Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 28 July 2014.

The Minutes (copies of which had been circulated) of the meeting held on 28 July 2014 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Councillors and officers to declare any interests which they have in any of the items on the agenda for the meeting.

Councillors and officers were invited to declare any interests which they had in any of the items on the agenda for the meeting.

The following interest was declared:-

Personal Interest

To consider call-in items (if any).

There were no call-in items to consider.

To consider a report of Leader of the Council and the Executive Councillor (Corporate, Customer and Community Services)

At its meeting on 15 July 2014, the Executive received a Medium Term Financial Forecast that indicated a budget reduction requirement of £22.453m for 2015/16, and forecast a cumulative reduction requirement of £39.419m in 2016/17, rising to £64.5m by 2018/19. In response to those forecasts, and in line with its previous deliberations and statements of intent, the Executive agreed the strategic framework for Investing in Stockport (IIS), a single programme of sustainable growth and public service reform in the Borough over the medium term.

At its most recent meeting on 12 August the Executive brought forward a set of proposals informed by the strategic framework and designed to address the budget reduction requirement.  Executive Councillors agreed that there should be a report to all scrutiny committees in the next cycle outlining the proposals relating to each committee’s remit.  Confirmation of which proposals fall within the remit of which Committee is provided at Appendix 1.

The business case working papers that were made available to the Executive Councillors accompany this report have been updated to include additional information in relation to the potential risks and impacts associated with the proposed changes.

All scrutiny committees are being requested during this cycle of meetings to comment upon the approach being taken by the Executive to address the need to make substantial savings over the next two years, and the specific proposals brought forward for consultation.

It is recommended, therefore, that the Scrutiny Committee comments upon both the overall approach being taken by the Executive and the specific proposals detailed in the accompanying documents, where they fall within the remit of that Committee.

Officer contact: Steve Houston / Laureen Donnan; 0161 474 4000 / 3180 or email: steve.houston@stockport.gov.uk or laureen.donnan@stockport.gov.uk

A joint report of the Leader of the Council and the Executive Councillor (Corporate, Customer & Community Services) was submitted (copies of which had been circulated) detailing the Executive’s proposals to respond to the Medium Term Financial Forecast considered by the Executive in July 2014. At its meeting in August, the Executive endorsed for consultation a set of proposals, in accordance with the Investing In Stockport strategic framework, that sought to respond to the required budget reductions but also to target investment to ensure the best outcomes for residents in the Borough.

The accompanying documents to the report provided further detail on the following ‘Investing In Stockport proposals:-

·         Preventative Commissioning Strategy

·         Integrated Prevention Service Children and Family Services

·         Integrated Care – Adult Social Care and Health

·         0-25 SEND Review

·         Learning Disability Review

·         Locality Operating Model

·         Information, Advice & Guidance

The Executive Councillors (Adult Care Services), (Children & Young People), (Corporate, Customer and Community Services) and (Economic Development & Regeneration) and appropriate project leads attended the meeting to present the proposals and to answer questions.

The following comments were made/issues raised in relation to the following proposals:-

(i)         Prevention Commissioning Strategy

·         Concern was expressed that the proposed reduction in ‘service duplication’ may result in an actual loss of service for some users.

·         A number of the saving proposals within the Adult Care Services portfolio had been deferred into the 2016/17 financial year and it was questionable whether those proposals could be delivered even within that timescale in the light of reduced resources.

·         There was a need to ensure that services for those with mental health needs extended beyond the pattern of normal working hours.

·         The proposed decommissioning of services procured from the third sector had the risk of reducing the pool of those organisations bidding to run services and consequently the costs associated with running those services may increase due a lack of competition.

·         The proposal to grow ‘reciprocal or natural support’ within communities through the extended use of volunteers needed to be carefully managed to ensure an equal spread of such volunteers throughout the borough.

·         Concern was expressed in relation to the proposal to ‘borrow’ funds from reserves for use in 2015/16 and then ‘repay’ those amounts in 2016/17 and future years as required and whether the Council’s approach to reserve-setting had been overly cautious.

(ii)        Integrated Prevention Services Children and Family Service

The development of ‘alternative provision’ for care leavers age 16 was discussed and it was confirmed that the costs currently associated with these placements could be significant and the outcomes unsatisfactory.  It was being explored with Stockport Homes if capacity within their housing stock could more suitably accommodate these young people, and at a lower cost to the Council.

(iii)       Integrated Care - Adult Social Care and Health

·         The projections for the opening of the three new locality hubs seemed optimistic.

·         The boundaries of the locality hubs and integrated children services did not necessarily correlate to local authority boundaries and there was the potential for confusion.

·         The savings outlined as a result of hospital deflections and their proposed use within the community may not materialise as agreement had not yet been secured from the Stepping Hill NHS Foundation Trust.

(iv)       0-25 SEND Review

·         Proposed revisions to the criteria for access to short breaks was discussed and the barriers that may exist for service users taking them up.

·         The proposed redesign of SEN transport services would continue to ensure that young people retained their independence and had access to transport services as and when they needed it.

(v)        Learning Disability

·         The in-house service would operate at a reduced level and would focus the Council's very skilled staff on those clients with the highest level of need.

·         It was recognised that some service users would no longer be engaged by the Learning Disability Service as such provision was not always appropriate for all those users.

·         Concern was expressed over the cessation  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To consider a joint report of the Corporate Director for People and Place Management and Regeneration.

The report sets Portfolio Performance and Resource Report (PPRR) for the Adult Care Services Portfolio and the housing element of the Communities and Sustainability Portfolio for the first quarter of 2013/14. This provides a summary of progress in delivering the portfolio priorities and budgets during the first quarter of 2014/15, and includes early forecast performance and financial data for the Portfolio. The reports also include a progress report and updated risk assessment of the portfolio savings programme.

Scrutiny Committee is asked to:

(a)       Consider the First Update Portfolio Performance and Resource Report, 

(b)       Review the progress against priorities, performance, budgets and savings targets for 2014/15;

(c)       Highlight key areas of and responsibility for taking forward corrective action to address any performance or resource issues;

(d)       Identify how areas of strong performance and good practice can be shared in other services.

Officer contacts:

Gaynor Alexander on 0161 474 3186, gaynor.alexander@stockport.gov.uk

Simon Finch on 0161 474 4019, simon.finch@stockport.gov.uk

Joseph Conmee on 0161 474 5396, joseph.conmee@stockport.gov.uk

Michael Cullen on 0161 474 463, michael.cullen@stockport.gov.uk

Representatives of the Corporate Director for People and Place Management and Regeneration submitted a joint report (copies of which had been circulated) providing an update on the delivery of portfolio priorities, budgets and capital programmes for the Adult Care Services Portfolio and the housing element of the Economic Development and Regeneration Portfolio during the first quarter of 2014/15.

The Executive Councillors (Adult Care Services) and (Economic Development and Regeneration) attended the meeting to answer questions from the Scrutiny Committee.

The following comments were made/ issues raised:-

Adult Care Services

·         It was queried why there had been a reduction in the target set for this year in the number of adults with a learning disability in paid employment and why this target was not projected to be met.  In response, it was stated that the target had been set in acknowledgement of the changing job market and that in terms of the Council’s comparators, Stockport compared favourably.

·         It was explained that the use of comparators varied between geographical comparators and comparable authorities dependent on the target and this difference was often the result of external agencies, such as NHS England, dictating the use of specific comparator sets.

·         It was noted that the £400,000 allocation in the capital programme for the development of creative industries in the town centre had now been returned to the unallocated provision, and that this budget would be continue to be closely monitored.

Economic Development and Regeneration

·         Discussions were ongoing with landowners adjacent to the proposed Phase 3 and 4 of the Covent Garden Village to enlarge the package of land available for development.

·         The contraction in the number of homes available at social rent in Stockport was a cause of concern.

·         The Council’s strategy was to develop communities with a mix of tenures.

RESOLVED – (1) That the report be noted.

(2) That the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration be requested to submit a report to the next meeting of the Scrutiny Committee in relation to affordable housing with specific reference to the number that had been built, were under development or proposed.

To consider a report of the Corporate Director for Corporate and Support Services.

The report details the arrangements for the implementation of the Universal Credit in Stockport.

The Scrutiny Committee is recommended to comment on and note the report.

Officer contact: Alison Blount on 474 5107 or email: alison.blount@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Corporate Director for Corporate and Support Services submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) detailing proposals for the introduction of Universal Credit in Stockport following trials undertaken elsewhere in Greater Manchester.

Tim Mazzucchi (Implementation Manager, Department for Work and Pensions) also attended the meeting to answer councillors’ questions.

The following comments were made/ issues raised:-

·         Whilst Universal Credit would seek to simplify and consolidate a range of existing benefits, it was acknowledged that in the short term this would not include Council Tax Benefit claims which would need to be processed separately.

·         It was noted that in the initial phase, claimants would be required to have a transactional bank account in order to be transferred to Universal Credit and work was ongoing to expand the range of bank accounts that would be accepted.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

To consider a report of the Corporate Director for People.

The report details the outcome of the 2014 consultation with providers and outlines proposals for the standard cost of care and charges structure for 2014/15.

The Scrutiny Committee is recommended to consider and comment on the proposals to:-

·         approve the standard costs of care detailed in the table at 4.4.1. as the basis for 2014/15 charges with an effective implementation date of 7th April 2014 ;

·         endorse the intention to move to a multi-year settlement in future years; and

·         within the above proposal remove the “No Top-Up Guarantee” scheme with effect from 7th April 2014.

Officer contact: Vincent Fraga on 0161 474 4401 or email: vincent.fraga@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Corporate Director for People submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) detailing the outcome of the 2014 consultation with providers and outlining proposals for the standard cost of care and charges structure for 2014/15.

The Executive Councillor (Adult Care Services) attended the meeting to answer Members’ questions.

The following comments were made/ issues raised:-

·         There was not an expectation that the proposals would affect residents’ ability to gain a place in the residential care home of their choice as the widespread use of top-ups would adversely affect the business models of a significant proportion of those care homes with which the Council currently did business.

·         It was considered that the removal of the ‘no top-up guarantee’ would mitigate against the potential for legal challenge in the future in terms of parity and fairness to providers.

·         The risk associated with users defaulting on their financial obligations as part of their agreement with care home providers was discussed.

RESOLVED – (1) That the Executive be recommended to:-

·         approve the standard costs of care detailed in the table at 4.4.1 of the report as the basis for 2014/15 charges with an effective implementation date of 7 April 2014; and

·         endorse the intention to move to a multi-year settlement in future years.

(2) (1 against) That the Scrutiny Committee expresses its concern with regard to proposals to remove the ‘no top-up guarantee’ scheme and that the Corporate Director for People be requested to submit a report to a future meeting of the Scrutiny Committee detailing how the proposals had been implemented.

To consider a report of the Democratic Services Manager.

The report sets out the process for the selection of Scrutiny Review topics by Scrutiny Committees to be carried out during the 2014/15 municipal year.

Consideration of the topic selection was deferred from the last meeting.

The Scrutiny Committee is invited to consider the selection of Scrutiny Review topics to be carried out during the 2014/15 municipal year.

Officer contact: Craig Ainsworth on 0161 474 3204 or email: craig.ainsworth@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Democratic Services Manager submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) requesting the Scrutiny Committee to consider the process for the selection of Scrutiny Review topics and to select a topic for a review to be carried out during the 2014/2015 municipal year.

RESOLVED – (1) That a review of ‘accessibility of housing for young people in the borough’ be selected by this Scrutiny Committee for inclusion in the 2014/15 Scrutiny Work Programme.

(2) That Councillors Sheila Bailey, Stuart Bodsworth, Oliver Johnstone and Mags Kirkham be nominated to sit on the proposed scrutiny review panel.

To consider a report of the Democratic Services Manager.                                                        

The report sets out planned agenda items for the Scrutiny Committee’s next meeting and Forward Plan items that fall within the remit of the Scrutiny Committee.

The Scrutiny Committee is invited to consider the information in the report and put forward any agenda items for future meetings of the Committee.

Officer contact: Damian Eaton on 0161 474 3207 or email: damian.eaton@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Democratic Services Manager submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) setting out the planned items for the Scrutiny Committee’s next meeting and Forward Plan items which fell within the remit of the Scrutiny Committee.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.