1.      Welcome and Introduction                                                              

2.      Apologies for absence

Apologies were received from the following PRO Disability members:

JA, NB, SB, TB, PC, KC, RF, TH, LH, EH-R, JM, OM, VM, EM, BM, SS, TW, CW, GW.

3.      Minutes of the meeting held on 23^rd September 2010

These were accepted as a correct record.

Proposed by FH

Seconded by DK 
                 

4.      The Annual Report

The report for the year ended March 31 2011 was circulated to all present and addressed by JA.

The Organisation Manager’s report covered the following points:

·        The Board of Directors

These are currently, RB, Chair, and RJB vice Chair, LR, Finance, LF, BC and DJ.

·        Membership

The membership remains good and there are currently 80 members. We continue to encourage new members and strive for a strong and diverse group.

·        Staffing

 As at March 31 2011 sixteen staff were in post and 1 administrative volunteer.  All are part time positions. In August 2010 the Directors had approved a management restructure in order to create the roles of Organisation Manager and Assistant manager.

·        Borough of Poole Direct Payment Support Service Contract

This contract was due to end on June 30^th 2010 but was extended until December 2011. At the end of the financial year the Direct Payment Support Service was assisting 342 users in Poole. 

·          Direct Payment Holding accounts service

This service had seen a significant increase. At the end of the financial year PRO Disability were providing a service to 203 people in Poole and 183 in Dorset. Additionally a pilot scheme with the Dorset Primary Care Trust to offer a holding account facility for Personal Health Budgets was being used by 6 clients.

·        Payroll Service

There had been a further increase in the take up of this service. This had risen from 128 people at year end March 2010 to 135 at March 2011. Throughout the year the service had been offered to up 184 clients but many clients closed due to the changes in charging and care criteria introduced by the Borough of Poole.

·        Personal Assistant Register

In July 2010 a pilot scheme commenced which was funded by the Borough of Poole to develop and maintain a personal assistant register for 1 year. This is available to Direct Payment users and provides information on Personal Assistants who are looking for employment.

·        Care Quality Commission registration

The Care Quality Commission advised PRO Disability in October 2010 that there is no longer a requirement for the P.A. register to be registered with them. This decision has saved a considerable fee.

·        Direct Payment Services to Children and Families in the Borough of Poole. 
The number of users reduced substantially as the result of clients being transferred to a new Provider. It is anticipated that within the first quarter of the new financial year, PRO Disability will no longer provide support to any children and family clients.

·        Publicity

PRO Disability continues to regularly attend local events such as conferences information events and meetings. This provides opportunities to promote our work in the field of Direct Payments and raise our profile in the conurbation.

·        Service User Meetings

Service user meetings were held on 3 occasions. A range of speakers attended from the Borough of Poole Adult Social Services. This included workshops and discussions on Direct Payments, various local issues and encouraged networking and peer support.

·          In conclusion

PRO Disability plans to continue with current activities though this is subject to satisfactory funding arrangements. These will be in line with the national move to transform social care, now known as “Think Local, Act Personal” and to develop services to ensure they meet the needs of our community. 

JA responded to questions. First to clarify that a personal health budget is funded by the health service to provide the user the choice of arranging their own health care and receiving their funding by way of a Direct Payment. The scheme is being piloted in Dorset (along with a number of other NHS Trusts in the country) and not yet available in Poole.  Further information about the scheme will be included in the next PRO Disability newsletter.

JA next explained why PRO Disability is no longer required to be registered with the Care Quality Commission for the Personal Assistant register. We are not an employment agency and therefore not a regulated service requiring registration.

Acceptance of the report was Proposed by: JW

Seconded by: FH

 

5.      Treasurer’s Report

The summary statement had been previously circulated to all Members.

The report was introduced by LR, Director.  It was reported that the PRO Disability Finance Officer had completed a large proportion of the annual accounts and that this had reduced the auditor’s fees considerably.                               

AD, Finance Officer confirmed that the Income accounts show a net profit of £30,709 for the year ending March 31 2011.

The income was £277,198, an increase of £52,623 on the previous year.

Expenditure showed an increase of £43,842 to £246,489. This rise was largely for salaries to cover the increased workload.

The overall balance carried forward in the reserves was £79,623.

JA responded to a question about possible changes to administrative fees. It was confirmed that these have been reviewed but no decision had been made about implementing them.  No changes will be made until after December 31 2011 and all users will be informed.

The report was Proposed by: HP

Seconded by: RJB

 

6.      Re election of Directors and appointment of a new Director

JA took the chair to oversee the election of Directors. An explanation was given of the requirement for Directors to retire by rotation, as indicated in the Articles & Memorandum. Pen profiles had been circulated for Mrs RB and Mrs LF who would be retiring by rotation and had both indicated they were willing to stand for re election.

Mrs RB was Proposed by: JW

Seconded by: DK

Mrs LF was Proposed by HP

Seconded by: JW

Miss FH was introduced as a potential Director and her pen profile circulated.  FH

 had been invited to join the Board at a Director’s meeting on July 26^th, subject to approval at this meeting. Members were asked to formally vote.

FH was Proposed by: RB and

Seconded by: LF. 

RB returned to Chair the meeting.

 

7.      Appointment of Auditor

It was proposed that Princecroft Willis Accountants be invited to continue as auditor for PRO Disability.

Proposed by: JW

Seconded by: LR 

 

8.      Articles & Memorandum

JA explained the background to the reason for seeking to pass this Resolution.  The Proposal had been previously circulated to all Members and was available at the meeting.  If agreed it would provide for postal voting for those unable to attend meetings.  It would include all methods of communication, for example e mail.

The Resolution was passed. 

Proposed by: HP

Seconded by: JW.

9.      Borough of Poole Contract

This was addressed by JA to clarify a letter recently sent to all service users. This informed all Borough of Poole Direct Payment users of PRO Disability’s decision not to tender for the Direct Payment Service Contract from 1^st January 2012.

JA explained that all PRO Disability staff and the Board of Directors had been included in the consultation and decision making process and the decision not to tender had not been an easy one or taken lightly.

The decision had been made because it was agreed that it was not in the best interest of PRO Disability as an organisation to tender.  This was on the basis that the staff and Directors believed that the organisation could not provide the service stipulated in the tender documents within the available budget of the contract. 

In response to questions from the floor:

·      JA assured the meeting that service users should not be adversely affected as a result of the decision and the provision of the service by an alternative provider.

·      She explained that whilst she could not provide details of the service specification at this stage she was confident that it would ensure the support provided in the future would at least be to the same level as they currently received.

·      She stated that the Borough of Poole would be working closely with PRO Disability and the new provider organisation throughout the transition period to ensure a smooth transfer.

·      She advised that she understood there to be a requirement for any new provider to have an office based in Poole.

·      The tender is scheduled to be awarded at the end of October.

·      JA said that as per the recent newsletter sent out by the Borough of Poole 4 or 5 existing service users will be included on the evaluation panel to hear the presentations by shortlisted organisations. Members were encouraged to apply to become involved in the exercise, particularly if they have concerns about who would be awarded the contract.

·      She confirmed that the Directors would be deciding about the future plans of PRODisability on Sept 20^th which would include a decision about continuing to offer a payroll service and a holding account service. All service users and members will be informed of the future services that will be provided.

·      She said that PRODisability understood that service users would have a choice about who they use to provide them with a payroll and/or holding account service after the 31^st December as this was within the spirit and ethos of Direct Payments allowing choice and control.

Mr Pearson thanked all Directors and PRO Disability staff for their past help and support.

10. Any other business.

Nothing raised

11. The meeting closed at 12 noon.