Agenda for Adult Social Care & Health Cabinet Member Meeting on Thursday, 3rd December, 2009, 4.00pm

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Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 3, Hove Town Hall. View directions

Contact: Caroline De Marco, Democratic Sevrices Officer 

Note: Special meeting 

Items
No. Item

26.

Procedural Business

    (a)   Declarations of Interest by all Members present of any personal interests in matters on the agenda, the nature of any interest and whether the Members regard the interest as prejudicial under the terms of the Code of Conduct.

     

    (b)   Exclusion of Press and Public - To consider whether, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, or the nature of the proceedings, the press and public should be excluded from the meeting when any of the following items are under consideration.

     

    NOTE:  Any item appearing in Part 2 of the Agenda states in its heading either that it is confidential or the category under which the information disclosed in the report is exempt from disclosure and therefore not available to the public.

     

    A list and description of the categories of exempt information is available for public inspection at Brighton and Hove Town Halls.

     

     

    Minutes:

    26(a)   Declarations of Interests

     

    26.1    There were none.

     

    26(b)   Exclusion of Press and Public

     

    26.2    In accordance with section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 (“the Act”), the Cabinet Member considered whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during an item of business on the grounds that it was likely, in view of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the press and public were present during that item, there would be disclosure to them of confidential information (as defined in section 100A(3) of the Act) or exempt information (as defined in section 100I(I) of the Act). 

     

27.

Cabinet Member's Communications

    Minutes:

    Patching Lodge

     

    27.1    The Cabinet Member reported that Patching Lodge was opened by the Duke of Gloucester on 12 November 2009.  The development included 76 flats, community facilities and a garden.  

     

    Carers Question Time

     

    27.2      The Cabinet Member reported that he had recently attended Carers Question Time.  This event had been very successful. 

     

    Safeguarding Adults Conference

     

    27.3    The Cabinet Member reported that he had attended the morning session of the Safeguarding Adults Conference.  There had been an interesting and heartrending presentation concerning case studies of people who had been abused. 

     

                International Day of Disabled Persons 2009

     

    27.4    The Cabinet Member reported that the International Day of Disabled Persons 2009 was being celebrated at the Dome today (3 December 2009).   The Mayor was attending the event.

     

    Adult Social Care – Annual Performance Assessment

     

    27.5    The Cabinet Member reported that the Care Quality Commission (CQC) had published their annual performance assessment on 2 December 2009.  The results were very positive for Brighton & Hove.  The Council had been judged to be performing excellently in relation to 3 outcomes and performing well in relation to 4 outcomes.  

     

    27.6    Councillor Lepper gave her congratulations to all concerned for the good results.   The Cabinet Member stated the results had been achieved due to the hard work of staff.      

     

     

28.

Items reserved for discussion

    (a)   Items reserved by the Cabinet Member

     

    (b)   Items reserved by the Opposition Spokespersons

     

    (c)    Items reserved by Members, with the agreement of the Cabinet Member.

     

    NOTE: Public Questions, Written Questions from Councillors, Petitions, Deputations, Letters from Councillors and Notices of Motion will be reserved automatically.

    Minutes:

    28.1    RESOLVED – All items were reserved for discussion.

     

29.

Petitions

    No petitions have been received by the date of publication.

     

    Minutes:

    29.1    There were none.

     

30.

Public Questions

    (The closing date for receipt of public questions is 12 noon on 26 November 2009)

     

    No public questions have been received by the date of publication.

    Minutes:

    30.1    There were none.

     

31.

Deputations

    (The closing date for receipt of deputations is 12 noon on 26 November 2009)

     

    No deputations have been received by the date of publication.

    Minutes:

    31.1    There were none.

     

32.

Letters from Councillors

    No letters have been received.

     

    Minutes:

    32.1    There were none.

     

33.

Written Questions from Councillors

    No written questions have been received.

    Minutes:

    33.1    There were none.

     

34.

Notices of Motions pdf icon PDF 53 KB

    Proposed by Councillor Lepper and referred from Council on 8 October 2009 (copy attached).

    Minutes:

    Support and Guidance for the Deafblind in Brighton and Hove

     

    34.1    The Cabinet Member considered the following Notice of Motion proposed by Councillor Lepper and referred from Council on 8 October 2009:

     

    “Whilst there is no generally accepted definition of deafblindness there is a working description that has been accepted over many years; ‘persons are regarded as deafblind if their combined sight and hearing impairment cause difficulties with communication, access to information and mobility’.  Deafblindness is a visual and hearing impairment. These impairments can be of any type or degree and are sometimes called multi-sensory impairments (MSI). There are many different causes of MSI. Most people who are multi-sensory impaired have some useful vision and/or hearing.

     

    This Council welcomes the Department of Health’s Social Care for Deafblind Children and Adults – LAC (DH) 2009 6 circular.  The implementation of this guidance will have a positive impact upon the level of support that deafblind people in the City receive. 

     

    The improved deafblind guidance expects this Council to carry out the following:

     

    ·        Identify, make contact with and keep records of deafblind people in the City

    ·        Ensure that assessments are carried out by properly trained personnel

    ·        Ensure that appropriate services are provided for deafblind people- remembering that individual services who are deaf or who are blind, may not be appropriate for someone who is both deaf and blind

    ·        Ensure that all deafblind people in the City have access to fully trained, one-to-one support workers if necessary

    ·        Provide information in a suitable format which is accessible to deafblind people

     

    The Council therefore requests that the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care & Healthconsiders the guidance contained in the circular and how it could best be implemented to suit the particular local circumstances in Brighton & Hove.”

     

    34.2       Councillor Lepper reported that there were 390 deafblind people in Brighton & Hove.  The guidance stated that there should be assistance with communicators.  Brighton & Hove only had 4 communicators.  There was a concern that there might be deafblind people in the city who could benefit from communicators but who did not know how to access assistance.   

     

    34.3       The Assistant Director, Adult Social Care reported that officers were in contact with Deafblind UK.  The council had a Support Worker who worked through the Supporting People Team.   The council agreed with the recommendations and was signed up to the guidance.   

     

    34.4       The Cabinet Member asked officers prepare a report for a future meeting to explain the work being carried out to help DeafBlind people in the City.

     

    34.5       RESOLVED – (1) That the Notice of Motion be noted.

     

    (2)          That a report be prepared for a future Cabinet Member Meeting explaining the work being carried out to help Deafblind people in the City.             

                     

     

     

     

35.

Annual Safeguarding Report pdf icon PDF 65 KB

    Report of Director of Adult Social Care & Housing (copy attached).

    Additional documents:

    Decision:

    (1)        That the Cabinet Member note the work that has been carried out by agencies across the City to safeguard vulnerable adults and to provide comments on improvements that could be made to further strengthen safeguarding work.

     

    (2)        That the Cabinet Member note that this report will be presented at the Brighton & Hove Safeguarding Adults Annual Conference which will take place on December 3rd 2009.

     

    Minutes:

    35.1    The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Director of Adult Social Care & Housing which explained that the council produced an annual report which set out the performance and practice across the city which aimed to ensure the safety of vulnerable people.  The annual report outlined the work that had been carried out by all the City Council Partners and the work of the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Adults Board which was chaired by the Director of Adult Social Care & Housing (for copy see minute book).  The annual report was set out in Appendix 1 of the report.

     

    35.2    The Assistant Director, Adult Social Care reported that the report had been presented at the Brighton & Hove Safeguarding Adults Annual Conference today (3 December 2009).   During the year there had been one service case review and a managerial review.  An audit was carried out last year on safeguarding investigations and an action plan and training programme had been developed.  There had been an increase in alerts but this was levelling off.  Older people and people with learning disabilities were most likely to suffer abuse.  A prevention strategy, the personalisation agenda and safeguarding were priorities for future development.

     

    35.3    Councillor Lepper raised the issue of abuse within families.  The Cabinet Member agreed these were the most difficult cases to pick up.  The Assistant Director, Adult Social Care explained that cases of financial abuse would be detected more successfully when a new reporting system was in place. 

     

    35.4    RESOLVED – Having considered the information and the reasons set out in the report, the Cabinet Member accepted the following recommendations:

     

    (1)       That the work that has been carried out by agencies across the City to safeguard vulnerable adults be noted. 

     

    (2)       That it be noted that the report was presented at the Brighton & Hove Safeguarding Adults Annual Conference which took place on 3 December 2009.

     

36.

Personalisation Update Report pdf icon PDF 72 KB

    Report of Director of Adult Social Care & Housing (copy attached).

    Additional documents:

    Decision:

     (1)   To be aware of the work in progress and seek further clarification on specific areas or issues

     

        (2)   In light of the targets to meet key milestones (appendix 2) to deliver personalisation, reports will be made available on a quarterly basis.

     

        (3)   For the Personalisation Strategy to be presented to the Cabinet Members meeting in the New Year.

     

    Minutes:

    36.1    The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Director of Adult Social Care & Housing which detailed the key highlights and actions of the personalisation agenda, the work area, timetables and details of leads (appendix 1).  The paper sought to give an overview of the work underway to fulfil the requirements of the Putting People First Concordat.  Targets to measure progress were set out in appendix 2 of the report (for copy see minute book). 

     

    36.2    Councillor Lepper suggested that a glossary of abbreviations would be useful in future.  The Director of Adult Social Care & Housing agreed that reports should be written in accessible language and that a glossary could be provided.  The Cabinet Member confirmed that the comments would be taken on board.

     

    36.3    RESOLVED – Having considered the information and the reasons set out in the report, the Cabinet Member accepted the following recommendations:

     

    (1)       That the work in progress be noted.

     

    (2)       That in light of the targets to meet key milestones (appendix 2) to deliver personalisation, reports will be made available on a quarterly basis.

     

    (3)       That the Personalisation Strategy be presented to the Adult Social Care & Health Cabinet Member meeting 11 January 2009.

     

 


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