Agenda item

To receive any questions from and provide answers to the public in relation to matters relevant to the Council’s activities.

Members of the public were invited to put questions to the Mayor and Councillors on matters within the powers and duties of the Council.

Ten public questions were submitted as follows:-

·         Relating to proposal to require home care providers to pay the National Living wage which were due to come into effect from April 2018 and whether this has taken place.

The Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care (Councillor Wendy Wild) undertook to provide a written response to the questioner.

·         Relating to the closure of the Bright Beginnings nursery due to rising costs and the funding arrangements for the ‘30 hours free childcare’ initiative.

The Cabinet Member for Education (Councillor Dean Fitzpatrick) responded that he was sorry to learn about the planned closure of Bright Beginnings nursery and that there were a number of factors which contributed to its closure.  It was stated that funding was a factor following the introduction of the Early Years National Funding Formula and the extension of funded childcare hours and it was noted that there were concerns nationally regarding funding for the early years sector which had been raised by professional organisations.

It was further stated that the Council complied with national regulations that required that the local authority retained no more than 5% of Early Years Funding for central costs with the remaining 95% being provided to frontline providers.  It was reported that the 208/19 initial approved budget demonstrated the local pass through rate was 98.7%.  Additionally, the Council had applied business rate relief to some local nurseries.

·         Relating to the government’s decision to turn down the request for £500,000 of funding to develop the next stage of the feasibility study for the A6-M60 bypass.

The Leader of the Council  and Cabinet Member for Policy, Finance & Devolution (Councillor Alex Ganotis) responded that the Department for Transport had made it clear that they hadn't assessed on strategic outline business case that was submitted and that they were not commenting on the merits of that business case.  It was stated that the next round for applications for funding was likely to be in Autumn 2018.  It was acknowledged that the Department for Transport had commented in their letter to the Council that it expected that applications for funding for major road schemes should be for sums less than the projected costs for the A6-M60 bypass, however this position was already understood by the Council in advance of its submission.

Councillor Ganotis reiterated that it was the policy of the Council to continue to support the development of the bypass, and encouraged all residents to participate on the ongoing consultation on the proposal.

·         Relating to why the Council had not published the government’s letter that rejected the Council’s request for the funding of the next stage of the feasibility study on the A6-M60 bypass.

The Cabinet Member for Economy and Regeneration (Councillor Kate Butler) responded that the letter had not been published as the Council were in a process of engaging with the Department for Transport to understand the implications of the letter and a statement was released on the Council’s website as soon as the position was known.

·         Relating to why the A6-M60 bypass was still being made a priority within the SEMMMS Refresh when the government had declined to fund further work on it.

The Cabinet Member for Economy and Regeneration (Councillor Kate Butler) responded that not every scheme within the SEMMMS Refresh document was currently funded, but that the Council had previously agreed to pursue the development of the road which is why it had been highlighted a priority within the consultation document.

·         Relating to how the Council scrutinised the current provision of alcohol and drugs services which had been place since 2015.

Councillor Chris Gordon responded that the alcohol and drugs service formed part of Public Health and as such it fell within the remit of the Adult Social Care and Health Scrutiny Committee.  It was confirmed that the alcohol and drugs service had been reported on as part of the regulation Portfolio Performance and Resources reports which were considered by the Committee in July and October 2017 and June 2018.

·         Relating to the use of personal budgets by those with mental health problems.

The Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care (Councillor Wendy Wild) reported that people with mental health needs had been offered a personal budget for some time.  This was currently delivered through a self-directed support approach but the Council was looking to ensure that any future approach was consistent with other areas of service provision.  It was stated that the Council's statutory responsibilities remained and service users would not be left without care and support should their circumstances change.

·         Relating to the advice and support that was being provided to people with mental health problems with personal health budgets to allow them spend their budgets in a way that would give them best value for money.

The Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care (Councillor Wendy Wild) replied that people with mental health needs have been offered personal budgets for some time, but there were currently fewer examples of people receiving personal health budgets within Stockport.  It was stated that people were supported through the process by their social worker, healthcare worker or support broker and that people would continue to have access to independent advocacy wherever it was necessary and right to do so.

·         Relating to the sharing of medical data held by GPs with Stockport Together.

The Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care (Councillor Wendy Wild) responded that the patient record sharing that was in place was between all GPs in Stockport and the A&E department in Stepping Hill Hospital.  This was implemented to enable any clinicians to make better informed clinical decisions in respect of the patient treatment and therefore improve the patient's clinical outcome. 

The technical mechanism for A&E clinical staff to access patients' GP clinical record had been put in place, however should the patient attend A&E they would be asked for consent for the A&E clinician to access their GP record. 

·         Relating to the potential sharing of medical data with the Department for Work and Pensions.

The Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care (Councillor Wendy Wild) responded that the Welfare Reform Act 2012 introduced new powers for the sharing of information between the Department for Work and Pensions and adult social care services for the purposes of charging for services and for the prevention of fraud.

In addition, there was a supported employment project which was currently funded by the Department for Work and Pensions that was aimed at supporting people with a diagnosis of learning disability, autism or mental health that were currently in receipt of some benefits into work.  For this project information was shared with Department for Work and Pensions following consent from the individual, relative or carer and only information that was needed to provide the supported employment was shared.  This service was not currently open to any form of social prescribing and therefore there was no direct access from general practice.