Issue - meetings

(a)       That the report be noted;

(b)       That the areas highlighted as ‘red’ risks be referred to the Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny who are responsible for the overview and monitoring of performance; and

(c)       That the concerns around timescales for Disabled Facilities Grants for children/young people be referred to the Community & Enterprise Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

The Senior Manager: Commissioning and Performance introduced the report for the Committee to note and consider elements of the 2014/15 Year End Improvement Plan Monitoring Report relevant to the Committee.

A short presentation was given on performance within each of the sub-priority areas, highlighting work which had been undertaken to improve performance and areas where improvement was needed, as outlined within each report.

Independent Living

On the average days taken to deliver a Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG), the Senior Manager: Commissioning and Performance acknowledged that this was an area of particular concern for children/young people.  He said that officers were looking at measures to reduce the timescales, explaining that the outturn for 2014/15 was due to the two cases involving some complex issues.

Councillor Hilary McGuill asked what was being done to help individuals in those cases, pointing out that the delays represented a long time in the lives of those children.  She went on to stress the importance of ‘future proofing’ to plan for the years ahead where the child’s needs could become more complex.

The Disability Service Manager pointed out that the indicator was measured from the start of the process through to completion sign-off and that did not reflect a range of interim measures implemented to help families awaiting the installation of equipment.  In terms of forward planning, Occupational Therapists were responsible for co-ordinating a range of professional assistance which could be drawn upon, however it was not possible to accurately predict future needs in every case.

Councillor McGuill questioned the effectiveness of this approach and had previously raised with officers her concerns about the lack of forward planning for adaptations on a particular case.  The Housing Regeneration & Strategy Manager was aware of the case and referred to it being highly complex in terms of the adaptations required.  He went on to give assurance of forward planning as much as possible and said that the case highlighted would be reviewed again.

In response to further concerns raised by Councillor McGuill on improving timescales for DFG work for children/young people, the Disability Service Manager suggested that it may be helpful to share anonymised historic assessment data with the Committee to demonstrate the different elements of the process.

When asked how many DFGs had been completed for children/young people beyond 2014/15, the Housing Regeneration & Strategy Manager agreed to find out and respond to the Committee.

On DFGs, Councillor Dave Mackie suggested that it may be useful for future outturns to be accompanied by specific commentary including any feedback from the parent/carer, to satisfy Members of the support given and that perhaps a breakdown of the various elements of the process could help to identify where the problem was.  He also pointed out inconsistencies in the 2013/14 baseline data and 2016/17 aspirational target when compared with the previous year’s report.

In response to the concerns around DFGs, the Senior Manager: Commissioning and Performance suggested that he liaise with Internal Audit and request an assessment of the process to assure the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16