Agenda and minutes

1.1       RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 29 September be agreed as an accurate record.

2.1       The following non-prejudicial declarations of interest were declared:

Councillor John Muldoon: Lead governor pf SLaM NHS Foundation Trust

Councillor Alan Hall: Elected governor of King’s College NHS Foundation Trust

CouncillorJacq Paschoud: Family member in receipt of adult social care.

3.1       Georgina Nunney gave a PowerPoint presentation on the Care Act, which represented a consolidation of the various relevant acts enacted since 1948; but which still left some areas of ambiguity and with that, the possibility of judicial reviews in order to clarify definitions. It was noted that the Act had a relatively short introductory period, with most provisions coming into force a year after enactment (on 1 April 2014) with the financial sections following a year later (1 April 2016).

3.2       The presentation included the following key points:

·           Different local authorities were all approaching the implementation of the Care Act in different ways, there would be a great deal of local variation.

·           A key aspect of the act was the emphasis on information provision and signposting to appropriate services. This could be done through a third party but the local authority would be responsible for quality assuring the content of the information provided and making sure it was accessible and proportionate; personal; and included independent financial advice where appropriate.

·           Other key elements included the duty to integrate health and health related services; putting the adult at the centre of the decision making process; and creating an outcomes focussed process.

·           There was no mention of independent living in the Act (although it was mentioned in the guidance) so the extent to which local authorities must support people to live independently was not clear.

·           The assessment of adults was to be an active process, with full engagement of the individual concerned.

·           The number of assessments being carried out was set to rise as it was predicted that more carers would be assessed and more self-funders (driven by the cap). The Council would have a duty to carry out an assessment and issue care and support plans.

·           The Act made it clear that identified needs did not have to be met by local authority services but could be met in a variety of ways, including by personal, informal arrangements and voluntary and community sector (VCS) services. In particular, the local authority would not be required to provide support where need was already being met.

·           There was a new emphasis on carers and their support requirements. In the last census 22,000 Lewisham residents self-identified themselves as carers.

·           In order to be considered a carer under the Act, a person did not have to be delivering a high level of care (for example, visiting a person every 6 weeks to provide psychological support constituted as caring).

·           The implementation of the Act might would require managing expectations as it was clear that the borough had been generous in the past and would not be in a positon to be as generous in the future. There would be a hierarchy of resources with personal resources and existing activity being taken into account before the deployment of council services.

·           The Council would be able to charge for running the care accounts of adults who did not meet the eligibility criteria.

·           In terms of safeguarding, the Act contained  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.1       RESOLVED: That the report and minutes be received.

5.1       RESOLVED: That the report and minutes be received.

6.1       RESOLVED: That a referral be made in relation to item 3 on the agenda, as described above.