Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - Civic Office

Contact: Christine Rothwell  Tel. 01302 735682

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillor Neil Gethin, Bev Chapman and John Mounsey

2.

To consider the extent, if any, to which the public and press are to be excluded from the meeting.

Minutes:

None.

3.

Declarations of Interest, if any.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest made.

4.

Public Statements.

[A period not exceeding 20 minutes for statements from up to 5

members of the public on matters within the Committee’s remit,

proposing action(s) which may be considered or contribute towards the future development of the Committee’s work programme.]

Minutes:

The following public statement was made;

 

“I am here today to give you a picture of life as a parent with a daughter who has a learning disability and to give you an idea of my daughter’s life under your direction.

 

She is 24 years of age and has spent her learning years in special schools in DMBC.

 

In 2010, we spent a great deal of fighting for her to go to a residential college in Grimsby to give her the skills to have an independent life.

 

When she left linkage in 2013 DMBC did not have a plan to help her go into independent assistant living.

 

Again after a battle with DMBC she got a placement in Thorne under the care of Mencap and Golden Lane Housing.  This went ok until Victoria was required to pay for her care out of her disability allowance with no warning that this had been put in place.

 

DMBC charged her £130 per week for care and £240 per month for attending a day centre 3 days a week and she has had to contribute £110 per week to her house for food and bills.  This left her a negative of £11 per week, which DMBC thought was ok for her to continue to live in that house.  It got to the stage where she could no longer afford to live in supported living and she asked to come back to the family home to live.

 

At present she would like to live in Hamilton Lodge which has independent flats and have professional staff on hand 24/7.

 

DMBC will not let this happen because according to them, Hamilton lodge does not promote independence living because it’s a residential placement.  This is not true as they are fantastic at promoting independence.

 

Since 2013, she has had the total of 7 social workers, DMBC do not adhere to their own policy’s document in SEND, to quote ‘children and young people aged 0-25 and their families must be placed at the centre of all that we do.  The way we listen, communicate, assess, plan, deliver and review the impact of the services and provision.  Our vision is that parent’s young people get the support at the right time and feel that they are listened to and exercise control’.

 

They only believe that the placement is one that they support so that the person’s allowance goes straight to DMBC coffers”.

 

Members commented that this statement had raised interesting points and suggested that further support was sought from Local Councillors to take up as case work. It was put forward that the details outlined in the statement would be forwarded to the Senior Officer and portfolio holder.

 

It was felt that there may be further consideration of the relevant policy areas and Disability Living Allowance by the relevant Panel

5.

Doncaster Children's Services Trust Limited Update Report. pdf icon PDF 302 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

A report and presentation was provided to the Committee which provided an update on the financial and operational strategy of the Doncaster Children’s Services Trust, following the presentation provided on the 15th February 2017.  Updates provided as part of the discussion included: –

 

      Financial Strategy - Members were informed about a move towards a financial strategy and discussions taking place about what the future will look like.  It was explained that part of the plan was to grow a model that will be able to generate new income streams.  It was outlined that an Interim Director of Finance was in place to put together a future operating model which would also be sustainable. Members expressed their concern that there had been no permanent Finance Director in place for an organisation with such a large budget and number of staff.  Members were assured that it was the Trust’s intentions to have a full-time Finance Director in place in the future.  Members were informed how a significant amount of work was being undertaken to reduce demand, expenditure and costs whilst improving efficiency.  

 

Members were reminded that there was never a plan for the Trust to achieve more than a breakeven position.  It was outlined that the Trust will need to negotiate a new contract or otherwise be assisted with issues such as capital to become more independent.

 

In respect of the finance coming direct through the government, it was explained that this was not a current option but maybe a future one. It was explained that the Trust was not in a position to do that but it was recognised as an interesting concept.

 

      Out of Area Placements – In terms of cost pressures, it was recognised that out of area placements continued to be the single biggest challenge and reported that there were 34 out of area placements as at the end of March 2018 (with single placements costing in the region of £250,000 per annum).  It was recognised that a great deal of work needed to be undertaken to look at the needs of those 34 children and plans to bring them back.

 

A Member raised concerns over out of area placements and asked whether the Trust could ever reach zero number of placements and whether there would ever be enough services to achieve this.  It was responded that a zero target would be too difficult to reach as some children could not simply remain in Doncaster due to personal circumstances.  Also, that other children with complex needs would sometimes have to be placed outside of Doncaster in order to receive the right kind of support.  It was noted that there was an expectation to reduce the numbers associated with the low to mid-teen age category.

 

Members were later informed that the strategy on the remodelled home resource in Doncaster had taken longer than expected with Amersall still not being open and therefore Ofsted was taking longer.  It was noted that some children with particular needs can’t be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Finance and Performance Improvement Report: 2016/17 Quarter 4 pdf icon PDF 2 MB

Minutes:

The Committee considered the quarterly finance and performance report, with the following areas addressed by Directors or their representatives when responding to Members questions.

 

Finance and Corporate Services

 

The following issues were raised: -

 

      Overspends - The Committee noted two significant overspends which included Regeneration and Environment at £2.8m and funding of the Children’s Trust at £1.5m. 

 

      Sickness - Regarding areas for improvement, concern was raised around sickness reported for the whole authority at 9.90 days against a target of 7.90 days (compared to the 2015-16 outturn figure of 9.11 days).  It was explained that sickness had previously reduced after many years of improvements and reached close to the national average figure.  It was reported that key areas of high sickness had been experienced within Regeneration and Housing as well as Adults and Communities. Members were informed that steps had been taken to revamp the approach and control taken at management team ensuring that staff were appropriately interviewed and attended Occupational Health.   It was stated that the aim was near the national average.

 

      Direct Payments – It was clarified that there were 162 new additional people who had taken this up and that the payment was being paid to employ staff.  Members commented that it was good to see an increase. It was recognised that there was more work to be undertaken but that fewer people were expected to be seen in home care.  It was also acknowledged that direct payments provided much more choice although a cultural issue still remained.  It was reported that the market to buy from using direct payments needed further improvements and also that the community offer was being developed.  Members were informed that the Council was nearing to becoming a “commissioning Council”.

 

      Internal Audit Recommendations - concern was raised that all of the internal audit recommendations were red apart from Regeneration and Housing. It was reported that these represented small numbers and that there were some external factors that had affected them.

 

      Corporate Plan Updates Completed – It was observed that this target under Learning and Opportunities Children and Young People was red with 29 out of 33 updates being completed.  Members were informed that the Council had not yet had the opportunity to meet with the Trust to challenge them on performance.

 

      Employment – It was noted that figures for those claiming benefits had come down significantly.  It was expected that the figure will become similar to other parts in about 18 months.

 

      Business Rates – it was reported that there has been a fair amount of growth from budget rates although being from a low base.  It was added that there was Hatfield Green Energy planned which would make a big difference to business rates.

 

      Assets Review - Members were informed that there were 46 buildings that would meet the core of the review and more work needed to be undertaken to dispose of them.  It was explained that this was now in its  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

St Leger Homes of Doncaster Performance & Delivery Update: 2016/17 Quarter Four pdf icon PDF 338 KB

Minutes:

The Committee gave consideration to the St Leger Homes Doncaster (SLHD) Finance and Performance report for Quarter 4 and addressed the following areas:

 

Areas Near to Target

 

·       Complaints - % of Service Failure and Dissatisfaction (24% against a target of 20%)

 

It was recognised that St Leger Homes Doncaster was seeing more complaints that were justifiable where things could have been addressed quite easily.  It was recognised that it was about delivering the sort of service that anyone would expect to receive.

 

·       Scheduled Repairs – Promises Kept (99.45% - end of year target of 100%)

 

It was explained that the last quarter performed well with gas servicing 100% and that amber had been achieved through the impact of 39 scheduled repairs not being completed within the target timeframe.

 

·       Days Lost Through Sickness per Full Time Equivalent (8.26 days – end of year target of 7.90 days)

 

It was explained that the top 3 categories for days lost through sickness included 1. Infections and Viruses, 2. Depression, Stress and Anxiety and finally 3. Musculoskeletal.  Members were informed that there was a new health provider in place to give additional support and St Leger had agreed to sign up for the Workplace Wellbeing Charter.

 

Requiring Improvement

 

·       Number of Households in Temporary Accommodation  (25 End of year target of 10)

 

Members were informed that 25 households were in temporary accommodation at the end of Quarter 4 with a 34% significant increase in those presenting as homeless in the last 12 months up to the 31st March 2017.  It was explained that this had led to a change of how the use of temporary accommodation was targeted and the way information was provided and reported.  It was finally explained that consideration was being provided creating a new model of service delivery through working with RDaSH and Adult Services to support people with complex needs.  It was explained that the Council commissioned specialist services in silos, however, this cohort of people did not always fit into one of those silos. 

 

·       Rental income – Members were informed that Housing Management Services Teams were being restructured to move more resources onto the frontline to support those who have problems paying rent.  There was a discussion around the issue of welfare reforms with a full rollout happening in October.  It was explained that once universal credit had been fully rolled out there would be £20 million rental income involved that would have previously been received direct from the tenant.

 

It was explained that every tenant would receive rent straight into their own bank account (apart from with certain exceptions for an interim period) and that there were mechanisms in place to be able to take rent straight out of Universal Credits.  It was explained that where a tenant was in arrears, St Leger would be able to apply to receive the rent direct but as soon as the debt was cleared the rent money would go direct back to the tenant.

 

Members were informed that the rent  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.