Agenda and draft minutes

Councillor Melvyn Mile declared a personal interest and Councillor Emrys Wynne declared personal interests in item 5, the Denbighshire Homelessness Strategy 2017-2021 & Denbighshire Supporting People / Homelessness Prevention Plan 2018/2019.

Councillor Gareth Lloyd Davies declared a personal interest in item 6, Pooled Budgets (Health & Social Care) – Progress Report.

No urgent matters had been raised.

To receive minutes of the Partnerships Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 14 September, 2017 (copy attached).

10.05 a.m. – 10.10 a.m.

The minutes of the Partnerships Scrutiny Committee held on 14 September 2017 were submitted.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 14 September 2017 be received and approved as a correct record.

To consider a report by the Homelessness Prevention Commissioning and Tendering Officer (copy attached) prior to their submission to Cabinet in December 2017, and the Regional Collaborative Committee in January 2018.

10.10 a.m. – 10.50 a.m.

Councillor Emrys Wynne declared personal interests in this item as he is a private landlord in Denbigh and he is a JP who sits on the North East Wales DRR Panel.

Councillor Melvyn Mile declared a personal interest in this items as he will be a tenant of Grwp Cynefin in the near future.

The Lead Member for Social Care & Children’s Services, Councillor Bobby Feeley, introduced the report (previously circulated).

She outlined the purpose of the Supporting People funding provided by the Welsh Government (WG) and the role of the Regional Collaborative Committee (RCC) in relation to Denbighshire’s Strategy and Homelessness Prevention Plan.  She emphasised that the Strategy was the county’s first standalone Homelessness Strategy since the implementation of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014.  Previous homelessness prevention work had been included as part of the broader Housing Strategy.  Members were advised that both the Strategy and Prevention Plan before them had been consulted on widely by the Homelessness Prevention Team.  The Homelessness Prevention Team was a dedicated team which focussed on working with individuals and families to avert them becoming homeless.  Membership comprised of the former Supporting People Team and the Housing Solutions Team.  Members commended the establishment of a dedicated team to mitigate against the risks of people becoming homeless and asked for details of the officers who worked as part of the Team.  Officers undertook to provide this information, but advised that the first point of contact for an individual or a councillor with a homelessness query was the multi-disciplinary Single Point of Access (SPoA) Service.  SPoA would then signpost the person enquiring to the most appropriate service(s) that could help them

Responding to members’ questions the Lead Member and officers advised that:

·       the Homelessness Strategy was a multi-agency strategy which required the co-operation of all Council services;

·       at present the Supporting People (SP) element of the funding utilised to commission homelessness prevention services was ‘ring-fenced’ for those purposes.  However, a recent WG announcement had indicated that from 2019 onwards the SP grant funding would no longer be ‘ring-fenced’, with consideration being given to developing a “super grant”, incorporating the other Tackling Poverty funding streams, and the new Employment grant.  This potentially could render elements of the Strategy undeliverable in future.  Nevertheless local authorities had a statutory duty to deliver certain services to individuals who were, or at risk of becoming, homeless. No further information was available at present on the details of the recent WG announcement;

·       the SP funding for 2018-19 was secure and had been confirmed on a national level, however confirmation was awaited of individual local authority funding allocations which may be subject to change;

·       whilst the aim of reducing the number of households residing in temporary accommodation by 50% by 2021 did seem ambitious, officers were confident that with the establishment of the  Homelessness Prevention Team, which had brought together specialists within the fields of homelessness and housing support, that this could be achieved;

·       whilst it was acknowledged that integrating former offenders into the community was a successful means of reducing reoffending, former prisoners who presented themselves as homeless in Denbighshire would only be entitled to access housing support services if they could satisfy the ‘local connection’ test as per the Housing (Wales) Act 2014.  As members were keen for this to be highlighted within the Strategy the Head of Community Support Services undertook to seek legal advice on whether reference could be included within the Strategy; 

·       to date one ‘house share’ project to meet the needs of young people had been piloted in Denbighshire.  This approach had its complexities and was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

At this juncture (11.15 a.m.) there was a 15 minute break.

The meeting reconvened at 11.30 a.m.

To consider a report by the Project Manager, Regional Collaboration Team (copy attached) to provide update on work that is developing to establish Pooled Budgets across North Wales.

11.05 a.m. – 11.45 a.m.

Councillor Gareth Lloyd Davies declared a personal interest as an employee of the Betsi Cadwaladr University health Board (BCUHB).

The Corporate Director:  Communities/Statutory Director of Social Services introduced the report and appendices (previously circulated) which outlined the progress made to date in relation to the establishment of pooled budgets for specific health and social care services across the North Wales region.  During her introduction the Director reminded members that the establishment of pooled budgets for specific services was a requirement under Part 9 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 (SSWB Act 2014). 

Members were informed that for the purpose of developing pooled budget arrangements the North Wales Regional Partnership Board (NWRPB) had established a Regional Pooled Budgets Working Group, made up of specialist technical experts from both the Health Service and local authorities.  This Group, chaired by Denbighshire’s Director of Social Services, had been tasked with examining the potential benefits of establishing pooled budgets, the operation and management arrangements for pooled budgets, identifying any risks and mitigating actions associated with them and the establishment of governance arrangements etc.  Denbighshire was well represented on the Group as its Director of Social Services chaired it and its Section 151 officer, Legal Services Manager, one of its Solicitors and a HR Specialist were members and technical advisors to the Group.

The Committee was advised that the NWRPB and Directors of Social Services across Wales were firmly of the view that pooled budgets should be viewed as a tool to support the journey towards integration not a form of integration in their own right.  Whilst progress has been made in developing a regional integration agreement, work was still underway in respect of scoping and developing pooled budgets for specific service areas.  A number of pilots were currently being conducted, or had recently concluded, to assess the practicalities of the utilisation of pooled budgets for delivering services in these areas.  Whilst considerably more work was required in a number of these areas prior to the introduction of pooled resources, it had become evident that North Wales, similar to all other regions in Wales, would not be in a position to establish a pooled budget for care home provision from April 2018, and therefore would not comply with the Act’s requirements.  The Welsh Government’s (WG) Minister for Social Services and Public Health had been notified of the position and had consequently permitted all Regional Partnership Boards an additional 12 months to comply with this requirement.  She had also made it explicitly clear that she would consider intervening if this requirement was not complied with by April 2019.  Members were advised that North Wales was ahead of the other regional partnerships in relation to progressing this requirement, but a large amount of detailed work and complex matters required to be worked through prior to an agreement being signed with regards to this particular pooled budget.

Responding to members’ questions the Lead Member, Corporate Director and officers:

·       requested members to raise directly with them any individual cases on which they had concerns about them being admitted into residential care/nursing care pending future medical treatment without undergoing a proper care/nursing care assessment;

·       advised that the law in relation to pooled budgets for care provision did not currently permit the pooled budget to be delegated to individuals for them to commission their own care package, all packages would require to be commissioned by Social Services/Health Service.  Partnership boards were lobbying the Government for the law to be changed in relation to this;

·       confirmed that neither Adult Mental Health Services nor Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To consider a report by the Scrutiny Coordinator (copy attached) seeking a review of the committee’s forward work programme and updating members on relevant issues.

11.45 a.m. – 12.00 noon

The Scrutiny Co-ordinator submitted a report (previously circulated) seeking Members’ review of the Committee’s work programme and provided an update on relevant issues.

During discussion it was:

·       Agreed to invite all Lead Members for the Agenda items on the Forward Work Programme for the next Partnerships Scrutiny Committee meeting taking place on 14 December 2017.  Unfortunately, the Leader, Councillor Hugh Evans would not be available but Lead Member, Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill would attend in his place.

·       Agreed to add Denbighshire’s Homelessness Strategy 2017-21 and the Supporting People/Homelessness Prevention Plan 2018/19 update to the Forward Work Programme for 3 May 2018 meeting.

·       Provisionally, an update on the North Denbighshire Community Hospital Project in Rhyl be scheduled for 22 January 2018 meeting pending confirmation from BCUHB.

·       Appendix 5 – Schools Standards Monitoring Group were looking to update their terms of reference and change of membership.  Councillor Emrys Wynne volunteered to sit on the Group as he was a retired teacher and had an interest in the Group’s aims.

It was:

RESOLVED subject to the above to:

(i)              Confirm the Committee’s forward work programme; and

(ii)             Appoint Councillor Emrys Wynne as the Committee’s representative on the Council’s School Standards Monitoring Group (SSMG)

To receive any updates from Committee representatives on various Council Boards and Groups.

12 noon – 12.10 p.m.

At this juncture, the Chair, Councillor Jeanette Chamberlain-Jones stated she would be unable to attend the next two Strategic Investment Group (SIG) meetings due to being on holiday.   She asked for someone to attend in her place.  Councillor Joan Butterfield expressed an interest in attending the SIG meetings if she was able to confirm transport arrangements.

The meeting concluded at 12.35 p.m.