Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - County Hall. View directions

Contact: Lisa Richards  01597 826371

Note: lisa.richards@powys.gov.uk 

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

To receive apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from County Councillors J. Charlton, H. Hulme, A. Jenner, M. Mackenzie, G. Morgan, D. Rowlands, A. Williams and S. Williams.

2.

Election of Vice Chair

To elect a Vice Chair for the ensuing year.

Minutes:

As there were a number of members of the Committee who were not in attendance, it was:

 

RESOLVED that the appointment of the Vice-Chair be deferred until the next meeting.

3.

Declarations of Interest

To receive declarations of interest from Members.

Minutes:

County Councillor J. Gibson-Watt declared a personal interest in item 5 – Adult Social Care Improvement Plan, as a family member was in receipt of direct payments. However this was a non prejudicial interest as direct payments were not to be considered as part of the report.

4.

Declarations of Party Whips

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 Members having been given a prohibited party whip cannot vote on a matter before the Committee.)

Minutes:

There were no 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.

5.

Adult Social Care Improvement Plan pdf icon PDF 705 KB

To consider the Adult Social Care Improvement Plan.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a briefing document by the Scrutiny Manager and Head of Democratic Services together with the Adult Social Care Improvement Plan.

 

The Committee noted that there had been contributions to the development of the Improvement Plan from other services and that the success criteria and timescales for implementation were set out in the Plan. The Committee was asked to comment on the format and the content of the report.

 

The Improvement Plan was required to be developed and submitted to the inspectorate within 30 days of the publication of the Care Inspectorate Wales’ (CIW) Inspection Report of Adult Services. The deadline for submission was 30th May, 2018. The Improvement Plan would also be considered at the Improvement and Assurance Board on 30th May. It was highlighted that this Improvement Plan was significantly different to the Children’s Services Improvement Plan with a revised focus and it was a more outcome focussed document.

 

A Member asked about the role of the Powys Teaching Health Board (PTHB) in the delivery and development of the Plan as it was suggested that there were few references to PTHB in the Plan. It was stressed that PTHB would need to be on board with the Council to ensure that the plan was implemented effectively, as would be the involvement of the voluntary sector.

 

In the CIW inspection report, joint planning with the Council had been praised, however, there was criticism of integration. It was questioned if the Plan should be a joint document and did it have the blessing of PTHB. In response the Portfolio Holder indicated that this was an inspection of the Council rather than adult services generically in Powys and to achieve such a joined up approach would require a harmonisation of inspectorates.

 

It was also questioned whether the Joint Partnership Board had considered the draft plan. Members asked whether the scrutiny of the Improvement Plan should extend to scutinising other partners in looking at the delivery of the plan e.g. PTHB and Voluntary Organisations. The Head of Transformation for Adult Services advised the committee that there had been no time for discussions with PTHB in the development of the plan prior to its being submitted but discussions would be taking place with PTHB and that the plan was aligned to the strategic priorities set out in the Joint Area Plan.

 

In response to a question about the possibility of establishing a joint scrutiny mechanism, the Scrutiny Manager advised the Committee that legislatively the Council did not have powers to scrutinise individual organisations such as PTHB as the list of “designated persons” which could be scrutinised in accordance with the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011 had never been issued by Welsh Government. However it was suggested that the PSB Scrutiny Committee which the council had established could undertake that role as integration with health and the Joint Partnership Board fell within its remit.

 

 

RECOMMENDED that arrangements for the establishment of a joint scrutiny process utilising the PSB Scrutiny Committee  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Work Programme

To receive a verbal update.

Minutes:

The Committee received a verbal update by the Scrutiny Manager. It was noted that the former work programme for scrutiny had been disseminated into the new committee structure and that this was to be considered by the Joint Chairs and Vice-Chairs Steering Group on 5th June, 2018. The objective was to have meetings of no more than 3 hours in length and to limit the number of items for consideration at each meeting to give the Committees time to consider each item fully.

7.

Timing of Meetings pdf icon PDF 60 KB

To receive and consider the report of the Scrutiny Manager and Head of Democratic Services.

Minutes:

The Committee received the report of the Scrutiny Manager. It was noted that this suggestion had developed during the discussion prior to the last meeting of the Council regarding the new scrutiny committee structure. As there was a larger number of Councillors who worked than in previous terms of office, the Group Leaders had suggested that the scrutiny committees might consider alternating the times of meetings, including meetings in early evenings which might allow for a greater number of Members to attend the meetings. The Committee was therefore asked if it was prepared to trial some alternative times for meetings.

 

The Committee expressed its disappointment at the numbers of Councillors missing from the meeting, particularly those who had not apologised. Members suggested that the Committee should undertake a trial of meeting times and the ones preferred to be trialled were;

 

Option A

10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m.

Option B

2.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m.

Option C

4.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m.

 

It was suggested that Option C might only be suitable during the summer months.