Agenda and minutes

To receive declarations of interest (if any)

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the non-exempt minutes of the meeting of the Improvement and Scrutiny Committee – People held on 26 May 2022.

RESOLVED:

The minutes of the meeting held on 26 May 2022 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

(Questions may be submitted to be answered by the Scrutiny Committee, or Council officers who are attending the meeting as witnesses, on any item that is within the scope of the Committee. Please see the procedure for the submission of questions at the end of this agenda)

There were no public questions.

Smruti Mehta, Assistant Director Specialist Services, Linda Dale, Director of Performance, Quality and Partnerships, and Claire Connelly-Weston, Senior Team Manager – Leaving Care Service, attended the meeting to provide the Committee with an update on the Leaving Care Service.

The Service had previously been commissioned out of the Authority but, had been brought back in-house in 2019. Ofsted had inspected the service in October 2021 and many positives had been identified.

There was a focus on relationship-building and information sharing to ensure an effective transition to the leaving care service at 18, but also on delivering life skills. The Inspectors had seen many positive and creative examples of direct work being undertaken by leaving care workers.

Effective partnership working at a strategic level was beginning to have a positive impact on health provision for care leavers. Health partners had embraced the role of being a corporate parent and were developing initiatives that would support care leavers.

Risks to individual care leavers were identified well; when risks had escalated, including risks of exploitation, Leaving Care Safety Panel meetings had demonstrated good consideration of risks, needs and actions to reduce risk.

Claire Connelly-Weston highlighted the development work that had been undertaken, in particular with prison work. A space had been created in Nottingham HMP to enable care leavers to have direct visits with their leaving care workers and supporting transition from custody. There was also the opportunity for care leavers to attend evening classes run by the prison, though this provision had been curtailed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Drop-in groups had been established in the north and south of the county for parent-to-be groups and baby groups with peer support; along with Chesterfield Football Group and a cooking group at Long Eaton.

With regard to partnership work and development, the committee was informed of the Emotional Wellbeing Offer to Care Leavers and Leaving Care Workers, the Care Leavers discounted council tax and the Severn Trent Water 70% discount which was launched on 1 July 2022.

Members of the committee raised issue relating to exploitation, the number of care leavers who were in bed and breakfast accommodation and requested statistics on care leavers who were currently homeless.

There were 6 or 7 young people currently in bed and breakfast accommodation and this situation was constantly monitored. The service was ensuring that these young people would not be moved unnecessarily, particularly during the transition to university or further education.

The Chairman thanked the officers for their most informative presentation, adding that the passion and support provided was commendable.

The officers would return to a future meeting of the committee to provide details of the outcomes that had been achieved. It was suggested that two care leavers who were now working as social workers be invited to attend to inform the Members of their journey and experiences.

Linda Elba-Porter, Service Director Adult Social Care and Tanya Henson, Assistant Director Adult Social Care, attended the meeting to present a report on the offer of Short Term Services (Homecare) for Derbyshire residents. Short Term Services offered an opportunity for local residents to restore all or part of their independence with daily living tasks following an admission into hospital or a crisis in the community. The offer supported people to remain in their own and local communities.

In 2019, the Authority had established a different way of working to support residents of Derbyshire to achieve the most independent outcome possible. Starting in 2020, this way of working had been piloted before it was rolled out countywide in 2021 and Adult Care was committed to maintaining people in their homes and communities whenever possible. An example and timeline of the process was presented.

Early 2022, the demand for the service had increased and a lack of long term homecare had had an  impact. Recruitment and retention had also emerged as an issue for the short termservice. There were local and national workforce challenges that impacteddelivery

Therefore, the purpose of the current review had been to identify opportunities for positive change, which would result in local residents receiving a consistent service that recognised local variation, the expertise of partner agencies and utilisation of voluntary and community support. The focus would be to generate increased capacity so that more local people could benefit from the  service

It was acknowledged that during the pandemic many care workers had had to upskill quite quickly in order to deal with end of life care. Members discussed whether this topic was appropriate for further consideration at a scrutiny committee.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee notes:

a)    The offer of the Short Term Services and the benefits for local residents who were either leaving hospital or experiencing a crisis to remain in their own homes; and

b)    The further changes planned for the service. 

The Committee’s work programme was presented and members were given the opportunity to make suggestions to possible agenda items for the remainder of the municipal year 2022-23.

Consideration would be given to bring the Early Years’ Service item forward following the Government’s recent proposal on Family Hubs.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee notes the 2022-23 work programme.