Richard Kemp 0712

Adult Care Services lose a Star in CSCI assessment

Front line services have remained 'good' in an assessment of adult social care services in Suffolk, however overall the County Council has dropped from a three star to a two star rating.

A report from inspectors at the Commission for Social Care Inspection shows that the capacity to improve at Suffolk County Council has gone from 'excellent' to 'promising'; the measure of service on the ground, now called delivery outcomes, has remained 'good'.

The report highlights areas of strength and areas which need improvement, such as maintaining personal dignity and respect and improving health and emotional well-being. The council will set out what it intends to do to improve over the next few months.

The full report can be found here: http://www.csci.org.uk/default.aspx?page=735

2008-2009 Budget

Suffolk County Council budget has been discussed at the scrutiny committees. The county council has estimated the likely level of government settlement and believes it will have to make £16 million of cuts this year with around 50 jobs being affected too.

Concerns were raised in scrutiny committees over cuts in funding to home to school transport and a proposed charge for all new eXplore cards for young people, fearing that these measures could affect the staying on rate at Suffolk’s post 16 schools/colleges.

Further concerns were raised over the withdrawal of more bus service subsidies: £950,000 or a quarter of the budget. Many areas, especially rural ones have already felt the impact of last year’s cuts to this area and there are serious concerns as to what the impact of such a large cut in budget will be.

Again Adult Care budgets have been badly hit by savings. The impact of proposals to reduce the overall budget for Adult Care by £7.7 million, including generating income of £470,000 by increasing charges for care are of great concern.

More detail can be found on the county council’s website here:
http://www.suffolk.gov.uk/CouncilAndDemocracy/CommitteesAgendasReportsandMinutes/

Audit Committee calls for improvements in the management of care contracts

Suffolk County Council's Audit Committee considered a report on the monitoring of care for older people at home provided by external contractors.

At the September Council meeting concerns were raised regarding complaints about a care-providing agency in Ipswich. Council therefore called upon the Audit Committee to conduct an urgent investigation into the Council's management of the contract with a view to confirming that the contracted standard of care was being delivered.

At its meeting the Audit Committee considered reports from the Council's Internal Audit Service and the Commission for Social Care Inspection and heard evidence from Councillors and Assistant Directors responsible for management of the contract.

The committee expressed its concern at the issues raised by the audit and inspection reports. It made clear its expectation that officers will produce plans and timetables and put these into action to address the issues brought to light and that the Council must do better in the way it manages its contracts.

The committee has asked the Assistant Directors responsible to report on progress to its February 2008 meeting and its Chairman to meet with officers in the meantime to monitor progress.

May all your Christmases be Green

Christmas is a time of giving and celebrating but it can also be a time of unnecessary waste. It is estimated that each person in England will throw away an average of 50 kilos of waste over Christmas. So how can you have a more environmentally friendly and greener Christmas? Simply remember the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Here are some top tips on how to minimise your waste over the festive period.

Reduce:

Buy only what you need and choose products that are not over packaged or disposable. About a third of all food we buy is thrown away, this means that more than 15p of each £1 spent on food is wasted
Send e-cards: there is a huge selection on offer
Use a re-usable shopping bag or re-use old plastic bags when shopping over Christmas
Buy rechargeable batteries for all the children’s new toys and electrical gadgets - for every 500 charges you’ll save 499 batteries being thrown away

Reuse:

Last year’s Christmas cards can be used to make gift tags or new cards for this year
Try different materials instead of wrapping paper - jute cloth, a Christmas themed table cloth or simply just tie a silk or velvet bow around the gift or why not use old magazines, newspapers or pantomime programmes to wrap presents that can all be recycled in your kerbside collection.
Stick to tradition and put presents inside a Christmas stocking that can be reused next year

Recycle:

Buy recycled products, for more information please visit: www.recyclenow.com and click on ‘shopping’ to see all the fantastic ideas for presents
Take your glass jars and bottles to the bottle bank for recycling when you next go to the supermarket
Compost your fruit and vegetable peelings, tea bags, garden waste and shredded paper by using a home compost bin and make great compost for your garden.
Real Christmas trees can be taken to your local Household Waste Recycling Centre, where they can be composted with the green waste
Christmas cards can be recycled through your kerbside collection or you can donate them to the woodland trust. There are collection bins in many of the high street retailers in January.

Subsidised compost bins are also available for Suffolk residents for as little as £8. For more information please visit the website: www.recyclenow.com/compost or phone 0845 077 0757 for more details.

And finally…

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!