Social Work And Health Committee - 24/01/2011

At a MEETING of the SOCIAL WORK AND HEALTH COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 24th January, 2011.

 

Present:-

 

Lord Provost John R LETFORD

 

 

 

Depute Lord Provost Ian BORTHWICK

 

 

 

BAILIES

 

Willie SAWERS

George REGAN

Roderick A J WALLACE

 

COUNCILLORS

 

Ken GUILD

Elizabeth F FORDYCE

Laurie BIDWELL

Jim BARRIE

Stewart HUNTER

Tom FERGUSON

Jimmy BLACK

Ken LYNN

Brian GORDON

David BOWES

Craig MELVILLE

Richard McCREADY

Andrew DAWSON

Christina ROBERTS

Donald HAY

Will DAWSON

Alan G ROSS

Fraser MACPHERSON

Bob DUNCAN

Kevin KEENAN

Helen DICK

 

Mohammed ASIF

 

 

Jim BARRIE, Convener, in the Chair.

 

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 6th December, 2010 was held as read.

 

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

 

I CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND LICENSING ACT (SCOTLAND) 2010

 

There was submitted Report No 27-2011 by the Director of Social Work informing of the implementation of the Criminal Justice and Licensing Act (Scotland) 2010 and the related introduction of revised National Outcomes and Standards (NOS) for Criminal Justice Social Work which would have important implications for sentencing and the delivery of Social Work services in the criminal justice system.

 

The Committee agreed:-

 

(i) to note the Criminal Justice and Licensing Act (Scotland) 2010 and NOS and the implications to social work;

 

(ii) to endorse the measures being put in place to ensure the new legislation and standards would be implemented effectively; and

 

(iii) to require the Director of Social Work to provide a report on the first year of practice following implementation of the new Act.

 

II REPORT ON ARRANGEMENTS FOR MANAGING HIGH RISK OFFENDERS

 

There was submitted Report No 26-2011 by the Director of Social Work summarising the third annual report on arrangements for managing high risk offenders across Tayside for the period 1st April, 2009 to 31st March, 2010.

 

The Management of Offenders etc (Scotland) Act 2005 introduced a statutory duty on Responsible Authorities - Local Authorities, Scottish Prison Service (SPS), Police and Health to establish joint arrangements for the assessment and management of the risk posed by certain offenders who posed a risk of harm to the public. The Responsible Authorities were required to publish an annual report.

 

The introduction of Multi-Agency Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) in 2007 ensured a consistent approach to the management of offenders. Within Scotland, the implementation of MAPPA had been phased and currently extended to registered sex offenders and restricted patients. Restricted patients were defined within the Management of Offenders Act as persons who, by virtue of their mental health, were confined for treatment under current Mental Health legislation.

 

Work continued nationally to agree the arrangements for violent offenders. Locally, partners continued to work co-operatively in relation to violent offenders and risk management meetings were held within each local authority area on certain violent offenders.

 

The Committee agreed:-

 

(i) to note the contents of this third annual report and the ongoing developments in relation to the high risk offenders;

 

(ii) to require the Director of Social Work to inform the Committee of any developments in relation to violent offenders; and

 

(iii) to require the Director of Social Work to present such reports to Committee on an annual basis.

 

III HOME CARE ENABLEMENT

 

There was submitted Report No 28-2011 by the Director of Social Work informing of the progress that had been made with regard to the enablement approach to delivering home care services.

 

The Committee agreed:-

 

(i) to endorse the measures being adopted to improve the level of independence of service users and to increase the efficiency of the home care service;

 

(ii) to note the report regarding the full evaluation of the enablement approach to home care, which was attached to the report as Appendix I; and

 

(iii) to note the future possible development of the enablement service in relation to the 'Virtual Wards' and 'Integrated Resource Framework' initiatives.

 

 

 

 

Jim BARRIE, Convener.