Issue - meetings

This report proposes a level of increased investment in the permanent staffing of Adult Social Care and a restructure to enhance efficiency, improve service delivery, ensure financial sustainability, and improve the overall quality of care provided to our clients.

The report was previously considered by the Cabinet on 13 February 2024.

Background:

This report proposed a level of increased investment in the permanent staffing of Adult Social Care (ASC) and a restructure to enhance efficiency, improve service delivery, ensure financial sustainability, and improve the overall quality of care provided to Medway’s clients.

The report explained the increase in demand on the service and referred to a review of the Council’s ASC service which recommended areas of work that the Council could focus on to make savings,including the recruitment to permanent posts due to the social work workforce being reliant on a significant proportion of agency staff.

The report had previously been considered by the Cabinet, the decisions of which were set out at section 7 of the report.

The Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor Murray, supported by Councillor McDonald proposed the recommendations set out in the report.

Decisions:

a)    The Council noted the decisions of the Cabinet, as set out at section 7 of the report.

b)    The Council noted that the Capital and Revenue Budget report, included elsewhere on the Council agenda, asked the Council to agree the addition of £2,413,261 to the Adult Social Care revenue budget for 2024/25.

c)    The Council noted that any ongoing requirements would need to be addressed through the Council’s budget setting processes.

Background:

This report proposed a level of increased investment in the permanent staffing of Adult Social Care (ASC) and a restructure to enhance efficiency, improve service delivery, ensure financial sustainability, and improve the overall quality of care provided to Medway’s clients.

It was noted that the amount of grant funding available for Adult Social Care had fallen by £5million. While some funding had been restored, this was not considered to be sufficient and action was therefore needed to ensure that the Council could continue to meet its statutory duties.

The report explained the increase in demand on the service and referred to a review of the Council’s ASC service which recommended areas of work that the Council could focus on to make savings,including the recruitment to permanent posts due to the social work workforce being reliant on a significant proportion of agency staff.

Reasons:

The increase to the Adult Social Care budget will introduce additional posts across the division to enable the authority to meet its statutory duties and improve service delivery.