Agenda item

Deputations, Petitions and Public Questions

To receive any requests for Deputations, Presentation of Petitions or Public Questions.

 

The following petition has been received which under the Council’s Procedure Rules for qualifying petitions must be debated at Council:

 

Save Council owned care homes: Glen Lee and Holcroft House.  We the undersigned petition the Council to abandon its proposals to close the last two Council owned residential care homes: Glen Lee and Holcroft House and place up to 85 loyal care staff at risk of redundancy.   

Minutes:

(i)  The Council received and noted a deputation from Mr Ian Loynes concerning Hate Crime.

(ii)  The Council received and noted a deputation from Mrs Sue Atkins concerning proposals on how the Council can set a budget to protect jobs and services in the City.

(iii)  The Council received and noted a deputation from Mr Harvey Morgan and Mr Donald Hedges concerning keeping the Rest Homes open.

 

The Council received the following Petition which under the Council’s Procedure Rules were qualifying petitions which must be debated at Council:

 

(i)  Save Council owned care homes: Glen Lee and Holcroft House containing 1520 signatures.

 

In accordance with the Council Procedure Rule 13.2 “Motions without Notice” the Mayor used his discretion to allow a motion in the name of Councillor Hammond and seconded by Councillor Rayment. 

 

Motion to read:-

 

Having received the petition, listened to the petitioner’s deputation and debated the matter Council resolves to consider the petition as part of the budget consultation process. 

 

UPON BEING PUT TO THE VOTE THE MOTION WAS DECLARED CARRIED.

 

RESOLVED that the motion be approved.

 

The Council agreed to bring forward the questions received on notice to the Executive item 5 on the Council agenda, in the name of Councillors Fitzhenry, Hannides, White, Fuller, P Baillie, J Baillie and Galton.

 

1.  Care Homes – Removal of Budget Savings

 

Given the level of public and staff concern raised on the proposed closure of our care homes will the leader remove these savings proposals from their budget consultation immediately?

 

Answer

 

No. People are encouraged to respond to the public consultation, which closes on 16 January 2019. The results of the consultation will be used to inform the budget decision in February.

 

2.  Care Homes – Third Party Organisation

 

Prior to these current savings proposals has a public or private third party organisation been approached in the last 3 months, to either take over or joint venture with the council on running our homes?

Answer

 

No.

 

3.  Care Homes – Improve Financial Positions

 

Exactly what measures have been taken to improve the financial positions of Glen Lee and Holcroft House and when were they taken?

 

Answer

 

The measures that have been taken are: recruitment to vacant posts, including the Registered Manager post at Glen Lee; termination of the short-term Quality and Compliance post; robust application of sickness absence policy; review of staff required on each shift while maintaining quality standards; and the approval of a plan to employ extra care staff with the ability to work flexibly across both homes.

 

Regular financial monitoring and reporting is taking place, as it is with all services, to ensure that the current position is understood by the team and measures to avert unnecessary cost are being carried out wherever possible.

 

4.  Care Homes – Projected in year overspends

 

What are the current projected in year overspends for each home and what measures have been taken to improve this situation?

 

Answer

 

The projected in year overspend for Holcroft House is £229,000 and for Glen Lee is £360,000, as at month 6.

 

The measures that have been taken are: recruitment to vacant posts, including the Registered Manager post at Glen Lee; termination of the short-term Quality and Compliance post; robust application of sickness absence policy; review of staff required on each shift while maintaining quality standards; and the approval of a plan to employ extra care staff with the ability to work flexibly across both homes.

 

Regular financial monitoring and reporting is taking place, as it is with all services, to ensure that the current position is understood by the team and measures to avert unnecessary cost are being carried out wherever possible.

 

5.  Care Homes – Alternative Options

 

Have you asked officers to explore and cost other options besides closure of the homes?

 

Answer

 

Yes. The consultation on the future of the homes sets out a number of alternative options. At my request, officers have responded to early consultation feedback by setting up a task and finish group to explore ideas that have been put forward.

 

6.  Care Homes – Occupancy

 

What is the average occupancy of each home over the last two years?

 

Answer

 

The average occupancy for 2016-2017:

 

Glen Lee 85.8%

Holcroft House 92.4%

 

The average occupancy for 2017-2018:

 

Glen Lee 78.7%

Holcroft House 94.6%

 

The average occupancy for April 2018 – October 2018:

 

Glen Lee 49.4%

Holcroft House 94.8%

 

 

7.  Care Homes – Level of occupancy at Glen Lee

 

The Levels of occupancy at Glen Lee have been low for some time. What actions have been taken to improve this?

 

Answer

 

Admissions to Glen Lee were suspended from 5 January 2018 to 25 April 2018 while quality improvements were carried out in response to a safeguarding investigation. Between April and August 2018, the home was limited to a maximum of one new admission per week to allow time for the quality improvements to become embedded.

 

Since then, until these proposals were brought forward, where a permanent residential placement has been considered necessary, the council’s adult social work teams were instructed to consider a placement at Glen Lee (or Holcroft House) before other residential placements, taking into account family preferences.

 

The home has also been used to provide short stay placements and respite.

 

8.  Care Homes – Glen Lee – External Consultancy Company

 

At Glen Lee following an inadequate rating SCC employed the services of an external consultancy company to run the home; how long did the contract run, what were the objectives and what was the increased costs?

 

Answer

 

An external consultancy company was not used to run the home.

 

An interim Registered Manager was employed via the council’s contract with Hays from January to September 2018 in order to oversee the implementation of an improvement plan and to carry out the duties of a registered manager. The cost of this was £79,700 including the employment agency overheads. This was the market rate for the level of skills that were urgently required.

 

An external company was commissioned to carry out two mock CQC inspections, in order to provide assurance in advance of an external inspection. The cost of these was £1,590.

 

The objective was to ensure the home was providing a good standard of care to its residents, following a rating of ‘requires improvement’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The objective was met and the scheme was rated ‘good’ by the CQC in September 2018.

 

9.  Care Homes – Average cost of care

 

What is the average cost/person in the homes and how does that compare approximately with that currently commissioned for a similar service by SCC? 

 

Answer

 

The average cost per person for 2017/18 was £1,116 per week, as reported as part of the Adult Social Care Financial return. This is calculated by taking into account the total cost of the homes in 2017/18 divided by the number of client weeks.

 

The average cost of a similar service commissioned by the council is £547 per week. This exact cost depends on individual assessed need. The weekly cost for residential care for people without challenging behaviour are based on two tiers (tier one and tier two). These tiers apply to Glen Lee and Holcroft House. Tier one average contract rate is £474.18 and tier two at mid point average cost is £562.09. The top tier two cost is £650.

 

10. Care Homes – Staffing Budgets

 

Can you explain how the staffing budgets for Glen Lee and Holcroft House are almost identical given one is half full and the other at near capacity?

 

Answer

 

The staffing budgets are calculated based on the maximum number of residents that each home is registered with the Care Quality Commission to support (34 at Holcroft House and 33 at Glen Lee).

 

11. Care Homes – ‘Top Up’ care packages

 

It has been indicated that should closure take place then SCC would 'Top Up' care packages for those displaced; what is the maximum figure expected?

 

Answer

 

This will depend on individual assessments and preferences.

 

People whose costs are currently funded by the council following a financial assessment, would continue to have their cost of care funded by the council.

 

Where people contribute to the cost of their care, or are self funders, they will not have to pay any more unless their financial circumstances change.

 

The weekly costs for residential care for people without challenging behaviour are based on two tiers (tier one and tier two). These tiers apply to the current residents at Glen Lee and Holcroft House. The current top of tier two contract rate is £650.

 

12. Care Homes – Medicine Management

 

Is the Cabinet Member satisfied with the level of medicine management in Homes?

 

Answer

 

Yes, the council meets its requirements as confirmed by the Care Quality Commission during its latest inspections and audited by the Integrated Commissioning Unit.

 

13. Care Homes – Contingency Plans

 

What contingency plans exist should other providers close after Glen Lee & Holcroft House have closed?

 

Answer

 

We have a comprehensive protocol and procedures to manage situations relating to provider failures and other issues. It is reviewed regularly taking into account market conditions and changes to providers.

 

14. Care Homes – Policy – Long Term Admissions

 

Has not your policy of stopping new long term admissions to Glen Lee & Holcroft House not made their closure more likely?

Answer

 

No.  Short stay and respite placements continue to be offered at Glen Lee and Holcroft House.

 

It is not considered to be in people’s best interests to offer permanent placements while the future of the homes is under review.

 

This policy does not make the closure of the homes more likely, but will help avoid unnecessary concern should the decision be made to close in February. When considering the future of the homes, this will be on the assumption of 95% occupancy rather than current or past occupancy levels.

 

15. Care Homes – Reason for Closure

 

 

When you shut Woodside Lodge you initially stated it was due to low occupancy, then because it wasn’t modern enough and then we discovered you had planned to redevelop the site all along – what is the real reason for your plans to close the last 2 Council owned care homes now?

 

Answer

 

The proposal is under consideration for a number of reasons, including:

 

  Demand for residential care is decreasing as many people want to continue living at home for as long as possible, or to access alternatives like Housing with Care or Shared Lives schemes. As a result, there is an over provision of residential care placements in the local area.

  Both Glen Lee and Holcroft House are dated buildings, and whilst the quality of the care by staff is good, the facilities no longer meet modern standards.

  Bringing Glen Lee and Holcroft House up to this standard, or remodelling them to provide more intensive support for people with more complex needs, would mean fewer people could be supported in those homes. Therefore, some people currently living there would have to move into alternative accommodation, and others would experience disruption whilst the works were being completed. It would also require significant investment. 

  There are other providers who are able to support people who need residential care, in high quality and modern environments. This would allow the council to focus on housing with care and community-based services.

  This would enable the council to make savings. As a result of reductions in funding from central government, the council has had to make £136.4 million savings over the last seven years and we need to make another £15.05 million savings by 2020/21. Closing these homes would save the council £1.3 million a year, which would help us to deliver a balanced budget.