Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

The Chair welcomed the Committee and safety information was provided.

No apologies were received.

To note any declarations of interest from 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.

No declarations were made.

The Chair moved that the minutes of the previous meeting of the committee held on 2 December 2024 be accepted as a correct record. Cllr Johnson seconded.

The Committee confirmed the minutes as a correct record.

To receive any announcements from the Chair.

It was noted that the CQC inspection of Adult Social Care had begun on 20 January 2025.

The financial challenges to Adult Social Care were acknowledged. The Chair noted that budget proposals from all Committees were brought to public meetings of the Finance Sub-Committee on 15^th and 16^th January. These proposals were circulated to the Committee for reference. On 3^rd February the Strategy and Resources Policy Committee was scheduled to determine budget recommendations to be submitted to the Full Council budget meeting on 25 February 2025.

A Member raised whether the Budget process could also be discussed. While this had not been scheduled as part of the agenda it was noted that ASC Members had received papers regarding the budget proposals presented at the Finance Sub Committee on 15-16 January 2025, with final proposals to be discussed at the Strategy and Resources Committee on 3^rd February. It was agreed that for the 2025-26 budget process briefings with ASC Members, the Chair and a finance officer could be arranged.

Up to 30 minutes is allowed for this item.

Any member of the public or councillor may participate in Public Forum. Public Forum items must relate to the remit of the committee and should be addressed to the Chair of the committee.

Members of the public who plan to attend a public meeting at City Hall are advised that you will be required to sign in when you arrive. Please note that you will be issued with a visitor pass which you will need to display at all times.

Please also note:

Questions

1.      Written public questions must be received by 5.00 pm, at least 3 clear working days prior to the meeting. For this meeting, this means that questions must be received at the latest by 5.00 pm on Tuesday 21 January. Public Questions should be submitted via our webform: www.bristol.gov.uk/publicforum

2.      Any individual can submit up to 3 written questions.

3.      Written replies to questions will be available on the Council’s website at least one hour before the meeting.

4.      At the meeting, questioners will be permitted to ask up to 2 oral supplementary questions.

Statements

1.      Written statements must be received at latest by 12.00 noon, at least 2 working days prior to the meeting. For this meeting, this means that statements must be received at the latest by 12.00 noon on Thursday 23 January.

2.      Public Statements should be submitted via our webform: www.bristol.gov.uk/publicforum

3.      Statements, provided they are no more than 1,000 words in length, will be circulated to all committee members and will be published on the Council’s website at least one hour before the meeting.

Petitions

1.      Details of the wording of any petitions, and the number of signatories to petitions must be received at latest by 12.00 noon, at least 2 working days prior to the meeting. For this meeting, this means that petition details must be received at the latest by 12.00 noon on Thursday 23 January. Please email petition details to policycommittees@bristol.gov.uk

2.      At the meeting, individuals presenting petitions may be required to read out the objectives of the petition.

When submitting a question or statement please indicate whether you are planning to attend the meeting to present your statement ask your question

No Public Forum was received.

The Committee RESOLVED to Note

1.      The report states that Adult Social Care fund has a savings target of £10.9m in this financial year. The programme continues to work on additional initiatives that contribute to the delivery of this.

2.      The report states that as per baselining at CLB on 26 April 2024, the Adult Social Care Transformation Programme budget is £2,432,000 (plus contingency held centrally by CLB). 

3.      The report states that as per baselining at CLB, the Adult Social Care Transformation Programme savings target is £6.467m.

4.      As per baselining at CLB on 26 April 2024, no funding has yet been approved for 2025/26.

The Committee was advised that the report (agenda item 7) presented and update to the Adult Social Care Committee on the progress of the Adult Social Care (ASC) Transformation Programme for Q2 2024. There were no decisions to be taken on this report which was for noting.

The Executive Director for Adults and Communities presented the report.

The Committee was invited to raise comments or questions. Key points from the discussion included:

1.                  A Member noted the budget line for Continuing Healthcare and requested further information on how the resourcing of this would be managed. It was planned for vacancies within the system to be repurposed to support this. Continuing Healthcare was provided by the NHS which was therefore not chargeable, and it was the role of Bristol City Council to identify the appropriate cohort.

2.                  It was confirmed that a good working relationship with the Bristol Disability Equalities Commission had been developed as part of Transformation to ensure that the needs of service users were brought along the journey. This was part of the Meeting Needs work which would report to the ASC Policy Committee in due course. The recently approved Co Production Strategy attested to this work.

3.                  A Member noted the concerns raised regarding the potential for the Single Commissioning Framework to exclude some providers. It was acknowledged that this was a possibility, as with 140 domiciliary care providers in Bristol there was not sufficient work to maintain all of these. Work was ongoing with Legal and Procurement teams to ensure a fair spread through different organisations across localities. A Member stated that reports from Children’s Social Care indicated less available domiciliary support; this was discussed and agreed to refer to Children’s commissioning around possible diversification.

4.                  It was requested that future reports include progress against spend.

5.                  A Member queried how the Targeted Operating Model related to the work of the Meeting Needs group in addressing policy around high care costs. It was clarified that the work of the Targeted Operating Model had involved a piece of co design work between the work force and communities to create conditions that led to better outcomes while maintaining a sustainable workforce. The Meeting Needs group was in the process of hearing evidence of the strength based and community-based work supported by the TOM which aimed to lead to more personalised care and better outcomes, avoiding the need for residential care where appropriate.

6.                  It was queried why RPI (Retail Price Index) was used as a measurement instead of CPI (Consumer Price Index). It was agreed for an answer to be brought back to the Committee as an action.

[Note: Following the meeting the following definitions were provided:

The Retail Prices Index (RPI) is no longer an official statistic but is still published by the Office for National Statistics. It measures the average change from month to month in the prices of goods and services purchased by most households in the UK. The government uses the RPI for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

The Committee RESOLVED to Note

1.The Adult Social Care General Fund forecast outturn revenue position of a £7.8 million overspend at P8 2024/25.

2. The forecast of a breakeven position on the Capital Programme budget 2024/25.

The Committee was advised that the report (agenda item 8) presented an update to the Adult Social Care Committee on the council’s financial performance against the approved budget and its forecast use of resources for the financial year 2024/25 (Period 8 extrapolated). There were no decisions to be taken on this report which was for noting.

The Executive Director presented the report.

The Committee was invited to raise comments or questions. Key points from the discussion included:

1.      A Member queried the impact of winter pressures on the budget. It was stated that while winter could frequently bring disruption to finances, while practice remained safe. The improvement work that had been undertaken helped to support a more stable service. Examples of work were given, including the increased capacity through transfer of care hubs, increased productivity through the reablement service, and the bridging domiciliary care service. The general trajectory of care services had been good.

2.      It was queried why the ‘preparing for adulthood’ figure [Table 1, p28], was below budget. It was thought that this had been subject to monthly variations and that P9 would see more purchasing reflected. Further clarification could be provided.  It was hoped that work being undertaken now would lead to greater precision in future years in predicting services needed.

3.      It was suggested that a Committee Briefing be held on the Service User contribution, including eligibility. This could include information on the nationally set limit of £23k. This was agreed.

4.      Qualitative data on the impact on the quality of service received was discussed. The financial benefit of meeting need at an earlier juncture was noted. The quality assurance processes around ensuring services were of sufficient quality were outlined.

The Committee RESOLVED to Note

1.The Adult Social Care General Fund forecast outturn revenue position of a £7.8 million overspend at P8 2024/25.

2. The forecast of a breakeven position on the Capital Programme budget 2024/25.

The Committee RESOLVED

1.    To note this report.

The Committee was advised that the report (agenda item 9) presented an update to the Adult Social Care Committee on current significant strategic risks relevant to the Adult Social Care Committee (ASCC). The risks related to achieving objectives set in the Council’s Corporate Strategy 2022-2027 and the report summarised progress in managing the risks and actions being taken as at Quarter 3 2024-25.There were no decisions to be taken on this report which was for noting.

The Director for Adult Social Care presented the report.

The Committee was invited to raise comments or questions. Key points from the discussion included:

1. The presentation noted that 3 issues had been identified as ‘High Risk’; Financial stability (previously discussed), safeguarding and increased demand. Further detail was requested on how it would be determined that a high risk had become a critical risk. This was determined through quality assurance and performance. For example, for safeguarding there would be quantitative data on wait times etc. tracked as well as qualitative data gathered through listening audits. Information would be brought together in a performance board to make a professional judgement on the level of risk. For safeguarding specifically it is expected that risk can be reduced to a departmental level within the next few quarters. Acceptable risk level for safeguarding is necessarily low.
2. The MASH (Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub) was discussed. The way that ‘tasks’ were assigned were outlined, as well as the benefit of the MASH as a way of addressing service users as individuals, in partnership with other agencies. In terms of outcomes, data was limited as the MASH was only launched in November 2024 but impact was being monitored.

The Committee RESOLVED

1.    To note this report.

The Committee RESOLVED to Note

The performance against the Business Plan relevant to this Committee, including the issues raised and measures to address performance issues to be implemented by relevant services

The Committee was advised that the report (agenda item 10) presented an update to the Adult Social Care Committee on performance against the BCC Business Plan as relevant to the remit of this Committee, for Q2 2024/25, and for Members to note areas of specific interest or concern with relevant Directors. There were no decisions to be taken on this report which was for noting.

The Strategic Intelligence and Performance Advisor presented the report.

The Committee was invited to raise comments or questions. Key points from the discussion included:

1.    It was highlighted that while Priority Metric BPPM260 (average wait time for an initial Care Act Assessment) was displaying as red, this had shown improvement. While still outside of the interim target of 42 days, this had improved from an average of 61 days to 55 days. It also did not fully reflect the achievements in addressing the outstanding waiting list. Factors that had contributed to the improvement included the stabilising of the workforce by working to reduce high turnover and by procuring additional support, as well as a strong oversight of performance management. The overall number of people waiting for an assessment had reduced by 22%.

2. A member queried how consistency in care packages was maintained. Firstly, prioritisation had been standardised, and all cases were subject to the same multi-disciplinary scrutiny.

3. Attention was drawn to the detail provided around localities; it was agreed this would be maintained for future reports.

The Committee RESOLVED to Note

The performance against the Business Plan relevant to this Committee, including the issues raised and measures to address performance issues to be implemented by relevant services.