6. 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.

Councillors Mrs. J A Porter and Mrs. A. M.

McNair Scott declared personal interests regarding making the best use of the voluntary sector in public services

Councillor Mrs Porter is Chairman of the Winchester Development Youth Work Project and Councillor Mrs McNair Scott is a trustee of the Bobby Trust

7. MINUTES

The Minutes of the Committee held on 22 November 2006 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Arising thereon:

(a) Minute No. 4(c) - Care at the End of Life

The Chairman reported that the Care at the End of Life Review Panel would be reporting its findings to the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 30 January 2007.

8. CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

There were no Chairman's communications.

9. ADULT SERVICE PERFORMANCE 2005-06

The Director of Adult Services presented a report on the

performance star rating and judgement for the Adult Services

Department (Item 4 in the Minute Book). The judgement for

Social Care Services for Adults was serving most people well

with promising capacity for improvement and the Adult

Social Care Rating was 2. The Department had performed

`very good'(the highest) or `good' level on 16 of the

indicators and `acceptable' against 11 indicators. Performance

against 3 of the indicators was questionable, these relating to

unit costs of care which are known to be more expensive in

southeast England and the ethnicity of older people receiving

needs assessment. Action was being taken to improve on these

areas. She outlined the areas requiring improvement and the

action being taken to achieve this.

The Committee congratulated the Director on the star rating

achieved and requested, for future reports, some

benchmarking of indicators against previous years and other

authorities. An update on the progress being on the action to

achieve improvements was sought in six months time.

RESOLVED:

That the Director of Adult Services presents an update on

Progress being made on action to achieve improvements to

the meeting of the Committee on 4 July 2007.

10. SCRUTINY INFORMATION ITEMS

The Chief Executive presented a report providing a briefing

on the topics highlighted by the Committee for possible future

scrutiny ( Item 5 in the Minute Book). The topics previously

highlighted were:

How the County Council is preparing for an aging population

as regards health and wellbeing.

Access to Mental Health Services with particular reference to alcoholism.

Making the best use of the voluntary sector in public service.

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

Care pathways and how individuals move through the system with particular emphasis on transition to home and people slipping through the system.

Residential Care - the take up of nursing beds in the new enhanced nursing homes.

After consideration of each of the issues it was agreed that, initially, making the best use of the voluntary sector in public service and access to Mental Health Services with particular reference to alcoholism should be given further consideration, to that end members requested a half-day briefing session on both issues prior to making a decision on possible scrutiny of these issues.

RESOLVED:

That the Chief Executive makes arrangements for two half day briefing sessions for all members of the Committee on making the best use of the voluntary sector in public service and access to Mental Health Services with particular reference to alcoholism

11. ADDITIONAL ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION

The Chief Executive presented a report informing Members of

different aspects of national developments impacting on the

Safe and Healthy People agenda of safety and wellbeing (Item

6 in the Minute Book) the key areas covered were:

Home Office communication about the success of the

National Drug Strategy

National Community Safety Plan update - November 2006

Hampshire Police Authority reduction in the share of the grant for neighbourhood policing.

Police and Justice Act 2006 - including Community Call for Action

Local Government White Paper - Community Call for Action

Local Involvement Networks (LINks)

Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006

The Committee noted the issues raised in each of these topics.

Members also requested information on how the County Treasurer carried out financial assessments for Direct Payments and sought a representative of the County Treasurer to explain how this was carried out at the next meeting of the Committee.

RESOLVED:

That the County Treasurer be requested to attend the next meeting of the Committee to explain how financial assessments for Direct Payments were carried out.

The Director of Adult Services presents a further report to the Committee on 4 July 2007 giving an update on progress made and future reports contain benchmarking of indicators against previous years and other authorities.

Chief Executive to arrange half day briefing sessions on making the best use of the voluntary sector in public service and access to Mental Health Services with particular reference to alcoholism

County Treasurer to attend the next meeting of the Committee to explain how financial assessments for Direct Payments are carried out.