Public Shared Lives Plus board minutes & quarterly update

March8th 11-3 2016 Liverpool.

Summary of actions

Action / Who
Produce a report broken down by nations on membership figures and growth for next meeting / SB
Links to media coverage put on the website in the news centre / TM
Check with MG if schemes’ equality data available via CQC / AF
Draft short note on each funded project / SB
Investment in Scotland of up to £25k from reserves for development / AM
Explore nation-specific membership advice/ support such as legal advice / SB
Re invigorate Wales committee / MT, new posts
Consider investment in NI infrastructure pending Lottery decision / Board
Recruit equalities champion trustee / LH, SB
Organise another meeting for independent Shared Lives schemes / AM
Provide breakdown from recruitment equalities monitoring forms / LH
2% staff wages uplift from April 1st 1 2016 / SB
Seek external HR input on proposed JDs and feed back to finance committee via AF / LH
Internal interviews for new roles subject to external advice / AF, RJ, IC
Develop paper on membership for schemes / AF
Develop consultancy offers / AF, AM, SB
Cost the impact of discounting scheme membership for those schemes which have a 100% Shared Lives carer membership policy. / SB
Produce illustration of where membership fees are spent for members / SB
Update board on outcome of LH’s Administration team review / AF
Discuss updated 5 year budget / SB & Finance Comm.
Brief managers team and bring finalised Ops plan to next board / AM
  1. Welcome and apologies:
  2. Present: Martin Ewing – elected Shared Lives board member (ME); Ian Coleman – Treasurer (IC); Andy Harvey – Equalities and Vice Chair (AH); Anne Marie McMenamin – N. Ireland (AMM); Phil Mayne (PM) – Shared Lives carer; Martin Thomas (MT) – Wales; Mary Clewley – Scotland (MC);Richard Jones – Co-opted Chair (RJ); Claire Morphet – England (CM).
  3. Apologies: Anna McEwen (AM) – Director Support and Development; Jane Hutchinson – Shared Lives carer (JH);
  4. In Attendance: Alex Fox (AF) – CEO Shared Lives Plus; Sean Barrett (SB) – Finance Manager; Other initials/abbreviations used: Tim Moore (TM) – Communications; Lynne Harrison (LH) – Office Manager; Mark Gallagher (MG) – Senior Support and Quality Officer.

1.4.Register of interests circulated. There were no new interests registered.

  1. Minutes of the last meeting and matters arising
  2. Minutes of last meeting were accepted as accurate.
  3. Sean will produce a report broken down by nations on membership figures and growth for next meeting based on the complete 2015-16 year.
  4. Tim has prepared a marketing strategy and we are joined by a temporary colleague who will focus on marketing to Shared Lives carer members.
  5. AF to check if links to media coverage are on the website in the news centre.
  6. The team has started early planning for the next conference, seeking venues in Bristol and will promote the Shared Lives carer session at next conference.
  7. Chairs of Shared Lives Plus and Community Catalysts have continued the discussion around the future joint working arrangements as Shared Lives Plus develops a Shared Lives consultancy offer.
  1. Report on progress against the organisation’s Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) were presented and discussed.
  2. We have been successful with the NHSE bid with a large development programme for health development in England which has commenced with the first two posts advertised, pending a public launch.
  3. The Dunhill and DH bids were both successful and together fund a project to develop Shared Lives as intermediate and home from hospital care.
  4. We are recruiting for two older people focused development posts withWales Government funding.
  1. National committees and devolved nations update.
  2. Scotland: MC felt that the understanding of the model and work was much lower in Scotland than other nations. Investment is needed and the members’ committee needs lots of support. We were unsuccessful with Scotland Government for funding. The board approved a drawdown of UR reserves (currently standing at £234k) to a limit of £25k during 2016/17 for continued investment in developing relationships and funding in Scotland. Our State of Sector report has generated new interest and there is development ongoing, supported by Roseanne Fearon’s valued work. There is a need to gather reliable sector figures for Scotland. SB will liaise with relevant colleagues (including Tim Moore, communications) and committees about developing nation-specific membership offers, such as specific legal advice.
  3. Wales: MT will join Elaine Moore and AM on the interview panel for the two new posts. The committee is not currently meeting and lacks a Chair. The new post holders will need to address this. There is a significant social care legislative change being implemented in April which the team will need to work on. The State of Nation report was well received by the Minister Mark Drakeford.
  4. Northern Ireland: Mark Gallagher will be attending the NI committee. A key issue is consistency of practice, which the group believes should start with government and therefore strategic work is needed. There is not yet diversification away from the learning disability sector. We await the decision on funding for a part time Development Officer. The board may need to consider investment from reserves if this is not successful. We need to develop a baseline picture of Shared Lives statistics.
  5. England: The committee elected Andy Harvey as their chair, creating a vacancy for the Equalities Champion. The committee would like another third sector scheme meeting (AM to action).
  1. Planning
  2. Equality and Diversity Action Plan update. The inauguralEqualities Network group will meet at the Race Equality Foundation shortly.
  3. The CRM system is helping with recording of equalities data of our members. We are still reliant on members sending back monitoring forms.
  4. Lynne has carried out some research to try to identify the barriers to recruitment and steps that can be taken to attract applications from BME groups. Steps taken so far in recent recruitment include positive statements in adverts and supporting documentation welcoming applications from people from black and minority ethnic (BME) groups and other under-represented groups; we identified and targeted publications specific to BME communities and disability groups; we have amended job application form to identify and record where people found the job advert; we have included equal opportunity monitoring forms to the application pack to encourage applicants to provide this information for recording and monitoring.
  5. Plans for future will include to allocate time and resources to researching the communities in local towns or cities and where there is a higher number of minority communities; consider job boards with language translation; carry out proactive engagement activity at careers and/or local community events to break down barriers and generate interest in Shared Lives Plus and enthusiasm ahead of any future recruitment; and to use social media ‘jobs’ feeds i.e. twitter and encourage BME organisations and individuals to sign up and re-tweet .
  6. Theproposed staff restructureand related changes were discussed, in the light of recent and planned growth. SB and AF withdrew for this discussion. The proposal from the Finance Committee for a 2% uplift for the team was approved from April 1st along with several minor (increment) changes for individuals. For the proposed senior role changes, the Office Manager will seek external HR advice and sector benchmarking on draft Job Descriptions to inform proposed significant role changes and feedback via the CEO to the Finance Committee chair. Proposed role changes will be subject to interview.
  7. The proposal outlining consultancy offers and membership options was presented and discussed. The board noted the need to be inclusive of struggling schemes, balanced with the need to encourage participation in membership. The board noted that some current membership offers are not sustainable without being charged for in the near future. AF will develop a description of the membership offer and the costs of its elements with support from SB. The board is content for the team to raise awareness of the value of the offer and the sustainability issues and possible solutions and to consult with members.

The board noted the pressures on scheme finances. Our development support offer will in future need to be based on spending the project-funded period developing what will become chargeable support offers if they are to be sustainable long-term. SB to cost the impact of discounting scheme membership for those schemes which have a 100% Shared Lives carer membership policy.

  1. Management accounts
  2. The income and expenditure for 10 months of the financial year to January 2016 shows a £389 unrestricted surplus against forecast of £8,365 surplus, on income of £348,030 against the forecast of £344,583. We are chasing outstanding membership income from individuals and from lapsed schemes, as well as late payers, which accounts for the variance. Some of the insurance income is quarterly in arrears so this will income will rise.
  3. SB is producing a picture for members of where their money goes and how our commercial partnerships work.
  4. Restricted funds are on trackwith no significant under/over spends.
  1. Draft budget 2016/17 was presented by SB and formally approve by the board. Some relevant developments and risks:
  2. We are still awaiting the Accelerating Ideas (AI) funding decision, due very soon. The Support and Quality South role is at risk due to funding expiring.
  3. SB and the team have negotiated a better insurance package for our members which is lower cost (despite insurance tax increasing), better cover (from £25k to £100k claims for legal expenses cover), and includes more direct access to Jackson Canter solicitors. Quarterly Direct Debits are being introduced as we move towards a paperless system. Interviews and initial sifting of bidders were devolved to LH, Jackie McCluskie and Judith Holman, which was an effective approach and popular with the team. The new package was formally approved by the board. SB and colleagues were thanked for their effective work.
  4. SB has negotiated a new benefits advice service from Jackson Canter to replace the CAB contract which is coming to an end.
  5. We may soon reach capacity in the current office room. We have a small surplus in our office budget which would enable us to move to a bigger room.
  6. LH is carrying out a review of the administration team’s current capacity and what is needed, which could include an extra part time post and reappraisal of roles and salaries. That team is feeling under pressure. AF has requested more detail to inform a decision.
  1. The five year projection and fundraising prospects chart
  2. The grants prospects charts shows that we have been successful in achieving a number of key grants and we are temporarily in a period of focusing on implementation but the board notes the need for further fundraising and growth in membership and consultancy income, to sustain the current team.
  3. The five year budget has been updated and will be brought the next Finance Committee in early May.
  1. The six planned ‘big steps’ for the year, the operational plan and the KPIs were presented, discussed and agreed pending some finalisation.
  1. Governance update
  2. RJ asked that in future meetings the board reflect at the end on the productivity of the meeting.
  3. The AGM planned for p.m. 8th Nov 2016, followed by the England conference on the 9th, in Bristol.
  1. Date of the next meetings (all 11-3):

Branches / April
England / May
Wales / May
BOARD / 14 June
Branches / July
England / August
BOARD / 20 September
Branches / October
England / November

Appendix: Directors’ board report March 2016 (covers Jan, Feb)

Staffing changes and HR

  1. Colin Batten left his post as Wales Development Officer at the end of December for a new role. We have engaged Elaine Moore (previous Wales Development Officer) on a consultancy basis January – March 2016.
  2. We have advertised a full time Development Officer (Intermediate Care) post following successful funding applications to the Dunhill Trust and DH. This position was re-advertised as a full time post at £32k with a closing date of 26 February.
  3. We have advertised a Development Manager and Officer’s post for Wales following successful funding from the Welsh Government. Interviews planned for 21 March in Cardiff.
  4. Shared Lives Ambassadors – recruitment of 7 Shared Lives Ambassadors is now complete. Issuing of contracts has been delayed whilst we ensure that benefits will not be adversely affected.
  5. Assistant Policy Officer (Homeshare) – Interviews took place in February and the position has been offered to Heather Neilson who started on 8th March.
  6. NHS Director of Development and NHS Development Officer have been advertised.
  7. Marketing Assistant – this temporary post has been filled via an agency.

Wales

  1. We have been awarded funding from the Welsh Government from the Sustainable Social Services grant funding. This will fund a Development Manager and Development Officer working specifically to develop Shared Lives for older people and people living with dementia in Wales for three years from April 2016.
  2. We published the first State of Shared Lives in Wales report in January 2016 at a NHS Federation event and the report was praised by the Minister.

Scotland

  1. We have been unsuccessful in our funding application to the Scottish Government to secure Development funding in Scotland.
  2. Roseanne is continuing to work 4 days a month until the end of March and is following up feedback and links with the Scottish Government in this time.
  3. Anna is working with commissioners in Stirling and Glasgow who are establishing Shared Lives schemes in those areas.

Membership support

  1. In two months, we have supported 108 individual Shared Lives carers and 17 Schemes through our telephone and email helplines, visited 3 schemes to meet with Shared Lives carers, supported 2 potential new independent Shared Lives carer groups, and are giving ongoing support to 2 existing Shared Lives carer groups in order to support them with ongoing issues between carers and scheme. We also participated in a carer reps meeting with Scheme manager to identify best way of partnership working.
  2. We have attended 2 Shared Lives grant funded events.
  3. Lyn and Judith have facilitated two national teleconferences. Topics were “Involving everyone” and “When is ordinary family life not ordinary family life?” Shared Lives carers have asked for further discussion of the latter in the next national teleconference.
  4. We have worked with CAB to draft benefits guidance and licence agreement information.
  5. We have written a report and met with the Treasury to discuss the difficulties Shared Lives carers experience in accessing mortgages.
  6. We have revised our Shared Lives carer grant process to go live in April.
  7. Following an EOI process, we have selected a provider to give us legal advice required to help redesign our model contracts and clarify Shared Lives carer employment status.
  8. We have dealt with 328 enquiries from 68 different Shared Lives schemes supported via phone, email and the google group.
  9. The State of Shared Lives in England report is in final draft and due to be published imminently.
  10. Care Certificate workshops have been delivered to the South East, South West, North West, Yorkshire and Humber. Future workshops to be delivered to the North East, London and East Midlands. West Midlands and East of England have not expressed any interest in having a workshop.
  11. The My Shared Life outcomes tool is now being adopted by 20 schemes and 7 schemes involved in the Cabinet Office mental health project.
  12. A working group has been established to progress the development of a Shared Lives quality framework with a target to complete the work by summer 2016.
  13. A Safeguarding in Shared Lives report has been drafted with a series of recommendations for schemes. This will be made available to all members and sent to Safeguarding Boards in all LA areas.

Development

  1. Jane Allen is now working with 7 schemes on the Cabinet Office funded project to develop Shared Lives for people with mental ill health. NDTi have been commissioned to carry out the evaluation for this project.
  2. 9 Shared Lives schemes have now changed their statement of purpose to work with young people from 16 years following input from Denise.
  3. We have continued to develop contacts and relationship with the Fostering Network and Action for Children.
  4. Sue worked directly with 6 schemes around developing work for people living with dementia and provided information to a number of others.
  5. Sue has worked with the DH team on winter pressures including undertaking two surveys with members and producing a report for the ECIP team at DH.
  6. The Cabinet Office project for family carers will finish at the end of March with some final evaluation interviews taking place. The evaluation will be published in June.
  7. 21 schemes are now signed up to Town, Sea and Country: Shared Lives on Holiday.

Big Lottery & Nesta funded programme