To elect a new Chairman and Vice Chairman for the People Overview and Scrutiny Panel.

Councillor Hunt proposed that Councillor Luxton be Chairman of the Panel for the municipal year 2022/23. This motion was seconded by Councillor Sharpe.

A second proposal was received from Councillor Carole Da Costa, who proposed herself as Chairman of the Panel for the municipal year 2022/23. This motion was seconded by Councillor Tisi.

A named vote was taken on Councillor Hunt’s proposal as this was seconded first.

RESOLVED: That Councillor Luxton be Chairman of the People Overview and Scrutiny Panel for the municipal year 2022/23.

Councillor Tisi proposed that Councillor Carole Da Costa be Vice-Chairman of the Panel for the municipal year 2022/23. This motion was seconded by Councillor Knowles.

A named vote was taken.

The result was 5 for and 6 against, so the motion fell.

Councillor Luxton proposed that Councillor Hunt be Vice-Chairman of the Panel for the municipal year 2022/23. This motion was seconded by Councillor Clarke.

A named vote was taken.

RESOLVED: That Councillor Hunt be Vice-Chairman of the People Overview and Scrutiny Panel for the municipal year 2022/23.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Tony Wilson.

To receive any declarations of interest.

Councillor Baskerville stated that he was a Governor at Alwyn Infants School.

To note the minutes of the last meeting of the Adults, Children and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 27^th April 2022.

Councillor Baskerville asked for clarification of the remit of the new People Overview & Scrutiny Panel.

ACTION: Clerk to send Terms of Reference to all Panel members.

The panel noted the minutes of the Adults, Children and Health Overview and Scrutiny Panel.

To receive a verbal update.

Lynne Lidster, Head of Commissioning, gave a presentation to the panel on adult social care reform with the intention that Members could have more detailed briefings in the future.

The Government had published several White Papers in the previous nine months relating to adult social care which set out an ambitious agenda for change. The Health and Care Act had received Royal Assent, and had four main areas of focus:

-          Integration

-          Assurance/Inspection

-          Charging reforms

-          Market sustainability and fair cost of care

Lynne Lidster described how the Health and Care Act would impact the borough by creating Integrated Care Boards and Integrated Care Partnerships in each local area. The Health and Care Act proposed to reform charging for adult social care, including market sustainability and setting a fair cost for care. The current system was means and needs tested with many people paying for their care from their assets. If people were not eligible for publicly funded care, there was no limit on how much they might have to pay privately. The proposals would make the means test more generous and would set a ‘cap’ on the amount an individual would pay for care in their lifetime.

Councillor Baskerville thanked Lynne Lidster for the presentation and asked whether integration would include computer systems, as there was a frequent lack of communication between services which could lead to frustration. Councillor Baskerville also stated that he would appreciate simplified language as the jargon used in presentations and reports would be hard for an average layman to understand.

Kevin McDaniel, Executive Director of Children’s Services, explained that the term integration was used to mean all partners working together. Computer systems working together was not a requirement, but national work was ongoing on creating a single health record, but work had been ongoing for a number of years and was not yet complete. 

Lynne Lidster added that there was a system known as Connected Care in place which contained information on an individual which several services could access- for example, an A&E department would be able to access GP and adult social care records.

Councillor Story thanked Lynne Lidster for the presentation and asked which costs would not be covered under the lifetime cap on care costs of £86,000. Councillor Story also asked how much this would cost the council.

Lynne Lidster responded that costs such as food and drink were not covered under the cap. Additionally, anyone wishing to go to a more luxurious care home would have to cover the difference.

Kevin McDaniel stated that the figure of how much this would cost the council was unknown, as it was difficult to assess the future needs of the population. National work was ongoing to determine the value of this project, but this would be difficult to ascertain. The borough had sent feedback to the government, asking them to use a different formula which took into account the number of care home spaces, as the relative needs formula would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To note the contents of the report.

Suzanne Parrott, AfC Virtual School Headteacher, presented the annual report for the AfC Virtual School. Particular successes were outlined, such as Attainment 8 scores which were higher than the looked after national average and attendance, which was lower than the national average for looked after children.

Councillor Sharpe thanked Suzanne Parrott for the report and asked for an explanation on how students were placed into schools and whether students were moved between schools. Councillor Sharpe asked for further clarity on the statistics included within the report, and stated that it seemed as though the children in virtual schools were attaining almost as well as any other child at their school.

Suzanne Parrott clarified that students at the virtual school were taught in mainstream schools, so had two headteachers. The role of the virtual school was to work with a range of professionals to keep the child in their mainstream school, but children would be moved if there was a risk to their safety. If a child needed to be moved, the nearest good or outstanding school closest to their home would be identified and the school would be contacted in order to ascertain whether the environment would be a good fit for the child.

Suzanne Parrott stated that the statistics on attendance and attainment were taken from many different schools. The gap had been closed between children in the virtual school and children who were not, but there would always be children who had been out of school for a couple of years due to personal circumstances which would affect their education.

Councillor Sharpe asked about the impact of the Covid pandemic on the activities of the virtual school, and the impact on the children in terms of lack of education.

Suzanne Parrott stated that there was an organisation that phoned schools every day to ensure that the young person was in school, but this was taken away due to the pandemic. Children with a vulnerability were still able to go into school, which meant that many students in virtual schools could still attend their mainstream school. The virtual school kept a record of whether their education or placement was at risk and monitored the child’s progress often. The results in the Virtual School Report were after a year of the pandemic and showed good outcomes despite the challenges posed by the lack of schooling. However, there were concerns over attendance figures which were worse in 2022 than during the pandemic partly due to poor mental health.

Councillor Story thanked Suzanne Parrott for her presentation and asked whether the figure of 93 looked-after children within RBWM was correct. Councillor Story asked for clarity on what was meant by the term special school.

Suzanne Parrott confirmed that this figure, which encompassed all school-age children, would have been correct at the time of the publication of the report on 31 July 2021. Special schools were those who had specialist facilities and provisions in order to accommodate young people with special educational needs  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To note the contents of the report.

Rachael Park-Davies, Associate Director for Early Help and Family Support, introduced the resident scrutiny topic which looked into making RBWM a breastfeeding friendly borough. Economic and public health implications were explored as part of the report. The borough already had strong support for parents who chose to breastfeed, with in-house health visiting services, breastfeeding cafes, and a good take-up of breastfeeding. Nationally, 81% of parents initiate breastfeeding which then falls to around 60% after 8 weeks. During the pandemic, many new parents gave up breastfeeding as they didn’t have the support from their community they normally would. At the last quarter, women breastfeeding partially or completely by 8 weeks was up to 73% locally.

RBWM did not have breastfeeding friendly status like other areas, which the resident scrutiny topic aimed to help change. There were a number of health benefits associated with breastfeeding, including lowering the incidence of type 2 diabetes. The wider benefits of breastfeeding included reducing inequalities in families from lower socioeconomic groups, emotional benefits, improved oral health, reduced respiratory and gastrointestinal infections and a reduction in obesity.

Becoming a breastfeeding friendly town would focus on working collaboratively with local businesses providing food and drink and asking if they would display signs in windows, as well as not discouraging parents from breastfeeding. Other areas which had been designated as breastfeeding friendly had approached businesses and developed a breastfeeding strategy which included a website.

Councillor Tisi asked if there was data available for trends in breastfeeding within RBWM, and whether there was any data on breastfeeding beyond 6-8 weeks. Councillor Tisi also asked if the responsibility for the current provisions, run by health visitors, was a strain on the service. Furthermore, Councillor Tisi wished to add that there were a number of organisations within the borough providing support, including NCT and breastfeeding cafes in Windsor.

Rachael Park-Davies stated that she would be able to obtain this data for Councillor Tisi. The current figure of 73% was the highest it had ever been which was in part due to the work of health visitors. Data beyond 6-8-weeks was not measured as it was not a requirement. Rachael Park-Davies went on to clarify that the health visiting service was made up of a skill-mixed model, including nursery nurses. Health visitors were well-placed to provide this support as they visited families between birth and the 6–8-week mark.

Councillor Del Campo emphasised that parents should have the choice to breastfeed in private if they wished to.

Rachael Park-Davies echoed this sentiment and added that breastfeeding was a matter of choice.

Councillor Carole Da Costa stated that she believed this topic was about education and removing the sexualisation of breasts. By replacing this viewpoint with the view that this part of the body’s main function is to feed an infant would mean that other parts of society would fall into place more easily. Councillor Carole Da Costa urged women to breastfeed their babies for six months as this would serve as an investment  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To review the ongoing work programme.

Councillor Tisi stated that it would be beneficial to be made aware of the remit of the new People Overview and Scrutiny Panel.

Councillor Del Campo asked if scoping documents were still required in order to bring an item to the Panel.

The Chairman confirmed that this was the case.

The panel agreed to discuss the work programme offline.