Agenda and minutes

It was proposed, seconded and AGREED that Cllr Corkin should be appointed Chair of the Committee for the 2022/23 municipal year. Cllr Corkin assumed the role of the Chair at this point.

It was proposed, seconded and AGREED that Cllr Gregory should be appointed Deputy Chair of the Committee for the 2022/23 municipal year.

An apology for absence was received from Cllr Ash. Cllr Leverton substituted for Cllr Ash.

There were none.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 7 April 2022  and to receive information arising from them.

The Committee considered the minutes of the previous meeting. It was AGREED that the Chair should sign them off as an accurate record.

A query on the progress made against the undertaking to appoint key stakeholders and co-optees was raised. It was confirmed that this work was underway and educational appointees would be expected to be in place by the special meeting on educational matters scheduled for October.

There were none.

The purpose of the report is to provide the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee with background information on the requirements set out in Government policy and legislation on the reform of Adult Social Care and to provide an update on the approach to implementation in Oxfordshire.

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to note the update provided on Adult Social Care Reform implementation in Oxfordshire.

It was noted by the Committee that the expected report from Helen Coombes was not present as it was not ready for publication. It was confirmed by Karen Fuller that it would be ready in time for the next ordinary meeting of the Committee in November. It was AGREED by the Committee to add this item to the work plan for the November meeting.

Cllr Bearder, Cabinet member for Adult Social Care, introduced the presentation. The Council spent almost half its budget on adult social care, making the changes faced in this area highly significant for the Council overall. The reforms to adult social care meant significant increases in the number of people the Council would need to support. Without correct funding for such a significant increase in demand, the situation could prove very challenging for the Council.

Karen Fuller, Interim Corporate Director of Adults, proceeded with the presentation, providing background information on the requirements set out in Government policy and legislation on the reform of Adult Social Care and to provide an update on the approach to implementation in Oxfordshire.

The Health and Care Act 2022 involved multiple strands: the Build Back Better work, which includes the care cap; implementing CQC assurance for local government; integration with the NHS; Fair Cost of Care, which concerned reviewing the fairness and sustainability of care; and the publication of a Market Sustainability Plan. The first priority for the Council amidst this suite of reforms was to complete its work around Fair Cost of Care to meet the October 2022 deadline. Other work is however, proceeding concurrently. For example, legislative changes to the Liberty Protection Safeguards preparation. This work was confirmed to be underway and the Council will be responding to the national consultation in July. It was noted that the proposed changes would involve undertaking assessments on young adults aged 16 and over, requiring collaboration with children’s’ services also.

In response to the requirement from government that a Fair Cost of Care exercise be carried out, the Council would be using the government methodology and relevant tools and would be engaging an independent organisation to undertake the work to ensure impartiality and fairness throughout the process. Early research highlighted a number of important issues, including the relatively high number self-funders which the council potentially will have to support.

The implementation date for the care cap is scheduled for October 2023, but there is the opportunity that assessments can commence in April 2023 in a transition stage which does have some benefits as it does avoid a significant spike in workload caused by an expected increase in demand for assessments of approximately 50% in October. The Council, via the Oxfordshire Way transformation work in Adults has positively reduced waiting lists for assessment by 45% over the previous year which is positive compared to the national picture where waiting lists have increased.

A key pressure to be understood relating to the Fair Cost of Care is that there is no confirmation yet as to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7/22

To consider the draft strategy, to assess its ambition and how it will drive service improvement.

Mark Lygo, Cabinet Member for Public Health and Equalities introduced the report. The Council recognised the value of the voluntary and community sector, contributing to society in ways that local government could not. During the pandemic public involvement in volunteering had increased substantially. This has included a new level of engagement and collaboration with the statutory sector. There is considerable ambition within the VCS to retain this new culture to drive efficiency, flexibility, and responsiveness. The Council, likewise, wished to build, develop and foster these relationships and outcomes. The embryo for this strategy was from an LGA peer review in 2019, with work continuing to develop the strategy from then on. In September 2021 the Cabinet approved the development of a VCS strategy, to be co-produced with the sector. The aim was to consider the Council’s commitment to the sector, and analyse and align relationships and funding – to create a clear and cohesive strategic approach across Oxfordshire as a whole.

Co-production and engagement had been central to the development of the strategy, with the Council going above and beyond what would be expected to garner the views of communities across the county. The Council had also directly engaged the district councils in the county, and via them parish councils also.  Five priorities and a number of underpinning commitments were agreed through a VCS and public sector co-production working group, based on the input from an externally-held workshop. The priorities were:

(a) Collaboration and Networking

(b) Volunteering and Social Action

(c) Capacity and Skills

(d) Supporting a Sustainable Sector

(e) Reducing Inequalities

The Council aimed to continue to promote and champion the VCS, strengthen partnership working, work collaboratively with the VCS to address long-term challenges, promote the value of social action and volunteering, upskill volunteers and address barriers to volunteering, help with VCS with access to and understanding of data about local communities, and tackle inequalities, including digital exclusion. 

In response to the presentation the Committee queried the degree to which the strategy tended towards working with larger voluntary and community sector organisations, and whether harder to reach groups, and particularly the views of younger people had been sufficiently heard. A number of explanations and caveats were put forward in relation to this, including the fact that the strategy’s purpose was to develop the capacity of the sector overall, and not one element of it, that pragmatically it was necessary to work with those with greatest capacity to develop the sector and that they tended to have the spare capacity to contribute to strategic discussions, that notwithstanding the previous point smaller groups (and indeed individuals) had been involved in the consultation, and young people had been involved. The Committee determined that they should still raise this issue as a recommendation.

The other key area of discussion concerned the apparent prioritisation of adult services over those of children and young people within the strategy. Given that the Committee considered that many of the capacity challenges and workforce recruitment and retention issues  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8/22

To consider the draft strategy, to assess its ambition and how it will drive service improvement.

Glynis Phillips, Cabinet Member for Corporate Services introduced the report. Digital inclusion was defined as ‘ensuring the benefits of the internet and digital technologies are available to everyone’ and covered both access to the internet and the ability of individuals to use it. The pandemic had reinforced how vital digital services were to everybody’s lives, being fundamental to employment, financial management and social interaction, as well as being more and more relied on for health services also. However, not everybody is able or wishes to access or use this technology, meaning an ongoing challenge exists for the Council in how it provides for such people in an increasingly digitally focused environment. Key groups within this category included, amongst others, those living in rural areas, people living in social deprivation, carers and small businesses.  Library and heritage services perform a key function in this regard, providing free access to wifi and computers for users, but also trained staff and volunteers to provide support. Over 8000 applications for services such as blue badges and bus passes had been enabled in this way.

The Strategy covered three key areas: digitally inclusive communities, service delivery, and the workplace. Working alongside partners, a digital inclusion charter had been developed and was being consulted on. When agreed, as many organisations as possible would be encouraged to sign up to the principles as possible. Progress against the strategy, via an action plan to deliver the strategy, would be presented annually.

In response to the presentation the Committee focused its questioning on a number of issues. Good practice from elsewhere in relation to making libraries (and their IT services) accessible for those with children, or those who work was explored. The importance of libraries as the first port of call for many digitally excluded individuals was recognised and it was confirmed that work was already being undertaken by the Council to review the needs of local residents in relation to library access.

The challenge and capacity of the Council to ensure that responsibility for improving digital inclusion was embedded corporately rather than located within a particular team was discussed. In readiness for this, the Council had already moved from a hardware focus to a service focus, with dedicated IT staff for each directorate tasked with understanding the IT requirements to deliver their services as part of the wider corporate offer.  Likewise, non-IT staff were being trained to support individuals with use of IT in the course of their existing roles. The importance of this was noted particularly in ensuring that vulnerable users were not exposed to unacceptable levels of risk when using the internet.

Specific groups who might struggle particularly with digital access were identified and issues discussed. In addition to library provision, central government’s Project Gigabit had been of significant help in increasing broadband access for those who might face cost of living challenges, with over 240 community properties being equipped to provide free wifi. Full fibre broadband was being rolled out across the entire county, meaning  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9/22

To agree the project plan and a delegated arrangement to agree the Working Group’s next report to Cabinet.

Helen Mitchell, Interim Scrutiny Manager, introduced the Home to School Project Plan. It was noted that meetings had been delayed, with the expectation that the meeting should proceed in late June or early July.

It was AGREED that:

1)    That any draft report and recommendations should be agreed by the Scrutiny Officer, the Chair and Deputy Chair of People OSC, and the Chair of the working group.

2)    The Project Plan be accepted and the working group set up accordingly.

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to: -

1.    Note the Committee’s draft work programme for the municipal year 2022/23;

2.    Note that the work programme is a document that is subject to change and Members can add, subtract and defer items as necessary; 

3.    Agree to consider the work programme at each meeting of the Committee over the course of the municipal year alongside the Council’s Forward Plan.

The Committee considered the draft work programme for the forthcoming year.

It was AGREED that the work programme would be considered, in conjunction with the Cabinet Forward Plan, as a standing item at each meeting.

Following consideration of the Cabinet’s Forward Plan, it was noted that the Council intended to begin a procurement exercise for Domestic Abuse services, it was AGREED that the Principal Scrutiny Officer would agree opportunities outside the meeting for the Committee to consider this topic, and for it to be run in conjunction with the HOSC.

It was AGREED that the proposed report on learning from Covid would consider both learning for schools, and also learning for the County Council.

The benefits to the Committee of having multiple working groups being led in a single year by the same member was called into questioned. Consequently, it was AGREED that the Principal Scrutiny Officer would work to develop project plans bearing this in mind, and that the Committee could sign these off remotely. Lead members were confirmed as being Cllr Thomas for the Food Strategy Action Plan, and Cllr Simpson for Family Centres. It was requested that a list of all those who had received transition funding be provided to Cllr Simpson.

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to note the action and recommendation tracker which will henceforth be used to monitor the implementation of formally agreed actions and recommendations.

The proposed action and recommendation tracker was NOTED.

Scrutiny officers are currently drafting a number of protocols to formalise expectations of different stakeholders in relation to key elements of scrutiny: the Scrutiny/Executive relationship, the establishment and practices of working groups, and the call-in procedure.

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to agree to receive the draft protocols via email in due course and provide feedback via email.

It was explained to Members that officers were in the process of drafting a number of protocols to regulate a number of the key functions of the Scrutiny function, the Cabinet/Scrutiny relationship, the formation of working groups, and call-ins. Members were advised that their input was sought but the documents were not currently ready. It was AGREED that Member views would be passed back via e mail.