To receive a brief verbal update from attending Cabinet Members (or Portfolio Holders on their behalf) highlighting any news, successes or milestones in their respective areas since the last meeting of the committee, not covered elsewhere on the agenda.
Minutes:
The Chairman stated that this was a new item for the Committee and was an opportunity for Cabinet Members (or Portfolio Holders on their behalf) to give us a brief verbal update on any news, successes or milestones in their respective areas since the last meeting of the committee, not covered elsewhere on the agenda.
Cllr Ian Blair Pilling (Cabinet Member Public Health, Communities, Leisure and Libraries) gave an overview, speaking to the slides shared at the meeting (attached to the Minutes) of round 6 of the Household Support Fund and highlighted the following:
· As part of the funding round to cover 1 October 2024 to 31 March 2025 £2,728,656,41 was allocated and how this was spent was delegated to the Cabinet Member and the Director;
· A high level of assurance was given that this was a successful programme which was doing good in a lot of places. A range of different cohorts of people were being supported and there was work across a number of teams of the Council to run the different programmes. The Department for Work and Pensions had recognised how well Wiltshire was doing to distribute the funding and had been asked to share this with other Local authorities;
· There was a six month window to spend the allocation and the Council are not notified of the allocation in advance of the spending window. The Cabinet were immensely proud of what officers had achieved to support the more vulnerable in the community and felt it was a great example of it was good for local government to apply their knowledge of their communities and apply the funding flexibly.
The Committee asked the following questions which included but were not
limited to:
· What are the standards you are setting to select people to receive the help and are you drilling down to the individual communities to get this information or are your officers out and about doing this and if so how many? It was noted that lots of the cohorts were defined by the DWP and guidance however when the Council took over the HSF they connected with the internal departments within the Council including adult social care, revenues and benefits, and schools etc and also met with third sector voluntary organisations as they also know our communities well especially as Wiltshire is a rural area. There were a lot involved in identity cohorts and communities that needed support.
· Do you have a good level of contact with the Parish Councils? It was noted that the Public Health Specialist spoke to the Town and Parish Council Chairs on HSF4 last winter and that he had been invited on 26 November to speak to them again. There would also be different communications for this this round with posters to distribute to Parish Councils and it was hoped that they could share these within the parish magazines or put on local notice boards. There was also a Members briefing issued last week.
· To what degree was this anticipated for funding coming through and how much planning work was possible to try and smooth out the process to be able to get the solutions out to our clients? It was noted that with the amount of money given for the HSF that a long term approach would have benefited and that notification was only received at the end of August for the work to start on 1 October, but the guidance was only received at the end of September. Officers were in the position of trying to second guess how to deliver the money and whilst they had experience of how previous funds had been spent they want to be more inventive work and work with partners to get further reach into Wiltshire.
· Was there something that the committee could scrutinise to look at the success of the programme and perhaps shows a breakdown of how much is done in house and how much by third parties, how many recipients are proactive in seeking help and how much is us going to them. It was noted that a report from HSF4 was put together and that had been submitted and perhaps that could be shared with the committee. It was also noted that the government had announced that the funding would continue next year although details of how much funding was available was to be confirmed.
Resolved:
That the Chair and Vice Chair of the Committee receive a briefing to identify what details they would want in the report of the Household Support Fund to be presented to the Committee.
Cllr Jane Davies, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, SEND and Inclusion highlighted that the first week of November was Occupational Therapy week which was celebrated in Wiltshire and Dee Christie OBE had been present to talk about how to support Occupational Therapists in their role. This week was Safeguarding week and they were reminding people that safeguarding is everybody’s business. Those present were encouraged to complete the training provided by the Safeguarding Vulnerable People Partnership (SVPP) and to report any concerns of any adult being subject to harm or abuse to the adult MASH.
They continued to work on ensuring that there was appropriate accommodation for people that met their needs and there had been really good work on independence through Stone Circle and providing options for people to remain in their own homes.
Resolved:
That the Health Select Committee note the updates provided by Cabinet Members.