Agenda item

(a)       That the reductions to the Supporting People Grant be noted and the proposed approach to managing reductions be supported;  

(b)       That the progress of the Supporting People team in the last twelve months be noted;

(c)        That the Draft Flintshire Local Commissioning Plan be supported;

(d)       That regular updates on the progress of the grant be reported to Committee; and

(e)       That progression of the draft Flintshire Local Commissioning Plan to the final document be reported to Committee.           

The Community Support Services Manager introduced a report to update the Committee on the Supporting People Programme in Flintshire and seek support for the Local Commissioning Plan. 

It was reported that the Local Authority was required to develop a three year Commissioning Strategy that would inform the priorities within the Regional Commissioning Strategy.  However, Local Authorities in North Wales had developed 12 month Commissioning Plans to cover the transition period and allow time for reviewing of existing services, new developments and appropriate targeting of reductions.  Welsh Government had been supportive of this approach, recognising that the level of reductions in North Wales made longer term planning at this stage more of a challenge.  The Programme was facing significant reductions in funding year on year and it had been indicated that funding would reduce by approximately 5% in 2014/15 and 2015/16.  An approach was being considered of how to respond to the reduction in funding which could include remodelling projects or working with providers on leaner processes but it was important not to apply a blanket cut approach to services.  The Community Support Services Manager advised that the Flintshire Supporting People Team had led on a number of successful local and sub regional developments over the last twelve months which included Flintshire ‘Nightstop’ Service, Body Positive and the Support Gateway and she provided further details on the schemes/projects.  It was also reported that there were opportunities for some short term developments to make best use of funding that was available now but could not be committed long term which included a two year mental health low level floating support service and one year additional funding to Age Connects.  Reductions from the service were also reported and included a reduction of £98,280 from Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) Learning Disability Services which were not eligible to be funding by Supporting People Programme Grant. 

In response to a question from Councillor Carol Ellis about the total amount of the grant, the Supporting People Manager said that it had been indicated that the grant would be approximately £6.8m for 2013/14, £6.4m for 2014/15 and £6.1m for 2015/16.  She also confirmed that the six North Wales authorities were also seeing reductions in their funding but that some Councils, including those in South Wales, would be receiving an increase in the grant. 

Councillor Alison Halford referred to the opportunity for a two year mental health low level floating support service and said that as mental health could affect anyone whether they be young or old, that funding be treated as a priority.  Following a question from Councillor Rosetta Dolphin about whether funding was being withdrawn from the Acquired Brain Injury project in Greenfield, the Community Support Services Manager advised that funding had been realigned but that this would not have an impact on the project.  In referring to mental health issues, Councillor Hilary Isherwood said that mental health was the ‘cinderella’ of the health care service.  She added that it was crucial that funding was provided and referred to rural locations which could be affected by transport issues and said that it was important to ensure that those in rural locations were not forgotten.  

The Cabinet Member for Social Services indicated that she was the Mental Health Champion for Flintshire County Council and that the Strategy and team that were in place would ensure that Mental Health was taken seriously.  The Chair referred to the significant challenge facing the service due to the Flintshire Community Mental Health Teams reporting a 70% increase in the number of referrals from Care Coordinators requesting floating support for service users.  The Chair also highlighted the two year pilot project which was being developed which would provide low-level floating support to those people who were not eligible for statutory mental health services, and/or those who were ready to move-on from statutory services and required some level of on-going support within the community. 

Councillor Halford referred to the Cabinet Member for Social Services role as Mental Health Champion and asked for further information.  The Director of Community Services responded that the Mental Health Commissioning Strategy had been considered by the Social and Health Care Overview & Scrutiny Committee and had been approved by Cabinet; he indicated that he would share this with the Members of the Housing Overview & Scrutiny Committee.  He also acknowledged the work of the Social and Health Care Overview & Scrutiny Committee on the issue of Double Click and the proposals for it to become a social enterprise.  He also referred to a report which had been submitted to Cabinet on the ‘Time to Change’ campaign in Wales about challenging mental health services and the provision of a Mental Health champion; the Director of Community Services indicated he would also share the report with the Committee. 

Councillor Marion Bateman referred to section in the report on new investment where it was reported that BCUHB were withdrawing funding from a service from April 2014.  She said that this would put additional pressure on the local authority and that it should be noted that this appeared to be a continuing and worrying trend by BCUHB. 

Councillor Hilary McGuill raised concern about looked after children and asked what was in place for looked after children when they were moved out of foster care and moved on as the current system did not appear to be working.  She said that there was concern that they would become homeless before being re-housed and could be put into a form of sheltered accommodation.  Councillor McGuill also queried how the Support Gateway could be accessed by clients and requested further details on the project.  In response, the Head of Housing spoke of the work undertaken by officers with people in care but said that there had been a gap in communication.  The Community Support Services Manager said that meetings were set up with Housing Support and Housing Options officers at a very early stage to establish a plan and obtain a result that was suitable for the young person.  The Supporting People Manager advised that she could circulate the policy on the Support Gateway to Members.  She also commented on referrals and advised that if a young person presented as homeless, officers would be able to identify quickly where vacancies were depending on the needs of the young person to ensure the best outcome. 

Councillor Veronica Gay asked whether stakeholders in England were consulted due to possible cross border issues as she was concerned that people may ‘fall through the gap’.  The Community Support Services Manager responded that they were not consulted and that Flintshire County Council’s stakeholders were on an accredited partner list.  The Supporting People Manager also spoke of work with hospitals in England and Wales which had been undertaken as part of the Body Positive project and said that lessons on consultation could be taken forward when developing future projects.  The Director of Community Services acknowledged the comments and asked that Members notify him of any specific issues that they were aware of and that were causing them concern. 

The Chair asked that figures be provided about the 5% reduction in funding each year and that the recommendation be amended to include regular updates to Members on the progress of the grant and the progression of the draft Flintshire Local Commissioning Plan to the final document.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the reductions to the Supporting People Grant be noted and the proposed approach to managing reductions be supported;  

(b)       That the progress of the Supporting People team in the last twelve months be noted;

(c)        That the Draft Flintshire Local Commissioning Plan be supported;

(d)       That regular updates on the progress of the grant be reported to Committee; and

(e)       That progression of the draft Flintshire Local Commissioning Plan to the final document be reported to Committee.