The Healthier Communities Select Committee was scheduled to receive an update on Lewisham Council's work with unpaid carers in the borough. They were also scheduled to receive an update on the Council's work with the Social Care Institute for Excellence, and on the performance of adult social care.

The Maximising Wellbeing of Unpaid Carers service

This report was scheduled to update the Committee on the work of the Maximising Wellbeing of Unpaid Carers service which is delivered by Imago Community. The report says that the service:

aims to comprehensively enable Unpaid Carers to have more opportunity to access information, advice and support as well as having fun and making friends.

The report was scheduled to describe the seven core elements of the service:

1. Lewisham Unpaid Carer Hub and Spoke model
2. Unpaid Carer Primary Care Coordinator
3. Young Carer Schools Facilitator
4. Championing Unpaid Carers Lead
5. Wellbeing Carer Coordinators
6. Unpaid Carer Activities Coordinator
7. Specialist Wellbeing coaches

This report was also scheduled to describe the work of Lewisham Council's Open Carers Forum, which is described in the report like this:

An Open Carer Forum was set up so that Unpaid Carers can exercise their rights, express their views and influence how the support they need should be provided; to help improve the quality of support and services as well as to get news about issues that affect them.

Adult Social Care and Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) Co Production Update

This report was scheduled to update the Committee on the work of the Adult Social Care department with the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE). The report describes how the Council had engaged with staff, partner organisations and service users:

Participants were asked to describe co-production

The report also identifies several challenges faced by the council, including a lack of trust from service users.

Lack of Trust:

• Trust between local authorities and the community was identified as a significant barrier. Participants shared concerns that engagement activities are sometimes perceived as ‘tick box’ exercises rather than genuine attempts to involve service users and carers in decision-making.

Adult Social Care Performance Review

This report was scheduled to provide the Committee with an overview of the performance of Adult Social Care. The report says that Lewisham Council received 14,220 requests for support from new clients:

We received 14,220 requests for support from new clients, the maximum of any London borough and more than double the London average of 6589 (Activity and Finance report 2023).

The report breaks down the council's performance in a range of areas, including safeguarding, quality of life for service users, and the performance of the Council's workforce. The report also details the number of care homes in the borough and their current Care Quality Commission (CQC) ratings:

• 49 care homes (86.0%) are currently rated as good or outstanding • The number of care homes currently rated as inadequate is 0. • 5 care homes have a current rating of requires improvement • 3 care homes are without a current rating.

Select Committee Work Programme

This report was scheduled to update the Committee on its work programme. The report was due to ask the Committee to review the Forward Plan of Key decisions:

• Review the forward plan of key decisions at Appendix E to consider whether there are any items for further scrutiny.

Among other things, the Forward Plan of Key Decisions, included an update on the Building for Lewisham programme, the Council's scheme to build new council homes.