Agenda item

The Board received a presentation from the Divisional Manager, Personalisation which outlined the progress to date in the implementation of Personalisation.

Members were advised that the Government approach to personalisation could be summarised as “the way in which services were tailored to the needs and preferences of citizens.  The overall vision was that the state should empower citizens to shape their own lives and the services they receive”.  This approach was one element of a wider cross-government strategy on independent living, due for publication early in 2009.

It was noted that the Government was clear that everyone who received social care support in any setting, regardless of their level of need, would have choice and control over how this support was delivered. The intention was that people would be able to live their own lives as they wish, confident that services were of high quality, were safe and promote their own individual requirements for independence, well-being and dignity.

Members were advised that this meant a common assessment of individual social care needs, emphasising the importance of self-assessment.  The role of social workers would focus on advocacy and brokerage rather than assessment and gate keeping.  This move was from the model of care, where the individual received the care determined by a professional, to one that had person-centred planning at its heart, with the individual firmly at the centre in identifying what was personally important to deliver their outcomes.

It was noted that at the core of self-directed services was a change in process that intended to give those people involved new incentives and power to shape services and get better value for money.

The Board was advised on progress to date, in particular that the Government had provided a Social Care Reform Grant to support the implementation of Personalisation.  A Divisional Manager – Personalisation had been appointed and the Directorate had commissioned external support (including the Personal Social Services Research Unit) to develop the work.

In addition the work on finance was only at a preliminary stage and would require close working with the Corporate Financial Services Team. 

In order to facilitate the changes a project implementation document had been developed which proposed the project management structure. A “Transforming Adult Social Care Change Board” (TASC) would be established to oversee the Strategic planning and implementation of personalisation in Adult Social Care.

The Board also noted that there were new targets that would accompany the Government’s directives, but there was a clear expectation that by March 2011 significant change would have taken place.

It was further advised that CSCI were already tracking progress on implementation. The National Indicator Set, had a new Performance Indicator for (2009/10), which was defined as the number of adults, older people and carers receiving self-directed support in the year to 31st March as a percentage of clients receiving community based services and carers receiving carer specific services. Halton would be targeting 30% of service users and carers.

Members were offered a half day seminar to look at personalisation in more depth and it was agreed that this would be useful for all Members of the Council.

RESOLVED: That

(1)       the report be noted; and

(2)       all Members of the Council be invited to the seminar on Personalisation.