Agenda item

11:20

Contact Officer: John Jackson – Director for Social & Community Services, tel (01865) 323574

The Director for Social & Community Services will give a presentation on the proposals on Day Services for Older People.

The Cabinet Member for Adult Services will also attend for this agenda item to answer Members’ questions.

The Committee is invited to comment on the proposals.

The Director for Social & Community Services, together with the Cabinet Member for Adult Services and Mr Andrew Colling (Service Manager Contracts – Social & Community Services) attended before the Committee for this item.

The Director for Social & Community Services gave a presentation on the proposals for the Strategic Commissioning Framework for Day Opportunities for Older People, a copy of which is appended to these Minutes and to the signed Minutes.

The Committee noted that:

·        the commissioning proposals for the Resource and Wellbeing Centres (RWBCs) were not asking for a lower quality or level of service than that currently provided and therefore asking for expressions of interest should not lead to worse outcomes;

·        there were differing views between current users of the RWBCs and people receiving a personal budget;

·        there had been no opposition to the proposal that Tier 2 services be based on the 14 ‘Closer to Communities’ locality areas (based on the market towns);

·        stakeholder feedback was that the county council did not necessarily need to provide transport, but that transport did need to be provided (eg by volunteers);

·        transport was still a contentious issue:

o       The Director for Social & Community Services was not convinced that value for money was being obtained from existing transport services, and did not see transport provision as a core function of Social & Community Services;

o       however, the Transport Advisor pilot scheme was proving successful (Oxfordshire Travel Advice Line, 01865 323738, oxtail@oxfordshire.gov.uk. This service provides free impartial journey planning and advice for people aged over 65 and those with a high level of support needs and is also able to provide information on joining a transport scheme as a volunteer, and promote relevant services);

o       many people would not volunteer to perform intimate tasks, but would volunteer for cleaning, house help and driving.

The Committee then asked a number of questions.

The Director for Social & Community Services undertook to provide information to all members of the Committee on how many of the Council’s vehicles are specialist vehicles and whether they can also be used for other purposes.

The Cabinet Member for Adult Services undertook to provide written responses to the Committee’s more detailed questions, as listed below:

·        What happens to Centres if they do not generate sufficient income?

·        How can we encourage youth/inter-generational work?

·        Please advise on Volunteer Driver Insurance.

·        How do we intend to support people to access transport?

The Committee then AGREED to advise the Director for Social & Community Services as follows:

Service Provision

This Committee:

• notes current service users’ appreciation of the Council’s Resource and Wellbeing Centres (RWBCs) and their wish for the Council to continue to run them; whilst recognising that because evidence suggests that people with personal budgets choose alternatives to traditional day services it is necessary for the Directorate to put the RWBCs out to tender to ensure that they are well placed to attract people with personal budgets in order to generate sufficient income to be sustainable;
• endorses the Directorate’s intention to market-test services, as a proactive and risk averse strategy.

Transport

This Committee:

·                    recognises the importance of good transport provision for older people and notes that whilst the intention is for many older people to use day opportunities close to home, transport remains a concern;

·                    notes current County Council provision and also notes that discussions regarding future provision are still underway;

·                    wishes all avenues for future transport provision to be explored, including community based transport services; and

·                    asks for more detail on how the Directorate will continue to support people to access transport. 

Volunteering

This Committee:

·                    strongly endorses the need to consolidate, review and extend existing volunteer and good neighbour schemes (including befriending services) as a means to increase people’s mental and physical wellbeing and reduce social isolation;

·                    wishes to encourage the Council to promote more youth/intergenerational work county-wide, which has proven to be highly beneficial to both young and old alike;

·                    considers that there needs to be identified people to recruit and support volunteers, who could either be volunteers themselves, or paid staff where necessary.