Issue - meetings

Received a report from the Corporate Director of Adult and Community Services and a presentation from the Personalisation Programme Director on the plans to transform adult social care provision in the Borough as part of the ‘Putting People First’ national agenda.

The Personalisation Programme will give people more choice and control over the services they receive and how they pay for them and will maximise independence, while at the same time reducing the involvement of the local authority in their day-to-day lives.  Barking and Dagenham was one of thirteen local authorities to have taken part in the successful National Individual Budget Pilot Scheme that ended in December 2007 and, as a result, has already established a solid platform for many of the aspects of Personalisation, including the Resource Allocation System.

During the discussions it was noted that:

• The long-term impact of Personalisation is expected to be cost neutral, with efficiencies likely to be realised over time;
• External service providers will be quality assessed.  In this respect, it was suggested that service providers should be required to meet the same level of service provision standards that are required of local authorities, possibly through mandatory accreditation, to ensure that customers are receiving value for money and that all agencies are competing on a level playing field;
• The IT systems that support Personalisation prescribe to national requirements and are in line with the Council’s One B&D IT Strategy;
• The standards for service user assessments are being developed and will be finalised in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Adults and Public Health;
• A further report to the Executive on 3 November 2009 in relation to the Council’s proposed response to the Government’s Green Paper on the funding of adult social care will cover the point raised by the Chief Executive in respect of demographic changes.

Agreed, to ensure the ongoing development and delivery of the Personalisation agenda for adult social care in the Borough, to the outline service delivery model as detailed in section 2 of the report and illustrated in Appendix A.