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Agenda and minutes

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Items
No. Item

192.

Introductions

Minutes:

The Chair introduced Members and officers to the meeting

193.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Councillors Clarke and Khondoker

194.

Declaration of Substitute Members

Minutes:

Councillor Hyde for Councillor Clarke

195.

Declarations of Interest

If you have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest* in an item of business:

§  if it is not yet on the council’s register, you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent;

§  you may choose to declare a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest that is already in the register in the interests of openness and transparency. 

In both the above cases, you must leave the room without participating in discussion of the item.

If you have a personal interest in an item of business and you intend to speak or vote on the item you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent but you may participate in the discussion and vote on the item.

 

*(a)Employment, etc - Any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain.

 (b)Sponsorship - Any payment or other financial benefit in respect of your expenses in carrying out

  duties as a member, or of your election; including from a trade union.

 (c)Contracts - Any current contract for goods, services or works, between you or your partner (or a body

 in which one of you has a beneficial interest) and the council.

 (d)Land - Any beneficial interest in land which is within the council’s area.

 (e)Licences- Any licence to occupy land in the council’s area for a month or longer.

 (f)Corporate tenancies - Any tenancy between the council and a body in which you or your partner have

  a beneficial interest.

 (g)Securities - Any beneficial interest in securities of a body which has a place of business or land in the council’s area, if the total nominal value of the securities exceeds £25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body or of any one class of its issued share capital. 

 

This applies to all members present at the meeting.

 

 

Minutes:

None

196.

Minutes of the previous meeting pdf icon PDF 99 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 15 October 2020 be confirmed and the Chair be authorised to sign them          

197.

Chair's Report

Minutes:

The Chair stated that she intended to start future virtual meetings of the Committee at 7.00p.m., however the meeting would revert to a 7.30 p.m. start once meetings returned after the pandemic to the Town Hall

 

RESOLVED;

Accordingly

198.

Public Questions

For members of the public to ask questions relating to any subject on the meeting agenda under Procedure Rule 70.5. Alternatively, the Chair may opt to accept questions from the public during the discussion on each agenda item.

Minutes:

The Chair outlined the procedure for Public questions

199.

Health and Wellbeing Board Update verbal

Minutes:

Councillor Turan, Executive Member Health and Social Care updated the Committee, during which the following main points were made –

 

·         The Annual Public Health report had been considered which had focused on health inequalities

·         The Annual Safeguarding report was considered and this was on the agenda later that evening

·         Noted that COVID 19 had had a disproportionate effect on certain communities, and that there was less take up amongst BAME communities of COVID tests and flu jabs

 

The Chair thanked Councillor Turan for his update

200.

Islington Safeguarding Annual Report pdf icon PDF 140 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Elaine Oxley, Head of Safeguarding Adults, and James Reilly, Chair Islington Safeguarding Board were present and outlined the report

 

During consideration of the report the following main points were made –

 

·         Reference was made to paragraph 3.2 of the report, and that the action plan to address the learning and to implement the recommendations of the Safeguarding Adults Review into the care of Mr. Yi was completed. This was a joint borough review, and the Judge had been critical of one authority not doing appropriate checks properly

·         Concerns about modern day slavery or sexual exploitation of adults with care and support needs remains low, but work is taking place to raise awareness of these issues

·         Noted the actions taken by partners, and the details of the sub-groups of the Safeguarding Board

·         Noted that James Reilly was standing down as Chair of the ISB, and Members thanked him for all his work on the Board

·         A Member referred to paragraph 3.4 of the report, and the issues of neglect, financial abuse and psychological abuse. It was stated that residents may suffer more than one type of abuse, and such abuse could be perpetrated by a wide number of people, which could include family members, neighbours or carers

·         Reference was made to fire risks caused by vulnerable residents, especially living in houses that are multi-occupied. It was stated that the London Fire Brigade did work to assess homes that are at risk, and that this often identified those residents who were vulnerable, and LFB could provide fire alarms, fire resistant bedding etc. and make contact with Adult Social Services. It was noted that the main focus was on Council housing, however there are other meetings that take place with other Housing providers/organisations

·         Noted that there is a focus by the ISB on 16-26 year olds, and that this is a focus on identifying a number of factors such as mental health, housing, social care and to examine these cohorts and stop them being involved in gangs

 

The Chair thanked Elaine Oxley and James Reilly for attending

201.

COVID 19 Update pdf icon PDF 41 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Sue Lukes, Executive Member Community Safety and Pandemic Response was present, together with Jonathan O’Sullivan, Acting Director of Public Health, and Jon Tomlinson Service Director Strategy and Commissioning and made a presentation to the Committee, copy interleaved

 

During consideration of the report the following main points were made -

 

·         Comprehensive plan underway to ensure prepared for further increases in COVID 19, and to identify those vulnerable people. Both the winter plan and Task Force recommendations focus on work with providers, and particularly infection control, and how the Council oversee and support providers

·         Older People’s Care Homes and Domiciliary Care review – there are 8 older people’s care homes in Islington, and there has been an overall reduction in the number of cases across all homes, and at home level a considerably smaller number of cases where situations have emerged. The number of cases reported has changed, with a decrease in asymptomatic residents presenting, and an increase in asymptomatic residents identified through whole setting testing. In older peoples care homes there have been no resident COVID related deaths since June. Staffing levels in older people’s homes have remained generally stable

·         Domiciliary care – agencies report that they have cared for relatively low numbers of residents who have been COVID positive, or who have been COVID symptomatic. Agencies have reported no COVID related deaths they care for to commissioners, and staffing has stabilised after some initial challenges

·         Domiciliary care testing update COVID – Public Health England are not recommending routine testing of homecare staff, and there is no pathway nationally for domiciliary care staff testing similar to that which exists for home care staff. Officers are however exploring testing options

·         All older people’s care homes have reported on a number of confirmed and suspected cases on a weekly basis to ASC commissioners since 8 April.  There has been a considerable reduction in the overall number of cases from 66 at the peak, to no more than 8 cases reported since 21 April. The nature of the cases have changed, with a decrease in symptomatic residents presenting, and an increase in asymptomatic residents identified

·         Mental Health – no resident or staff cases were reported in mental health care homes this week, and no deaths to date. All homes are testing as per national guidance

·         Learning Disabilities Care Homes update –no new resident or staff cases. Staffing levels remain steady. All homes are testing as per national guidance

·         Noted that following the new COVID tier regulations Islington would be in tier 2, and there is a need to explain, and where necessary, enforce the new regulations, as mass vaccinations would probably not be completed until the Summer

·         Another testing station has now been introduced in the south of the borough at the Finsbury Leisure Centre, and there is now local test and trace which will enable the Council to track those with the virus

·         More community messaging is taking place

·         Noted that there has been a significant increase in the level of infections  ...  view the full minutes text for item 201.

202.

Scrutiny Review - Adult paid carers - witness evidence/notes of carers pdf icon PDF 403 KB

Minutes:

Robbie Rainbird, Head of Processing was present, and made a presentation to the Committee, copy interleaved. During consideration of the report the following main points were made –

 

·         Principles of contributions policy – the income Council receives by charging for care services makes a significant contribution to the capacity to help those who need care. The principles of the contributions policy have been developed, in order to make sure that service users are treated equally, and that the public subsidy goes to the people who need it most

·         People are not charged more than reasonably practicable for them to pay

·         Adult Social Care will assess the needs of the user to determine the type of care and support an individual to help them remain living at home or in the community.

·         Financial assessment process – help and advice is available to residents and family members during the process to complete financial circumstances form – this can be receiving form by post, telephone conversation, home visit and by website

·         Resident’s contributions are calculated, and resident’s income is used as part of the calculation of how much they should contribute to their care. If the resident has capital over £23500 they will have to pay for the full cost of their care. If resident’s income is over £14250 there is a scale for how much a resident’s contribution will be

·          Protected income and expenditure – everyone will have a certain level of income protected, so that they can continue to meet basic living expenses. Each service user will receive an individual assessment of their expenditure. This will consider household expenditure i.e. Council Tax, rent that is not covered by benefits, plus an individual disability related expenditure assessment to determine any additional costs due to a resident’s disability

·         All financial assessment outcomes are confirmed in writing, with a breakdown of costs, and identify any unclaimed benefit entitlement, and offer to help them claim. There is a review and appeal process, and a reassessment of the charge can be requested if there is a change in circumstances. All contributions are reviewed annually

·         Invoices for care contributions are issued every 4 weeks, and the Financial Assessment and Income Recovery Team are available via e mail or telephone, and help is available to set up payments for care and support contributions or have debt issues

·         A Member referred to the fact that certain payments received by residents, such as DLA/Attendance allowance should not be taken into account when assessing financial contributions, as these were paid to them to assist with other aspects of their needs. It was stated that contributions were means tested, and that 42% of residents did not contribute to their care

·         Members were of the view that there needed to be a comparison with other Boroughs to ensure that Islington residents were not paying higher levels of contributions than residents in other boroughs

 

RESOLVED:

(a)  That a report be submitted to the next meeting on comparison of charging levels with other Boroughs, as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 202.

203.

Quarter 1 Performance Report pdf icon PDF 184 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Turan, Executive Member Health and Social Care, Jonathan O’Sullivan, Acting Director Public Health, outlined the report during which the following main points were made –

 

·         Concern that children’s vaccinations rates had reduced, and the MMR2 rate was only at 71%, compared to the 95% target

·         Alcohol users reduction is below target, but has increased since this time last year

·         Noted that BAME communities were being engaged in relation to take up of vaccinations generally, not just COVID, and death certificates now will include details of ethnicity. This will assist in determining specific communities in order to target specific areas. Data is being collected and analysed, so that lessons can be learnt as to the best methods to be employed across different communities

·         In response to a question as to whether there were plans in place to increase vaccination rates, it was stated that the CCG/GP’s were prioritising this area, and different methods of engaging and targeting specific groups were being looked at, however GP’s needed real time data, as at present this information was not recorded on GP systems. Work is also taking place with health visitors and schools

 

 

 

 

 

The Chair thanked Councillor Turan and Jonathan O’Sullivan for attending

204.

Scrutiny Topic 2020/21 - verbal

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

That a Scrutiny Review on Health Inequalities be approved as the scrutiny topic for the municipal year

205.

Work Programme 2020/21 pdf icon PDF 51 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

That the work programme 2020/21 be noted, subject to a presentation on Health Inequalities being submitted to the March meeting of the Committee