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Contact: Elizabeth Patterson 01597 826980
No. | Item |
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Apologies To receive apologies for absence. Minutes: No apologies for absence were received. |
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Election of Vice-Chair To elect a Vice-Chair for the ensuing year. Minutes: Resolved that County Councillor M. Mackenzie be elected as Vice-Chair for the ensuing year. |
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Minutes of previous meeting PDF 108 KB To authorise the Chair to sign the minutes of the previous meeting(s) of the committee held on the following date(s) as a correct record. Minutes: The minutes of the meeting of the 17th March 2016 were approved subject to the amendment to include Mrs Evitts as in attendance. |
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Declarations of interest To receive any declarations of interest from Members relating to items to be considered on the agenda. Minutes: No declarations of interest were received. |
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Declaration of Party Whip To receive disclosures of prohibited party whips which a Member has been given in relation to the meeting in accordance with Section 78 (3) of the Local Government Measure 2011. NB. Members are reminded that under Section 78 (3) Members having been given a prohibited party whip cannot vote on a matter before the Committee. Minutes: No declarations of party whip were received. |
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Chair's Briefing To receive a briefing from the Chair of People Scrutiny Committee. Minutes: The Chair welcomed Members to the first meeting of the Committee since the Annual Meeting noting that there had been a reduction in County Council Members on the Committee from 21 to 14. The reduction in size of committees is a result of the savings that have had to be found within the Members budget. The calculations regarding political balance has meant that it has only been possible to appoint 13 Members. This anomaly affects six committees of the Council and the Head of Democratic Services is arranging a meeting with Group Leaders to agree appointments to the fourteenth place.
The Chair and Scrutiny Officer had attended a seminar in Birmingham ‘Scrutiny in Challenging Times’ and whilst Powys was the only Welsh authority which had sent representatives it was clear that all authorities were struggling with the same problems. The particular value of members on scrutiny was their knowledge and experience through their personal circumstances and ward work as users of the services that are under scrutiny. |
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Welfare Reform and Universal Credit To receive an update on Welfare Reform and the rollout of Universal Credit from the Income and Awards Senior Manager. Minutes: The Income and Awards Manager gave a presentation on Welfare Reform and the rollout of Universal Credit (copy filed with signed minutes).
The following questions arose from the presentation:
The IFS figures suggest the poorest families will lose 7% of income or nearly £4,000 per annum (pp 7 and 8 of presentation). Are these figures in accordance with each other? These figures will be checked.
When the impact of changes is calculated is account taken of families with disabled members (p 8 of presentation)? The calculations are by household type rather than by benefit claimant.
How many universal credit claimants are there currently in Powys? Universal Credit has been gradually introduced via job centres starting with job seekers who are single. There are approximately 200 such claimants on universal credit in the county. Full rollout will be done on a job centre by job centre basis and whilst it is not known when individual job centres in Powys will move over to full rollout it is not expected until at least Mid 2017 as it is necessary for Welsh translation of the forms to be completed first.
What confidence is there in the IT system associated with Universal Credit? It was originally planned for universal credit to have been fully rolled out by 2017 however, problems with IT have meant a different approach has been taken. It is now the case that rollout is taking place on a job centre by job centre basis with all IT problems being resolved before moving onto the next area. However, it is the case that there has been no opportunity to date to test the system with full caseloads. In Powys there are six job centres (Ystradgynlais, Brecon, Llandrindod Wells, Newtown, Machynlleth and Welshpool).
What happens to claimants when the IT fails? Once a claimant has moved to universal credit it is not possible for previous benefits to be paid (legacy benefits). There have been cases in Wales where there have been delays of up to 12 weeks in payments. At present benefits are being paid around 6-7 days after application.
With regard to those families losing up to £4,000 per year what help is available to help these families adjust? The service have a contract with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to offer personal budget support. In Powys there have only been about a dozen people who have received this support (from the cohort of single job seekers). It is expected that this service will be in more demand when full rollout takes place. The DWP will increase the funding available for this role as full rollout takes place.
Will claimants suffer hardship as a result of the changes? It is central government policy to reduce the benefit bill and there will be an impact on claimants. The aim of the service is to try to mitigate the impact and help claimants move over onto universal credit.
Does the increase in free child care from 15 to 30 hours a ... view the full minutes text for item PSC22-2015 |
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Powys Fostering Inspection Reports PDF 170 KB To receive the CSSIW Inspection Report – Powys Fostering April 2016. Minutes: The Head of Children’s Services and Fostering Team Manager presented the CSSIW Powys Fostering Inspection Report April 2016.
The inspection related to the service supporting the 74 full time foster carers although the authority does have other short term / respite carers. This year the team have worked hard to ensure the annual reviews are undertaken with performance for this improving. The inspection report again notes no issues of non-compliance which is pleasing.
How does the team identify which sites to visit for recruitment purposes? A recruitment plan is put together at the beginning of the year focussing on the areas where the need is greatest. Recruitment is undertaken at locations within the community such as at supermarkets, and talks are given to groups such as the WI. The suggestion that this could be undertaken at groups within schools was noted and it was requested that if Members had suggestions for venues then this would be welcomed.
What is the situation with regard to the vacant principal officer post which has been held in south Powys? The Head of Service advised that this vacancy had been held whilst a whole service review was being undertaken. The review for the Fostering Service is still taking place. A further vacancy for a social worker post has recently arisen in the north and this is also being held vacant until the review has been completed.
Will the service be able to address this question when the CSSIW undertake their next inspection? It was confirmed that the CSSIW are kept informed of the progress of the review and by the time of the next inspection the service will be in a position to be able to answer the CSSIW on this point.
When will the review be completed? The work for the review is complete and the report is being written.
It is a concern that two vacancies are being held vacant. Is this a risk to the service? The Head of Service stated that whilst one vacancy has been held for sometime the second vacancy is recent. The workload is being managed through existing staff and the service is looking at the level of support which is needed for different carers (eg foster carers/kinship carers) and thus the caseload for each social worker. Social work teams are never at full complement due to leave, sickness absence and training and it is felt that holding the vacancies will not place the authority at risk.
The CSSIW report notes that ‘the team manager does not have as much support for their role as needed’. How does this match with the view the service have taken? The Fostering Manager advised that this referred to her role and she did not feel that this was the case. She was of the opinion that the priority was to have enough social workers rather than having a deputy team manager appointment. She uses other team managers within the service to manage when necessary and is of the opinion that ... view the full minutes text for item PSC23-2015 |
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Membership of working groups PDF 63 KB To confirm working group membership. Minutes: Since the Committee had reduced in size a paper had been produced outlining the membership of the working groups which had continued from the membership prior to May 2016.
The Chair outlined changes to the way in which it was intended to undertake scrutiny noting the intention to undertake pre-decision scrutiny on specific items identified by Joint Chairs and the Executive. Some of this pre-decision scrutiny would be appropriately dealt with by existing working groups in particular Education, Adult Social Care and Children’s. However, there may be other areas which need consideration which do not fit easily within the above groups. In addition the committee previously had two further groups (Cultural and Corporate matters) which had experienced variable work loads. It was suggested that these two groups combine and pick up any scrutiny reviews from Joint Chairs which do not fall within the other three groups.
Invitations were invited from the committee to join the existing groups and the following requests were made:
Cllr G Vaughan to join the Education Scrutiny Group. Cllr P Medlicott to join the Cultural/Corporate Matters Scrutiny Group. Cllr A Davies to join the Health Scrutiny representatives on the Joint Health Scrutiny Group
The Chair explained that there was the opportunity to appoint members to the working groups from outside the membership of People Scrutiny Committee. It was suggested that the Chair first ascertain if absent members of the People Scrutiny Committee were interested in joining working groups and if vacancies on any of the working groups remain then seek expressions of interest to particular groups from the non-executive membership of the Council.
Resolved that People Scrutiny Committee delegate to the Chair of People Scrutiny Committee the authority to seek expressions of interest from members not on People Scrutiny Committee to join working groups and make any such appointments to working groups that are deemed necessary. |
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Adult Social Care Scrutiny Group PDF 52 KB To receive an update from the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Group. Additional documents: Minutes: Documents considered:
· Progress Report – Scrutiny Officer · Report to Cabinet – June 2016
It was noted that there was no lead member for this group. The report to Cabinet which was due to be taken on 14th June 2016 however, in the absence of a lead member and with the Chair away this item will now be taken to Cabinet on 5th July 2016.
Outcome:
· That the update be received. |
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Children's Services Scrutiny Group PDF 57 KB To receive an update from the Children’s Services Scrutiny Group. Minutes: Documents considered:
· Progress report – Scrutiny Officer
Outcome:
· That the update be received. |
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Cultural Services Scrutiny Group PDF 124 KB To receive an update from the Cultural Services Scrutiny Group. Minutes: Documents considered:
· Progress report – Scrutiny Officer · Cabinet response to Scrutiny Report on Library Standards
Outcome:
· That the update be received. |
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Education Scrutiny Group PDF 235 KB To receive an update from the Education Scrutiny Group. Additional documents: Minutes: Documents considered:
· Progress report – Scrutiny Officer · Extract of Cabinet minutes -16th April 2016 – Proposed change of age of admission to primary school and Schools Services Asset Management Plan · Education Scrutiny Report – School Scrutiny Panel. Reported to Cabinet on 24th May 2016 · Outcome letter of ERW Scrutiny Members meeting 11th March 2016.
A response to the Education Scrutiny Report is expected at Cabinet on 5th July 2016.
Outcome:
· That the update be received. |
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To receive an update from the Joint Health Scrutiny Group. Additional documents: Minutes: Documents considered:
· Progress report – Scrutiny Officer · Outcome letter to Mid Wales Health Care Collaborative from meeting held on 21st March 2016
Outcome:
· That the update be received. |
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To receive the notes of the Joint Chairs Steering Group held on 18th March 2016, 12th April 2016 and 24th May 2016. Additional documents: Minutes: Documents considered:
· Notes of the meetings held on 18th March 2016 and 12th April 2016.
Outcome:
· That the notes are received. |
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To receive the 2016 work programme for the People Scrutiny Committee. Minutes: It was noted that the work programme would be amended in light of the decisions made at Joint Chairs and would be updated accordingly. |