Agenda and minutes

The Chairman informed all members and those present in the public gallery that the audio of the meeting would be streamed live through the council’s committee section of the website.

RESOLVED – The minutes of the meeting held on 19^th 2016 September were agreed as a correct record.

There were none.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Tom Davey and Councillor Dr Devra Kay. Councillor Anne Hutton was in attendance as a substitute for Councillor Dr Devra Kay.

The following interest was declared:

None.

None.

The committee congratulated the Governance Service Team Leader, who had regularly supported meetings of the committee (Anita O’Malley), on the recent birth of her son, who had been named William. The Chairman and the committee wished her and William well.

The Chairman then provided an update to the committee concerning issues that have been experienced with the Enable Barnet service provided by Aquaflo. He noted that an update on the position was given to the Urgency committee on 17^th October 2016 that outlined the steps taken to remedy the situation.

The Chairman noted that due to the unacceptable impact of service failures on clients and staff, the Council had previously taken the decision to cease allocating cases to Enable Barnet and issued an improvement notice to Aquaflo, which highlighted that immediate steps must be taken to improve the service. Subsequently, officers have issued a notice to terminate the contract effective of 21^st November 2016.

The Chairman informed the committee that officers have been working with Your Choice Barnet to develop an alternative service and have proposed to award a contract to them to become the enablement provider.

Drawing on ‘lessons learnt’, officers are working collaboratively with Your Choice Barnet to ensure that systems will be in place to effectively coordinate the service and are looking to input the training of their staff, so that expectations of the service are clearly understood. There are also plans to co-locate the Your Choice Enablement Manager and Co-ordinators with the Council’s own staff to promote closer working and better communication.

The Chairman also noted that the Council will be making a gradual and controlled allocation of cases to Your Choice Enablement to allow it to establish its processes, improve the quality of its provision and build its capacity. A paper will be brought to the 23^rd January 2017 meeting of the committee to report on the lessons learnt, as well as to note the award of the contract.

The Chairman introduced the item, which related to the Your Choice Barnet Consultation, and invited the Adults and Wellbeing Strategic Lead and Director of Care and Support to the table to answer any questions from the committee.

Following consideration of the item, the Chairman moved to the recommendations. Votes were as follows:

The recommendations were therefore carried, and the following was RESOLVED:

1.            That the Committee noted the findings of the consultation with key stakeholders on the proposals for the new YCB agreement were predominantly positive;

2.            That the Committee agreed that following the findings of the public consultation, that the new contract with YCB will include all current YCB services, whilst increasing support to service users to move towards more independent living and to participate in the workplace;

3.            That the Committee noted that the issues that were raised by stakeholders were addressed through the consultation process and will be monitored through on-going engagement;

4.            That the Committee noted that the outcomes of the consultation with key stakeholders will be used to further develop the content of new YCB service approaches, individual support plans and to ensure that the appropriate assurances are in place;

5.            That the Committee noted that engagement with YCB service users and their families, YCB staff and other key stakeholders will be an on-going process to ensure that YCB develops its services and supports individuals in a way that is person-centred and enabling.

The Chairman introduced the item, which related to the Extension of Extra Care Services, and invited the Adults and Wellbeing Strategic Lead to the table to answer any questions from the committee.

The Commissioning Director, Adults and Health, then provided an overview of the contents of the report.

Following consideration of the item, the Chairman moved to the recommendations. Votes were as follows:

The recommendations were therefore carried, and the following was RESOLVED:

1.            That the Committee agreed to the further expansion of extra care places between 2016 and 2023 as outlined in the report;

2.            That the Committee approved the Barnet Council Framework for Extra Care and Support Services;

3.            That the Committee agreed that the Council enter into a formal dialogue with Your Choice (Barnet) Ltd (YCB) to provide care and support services at Moreton Close Extra Care Scheme.

The Chairman introduced the item, which related to Prevention Services, and invited the Adults and Wellbeing Strategic Lead and the Commissioning Lead, Health and Wellbeing, to the table to answer any questions from the committee.

Following consideration of the item, the Chairman moved to the recommendations, and stated that voting would be taken on each recommendation in turn. Votes for recommendation 1 were as follows:

Votes for recommendation 2 were as follows:

* The Chairman used his casting vote in favour of the recommendation.

Votes for recommendation 3 were as follows:

The recommendations were therefore carried, and the following was RESOLVED:

1.            That the Committee noted:

A)   The expansion of prevention and early support activities targeting current and potential adult social care users in the borough;

B)   The work being progressed to ensure that these activities provide good value for money and reduce future demand for Adult Social Care services.

2.            That the Committee agreed the proposed changes to commissioned services as detailed in the report (section 2) subject to the outcome of consultation with current service users.

3.            That the Committee agreed to receive a consultation report at its meeting on 23^rd January 2017.

The Chairman introduced the item, which related to Business Planning, and invited the Adults and Communities Director, the Adults and Wellbeing Strategic Lead, the Customer Financial Affairs Service Manager, the Community and Well-being Assistant Director and the Head of Adults Transformation to the table to answer any questions from the committee.

The Commissioning Director, Adults and Health, then provided an overview of the contents of the report.

During the course of the debate, Councillor Farrier – seconded by Councillor Hutton – moved a motion to delete the wording of recommendation 3 and replace it with the following wording:

-       The committee request that the result of the consultation come back to the committee for further consideration.

Votes on the motion were recorded as follows:

* The Chairman used his casting vote against the motion.

The motion therefore fell.

Following consideration of the item, the Chairman moved to the recommendations, and stated that voting would be taken on each recommendation in turn. Votes for recommendation 1 were as follows:

* The Chairman used his casting vote in favour of the recommendation.

Votes for recommendation 2 were as follows:

Votes for recommendation 3 were as follows:

* The Chairman used his casting vote in favour of the recommendation.

Votes for recommendation 4 were as follows:

The recommendations were therefore carried, and the following was RESOLVED:

1.    That the Adults and Safeguarding Committee agreed to the savings programme as set out in Appendix A for recommendation to the Policy and Resources Committee.

2.    That the Adults and Safeguarding Committee agreed to the commencement of formal public consultation on the proposed changes to the Council’s Fairer Contributions Policy to start in November 2016.

3.    That the Adults and Safeguarding Committee agreed to delegate authority to the Adults and Health Commissioning Director to progress the plans for the proposed changes to the Council’s Fairer Contributions Policy, and in consultation with the Chairman of the Committee agree the Policy taking into account the feedback from the public consultation and the Equalities Impact Assessment.

4.    That the Adults and Safeguarding Committee agreed to the proposal for the core leisure fees and charges 2017/18 to take effect from 1st April 2017 - 31^st March 2018.

The Chairman introduced the item, which related to the Forward Work Programme for the Committee.

Councillor Reema Patel then requested that a report be brought back to a future meeting of the committee which would provide an update on the Council’s Fairer Contribution Policy. She requested that this be added to the Forward Work Programme.

The Chairman stated that a vote would be taken on the request, with votes recorded as follows:

* The Chairman used his casting vote against the request.

The committee then noted the 2016/17 work programme.