Contact: Claire Bruin, ext 7219

1 Summary

1.1 The following decisions are sought

· That the transfer of £405,000 from Hampshire Primary Care Trusts under Section 28A of the National Health Service Act 1977 is approved prior to agreeing the protocol for the pooled budget.

2 Reason(s)

2.1 The Hampshire Learning Disability Partnership Board is required to deliver on the implementation agenda set out in Valuing People which is monitored through the SSI PAF indicators.

3 Other options considered and rejected

3.1 None

4 Conflicts of Interest declared by the decision-maker or a Member or Officer consulted

4.1 None

5 Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee

5.1 None

6 Reason(s) for the matter being dealt with if urgent

6.1 Not applicable

Approved by: Date of decision:

Councillor Felicity Hindson

Contact: Claire Bruin Ext: 7219

1 Introduction

1.1 In 2001, Local Authorities were required to lead on the production of Joint Investment Plans for services to adults with learning disabilities. The Joint Investment Plan for Hampshire was based on the work of the Strategic Learning Disability Groups that covered the districts served by the three Health Authorities and had long and successful histories of partnership working across health and social services - including collaboration between Hampshire Social Services Department and the Social Services Departments in Portsmouth and Southampton Cities.

1.2 In March 2001, the government launched the White Paper - Valuing People: A strategy for learning disability services for the 21^st century, which required each Local Authority to set up a Learning Disability Partnership Board to deliver the objectives set out in the new strategy. An update to the Joint Investment Plan, responding to the new strategy was one of the first targets for the new Partnership Boards to deliver. Accessible versions of these documents are attached.

2 Hampshire Learning Disability Partnership Board

2.1 To establish the Hampshire Learning Disability Partnership Board it was necessary to wind up the three Strategic Groups and with agreement of the members of all three groups, this was done during the summer 2001. Peter Robertson launched the Hampshire Learning Disability Partnership Board on 29 October 2001. The membership includes people with learning disabilities, family carers and representatives from MENCAP, advocacy organisations, housing departments, NHS Learning Disability Trusts, Primary Care Trusts, Health Authorities and Social Services.

2.2 The Partnership Board meets quarterly and is supported in the implementation of Valuing People by Locality Implementation Groups, chaired by Learning Disability Operational Service Managers from Social Services. These groups cover four localities - South East Hampshire, South West Hampshire, North Hampshire and Winchester and Andover. The groups are key in ensuring that information flows between the Partnership Board and people across Hampshire.

2.3 The Partnership Board has accepted and supported the priorities set out in the Joint Investment Plan produced by the three Strategic Groups, ensuring that ongoing work continues. As the relationships develop with the Locality Implementation Groups, further priorities are being developed to deliver on the objectives of Valuing People in a way that is responsive to each locality.

3 Joint Investment Plan 2001/4 and update January 2002

3.1 The key priority areas for Hampshire, set out in the Joint Investment Plan 2001/4 are as follows:

Reprovision of Locally Based Hospital Units (LBHUs)

Modernising Day Services

Developing person centred planning (PCP)

Developing a range of accommodation and support options

Promoting independence through Direct Payments

Supporting advocacy

Meeting healthcare needs

Supporting young people in the transition to adulthood

Developing a range of respite opportunities

Improving communication and consultation with people with learning disabilities and their carers

Developing partnerships with Primary Care Trusts and exploring the use of the Health Act Flexibilities, including integrated teams across health and social care

3.2 In addition to these priorities, the Department of Health required information on the current position in Hampshire on the objectives within Valuing People. The areas covered by these objectives, some of which have performance indicators, are as follows:

Transition into Adult Life

More Choice and Control

Supporting Carers

Good Health

Housing

Fulfilling Lives

Moving into Employment

Quality

Workforce Training and Planning

Partnership Working

3.3 To support the implementation of Valuing People, a new Learning Disability Development Fund of up to £50 million per annum has been made available for England from 2002. This has been confirmed as £18 million revenue and £20 million capital for 2002. The Department of Health requires the revenue allocation, which is being shared on a per capita basis via Primary Care Trusts, to be focused on the following priority areas:

Reprovision of long stay hospitals

Modernising Day Services

Developing person centred planning (PCP)

Developing supported living for people living with older family carers

Supporting advocacy

Enhancing leadership

The capital, which was allocated through a bidding process, (part of the Joint Investment Plan update) is to be focused on the following areas:

Developing of integrated health and social care services facilities for children and young people with severe disabilities and complex needs

Development of supported living approaches for people with learning disabilities living with older carers

3.4 The revenue allocation for Hampshire is £405,000 and the breakdown between PCTs and Valuing People objectives is shown in Appendix 1. this money will be held in a pooled budget but until that is set up, it will be passed from Primary Care Trusts to Social Services under Section 28A of the National Health Service Act 1977.

3.5 Bids for capital were made to support new respite services for children with learning disabilities (Rose Road, Southampton £50K and the replacement for Verdi Close and Erdsley House £150K) and to develop supported living for people living with older carers (£600K). The Department of Health allocated £200K for the new respite services and £100K for supported living.

4 Progress on Priorities in the Joint Investment Plan 2001/4 and Against Targets in Valuing People

4.1 Work has been progressing on the priorities set out in the Joint Investment Plan 2001/4, highlights of work undertaken or contributed to by Social Services are included below:

Reprovision of Locally Based Hospital Units (LBHUs) - Plans being developed and four individuals moved to new accommodation with support or into residential/nursing homes.

Modernising Day Services - Plans being developed in accordance with the Action Plan for the Best Value Review of Day Activities for People with Learning Disabilities.

Developing person centred planning (PCP) - Acceptance of Hampshire as one of four research sites across England, with funding from the Department of Health research initiative "People with Learning Disabilities: Services, Inclusion and Partnerships" to focus on the impact of Person Centred Planning.

Developing a range of accommodation and support options - Promotion of supported living, linked to Supporting People, has been successful in providing more people with learning disabilities the opportunity to move on from residential care into accommodation with support.

Promoting independence through Direct Payments - Innovative and flexible approaches to providing necessary support has led to 46 people with learning disabilities now accessing Direct Payments.

Supporting advocacy - A county wide, cross client group mapping exercise, carried out in collaboration with advocacy groups has prepared the way for the development of a more strategic approach to advocacy.

Meeting health care needs - Involvement in a Department of Health pilot project on partnerships with Primary Care Trusts that focusing on access to healthcare, with New Forest Primary Care Trust and Rushmoor and Hart Primary Care Groups.

Supporting young people in the transition to adulthood - The Transition Policy has been reviewed and is being rewritten and will include clearer guidance and training for staff supporting young people and their families at this time.

Developing a range of respite opportunities - The Carers Grant has been used to develop alternatives to overnight stays.

Improving communication and consultation with people with learning disabilities and their carers - The artistic skills of one officer are being used, following training with a National Development Team, to use graphic facilitation at conferences and consultation meetings with people with learning disabilities, carers and staff; The Partnership Board minutes are produced using plain language with pictures, to make them more accessible.

Developing partnerships with Primary Care Trusts and exploring the use of the Health Act Flexibilities, including integrated teams across health and social care - Work is well underway with one NHS provider Trust on the integration of care management and community learning disability teams and discussions will begin shortly with the two other NHS Trusts; Relationships are developing with Primary Care Trusts and Groups with work focusing on the use of the Health Act flexibilities, in particular the pooled budget arrangements required for the Learning Disability Development Fund allocation that must be used within this partnership arrangement.

4.2 Specific targets have been set out in Valuing People to ensure that it is implemented. Work presented to and approved by the Partnership Board is set out below:

Framework for implementing PCP (Summer 2002)

Quality Assurance Framework (Spring 2002)

Framework for developing a Workforce Planning and Training Strategy (Autumn 2002)

4.3 Work is continuing on the following targets for 2002/3:

Review of Community Teams

Development of a Housing Strategy

Development of an Employment Strategy

5 Health Act Flexibilities and Management Capacity

5.1 Valuing People has demanding targets which the County Council is committed to meet. The workload implications of Valuing People and the operational demands of the learning disability sector lead the County Council to question whether it has the management capacity to deliver this agenda. Local Authorities are being encouraged to take on a lead commissioning role for all learning disability services. A workshop has been planned with PCT's to examine this. In order to fulfil a lead commissioning role, Hampshire would require additional personnel to both commission services and provide the financial and contractual support to the commissioning. A further report will be presented to Social Care Executive after the PCT workshop with proposals on how to take this forward.

6 Conclusion

6.1 The Hampshire Learning Disability Partnership Board has made good progress in its first year building on previous partnership working. The County Council will need to address the management capacity issues in the near future to ensure it continues to deliver to the agenda of Valuing People and improve the lives of people with learning disabilities and their carers.

Recommendations

1 That the transfer of £405,000 from the Primary Care Trusts under S28A of the National Health Service Act 1977 is approved.

2 That this money is placed in a Hampshire wide pooled budget once the draft legal agreements are in place.

3 That a fuller report is prepared for Social Care Executive on the management and other resources needed for Hamsphire to develop a lead commissioning role across Health and Social Care.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - Background Documents

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act

White Paper - Valuing People:

National Health Service Act 1977