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ITEM SP3

OXFORDSHIRE SUPPORTING PEOPLE COMMISSIONING BODY

Minutes of the meeting held on 6 October 2005

Present:

Voting Members of Commissioning Body:

Councillor Dorothy Brown – South Oxfordshire District Council - Chair

Councillor Mary de Vere – Vale of White Horse District Council
Robert Evans – National Probation Service - Thames Valley
Councillor Hilary Hibbert-Biles – West Oxfordshire District Council
Val Johnson – Oxford City Council
Councillor J.J. McNamara – Cherwell District Council
Val Messenger – representative for Oxfordshire Primary Care Trusts
Councillor Don Seale – Oxfordshire County Council

Observer:

Councillor Ed. Turner – Oxford City Council

Officers:

Oxfordshire County Council

Chief Executive’s Office

Julie Dean

Social & Health Care

Nicholas Welch, Geoffrey Ferres and Danny Hearn

Resources

Howard Perkins and Robert Austin (consultant solicitor)

West Oxfordshire District Council

Cath James and Lesley Sherratt

Vale of White Horse District Council

Dot Morrison and Paul Staines

Oxford City Council

Michael Lawrence

South Oxfordshire District Council

David Hill and Helen Scullard

Cherwell District Council

Alison Davies

South West Oxfordshire PCT

Angela Baker



34/05. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS (IF APPLICABLE)

    There were no apologies for absence or substitutions.

    35/05. MINUTES

    The Minutes of the meeting held on 29 June 2005 were approved and signed subject to the insertion of a further sentence in Minute 22/05, paragraph 5, to follow the second sentence, to read as follows:

    ‘He asked that written assurance be given from the Core Strategy Group to the next meeting of the Commissioning Body that satisfactory financial monitoring processes had been put in place to support the Annual Plan and to bring down expenditure limits.’

    With regard to Minute 22/05(2), Mr Perkins, in response to comments made by some representatives, stated that there was no difference in view within the Administering Authority regarding the indemnity and that he was awaiting written responses from the other parties to his letter and email. Upon receipt of these, if there were still queries, Mr Perkins undertook to write again to the member organisations about the indemnity clause and the decision making mechanism. He requested that any specific points be raised by them in writing and undertook to try to answer them as quickly as possible.

    For Decision

    36/05. REVIEW OF THE FIVE-YEAR STRATEGY AND THE ANNUAL PLAN FOR 2005/06: THREE-YEAR FINANCIAL STRATEGY

(Agenda Item 4)

At its last meeting on 29 June 2005 the Commissioning Body had agreed to revise the Annual Plan for 2005/06 to set the total value of new contracts to be issued this year in respect of 2006/07 at not more than £17.5m.

The Commissioning Body had also instructed the Core Strategy Group to make proposals to this meeting as to how this revised total should be allocated between client-groups, taking into account –

    1. figures for expenditure in 2004/05, and
    2. information as to any so-called "cost-shunting" which took place between the Transitional Housing Benefit Scheme and other sources of funding in the change-over to the Supporting People programme.

At its August meeting the Core Strategy Group had unanimously approved the attached report (SP4).

The Commissioning Body considered the following set of revised recommendations that had been submitted by Mr Welch to:

    1. note the report and in particular the work that has been carried out in the review of the Three Year Financial Strategy, and that further analysis is required;
    2. note that at its next meeting on 16 December 2005, the Commissioning Body will receive a further report on the Three Year Financial Strategy.

He stated that errors in the financial analysis had been discovered since the agenda had been despatched and asked therefore that, given the complexity of the material and the need for further analysis to ensure a confident conclusion, that the Commissioning Body should defer consideration of this item until 16 December 2005 meeting. This also applied to Agenda item 7.

Some members and/or supporting officers put forward the view that there were a number of instances on the agenda when the Administering Authority were asking the Commissioning Body to defer a decision for the reasons stated above or because an individual partner had been unable to reach agreement (Agenda Items, 4, 6 and 7). As a consequence, they were not in a position to vote on the recommendations unless the Administering Authority would assure them that additional costs would not be borne by the other partner and that there would be no further cuts to services.

Mr Welch made the following comments:

  • the Administering Authority would be using their best endeavours to meet absolute stability for providers;
  • the lack of agreement over the Services for Young People & Teenage Parents review meant that there might be an additional financial burden for this financial year;
  • during discussion around the 3 year strategy, partners would need to decide how to meet contract values;
  • the consequences of meeting the financial target for this year was a problem for the Administering Authority to consider: there would be a shared responsibility to seek the best ways to resolve it over the next 2 years;
  • from a financial point of view it would not make any difference if consideration of these issues was to be deferred until 16 December meeting; and
  • he was not aware that by deferring decisions to 16 December meeting, it would cause particular contractual problems to our providers.

It was AGREED (by unanimous vote) that an informal meeting be arranged, to which members of the Commissioning Body and their supporting officers and members of the Core Strategy Group be invited, in order to discuss the current situation with regard to the Supporting People programme

    37/05. REVIEW OF FIVE-YEAR STRATEGY: HOME IMPROVEMENT AGENCY SERVICES

    (Agenda Item 5)

    At its August meeting the Core Strategy Group had approved the recommendations of the Strategic Review of Home Improvement Agencies. Copies of all the papers produced by the Strategic Review Group were attached at SP5.

    The Core Strategy Group had recommended the Commissioning Body to:

    1. agree the commissioning plan for the Oxfordshire HIA Service, to be commissioned from April 2006, based on the key parameters proposed in section 9 of the attached report;
    2. agree the Oxfordshire HIA Service should be commissioned using the proposed delivery Model 1 – One Oxfordshire HIA Agency operated by one provider from three office locations, one in each of the following administrative areas: Vale of White Horse/South Oxfordshire, Cherwell/West Oxfordshire and Oxford City; and should be contracted for using one contract held by the Oxfordshire County Council on behalf of the commissioning partners; and
    3. instruct the Oxfordshire Supporting People Team to implement the commissioning and procurement outcomes of the two decisions listed above in partnership with the commissioning partners and in conjunction with the Oxfordshire County Council Legal and Procurement Services.
    4. It was AGREED (by unanimous vote) to:

                1. change the commissioning date for the Oxfordshire Home Improvement Agency service to 1 October 2006;
                2. make contractual arrangements to ensure the continuance of the existing services until 30 September 2006; and
                3. instruct the Oxfordshire Home Improvement Agency Strategic Review Group to make recommendations for a partnership agreement and a procurement strategy.

    38/05. REVIEW OF FIVE-YEAR STRATEGY: SERVICES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE AND TEENAGE PARENTS

    (Agenda Item 6)

    At its August meeting the Core Strategy Group had received the report of the group which had carried out the strategic review of services for young people (including teenage parents). The report represented a consensus of all parties. However at the Core Strategy Group meeting Cherwell District Council had rejected the report.

    The report was amended and resubmitted to the September meeting, and Cherwell District Council submitted a position statement which was also discussed. No agreement was reached. The report is attached at SP6. The position statement had been circulated to all members of the Commissioning Body.

    The report had been due to be approved by the Commissioning Body at this meeting and should have yielded savings of almost £100,000 in 2005/06 and almost £400,000 in 2006/07. It had been presented to the Commissioning Body without a recommendation and it was not proposed to take a decision upon it unless officers had arrived at a position acceptable to all partners prior to the meeting.

    Councillor MacNamara, representative for Cherwell District Council, spoke to the position statement and responded to concerns expressed by other representatives about the difficulty in revisiting this strategy, given the hard work done with providers. He stated that he was not asking the Commissioning Body to begin the review again, only to widen the scope of the review.

    It was AGREED (unanimously) to note that officers had been unable to agree to recommendations on the Strategic Review of Services for Young People (including Teenage Parents): recommendations would therefore be put to the Commissioning Body at its next meeting on 16 December 2005.

    39/05. REVIEW OF FIVE-YEAR STRATEGY: SERVICES FOR HOMELESS PEOPLE

    (Agenda Item 7)

    At its September meeting the Core Strategy Group had received the reports of the strategic reviews of services for homeless people. There was a separate report for each of the five districts and a county-wide overview report. All these reports are attached SP7(a) for approval by the Commissioning Body.

    The Core Strategy Group had recommended the Commissioning Body:

      (a) that approval be given to the recommendations of the strategic reviews of services for homeless people in South, West Oxfordshire, Cherwell and Oxford;

      (b) to accept the recommendation from Vale of White Horse District Council to retain the one existing service and recognises the service review, which has not yet taken place, cannot be prejudged by determining in advance what saving, if any, is possible compared with the current contract-price;

      (c) that, In the light of the strategic review of services for homeless people in Oxford, to rescind the decision of the meeting held on 24 November 2004 to recommission the Oxford City Floating Support Service provided by Bromford Carinthia Housing Association (Service ID 850) and instructs the Supporting People Team to ensure appropriate arrangements are made for the welfare of service users;

      (d) to request that the District Councils to participate in a City-led detailed review of support to homeless people moving-on from hostel provision, to identify an appropriate model of provision for Oxford and potentially the County, covering type of provision (balance of floating & accommodation-based provision, generic or specialist services, one centralised service or several contracts), the relationship between services in the City, routes for accessing services, minimising bed blocking of accommodation-based services;

      (e) to request that the commissioning process following completion of the strategic reviews be carried out in consultation with the relevant District and the City Council and taking account of any related recommendations in individual review reports.

      In light of the situation highlighted on Minute 36/05, the following revised recommendations were tabled:

      (a) notethe report and that final recommendations will be considered by the Commissioning Body at its next meeting on 16 December 2005; and

      (b) request that the District Councils participate in a detailed review of support to homeless people who move on from hostel accommodation, to be led by Oxford City Council.

    It was AGREED (unanimously) to:

    (a) note the report and that final recommendations would be considered by the Commissioning Body at its next meeting on 16 December 2005; and

    (b) request that the District Councils participate in a detailed review of support to homeless people who move on from hostel accommodation, to be led by Oxford City Council.

    40/05. REVIEW OF FIVE-YEAR STRATEGY: SERVICES FOR PEOPLE WITH MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS

    (Agenda Item 8)

    At its September meeting the Core Strategy Group had received an interim report from the strategic review of services for people with mental health problems. The report and its appendices were attached at SP8.

    Councillor Hibbert-Biles requested the words ‘wherever possible’ on page 9(d) of report be deleted to read ‘A geographical spread of services should be preserved’.

    The Core Strategy Group had recommended the Commissioning Body to:

      (a) endorse the principles set out in section 8 of the report (a) to (f) for determining the principles on which the future pattern of services will be based; and

      (b) agree to accept a final report at its next meeting.

      It was AGREED to:

      (a) note the principles set out in section 8 of the report (a) to (f) for determining the principles on which the future pattern of services will be based; and

      (b) note the comments made by partner representatives at the meeting and to consider the final report at the next meeting.

    For Information

    41/05. GRANT BUDGET REPORT

(Agenda Item 9)

Mr Ferres reported the following:

  • the Core Strategy Group had received the monthly figures in the new format;
  • Finance colleagues had demonstrated a new spreadsheet which provided the information required;
  • he had suggested that the Core Strategy Group should have before them examples of a variety of reports to their next meeting in order that they could determine the level of detail they wished to receive.

He added that the Supporting People Team had been advised that there was a projected overspend of almost £850,000. This was within the range forecasted, subject to savings being made to services for homeless people and young people.

It was AGREED to:

      (a) thank the officers for the work undertaken to improve the presentation and content of the financial information submitted to Core Strategy Group and to the Commissioning body;

      (b) note the amended grant budget report from the information set out on the agenda; and

      (c) request the officers to intersperse the information, where dense, with short summaries that are designed to bring the main points of the text to the attention of the Commissioning Body.

    42/05. REVIEW OF THE FIVE-YEAR STRATEGY AND THE ANNUAL PLAN FOR 2005/06: STRATEGIC REVIEWS OF SERVICES

(Agenda Item 10)

The Annual Plan for 2005/06 which formed part of the Five-Year Strategy had been approved unanimously by all the partners. It provided for strategic reviews to take place of the following services:

    • Accommodation-based services for older people
    • Community alarm services
    • Home improvement agencies
    • Services for homeless people
    • Services for people with mental health problems
    • Services for young people, including teenage parents.

The report attached at SP10 showed the progress with the reviews of community alarm services and accommodation-based services for older people which were due for submission to the next meeting on 16 December.

The Commissioning Body AGREED to note the report and to thank the officers for all the groundwork they had put into the above-mentioned reviews.

    43/05. SERVICE REVIEW PROGRESS

    (Agenda Item 11)

    A list of the service review outcome reports approved by the Core Strategy Group at its meetings on 6 July, 3 August and 7 September was attached at SP11(a).

    Two separate papers showing the Supporting People Team’s progress with the service review programme was attached at SP11(b) together with a revised service review programme SP11(c).

    It was AGREED to note the reports.

    44/05. HOUSING CORPORATION BID ROUND

    (Agenda Item 12)

    The Core Strategy Group had discussed capital bids to The Housing Corporation at its meetings on 6 July, 3 August and 7 September. It had asked each provider to answer a series of standard questions, and had then considered their responses.

    A copy was attached listing the bids that the Core Strategy Group had considered deserved support (SP12(a)) and of the questions asked in respect of each bid (SP12(b)).

    It was AGREED to note the report and to request the Core Strategy Group to support:

      (a) a bid to the Housing Corporation from the English Churches Housing Group for the People with Learning Disabilities category (South West Oxfordshire PCT); and

      (b) a bid to the Housing Corporation from the Stonham Housing Association/Emmaus for the single homeless people category (Oxford City PCT).

    45/05. SUPPORTING PEOPLE DISTRIBUTION FORMULA

    (Agenda Item 13)

    The Oxfordshire MPs were due to meet the Minister responsible for Supporting People, Phil Woolas MP, on 10 October. The Leader of Oxfordshire County Council and the Director for Social & Health Care had been invited to accompany them.

    The Government had announced that it was shortly to publish three papers for consultation: a national outline strategy, for three months’ public consultation; a paper proposing how the agreed national Supporting People budget for 2006/07 and 2007/08 should be allocated, for a shorter period of consultation; and a paper making proposals regarding the administrative burden of the programme.

    It was AGREED to note the report.

    46/05. NEW CLIENT ANALYSIS FOR 2004/05

    (Agenda item 14)

    Supporting People funded services were expected to complete a New Client Record Form for every new service user – apart from most services for older people.

    The Commissioning Body had before them a report (SP14) that analysed information gained from these forms for 2004/05, together with a copy of the tables Oxfordshire had received from the organisation in Scotland to which service providers were expected to submit the forms.

    It was AGREED to note the report.

    47/05. AUDIT COMMISSION INSPECTION PREPARATION

    (Agenda Item 15)

    The sub-group established by the Core Strategy Group to oversee preparations for the Audit Commission Inspection, which was due to begin on 28 November 2005, had been meeting regularly and reporting to the Core Strategy Group.

    The deadline for materials to reach the Audit Commission was 12 noon on Monday 3 October. The Lead Inspector had arranged to visit Oxford for the set up Meeting on Friday 7 October. Councillor Dorothy Brown had agreed to attend the meeting, along with members of the Inspection Preparation Sub-group.

    It was AGREED to note the report and to thank the officers for providing the very helpful briefings given on the inspection process.

    48/05. BEACON DISSEMINATION

    (Agenda Item 16)

    The Oxfordshire Supporting People Team’s Beacon Co-ordinator had recently produced a properly printed version of the Five-year Strategy. A copy had been enclosed with the Agenda.

    The Co-ordinator was now producing a Directory of Supporting People funded services for people aged 60 or over, and a properly printed version of our information leaflet for service users.

    Oxfordshire was continuing to provide assistance to Lincolnshire and facilitated a day for members of their newly-established Core Strategy Group on 9 September. Lincolnshire’s re-inspection was due to start on Monday 31 October.

    The Oxfordshire authorities’ Beacon status in respect of Supporting People had ended on 30 June. Some of the planned work was still continuing and a final report on the dissemination work had not yet been presented to the Core Strategy Group.

    It was AGREED to note the report.

    49/05. SERVICE PERFORMANCE REPORT 2004/05

    (Agenda Item 17)

    Most Supporting People funded services were expected to complete a performance workbook at the end of each quarter giving details of their performance. A report was circulated analysing information gained from these workbooks for 2004/05. The workbook produced by the Government for 2004/05 differed from that used for 2003/04 and therefore direct comparisons with the first year of the programme was not possible.

    It was AGREED to note the report and to commend the efforts made by the providers to collect this information.

    50/05. ANNUAL PLAN 2006/07

    (Agenda Item 18)

    The Commissioning Body in March had agreed proposed Forward Agendas for 2005/06. The Commissioning Body had expected a draft Annual Plan for 2006/07 to be submitted to the June meeting, prior to public consultation.

    The Government had announced that it was about to issue a national, outline Supporting People strategy for public consultation. The Supporting People Team had therefore delayed drafting an Annual Plan for 2006/07 in order to take account of the Government’s proposals.

    It was AGREED to note the report and to await the draft plan for submission to the 16 December meeting.

    51/05. DATE OF NEXT MEETING AND FUTURE MEETINGS

(Agenda Item 19)

The Commissioning Body were reminded that the next meeting would be held in Committee Room 2, County Hall on Friday 16 December 2005 at 10.30 am - 12.30 pm.

The meeting following that has been scheduled to take place at County Hall on Friday 17 March 2006.

Suggested dates for future meetings during 2006/07 would follow.

in the Chair

Date of signing 2005

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