Agenda and minutes

County Councillor declared a personal, non-prejudicial under the Members Code of Conduct as a Board Member of Monmouthshire Housing.

There were no members of the public present.

·         Special meeting – 1^st March 2016

·         Ordinary meeting – 8^th March 2016

The minutes of the Adults Select meeting held on 1^st March were agreed and signed as an accurate record and signed by the Chairman.

The minutes of the Adults Select meeting held on 8^th March were agreed and signed as an accurate record by the Chairman.

In doing so it was noted that there were repeated typographical errors in the spelling of Mrs Hudson’s name.  This has since been resolved through the Modern.Gov system.  It was also requested that care be taken not to confuse co-opted members with County Councillors.

We welcomed Miranda Thomson, Manager, Community Connections Befriending Scheme, who was in attendance to provide Adults Select Committee information on the service.

Community Connections Befriending Scheme is a lottery funded project to address social isolation and loneliness for older people across Monmouthshire.  It is a Bridges Community Centre project, an independent local charitable organisation based in Monmouth.  The scheme recruits volunteers and matches them up with people who are isolated, also supporting them to get out into the community.

The scheme had been running for and a half years and were coming to the end of the lottery grant, and were applying for further funding.

Members viewed a short film presentation and were invited to comment.

Member Scrutiny:

The Changing Practice, Changing Lives Lead added the outcomes of working with the Community Connections scheme had been so positive it was being recommended to roll-out to remaining Hubs so that the whole County would benefit from the positive approach.

An officer commented that for us as a Council, the benefits of the collaboration had provided The County that Serves team with an element of confidence in terms of the way we enable and support volunteers.

County Councillor P. Farley declared a personal, non-prejudicial interest as trustee of Chepstow Senior Citizens Welfare Trust.

Members commented that the scheme highlighted that there are many very vulnerable people in the County, and questioned if volunteers were aware of the background and needs of the vulnerable adults.  In response we heard that in terms of preparation volunteers received an induction, DBS check if working one to one with a vulnerable adult, needed to provide references, and received training.  The training had been approved by MCC officers.  The training and support would also be adopted by the upcoming car scheme.  Volunteers who drive as part of befriending would have to provide copies of their documents and would be given a template letter for insurers.  Occupational Therapists were on hand to provide advice with regards to getting in and out of vehicles, and how best to support people.

A Member suggested that where there was on to one care, two people may be beneficial to provide extra support.

A Member questioned what the outcome would be if the funding application was unsuccessful.  In response we heard that the scheme would not be able to continue in the same way, as the funding would employ staff and without project coordinators it would not be possible to meet and support the volunteers. The scheme was looking at how to support existing social groups should the funding not be granted, and if other agencies could adopt the one to one relationships.  It was hoped to receive funding through the Independent Care Fund.  It was noted that the application was for £250,000 funding, to cover a two year project, and would employ four members of staff.

A Member asked if there were other similar organisations across Wales and England, which we may be in contact with.  We heard that there was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Context:

We received a report from the Private Sector Housing Manager in order for Members to consider the proposed amendment to the common allocation policy between the Council and Monmouthshire, Melin and Charter Housing Associations.

Key Issues:

Although no longer owning any housing stock, the Council still retains a statutory responsibility for the strategic identification of housing need and leading on all local actions to effectively respond to this need. In this regard, the [Monmouthshire] Housing Register is still a legal responsibility of the Council.

Member Scrutiny:

A Member commented that agricultural work was more often done with machinery, and it was more the case that dairy farmers who would need housing closer to the farm, which may be the reason for less need to re-house agricultural workers today.

It was questioned if, in view of the fact, as the policy had been approved by the relevant local housing associations was any further input necessary.  The Chair advised that we were in receipt of the report for advisory purposes.

It was noted that the Committee were at a disadvantage as they had not received the appendices with agenda despatch.  The Committee agreed where further information was necessary the Chair would be addressed.

In response to a question raised we heard in terms of Syrian refugees MCC had been asked to identify a property for a family due to arrive in June or July.  MCC have agreed to house 20 families over 20 years.

A Member questioned how the high rent in the private sector could be addressed.  Officers explained that in the proposed changes to the allocation policy, where people were working but struggling it would be possible to claim discretionary housing payment, and move to band 3, medium housing need.  The Housing and Regeneration Manager added that part of the responsibility of the new Private Sector Housing team would be to get to a position to identify private housing for waiting list applicants as well as homeless applicants.

We heard that there would be a drop-in session on 10^th May 2016 where landlords would be invited to attend in order to meet the team and receive information regarding licensing requirements.

In response to a question regarding private rented properties we heard that it was difficult to say if there had been an increase or decrease but market rents seemed to continually increase, which proved a challenge for the team.  There was a continual battle to identify properties, and there was not enough to support our duties.

Officers explained that private rented landlords were encouraged to use our services rather than local agents by offering a wide range of complimentary services, such as individual experienced staff, a number of funding pots and housing support.  Officers were keen to develop new services as necessary.

With the introduction of licensing there may be an opportunity for MCC to deliver courses, but this had not been discussed as yet. This was currently provided through Rent Smart Wales as well as other providers.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

·         Scrutinising Changes to Community Services

·         Scrutinising Equalities and Human Rights Impact Assessments

Context:

We received a report from the Scrutiny Manager in order to consider the guidance for Scrutiny produced by the Older Person’s Commissioner in relation to Scrutinising Changes to Community Services and Scrutinising Equalities and Human Rights Impact Assessments.

Key Issues:

The Older Person’s Commissioner has written to local authorities to present the work that has been undertaken to produce guidance for Councils on how to scrutinise

Changes to Community Services and ‘Equalities and Human Rights Impact Assessments’.

The Commissioner recognises that challenging financial times will present difficult decisions for Councils as to how to provide quality locally accessible services to communities and has produced guidance for local government scrutineers to assist them in their consideration of key decisions and policy affecting older people. The guidance advocates the need for careful consideration of the implications of decisions in order to protect society’s most vulnerable people.

The guidance provides a useful outline for scrutineers in terms of how to apply the principles of the ‘Equalities and Human Rights Impact Assessments’ to decisions and                 policy affecting older people, given the increasing ageing population.

Scrutiny Members may wish to consider how they can embed such principles into their scrutiny approach; possibly through developing a questioning strategy to be applied to scrutiny of relevant subjects, or through considering the robustness of ‘Equalities and Human Rights Impact Assessments’ together with the validity of evidence provided in such assessments to support decision-making.

Member Scrutiny:

The Chair highlighted the opportunity not only to respond but the potential to kick-start and encourage, and suggested that Members should reflect on whether the questions posed make sense, and if the assessments made were fit for purpose.

Whilst the guidance may assume that all authorities have an Older Persons Strategy Coordinator, this is not necessarily the case.  Members expressed concern that without a dedicated post, there may be a reduced opportunity to ensure proper thought is given as to how policy and decisions affect older people. The Chair advised that the scrutiny process therefore needed to ensure that it championed the rights of older people in scrutinising decisions and policy.

The Scrutiny Manager explained that a future meeting of Strong Communities and Adults Select would address partnership discussions.  It was suggested that a future meeting be diarised to consider the role of the different partnerships and how they are coordinated.

The general conclusion was that assessments needed to be more robust and better scrutinised.  In terms of assessments, the Policy officer for Equality suggested that when considering decisions, scrutineers may wish to consider who the decision affects and the evidence that supports whether there ae positive or negative implications for older people.   Members could consider at which stage different groups and services users had been consulted.  There could also be more detailed questions regarding the aims of the proposal.  This would help to achieve more informed scrutiny.  The Scrutiny Manager would look to create a template and bring to a future meeting.

The Scrutiny Manager suggested that the Committee may in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

We received the future work programme for Adults Select Committee.  In doing so the following points were noted:

·         Special meeting to be held on Tuesday 17^th May 2016 at 10.00am to discuss Monmouthshire Carer Strategy. County Councillor R. Edwards provided apologies in advance.

·         Joint meeting to be led by Children and Young People Select to be held on Thursday 19^th May 2016 at 10.00am to for partnership scrutiny. County Councillor R. Edwards provided apologies in advance.