To receive any questions from and provide answers to the public in relation to matters relevant to the Council’s activities.
Minutes:
Members of the public were invited to put questions to the Deputy Mayor and Councillors on any matters within the powers and duties of the Council.
8 public questions were submitted as follows:-
(a) Relating to the safety of Stepping Hill Hospital in the light of recent press reports on the current situation in the hospital’s accident and emergency department, ongoing pressure on beds and difficulties in staff recruitment.
The Cabinet Member for Health (Councillor Tom McGee) responded that there was a severe pressure across all health economies in the UK and that Stockport was no different in this respect. It was further commented that while Stepping Hill Hospital had seen an increase since in attendances in the accident and emergency department of 3.9% over the same period last year, the hospital had not declared a ‘black alert’ as many others throughout the country had done.
(b) Relating to the impact of proposed increases in charges for non-residential services and whether this constituted an attack on the concept of the social wage.
The Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care (Councillor Wendy Wild) responded that the Council was considering changing its charging policy for home care day services, extra care housing and telecare and was currently consulting on those proposals. It was stated that the proposed increases were set in the context of an adult social care financial assessment process and the Council would continue to assess people's financial circumstances before determining what they would actually pay. Councillor Wild commented that the Council was committed to protecting people from the impact of high costs of care in Stockport so were proposed to keep an upper limit. Finally, Councillor Wild stated that the demand for non-residential services funded by the Council continued to increase, while funding from central government has reduced and additional funding was needed to support adult social care and keep it on a sustainable footing.
(c) Relating to when the Council found out that there were no relevant announced opportunities to apply for funding for the A6 to M60 Relief Road in December 2017 or June 2018.
The Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Policy, Finance and Devolution (Councillor Alex Ganotis) responded that the windows for submitting large major schemes were December 2017 and June 2018 and that the Council had requested £500,000 from the Department for Transport within the required window and would continue to push hard for an early decision.
(d) Relating to whether in the light of current levels of bed occupancy at Stepping Hill Hospital frequently being reported as being above the upper safe limit of 85%, would the Council accept that including hospital bed closures in the Stockport Together Business Case to save money was the height of folly.
The Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care (Councillor Wendy Wild) responded that the Stockport Together Business Cases reflected a well thought-out strategy to reduce the number of hospital admissions by investing in community alternatives. The Stockport together plans had stated very clearly that stringent tests would be used before triggering any bed reductions and that it was envisaged that the local health care system’s normal response would be for more planned care and crisis intervention being delivered at a neighbourhood level.
(e) Relating to a lack of awareness amongst NHS staff and health professionals of Stockport Together.
The Cabinet Member for Health (Councillor Tom McGee) responded that there had been extensive communications across the major partners in Stockport Together which has included briefings, articles in in-house publications, intranet based publicity along with discussion and engagement sessions. Councillor McGee undertook to discuss the matter further with the various communications teams to ensure that information relating to Stockport Together was being appropriately disseminated.
(f) Relating to the robustness of the consultation on the Stockport Together proposals and whether details of how the consultation had been conducted and whether a breakdown of responses could be provided.
The Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Policy, Finance and Devolution (Councillor Alex Ganotis) responded that the process followed by the Clinical Commissioning Group and the Council was not yet complete and that the CCG board and the Cabinet would consider whether to adopt the business cases at their next meetings, taking into account the views expressed as part of the consultation process. It was commented that the consultation process had been developed with the support of the Consultation Institute who had also provided oversight and advice as the consultation was taken forward to ensure that participation was as wide as possible. It was further commented that the responses to the consultation had been analysed by an independent body and their findings were published at the end of 2017. Finally, it was confirmed that a written response would be provided with regard to the details of the number of respondents whose views were reflected in the report.
(g) Relating to the ‘Americanisation’ of the NHS as a result of the Stockport Together proposals and whether challenges to the introduction of Accountable Care Organisations and the impact that these bodies could have should be passed onto the people of Stockport to allow them to make an informed decision about what will ultimately happen, rather than on the smaller incremental changes.
The Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Policy, Finance and Devolution (Councillor Alex Ganotis) responded that it remained the aim of Stockport Together to create a single organisation to deliver health and care services for the local population in a holistic way. This would confirm that public services saw people as individuals, not conditions, and also removed duplication and therefore cost which was another reason why Stockport Together was being taken forward. It was further stated that the Council would not do anything by stealth and nor would it change the national approach to charging for care services and those services that would be provided free at the point of delivery. It was commented that the Council would abide by UK government rules and not US government rules when the question of what type of organisation Stockport needed was to be addressed.
(h) Relating to the proposed introduction of road humps on Hibbert Lane, Marple as part of the mitigation measures for the A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road and whether these would be put on hold until the Council had undertaken an analysis of the environmental impact of those humps already installed on Windlehurst Lane and Andrews Lane.
The Cabinet Member for Economy & Regeneration (Councillor Kate Butler) responded that both schemes had been subject to extensive public consultation with the public and local councillors. The schemes had been designed to control the speed of vehicles within the current speed limit of 30mph, and not to enforce the introduction of a new 20mph speed limit. It was stated that the Council took the issue of air quality very seriously and that it would continue to look all options when progressing new mitigation measures.
A further public question had been submitted where the questioner was not present at the meeting and in accordance with the Code of Practice, the Chief Executive was requested to respond to the questioner in writing.