Members will be asked to make any declarations of interest in respect of items in this agenda.

In accordance with the code of conduct the following declarations of interest were made –

To receive reports on business which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be brought forward for urgent consideration.

There were no items of chair’s urgent business.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 14 February 2018.

The minutes of 14 February 2018 were agreed.

Paul O’Sullivan (NEW Devon CCG) and Craig McArdle (Director for Integrated Commissioning provided an update and highlighted that –

(a)           the original plan was published in October 2016 and they were now taking the time to remind themselves of what the challenges were, what they are now, the progress made and to target priorities for the year ahead;

(b)          they were meeting the needs of an increasing ageing population and people living with long-term conditions.  The Sustainable Transformation Partnership were working to deliver this plan and enabled the collaboration of the acute hospitals to work together for continued access to safe services;

(c)           the Devon STP was one of the most challenged areas in the country but had moved to one that’s now deemed to be making progress, however, there were still challenges ahead;

(d)          they were taking a whole population approach with the appropriate levels of intervention for established conditions to promote self-care and timely access to specialist services when required and to enable people to remain living well within their own communities.

In response to questions raised, it was reported that -

(e)          the sustainable transformation programme provides the framework to support the elderly as well as those with more complex needs either within their own homes or other suitable alternative setting;

(f)            there were now 115 Proud to Care Ambassadors recruited and trained to promote the career pathways within the health and social care system across Plymouth, Devon and Torbay;

(g)           mental health was still very prevalent within our own communities and was clearly an issue that needed to be addressed, however, we do need to recognise the progress made such as increasing the number of people accessing services and reducing CAMHs waiting times.  The STP would continue to make mental health a priority.

The Committee noted the progress update of the health and social care strategy for Devon.

Piers Tetley (NEW Devon & South Devon and Torbay CCG) was present for this item and provided the committee with an overview of the STP workforce programme.  It was highlighted that –

(a)           they were looking to reduce nursing and medical agency spend which continues to be an area of focus and were also securing short-term work force supply to fill short-term posts rather than use agency staff;

(b)          they were working with education providers to attract staff for the future as well as ensuring the right number of clinical professionals were coming through into the right the roles;

(c)           they were undertaking organisational development around developing leaders for the future as well as supporting existing leadership;

(d)          12 GP trainee places as part of the Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme would be available in Plymouth commencing in the summer 2018;

(e)          they were looking at creative ways to retain people such as building a better connection between social care and health which could lead to shared funding to support new entrants and to actively encourage a career pathway within the NHS and beyond;

(f)            over the last 2 years they were able to reduce agency spend by around £20m and would continue to focus to drive down that cost.

In response to questions raised, it was reported that –

(g)           there were a number of GP vacancies in Plymouth and this was clearly a major issue.  A work programme was in place to reduce this as well as an enhanced recruitment scheme to attract doctors to the area.  Short term measures around clinical pharmacy was helping as the solution to get more GPs into the city and within the next year should see an improved situation;

(h)          the use of agency staff was primarily within the acute setting and they were looking at initiatives such as recruiting internationally;

(i)            they would be looking to attract in total 24 GPs to Plymouth, other initiatives include backfilling of roles by encouraging retired GPs to return back into the health system.  This was a long term initiative and Plymouth was seen as a priority;

(j)            they were looking at new types of roles and making sure the training was appropriate as well as being more creative with the roles for a more seamless career health path.

The Committee noted the STP workforce and organisational development work stream update.

Councillor Mrs Beer (Cabinet Member for Children and Young People), Judith Harwood (Service Director for Children, Families and Learning) and David Bowles (Senior Adviser Standards) were present for this item.

Councillor Mrs Beer reported that they even though they were improving in most areas they still remained below the national targets.  To address this, the local authority had established an accountability system to take into account the operational work being undertaken and the Education Board overseeing strategic improvements.  In addition to this the local authority was developing the Plymouth challenge to transform improvements within secondary schools.

In response to questions raised, it was reported that -

(a)           priorities had been established and strategic interventions put in place to address the widening gap in attainment levels.  The local authority does support individual schools but ultimately want to ensure that the overall system was stimulated to make improvements.  However, there was a caveat with the analysing of data because the qualification system changes on a yearly basis and they were never comparing the same data;

(b)          the Staff survey was not extended to schools because they are not our staff and resources would prevent us from undertaking this across the board;

(c)           25% of our secondary schools were judged as a Grade 4 and seven of the schools were below the national target.  They have established a strong relationship with the Regional Schools Commissioner in Bristol and were trying to address the inadequate underfunding;

(d)          they didn’t have any detail on whether social media and/or mobile devices were having an adverse impact on the results.  However, children were using mobile devices as a learning tool but there was a mixed picture on how schools use and manage the control of social media within schools;

(e)          they were preparing pupils for very different jobs and need to be assured that they have the right skills to prepare them for future employment;

(f)            schools citywide were unfunded and as a result struggle with good recruitment campaigns to attract the best teachers as well as the funds to develop outstanding leadership.  Funding could also assist a school to undertake more innovative work;

The Chair stated that scrutiny were here to provide support to the Cabinet Member when serious issues like this need to be raised and lobbied with the MPs.  Councillor Mrs Beer welcomed the continued support from scrutiny on this matter.

The Committee noted the School Standards Report and requested that further scrutiny be undertaken on the monitoring of the Education, Participation and Skills Action Plan.  The Education Board would therefore be invited to attend a future meeting to discuss progress made against the action plan.

(Councillor Mrs Bridgeman left the meeting after the item was discussed.)

Alison Mills (Head of HR Specialist Services), Judith Harwood (Service Director for Education, Participation and Skills), Matt Garrett (Service Director for Community Connections) and Bernadette Smith (Senior HR and OD Business Partner) were present for this item.  The Chair congratulated officers on the improved engagement with staff in completing the staff survey.

In response to questions raised, it was reported that -

(a)           the annual staff awards and thank you cards were a way to award and recognise hard working staff;

(b)          with regard to the lowest scoring questions around leadership this was being addressed by the team talks from Tracey Lee, also senior officers held regular shout outs and were making themselves more visible by walking the floor and chatting to staff.

The Committee noted the results of the staff survey and support officers in their role working towards a motivated, skilled and engaged workforce.

Paul Barnard (Service Director for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure), Matt Garrett (Service Director for Community Connections) and Nick Carter (Housing Delivery Manager) were present for this item.  It was reported that the UK population is ageing and in Plymouth there was an increase of 25% in the over 65s.   This has been factored into the plans for the future for the city and how housing needs accommodate the elderly.

In response to questions raised, it was reported that –

(a)           they worked closely with the dementia co-ordinator as well as taking national guidance into account when they produced the joint local plan in terms of making Plymouth a Dementia Friendly City;

(b)          a working group was specifically looking at the needs of the city and to better understand how to accommodate people wishing or helping people to downsize;

(c)           with regard to the delivery of extra care for more specialist needs, it was reported that they were constantly looking for new sites and were working with the Older Persons Group to identify gaps in provision.  They were always exploring opportunities to ascertain whether there were opportunities to incorporate extra care as part of any redevelopment;

(d)          they were having constant conversations with the hospital around discharges and looking at how funds were used to support people staying out of hospital.

The Committee asked officers to look at adopting a whole system approach to adaptations to support keeping people out of hospital to remain in their own home and to explore how health funding could be used to add to this as a prevention measure.

For information only.  The committee will be provided with an update in September.

The Chair reported that along with the Vice-chair they had attended a meeting with officers from NEW Devon CCG to receive an update on the changes to planned care.  The Chair reported that she had some concerns on how this was being offered and when the report comes before scrutiny in September wanted to be assured that what was being offered was fair.

This item is for information only. Relevant cabinet members and officers have not been asked to attend. If further information is required members are asked to contact the Chair and Democratic Advisor.

Suggestions for future scrutiny of issues arising from this item will be considered during the work programme item.

The Chair advised that this item together with the integrated finance monitoring report had been included on the agenda for information.  As no issues had been identified for consideration prior to the meeting, no Cabinet Member or officers had been invited to attend.

This item is for information only. Relevant cabinet members and officers have not been asked to attend. If further information is required members are asked to contact the Chair and Democratic Advisor.

Suggestions for future scrutiny of issues arising from this item will be considered during the work programme item.

The Chair advised that this item together with the integrated commissioning score card had been included on the agenda for information.  As no issues had been identified for consideration prior to the meeting, no Cabinet Member or officers had been invited to attend.

The Committee to receive the work programme.

The Committee noted the work programme and put forward the following items to be included on the work programme for 2018/19 –

·         to ascertain whether an addendum could be added to the Taxi Licensing Policy on wheelchair accessible vehicles for larger scooters/wheelchairs.

·         to receive quarterly progress updates on the CQC Action Plan.

·         update on the progress made on the Education, Participation and Skills Action Plan by the Education Board in raising standards across all schools.