respite at Home Services – Part 2 (Exempt) Information and left the meeting during consideration of this item.

Rosalind Luff declared that one of her children was a young carer in relation to Item 9a: Young Carers.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions to the Care Services Portfolio Holder or to the Chairman of 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 5.00pm on Wednesday 4^th January 2017.

No questions had been received.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meetings held on 15^th November 2016 and 6^th December 2016 be agreed.

Report CSD16169

The Committee considered its work programme for 2016/17, the schedule of Council Members’ visits and matters arising from previous meetings.

RESOLVED that the Care Services work programme for 2016/17, the schedule of Council Members’ visits and matters arising from previous meetings be noted.

The Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director: Education, Care and Health Services gave an update to Members on work being undertaken across the Education Care and Health Services Department.

A range of work was in progress across the Department including measures to improve partnership working with schools and the police and a new multi-agency team to address the issues of child sexual exploitation and missing children.  Other initiatives that had been recently introduced included a monthly safeguarding session with agencies, and a Placements Panel that would review the placements of children looked after.

The Deputy Chief Executive was pleased to introduce Janet Bailey, Interim Director: Children’s Social Care who had recently joined the Local Authority and to announce that Jim Gamble QPM had been appointed as the Independent Chairman of the Bromley Safeguarding Children Board from 16^th January 2017.

In considering the update, the Chairman underlined the need for closer partnership working with foster carers and to ensure the right support was in place for children looked after to thrive within their foster placements.  The Chairman noted that the biennial joint meeting of Care Services PDS and Education Select Committees on child safeguarding would be held in May 2017. 

RESOLVED that the update be noted.

Report CS17089

The Committee considered an update on progress in implementing the Children’s Services Improvement Action Plan, and seeking the approval of the Council’s Executive on proposals for the allocation of Phase 3 funding which had been agreed by the Council’s Executive on 14^th September 2016.

The Council’s services for children in need of help and protection and children looked after and the Bromley Safeguarding Children Board had been inspected by Ofsted in Spring 2016.  Although the Inspection had identified some strengths, the Local Authority received an overall judgement of ‘Inadequate’ and the Bromley Safeguarding Children Board was rated with a judgement of ‘Requires Improvement’.  Following the publication of the Ofsted report, a range of actions had been undertaken to drive the improvement process, including the development of the Improvement Action Plan.  The Department for Education had also appointed a Commissioner to assess the service who subsequently recommended that a Commissioner be appointed to undertake a further six month period of scrutiny to ensure that the required progress was made.  The Council’s Executive had agreed an additional £950k funding to be released over two phases to deliver the Improvement Action Plan, with plans for a third phase of funding in early 2017 that would bring the total additional funding to £2.3m. 

The first Ofsted monitoring visit took place between 8^th and 9^th November 2016 during which a number of cases were reviewed and interviews took place with Officers and young people, parents and carers.  Ofsted subsequently confirmed that this monitoring visit had found a very limited improvement in practice, although there was progress in some areas including work undertaken by the Court Team, and that there was a need to accelerate the improvement process by the next monitoring visit in February 2017.  Since joining the Local Authority in December 2016, the Deputy Chief Executive had refocused the improvement framework to complete the required actions within the necessary timescales and had reviewed the initial Phase 3 spending plan, re-profiling the resource requirements to fund a range of additional posts across the service, including those relating to quality audits.  It had been identified that further resources would be needed in the short to medium term to fund 10-15 social worker posts to ensure caseloads were manageable, and this would be funded via existing resources within the Education, Care and Health Services Department budget and by approaching Bromley Safeguarding Children Board partners to contribute to the new Board posts.

In considering the update, the Chairman noted that a member of the Legal Service would be based with Children’s Social Care staff which would improve practice at the earliest stages and support improved outcomes for children and young people.  A Member queried if the new Information Technology (IT) offer would meet the needs of children’s social workers and the Deputy Chief Executive confirmed that the new IT provision would support children’s social workers to deliver all elements of their role, including access to computer systems and remote working, and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 63a

Report FSD17008

On 30^th November 2016, the Council’s Executive received the 2^nd quarterly capital monitoring report for 2016/17 and agreed a revised Capital Programme for the four year period 2016/17 to 2019/20.  The Committee considered the changes to the Capital Programme for the Care Services Portfolio which included a reduction of £121k in the Social Care Grant to fund works relating to the development of the Eclipse platform for the Children’s Social Care IT system which had been offset by funding agreed by the Council’s Executive, and the rephrasing of schemes totalling £8,206k from 2016/17 to 2017/18 to reflect revised estimates of when expenditure on the Care Services schemes was likely to be incurred.  The Council’s Executive also agreed an increase of £233k in the Capital Programme budget for Section 106 to match the total funding available. 

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder be recommended to confirm the revised Capital Programme agreed by the Council’s Executive on 30^th November 2016.

Report CS17090

The Portfolio Holder introduced a report outlining proposed changes to the contribution policy for non-residential Social Care services.

Social Care services were provided to vulnerable adults within the community who met the Local Authority’s eligibility criteria and following an assessment of need.  A new contributions policy had been agreed by the Council’s Executive in April 2011 for non-residential social care services which allocated services on the basis of a personal budget and allowed service users to take a direct payment to buy care directly or request the Local Authority manage this on their behalf.  This new contribution policy assumed full cost recovery (subject to a financial assessment) of all services, and included a range of services such as personal care, supported living and day care, including transport.  The introduction of the National Living Wage on 1^st April 2016 had increased the cost of domiciliary care packages significantly and as there were further increases proposed for 2017/18, there was a need to review the charging for both the managed service for domiciliary care and direct payment budgets. 

The Reablement Service provided intensive short-term support to enable service users to re-learn daily skills and regain their confidence to live independently.  The service was typically offered following a hospital stay or an illness for a period of three to six weeks and was non-chargeable.  There had been a recent increase in last minute appointment cancellations, which had impacted the efficiency of the service and it was proposed to address this by introducing a cancellation fee of £15.19 per hour for appointments not kept or cancelled with at least 24 hours’ notice.

Officers were also reviewing options around the future of the Extra Care Housing service which would impact how this service was charged for in future, and any proposed changes would be reported to Members in due course.

In considering the proposed cancellation fee for the Reablement Service, a Co-opted Member underlined the need for the cancellation process to be communicated clearly to service users.  The Director: Adult Social Care confirmed that the Local Authority would work with a range of organisations to communicate the cancellation process effectively to service users.  The cancellation fee would be set at the hourly rate of the service and was intended to act as a deterrent to cancelling appointments at the last minute, and not to generate significant income.  The Local Authority would work with service users in setting convenient appointment times, and an appeal process would be established which would include details of the exceptional circumstances in which the cancellation fee would be not be chargeable.

The Co-opted Member was pleased to note that an equality impact assessment would assess the impact of these changes on existing service users and that a follow-up assessment would be undertaken during the implementation phase which would include contributions from a range of stakeholders.  Another Co-opted Member noted that carers should be included within all consultations.

The Chairman was concerned at a suggestion in the report that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64b

Report CS17074

The Portfolio Holder introduced a report outlining the findings of a review to identify potential improvements to the Foster Carer Service to increase the numbers of in-house foster carers and consider how recruitment to the Foster Carer Service might be provided in the future.

The Local Authority’s foster care strategy over recent years had been to increase the use of in-house foster carers as a cost effective alternative to Independent Fostering Agencies and residential care placements. The in-house Foster Carer Service aimed to increase the overall number of in-house foster placements, develop services for family members and friends to act as foster carers, and recruit foster carers living in or near the Borough who reflected the racial and cultural origins of children looked after as far as possible.  Despite the work of the service, there continued to be a shortage of in-house foster carers to meet the increasing demand for placements which had resulted in a number of young people being placed in more expensive residential placements out-of-Borough.  The recent launch of the Interim National Transfer Protocol for Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children 2016/17 was expected to further increase the demand for foster carer placements, particularly for adolescents which was an area of specific shortage.

To address the shortage of in-house foster carers, work had been undertaken to restructure the Foster Carer Service.  The Programme Manager: Commissioning and Procurement Division had also completed a detailed review of the Service which had identified a number of areas for improvement including the response to prospective foster carer enquiries, the website provision and data analysis processes.  Measures were being put in place to address these issues, and consideration was being given to how best to meet the increasing demand for foster carer placements into the future.  Three future service options had been evaluated as part of the review and it was recommended that Option 2 which proposed to market test the recruitment service be progressed.

In discussion, Members were generally supportive of the proposals to market test the initial recruitment element of the service, but expressed concern at proposals for the commissioning of the assessment process up to presentation to Fostering Panel.  A Member noted that of 216 initial enquiries in 2015/16, only five foster carers had been approved which was in line with national trends, and the Chairman emphasised the need for staff with expertise in recruitment to support initial enquiries, rather than social workers.  The Head of Social Care: Care and Resources confirmed that no decision had been made on the scope of services to be commissioned if any, but that the market testing process would identify whether there were any external providers of foster carer recruitment services, or new elements that could be brought in to improve the existing in-house service.

The Vice-Chairman underlined the need to assess the impact of the new measures introduced into the in-house foster carer recruitment service before any potential commissioning was proposed.  Another Member requested that consultation be undertaken with Children’s Social Care  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64c

Report CS17093

The Portfolio Holder introduced a report setting out the initial scope of works and seeking approval for Bromley to work collaboratively with other London boroughs to develop the London Regional Adoption Agency with the intention of joining the agency when it was operational.

Following the publication of its paper on regionalising adoption in June 2015, the Department for Education invited local authorities and voluntary adoption agencies to submit Expressions of Interest in becoming part of the new regionalised arrangements.  The Association of London Directors of Children’s Services submitted a proposition for London which was approved for development in the ‘scope and design' phase during which a number of possible models had been explored and the Association of London Directors of Children’s Services recommended the creation of a new local authority-owned entity operating in a hub-and-spoke approach that retained strong local links.  The Regionalisation Steering Group subsequently carried out scoring on four possible models and had recommended that Options 2 and 3, which proposed that the Regional Adoption Agency either be formed by the creation of a Local Trading Company or by local authorities and voluntary agencies combining and taking co-ownership of an existing brand be investigated further.

In considering the report a Member was concerned that work towards regionalising adoption might impact the ongoing delivery of the programme of improvements across Children’s Services, although the benefits of contributing towards the development of the London Regional Adoption Agency model were noted.  The Chairman underlined that the aim of regionalisation of adoption was to increase the rates of adoption and that achieving permanency for children looked after was of key importance.

RESOLVED that the Council’s Executive be recommended to:

1)  Agree in principle to join a London Regional Adoption Agency, subject to detailed financial analysis and business case; and,

2)  Authorise the Interim Director of Children’s Social Care, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Care Services, to progress arrangements relating to the development of a business case for the Agency model.

This report was withdrawn from the agenda, and would be considered at the next meeting of Care Services PDS Committee on 21^st March 2017.

This report was withdrawn from the agenda, and would be considered at the next meeting of Care Services PDS Committee on 21^st March 2017.

Report CS17073

The Portfolio Holder introduced a report setting out the need for block beds to be secured for residential placements for young people coming into care and the benefits and implications of this to the Local Authority. 

Young people were taken into care for a number of reasons including family breakdown and child protection, and could have a range of complex support needs.  The Local Authority currently identified emergency residential placements for young people through spot purchasing arrangements.  In recent months it had become increasingly challenging to identify suitable placements through these arrangements and it was proposed that market testing be undertaken for up to twelve block bed placements comprising of emergency and non-emergency beds, and that discussions be held with a local provider to block book four emergency residential care beds for a period of nine months in an in-Borough home currently used by other local authorities whilst a full tendering exercise was undertaken for the longer term offer.  It was also proposed that discussions continue with Drake Court, which was a supported lodgings provision for young people aged 16 years and over.

The Head of Social Care: Care and Resources explained that the block bed placements would provide an opportunity for young people entering care to be assessed to find the best-fit foster placement and enable a robust package of support to be developed to meet their needs prior to placement. 

The Vice-Chairman underlined the potential to utilise emergency beds to provide respite for foster carers, which could realise better outcomes for children looked after by preventing the breakdown of their placements.  The Chairman also suggested the possibility of introducing a staged introduction process between foster carers and young people looked after, and that work be undertaken with the Living in Care Council around the breakdown of foster placements and whether young people looked after would welcome the chance to return to previous foster placements.  The Head of Social Care: Care and Resources noted that work was also underway to formalise support mechanisms between foster carers.

The Chairman requested that a strategy on placement breakdowns for adolescents looked after be developed and that clarification be given on when children looked after should be considered as ‘missing’ and that this be reported to the meeting of Care Services PDS Committee in June 2017.

RESOLVED that the Council’s Executive be recommended to:

1)  Agree to market test residential placements for young children aged 13 to 17 years, block booking up to twelve beds within ten miles of Bromley for a period of four years with the option to extend for a further four years (two plus two), in line with the Commissioning Strategy as set out in Paragraph 5.6 of Report CS17073, with a whole contract value of £15.4m;

2)  Agree to enter into discussions with a local provider in the Borough to block book four emergency residential care beds for young children aged 13-17 years for a period of nine months as set out in Paragraph 5.5 of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64f

Report CS17082a

The Portfolio Holder introduced a report providing an overview of the process for the tendering of the Direct Payment Support and Payroll Service.

Direct Payments were available to people who had been assessed as having eligible care needs and enabled them to have greater choice and control over the way in which their support needs were met.  The Direct Payment Support Service provided support to service users who chose to use Direct Payments to assist them in making good choices about services, arranging their support and keeping records of transactions, as well as maintaining a database of Personal Assistants, which included undertaking all necessary checks such as DBS checks.  Approximately 10% of the eligible social care population in the Borough currently used direct payments and this was expected to rise over the duration of the proposed contract period to be more in line with the national average of 26% of service users.

The tendering process for the Direct Payment Support and Payroll Service had been undertaken in accordance with the Local Authority’s financial and contractual requirements.  A total of 28 suppliers had expressed an interest in providing the service, with three suppliers submitting compliant bids and one supplier assessed as being non-compliant.  Following evaluation of the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire, the three compliant suppliers were shortlisted for the second ‘service specific’ stage of the tender process.  The evaluation was undertaken by a panel of Officers from both a commissioning and operational perspective and included service user and parent carer representatives with tender submissions evaluated on a 60% finance and 40% quality split.

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder for Care Services be recommended to note the Part 1 (Public) summary when considering the recommendations in the Part 2 (Exempt) information report to award the contract to the highest scoring bidder.

Report CS170823a

The Portfolio Holder introduced a report providing an overview of the process for the tendering of the Respite at Home Service for people with dementia.

A Gateway report was presented to the Council’s Executive on 14^th October 2015 which outlined the current provision of respite services for people with dementia, projecting that demand for this service would continue into the future to prevent the move to expensive residential care, and detailing a proposed commissioning strategy for the future tendering of this service which included the establishment of a framework for respite care.  Soft market testing identified that sufficient volumes would be needed to attract provider interest and no viable bids offering value for money had subsequently been received for the tender.  As a result of this, the Portfolio Holder for Care Services had agreed to retender the Respite at Home Service for people with dementia, with minor amendments to the original service specification.

The tendering process for this service had been undertaken in accordance with the Local Authority’s financial and contractual requirements.  A total of 33 suppliers had expressed an interest in providing the service, with six suppliers submitting compliant bids.  Following evaluation of the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire, four suppliers were shortlisted for the second ‘service specific’ stage of the tender process.  The evaluation was undertaken by a panel of Officers from both a commissioning and operational perspective and included service user representatives with tender submissions evaluated on a 60% finance and 40% quality split.

In considering the report, a Member underlined the need to outline the criteria identified to measure performance of a commissioned service, and requested that this information be included in contact award reports in future.

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder for Care Services be recommended to note the Part 1 (Public) summary when considering the recommendations in the Part 2 (Exempt) information report to award the contract to the highest scoring bidder.

Report CS17094

The Portfolio Holder introduced a report requesting approval to extend the existing leasing scheme contracts for Theori Housing, housing association leasing scheme, and Dabora Conway, private sector leasing scheme for a period of three years with the option to renew for two years.

There were currently 1371 Bromley households in temporary accommodation with demand expected to continue to increase in the short to medium term.  In order to ensure the Local Authority was able to meet its statutory duties in relation to the provision of suitable accommodation for homeless households that fell into priority need categories and reduce the use of costly nightly rate accommodation, it was necessary to maintain the existing supply of properties from private sector and housing association schemes.  It was therefore requested to extend the existing leasing scheme contracts with Theori Housing, a housing association leasing scheme that provided six properties, and Dabora Conway, a private sector leasing scheme that provided 16 properties (with three in the process of lease end and handback) for a further period of three years with the option to renew for two years.

In response to a question from the Chairman, the Assistant Director: Housing Needs confirmed that work was being undertaken with housing and private sector leasing schemes to increase the number of properties available and that longer-term leasing periods were negotiated where possible.

RESOLVED that the Council’s Executive be recommended to:

1)  Renew the existing housing leasing scheme agreements with Theori housing and Dabora Conway for a period of 3 years from 6th February 2017 to 5^th February 2020 with the option to extend for a further 2 years – this to cover the existing individual leased properties under the scheme and any properties providers secure and offer under the same terms; and,

2)  Delegate authority to the Assistant Director: Housing Needs to enter into individual leases for properties within the terms of the overarching agreement as and when leases require renewal or where providers are successful in securing new leases within Bromley.

Report CS17099

The Portfolio Holder introduced a report outlining the proposed extension to the Bromley Community Wellbeing Service for children and young people delivered by Bromley Y.

Following a joint review by the Local Authority and Bromley Clinical Commissioning Group of all child and adolescent mental health services, Bromley Y had been awarded the contract for the Bromley Community Wellbeing Service for children and young people for a period of three years from 1^st December 2014 to 30^th November 2017, with the potential to extend the contract for a further two years.  This provision introduced a new model that provided a clear care pathway into wellbeing and mental health services through a ‘single point of access’ with an expectation that children and young people were contacted and initially assessed within 72 hours being referred.  The service had been assessed as representing good value for money and had supported a reduction in referrals to costly specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services through its early intervention work.  As the commissioned service had been enhanced by Bromley Y’s resources to the extent that the demand for the service was now over the level that the commissioned provision could support, Bromley Clinical Commissioning Group had agreed to contribute additional resources to enable the service to continue to be sustainable for the immediate future.  It was therefore requested that the existing contract be extended for a further two year period from 1^st December 2017 to 30^th November 2019.

In considering the report the Chairman emphasised the excellent work being undertaken through this service and that it was recognised as an example of best practice on a regional and national level.

RESOLVED that the Council’s Executive be recommended to:

1)  Note the current service outcomes; and,

2)  Agree an extension to the existing contract with Bromley Y for a two year period from 1^st December 2017 to 30^th November 2019.

Report CS17078

The Portfolio Holder introduced a report outlining the provision of a respite service for carers and requesting approval to award a six month contract to Carers Bromley pending the outcome of the tender process for the Primary and Secondary Intervention Service.

A respite service for carers which comprised carers’ breaks, a sitting service and a Respite Manager was commissioned from Carers Bromley in 2010 with the aim of supporting carers to maintain their health and wellbeing and prevent the breakdown of informal care arrangements.  At its meeting on 14^th October 2015, the Council’s Executive agreed that a Framework be established by which future respite services of any type would be purchased.  Soft market testing of this procurement strategy subsequently indicated that a Framework would be unattractive to providers due to the lack of sufficient volumes, and a review of the respite service for carers had identified that it was only being used by a small cohort of carers and did not offer value for money.  It was proposed to discontinue this service and, following negotiations with Carers Bromley, it had been agreed that existing bookings for carers’ breaks would be honoured with this element of the service ending in December 2016 and that from January 2017, the Respite Manager’s post would reduce by 15 hours per week and would focus on developing the sitting service and increasing its capacity to demonstrate improved value for money.  The proposed award of contract for a period of six months would bridge the gap between the services from 1^st October 2016 and the new Primary and Secondary Intervention Service beginning on 1^st April 2017, and ensure that there was respite in place for carers in line with the Care Act 2014. 

RESOLVED that the Council’s Executive be recommended to approve the award of a contract from Carers Respite Service to Carers Bromley for a period of six months commencing on 1^st October 2016 and expiring on 31^st March 2017.

Report CS17101

The Portfolio Holder introduced a report outlining the proposed procurement strategy for the National Child Measurement Programme and for Vision Screening for which the existing contracts would end on 30^th September 2017 and 31^st March 2017 respectively.  The report also sought approval to procure a new joint contract to start on 1^st October 2017, with an estimated contract value of £165k per annum for both services

The National Child Measurement Programme was a mandated programme measuring height and weight in Reception year and Year 6 in all children in Bromley in maintained schools and academies.  All children in Reception year also had their vision screened by members of the School Nurse Team who had been trained by Orthoptists from the Princess Royal University Hospital Eye Centre.  In considering the proposed future procurement strategy for the National Child Measurement Programme and Vision Screening, three options had been explored and it was recommended that Option 3 be progressed which proposed to procure the National Child Measurement Programme and Vision Screening as a standalone service. 

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder for Care Services be recommended to:

1)  Agree that Option 3 which proposed to procure the National Child Measurement Programme and vision screening as a standalone service as the best option for procurement; and,

2)  Agree to procure a contract for the National Child Measurement Programme and vision screening as a standalone service to commence on 1^st October 2017.

Report CS17091

The Portfolio Holder introduced a report setting out the monitoring arrangements for Care Homes and Extra Care Housing Schemes in Bromley and comments on performance received during 2016, including the performance of block contracts for nursing beds and Extra Care Housing.  The report also considered the impact of the introduction of the National Living Wage from 1^st April 2016 on fees, which was estimated to be £1m based on 2016/17 prices, and requested that funds set aside in the contingency budget to fund this increase be released. 

A Co-opted Member reported that Healthwatch Bromley continued to undertake visits to Care Homes and Extra Care Housing Schemes in the Borough and queried if there had been any progress in introducing a programme of activities to Extra Care Housing Schemes.  The Head of Contract Compliance and Monitoring advised Members that a tender process was underway for this service and that the provision of activities had been included in the contract specification.  A report on Extra Care Housing Schemes would be considered at the next meeting of Care Services PDS Committee on 21^st March 2017.

In considering a care home that had an overall rating of ‘Requires Improvement’, a Member queried how care homes were supported to improve.  The Head of Contract Compliance and Monitoring confirmed that  the care home in question had previously been rated as ‘Inadequate’ and had undertaken a programme of works to improve its service provision.  Where care homes were rated as ‘Inadequate’, each resident was assessed and given the opportunity to move provision.  The majority of residents chose to remain in their care home, and the Local Authority worked closely with these care homes to improve service provision with an emphasis on the safeguarding of residents.  This included mentoring by care home providers rated as ‘Good’, and a programme of visits by the Contract Compliance Team, Care Quality Commission and Adult Social Care Service. 

The Chairman reported that following the identification of safeguarding concerns around care workers recording and supplying medicines by the Care Services PDS Committee, a letter had been sent to the Bromley Safeguarding Adults Board and the Bromley Clinical Commissioning Group and a response was awaited.  The Chairman noted that care homes should be able to meet the palliative care needs of their residents to support them to remain in their homes.

RESOLVED that:

1)  Members’ comments on the contents of this report be noted; and,

2)  The Council’s Executive be recommended to agree the drawdown of £1m from the Central Contingency Budget for 2017/18 as set out in paragraph 13.6 of Report CS17091.

Report CS16001

The Committee considered a report setting out the draft Care Services Portfolio Budget for 2017/18, which incorporated future cost pressures and initial draft saving options to be reported to the Council’s Executive on 11^th January 2017.  Members were requested to provide their comments on the proposed savings and identify any further action to be taken to reduce cost pressures facing the Local Authority over the next four years.

The Head of Education, Care and Health Services Finance reported that no additional growth pressures had been identified within the initial budget for the Care Services Portfolio for 2016/17, but that there had been an additional allocation of £300k placed in contingency for homelessness for 2016/17, rising to £2,040k for 2019/20.  Subject to the finalisation of the Care Services Portfolio Budget for 2016/17, a request could be made to the Council’s Executive for the drawdown of these funds if required.

The Head of Education, Care and Health Services Finance advised Members that a number of pressures continued to impact the Care Services Portfolio budget including the introduction of the National Living Wage, an increase in referrals to Children’s Social Care, the ongoing increase in demand for temporary accommodation and welfare reform changes.  The majority of the overspend in the Portfolio budget had been in Children’s Social Care.  The draft Care Services Portfolio Budget for 2017/18 incorporated Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the additional revenue funding that had been agreed by the Council’s Executive to deliver the Children’s Services Improvement Action Plan, and Phase 3 of this funding was held in contingency and would become part of the budget setting process when the Council’s Executive agreed the release of these funds.  There was also an overspend in the area of Adult Social Care which was currently held in contingency.

In response to a question from a Member, the Head of Education, Care and Health Service Finance advised Members that the Local Authority was permitted to levy an additional 2% Adult Social Care Precept on Council Tax for each of the next three years towards adult social care provision.  This funding could only be used to support existing initiatives and would primarily be used to contribute towards the additional staffing costs incurred by the introduction of the National Minimum Wage.

RESOLVED that:

1)  The financial forecast for 2017/18 to 2020/21 be noted;

2)  Members’ comments on the initial draft saving options proposed by the Executive for 2017/18 be noted; and,

3)  Members’ comments on the initial draft 2017/18 Care Services Portfolio Budget be provided to the meeting of the Council’s Executive on 8^th February 2016.

Report CS17098

The Committee received a presentation from Tracey Parry, Young Carers Service Manager and Lynne Powrie, Chief Executive Officer of Carers Bromley on the experience of young carers in the Borough and the services provided to them by Carers Bromley, which included a number of case studies and a video of the Young Carers Performing Arts Event in 2015.  Members also considered a report providing an overview of the Local Authority’s work to identify, support, assess and promote the needs of young carers and their families in the Borough. 

The classification for being a young carer in the Children and Families Act 2014 was a person under 18 years who provided or intended to provide care for another person.  Carers Bromley had widened this definition to being a young person aged between 4-18 years, who lived in a family where someone was affected by a long term illness, disability, mental health issue, alcohol or substance misuse or HIV.  Between April 2015 and March 2016, 97 children in Bromley had been identified in Social Work Assessments as meeting the Children and Families Act classification for being a young carer, and 1011 young people with caring responsibilities were known to Carers Bromley as at September 2016.  A range of support services, resources and plans were provided to assist young carers by the Local Authority, Carers Bromley and other agencies, and the Local Authority continued to work with partners to promote early identification of young carers and their needs, in particular by schools and health services, and to signpost children and families to support services. 

The Head of Safeguarding, Care Planning, Specialist Support and Disabilities advised Members that a Steering Group had been established to review a number of issues relating to young carers including how best to undertake assessments.  The Steering Group was working with Adult Social Care services to develop a joint strategy for carers and enable shared packages of support to be developed for families.  Work would also be undertaken with key partners in health and education to raise awareness of the issues impacting young carers and equip them to identify and refer young carers to support services.  An online resource was being developed to assist teachers to identify young carers, and the Chairman requested that this be provided to the Care Services PDS Committee for Members’ comments prior to launching. 

In considering schools, the Head of Safeguarding, Care Planning, Specialist Support and Disabilities confirmed that a number of schools had family support workers who assisted families to access local support such as breakfast clubs and could make referrals to Carers Bromley or the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub where more serious concerns were identified.  A Co-opted Member noted that young carers could have unrecognised mental health support needs as a result of their role, and requested that work be undertaken in schools with Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators.

The Chairman highlighted that many families chose to conceal their circumstances through fear that a young carer might be taken into care.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 65b

Report CS17075

The Committee considered a report providing an update on the current level of Education, Care and Health Services debt and the action being taken to reduce this.

The level of Education, Care and Health Services debt as at 30^th September 2016 was £9.58m, of which £6.4m was less than a year old.  A range of measures were in place to recover these funds including an increase in clients paying for adult social care services by direct debit and regular meetings between Liberata and Local Authority Officers to discuss arrears, and the outstanding debt was expected to be reduced to less than £5m by the end of March 2017, with further reductions during 2017/18.  The total amount of debt written off in the period 1^st April 2016 to 1^st September 2016 had been £351,328 which represented less than 1% of the total debt raised and was largely due to debtors being untraceable, no funds in a debtor’s estate or because the debt had been identified as uneconomical to pursue. 

In response to a question from a Member, the Head of Exchequer Services confirmed that measures would continue to be introduced to reduce Education, Care and Health Services debt.  This included the appointment of a Monitoring Officer and the introduction of a new debt management system which would provide a consolidated view of an individual’s debt across a full range of services, improving debt collection and management and giving better support to customers in managing their debts, such as through increased use of direct debits. 

RESOLVED that the level of Education, Care and Health Services debt over a year old and the action being taken to reduce this sum be noted.

Report CS17088

The Committee considered a report outlining the findings of the post works evaluation report for the refurbishment of Manorfields and the operational performance of Manorfields as an in-Borough temporary accommodation provision.

Manorfields was a former residential care home which had been converted into a temporary accommodation provision to enable the Local Authority to meet its statutory housing duties and to provide a good quality alternative to costly nightly paid accommodation placements.  Orchard & Shipman had been appointed to project manage the refurbishment work on behalf of the Local Authority and currently managed the scheme under an existing accommodation management contract.  The refurbishment work had been completed within the overall agreed project plan timescales, although there had been a number of variations to the specification relating to additional requirements specified in the final planning recommendation and following the full electrical, heating and property inspection of Manorfields, and in September 2015, the Local Authority had secured grant funding from the Greater London Authority towards the cost of the overall refurbishment.  Following concerns raised by the Care Services PDS Committee relating to the costs of the additional works, Audit Sub-Committee reviewed the Manorfields refurbishment project as a result of which a number of new processes and procedures had been implemented to ensure contract management and monitoring processes were sufficiently robust.

The first occupants of Manorfields had taken up residence during the week commencing 11^th March 2016 in a phased letting plan, and full occupancy had been maintained since April 2016 with 76 households provided with temporary accommodation between 11^th March and 30^th November 2016.  Performance to date had demonstrated a saving of £338,682 against the comparative cost of nightly paid accommodation which exceeded the financial savings set out in the original business case, and there had been an overall rent collection rate of over 97% since full occupancy was achieved.  Consultation and engagement was ongoing with local residents regarding the Manorfields scheme, and there had been only a very small number of complaints about the development which had been addressed in a timely manner, including a request for extra fencing which had been delivered as part of the refurbishment works. 

In considering the report, the Head of Education, Care and Health Services Finance confirmed that the capital programme would be updated to reflect the Greater London Authority grant received towards capital works, and that the proportion of the grant received towards the revenue elements of the refurbishment would be apportioned back.

RESOLVED that Members’ comments on the operational performance of Manorfields in meeting the Local Authority’s statutory duties for homeless households be noted.

The briefing comprises:

• Social Care Innovations Grant Final Report
• Bromley Independent Reviewing Officers Service Annual Report 2015/16
• Internal Audit Progress Report: Reference from Audit Sub-Committee
• Care Services Portfolio Plan Mid-Year Update 2016/17
• Contract Activity Report 2016/17

Members and Co-opted Members have been provided with advance copies of the briefing via email.  The briefing is also available on the Council’s website at the following link:

http://cds.bromley.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CId=559&Year=0

Printed copies of the briefing are available on request by contacting the Democratic Services Officer.

The Care Services PDS Information Briefing comprised five reports:

• Social Care Innovations Grant Final Report
• Bromley Independent Reviewing Officers Service Annual Report 2015/16
• Internal Audit Progress Report: Reference from Audit Sub-Committee
• Care Services Portfolio Plan Mid-Year Update 2016/17
• Contract Activity Report 2016/17

RESOLVED that the Information Briefing be noted.

RESOLVED that the Press and public be excluded during consideration of the items of business listed below as it was 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.

RESOLVED that the exempt minutes of the Care Services PDS Committee meetings held on 15^th November 2016 and 6^th December 2016 be agreed.

The Committee considered the report and supported the recommendations.

The Committee considered the report and supported the recommendations.