Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies were received from:

Kate Day, Hampton Parish Council

Sara Rodger, Castor Parish Council

Cllr Joseph Dobson, Helpston Parish Council

Cllr Kim Aitken, Orton Waterville Parish Council

Cllr John Bartlett, Thorney Parish Council

The minutes of the meeting held on 25 March 2015 were approved as a true and accurate record.

Ian Dewar

Councillor Henry Clarke presented this item on behalf of Ian Dewar who was not in attendance. The following key points were highlighted:

·         Authorities must publish certain information in order for the public to access it, such as names of councillors and senior officers taking decisions, as well as contract and supplier details.

·         Publishing this information would make dealing with Freedom Of Information requests easier, as the requestors could be pointed to the site where the information was published.

·         Some funding was available from NALC to assist with progressing any necessary changes needed to implement the Transparency Code. Applications could be made through CAPALC.

The following questions and comments were raised:

·         Members sought clarification that these requirements were also necessary for Quality Councils. It was confirmed that Quality Councils would already have been following these guidelines as good practice, although this Code now made such actions a legal requirement.

·         As the code covered rules for ‘smaller authorities’ and a separate code covered ‘larger authorities’, Members asked for the requirements for a ‘medium’ size authority. Councillor Henry Clark agreed to investigate this and clarify the requirements for medium sized authorities.

ACTION AGREED

The Group agreed for:

·         The Democratic Services Officers to circulate the presentation slides.

·         Councillor Henry Clark to provide information on requirements for medium sized authorities.

Debbie McQuade & Tina Hornsby

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,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Henry Clark

Councillor Henry Clark advised the group that the draft Parish Charter had been sent to all clerks requesting feedback and / or agreement. He requested that those who had not commented to please send responses as soon as possible, even if it was just to confirm agreement.

The consultation closed at the end of the month, after which all feedback would be considered and an amended version would be drafted for submission to the City Council.

It was confirmed that after the second version had been drafted, a copy would be circulated, especially to all those who submitted feedback.

ACTION AGREED

For Councillor Henry Clark to seek clarification as to the process following the draft Rural Vision and Parish Charter Document being submitted to the Council, and whether the document would still be open to change at this point.

Councillor Henry Clark confirmed that there was a small working group that met monthly to discuss the agenda of the Parish Council Liaison. He asked that ideas / items be sent to him for future agendas.

The Chair advised the group that AOB would not be included on future agendas and requested that any items for discussion be added to the agenda beforehand. The Chair confirmed that he would accept AOB items on this occasion:

·         The Parish Conference was scheduled to take place on 18^th of November 2015. The Venue had not yet been confirmed.

·         It was highlighted that the Council was starting the process of replacing the small litter bins with larger bins, and should anyone wish for those bins to be relocated rather than placed in the same area, contact should be made with the Council (James Collingridge).

9 September 2015

The Chairman advised the group that the next meeting was to be held on Wednesday, 9 September 2015 at 6.30pm, in the Bourges/Viersen Room.