Agenda and minutes

County Councillor B Dawson replaced Councillor M Parkinson and County Councillor D Westley replaced Councillor G Wilkins for this meeting.

A minute silence was observed by the Committee for Jo Cox MP.

None were received.

Members are asked to consider any Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests they may have to disclose to the meeting in relation to matters under consideration on the Agenda.

None were disclosed

To note the appointment by Full Council on 26 May 2016 of County Councillor Bill Winlow as Chair of the Committee and County Councillor Alyson Barnes as Deputy Chair for the following municipal year.

Resolved: That the appointment of County Councillor Bill Winlow as Chair of the Committee and County Councillor Alyson Barnes as Deputy Chair of the Committee for the following municipal year be noted.

Resolved: That the Constitution, Membership and Terms of Reference for the Committee be noted.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 13 May 2016 at 10:00am be confirmed and signed by the Chair.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 13 May 2016 at 12:00pm be confirmed and signed by the Chair.

A presentation to provide the Committee with an overview of how the role and remit of Newton's is contributing to the transformation of the design and delivery of services which will result in improved outcomes for adults.

The Chair welcomed Tony Pounder, Director of Adult Services; Cath Whalley, Head of Service Social Care Services; Linda Garnsey, Operations Manager, Support Planning and Review; Rachel Meadows, Operational Manager East AIA; and Stephen Knight, Newton Europe, to the meeting.

The Committee was provided with a presentation on an overview of how the role and remit of Newton Europe was contributing to the transformation of the design and delivery of services which would result in improved outcomes for adults.

Newton Europe had provided technical support to Adult Services as well as guidance and input into a major change programme. The programme was called Passport to Independence. What was important to note was that this built on the knowledge, skills and values of the existing managers and leaders in the organisation and staff on the front line. 

Adult Services had secured technical knowledge from Newton Europe that it felt it needed to better organise some of the processes, practices and systems. The overall approach for this was in three stages:

·  Assessment – identifying where the biggest opportunities for improvement were. It was noted that Adult Services was not making the best use of practitioners' time.

·  Design – what were the solutions and how do we know they work. Stage 2 had begun in February 2016 and would end in August 2016.

·  Implementation – rolling out that supported practice transformation across the county, locality by locality. The implementation stage would take 12 – 14 months.

Adult Services staff were playing a central role in driving this forward. A massive part of the work was understanding what needed to be changed and this was where support from Newton Europe was essential.

In terms of the improvement approach the programme covered Older People (OP), Physical Disabilities (PD), Learning Disabilities (LD) and Mental Health (MH).

By ensuring citizens and their families were at the centre of social care services in Lancashire, Adult Services would empower and equip staff and citizens with the information and tools so they were able to work together to achieve the desired outcomes, whilst promoting independence and wellbeing.

Questions and Comments by the Committee in relation to the report were as follows:

·  Members were pleased to see a transformation taking place.

·  The Committee wanted some reassurances regarding occupational therapists. It was informed that 17 occupational therapists were currently employed but Adult Services had recently appointed a further 20 . This would enable concerns about the length of waiting times to be addressed.

·  Another appointment had been made to improve relationships with the Acute Hospitals Trust

·  The Committee felt it was vital for LCC and the Acute Trusts to start working together as a joined up service regarding the rehab and respite of elderly people. It was informed that the Adult Services Team was currently in the process of meeting with colleagues.

·   Regarding assessment capability, Members were informed in terms of integrated working there were practitioners in hospitals, social workers, and discharge coordinators who were traditionally nurses employed by the NHS. They  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

A presentation to provide the Committee with a progress update on the Strategic Economic Plan including key initiatives and programmes.

The Chair welcomed Martin Kelly, Director of Economic Development, to the table. A presentation was given providing the Committee with a progress update on the Strategic Economic Plan including key initiatives and programmes.

The Committee was informed that the LEP had been running properly for 4 years. The LEP had developed an investment growth programme valued at nearly £1 Billion. There were 50 major initiatives planned/underway across all parts of Lancashire with key programmes delivering ahead of schedule and exceeding delivery targets. Government had a positive view of the LEP's overall performance. The LEP recognised the need to raise its profile and strengthen communications with local stakeholders. The LEP welcomed the opportunity to work with local authorities on developing the Combined Authority and Devolution Deal proposals. It viewed the Northern Powerhouse as a positive framework that enabled Lancashire to position its economic strengths and forge stronger cross-boundary linkages.

Lancashire's LEP was the only one in the country with 4 Enterprise Zones. The LEP's Enterprise Zone programme had the potential to create 10,000 new jobs with an investor offer of Northern Powerhouse significance.

The LEP had a £20 Million Growing Places loan fund which was on its 9^th commercial investment with £1 Million committed to secure 450 new jobs with a global investor expanding in Preston. Growing Places continued to welcome commercially focused investment proposals from public and private sector partners.

City Deal was the best performing City Deal in the country. All first year targets of the £450 Million City deal programme had been delivered in 2015/16.

Regarding the Growth Deal, Lancashire was one of the few LEPs in the country with a 6 year allocation worth around £230 Million. Lancashire was on track after year 1.

Transport for Lancashire was doing good work around strategic transport which helped make better sense of what was happening across Lancashire.

On the subject of Business Growth and Innovation, the first phase of Boost was completed in September 2015, with 3,000 SMEs engaged and 1,000 businesses improved across the Lancashire sub-region, with 1,200 new jobs created. Boost 2 was underway and the County Council was powering much of this.

A lot of work was underway in Skills for Growth in terms of the adult workforce and how to make it more productive.

The Government had agreed the European Strategic Investment Funding (ESIF) operational programme for England in June 2015. The LEP had successfully secured a 100% improvement in Lancashire's Assisted Area coverage. £188 Million had been allocated to Lancashire's ESIF programme.

Regarding Strategic Marketing and Communications, Members were informed there was exciting work in the autumn concerning the LEPs and how Lancashire presented itself to the external world.

Northern Powerhouse (NP) started off as a proposal from the Chancellor in 2014. NP aimed to close the North of England's performance gaps and rebalance the UK economy. It was still early days but the NP approach was ultimately to be underpinned by 11 Combined Authorities and 11 LEPs working with the Government to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

An item of urgent business may only be considered under this heading where, by reason of special circumstances to be recorded in the Minutes, the Chair of the meeting is of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency. Wherever possible, the Chief Executive should be given advance warning of any Member's intention to raise a matter under this heading.

There were no items of Urgent Business

The next meeting of the Scrutiny Committee will be held on Friday 22 July at 10:00am at the County Hall, Preston.

The next meeting of the Scrutiny Committee will take place on Friday 22^nd July 2016 at 10.00 in Cabinet Room B (The Diamond Jubilee Room) at the County Hall, Preston.