Agenda item

The Committee requested a report to understand trends in performance.

Cllr Tim Bearder, Cabinet Member or Adult Social Care, Karen Fuller, Interim Corporate Director: Adult Social Care, and Victoria Baran, Interim Deputy Director of Adult Social Care, have been invited to present the report and to answer the Committee’s questions.

The Committee is recommended to consider the report, to ask any questions, and to AGREE any recommendations it wishes to make to Cabinet arising from the report and discussion.

Cllr Tim Bearder, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Karen Fuller, Interim Corporate Director for Adult Social Care (‘the Director’), and Victoria Baran, Interim Deputy Director for Adult Social Care (‘the Deputy Director’), attended to present the report the Committee had requested to understand trends in performance with regard to demand management and assurance in adult social care.

Cllr Bearder introduced the report and advised the Committee that there had been a pilot assessment under the new framework in five different areas and that the Council as an whole would be inspected by the Care Quality Commission at some point between October 2023 and August 2024.  It was not known when but the directorate had made extensive preparations.

The Director and the Deputy Director delivered a presentation which drew the Committee’s attention to the key parts of the report.  It was explained that local authorities would be assessed against four principal themes, namely: working with people; providing support; ensuring safety; leadership.  A wide range of evidence would need to be provided including self-assessment.

The Director highlighted the key role of political leadership and scrutiny in the assessment.

Extensive preparations had been undertaken and self-assessment had identified a wide range of strengths which was summarised in the following way:

• The Oxfordshire Way provides a vision and commitment to prevention, delay of formal support, and innovation delivering real impact for our residents;
• There is understanding in teams that strengths-based practice supports people to have control over their lives;
• There is a strong focus on supporting people in communities;
• There is strong leadership with clear vision, well understood roles and practice leadership;
• There is strong partnership working including with the community and voluntary sector;
• Robust joint commissioning arrangements are in place with significant pooled budgets;
• We have a commitment to innovation and digital transformation;
• There is a strong commitment to equality and diversity evident in strategies and priorities;
• Oxfordshire is active in sector-led improvement.

Self-assessment had also supported a focus on key areas for further improvement:

• Timeliness of Assessment, Reviews and Safeguarding;
• Embedding co-design and tackling inequalities;
• Use of data and monitoring our performance;
• Widening channels of assessment;
• Digital and innovation;
• Engaging with the care market;
• Learning and Development;
• Good access to information and advice.

Discussion followed with the following being drawn out.

Work with partners was key and there had been external scrutiny of the self-assessment and there would continue to be so going forward.

The Oxfordshire Adult Social Care Workforce Strategy for the next three years was being consulted upon.  Agency spend had come down but there were occasions when agency staff were necessary.  Recruitment was a challenge in some areas but in some other areas there were very few vacancies.  Work had been done on making the Council an attractive employer and there were benefits for both retained and recruited staff in this regard.  There had been a strong focus on staff welfare.

With regard to supported living placements, the Council was working with district councils to influence Local Plans given that the housing element was integral to social care as well as important for the wellbeing of residents.

The importance of easy and efficient digital access for service users was emphasised as was support for those who found it difficult to access digitally.  Libraries were suggested as a place where people could receive in-person support.

The Committee was grateful for the comprehensive report it had received and commended the positivity of the team.

ACTION: For the Director to provide data on retention and recruitment.

The Committee resolved to NOTE the report.