Meeting documents
- Meeting of Bucks Strategic Partnership Board, Wednesday 29th July 2009 2.30 pm (Item 5.)
Initial feedback on the area assessment for Buckinghamshire under the Comprehensive Area Assessment process.
Decision to be taken: Note initial feedback from inspectorates.
Minutes:
Sarah Ashmead, Corporate Manager, Policy, Performance and Communications, presented this item and said that the Audit Commission had sent apologies for the meeting.
Sarah Ashmead referred members to the handout (attached) and said the following:
· The handout listed the areas on which the Audit Commission was likely to focus, following the self-assessment.
· The first draft of the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) would be ready in September 2009, and would be shared with members. Red flags would indicate areas not doing well, and green flags would indicate areas of exceptional performance.
· A good outcome for Children’s Services was anticipated.
· Some issues were reflected across all local authorities in the South-East (e.g. housing).
· The Audit Commission had produced a stand-alone report on Healthy Communities and Inequalities, and had noted that the cost of mental health services was very high in Buckinghamshire.
A member asked how much proactive work could be undertaken before September 2009. Sarah Ashmead said that work was fed into the Audit Commission on an ongoing basis. The Audit Commission had expressed a particular interest in housing.
Rita Lally (Adult Commissioners) said that an annual review meeting had been held the previous week with the newly-formed CQC (Care Quality Commission). Issues which had been familiar to the previous inspectorate had had to be explained for the first time to the CQC.
Rita Lally also said that value for money and efficiency was given less weight in some areas, and that this point could be made to the Audit Commission. The CQC had the statutory overview for health and social care, and would feed into the Audit Commission.
The Bucks Locality Manager, GOSE, said that it was important that work did not lose momentum over the summer months (e.g. the work on cross-border crime and on the growth agenda). GOSE would be meeting with the Audit Commission in early September 2009 to obtain a regional comparison.
The Chief Executive of the Primary Care Trust (PCT) said that Buckinghamshire PCT was the lowest funded PCT in the lowest funded Strategic Health Authority area, which would affect ratings, and would continue to pose challenges. The Chief Executive also said that opportunities were needed to provide timely information to the Audit Commission, such as current information on mental health. Sarah Ashmead said that the Audit Commission had been in touch with the PCT recently. It was important that responses from different organisations were consistent.
The Chief Executive asked that any gaps in information be referred to him.
A member asked about Community Safety, which had previously been marked with a red flag. Sarah Ashmead said that the language used had changed and that the Audit Commission had said that Buckinghamshire had robust plans in place for Community Safety. The Audit Commission had set up an interview on this, and it was possible that a clear flag might be awarded to indicate a potential risk.
The Chairman of Bucks Fire Authority said that the Fire Authority would be very surprised if a red flag was awarded for Community Safety, as a huge amount of work had been carried out on this.
Sarah Ashmead asked that if any contact by inspectorates be fed back to her team, so that the information could be collated centrally.
A member referred to the area of ‘Thriving Economy,’ and asked if it could be assumed that the Audit Commission would not penalise Buckinghamshire due to the recession. Sarah Ashmead said that the title of ‘Thriving Economy’ had been set by the Audit Commission, but that the Audit Commission would be looking to see how Buckinghamshire mitigated the situation.
RESOLVED
The Board noted the initial feedback from inspectorates.