Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from:

Councillor Nigel Knapton

Councillor Peter Lacey

Councillor Jack Proud

Councillor Caroline Dickinson

Resolved – That the draft Minutes of the meeting held on 27 March 2025 be taken as read and confirmed by the Chair as a correct record.

All Members are invited to declare at this point any interests they have in items appearing on this agenda, including the nature of those interests.

No declarations of interest were made.

Members of the public may ask questions or make statements at this meeting if they have given notice to Melanie Carr of Democratic and Scrutiny Services and supplied the text (see contact details below) by midday on Tuesday 15 July 2025, three working days before the day of the meeting.  Each speaker should limit themselves to 3 minutes on any item.  Members of the public who have given notice will be invited to speak:

·         at this point in the meeting if their questions/statements relate to matters which are not otherwise on the Agenda (subject to an overall time limit of 30 minutes);

·         when the relevant Agenda item is being considered if they wish to speak on a matter which is on the Agenda for this meeting.

If you are exercising your right to speak at this meeting, but do not wish to be recorded, please inform the Chairman who will instruct anyone who may be taking a recording to cease while you speak.

No public questions or statements were received.

Considered – A state of the nation presentation on adult social care and public health provided by Richard Webb, Corporate Director for Health and Adult Services.

Councillor Michael Harrison, Executive Member for Health & Adult Services introduced the presentation and Richard Webb went on to highlight a number of key points, which included:

·          The financial pressures due to the rural nature of the county, a rise in demand, and inflation.

·          The opportunities arising from the new council structure and NHS reforms.

·          An emphasis on prevention, equity, and inclusion.

·          The expansion of care technology and digital services.

·          Investment in extra care housing and supported living.

·          Challenges in the care market, especially in rural areas.

·          The recent CQC inspection

·          Residential & Nursing Care trends.

Richard Webb drew attention to the new HAS 2030 manifesto for the directorate, setting out the direction of travel for the next 5 years.  He also provided an overview of the national picture, and the five delivery strands detailed in the presentation. 

In regard to ongoing prevention work he noted the joint working arrangements with Housing Services, the Localities team, NHS and external carer organisations, with a focus on improving practices, reducing waiting times and providing more choice through direct payments.

He also provided a brief overview of the headlines arising from the recent CQC Review.  Members noted the findings would likely be formally reported in early Autumn, and that they would be used to re-fresh the ASC improvement priorities.

In regard to public health, Richard Webb noted:

·          The expansion of the Stop Smoking Services and the ongoing work to cut off the supply of illegal cigarettes etc.

·          The planned new delivery model to support people who use substances.

·          The implementation of the ‘Get Britain Working’ Trailblazer - He suggested the committee may wish to receive a more detailed overview of that at a future meeting.

Members noted the second phase of the Directorate restructure was now underway, informed by the changing needs of the population, COVID-19, feedback from the peer review and colleagues’ feedback.  Members were also pleased to note the financial action plans in place.  In particular, the CHC income plan to ensure that NHS pays appropriately.

Richard Webb provided an overview of the drivers for change and confirmed that 780 members of staff were currently being consulted.  In response, Members welcomed the planned move to a countywide specialist model, delivered by local teams, focussing on enhanced prevention - a front door and therapy approach; younger adults 18-75; and older adults 75+. 

Finally, Members discussed their concerns about hospital discharge processes, including inappropriate discharge times and coordination issues. Officers responded with details of bridging services and intermediate care models. It was proposed that a detailed update on discharges be added to the work programme for the committee’s next meeting in October 2025.

The Chair thanked officers for the presentation, and it was

Resolved – That:

i.      The State of the Nation presentation be noted

ii.     A detailed update on Discharges be added to the work programme for the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

Considered – A presentation on the Care Market provided by Abigail Barron, AD for Prevention & Service Development.

The presentation provided an update on the care market and highlighted:

·          The increase in demand and complexity of needs.

·          The growth in home-based care and community support.

·          Pilot projects such as alliance commissioning models.

·          The investment in dementia care and intermediate care beds.

·          Workforce shortages and cost pressures.

·          The developing ‘Fair Pay’ Agreement

Abigail Barron went on the provide an overview of the market challenges and the areas of risk associated with day services, domiciliary care, care homes, and specialist care.  She also provided an overview of the projects underway to further develop the market.

Members noted that the number of domestic care workers was still shrinking, and that the council was required to offer  ‘good work’ to retain its current care workforce and attract new domestic workers and also enable greater compliance when sponsoring migrants – reliance of Fair Work Bill success.

Hannah Morley, the Head of HR for HAS presented data on staff turnover and vacancies and provided an overview of the initiatives to support recruitment, retention, and staff well-being, including training programmes and partnerships with educational institutions.

Sarah France-Gorton, provided an update on international recruitment which highlighted:

·          In 2022 the government added the care worker role to the skilled short occupation in response to workforce shortages and set up an international recruitment fund, initially designed to act as a catalyst to support ethical recruitment into the care sector

·          In Year 1, 387 bursaries were funded in Yorkshire & Humber (YH).

·          In Year 2 given the high levels of migration and high levels of revocation, hence displaced workers, the fund pivoted to support displaced workers find new work that has extended into a third year.

·          The high level of risk of exploitation/lack of compliance – it was anticipated that between 4 to 5k workers in YH were effected by their sponsorship licence being revoked.

·          The Government had since taken measures to slow the entry and cease unethical practice, and in March 2024 removed the ability to bring dependants, which had a huge impact.  They also introduced stricter scrutiny licences and relied on regional partnerships to help assess genuine vacancies which had a major impact on new entrants. 

·          From 22^nd July 2025 the ability to recruit new care workers from abroad will cease.  Those already in the UK and sponsored in their roles can stay under transitional arrangement until July 2028.

The Chair thanked officers for the update, and it was

Resolved – That the presentation be noted.

Councillor Roberta Swiers left the meeting at 2:15pm.

Considered – A presentation on Waiting Well provided by Kate Allanson, Head of Prevention and Principal Occupational Therapist.

Kate Allanson provided an overview of the steps taken to support people to wait well and the ongoing work to improve triage to those coming in to adult social care, prior to the completion of their assessment for appropriate services.  She confirmed that the assessment process was taking up to two weeks, but the wait for starting assessment was currently taking up to two months.  She also drew attention to the steps taken to reduce the number of assessments that remained in draft i.e. not signed off.

In regard to occupational therapy, Kate Allanson confirmed a number of new roles had been introduced in September 2024 and the service changes introduced to ensure countywide coverage, thereby allowing the movement of staff to the areas where they were needed and improve equity and efficiency.

She drew attention to the high number of care homes across the county and went on to outline the targeted efforts to reduce waiting lists and manage an increased number of DoLS applications.

It was noted that the increase in DoLS demand was a national issue and the planned introduction of a more efficient system i.e. Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS), had been delayed by government indefinitely.

The Chair thanked officers for the update, and it was

Resolved – That the presentation on Waiting Well be noted.

Considered – The Committee’s work programme for the 2025/26 municipal year presented by the Senior Scrutiny Officer.

Members took account of the discussions on previous agenda items.  In particular, the decision to defer refreshment of the Adult Social Care improvement priorities until after the findings from the CQC Review were published, recognizing that it would assist the Committee in prioritising its work over the 2025/26 municipal year.

In the meantime, for their next meeting in October 2025, the Committee requested a detailed overview on Hospital Discharges, and given the  expected timeframe for receiving formal feedback on the CQC Inspection, the Committee also agreed to add that to their work programme for their October meeting.

Finally, the Committee also noted its interest in a number of other potential future agenda items e.g.:

·          Feedback on the ‘Get Britain Working’ Trailblazer

·          An update on the expansion of the Council’s Stop Smoking Services

·          Feedback on the Council’s ‘Home Care’ trial

Resolved – That the committee’s work programme be updated as detailed above.