To receive reports from, and to put questions to, Cabinet Portfolio Holders:
a. Councillor Rachel Powell – Cabinet Portfolio Holder: Children’s Services, Youth, Libraries and Leisure
b. Councillor Jonathan Wilkinson – Cabinet Portfolio Holder: Housing and Countryside Services
Minutes:
Members welcomed the opportunity to receive reports from, and to put questions to, Cabinet Portfolio Holders.
Councillor Rachel Powell – Cabinet Portfolio Holder: Children’s Services, Youth, Library and Leisure Services
a. Youth Service Review – the service is under review which includes reviewing the use of youth centre sites. Retaining services, as opposed to retaining sites, would be a priority for the Portfolio Holder. Communities had been encouraged to engage in order to consider options for youth services their areas
b. Youth Justice Service – members were encouraged to contact the service in order to understand it better. The support provided is very valuable to those who access provision, however, members may be lacking in knowledge in terms of what is provided
c. Leisure Services (Sports Wales) – the Welsh Government would be looking to re-shape provision and had been consulting with Local Authorities. It is likely that there would be a focus on child sexual exploitation, mental health (including body image)
d. Leisure Services (Freedom Leisure) – there’s on-going dialogue between the Local Authority and Freedom Leisure (Freedom Leisure operates leisure centre sites under contract with the Authority). There would be a pilot to provided autistic focused provision at some sites
e. Staylittle Outdoor Pursuits Centre – the Portfolio Holder confirmed that options were being considered in relation to the future operation of the site, Cabinet would seek to retain provisions through the award of a contract with an external body (the Council could not fund and operate the site)
f. Library Services – library sites are evolving and have become community hubs. There’s often resistance from communities regarding proposed changes which, once implement, have enhanced sites and been welcome. There are very good examples of sites adapting and modernising which sometimes go unrecognised. The new library site for Knighton would open in the February school half term
g. Children’s Services – there had been pleasing progress in relation to delivering actions arising from the recent CSSIW inspection. There would be a re-branding of the Powys People Direct services and there would be a strong focus on direct access to social workers. There had been recruitment of agency staff in order to act quickly. The Portfolio Holder is confident that improvements will be made/evident
h. Bannau / Camlais – there are very specialised services provided from the site in order to support those children/young people with disabilities. Members were urged to visit the site with the Portfolio Holder in order to gain better understandings. The Portfolio Holder visits regularly (every 4-6 weeks). There had been an inspection, the inspection report would be provided in due course to the Local Authority for review and appropriate actions (if needed)
i. Foster Carers – there’s a recognised shortage in Powys, however, nine foster carers had recently joined the Council. The package of support for foster carers would be reviewed and the service had been looking to make packages more attractive by providing additional benefits i.e. working with local businesses
j. Corporate Parenting – there would be an emphasis on ensuring that members fully understand their corporate parenting roles and responsibilities
Councillor Jonathan Wilkinson – Cabinet Portfolio Holder: Housing and Countryside Services
Members were advised that the Cabinet Portfolio Holder had been unable to attend today’s meeting and accepted his apologies.