1. 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 the 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 was discussed.

No declarations of interest were received.

2. MINUTES

The Minutes of the Adult Social Care Policy Review Committee held on 27 September 2006 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

3. HEALTH AND WELLBEING

The Director of Adult Services gave a presentation on progress with the Health and Wellbeing Review. She explained the definition of wellbeing which incorporated basic health, physical, social, emotional and intellectual needs. The key themes of recent policy including those proposed in the recent Local Government White Paper `Strong and Prosperous Communities' were:

· Promoting social inclusion and well-being

· Developing sustainable, preventative services

· Marshalling of resources across local authorities, NHS and other agencies to address well-being

· Developing local leadership and enabling co-operation across statutory agencies

· Aligning commissioning, performance, and inspection mechanisms

· Empowering citizens to have greater influence over services

The key mechanisms for dealing with these were a health and wellbeing partnership involving strategic needs assessment and local area agreements, aligned performance and inspection, joint commissioning framework and community involvement. The implications for Adult Services were:

· Financial recovery - modernising services & improving commissioning

· Developing meaningful partnerships with NHS

· User and carer involvement

· Influencing the LAA

· Engaging the voluntary sector

She said that she saw the role of the Committee as exploring cross-cutting themes, scrutinising progress on integration, challenging other departments and agencies and engaging with stakeholders.

She said that the voluntary sector (third sector) were often better placed to deliver services and Members were keen to see how this could be achieved. It was mentioned that all local authorities grant aided the voluntary sector and that it would be useful to know what support other authorities gave. It was agreed that the Director of Adult Services should give a further update on progress with health and well being at a future meeting.

4. CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

(a) Welcome

The Chairman welcomed Philippa Smart

(Scrutiny Officer) and Jennifer Watts (Solicitor) to the

meeting.

(b) Dignity in Care

The Chairman drew Members' attention to the

Department of Health publication `Dignity in Care'

which had been circulated. He asked Members to

contact the Scrutiny Officer if they required any

further information.

(c) Care at the End of Life

The Chairman said that the joint review on

Care at the End of life was progressing well and the

outcome would be formally reported back to the Health

Overview and Scrutiny Committee in January 2007.

5. ITEMS TO INFORM THE SCRUTINY PROGRAMME

The Chief Executive presented a report giving details of the role of the Committee and alerting members to a range of relevant issues that relate to the how effectively the policies, services and decisions of the County Council support safe, well, independent and continuously developing adults and older people and the services it delivers ( Item 4 in the Minute book) He highlighted the implications of the Government White Paper `Strong and Prosperous Communities' on Health and Wellbeing, the Options for Excellence - Building the Social Care Workforce for the Future and the Mental Capacity Act 2005. He also gave details of the feedback from the Committee's briefing meeting.

Members highlighted various options for consideration which included:

· How is the County Council preparing for an ageing population as regards health and wellbeing.

· Access to Mental Health Services

· Making best use of the voluntary sector in public service

· The use of resources to support the recruitment and retention of the social care workforce

· Alcohol abuse

· Care pathways and how individuals move through the system with particular emphasis on transition from hospital to home and people slipping through the system(look at the possibility joint review with the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee).

· Residential care - the take up of nursing care beds in the new County Council residential homes

It was agreed that the officers should provide information on these topics to the next meeting of the Committee to enable a scrutiny review programme to be identified.

Action:

Director of Adult Services to present an update at a future meeting.

Members to advise Scrutiny Officer if further information required.

Scrutiny Officer to assemble information on each topic for presentation to the next meeting.