Agenda item

To consider an update report of the Executive Director Core Services and the Executive Director People (Item 5 attached) in respect of Barnsley’s STLAH and ACSES services.

The Committee considered a report which provided an update on the current arrangements for the delivery of care and support services to service users living in their own home. Members asked a number of questions regarding the report and the following issues were raised:

·      The Committee suggested that it would be beneficial for a Frequently Asked Questions booklet to be provided for service users and/or their families, including information of services available. The Committee suggested that this would be useful as, while this information was available online, service users weren’t always computer literate. The Committee was informed that this would be considered, but relevant information was provided to individuals as part of their care plan. In addition, contact details for the customer access team were provided to all service users. This team was able to signpost service users to relevant services.

·      The thresholds for the provisions of social care support to individuals had not changed as part of the recent procurement exercise, as this was governed by eligibility criteria set out in the Care Act. However, the process for assessing the required level of support (standard, complex or specialist) had been made clearer.

·      To the protection of service users who were unable to manage their own finances, the Council operated a supported managed account system, whereby the service users could make the decisions about the care which they wanted (with the help of a personal co-ordinator), but payment for that care was made through the supported managed account.

·      A significant amount of support had been provided by the Commissioning, Contracts and Brokerage Teams to frontline social workers where changes to care packages were required as a result of provider changes. This had enabled social workers to continue to focus on direct contact with service users in the community and had ensured an appropriate caseload and workload.

·      The Committee noted that the Keresforth Day Centre had recently been closed and service users, some of whom were profoundly disabled, now needed to travel to other areas to receive services. It was explained that SWYFT, who had previously operated the majority of services at the site, had decided that the site was not required for their purposes. That had left only the Day Centre at the site, which had not been viable to operate in those circumstances, particularly due to issues relating to the safety of the building. However, it was intended to use other available buildings within the Borough to continue providing services for people with profound disabilities similar to those which had been provided at Keresforth. Further information regarding this would be provided to the Committee.

RESOLVED – That:

i)          the witnesses be thanked;

ii)         the report be noted;

iii)       further information be provided to the Committee regarding day service provision in Barnsley for people with profound disabilities.