Agenda Document Pack - Social Work Resources Committee - 03/05/2023
South Lanarkshire Council · 3 May 2023
Back to Social Work Resources Committee — 3 May 2023 and its agenda
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Council Offices, Almada Street Hamilton, ML3 0AA Tuesday, 25 April 2023 Dear Councillor Social Work Resources Committee The Members listed below are requested to attend a meeting of the above Committee to be held as follows:- Date: Wednesday, 03 May 2023 Time: 10:00 Venue: Hybrid - Committee Room 1, Council Offices, Almada Street, Hamilton, ML3 0AA The business to be considered at the meeting is listed overleaf. Yours sincerely Cleland Sneddon Chief Executive Members Margaret B Walker (Chair), Catherine McClymont (Depute Chair), Joe Fagan (ex officio), Alex Allison, John Bradley, Walter Brogan, Robert Brown, Archie Buchanan, Mathew Buchanan, Janine Calikes, Maureen Devlin, Mary Donnelly, Allan Falconer, Elise Frame, Celine Handibode, Graeme Horne, Mark Horsham, Martin Hose, Cal Johnston-Dempsey, Eileen Logan, Hugh Macdonald, Richard Nelson, Carol Nugent, John Ross, Graham Scott, David Watson Substitutes John Anderson, Maureen Chalmers, Margaret Cooper, Poppy Corbett, Margaret Cowie, Geri Gray, Susan Kerr, Ross Lambie, Richard Lockhart, Elaine McDougall, Mark McGeever, Davie McLachlan, Bert Thomson 1
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BUSINESS 1 Declaration of Interests 2 Minutes of Previous Meeting Minutes of the meeting of the Social Work Resources Committee held on 15 February 2023 submitted for approval as a correct record. (Copy attached) 5 - 12 Monitoring Item(s) 3 Social Work Resources - Revenue Budget Monitoring 2022/2023 Joint report dated 28 March 2023 by the Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) and Director, Health and Social Care. (Copy attached) 13 - 20 4 Social Work Resources - Capital Budget Monitoring 2022/2023 Joint report dated 12 April 2023 by the Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) and Director, Health and Social Care. (Copy attached) 21 - 24 5 Social Work Resources – Workforce Monitoring – December 2022 to February 2023 Joint report dated 30 March 2023 by the Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) and Director, Health and Social Care. (Copy attached) 25 - 32 6 Update on the 2022/2023 Risk Register and Risk Control Plan Report dated 17 April 2023 by the Director, Health and Social Care. (Copy attached) 33 - 44 Item(s) for Decision 7 Social Work Resource Plan 2023/2024 Report dated 17 April 2023 by the Director, Health and Social Care. (Copy attached) 45 - 64 8 Scheme for Curator ad Litem and Reporting Officers Panel - Jurisdiction of Glasgow Sheriff Court Report dated 18 April 2023 by the Director, Health and Social Care. (Copy attached) 65 - 76 Item(s) for Noting 9 Winter Plan Debrief – 2022/2023 Report dated 20 April 2023 by the Director, Health and Social Care. (Copy attached) 77 - 84 Urgent Business 10 Urgent Business Any other items of business which the Chair decides are urgent. 2
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For further information, please contact:- Clerk Name: Tracy Slater Clerk Telephone: 07385370089 Clerk Email: tracy.slater@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 3
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SOCIAL WORK RESOURCES COMMITTEE Minutes of meeting held via Confero and in the Council Chamber, Council Offices, Almada Street, Hamilton on 15 February 2023 Chair: Councillor Margaret B Walker Councillors Present: Councillor Alex Allison, Councillor John Anderson (substitute for Councillor John Bradley), Councillor Walter Brogan, Councillor Robert Brown, Councillor Archie Buchanan, Councillor Mathew Buchanan, Councillor Maureen Chalmers (substitute for Councillor John Ross), Councillor Maureen Devlin, Councillor Mary Donnelly, Councillor Allan Falconer, Councillor Elise Frame, Councillor Celine Handibode, Councillor Graeme Horne, Councillor Mark Horsham, Councillor Cal Johnston-Dempsey, Councillor Richard Lockhart (substitute for Councillor Martin Hose), Councillor Eileen Logan, Councillor Hugh Macdonald, Councillor Catherine McClymont (Depute), Councillor Richard Nelson, Councillor Carol Nugent, Councillor Graham Scott, Councillor David Watson Councillors' Apologies: Councillor John Bradley, Councillor Janine Calikes, Councillor Joe Fagan (ex officio), Councillor Martin Hose, Councillor John Ross Attending: Finance and Corporate Resources H Goodwin, Finance Manager; G McCann, Head of Administration and Legal Services; E McPake, HR Business Manager; A Norris, Administration Assistant; L O’Hagan, Finance Manager (Strategy); T Slater, Administration Adviser Health and Social Care/Social Work Resources S Sengupta, Director; I Beattie, Head of Health and Social Care (Hamilton and Clydesdale); G Booth, Justice Service Manager (Children and Justice Services); C Cunningham, Head of Commissioning and Performance; L Purdie, Head of Children and Justice Services 1 Declaration of Interests No interests were declared. 2 Minutes of Previous Meeting The minutes of the meeting of the Social Work Resources Committee held on 16 November 2022 were submitted for approval as a correct record. The Committee decided: that the minutes be approved as a correct record. 3 Social Work Resources – Revenue Budget Monitoring 2022/2023 A joint report dated 30 January 2023 by the Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) and Director, Health and Social Care was submitted comparing actual expenditure for the period 1 April to 29 December 2022 against budgeted expenditure for 2022/2023 for Social Work Resources. Agenda Item 2 5
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As at 29 December 2022, there was a breakeven position against the phased budget. Following the Council’s probable outturn exercise, the financial forecast for the revenue budget to 31 March 2023 was a breakeven position, after transfers to reserves of £5.635 million. The transfers to reserves were approved as part of the overall Council position at the Executive Committee on 1 February 2023. The Resource position was outlined in Appendix A to the report. The transfers to reserves had arisen from an underspend within Adult and Older People Services, Performance and Support Services and Justice Services, offset by an overspend in Children and Family Services, giving an overall breakeven position. The overspend was after funding of £6.5 million had been added in 2022/2023. Detailed variance explanations were provided in appendices B to E to the report. Virements were proposed to realign budgets, which were also detailed in the appendices to the report. The Committee decided: (1) that the breakeven position as at 29 December 2022 and the forecast to 31 March 2023 of a breakeven position after proposed transfers to reserves, as detailed in Appendix A to the report, be noted; and (2) that the proposed budget virements be approved. [Reference: Minutes of 16 November 2022 (Paragraph 3) and Minutes of the Executive Committee of 1 February 2023 (Paragraph 3)] 4 Social Work Resources – Capital Budget Monitoring 2022/2023 A joint report dated 17 January 2023 by the Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) and Director, Health and Social Care was submitted advising of progress on the Social Work Resources’ capital programme for 2022/2023 and summarising the expenditure position at 29 December 2022. The capital programme for Social Work Resources for 2022/2023 was £3.903 million. Anticipated spend to date was £3.551 million and spend to 29 December 2022 amounted to £3.631 million. This represented a position of £0.080 million ahead of profile and mainly reflected the timing of payments on the Blantyre Care Facility project. Work had been ongoing to monitor the predicted spend position for this financial year, with current estimates suggesting an overspend of £0.200 million. This mainly related to the timing of spend on the Community Alarm and SWiSPlus replacement projects, with funding for the overall spend already identified into the next financial year. The Committee decided: that the Social Work Resources’ capital programme of £3.903 million, and expenditure to date of £3.631 million, be noted. [Reference: Minutes of 16 November 2022 (Paragraph 4)] 6
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5 Social Work Resources – Workforce Monitoring – September to November 2022 A joint report dated 11 January 2023 by the Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) and Director, Health and Social Care was submitted on the following employee information for Social Work Resources for the period September to November 2022:- attendance statistics occupational health statistics accident/incident statistics disciplinary hearings, grievances and Dignity at Work cases analysis of leavers and exit interviews Staffing Watch as at 10 September 2022 The attendance information contained within the report included absences as a result of Covid- 19 and employees were being supported through this difficult time to maintain attendance levels where possible. The Head of Health and Social Care (Hamilton and Clydesdale) responded to a member’s questions in relation to staffing pressures and recruitment. The Committee decided: that the report be noted. [Reference: Minutes of 16 November 2022 (Paragraph 5)] 6 Social Work Resource Plan – Quarter 2 Progress Report 2022/2023 A report dated 27 January 2023 by the Director, Health and Social Care was submitted on the Social Work Resource Plan for 2022/2023. Details were provided on:- progress made against all Resource Plan measures, as detailed in the Quarter 2 progress report, attached as Appendix 2 to the report key achievements made by the Resource to date, as detailed in Section 5.3 of the report areas for improvement and associated management actions, as detailed in Section 5.4 of the report absence performance results as at Quarter 2, as detailed in Appendix 3 to the report Officers responded to members’ questions in relation to:- the implementation of the new Care at Home scheduling system, and undertook to provide a briefing note to members Day Care Services’ staff returning to building bases the Home First model and Blantyre Hub the See Hear Strategic Workplan, and undertook to provide a report to a future committee in relation to this The Committee decided: that the report be noted. [Reference: Minutes of 7 September 2022 (Paragraph 18)] 7 Update on the 2022/2023 Risk Register and Risk Control Plan A report dated 27 January 2023 by the Director, Health and Social Care was submitted on risk management arrangements and the Risk Register for Social Work Resources. 7
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The Resource had followed Council guidance in developing, monitoring and updating its Risk Register on an ongoing basis. The Register had been developed to ensure that the Resource was fully aware of the main risks that it had, was able to prioritise those risks and had controls in place to eliminate or minimise the impact of risk. The scoring matrix and definitions for likelihood and impact were outlined in Appendix 1 to the report. This had resulted in risks being scored between 1 to 25 (low to very high). Risks were scored on their inherent risk (risk if nothing was done) and their residual risk (risk after applying controls). At its meeting on 16 November 2022, the Social Work Resources Committee agreed the current top 5 risks impacting on the delivery of Social Care Services, each of which remained unchanged following review:- workforce availability and capacity (lack of capacity and skills to meet increased service demands) meeting public protection and legislative duties (combined legislation/statutory duties public protection, Care Inspectorate/Self-directed Support (SDS)) market and provider capacity (procurement/supply chain) funding and budgetary pressures (reduction in funding/increased costs) demand pressures (emergency response) Appendix 2 to the report provided further detail on each of the top risks, together with the inherent and residual risk scores and sample controls. The Council had commissioned a critical evaluation of the health and safety content of training provided to staff working in higher risk areas to establish if it met the requirements of health and safety legislation. Gallagher Bassett would undertake this evaluation and, on conclusion of the evaluation, a report would be prepared considering strengths, weaknesses and providing a comparison to good practice, where appropriate. A table of prioritised recommendations would also be provided. Information was provided on the monitoring of risk by the Integration Joint Board (IJB) which ensured that the necessary connections were in place between the Council, NHS Board and IJB. The Committee decided: that the contents of the report be noted. [Reference: Minutes of 16 November 2022 (Paragraph 6)] 8 Reinforcing Capacity – Social Work Planning and Performance and Community Justice Services A joint report dated 3 February 2023 by the Director, Health and Social Care and Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) was submitted on the additional funding allocated to Justice Services and the Third Sector for 2023 to 2027 to support recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. South Lanarkshire Justice Services had received its indicative Section 27 Grant funding award from the Scottish Government for 2023/2024. In addition, the Scottish Government advised that it was intended to maintain the investment made, nationally, in Justice Social Work (JSW) services in 2022/2023, comprising of baseline funding of £108 million, plus an additional £15 million of Covid-19 funding. In 2021, £742,000 was allocated to South Lanarkshire Justice Services to address the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Of this funding, £130,000 was required to be spent on the Third Sector. 8
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The following posts were created within Justice Services on a fixed-term basis for 9 months until March 2022 and then extended until March 2023. It was proposed that those posts be made permanent:- 5 full time equivalent (FTE) posts of Social Worker on Grade 3, Level 4, SCP 72-74 (£40,275 to £41,115) 6 FTE posts of Social Work Assistant on Grade 2, Level 4, SCP 55-57 (£31,717 to £32,629) 1 FTE post of Senior Practitioner on Grade 3, Level 8, SCP 79-80 (£44,309 to £44,966) 1 FTE post of Placement Co-ordinator on Grade 2, Level 4, SCP 55-57 (£31,717 to £32,629) The costs of the proposals would be met from the Scottish Government funding to support recovery from Covid-19. Should this funding no longer be available, the posts would require to be considered in the overall Resource structure. At its meeting on 17 March 2021, the Committee approved the establishment of 2 full-time Peer Support Assistant posts for a fixed-term period of 18 months. This was subject to the approval of funding from CORRA through the Drug Deaths Task Force. The CORRA Foundation administered funding to support the National Drugs Mission on behalf of the Scottish Government. Although further funding from CORRA was not available at this time, research suggested that peer support and mentoring played a vital role for people with substance use issues and should be at the heart of the development and delivery of services. It was, therefore, proposed that the 2 full-time posts of Peer Support Assistant on Grade 1, Level 4, SCP 30-31 (£22,975 to £24,544) be extended for a period of 2 years, with funding available from the Section 27 Grant. At its meeting on 4 March 2020, the Committee approved the establishment of a Clerical Assistant post for a fixed-term period of 2 years to support the increase in volume of Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) level 1 referrals and the introduction of the Violent and Sex Offender Register (ViSOR) requirement to improve information sharing. This post had been funded from the deletion of a 0.5 FTE Social Worker post with the remaining balance being realigned within the Section 27 Grant. The service pressures requiring this post remained and it was proposed that the FTE post of Clerical Assistant on Grade 1, Level 4, SCP 30-31 (£22,975 to £24,544) be extended for a period of 2 years, with funding available from the Section 27 Grant. The Committee decided: (1) that the contents of the report be noted; and (2) that the changes to Social Work Resources’ staffing establishment, as detailed in the report, be approved. [Reference: Minutes of 4 March 2020 (Paragraph 10), 17 March 2021 (Paragraph 7) and 2 June 2021 (Paragraph 10)] 9 Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2021/2022 A report dated 14 October 2022 by the Director, Health and Social Care was submitted on the Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2021/2022. There was a statutory requirement for all local authorities to appoint a professionally qualified Chief Social Work Officer (CSWO) who must be registered with the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC). 9
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The role of the CSWO was to provide professional advice and guidance to local authorities, elected members and officers in the provision of social work services. The CSWO also had responsibility for overall performance improvements and the identification and management of corporate risk insofar as those related to social work services. The CSWO was required to prepare an annual report of activity, which followed a standardised reporting framework, for submission to the Chief Social Work Advisor for Scotland. Information was provided on the content of the CSWO’s Annual Report 2021/2022, attached as an appendix to the report. The Committee decided: that the Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2021/2022, attached as an appendix to the report, be noted. [Reference: Minutes of 10 November 2021 (Paragraph 12)] 10 Update on the Work of the Getting It Right for South Lanarkshire’s Children’s Services Partnership A joint report dated 30 January 2023 by the Director, Health and Social Care and Executive Director (Education Resources) was submitted providing an update on the progress of the activity of the Getting It Right for South Lanarkshire’s Children’s Services Partnership and the Council’s Children’s Services Plan, ‘Working together: making a difference. A foundation for recovery’. The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 required each council and health board to prepare and publish the following:- a Children’s Services Plan covering the period April 2017 to March 2020 and subsequent plans on a rolling 3 year cycle (statutory) a Children’s Rights Report by March 2020 and subsequent reports to coincide with the Children’s Services Plan cycle (non-statutory) Due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, a ‘roll-over’ year from the previous plan had been provided. The current Children’s Services Plan, therefore, covered the period April 2021 to March 2023 and a refreshed Plan was due by 1 April 2023. Information was provided on the work being undertaken to prepare the new Plan and a number of key national policy areas that had evolved since the development of the current Plan, including:- The Promise whole family wellbeing and the introduction of the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund (WFWF) the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) Incorporation Bill community access to mental health supports the refresh of Getting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) guidance the proposal to introduce a National Care Service The Children’s Services Plan Annual Report 2021/2022 was attached as Appendix 1 to the report. The Committee decided: that the contents of the report be noted. 10
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11 South Lanarkshire Justice Social Work Community Payback Order Annual Report 2021/2022 A report dated 18 October 2022 by the Director, Health and Social Care was submitted on the Community Payback Order (CPO) Annual Report 2021/2022. The CPO Annual Report 2021/2022 was attached as an appendix to the report and information was provided on areas of focus within the report, together with areas identified for future development. The Committee decided: that the contents of the report be noted. [Reference: Minutes of 7 September 2022 (Paragraph 19)] 12 Joint Inspection of Adult Support and Protection A report dated 30 December 2022 by the Director, Health and Social Care was submitted providing an update on the outcome of the recent Joint Inspection of Adult Support and Protection (ASP). A national programme of Joint Inspection of Adult Support and Protection was announced by the Scottish Government in 2019 to seek assurance that adults at risk were protected by existing local and national arrangements, and to identify areas for further improvement if necessary. Inspections were led by the Care Inspectorate in collaboration with His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Scotland (HMICS) and Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS). The South Lanarkshire inspection commenced on 1 August 2022 with the inspection team scrutinising 2 areas of ASP activity: key processes and strategic leadership. The final inspection report was published on 6 December 2022. The inspection determined that the Partnership’s key processes and strategic leadership for ASP were effective at keeping adults safe from harm and that interventions supported positive experiences and outcomes for adults at risk of harm. The inspection highlighted areas of strength, development and opportunities to improve services. Areas for improvement included:- the improvement of attendance and consistency at case conferences improved quality and consistency of chronologies the ongoing development of existing quality assurance processes improved quality of supervisory oversight around decision-making The Partnership had prepared an improvement plan which had been submitted to the inspection team and would be implemented through the Adult Protection Committee, with overall oversight by the Public Protection Chief Officers’ Group. The Sub-Committee decided: that the contents of the report be noted. [Reference: Minutes of 7 September 2022 (Paragraph 21)] Councillor Scott left the meeting during this item of business 11
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13 Care Inspectorate Updates for Registered Social Work Services A report dated 30 December 2022 by the Director, Health and Social Care was submitted providing an update on inspections that had been undertaken by the Care Inspectorate on registered social work services. South Lanarkshire had 41 registered services, which included 6 care homes for older people, 13 day centres for older people, 6 adult lifestyles centres, 1 adult community support service, 6 care homes for children and young people, 3 child and family services (fostering, adoption and support carers), 4 care at home services and 2 home first services. Since the last report to Committee, 1 inspection had taken place. This brought the total number of inspections completed in 2022 to 10. Details were provided on the breakdown of the grades across each area of service in Appendix 1 to the report. Officers responded to a member’s questions in relation to Hamilton Care at Home Service and the use of the Total Mobile scheduling tool. The Committee decided: that the contents of the report be noted. [Reference: Minutes of 7 September 2022 (Paragraph 20) 14 Urgent Business There were no items of urgent business. 12
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Report Agenda Item Report to: Social Work Resources Committee Date of Meeting: 3 May 2023 Report by: Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) Director, Health and Social Care Subject: Social Work Resources - Revenue Budget Monitoring 2022/2023 1. Purpose of Report 1.1. The purpose of the report is to:- [purpose] provide information on the actual expenditure measured against the revenue budget for the period 1 April 2022 to 24 February 2023 for Social Work Resources provide a forecast for the year to 31 March 2023 [1purpose] 2. Recommendation(s) 2.1. The Committee is asked to approve the following recommendation(s):- [re (1) that the forecast to 31 March 2023 of a breakeven position after proposed transfers to reserves, as detailed in Appendix A of the report, be noted; (2) that a breakeven position as at 24 February 2023, as detailed in Appendix A, after proposed transfers to reserves be noted; and (3) that the proposed budget virements be approved. [1recs] 3. Background 3.1. This is the fourth revenue budget monitoring report presented to the Social Work Resources Committee for the financial year 2022/2023. 3.2. The Resources has completed its formal probable outturn exercise for the year. This exercise identifies the expected spend to the 31 March 2023. Details are included in section 5. 3.3. The report details the financial position for Social Work Resources in Appendix A, and then details the individual services, along with variance explanations, in Appendices B to E. 4. Employee Implications 4.1. There are no employee implications as a result of this report. 5. Financial Implications 5.1. Probable Outturn: Following the Council’s probable outturn exercise, the Resource is reporting a breakeven position after proposed transfers to reserves of £5.635m. The Resource position is outlined in Appendix A. 3 13
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5.2 The transfer to reserves has arisen from an unplanned underspend within Adults and Older People Services. There are also underspends within Performance and Support Services (£0.679m) and Justice Services (£0.477m), offset with an overspend in Children and Family Services (£1.156m) giving an overall breakeven. This overspend is after funding of £6.5m has been added in 2022/23. 5.3. The Adult and Older People position at Appendix D shows an unplanned underspend of £5.635m before transfers to reserves. Included within this position is a commitment in relation to the Integration Joint Board (IJB) in relation to specific funding which is not anticipated to spend this financial year (£1.423m). The Executive Committee on 1 February 2023, approved that the IJB retains this non- recurring underspend within their reserves, earmarked for future care costs in line with the approach to integrating health and social care budgets. 5.4. The Adult and Older People position also includes an unplanned underspend in core Council budgets (£5.635 million). The IJB financial regulations allow the Council to adjust its contributions in respect of unplanned underspends like this. The Council’s contribution can be reduced by this amount. This position relates to the financial year 2022/23. The Executive Committee on 1 February 2023 approved the proposal that this underspend is retained by the Council to help cover the Children and Families’ budget pressures into 2023/2024. This will be facilitated by a transfer to reserves allowing the monies to be used into 2023/2024 to support Children and Families’ pressures. 5.5 This approach was adopted in 2021/2022 when some of the unplanned Adult and Older People underspend was retained by the Council to help cover the Children and Families’ budget pressure. The amount may be revisited if there is a change in financial outlook by the end of the financial year. After transfers to reserves, Adult and Older People Services show a break-even position. 5.6. Position as at 24 February 2023: The Resource position as at 24 February 2023 is a breakeven position after proposed transfers to reserves. However, this includes an unplanned underspend on the delegated budget for Adult and Older People (£0.165 million) which is offset by a net overspend in the other Services of the Resource (a higher than Probable Outturn overspend in Children and Family Services, offset by underspends in Performance and Support and Justice Services). Detailed variance explanations are outlined in Appendix B to E. 5.7. Virements are proposed to realign budgets. These movements have been detailed in the appendices to this report, as appropriate. 6. Climate Change, Sustainability and Environmental Implications 6.1. There are no implications for climate change, sustainability or the environment in terms of the information contained in this report. 7. Other Implications 7.1. The main risk associated with the Council’s Revenue Budget is that there is an overspend. There are inflationary and budget pressures including utilities (as well as general inflation pressures) this year which increase the risk of overspend however these have mitigated through the IJB financial plan for 2022/23. The risk is managed through four weekly Budget Monitoring Meetings at which any variance is analysed. In addition, the probable outturn exercise ensures early warning for corrective action to be taken where appropriate. 14
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8. Equality Impact Assessment and Consultation Arrangements 8.1. This report does not introduce a new policy, function or strategy or recommend a change to an existing policy, function or strategy and, therefore, no impact assessment is required. 8.2. There was also no requirement to undertake any consultation in terms of the information contained in this report. Paul Manning Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) Soumen Sengupta Director, Health and Social Care 28 March 2023 Link(s) to Council Values/Priorities/Outcomes Accountable, Effective, Efficient and Transparent Previous References Social Work Resources Committee – 15 February 2023 List of Background Papers Financial Ledger and budget monitoring results to 24 February 2023 Contact for Further Information If you would like to inspect the background papers or want further information, please contact:- Graham Booth, Finance Manager Ext: 2699 (Tel: 01698 452699) Email: Graham.Booth@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 15
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Appendix A SOUTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL Revenue Budget Monitoring Report Social Work Resources Committee: Period Ended 24 February 2023 (No.12) Social Work Resources Summary Annual Budget Forecast for Year BEFORE Transfers Annual Forecast Variance BEFORE Transfers Annual Forecast Variance AFTER Transfers Budget Proportion 24/02/23 Actual 24/02/23 Variance 24/02/23 % Variance 24/02/23 Note £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Budget Category Employee Costs 111,140 106,324 5,086 1,141 97,840 93,493 4,348 under 3.2% Property Costs 3,634 3,668 (34) (34) 3,107 3,154 (47) over -1.5% Supplies & Services 8,125 7,586 538 538 6,895 6,440 455 under 6.6% Transport & Plant 4,886 4,920 (34) (34) 4,678 4,612 66 under 1.4% Administration Costs 1,756 1,682 74 74 1,131 1,105 26 under 2.3% Payments to Other Bodies 26,877 24,816 2,061 1,031 25,109 23,166 1,943 under 7.7% Payments to Contractors 134,675 136,612 (1,937) (2,597) 108,455 110,939 (2,484) over -2.3% Transfer Payments 3,831 3,932 (101) (101) 3,584 3,809 (225) over -6.3% Financing Charges 396 427 (33) (33) 393 448 (55) over -14.0% Total Controllable Exp. 295,588 289,968 5,620 (15) 251,292 247,166 4,027 under 1.1% Total Controllable Inc. (78,302) (79,317) 15 15 (61,998) (62,489) 491 over recovered -0.8% Net Controllable Exp. 216,286 210,651 5,635 0 189,194 184,677 4,518 under 1.8% Transfer to reserves as at (31/03/23) 0 0 0 0 4,518 (4,518) Position after Transfer to Reserves (31/03/23) 216,286 210,651 5,635 0 189,194 189,194 0 under 1.8% Variance Explanations Variance explanations are shown in Appendices B -E. Budget Virements Budget virements are shown in Appendices B-E. 16
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Appendix B SOUTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL Revenue Budget Monitoring Report Social Work Resources Committee: Period Ended 24 February 2023 (No.12) Children and Families Services Annual Budget Forecast for Year BEFORE Transfers Annual Forecast Variance BEFORE Transfers Annual Forecast Variance AFTER Transfers Budget Proportion 24/02/23 Actual 24/02/23 Variance 24/02/23 % Variance 24/02/23 Note £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Budget Category Employee Costs 18,521 18,116 405 405 16,632 16,216 416 under 2.5% 1 Property Costs 473 478 (5) (5) 406 442 (36) over -8.9% Supplies & Services 758 612 140 140 662 521 141 under 21.3% 2 Transport & Plant 634 643 (9) (9) 547 681 (134) over -24.5% 3 Administration Costs 352 366 (14) (14) 280 266 14 under 5.0% Payments to Other Bodies 11,025 10,040 985 985 10,062 9,126 936 under 9.3% 4, a Payments to Contractors 9,760 12,223 (2,463) (2,463) 8,316 10,800 (2,484) over -29.9% 5 Transfer Payments 3,818 3,901 (83) (83) 3,573 3,771 (198) over -5.5% 6 Financing Charges 20 33 (13) (13) 20 37 (17) over -85.0% Total Controllable Exp. 45,355 46,412 (1,057) (1,057) 40,498 41,860 (1,362) over -3.4% Total Controllable Inc. (2,367) (2,268) (99) (99) (1,925) (1,886) (39) under recovered 2.0% Net Controllable Exp. 42,988 44,144 (1,156) (1,156) 38,573 39,974 (1,401) over -3.6% Transfer to reserves as at (31/03/23) Position after Transfer to Reserves (31/03/23) 42,988 44,144 (1,156) (1,156) 38,573 39,974 (1,401) over -3.6% Variance Explanations 1. Employee costs The underspend in employee costs is mainly attributable to a slippage in the Whole Family Wellbeing funding due to recruitment and Social Worker vacancies which are actively being recruited. 2. Supplies and Services The underspend is attributable to supplies for clients which is demand led. 3. Transport & Plant The overspend has arisen from the requirement for transport for both children in the community and looked after children. 4. Payment to Other bodies The underspend is in respect of non-recurring underspends in relation to Whole Family Wellbeing, and Mental Health monies and funding to develop both supported accommodation and young carers services. This is offset in part by an overspend as a result of the increased requirement for support with adoption allowances and fostering placements. 5. Payment to Contractors This overspend is a result of the continuing increased requirement for children’s residential school and external placements. 6. Transfer Payments This overspend relates to an increase in numbers for kinship care. Budget Virements a. Transfer to Education Resources funding in respect of Whole Family Wellbeing, Mental Health & Wellbeing and Scottish Attainment Challenge funding (£0.771m): Payment to other bodies (£0.771m). 17
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Appendix C SOUTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL Revenue Budget Monitoring Report Social Work Resources Committee: Period Ended 24 February 2023 (No.12) Adults and Older People Services Annual Budget Forecast for Year BEFORE Transfers Annual Forecast Variance BEFORE Transfers Annual Forecast Variance AFTER Transfers Budget Proportion 24/02/23 Actual 24/02/23 Variance 24/02/23 % Variance 24/02/23 Note £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Budget Category Employee Costs 80,315 76,8145 3,501 (444) 70,151 67,205 2,947 under 2.5% 1, a Property Costs 2,560 2,556 4 4 2,194 2,175 19 under 0.9% Supplies & Services 6,828 6,421 407 407 6,034 5,751 283 under 4.7% 2, b Transport & Plant 3,902 3,938 (51) (51) 3,799 3,657 142 under 3.7% 3 Administration Costs 471 416 55 55 415 452 (37) over -8.9% b Payments to Other Bodies 15,277 14,266 1,011 (18) 14,475 13,541 934 under 6.5% 4, b Payments to Contractors 124,872 124,346 526 (135) 100,096 100,096 0 - 0.0% Transfer Payments 7 25 (18) (18) 6 31 (25) over -416.7% Financing Charges 55 61 (6) (6) 54 74 (20) over -37.0% Total Controllable Exp. 234,287 228,858 5,429 (206) 197,224 192,982 4,243 under 1.6% Total Controllable Inc. (69,201) (69,407) 206 206 (54,117) (54,557) 440 over recovered -0.8% 5, a Net Controllable Exp. 165,086 159,451 5,635 0 143,107 138,425 4,684 under 2.4% Transfer to reserves as at (31/03/23) 0 0 0 0 4,518 (4,518) Position after Transfer to Reserves (31/03/23) 165,086 159,451 5,635 0 143,107 142,942 165 under 2.4% Variance Explanations 1. Employee costs The underspend is a mainly a result of an underspend in Home First funding due to recruitment challenges and vacancies across Social Workers, Day Care services and Residential homes. 2. Supplies and Services The underspend is a result of reductions in day services impacted by Covid 19. 3. Transport & Plant The underspend as a consequence of building based day services not being fully operational during the financial year. 4. Payments to Other Bodies Only part year funding is required from the Carers Act, resulting in a non-recurring underspend. 5. Income The over recover of income relates to non-recurring income received from service users in respect of prior year care costs being higher than budgeted. Budget Virements a. Incorporation of Covid funding from IJB reserve Net Effect £0, Employee costs £0.400m, Income (£0.400m). b. Realignment of temporary budget for fit out of Blantyre project Net Effect £0, Supplies & Services (£0.135m), Administration £0.010m, Payment to Other Bodies £0.125m. 18
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Appendix D SOUTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL Revenue Budget Monitoring Report Social Work Resources Committee: Period Ended 24 February 2023 (No.12) Performance and Support Services Annual Budget Forecast for Year BEFORE Transfers Annual Forecast Variance BEFORE Transfers Annual Forecast Variance AFTER Transfers Budget Proportion 24/02/23 Actual 24/02/23 Variance 24/02/23 % Variance 24/02/23 Note £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Budget Category Employee Costs 5,734 5,027 707 707 5,107 4,411 696 under 13.6% 1 Property Costs 534 542 (8) (8) 442 444 (2) over -0.5% Supplies & Services 457 480 (23) (23) 133 126 7 under 5.3% Transport & Plant 257 231 26 26 248 173 75 under 30.2% 2 Administration Costs 330 326 4 4 270 247 23 under 8.5% Payments to Other Bodies 35 18 17 17 34 18 16 under 47.1% Payments to Contractors 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - n/a Transfer Payments 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - n/a Financing Charges 310 323 (13) (13) 310 318 (8) over -2.6% Total Controllable Exp. 7,657 6,947 710 710 6,544 5,737 807 under 12.3% Total Controllable Inc. (573) (542) (31) (31) (112) (84) (28) under recovered 25.0% Net Controllable Exp. 7,084 6,405 679 679 6,432 5,653 779 under 12.1% Transfer to reserves as at (31/03/23) Position after Transfer to Reserves (31/03/23) 7,084 6,405 679 679 6,432 5,653 779 under 12.1% Variance Explanations 1. Employee costs This is an underspend due to vacancies which are being actively recruited, mainly within Admin and Clerical staff. 2. Transport & Plant The underspend is attributable to transport of community groups not being fully operational during the financial year. Budget Virements 19
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Appendix E SOUTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL Revenue Budget Monitoring Report Social Work Resources Committee: Period Ended 24 February 2023 (No 12) Justice Services Annual Budget Forecast for Year BEFORE Transfers Annual Forecast Variance BEFORE Transfers Annual Forecast Variance AFTER Transfers Budget Proportion 24/02/23 Actual 24/02/23 Variance 24/02/23 % Variance 24/02/23 Note £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Budget Category Employee Costs 6,840 6,367 473 473 5,950 5,661 289 under 4.9% 1 Property Costs 67 92 (25) (25) 65 93 (28) over -43.1% Supplies & Services 88 74 14 14 66 42 24 under 36.4% Transport & Plant 93 93 0 0 84 101 (17) over -20.2% Administration Costs 603 574 29 29 166 140 26 under 15.7% Payments to Other Bodies 540 492 48 48 538 481 57 under 10.6% 2 Payments to Contractors 43 43 0 0 43 43 0 - 0.0% Transfer Payments 6 6 0 0 5 7 (2) over -40.0% Financing Charges 9 10 (1) (1) 9 19 (10) over -111.1% Total Controllable Exp. 8,289 7,751 538 538 6,926 6,587 339 under 4.9% Total Controllable Inc. (7,161) (7,100) (61) (61) (5,844) (5,962) 118 over recovered -2.0% 3 Net Controllable Exp. 1,128 651 477 477 1,082 625 457 under 42.2% Transfer to reserves as at (31/03/23) Position after Transfer to Reserves (31/03/23) 1,128 651 477 477 1,082 625 457 Under 42.2% Variance Explanations 1. Employee costs This underspend is due to vacancies which are being actively recruited. 2. Payments to Other Bodies The underspend is a result of changes to contracts for services procured from third sector providers which has resulted in a non-recurring underspend. 3. Income The over recover of income is non-recurring resulting from additional services being provided on a pan Lanarkshire basis. Budget Virements 20
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Report Agenda Item Report to: Social Work Resources Committee Date of Meeting: 3 May 2023 Report by: Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) Director, Health and Social Care Subject: Social Work Resources - Capital Budget Monitoring 2022/2023 1. Purpose of Report 1.1. The purpose of the report is to: [purpose] provide information on the progress of the capital programme for Social Work Resources for the period 1 April 2022 to 24 February 2023 2. Recommendation(s) 2.1. The Committee is asked to approve the following recommendation(s): (1) that the Social Work Resources capital programme of £3.903 million, and expenditure to date of £4.084 million, be noted; and (2) that the projected outturn of £4.3 million be noted. 3. Background 3.1. This is the fourth capital monitoring report presented to the Social Work Resources Committee for the financial year 2022/2023. A final report will be presented following the end of the financial year. 3.2. As noted in the last report to this Committee (15 February 2023), the budget for Social Work Resources for financial year 2022/2023 was £3.903 million. There has been no change to this budget since this last report to this Committee. 3.3. The report details the financial position for Social Work Resources in Appendix A. 4. Employee Implications 4.1. There are no employee implications as a result of this report. 5. Financial Implications 5.1. 2022/2023 Capital Programme Update As detailed in Section 3.2, the 2022/2023 capital programme for Social Work Resources is £3.903 million. 4 21
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5.2. 2022/23 Outturn As reported previously to this Committee, work has been ongoing to monitor the predicted spend position for this financial year and current estimates from Social Work Resources suggest an outturn of £4.3 million, an overspend of £0.400 million. This mainly relates to the timing of spend on the Community Alarms and SWiS Plus Replacement projects, with funding for the overall spend on these projects already identified into next financial year. 5.3. The year-end position is currently being finalised and this will be reported to the Executive Committee on the 21 June 2023. The final position for the Social Work Resources programme will be reported to the next Committee on 28 June 2023. 5.4. Period 12 Position Anticipated spend to date was £3.788 million and spend to 24 February 2023 amounts to £4.084 million. This represents a position of £0.296 million ahead of profile and this mainly reflects the timing of payments on the Community Alarms and SWiS Plus Replacement projects, as discussed at section 5.2. 6. Climate Change, Sustainability and Environmental Implications 6.1. There are no implications for climate change, sustainability or the environment in terms of the information contained in this report. 7. Other Implications 7.1. The main risk associated with the Council’s Capital Programme is an overspend. There are detailed project management plans prepared and the risk of overspend on each project is monitored through four weekly investment management meetings. 7.2. The Council continues to experience material shortages, longer lead times and extraordinary inflationary price increases and it is anticipated that this will continue to impact the supply chain for the foreseeable future. The impact of this will continue to be monitored through the four weekly investment management meetings. Further updates will be reported in the coming months with any significant increases in contract values being brought to members’ attention. 8. Equality Impact Assessment and Consultation Arrangements 8.1. This report does not introduce a new policy, function or strategy or recommend a change to an existing policy, function or strategy and, therefore, no impact assessment is required. 8.2. There was also no requirement to undertake any consultation in terms of the information contained in this report. Paul Manning Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) Soumen Sengupta Director, Health and Social Care 12 April 2023 22
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Link(s) to Council Values/Priorities/Outcomes Accountable, effective, efficient and transparent Previous References Social Work Resources Committee, 15 February 2023 List of Background Papers ▪ Financial ledger to 24 February 2023 Contact for Further Information If you would like to inspect the background papers or want further information, please contact: Lorraine O’Hagan, Finance Manager (Strategy) Ext: 2601 (Tel: 01698 452601) E-mail: lorraine.o’hagan@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 23
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Appendix A South Lanarkshire Council Capital Expenditure 2022-2023 Social Work Resources Programme For Period 1 April 2022 – 24 February 2023 Social Work Resources Base Budget £000 Budget Adjustments £000 Slippage £000 Total Budget £000 Budget to Date £000 Actual Expenditure £000 Care Facilities 2,702 40 - 2,742 2,742 2,742 Other 4,691 40 (3,570) 1,161 1,046 1,342 TOTAL 7,393 80 (3,570) 3,903 3,788 4,084 24
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Report Agenda Item Report to: Social Work Resources Committee Date of Meeting: 3 May 2023 Report by: Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) Director, Health and Social Care Subject: Social Work Resources – Workforce Monitoring – December 2022 to February 2023 1. Purpose of Report 1.1. The purpose of the report is to: - [purpose] provide employment information for December 2022 to February 2023 relating to Social Work Resources [1purpose] 2. Recommendation(s) 2.1. The Committee is asked to approve the following recommendation(s): - [recs] (1) that the following employment information for December 2022 to February 2023 relating to Social Work Resources be noted:- attendance statistics occupational health accident/incident statistics discipline, grievance and Dignity at Work cases analysis of leavers and exit interviews Staffing Watch as of 10 December 2022 [1recs] 3. Background 3.1. As part of the Council’s performance management arrangements, regular workforce monitoring reports are submitted to Committee. This report for Social Work Resources provides information on the position for December 2022 to February 2023. 4. Monitoring Statistics 4.1. Attendance Statistics (Appendix 1) Information on absence statistics is analysed for the month of February 2023 for Social Work Resources. The Resource absence figure for February 2023 was 7.5%, this figure has increased by 0.1% when compared to last month and is 1.6% higher than the Council-wide figure. Compared to February 2022, the Resource absence figure has decreased by 0.8%. Based on the absence figures at February 2023 and annual trends, the projected annual average absence for the Resource for 2022/2023 is 7.7%, compared to a Council-wide average figure of 5.8%. 5 25
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Managers follow the procedures outlined in the Maximising Attendance Policy to support employees to remain at work, or to return to work after a sickness absence. There are comprehensive employee supports in place and additionally, Personnel Services work in close partnership with line managers and Resource Management Teams on a case management basis to ensure that appropriate actions are taken. 4.2. Occupational Health (Appendix 2) In terms of referrals to occupational health, which include medical examinations and physiotherapy, overall, 337 referrals were made this period. This represents an increase of 18 when compared with the same period last year. 4.3. Accident/Incident Statistics There were 42 accidents/incidents recorded within the Resource this period, an increase of 8 when compared to the same period last year. 4.4. Discipline, Grievance and Dignity at Work (Appendix 2) During the period, 1 disciplinary hearing was held within the Resource, a decrease of 4 when compared to the same period last year. No appeals were heard by the Appeals Panel. No grievance hearings were raised within the Resource, a decrease of 2 when compared to the same period last year. No Dignity at Work complaints were raised within the Resource, a decrease of 1 when compared to the same period last year. 4.5. Analysis of Leavers (Appendix 2) There were a total of 41 leavers in the Resource this period eligible for an exit interview. This figure has decreased by 12 when compared with the same period last year. Seventeen exit interviews were conducted in this period, a decrease of 14 when compared to the same period last year. 4.6. When processing an employee termination, managers were asked to identify whether they intended to replace the employee who had left the Council. If they indicated that they did not intend to replace the employee, they were asked to select from the following options: plan to hold for savings fill on a fixed term basis pending savings transfer budget to another post end of fixed term post 4.7. Appendix 2a provides a breakdown of vacant posts and whether these are being replaced or held for savings. In the period December 2022 to February 2023, 72 employees (57.70 FTE) employees in total left employment, managers indicated that 70 posts (55.76 FTE) posts were being replaced, 1 post (1.00 FTE) was due to end of fixed term contract and 1 post (0.95 FTE) is being held pending a service review. 5. Staffing Watch 5.1. There has been an increase of 13 in the number of employees in post from 10 September 2022 to 10 December 2022. 26
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6. Employee Implications 6.1. There are no implications for employees arising from the information presented in this report. 7. Financial Implications 7.1. All financial implications are accommodated within existing budgets. 8. Climate Change, Sustainability and Environmental Implications 8.1. There are no Climate Change, Sustainability and Environmental Implications in terms of the information contained within this report. 9. Other Implications 9.1. There are no implications for sustainability or risk in terms of the information contained within this report. 10. Equality Impact Assessment and Consultation Arrangements 10.1. This report does not introduce a new policy, function or strategy or recommend a change to an existing policy, function or strategy and therefore no impact assessment is required. 10.2. There was no requirement to undertake any consultation in terms of the information contained in this report. Paul Manning Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) Soumen Sengupta Director, Health and Social Care 30 March 2023 Link(s) to Council Values/Priorities/Outcomes Accountable, effective, efficient and transparent Fair, open and sustainable Ambitious, self aware and improving Excellent employer Focused on people and their needs Working with and respecting others Previous References Finance and Corporate Resources – 15 February 2023 List of Background Papers Monitoring information provided by Finance and Corporate Resources Contact for Further Information If you would like to inspect the background papers or want further information, please contact: - Eileen McPake, HR Business Manager Ext: (Tel: 01698 454647) E-mail: Eileen.McPake@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 27
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2020 / 2021 2021 / 2022 2022 / 2023 2020 / 2021 2021 / 2022 2022 / 2023 2020 / 2021 2021 / 2022 2022 / 2023 2020 / 2021 2021 / 2022 2022 / 2023 % % % % % % % % % % % % April 5.5 4.5 6.2 April 10.2 9.6 12.6 April 7.1 6.2 8.3 April 4.4 4.3 5.6 May 4.4 5.0 5.7 May 8.1 9.3 10.1 May 5.7 6.5 7.1 May 3.1 4.9 5.4 June 3.9 3.9 5.9 June 7.6 7.6 11.3 June 5.2 5.2 7.6 June 2.7 4.7 5.3 July 3.7 6.1 6.0 July 6.3 10.3 11.8 July 4.6 7.5 7.9 July 2.3 4.0 4.6 August 4.4 7.3 6.0 August 6.7 10.2 10.8 August 5.2 8.2 7.5 August 3.1 4.7 4.4 September 5.4 7.6 5.9 September 7.5 10.3 9.6 September 6.1 8.5 7.1 September 4.2 6.4 5.4 October 5.9 6.9 5.8 October 8.2 11.3 10.4 October 6.7 8.4 7.3 October 4.8 6.3 5.8 November 6.6 6.2 6.0 November 8.9 10.8 10.4 November 7.4 7.7 7.4 November 5.8 6.9 6.5 December 6.5 5.5 6.4 December 10.3 11.1 10.6 December 7.7 7.3 7.7 December 5.6 6.9 7.0 January 5.8 7.4 5.2 January 13.1 13.0 12.0 January 8.3 9.2 7.4 January 4.8 7.0 5.8 February 5.1 7.5 5.8 February 12.6 10.1 11.0 February 7.6 8.3 7.5 February 4.8 6.6 5.9 March 4.6 8.0 March 10.6 12.8 March 6.6 9.5 March 4.9 7.9 Annual Average 5.2 6.3 6.1 Annual Average 9.2 10.5 11.1 Annual Average 6.5 7.7 7.7 Annual Average 4.2 5.9 5.8 Average Apr-Feb 5.2 6.2 5.9 Average Apr-Feb 9.0 10.3 11.0 Average Apr-Feb 6.5 7.5 7.5 Average Apr-Feb 4.1 5.7 5.6 1854 1005 2859 16122 Resource TotalManual Workers No of Employees at 28 Feb 2023 No of Employees at 28 Feb 2023 No of Employees at 28 Feb 2023 No of Employees at 28 Feb 2023 Appendix 1 Absence Trends - 2020/2021, 2021/2022 & 2022/2023 Social Work Resources APT&C Council Wide 28
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Dec - Feb Dec - Feb 2021 / 2022 2022 / 2023 MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS Number of Employees Attending EMPLOYEE COUNSELLING SERVICE Total Number of Referrals PHYSIOTHERAPY SERVICE Total Number of Referrals REFERRALS TO EMPLOYEE SUPPORT OFFICER 102 105 REFERRALS TO COGNITIVE BEHAVIOUR THERAPY 0 0 TOTAL 319 337 Dec - Feb Dec - Feb 2021 / 2022 2022 / 2023 Over 7 day absences 2 2 Over 3 day absences** 2 1 Minor 15 20 Near Miss 3 0 Violent Incident: Physical**** 8 12 Violent Incident: Verbal***** 4 7 Total Accidents/Incidents 34 42 Dec - Feb Dec - Feb 2021 / 2022 2022 / 2023 Total Number of Hearings 5 1 Appeals Pending 1 0 Time Taken to Convene Hearing December 2022 - February 2023 0-3 Weeks 4-6 Weeks Over 6 Weeks 0 1 0 Dec - Feb Dec - Feb 2021 / 2022 2022 / 2023 Number of Grievances 2 0 Number Resolved at Stage 1 2 0 Dec - Feb Dec - Feb 2021 / 2022 2022 / 2023 Number of Incidents 1 0 Number Resolved at Formal Stage 1 0 Dec - Feb Dec - Feb 2021 / 2022 2022 / 2023 Career Advancement 8 7 Child Caring / Caring Responsibilities 1 1 Disatisfaction with terms and conditions 1 1 Further Education 6 0 Moving outwith area 0 3 Personal Reasons 2 2 Poor relationship with managers / colleagues 4 0 Travelling difficulties 2 1 Other 7 2 Number of Exit Interviews conducted 31 17 Total Number of Leavers Eligible for Exit Interview 53 41 Percentage of interviews conducted 58% 41% ANALYSIS OF REASONS FOR LEAVING ****Physical violent incidents are included in the "Specified" figures, where applicable, to provide the "Total Specified" figures. ****Physical violent incidents and ***** Verbal Violent Incidents are included in the "Over 3-day or Over 7-day" figures, where applicable, to provide the "Total Over 3-day or Over 7-day" figures. ****Physical Violent Incidents and ***** Verbal Violent Incidents are included in the "Minor" figures, where applicable, to provide the "Total Minor" figures. RECORD OF DISCIPLINARY HEARINGS RECORD OF GRIEVANCE HEARINGS RECORD OF DIGNITY AT WORK 76 112 CAUSE OF ACCIDENTS/INCIDENTS *A Specified Injury is any fracture (other than to the fingers, thumbs or toes), amputation, loss of sight, serious burns, crushing injury, scalping, loss of consciousness caused by asphyxiation/ head injury, a chemical or hot metal burn to the eye or penetrating injury as defined by the HSE. **Over 3 day / over 7day absence is an injury sustained outwith specified injury category that results in a period of absence of absence as defined by the HSE. ***Near Miss - Any unexpected, unplanned occurrence (except Dangerous Occurrences) that does not lead to injury of persons, damage to property, plant or equipment but may have done so in different circumstance. Appendix 2 116 93 25 27 SOCIAL WORK RESOURCES 29
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Appendix 2a FTE H/C FTE H/C Terminations/Leavers 57.70 72 250.40 323 Being replaced 55.76 70 242.69 314 Filling on a temporary basis 0.00 0 0.00 0 Plan to transfer this budget to another post 0.00 0 0.45 1 End of fixed term contract 1.00 1 2.65 3 Held pending service Review 0.95 1 2.80 3 Plan to remove for savings 0.00 0 1.81 2 Reason Dec 2022 - Feb 2023 Cumulative total 30
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As at 10 December 2022 Total Number of Employees F/T P/T F/T P/T 198 183 963 1321 Director Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Fixed SCP Teacher TOTAL 1.00 111.64 617.78 536.93 35.80 30.76 2.00 0.00 0.00 1335.91 As at 10 September 2022 Total Number of Employees F/T P/T F/T P/T 223 166 1003 1260 Director Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Fixed SCP Teacher TOTAL 1.00 1131.10 572.73 548.36 36.80 29.76 2.00 0.00 0.00 2321.75 Appendix 3 JOINT STAFFING WATCH RETURN SOCIAL WORK RESOURCES *Full - Time Equivalent No of Employees Salary Bands 2665 MALE FEMALE TOTAL Salary Bands MALE FEMALE TOTAL 2652 *Full - Time Equivalent No of Employees 31
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Report Agenda Item Report to: Social Work Resources Committee Date of Meeting: 3 May 2023 Report by: Director, Health and Social Care Subject: Update on the 2022/2023 Risk Register and Risk Control Plan 1. Purpose of Report 1.1. The purpose of the report is to:-[ purpose] provide an update on risk management arrangements and the Risk Register for Social Work Resources [1purpose] 2. Recommendations 2.1. The Committee is asked to approve the following recommendation(s):- [recs] (1) that the contents of the report be noted; and (2) that the set of top risks for Social Work Resources be approved. ] 3. Background 3.1. The Council’s Risk Management Strategy promotes consideration of risk in service delivery, planning and decision-making processes. The strategy requires Resources to record and review risks and control actions regularly. Social Work Resources follow the guidance in developing, monitoring and updating the Risk Register on an ongoing basis. 3.2. The purpose of the Risk Register is to ensure that Social Work Resources (SWR) is fully aware of its top risks; that these risks are prioritised; and that controls are in place to eliminate or minimise the impact of the risks. 3.3. The Resource scores these risks in accordance with the Council’s Corporately agreed scoring mechanism, based on likelihood and impact. This results in risks being scored between one and twenty-five (low – very high). Risks are scored on their inherent score (risk if we do nothing) and their residual risk (risk after applying controls). Further detail on the council’s scoring matrix and approach to risk appetite is outlined in appendix one. 3.4. Each Resource has a Resource Risk Management Group which has responsibility for the promotion and management of risk. The SWR Risk Management Group continues to meet on a regular basis to provide operational oversight of all risks impacting on the delivery of Social Care Services. 6 33
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3.5. This particular report provides an update to SWR Committee on a number of interrelated pieces of work that have been undertaken with regards to risk in the context and how these impact on the delivery of social care services. Notably, this report will cover the following areas: a reviewed list of top risks impacting on social care as per agreement at SWR Committee on 15 February 2023 reviewing the Council’s Top Risks for 2023/2024 4. Review of the Top Risks Impacting on Social Care Services 4.1. At its meeting of 15 February 2022, SWR Committee agreed the current top 5 risks impacting on the delivery of Social Care Services, each of which remain unchanged following review by the Social Work Risk Management Group: workforce availability and capacity (lack of capacity and skills to meet increased service demands) meeting public protection and legislative duties (combined legislation/statutory duties public protection, Care Inspectorate/Self-Directed Support (SDS) market and provider capacity (procurement/supply chain) funding and budgetary pressures (Reduction in funding/increased costs) winter demand pressures (Emergency Response) 4.2. Appendix 2 provides further detail on each of these top risks, alongside the inherent and residual risk scores and sample controls. 4.3. Whilst these top risks are the primary focus of the Resource in terms of oversight, monitoring and management, there are other risks (whilst deemed to be of lesser impact at this point in time) that the Resource are required to monitor and contribute to by way of mitigation. Some of these risks are wider organisational risks which require all departments of the Council to respond to by working together corporately. The list below provides some additional detail in this regard: deliver Strategic Commissioning Plan Outcomes (Integration Joint Board) IT development and functionality pandemic response and recovery National Care Service/independent Review Adult Social Care failure to meet sustainable development and climate change objectives fraud, theft organised crime and cyber attacks historic Child Abuse increased levels of adverse weather Cost of Living Crisis refugee resettlement and asylum seeker dispersal programme disruption to Council Services due to industrial action 4.4. From a risk appetite and tolerance perspective, the Council aims to be risk embracing, in that it will accept a tolerable level of risk in seeking service efficiencies and in agreeing control measures. The level of risk facing the Council is measured both before (inherent risk) and after (residual risk) consideration of controls. The Council should never carry a very high residual risk exposure as this would indicate instability, but a low residual risk exposure should also be avoided as this indicates lack of innovation. 34
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4.5. The Council’s universal risk tolerance levels were updated as part of the review of the risk management strategy last year, with the ideal risk profile defined as: no more than 10 per cent of residual risks at a very high level no more than 15 per cent of risks at a high level around 50 to 60 per cent of residual risks at a medium level no more than 30 per cent of residual risks at a low level 4.6. SWR currently has a risk profile of 31%, in respect of the 16 risks referred to in sections 4.1 and 4.3. This is mainly due to the 5 top risks having a residual score of very high. This, however, is reflective of the environment and risks which the service currently operates within. 4.7. Risk will remain a standing item on SWR Committee and the Risk Register and reporting of risk will be a dynamic process, with Committee receiving updates on any changes to levels of risk or new risks which may evolve overtime. 5. Reviewing the Council’s Top Risks for 2023/2024 5.1. An annual review of the Council’s top risks will begin in April 2023 with views sought from Heads of Service, Senior Managers, Elected Members and Trade Unions. 5.2. The review will support the systematic identification and assessment of top risks and cross cutting themes which will be monitored through individual Resource risk registers. 6. Major projects, partnerships, or change 6.1. Within SWR, 13 partnerships have been identified. None are considered to be high risk. Major projects / transformational change programmes are reported to Committee. 7. Next steps 7.1. The Resource Risk Management Group will continue to meet on a regular basis. The Risk Register will be reviewed on an ongoing basis by the group to ensure that risks remain valid for the appropriate Service areas and to identify new areas of risk that affect the Resource. An update report will be provided regularly to Committee. 7.2. Moreover, future reports and proposals brought before SWR Committee will show the correlation and read across with the top risks to assure Committee that such proposals are geared towards providing further levels of mitigation. 8. Employee Implications 8.1. Time will be required for the Resource Risk Management Group to manage the Resource Risk Register and Risk Control Plan. 9. Financial Implications 9.1. There are no direct financial implications associated with the Resource’s top risks. There are a number of proposed risks which are classified under the heading of financial. Where this is the case, the appropriate controls and actions have been included in the risk control cards and progress will be monitored. 35
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10. Climate Change, Sustainability and Environmental Implications 10.1. Sustainable development issues are included within the Council’s top risk register through being linked directly to the Council plan objective ‘make communities safer, stronger and sustainable’ 11. Other Implications 11.1. Failure to demonstrate that risk is actively considered and managed cannot only lead to avoidable financial loss but could also affect delivery of services and the reputation of the Resource. 12. Equality Impact Assessment and Consultation Arrangements 12.1. This report does not introduce a new policy, function or strategy or recommend a change to existing policy, function or strategy and therefore, no impact assessment is required. 12.2. Consultation on the content of this report has been undertaken with the Resource Management Team. Soumen Sengupta Director, Health and Social Care 17 April 2023 Link(s) to Council Values/Priorities/Outcomes Accountable, effective and efficient Previous References Social Work Committee – 15 February 2023 List of Background Papers none Contact for Further Information If you would like to inspect the background papers or want further information, please contact:- Ciana Stewart, Planning and Performance Manager Ciana.stewart@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 36
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Appendix One – Risk scoring matrix, likelihood and impact definitions Likelihood Score 1 2 3 4 5 Description Rare Unlikely Possible Likely Almost certain Likelihood of occurrence 1 in 10 years 1 in 3 years 1 in 2 years Annually Monthly Probability of occurrence The event may occur in certain circumstances The event could occur The event may occur The event will probably occur The event is expected to occur or occurs regularly Impact Reputation Financial Service delivery/ Time to recover Compliance Safety 1 Negligible Public concern restricted to local complaints <£50,000 per annum No impact to service quality; limited disruption to operations. No external interest Minor injury – no lost time 2 Minor Minor adverse local/public/me dia attention and complaints £50,000- £250,000 per annum Minor impact to service quality; minor service standards are not met; short term Very minor attention from legislative /regulatory body Minor injury – resulting in lost time 3 Moderate Adverse national media Public attention £250,000 to £500,000 per annum Significant fall in service quality; major partnership Short-term attention Major injury or ill health 37
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relationships strained; serious disruption in service standards from legislative/ regulatory body resulting in lost time 4 Major Serious negative national or regional criticism £500,000 to £1million per annum Major impact to service delivery; multiple service standards are not met; long term disruption to operations; multiple partnerships affected Medium-term attention from legislative/ regulatory body Fatality; Or injuries to several people 5 Catastrophic Prolonged international, regional and national condemnation >£1million per annum Catastrophic fail in service quality and key service standards are not met; long term catastrophic interruption to operations; several major partnerships are affected National impact with rapid intervention of legislative/ regulatory body Multiple fatalities; Or injuries to large number of people The assessments for impact and likelihood combine to provide an overall inherent risk score on the scale of between 1 and 25, using the Council’s recognised risk matrix. 38
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Risk matrix Likelihood 5 Almost Certain 5 10 15 20 25 4 Likely 4 8 12 16 20 3 Possible 3 6 9 12 15 2 Unlikely 2 4 6 8 10 1 Rare 1 2 3 4 5 1 Negligible 2 Minor 3 Moderate 4 Major 5 Catastrophic Impact The risk score is calculated as follows: Likelihood score x Impact score = Risk Score Risks scored 15 to 25 are considered to be very high risks and risks scored 8 to 12 are considered to be high risks. Very high and high risks are monitored closely. 39
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Appendix Two Social Work Resources Risk Register (February 2023) Extract of risks with residual score category of Very High Sample of Controls Risk Category Key Risk Inherent risk score 1st line of defence: Operational management 2nd line of defence: Corporate functions (not internal audit) that oversee or who specialise in compliance or the management of risk (CMT) 3rd line of defence independent assurance (internal/external audit and any other scrutiny or regulatory body) Residual Risk Score 1 1 Very High (15-25) Workforce Availability and Capacity Description • Lack of capacity and skills to meet increased service demands. • National shortage of skilled workforce across all sectors • Recruitment, selection, and retention of Social Care Staff challenging • Growing demographic and post pandemic service demands • Workforce profile shows an ageing workforce within social care • Competition with other industry sectors and Local Authorities 25 Prioritising workloads, raising concern within management team Social Care and Social Work Critical Functions Framework Care at Home social media recruitment campaign (Everyday heroes) Workforce Monitoring reports to SWC Personnel targeted recruitment campaigns Increase use of social media to recruit Care Academy Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care Scotland SSSC (Scottish Social Services Council) registration requirements 20 40
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Sample of Controls Risk Category Key Risk Inherent risk score 1st line of defence: Operational management 2nd line of defence: Corporate functions (not internal audit) that oversee or who specialise in compliance or the management of risk (CMT) 3rd line of defence independent assurance (internal/external audit and any other scrutiny or regulatory body) Residual Risk Score 2 1 Very High (15-25) Meeting Public Protection and Legislative Duties Description • Ability to meet increased demands and risks with regards Public Protection (Child Protection, Adult Support and Protection, MAPPA and Gender Based Violence) • Meeting all legislative duties pertaining to assessment, support planning and reviews 25 SwisPlus system records legislative rationale for intervention. Improve reports on legislative timescales targets being met ASP decision making support tool for staff. Wellbeing portal for all staff to access. Risk Assessment for Service Users PPE support to all who require A risk assessment is part of care management function. Mandatory training and LOL courses for all staff, specific legislation LOL’s available. Workforce updates to all SW Committee Meetings. Serious Incident recording and action Previous inspections reports by CI: SDS, Children’s Services and ASP inspection. All registered care services have oversight by Care Inspectorate Other inspection: Mental Welfare Commission reviews 20 41
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Sample of Controls Risk Category Key Risk Inherent risk score 1st line of defence: Operational management 2nd line of defence: Corporate functions (not internal audit) that oversee or who specialise in compliance or the management of risk (CMT) 3rd line of defence independent assurance (internal/external audit and any other scrutiny or regulatory body) Residual Risk Score 3 1 Very High (15-25) Market and Provider Capacity Description • The market has insufficient capacity and choice to meet demand • Risks of Providers not being able to sustain their business models/supply chain issues • Providers are able to maintain compliance with national standards and quality of service delivery 25 Quality Assurance & Commissioning Team in place Procurement Network Oversight meetings in place Mapping tool developed in support of care at home service Oversight of all SL based registered care services maintained Social Work Scotland Care Market intelligence shared. Market facilitation plan Care Inspectorate regulation of all care services Scottish Care support of independent, private, voluntary care providers. 20 42
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Sample of Controls Risk Category Key Risk Inherent risk score 1st line of defence: Operational management 2nd line of defence: Corporate functions (not internal audit) that oversee or who specialise in compliance or the management of risk (CMT) 3rd line of defence independent assurance (internal/external audit and any other scrutiny or regulatory body) Residual Risk Score 4 1 Very High (15-25) Funding and Budgetary Pressures Description • Risk that services have to re-prioritised as a result of reductions in budgets • Reduction in early intervention and prevention activity as a result of having to respond to statutory duties such a public protection 25 Budget holder responsibility and monitoring. Care Packages linked to finance module Voluntary Sector commissioned services can lever additional funding to the area Revenue and Capital budget monitoring reports to SW Committee Four weekly monitoring and reporting of financial performance to CMT COSLA role in support of LA’s and links to Scottish Government Audit Scotland reports and briefings 20 43
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5 1 Very High (15-25) Winter Demand Pressures Description • Increased service demand beyond normal levels as a result of the impact of seasonal Flu, other respiratory conditions and increased unwellness in the population • Impact on workforce availability due to potential increases in sickness/absence • Impact of adverse weather on service delivery 25 Planning for Winter 2022/2023 commenced in July 2022 All health and social care staff offered flu and COVID 19 vaccines. Covid and Flu Vaccine Programme for public GP and Pharmacy Opening Maximising Planned Date of Discharge, Discharge Without Delay and Home First Multi-agency approach across NHS Lanarkshire, the two H&SCPs/IJBs, North and South Lanarkshire Councils together with the respective supports. NHS 24 etc. NHS Scotland, Public Health Scotland, Healthier Scotland driving forward Winter 2022 Vaccines programme. Overall Resilience Planning 20 44
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Report Agenda Item Report to: Social Work Resources Committee Date of Meeting: 3 May 2023 Report by: Director, Health and Social Care Subject: Social Work Resource Plan 2023/2024 1. Purpose of Report 1.1. The purpose of the report is to:- [purpose] present the Social Work Resource Plan 2023/2024 for approval and note the monitoring arrangements [1purpose] 2. Recommendations 2.1. The Committee is asked to approve the following recommendation(s):- (1) that the Resource Plan 2023/2024, attached as Appendix 1, be approved; (2) that the Resource Plan 2023/2024 be uploaded onto the Council’s website following consideration by this Committee; (3) following Committee approval, all Resource Plans will be presented to Executive Committee on 21 June 2023, for noting; and (4) that Progress Reports on the Resource Plan 2023/2024 be provided at Quarter 2 and Quarter 4 to future meetings of this Committee. [1recs] 3. Background 3.1. The Resource Plans for 2023/2024 were prepared in line with the Corporate Resource Planning guidance. 3.2. The Resource Plan is a key element of the Council’s performance management arrangements. It provides details of the context within which the Resource operates and establishes actions and measures for the year ahead based on the priorities and outcomes set out in the Council Plan Connect 2022 to 2027. 3.3. Performance management is a keystone of Best Value and ensures that the Council can demonstrate sound governance arrangements. The Resource Plan is one part of the Council’s framework for planning and budgeting and demonstrates how this leads to effective front line service delivery. 3.4. As part of this framework, the Resource Plan reflects the aspirations of the Council Plan and the Community Plan as well as being complemented by the details of individual Service, Business and other Plans. Ultimately, these details are included in the key work objectives of individual officers. This demonstrates the ‘Golden Thread’ of performance management which ensures a clear understanding of the Council’s vision, values, priorities and outcomes at all levels. 7 45
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3.5. The current format for performance reporting has been established since 2007 and is used for Executive Directors’ reports to the Chief Executive, Resource Management Teams, Resource Committees and the Performance and Review Scrutiny Forum. The focus has been on reporting progress on Council outcomes, statutory performance indicators, other key performance measures and high level Resource outcomes. Progress reports are provided at Quarter 2 and Quarter 4 to this Committee. 3.6. In preparing the Plan, account has also been taken of the need to ensure a robust response to Risk Management and Control. Risks associated with delivery of the actions in this Resource Plan have been identified and evaluated and are listed in the Resource Risk Register. Where necessary, controls or further actions to mitigate these risks have been agreed. Such actions are tracked through the Resource Risk Control Plan which is kept under review by the Risk Sponsor for the Resource. 3.7. Following approval at individual Resource Committees, all Resource Plans will be presented, as a pack, to Executive Committee on 21 June 2023, for noting. 4. Resource Plan 2023/2024 4.1. The Resource Plan 2023/2024 is attached as Appendix 1 and is structured around the following headings:- Introduction Key areas for the year ahead Resource outcomes Measures and actions Resourcing the Plan 4.2. Resource Outcomes 2023/2024 The Resource has established a number of outcomes to support the delivery of the Connect Outcomes in 2023/2024. To support these outcomes, the Resource has developed performance measures in an action plan which is set out in section 4 of the Resource Plan. Key or strategic measures will be included in the Council Plan Connect Progress Reports 2023/2024, with the rest being monitored and reported at Resource level. 4.3. Monitoring and reporting As part of the performance management arrangements, the Committee will receive a mid-year update of progress on the measures in the Resource Plan covering the period April 2023 to September 2023 (Quarter 2) as well as an end of year progress report covering the full year April 2023 to March 2024 (Quarter 4). 5. Employee Implications 5.1. The outcomes noted within the Resource Plan will inform the Service Action Plans, where applicable and, in turn, the Performance Appraisal process for individual employees. 6. Financial Implications 6.1. The outcomes within the Resource Plan are reflected in the respective Resource Revenue and Capital budgets and, longer term, within the framework of the Council’s approved Financial Strategy. 46
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7. Climate Change, Sustainability and Environmental Implications 7.1. There are no climate change or environmental implications as a result of this report. 7.2. The council acknowledges the serious and immediate threat of climate change and is committed to accelerating the pace of action in response to the climate emergency and in Scotland’s transition to a net-zero and climate resilient society and economy. All Resource Plans have recognised sustainable development and climate change as a key area of focus for 2023/2024. 8. Other Implications 8.1. Resource Plan actions are assessed as part of the Resource’s risk management arrangements and relevant issues have been added to the Resource Risk Register. 9. Equality Impact Assessment and Consultation Arrangements 9.1. Many of the actions detailed within the Resource Plan reflect ongoing strategies and policies which will be or have been the subject of consultation and equality impact assessment. Soumen Sengupta Director, Health and Social Care 17 April 2023 Link(s) to Council Values/Priorities/Outcomes The Resource Plan has been structured upon the Vision, Values, Priorities and Outcomes in the Council Plan Connect 2022-2027 Previous References None List of Background Papers Council Plan 2022-2027 Contact for Further Information If you would like to inspect the background papers or want further information, please contact:- Ciana Stewart, Planning and Performance Manager E-mail: Ciana.stewart@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 47
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Social Work Resources Social Work Resource Plan 2023-24 7 49
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Section Contents Page 1.0 Introduction 3 2.0 Key areas of focus for the year ahead 5 3.0 Resource Outcomes 10 4.0 Measures and actions 12 5.0 Resourcing the Plan 16 50
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Section One – Introduction I am pleased to introduce our Resource Plan for 2023-24 which sets out our intended outcomes and priorities for the coming year. This is the main annual business planning document for the Resource. It reflects the Council’s key priorities as set out in the Council Plan and the directions provided to the Council within the South Lanarkshire Integration Joint Board Strategic Commissioning Plan. Social Work Resources promotes social welfare and provides effective care and support, with many services providing this through a legislative framework, to meet the needs of vulnerable people in South Lanarkshire. We are committed to providing responsive and accessible services, with defined standards for service provision and to supporting local people to maximise their potential, maintain their independence and improve outcomes. We support and protect children, young people, adults, older people and their carers, as well as supporting adults in communities involved with the justice system. There is a statutory requirement for the council to appoint a professionally qualified Chief Social Work Officer (CSWO) who must be registered with the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC). The role of the CSWO is to provide professional advice and guidance to the local authority, elected members and officers in the provision of Social Work services, whether commissioned or directly provided. A copy of the Chief Social Work Officer Report 2021-2022 is available to download from the Council website. Social Work Resources requires to deliver services within a complex and changing environment. Much of this delivery is shaped by statutory duties set out in legislation, whilst other elements involve the establishment of multi-agency approaches to support wider and agreed strategic objectives. Service Background In terms of how the Resource is currently structured, there are 3 distinct areas of service delivered as outlined below: Children and Justice Services Children’s services provide support and care for children, young people, and their families so that, wherever possible, young people can remain with their own families in their own communities. The service works to provide family support to promote the welfare and development of children, young people, and their families, ensuring that young people have a voice and participation in the decisions about their lives. Social Work Resources has a duty to protect children. Whilst this is a shared responsibility with other agencies and the community, Social Work has responsibility to investigate allegations of child abuse. These responsibilities are carried out in the framework of jointly agreed child protection procedures. Justice staff work within the context of a South Lanarkshire Community Justice Partnership to provide services that enable people to participate effectively in response to the problems and consequences of crime. Services are offered in courts, local offices, and specialised teams to people referred by the courts, prisons, and other agencies. A key aim is to work with people in conflict with the law to reduce their offending behaviour and promote community safety. This is done by helping a person resettle following a period in prison, addressing responsibility for offending, providing programs that offer realistic alternatives and raising awareness about how offending affects victims. 51
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South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership South Lanarkshire Integration Joint Board (IJB) has the responsibility for the strategic direction of the delivery of health and social care in South Lanarkshire. The South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership (SLHSCP) supports the IJB to operationally deliver community- based health and social care services. Staff deliver statutory services for adults under a range of legislation including the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 and Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000. Assessment and care management services assess the care needs of service users and their carers and help plan services to meet those needs. Care at home services and day services for adults and older people provide a range of support designed to help people remain as independent as possible within the community. Care homes provide individuals with support in such a setting on a short or long-term basis. The SLHSCP commission services provided by the independent, voluntary, and private sector. Performance and Support Services Performance and Support Services support the work of all other services within Social Work Resources and the South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership and embraces a range of business support functions and links with: IT; procurement; finance; personnel; workforce planning; corporate governance; information governance; and asset management. Administration Services provide effective administration and communication support to all the service areas across the Resource, including frontline operations; minute taking; data processing; handling customer enquiries and supporting the Electronic Document Records Management System (EDRMS) A dedicated team of staff provides a range of services and support in the areas of performance reporting and statutory planning, inspection, regulation, and risk management which involves the provision of a range of information which resource planning requirements, Scottish Government returns and statutory performance indicators. Information to support planning, for example demographic profiles and trends, strategic needs analysis and management information is provided as required by services and business needs. This Resource Plan has been prepared in the context of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and current exceptional budgetary and workforce challenges. Unprecedented inflation levels are impacting on our local communities and council services, with significant gaps identified in council budgets spanning into future years. Alongside this there is a national recruitment shortage for social care staff with staff vacancies rising at a time of continued growth in demand for services. In taking forward this plan it is incumbent on us to apply our learning over recent years to ensure that we continue to deliver services which are fit for purpose, sustainable and address the needs of vulnerable people across all our communities. Soumen Sengupta Director of Health and Social Care Social Work Resources 52
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Section Two – Key areas of focus for the year ahead 2.0 Overview The Resource has identified the main challenges, risks and new developments which will have significant impact on the delivery of services in the coming year. These are outlined briefly below. 2.1 Challenges and service demand The statutory framework for social work services is contained in a raft of legislation, principal among these is the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, which places a duty on all local authorities to “promote social welfare”. This legislative framework is both complex and ever changing and requires Social Work Resources to manage and change service delivery in line with new requirements. Scottish policy ambitions include the formation of a National Care Service, the embedding of human rights and delivery of “The Promise.” Within social work, the vision requires a skilled and valued workforce with a focus on prevention, early intervention and enablement. Social Work Resources takes consideration of the risks in service delivery, planning and decision-making processes. The Resource Risk Management Group meets on a regular basis to provide strategic and operational oversight of all risks and has identified five top risks that impact on the delivery of social care services. Whilst these top risks are the primary focus of the Resource, there are other risks that will continue to be monitored and contributed to by way of mitigation. The five top risks are: • workforce availability and capacity (lack of capacity and skills to meet increased service demands) • meeting public protection and legislative duties (Combined legislation/statutory duties Public Protection, Care Inspectorate/Self Directed Support (SDS) • market and provider capacity (Procurement/supply chain) • funding and budgetary pressures (Reduction in funding/increased costs) • demand pressures (Emergency response) Social Work Resources funding and budgetary pressures are affected by additional demand and cost of delivering services. The Council approves annual budgets which consider areas of efficiency and savings along with opportunities for investment. Children’s Services will face challenging budget pressures during 2023-24 that will impact on both statutory and non- statutory areas of work. The statutory duties of Continuing Care introduced by Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 2014, extends the duty on local authorities to continue to provide options for young people to remain within their foster, kinship or residential care placement up to the age of 21 years (previously 18 years). There is also a continued increase in the requirement for children’s residential school and external placements. This increased service demand is currently met within existing resources. The decision to stand down non-urgent services during the Covid-19 pandemic and prioritise those in greatest need has resulted in a build-up of future demand and deterioration in individual circumstances due to early intervention and preventative activity not occurring. Additional demand and potential reduction in budget sits alongside the need for the service to develop and meet the ambitions of The Promise to deliver preventative, needs based support to children and families when it is required, and for as long as they need it. 53
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Other challenges that the Resource continues to address include: • A projected increase in the South Lanarkshire population from 321,849 in 2022 to 326,771 in 2032, which is around a 1.5% increase from the current population. This projects an increase in demand, further challenged by limited recruitment opportunities across social care. (Table 1). • An increasing ageing population (this is most pronounced in the 75+ age group) and a lower healthy life expectancy for people in South Lanarkshire is resulting in an increase in demand for services. The average weekly package of care has increased by just under 15% from 11.4 hours per user per week in 2016/17 to 13 hours per user per week in 2021/22. • In 2020/21, 14% of the South Lanarkshire population had three or more long-term health conditions (LTCs). The rate of people with 3+LTCs is projected to increase steadily between 2022 and 2025 across most age groups 18+. • The number of adult support and protection inquiries has increased by 16%, with 735 adult protection inquiries received from 1 April 2020 to 30 June 2020 compared to 853 from 1 July to 30 September 2022. • Adults with Welfare Guardianship Orders have increased 18% from 1 April 2020 to 30 September 2022. Consequently, AWI Supervising Officer visits have increased 10% across the same period. • The number of Justice Social Work Reports (JSWRs) submitted have increased by 35%, 288 JSWRs were submitted to courts from 1 July to 30 September 2020 compared to 441 in same period in 2022. Graph 1: South Lanarkshire population projections for all ages for 2023-2032 Source: National Records of Scotland population projections 2.2 Regulation and inspection of services The Resource must comply with Care Inspectorate regulation and inspection and is responsible for 41 registered care services. The Resource is also involved in partnership assurance oversight activities in respect of independent commissioned services. 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000 80000 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 Population Projection by Age 0 to 15 16 to 30 31 to 45 46 to 60 61 to 75 Over 75 54
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A joint inspection of Adult Support and Protection was carried out in August/September 2022 by the Care Inspectorate in collaboration with His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Scotland (HMICS) and Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS). The inspection findings concluded that the partnership’s key processes and strategic leadership for adult support and protection were effective at keeping adults safe from harm and interventions supported positive experiences and improved outcomes for adults at risk of harm. Key processes were found to be well organised and allowed for effective oversight and decision making early in the adult support and protection process, enabling adults to be supported through timely person-centred interventions. The strategic leadership vision and strategy was described by inspectors as collaborative and effective. Strategic leaders were recognised as promoting an extensive range of training opportunities for staff; and for encouraging effective engagement with unpaid carers throughout strategic planning and service delivery. Overall, the clear strengths in both key processes and strategic leadership collectively outweighed areas for improvement. The South Lanarkshire ASP partnership will prepare an improvement plan for the priority areas identified in the report. This will be implemented through the local Adult Support and Protection Committee, with oversight through the South Lanarkshire Public Protection Chief Officers’ Group. A national joint review of diversion from prosecution was undertaken in 2022. The aim of the review was to assess the operation and impact of diversion from prosecution in Scotland with the final report published in December 2022 for consideration and implementation. In December 2022, The Care Inspectorate reported on the findings of a national inquiry into carers experiences of social care services. Recommendations will be considered by the South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership alongside local commissioned carers services. The outcome report following The Mental Welfare Commission’s national survey into advocacy provision across Scotland’s Health and Social Care Partnerships is expected late February 2023 and any recommendations will be incorporated into the Lanarkshire Advocacy Planning Group’s existing action plan. An Independent Review of Inspection, Scrutiny and Regulation (IRISR) started in October 2022 will look at how social care services are regulated and inspected in Scotland. An independent recommendations report will be published in June 2023. 2.3 Recruitment and retention Social Work services are experiencing sustained pressure to meet increased demand against a national workforce supply shortage. Recruitment and retention to the social care workforce for both qualified and paraprofessional roles continue to be challenging and is impacted further with an existing ageing workforce. Investment in key areas will continue to address the increased demand for services while looking at how to redesign services to maximise the use of available resources. A review of recruitment practices is underway to extend and promote social care by using a flexible approach and utilising employability routes such as the Care Academy and succession planning. 2.4 Cost of living Crisis The UK is experiencing the worst cost-of-living crisis in 40 years. With inflation soaring into double figures both the UK and the Scottish Government have formally recognised the severity of the crisis and have deployed emergency measures to help mitigate the effects of rising 55
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costs. While all sectors of society are seeing prices rise the impacts are greatest for those on the lowest incomes. The council recognises the immense pressures being faced by households across South Lanarkshire and acknowledges the potential for additional demands on council services. The council has identified a range of new and existing support which can help households manage scarce resources and services and will continue to explore all avenues to support the most vulnerable in the year ahead. While doing all we can to support our communities in these difficult times, the council recognises that inflationary pressures will also present significant challenges for council services as budgets are increasingly squeezed by rising costs. 2.5 COVID - 19 Continued Response and Recovery As recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic continues, there remains a significant backlog of demand in some areas. The completion of Community Payback Orders has been challenging with restricted court access and enhanced safety arrangements; performance is now steadily improving. Work has been ongoing to progress the outstanding internal assessments and reviews with agreement to enhance teams to ensure the safety, health and wellbeing of service users. Services such as family centres and adult and older people day services are offering more direct support in a planned way, whilst remaining vigilant to minimise risk to service users and maintain staffing levels. A Scottish Infection Prevention and Control Education Pathway (SIPCEP) has been developed by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to provide IPC education. This will support approximately 2,000 social care staff to continuously improve their knowledge and skills as part of their role. 2.6 The Promise The Promise produced by the Independent Care Review in 2020; sets out an overall view of what the new approach to supporting children, young people and families should be. A Champions Board has been established to listen to the voice of those who are care experienced as well as a Community Planning Partnership Promise Board to drive forward the work of The Promise. Focussing on the whole family approach, Family Support Hubs have been established within each locality to provide a more preventative response to requests for assistance from families and reduce the likelihood of an escalation in risk and concern. Education, NHS and Third Sector are contributing to the work of the Family Support Hubs whilst they embed and ensure South Lanarkshire’s whole family support strategy is developed and reviewed collaboratively. Inclusion As Prevention (IAP) is an approach that involves shifting from the acute and crisis driven intervention taken when a young person becomes involved in offending to seeking to provide early and inclusive support before negative patterns of behaviour begin. IAP is also tackling - and aiming to understand - the root causes of offending. A new pilot commenced in January 2023 to introduce the Family Group Decision making approach with adolescents (aged 12-18) at risk of being in conflict with the law, or in conflict with the law. Within the Justice Service, a priority for 2023-24 is to further develop provisions and pathways for young people (aged 16-21) involved in conflict with the law. This aims to ensure that young people involved are not criminalised and are instead provided with intensive and targeted supports aimed at addressing the issues that have contributed to the behaviours, allowing tailored and time limited care plans to be created for each individual, based on their assessed strengths and critical vulnerabilities. 56
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2.7 Delivering the strategic commissioning plan intentions Following a public engagement programme, the Strategic Commissioning Plan 2022 – 2025 (SCP) has been approved by the South Lanarkshire Integration Joint Board. Social Work Resources, a key partner of the Health and Social Care Partnership, will deliver the SCP intentions through the directions issued by South Lanarkshire Integration Joint Board. By working together collaboratively with providers of health and social care the HSCP will maximise the use of scarce resources and develop service models that specifically focus on delivering both micro (personal outcomes) and macro (commissioning intentions) priorities set out in the SCP. 2.8 Transformation and service improvement programme As part of the council’s and South Lanarkshire Integration Joint Board’s (IJB) long-standing commitment to improve later life for adults and older people, and to meet the future needs and wishes of the people, 20 award winning technology enabled houses and a new care facility, in addition to 25 barrier free homes have been developed within Blantyre. The technology enabled properties as well as the care facility champions the ‘home for life’ principle, seeking to reduce reliance on long-stay nursing and residential care and instead enhancing access to intermediate care. The new state-of-the-art care facility incorporates 20 intermediate care beds aimed at supporting people to return home or to a setting which best meets their needs. Care at Home services will look to cement the recent transformative redesign programme that has remodelled the service to enable it to respond to the increasingly complex needs of service users. A new initiative will build on existing partnerships with commissioned Care at Home providers through the use of an interactive mapping solution. The system will refine the way services are commissioned by directing providers to increased neighbourhood working, thus minimising travel time and increasing capacity that can be utilised to meet demands for services. The Pan Lanarkshire Court Service will aim to reduce the number of people being remanded to custody and contribute to the reduction of the national prison population through increased assessment, use of diversion from prosecution, bail supervision and electronically monitored bail. Additional areas of priority for 2023/2024 include the provision of advice, guidance, and appropriate signposting to those appearing from police custody and to work alongside third sector partners including the new SACRO AYE Service, who will be providing arrest referral, diversion and bail supervision mentoring supports, following successfully obtaining Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP) funding. 2.9 Social Work IT System Replacement Works commenced to implement a replacement Social Work Case Management IT System in 2022-2023. Following a successful tender and evaluation process, Liquidlogic were awarded the contract in September 2022. The anticipated go-live date for the system is January 2024. 2.10 National Care Service The Independent Review of Adult Social Care in Scotland recommended the development of a National Care Service, which the Scottish Government has committed to deliver by 2026. The National Care Services (Scotland) Bill was presented to Parliament on 20 June 2022. It is a framework Bill that will allow a co-design approach and proposes that Scottish Ministers transfer social care responsibility from local authorities to a new national service. New “care boards” would be responsible for delivering care locally with potential to include children’s services and justice social work at a later stage following further consultation. 57
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Section Three – Resource Outcomes 3.1 Resource Outcomes Social Work Resources has established the following Resource outcomes to support the delivery of Connect outcomes in 2023-24. Connect Outcomes Resource Outcomes Communities and Environment • Social Work Resources embeds sustainable development across services • Strengthen engagement with service users and carers Education and Learning No Resource Outcomes for this Connect Outcome Health and Wellbeing • Promote early intervention and prevention to achieve healthy, active lives and reduce inequalities • Care and protect children, young people and adults from risk of harm • Work with our communities to deliver person-centred care and support • Continue to support carers good health and wellbeing alongside their caring role • Promote self-care and self-management • Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan is progressed • Disadvantaged people/groups are provided with access to timely support and interventions • For those who have committed offences safely and effectively support them to reintegrate into the community and realise their potential for the benefits of all • Help people to continue to live within their homes and communities through integrated community health and social care services Children and Young People • Improve the health and wellbeing of children, young people and families Housing and Land No Resource Outcomes for this Connect Outcome Our Economy No Resource Outcomes for this Connect Outcome 3.2. Delivering the Plan and achieving Best Value In working towards the six outcomes, the council aims to continually improve and ensure effective and efficient use of resources, and our business will be conducted with integrity, transparency and will operate to the highest standards. 58
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Social Work Resources has established the following Resource outcomes to support Delivering the Plan and achieving Best Value. Delivering the Plan and achieving Best Value Resource Outcomes • Digital and ICT services meet the needs of the council and its customers 59
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Section Four – Measures and actions 4.0 Performance measures and action plan This section of the Resource Plan is divided into two parts: part (a) sets out our main performance measures against our outcomes; and part (b) describes the key actions we will take in the coming year to respond to the challenges ahead and improve services and outcomes. 4.a. How we will measure our performance The impact of Covid19 and the current recruitment challenges continue to have a significant effect on performance for some services. The table below shows our performance measures, with data for the last 2 years and the target for 2023-24, and additional context for the targets is detailed within the notes column, where applicable. Resource Outcome: Social Work Resources embeds sustainable development across services Measure 2021- 22 2022- 23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 1. Make an annual saving from using recycled items as opposed to new through the joint store £267 tbc at Q4 £200k C01.06 Adult and Older Target increase from £175k to £200k to reflect previous performance Resource Outcome: Care and protect children, young people and adults from risk of harm Measure 2021- 22 2022- 23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 2. Percentage of parental attendance at initial Child Protection case conferences 89% tbc at Q4 85% 04.05 Children and Justice Target to remain same 3. Percentage of children in attendance at initial Child Protection Case Conferences (aged over 5) n/a n/a Increase per quarter 04.05 Children and Justice New measure no baseline data 4. Percentage of children seen by a supervising officer within 15 days 94% tbc at Q4 75% 03.04 Children and Justice National target 75% 5. Percentage of reports submitted to the Children’s Reporter within agreed timescales 82% tbc at Q4 75% C03.0 4 Children and Justice National target 75% 6. Percentage of our looked after children and young people accommodated in residential placements 10% tbc at Q4 10% C04.0 8 Children and Justice National target 10% 7. Percentage of statutory supervising officer visits completed within timescale for local authority welfare guardianship orders 94% tbc at Q4 90% C03.0 4 Adult and Older People Target to remain same due to workforce pressures 8. Percentage of statutory supervising officer visits completed within timescale 95% tbc at Q4 90% C03.0 4 Adult and Target to remain same due to 60
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for private welfare guardianship orders Older People workforce pressures Resource Outcome: Promote self-care and self-management Measure 2021- 22 2022- 23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 9. Number of people participating in a co- produced SDS Assessment to exercise choice and control over their care n/a n/a 3000 03.05 Adult and Older People New measure 10. Number of people in receipt of a direct and managed personal budget payment to exercise choice and control over their care n/a n/a TBC 03.05 Adult and Older People Baseline set from Social Care Return 11. Spend on adults in receipt of direct payments and personal budget payments as a percentage of the total social work spend on adults n/a n/a TBC 03.05 Adult and Older People Baseline set from LGBF Return Resource Outcome: For those who have committed offences safely and effectively support them to reintegrate into the community and realise their potential for the benefits of all Measure 2021- 22 2022- 23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 12. Percentage of people on CPO unpaid work requirement seen within five working days by their case manager 68% tbc at Q4 75% 03.02 Children and Justice Target to remain same due to existing backlog 13. Percentage of people starting their placement within seven days of a CPO unpaid work 65% tbc at Q4 75% 03.02 Children and Justice Target to remain same due to existing backlog 14. Percentage of Justice Social Work reports submitted to Court by the due date 99% tbc at Q4 95% C03.0 2 Children and Justice Target to remain same at 95% 4.b. What actions we will take in 2023-24 Resource Outcome: Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan is progressed Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 1. Embed the national model for Community Justice with our partners in South Lanarkshire Present a progress report on the priorities set out within the Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan 2023-2026 by March 2024 03.02 Children and Justice 61
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2. Contribute to a reduction of the national prison population through the use of SDS assessments and diversion from prosecution. Provide a report to Social Work Committee on progress 03.02 Children and Justice Resource Outcome: For those who have committed offences safely and effectively support them to reintegrate into the community and realise their potential for the benefits of all Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 3. Promote the use of alternatives to remand in South Lanarkshire Provide a report to Social Work Committee on the use of movement restriction conditions, restriction of liberty orders and bail supervision as alternatives to remand 03.02 Children and Justice New measure Resource Outcome: Care and protect children, young people and adults from risk of harm Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 4. Report on the Adult Support and Protection Inspection Improvement Plan Report to Social Work Committee on the implementation of the ASP Inspection Improvement Plan C03.0 4 Adult and Older People 5. Monitor public protection activity Report annually to the Community Planning Partnership on public protection activity 03.04 Children and Justice 6. Chief Social Work Officer to provide professional advice and guidance to the Council in accordance with legislative duties Provide an annual report on key challenges, developments and improvements across Social Work including service quality, performance and delivery of statutory functions by September 2023 07.02 Performance and Support Resource Outcome: Strengthen engagement with service users and carers Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 7. Continue to support the culture where consultation and participation is part of the planning, development and delivery of all our services. Embed the Care Opinion system across our services throughout 2023 to enable service users and stakeholders to share their experiences using our services 01.05 Performance and Support Resource Outcome: Work with our communities to deliver person-centred care and support Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 8. Ensure monitoring, compliance and control of delivered services Provide bi-annual reports to Social Work Committee on internal registered care services C06.0 9 Performance and Support Resource Outcome: Continue to support carers good health and wellbeing alongside their caring role Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 9. Report on services and supports provided to adult carers by Commissioned Services Provide quarterly reports to Senior Management Team and a report to Social Work Committee on the support and services provided by 03.02 Performance and Support 62
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commissioned third sector organisations Resource Outcome: Disadvantaged people/groups are provided with access to timely support and interventions Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 10. Report on MAT Standards 1- 5 - to be implemented 2023- 24 Report to Social Work Committee on the performance of MAT Standards 1-5 03.02 Adult and Older People’s Service Resource Outcome: Improve the health and wellbeing of children, young people and families Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 11. Report on services and supports provided to young carers by Commissioned Services Quarterly reports to Senior Management Team and a report to Social Work Committee on the support and services provided by commissioned third sector organisations 03.02 Performance and Support Resource Outcome: Promote early intervention and prevention to achieve healthy, active lives and reduce inequalities Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 12. Embed Family Support Hubs across each locality Develop effective consultation and feedback methods to identify and report on improved outcomes for families in receipt of early intervention 03.06 Children and Justice Resource Outcome: Digital and ICT services meet the needs of the council and its customers Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 13. Deliver the implementation programme to replace the existing Social Work IT system within timescale Implement the new Social Work IT system by January 2024 07.04 Performance and Support New measure Resource Outcome: Help people to continue to live within their homes and communities through integrated community health and social care services Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 14. Continue to champion the home first approach by enhancing health and care provision in the community Report to Social Work Committee on continued development of home first approach, including operational commencement of services from Blantyre Life facility 01.04 Adult and Older People 63
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Section Five – Resourcing the Plan 5.0. Introduction In this section we consider the resources needed to implement our plan, including funding and staffing. 5.1. Revenue Budget 2023-24 The Resource has a Net Revenue Budget of £219.616 million for 2023-24. The table below allocates this budget across the services: NET Budget by Service 2023-24 Detail £ million % Performance and Support Services 7.068 3.2 Adult and Older People 169.314 77.1 Children and Families 37.742 17.2 Justice and Substance Misuse 5.492 2.5 Total 219.616 100 5.2. Capital Budget 2023-24 The following capital budget of £1.984 million is allocated to the Resource for 2023-24: Capital Programme 2023-24 Project £ million Community Alarms – Analogue to Digital 1.232 SWIS Plus Replacement 0.752 Total 1.984 5.3. Resource Employees Social Work Resources has 2859 employees as of February 2023. We support these employees to deliver their duties through a range of policies including personal appraisal and a robust training framework. The number of employees (per headcount) by service is as follows: Service Number of employees Adult and Older Peoples Services 2107 Children and Justice Services 560 Performance and Support 192 Total 2859 64
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Report Agenda Item Report to: Social Work Resources Committee Date of Meeting: 3 May 2023 Report by: Director, Health and Social Care Subject: Scheme for Curator ad Litem and Reporting Officers Panel - Jurisdiction of Glasgow Sheriff Court 1. Purpose of Report 1.1. The purpose of the report is to:- [purpose] request approval that the Scheme for Curator ad Litem and Reporting Officers Panel previously approved at the 16 November 2022 Committee be confirmed for application in the jurisdiction of Glasgow Sheriff Court 2. Recommendation(s) 2.1. The Committee is asked to approve the following recommendation(s):- [recs] (1) that that the contents of the report be noted; and (2) that the Scheme for Curator ad Litem and Reporting Officers Panel for Glasgow Sheriff Court’s jurisdiction within South Lanarkshire be approved. [1recs] 3. Background 3.1. Under the Curator ad Litem and Reporting Officers (Panels) (Scotland) Regulations 2001 as amended, the local authority have a requirement to maintain a Panel of Curators ad Litem and Reporting Officers. The role of Curators ad Litem and Reporting Officers involves investigating the circumstances and providing a report to the Court in respect of adoption or Permanence Order applications for children who cannot remain with their birth families and who become accommodated by the local authority. Adoption and permanent fostering provides a secure family base from which their needs can be met into adulthood and beyond. 3.2. When an Adoption Petition or Permanence Order application is lodged in Court, a Curator Ad Litem/Reporting Officer is appointed by the Court to investigate the circumstances and to report to the Court. 3.3. The general duty of a Curator ad Litem is to safeguard the interests of the child. A Reporting Officer is charged principally with witnessing agreements to adoption and with matters relating to parental consent. The same person may be appointed to the case in both capacities. 3.4. Local authorities have a requirement to maintain a panel of Curators ad Litem/reporting officer as per the Curator ad Litem and Reporting Officers (Panels) (Scotland) Regulations 2001. 8 65
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4. Report 4.1. The Council has had Schemes in place covering the jurisdictions of each of Hamilton and Lanark Sheriff Courts since 2014. The impetus to update those previous schemes was informed by rising Court costs, the necessity to update membership of the panel and a legislative requirement to review. 4.2. The Schemes for Hamilton and Lanark Sheriff Courts were approved by the Social Work Resources Committee on 16 November 2022. This followed broad discussion and agreement in respect of the qualifications and experience of potential Curators and Reporting Officers. There is a requirement for our authority to establish a panel for Glasgow Sheriff Court’s jurisdiction within South Lanarkshire. 4.3. We have made the Glasgow Bar Association aware of our intentions to replicate our Schemes for Hamilton and Lanark Sheriff Courts for the jurisdiction of Glasgow Sheriff Court within South Lanarkshire. 4.4. The Scheme (Appendix 1), previously approved by Committee in respect of Hamilton and Lanark jurisdictions, covers processes and standards which will apply to the establishment and maintenance of the Panel; and appointments to the Panel. 4.5. The most important requirements for those appointed to the Curators ad Litem and Reporting Officers Panel are: • an ability to communicate effectively with child/parents and other agencies/professionals concerned • awareness of the issues and implications of permanent substitute care for the children, the natural parents, and the substitute carers • a working knowledge of relevant legislation and Court procedures 4.6. Recruitment to the Panel is managed via the Council’s Administration and Legal Services in consultation with the Sheriff Principal as per the appended Scheme. 5. Employee Implications 5.1. There are no significant personnel implications arising from the updating of the scheme. 6. Financial Implications 6.1. The Scheme sets out the fees chargeable by the Curator ad Litem /Reporting Officers. It, therefore, regulates the fee which a Curator ad Litem/Reporting Officer can charge. It is proposed that the level of fees set by the Council from the date of agreement is a fixed fee of £600 for a joint appointment as Curator ad Litem and Reporting Officer, and a fixed fee of £550 for a single appointment as either Curator ad Litem or a Reporting Officer. For an additional child, the appointment will be a fixed fee of £200. This ensures a consistent approach to fees paid. These are as the fees already agreed for the Hamilton and Lanark jurisdictions by Committee. 6.2. Funding for the appointment of Curator ad Litem and Reporting Officers is contained within the Service’s Professional Fees budget. 7. Climate Change, Sustainability and Environmental Implications 7.1. There are no climate change, sustainability or environmental implications associated with this report. 66
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8. Other Implications 8.1 The implementation of the Scheme will contribute to the mitigation of the following risk within the Social Work Resources Risk Register: • meeting all legislative duties pertaining to assessment, support planning and reviews 8.2. The implementation of the Scheme proposed in this report will ensure that a panel of Curator ad Litem and Reporting Officers is maintained in accordance with the Council’s statutory obligations ensuring compliance with the relevant regulations and reducing the risk of a shortage of Curators ad Litem and Reporting Officers. 8.3. The implementation of the Scheme will assist in continuing to ensure that Curators ad Litem and Reporting Officers have the qualifications and experience required to undertake their duties and support good decision making for children. 8.4. In setting out related fees chargeable it regulates the fee which a Curator ad Litem/Reporting Officer can charge and reduces risk of excessive fees being granted by Sheriffs. 9. Equality Impact Assessment and Consultation Arrangements 9.1. This report does not introduce a new policy, function or strategy or recommend a change to existing policy, function, or strategy and therefore, no impact assessment is required. 9.2. The Scheme attached to this report will help to ensure that children and young people who cannot live with their birth families are given the opportunities to grow up and thrive within alternative secure family settings. Soumen Sengupta Director, Health and Social Care 18 April 2023 Link(s) to Council Values/Priorities/Outcomes focused on people and their needs our children and young people thrive Previous References Social Work Resources Committee – 16 November 2022 List of Background Papers none Contact for Further Information If you would like to inspect the background papers or want further information, please contact:- Jan Strain - Adoption and Fostering Manager Email: jan.strain@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 67
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1 Appendix 1 Scheme for Curator ad Litem and Reporting Officers’ Panel South Lanarkshire Council requires to appoint a panel of persons from which Curators ad Litem (“Curators”) and Reporting Officers may be appointed. This scheme and attached appendices outline the appointment process for Curators and Reporting Officers and the terms of appointment. Definitions “Local Authority” means South Lanarkshire Council “Panel Member” means a person appointed to a panel of persons established in accordance with Regulation 3(1) of the Curators ad Litem and Reporting Officers (Panels) (Scotland) Regulations 2001. “Relevant Experience” means having a minimum of 5 years, demonstrable experience in (i) Family Law; (ii) Social Work working with children and their parents and carers (including experience of dealing with adoption and other long term substitute care arrangements and the issues associated with those arrangements); or (iii) Teaching working with children and their parents and carers, and having relevant experience of court practice and procedures and dealing with Family Law matters (including experience of dealing with adoption and other long term substitute care arrangements and the issues associated with those arrangements). “Relevant Legislation” includes but is not limited to Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007, Curators ad Litem and Reporting Officers (Panels) (Scotland) Regulations 2001 as amended, Act of Sederunt (Sheriff Court Rules Amendment) (Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007) 2009, Children (Scotland) Act 1995, Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011, Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 and all subsequent amending legislation. “Relevant Qualifications” means being a (i) Solicitor or Solicitor Advocate, holding a current or who has previously held a practising certificate from the Law Society of Scotland; (ii) Advocate, being a practising Member of the Faculty of Advocates; (iii) Social Worker, holding or who has previously held a registration with the Scottish Social Services Council; or (iv) Teacher, holding or who has previously held a registration with the General Teaching Council for Scotland. “Services” means Curator ad Litem and Reporting Officer services 1. Qualifications and Experience The Panel Member shall, when submitting an application, confirm that he / she has:- 1. the Relevant Qualifications; 2. the Relevant Experience; 3. knowledge of the Relevant Legislation; and 4. the capacity to perform the duties of the role as identified in Paragraph 12 of the Act of Sederunt (Sheriff Court Rules Amendment) (Adoption and Children) (Scotland) Act 2007) 2009 2. Process for Nominations and Appointment to the Panel (i) The Local Authority shall invite nominations for persons as potential members of the panel from Sheriffs, other local authorities and such other persons as it may consider appropriate; (ii) The Local Authority may take such steps as it considers appropriate after consultation with the Sheriff Principal, including advertisement to secure the nominations of panel members, including making nominations itself; and (iii) Appendix 2 outlines the Nomination Application process. 3. Scheme Membership 1. The Panel Member acknowledges and agrees that her or she is appointed by the Court. The appointment is a public appointment, and the Panel Member is deemed to be a public office holder; 2. The Panel Member acknowledges that:- 8 69
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2 (a) the scheme membership does not constitute a contract of employment; (b) when providing the Services, he/she will be acting in an individual capacity; and 3. The Panel Member undertakes to disqualify himself/herself from appointment in cases where he /she has prior personal knowledge of any of the parties to the case or if the appointment in any way represents a conflict of interest, actual or perceived. 4. The Panel Member undertakes to submit reports in accordance with Paragraph 12(d) of the Act of Sederunt (Sheriff Court Rules Amendment) (Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007) 2009. 4. Length of appointment (i) The initial appointment will be for a period not exceeding three years, or for such other period as the Sheriff Principal and the Local Authority consider appropriate. (ii) A Curator or Reporting Officer may apply to be re-appointed. Any application for re- appointment should be sent in advance to the Local Authority for consideration by it and the Sheriff Principal. Up to date information confirming the applicant’s continuing eligibility for appointment will be required. Any re-appointment shall be for a period not exceeding three years as determined by the Local Authority after consultation with the Sheriff Principal. 5. Termination of Appointment The Local Authority shall be entitled to terminate any appointment with immediate effect, without written notice, where: - (i) the Local Authority is satisfied that the Panel Member is unable, unfit or unsuitable to continue to carry out the functions of a Panel Member; (ii) the Sheriff Principal or any Sheriff or Summary Sheriff in the Sheriffdom reports to the Local Authority that the Panel Member is unable, unfit or unsuitable to continue to carry out the functions as Panel Member; or (iii) the Panel Member no longer meets the standard of qualifications or experience specified in Condition 1. 6. Confidentiality & Data Protection (i) The Panel Member will not include any information specifying prospective adopters’ or foster carers’ identity, location or employment in any report prepared in respect of the Services; (ii) The Panel Member will not specify in any report prepared in relation to the Services, the name of any child or children’s nursery, school or any other information that may lead to the identification of the prospective adopters or foster carers (iii) The Panel Member acknowledges that he/she will comply with the Data Protection Act 2018 as amended. 7. Expenses and fees (i) Payment for the provision of the Services will be made at the rates stated in the Fees and Expenses Table (Appendix 1], as revised from time to time, or as judicially determined by the Court at the option of the Panel Member. (ii) Claims for payment should be submitted to the Local Authority using the Fee Claim Form (Appendix 3) accompanied by a breakdown of hours worked and receipts for reasonable expenses. 70
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3 8. Insurance, Liability and indemnity (i) The Panel Member agrees to indemnify the Local Authority from and against any loss, damage, costs or liability incurred by the Local Authority from any breach by the Panel Member of his/her duties or inappropriate or negligent use of any of the data or information supplied to the Panel Member. Signed by Panel Member: Print Name: Date: 71
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4 APPENDIX 1 Fees and Expenses Table 1 Joint Appointment as Curator ad Litem and Reporting Officer (Appointment Fee) Fixed fee £600 Covers the first 10 hours of work which includes: Investigation, written report including interim report, written and verbal communications, attendance at hearings and meetings, contribution and administrative expenses. 2 Single Appointment as either Curator ad Litem or Reporting Officer (Appointment Fee) Fixed fee £550 Covers the first 10 hours of work which includes: Investigation, written report including interim report, written and verbal communications, attendance at hearings and meetings, contribution and administrative expenses. 3 Additional Child appointment fee - Joint Appointment as Curator ad Litem and Reporting Officer (Appointment Fee) Fixed fee £200 Covers the first 10 hours of work which includes: Investigation, written report including interim report, written and verbal communications, attendance at hearings and meetings, contribution and administrative expenses. 4 Additional Child appointment fee - Single Appointment as either Curator ad Litem or Reporting Officer (Appointment Fee) Fixed Fee £150 Covers the first 10 hours of work which includes: Investigation, written report including interim report, written and verbal communications, attendance at hearings and meetings, contribution and administrative expenses. 5 Daily Court attendance fee £30 per hour up to a maximum of £150 per day To be paid only after the first 10 hours referred to in the Appointment Fee have been completed. Includes the time spent travelling to and from a Court hearing and time spent at the hearing. 6 Additional Work not covered in paragraphs 1-5 above £30 per hour To be paid only for additional work not already covered or referred to in paragraphs 1-5 above which includes, but is not limited to, further investigation, additional written report, or further written/verbal communications. The Panel Member must seek prior authorisation from the Local Authority before commencing work on the foregoing. 7 Mileage £0.45 per mile Mileage 8 Exceptional accommodation or transport To be agreed with Relevant Local Authority Cannot be claimed retrospectively and can only be paid where the Panel Member has sought and received prior authorisation from the Local Authority. 72
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5 APPENDIX 2 Guide for Application - Curator ad Litem and / or Reporting Officer Panel for South Lanarkshire Council (“the Local Authority”) (“the Panel”) This guide is based on the rules for application and appointment set out in the Curators ad Litem and Reporting Officers (Panels) (Scotland) Regulations 2001/477 (Scottish SI). Nomination Process Please submit your application for Nomination to the Local Authority. This should be clearly marked for the attention of Administration and Legal Services, Finance and Corporate Resources, South Lanarkshire Council, Floor 11, Council Offices, Almada Street, Hamilton, ML3 0AA only. In order to avoid a conflict of interest your application will not be viewed or considered by any other official in any other Resource of the Local Authority. You need to list your qualifications and experience in the application. For guidance, please see the Contractual Terms and Conditions where the required “Relevant Experience” and “Relevant Qualifications” are defined. Please note that the Local Authority cannot accept your application unless you are able to demonstrate that you possess the relevant qualifications and experience. You also require to demonstrate that you have a Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme Membership. Guidance on how to obtain membership can be found here; www.mygov.scot/pvg-scheme. You can apply to be a member of more than one panel if you wish. Once your application has been received, it will be processed by Administration and Legal Services of the Local Authority. If your application is accepted it will be passed to the Sheriff Principal. The Sheriff Principal and the Local Authority may consult Sheriffs, Summary Sheriffs, Sheriff Clerks, local Faculties/Bar Association and representatives of Local Authority’s Administration and Legal Services and Social Work Resources and others as he/she/it considers necessary with respect to the suitability of your appointment. If you are called for an interview; this will take place before the Sheriff Principal. The Sheriff Principal may invite representatives of the Local Authority‘s Administration and Legal Services to attend. The Local Authority will notify you of the outcome of your application. If your application is approved, the Sheriff Principal will nominate the candidate and the Local Authority will appoint the applicant to the Panel. The Sheriff Principal may, independently from this process, nominate individuals with the necessary qualifications and experience to the Panel. The Local Authority will upon receipt of nomination by the Sheriff Principal appoint that individual to the Panel Any decision in respect of your application is final and not subject to appeal. 73
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6 APPENDIX 3 Fee Claim Form To: SOCIAL WORK DEPARTMENT - CHILDCARE COUNCIL CLAIM FORM – CURATORS AD LITEM AND REPORTING OFFICERS 1 Name Address (to which payment will be forwarded) Court Serial No. of Petition FEES (1) Reporting Officer 2 £ (2) Curator ad litem £ (3) Combined Duties £ (4) Other expenses 3 £ (5) VAT (where appropriate) £ V.A.T. Registration No. Total Amount Claimed £ OTHER EXPENSES (i) Travelling (a) Fares – Bus/Train/Ferry/Air £ 1 This form should be returned to the Court with the report 2 Amount entered at (1), (2) or (3) above should be taken from the current list of fees 3 Items included should be expenses directly incurred in carrying out the duties of Curator ad litem / Reporting Officer and detailed overleaf 74
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7 Details of Journeys (b) Car travel miles at p per mile £ Parking fees £ Details of journeys (ii) Meals / Overnight Accommodation 4 £ (iii) Postage / Telephone Expenses 5 £ (iv) Miscellaneous 6 £ TOTAL £ 7 Signature of Claimant Date To be completed by Sheriff Clerk’s Office To be completed by Social Work Department I hereby certify that we are in receipt of the above report Signature Signature Designation Designation Date Date 4 Details of costs incurred, receipts should be attached in respect of accommodation 5 To be claimed at actual cost 6 Any other direct expenses incurred may be claimed here. Please detail the expenditure and indicate why it was necessary 7 This figure should be shown in (4) on previous page 75
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Report Agenda Item Report to: Social Work Resources Committee Date of Meeting: 3 May 2023 Report by: Director, Health and Social Care Subject: Winter Plan Debrief – 2022/2023 1. Purpose of Report 1.1. The purpose of the report is to:- [purpose] share the key learning from the Lanarkshire Winter Plan 2022/2023 debrief. [1purpose] 2. Recommendation(s) 2.1. The Committee is asked to approve the following recommendation(s):- [recs] (1) that the key learning from the Lanarkshire Winter Plan 2022/2023 de-brief be noted. [1recs] 3. Background 3.1. The South Lanarkshire health and social care system – in common with that across Scotland - continues to face significant challenges. Last winter health and social care services and staff prepared for and had to contend with extreme pressures, many of which continue to be issues for the system. 3.2. Planning for Winter 2022/2023 commenced in July 2022 and was undertaken in accordance with national guidance, notably the Scottish Government’s Winter Resilience Overview 2022 to 2023. The Lanarkshire approach to winter planning is a multi-agency approach across NHS Lanarkshire, North and South Lanarkshire Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) and both Councils together with the respective supports (e.g. the Scottish Ambulance Service and NHS 24). 3.3. The approach to winter planning for 2023/2023 was presented to the Committee at its meeting of 16 November 2023. As members will recall, given the level of unpredictability in the health and social care sectors as well as in the wider public system, the 2022/2023 Winter Plan was developed as – and should be understood to be - a dynamic plan and one that was highly likely to be subject to change over the coming months. This was also recognised from a Local Resilience Planning (LRP) perspective and with a specific piece of work undertaken by NHS Lanarkshire, to take account of the increasingly likely eventuality of a number of concurrent risks which could – and in practice did - align to create increased system pressure. These risks included, inter alia, further waves of Covid 19; increased prevalence of flu and other respiratory infections - both in relation to infectivity and impact; uptake and efficacy of vaccination programmes; workforce shortages in all sectors and grades across the health and social care sector; potential industrial action; public health impact of cost of living crisis/fuel costs and subsequent demand on health and care services; increasing numbers of displaced Ukrainians/Asylum Seekers; inclement weather; and available finances. 9 77
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3.4. A key manifestation of the above dynamic approach was the development and then implementation of Operation FLOW. Operation FLOW was launched on 20 January 2022. At that time Operation FLOW was designed as a rapid improvement plan in response to the urgent and unscheduled care challenge across our services in Lanarkshire. Flow refers to the way patients move through a hospital, from admission to discharge. Improving hospital flow can lead to better patient outcomes, increased capacity, improved staff satisfaction, and improved patient safety. It can also help reduce waiting times and improve overall patient satisfaction. The letters of Operation FLOW encapsulate the planned approach: • Focused – a time limited intervention with exit to a sustainable service model. • Lanarkshire – recognising the various geographies and demographics affecting our services across the County. • Optimal – focusing on patient safety and achievable service improvement during the project timescale rather than completely fixing the system, including learning from other systems. • Whole System – the project must be truly whole system covering the whole patient journey into and out of our health and social services. 3.5. Operation FLOW was conceived as a three-stage process: Preparation, Firebreak and Maintenance. The critical nine-day “firebreak” was a collaborative, whole system endeavour from Thursday 23 February to Friday 3 March 2023 - a coordinated effort to stabilise and decompress our acute services, most notably within University Hospitals Hairmyres, Monklands and Wishaw. The firebreak’s goal was to stabilise our system – benefiting patient care and releasing the time and energy we need to make sustainable improvements for patients and staff through a new rapid improvement approach. 3.6. The firebreak was supported by the introduction of a Flow Foundations Bundle and Pathway. The Flow Foundation Bundle is a combined set of simple rules for all receiving and inpatient wards to improve patient flow and prevent unnecessary waiting for patients. The bundle includes: • Daily Discharge Beat for each ward. • Criteria to reside for each inpatient. • Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) board rounds (three times a day). • Planned Date of Discharge (PDD). • Criteria-led discharge. • Pre-noon discharge and use of discharge lounge. • Real time updating of patient movements on Trakcare. 3.7. The aim of the firebreak was to release the time and energy amongst our hospital teams in particular so that they and we better progress the other elements of our overall Operation FLOW improvement plan. 4. Key Areas of Learning 4.1. In a similar vein to the preparation and implementation of the Winter Plan 2022/2023 and as a matter of best practice, a whole system de-brief has been undertaken to identify those areas that worked well, those that could have been improved and areas for future learning for subsequent winter planning. The key areas of learning are summarised as follows. 78
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4.2 Multi Agency Approach 4.2.1. There was a shared approach to support wider system pressures across the Health Board, two IJBs and the two Councils in the formulation of the Winter Plan, the monitoring of system pressures and in turn, a shared commitment to respond accordingly to seek to mitigate the impact of winter. 4.3. Operation Flow 4.3.1 The firebreak helped stabilise acute hospital services and allowed the Health Board to move away from the previous ‘black’ status that it was operating in. 4.3.2 The learning from Operation Flow and the respective firebreak has been very helpful in better understanding system flow and, in particular, how to decompress the hospital system. There is scope to reflect on the timing of when any future firebreaks should be planned and implemented such that the system can be ‘decompressed’ at the optimum time to best mitigate against the pressures of winter. 4.4. Maximising Use of Staff 4.4.1. Identify scope for a more proactive approach to aligning staff to service need – including multi-sectorial cross working to support system-wide flow. This has particular reference to those social work staff who have specific roles related to hospital interface working. 4.5. Joint Working with Scottish Ambulance Service 4.5.1. Continue to strengthen and develop increased and joint work between the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) and NHS Lanarkshire in relation to maximising shared pathways and better utilisation of advanced skills. 4.6. Support form GPs at Public Holidays and Weekends in January 4.6.1. Seek to again secure the support of local GPs to provide services at key Public Holidays and Saturdays through January. 4.7. Vaccination Programme 4.7.1. Public vaccination rates were in keeping with national averages. Social Care staff vaccination rates were in keeping with the national average. Learning will be applied in respect of the Health Care staff vaccination programme, notably considering the administration of staff vaccines on the three acute hospital sites. 4.8. Use of Data 4.8.1. Strengthen real time data entry to patient management systems to better inform the understanding of likely pressure points to support the agreement of appropriate mitigating actions. 5. Measures for Improvement and Performance Monitoring 5.1. Undernoted in Figures 1 to 3 are examples of the improvements made in site occupancy, 4 hr performance and Delayed Discharges as a result of the concerted efforts of staff from all areas in ‘de-compressing’ the hospital system as a result of the firebreak period. 79
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Figure 1: Occupancy rate by Acute Site Figure 2: Overall Emergency Department 4-hour access performance 80
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Figure 3: Total Delayed Discharges by Partnership and Hospital Type 5.2. Impact of firebreak: 5.2.1. The firebreak made a significant impact across our system by successfully reducing occupancy levels to 94% (from 105%) and led to notable improvement in patients meeting the four-hour emergency standard (71.1% at end of firebreak compared to 49.7% prior to commencement). 5.2.2 Prior to firebreak 14% of our patient discharges went home before noon and during the firebreak period this increased to 25% creating early flow thorough our Acute sites, underpinned by the implementation of the Flow Foundation Bundle and Pathway. 5.2.3. We doubled the number of patients looked after via our Hospital @ Home service with the additional workforce and 215 patients were redirected away from our Emergency Departments by the Senior Clinical Decision Makers within the Flow Navigation Centre, during the firebreak period. 5.2.4. Importantly, we also established feedback and debrief mechanisms for our staff during and following firebreak who reported that the system felt much safer and their place of work felt more controlled, coordinated and less stressful. 5.3. As well as the service improvements noted during the firebreak another area of significant achievement was the input of a number of local GPs who provided services at key Public Holidays and Saturdays through January. Across the period this winter, this resulted in 3,996 patients being managed via their own GP as opposed to potentially being seen in Primary Care Out of Hours or A&E. 5.4. There will be ongoing review of Operation Flow throughout the year and the further development of measures to identify blockages to system flow. In turn, this will allow for more proactive intervention by the relevant parts of the Lanarkshire system respective and also inform the development of the Winter Plan for 2023/24. 81
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6. Employee Implications 6.1. Learning from recent months and years have underscored the need for continued multi-disciplinary team working to better meet service demands; and the need for a cohesive whole system approach to delivering health and social care going forward. The experience of the pandemic has emphasised the interdependencies between primary care (including independent contractor services), community care, secondary care, and social care; and shown that one component of health and social care delivery being overwhelmed with demand can have consequential knock-on effects on the other component parts of the system. 6.2. As Committee will recall from the approved Social Work Resources Workforce Plan, there are a number of workforce challenges for social care – both in South Lanarkshire and across Scotland – that are directly impacting on the ability to fully meet current demand, including: • Workforce availability – there are national workforce shortages (recently referenced in Audit Scotland’s briefing on social care) and the HSCP is experiencing difficulty in filling all care roles. • Competition and pay – the Council, other social care providers and other employers are competing for the same pool of staff, with the pool not being sufficient in numbers. This is leading to competition and pay variation, which has increased the challenges around successful recruitment and retention of staff. • Social Care as a vocation and the value placed on it within society requires national action. 6.3. Significant workforce challenges are also being experienced in respect of health care services and NHS staff, as highlighted by the Audit Scotland report NHS in Scotland 2021. 6.4. As workforce supply challenges persist across health and social care, this has led to increased competition for recruitment and retention at local, regional and national level. This poses an ongoing risk and emphasises the need to develop new and transformational roles in response to growing demand across health and social care to ensure there will be a sustainable supply of workforce to meet future health requirements of an ageing population in Lanarkshire, and across Scotland. 7. Financial Implications 7.1. The Winter Plan 2022/2023 was delivered within the anticipated budget levels. 8. Climate Change, Sustainability and Environmental Implications 8.1. There are no climate change or environmental implications as a result of this report. 9. Other Implications 9.1. The action taken as a result of the Winter Plan 2022/2023 contributed to the mitigation of a number of risks within the Social Work Resources Risk Register during the what is recognised as having been the most challenging winter for health and social care services on record, notably: • Workforce Availability and Capacity • Meeting Public Protection and Legislative Duties • Market and Provider Capacity • Funding and Budgetary Pressures • Demand Pressures 82
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10. Equality Impact Assessment and Consultation Arrangements 10.1. This report does not introduce a new policy, function or strategy or recommend a change to an existing policy, function or strategy and, therefore, no impact assessment is required. 10.2 The Winter Plan 2022/2023 was developed and then communicated across North and South Lanarkshire HSCPs, both Councils, NHS Lanarkshire and LRP partners. Soumen Sengupta Director, Health and Social Care 20 April 2023 Link(s) to Council Values/Priorities/Outcomes • Accountable, Effective, Efficient and Transparent Previous References ⬧ Social Work Resources Report (November 2022) - Planning for Winter 2022/2023. List of Background Papers ⬧ none. Contact for Further Information If you would like to inspect the background papers or want further information, please contact:- Craig Cunningham, Head of Commissioning and Performance Email: craig.cunningham@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk 83
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