Agenda, decisions and minutes

Members are asked to declare any interest and the nature of that interest which they may have in any of the items under consideration at this meeting.

There were none.

To receive notification of requests from members of the public to address the meeting on an item on the public part of the agenda.

There were none.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 21 June 2022.

RESOLVED: that the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee agreed the minutes of the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on 21 June 2022.

RESOLVED: that the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee agreed the minutes of the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on 21 June 2022.

To receive any communications from the Chair.

The Chair made the following points:

·         The recommendations identified by the Committee at its last meeting on children’s services performance and on the renal services dialysis unit at Riverside House, Northampton were presented to the Cabinet meeting on 13 September 2022 and were agreed.

·         The conclusions resulting from the workshop session on the Draft Housing Strategy held by the Committee on 9 August 2022 were presented to the Cabinet meeting on 23 September 2022 and were partly agreed.

·         It was proposed to hold an additional Committee meeting on 21 November 2022 to scrutinise Special Educational Needs and Disability provision.  This would take into account that the Committee had lost a meeting in September 2022.

·         Committee members had been contacted about contributing to corporate work on the Council’s future approach to commissioning voluntary sector organisations.  Four members ideally representing a spread of geographic areas were invited to join a group that would help to formulate policy proposals.  Councillors Sharps, Duffy and Herring were willing to participate.  Councillor Chowdhury also expressed an interest in doing so. 

·         The tour of Northamptonshire Partnership Homes (NPH) properties requested by the Committee took place on 16 September 2022 but was not well attended, which was disappointing as the tour had been very informative.  Discussion during the tour had identified a potential area for scrutiny relating to customer contact arrangements for housing repairs.

To consider the latest position with regard to posts supporting the delivery of statutory adult social care services, including use of Workforce Recruitment and Retention Funding.

RESOLVED: that the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

a)    Requested to receive West Northamptonshire data from the Skills for Care data set.

b)    Recommended that West Northamptonshire Council consider the potential to include a hero scheme in the promotion of opportunities in social care.  

c)    Recommended that West Northamptonshire Council consider the potential to do more promotion of opportunities in social care with BAME communities and young people, working with relevant community groups.

The Assistant Director Commissioning and Performance introduced the report and gave an overview of the use of Workforce Recruitment and Retention Funding (WRRF) Scheme funding by West Northamptonshire Council (WNC).  The Committee was advised that in winter 2021/22 there had been significant pressures on staffing in the sector, including an average of 2,400 unmet home care hours, compared to 735 in October 2022.  The WRRF Scheme had helped to address this situation in West Northamptonshire, had made staff feel valued, and had been recognised by Unison as best practice use of funding.  WNC had sought to use WRRF funding in a meaningful way rather than just passing it on to providers.     

The WRRF Scheme was only open to those who were delivering Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulated activity, as this was the key area of pressure, and staff members had to meet other qualifying criteria.  Bonus payments were made on a pro rata basis linked to a staff member’s average working hours over a 9 week period, to take into account employers using zero hours contracts.  The WRRF Scheme generated 383 new recruits; 4,830 existing staff received the bonus payment; hard work had resulted in 88% of providers signing up; and £3m had been distributed to carers in West Northamptonshire.

Areas for improvement had been identified.  The implementation of the Scheme caused upset for staff who worked for regulated care providers but who did not deliver CQC regulated activity: some settings such as day care centres do not deliver CQC regulated activity.  Communication could have been better with providers and staff.  Some providers were slow to complete payment applications, although WNC ensured that no staff lost out because of this.  The Scheme had initially operated on a countywide basis but North Northamptonshire Council had changed its criteria mid-way through its duration.  WNC had also ensured that this change did not adversely affect any staff.  The WRRF Scheme was now closed and further government funding was not expected.      

The Committee considered the overview and members raised the following points during the course of discussion:

·         Did the number of late applications reflect that the administration of the WRRF Scheme was too onerous for some care providers?

·         Did any other council find a way of increasing the percentage of providers who signed up for the Scheme above that achieved in Northamptonshire?

·         The £600 bonus had made a real difference to staff.  The Scheme was a good one.

·         WNC had taken a diligent approach to the Scheme and credit was due for what had been achieved.

·         Was it known if the 383 new recruits generated by the Scheme had been retained? 

The Assistant Director Commissioning and Performance responded to points raised by members during the course of discussion as follows:

·         Regulated care providers had to comply with extensive tracking and reporting requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The WRRF Scheme could have seemed like an additional demand, particularly given the need to calculate the average hours for staff on zero hours contracts.  However, WNC had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 72.

To consider an overview of the transformation project for the Housing Solutions function and help to inform its approach.

RESOLVED: that the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

a)    Endorsed the direction being taken on the Homelessness and Housing Solutions Transformation Project.

b)    Agreed that the Chair would ask the Co-ordinating Overview and Scrutiny Group to consider arrangements for future scrutiny of the new Houses in Multiple Occupation Policy being developed by the Planning Policy Committee.

c)    Agreed to maintain oversight of the position in West Northamptonshire regarding the provision of housing support for people coming into the authority as refugees.

The Assistant Director Housing and Communities introduced the report and referred to the importance of good quality housing in supporting health and wellbeing.  WNC sought to provide a housing options service based on the principles of prevention and early intervention.  The service had previously been delivered by three different councils but now needed to be aggregated.  A transformation project was therefore being progressed.

The Transformation Delivery Manager outlined the two year timeline for the transformation project and the transformation approach, including engagement with relevant staff members.  There were 7 work packages focussing on key themes, which had been ranked in order of priority.  Next steps at this point were focussed on staff workshops for the temporary accommodation work package.  The full business case for the service transformation was due to be presented to the Transformation Board in December 2022 and a further staff survey to provide a sense check of the progress being made would be carried out in January 2023. 

The Committee considered the future provision of the housing options service, whilst members also referred to more general matters relating to housing. Committee members raised the following points during the course of discussion:

·         It was hoped that service integration would not take a levelling down approach.  Housing options was a specialist function and it would also be important to retain local knowledge.

·         How was the development of IT services needed to support the housing options service being managed?

·         How many people were currently in temporary accommodation in West Northamptonshire, including refugees from Afghanistan and Ukraine?

·         Was funding for accommodating refugees adequate?

·         Could action be taken to raise awareness of the StreetLink system amongst all councillors?

·         Was there a plan to apply the ‘Everyone In’ approach to rough sleeping again this winter? 

·         Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) had not been discussed – low quality HMOs had a big impact on health and wellbeing.

The Assistant Director Housing and Communities responded to points raised by members during the course of discussion as follows:

·         The development of IT services was being phased.  The first step would be to get all three locality teams operating on the same system.  Further time was then needed to identify the most cost-effective system to adopt for the long term.

·         There were currently just over 500 people in temporary accommodation in West Northamptonshire.  This did not include people from Afghanistan and Ukraine.  People from Afghanistan requiring resettlement were currently in two bridging hotels procured by the Home Office.  WNC received funding to provide wrap-around support to them.  WNC had agreed to provide permanent resettlement for 10 households.  This had been secured for one so far.  Flexibility around the use of funding would assist in this area.

·         The resettlement scheme was well funded.  There was not a concern about recruiting new sponsors for people from Ukraine. The resettlement team was aware of potential sponsors and WNC needed to check their properties before matching them up.  There was a need for dedicated housing options officers who were native speakers.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 73.

To review and note the Committee Work Programme.

RESOLVED: that the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

a)    Agreed to hold an additional meeting on 21 November 2022 to discuss Special Educational Needs and Disability provision in West Northamptonshire.

b)    Requested to receive further information on planned corporate work on the operating arrangements between West Northamptonshire Council and Northamptonshire Partnership Homes, to inform consideration of possible scrutiny of how tenants report repairs.

c)    Agreed the following proposed items of business for the Committee meeting on 8 December 2022:

·         Housing Allocation Policy

·         Sports and leisure needs assessment

·         Draft report of the scrutiny review of child and adolescent mental health and the risk of self-harm

d)    Agreed that the Department for Education Regional Director be invited to attend the Committee meeting on 21 February 2023 to discuss academy school performance in West Northamptonshire.

The Chair introduced the report and gave further information about the potential topic for scrutiny arising from the NPH property tour referred to earlier in the meeting.  NPH tenants currently needed to contact the WNC Customer Contact Centre about property repairs rather than dealing with NPH directly.  This could cause issues if it meant that problems were not understood and prioritised for repair well enough.  The Chair had spoken to the portfolio holders responsible for housing and customer services about the potential for scrutiny of this area. 

The Assistant Director Housing and Communities advised that work would be done to refresh the governance arrangements for NPH and proposals resulting from this were likely to be presented to the Cabinet in the New Year.  The governance arrangements needed to reflect WNC’s and NPH’s respective roles as landlord and managing agent.  This was a complex area and it was important that any changes made should not have unintended consequences.  Committee members highlighted that it would be helpful to have further information on the forthcoming work so that this could be taken into account when considering the potential for scrutiny.    

The Committee went on to consider the overall work programme and prospective business for the Committee meeting on 8 December 2022.  The Committee was also advised of further communication with the office of the Department for Education Regional Director, which had resulted in a proposal that the Regional Director could attend the Committee meeting in February 2023 to discuss academy school performance in the authority.

RESOLVED: that the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

a) Agreed to hold an additional meeting on 21 November 2022 to discuss Special Educational Needs and Disability provision in West Northamptonshire.

b) Requested to receive further information on planned corporate work on the operating arrangements between West Northamptonshire Council and Northamptonshire Partnership Homes, to inform consideration of possible scrutiny of how tenants report repairs.

c) Agreed the following proposed items of business for the Committee meeting on 8 December 2022:

• Housing Allocation Policy

• Sports and leisure needs assessment

• Draft report of the scrutiny review of child and adolescent mental health and the risk of self-harm

d) Agreed that the Department for Education Regional Director be invited to attend the Committee meeting on 21 February 2023 to discuss academy school performance in West Northamptonshire

The Chair to advise whether they have agreed to any items of urgent business being admitted to the agenda.

There were no items of urgent business.