Councillor A Davies declared a Personal Interest in Item 5 – Families and Wellbeing Dashboard Report by virtue of her employment at Cheshire and Wirral Partnership.

The Chair welcomed all Members and members of the public to the meeting, in particularly those Members who were new to the Committee.

To approve the accuracy of the minutes of the last meeting of the Families and Wellbeing Policy and Performance Committee held on 23 March 2015.

RESOLVED:

That subject to addition of Councillor D Roberts to the attendance list and Councillor T Johnson to the apologies for absence , the Minutes of the Families and Wellbeing Policy and Performance Committee held on 23 March 2015 be approved as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Attainment Sub-Committee held on 4 March 2015 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 1 April 2015.

RESOLVED:

That the report of the meeting of the Health and Care Performance Panel held on 1 April 2015 be noted.

The Committee considered the report of the Strategic Director of Families and Wellbeing and the Director of Public Health which provided an update in relation to the 2014/15 performance of the Families and Wellbeing and Public Health Directorate against the delivery of their Directorate Plans for 2014/15 whilst also providing an update of current performance as at Year End 2014/15.

The report translated the priorities set out in the Directorate Plans into a coherent and measurable set of performance outcome measures and targets. Members were requested to consider the details of the report and highlight any issues.

The Directorate Plan 2014/15 Performance Report set out performance against 57 outcome measures for 2014/15, 32 were rated green, 12 were rated amber and 11 were rated red whilst 2 were currently unrated. The measured 11 rated red had action plans which referred to:

·  Smoking Quitters (4 weeks)

·  Proportion of opiate drug users that left drug treatment successfully who do not re-present to treatment within 6 months

·  Achievement gap between pupils eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) and their peers achieving at key Stage 2

·  % of Looked After Children achieving KS2

·  The % of LAC achieving expected levels at Key Stage 4

·  Inequality of achievement of a Level 2 qualification by the age of 19 (FSM)

·  Inequality of achievement of a Level 3 qualification by the age of 19 (FSM)

·  Timeliness of Adoptions, within 12 months of decision date

·  Average monthly bed days lost due to delayed transfers of care per 100,000

·  Overall satisfaction of carers with social services

·  Proportion of people who use services who find it easy to find information about support

A Member asked that in relation to the target set for smoking quitters, was there a discussion to be had as to making this a more achievable target. In response, the Director of Public Health indicated that the target was set nationally however these targets were to be re-defined to reflect the impacts of e-cigarettes. She further indicated that they were currently looking to see if the services currently provided could be commissioned in a different way to reflect the increased usage of e-cigarettes; this piece of work would be brought back to Cabinet for decision in July 2015.

In relation to the target relating to the achievement gap for those children in receipt of receiving FSM (free school meals) against those who were not, the Director of Children’s Services indicated that in KS2 the gap in terms of Reading and Maths had shown a reduction year on year but this was not the case with writing. The impacts since the introduction of the Pupil Premium was improving and helping the target outcomes.

In relation to the average monthly lost bed days due to delayed transfer, the Director of Adult Social Services explained that people were in hospital longer than they needed to be, however, the Council was now in a position to organise same day domiciliary care and there was also an integrated discharge team; the Department  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Children’s Services updating on the children with disabilities budget option, a saving of £600,000, as part of a move towards an “All Age Disability Service”. The report specifically dealt with the first two strands set out within the report, namely, proposals to make changes to the operational arrangements at Willow Tree short break unit for children and young people with disabilities and reviewing how support was provided to children with disabilities and their families.

It was anticipated that subject to consultation with families using the services and staff members that savings could be made through greater efficiencies with minimal impact on families.  This would be achieved by amalgamating services, adjusting management capacity, reducing the overall number of staff required and making changes to contracts and grades.

The principles of providing early help and support and working in partnership with children and families would continue to guide this work.

In relation to the savings outlined within the report, the Director of Children’s Services indicated that the vacant Transitional Managers post was included within the savings in error and should not be included as there was no cost associated with the post in this budget option.

In response to a Member, the Director of Children’s Services indicated that the timeline for remaining savings of £350k was expected to be achieved within the next financial year for the full year effect. She explained that the specific timeline in relation to this was still being drafted but would be happy to share this with Members upon its completion.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

To receive a verbal presentation from the Director of Public Health.

The Committee considered a presentation from the Director of Public Health introducing the Public Health Annual Report 2014 which focused on improving the public’s health in Wirral.

The report focused on shaping the way services work together to ensure that people were able to care for themselves and one another and enjoy healthy and rewarding lives.

The Director of Public Health indicated that last year’s annual report focus on social isolation encouraged huge engagement from all parties; she thanked all those involved who had helped in some way to make a contribution to alleviate social isolation.

The Director of Public Health also thanked Ms Helen Armitage, Public Health Team for the work she had done on the Annual Report.

A Member congratulated the Director on her Annual Report in particular the emphasis on helping parents gain good long term employment, highlighting that some people in poverty were actually in employment.

In relation to the effect on the public health budget as a result of government cuts, the Director of Public Health indicated that the announcement from a national level wasn’t yet known but it was estimated that the budget reduction would be approximately around 2.3 million a year but it was unknown as to which services would be impacted. The Director of Public Health indicated that the assumption had been made that the budget would be reduced; therefore, the Department had planned for a reduction in funding.

RESOLVED:

That the Director of Public Health and her team be thanked and congratulated on their excellent work regarding the Public Health Annual Report.

The Committee considered the report of the Strategic Director of Families and Wellbeing which sought approval for the terms of reference and nomination for the membership to the Health and Care Performance Panel for the 2015/16 municipal year.

RESOLVED: That

(1)the terms of reference for the Health and Care Performance Panel   be approved;

(2)  the following nominations for members to the Health and Care Performance Panel be agreed as follows:- M. McLaughlin, D. Roberts, T. Johnson, Brightmore, W. Clements, D. Burgess-Joyce and A. Brighouse.

The Committee considered the report of the Strategic Director of Families and Wellbeing which sought approval for the terms of reference and nomination for the membership to the Children Sub-Committee (formerly the Attainment Sub-Committee) for the 2015/16 municipal year.

The Strategic Director of Families and Wellbeing introduced the report indicating that upon reflection on the progress of the Attainment Sub-Committee since its introduction, the Chair and Spokespersons and in consultation with officers had reviewed the priorities; it was now proposed that the Sub-Committee should re-focus its priorities to ensure that the key outcomes for children, as detailed in the Departmental Plan 2015/16 were scrutinised effectively.

RESOLVED: That

(1)the terms of reference for the Children Sub-Committee be approved;

(2)  the following nominations for members to the Children Sub-Committee be agreed as follows:- M. McLaughlin, W. Smith, A. Davies, T. Norbury, W. Clements, P.Hayes and A. Brighouse.

The Committee considered the report of the Strategic Director of Families and Wellbeing seeking approval for an agreement which was aimed at strengthening joint working arrangements between Wirral Health and Wellbeing Board, Wirral Healthwatch and health scrutiny.

The agreement was attached as an appendix to the report.

The Chair indicated that the Manager of Healthwatch would be invited to attend future meetings of the Committee and also the Health and Care Performance Panel. She further thanked all those officers who attended the working party.

RESOLVED:

That the proposed agreement for joint working between Wirral Health and Wellbeing Board, Healthwatch Wirral and Wirral Health Scrutiny be approved.

The Committee considered the report of the Strategic Director, Families and Wellbeing presenting Members with the July 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 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 – was near completion

·  Budget Options – There would be a gap added to the work programme to allow scrutiny of the Budget Options

·  Next review – Avoiding Hospital Admissions

·  Future Review – Early Years

·  Spotlight Session – Arranged for 20 July 2015 regarding the Vanguard Project.

RESOLVED:

That the Work Programme be noted.