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The Panel heard an update on Early Help, the council's support to help adults stay independent and avoid long-term care, and considered the Adult Services performance report for August 2025. It also agreed to add a report on recent inspections to its December 2025 meeting. The minutes record no formal decision on the first two items.
No declarations of interest were received.
No declarations were made.
Panel agreed the Minutes of the meeting on 9 September 2025 as an accurate record of the meeting.
Letter to Cabinet Member following the meeting on 9 September 2025 was noted.
No questions were received.
The Panel received a comprehensive update on development of the Early Help service from Councillor Hayley Gwilliam, Cabinet Member for Community (Support) and relevant officers. Key Points Made: • The Early Help team includes Common Access Point (CAP) advisors, sensory support, area coordinators, and community wellbeing officers. • 53% of new contacts between April–September 2025 were supported via information, advice, or assistance. • Reablement services showed strong outcomes, with 54% of residential reablement clients requiring no ongoing care. • Investment in new roles and thematic coding of calls is underway. • A communications strategy is being developed to raise public awareness. Panel Members asked questions about how assessments determine that no ongoing care is needed, case closure and re-referrals after signposting, the role of Area Coordinators, financial stability, balancing urgent and long-term support and measuring quality of life. Co-optee Tony Beddow offered to connect the team with Professor Morton Warner for insights on quality-of-life measures.
Lucy Friday, Principal Officer Transformation presented the monthly performance report for August 2025 and highlighted areas of sustained improvement. Key Points Made: • Common Access Point received 633 referrals; 48% of social care referrals were closed with information/advice. • Community Wellbeing saw 58% of cases closed with no further support needed. • Residential reablement: 64% returned home independently. • Homecare reablement: 46% increase in hours delivered; 80 leavers in August. • Initial assessments increased to 113 in August; waiting list remains high at 454. • Carers support plans increased to 519 (from 283 in August 2024). • Reviews remain below target: 65.3% completed within 12 months. • Safeguarding referrals dropped; 84% of determinations completed within 7 days. • Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards: backlog reduced to 73 (from 259 in February). Panel Members welcomed the improvements in reablement and carers support and expressed interest in future updates on performance trends and the impact of Early Help.
Panel reviewed the work plan and agreed to add a future item on recent inspections. This item will be scheduled for the meeting in December 2025.
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