Apologies were received from Councillor Duncan Kerr (Substitute: Councillor Julian Dean), Councillor Kevin Pardy (Substitute: Councillor Caroline Bagnall) and Sian Lines, Diocesan Board of Education.

Members are reminded that they must declare their disclosable pecuniary interests and other registrable or non-registrable interests in any matter being considered at the meeting as set out in Appendix B of the Members’ Code of Conduct and consider if they should leave the room prior to the item being considered. Further advice can be sought from the Monitoring Officer in advance

of the meeting.

Councillor Ruth Houghton declared an interest as a trustee at Bethphage,a learning disability charity and noted that her Grandson attended Severndale Academy.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 24^th January 2024.

Contact: Shelley Davies

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 24^th January 2024 be confirmed as an accurate record and be signed by the Chairman.

To receive any questions from members of the public of which notice has been

given. The deadline for this meeting is 5.00 pm, Thursday 4^th April 2024.

There were no public questions.

To receive any question of which Members of the Council have given notice. The deadline for this meeting is 5.00 pm, Thursday 4^th April 2024.

There were no members’ questions.

To scrutinise performance at Quarter 3 and identify areas that may require further investigation by an Overview and Scrutiny Committee. [Report To Follow]

Contact: Tanya Miles, Executive Director for People.

Tanya Miles, Executive Director for People introduced the Performance Monitoring Report Quarter 3 which gave an update on areas of demand activity and performance by exception across the People Directorate.

Laura Tyler, Assistant Director Joint Commissioning and Cezar Sarbu, Operations Service Manager highlighted the key points of the report in relation to Adult Social Care and outlined the current demand and pressures across the service. It was also reported that the service now had a full suite of performance indicator dashboards with multiple areas of focus to measure performance.

In response to questions members were advised that:

·       There had been an increase in under 70s being diagnosed with dementia and it was confirmed that the service needed to link in with Health colleagues and the voluntary sector in regard to this issue.

·       The Shropshire Council sensory impairment team conducted specialised assessments and information would be provided in relation to the waiting list for this service.

·       All individuals identified as carers were offered an assessment which they had the option to complete in a hub or at home with a Social Worker.

·       The service continued to reach out to carers to ensure they received the relevant advice and information and it was noted that individuals do not always see themselves as carers and were therefore unaware of the support available. 

·       There was no set criteria to how carers were identified and the assessment for care involved a discussion with individuals and their family to assess their needs.

·       Information in regard to the support available for carers was provided to all partner organisations such as GP surgeries.

·       In the first instance care was based on a need rather than financial basis and it was stressed that an assessment was carried out as soon as possible to enable support to be put in place for the family before it reached a crisis point.

David Shaw, Assistant Director Education & Achievement noted the key points in relation to education and referred to the significant increase in demand for Education, Health and Care (EHC) Needs Assessment and significant increases in the number of EHC plans issued.

In response to questions members were advised that:

·       70% of speech and language assessments were undertaken within 18 weeks and the average timescale was 11 weeks.

·       The service would consider reports from external providers in regard to EHC plans and also used external providers to meet capacity.

·       There was currently a high level of parental requests for EHC plans and the service was looking at how best to work with parents and carers in regard to this issue.

·       Although a burden on settings the collection of speech and language data was very important and had therefore been an area of focus for the service.

·       Capital funding was available to establish SEND hubs which would provide specialised provision connected to a mainstream school and it was added that there had been 27 expressions of interest noted.

Donessa Gray, Assistant Director, Services to Children & Families provided information in relation to Children’s  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

To receive a verbal update on the Care Quality Commission Self-Assessment.

 Contact: Tanya Miles, Executive Director of People

Laura Tyler, Assistant Director - Joint Commissioning, provided a verbal update in relation to the Care Quality Commission Self-Assessment process.

The background to the self-assessment process was noted and it was reported that the self-assessment framework document (including 230 documents) had been submitted on 8^th March 2024. Laura Tyler thanked the Team for their hard work and added that the service was now waiting for the call in relation to the onsite inspection and would undertake a mock inspection in May 2024.

To receive a verbal update on the work programme of the Committee.

Contact: Sophie Foster, Overview and Scrutiny Officer.

Tanya Miles, Executive Director for People, noted that all member briefings had been agreed in relation to Early Help, the Transformation Programme and Dementia (joint with health) and the following areas had been proposed for further consideration:

·       Retention and Recruitment

·       Multi Agency Working

·       Commissioning

·       Learning disability

·       Transformation Programme & Savings

·       Demand (Front Door)

·       Children in care

·       Fostering

·       SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan

Tom Dodds, Scrutiny Officer advised that this was a solid list of topics and reminded the Committee of the 3 mains areas of Scrutiny: Holding to account, pre-decision and policy review and development. He added that members need to keep their work programme manageable and bear in mind officer capacity.

To note that the next meeting of the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee will be held at 10.00 am on Wednesday 10^th July 2024.

Members noted that the next meeting of the People Overview and Scrutiny Meeting will be taking place on at 10.00 a.m. on Wednesday 10^th July 2024.