We asked for people’s views about proposed changes to how meals in the community are provided in East Sussex. The consultation took place over the summer months of last year.
East Sussex County Council’s Cabinet was due to consider the proposed changes to the service and the consultation results in October 2014. The results from the consultation indicated that more work needed to be done on the proposals.
Cabinet instead considered the proposed changes at its January 2015 meeting. By moving the date we were able to provide the fullest possible information to Members of the Council.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their views with us.
Since 2008, Adult Social Care has had a contract to provide and deliver hot meals and safety checks to people who get meals as part of their social care support.
We pay towards the cost of this for older people who qualify for the service. At the moment, people pay £3.40 towards it, and we pay £4.10. The total cost of a meal and safety check is £7.50 currently.
East Sussex County Council needs to save money in these difficult financial times, and we need to use the resources that we have to support a wider group of people in better ways. We want to look at a different way for people to get meals and safety checks.
The number of people who choose to use the council's meal service has been falling steadily, and the number of meals delivered has reduced by about a third since the contract started in 2008. This is because there have been:
Our proposals were to:
What you told us
During a three month consultation period between June and September clients, carers, stakeholders and service providers were invited to comment on the proposals.
We received 171 completed surveys, 13 people attended our client and provider events and we also received a number of letters and emails (download the feedback newsletter below for more details).
The key findings from the consultation were:
We listened to the concerns raised during the consultation, particularly around the subsidy. As a result, the subsidy will be maintained while we change over to the new arrangements. We will then consider whether or not to continue with the subsidy as part of our financial planning for 2016/17.
We will change from a single provider model and instead put together a list of providers to choose from. The consultation found that people were concerned about possibly losing the safe and well check, and about the nutritional quality of meals. As a result, all providers who want to join the Approved Provider Framework will be required to demonstrate how they meet the service needs, which will include the safe and well check. They will also have to pass an accreditation process managed through our Support with Confidence service. This will ensure we can monitor the quality of service provided to people.
The Council's Cabinet has now agreed the recommendations to:
The Cabinet's reasons for accepting the proposals are summarised in the minutes of the meeting (see link below for Cabinet papers).
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