The Adult Social Care and Health Scrutiny Sub-Committee met to discuss a range of issues, including a new sexual health strategy, substance misuse support services, and adult social care savings. The committee agreed to recommendations relating to the sexual health strategy and the adult social care savings.

Sexual Health Strategy

The committee reviewed the draft Lambeth, Southwark, Lewisham, Bexley and Bromley Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV Strategy (2025-2030), which sets out the vision and priorities for the region. The strategy has four key themes: healthy and fulfilling sexual relationships, improving reproductive health, reducing rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and preventing and living well with HIV.

Several councillors raised concerns about the consultation process for the strategy, with Councillor Donna Harris, Group Leader, noting that the 133 responses received were a small number given the breadth of the area the strategy covers. She asked:

Can I firstly ask, is there a category within that, that is one specific group of people? Or is that, how does that break down, first of all?

Jessica Engel, Consultant in Public Health, explained that the analysis so far showed a broad mix of respondents, but further targeted consultation was planned to reach communities who may not have responded to the online consultation. Councillor Harris requested a list of the groups being reached out to and how this was being done.

Councillor Verity McGivern, Policy Lead for Age Friendly Lambeth, raised the issue of migratory status, noting that a high proportion of HIV diagnoses nationally are from people not born in the UK. She encouraged strengthening the focus on migration within the strategies, both in terms of targeting and tracking. Councillor McGivern also asked how the multi-borough approach would ensure a local focus on specific communities and commissioning disparities.

Councillor Val Castle asked how the strategy would ensure that the different demographics of Lambeth were taken into account, given that they are different to the other boroughs involved.

Councillor Harris suggested using social media influencers to reach young people, and Jess Engel confirmed that this had come out in engagement with young people and was being considered.

The subcommittee made the following recommendations:

• Continue development of social media content.
• Consider ways to strengthen the focus on migration within the strategies.
• Provide information about the strategy implementation group.

Substance Misuse Support Services

The committee received an overview of substance misuse support services and the Combating Drugs Partnership (CDP), including progress on the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Recovery Improvement Grant (DATRIG). Rob Goodwin, Programme Manager of the Combating Drugs Partnership, explained that the CDP brings together a whole system approach and multi-agency collaboration to reduce drug-related harm. Seamus Costello, Borough Lead for Lambeth Addiction Consortium from South London and Maudsley (SLAM), noted that there had been a 20% increase in the numbers entering treatment, equating to 1150 new people last year.

Dr Mike Kelleher, Consultant of Clinical Lead for the Lambeth Addiction Consortium, highlighted the interface between addiction and a range of issues, including crime, healthcare, liver disease, lung disease, bloodborne viruses, mental health, and homelessness.

Jamie from Thamesreach, a homeless charity, described the work of the street engagement team, which acts as a liaison between drug and alcohol treatment services and the street population. Inspector Ian Thompson from the Metropolitan Police outlined the police's role in enforcement and improving policing as a pathway to treatment. PC Dan Fitzgerald, also from the Metropolitan Police, discussed training and culture change efforts, including using lived experience to help officers understand addiction.

Councillor McGivern asked about work happening to engage older men with alcohol problems and whether there was any interaction with the age-friendly team. She also raised concerns about the accessibility of alcohol services for people living chaotic lifestyles.

Councillor Ibtisam Adem, Financial Resilience Champion, asked how much of the mental health issues were dealt with in-house and how much reliance there was on mental health services.

Councillor Harris asked about work being done in schools to raise awareness of drugs and alcohol.

Councillor Harris raised concerns about the lack of information on spiking in the report and asked what was being done to support victims and prevent spiking.

The committee recommended a discussion with Age Friendly Lambeth about how to access older people with alcohol problems.

Adult Social Care Savings

The committee considered a report on adult social care savings for 2025/26. Fiona Connelly, Corporate Director for Adult Social Care and Housing, advised that Lambeth had delivered significant savings for Adult Social Care since 2023 and that between 2023 and the end of the 2025-26 financial year, the council will have delivered circa £7.5 million savings.

Councillor McGivern noted that the report mentioned an overspend that was more than the savings and asked how the council was forecasting and addressing increased demand.

Councillor Adem asked about the impact of the savings on workers and what safeguards were in place to protect them.

Councillor Adem asked about the right sizing programme and whether the council was still in close consultation with carers.

One councillor asked whether the savings might cost the department more in the future or cause costs to other departments.

One councillor asked how the money was saved through targeted care home package reviews and how it could be shown that it did not have a negative impact on residents.

The committee requested that the work programme on the 0 to 25s for the next municipal year include equality impact assessments (EIAs) to show the impacts of that work and include assurance for the committee that when young people are transitioning into adult care that they have the right outcomes. The committee also requested that they be provided with some examples of how service users are involved in the process when it comes to Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection preparation.

Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment

The committee received a presentation on the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) from Ruth Hutt, Director of Public Health. The PNA is a statutory assessment of the needs for pharmaceutical services in the area, which is used by NHS England to make decisions on applications to open new pharmacies. The consultation on the draft PNA is open until 21 July.

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