Issue - meetings

Cabinet Member: Adult Services

Forward Plan Ref: 2010/132

Contact: John Pearce, Service Manager Strategic Commissioning, Social & Community Services

Report by Director for Social & Community Services (CA 11).

The report outlines the proposed changes concerning the development of carers' services within Oxfordshire.  It relates to those services commissioned for adult carers from the Area Based Grant (previously the Carers' Grant), the Oxfordshire County Council Base budget and the Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust contributions for carers totalling £6.302m.

The report recommends that the existing services relating to personal budgets and direct payments to carers totalling £4,407,900.00 continues. It also recommends that new re-designed Services offering information and advice will be provided by Oxfordshire County Council Customer services centre, and tenders will be invited for face to face support for carers.

The rationale supporting this recommendation follows extensive involvement with carers and the strategic need to reach many more carers than currently.  It is estimated that only 15% of carers in Oxfordshire access existing carers' services and this needs to be increased considerably. There are estimated 60, 000 people in Oxfordshire who care for vulnerable and disabled people. However only 9000 are known to voluntary and statutory sector.

The main area for service development is around information and advice, community network development, and enabling carers to maintain or improve employment opportunities. Oxfordshire County Council's website is to be enhanced to enable it to become more user interactive and increase accessibility.

The main shift around information and advice is to provide this through the new Oxfordshire County Council Customer Service Centre rather than through the existing arrangement of carers' centres. (3 centres in Didcot, Oxford and Banbury). The Customer Service Centre will proactively identify all those who have a caring responsibility and ensure appropriate information is made available to them by whatever method is most relevant to their needs.

 A range of face to face support to be made available for carers of Oxfordshire for example peer support, access to brokerage service and specialist outreach workers based in the community (The Carers support Service).  The Carers support Service will actively work with the carers who require this intervention as a solution and this tenders will be invited for these services.

The Aim is to increase the number of known carers by 20% per year so at the end of 3 years 75% of carers are known.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to approve the revised commissioning intentions for carers within Oxfordshire, as detailed in this report.

Cabinet considered a report (CA11) that outlined the proposed changes concerning the development of carers' services within Oxfordshire. It related to those services commissioned for adult carers from the Area Based Grant (previously the Carers' Grant), the Oxfordshire County Council Base budget and the Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust contributions for carers totalling £6.302m.

Councillor Zoe Patrick, Leader of the Opposition, referred to the number of carers as estimated in the report and queried the capacity of the Customer Service Centre. She asked why it was felt that the network would work better without Carer Centres and felt that the mitigation provided was inadequate.

Mr Tony Purkiss, Chairman of Oxfordshire Carers’ Forum, commented that he had been encouraged in the past few years by the improvements in awareness of carers. He recognised the need for the proposals and made the following points. He hoped that the Oxfordshire Carers Forum remained intact. He commented that the strategic direction did not feature parent carers who also sought advice from Carers Centres. He felt that support should be targeted on those most in need to avoid the danger of diluting the quantity and quality of the support provided and finally he supported the identification of carers as a first step.

Responding to a question from Councillor Fatemian he confirmed that he found the Council supportive of carers.

Ms Brandi, speaking as a carer supported the concern concerning parent carers, expressed the fear that they would be excluded from valued support and felt that they had not been directly consulted.

Councillor Fatemian in proposing the recommendations commented that the problem was that carers did not always identify themselves. The new service model moved away from carers having to attend a specific location and the key outcome had to be local and accessible to carers. He emphasised that savings under the new model were to be reinvested. He commented that the Cabinet Member and Directorate were considering the issue of parent carers for Children, Young People & Families and that there would be further consultation. The Cabinet Member for Children, Young People & Families added that she would be happy to include the matter on the agenda of the Children’s Trust Board.

The Director for Social & Community Services responding to a query from Councillor Patrick advised that the figure in paragraph 21 of the report equated to three full time equivalent officers.

RESOLVED:                        to approve the revised commissioning intentions for carers within Oxfordshire, as detailed in this report.