To comment on the report to be considered by Cabinet on the 29 October 2015.

Members considered the report that was being submitted to the 29 October 2015 Cabinet which could be found on pages 1-10 in the agenda. 

The Lead Member for Adult Services and Health (including Sustainability), Councillor David Coppinger, informed Members that this was the second time they had seen a paper on the DAAT services and after getting it wrong last time they had listened to the criticisms from everyone and re-written the paper which was before the Panel tonight.

The Interim Head of Public Health, Sue Longden, gave a brief overview of the report and explained that the report requested approval for a fundamental review of all RBWM drug and alcohol (DAAT) services, the DAAT function, to support the development of a future commissioning model for drug and alcohol services that was innovative, cost-effective and tackled local health inequalities. 

Members were informed that it was proposed that costs and outcomes for RBWM’s services were benchmarked against drug and alcohol services in other Local Authorities and that RBWM officers worked in collaboration with partners and key stakeholders to review national and international best practice and opportunities for local innovation. 

The Interim Head of Public Health went onto explain that benchmarking and review of best practice evidence would be used to provide options for local implementation.  It was noted that these options would be modelled for population health impact and that an integral part of the review would be assessment and analysis of risk and the development of rigorous risk mitigation plans. 

Members were informed that a comprehensive consultation strategy would be developed and implemented to ensure that all key stakeholders and service users were effectively engaged in service transformation. 

It was noted that a thorough impact assessment of the recommended option, including health and crime and disorder implications, would be conducted. 

Members were informed that if the report was approved, a task and finish group would be established to run until the end of December / early January under the leadership of the Deputy Lead Member for Public Health.  It was noted that this would provide the governance framework for the review.

The Head of Strategic Commissioning for Adult Social Care and Housing, Nick Davies, added that the services would remain in place for the time being to ensure continuity and that the timetable could be found on page 7 of the agenda.  Members were informed that if approved a report would come back to the Panel in March once the consultation period had finished. 

In the ensuing discussion, the following points were noted:

Ø  That Councillor Carroll would Chair the Task & Finish Group.

Ø  That Councillor Hilton would be proposed to be a member of the Task & Finish Group along with a representative from the Thames Valley Police, a representative from the Clinical Commissioning Group and a representative from the Adult Services and Health Overview & Scrutiny Panel.  It was noted that Councillor Saunders would also be invited to join the membership.

Ø  That Councillor Coppinger would not be involved in the Task & Finish Group.

Ø  That the timescales were felt to be very short but admirable. 

Ø  That if approved by Cabinet there would be two stakeholder workshops held.

Ø  That some benchmarking work had already taken place which could be fed into the Task & Finish Group.

Ø  That in 2014/15 there were a total of 515 adults in treatment, with 300 of those being new referrals. It was noted that in terms of the breakdown of the new referrals the largest group were the 122 alcohol clients (41%) (an increase from 89 (36%) in 2013/14) with 95 opiate users following closely behind (32%). Members were informed that one hundred and eleven service users (22%) successfully completed their treatment and that completion was assessed as the number of service users not re-presenting themselves within six months of leaving their treatment.

Ø  That the tender process would involve a number of competitive agencies in the market.

Ø  That the services currently provided were not in-house.

Ø  That the Council wanted to explore and capture innovative schemes with other countries.

Ø  That para 2.16 stated the scope of the Task & Finish Group which included the ability / scope to transform the service.

Ø  That the current DAAT budget was £1.1m, funded by a £1.047m contribution from the Public Health grant and £63k from the Police & Crime Commissioner. It was noted that there was no current budget impact to be reported prior to the review.

Ø  That the Chairman felt the Council had had an integrated service since SMART had started.

Ø  That the quartile national data could be provided for benchmarking to the Panel by the Head of Strategic Commissioning for Adult Social Care and Housing as the data had been published.

Ø  It was requested that the consultation dates at the end of the report be completed.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Crime & Disorder Overview & Scrutiny Panel endorsed the paper going to Cabinet and stated that they fully supported the service the Drug and Alcohol Team (DAAT) provided.

It was highlighted that the 2013/14 data was missing from the report which would be rectified before it was presented to Cabinet.

The Chairman thanked the Lead Member for Adult Services and Health (including Sustainability), the Interim Head of Public Health and the Head of Strategic Commissioning for Adult Social Care and Housing for attending the meeting and addressing the Panel.