template for minutes

COMHAIRLE NAN EILEAN SIAR

SOCIAL WORK COMMITTEE

Minute of Meeting held in the Council Offices, Stornoway, on 21 March 2007 at 9.00am.

PRESENT	Mr Roderick Morrison (Vice-Chairman)
	Mr Keith Dodson	Mr Archie K Campbell
	Mr Angus Campbell	Mr Peter Carlin
	Mrs Annie Macdonald	Mr Angus Macdonald
	Mrs Morag Munro	Mrs Jinty Morrison
	Mr Donald Macdonald	Mr David Blaney

APOLOGIES	Mr Murdo Macleod (Chairman)	Mr Angus Nicolson

		MINUTES
Minute of Meeting of 7 February 2007	1	The Minute of Meeting of 7 February 2007 was approved.
Declaration of Interest	2	Mrs Morag Munro declared an interest in Item 5 and left the meeting during consideration of the Matter.
		FINANCE
Business Plans and Budget 2007/08 PR33.01.04	3	The Chief Executive submitted a Report seeking approval of the Business Plans for 2007/2008 and the Budget for 2007/2008. It stated in the Report that the Chartered Institute of Public Finance (CIPFA)/Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE) Corporate Governance Framework advised that Local Authorities should maintain effective arrangements for explicit accountability to stakeholders for an Authority’s performance and its effectiveness in the delivery of services and the sustainable use of resources. It was intimated in the Report that the preparation of Departmental Business Plans and Budgets had been brought together for 2007/08, with the result that the Budget now included Business Plans alongside the planned expenditure for any given service. It was emphasised that possible targets and action points relating to 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 had also been included in the Plans. It was agreed to recommend that the Business Plans for 2007/08 be approved, insofar as the Committee's interests were concerned.
		It was agreed that the public, including the press, be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the Appendix to item 4 below on the grounds that exempt information, relating to any particular application for, or recipient or former recipient of, any service provided by the Comhairle, and information relating to the adoption, care, fostering or education of any particular child or relating to the supervision or residence of any particular child in accordance with a supervision requirement made in respect of that child under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, would be disclosed.
Social Work – 2006/07 Specialist Mainland Placements SW01	4	With reference to item 6 of the Minute of Meeting of 7 February 2007 the Director of Social Work submitted a Report which detailed the continuing pressures placed on the Social Work Revenue Budget by the cost of specialist mainland placements which were detailed in the Appendix to the Report. It was agreed to recommend that the Comhairle note the forecasted Social Work costs for specialist mainland placements, as detailed in Appendix 1 as follows: (1) £654k for Adult Community Care; and (2) £385k for Child Care.
Social Work Revenue Budget Update 2007/08 SW01	5	The Director of Social Work submitted a Report giving information on the outcome of the investigation undertaken to establish whether it was possible to reinstate the funding for the inflationary increase requested by a number of local voluntary organisations including: Community Care Forum; Advocacy; Crossroads; Cobhair Bharraigh; Tagsa Uibhist; Alzheimers; Women’s Aid; and Red Cross Chest, Heart and Stroke. It was further intimated in the Report that the budgetary provision made in 2006/07 for the contributions to the above-mentioned organisations was £190,453 and that to make the appropriate adjustment for inflation in the above - mentioned grant levels it would be necessary to identify the sum of £4,986. It was intimated in the Report that following the review of the Mental Health Officer “Out of Hours Arrangements”, savings in the sum of £5,000 had been identified in the 2007/08 financial year and that this funding could be utilised to meet the inflationary element of the grants to voluntary organisations. The Report also commented on the funding associated with the gardening scheme in Uist, Harris and the Stornoway/Broadbay areas and it was stated that it had not been possible to identify funding in the sum of £5,800 to provide a gardening service to a number of elderly and/or disabled people in the aforementioned areas. It was agreed to recommend that: (1) the sum of £4,986 be reinstated into the Social Work Department’s 2007/08 budget to meet the inflationary increase of the voluntary organisations detailed at paragraph 4.1 of the Report, this additional money being identified from with the budget held by the Development Team of the Department for community care services; and (2) the Comhairle note that it was not possible for the Social Work Department to identify additional funds within its 2007/08 budget to reinstate the £5,800 required to reinstate its contribution to the gardening scheme.

SOCIAL WORK SERVICE

Independent Residential and Nursing Home Providers: Fees for 2007/08

SW04

With reference to item 11 of the Minute of Meeting of 22 March 2006 the Director of Social Work submitted a Report concerning the proposed fee level for 2006/07 for independent residential and nursing home providers in the Western Isles. The Report set out the basis upon which the recommended fee levels for the three independent care providers in the Western Isles had been set.

The Report also referred to a letter from the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, COSLA, giving information on the benchmark fee level for 2007/08 and it was intimated that the fee levels recommended for approval were set above the COSLA benchmark levels to take account of local circumstances.

It was agreed to recommend that the Comhairle approve:

(1) the fee per bed for Bethesda Nursing Home Trust be set at the rate of £542 per week;

(2) the fee per bed for Leverburgh Care Home be set at a rate of £471 per week; and

(3) the fee per bed for Blar Buidhe Care Home be set at a rate of £516 per week.

Care Homes: Charges for Accommodation 2007/08

SW04

The Director of Social Work submitted a Report concerning the standard charge set for 2007/08 for accommodation and care in the Comhairle's residential establishments. The Report set out the basis upon which the standard charges for residential care for older people and for adults with learning disabilities had been calculated for 2007/08.

In particular the Report highlighted the impact which the inspection and regulatory structure now in place for residential care had placed on care homes. It was also intimated that unit costs for individual homes varied with the smallest establishments tending to incur the highest costs per place. It was also emphasised in the Report that capital charges had increased by approximately 40% with this increase largely being due to the provision of a new facility in South Uist.

It was agreed to recommend that the Comhairle:

(1) note that the standard weekly charge for residential care for older people for 2007/08 would be £777 for single rooms and £700 for shared accommodation; and

(2) note that the standard weekly charge for Ardseileach Residential for 2007/08 would be £1,266.

It was further agreed to recommend that the Director of Social Work be requested to submit a Report giving a statistical profile of the level of financial contribution made by those in receipt of residential or nursing care in the Western Isles.

Supporting People and Home Care Revised Charges 2007/08

SW04

The Director of Social Work submitted a Report seeking approval to revise the current charges and allowances for the Home Care Service, Faire and Direct Payments. The Report intimated that the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities recommended practice for the application of charges for non - residential Social Work services had been updated in January 2006 and that this included home care and warden services in sheltered housing funded through Supporting People.

The Report further commented on the position in relation to the revision of annual charges and thresholds for the application of home care charges and the uprates for payments for care services funded through Direct Payments. The Report also provided information on the issue of taking a couple’s income into consideration when calculating the level of home care charges applicable in situations where only one person was receiving a service. The Report gave details on the charging assessment position in connection with the support for young people with a disability. It was further intimated in the Report that Local Charging Policy allowed those staff involved in making assessments to refer individual cases to the Director of Depute Director of Social Work to consider additional disregards, where exceptional or unusual circumstances were presented and it was emphasised that the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities Guidance stated that the Guidance could not cover every possible scenario and invited Councils to address concerns as they applied in their own local circumstances and to use the discretion as contained in the guidance.

It was agreed to defer consideration of this item to afford Members an opportunity to consider further information to be provided by the Director of Social Work, in consultation with the Director of Corporate Services, on this matter prior to the meeting of the Comhairle on 29 March 2007.

South Uist Care Development: Naming of the Building

SW07

The Director of Social Work submitted a Report concerning the naming of the South Uist Care Development. It was intimated in the Report that Comhairle Policy was that the name of a new building should be in Gaelic.

It was agreed to recommend that the Comhairle agree that the name for the new South Uist Care Development building be Taigh A’ Chridhe Uile Naomh.

Harris House Development

It was agreed that this Item be considered by the Committee when it reconvened on Wednesday 28 March 2007 at 4.00 pm.

PERFORMANCE MONITORING

Reports Outstanding: Progress

PR33.01.12

The Director of Corporate Services submitted a Report concerning Report outstanding arising from decisions of Social Work Committee.

It was agreed to recommend that the Report be noted.

		ADDITIONAL ITEM
		The Chairman ruled that in accordance with the provisions of Section 50B (4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 as amended the following item be considered as a matter of urgency in order to allow the Comhairle to take a view on the matter prior to the next series of meeting.
Capital Works Programme and Progress PR33.01.12		The Director of Technical Services submitted a Report concerning programme and progress in respect of properties held on the Social Work Account. It was agreed to recommend that the Comhairle note the Report.
		The meeting reconvened at 4.00pm on 28 March 2007 when the following Members were found to be present.
		Mr Murdo Macleod (Chairman) Mr Roderick Morrison (Vice-Chairman) Mr Alex A MacDonald Mr Keith Dodson Mr Angus Campbell Mr Norman M Macleod Mrs Annie Macdonald Mrs Morag Munro Mr Donald Macdonald Mr Archie K Campbell Mr Peter Carlin Mr Angus Macdonald Mrs Jinty Morrison
		With reference to Item 8 above the Depute Director of Social Work provided a verbal update in relation to the practice in other local authorities in relation to taking a couple’s income into account where one partner was receiving care. It was agreed to recommend that the Comhairle agree that (1) an hourly rate of £8.50 be applied for the calculation of home care charges; (2) the weekly rate for the provision of Comhairle Sheltered Housing Warden Services be set at £27.69; (3) the income disregard for single persons be set at £150 and for couples at £223; (4) the hourly rate payable for care services funded through Direct Payments be £9.75; (5) the Faire weekly charge be set at £1.25 per week; and (6) a couple’s combined income would be taken into account in situations where it was assessed that there was a joint benefit from the service provided, and that this would apply to both under and over 65 age categories.
		With reference to Item 10 above the Director of Technical Services submitted a Report updating Members on progress in relation to the Harris Care Development with particular reference to site selection. The Report indicated that the Harris House Member/Officer Working Group had investigated the option of developing the project on a number of sites within Harris. The Report indicated that the proposed project would include eighteen residential bedrooms, support and daycare facilities, a dental suite and buffer store. It was envisaged that the dental suite and the buffer store would be fully funded by NHS Western Isles. The Report stated that consultations with staff adjacent landowners and the public had taken place in Tarbert on Monday 26 March 2007. A strong preference had been expressed at these meetings for developing the new care home on the site of the existing Harris House.
		The Report highlighted that this proposal would require the development to be constructed in two phases and would require the relocation and replacement of the Comhairle maintenance depot and “Rose Cottage”. The existing Harris House would remain fully operational until phase one of the new development was complete when the residents would move into the new development. It was agreed to recommend that the Comhairle agree that:
		(1) the preferred site for the proposed Harris Care Development be the area of ground adjacent to and currently occupied by the existing Harris House in Tarbert; (2) it be delegated to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Director of Social Work, to acquire sufficient land to construct a dwelling house to replace “Rose Cottage” and improve the access road; and (3) the Director of Social Work, in conjunction with the Director of Technical Services be authorised to progress with the design and cost estimates for the project.