Agenda and minutes

Cllr Simpson noted that Cllr Povolotsky was no longer a member of the Committee and thanked her work for her work as Vice-Chair.

Cllr Elphinstone proposed that Cllr Edosomwan be elected Vice-Chair and he was seconded by Cllr Leverton. There being no other nominations, Cllr Edosomwan was elected for the remainder of the 2023-24 Council Year.

Cllr Bearder, Cabinet member for Adult Social Care, had sent his apologies owing to a personal commitment.

There were none.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 9 November 2023                      (POSC4) and to receive information arising from them.

The committee AGREED to approve the minutes of the meeting on 9 November 2023, subject to the following amendments:

·       Page 2 Cllr Tim Bearder, Cabinet member for Adult Social Care, “attended to present” to be changed to “briefly introduced”

·       Page 3 “It was emphasised that safeguarding was everyone’s concern,” “concern” to be substituted for “responsibility

Matters arising

·       The Committee reiterated its request for the scrutiny map and the Learning from Deaths of those with a Learning Disability Report referenced in the report presented in November.

·       The Corporate Director for Adult Social Care reiterated her offer to organise a visit to the Luther Street Medical Centre or to shadow any of her teams.  Members were encouraged to contact the Scrutiny Officer to request this.

·       The Committee noted that the update on Family Safeguarding Plus would be more appropriately be provided to the new Education and Young People Overview & Scrutiny Committee but would welcome it being so.

·       Cllr Waine reminded members that he and Cllr Elphinstone had surveyed a great deal of education data which the new Education and Young People Overview & Scrutiny Committee would do well to consider.

Members of the public who wish to address the Committee can attend the meeting in person or virtually, through an online connection.  To facilitate hybrid meetings, we ask that requests to speak are submitted by 09.00 four working days before the meeting, i.e., 09.00 on Friday 12 January 2024.  Requests to speak should be sent to scrutiny@oxfordshire.gov.uk

If you are speaking virtually, you may submit a written form of your presentation so that, if the technology fails, your views can be taken into account.  Written submissions should be no longer than one A4 sheet.

The Scrutiny Officer advised that, whilst there had been applications to address the Committee, those who had applied had been advised to address the newly-established Education and Young People Overview & Scrutiny Committee which was due to meet immediately afterwards instead.

The Committee requested an update on work surrounding Homelessness and Rough Sleeping in Oxfordshire.  The Committee has invited Cllr Tim Bearder, Cabinet member for Adult Social Care, Karen Fuller, Corporate Director for Adult Social Care, and Andrew Chequers, Deputy Director: Housing and Social Care Commissioning, to attend to present the report and to answer the Committee’s questions.

The Committee is recommended to NOTE the report and to make any recommendations it wishes to make.

The Committee requested an update on work surrounding Homelessness and Rough Sleeping in Oxfordshire. In the absence of Cllr Tim Bearder, Cabinet member for Adult Social Care, Cllr Liz Leffman, Leader of the Council, introduced the report. She was accompanied by Karen Fuller, Corporate Director for Adult Social Care; Andrew Chequers, Deputy Director: Housing and Social Care Commissioning; Nicola Riley, Assistant Director: Wellbeing and Housing Cherwell District Council; Peter Moore, Programme Manager Oxfordshire Out of Hospital Care Team; Lorraine Henry, Service Manager Safeguarding, DoLS & Mental Health OCC; Steven Turner, OSAB Strategic Partnerships Manager Oxfordshire Safeguarding Adults Board; and Samia Shibili, Commissioning Manager Homelessness OCC.

The Leader highlighted that, whilst the Council had no statutory duty to look after homeless people, the Council had a long history of working with its partners to provide these services. The report outlined the steps that the commission had taken to manage the many challenges facing it. Cllr Leffman thanked the Council’s partners for their attendance at the meeting and for their collaborative working to improve the situation for homeless people in Oxfordshire.

The Corporate Director and the Deputy Director provided an overview of the steps undertaken to tackle homelessness, illustrated by a PowerPoint Presentation. The Prevention of Homelessness Directors Group (PHDG), comprised of various partners, including OCC, District and City Councils and the NHS, had produced a comprehensive action plan, The Oxfordshire Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Plan (2023 – 2026), which had seven key strands:

·       Accountability

·       Accommodation & commissioning

·       Proactively prevent homelessness.

·       Timely move-on

·       The right home in the right place

·       Delivery of Service - Rapid response to rough sleeping

·       Focus on the person not the problem

The Corporate Director emphasised the complexity of the issue of homelessness, as an individual’s homelessness could have multiple causes and, in addition, the majority of homeless people were adults with capacity to make decisions that could be considered unwise. The system-wide response in Oxfordshire had sought to tackle this complexity.

In response to the presentation, the Committee discussed multiple issues which included:

·       The effectiveness of the system-wide approach and how the system allowed flexibility for individual cases. The system had worked hard for honesty, transparency and trust between its member organisations. The Multi Agency Risk Management Process (MARMP) allowed reflection on the functioning of the system and provided learning opportunities. The system had flexibility built in as, given that service users could decline the services offered, it was important to meet people’s individual needs and not insist on pushing them through rigid procedures. Problems were approached in a way to suit the needs of the service users and not to suit the bureaucratic needs of professionals. The collaborative process between the partners allowed a forum to offer support to individuals who did not fall neatly under one service area or another, and relevant data about an individual was shared between services so that professionals had a clear understanding of their needs. The Oxfordshire Safeguarding Adults Board (OSAB) identified cases to ensure that the lessons shared across  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44/23

The Committee is recommended to NOTE the Forward Plan and to AGREE items it wishes to consider on its work programme taking account of the changes in its terms of reference as approved by Council on 12 December 2023.  The Committee is reminded that children’s services are now considered by the Education and Young People Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

The Chair confirmed it would be helpful to have a separate meeting to consider the work programme for the Committee going forward. 

The Scrutiny Officer advised that he was working to update the action and recommendation tracker as some of the actions and recommendations now pertained to the Education and Young People Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

The Committee is recommended to NOTE the response from the Cabinet member for SEND to the recommendations it submitted jointly with the Oxfordshire Joint Health & Overview Scrutiny Committee to relating to the Local Area SEND Inspection Report.

The Committee resolved to NOTE the response from Cabinet.