Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ellison and Jones.

Members will disclose any pecuniary and any other significant interests they may have in relation to the matters to be considered at this meeting.

None.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 11 September 2017.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the committee held on 11 September 2017 be confirmed as a correct record.

Michele Scott (Care and Repair Manager and Lead Officer for Dementia) has submitted a report. 

Whilst Wyre Council does not have the duty to deliver social care services for residents, the council does take a proactive role in supporting residents to remain living independently in their homes, including people who are living with dementia and their carers.  Ms Scott will advise the committee about the council’s role in working with people with dementia and will invite members to comment and make suggestions about other possible future initiatives.

Michele Scott, Care and Repair Manager and Lead Officer for Dementia,

presented a report.  Whilst accepting that Wyre Council did not have any duty to deliver social care services for residents, Mrs Scott detailed the council’s proactive role in supporting residents to remain living independently in their homes, as covered in her report.

Mrs Scott emphasized the way in which council departments worked closely together and the effective links that were in place with other organisations. 

Councillors made comments and asked a number of questions, from which Mrs Scott added the following points:

·         Information was routinely provided about applying for Council Tax discount in appropriate cases.  Care and Repair staff were thoroughly briefed in this regard. 

·         A weekly Tea Dance was held at the Marine Hall.  The dances were not specifically for people living with dementia but many people with the condition attended.  There were benefits from facilitating the attendance of a wide range of people.  

·         Businesses could be accredited as Dementia Friends in the same way as individuals were.

·         Events were as important for the carers as they were for the people living with dementia.  They provided a break in a relaxed environment, where peer support was readily available.  There were many carers in Wyre who had little or no support at all. 

·         Dementia Friends training had been held for some councillors previously but not for about two years.  It would be timely to consider running some more sessions, each of which would last for approximately 45 minutes. 

Councillors were invited by Mrs Scott to advise her of any other events or regular sessions aimed at people living with dementia so they could be added to the council’s information base.

RESOLVED that

(i)            Mrs Scott be thanked for attending the meeting and for her very informative report,

(ii)       The Head of Contact Centre be asked to submit a report to the committee meeting on 6 November to advise councillors about how council tax discounts are applied to people who are severely mentally impaired

The Service Director Performance and Innovation has submitted a report to update the committee about the delivery of the Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme

The Chairman, Councillor Michael Vincent, updated members about the progress of the current task groups.

The Life in Wyre task group was nearing the completion of its work.  The Interim Leader of the Council would be asked to identify a member of the Cabinet to attend the final meeting of the group to discuss the draft recommendations and to respond to those recommendations at a future Cabinet meeting.

The Digital Transformation task group had met once and had visits to three other local authorities arranged before Christmas. 

The Chairman proposed that, with relatively few working days between the December and the January meetings of the committee, the December meeting be cancelled, with all business items being considered at the January meeting.

RESOLVED that

(i)            The report of the Service Director Performance and Innovation be noted, and

(ii)          That the meeting scheduled for 11 December be cancelled.

Monday 6 November 2017 at 6pm

RESOLVED that the next meeting of the committee be held at 6pm on Monday 6 November 2017 at the Civic Centre, Poulton-le-Fylde.