AT A MEETING of the SOCIAL CARE POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE of the COUNTY COUNCIL held at Rushmoor Borough Council Offices, Farnborough Road, Farnborough on Friday, 16 May 2003.

PRESENT

Councillors: Mrs P G Banks (Chairman); Jenny Wride (Vice-Chairman);

Mrs P Dickens; A G Dowden; Mrs J K Frankum; E F Gale, MBE;

Mrs P G E Holden-Brown; Mrs C A Leversha; A R Ludlow; Mrs A M McNair Scott; Mrs V Steel

Also in attendance Councillor Felicity Hindson MBE - Executive Member for Social Care

79 DECLARATION OF INTEREST

Members were mindful that, where they believed they had a personal or personal prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting, they should, normally at the time of debate, declare their interest and having regard to the circumstances described in paragraphs 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the County Council's Code of Conduct, consider whether to leave the meeting whilst the matter is being discussed.

Councillor A.R. Ludlow declared a non-pecuniary interest in item 8 on the agenda (Update on Management Action Plans to Improve Performance).

80 MINUTES

The Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 14 March 2003 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Arising thereon:

(a) Minute No.71(c) Next Meeting

Members expressed concern at meetings of the Committee being held outside Winchester and there was a general consensus of opinion that, in future, all meetings of the Committee should be held at The Castle, Winchester.

81 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

(a) Visits to Children's Homes

The Chairman reminded members of the necessity for them to visit
children's homes as part of their duties and urged them to contact the
Chief Executive to make the necessary arrangements as soon as possible.

82 MEMBERS' QUESTIONS

There were no members' questions to this meeting.

83 DEPUTATIONS

There were no deputations to this meeting.

84 HAMPSHIRE CARE ACTION TEAM (CAT) : YOUNG PEOPLE'S PARTICIPATION IN CREATING BETTER SERVICES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

The Director of Social Services presented a report on the Care Action Team (Item 6 in the Minute Book) and introduced Emily Joslin and Katie Tiller from CAT who gave a presentation about CAT, its history and its work to members and answered questions. Members noted the planned visit of some of the CAT Team to Denmark in 2004 to exchange views and ideas.

RESOLVED:

That:-


(a) The report be noted and the contribution of the Care Action Team
be acknowledged.

(b) Appropriate support be given to the Care Action Team for their
planned visit to Denmark in 2004.

(c) Emily Joslin and Katie Tiller be thanked for their excellent
presentation.

85 CLIMBIÉ REPORT AND CHILDREN AT RISK

The Director of Social Services presented a report outlining the situation following the publication of Lord Laming's report into the death of Victoria Climbié (Item 7 in the Minute Book). He stressed that there was much activity underway in the field of children's service, in terms of policy development and service initiatives, both nationally and locally. It was important for Social Services and the County Council as a whole to seek to coordinate work with its key partners and stakeholders in order to maximise use of resources and ensure accessible services to all users and minimise the risk of such atrocities.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted and a further report on children at risk be presented to the Committee following the outcome of the Victoria Climbié Audit.

86 UPDATE ON MANAGEMENT ACTION PLANS TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE

The Director of Social Services presented a report updating Members on the Social Services Department's Action Plans to improve performance and advising of revised monitoring arrangements that had been put in place (Item 8 in the Minute Book). He highlighted the main issues and said that it was important for continuing internal scrutiny to ensure that targets were being met and issues identified that could improve performance. Members asked questions about the services and raised particular concern about the difficulties in obtaining information from the National Care Standards Commission about the number of single rooms available to purchase in Hampshire to test if government target was realistic locally. Until such information was received and analysed, there could be no significant improvement in the indicator.

RESOLVED:

That:-

(a) The report be noted and a further report be presented to the
Committee early in 2004 detailing the Social Service
Inspectorate's ranking of Hampshire's indicators and the star
rating awarded for 2002/03 performance.

(b) The National Care Standards Commission be requested to make
available information on the number of single rooms available for
purchase in Hampshire as a matter of urgency.

87 OUTCOME REPORT OF THE SENSORY SERVICES BEST VALUE REVIEW

The Chief Executive and Director of Social Services presented a report on
the Best Value Outcome of Sensory Services (Item 9 in the Minute Book)

RESOLVED

That:-

(a) The Outcome Report of the Best Value Review of Sensory
Services be agreed.

(b) The Executive Member be advised of the outcome of the review
and requested to implement the improvement plan.

(c) Arrangements be made for the Policy Review Committee to
receive an annual progress report until the improvement plan is
completed.

(d) A summary of the review be prepared in he standard format for
inclusion in the Best Value Performance Plan.

88 COMMITTEE'S WORK PROGRAMME

The Director of Social Services presented a report on the Committee's
forthcoming work programme (Item 10 in the Minute Book).

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted

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