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Councillors and committees

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Bridges Room - Civic Centre

Contact: Helen Conway email  helenconway@gateshead.gov.uk 

Items
No. Item

CHW53

Minutes pdf icon PDF 311 KB

The minutes of the last meeting held on 20 June 2017 are attached for approval

Minutes:

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the last meeting held on 20 June 2017 were approved as a correct record.

 

It was reported that Councillor Marilyn Charlton had attended the first stage of the Deciding Together workshops on behalf of the Committee and had found it to be very good. The Committee wished to place on  record their thanks to Councillor Charlton for attending.

CHW54

Safeguarding Adults Board Update pdf icon PDF 174 KB

Report of Strategic Director, Care, Wellbeing and Learning

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received an update and a report presenting the Annual Report 2016/17 and updated Strategic Plan 2016/2019 for the Safeguarding Adults Board (SAB) from Sir Paul Ennals, Independent Chair, Gateshead SAB.

 

The SAB 2016/17 Annual Report highlights progress throughout the year. Key areas of work include the development of bespoke safeguarding adult training courses, the establishment of a Serious Provider Concern process to enable management of Safeguarding Concerns more appropriately and effectively the adoption of a Quality Assurance Framework (QAF) and the establishment of a new Safeguarding Adults Review Group which has delegated responsibility for the co-ordination of statutory Safeguarding Adult Reviews. The report also articulates how partner governance arrangements ensure members are accountable for Safeguarding Adults and includes what members have done in order to deliver the objectives highlighted within its strategic plan. The SAB has streamlined the way in which it operates, to seek to get the most out of the contributions of senior partners from all agencies.

 

The revised Strategic Plan 2016/19 sets out how the Safeguarding Adults Board will achieve its five Strategic Priorities which are:

·         Quality Assurance

·         Prevention

·         Community Engagement and Communication

·         Improved Operational Practice

·         Implementing Mental Capacity Act/Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards

 

The Strategic Plan includes key challenges to be addressed over the three year period. 2017/18 is year two of the three year Strategic Plan and the revision, supported by a Business Plan for 2017/18, which helps to reprioritise the work of the Board to ensure that the Strategic Priorities are addressed.

 

RESOLVED - that the Safeguarding Adult Board Annual Report 2016/17 and the              Strategic Plan 2016/19 be referred to Cabinet for consideration on 19                September 2017.

CHW55

Monitoring - OSC Review of Role of Housing in Improving Health and Wellbeing pdf icon PDF 123 KB

Report of the Director of Public Health

Minutes:

The Committee received an update on progress against the recommendations from the 2016-17 review of the role of housing in improving health and wellbeing.

 

The aim of the review was to recommend key actions that would have the greatest impact on improving health and wellbeing.

 

The Committee noted the progress made and requested that a separate seminar be arranged to consider the assessment on homelessness and complex needs.

 

RESOLVED -

i)

That the progress made to date be noted

 

ii)

That a seminar be arranged for all councillors to consider the assessment on homelessness and complex needs

 

iii)

That a further report be presented in six months’ time when the recommendations will have been further progressed

 

CHW56

OSC Review - Evidence Gathering - Work to address harms caused by Tobacco pdf icon PDF 126 KB

Report of Director of Public Health

Minutes:

The Committee received a report and two presentations giving details of the evidence gathering to date on the work to address the harms caused by tobacco.

 

The scoping report agreed by OSC on 20 June 2017 described the range of activities that reduce harm caused by tobacco. Broadly these are:

 

·         Stopping people starting smoking

·         Helping people stopping smoking

·         Reducing exposure to secondhand smoke

·         Tobacco control (i.e. Enforcement of legislation round the sale of tobacco)

 

At a population level, making tobacco use the exception rather than the norm (the “denormalisation” of tobacco use) is central to all of the above.

 

The first evidence gathering session received two presentations from:

 

·         Andy Graham, Consultant in Public Health, Gateshead Council and

·         Peter Wright, Environmental Health, Community Safety and Trading Standards Manager, Gateshead Council

 

The presentations provided an overview of current work to reduce harms caused by tobacco, and introduced the proposed outline for future evidence gathering sessions.

 

The Committee considered the following:

 

·         Gateshead has higher than average levels of smoking

·         Smoking remains the single cause or preventable illness and death in Gateshead

·         There are significant inequalities in the prevalence of smoking between different groups and areas

·         Demand for stop smoking services is reducing locally, regionally, and nationally

·         There are particularly low levels of take up of stop smoking services amongst some groups i.e. People from black, Asian and minority ethnic groups

·         There is pressure on Public Health budgets now and in the future

·         The Gateshead Health and Wellbeing Board has an ambition to reduce smoking prevalence in Gateshead to 5% or less by 2025 from its current prevalence of 17.9%

·         Innovative solutions developed in Gateshead in the past have helped to transform smoking rates in particular communities

 

RESOLVED - The Committee agreed the approach and content as set out in the              report and presentations and agreed to receive further regular updates

CHW57

Annual Report on Adults Services Complaints and Representations, April 2016- March 2017 pdf icon PDF 200 KB

Report of Interim Strategic Director, Care, Wellbeing & Learning

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee, in line with procedure, received the Annual Report on Adults Services Complaints and Representations, April 2016 – March 2017.

 

The following points of interest were reported:

 

·         41%, (22) of complaints were around the quality of services received and remains the greatest cause for complaint;

·         Quality of service involves alleged failure of service delivery, for example:

o   Non return of telephone calls;

o   Lack of poor communications from services or individual workers;

o   Late or missed social work visits;

o   Lack of timely response after a request for service

·         52% (25) of complaints were not upheld after investigation

·         19% (9) of complaints were partially upheld

·         29% (14) were fully upheld after investigation

·         There has been a 27% decrease in formal all recorded contacts since 2015/16

 

The Committee were also advised that compliments continue to be received about the quality of the Adult Care Services provided by the Council. Some compliments are about individual members of staff or about whole teams and services. Compliments reflect the high regard in which our customers have for employees and the services provided to them. Information is always fed into operational services, including the Commissioning Team, to highlight good practice and possible improvements to services.

 

During 2016/17, Adult Social Care received 720 compliments, which accounted for 78% of all representations received.

 

·         42%, (305), of compliments were regarding the Assessment & Personalisation Team;

·         10%, (31) of the Assessment & Personalisation compliments were regarding the Adult Social Care Direct Team;

·         27%, (172) were about the Physical Disabilities Team

·         53%, (384) of compliments were about Provider Services;

·         61%, (235) of these compliments were about Council provided home care;

·         39%, (149) of Provider Service compliments were about the care provided by the Council’s Promoting Independence Centres.

 

RESOLVED – the Committee noted the effectiveness of the Adult Social Care                             Complaints and Compliments Procedures and the details of all                                  complaints and representations received during 2016/17

CHW58

Establishment of Northumberland, Tyne & Wear & North Durham STP Joint Health Scrutiny Committee pdf icon PDF 145 KB

Joint report of the Strategic Director Corporate Services and Governance and the Director of Public Health

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report requesting the endorsement of the establishment of a Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee under the provisions of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 involving all local authorities affected by the Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and North Durham Sustainability and Transformation Plan and any associated proposals for major service change.

 

Whilst currently there is no requirement for local authorities to form a Joint Committee, given the high level nature of the STP it is considered that it would be beneficial to have such a mechanism in place as it is likely that in the future the STP will lead to proposals for major service changes which will cross local authority boundaries when we will be required by law to set up such a Joint Committee.

 

As a result local authorities across the patch have informally agreed to establish a Joint Committee to scrutinise the STP and any associated major service changes and the OSC are requested to endorse the proposal and refer the matter to Council to appoint three representatives from Gateshead in line with the rules on political balance.

 

In terms of this OSC’s involvement going forwards – where there are cross boundary service changes which affect Gateshead – this OSC will have the opportunity to feed in its views to the Council’s representatives on the Joint OSC where there are service changes that only relate to Gateshead they will come to this OSC for its views in the usual way.

 

RESOLVED -

i)

That the establishment of the Joint Committee be endorsed

 

ii)

That the proposed protocol and terms of reference of the proposed joint scrutiny committee be endorsed

 

iii)

That the report be referred to Council to endorse the establishment of the Joint Committee in line with the rules on political balance

 

CHW59

Annual Work Programme pdf icon PDF 130 KB

Joint report of the Chief Executive and the Strategic Director, Corporate Services and Governance

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report setting out the provisional work programme for the OSC for the municipal year 2017/18.

 

The Committee agreed that further reports will be brought to future meetings to highlight current issues/identify any changes/additions to the programme and any changes proposed to the programme were set out in bold and italics for ease of identification.

 

RESOLVED -

i)

That the provisional work programme be noted.

 

ii)

That any further reports be brought to Committee to identify any additional policy issues, which the Committee may be asked to consider.

 

 

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