Local democracy

Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 1 - City Hall, Bradford

Contact: Palbinder Sandhu/Jane Lythgow 

Items
No. Item

34.

DISCLOSURES OF INTEREST

(Members Code of Conduct - Part 4A of the Constitution)

 

To receive disclosures of interests from members and co-opted members on matters to be considered at the meeting. The disclosure must include the nature of the interest.

 

An interest must also be disclosed in the meeting when it becomes apparent to the member during the meeting.

 

Notes:

 

(1)       Members may remain in the meeting and take part fully in discussion and voting unless the interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an interest which the Member feels would call into question their compliance with the wider principles set out in the Code of Conduct.  Disclosable pecuniary interests relate to the Member concerned or their spouse/partner.

 

(2)       Members in arrears of Council Tax by more than two months must not vote in decisions on, or which might affect, budget calculations, and must disclose at the meeting that this restriction applies to them.  A failure to comply with these requirements is a criminal offence under section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992. 

 

(3)       Members are also welcome to disclose interests which are not disclosable pecuniary interests but which they consider should be made in the interest of clarity.

 

(4)       Officers must disclose interests in accordance with Council Standing Order 44.

 

Minutes:

Susan Crowe disclosed, in the interest of transparency, that she received funding from the Clinical Commissioning Groups and Bradford Council’s Public Health department to deliver services.

 

ACTION: City Solicitor

35.

MINUTES

Recommended –

 

That the minutes of the meeting held on 6 September 2018 be signed as a correct record (previously circulated).

 

(Palbinder Sandhu – 01274 432269)

Minutes:

Resolved –

 

That the minutes of the meeting held on 6 September 2018 be signed as a correct record.

36.

INSPECTION OF REPORTS AND BACKGROUND PAPERS

(Access to Information Procedure Rules – Part 3B of the Constitution)

 

Reports and background papers for agenda items may be inspected by contacting the person shown after each agenda item.  Certain reports and background papers may be restricted. 

 

Any request to remove the restriction on a report or background paper should be made to the relevant Strategic Director or Assistant Director whose name is shown on the front page of the report. 

 

If that request is refused, there is a right of appeal to this meeting. 

 

Please contact the officer shown below in advance of the meeting if you wish to appeal. 

 

(Palbinder Sandhu - 01274 432269)

 

Minutes:

There were no appeals submitted by the public to review decisions to restrict documents.

37.

REFERRALS TO THE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

Any referrals that have been made to this Committee up to and including the date of publication of this agenda will be reported at the meeting.

Minutes:

On 16 October 2018 Council made the following referral to this Committee:

 

PERIOD POVERTY

 

Resolved –

 

This Council notes:

·         Because of Government cuts more than one in four children in the UK are living in poverty (27.1% in 2015-16) and this will rise to almost one in three (31.3%) by 2021-22, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

·         Food bank use has risen rapidly in recent years with the Trussell Trust reporting it gave out a record 1.3m food parcels to an estimated 666,000 people in 2017-18, up 13% on the previous year.

·         People who are unable to afford food might also be unable to afford other essentials such as sanitary products. Young girls may be particularly vulnerable to the impact as it could lead to them missing school or having to choose between buying food or sanitary protection.

·         After being tasked by the Leader to explore how we can address this issue, officers launched a pilot scheme at Britannia House in May this year to take donations of products to be provided through the Storehouse, a local charity that supplies over 30 food banks.

This Council will:

·         Carry out more detailed research to identify the causes and extent of the issue, what good practice is already taking place and what more can be done to address the problem most effectively across the district.

·         Work with partners such as the Clinical Commissioning Group, schools, the Red Box project and the Storehouse to establish the best ways to tackle the problem.

·         Ask officers to report back to the Health and Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee before the end of December with their findings and options for scaling up our activity with partners.

·         Call on Government to remove VAT from all sanitary products.

ACTION:        Strategic Director Health and Wellbeing

 

Following consideration of the above referral, the Committee;

 

Resolved –

 

That, following consultation with the Chair and Deputy Chair of Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee, and in the view of the fact that the issue is related to poverty rather than health or social care, that the recommendation of Council be referred to Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee for consideration.

 

ACTION: City Solicitor

38.

PROGRESS REPORT ON THE BRADFORD DISTRICT AND CRAVEN INTEGRATED WORKFORCE PROGRAMME (IWP) AND THE HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE INDUSTRIAL CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE (ICE) pdf icon PDF 2 MB

The Bradford District and Craven Integrated Workforce Programme (IWP) will submit a progress report (Document “P”) on the Bradford District and Craven Integrated Workforce Programme (IWP) and the Health and Social Care Industrial Centre of Excellence (ICE).  The report provides:

 

-     A reminder and an update of the context in which the IWP is operating nationally, regionally and locally both from a workforce and a health and care system perspective.

-     The key workforce priorities, challenges, and enablers, regionally and locally.

-     An update on progress across the four key IWP work programmes, with a focus in particular on the ‘growing our own’ work programme and the IWP alignment with the successful ‘One Workforce’ Bid submitted by Bradford Council, NHS Partners, the University of Bradford and Further Education partners to obtain £1.151m funding from the Leeds City Region Business Rates Pool.

 

Recommended –

 

That Members consider and comment on the details presented in the report (Document “P”) and associated appendices and agree any specific matters that may require further scrutiny action.

 

(Michelle Turner – 01274 237290)

Minutes:

The Bradford District and Craven Integrated Workforce Programme (IWP) submitted a progress report (Document “P”) on the Bradford District and Craven Integrated Workforce Programme (IWP) and the Health and Social Care Industrial Centre of Excellence (ICE).  The report provided:

 

·         A reminder and an update of the context in which the IWP is operating nationally, regionally and locally both from a workforce and a health and care system perspective.

·         The key workforce priorities, challenges, and enablers, regionally and locally.

·         An update on progress across the four key IWP work programmes, with a focus in particular on the ‘growing our own’ work programme and the IWP alignment with the successful ‘One Workforce’ Bid submitted by Bradford Council, NHS partners, the University of Bradford and Further Education partners to obtain £1.151m funding from the Leeds City Region Business Rates Pool.

 

A presentation was delivered about how workforce issues and challenges were being addressed.  Members were informed of developments in career pathways to ‘grow our own’ health care professionals through a range of apprenticeship schemes through the Health and Social Care ICE.  It was stated that the first cohort of nursing apprentices were due to graduate in 2019 and work was on-going with Skills House to develop four programmes in collaboration with Bradford College and Shipley College. 

 

Members were informed that the Health and Social Care ICE programme, established in September 2017, was now working with 8 partner schools and up to 450 students in its second year of operation with the aim of increasing to 13 partner schools in its third year.

 

In response to Members’ questions, it was reported that:

 

·         There were five ICE programmes operating with schools across the district.

·         The Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering ICE was based at Keighley College.

·         There had been a focus on social mobility and deprivation when selecting schools for the first cohort of the Health and Social Care ICE and the three schools initially engaged were Parkside, Bradford Academy and Bradford Girls Grammar.  Additional schools which had engaged in the second year of the programme were: Titus Salt, Carlton Bolling College, Hanson, Laisterdyke and Tong.

·         The ICE staff were working to ensure open access to all schools over the duration of the programmes.

·         3.6 full time equivalent staff members made up the ICE workforce.

·         The Health and Social Care ICE was designed to be delivered within schools.

·         Work was currently underway to determine what ‘success’ was for the ICE programme.   The aim was for the ICE programme to engage with a total of 15,000 children across the district over five years.

 

A Member stated that this was an exciting programme which she hoped would continue to develop and grow.  She also considered that it presented a good opportunity to work with schools to promote health and social care jobs as a profession to enter into and to show young people the value of the job roles.  In response, it was stated that supporting rewarding careers and establishing career progression routes to attract people  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

39.

ENGAGEMENT WITH CARERS pdf icon PDF 659 KB

From June – August 2018, the three NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in Bradford District and Craven worked together with the Council to understand the views and experiences of carers across the area.

 

This engagement with carers and other stakeholders has been carried out in order to influence and inform the development of the jointly commissioned Carers’ Service, and the insight will also be used to inform future strategy development.

 

Document “Q” highlights the key themes emerging from the engagement, which have influenced the procurement process and will shape the service specification.

 

Recommended –

 

The Committee is requested to take into account the findings from the engagement with carers when considering the procurement of the Carers’ Support Service. 

(Victoria Simmons – 07980 905583)

Minutes:

From June – August 2018, the three NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in Bradford District and Craven worked together with the Council to understand the views and experiences of carers across the area.

 

This engagement with carers and other stakeholders had been carried out in order to influence and inform the development of the jointly commissioned Carers Service, and the insight would also be used to inform future strategy development.

 

The Head of Engagement at NHS Bradford District and Craven CCGs introduced the report, Document “Q”, which highlighted the key themes emerging from the engagement, which had influenced the procurement process and would shape the service specification.

 

During her presentation she explained the importance of understanding the significance of the role of unpaid carers which was estimated to contribute over £900 million to the health and care economy in Bradford District and Craven.  She stressed that carers were not a homogenous group and that the purpose of the engagement exercise had been to understand what mattered most to them, what they valued most, challenges they faced and barriers to accessing support.  She stated that a mixed approach was used to gather information and that approximately 450 carers took part in the engagement activity.  The emerging themes mirrored the findings from similar surveys carried out locally and nationally and the feedback would be used to assist the commissioning for the Carers Service and to inform future strategy development.

 

The Chair thanked officers for undertaking the engagement work and queried whether participants had included people that did not class themselves as carers.  In response, it was reported that conversations at outreach sessions had been initiated with leading questions such as “do you look after somebody?” so that people who undertook a carers role but did not class themselves as a carer were also captured.

 

A Member referred to the table within the report which showed the responses to a question in relation to the awareness of support services.  He stated that it was difficult to put the responses received into context and queried whether more information could be provided to better explain its relevance.  In response, it was stated that further analysis into the detail of the responses was available and would be circulated to Members; it would show the reasons relating to the need for care and the awareness of relevant support organisations for that specific area.

 

Following a Member’s question, it was explained that the opportunity to participate in the engagement activity had been open to all carers.  The engagement had included an online survey, face to face discussion groups in the community and outreach sessions in public places which had included shopping centres. This survey had been promoted through social media and publicised on the Council’s and CCGs’ websites and local newspapers.  A target figure for the number of participants had not been set as the engagement had been open to any carer wanting to take part in the research. 

 

A Member raised concern that the latest data  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

40.

RE-COMMISSIONING OF CARERS SERVICES CONTRACT IN BRADFORD DISTRICT AND CRAVEN pdf icon PDF 1 MB

In line with Council Standing Order 4.7.1 all Contracts with an estimated value of over £2m must be reported to the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee before inviting tenders.

 

The Strategic Director, Health and Wellbeing will submit Document “R” which provides details of the intention to re-commission Carers Services within Bradford District and Craven.

 

Recommended –

 

That the Committee discuss the contents of Document “R” and consider any equality and diversity, TUPE and social value implications at this pre- procurement stage in accordance with Council Standing Orders in 4.7.1.

 

(Kerry James – 01274 43576)

Minutes:

In line with Council Standing Order 4.7.1 all contracts with an estimated value of over £2m must be reported to the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee before inviting tenders.

 

The Strategic Director, Health and Wellbeing submitted Document “R” which provided details of the intention to re-commission Carers Services within Bradford District and Craven.

 

The Assistant Director Commissioning and Integration, officers from the Commissioning Team, the Quality Assurance Manager and the Head of Commissioning for Mental Wellbeing for Bradford Council and NHS Bradford District and Craven CCGs were in attendance at the meeting.

 

A summary of the report was provided by the Contract and Quality Assurance Manager.

 

A Member referred to the findings in the Engagement with Carers report (Document “Q”) that stated “27% of respondents had not been able to access support” and that “carers from a Pakistani background were also more likely to report being unable to access support (45%)”.  He raised concern that this highlighted inadequacies in the current provision and queried how this would be overcome with the new contract provider.  In response it was stated that the service already had an understanding of some of the barriers faced by carers from a black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) background and that an equality impact assessment would be completed as part of the procurement process which would be closely monitored.  It was also stressed that the purpose of the engagement exercise was not to provide feedback or evaluate the current provider but to assist the authority to ensure future provision met the needs of the district.  The Member stated he was still unclear as to how this issue would be addressed in the process and how carers from a BAME background would be reached.  In response, the Assistant Director Commissioning and Integration stated that the service provider would need to demonstrate how it would meet the needs of a diverse district and it would be specified in, and monitored as part of the requirement of the contract.  The Head of Commissioning for Mental Wellbeing added that the Carers Strategy would look at how to identify people who needed support as well as areas that required outreach work.  She stated that working with the new provider would be key to delivering the strategy.

 

The following responses were provided to Members’ questions from officers present:

 

·         The tendering process was open to any bidder and was subject to Council Standing Orders and EU Regulations.

·         Understanding the make up of the district and its demographic was stressed within the constraints of the framework used for the procurement process.

·         It was mandatory to include ‘social value’ in the procurement process. 

·         The National Census was undertaken every 10 years and whilst there were challenges around using data from 2011 the service also identified carers through GP practices.

·         There was no target figure the service was aiming to reach but when it became aware of carers it was a matter of ensuring they had access to the support available.

·         Stakeholder engagement had been undertaken  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

41.

REPORT ON WAYS TO IMPROVE CONSULTATION WITH VULNERABLE GROUPS pdf icon PDF 1 MB

The Strategic Director, Health and Wellbeing will submit Document “S” which provides information on what the authority is doing to ensure that its consultation processes with vulnerable groups is conducted appropriately.

 

Recommended –

 

That Members consider and comment on the details presented in the report (Document “S”) and associated appendices and agree any specific matters that may require further scrutiny action.

 

(Darryl Smith – 01274 434171)

Minutes:

The Strategic Director, Health and Wellbeing submitted Document “S” which provided information on what the authority was doing to ensure that its consultation processes with vulnerable groups were conducted appropriately.

 

A summary of the report was provided which outlined the concerns raised about the way in which the consultation on changes to the Adult Social Care Contributions Policy was carried out in 2016 and the approaches taken in relation to consultation processes with vulnerable groups that had since been implemented following a review.  It was reported that the Council had adopted a corporate approach in relation to consultations in 2017 and that it had worked closely with the Local Government Association (LGA) which had also launched its New Conversation’s Guide at the same time.  The Council had developed a Consultation Toolkit (appendix 1 to Document “S”) which provided advice to officers undertaking consultations.  Members were informed that discussions were underway with officers in Workforce Development with regards to training managers across the Council on how to undertake effective consultations and that this matter was also on the agenda for the Council’s next Senior Leadership Team meeting at which Strategic Directors and Assistant Directors attended.

 

The Chair welcomed the report and emphasised the importance of effective consultations, particularly with vulnerable groups.

 

A discussion took place about the events that had lead to the review being undertaken.  It was acknowledged that the right questions had not been asked during the consultation on the changes to the Contributions Policy and lessons had been learned from that. 

 

Following a Member’s question, it was agreed that details of who the authority had engaged with in undertaking the review could be provided to Members. 

 

Members were informed that the Toolkit would be reviewed following any further guidance from the LGA.

 

The Assistant Director, Commissioning and Integration referred to case studies within the report (Document “S”) which evidenced how the authority had recently undertaken a number of consultations.

 

Member commended officers for the work outlined in the report and stated they were reassured at the way in which consultations were being carried out.

 

Resolved –

 

That officers be thanked for the progress made on improving consultations with vulnerable groups since 2016.

 

NO ACTION

42.

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAMME 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 122 KB

The Overview and Scrutiny lead will present the Committee’s Work Programme 2018/19 (Document “T”).

 

Recommended –

 

That the information in Appendix A of Document “T” be noted.

 

(Caroline Coombes – 01274 432313)

Minutes:

The Overview and Scrutiny lead presented the Committee’s Work Programme 2018/19 (Document “T”).

 

Resolved –

 

That the information contained in Appendix A to Document “T” be noted.

 

NO ACTION