Issue - meetings

Anne Bristow, Corporate Director of Adult and Community Services presented the report and stressed that there was now only four months to go to stage 1 implementation.  Work plans had been put into place but there were still some inter-agency issues to be resolved, together with a lack of financial certainty as the funding would not be known until 17 December 2014. 

Anne Bristow also brought specific points to the Boards attention, including:

·  Various financial models had been undertaken to see how many people fund their own care; however, this had not resulted in any consistent answer.  Despite work to scope the impact on budgets, there was still a significant ‘unknown’ amount that might be required.

·  The Board were reminded that the law brings in a duty to cooperate on adult social care and emphasised duties around integration, and safeguarding.  The Regulations were only laid out in November 2014, as a result their implementation was causing some real logistical struggles and the issues being faced were much wider that those just affecting the Council, for example IT and housing provision.

·  Whilst there was a five year strategic plan, the Better Care Fund was the beginning of the process and there would be more demands over the coming years. 

·  Training was needed so that staff understood the implications, the processes and their roles in the new systems.  The assessments alone would require a huge cohort of people of different professional disciplines to be trained.  Anne added that LBBD had experience in joint training and could help with training for integrated teams.

·  There was also a lack of trained advocates, especially in the BME population as there were 98 languages spoken in London.

·  A report on a ‘prevention strategy’ would be brought to the Board next year.

·  There were challenges in getting partners to use existing powers and need for this cooperation would become greater.

·  The Safeguarding Adults Board becomes statutory from April 2015.

·  The effect of ‘ordinary residence’ and how councils could be responsible for the care for people that no longer have any connection with the area and the cost implications that this would have for councils.

·  That a two phase communications campaign was to be run at national level and that the Council was planning a local communications campaign using a mix of materials and methods to engage with existing and potential service users.  The local campaign would particularly target carers to increase the number of carers assessed and if necessary put support packages into place.

Anne Bristow asked that all Board partners ensure that they have read the guidance fully to see what it means for them and identify changes that they must do to comply with the Act.  If partners have an Implementation Action Plan in place they need to check on how that would be implemented and that it is fully reviewed in view of the November 2014 Regulations.  The Health and Adult Services Select Committee planned to scrutinise the implementation programme at its meeting on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 75