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A lot of work has also been carried out in creating the environments that support people to stop smoking and prevent people from starting. For example, school and nurseries have all been encouraged and supported to have comprehensive smoke free policies that extend far beyond the requirements by law. The Council has also been working closely with retailers to ensure that cigarettes and chewing tobacco are not sold to people under the age of 18. In total, 676 businesses were visited and almost all the premises were complying with smoking legislation. Further work has been carried out with midwifery services to make new parents aware of the dangers of smoking to babies. Last year the percentage of pregnant women who were smoking during pregnancy reduced to 21.08% compared to 22.8% in 2009/10.
The borough also has a number of strong Pub Watch schemes which take positive action against offenders and uses banning orders where applicable. The improved borough CCTV capacity has also helped with cameras being programmed to cover the hot spot locations in all town centres. Chief Superintendent John OHare says Alcohol misuse is a major factor contributing to violent crime incidents in the borough. Initiatives to reduce such offences include targeting town centres at night and increased checks at licensed premises. A lot of our success is due to strong partnership working targeted at those most likely to offend under the influence of alcohol. We are lucky in Rochdale to have such a supportive partnership that shares a mutual belief that together we can achieve more.
The Council Early Years Team work closely with all these providers to ensure high quality provision is available to enable all children to learn, enjoy and develop. The Team ensures providers have access to advice and guidance on delivering quality Early Years learning. This includes signposting providers to good practice, supporting new qualified Early Years staff and developing resources to allow providers to evaluate and improve the quality of their learning provision. The Early Years Team have been working closely with providers to ensure effective arrangements are in place for the smooth transition of children from an Early Years setting to primary school. Childrens progress in Early Years is monitored very closely by schools using a range of observational techniques and parents are regularly kept informed of their childs development. Independent assessments have judged Early Years provision to be good or outstanding in the majority of schools across Rochdale.
Getting Personal
Rochdale is making excellent progress in its drive to get more people to have more control over the care they receive. Over a third of all people eligible for social care support have now been given the opportunity to decide for themselves how to spend the money that has been allocated to them to meet their needs. Over 2000 people in Rochdale borough have now received a personalised support plan and a personal budget detailing the amount allocated to them to meet their social care needs, compared to only 375 the previous year; one of the largest improvements in Greater Manchester (6% to 32% in one year). Once the support plan and personal budget is in place, each person is then given the opportunity to decide for themselves whether to receive their budget as a direct payment so that they can manage their own care or whether to continue to receive support directly from commissioned services. They are also given the option of having someone else manage their direct payment for them, or to have a mixture of commissioned services and direct payment. Linda Robinson, Portfolio-holder for Adult Social Care said, Personal budgets can make an incredible difference to peoples lives. Whether people decide to receive a direct payment or not, the most important thing is giving people the option to decide for themselves. We aim to ensure that by 2013 all those eligible for social care are given the information and support to manage their own care with or without support, or allow the Council to provide or commission the services on their behalf. A number of successful actions have led to this significant increase in people receiving a personal budget. Those in receipt of social care and their families are provided with all the relevant information and support for them to decide whether a direct payment is right for them. Personalised plans to support each individual receiving a direct payment are put in place and regularly reviewed and audited to ensure that the payments are being used in the most effective manner. An independent assessment rating from the Care Quality Commission in 2010 identified Rochdale as improving and performing well in its work towards helping people to have more choice and control over the services they receive.
Independent Living
The elderly, disabled and vulnerable people in Rochdale have some of the best support available in the North West to help them live independent lives. During 2010/11, 89% of vulnerable people were helped to achieve independent living through the Supporting People programme compared to 71% the previous year; well above its target and performing better than all other areas in the North West. Furthermore, 85% of social care clients with mental health problems are being supported to live independently which is well above the North West Average. The success is down to an effective multi-agency approach in providing housing related support to vulnerable people in order for them to maintain their independence at home. The approach involves those in need of housing support to play a key role in deciding the type of support needed and how it is to be delivered. The Council and its partners also closely monitor vulnerable groups such as those with learning disabilities and mental health problems, ensuring that they remain in a stable environment in which they can maintain their own living. Linda Robinson, Portfolio-holder for Adult Social Care said, We want more people to live independent happy lives within the comfort of their own environments for as long as possible and by working closely together with our partners and the service users themselves, we are achieving this. Over 16,000 pieces of disabled equipment, including 1,000 items of telecare equipment are provided each year to those most in need to allow them to live safely and more independently at home. These include items which help people return home after attending hospital or from a residential care setting. Furthermore, a total of almost 2,700 major disabled adaptations to homes have been carried out to enable adults to live at home by altering their environment to suit their disability, including stair lifts, walk-in showers and through-floor lifts.