PORTFOLIO HOLDER DECISION 13/6/16 - FOR INFORMATION
BOROUGH OF POOLE
PEOPLE OVERVIEW & SCRUTINY COMMITTEE (HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE)
23 MAY 2016
AND
PEOPLE OVERVIEW & SCRUTINY COMMITTEE (CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE)
25 MAY 2016
REPORT FROM THE CARERS WORKING PARTY
PART OF THE PUBLISHED FORWARD PLAN NO
STATUS (Service Delivery Information)
1. PURPOSE
1.1 The Carers Working Party was set up to look into the types of support available for carers, raise the profile of carers, and to identify any gaps in services. This report provides an account of the investigations undertaken by the Working Party and details findings and recommendations arising from this work.
2. RECOMMENDATIONS
2.1 That the Portfolio Holder for Health and Social Care, Housing and Communities approve:
i) That the general need to maintain and improve efforts to raise awareness of carers amongst the general public is recognised and that Carer Lead Officers work with GP surgeries to improve rates of identification and referral of carers.
ii) That efforts are made to enhance publicity and awareness-raising processes and to take steps to improve the rates of identification of carers via GP surgeries.
iii) The Portfolio Holder with responsibility for Health and Social Care, Housing and Communities maintains a continued oversight of progress in this area of work.
2.2 The needs of young carers in transition to adulthood needs to be a developmental priority for Adult’s and Children’s Services and to ensure that this is met effectively, that the Portfolio Holders for Health and Social Care, Housing and Communities; and Children, Young People and Capital Projects work with the responsible senior officers to ensure progress is maintained in the development and improvement of the service offer for the 16 – 24 age group.
2.3 Officers with responsibility for commissioning services for carers should seek out models of best practice within other local authorities and, where possible, utilise examples of best practice to further improve services for Poole residents, within the financial resources available.
3. FINDINGS
3.1 The support available to Adult and Young Carers is highly valued by those in receipt of advice and/or services delivered by Borough officers and commissioned agencies.
3.2 The introduction of the Care Act 2014 is beginning to make a positive difference to the way that Carers are assessed and supported. However, the changes have impacted on the service as workers have had to meet the challenges of gathering and recording the extra detail required.
The main overall impact has been a reduction in the amount of assessments completed, though it is noted that the quality of these assessments has improved since the introduction of the new format. It is expected that as the new systems become further embedded that the system efficiency will improve.
3.3 Work has begun to improve the service offer for Young Adult Carers in Poole, which is welcome. However, this is an area that requires continued development in order to ensure the particular needs of carers in transition to adulthood are appropriately met by services targeted at the specific needs of this age group.
3.4 There are services available for sibling carers – though these are not ‘open access’ and are dependent on the child being assessed as meeting the Children’s Social Care ‘Child in Need’ thresholds. Currently there is no intention to extend this offer.
3.5 The Working Party saw a wide body of evidence which indicated that carers who have been identified and assessed generally receive a good and responsive service. However, there must be ongoing effort to ensure that those in need of support are not missing out through lack of information or knowledge by professionals involved with the family. This identification of carers is an objective of the Pan Dorset Strategic Vision for Carers 2016 – 2020, and a marketing plan to meet this purpose is under development.
4. BACKGROUND/INFORMATION
4.1 A Working Party convened in late 2013 and worked through to early 2015 under the following terms of reference.
i) Understand the range of services available to sustain family carers of Borough of Poole residents.
ii) Meet family carers and hear about their experiences of local services available to them.
iii) Identify where services are successful in sustaining family carers.
iv) Identify services needing a review of their ability to sustain family carers.
v) Raise the profile of carers and assist them to identify themselves and come forward for support.
4.2 Activities of the previous Working Party are detailed in a report submitted to the Health and Social Care Overview & Scrutiny Committee on 23 March 2015 and to Cabinet on 14 April 2015.
This report is included as an appendix to this Report.
4.3 Cabinet recommended to Council that:
(i) Work be carried out to bridge the gap in services as identified in 6.3 and 6.4 of the Report relating to the lack of transitional arrangements for Young Carers when continuing to care as adults and lack of support for Young Carers caring for siblings.
(ii) That Councillors be offered training on issues surrounding Carers after May 2015.
4.4 In October 2015 the new Working Party convened. This was made up of Councillors Mellor (Chair), Hodges, Jane Newell and Russell. The Group undertook training as provided by officers and received reports on the issues of Young Carers in transition and on Sibling Carers.
5. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
5.1 Carer’s services are dependent on funding through the Better Care Fund in order to develop services and implement the Strategic Vision. We have no guarantee of this for the life of the vision, just year on year.
6. LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
6.1 The Care Act 2014 introduced certain responsibilities on local authorities to assess and meet the needs of carers under a ‘whole family’ approach.
6.2 The Children and Families Act 2014 requires that young carers must receive an assessment proportionate to their needs to ensure that they are not undertaking inappropriate or excessive caring tasks. Children found to have significant unmet needs must then be referred to Children’s Social Care for a Child in Need assessment.
7. RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS
7.1 No risk identified
8. EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS
8.1 Young carers are potentially some of the most marginalised and needy young people living in our community. The work of the Carers Working Party is seeking to address many of the issues facing young carers in Poole.
9. CONCLUSIONS
9.1 The Carers Working Party has addressed the 3 areas of work identified in the Cabinet recommendation dated 14 April 2014.
9.2 There is a strong base of services available for Adult Carers and Young Carers which is highly valued by those in receipt of these services.
9.3 Transition issues are being worked on, with some evidence of improved focus on the needs of this group in the commissioning of support services. However, there is still a need to improve services for young carers aged between 16 and 24.
9.4 Service is available for those sibling carers who meet Child in Need thresholds.
9.5 Ongoing work is needed to ensure that carers are being identified and are encouraged to access services, particularly through GP surgeries.
Report Authors: Councillor Drew Mellor & David Gillespie
Contact officer:
David Gillespie, Principal Manager, Children and Young People Social Care
Telephone - 01202 714658
Email –
Background Papers: ‘Flowchart’ and ‘Pathways’ documents attached as Appendix 1
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