Agenda item

The report (which is to be considered by each of the Scrutiny Committees on 15 December) forms part of a series relating to the Service and Resource Planning process for 2012/13 to 2016/17.

Each Committee will meet in turn to consider the Business Strategies and savings proposed for their service areas. Comments from each Committee will then be considered by Strategy & Partnerships Scrutiny Committee on 12 January 2012 prior to being fed back to Cabinet in order that they can take the comments into consideration in proposing their budget and Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) in January 2012.

The following annexes are attached:

The Director for Social & Community Services will be available to respond to questions, together with the Cabinet Member for Adult Services.

Lorna Baxter, Head of Corporate Finance, gave an overview of the report and responded to members’ questions for clarification. John Jackson, Director of Social and Community Services, then invited the committee to comment on the proposals.

The committee wished to bring the following comments to Cabinet:

·        The possible impact of acceptance of the Dilnot recommendations and the possible impacts on the Social and Healthcare budget. The need for adequate central government funding.

·        The need for increased Health funding after the planned restructure of Health to reduce pressures on Social and Health care, and the need for an adequate provision of funds for Continuing Healthcare.

·        The need to understand the origin and impacts of the increased demand for Health and Social Care.

·        The reliance on reducing the costs of care through private providers, and the possible impact on the quality of care.

·        The risk of private providers experiencing financial difficulties and the potential impact on service users.

·        The capacity of management within the directorate to adequately deal with service changes and new providers whilst undergoing significant internal restructuring.

·        The current capacity of ICT infrastructure and the need for upgrades in the near future.

·        The long term funding and potential overspends on Physical Disabilities support services.

·        The provision of transport for those who wish to use day services.

The committee applauded the following:

·        The efforts to reduce the needs for long term support by prevention strategies.

·        The emphasis on Extra Care Housing provision.

·        The emphasis on Telecare support services.

·        The increased emphasis on Adult Family Placements.

·        Efforts to reduce the number of people going into long term residential care

·        The support for carers and day opportunities.

·        The efforts to coordinate community transport by Adult Services, Growth and Infrastructure, and the NHS under the Health and Wellbeing Board.

·        The County Council Support for the Dilnot proposals.

A minority opinion was expressed, which did not endorse moves towards increased commissioning of services. The possible fragmentation of the system and the difficulties in reliably monitoring providers were given as the main reasons for these reservations.

Overall the committee supported the proposals outlined in the directorate Business Strategy and the Capital Plan, accepting them by a majority of 8 votes to 2.