Agenda item

Medway’s Council Plan 2016/21 sets out the Council’s three priorities. This report and appendix summarise perrformance in Quarter 2 20/20/21 on the delivery of the priority relevant for this Committee: Supporting Medway’s people to realise their potential.

Discussion:

Members considered a report which set out how the Council performed in Quarter 2 against the priority in the Council Plan 2016/21 relevant to the Committee: Supporting Medway’s people to realise their potential.

·       Performance – staff were commended for meeting targets to the extent they had given the pandemic.

·       Funding – The Director commented that the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services had expressed concern at a national level about funding for adult social care. The agreement on the social care precept was encouraging and the adult social care grant had been secured and significant additional covid related investment funding would probably continue until well into the new year. While efficiencies would still be needed those could not be at the cost of safety and quality of service.

·       Financial risks – noting the number of high risk/priority areas in the Strategic Risk Register, it was suggested that there was an opportunity for the Council to use capital investment to purchase its own facilities. The Council was now acquiring a large amount of property and this could be looked at instead of reliance on the private market. The Director advised that he was in the early stages of looking at an accommodation strategy and the opportunities this could bring and he would welcome a discussion with Members on this.

·       Cyber security risk – reference was made to the possibility of a cyber security attack affecting the telecare service and the security of the arrangements for providers and service users was queried. The Assistant Director – Adult Services commented that the telecare service was delivered through phone lines so risks were small. There was a pilot which involved more information about individuals being held and that would be looked at to confirm it was secure in the event of a cyber-attack.

·       Support for vulnerable adults living independently – in response to a question about how the Council supported this group during the pandemic, the Director commented that there had been a reduction in numbers entering permanent residential care. This was probably due to concerns about covid transmission in care homes during the first wave. There had been an increase in people asking for support to return to their home from residential care. This might change as the second wave so far had not seen the same rates of transmission in care homes as in the first wave.

·       Foetal alcohol spectrum disorder – concern was expressed about the extent of this problem and potential difficulties in supporting young people into adulthood. The Director stated this was an important issue and alcohol use in pregnancy was higher than he would like it to be. Work was ongoing to look at the transition pathway to see if affected children could be identified earlier, although some may not meet the threshold for adult social care and other ways of supporting them would need to be looked at. This issue would be discussed further with Members at an agenda planning meeting. A briefing note on this issue, including data, was requested for the Committee and the Chairman of the Children and Young People O&S Committee.

·       Shared lives carers – In terms of how more carers could be recruited, officers advised that the Council was continuing to try to recruit more. Some foster carers had become shared lives carers, although the difference in the fees paid could be an issue.

Decision:

The Committee:

a)      noted the quarter 2 performance against the measures used to monitor progress against the Council’s priorities and also noted the amended strategic risk register.

b)      requested a briefing note on the issue of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder and agreed that this issue, together with the issue raised about in-house provision of services, be discussed at an agenda planning meeting.