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ITEM EX3A

EXECUTIVE – 23 JULY 2002

EXECUTIVE – 16 JULY 2002

Minutes of the Meeting commencing at 8.30 am and finishing at 10.05 am

Present:

The Executive considered the matters, reports and recommendations contained or referred to in the agenda for the meeting and decided as set out below. Except insofar as otherwise specified, the reasons for the decisions are contained in the agenda and reports, copies of which are attached to the signed Minutes.

272/02. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Margaret Godden

273/02. PETITIONS AND PUBLIC ADDRESS

The Chairman reported that the following requests to address the meeting had been agreed:-

Request from	Agenda Item
Ms Margaret Coombs, Independent Community Care Rights Advisor Mr Ivor Sunman, parent of a child using the Chilterns Resource Centre Mr Boris Johnson, MP	4 – Changes in Social services Provision – Children’s Disability Services.

Margaret Coombs criticised the proposals as ignoring the needs of South Oxfordshire; expressed regret that the families had become aware of the proposals by a press coverage rather than directly from the Authority; stressed the need for proper consultation in accordance with established legal principles, and not limited to the month of August; asked that the Executive carry out an audit of families’ needs in Oxfordshire and to provide families with more information about the proposals to enable them to contribute meaningfully to the consultation process; and raised concerns about the proposed mix of children with complex medical needs who used Hernes House with children presenting challenging behaviour.

Mr Sunman welcomed the County Council’s recognition of the difficulties faced by families with disabled children, especially in the light of the cuts to disability services over the last 4 years, but expressed a number of concerns about the proposal to close the Chilterns Resource Centre, and in particular: the lack of involvement of parents in the development of the proposals; the current level of unmet need throughout the County; the vision statement not being based on the needs of families; where additional revenue funding would be identified for the provision of play and leisure services; how a more diverse mix of children would be integrated safely in the new proposal; how families would be supported in the south of the County; what plans there were for St Nicholas House; the extent of existing waiting lists; problems of transport to a more remote facility; the lack of monitoring of day care provision in the proposals; and the lack of an overall long term plan.

Mr Johnson expressed concern that his Henley constituents would be disadvantaged by the proposals for closure of the Centre in Henley, which would mean that people would have to travel a long way for respite care. The service provided by Chilterns was vital for many parents of disabled children who suffered deep emotional distress and exhaustion. He stressed that he blamed lack of funding from Central Government for the position the County Council found themselves in. He asked the Executive to think again about the proposed closure, but otherwise to consider the provision of adequate transport to the Abingdon Respite Centre and options for providing care at Bishopswood School; and to carry out genuine consultation.

Councillor Law referred to the difficulties caused by the uncertainty about the future of Chilterns Respite Centre for the families who used the Centre. He had however been concerned for some time about the run-down of the Centre which had gone from 43 client families five years ago to only 25 families last year. This had resulted in recruitment problems and high unit costs, an hour’s care at the Centre now costing £30 compared to £19 elsewhere. He congratulated the Executive on securing additional funding for resource centres and expressed firm support for the proposal to reduce the number of centres in the County from 5 to 3 on the basis that this provided the most cost-effective use of resources. He also believed that many people in South Oxfordshire would find the centre in Abingdon as accessible as Henley. He asked the Executive to provide an assurance that appropriate transport would be provided to Abingdon.

Councillor Gatehouse congratulated the carers on the excellent campaign they had carried out in addition to their heavy workloads. She questioned the research base for and reliability of the client number estimates on which the proposals were based, whether the proposals actually represented a net increase in provision; and whether the assumption of 100% take-up was realistic. She believed that there were many people in the County who needed the service but were not receiving it, and that on the basis of the NHS waiting list, more financing should come from that quarter.

Councillor MacKenzie expressed concern as to whether the proposed consultation would be genuine, and the distress caused by the previous publication of the closure proposals.

Councillor Cooper urged the Executive to carry out robust consultation and to include an explanation as to why the option of building up the Chilterns Respite Centre had been rejected in favour of closing it. The proposals would mean that families would have to travel to other centres which might or might not be oversubscribed. He sought assurances that the proposals did not merely represent a "quick fix" solution and that people wouldn’t be in the same position in two years’ time. He asked the Executive to make resource centres a high priority regardless of government funding received; to consider building up Chilterns; and to make a plan that was robust and forward thinking. He stressed the importance of not seeking alternative savings from a service that had already suffered major funding reductions, and enquired when the Social & Health Care Scrutiny Committee would be looking at the present proposals.

 274/02. CHANGES IN SOCIAL SERVICES PROVISION - CHILDREN’S DISABILITY SERVICES

(Agenda Item 4)

The Executive considered a report (EX4) which provided information about proposals to develop an integrated residential respite care service in an extended partnership between the County Council, Barnardos and the Oxfordshire Learning Disability NHS Trust. Discussions between the organisations had been undertaken following the Council setting its budget on 9 April 2002, to explore the potential for a cost effective, integrated residential respite care service. The proposal now before the Executive was for the establishment of three centres providing care seven nights per week. If the proposal was agreed by the three organisations, consultations would be undertaken with parents, users, other agencies and staff, and any comments reported back for consideration before any final decision was made.

Mr Hodgson, in introducing the report, stressed that the proposals before the Executive today represented the best option possible for an innovative, integrated respite care service. In response to questions raised in the public address, he reported that although the 3 centres might not be able to operate at full capacity, this option provided for the most efficient and effective use of resources available.

In relation to comments about the timing of consultation, he reported that because many people took leave in August, consultation would be extended into September, which would allow people to read and absorb the consultation document in August, with meetings arranged during September to discuss the proposals and time to respond thereafter.

It was proposed that the responses should be reported to the Social & Health Care Scrutiny Committee at the end of the consultation period to enable them to comment before consideration and decision by the Executive.

In response to questions by members, Mr Hodgson undertook to attempt, before the close of consultation, to quantify the level of unmet need throughout the County, and to assess the number of clients in the immediate area of Henley who would be most affected by the increased distance of travel, comparing this with other areas equally or more remote from respite centre services.

The Interim Director commended the proposals to the Executive and stressed that they provided for positive development in partnerships within the other agencies. He undertook to ensure that consultations would be carried out with integrity.

Councillor Janet Godden commended the proposals as making the best use of the limited funds available, with co-ordination between Social Services and Education provision and scope for more effective utilisation of resources, such as the use of the Bishopswood School buildings outside School hours. She undertook to ensure investigation was carried out into providing facilities at Bishopswood School before closure of Chilterns, and gave an assurance that there would be no discrimination between applicant parents under any new system. She further endorsed Councillor Gatehouse’s comment regarding the dignity with which carers had carried out their campaign, and confirmed that efforts would continue to maximise funding input by other agencies.

Councillor Don Seale endorsed the proposals. He emphasised that the Executive would take all consultation responses into consideration when making decisions, and that indeed he hoped the consultation would provide ideas that would give further room for manoeuvre, bearing in mind the continuing need to achieve savings.

Councillor Fawcett endorsed the proposals, and in particular the possibilities which the proposals offered for joint working between Social Services and Education. He believed that the proposals were understood by the staff concerned, and offered a firm platform for the future, including further opportunities for enhanced co-operative working.

The Chairman concluded the debate by emphasising the achievement of negotiating consultative proposals which offered the prospect of an enhanced guarantee of service while still achieving some saving for the County Council.

The Executive commended Mr Hodgson and his colleagues for all their work on drawing up the proposals.

RESOLVED: (nem con) to:

1. note the progress on negotiations between the County Council, the Learning Disability Trust and Barnardos to establish a new extended partnership, and agree to further detailed negotiations;
2. agree that St Nicholas House, the Home Care Service, and the Play and Leisure Service should be part of the new partnership;
3. agree in principle to the capital and revenue funding implications as outlined in the report;
4. request the Interim Director of Social Services to undertake formal consultation with parents, users, other agencies and staff on the development of the three centres, and the closure of Chilterns, as proposed in the report;
5. request the Acting Chief Education Officer to assess potential service developments as described in the report, and their costs, with schools and the Youth Service;
6. request the Interim Director of Social Services and Acting Chief Education Officer to report to the Executive, via the Social & Health Care and Learning & Culture Scrutiny Committees, on the outcome of the formal consultation;
7. agree to the principle of Barnardos managing Sycamore, Summerfield, St Nicholas House, the Home Care Service and the Play and Leisure Service under contract;
8. agree that the full year savings of £500,000 for disability resource centres would not be achieved in the financial year 2002/03, and that the resulting overspend would need to be met by identifying alternative savings or a supplementary estimate;
9. note that these proposals, if ultimately agreed, would result in an estimated annual revenue funding shortfall of £274,000, and this would need to be addressed in the context of the Medium Term Financial Plan.

in the Chair

Date of signing 2002

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