Agenda and minutes

          The Board received a report of the Strategic Director – Health and Community which outlined proposals for increasing fees and charges for Heath and Community Care Services.

          It was noted that the fees and charges for Social Care Services listed had been inflated by 2% for 2010 – 2011 for residential services and non-residential services where a standard charge was applied.

          Members were advised that fees and charges for Home Care, Daycare, and Direct Payments had been frozen. These charges were affected by the changes to the Fairer Charging for Non-residential Services Policy already agreed.

          With regard to direct payments, hourly rates have been uplifted by 2% in accordance with the approved inflation allowances allocated by the Council.  The Fees and Charges for Health and Community will be increased with effect from 12^th April 2010 to coincide with the date of the annual increase in benefit rates.

          RESOLVED: That the proposed changes in fees and charges outlined in the report be approved.

          The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Strategic Director, Health and Community which sought approval for the inflationary uplift of the Supporting People Contract for the financial year 2010/11.

          The suggested inflationary uplift for all Supporting People Contracts was 2% inflationary uplift.

          RESOLVED: That the proposed 2% Inflationary Uplift be approved.

          The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Strategic Director Health and Community which sought approval for the inflationary increases for the Adult Social Care Contract. The Council had approved a 2% Inflationary Uplift on Social Care Budgets for 2010-11, therefore it was proposed that contracts for the provision of domiciliary care, residential and nursing placements were awarded an equivalent inflationary uplift of 2%.

          With regard to Out of Borough Placements, it was proposed that the inflationary increase applied to Out of Borough Placements be decided on a case by case basis as follows:

-                  providers to be informed that inflationary increase would be subject to submission of a written requested to HBC Contracts Department within a specific timeframe; and

-                  any increase within the agreed HBC rate of 2% to be approved and applied.

          Any increase above 2% would be approved by a relevant Operational Director, based on the information submitted by the provider, confirmation of the host authority’s approved inflationary rate and the knowledge of the on-going need for the specific service.

          RESOLVED: That the Sub Committee approve in:-

(1)            an inflationary uplift for providers of Domiciliary, Residential and Nursing contracts of 2%, which is within the inflationary allowance allocated by the Council to Social Services for 2010/11; and

(2)      inflationary uplifts for out of borough placements on a case by case basis, limited to the 2% HBC inflationary increase or the prevailing Local Authority rate.

          The Sub-Committee was advised that the Halton Domestic Abuse Forum (HDAF) presently monitored the Halton Domestic Abuse Service through data provided by the Commissioning Service for Performance Management Framework. There was no access to real time live data and no audit process to check for reliability. A similar system existed for the data collection from the Independent Domestic Violence Advisor (IDVA).  The need had been identified for a more robust approach to performance management and data collection.

          It was reported that MODUS software, developed by Poloma Systems Limited, for use by local authority areas provided the HDAF with the ability to collate information collected around government crime reduction initiatives and was a Home Office endorsed tool. This software system was able to meet the local authority’s requirements in this area.

          It was noted that following Halton’s expression of interest a pan-Cheshire approach to MODUS adoption was identified as a cost-saving exercise that could lead to greater tracking ability of domestic abuse cases with the Cheshire Region. Cheshire East and West and Warrington areas had confirmed plans to purchase this software. As a result, Paloma Systems Limited had agreed that they would allow the significant service licence cost to be divided between all four areas which would offer Halton a cost saving of £3,750.

          Members were advised that during discussions around this initiative, a Government Grant had been awarded to the value of £14,500 to purchase MODUS Software.  This grant was allocated specifically to this purchase and required use by March 31^st 2010.

          RESOLVED: That

(1)            Paloma Systems Limited be appointed to provided MODUS Software and Support Services in the sum of £14,500 over the period March 2010 to March 2012; and

(2)      in light of the exceptional circumstances, namely compliance with Standing Orders is not practical due to the time and spend conditions of the Home Office Grant available and specialist software required, and in accordance with Procurement Standing Order 1.6, Procurement Standing Order 4.1 be waived on this occasion.

          In 2008, the Healthy Halton Policy and Performance Board reviewed Sensory Impairment Services including those provided by Vision Support. The review concluded that the service offered valuable support to visually impaired people through its base at the Independent Living Centre and through visiting people in their own homes.

          The 2008 Scrutiny Review also identified that NHS Halton and St. Helens fund Vision Support and recommended that “agreement be sought from NHS Halton and St. Helens for the Council to lead on Commissioning Services from Vision Support and a revised service specification incorporating both funding streams to be agreed.”

          The NHS Halton and St. Helens had now confirmed its level of funding for Vision Support and was in agreement that one joint contract be put in place and that the Council hold this contract.

          It was reported that the business case for the proposed contract extension was as follows:

(i)              the value of the proposed joint contract was small and would not make commercial sense to invite tenders as the cost would outweigh any potential saving; and

(ii)             in order to ensure transparency, it was proposed that the service would submit performance reports in accordance with the desired outcomes set by NHS Halton and St. Helens and the Council.

          Given the projected financial climate in the public sector and the need to ensure maximum flexibility for financial commitments, it was proposed to award a contract from April 2010 with the option to extend this annually for a period up to March 2013. The potential total cost of the contract at April 2009 prices was £128,094 split between the Council £76,890 and NHS Halton and St. Helens £51,204.

          RESOLVED: That the Operational Director, Health and Partnerships be authorised to award the contract for Visual Impairment Support Services to the Contractor Vision Support in the sum of £128,094 as outlined in the report; and that in light of the exceptional circumstances, namely that the current contract offers value for money and is performing well in meeting the needs of service users and in accordance with Procurement Standing Order 1.6: -

-                  Standing Orders 3.1 – 3.9 be waived on this occasion because Vision Support are the only established provider in Halton offering such services and in view of compliance with Standing Orders being inconsistent with Partnership Funding arrangements.

-                  The contract will be in the name of Halton Borough Council whilst the service specification will reflect the desired health and social care outcomes of both the local authority and NHS Halton and St. Helens.

          The Sub-Committee was provided with an update of changes to direct payments regulations and a report which sought approval for the changes to the draft Direct Payment Policy and Procedure for Adults Social Care. The Direct Payment Policy and Procedure had been amended to:

(i)              reflect the changes to extend direct payments to include people who lack the capacity to consent to the making of direct payments and to remove the exclusions that currently applied to people who were subject to various provisions of  mental health legislation; and

(ii)             reflect the guidance from the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) to give the person the option to pay their client contribution towards cost of support package via an invoice rather than paying the direct payment net if a suitable person was managing the direct payment.

          RESOLVED: That

(1) Members of the Sub-Committee approve the amendments to the Direct Payments Policy & Procedure in order to reflect:

-                  the changes introduced by the Department of Health extending the Direct Payments Scheme; and

-                  the recommendations from ADASS “Personalisation and the Law: Implementing Putting People First in the current legal framework.”

(2) the Strategic Director Health and Social Care in consultation with the relevant portfolio holder be given approval to amend the direct payment forms as appropriate.

          The Board received a report of the Strategic Director, Health and Community which sought approval for revised site charges for Riverview Gypsy site for the financial year 2010/11.

          The report set out the existing weekly charges levied for pitch rental and water/sewerage for 2009/10, and the proposed charges for 2010/11 which applied to a 48 week year, as set out as follows:

                              2009/2010    2010/2011      Difference                                          (proposed)                      

Pitch Rental             21@£48.99   21@£50.46   +3%

                                1@£57.16     1@£58.88

Water &                  23@£9.57     23@£11.17   +16.7%

Sewerage

          The Board was advised that the Council’s Inflation allowance for general income for the coming year was 2%. However, as last year an above inflation increase was proposed for the pitch rental in order to move towards a balanced budget for the scheme, and an increase of 3% (1% above the Council’s general inflation allowance) was therefore proposed.

          It was noted that regulations prohibited the re-sale of water at a profit and so the charge proposed for 2010/11 was based on actual costs incurred in 2009/10. Costs significantly increased in 2009/10 totalling £12,33.85 for the last four billing periods. Dividing this sum by the number of pitches and charging weeks produced a requirement for a weekly charge of £11.17. This was 16.7% higher than the current charge.

          RESOLVED: That the proposed 3% increase to pitch rental and 16.7% increase in water charges set out in the report be approved with effect from 5^th April 2010.

          The Sub-Committee received a report which sought approval to increase existing fees and charges in line with inflation for the following:

          Environmental Information, requests for information regarding potentially contaminated land, requests for environmental information, environmental health services charges,  hackney carriage and private hire charges, licence fees (other than hackney carriage and private hire charges), Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, Highways Act 1980, and miscellaneous.

          The Sub-Committee was advised that the increase in fees and charges also included a number of statutory fees that may increase during the coming financial year and Members were asked to agree to these increases as they occurred.

          RESOLVED: That the proposed fees and charges be agreed and referred to the relevant Policy and Performance Boards for information.

          The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Strategic Director, Corporate and Policy which requested Members to increase stall rent by 7% with a reduction to 2% for those agreeing to pay by direct debit or standing order. The proposed increase was in line with the predicted level of inflation, and was designed to encourage a safer and more efficient method of collection.

          It was noted that in 2009/10, due to the economic climate, the Council agreed to provide financial assistance to traders in the form of a discount which was in effect worth 12.5%. The decision proved to be worthwhile as the discount helped traders financially and stemmed the potential loss of many businesses from the market.

          However, for the forthcoming year the Council had some extremely difficult financial issues to manage, and in normal circumstances may have looked to recover a substantial amount of the discounted rent. Nevertheless, it was acknowledged that trading conditions had not improved sufficiently to consider this option.

          RESOLVED: That an initial 7% increase for 2010/11 with the proviso that the increase would be reduced to 2% if payments were made by direct debit be agreed.

The Board considered:

(1)      whether Members of the press and public should be excluded from the meeting of the Board during consideration of the following item of business in accordance with Sub-Section 4 of Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 because it was likely that, in view of the nature of the business to be considered, exempt information would be disclosed, being information defined in Section 100 (1) and paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972; and

(2)      whether the disclosure of information was in the public interest, whether any relevant exemptions were applicable and whether, when applying the public interest test and exemptions, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed that in disclosing the information.

          RESOLVED: That as, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, members of the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business in accordance with Sub-Section 4 of Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 because it is likely that, in view of the nature of the business, exempt information will be disclosed, being information defined in Section 100 (1) and paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

          The Sub-Committee considered a report which outlined the Open Tender Process carried out to secure the provision of a Minor Adaptation Service in Halton. The service would include the provision of services for Older People and Disabled People including the carrying out of minor adaptations to service user homes and grounds to ensure they are safe.

          The budget for the Minor Adaptation Service was £70,000 per annum.

          RESOLVED: That agreement is given for the award of contract in the sum of £140,000 (Parts and Labour) for the whole life of the two year contract to Helena Partnerships.

MINUTES ISSUED: 25^th March 2010

CALL IN:  6^th April 2010

Any matter decided by the Executive Board Sub Committee may be called in no later than 6^th April 2010.