Debbie McQuade & Tina Hornsby
Minutes:
Tina Hornsby delivered an overview of the Care Act and discussed the various themes and changes required in order to comply with the Act.
The following key changes were highlighted:
· SEND reforms: Children’s Services now worked more closely with Adult Social Care, in order to support young people in preparing them for the transition to adulthood. At Peterborough a team had been appointed specifically for this requirement (0-25 Team).
A brief overview of what actions Peterborough City Council had taken following the implementation of this legislation included:
· The national eligibility criteria had been introduced
· Advocacy services had been reviewed
· The Adult Safeguarding process was being refined
· Deferred payments as an option had been confirmed
· Assessment of and plans to implement full support to carers had been carried out.
The following key points were discussed following the presentation:
· There had been an increase in the amount of carers and it was suggested that this could be due to the requirement of parents being classed as carers. However, it was confirmed that in Peterborough parents were always classed as carers.
· Peterborough City Council was working closely with the Clinical Commissioning Group, United Care, in order to better integrate services by offering joint assessments and encouraging cohesive working. Neighbourhood teams were being created, which would include social workers in order to remove confusion as to ‘who was responsible for what’.
· It was confirmed that if people chose the ‘Deferred Payments’ option their executors were able to keep up to £23,000 of their property after it was eventually sold. Part 2 of the Care Act looked to raise this threshold to £70 000.
· Direct Payments were reviewed and monitored regularly to ensure the money was being spent appropriately. The agreements stipulated what the cash could be spent on.
· The implementation of the Care Act had created extra cost for the Council as several new services were required. Central Government had passed some funding to the Council to assist, although spend was being monitored in this regard.
· It was confirmed that the total number of adults taking direct payments in Peterborough was just under 400 (20-25% of those in need of care). The Council was working with PCVS to start a support plan where PCVS would manage the administration of direct payments for the individuals.
· Members asked if funding could be provided for the Hydrotherapy Pool as it was a valuable asset and fulfilled the ‘prevention’ requirement of the Care Act. Tina Hornsby confirmed a meeting had been scheduled to discuss this and put a proposal for funding together.
This would affect Parish Council’s in various ways, as noted below:
· Local Authorities were expected to provide a range of services to support individual’s well-being and Parish Councils could assist to find the right services in their communities.
· Parish Councils would know where to refer their citizens and could also share this information with the City Council so that they too would have it available.
ACTION AGREED
All Parish Clerks to email such type of information, including contact details, to the Democratic Services Officer, who would forward the information to Adult Social Care.