Issue - meetings

(a)       That the Committee endorses the progress made with the effective use of the Intermediate Care Fund;

(b)       That the development of further initiatives using the finance recently announced be supported; and

(c)        That Committee gives support that Flintshire County Council continue with the areas outlined in paragraph 3.07.  

The Chief Officer (Social Services) introduced a report to provide an overview of the projects delivered by the Intermediate Care Fund (ICF) and of the outcomes that had been delivered.   

                        He detailed the background to the report and explained that the ICF had been set up to support older people to maintain their independence and remain in their own home.  The funding of £642k for capital and £1.248m for revenue funding was for the financial year 2014/15 and WG had advised that the funding would cease at the end of the period.  However, the Chief Officer (Social Services) advised that an announcement had been made the previous day on the future of Intermediate Care.  Written confirmation had not been received but it had been indicated that £20m across Wales on a recurrent basis would be available but that a different funding route would apply.  Work would be ongoing with health partners to support the continuation of services provided for Intermediate Care. 

The ICF had been allocated on a regional footprint with Flintshire leading the management of the fund on behalf of North Wales.  The bid for Flintshire had been based upon three key themes with a consistent focus on enhancing services for people with dementia.  The projects that had been delivered through the ICF were reported and the Chief Officer (Social Services) provided details of some of the projects which included the provision of step up/step down beds in residential homes, falls prevention and Healthy Homes for Discharge project – Flintshire Care & Repair.  The achievements for the first six months of the ICF from April to September 2014 were reported along with a case study of a person who had been helped by the ICF.  Further case studies were also included in the report.  On the issue of challenges, the Chief Officer  explained that the authority was not aware of the ICF until part way through the year but had tried to use it efficiently and effectively.  It was reported that Flintshire had hosted the North Wales Integrated Services Programme Board which formed part of the governance arrangements that fed into the North Wales Regional Leadership Board.  WG had identified North Wales’ approach to managing the ICF as being an ‘exemplar’.  Prior to the announcement by WG, Flintshire had identified critical projects that required funding in the future and these were detailed at paragraph 3.07. 

Councillor Amanda Bragg welcomed the report and indicated that she had not been aware of the large number of projects that were undertaken.  On the issue of ‘Support at Night’ she asked whether the service had been trialled and evaluated and sought clarification on the number of hoarders within the County of Flintshire that officers were aware of. 

In response, the Chief Officer (Social Services) advised that he did not have details of figures but could provide the information to Members.  He explained that hoarding could be as a result of a complex combination of social circumstances.  On the issue of the ‘Support at Night’  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54