Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room A - County Hall, Llandrindod Wells, Powys. View directions

Contact: Lisa Richards 

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

To receive apologies for absence.

2.

Declarations of Interest

To receive declarations of interest from Members.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

3.

Disclosure 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 party whips.

4.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 90 KB

To authorise the Chair to sign the minutes of the last meeting as a correct record.

Minutes:

The Chair was authorised to sign the minutes of the last meeting as a correct record.

 

Arising thereon:

·         Performance – previous minutes indicated that performance would be considered at every meeting.  The Co-ordinating Committee has specified that finance and performance will be considered on a quarterly basis although performance reports will be circulated for Members information as soon as they are received.

·         Sickness absence – further details were to be circulated regarding absence levels due to stress.  There have been issues in extracting the appropriate information from the system but the details will be circulated when available.

·         DToCS – it had been reported that a weekly meeting would be held between the the Chief Executives of the Authority and PtHB to resolve the DToCS issue.  These meetings were continuing and progress will be reported.

·         Task and Finish Group – Budget Reviews – one meeting of the Task and Finish Group had been held to consider the three budget review reports into Mental Health, Physical Disability and Learning Disability.  The work of this Group will be taken forward by the Adult Services Working Group.

5.

External Placements pdf icon PDF 365 KB

To consider the report of the Head of Children’s Services.

Minutes:

Documents:

·         Report of the Head of Children’s Services

 

Discussion:

·         The report provided an overview of External Placements for Members’ information

·         It was noted that where possible placements were made to ensure a child’s education was not disturbed – the Committee asked how achievable this aim was?  In the first instance, an in-house foster care placement is sought locally.  If this is not possible, a wider search is made for an in-house foster carer but within one hour’s travelling time.  Ultimately, an Independent Foster Agency (IFA) will be used in the area or an in-house foster placement further away.  If a child has been excluded from school, the service work with the schools service to find alternative provision that could be in a Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) or online.  Education is paramount and ensures stability.

·         The issue of bilingualism was raised – there are a number of Welsh speaking foster carers and the service would like to recruit more.  There are several foster families in Carmarthenshire who can offer Welsh needs.  The service is not so well equipped to deal with other languages.  The Head of Service reported that the service had could be better at analysing the needs of the LAC population.  Although these needs are considered on an individual basis during a review, they are not easily extracted from the system.  These issues will be identified at Resource Panel.

·         Nine new foster carers had been recruited – how does this Authority compare with others?  Benchmarking data is no longer available.  More information is available through regional fostering arrangements

·         There seemed to be a large group of children in the 10-15 years age bracket and Members questioned whether these children had been in care for some time or if this was the age at which they were accessing services.  The Authority has a responsibility for children up to the age of 25 if they are in education.  The Welsh government is proposing that this is for all young people up to the age of 25.  Edge of Care and early intervention will help to manage risk within communities.  Profiling is ongoing to move children to permanent arrangements such as adoption.

·         There was concern that this age bracket may be vulnerable to targeting by County Lines.  The Authority has developed a response to County Lines and a workshop will be held in June.  It is not a major issue within LACs – exploitation is more likely to target those who are not LAC.

·         The report shows 80 children are placed out of county, which raises issues about accessibility to education in Powys and Wales.  It was noted that there were similar issues around accessing health services across borders but it was suggested that this was a political issue to be addressed.

·         There could be delays in accessing education as those with SEN in Wales will have to be reassessed in England which can cause delays.  The service makes every attempt not to place in England due to the different schemes but  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Exempt Items

The Monitoring Officer has determined that category 3 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules applies to the following two items. His view on the public interest test (having taken account of the provisions of Rule 14.8 of the Council's Access to Information Rules) was that to make this information public would disclose information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information). These factors in his view outweigh the public interest in disclosing this information.

 

Members are asked to consider these factors when determining the public interest test, which they must decide when considering excluding the public from this part of the meeting.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED to exclude the public for the following item of business on the grounds that there would be disclosure to them of exempt information under category 3 of The Local Authorities (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007).

 

7.

Extra Care Housing

To consider the report of the Portfolio Holders for Adult Social Care and Corporate Governance, Housing and Public Protection.

Minutes:

Documents:

·         Report of the Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Services

 

Discussion:

·         Three extra care housing developments were proposed across the County

·         Extra Care housing is preferable to residential care as it preserves the independence of the resident.  In addition it meets the principles of the Social Services and Wellbeing Act.  It would also be a better financial option for the Authority

·         Strategies have been developed and the market position statements have been considered by scrutiny

·         There is a general consensus that Extra Care Housing is the way forward and formal sign off by Cabinet is now sought

 

Outcome:

·         A comment regarding scrutiny supporting extra care housing in principle would be forwarded to Cabinet

8.

Extra Care Housing - Neuadd Maldwyn

To consider the report of the Portfolio Holders for Finance, Adult Social Care, Corporate Governance, Housing and Public Protection and Highways, Recycling and Assets.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Documents:

·         Report of the Portfolio Holders for Finance, Countryside and Transport, Highways, Recycling and Assets, Adult Social Services, and Corporate Governance, Housing and Public Protection

 

Discussion:

·         The concept of Extra Care Housing was welcomed

·         The area had been identified as one with one of the highest needs in the County

·         A communications strategy will need to be implemented

·         Local Members had been consulted and were positive about the scheme

 

Outcomes:

·         Scrutiny observations would be provided to Cabinet for consideration alongside the report in June 2019

9.

Working Groups

To note that two new Working Groups have been approved - the Adult Services Working Group and the Children’s Services Working Group.  Members have been asked to indicate their preference and the Committee is asked to approve the following membership of those working groups:

 

Adults Services WG:            County Councillors J Charlton, H Hulme, G Morgan, K Roberts-Jones and A Williams

 

Children’s Services WG:     County Councillors A Jenner, S McNicholas, D Rowlands, E Vaughan, J M Williams and R Williams

 

Lead Members for the Groups will be appointed at the first meeting of the working group.  The Chair of Committee will attend both working groups.

 

 

Minutes:

Members had been asked to express a preference for joining the Adult Services Working Group or Children’s Services Working Group.

 

Outcomes:

 

Adult Services Working Group will comprise County Councillors J Charlton, H Hulme, G Morgan, K Roberts- Jones and A Williams

 

Children’s Services Working Group will comprise County Councillors  A Jenner, S McNicholas, D Rowlands, E Vaughan, J M Williams and R Williams

 

The Chair will attend meetings of both Groups.  A Lead Member for each Group to be appointed at the first meetings of the Groups

10.

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 112 KB

To note the scrutiny forward work programme.

Minutes:

Documents:

·         Scrutiny Work Programme

 

Outcomes:

·         The Scrutiny Work Programme was noted and work programmes for the individual working groups would be           circulated to Members