Agenda item

To consider a report of the Cabinet Members for Adult Social Care and for Health

The Cabinet is developing its medium term strategy, which frames the choices the Council will make about its budget both next year and in future years.  This strategy focuses on five key themes, and specific proposals have been set out for changes in 2019/20.

The Scrutiny Committee is invited to discuss the proposals appended to the report.

Officer contact: Holly Rae, 0161 474 3014, holly.rae@stockport.gov.uk

A joint report of the Cabinet Members for Adult Social Care and for Health was submitted (copies of which had been circulated) setting out the Cabinet’s proposals that formed its response to the Medium Term Financial Plan.

The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care corrected paragraph 1.3 of the covering report by stating that it was intended to submit a further report on the proposals including consultation feedback in January 2019 prior to consideration by the Cabinet in February.

Proposal 3: Support Funds Coordination

The Cabinet Member stressed that these proposals were subject to public consultation and encouraged councillors and other interested parties to make representations as part of that consultation.

The following comments were made/ issues raised:

·         Paragraph 6.2 stated that one of the risk to the proposal was that there would be a threat to health and safety to adults and families in an emergency, in which case, why was ceasing the Local Assistance Scheme (SLAS) being pursued? In response it was stated that this was simple statement of risk but work was underway to explore alternative sources of funding or other actions that could mitigate that risk.

·         Given the impending roll-out of Universal Credit in Stockport there would need to be strong evidence of robust alternative provision. Universal Credit would create significant disruption and therefore previous demands on this service was not a good indicator of future need.

·         All wards in Stockport had residents who had been supported by the SLAS.

·         The report indicated that Manchester and Salford City Councils had managed to maintain or increase their spend on similar schemes and how they had been able to achieve that needed to be explore.

·         This proposal was indicative of the impact of public sector ‘austerity’ and the disproportionate impact that policy had on the least well off in the community.

·         The main uses for the SLAS was for resettlement costs, and the ward with the highest usage was Brinnington & Central but this was likely to be due to people moving into that area where there was the highest proportion of social/ emergency housing. Confirmation of this was sought, as was the number of repeat claimants.

Proposal 5: Stockport Local Transport

(i)     Town Centre Metroshuttle Bus

·         Discontinuing the free bus would be a significant loss to residents. Business in the Town Centre should be approached to seek contributions, particularly the large supermarkets, as they were benefiting from the service. In response it was stated that business had been approached.

·         The Council, as a significant landlord in Stockport Town Centre, should consider continuing to fund this service as a means of protecting its investment and the vitality of the Town Centre.

·         Given the other reductions to services being proposed it was not possible to justify continued expenditure on a free bus service.

·         The patronage of the service vastly exceeded expectations and was far in excess of some of the services subsidised by TfGM, who may consider funding this service.

·         In the event that the service became a paid-for service, would TfGM recompense for the passengers with free passes?

·         Because of the nature of the service and its usage, condensing the hours of operation would likely prompt a change in the pattern of use to match, intensifying that usage.

(ii)    Free School Bus Passes

·         The most significant group to suffer from this proposal would be children in Brinnington. When the Secondary School was closed the free passes were introduced to protect those children.

·         Officers commented that in other local authority areas free passes were restricted to families on maximum tax credit, whereas currently in Stockport anyone in receipt of tax credit was eligible. Under the proposal those on free school meals would continue to be eligible for a free pass.

·         Given the relatively small cost involved it was counterproductive to reduce the eligibility and risk damaging children’s educational opportunities.

·         There were a number of reasons to justify maintaining the free bus service, but if it was a choice between ensuring children could access education or funding the shuttle bus then the former was more important.

Proposal 6: Support and Governance – Adult Social Care Support

·         The Management Review had identified significant savings. Had an assessment been undertaken of the impact this would have on management capacity? In response it was stated that the review of Support Services had arisen because of the review of Corporate and Support Services and the move toward increased centralisation of support services to generate efficiencies. Specifically in relation to the Management Review, account would be taken of maintaining capacity to deliver core statutory functions.

·         Further detail on the implications of the management reduction was needed.

General Comments

There was discussion about the disproportionate impact of budget reductions on disadvantaged and vulnerable sections of the community. It was commented that assurance was always sought from councillors in relation to the impact of any proposal on those vulnerable residents and assurance always given that they would be protected. It was commented that ‘easy’ options for reductions had been taken and all that remained were options that would negatively impact those most in need and that this was caused by a policy of austerity that had been pursued too far.

Comment was also made that many of the proposals appeared to have a disproportionate impact on residents in Brinnington.

RESOLVED – (1) That the report be noted.

(2) That the Deputy Chief Executive be requested to provide additional data analysis in relation to users of the Stockport Local Assistance Scheme to the next meeting, including data on the number of repeat service users and whether the high levels of usage by residents of the Brinnington & Central Ward were due to residents moving into this area from other locations in the borough.