Agenda, decisions and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and explained relevant the safety information.

Jacqui Jensen - Executive Director Adults, Children and Education

To note any declarations of interest from the Councillors. They are asked to

indicate the relevant agenda item, the nature of the interest and in particular

whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest.

Any declaration of interest made at the meeting which is not on the register of

interests should be notified to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion.

Cllr Smith declared that he is a manager in a GP practice in South Gloucestershire; and a non-executive director of OneCare (BNSSG) Ltd, which is owned by and represents GP practices in Bristol who get BCC public health grants. 

To agree the minutes of the previous meeting as a correct record.

Agreement that the draft minutes are accurate records of the previous meeting.

To note any announcements from the Chair

•          OFSTED Report – Commission members have an opportunity to attend a briefing on the outcomes.  Date of the meeting to be confirmed.

•          Membership of the SEND Task & Finish Group is Cllr Claire Hiscott (Chair); Cllr Ruth Pickersgill; Cllr Carole Johnson; Cllr Harriet Bradley; Cllr Brenda Massey; Cllr Eleanor Combley; and Cllr Jos Clark.

•          Chair confirmed the task is to ensure the right provision is available to all children within the financial framework.   Three key priorities for the SEND T&F group: Finance; Quality of provision; and Perception (building bridges with parents/families).

•          There is a national concern over funding. Independent review taking place.

•          Important that SEND is a cross cutting theme within Learning City Partnership, rather than a priority alongside others.

o          All Members of T&F group confirmed, except Cllr Clark (not present) and Cllr Bradley (not part of the ACE commission)

o          Three/four meetings planned before the end of municipal year

ACTION: Members to provide Chair with suggestions and comments about focus and content of the SEND T&F group

Up to 30 minutes is allowed for this item.

Any member of the public or Councillor may participate in Public Forum.  The detailed arrangements for so doing are set out in the Public Information Sheet at the back of this agenda.  Public Forum items should be emailed to scrutiny@bristol.gov.uk and please note that the following deadlines will apply in relation to this meeting:-

Questions - Written questions must be received 3 clear working days prior to the meeting.  For this meeting, this means that your question(s) must be received in this office at the latest by 5 pm on Tuesday 13^th November.

Petitions and Statements - Petitions and statements must be received on the working day prior to the meeting.  For this meeting this means that your submission must be received in this office at the latest by 12.00 noon on Friday 16^th November.

The following Public Forum was received:

Statements

Statement 1: Item 6 Annual Business Report and Agenda Item 8:  Better Lives Programme - Julie Boston

The Chair thanked Julie Boston for her submission and the Commission Members noted the submission.

That the Scrutiny Commission approves the current plan to work collaboratively with the communities affected by FGM.

Officers Presenting Report : Anne Farmer and Ann James

Anne Farmer (Service Manager, Care and Support - Children and Families), Bristol City Council delivered a presentation.

Anne Farmer chairs the FGM safeguarding and delivery group, which oversees the

development of knowledge, training and services amongst professionals and communities to raise awareness and tackle the practice of FGM.

The following are some of the key discussion points:

•          Anne Farmer took over the group in October 2017 and there were issues of practice that needed reviewing, in order to move the agenda of tackling FGM forward

•          A need to change practice and do things differently was identified, including join up datasets.  The data sets which record FGM are either the Health based or individual LA data sets. They record different information.

•          Many of the families referred to Children’s services by schools were done so via ‘static risk factors’,  not necessarily caused by FGM.

•          A new assessment tool (risk assessment) has been developed which is more sophisticated than previous tools, including written agreements which are no longer used. The risk assessment tool helps understand additional factors and provides increased confidence for professionals.

•          There is now a group of social workers who have become specialised and have expertise regarding FGM, and will be able to officer advice to colleagues.

•          Referrals to children’s services dropped significantly. This reduction shows more proportionate intervention, although there needs to be more analysis of reasons, so as to ensure girls and young woman are properly protected.

•          The work in Bristol is nationally recognized by Central Government and has been viewed as a model of good practice.

Layla Ishmael (Refugee Women of Bristol) delivered a presentation from the perspective of the African communities.

The following are some of the key discussion points:

•          The overwhelming feedback from women is they felt unsupported.

•          Refugee Woman of Bristol worked with African communities and Forward.

•          500 women being supported by Refugee woman of Bristol.  Forward project lost funding but still needed to support them.

•          After the criminal case collapsed women reported feeling  vulnerable and being attacked on social media.

•          Research shows that there are low rates of trust between local communities and professionals. 

•          FGM community programme to take action to stop FGM and enable community to have a voice and to be listened to.  Woman are coached and trained for leadership, and provided with 1:1 support, advocacy; direct engaging in schools, and workshops delivered locally.

Cabinet Member welcomed response the Council has made.  There are community members who report feeling vilified due to perceptions and policies relating to FGM. The change of approach is among other things a good recognition that FGM is not only an issue for Somalian community.  Thanks to officers and wider engagement, more groups have been meeting.  FGM policy is funding via Safer Bristol – this needs to be reviewed.

A Member stated that there is an understanding of safeguarding and of institutional racism, although there is less an understanding of how these relate; and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

That the Scrutiny Commission consider:

1)      How to engage a diverse range of citizens in the development and design of the next phase of the Better Lives Programme;

2)      How Members could help communicate the key messages around the Programme’s direction of travel to citizens.

Officer Presenting Report : Terry Dafter

Cllr Helen Holland thanked all those who took part in the Social Care Task Group, which was helpful for policy development, enabling cross party support.

Terry Dafter (Director of Care and Support – Adults, Bristol City Council) delivered a presentation

The following are some of the key discussion points:

•          New system will be more stable and resilient – although it is not a quick solution.

•          Social care is a challenge nationally .  There is the demand of an aging population and budget pressures.

•          Adult Care has very working relationship with housing colleagues. There is a need to work more closely with Children’s services.

•          We use a person centred approach, which asks, not ‘what’s the matter with you’, but ‘what matters to you?’ This is a person centred approach.

•          Looking to invest in technology, including voice activation, enabling people to have more control in their home.

•          The Ethical Care Charter is to be signed in the new year.  (A set of commitments that Councils make which fix minimum standards that will protect the dignity and quality of life for those people and the workers who care for them)

A Member asked about joint commissioning with health service.

Officer response:

•          Our current progress on joint commissioning with health is limited but we are now looking to do more around mental health and learning disability services.

A Member asked what approaches are available for integrating care and health.

Officer response:

•          There are various models for integrating care and health: the two principal ones are either based around and led by an acute hospital, or by collaboration between community providers in an alliance arrangement.

•          The preferred arrangement is the community approach.

A Member asked if the Council can use DFG (Disabled Facilities Grants) in a more constructive way.

Officer response:

•          We are looking to make sure we maximise our use of DFG.

•          There is a significant amount of this grant available and we want to use it in ways that encourage greater use of accommodation in the community, either through purchasing houses or upgrading existing stock.

A Member asked why the cost of new nursing care for age group 65+ has reduced substantially from the beginning of 2018.

Officer response:

•          This may reflect a higher demand in the winter months     

A Member commented on the work force figures, showing a substantial reduction in turnover and average working days lost, stating that to achieve these figures is excellent and the service should be commended for this.  Officer stated all staff are responsible and take credit.

The Council is looking at refurbishment of existing sheltered housing and childrens homes.  The dialogue with housing colleagues has  just started, including scoping out what is required, and what options and innovation are available including refurbishment, off site manufacture, new build, and assistive technology.

Member asked whether the Council is liaising with GPs.

Officer response:

•          GPs are key.  Achieving a common approach with GPs is  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

The Commission is asked to note the report.

Officer Presenting Report: Dr Susan Milner

Sue Milner (Interim Director of Public Health), Bristol City Council delivered a presentation.

The following are some of the key discussion points:

•          Public health grant provided to Bristol City Council has reduced year on year for several years and we expect a further reduction in 19/20

•          Cabinet made decisions about diverting some of the public health grant to other areas of spend across the Council.

•          Some services will need to be decommissioned and proposals will be put forward for public consultation in the new year.

•          There are a number of functions and services that the Council has to provide or commission (Mandatory and discretionary).  

•          Local authorities have been given back the local leadership role for public health, controlling the key socio-economic determinants of health such as education, housing, employment opportunities, the physical and cultural environment, transport and planning infrastructure.

Appendix: Detailed allocation of the Public Health Grant.