Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED – that Councillor Chauhan be elected Chair for the duration of this meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Chadderton and Shah, Carolyn Wilkins OBE, Dr Shelley Grumbridge, Dr Ian Milnes, Dr John Patterson, Helen Lockwood and Nicola Hepburn.

There were no items of urgent business received.

There were no declarations of interest received.

The Minutes of the Commissioning Partnership Board held on 28^th November 2019 are attached for approval.

RESOLVED that, subject to the recording of Majid Hussain (as opposed to ‘Councillor Hussain’) as Chair of the meeting, the minutes of the meeting of the Commissioning Partnership Board held on 28^th November 2019 be approved as a correct record.

There were no public questions received.

The Board received a report advising of an update being provided on the implementation project for the Adults Care at Home tender – category 1 which considered some of the issues and barriers that had been encountered to date and the steps to be put into place to manage the project going forward.  The update, along with the options for going forward with the project, was considered in detail on the basis of a submitted report within the private agenda as the considerations contained exempt information.

The Board received a report proposing changes to the use of Transformation Funds in 2019/20 and 2020/21.  Oldham had been allocated £21.3m of locality transformation funding by the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership (GMHSCP) to be utilised between 2017/18 and 2020/21 across a range of transformational services.  A recent review had identified slippage of £3.0m by 2020/21, principally under the Primary Care Express Care Hub, Previously Uncommitted Funds and Cluster Gateways schemes/headings.

The GMHSCP transformation funding would cease in March 2021 and, with the risk that Oldham might lose funding and therefore the benefits of the additional funding, it was necessary to further consider the use of these resources against current operational and financial pressures in both Oldham and Greater Manchester.  To this end, discussions had been held with GMHSCP to discuss rephasing funds from 2020/12 to 2021/22 for those schemes experiencing delay, and for 2019/20 slippage being used to support Greater Manchester pressures, in return for the funding being returned in 2020/21.  Members sought and received confirmation of the conditional support of Greater Manchester included the return of funds in 2020/21.

To ensure that the Oldham Locality made full use of Transformation Funds, a number of proposals had been discussed between stakeholders in the Oldham Locality to use Transformation Fund slippage in 2019/20 and 2020/21 and these were detailed at Table 1 within the submitted report.  Members queried the process for determining the proposals, what assurance could be given at this time that these were justified proposals which the Board would wish to support, and what the anticipated benefits of the proposals were.  While there was concern at the detail provided to the Board, there was also an acknowledgement of the limited time available to achieve spend in 2019/20. 

The sustainability of schemes within the Transformation Fund, and what would happen at the end of the funding was queried.  It was noted that the intention of the Transformation Fund was that new services would provide good impacts thereby releasing funds from elsewhere in the system to provide ongoing support to the new services.  While this was not necessarily happening, the schemes were included in the 2021/22 CCG budget forward planning process for consideration.

Slippage had also been identified against the ringfenced funding for the Community Engagement Scheme and proposed schemes suggested to use this slippage in 2019/20 and 2020/21 were detailed at Table 2 within the submitted report.  Further to the earlier discussion concerning detail provided to the Board, it was further noted that there was an intention to present a business case for Community Engagement to the Board in March 2020.

RESOLVED that

1.            the proposals for the planned use of Transformation Funds for 2019/20 as set out in Tables 1 and 2 to the submitted report be supported;

2.            proposals for the use of Transformation Funds in 2020/21 be considered on the basis of the Board’s current objectives and include factors such as achievable delivery and value for money;

3.            the intention to present a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

The Board received a report providing an update regarding Simply Caring, a preferred care at home cluster provider, and the sale of the company to another CQC registered care provider, Nobilis Care West Limited, and the implications arising from this situation.  The update was considered in detail on the basis of a submitted report within the private agenda as the considerations contained exempt information.

That, in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they contain exempt information under paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, and it would not, on balance, be in the public interest to disclose the reports.

RESOLVED that, in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they contain exempt information under paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, and it would not, on balance, be in the public interest to disclose the reports.

The Board received a report providing an update on the implementation project for the Adults Care at Home tender – category 1 which considered the issues arising within the early stages of implementation of the Adults Care at Home contract, an assessment of the communications and consultation undertaken in respect of the implementation, and quality issues arising as a result of service user choices.  The report further considered the proposed implementation of Individual Service Funds to help provide flexible support and financial transparency.

The Board noted that personal choice was a significant factor in the provision of care at home services, and that the Council had limited legal powers to intervene in such circumstances.  Issues with communications and the role of providers were considered, along with proposals intended to address such issues as the tender roll out progressed.

The three options for going forward, each of which was presented and assessed in detail leading to a recommendation that Option 2 be adopted, together with the intent behind the new model of care at home delivery, were considered. 

RESOLVED that

1.            The information provided and the proposed plan to implement Individual Service Funds be noted;

2.            The timescales and costs associated with the implementation of the project be noted;

3.            Option 2 as presented within the submitted report be supported to take forward the implementation of the cluster model.

The Board received a report providing an update regarding Simply Caring, a preferred care at home cluster provider, and the sale of the company to another CQC registered care provider, Nobilis Care West Limited. The report considered the implications for the sale in respect of the care at home contract novating to Nobilis Care West Limited; the circumstances which led to the sale; detailed information in respect of the due diligence checks into Nobilis Care West Limited that have been undertaken; and the options that existed in respect of novating the contract for care at home services to the purchasing provider or alternative proposals.

The Board was advised of various options that had been considered, the assessment of which had determined that novation of the existing contract to Nobilis Care West Limited was the preferred option.  The Board was further advised that the option had been implemented following consultation with lead Members due to the timing of circumstances leading to the sale and to ensure continuity of care.

RESOLVED that the actions taken in respect of the novation of the contract be supported.