Agenda and minutes

All Members who believe they have a Disclosable Pecuniary or other Pecuniary or non pecuniary Interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting must declare that interest and, having regard to the circumstances described in Section 3 paragraphs 3.25 – 3.27 of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 3.28 of the Code.

The Chair will ask Members to confirm that they do not have a declarable interest.

All Members making a declaration will be required to complete a Declaration of Interests at Meetings form detailing the nature of their interest.

No declarations were made.

Resolved –  That the minutes of the meeting of the Slough Wellbeing Board held on 12^th November 2014 be agreed as a correct record.

To note that Naveed Ahmed and Les O’Gorman have been appointed to the Board as Business Representatives.

The Board were informed that the Council had approved the proposal to increase the number of business representatives to the Board from one to two at their meeting on 25^th November 2014.  Naveed Ahmed from Goldteam Recruitment and Les O’Gorman from UCB UK were therefore formally welcomed as voting members of the Board.

Resolved –  That Naveed Ahmed and Les O’Gorman be welcomed to the Board as Business representatives.

The Board considered a report which provided an update on the proposed Pooled Budget 2015/16 between the Council and Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) in relation to the Better Care Fund (BCF).

The final BCF plan for Slough had agreed a pooled budget of £8.762m for 2015/16, which was the minimum amount required by NHS England.  £694,000 would be contributed by the Council, with the rest from the CCG.  The local authority would be the host of the pooled budget as the majority of the spend would be for social care.  The Board noted the governance arrangements and key investment priorities as detailed in the report, and considered the financial implications, particularly of the performance related element of reducing hospital admissions through better integration of social care.

(Councillor Hussain joined the meeting)

A range of issues were discussed including risk management, and in particular the implications of the Care Act.  It was noted that the BCF pooled budget would account for less than 10% of the total local spend on social care and the ambition to increase integration between health and social care extended beyond the BCF programme.  The agreement would come in to effect once both parties had formally agreed the budget. The Council’s Cabinet had approved the pooled budget on 9^th March 2015 and the report would be considered by the CCG Governing Body on 7^th April 2015.

The Board noted the update and agreed to produce a summary of key elements of the BCF programme for circulation to new members of the Board.

Resolved –  That the Wellbeing Board note the following:

(a)  The Council and Clinical Commissioning Group would enter into a pooled arrangement under S75 of the NHS Act 2006.

(b)  The Council be the host of the Pooled Budget.

(c)  The financial contributions to the budget together with the proposed arrangements for governance and management of the plan.

(d)  Delegation to the Acting Director of Adult Social Care (following consultation with the Leader and Commissioner for Finance & Strategy and the Commissioner for Health & Wellbeing) and the Chief Financial Officer of the CCG (subject to approval by the Slough CCG Governing Body) for the final signing of the Section 75 Agreement.

The Board considered the Berkshire Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat Action Plan which set out the commitment of partners to act collaboratively to provide coordinated and comprehensive mental health crisis services for residents.

The Concordat was a national initiative arising from the increased focus on improving mental health services.  The Action Plan, circulated as an appendix to the report, had been considered and signed off by all key partners across Berkshire including the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG), local authorities, Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Frimley Health Foundation Trust, Thames Valley Police and South Central Ambulance Service.  The Plan set out a range of specific actions aimed to promote early intervention and high quality treatment; improve the response times of mental health crisis and emergency services; and better access to support through primary care.  The CCG reported that their operational plan supported this work including an additional £2.9m in 2015/16 to improve mental health services.

(Lise Llewellyn joined the meeting)

The Board welcomed the Action Plan and wider focus on improving mental health services, particularly as Slough experienced a relatively high level of admissions for mental health conditions.  Partners discussed a number of examples of practical work underway such as ensuring mental health patients were transported to places of safety via ambulance rather than the Police and the work of voluntary and community sector organisations in providing support.  The role of employers in supporting any of their employees experiencing mental health issues was also discussed and it was agreed to circulate details of the ‘Time to Change’ programme to Board members.

The Board noted the Concordat Action Plan and agreed to receive a report detailing the progress made on implementation in six months followed by further reports on an annual basis.

Resolved –  That the Wellbeing Board note the following:

(a)  The Crisis Care Concordat is a national requirement and the joint action plan has been produced through a steering group with invitees from all partner agencies and signatories.

(b)  The Action Plan was in alignment with the Mandate previously authorised.

(c)  There was a requirement to monitor implementation of the action plan and that that the Board be updated in six months followed by annual updates.

The Board were updated on the recently agreed Slough Borough Council Five Year Plan 2015-2019 and considered the implications for the Board’s work programme and the refresh of the Slough Joint Wellbeing Strategy (SJWS).

The Five Year Plan set out a clear vision and direction for the Council, and the borough more widely, in the period to 2019 during which the Council would face continued financial pressures due to further reductions in central government grant and rising demand for services.  The outcome focused plan, which replaced the corporate plan, would determine the Council’s spending priorities from 2016/17 onwards and help identify in year savings during the next financial year.  A number of key challenges had been identified including a young, dynamic yet relatively unhealthy population with a critical need for new housing.  The role of the Council would be to provide community leadership, place-shaping, supporting the most vulnerable and enabling people to help themselves.

The plan would help partners better understand the key challenges and priorities of the Council during the process of refreshing the Joint Wellbeing Strategy when all partners would bring their respective plans to the table.  One of the key elements in delivering the Five Year Plan was the new approach taken to leisure provision and it was proposed and agreed to bring a report on the Council’s new Leisure Strategy to the next meeting of the Board.  At the conclusion of the discussion the plan was noted.

Resolved –  That that the report on Slough Borough Council’s Five Year Plan, and the implications for the Board’s work programme and refresh of the Slough Joint Wellbeing Strategy, be noted.

The Board received an annual update from the Council’s Assistant Director, Housing & Environment on the achievements and concerns in terms of improving housing in Slough.

Housing was recognised as a crucial factor in the wellbeing of Slough residents and the comprehensive update included the activity undertaken to work with landlords to address poor standards of private sector housing; the licensing and inspection of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) to improve the quality of HMOs and tackle associated issues such as anti-social behaviour; and the adoption of a new Housing Allocation Scheme along with measures to tackle fraud with 19 sublet properties recovered since January 2014.  A number of new social/affordable housing developments had either been completed or were underway notably as part of the Britwell regeneration and with the Slough Regeneration Partnership at Ledgers Road and Wexham.

The Board were updated on the Sheds project and it was reported that 4,678 sheds had been inspected in the borough with a relatively small number of properties either referred to the Valuation Office or issues related to the occupation of sub-standard properties being addressed.  The inspections had identified much lower levels of occupancy of sheds than had been perceived and it had concluded that there was no hidden household community in Slough.

A number of issues were discussed including the findings of the sheds inspections and out of borough placements for people in temporary accommodation.  Strategic risks were highlighted including changes to the enforcement regime for HMOs which would reduce the tools available to the Council to address issues at 2 storey HMOs and the fact that population growth would mean the demand for housing was expected to continue to rise faster than the increase in supply.

Overall, the Board welcomed the good progress that was being made and noted the report.

Resolved – That the update report be noted.

(Councillor Anderson left the meeting at this point and Lise Llewellyn took the Chair for the remainder of the meeting.)

A report regarding the development of a new overarching Information Sharing Protocol for the Slough Wellbeing Board was considered.

The Board did not currently have a common set of principles or parameters to manage the information sharing arrangements between partners and the new protocol sought to address this gap.  The approach to developing a three tier model for information sharing was explained, as detailed in Appendix A to the report, as were the key principles that would underpin the protocol.  All public sector partners would be asked to sign up to and adopt the broad principles in the protocol which would improve joint working and encourage transparency.

A first draft of the protocol had been prepared and would receive comments from the Council’s legal services department before coming back to the Board for consideration and, if appropriate, agreement.  The Board felt that the protocol should be simple to understand and not duplicate any existing statutory arrangements for information sharing.  In response to a question from a member, it was noted that the draft had not yet had input from partners.  The Board therefore asked that following the incorporation of legal services comments the draft be circulated to Board members for comment prior to the next meeting.  The protocol would be considered for approval at the meeting to be held on 13^th May 2015 if this process of consultation had been completed.

Resolved –

(a)  That the update be noted.

(b)  That the action currently underway to develop a final draft of the proposed multi-agency protocol be endorsed.

(c)  That the Overarching Information Sharing Protocol be considered for sign off/approval by the Board in May 2015, subject to the incorporation of legal comments and circulation to partners.

The Board considered a report which sought approval for the final version of Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA).

The development of the PNA was the responsibility of the Wellbeing Board under the Health and Social Care Act and the first PNA produced under the new arrangements needed to be published by 1^st April 2015.  It would be kept up to date through supplementary updates and undergo a full review every three years.  Since the last report to the Board in September 2014, the PNA had undergone consultation, the results of which were detailed in the report.  After due consideration, the final PNA was approved.

Resolved –  That the Slough PNA be approved.

The Board received an information report which updated them on status of the Economic Development Strategic Plan for Growth.  The plan would evolve as Five Year Plan delivery was rolled out and further updates would be provided to the Board in the future.

Resolved – That the update be noted.

The Board received an update from the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) on proposals for Primary Care Co-Commissioning and presentation slides which summarised the position were tabled.

Under the Health and Social Care Act 2012, contracting of primary care was the responsibility of NHS England not the CCGs.  The potential for co-commissioning of primary care services would create a clearer framework and the options available included closer working relationship; formal joint commissioning through a joint committee; or fully delegated commissioning.  Slough was keen to move the delegated arrangements as soon as possible with a formal joint committee including the CCG, NHS England and the involvement of wider stakeholders such as the Wellbeing Board, Healthwatch and patient representation.

The main responsibilities would be to plan, review and co-ordinate primary medical services in Slough.  Key aspects of the work plan would be to seek to sustain the activities supported by the Prime Ministers Challenge Fund which had proved popular with patients, review the Walk In Centre and strategically plan premises development.

The Board were being asked to note the update at this stage and it was recognised that the strategic development of primary care was a significant issue for the Board.  It was also noted that that Health Scrutiny Panel had discussed GP provision in Slough at its meeting earlier in the week and had agreed to undertake further scrutiny on this issue in the summer of 2015.  The opportunities arising from co-commissioning would therefore be of interest to the Panel as part of this scrutiny.

Resolved –  That the update be noted.

To note.

The Board noted the Action Progress Report and the work programme for the next meeting.  As discussed elsewhere on the agenda it was agreed to add the Leisure Strategy to the programme for the next meeting.

Resolved –  That the Action Progress Report and the Future Work Programme be noted.

Resolved –  That the attendance record be noted.

13^th May 2015

Resolved –  That the next meeting be confirmed as 13^th May 2015.