Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Blacker and Downes for whom Councillors Shaw and Cracknell attended as substitutes.

It was RESOLVED:

that the Minutes of the meeting held on 9 January 2025 be signed as a true record.

It was RESOLVED:

that the Order of Business be as printed on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

50.1.    Councillor Jessica Fleming, Chair of the Suffolk Health Scrutiny Committee, reported that since her last update to the Ipswich Borough Council Strategic Overview and Scrutiny Committee the Suffolk Health Scrutiny Committee had met six times. Councillor Fleming then provided a summary of the key issues discussed, which were:

-       Suffolk’s Primary Care Estate, including the funding of new facilities and the impact of population growth;

-       Changes to Orthopaedic Services at West Suffolk Hospital;

-       GP Services, including communication and access mechanisms. A further discussion about the ‘digital front door’ and the risk of exclusion was to be held by the Suffolk Health Scrutiny Committee;

-       Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust’s Mortality Reporting, which was much improved;

-       Sexual Health and Contraceptive Services for Young People, with higher levels of teenage pregnancy reported in Ipswich and Lowestoft;

-       Dentistry, which was an area where there remained significant issues with dental access, although the new Dental Training Facility at the University of Suffolk was impressive;

-       The Digital, Data and Technology Strategy where there was still work to do to improve sharing of healthcare information;

-       The replacement of the current West Suffolk Hospital;

-       Pharmacy Services, including the challenges of providing additional services.

50.2.    Councillor Hughes asked for more information about how it was planned to tackle the higher levels of teenage pregnancy in Ipswich. The Business Manager, Suffolk County Council Democratic Services, Theresa Harden reported that Public Health Suffolk was looking at the causes of this and that a report was expected for the 5 March meeting of the Suffolk Health Scrutiny Committee.

50.3.    Councillor Muhith questioned whether the Health Scrutiny Committee’s work had measurable outcomes, and said that it wasn’t effective in dealing with larger structural issues. Theresa Harden explained that recommendations were shared with the appropriate bodies within the NHS and that their responses were then shared with the Committee via information bulletins. Where the Health Scrutiny Committee continued to be concerned about an issue this would be brought back to a future meeting. Councillor Fleming commented that Scrutiny’s main tools for driving improvements were making recommendations and keeping issues in focus by continuing to discuss them; there were of course issues which were not easy to resolve, or which needed national action.

50.4.    Councillor Reynolds asked whether more should be done to reduce missed appointments. Councillor Fleming noted that recommendations had been made in relation to this, particularly around allowing patients to cancel appointments more easily.

50.5.    Councillor Grant asked if dentistry issues had been discussed with other Health Scrutiny Committees. Councillor Fleming confirmed that she had discussed common issues such as dentistry with other Health Scrutiny Committee Chairs, with contraceptive services and emotional wellbeing services for young people also being raised.

50.6.    Councillor C Smart asked if there was a reason uptake of digital NHS Services was low. Councillor Fleming reported that Older People tended to be more digitally averse but noted that this issue was to be discussed further by the Health  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

51.1.    Councillor Ross noted that additional reports had been requested by scrutiny which he was pleased to see. Councillor Ross then provided an update on the Portfolio; the key points made being:

-       Councillor Ross had tried to increase engagement of other Councillors in the Portfolio, for example with presentations before Council meetings, tours of the new Depot at which Housing Repairs and Maintenance staff were based, and through the Housing Working Group and Area Panels;

-       The Council continued to have to implement measures to ensure it was compliant with new laws designed to protect residents.

-       Councillor Ross explained that there were three strands to work within Housing, these were: the day to day; dealing with emergencies and crises, and; improvements the Council wanted to make. The Council wanted to continue to build new homes and improve customer engagement;

-       The new more tenant focussed approach to rent collection had led to a reduction in arrears from c. £900k to c.£700k, despite there having been a relatively high increase in rents;

-       There had been no overdue gas checks in December 2024, with Officers having worked hard to gain access to properties where this was difficult;

-       Voids performance was now very good, after having become an issue in the aftermath of COVID-19, with good work across teams;

-       There had been an increased focus on any visit to a property being an opportunity to spot if help was needed by a tenant; as an example a recent visit by a contractor had led to support with decluttering which the resident was very grateful of;

-       Councillor Ross noted that there had been discussions by Scrutiny about empty homes, and whilst empty private sector homes were not within his portfolio, he felt that this was an area for potential scrutiny;

51.2.    Councillor Grant asked how engagement with tenants was working. Councillor Ross commented that housing panels and the customer engagement panel continued to provide opportunities to engage and work collaboratively but that there was room for improvement. The Head of Tenancy Services, Arron Samson, reported that in October 2024 a review of what was happening in relation to Tenant Engagement was carried out with tenants, with a focus on what the ideal tenant engagement model would be. It was identified that there needed to be flexibility in the Council’s approach and groups of individuals who were interested in particular areas e.g. Anti-Social Behaviour were being built.

51.3.    Councillor Hudson asked whether the Council monitored the number of care leavers and if specific accommodation was provided for them. Councillor Ross noted that this group had been affected by the cuts made to Housing Related Support by Suffolk County Council. The Head of Housing Advice, Bridie Green, reported that a joint protocol on housing care leavers was being developed with Suffolk County Council. The Council had included lots of one bed properties in its new build Council home developments to help meet demand, whilst the Council also worked with private  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51.

52.1.    Councillor Grant asked whether additional meetings could be scheduled as the Suffolk County Council elections were to be cancelled. The Director – Resources and Housing confirmed that additional meetings could be arranged.