To receive apologies for absence, including notifications of any changes to the membership of the Board.

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Bye.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 14 September 2016.

The minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 14 September 2016 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Board considered the item in Minute 39, and not included on the agenda, the Chairman being of the opinion that it was urgent by reason of special circumstances i.e. the matter having arisen since the agenda was prepared and it was unreasonable to delay a decision until the next meeting.

(Note:  This item was deferred from the last Council meeting on 22 September 2016.)

At the meeting of the Council in October 2016, the Mayor requested that the Overview and Scrutiny Board consider undertaking a review of the issues raised within the submitted motion on badger culls and that the Board make recommendations to him.

Resolved:  that the Mayor be advised that the Board does not consider the issue of badger culls to be a priority for Torbay Council and therefore is unable to allocate time to this request within its Work Programme.

The Executive Head – Customer Services to present his report to the Council on the proposed changes to the Council Tax Support Scheme.

The Mayor and Councillor King to answer the Board’s questions.

The Board to make any comments or recommendations to the Council on the proposed changes to the Scheme.

The Board considered the report which was due to be presented to the Council on proposed revisions to the Council Tax Support Scheme.  The proposed Scheme had been subject to consultation for 12 weeks until 31 October 2016.  During that time a task-and-finish group of non-executive members had met to discuss the proposals and their expected impact with the Executive Lead and officers.

Resolved:  (i)  that the Board thank the Mayor and Executive for taking account of the consultation results, the Equality Impact Assessment and the views expressed by the task-and-finish group; and

(ii)        that the proposed changes now described in the report to the Council provide a reasonable compromise of balancing the economics of the Scheme and the needs of the population.

The Director of Public Health and representatives from Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust to present a briefing on the Sustainability and Transformation Plan.

The Board to consider renaming the Community Services Review Panel to the Sustainability and Transformation Plan Review Panel and extending its terms of reference to include the review of the Sustainability and Transformation Plan and any proposed service reconfigurations arising from the Plan.

The Board to confirm to how it can best be engage in the Sustainability and Transformation Plan going forward.

The Director of Public Health and representatives from local NHS organisations attended the meeting a gave a presentation on the draft Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP).  The STP covered the geographic Devon area (including Torbay and Plymouth) and involved ten statutory authorities working collaboratively on a common set of health and care challenges.

It was explained to the Board that, whilst the STP set the strategic framework for future health and care services, the Plan contained seven areas of priority and that engagement would take place as the plans around those seven areas progressed.

Representatives from Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust to provide a briefing on the emerging reviews of acute and specialised services.

Representatives of Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust attended the meeting and explained how the Devon-wide “case for change” which underpinned the Sustainability and Transformation plan highlighted concerns in relation to acute services.  These included:

·         Increased demand for treatment and care meaning longer waiting times

·         The current configuration of services was designed for the historical demand model

·         The acute system in Devon costing more than funded levels

It was noted that some acute services were currently classed as fragile which increased the risk of providers being required to implement short term, unplanned change.

The report presented to the Board set out the principles on which the review of acute services would be founded, namely:

·         Improving the health of the population

·         Improving the quality of care delivery

·         Achieving better value by reducing the cost of care

·         Improving the experience of staff working in the system of care and increasing the attractiveness of a career in the Devon health and social care system

The report also set out the criteria which would be used to guide the evaluation of any options against the current delivery of services.

Resolved:  (i)  that the Community Services Review Panel be renamed the Sustainability and Transformation Plan Review Panel;

(ii)        that the terms of reference of the Review Panel be extended to include the review of the Sustainability and Transformation Plan and any proposed service reconfigurations arising from the Plan;

(iii)       that the appropriate NHS organisations be requested to keep all Councillors, in particular members of the Review Panel, informed of proposed changes as early in the change process as possible to enable them to act as community leaders and ambassadors for change; such engagement to be a mix of informal and formal briefings; and

(iii)       that the principles and criteria under which the Acute Services Review will be undertaken be endorsed.

To agree the Community Services Review Panel’s report to the Clinical Commissioning Group as the Board’s response to the consultation on the proposed reconfiguration of Community Services.

The Board considered the draft report from the Community Services Review Panel which had been prepared following the Panel’s consideration of the proposed to reconfigure community services in Torbay. 

Whilst the report acknowledged that the CCG had engaged well with the local community and that the amount of time allowed had been sufficient to address the issues raised by the community, there remained concern that the detail around the clinical hubs and health and wellbeing centres had not yet been made available to the public.

The Chief Clinical Officer from the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) attended the meeting to provide an update on the consultation process.  He explained that it would be an iterative process to determine the detail around the health and wellbeing centres.

Resolved:  that subject to the following additional recommendation, the report of the Community Services Review Panel be adopted:

“There remains concern that the detail around the clinical hubs and health and wellbeing centres has not yet been made available to the public.  The Board recommends that the public and partners are even better informed of plans and that, in particular, local residents in Paignton are provided with full details of changes to services before any cessations are announced.”

Arising from the consideration of the Revenue Budget monitoring report by the Priorities and Resources Review Panel, to make any recommendations to the Mayor and/or Council.

During its review of the Council’s Priorities and Resources, members of the Board had considered the Budget Monitoring Report for Quarter 2 of the 2016/2017 financial year.  The report showed a projected overspend of £2.1 million primarily as a result of expenditure pressures in Children’s and Adults Services. 

Resolved:  (i)  that the Board is disappointed that, despite receiving assurances from the previous Director of Children’s Services and the Executive Lead that the proposed budget for 2016/2017 was adequate, the budget for Children’s Services is still predicted to be significantly overspent; and

(ii)        that the Board is also disappointed that the Children’s Services Financial Strategy has not yet been made available and seeks assurance that it will be available to be discussed at a meeting of the Board to be held before the Revenue Budget for 2017/2018 is agreed.

Arising from the consideration of the Capital Plan Budget monitoring report by the Priorities and Resources Review Panel, to make any recommendations to the Mayor and/or Council.

Members of the Board had considered the Quarter 2 Capital Plan budget monitoring report as part of the Review of Priorities and Resources.  The report provided an update on the current position in relation to schemes within the current Capital Plan.