Agenda and minutes

To receive any declarations of interest from any councillor on any item on this agenda.

Councillor Ballard declared a registerable non-pecuniary interest for item 4 of the agenda, as he was a governor at Blackpool Teaching Hospital and was a member of the Influence Panel for the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board and Blackpool Teaching Hospital.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on Monday 5 September 2022.

The minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Monday 5 September were confirmed as a correct record.

Hilary Fordham, the Integrated Place Leader for Lancashire North, will present an update on the current Integrated Care Board structure and answer questions from members.

Papers to follow.

Hilary Fordham, the Integrated Place Leader for Lancashire North, and Dr Adam Janjua, Clinical Director Place, submitted answers to questions posed by members of the committee in advance of the meeting. They attended the meeting and provided members with a verbal update on the Integrated Care Board structure for Lancashire and South Cumbria.

Hilary Fordham addressed the committee and updated members that owing to the Government's Bill becoming law, from 1 July 2022, the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) ceased to exist and a new statutory organisation – an Integrated Care Board (ICB) was established. The reorganisation involved the eight Clinical Commissioning Groups across Lancashire and South Cumbria merging into a larger format of the Integrated Care Board (ICB). The ICB will undertake the functions of the CCGs in addition to several functions delegated from NHS England, including optometry, and dentistry from April 2023. Hilary highlighted that the reorganisation did not include provider services and primary care provision. The overall aim of the ICB was to improve the integration of care services. She added that alongside the ICB there was an additional statutory committee – the Integrated Care Partnership (ICP). The upper-tier/unitary authorities and the ICB have the responsibility for convening the ICP.  She questioned the committee how lower-tier authorities, such as Wyre Council, would wish to be part of the development of the ICP and supporting work.  She added that many services that lower-tiered authorities provided were important to the ICB, especially for the wider determinants of health or joining up services such as housing with other sectors. She expressed the reorganisation would benefit from engaging with all tiers of local authority. She also explained that as of April 2023 Lancashire County Council would be the only two tier area in Lancashire and South ICB footprint.

Adam Janjua explained to members the GP clinical structure for Wyre and Fylde, however, this was to be reorganised before 31 December 2023.

The Chair expressed the importance of the new ICB and ICP structures to engage with local district councillors in Lancashire.

Hilary Fordham clarified that the ICB was responsible for overseeing the statutory function of the NHS locally and overseeing provision and the ICP was responsible for the collaborative working across the system including  health and care partners across the region. She updated members that the recent place boundary review resulted in the realigning of the current place-based boundaries to the two upper tier and two unitary local authorities with the footprint Blackpool, Cumbria, Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen. She explained the concern with the size of Lancashire resulting in the division of Lancashire into three delivery units: East Lancashire, Central Lancashire (including West) and North/Coast. This was to enable better integration. She also updated members on the place leadership appointments. Louise Taylor was appointed the Director of Health and Care Integration for Lancashire. She explained a key matter to consider was how the North area would be able to feed into the partnership of Lancashire.

Councillor Ballard raised  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

The Corporate Director Resources, Clare James, has submitted a report updating the committee about the delivery of the Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme 2022/23. Marianne Unwin, Democratic Services Officer, will introduce the report and respond to questions and comments from councillors.

The Corporate Director Resources, Clare James, submitted a report to update the committee about the delivery of the Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme 2022/23.

The Democratic Services Officer, Marianne Unwin, introduced the report to the committee. Members were asked to consider their desired areas of work for the remainder of the 2022/23 period.

Councillor Sir R Atkins raised his concerns regarding adult social care and suggested that the committee ought to discuss adult social care provision in the borough. The Chair suggested that as this issue was the responsibility of Lancashire County Council (LCC), the committee would request information from LCC to cover the topic of adult social care, to which the committee agreed. Councillor Sir R Atkins additionally suggested for the relevant Portfolio Holder for adult social care at LCC attend a future meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at Wyre Council. Councillor Ballard also suggested that the funding for adult social care provided to LCC by council tax could be investigated for value for money. The Chair proposed that the allocation of council tax to adult social care could be included in the committee's request for information.

Following the discussions for item 4 of the agenda, the Chair proposed that a short, small task group review be set up to look at health and wellbeing in Wyre specifically to review further opportunities for social prescribing. Related council services to be looked at could include disabled facilities grants, care and repair other wellbeing schemes. It was highlighted that these services help alleviate the pressure from residents presenting at health care settings for non-clinical matters an issue raised in item 4. The Chair added, in relation to health and wellbeing, there must be an understanding of what the council’s statutory requirements are and the services the council offer. Wyre Council’s Business Plan 2019-2023 included a commitment to collaborate with residents and local stakeholders to support and maximise opportunities for improving health and wellbeing across our communities. The committee were supportive of the proposal and requested the Democratic Services Officer to communicate with the relevant officers for more information on this.

Councillor Longton suggested that the committee should look at the key priorities for Wyre to take to the first Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Partnership place-based partnership meeting.

Councillor Fail also suggested that housing stock in Wyre was a priority and for this to be reviewed by the committee. The Chair suggested for questions and comments on housing be raised at the Business Plan Overview and Scrutiny meeting in January.

Following discussions, it was agreed that:

-       The Democratic Services Officer to request for information from LCC regarding the provision of adult social care in Wyre.

-       The Democratic Services Officer to communicate with the relevant officers for more information on the committee’s proposed review.

-       The report be noted.