Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

(i)                 to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)               where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)             the meeting notes at the start of the meeting at the item ‘Reserves’ that the Reserve Member is or will be attending as a reserve;

(iv)              if a Reserve Member whose intention to attend has been noted arrives after the commencement of the meeting, then that Reserve Member can only act as a Member from the start of the next item of business on the agenda after his/her arrival.

RESOLVED:  To note the attendance at this meeting of the following duly appointed Reserve Member:-

To receive declarations of personal or prejudicial interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)               all Members of the Committee, Sub Committee, Panel or Forum;

(b)               all other Members present in any part of the room or chamber.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no declarations of interests made by Members in relation to the business to be transacted at this meeting.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 14 January 2009 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 14 January 2009, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To receive questions (if any) from local residents or organisations under the provisions of Advisory Panel and Consultative Forum Procedure Rule 16 (Part 4E of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions, petitions or deputations were received at this meeting under the provisions of the Advisory Panel and Consultative Forum Procedure Rules 16, 14 and 15 respectively (Part 4E of the Constitution).

Information Report of the Corporate Director of Adults and Housing.

An officer provided the Panel with an update on the key developments within the Supporting People (SP) programme since the last meeting of the Panel on 14 January 2009 and an update on the ongoing work conducted by the SP team.  These updates included:

·                     It was agreed at the meeting of the West London Domestic Violence Project Board on the 14 January 2009 that all relevant boroughs would adopt their own local procurement strategies for commissioning services. The officer confirmed that the Council would explore the possibility of working with Hillingdon to deliver efficiencies included in the procurement process, subject to an outline of the quantity of provisions being agreed.

·                     The SP programme was fundamental to the success of Individual Budgets.  A full report on the Individual Budgets Evaluation Network (IBSEN) was available on the Internet through http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/spru/pubs/pdf/IBSENSummaryReport.pdf.  The report identified concerns about the integration of the SP programme which could result in some service users being charged twice for social care and housing related support services.  The officer added that a system would be implemented in conjunction with the Self Directed Support team to secure 20% of SP funding through Individual Budgets by April 2010.

·                     The outcome report on the delivery of the West London Supported Lodgings scheme recommended that the existing scheme should be extended at its current volume for a further year.  Officers confirmed that the scheme would be extended throughout West London and consider expanding the scheme to Children’s Services.  A Member of the Panel suggested that efficiency savings and improvements in service delivery could be achieved if the SP programme was included as part of the young people element in Harrow Council’s procurement programme.

·                     The Commissioning Body had agreed to fund the restructure of Harrow Churches in an effort to improve services.  In addition, the warden support service provided at weekends would be reconfigured to provide greater support to residents when needed.  Officers confirmed that the Richards Close development was due for completion in 2010 and that an in principle agreement to support the provision of wardens for the remaining properties on site had been agreed.  Panel members were invited to visit the site once all works had been completed.

·                     Officers had considered the results of the Somali needs pilot scheme.  An officer reported that the SP team would approach existing service providers to discuss appropriate courses of action to meet the needs of the community, improve access to housing related support services and enhance community engagement.

·                     An agreement had been reached with Lookahead to extend the West London Floating Support contract to include families and/or individuals who were at risk from eviction or homelessness.  An officer confirmed that a cost benefit analysis of the contract had been included in the strategy presented to Cabinet in 2008.  Officers would investigate providing specific figures on the savings achieved from this contract.

·                     Improvements to the existing contracts with Central and North West London NHS Trust for the delivery of mental health services had been identified.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 102.

To be agreed.

RESOLVED:  To be agreed.

The Chairman noted that this was the final meeting of the current municipal year and thanked his colleagues and officers for their work over that period.  He expressed his good wishes to Members who would be serving on the Committee in the coming year.  The Portfolio Holder for Adults and Housing expressed his appreciation for the work conducted in partnership with the Chairman over the year.

RESOLVED:  That the above be noted.