Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence from those Members who are unable to attend the meeting.

Apologies were received from Rachel Spencer-Henshall, Liz Mear, Catherine Riley, Sean Rayner and Len Richards.

Melissa Harvey attended as sub for Sean Rayner.

Lisa Williams attended as sub for Catherine Riley.

To approve the minutes of the meeting of the Board held on the 28 November 2024.

That the minutes of the meeting held on the 28^th November 2024, be approved as a correct record.

Members will be asked to say if there are any items on the Agenda in which they have any disclosable pecuniary interests or any other interests, which may prevent them from participating in any discussion of the items or participating in any vote upon the items.

No interests were declared.

Most agenda items take place in public. This only changes where there is a need to consider exempt information, as contained at Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. You will be informed at this point which items are to be recommended for exclusion and to be resolved by the Board.

All agenda items were considered in public session.

The Board will receive any petitions and/or deputations from members of the public. A deputation is where up to five people can attend the meeting and make a presentation on some particular issue of concern. A member of the public can also submit a petition at the meeting relating to a matter on which the body has powers and responsibilities.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10, Members of the Public must submit a deputation in writing, at least three clear working days in advance of the meeting and shall subsequently be notified if the deputation shall be heard. A maximum of four deputations shall be heard at any one meeting. 

No deputations or petitions were received.

To receive any public questions.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11, the period for the asking and answering of public questions shall not exceed 15 minutes.

Any questions must be submitted in writing at least three clear working days in advance of the meeting.

No public questions were asked.

The Board will receive a verbal update on the CQC Inspection Notification.

Contact:  Michelle Cross, Executive Director for Adults and Health.

Michelle Cross, Executive Director for Adults and Health provided the Board with a summary update on the current notification received in Kirklees from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).  The Board was provided with background information particularly for those who are not subject to regulation or inspection. The Board was informed that the CQC are the regulator for health and care in England. They already inspect all registered provision such as care homes, hospitals and specialist care providers.

Local authorities were previously inspected by the then Commissioner for Social Care Inspection, however that duty was removed some years ago.  CQC piloted their new framework last year with five different councils, and through that pilot there were several learning aspects and CQC have started to roll out inspections across the country.

The focus of the inspections is how well local authorities perform against their duties under the Care Act, with an interest being on the frontline.  Whilst is has not focused on managers and leaders, that approach is maturing, and they are now speaking to leaders and that is through feedback from pilot sites and also from councils that have been inspected.

On the 9^th December 2024, Kirklees received its notification. The expectation is to provide a return which has 38 elements to it and that return had to be completed by the 10^th January 2025.  The teams worked tirelessly throughout Christmas to ensure that the relevant evidence was gathered.  One hundred and 20 pieces of evidence was submitted to the CQC which comprised of data, intelligence, performance data, case studies and a whole plethora of information that supported the IR38.

Once that is completed, a formal notification from the CQC is awaited, where they come and undertake the inspection, and the formal notification can take anywhere from between six weeks to six months. 

A lengthy self-assessment will need to be submitted which is undertaken once the date that CQC will be on site has been received.  Following formal notification, there will be eight weeks to gather the evidence which should give teams sufficient time.  During that period, briefings will be held and will include briefing the Health and Wellbeing Board, the Portfolio Holder, key partners and leaders across the council.

There is a great deal of support from the Local Government Association (LGA), and from Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) colleagues.  Currently work is being undertaken to ensure that there are workshops being planned with frontline staff and leaders and there will be a specific session planned for Elected Members, the portfolio holder and the leadership team.  The LGA will undertake a session with up to 100 staff.

The difficulty being faced is that if there is six months wait, this will require the information being constantly updated and gathering case studies.  When the formal notification is received, 50 cases have to be submitted which they will then decide which cases they will look at, assessing cases that addresses the customer journey. CQC will only be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

This report presents the draft Kirklees Inclusive Economy Strategy (KIES) to the Health and Wellbeing Board for comment and input.

Contact: Edward Highfield Service Director Skills & Regeneration and Chris Duffill Head of Business & Skills.

Edward Highfield, Service Director, Skills and Regeneration, Chris Duffill Head of Business and Skills and Jonathan Nunn, Policy and Partnership Officer attended the meeting to present and receive comment on the Draft Kirklees Inclusive Economy Strategy.

In summary, the Board was informed that the Economic Strategy is one of the four top tier strategies in Kirklees and the current strategy expires in 2025, and therefore work is being undertaken to review and refresh the strategy.  A draft of the strategy is almost complete and is yet to go through the political process for endorsement. 

The Board was informed that this time around in developing the strategy, it has been deliberately called an inclusive economy strategy rather than a growth plan or growth strategy, reflecting the data and the inequality seen in Kirklees.  While economic growth is important it is not the only objective, and it is not growth at any cost because it has to be an inclusive type of growth that addresses inequality and closes gaps.

There are many global factors that significantly affects the economy in Kirklees, however, it is important to create an environment where businesses can succeed, in essence businesses create growth and employment.  The aim is to make Kirklees a good place to start and grow a business and to create conditions for inclusive growth and a growing economy is vital for achieving the Kirklees shared outcomes including, best start, achieving and aspiring and a sustainable economy.

The main structure of the strategy is people, business/partners and place, underpinned by cross-cutting themes and objectives around productivity, inclusion and sustainability.

Productivity is a challenge in Kirklees, because fundamentally productivity drives wages.  For example, if Kirklees was to match the UK average in terms of productivity, every adult in full-time employment in Kirklees would have £70 extra each week in their pocket.  Attracting more productive businesses and greater share of employment in higher value sectors is important because it drives wages.

Sustainability is around climate emergency, use of resources and future resilience to climate change and climate shock.

Inclusion, it has to be more inclusive, and analysis has been conducted over the bottom decile of the population and there are widening disparities and therefore there is a need to do something different.  While the economy is controlled by many factors outside of local control, there are resources and investment choices to be made, and making choices to tackle at least two or three of those things at the same time.  Going forward where there are limited resources, there is an action plan that will sit behind the strategy.

Referring to the presentation, the Board was shown information highlighting a ‘plan on a page’ which outlined the different sections that will be in the document as follows:

People – linked to the employment and skills strategy

-       Empowering Young People

-       Digital inclusion

-       Supporting communities to learn and progress

-       Skills for the future

Business / partners – growth and survival of indigenous businesses

-       Start/grow

-  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.