After agreeing the following revision to A42/16, paragraph three (changing 'correct' to 'amend'):

"In terms of contracts there were two types; purchase only, and purchase and delivery, and the aim was to amend the contracts with authorities."

The Panel RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 9 November 2016, be signed as an accurate record of the meeting.
 

It was also agreed that progress on the following issues, raised at this meeting, would come back to this Panel:

• LATC contract (Councillor Louisa Woodley advised that the contract will be signed between now and 31 March)
• Croydon University Hospital - assessment and recovery plan

No disclosures of interest were made during the meeting.

There was no urgent business.

The Panel RESOLVED that the allocation of items between Part A and Part B of the agenda be confirmed, as printed.

The report provided an update on the adult social care work which has been undertaken since November 2015, to remain compliant with the Care Act.  Graham Terry, Interim Head of Transformation, summarised some highlights:

• To ensure the Council remains Care Act compliant
• The translation programme focused on asset based approach to ensure the assessment form reflects that
• There has been significant investment in advocacy to help people through the process
• There has been development of online assessment, to allow people to access information advice without going through a long referral process.  It is hoped this will go live in April
• Development of Care Act training is continuing

Councillor Pat Clouder was concerned that the growing number of young carers was not mentioned.  She asked for an update on what is happening with support for young carers.  The Interim Head of Transformation concurred this was an omission but it is part of recommissioning.  There is a young intervention budget.  It was agreed that it ties into the Adult Social Care plan and will be brought back to the panel.

Councillor Yvette Hopley enquired whether the issues with integration of the IT systems had been resolved.  The Interim Head of Transformation explained that some build time is needed in order to link the systems and integrate the information.  He assured the panel that this is possible.  The AIS system is still presenting same challenges but has had an upgrade to improve functionality.  Papers will be going to DLT, lookiing at whether to rely on it or have a system replacement in the longer term.  He also confirmed that the Carers' Centre now has the same system.

The Interim Head of Transformation explained that there has been a big fundamental change with the Care Act.  It allows for being out in the community much more.  The process is now more personal, instead of pushing people through the system.  Conversations can now take place about how to get help into people's lives.

The Panel RESOLVED to note the content of the report.

Regulation 18 of the Local Authority Social Services and National Health Complaints Regulations (England) 2009 requires local authorities to produce an annual report specifying the number of complaints received, the number that were well-founded, the number referred to a local commissioner and a summary of the nature of complaints and service improvements arising.

Doreen Thomas, Interim Complaints Manager, summarised the report.  She drew attention to the table in paragraph 3.2.1, where 'decrease' should be 'increase'.  In April it is proposed to revert to a two-stage complaints system, which is currently one stage.  There has been an improvement in response time to complaints and work is being done to get services to work together to respond to complaints better.  Planned improvements are ongoing.  However, it was noted that 51% of complaints are not upheld on investigation.

Councillor Louisa Woodley noted that part of the increase can be accounted for by one new area not included in previous years.

Councillors Yvette Hopley and Margaret Bird expressed an interest in knowing what the level of expectation is regarding service refusal and failure to deliver a service figures.  A breakdown would be very helpful as failure and refusal are very different.  If these relate to services not provided by the Council, who does provide them and why do people think it is the Council?  As this accounts for a large percentage of the enquiries, it would be useful to know what the demands are and how they are categorised.  If the Council does not provide a service that is a different issue from a service which has been removed due to budget cuts.  The Interim Complaints Manager agreed to look at the complaints in more detail and get a better picture.  It was suggested that it may not always be the failure of the Council to deliver the service, such as where a domiciliary home carer has not turned up.

Councillor Bernadette Khan asked where the eligibility criteria for procuring the service is published.  The Interim Head of Transformation explained that it can be accessed in the web pages, where there will be some information about eligibility.  However, he conceded that it is not always straightforward to locate, so it will be looked at to make it easier to access.  Councillor Louisa Woodley mentioned that a team from Gateway engages with people to accurately assess what their needs are.  There are no hard and fast criteria.  The Interim Director of Adult Social Care and 0-65, Guy van Dichele stressed that the Disability Care Act says everyone is eligible to information and advice, followed by assessment and then entitlement to services.

The Panel RESOLVED to note the content of the report.

The Panel RESOLVED under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act. As proposed by Councillor Yvette Hopley and seconded by Councillor Pat Clouder.

The remainder of the meeting included disclosure of exempt information (as defined by paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A in Part 1 of the Local Government Act 1972: ‘Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)'. The minutes of the discussion are therefore also exempt and not available to the public. A summary of the discussion is below, as required by section 100C(2) of the Local Government Act 1972.

The Panel RESOLVED that the Part B minutes of the meeting held on 9 November 2016 be signed as an accurate record of the meeting.
 

The Panel considered updates from those care homes currently being monitored through the serious concern protocol and supported by the Care Support Team. A concern may be linked to a poor CQC report or due to a serious incident(s) occurring within the establishment.

The Panel RESOLVED to note the content of the report.

The Panel RESOLVED that the Part B minutes of the meeting held on 9 November 2016 be signed as an accurate record of the meeting.

The Panel considered updates from those care homes currently being monitored through the serious concern protocol and supported by the Care Support Team. A concern may be linked to a poor CQC report or due to a serious incident(s) occurring within the establishment.

The Panel RESOLVED to note the content of the report.