Agenda item

Context:

We received a report from the Lead Commissioner QA & Supporting People in order to make members aware of the conclusions and recommendations made by Welsh Government following their audit of Monmouthshire’s (MCC) Supporting People (SP) provision, and to provide assurance that appropriate actions are in hand to address issues as appropriate.

Key Issues:

Welsh Government conducted an audit of MCC’s SP programme in November, 2016.  This was based on the Supporting People Programme Grant (SPPG) as delivered in 2014/15. 

The audit’s overall conclusion was that it could only be partially concluded that MCC’s SPPG was being spent for the purposes for which it is intended. There were concerns that insufficient resources were being applied to the management and commissioning of SP services.  The audit also concluded that the SP services were being adequately managed given the resources available.

The draft report was forwarded to MCC on 23^rd December 2015, with a requirement to respond by 8^th January, 2016. 

Member Scrutiny:

The Chair advised the Committee that a more comprehensive item on Supporting People had been scheduled but it had not been possible to provide the report.  Therefore, the report today was to be considered as an interim report, and a fuller report would be received at a future date.

Following the presentation of the report Members were invited to comment.

A Member questioned if meetings had been held with providers since the issuing of the report.  In response we heard the report had only recently been received and a meeting would be planned.  On the Social; Care and Health side a self-assessment document was being developed in oorder to provide a quick picture.  SP processes were to be brought in line with Social Care and Health.

Members asked for further information regarding the information given surrounding the lack of funding for admin staff.  We were informed that we were given around £2 million SP grant and were not allowed to use any of that for administration purposes.  This must come from our own budget.

A Member referred to paragraph 2.4 stating ‘The Review Team found the information viewed was of an acceptable standard, however, intelligence and monitoring relating to services was not saved centrally. This could impact should there be an issue with staff due to sickness. Overall the Review Team were able to conclude the Supporting People services are being adequately managed given the team resources available.’  Clarification was sought regarding the number of FTE staff.  It was confirmed that the staff had reduced from 3.5 FTE to 1.5 FTE.

To clarify further the Head of Adult Services explained that with regards to the issue of resources, it could be considered that there was a mismatch across all areas and could always argue for more resources.  It was important to identify what we could develop differently and what resources are required, within the constrictions of the budget.

In response to a request for information we heard that the total grant received for Supporting People was £2,034,000.  It was questioned if the Council was applying the earmarked funds correctly.

Recommendations:

Members were recommended to consider the recommendations and the outline management responses, appreciating that the audit and its recommendations are very recent and the actions proposed are very much ‘work in hand’.