The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Strategic Director Health and Community which sought approval for the inflationary increases for the Adult Social Care Contract. The Council had approved a 2% Inflationary Uplift on Social Care Budgets for 2010-11, therefore it was proposed that contracts for the provision of domiciliary care, residential and nursing placements were awarded an equivalent inflationary uplift of 2%.

          With regard to Out of Borough Placements, it was proposed that the inflationary increase applied to Out of Borough Placements be decided on a case by case basis as follows:

-                  providers to be informed that inflationary increase would be subject to submission of a written requested to HBC Contracts Department within a specific timeframe; and

-                  any increase within the agreed HBC rate of 2% to be approved and applied.

          Any increase above 2% would be approved by a relevant Operational Director, based on the information submitted by the provider, confirmation of the host authority’s approved inflationary rate and the knowledge of the on-going need for the specific service.

          RESOLVED: That

1.               an inflationary uplift for providers of Domiciliary, Residential & Nursing contracts of up to 2%, which is within the inflationary allowance by the Council to Social Services for 2011/12;

2.       inflationary uplifts for out of borough placements are awarded on a   case by case basis, limited to the 2% HBC inflationary increase or the           prevailing Local Authority rate.

          The Board received a report of the Strategic Director – Adult and Community which outlined proposals for increasing fees and charges for Adult & Community Services from 11^th April 2011 to coincide with the date of the annual increase in Benefits rates.

          It was noted that the fees and charges for Social Care Services listed had been inflated by 2% for 2010 – 2011 for residential services and non-residential services where a standard charge was applied.

          Members were advised that fees and charges for home care, day care, and direct payments had been frozen. These charges were affected by the changes to the Fairer Charging for Non-residential Services Policy agreed in 2010-2011. In addition to the charging policy, homecare charges have remained frozen because hourly cost to Halton reduced in 2009-1010 due to a re-tender. The homecare charge, if increased by 2.0% would become higher than the cost to the council.

          With regard to direct payments, hourly rates have been uplifted by 2% in accordance with the approved inflation allowances allocated by the Council.

          Additionally, pitch charges for Riverview Gypsy site and Warrington Road Transit site had been inflated by 2.0% in accordance with the approved inflationary allowances allocated by the Council. However, the water and sewerage charges for Riverview Gypsy Site had increased significantly in 2010/11 and to keep the charge as the actual charge this had been inflated by 16.8%.

          It was noted that a new charge for 2011/12 was proposed for the appointee service where weekly payments of personal allowance are made through the Post Office Payout Service. The proposed charge was to recover the actual cost made by the Post Office to provide this service.

          RESOLVED: That the proposed changes in fees and charges as outlined in the report be approved.

          The Sub Committee noted that the Council in conjunction with NHS St Helens and Halton PCT and Knowsley Borough Council had established a specialist community service for children and adults with learning disabilities whose behaviour challenges services. This service had been designed to deliver significant savings to the partner agencies as well as to radically improve the quality of life for some of the most vulnerable service users.

          Members considered a request to suspend tendering Standing Orders in order to collaborate with Bangor University in a bid for funding under the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) Scheme. The KTP involved a partnership between an organisation, in this case St Helens and Halton PCT, Knowsley Borough Council and Halton Borough Council, an institution Bangor University and an associate i.e. an individual undergoing training at Bangor University. The purpose of the KTP was to enable the associate to work within the organisation to further its aims and expertise, drawing upon the best research available in the chosen field of activity. It would create a reciprocal relationship between academic expertise and front line practice and could last for a period of three years.

          The waiver of standing orders was requested as:

                    RESOLVED: That

(1)                      the Strategic Director, Adults and Community be authorised to enter into an arrangement with Bangor University to bid for the funding of a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) proposal; and

(2)                      on this occasion, in the light of exceptional circumstances, due to the need to have an agreement in place with a specific provider in advance of the bidding process Standing Orders 3.1 relating to Tendering for Contracts be waived pursuant to Standing Order 1.8.

The Board considered:

(1)      whether Members of the press and public should be excluded from the meeting of the Board during consideration of the following items of business in accordance with Sub-Section 4 of Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 because it was likely that, in view of the nature of the business to be considered, exempt information would be disclosed, being information defined in Section 100 (1) and paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972; and

(2)      whether the disclosure of information was in the public interest, whether any relevant exemptions were applicable and whether, when applying the public interest test and exemptions, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed that in disclosing the information.

          RESOLVED: That as, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, members of the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business in accordance with Sub-Section 4 of Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 because it is likely that, in view of the nature of the business, exempt information will be disclosed, being information defined in Section 100 (1) and paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

          The Sub Committee considered a request from the Mersey Gateway Team to authorise the appointment of Heath Lambert who will provide specialist insurance advisory services to the Mersey Gateway Project Team on specialised insurance matters during the procurement phase.

               RESOLVED: That the request to appoint Heath Lambert as specialist insurance advisory service to the Mersey Gateway Project Team and the to waive standing orders 3.1 relating to the procurement of goods/services under paragraphs 1.8.2 (a), (b), (c) and (e) of HBC standing orders be approved.

MINUTES ISSUED:  21 March 2011

CALL IN:  28^th March 2011

Any matter decided by the Executive Board Sub Committee may be called in no later than 28^th March 2011