Agenda and minutes

The evacuation procedure was noted.

There were no interests declared.

To approve the minutes of the last meeting held on 23 September 2025.

Consideration was given to the minutes from the Committee meeting held on 23 September 2025.  Attention was drawn to the following:

·       Minutes: Referencing the circulation of information on the membership (and respective Chairs) for each of the new working groups associated with the Tees Valley Care and Health Innovation Zone following the Committee meeting in July 2025, Members noted recent correspondence from the SBC Chief Executive alluding to further updates around this initiative, and queried how the Committee would be kept aware of ongoing developments.

AGREED that the minutes of the meeting on 23 September 2025 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To consider information in relation to this scrutiny topic from:

·       NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board

·       North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust

The second evidence-gathering session for the Committee’s review of Stockton-on-Tees Adult Carers Support Service featured contributions from the NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (NENC ICB) and North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust (NTHFT).

NHS NORTH EAST AND NORTH CUMBRIA INTEGRATED CARE BOARD

Responding to the Committee’s lines of enquiry, a report was presented by the NENC ICB Head of Commissioning, Community & UEC containing the following:

·       The NHS, under the Health and Care Act 2022, was legally required to involve unpaid carers in decisions about the care and treatment of the individuals they supported.  This included participation in the planning and delivery of care, as well as in discharge planning from hospital settings.

The current NHS long-term plan highlighted best practice in identifying carers and providing them with appropriate support (including encouragement to record whether someone was a carer in their GP record).  For primary care (General Practice), the Care Quality Commission (CQC), as part of its inspection framework, looked at how effectively carers were supported (including involving people in decisions about their care and that this was responsive and personalised to their needs).

·       Whilst NENC ICB did not have any direct responsibilities in this area (there was no ICB strategy as such, as it did not have direct responsibility for the commissioning of services), it could demonstrate collaborative work at a local level with Local Authority and ‘system’ partners to support the adult carers agenda.

The ICB Local Delivery Teams worked in collaboration with Local Authorities in the development of Better Care Fund (BCF) plans, which specifically included reflections on, and services for, carers.  These plans were developed based on local need across each Local Authority and the ICB collaborated to support the design of these plans.  The ICB was a member of each Health and Wellbeing Board, plus it held Place Sub-Committees where there was the ability to discuss health and social care challenges and opportunities (acting as a forum for partnership working).

·       Locally, the NENC ICB / ICP Joint Strategy specified a key programme aim of ‘working to identify and support more people who are providing unpaid care within the region’.  This was a challenge as some individuals often did not see themselves as a carer / fulfilling a caring role.

·       Looking ahead, carers, and their role across health, would be picked up in emerging Neighbourhood Health Plans which were being led by Local Authorities.  The ICB would again collaborate and contribute towards these plans, and had a requirement to pull together a population health improvement plan which would reflect local Neighbourhood Health priorities amongst a range of other ICB priority areas.  For now, from a NENC ICB perspective, it was felt that Stockton-on-Tees did a superb job around the whole carers’ agenda.

Reflecting on the report, the Committee considered the influence of the NENC ICB in relation to those providing unpaid care and wondered whether the organisation was somewhat detached from patients / carers.  Members were reminded that the ICB did not  ...  view the full minutes text for item ASCH/41/25

To consider and agree the draft final report.

Following the Committee’s decision in April 2025 to defer approval of its final report on the Scrutiny Review of Reablement Service until it had received the full findings of the Peopletoo (external consultants) report on local reablement provision, as well as the outcome of the late-2024 Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection of Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council (SBC) adult social care services, consideration was given to the updated draft document.  Specific attention was drawn to the following:

·       SBC Powering Our Future (POF) Developments (paragraphs 4.68 to 4.73): An additional sub-section had been added to reflect discussions at the informal session held in September 2025 where the full findings of the Peopletoo report were relayed to the Committee.

·       Conclusion (paragraph 1.21 & 5.14): Amended to acknowledge receipt of the full Peopletoo findings, with added commentary on performance monitoring and potential financial benefits as a result of their work / proposals.

·       Recommendations: There were no proposed changes to the recommendations (those within the original draft final report that was presented to the Committee in April 2025 remained).

Discussion ensued on the report’s recommendations and the actions that would need to follow.  Members commented on the role of the Health and Wellbeing Board in relation to the local offer, the need for the public to be aware of local contacts for reablement provision, and the potential benefits from increased voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector involvement.  It was also suggested, and subsequently agreed, that recommendation 5b (Regarding the future local reablement offer, SBC confirms further planned changes to existing service delivery (structures, workforce) and the funding required to support this) should include a reference to staff training so assurance could be sought around previously highlighted staff turnover / training gaps.

The Committee approved the draft final report, subject to the minor amendment to recommendation 5b, which would now be presented to SBC Cabinet.

AGREED that the Scrutiny Review of Reablement Service final report, incorporating the identified amendment, be approved for submission to Cabinet.

To consider the draft strategy document.

Consideration was given to the proposed content of the Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council (SBC) Adult Social Care Strategy 2026-2030.

Following the engagement exercise with local communities undertaken by the National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi) to identify what was important to consider in relation to future provision (which was reported to the Committee in July 2025), and further work through the Making it Real Board (MIRB), the Council had completed a draft of the new strategy for engagement with key stakeholders and partners in October / November 2025.  Presented by the SBC Assurance and Co-Production Manager, and supported by the SBC Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care and the SBC Assistant Director – Adult Social Care, content included:

·       Adult Social Care Context (how the strategy sits alongside local, regional and national policy)

·       Our Borough (what do we know about living in Stockton-on-Tees for those people who need care and support)

·       Priority 1: Working with People

·       Priority 2: Providing Support

·       Priority 3: Keeping People Safe

·       Priority 4: Leadership

Whilst it was acknowledged that the NDTi engagement exercise did not result in a high response rate, the commitment to co-produce this document, as well as the need to ensure value within it for local people, was emphasised.  The proposed strategy featured key headings which aligned with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) assessment framework (with the stated priorities agreed by the MIRB), and it was noted that the language in the final version would be easy to understand, with the format including more visual graphics and a glossary.  A British Sign Language (BSL) video to accompany the launch was also being considered.

Thanking officers for bringing the draft content back to the Committee promptly following the previous discussions in July 2025, Members stressed the importance of a robust communications plan to ensure this was a live document which could be seen by the public – it should also help shape future services, and allow the Council (and, where relevant, its partners) to be held to account for the delivery of the local offer.  In response to a Committee query, it was confirmed that the final version was expected to be available in early-2026 and would be shared with the Committee once approved.

AGREED that the draft Adult Social Care Strategy 2026-2030 be noted.

Ahead of the forthcoming winter period, the Committee considered and responded to the Stockton-on-Tees Health and Wellbeing Board’s ‘Care and Health Winter Planning Update’ report.

Presented by the Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council (SBC) Director of Public Health, Members were reminded that the Board had responsibility for seeking assurance on health protection, and that this report supported the Board in this duty.  The Board would consider the report, with a view to ratifying it, at its meeting on 29 October 2025.  As in previous years, the report was being presented to the Committee for information and discussion ahead of the Board meeting later this month, and contained the following:

·       Winter Planning

·       Integration

·       Infectious Disease Surveillance

·       COVID, flu and vaccinations

·       Health protection work with key settings

·       Local health protection response

·       Adult social care support

o   Demand and capacity management

o   Ensure adult social care teams have sufficient staff and access to care capacity to continue supporting people to live independently in their own homes wherever possible in line with Care Act 2014 principles

o   Ensure a home first approach

o   Monitor the impact of winter on local people and the social care workforce

·       Housing

·       Supporting our communities

o   Information and advice

o   Food support

o   Community Transport

o   Community Spaces (previously known as Warm Spaces)

·       Consultation and Engagement

·       Next Steps

Attention was drawn to several parts of the report, beginning with the oversight of NHS planning and co-ordination of partners by the Tees Valley Local A&E Delivery Board (LAEDB) which was intending to share a comprehensive overview of winter planning arrangements with the wider system in November 2025.  Other key entities included the Cleveland Local Resilience Forum (LRF) which enabled wider system resilience as needed, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) which maintained the national monitoring system for Influenza, RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) and COVID-19, and the Tees Valley Vaccination Board which continued to have oversight of the flu and COVID vaccination programmes and reported into the regional Integrated Care Board (ICB) Immunisation Board.

From an adult social care perspective, SBC monitored the care market to understand capacity and quality pressures to ensure it could meet its statutory duties.  All commissioned providers were contractually required to submit winter contingency plans by 31 October each year and the Council would continue to monitor compliance and use these plans to manage pressures over the period.

In terms of supporting the community, the annual Winter Health Conference was held earlier this month, nine weekly ‘Warm Welcome’ sessions took place across the Borough to address social isolation and loneliness, and the launch of the Multibank in November 2024 had seen over 400,000 items distributed to the Local Authority area.  A range of information and advice was also available, including regular features in Stockton News (promoting support services for this time of year) and a ‘Winter Wellbeing’ webpage.

Welcoming the update, the Committee focused its response on vaccinations.  Expressing concern about instances of public confusion caused by changes to the qualifying age-ranges for this year’s  ...  view the full minutes text for item ASCH/44/25

CHAIR’S UPDATE

The Chair had no further updates.

Members drew attention to reported, and personally experienced, discharge issues in relation to Nuffield Health Tees Hospital in Norton, with concerns expressed about a lack of pre-hospital and pre-discharge checks.  The Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council (SBC) Assistant Director – Adult Social Care agreed to follow this up with the local Community Integrated Assessment Team (CIAT) Manager.

WORK PROGRAMME 2025-2026

Consideration was given to the Committee’s current work programme.  The next meeting was due to take place on 18 November 2025, with anticipated items including the SBC Director of Public Health Annual Report 2024-2025, the latest CQC / PAMMS quarterly inspections update, and the next evidence-gathering session for the ongoing Scrutiny Review of Stockton-on-Tees Adult Carers Support Service.

AGREED that the Chair’s Update and Adult Social Care and Health Select Committee Work Programme 2025-2026 be noted.