Decisions

West Sussex County Council currently commissions Shared Lives services in West Sussex in two ways, from the independent market through our Supported Living Framework and an in-house service delivered by Adults In-House Social Care Services (AIHSCS).

The Supported Living Framework has included a separate provision for Shared Lives Services since it commenced in 2015. During this period only one independent Shared Lives Scheme provider has been awarded the service.

Shared lives services meet customers social care needs as defined under the Care Act 2014 through a model of care and support that provides innovative, small family-based homes to people with a learning disability with a variety of support needs. This approach can generate significant positive outcomes to people who use shared lives through access to a range of accommodation and support arrangements.

Cabinet Member decision (AH08 20/21) recommended that the independent Shared Lives Scheme, which is currently commissioned under the terms of the Supported Living Framework and which expires on 31st March 2021, be subject to an internal review regarding its future re-procurement options and should be excluded from the decision to procure a new Supported Living Framework Agreement.

Authorisation is sought to extend the current contract arrangements as a single tender with the one incumbent independent Shared Lives provider for one year until 31st March 2022, under the existing contractual terms. This will enable the Council to explore future delivery models, contract and procurement options and associated cost structures, as well as undertake consultation with the market,  which in line with the Lifelong Disability and Autism Market Position Statement objectives, will lead to more people living independently in community settings, and where this is appropriate and cost-effective. No change is proposed to the in-house service.

The Interim Executive Director Adults and Health has approved the award of a one-year contract, up to 31^st March 2022 to the incumbent shared lives provider.

27.1     The Cabinet Member for Finance moved the report on the allocation of additional funding to support the response to COVID-19.

27.2     The recommendations were put to a recorded vote under Standing Order 3.36.

(a)           For the recommendations – 59

Cllr Acraman, Cllr Arculus, Cllr Atkins, Cllr Baldwin, Cllr Barling, Cllr Barnard, Cllr Barrett-Miles, Cllr Bennett, Cllr Boram, Cllr Bradford, Cllr Brunsdon, Cllr Burgess, Cllr Burrett, Cllr Catchpole, Cllr Crow, Cllr J Dennis, Cllr N Dennis, Cllr Duncton, Cllr Edwards, Cllr Elkins, Cllr Goldsmith, Cllr Hall, Cllr High, Cllr Hillier, Cllr Hunt, Cllr M Jones, Cllr A Jupp, Cllr N Jupp, Cllr Kennard, Cllr Kitchen, Cllr Lanzer, Cllr Lea, Cllr Lord, Cllr Magill, Cllr Markwell, Cllr Marshall, Cllr McDonald, Cllr Millson, Cllr Mitchell, Cllr Montyn, Cllr O’Kelly, Cllr R J Oakley, Cllr S J Oakley, Cllr Oppler, Cllr Oxlade, Cllr Patel, Cllr Pendleton, Cllr Purnell, Cllr Quinn, Cllr Russell, Cllr Simmons, Cllr Smytherman, Cllr Sparkes, Cllr Turner, Cllr Urquhart, Cllr Waight, Cllr Walsh, Cllr Whittington and Cllr Wickremaratchi.

(b)           Against the recommendations - 0

(c)            Abstentions – 0

27.3     Resolved –

(1)        That grant funding received in connection with the current pandemic and which is not ring fenced is allocated pro rata to the expenditure incurred in relation to each service area;

(2)        That ring-fenced grant funding is allocated according to the purposes and in accordance with any rules specified; and

(3)        That the Total Performance Monitor report will report on the use and allocation of this funding during the course of 2020/21.

21.1     The Council approved appointments as set out below.

29.1     The Council considered minor changes to the terms of reference of the Rights of Way Committee, the Pension Advisory Board and the Pensions Committee, in the light of a report from the Governance Committee (pages 49 to 54).

29.2     Resolved –

(1)        That the proposed changes to the Rights of Way Committee terms of reference and Delegation Code of Practice, as set out at Appendix 1, be approved;

(2)        That the amendment to the terms of reference of the Pension Advisory Board set out in paragraph 2 be approved; and

(3)        That the amendment to the membership of the Pensions Committee set out in paragraph 3 be approved.

The council currently has contracts with 2 NHS Trusts who run our Mortuary and Post Mortem Services. Both contracts will expire on 22 January 2021 and there is no provision for further extensions.

•       WSHT - Western Sussex Hospital Trust (covers approx. 75% of requirement)

•       SASH - Surrey and Sussex Health Trust (covers approx. 25% of requirement)

The council ran a procurement in 2018/19 with a vision of having a dedicated Mortuary – 100% of bodies to go into one location and a vision of moving away from traditional post-mortems, towards digital non-invasive methods. However, the Council only received one bid which was deemed unaffordable. The bid was later withdrawn and therefore the procurement process was abandoned.

The Cabinet Member for Adults and Health has since agreed the commencement of a procurement that will secure ongoing contracts for the Mortuary and Post-Mortem services from January 2021 (Report ref: AH06 20/21).  The Director of Communities will now be asked to award the contracts following the procurement exercise.

The Director of Communities has approved the award of contract for Mortuary and Post-Mortem services to Western Sussex Hospital Trust for a period of 3 years, with the option to extend by two further 2-year periods up to a maximum of 7 years from 23rd January 2021, with a 6 months break clause.

The Community Initiative Fund is a County Local Committee (CLC) administered fund that provides assistance to local community projects.

The Director of Law and Assurance, in consultation with the Chairman of the North Mid Sussex County Local Committee (CLC) and the Chairman of the Performance and Finance Scrutiny Committee (PFSC), has used his delegated powers under Standing Order 3.45 to decide the following CIF Application:

510/NMS – East Grinstead CAP Debt Centre (Trinity Methodist Church), £732.99 – towards purchasing a laptop and mobile phone for use by the centre manager.

The Council has a statutory duty to have an Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) service with sufficient professional resources (AMHPs) to operate on a 24-hour, 7 day a week basis and meet demand. Following a referral, AMHPs undertake assessments to determine if an individual should be admitted, detained and treated in hospital for a mental disorder without their consent.

A review of the AMHP Service in 2019 found issues with practice requiring improvement and recommended a new service model as the best way to address this.  This recommendation has been developed further into the proposed new operating model for the AMHP Service which will deliver a statutory, high quality and sufficient service.

The proposed new operating model is for a 24/7 hub and spoke (hybrid) AMHP service. This model has been trialled on an interim basis since February 2020 using short-term funding and has proved to be successful. Similar models are in place in neighbouring authorities.

The AMHP service is provided by West Sussex County Council working in close partnership with other organisations, including Sussex Police, South East Coast Ambulance (SECAMb) Service, Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust (SPFT) and acute hospital trusts.

To ensure a high quality AMHP service, the Interim Executive Director Adults and Health has approved a new operating model for the AMHP service, as set out in paragraph 2 of the report.  The new model will be introduced from 1 January 2021.