Decisions

In October 2018, the Cabinet Member for Adults and Health in accordance with Key Decision Report Ref: AH9 (18/19) agreed the endorsement of future arrangements for the West Sussex Wellbeing programme in order to establish the current agreement from 1st April 2019.

The West Sussex Wellbeing Programme is a partnership between West Sussex County Council and the seven district and borough councils to improve the health and wellbeing of the population and reduce health inequalities. The provision of a Wellbeing service delivers a prevention programme focusing on modifiable lifestyle risk factors and the wider role that District and Borough councils play in shaping the wider determinants of health, including housing, planning, leisure and green space, environmental health and economic development. The programme is in the final year of its current three year agreement.

The Cabinet Member for Public Health and Wellbeing is asked to endorse the new agreements for West Sussex Wellbeing, the adult health and prevention partnership programme between West Sussex County Council and the seven District and Borough Councils.  The new agreements will be effective from 1st April 2022.

The Cabinet Member for Public Health and Wellbeing has approved;

1)   the continuation of the West Sussex Wellbeing programme effective from 1^st April 2022 for a five-year term, with appropriate break clauses in Agreements;

2)   that WSCC fund the Wellbeing Services (via the Public Health Grant) with the D&B Councils contributing certain non-monetary resources through infrastructure and management (subject to the appropriate D&B councils sign off processes). Each D& B Council will act as the host of the pooled resources (including the Allocated Fund from the Public Health Grant); and

3)   the continuation of the delegated commissioning responsibilities and functions relating to Public Health and Wellbeing Services to the West Sussex D&B Councils.

Ash Dieback is a disease that is likely to kill 95% of the county’s ash trees over the next 10–20 years.  This will have a major impact on the county’s landscape, the wildlife it supports, other ecosystems that trees provide and climate change.

It will also have a high impact on the county and the County Council, posing a significant risk to people, property (including schools) and the delivery of services (including highways).  Therefore, a corporate Ash Dieback Action Plan has been prepared to manage the impact of the disease.

The aim of the Plan is to effectively address the risks presented by the impact of ash dieback (which will require a programme of reactive and proactive tree removal and replanting), conserve the ecosystems in which ash trees are found across the county, and prepare for a positive regeneration phase with a net biodiversity gain. 

A specialist contractor needs to be procured to deliver the tree removal and replanting programme. Additional officer resources are required to support programme delivery.

The Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport has:

(1)     approved the commencement of a procurement process for a tree felling contract for Ash Dieback infected trees through an open tender process, the contract to commence on 1 April 2022; and

(2)     delegate authority to the Director of Highways, Transport and Planning, to award the contract to the successful bidder for an initial period of 4 years with optional extension periods of 1 year up to 7 years in total, in accordance with the County Council’s Standing Orders on Procurement Contracts.

West Sussex County Council is approaching the end of its existing Long-Term Agreements with insurers for Material Damage, Casualty, Motor, Crime, Personal Accident covers. In line with Public Procurement legislation, authority has been given by the Director of Law and Assurance to commence a procurement exercise to tender the insurance portfolio in time for renewal on 29 September 2021.

The Director has agreed:

(1)        That the renewal terms quoted by Risk Management Partners on behalf of AIG and QBE for the period 29^th September 2021 – 28^th September 2022 are accepted.

(2)        That external insurances for commercial / casualty combined (all cover) for West Sussex County Council be implemented by entering in to a 3 year LTA commencing 29^th September 2021 with RMP on behalf of AIG and QBE with an option to extend for a further period of 2 years at the end of the 3 year period at a cost for the renewal with RMP of £2.0m.

(3)        That the insurances for engineering combined, terrorism, drones and airside liability be implemented in accordance with standalone quotes in accordance with brokers recommendations.

(4)        That the County Council retain existing deductibles of £250,000 for material damage and £750,000 for casualty combined.

The Council is developing plans to respond to seasonal pressures for the period between October 2021 and March 2022 in consultation and partnership with NHS partners. The seasonal pressure plan will potentially include the commissioning of both Care and Support at Home and residential based service provision as well as other services that support hospital discharge or enable people to remain independent at home.

The health and social care system faces increased pressures during this period, particularly in the winter months, that place increased demands on services. This year this is likely to be exacerbated by continued pressures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Seasonal pressure plans are designed to ensure discharges from hospital, avoid admission to hospital or increase the flow across health and social care and access to services during pressured periods.

The Cabinet Member for Adults Services has approved;

(1)   the commencement of procurement arrangements for additional care provision to enable the health and social care system to meet demand initially over winter 21/22 and with the potential to extend procured provision until the end of March 2023; and

(2)   the commitment of £1.3m of Winter Pressures Grant for the remainder of 21/22 to support additional capacity being procured; and to

(3)   delegate authority to the Executive Director Adults and Health to extend existing contracts and award contracts for newly commissioned provision as may be required to meet the proposals detailed in the report. 

11.1   The Committee considered a report by the Executive Director Place Services and Director of Communities (copy appended to the signed minutes). The report advised of a Public Interest Report issued by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

11.2   The report was introduced by David Tominey, Complaints Manager, who advised that the report had been issued in relation to two aspects of a children’s services matter, access to education for a child with special educational needs and the social care decision not to assess the child. The Ombudsman had found faults with the Council’s handling of the matter and had set out its findings and remedies. He confirmed that the Council has accepted the findings and is in the process of implementing the remedies and recommendations made by the Ombudsman.

11.3   The Committee expressed disappointment that the matter had not been resolved prior to the case being referred to the Ombudsman. It acknowledged that lessons had been learned and hoped that the changes being implemented would ensure that children in a similar situation in future would have their needs met in a more timely manner. It noted that the County Council had made efforts to find an appropriate education setting for the child involved in the case and the lack of suitable placements was indicative of a wider problem in the area.

11.4   Paul Wagstaff, Director of Education and Skills, reported that work had been undertaken to improve mapping of the range of complex special educational needs that were occurring within the county. He advised that the sites providing Alternative Provision in the county perform well in many cases, but the learning there is not always equivalent to mainstream or specialist education. In this instance, the County Council had approached seven educational establishments to find a placement for the child, but none had been able to accept the placement either due to lack of space or concerns about their appropriateness.

11.5   The Director confirmed that a report was going to the County Council’s Executive Leadership Team to recommend that investment be made in specialist children educational services, to be able to provide a wider range of specialist support services within West Sussex within the next three to four years, which would reduce out of county placements and provide a better solution for many children.

11.6   Justin Colman, Head of Child Disability Services, advised that criteria on assessments for children with disabilities was currently being revised to ensure that children with additional needs were either assessed by the Children’s Disability Team or by the mainstream Assessment and Intervention Service with a Section 17 assessment. Doing this work would ensure that the assessment would be undertaken in the right part of the service. The particular complexities (attachment, trauma, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)) relevant to this case would now be covered by this new criteria and work had taken place to co-produce this with parents and carers in West Sussex. Workshops had taken place with the relevant team managers to learn from this case and more are planned to ensure that the pathway is strengthened at the point of referral to the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH).

11.7   The Committee welcomed the updates from officers and the reassurances that lessons had been learned which should lead to better standards of educational support for children with disabilities in future.

11.8   Resolved – That the report be noted and the actions taken by the Council following the Ombudsman’s final decision be supported.

The purpose of Operation Watershed is to support people in their local communities who want to work with the County Council to become more prepared for, or to reduce the risk of, flooding. Local groups are encouraged to apply for funding to finance schemes and projects of all sizes as a way of achieving this.

£0.704m is allocated for Operation Watershed 2021/22 – 2022/23 in the Capital Programme agreed by Full Council in February 2021, including carry forward from previous years.  The allocation for 2021/22 is £0.300m.  In this period five full applications have been received and evaluated totalling £158,879.31.

The Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change has approved the applications from the community groups or parish councils set out in Appendix A of the report.