Minutes

TheChairwelcomedeveryoneto the meeting and Members introduced themselves. 

Apologies were given for County Councillors Callum Walsh and Eric Broadbent.

Resolved –

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 6 November 2020, having been printed and circulated, be taken as read and confirmed and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

There were no declarations of interest.

There was one public statement from County Alderman Jayne Miller in relation to agenda item 6 – East Coast Review & Scarborough Hospital Performance Update.  The Chair agreed that the statement would be read out by the clerk in the absence of the member of the public, and that it should be read out at the start of consideration of agenda item 6.

Gary Fielding, Corporate Director for Strategic Resources gave a presentation on NYCC’s latest Budget & Mid Term Financial Strategy Forecasts, together with the associated risks and issues, which highlighted:

·          2021/22 would be balanced mostly through one-off Government funding and Reserves – Gary Fielding provided a breakdown of where those reserves would come from, confirming that some reserves were ring-fenced e.g. insurance reserves. Members noted the use of Reserves would allow the time to produce the necessary plans. 

·          No Spending Review was expected beyond 2021/22;

·          It was not a sustainable option to balance 2022/23 through the use of Reserves, so a strong and credible plan was needed;

·          Funding and Net Service Pressures;

·          The legacy of Covid – a breakdown of the post Covid pressures;

·          The latest forecast for the next 3 years was projecting a £82m cash shortfall at the end of the MTFS, with a recurring £30m shortfall thereafter;

·          Whilst there was a great deal of uncertainty at this stage, the Local Government Review may deliver part of the solution;

·          Council Tax consideration and Adult Social Care Precept Options – it was confirmed that the Council had the option of taking advantage of the 3% ASC precept now or retaining the flexibility of doing so in the future.   Members noted that the ASC precept would be built in to the base budget;

·          The proposed locality budget per annum for 2021/22 and 2022/23£ was 10k per member, at a total cost of £1,440k;

He went on to outline the Council’s budget plan, which included the option of an intermediate Budget later in 2021, and the next steps in the Budget process.

Finally, Gary Fielding highlighted some specific financial issues affecting the Scarborough & Whitby constituency area, which included:

·          Projections for maintained schools, including that 115 LA maintained schools (49%) were projecting an in-year deficit in 2020/21; 

·          A breakdown for schools across the constituency e.g. the number of schools expected to be in deficit over the next 3 years and the value of that deficit, which was expected to rise to £18.3m by 2022/23.  Members noted that the average deficit figures provided often masked some serious problems for some individual schools;

·          The Scarborough & Whitby constituency area covered one ASC budget area

·          The expected HAS Directorate overspend for 2020/21 of £10.3m, made up of COVID-19 related budget pressures of £13.9m and non-COVID net underspends of £2.7m, related to business-as-usual activity;

·          Detailed examples of reduced ‘business-as-usual’ activity, as a result of COVID e.g. a 30% reduction in Living Well referrals and a 25% reduction in reablement activity etc.  Members raised concern about the likely impact of a growing backlog of need in those areas;

·          In Scarborough & Whitby 38% of existing residential and nursing care contracts were being paid above NYCC rates;

·          Overall, 94.7% of the new residential and nursing payments since April 2020 cost more than the Council’s official rate;

Looking forward,it was confirmed that it might be possible for Area Constituency Committees to have more say on Highways maintenance budgets as part  ...  view the full minutes text for item 74.

The public statement submitted by County Alderman Jayne Miller was read out by the clerk as follows:

I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the debate regarding the Healthcare of the residents and patients on the Coast.

As a former non-executive director of the former Healthcare Trust it gives me no pleasure to express deep concern about the deterioration in the state of Healthcare at Scarborough Hospital since it was taken over by the York Healthcare Trust. Many of the specialities such as breast cancer, strokes, surgical procedures previously done at Scarborough are now carried out in York and the overall deterioration in care on the wards at Scarborough Hospital is at a critical level.

We all know that the Health Service is facing unprecedented challenges due to Covid but whilst dedicated staff work hard to save lives on these wards, we cannot allow the care of patients on other wards to fall well below the acceptable standard they not only need but are entitled to expect.

A lack of personal care such as ensuring a patient receives basic human respect, being washed, kept clean, helped to drink and eat if required, given empathy, support and compassion cannot and should not be allowed to go unchallenged. 

The March CQC report identifies many of these issues. Equally concerning it identifies a lack of clinical leadership and many can testify that the situation has deteriorated further since March. What procedures have the Trust put in place to hold Consultants to account for their performance, what procedures are in place to ensure Wards are being managed so patients feel valued and cared for and relatives kept informed and up to date, how are complaints being monitored so lessons are learnt and used as an essential part of identifying poor practice and care.

Owing to Covid restrictions relatives cannot go into see for themselves that their loved ones are being cared for as they would wish.  They can only trust and hope they are being cared for and rely on telephone calls - only to be let down when they cannot get the information they seek.

It is clear that as more and more services are being transferred to York, Scarborough Hospital's ability to serve the Community is being diminished. 

The issues I refer to are not a matter of resources - they are indicative of poor management and a culture which lacks robust challenge. I urge the Committee to hold the Trust Management to account to put in place transparent, tangible strategies to radically improve and monitor the quality of care, clinical leadership at Scarborough Hospital and give our patients the dignity, compassion and healthcare they deserve so we can all have confidence that the service can and will care for us when we need it most.

The Chair noted his thanks to County Alderman Jayne Miller for her contribution, then invited NHS representatives to give their presentation.

The Committee received an update on NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group’s East  ...  view the full minutes text for item 75.

Considered -

The report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal and Democratic Services) asking Members to review the Work Programme, taking into account the outcome of discussions on previous agenda items and any other developments taking place across the area.

Resolved - That the Democracy Officer update the work programme to reflect the following decisions made during the meeting:.

17 March 2021 Meeting          -   Road Markings Update

-    Stronger Communities Update on work in response to Covid throughout the year

June 2021 Meeting                 -  Further Performance Update on East Coast Review

-  Update on Scarborough & Whitby Citizens Advice Bureau