Agenda and minutes

Councillors Y Clements, R Sexton and Mrs G Sleigh submitted their apologies.

To receive declarations of interest from Members.

There were no declarations of interest.

To answer any questions, if any asked by any resident of the Borough pursuant to Standing Orders.

There were no questions or deputations. 

Members to receive a verbal update on the development of the Family Hub offer in Solihull.

The Chairman advised Members that the scheduled item on Family Hubs had been postponed whilst ongoing discussions to model in the impacts of inflation on outline proposals were being finalised nationally. It was confirmed that work on Family Hubs was proceeding and a report would be shared with the Scrutiny Boards in due course.

A Member highlighted how the Local Authority had been awarded funding to create the network of Family Hubs and queried what arrangements would be in place beyond this.

The Chief Executive confirmed the Council had received a settlement from the Department for Education (DfE) to support the development of the Hubs. He detailed how there was ongoing engagement with partners and the DfE to help ensure a sustainable funding model.

To provide the Scrutiny Board with the draft Carers Strategy 2022-2027 for comment.

Members were invited to consider the draft Carers Strategy for 2022-2027.

Members raised a number of questions and observation which, in summary, included the following:

·  A Member, in reviewing the Strategy, questioned the reference in the covering report to living with Covid-19. The Member queried whether service standards would be identified for the Strategy, such as the response time to carers seeking help. Members also questioned, in particular, the support for carers who may be facing crisis and could no longer provide care.

·  The Assistant Director for Commissioning explained how, at that stage, it was a co-produced Strategy, with Carers, with a focus on the priorities that mattered most to them. She emphasised how Covid-19 was still a significant concern to many Carers, which was why it was referenced in the covering report and Strategy. It was explained how this Strategy set out the vision and priorities for Carers and work was also being undertaken to identify and monitor the outcomes stemming from the Strategy. It was also confirmed the Strategy didn’t replace the existing service standards for Adult Social Care services or Children’s Services.

• The Director for Adult Care and Support explained how Adult Social Care monitored progress across a range of national and local adult social care performance measures, including on responsiveness, which were reported to the Cabinet Member. She also detailed how they monitored performance and outcomes against the findings of the national Carers’ Survey, as well feedback from local carers.
• The Senior Community Transformation Manager detailed the urgent community response programme and the support in place in cases of carer breakdown. She detailed how this programme linked to the Carers Strategy.
• A Member queried the performance of the Council on the delivery of carer support services compared to other Metropolitan Authorities.
• The Strategic Commissioner for Strategy and Planning confirmed Solihull was in line with other Metropolitan Authorities, including in regards to carer satisfaction. It was emphasised it could be challenging comparing the experiences of carers as it was also dependent on the availability of wider services in different localities. It was confirmed further information on benchmarking and the Council’s performance compared to other Local Authorities could be shared with Members.
• The Chief Executive detailed the new Care Quality Commission (CQC) framework that was being introduced shortly, which would identify a further set of national standards – he emphasised the volume of work being undertaken in Adult Social Care in preparation for this. He also highlighted the recent announcement from Central Government in regards to additional funding for Adult Social Care and explained how this would be accompanied by a range of performance criteria.
• A Member emphasised how they believed Covid-19 had had a major impact on both children and adults across the Borough and requested Officer comment on this.
• The Chief Executive agreed Covid-19 had had a major impact on residents across the Borough and continued to have an on-going effect. He outlined these impacts, including on children and young people, education, increased cases of family  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47.