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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED that the Committee: · Noted the contents of the report, appendices and information provided and provided comments, observations and recommendations to be shared with the Cabinet prior to its consideration of the report. That the Chairperson writes to the Cabinet Member on behalf of the Committee expressing their comments and observations captured during the way forward relating to future challenges and priorities for 2025/26 for inclusion within the Committee’s work programme.
RESOLVED that the Chairperson writes to the Cabinet Member on behalf of the Committee expressing their comments and observations captured during the way forward.
RESOLVED that the Committee: · Noted the contents of the report, appendices and information provided and provided comments, observations and recommendations to be shared with the Cabinet prior to its consideration of the report. · That the Chairperson writes to the Cabinet Member on behalf of the Committee expressing their comments and observations captured during the way forward.
Apologies were received from Cllrs Humphries and Reid-Jones.
The Chairperson reminded Members of their responsibility under Part III of the Members’ Code of Conduct to declare any interest in general terms and to complete personal interest forms at the start of the meeting and then, prior to the commencement of the discussion of the item in question, specify whether it is a personal or prejudicial interest. If the interest is prejudicial, Members would be asked to leave the meeting and if the interest is personal, Members would be invited to stay, speak and vote. The following declarations of interest were received in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct: Name Agenda item Nature of interest Reason for interest Cllr Ash Lister 5 Personal. Works for a charity involved in work around criminal exploitation of children in Cardiff.
The minutes of the meeting held on 9th September 2025 were approved by the Committee as a correct record and signed by the Chairperson.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED that the Committee: · Noted the contents of the report, appendices and information provided and provided comments, observations and recommendations to be shared with the Cabinet prior to its consideration of the report. That the Chairperson writes to the Cabinet Member on behalf of the Committee expressing their comments and observations captured during the way forward relating to future challenges and priorities for 2025/26 for inclusion within the Committee’s work programme.
This item allowed Members to undertake a pre-decision scrutiny on the Local Authority Social Services Annual Report 2024/25, before it is considered by Cabinet on the 16th October 2025. The Chair welcomed: · Councillor Ash Lister (Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Tackling Poverty & Supporting Young People) · Deborah Driffield (Director of Children’s Services) · Nick Blake (Operational Manager Business Performance and Policy) The Cabinet Member introduced the Local Authority Social Services Annual Report (LASSAR), explaining it is a Welsh Government requirement, but that they had tried to make it more accessible. Thanks were extended to staff for the work they have done in challenging circumstances. It was explained that Early Help had become a more integrated part of the Children’s Services team in this period, encompassing a preventative approach to avoid reaching crisis point before intervention, and that the new Front Door, Family Help and Protect Hub was being further developed. Trauma informed practice training had taken place and embedded into practice, working more closely with the Cardiff & Vale University Health Board was being further developed and the ‘Bright Sparks’ programme giving the voice to the child about care experiences was continuing. 30 young people who had been looked after had secured a university place this year. A lot of work had also taken lace to digitise caseloads, and thanks was given for the work done to make this transition as smooth as possible. The Chair opened the floor to questions from the committee. Members were encouraged by the content of the report and ongoing collaboration with partners and The Vale, and asked about planning for the future, specifically for children with physical disabilities from a young age and especially as this can include individuals up to the age of 24 years. Officers explained that as health care has advanced, there has been more sharing between Noah’s Ark and maternity services. The plan is to develop this to include a pathways of support to include Children’s Services and Education, and to extend this to adulthood and transfer to Adult’s Services. Members were supportive of this plan and pointed out that this needs to be right through the education age range. This will be brought back to the committee at a later date. Members were encouraged by the 30 individuals who had a Care Experience attaining a university place this year and asked about any available data on apprenticeships or any other places attained, and if reassured by overall outcomes of children from schools. They also asked if there was sufficient support available for this to happen, and it was explained that more support could always be used, and that the funding currently from Welsh Government is not proportional to the needs of the Capital City. The Virtual Head Teacher pilot funded by Welsh Government has continued in Cardiff and is now funded by the Local Authority and would like to expand but depends on resources available. Data on outcomes will be provided. Members asked about the involvement Children’s Services had in developing the Inclusion Strategy, and Officers explained that they wanted terminology to refer to children with ‘Care Experienced’ as opposed to ‘Children Looked After’ to include children who had been adopted and those returning home, and they were heavily involved strategically to dovetail with support currently available but also identify gaps and will be heavily involved operationally. Members were encouraged by this response. Members asked about more information on the budget overspend and plans for the next financial year. Officers explained that the biggest cost is residential placements, together with a recent increase in the number of children. The reasons for this are being looked at, a workstream is in place and are looking at what support is needed to keep the children at home, or if they need to go into residential care, to be clear on what is needed. The next phase of the plan with Early Help is for more children and families to be helped earlier which should lead to less financial pressure in Children’s Services. There is also a plan to extend the pilot working closer with schools to identify needs and provide support, when children come to the attention of the Front Door. There has been an increase in demand and complexity for children with additional needs and they are not yet sure how this will impact on the budget. Members appreciated that this is a complex balancing act. Members asked about working conditions for staff, especially around recruitment and retention, staff sickness, bringing more services ‘in house’ and expanding the use of AI and how the service’s workforce strategy will help with this. Officers explained that there had been more ‘churn’ than they would have liked, especially around social workers and respite workers, and realise that Cardiff is not as competitive ‘salary wise’ as other Local Authorities. They are looking at other attractive initiatives to attract experienced staff, but also ‘home growing’ talent. This is helped by a now stable Senior Leadership Team, which reassured members. Officers explained that sickness levels are within acceptable limits but using in house staff means sickness levels show up whereas they do not with agency staff. Early Help service staff sickness levels were also inherited. The plan with AI is not to replace social workers but to use this as support with bureaucracy, especially as a higher percentage of social workers are dyslexic or neurodivergent, and this could support them. Members were reassured by this and looked forward to the report on how this has developed, next year. Members asked about the Data Protection issues in using AI, especially with confidential information, and officers explained that there are strong guidelines in place, and AI is not used if there is confidential information. Microsoft CoPilot is also being piloted, and this has gone through the Council’s Compliance team and all relevant checks to be used as a secure AI option, which members were encouraged by. Members asked about Children’s Services Delivery Plan and Wellbeing objective especially relating to support for those at risk or effected by Child Sexual Exploitation and if there was a better spread of support for children across the city and if there was an update on the quarter 2 data. Officers explained specific geographical areas are still looked at, but this has been spread wider too. Cases and situations are being looked at, following the Casey Report. The lack of data in quarter 2 is due to a delay in developing the hub between partners, but the Police could not provide resources although the working group has still been meeting. The team has also been proactive in looking at the recommendations of the Casey Report and what can be done now. RESOLVED that the Committee: · Noted the contents of the report, appendices and information provided and provided comments, observations and recommendations to be shared with the Cabinet prior to its consideration of the report. That the Chairperson writes to the Cabinet Member on behalf of the Committee expressing their comments and observations captured during the way forward relating to future challenges and priorities for 2025/26 for inclusion within the Committee’s work programme.
Part of an issue followed across 7 meetings
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED that the Chairperson writes to the Cabinet Member on behalf of the Committee expressing their comments and observations captured during the way forward.
This item allowed Members to receive an update on what progress Cardiff is making in relation to the Elimination of Profit from Care. The Chair welcomed: · Councillor Ash Lister (Cabinet Member for Children’s Services Tackling Poverty & Supporting Young People) · Deborah Driffield (Director of Children’s Services) · Nick Blake (Operational Manager Business Performance and Policy) The Cabinet Member was invited to make a statement in which it was explained that this is a long-standing piece of work to eliminate profit from care. Following the presentation, Members were invited to ask questions. Members appreciated how clear and well put together the presentation was. Members asked about the risk register and whether organisations to run the accommodation provided needed to be ‘Not for Profit’ too and were advised that this would be the ideal situation but would still be considered if not if they could evidence that they could be in line with the timeline. Members also asked if Welsh Government funding is a risk, especially with Senedd Elections next year, and if any reassurance had been given, and were advised that nothing has been confirmed but this is the direction of travel and this is now enshrined in legislation. Members asked if there is cross-party support for this policy and it was confirmed that there is from Labour, Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru. Members were encouraged by the new residential homes and hoped these would be in residential areas and there were strong links with partners which was reassuring and asked about the link between schools’ admissions policies and whether the children in these care homes would be prioritised for school places, especially in secondary schools. Officers explained that needs to be specific to the individual child and there have been some in year challenges which Education colleagues have been supportive with. Some children in residential care may not have a good relationship with the school they attended, whereas other see it as a safe space, so it is what is right for that child. There are close links with Virtual Head Teacher and planning, and there is a commitment to look at alternative timetables as mainstream may not work. Members asked how the not-for-profit policy had been received by Independent Foster Agencies (IFA’s) and Officers explained this was not being done by the team, but when an event was held it was appreciated as there was an open dialogue, but providers are not sharing their thoughts, so it is difficult to say. Welsh Government has put in place an exemption model if it is demonstrated that this is for the best needs of the child. Members asked what input the service had in acquiring independent Assessors and Officers advised that initially there were a low number of applicants, so it didn’t make financial sense for the Council to employ them in-house, so needed to wait until more applications were received to start employing them. The other reason for using Independent Assessors was that this is their sole role, so can do this work quickly. Now more applications are received, it is being reconsidered. Members sought clarification of what services would be available to assist in cases where fostering for older children, teenagers, broke down and note that Edge of Care services would become involved in these types of situations. RESOLVED that the Chairperson writes to the Cabinet Member on behalf of the Committee expressing their comments and observations captured during the way forward.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED that the Committee: · Noted the contents of the report, appendices and information provided and provided comments, observations and recommendations to be shared with the Cabinet prior to its consideration of the report. · That the Chairperson writes to the Cabinet Member on behalf of the Committee expressing their comments and observations captured during the way forward.
This item enabled Members to undertake a pre-decision scrutiny of the draft Cardiff Inclusion Strategy, which will be considered by Cabinet on the 16 October 2025. The Chair welcomed: · Councillor Sarah Merry, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Education · Melanie Godfrey (Director of Education and Lifelong Learning) · Helen Williams, Assistant Director of Education and Inclusion. The Cabinet Member introduced this item and explained how we wanted all children in Cardiff to be successful and feel like they belong. There is much to celebrate in the Inclusion Strategy, but that we are ambitious for all leaners and need to do more to help all learners. 5 areas for action: · Deepening and embedding Inclusive Practice · Strengthening the engagement of our learners · The right provision and the best support for learners · Meeting the needs of ALL our learners · Supporting and Strengthening Our Workforce Next steps will be to debate the strategy through Cardiff Conversations, develop a working group and Inclusion Board including Head Teachers and develop a detailed implementation plan with key measures and milestones. The Director explained the strategy has been developed in the context of Cardiff 2030, and we know Cardiff is doing well as exam results are good as are Estyn Inspections reports. The Inclusion Strategy brings everything into one place, and is not just about additional learning needs, but also attendance and exclusions, and covers all education settings, not just schools. The Chair opened the floor to questions from the Committee. Members appreciated the strategy and how important it is and asked about assessing physical needs preschool start and how this would happen, before a place is allocated. Officers explained that they are working with other service areas to build on existing systems and take a holistic approach to meet needs. Members asked if the strategy had considered the reasons behind the increase in Elective Education at Home (EHE) and were advised that this had increased in 2023/2024 but had declined in 2024/2025 and this is being looked into with guidance planned for schools and parents and oversight from the Local Authority. Members asked about the reasons given by parents for this choice and were advised that there are 13 reasons, including lifestyle choice, ideology and philosophy, which is the largest, anxiety and phobic, and these are the 2 main reasons, but this data can be provided to the committee. Members said they were struck by the range and extent of challenges being faced post COVID and asked if the panel knew when the action plan might be in place, and officers explained that it is a 10-year plan but was likely to take longer than 10 years to deliver. Elements of the plan are in place and need to be built and other elements will take much longer but officers explained they are hoping the plan will be available over the next 6-12 months. Members asked if data for younger children and the lack of this was being addressed as the lack of this could cause issues when trying to show what the impact has been, and Officers agreed that need to focus on actions that have an impact for early years and that they will work with partners to gather this data where there are data deficits. Members also asked for an early insight into the role of the Collaborative Learning and Improvement Partnership in the success of the strategy, as well as the role of Governors in this and Officers explained it is early days for the Schools Improvement Model, but this will form part of the planning over the next 6-12 months. They also explained that Governors are key, and the strategy had been shared with Governors and their feedback considered and Members were advised where this is in the report, including supporting and strengthening the workforce and providing leadership Members asked about the gender imbalance in the Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) and males performing worse in attendance etc, highlighting the EIA doesn’t mention actions to be taken, rather it talks about being gender neutral. Officers explained they are aware that boys are under performing in certain areas as well as girls’ attendance in key stage 3 being much lower and this also needs to be addressed, as well as targeted responses where needed. Members suggested intervening earlier in Primary schools when boys’ attendance is lower to aim to improve this. Members asked whether there was more detail available on the reasons for absenteeism, and Officers said that it varied and was a national situation, as well as in Cardiff. The situation was worse post COVID, but Cardiff is doing well and engaging with families and communities and putting targeted interventions and flexible solutions in place. Through Dysgu Bwrdd Caerdydd, good practice is being shared. Members asked about the action plan that runs alongside the strategy and if there would be short-, medium- and long-term actions and Officers confirmed these will be included. Members also asked about how the Neurodiversity Friendly Cardiff Strategy runs along side this, through school and into adulthood to ensure there is continuity of support. Officers explained that this was checked and is in place and more details will be provided in the implementation plan. Members asked how voices of young people will feed into the monitoring of the success of the Strategy and were advised by Officers that a Cardiff Wide panel is planned for feedback from many different age groups. Members asked about the impact of other policies, such as schools’ admissions and transport on attendance levels and how parents and young people in lower socio-economic areas have been engaged. They also asked if the data would be split depending on area. Officers explained that they have worked with other service areas to ensure alignment with policies that underpin delivery of the Strategy and that these policies will be tested as part of the implementation plan. They have consulted with parents and carers on a city-wide basis and sought feedback from young people on a targeted and bespoke level, with support from the Child Friendly Rights Team. In terms of implementation of a City-Wide strategy the implementation will be down to the schools, the communities they are in, with more specific data to capture, analyse and understand to translate into whether actions are having an impact and success. Specifically regarding absenteeism, Members noted the possible impact of the School Transport Policy contributing to lower attendance, due to the cost of travel; officers responded that absenteeism is a complex area and that transport is one element and that transport on its own does not guarantee attendance but that this is an area that is under review. RESOLVED that the Committee: · Noted the contents of the report, appendices and information provided and provided comments, observations and recommendations to be shared with the Cabinet prior to its consideration of the report. · That the Chairperson writes to the Cabinet Member on behalf of the Committee expressing their comments and observations captured during the way forward.
There were no urgent items.
The date of the next meeting is 11th November, 2025 at 4.30pm. The meeting ended at 7pm.
Councillors must say when they have a personal link to something being discussed, such as a job, a property or a family member. A prejudicial interest is one strong enough that the councillor usually leaves the room and takes no part.
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