Public reports pack Wednesday 22-Jul-2015 19.00 Council

Page 63services fell below the standards that residents should expect to receive. The committeesought assurances from DCC directors about improvements and requested vigorousmonitoring by council officers, mindful that this matter had been an issue of concern for the(former) health and adult services scrutiny sub-committee.The committee also scrutinised the work of Lambeth Safeguarding Adults Partnership Boardand Lambeth Council’s Adult Social Care services on safeguarding adults with care andsupport needs who are at risk of abuse and neglect. Discussions on adult safeguardingwere additionally informed by input from Healthwatch Lambeth who gave a serviceuser/carer perspective on the critical issues for vulnerable adults in Lambeth and how theirneeds might best be addressed and supported.At the health and social care session but also throughout the year, OSC has soughtperformance information to verify what the committee is being told and to measure baselineinformation for future progress. In some instances the committee heard of poor quality ofdata collection or lack of monitoring information. The committee agreed early that 2014/15would provide a benchmark year against which to scrutinise future performance and deliveryof outcomes; accordingly recommendations have been made at a number of scrutinysessions for the provision of key performance information to ensure there is accurate andrelevant information to inform commissioning decisions and activities and ensure the bestuse of resources where most needed.7. Call In: Shared Lives Contract (January 2015)One call-in of a key-decision was received in 2014/15 relating to the Shared Lives schemeand award of contract decision. There was a cogent debate about the procurementarrangements and consultation and decision timelines, and in particular about the lack ofservice user/carer involvement in the process.The committee upheld the original decision but also made recommendations for futureconsultations and for incorporation of those principles into the Smart Procurement model.8. Scrutiny CommissionsIn addition to the work of the overview and scrutiny committee, scrutiny commissions providean opportunity for more detailed investigations of specific issues by a group of councillors.Commission reports and recommendations are presented back to OSC on completion andthen submitted to cabinet (or relevant body) for consideration and action planning.Officer capacity to support commissions in 2014/15 has limited activities. Below is anoverview of commissions which formally reported during the year, and those which arescoped and appointed to commence.11