Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence from Councillors.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Lesley Deadman.

To receive information on any changes in the membership of the Committee.

Note – When a member of a Committee is unable to attend a meeting of a Committee or Sub-Committee, the relevant Political Group Leader (or their nominated representative) may, by notice to the Monitoring Officer (or their nominated representative) prior to the meeting, appoint a substitute member from within the same Political Group. The contact details on the front of this agenda should be used for notifications.

There were no Substitute Members on this occasion.

To elect the Chair of the Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2023/24 Municipal Year.

The incumbent Chair of the Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee presided over this item and sought nominations for Chair. A nomination was proposed and seconded for Councillor Patrick Canavan. No further nominations were received.

RESOLVED that Councillor Patrick Canavan be elected Chair of the Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2023/24 municipal year.

To elect the Vice Chair of the Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2023/24 Municipal Year.

The newly elected Chair of the Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee presided over this item and sought nominations for Vice-Chair. A nomination was proposed and seconded for Councillor Jackie Edwards. No further nominations were received.

RESOLVED that Councillor J Edwards be elected Vice-Chair of the Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2023/24 municipal year.

Councillors are requested to declare any interests on items included in this agenda. Please refer to the workflow on the preceding page for guidance.

Declarations received will be reported at the meeting.

Councillor Allen declared a personal interest as an employee of University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust, Councillor Carr-Brown declared a personal interest as her husband was a non-executive director on Integrated Care Board for the Dorset area and as a support worker for an autistic man who was in receipt of direct payments from BCP Council and Councillor J Salmon declared a personal interest as an employee of Dorset Healthcare and a member of Unison.

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting held on 6 March 2023.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 6 March 2023 were confirmed as an accurate record and signed by the Chair.

The contents of the action sheet were noted.

To receive any public questions, statements or petitions submitted in accordance with the Constitution. Further information on the requirements for submitting these is available to view at the following link:-

https://democracy.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/documents/s2305/Public%20Items%20-%20Meeting%20Procedure%20Rules.pdf

The deadline for the submission of a public question is 4 clear working days before the meeting.

The deadline for the submission of a public statement is midday the working day before the meeting.

The deadline for the submission of a petition is 10 working days before the meeting.

There were no public issues received on this occasion.

To receive an introduction to Healthwatch and a verbal update.

The Healthwatch Manager provided a summary of what Healthwatch Dorset did to the Committee including obtaining feedback from local residents and using it to help improve local services.

The Healthwatch Manager advised of the common areas of concern for residents which included NHS dentistry, access to GPs services and mental health support.

Healthwatch’s priorities for this year were highlighted to the Committee and included:

• NHS Dentistry
• Urgent and Emergency Care
• Children and Young People’s Mental Health

The Healthwatch Manager advised that their Annual Report was due to be published shortly and she would ensure a copy of it was circulated to the Committee for their information.  ACTION.

A Committee Member noted that NHS Dentistry was on the Forward Plan for 25 September 2023 and wondered if Healthwatch could feed into that item. ACTION.

There was some further discussion around NHS Dentistry, and it was noted that it was a national issue, however locally some work was being undertaken to improve communications around availability, increase oral health hygiene education and to ensure vulnerable people get the access they require. 

Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) is a statutory function of all councils operating an executive model of decision making.  In BCP Council, O&S activity is carried out by four O&S committees formed of councillors and co-opted members.  There is a requirement to report on the work of O&S to Council, to ensure good visibility of the function and Council ownership of any improvements required.

The annual report contains a summary of O&S activity undertaken over 2019-23, reflections on working practices and an action plan identifying strategic improvements to the O&S function.

All O&S Committees will receive the annual report for consideration, providing opportunity for comment prior to the supply of the final report to Council.

The Overview and Scrutiny Specialist presented a report using a PowerPoint presentation to highlight key points, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'A' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) was a statutory function of all councils operating an executive model of decision making.  In BCP Council, O&S activity was carried out by four O&S committees formed of councillors and co-opted members.  There was a requirement to report on the work of O&S to Council, to ensure good visibility of the function and Council ownership of any improvements required.

The annual report contained a summary of O&S activity undertaken over 2019-23, reflections on working practices and an action plan identifying strategic improvements to the O&S function.

All O&S Committees would receive the annual report for consideration, providing opportunity for comment prior to the supply of the final report to Council.

There was no discussion on this item and the Chair advised that the Forward Plan was being considered later on the agenda.

RESOLVED that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee consider and comment on the annual report and associated action plan.

To receive a verbal update from the Portfolio Holder for Health and Wellbeing.

The Portfolio Holder for Health and Wellbeing introduced himself and provided the Committee with some background of his local government councillor role together with his experiences within health and social care.  He also provided the Committee with an update on the work he has been embarking on since his appointment to the role and what was coming up in the near future.

The Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) Committee is asked to consider and identify work priorities for its next meeting pending a wider review of its Forward Plan in dedicated workshop.

The Overview and Scrutiny Specialist presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'B' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

The Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) Committee was asked to consider and identify work priorities for its next meeting pending a wider review of its Forward Plan in dedicated workshop.

The Interim Corporate Director for Wellbeing advised that they would like to bring the Day Opportunities Strategy to the September Committee for consideration before it is considered by Cabinet in October.

A Committee Member considered the Forward Plan and requested an overview of data to identify any issues which needed scrutinising and it was decided that this information should be provided before the work programming session. ACTION.

There was some further discussion around items which the Committee would like to consider and scrutinise and how it should receive information and data in other forums to ensure Committee time was optimised.

RESOLVED that the Committee agreed the items for its next meeting.

To note the dates for the remainder of the 2023/24 Municipal Year as follows:

·       25 September 2023

·       27 November 2023

·       15 January 2024

·       4 March 2024

All with a 6pm start time, venues to be confirmed.

The dates of the future meetings were noted.