Agenda and draft minutes

There were no disclosable pecuniary interests.

a)  To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 27^th June, 2019

b)  Matters arising

The minutes of the meeting held on 27^th June, 2019 were signed as a true record.

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (People)

Further to Minute 39/18 the Cabinet Member considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive (People) regarding complaints and representations to Adult Social Care.  Appended to the Cabinet Member report were the Adult social care complaints and representations annual report 2018/19 and the Complaints handling guidance.

The report noted that Adult Services had a statutory duty arising from the Local Authority Social Services and National Health Services Complaints Regulations 2009, to provide a system for receiving complaints and representations from people who use its services, or those acting on behalf of users. There was also a duty under the regulations to produce and publish an annual report.

The report set out details of the complaints and representations across Coventry’s adult services in 2018/19.  It highlighted the service improvements and learning from feedback and included information on future developments in complaint handling and reporting.  The system provided a means for resolving issues and listening to the views of those who use or were affected by adult services.  Where things had gone wrong it enabled the Council to put things right, learn from the experience and make the necessary improvements.

There were 48 statutory complaints made within the year, compared to 59 in 2017/18.  23 (48%) of these complaints were fully or partially upheld, compared to 35 (59%) in 2017/18.In addition, three informal complaints were received in 2018/19, down from 10 in 2017/18.  These were complaints resolved/handled at the point of delivery.  In line with the complaints policy and in line with best practice, most concerns were dealt with on an informal basis, for example, by social care providers; and may not be reflected in the figures in this report.

In 2018/19, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) considered 10 complaints or enquiries to adult social care, of which one was investigated and upheld.  This was an increase from 8 complaints or enquiries and one upheld in 2017/18.  

Adult social care services were committed to learning from customer feedback. Where complaints highlighted that things had gone wrong, managers must identify any remedial and developmental action required to improve service delivery.  Feedback from compliments provided an equally valuable message; clearly affirming when services made a difference and personal qualities had added value to the outcome for users and carers.

While there were no prescribed timescales for the resolution of complaints, the Council’s guideline was to resolve complaints within 20 working days.  Performance on this standard was monitored by the Adult Social Care Management Team.  It was normal practice to inform complainants should an extension be required.  Most often, extensions were sought due to the complexity of particular complaints, including where the complainant supplies additional information/evidence part way through an investigation.  In 2018/19, 55% of complaints (26 of 48) were resolved within 20 working days, up from 52.5% a year ago (31 of 59).

Appendix I set out the trends in complaints and representations across adult services in 2018/19.  It highlighted the service improvements and learning from feedback  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (People)

Further to Minute 40/18 the Cabinet Member considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive (People) regarding the Market Development Plan: Learning Disability and Autism.  Following the publication of Coventry’s Market Position (MPS) the intention was to produce a series of Market Development Plans (MDP) to provide the Market with additional information about population needs, current developments and gaps in provision.  The current plan was in relation to Learning disabilities and/or autism. 

The report noted that communicating effectively with the market was a key part of market development so that providers were aware of both the challenges facing Adult Social Care and some of the key areas where needs analysis signalled the requirement for services to be improved. 

The plan buildt upon the Market Position Statement issued in October 2018 and outlined to social care providers the expected requirements for this client group including the need for care and support to be developed.  The Market Development Plan also outlined developments that were already planned and when they were expected to come to fruition.

Councils had a duty to shape social care provider markets to ensure that a range of good quality provision was in place to meet the social care needs of individuals including adults with learning disability and /or autism.  This was achieved through good commissioning practice which ensured that providers were aware of the likely type and volume of support that was likely to be required both now and in the foreseeable future.  Market Position Statements (MPS) were a tool for providing communication.  In recognising their importance the production of a Market Position Statement (MPS) for Adult Social Care was a requirement as part of the Care Act (2014).

Cabinet Member for Adult Services approved the Market Position Statement in October 2018.  The Market Position Statement included: 

·  A statement to the market that focused on the priorities for both health and social care including joint commissioning, services to support reablement/enablement and community prevention 

·  Contextual information that enabled providers to understand main areas of change and the commissioning focus for the future in the light of this

·  A greater emphasis on informing the market of care need, demand and supply based on a data and intelligence

·  Data and evidence that created a clear link with the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment in relation to a knowledge of the prevalence of health conditions that contributed to wider social care and community preventative treatments

·  A set of clear commissioning intentions that articulated both imminent change in configuring/purchasing provision and future shaping for adult social care and support service

The Learning Disability/Autism MDP (appendix 2) was intended to achieve several objectives including:

·  Reiteration and building upon information about need and demand from the MPS

·  Reminding providers of the approach to adult social care and support in Coventry and its main objectives

·  Explaining development schemes already in the pipeline

·  Describing the likely residual demand that would require provision in the future 

The Cabinet Member and Shadow Cabinet Member discussed the following with officers:

·  Developing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place)

The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place) that contained a list of outstanding issue items that would be submitted to future meetings and summarised the current position in respect of each item.

The Practice Framework report would be considered at the end of the municipal year and Market Position Statement had been considered with regard to Learning Disability and Autism.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet Member for Policing and Equalities approves the future consideration of matters relating to the outstanding issue items listed in the report.

There were no other items of business.