Agenda item

Report of the Director of Adult Services and Housing

Further to Minute 14/19 the Cabinet Member considered a report of the Director of Adult Services which sought approval to extend the existing Section 75 Partnership Agreement with Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust (CWPT) for the delivery of integrated mental health services.  Council delegated functions under the S75 agreement and a summary of findings from the review in Oct 2021 were appended to the report.

The City Council entered into a Section 75 agreement on 1 April 2014 following Cabinet approval initially for a three-year period but with provision for annual extensions.  The agreement was extended from 1 April 2017 and for various periods since, with the latest in 2020 for a period of 24 months.  It was anticipated that during this period significant development would take forward the NHS 10-year plan but did not take account of the COVD-19 pandemic which had impacted on progress.

The Section 75 Partnership Agreement provided the legal framework to underpin joint working in Adult and Older People's Mental Health Services.  Under this framework, joint Health and Social Care teams delivered mental health services from a single line management structure led by CWPT with designated Council staff seconded, and the delegation of specific social care duties, namely the Care Act 2014.  Although the service delivery elements were integrated the financial responsibilities for health and social care remained separate with this separation to continue under the extended agreement.

Coventry City Council (CCC), Warwickshire County Council (WCC) and CWPT remained committed to integrated working practices as a means for delivering joined up support to people with mental ill health across Coventry and Warwickshire. The S75 agreement continueed to provide a suitable vehicle through which to deliver this and to meet the national expectations for integrated care provisions.

There had been various reviews throughout the period of the agreements but one most recently conducted involved all three partner agencies and much of the feedback reflected the positive output of the previous reviews.  It highlighted the challenges that were created from differences of approach across organisational, geographical, and professional boundaries.  Coventry and Warwickshire were not unique in this regard, and many other Section 75 Partnerships across the country had been disbanded through not being able to adequately address these issues.

The S75 Strategic Board had carefully considered the output from the review, and options for continuation of the partnership and concluded that for users of community mental health services, the benefits of integration continued to outweigh the alternative of services separated by location, design and purpose. This review supported the options appraisal previously conducted by Adult Social Care on behalf of Coventry City Council.

As system partners, the formation of Integrated Care Boards later in 2022 would place further obligation on our organisations to work more closely together.  The Coventry and Warwickshire S75 Partnership had been recognised by other national stakeholders for its tenacity and commitment to making these arrangements work and was seen as one of the few areas nationally where the partnership was undergoing continuous improvement.  It was within this context that all partners wished to share their vision to continue to build on the positive relationships that existed, acknowledging the challenges, whilst learning from past experiences to create a partnership which other areas look to for best practice.

System partners agree that the arrangements need to evolve and as such the arrangement would be subject to review and revision on an ongoing basis.  This had been a strength to date and the S75 Board had been reinvigorated with new assurance arrangements in place to enable this to happen.

All three partners were recommending that:

a)  Approval of the Partnership Agreements for a further 3 years.  The renewal to take effect from 1 April 2022 for the provision of integrated community mental health and social care services, with a 6-month notice period Cabinet Member is asked to approve the agreement between Coventry City Council and Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust.

b)  Endorse the proposal that the existing documentation will be carried forward, with minimal updating for factual accuracy, on the understanding that the Agreements and associated schedules will be reviewed in depth within Year 1 of the next partnership cycle to ensure that they are fit-for-purpose for current and anticipated future requirements. 

RESOLVED that approval be given by the Cabinet Member for Adult Services for a further extension of the S75 agreement between Coventry City Council and Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust for a period of 3 years from 1st April 2022 to 31st March 2025.