5:05pm to 5:30pm
Minutes:
The Cabinet Member for Customers and Communities and the Careline and Support Services Manager attended to provide a progress report on the implementation of recommendations from the review of Careline and Support Services. A report was approved by the Joint Cabinet and Employment and General Committee on 9 February, 2016 to put in place a new structure for Careline and Support Services in order to mitigate the effects of reductions in Derbyshire County Council (DCC) funding and move towards a financially self-sustaining service.
The Careline and Support Services Manager advised that the funding from DCC for the scheme managers had been lost and these posts had been deleted as part of the review. However, funding for the monitoring of Careline alarms and floating support was still being received. The level of funding was expected to fall in 2016/17, with further reductions every year from 2017/18 if the funding for Careline monitoring was withdrawn.
Following the removal of the scheme managers in April, 2016, the cleaning of the sheltered schemes was now carried out by the council’s building cleaning team which had received good reviews. There was a plan to review other contracted services in 2017/18 including window cleaning, grounds maintenance and laundry equipment. The Careline alarm system and associated services at sheltered schemes, including CCTV, would be updated. Brocklehurst Court would be updated first as the scheme would be undergoing a major refurbishment; Support Officers were assisting with the temporary rehousing of tenants.
The Careline and Response Service had been fully staffed since September 2016. A Social Inclusion Officer had been appointed and was working with residents to co-ordinate, facilitate and expand the level of activities at sheltered schemes. A Team Leader for Support Services had been in post since September 2016. The Team Leader had previous experience of working in Adult Social Care and was hoping to enhance the skills of the current support staff in this area. The Publicity and Marketing Officer had been in post since September 2016 and had reviewed all marketing and publicity activity for the service.
Applications were being prepared for accreditation to the Telecare Services Association Quality Standards Framework and the Derbyshire Dignity Challenge.
The Careline and Support Service took over the management of 6 community rooms provided by Housing Services and had a programme of refurbishments planned. Current users had been consulted in order to understand what improvements were needed. Members asked if friends groups were being involved in the refurbishment and management of the community rooms. The Careline and Support Services Manager responded that all the necessary friends of groups had been involved in consultations.
Since April 2016, there had been an increase in the number of self-funders receiving the Careline response service and signing up to the support service. Chesterfield Borough Council (CBC) took the opportunity of offering a Careline provision and monitoring service to residents living in the Derbyshire Dales (DD) and took over two thirds of DD Careline users.
The overall financial situation for 2016/17 was better than reported in February 2016 due to the net increase in Careline response self-funders and the monitoring of former Dales Housing customers. There was a risk that DCC may remove its funding for Careline however this had been mitigated by increases in income and staffing savings.
Members had concerns over the coordination of activities and resident engagement at Parkside as there were two types of activities being offered by two different groups. The Careline and Support Services Manager replied that initially the mix of new and old tenants in the scheme had worked well and a residents committee had been set up with support from the Social Inclusion Officer. The committee was running activities such as bingo and coffee mornings, whilst the Social Inclusion Officer assisted with other activities such as chair based exercise. There had been concerns that activities were only targeting a small group of people and the Social Inclusion Officer was working to ensure all residents felt comfortable to take part in activities. A meeting had been set up with the residents to go over these issues and discuss residents’ concerns with their tenancies. There was also some confusion with residents’ understanding of CBC’s role in Parkside and Careline; this would be clarified at the meeting.
Members asked if there was a danger of the Careline and Response Service overstretching its capacity by expanding into the DD. The Careline and Support Services Manager responded that CBC was clear on what they could and could not provide. DD residents did not receive a response service prior to CBC taking over and CBC has carried on the same service. The alarms can be monitored within the current staffing resource however to provide a response service as well would have caused a staffing issue. If there was the opportunity to take on further business in that area, the commitment required from CBC would be reviewed.
Members asked if the funding from DCC for the monitoring of alarms had been extended beyond 31 March, 2017. The Careline and Support Services Manager advised that an exempt report had gone to DCC’s cabinet about the alarms and there was a meeting arranged with partners and DCC where it was hoped the issue over the contract would be discussed.
Members enquired about the timescale for installing the CCTV in the sheltered schemes and community rooms. The Careline and Support Services Manager replied that a CCTV system would be initially be installed at the main entrance door of two community rooms at Wimborne Crescent and Winster Court as refurbishment works were planned for May/June 2017; this would then be followed by Brocklehurst Court which was due to have a major refurbishment during 2017/18. CCTV would then be installed in the other community rooms and sheltered schemes when refurbishment work was carried out to them. The CCTV system would be connected to the Careline office, however it would only be intended to assist with access into the buildings.
Members asked if all the employees working at Careline were employed by CBC on permanent contracts or if agencies were still being used. The Careline and Support Service Manager advised that all employees were employed by CBC and all were on permanent contracts.
Members questioned if a loss in funding from DCC had been included in the budget predictions. The Careline and Support Services Manager replied that this had been mitigated in the report for the review of Careline and Support Services that was approved last year and plans were in place to make the service nearly self-sufficient by 2020.
Members thanked the Cabinet Member for Customers and Communities and the Careline and Support Services Manager for attending to provide the progress report and for answering their questions.
RESOLVED –
1. That the progress report be noted.
2. That feedback from the meeting at Derbyshire County Council regarding funding for the monitoring of Careline alarms be circulated to members.