Issue - meetings

To consider the report of the Director of Service Delivery, (copy enclosed).

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Service Delivery, together with appendix 1, that provided a summary of the allocation and outcomes of the Council’s Disabled Facilities Grant programme (DFG) for the previous year and provided feedback on proposals raised at the Community Services Meeting on the 28 August 2018 (Minute 372 RESOLVED refers).

The Chairman drew Members attention section 3.5 of the report containing the response to proposals raised previously by the Committee together with appendix 1 detailing updates on questions raised previously.

The Director of Resources addressing previous proposals and questions raised advised the Committee that the information had been collated by housing staff and other agencies. He hoped that the update was comprehensive and covered all salient points to date and asked if the Committee required any further assistance on this matter.

Councillor Miss Lewis, referring to the issue of assessment, said that this remained over complicated and drawn out. She informed the Committee that as a member of the Housing LIN Forum they had looked in-depth at the possibility of reducing the number of assessments that applicants had to undergo. A common assessment mechanism that fulfils all agency requirements was the ideal way forward to ensure that vulnerable people were supported in a timely fashion. The Chairman noted that this would be difficult, given the multi-agencies involved.

The Director of Service Delivery, in response, reiterated the Chairman’s views and that the Council was not ultimately responsible. However, he said that if the Council could broker a meeting with said agencies to facilitate a more efficient approach then they would.

Concern was expressed at the county-wide versus local provision approach and that the Home from Hospital task and Finish Group and the Handyperson Task and Finish Group could potentially, with the appropriate funding, provide a local efficient service.

It was agreed that the scheme be delegated to the Commercial Manger to investigate the best model going forward and report back to the Committee on options for local delivery of services. A progress report would be submitted to the next meeting of this Committee.

RESOLVED

(i)                that Members note the key achievements from previous years;

(ii)              that Members receive and note the status of proposals outlined at the meeting in August 2018 and detailed in section 3.5.1 of the report: -

i.        Approval to fund an apprentice surveyor – helping manage succession planning, improving capacity and resilience to meet longer term demands on the service;

There is no current provision for an apprentice surveyor within the future model however this matter will be reviewed as part of the detailed design work which will be carried out over the summer of 2019 to ensure the Council is able to deliver its services effectively

ii       Agreement to use some additional funding to contribute towards the cost of a ‘home from hospital’ scheme, linked with Community Led Housing, helping local housing associations provide dedicated facilities to enable local people to leave hospital sooner, move closer to family and undertake  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2013