SCRUTINY COMMISSION 3 HEALTH AND CARE Minutes of a meeting of Scrutiny Commission 3 held on Wednesday 15 June 2005 at 6.00 p.m. at the Civic Offices, Telford PRESENT – Councillors D.R.W. White (Chair), E. Allan, K.T. Blundell, R.G. Chaplin, V.A. Fletcher, J. Jones and J.M. Seymour ALSO PRESENT - Mr D. Edwards (Co-optee); Cllr U.E. Sambrook – Cabinet Member: Adult Social Care Officers – J. Coughlan (Corporate Director: Social Care), A. Smith (Principal Scrutiny Officer), P. Smith (Senior Democratic Services Officer) SC3-1 MINUTES RESOLVED – that the minutes of the meeting held on 18 May 2005 be confirmed and signed by the Chair. SC3-2 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Councillors M.J. Smith, E.S. Swift and V.J. Verster, and Cllr F.R. Picken (Cabinet Member: Housing and Consumer Affairs) SC3-3 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST/PARTY WHIP Councillor J. Jones – personal interest in matters relating to home care services and Child fostering service. Councillor R.G. Chaplin – personal interest in any matters relating to Dial Shropshire Telford & Wrekin Ltd Councillor E.Allan - personal interest in any matters relating to Newport Cottage Care Centre Agenda Item Minute/Action Action to be taken by SC3-4 Remit of the Portfolio The Corporate Director: Social Care made a presentation, outlining the service areas that would form the new Adult Social Care portfolio from 1 July 2005. Details of budgets and staffing for each service area were provided, and it was noted that 55% of the total budget was spent on purchasing care from the independent sector. The Corporate Director then highlighted areas of achievement and progress, along with key actions and targets for 2005/06. Nationally, Telford & Wrekin was top of the national league in terms of delayed discharges from hospitals and good progress was being made in reducing admissions to residential and nursing homes through the increased provision of services to help people to live at home. The Corporate Director added that if any Commission Member wanted more detailed information on the portfolio, he was happy to provide informal briefings. Copy of slides to be provided to Members. SDSO SC3-5 Scrutiny Issues and Topics Councillor U.E. Sambrook (newly appointed Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care) reported on her priorities for the year ahead. These included: - visiting all the facilities to meet staff and clients - supporting the appointment of the new Corporate Director - developing a response to the Green Paper on Adult Services - progressing service issues – especially Older People’s NSF, ALD modernisation and Primary Mental Health Care. Councillor Sambrook also put forward a number of suggestions for areas of work the Commission could look at as part of their work programme for 2005/06. SC3-6 Development of Work Programme for 2005/06 (NB: The Chair had to leave the meeting during this item to attend another appointment, and Cllr Seymour (as Vice-Chair) chaired the remainder of the meeting) A report of the Head of Audit and Scrutiny was circulated. This included suggestions for in-depth reviews that had been put forward by Members or officers during recent months. The review of Environmental Health was still outstanding from the 2004/05 programme, and Members were reminded that the two joint health scrutiny tasks (Hospitals Financial Recovery Plan and Shelton Hospital redevelopment) with Shropshire County Council were still ongoing. The Chair reported that it was proposed to bid for some money available through an Action Learning Project sponsored by the Centre for Public Scrutiny. Bids had to reflect any of the priorities in the Government’s ‘Choosing Health’ White Paper. The bid had to be submitted in the next couple of days, and it was proposed that it should focus on alcohol misuse and treatment. In response to questions, the Principal Scrutiny Officer reported that the money from a successful bid would enable the review to be carried out in greater depth, but that the topic could still be looked at even if the bid was unsuccessful. It was agreed that details of the bid be circulated to Members. RESOLVED - 1) that the following areas be selected for in-depth reviews in the Commission’s 2005/06 Work Programme: - Alcohol Treatment and Prevention - Health Inequalities and Choosing Health 2) that the ongoing joint health scrutiny work in relation to the Hospitals NHS Trust’s Financial Recovery Plan and the redevelopment of Shelton Hospital be continued in 2005/06. PSO SC3-7 Forward Plan The Senior Democratic Services Officer reported that the latest edition of the Forward Plan (July to October 2005) had just been published. The Forward Plan listed the key decisions likely to be taken by Cabinet over the next 4 months. There were three items directly relating to services within the remit of the Commission, and it was suggested that the three highlighted items could be circulated to Members. SDSO SC3-8 Joint Health Scrutiny Committee – Review of Membership Following the change in membership of the Commission for 2005/06, it was necessary to appoint six members of the Commission to represent the Borough on the Joint Health Scrutiny Committee with Shropshire County Council. RESOLVED - that the following be appointed as representatives on the Joint Health Scrutiny Committee: Councillors R.G. Chaplin, V.A. Fletcher, J.M. Seymour, V.J. Verster & D.R.W. White and Ms D Davis (co-optee) The meeting closed at 7.30 pm. Chair…………………………………………… Date……………………………………………. 1 1