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.

To elect a Chair and Vice-Chair from among the Voting Members of the Board.

Resolved -  That Councillor Rob Anderson and Lise Llewellyn be elected Chair and Vice-Chair of the Board respectively for the ensuing year.

Resolved –  That the minutes of the meeting held on 13^th May 2015 be approved as a correct record.

The Board considered the new Children & Young People’s Plan 2015-16 which was the overarching strategy for improving outcomes for children in Slough.

The document was a concise, practical plan setting out the key priorities for the forthcoming 18 months taking account of the transition of children’s services from the Council to an independent organisation.  Seven priorities had been identified including providing outstanding services to the most vulnerable children in the borough; supporting emotional and mental wellbeing; and delivering the expanded ‘Families First’ programme.  There were also strong links to the Child Poverty Strategy considered elsewhere on the agenda.  The plan had been agreed by the Children and Young People’s Partnership Board on 18^th May 2015 and would provide a framework and shared purpose for the Partnership.

(Ruth Bagley and Colin Pill joined the meeting)

Board members asked about the engagement with schools and with young people themselves.  It was responded that schools were heavily involved in the partnership and the plan had been discussed with a number of groups including primary and secondary head teachers and the Schools Forum.  The Youth Parliament had also been engaged and it had three of its members sitting on the main partnership.  A number of other issues were discussed including the provision of perinatal mental health services and how links to other strategic plans would be developed and monitored.  A Member asked why the plan was only for 18 months and how it would deliver a more substantial and sustained level of improvement compared to previous plans.  It was responded that an 18 month timeframe had been considered most appropriate to deliver short term, focused improvements in view of the transition process to a new children’s services organisation and that the CYPPB was now a more strategic, focused partnership able to own and lead delivery of the strategy.

The Board agreed that the Children & Young People’s Plan be approved and that a progress report on delivery be received in six months.

Resolved –

(a)  That the Children & Young People’s Plan 2015-2016 be agreed.

(b)  That a progress report be received by the Wellbeing Board in early 2016.

A report was considered on a new Child Poverty Strategy and the Board were asked to agree the draft strategy, as at Appendix A to the report, which set out a vision and priorities for tackling child poverty at a local level.

The Child Poverty Act 2010 placed a duty on local authorities and their partners to publish a local child poverty needs assessment and a child poverty strategy for their area.  The Needs Assessment in Slough had been completed in 2014 and it was noted that at 21% the borough had a slightly higher rate of children living in low income families than the national average of 20%.  This equated to 8,000 children in the borough living in poverty, mostly under the age of 16, with particularly high rates in Britwell (28%) and Chalvey (26%).  The draft strategy had been developed over the past year with significant consultation with statutory partners and a public consultation including with young people and parents.  Five priorities had been identified to provide take a strategic approach to take inequality and reduce the number of children living in poverty by 2018.  It provided a direction and framework for activity and would be supported by an action plan.  Since the previous update to the Board in May further comments had been incorporated from the Children & Young People’s Partnership Board (CYPPB) and also reflected recent shifts in government policy.

The Board supported the principles and priorities outlined the plan and sought assurance that the governance arrangements were adequate to support delivery and that there was monitoring to ensure the actions undertaken were effective.  It was confirmed that a robust action plan would be developed and owned by the Early Help Sub-Group of the CYPPB with quarterly reporting arrangements.  To ensure the SWB had appropriate oversight of progress, it was agreed that the Board would receive progress reports alongside updates on the Children & Young People’s Plan.

Members discussed some of the key elements of the strategy including the impact of macro-economics and the housing market which made it difficult to measure progress in a town with such significant and dynamic population movements.  The Board felt that these challenges needed to be understood and that interventions should always be evidence based with a focus on short term actions to ensure resources were helping those children and families most in need.  Members also discussed raising the aspirations of young people and the possible impact of the introduction of the living wage.

At the conclusion of the discussion, the Board agreed that the Child Poverty Strategy be approved and that progress against the action plan be reported regularly alongside the Children & Young People’s Plan.

Resolved –

(a)  That Slough’s Child Poverty Strategy 2015-2018, as at Appendix A to the report, be agreed.

(b)  That the Board be updated on the progress of delivery alongside the Children & Young People’s Plan reporting process.

The Board received a report on the development of the Better Care Fund (BCF) in Slough which set out the implications, benefits and risks of the updated Better Care programme since the previous report in February.

BCF would make a contribution to the delivery of the Five Year Plan outcome of more people taking more responsibility for managing their own health, care and support needs.  The Board noted the current financial position, including the 2015/16 expenditure plan set out in Appendix A, and were informed that baseline of non-elective admission activity had been reset across all areas since submission of the BCF plan in September 2014.  The percentage target of a 3.5% reduction in Slough was unchanged but performance would be calculated from a higher baseline which increased the financial risk.  It was stated that this could still be accommodated within the contingency funds identified; however, achieving the target reduction remained a high risk for the current year.

A detailed update was provided on progress made against each of the priority areas:

• Proactive care – GP practices across Slough were carrying out risk profiling activity to try identify the top two percent of people most at risk of an admission to hospital;
• Single point of access into integrated care services – the business case for the Single Point of Access model would be considered by the Joint Commissioning Board on 22^nd July with plans for a phased implementation starting with professional referrals;
• Strengthening community capacity – activity was being taken forward through the Joint Voluntary Sector Strategy and recommissioning process led by SBC.

Performance against each key outcome measure was noted.  The non-elective admissions indicator continued to rise with an increase of 5% on the same period in 2014 against a target of a 3.5% reduction.  Performance against delayed transfers of care continued to be good and the reablement service was seeing 100% of people successfully reabled and at home 91 days after discharge.  The Board were also updated on implementation of the Care Act, progress of the Prime Ministers Challenge Fund and programme of work to enable data sharing of part of patient records across health and social care services.

The Board discussed a range of issues including the how the outcomes achieved through the Prime Ministers Challenge Fund and the Better Care Fund could be sustained.  It was felt that the funding had to be used to stimulate fundamental changes to ways of working in order to be sustainable at a time of rising demand and continued funding pressures.  The Board also commented on the activity to identify people at risk and members emphasised the importance of seeking a ‘different conversation’ which looked at the family needs more widely rather than a narrow focus on medical interventions.

Members also discussed the procurement of an interoperable data sharing system, encouraging the use local expertise where possible; and Brunel University Cumberland Initiative’s ‘Living Lab’ concept which recently opened on the Trading Estate as a testbed for innovation in the NHS.

Resolved –  That the progress report on the Better Care Fund Plan 2015/16 be noted.

Jacky Walters, Programme Manager at Slough CCG, introduced a report setting out a range of current issues regarding the provision of GP services in Slough.  The report had been requested by the Health Scrutiny Panel, primarily in relation to the ongoing discussions about the provision of new GP services from the proposed community hub on Trelawney Avenue.

The report covered a wide range of issues, including:

• an update on the primary care joint co-commissioning, which included representation of the Health & Wellbeing Board;
• the progress of the Prime Ministers Challenge Fund in increasing the number of evening and weekend appointment;
• information on practice premises funding and the number of GPs, which indicated that Slough was ‘under-doctored’ and faced challenges;
• changing patterns of access to services with an increase in telephone appointments and consultations by nurses; and
• access to surgeries in Langley and the CCGs position on the proposal for new GP services at the community hub planned to serve Langley.

Members discussed a number of issues, particularly the resources made available by practices for peer group support groups.  The value of such groups was recognised by partners and further support could be considered where evidence showed they worked.  It was also generally felt that a key principle of self care was taking personal responsibility and therefore peer groups should look to be self-sustaining wherever possible.

The Board noted the key outcomes of the Health Scrutiny Panel meeting held on 2^nd July which included support in principle for a forum to improve the dialogue between councillors and GPs and continued discussions between the Council’s asset management team, CCG and other relevant parties about the community hub proposal for Langley.

Resolved –  That the report be noted.

The Board considered a report seeking the adoption of a multi-agency Overarching Information Sharing Protocol to strengthen current information sharing arrangements across the partnership.  The draft had been revised since the previous version received by the Board in May 2015 and comments from partners had been incorporated.

It was recognised that sharing information about individuals between partners was important in providing co-ordinated and seamless services to residents.  The Protocol, as attached at Appendix A to the report, sought to ensure information was shared between partners in a responsible way which complied with current legislation and codes of practice.  It would not replace existing local protocols but was designed to form the basis for a number of local and specific information sharing agreements.  If approved, the next stage would be to take the document to the Priority Delivery Groups and for partners to formally sign the Protocol.

The Board discussed the support partners would require to embed the Protocol and raise awareness with staff, including the possibility an e-learning module.  It was noted that further work would be need to bring council departments on board with the new ways of working.  After due consideration, the Board adopted the Protocol.  It was agreed to add the name of a key contact person to the Protocol to deal with any operational queries from partners in implementing the protocol.  A progress report would be presented to the Board early in 2016.

Resolved –

(a)  That the Overarching Information Sharing Protocol and the roll out of a common information sharing approach be agreed.

(b)  That arrangements be made for members/partners of the Slough Wellbeing Board sign the Protocol.

(c)  That a progress report be received by the Board in six months time.

A report was considered on a joint protocol between the Slough Wellbeing Board, Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) and Adult Safeguarding Board (ASB) to define how they worked together on safeguarding and promote the welfare of children and adults in Slough.

The Board noted that the protocol had already been approved by the LSCB and ASB and was in line with best practice from other authorities in Berkshire.  It was agreed to adopt the protocol, add an appropriate date for review and bring an update report back to a future meeting.

Resolved –  That the adoption of the Protocol be approved, subject to the addition of an approval date and suitable review period.

The Board received a report which provided an update on a planned workshop to shape and agree the future outcomes and vision for the SWB and refreshed Slough Joint Wellbeing Strategy (SJWS).

The SJWS needs analysis was being updated and would be shared with members of the Board for comment.  A workshop to be facilitated by the LGA was planned for September or October.  Members noted the update and requested that the needs analysis utilised the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment.

Resolved –  That the plans for the workshop be noted.

To note.

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

Resolved –  That the attendance record be noted.

23^rd September 2015

Resolved –  That the next meeting be confirmed as 23^rd September 2015.