Minutes:
The Interim Chief Executive gave an update to Members on work being undertaken across the Adult Care and Health Portfolio.
The Interim Chief Executive began his presentation to the Committee by extending his thanks and best wishes for the future to Stephen John, the previous Statutory Director of Adult Social Care, who had retired at the end of February 2019. The Committee also extended its thanks to the former Director and welcomed Kim Carey, the new Interim Director of Adult Social Care who would be supporting the work of the Committee in the new municipal year. The new Interim Director of Adult Social Care explained to the Committee that she had worked within Adult Social Care for over 30 years. Previously she had held the role of Executive Director for Adults Health and Wellbeing in Cornwall and more recently had held a number of interim roles where she was required to bring a fresh pair of eyes to services and provide challenge and structure.
The Committee noted that in a report released on 27 February 2019, Bromley had been listed as one of the top 10 Councils providing Adult Social Care. The list[1] published in the leading trade magazine the Municipal Journal (MJ) by iPOWER considered factors such as value for money and service delivery. On behalf of the Committee, the Chairman congratulated staff on the remarkably impressive good news story and thanked all those involved in Adult Social Care for their work and dedication. It was suggested that a press release, outlining the findings of the survey, should be circulated.
The Interim Chief Executive reported that two workforce development sessions were planned for April 2019. The aim of the sessions were to attract new, permanent Social workers and Care Managers to Bromley. Levels of pay between social workers for children and social workers for adults had been equalisied and it was anticipated that this would assist with the competition for staff that currently existed between local authorities. In response to a question, the Interim Chief Executive confirmed that the model that had been used in Children’s Social Care would be rolled out within Adult Social Care. The aim was to increase the number of permanent social workers within the Local Authority. The Departmental Senior Leadership Team were working with the Director of HR to identify and highlight the key benefits of working for Bromley. As with children’s social workers; contracts would be turned around quickly. Newly Qualified Social Workers would be given full training and there was an acknowledgement that there was a need to support and develop new talent. In addition to the work around recruitment; there would also be a focus on staff retention in terms of workforce development. The Interim Chief Executive confirmed that the provision of a lease car would be included in social workers’ contracts if this was necessary for the purpose of recruitment and retention. The parameters of the car lease scheme were clear and managers would ensure that any expenditure remained within budget. The Committee noted that further updates on the recruitment and retention of social workers would be provided at future meetings.
Members noted that key policy work was now well under way and the development of strategies such as the Mental Health Strategy and the Ageing Well Strategy would set the direction of travel for the Service. The Interim Chief Executive anticipated that the Adult Social Care Green Paper would have been published in advance of the Committees next meeting at the end of June 2019, and this would inform the Council’s Roadmap for Adult Social Care which would focus on the service transformation that needed to be delivered. As part of this further consideration would need to be given to the interface between health and social care.
Concluding his presentation to the Committee, at the end of the meeting the Interim Chief Executive provided a Part 2 (exempt from publication) update to Members on the outcome of the Shared Lives Inspection which was currently embargoed.