Lead Officer : Robert McCulloch Graham

The report provides the basis to assessing and reporting on Adult Social Care performance, following the withdrawal of the Care Quality Commission's Annual Performance Assessment. The Local Account is a report for citizens and consumers about the performance of Adult Social Care, leading to greater involvement and challenge and is to be used as a tool for self-improvement.

This Local Account covers the period of 2013-2014 and also sets out priorities for 2013/14.

Recommendations:

(i)            To note the content and format of Tower Hamlets Local Account for 2013/14 and approve it for publication.

(ii)          To refer the proposal to CABINET for formal consideration.

Robert McCulloch-Graham (Corporate Director, Education Social Care and Wellbeing, LBTH) presented the report.  The report outlined the introduction of the publication of a single set of data for local authorities which replaced the requirement for local authorities to produce an Annual Performance Assessment within a format prescribed by Care Quality Commission, abolished in 2011.

In response to questions, the purpose of the Local Account were noted as follows:

·         That Local Accounts was a means of ensuring that the care and support provided locally by the local authorities was open and transparent;

·         That the publication of Local Accounts would make the people of Tower Hamlets aware of the work undertaken by the Department during 2013-14, in relation to both social care and safeguarding.

·         To publicise the range and scale of services provided by the Authority.

·         That Local Accounts uses a combination of performance information, survey results and case studies to demonstrate how Tower Hamlets Council has enhanced the quality of life for people using care and support services.

It was noted that the Local Account would be published as a Council-wide document and made available to the public through the Tower Hamlets Council website.  It is proposed to use the Local Account as part of a wider set of mechanisms for obtaining customer views and feedback and informing residents, users and carers about progress made in delivering services and the Authority’s priorities for the future.

Robert McCulloch-Graham highlighted the key messages in the Local   Account, and drew particular attention to the following:

·         The impact of the significant cuts in funding provided by Central Government to Local Government, leading to difficult decisions across the public sector, changes to welfare benefits;   

·         The introduction of the 2014 Care Act. The Act brings together more than 40 separate pieces of legislation and puts people’s needs, goals and aspirations at the centre of care and support, supporting people to make their own decision, realise their potential and pursue life opportunities. Significantly the Act sets out new rights for carers, emphasises the need to prevent and reduce care and support needs, and introduces a national eligibility threshold for care and support.

Additionally it introduces a cap on the costs that people will have to pay for care and sets out a universal deferred payment scheme so that people will not have to sell their home in their lifetime to pay for residential care. The Care Act will be implemented in two phases in April 2015 and April 2016. In preparation for these changes the Authority has set up a Care and Health Reform Programme to the Care Act.

·         As a consequence of supporting people in the community for longer our residents generally tend to access residential and nursing care at an older age than other boroughs at a point where they are too frail to be supported in the community.

·         The Local Account includes a section on the financial position of the relevant divisions of the ESCW directorate. This includes financial outturn and performance data for 2013/2014 which is consistent with publications and reports that are already within the public domain. In particular, the Council’s annual accounts and reports submitted to Cabinet and full Council in April 215.