Councillor A Davies declared a Personal Interest in Item 3 Notice of Motion – Mental Health Challenge and Item 10 – Report of the Chair from Meetings of the Health & Care Performance Panel by virtue of her employment at Cheshire and Wirral Partnership.

The Chair welcomed Ms Karen Prior representing Healthwatch Wirral to her first meeting of the Committee.

To approve the accuracy of the minutes of the last meeting of the Families and Wellbeing Policy and Performance Committee held on 30 June 2015.

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the Families and Wellbeing Policy and Performance Committee held on 30 June 2015 be approved as a correct record.

At the meeting of the Council held on 6 July 2015 (minute 64 refers), the attached Notice of Motion proposed by Councillor T Anderson and seconded by Councillor L Rennie was referred by the Mayor to this Committee for consideration.

In accordance with Standing Order 7 (6), Councillors Anderson and Rennie had been invited to attend the meeting in order for them to be given an opportunity to explain the Motion.

The Chair advised that at the meeting of the Council held on 6 July 2015 (minute 64 refers), the following Notice of Motion proposed by Councillor T Anderson and seconded by Councillor L Rennie was referred by the Mayor to this Committee for consideration.

In accordance with Standing Order 7 (6), Councillor Anderson had been invited to attend the meeting in order for him to be given an opportunity to explain the Motion. In accordance with Standing Order 7 (5), any recommendation from the Committee in relation to the Notice of Motion would be referred to the Council. Any debate at Council should take place upon the recommendation of the Committee and there should be no separate debate upon the motion itself.

Councillor Anderson asked the Committee to support the Motion in relation to the Mental Health Challenge and support the appointment of an elected member to act as ‘mental health champion’ across the Council.

Members gave their full support to the Motion and indicated that they felt this would go some way in bringing services together to support Mental Health.

The Director of Adult Services reported that at a recent stakeholder event, partners looked at the Mental Health Strategy as part of the whole health and wellbeing agenda and felt that this was a strong challenge and that the 10 key challenges needed to happen in a broader approach not just mental health.

A Member asked for clarification as to who would be responsible for appointing an appropriate ‘Champion’.

MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGE

Council notes that:

(1)   mental health is becoming an increasing concern, with one in five people having a mental health condition at any one time.

(2)   only a quarter of people with a mental health condition receive any treatment for it.

(3)   mental ill-heath has economic and social cost of £105bn a year, accounting for 28% of the total burden of disease but only 13% of NHS spending.

(4)  mental health provision is not just about supporting those with the most severe conditions but providing an integrated and holistic support to the community.

Furthermore, Council notes the excellent initiative of several leading mental health charities in developing the “Mental Health Challenge” and the resources they are giving to local authorities.

Council therefore resolves to take on the mental health organisations challenge by:

(a)   Appoint an elected member as ‘mental health champion’ across the Council.

(b)   Identify a lead officer for mental health to link in with colleagues across the Council.

(c)   Follow the implementation framework for the mental health strategy where it is relevant to the Council’s work and local needs.

(d)   Work to reduce inequalities in mental health in our community.

(e)   Work with the NHS to integrate health and social care support.

(f)   Promote wellbeing and initiate and support action on public mental health for example through our joint health and wellbeing strategy.

(g)   Tackle discrimination on the grounds of mental health in our community.

(h)   Encourage positive mental health in our schools, colleges and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

Notice of Motion originally debated by Committee in September 2014.

The Committee considered a briefing note of the Director of Adult Social Services in relation to becoming a dementia friendly Council.

The Director of Adult Social Services highlighted that in December 2014 the Council had resolved to support the Dementia Friends Initiative. This included encouraging staff and elected members to become dementia friends and to consider whether they may wish to become dementia champions. In response to the subsequent debate in Council about the progress of the resolution, there was a request for the Chief Executive to ensure actions detailed within the Motion to Council were implemented to include becoming a dementia friendly council.

In response to the resolution, the Director of Adult Social Services gave Members an update in to relation to the actions undertaken so far.

A Member, who had undertaken the dementia awareness training, suggested that in-house courses be made available to staff to attend in their workplace giving them easier access to training.

RESOLVED:

That the briefing note on becoming a dementia friendly Council be noted.

To receive a verbal presentation from the Corporate Safeguarding Manager regarding the Safeguarding Annual Report.

The Committee considered a presentation from the Corporate Safeguarding Manager updating on the Wirral Safeguarding Childrens Board’s (WSCB) Annual Report (14-15) and Business Plan (15-16).

The presentation detailed the Board’s statutory objectives and functions and structure; the local background and context for 2014/15 and the progress to date against the seven priorities set for 2014/15 including domestic violence; child sexual exploitation; neglect and early help.

The Corporate Safeguarding Manager highlighted the WSCB’s key activities and outlined the business plan for 2015/16 detailing the five key priorities which included; safeguarding, child sexual exploitation and domestic abuse.

In response to comments, the Corporate Safeguarding Manager indicated that Operation Encompass was a Merseyside scheme whereby schools officers along with Merseyside Police worked together to ensure that child victims of domestic violence were better cared for. The scheme saw Merseyside Police pledge to inform schools the very next day if a pupil had experienced a domestic violence incident in their home the night before.

The aim was to give schools the information they needed in order to look after that Childs needs in the aftermath of what may be one of the most distressing things they would ever witness.

Members indicated that they would like to see a programme in schools that tackled issues such as appropriate relationships and body confidence. In response, the Corporate Safeguarding Manager indicated that discussions regarding further support and training were being held with primary headteachers.

A Member thanked the Corporate Safeguarding Manager for the training sessions arranged for Members in relation to child sexual exploitation, which had included a performance of ‘Chelsea’s Choice’ and a production from Wirral Youth Theatre.She wished them well for the future and suggested that awareness raising of child sexual exploitation needed to start earlier in primary schools; concern was also raised that programmes such as this had not been rolled out to catholic schools. 

In response to a Member, the Corporate Safeguarding Manager indicated that the Council could not afford to be complacent when it came to child sexual exploitation as there was still a lot of work to be done to ensure that children are being supported.

A Member suggested that outside funding from local business could be sought to enable the continuation of the roll out of ‘Chelsea’s Choice’.

RESOLVED:

That the Corporate Safeguarding Manager be thanked for his update.

The Committee considered the report of the Strategic Director Families and Wellbeing which detailed the Quarter 1 (April – June 2015) performance against delivery of the Families and Wellbeing Directorate Plan. The performance report was attached as Appendix 1 and set out progress against a suite of agreed key performance indicators.

Introduced by the Team Leader – Performance/Scrutiny, the report set out a series of amendments to the Families & Wellbeing Directorate Plan 2015/16.  These were as a result of the impact of the final 2014/15 year-end performance data and the development of the technical specification for the performance measures within the plan. The amendments were set out as Appendix 2.

The Corporate Plan 2015/16 (and supporting Directorate Plans) had been superseded by the Wirral Council Plan 2020 Vision and they still formed the basis of the in-year performance management framework. A new Performance Management Framework would be developed for the Council Plan once the associated delivery plan had been finalised.

In relation to the performance indicator regarding the rate of Children in Need (CIN) per 10,000, the Director of Children’s Services indicated that Wirral had a high number of CIN children which were currently under review, following this review some children could ‘step down’ to (early help) and others could ‘step up’ to a child protection plan as they may have a greater need. 

In response to a Member, in relation to the backlog of change of circumstances claims in relation to adults with learning disabilities, the Director of Adult Social Services indicated that there had been a problem implementing the new system, however the new team were now working on the backlog and improving processing times.

In relation to the number of hospital admissions (10-24 year olds as a result of self-harm), the Children’s Services Director indicated that head teachers had raised concerns, in particular about the lack of information given about their pupils who had presented to hospital for treatment as a result of self-harm. The Department had developed a pathway for children who self-harm and delivered a training program with schools to ensure that where possible that if a child was admitted information would be shared.

In response to a Member in relation to the take up of universal infant free school meals, the Director of Children’s Services indicated that she would provide a briefing note in relation to this and an update in relation to pupil premium.

In response to Members, the Team Leader – Performance/Scrutiny agreed to re-circulate the data regarding opiate users which had been omitted from the report

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

The Committee considered the report of the Acting Section 151 Officer setting out the financial monitoring information in a format which was consistent across the Policy and Performance Committees. The report aimed to give Members sufficient detail to scrutinise budget performance for the Directorate. Financial information for Quarter 1 (April-June 2015) which was reported to Cabinet on 27 July 2015 was attached to the report.

The Director of Adult Social Services introduced the report indicating that the savings to be made were particularly challenging as the Directorate was not an easy area to take money out of, but savings did need to be identified.

In response to a Member in relation to the reduction to the Public Health Budget, the Director of Adult Social Services indicated that the option appraisals were yet to be completed.

RESOLVED:

That the Financial Monitoring report be noted. 

To receive a verbal presentation regarding the Council Plan: Delivery Plan Proposals for People Priorities.

The Committee considered a verbal presentation from the Director of Children’s Services in relation to the Wirral Plan: A 2020 Vision.

The Director of Children’s Services highlighted the Council’s priorities in taking Wirral forward; People, Business and Environment; how the Council was to deliver its plan; timetable; initial scrutiny; Phase 2 – future work programmes  and next steps.

In response to a Member, the Scrutiny Officer indicated that a workshop for Members would be held to enable them to look at the People priority in late October/early November 2015.

 RESOLVED:

 That the presentation be noted.

The Committee considered the report of the Strategic Director, Families and Wellbeing presenting Members with the September Policy Briefing papers which included an overview of ongoing and recent national legislation, bills presented to Parliament and emerging policies.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the Policy Briefing papers be noted.

The Chair of the Health and Care Performance Panel introduced the report which provided feedback on the key issues arising from the meeting held on 20 August 2015.

The Director of Adult Social Services introduced the report and updated Members on the following activity undertaken by the Panel.

·  Review of the developing Out of Hours services as well as the preparations for winter pressures

·  The Chair on behalf of the Panel had submitted information to the CQC regarding the forthcoming planned inspection of Wirral University Teaching Hospital

·  To discuss outcome from the CQC inspection of Cheshire & Wirral Partnership Trust (CWP) undertaken in June following release of the inspection report.

RESOLVED:

That the report of the meeting of the Health and Care Performance Panel held on 20 August 2015 be noted.

The Committee considered the report of the Chair of the Committee, updating on the progress and the activity proposed for this Committee in relation to its agreed Work Programme.

The Chair updated the Committee on the following:

·  Safeguarding Review – Still to be completed. It was hoped that the report would be included on the Committee agenda of 2^nd November 2015.

·  Avoiding Hospital Admissions Task and Finish Group – First meeting has been held to discuss the scope of the review

·  Day Centre Report – Chair had suggested that a report regarding day centres and the establishment of Wirral Evolutions be added to the work programme for the P&P Committee.

A Member suggested that CRI the company commissioned to provided drug and alcohol services be requested to provide the Committee with an update on progress to date. 

RESOLVED:

That the Work Programme be noted.