Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from County Councillors C Robinson, E Roderick, J Ewing, G Morgan and L Rijnenberg (Other Council business) and from County Councillor S McNicholas (Cabinet Member for Future Generations)

To receive declarations of interest from Members.

There were no Declarations of Interest from Members relating to items to be considered on the agenda.

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.)

The Committee did not receive any disclosures of prohibited party whips which a Member had been given in relation to the meeting in accordance with Section 78(3) of the Local Government Measure 2011.

To receive and consider a presentation on the Corporate Improvement Plan.

(the plan will be updated with the full engagement analysis when complete)

Documents Considered:

·       Presentation – Corporate Improvement Plan

Issues Discussed:

·       The Plan has been informed by intelligence from a variety of sources, including the Well-Being assessment together with public engagement and consultation.

·       The Plan sets the direction for forthcoming years and will need to move forward in parallel with the Budget and Medium Term Financial Strategy and may need to be amended depending on decisions regarding the budget.

·       The number of objectives had been condensed. Climate, nature and equalities were key and the Council needed to understand its impact on those areas.

·       It was the intention to review Impact Assessments to include the impact on climate and environment.

·       Work was also underway with partners such as the PSB (Public Service Board) and the RPB (Regional Partnership Board), to ensure synergies between various plans to avoid duplication of work elsewhere.

·       Challenge had been received from the Economy, Residents and Communities Scrutiny Committee that the plan was not explicit enough about partnerships, co-production and collaboration. The comments received from the Scrutiny Committees were being used to modify the final version of the plan.

Cabinet Member Comments:

·       Whilst Children and Education were mentioned Children’s Services was not specifically mentioned. There was a need for a more detailed section in relation to children and Children’s Services. Unpaid carers were important to the Council as if they did not provide care and support this responsibility would fall on the Council. Sometimes those cared for are unknown to the Council. In addition, some carers are young people, and there was a need for more work to identify those young carers.

·       In relation to Adult Social Care there was a need to understand the perfect storm of pressures falling on adult services such as sustained high demand, issues relating to recruitment and retention and demography issues. Therefore there would be an interest as to how the plan addressed these issues and improved outcomes for people. The strength based approach was key to assisting people before deciding on the need for services. There was a need for a new approach instead of focussing on the provision of services, co-producing solutions with others.

Questions:

To receive and consider the report of the Interim Director of Social Services and Housing.

Documents Considered:

·       Report of the Interim Director of Social Services and Housing

Issues Discussed:

Cabinet Member Comment:

·       In August 2022 Audit Wales inspected the Council regarding its Corporate Safeguarding arrangements.

·       The Audit Wales report was issued in December 2022 but the issues raised were already the subject of a review during the Autumn of 2022.

·       The Corporate Safeguarding Board had been in existence for some time but had not established its Terms of Reference or a Corporate Safeguarding Policy.

·       Terms of Reference for the Board were now established and a Corporate Safeguarding Policy agreed by the Cabinet before Christmas 2022.

·       A programme of training for staff and Councillors had been undertaken. This identified that Corporate Safeguarding did not relate to individual services only but was the responsibility of the whole Council. All staff and Councillors had a role in ensuring that vulnerable people were safeguarded.

·       The majority of Councillors had undertaken Corporate Safeguarding Training.

·       The Corporate Safeguarding Board was meeting quarterly and was reporting both to the Cabinet and the Health and Care Scrutiny Committee.

Director of Social Services Comment:

·       The Interim Director of Social Services and Housing took on the role of corporate lead on Safeguarding in August 2022.

·       The report presented was following the Corporate Safeguarding Board meeting in December 2022, prior to the receipt of the Audit Wales Report. The Audit Wales report was to be discussed at the Governance and Audit Committee on 9^th February 2023 and then at the Corporate Safeguarding Board in March. Following that the report and action plan would be presented to the scrutiny committee.

·       A draft Development Plan had been developed in Autumn 2022 to address the anticipated Audit Wales recommendations as well as other issues identified by the Board and officers.

·       The Director thanked the Committee for reviewing the Corporate Safeguarding Policy, Terms of Reference and the briefing summary and any comments had been taken on board. Corporate communications would be issued once the intranet landing pages had been completed.

·       A Corporate Self Assessment toolkit for safeguarding was developed and included into the Council’s self assessment processes.

·       It would be the intention to seek scrutiny input into the self assessment reports and action plans. A safeguarding dashboard was being considered for development which scrutiny could view.

·       Young people’s housing was discussed at the Board Meeting in December as well as increases in homeless presentations and elective home education.

·       Mandatory training would be monitored by the Board. Mandatory training amongst staff had increased to 66% but this needed further work.

·       The Audit Wales recommendations would be included and monitored in the quarterly regulatory tracker.

Questions:

To note the scrutiny forward work programme.

Documents Considered:

·       Forward Work Programme

Outcomes:

·       Noted