Issue - meetings

To receive and review a report on the performance and progress at the end of 2020 – 2021.

4.1       The Committee reviewed and noted the contents of a report collated by Strategy and Intelligence, summarising the Council’s performance and progress at the end of 2020-21. It was noted that 20% of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) were off track at the end of the year; this was explained as being largely down to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. One correction was noted regarding the council tax KPI, which had achieved target although it had previously been off target. 

For each directorate, the Executive Director highlighted successes, challenges, and issues, with the Chief Executive providing additional commentary.

4.2       For Adult Social Care and Public Health, Bernie Flaherty commented that the targets had been set to be amongst the top five local authorities in London. Bernie Flaherty noted that there had been positive changes to social work practice, and that Council teams had been working alongside health partners to improve timeliness of hospital discharges and lessen the impacts of the pandemic. Key challenges were noted as staff wellbeing and resilience throughout the pandemic; business as usual (BAU) work not being completed due to the impact of the pandemic on capacity; and a decreasing market in adult social care. Increasing health inequalities were mentioned as another significant risk.

4.3       The Committee queried how vaccinations had been calculated in the local population, as Westminster had many people who moved in and out of the area transiently or due to work. Stuart Love commented that the use by the Office for National Statistics of the population denominator was incorrect for Westminster, particularly amongst some age cohorts, and that this was the case across London. However, Stuart Love advised the Committee that he had been informed that this was unlikely to change. It was further observed that GP data also had significant shortfalls. This issue had been examined because of Westminster’s low position in the vaccination league tables. The Committee was informed that efforts were underway in tandem with Strategy and Intelligence officers to understand reasons for people not being vaccinated, or where people have been vaccinated and not remained in Westminster.

4.4       The Committee asked whether the cost of PPE for adult social care workers had been borne by the Council or by contract partners, who may have incurred further adverse financial impact from doing so, potentially making them more vulnerable in a low market. Bernie Flaherty responded that part of a Government grant had been used to assist care homes with PPE and staff support.

4.5       The Committee queried the use of “monitoring demand” for social care services, and whether it might be appropriate to instead consider mitigation efforts for changed demand, as mitigation plans were not included in the report. Bernie Flaherty responded that, in normal times, it was possible to monitor trends. However, during the pandemic, these trends had changed considerably and changes to monitoring would aim to predict changes in demand across the next year and mitigate by allowing planning for appropriate provision of care services. The Committee also  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4