Venue: Town Hall, High Street, Maidstone. View directions
\n\t\tContact: Esther Bell \n\t\t01622 602463 Email: estherbell@maidstone.gov.uk\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n\t\t\n\t\tItems\n\t\t\n\n\t\t\tNo.\n\t\t\tItem\n\t\t\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tThe Committee to consider whether all items on the agenda should be web-cast
\nMinutes:
\nResolved:\n That all items\non the agenda be web-cast.
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Apologies
\nMinutes:
\nApologies were\nreceived from Councillor Beerling.
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Notification of Substitute Members
\nMinutes:
\nIt was noted that\nCouncillor Moriarty was substituting for Councillor\nBeerling.
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Notification of Visiting Members
\nMinutes:
\nThere were no\nvisiting Members.
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Disclosures by Members and Officers
\n\na) \nDisclosures of interest.
\n\nb) \nDisclosures of lobbying.
\n\nc) \nDisclosures of whipping.
\nMinutes:
\nCouncillor Paine\ndeclared a personal interest in Agenda Item 9, Future Work\nProgramme and Forward Plan of Key Decisions by virtue of his\nfriendship with an employee of Nu-Venture Coaches\nLimited.
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To consider whether any items should be taken in private because of the possible disclosure of exempt information.
\nMinutes:
\nResolved:\n That all items on the agenda be\ntaken in public as proposed.
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Minutes of the Meeting Held on 29 September 2009. PDF 511 KB
\nMinutes:
\nResolved: \nThat the minutes of the meeting held on 29 September 2009 be agreed\nas a correct record and duly signed by the\nChairman.
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Disabled Facilities Grants - The Role of Occupational Therapy PDF 55 KB
\nInterview with Ms\nSue Stower, Kent County Council’s\nHead of Service for the Maidstone and Malling\nLocality.
\nAdditional documents:
\n\t\t\t\t\t\nMinutes:
\nThe Chairman\nwelcomed the Head of Services for the Maidstone and Malling\nLocality, Ms Sue Stower, and the Senior\nPractitioner, Mr Peter Buckley, from Kent County Council’s\nAdult Social Services to the meeting and asked them to provide an\nintroduction to the role of Occupational Therapy with regard to\nDisabled Facilities Grants (DFGs).
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Kent Adult Social\nServices had been restructured from 1 October 2009 to encompass the\nSelf Directed Support, part of the Government’s\nPersonalisation Agenda, which gave people more choice and control\nover their lives and the support they received. The Kent Contact and Assessment\nService now received all Kent Adult Social Service’s\nreferrals, giving advice and guidance and undertaking as much fast\ntrack work as possible that did not require\nassessments. This\nincluded arranging delivery of minor equipment and adaptations to\npeople who were clear about what their needs were. In addition a six week period of\nenablement could be arranged to help someone regain their skills\nand confidence in activities of daily living. This helped them to live as\nindependently as possible in their home without the intervention of\nlong term care packages or major equipment. The enablers were able to put in\nminor equipment if necessary.
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The Assessment and\nEnablement Teams consisted of Care Managers, Occupational\nTherapists, the Hospital Teams and Kent Home Care\nTeams. Occupational\nTherapists within this team were known as ‘Case Managers\n(OT)’. This team\nwas responsible for assessing clients\nneeds, including for equipment and adaptations. Once the needs had been\nestablished and an indicative budget set, the case was passed to\nthe Coordination Team who helped the service user create their own\nsupport plans. OT cases\ndid however remain in the Assessment and Enablement Team because it\nwas not considered good practice to hand over a case to a new\nperson halfway through the DFG process given its\ncomplexities.
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Occupational\nTherapists (OTs) completed three year\nOccupational Therapy degrees (or equivalent) and were required to\nbe state registered to practice. OTs\ncarried out home visits and used both their medical knowledge and\nclinical reasoning to assess the customer’s physical\ncapabilities to carry out certain actions in the home, such as a\nperson’s ability to get in and out of a chair, on and off the\nlavatory and up and down stairs. In response to a question, Ms\nStower advised that the client’s\nneeds would not be exceeded as the assessments were formalised and\nOTs were trained to supply only what\nwas absolutely necessary. She noted that some adaptations\ncould be counter productive if not required, such as a stair lift,\nas the stairs were good exercise. The OT made recommendations in\nconsultation with the client, and elected for the most modest\nsolution, such as the utilisation of a shower stool to aid\nshowering or a stair lift rather than an extension. The OT also considers the\nprognosis of the client and major adaptations may be suggested if\nappropriate. An\nOT’s recommendation for a major adaptation was discussed in\n ... \nview the full minutes text for item 66.
\nFuture Work Programme and Forward Plan of Key Decisions PDF 37 KB
\nAdditional documents:
\n\t\t\t\t\t\nMinutes:
\nThe Chairman\ninformed the Committee that he had met with the Contaminated Land\nteam to discuss the Committee’s forthcoming review and the\nwork of officers. \nMembers were advised that officers were reviewing the\nCouncil’s Contaminated Land Strategy, including the\ndefinition of contaminated land, to align it with other Local\nAuthorities. A new\nEnvironmental Health Manager would be attending the\nCommittee’s meeting on 24 November to present the draft\nrevised strategy. \nMembers would then be able to establish whether they felt there was\nany outstanding work and whether a further contaminated land review\nwas required by Members. The Chairman highlighted that the\nCommittee had to receive the draft strategy at its meeting in\nNovember as the Cabinet Member’s decision was scheduled to be\ntaken before 29 January 2010.
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The Committee\nconsidered the Park and Ride Update attached at Appendix\nA. Members felt it was\nparticularly important for the Committee to continue monitoring\nusage and requested that further information regarding usage,\nfinancial implications and town centre footfall figures be\npresented to the Committee at its meeting on 24\nNovember. The Committee\nalso requested that the Overview and Scrutiny Officer research\nother Local Authorities’ Park and Ride usage\nfigures. A Councillor\nqueried the logic of why the number of customers finding it easy to\nidentify which bus to catch from the town had increased from 201 to\n266 for the London Road Park and Ride, when bus livery had been\nreduced. The Committee\ntherefore requested a copy of Jacob’s survey\nreport.
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The Chairman\nreminded Members that the Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny\nCommittee was holding a scrutiny structure workshop on 3 November\nand reiterated the importance of all Members’ involvement in\nhelping to shape the future of scrutiny.
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Resolved:\n That
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\na) \nThe\nCommittee monitor Park and Ride usage and receive further\ninformation on the financial implications of the drop in usage,\nalong with town centre\nfootfall figures to compare to Park and Ride usage;
\n\nb) \nThe\nOverview and Scrutiny Officer research other Local\nAuthorities’ Park and Ride usage figures; and
\n\nc) \nMembers\nbe provided with a copy of the Jacobs\nPark and Ride survey report.
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Duration of the Meeting
\nMinutes:
\n6.30 p.m. to 8.00\np.m
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