Social Work And Health Committee - 27/09/2010

At a MEETING of the SOCIAL WORK AND HEALTH COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 27th September, 2010.

Present:-

BAILIES

COUNCILLORS

Councillor Jim BARRIE, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 23rd August, 2010 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I SOCIAL WORK DEPARTMENT SERVICE PLAN

There was submitted Report No 588-2010 by the Director of Social Work seeking approval for the Social Work Department Service Plan for 2010/2012.

The Committee agreed the Social Work Department Service Plan appended to the report.

II CARE COMMISSION INSPECTION - SOCIAL CARE AND SUPPORT SERVICES AND HOUSING SUPPORT

There was submitted Report No 581-2010 by the Director of Social Work informing of the findings of the Care Commission Inspection of Social Care and Support Services, which was carried out between 10th May - 14th May, 2010.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to note the content of the report; and

(ii) that the Director of Social Work monitor the continued progress towards the improvement in the service.

In addition, the Committee further referred consideration of the report to the Scrutiny Committee.

III PEOPLE RESULTS - SUMMARY OF FINDINGS FROM DEPARTMENTAL STAFF SURVEY

There was submitted Report No 577-2010 by the Director of Social Work summarising the results from a recent survey of Social Work staff.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to note the overall positive perception of staff;

(ii) to note the areas of upward trend compared to the 2007 results;

(iii) to note the favourable comparisons with the nationally reported findings;

(iv) to remit to the Director of Social Work to determine the approaches necessary for continuous improvement; and

(v) to remit to the Director of Social Work to make the results available to the Social Work Inspection Agency (SWIA) at the Initial Scrutiny Level Assessment (ISLA) stage of their performance improvement process. This was the stage at which SWIA assessed the required amount of external scrutiny of Social Work services.

IV DIRECT PAYMENTS - REVISION OF RATES

There was submitted Agenda Note AN112-2010 reporting that since 1st June, 2003, the Council had a duty to make available Direct Payments which allowed people to receive money from the Social Work Department to arrange and purchase their own services to meet their assessed needs.

In November 2007, the Social Work and Health Committee agreed the updated rates to be used to calculate the value of a Direct Payment and also when calculating the contribution an individual should make towards the cost of their service.

In addition, the Social Work and Health Committee agreed the Social Care Support rates to be used to calculate the value of personal care provision where the service user had made their own arrangements to procure this provision.

Following recent completion of the re-tendering of the block domiciliary care contract, it was now appropriate to revise these rates accordingly to ensure service users continued to have choice of service provider.

Practical Support 8.91 per hour (previous rate 8.28 per hour).

Social Care Support

(a) Service procured through a provider holding a block contract with Dundee City Council - rate equivalent to the contract rate paid to that provider by Dundee City Council.

(b) Service provided through any other provider or by employment of a Personal Assistant - rate 11.94 per hour (previous rate 11.00 per hour).

The additional cost of the above change in rates would be 47,000 in 2010/2011 (56,000 in a full financial year) which would be funded from the Social Work Department's budget.

The Committee agreed the above revised rates and that they took effect from 1st June, 2010.

Jim BARRIE, Convener.