A blog about Wirral Council, Wirral Council's councillors & officers

Cllr Green said it had been a huge piece of work. He apologised for the way the decision of the 9th December had been communicated. There had been failings and he took responsibility. He said this administration put carers at the centre. He said the contracts had been looked at by a team of council officers to evaluate the standard of quality. He said carers were “at the heart of what we do”. He also said service users were part of what they were doing.

Cllr Moon said there had been a successful tendering process. However providing mental health respite couldn’t be met as the quality was not there. Therefore Fernleigh would remain open until other arrangements were in place. He said the real winners were vulnerable people who could now exercise choice. He referred to the CQC report which had criticised Wirral Council for poor personalisation and also on dignity and respect. He said 30% would have personal budgets by the end of March and that they were moving ahead on dignity, respect and safeguarding. He realised they were working hard. He said they had far, far further to go over embedding and safeguarding. He restated the commitment to users and carers and referred to a three month track record. He said the 322 assessments had been dealt with sympathetically.

Cllr Green thanked officers, carers and Cllr Moon. He checked with the Interim Chief Exec over waving the call in. The Interim Chief Exec agreed. Cllr Foulkes interrupted and said it had been the second time call-in had been waived. Cllr Green said he would take “no lessons from the Labour Party about the Department for Adult Social Services”. He said it could be considered by the Scrutiny Committee and hoped some members would read the reports and how to treat vulnerable people.

Cllr Green having declared an interest left and Cllr Holbrook took the Chair. The next report was on extending the transport contracts by a further 6 months. Cllr Moon said the procurement process would be completed by the end of July. The recommendation in the report was agreed.

Cllr Green returned and the Cabinet considered a report on Contracts for Personal Support. Rick introduced the report on behalf of the Director of Adult Social Services. He referred to the decisions of the Task Force to transform the contracts for residential and nursing home provision. He noted the closure of Maplehome, Pensall House, Poulton House, Manor Road and Meadowcroft. However the decision to close Fernleigh Respite Centre had been changed. The Director of Adult Social Services had agreed to waive call-in so that they could work quickly with the tenderers. The report was comprehensive and also covered residential and nursing care. 94 providers had agreed the revised terms and conditions. There was provision to provide people with respite care as well as a fee reduction for out of authority contracts. In relation to intermediate care it had been successfully tendered. Domicilary care and supported living services would provide reablement and support. It was a substantial piece of business and work would be done to try and ensure the changes take place. The Council would continue to commission services on people’s behalf and the efficiencies and savings were outlined in the report regarding changes to staff and redeployment.

Cabinet then went onto consider the Alcohol Scrutiny Report referred to it by the Scrutiny Programme Board.

Cllr Clarke said she was an advocate and supporter of scrutiny. She wished to add the Cabinet’s response to taking it forward. She welcomed the report and noted the hard work. Cllr Clarke paid tribute to the scrutiny support officer. She felt the report raised serious issues and should be referred to the Licensing, Health & Safety & General Purposes Committee. She referred to a to f on the handout. Cllr Moon said it was a timely and good report. He said that alcohol covered different agencies such as the police and hospitals. He said the next Joint Strategic Needs Assessment had to consider the work done regarding alcohol and young people, reflect it in its priorities in order to go forward. Cllr Holbrook referred to the LSP executive and said the primary focus of the LSP should be partnership working. He said it was something that could be done by working together to get a grip on the issue. Cabinet then passed the recommendations below:-

a. Welcomes this report and notes the hard work put in by the Alcohol Scrutiny Panel and the Scrutiny Programme Board in carrying out this review.

b. Expresses its concern about the serious issues for the health, safety and wellbeing of young people that the report raises and accepts all the panel’s recommendations.

c. Notes that recommendation A is picked up on the Corporate Pan (presented elsewhere on this Agenda) and that recommendation H has already been acted on in the Budget.

d. Refers the report of the Alcohol Scrutiny Panel to the Licensing, Health and Safety and General Purposes Committee and asks that it gives specific attention to recommendations E, F, G and J.

e. Refers the report to the LSP Executive and asks that it give specific attention to recommendations B, C, D, I and K.

f. Requests that the Director of Public Health be the lead officer for co-ordinating the response of the Council and other Agencies to this report.

Cllr Green said he had confidence in the gateway process and the external validation. He asked was sort of people came in and did the external validation? Dave Green answered it was 4Ps reviewers who were experts in procurement management. He said the professional assessor had twenty years experience in the local authority area and was an expert in highways management. The assessor was vastly experienced and had undertaken thirty gateway reviews. He had only previously given two greens. Dave Green said the level of experience and systematic approach had been fantastic as the assessor had read every Cabinet report.

Cllr Green paid testament to the work Dave and his team had done which had stood up well to external scrutiny. He thanked them and the report was agreed. The Cabinet went onto consider the report on Choice Based Lettings. Cllr Green said it was his view that foster carers should be identified as a priority for housing. Cllr Clarke said that she would like to add a further recommendation. Cllr Blakeley agreed. Cllr Clarke said she welcomed the agreement that foster carers would have a high priority and move to band B if there was an urgent need to move. Cllr Blakeley seconded the recommendation. Cllr Green said there were human benefits of foster carers. He said some had rubbished the “Wirral’s Future Be a Part of It” consultation. However Wirral had increased its numbers of foster carers and he said this as a very, very important piece of work. He referred to Emma Degg’s campaign on foster carers. The report was agreed.

Cllr Elderton said it was the culmination of hard work since 2006. He said it was logical, comprehensive and professional and that it was now a commercial and financial reality. Dave Green and his team were thanked, however there was still a long way to go.

Cllr Holbrook asked about the indexing for inflation. Dave Green replied that it was CPI-1.5%. Mr. Green felt this was sensible, he was minded to do a bit more but didn’t want to scare off bidders. However the contractor would have to help improve services and to try to identify how to make them more efficient.

Cllr Green said the project had spanned administrations. He said there were benefits to Wirral Council. Dave Green referred to the previous process regarding Biffa and the Council. He said there was now good governance and levels of accountability as well as good project management techniques. The work was validated by external experts. The gate process had introduced discipline as there was a decision made as to whether to proceed or not at each gate. They were not just talking to the office, but had spoken to the Procurement Team, Group Solicitor, funeral directors, Friends of Parks groups, sports users, consultants, Deputy Director of Finance, councillors and all parties. They had taken on board their views and observations. The key was that it was externally verified and validated. This had been clarified with Cabinet and the Members Steering Group in a complicated but speedy procurement. He commended Mark Smith for his work.