Agenda item

The Director of Adult Social Care and Health Integration will provide the panel with an overview of the main service areas within Adult Social Care’s remit, and outline the priorities, key issues and challenges for the year ahead.

The Director of Adult Social Care and Health Integration was in attendance to provide an overview of the service area.

Reference was made to the operation of Adult Social Care in relation to its structure and profile.  The Director outlined the various teams and services that comprised it; identified the relevant Executive portfolios; and highlighted such matters as: community inclusion; equipment service support; independent care services and commissioning to external providers; and support provided by the Voluntary and Community Sector.

A Member made reference to the work of the Estate team and queried whether direct payments were included within this.  In response, it was indicated that they were not included.  The Director explained that Middlesbrough Council was one of the earlier authorities to embrace this approach, which had become a normal part of the support plans that all Social Workers put in place.  The work of the Estate team was narrower than that.

With regards to challenges facing the service area this year, Members heard that these included:

• NHS reform and the necessity to ensure a sufficient presence and representation for Middlesbrough Council and the Tees area (reference was made to the sub-ICP and priorities for the local area);
• Adult Social Care reforms, of which there were three elements:

·      Charging reform, which related to how individuals paid for their care.  Proposals had been made by the government and plans to respond to this were currently being devised.  A project plan was being led by the Head of Resident and Business Support; the Director chaired a reform board.  It was explained that a substantial increase to staffing resources in responding to the reforms would be required; however, staffing was currently an issue for all Local Authorities.  It was felt that there would be a significant funding challenge around this, particularly in areas where there was a high number of self-funders (Middlesbrough did not fall into that).

·      Fair Cost of Care – the service area had been mandated to undertake an exercise, which related to a payment framework for care providers and examining the real cost of care provision (e.g. rising utility, insurance, fuel and food costs).  There was a requirement to report the outcome of this work to the government by October 2022.  Consideration was given to the cost of care provision in Middlesbrough in comparison to other areas, and potential pressures that this could cause.  Reference was made to the Medium Term Financial Plan and related considerations within this.

·      Care Quality Commission (CQC) Assurance Framework and the future inspection regime; the full framework was currently awaited.  It was indicated that from April 2023, the CQC would start a benchmarking process and operate a two-year inspection cycle.  Reference was made to inspections undertaken over the last 12 years; the austerity period and current demands.  Activities including short peer reviews and discussions with Children's Services around service improvement and lessons learned would be taking place over the summer, which would assist with work around self-evaluation and awareness.  A former director had also been commissioned to challenge data and performance.  A report detailing the framework would be submitted to the Executive in due course.

• Workforce planning – reference was made to the review undertaken by the Scrutiny Panel last year (‘The Recruitment and Retention of Staff within Adult Social Care’) and the implementation of the recommendations arising from that.  It was indicated that the key priority was to retain experienced personnel.
• Complexity and demand – there was increasing pressure around this and it was felt that work was becoming more complicated as time progressed.

The Chair thanked the Director for the information presented.

NOTED