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The Committee received a briefing on community safety and violence prevention in Cardiff, then considered the Cabinet's proposed policy principles for older people's care and an update on care home commissioning before Cabinet decides on them on 19 June. For both items, the minutes record only that the Chairperson will write to the relevant Cabinet Member with the Committee's observations. The minutes record no other decisions on these items.
It was noted that Council, on 22nd May 2025, appointed Cllr Bablin Molik as Chair to the Committee and the following as Members of the Committee: Cllrs A. Ahmed, Boes, Lent, Lewis, McGarry, Littlechild and Melbourne (+ 1 vacancy).
The terms of reference were noted.
Apologies were received from Cllr McGarry.
There were none.
The minutes of the 12th May meeting were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.
Decision as recorded
AGREED: that the Chairperson, on behalf of the Committee, writes to the Cabinet Member conveying the observations of the Committee when discussing the way forward.
Members were advised that the report provided background information to aid their understanding of the Community Safety Partnership and the Violence Prevention Strategy ‘A Cardiff Without Violence’. For this item, the Chair welcomed: Cllr Lynda Thorne Cabinet Member for Housing & Communities Cllr Lee Bridgeman Cabinet Member for Housing & Communities Sian Sanders Head of Community Safety & Cohesion Jenny Rogers OM Community Safety Daniel Jones Head of Violence Prevention Unit, Office of South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Atwell Chief Superintendent for Cardiff and Vale, South Wales Police The Cabinet Members were invited to make an opening statement, in which they welcomed the Cardiff Without Violence strategy as a successful example of partnership working. Since last year there had been an 11.7% decrease in offences of violence with injury, and although offences of violence without injury had increased by 11.5% they were encouraged by the broader context. A&E data showed a decline in assault-related attendances, including those related to knives and other sharp objects. They felt that intervention was having a real impact, with violence prevention leads in schools and new protocols for weapons to support schools and other educational settings. The recent Welsh government round table on violence and safety in schools and the National Behaviour Summit had indicated that the Welsh government was eager to build on this model, and Cardiff was leading the way. Officers gave several presentations providing further detail, in particular highlighting that Cardiff was one of the safest cities in the UK. The council sought to support young people who were not in mainstream education, while also supporting city centre wardens who saved lives and improved the night-time economy. Virtual Decisions classroom sessions were building schoolchildren’s understanding of gangs and exploitation, and over the next year they would bring forward schemes like the Connect Project, which worked with girls to prevent violence, the Young Person’s Violence Prevention Panel and primary school interventions, while working closely with transport police to ensure safety on public transport. South Wales Police’s presentation noted the broader context of the area it oversaw, with just under half of Wales’ population living there, including 60 of the most deprived communities in the country. The area performed relatively well compared to the rest of Wales, and it was the safest force in England and Wales for knife crime, with a 7% decrease versus 2023 as well as a 13% decrease in gun crime. The police emphasised that tackling issues was best done by working with communities and focusing on the experiences of victims. SWP’s neighbourhood policing model had five key areas: Clear Hold Build in Butetown, Clear Hold Build in Clifton Street (which was currently in the scoping phase), East Cardiff, Ely and Caerau and Safer Streets. The police added that in the first six months of 2025, there had been 929 offences of violence with injury across the area the force oversaw. 182 of these had involved child victims, 10 involved child offenders, and 6 were child-on-child offences. As for cases of serious violence, there had been 34 involving child victims, 2 involving child offenders and 1 child-on-child offence. Possession of weapon offences had risen this year, which was mostly due to weapons being bought online and imported from overseas. They suggested that stop-searching was key to solving this, with 41% of searches finding illegal items. A final presentation was given by the head of the Violence Prevention Unit (VPU) within the office of the South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner. This supported multi-agency work in Cardiff through targeted investment and was a core priority of the Police, Crime and Justice Plan 2025-29. It prioritised prevention, early intervention, public health, data-led decision making and a trauma-informed approach. The VPU had been established in 2019, as one of the UK’s first, and operated across South Wales. The Cardiff strategy aligned with the Wales Without Violence strategy, focusing on evidence-led interventions for young people, including Fearless (Crimestoppers education on exploitation, county lines and violence) and Braver Choices (diversion and support for those on the verge of offending). In addition to this, the Hospital Violence Prevention Team provided immediate and follow-up support at key moments while the Hotspot Action Fund was important to targeted prevention, and treated Cardiff as a priority area for serious violence. Officers emphasised their commitment to evidence-based, multi-agency violence prevention, with strong local partnerships being key to this. Members were invited to ask questions and make comments; the discussion is summarised below. Members welcomed the focus on prevention and engagement with young people, but cautioned that primarily talking about antisocial behaviour in relation to young people could create an unfair impression that only they were responsible for it. Officers explained that the preventative approach aligned with the Wales-wide strategy and although there was a clear focus on young people, this was alongside other specific focuses like the night-time economy and women and girls. Members asked about the specific age bracket and heard that while anyone under 18 was considered to be a child or young person, the government also considered anyone under 25 to be a young person. There had not necessarily been an increase in offending among young people, but interventions at that age were often the most valuable due to the long-term impact of being the victim or perpetrator of violence early in life. The Cabinet Member added that child criminal exploitation and coercion were complex topics which they were still figuring out how best to approach nationally. At the moment it all still sat within the Child Slavery Act, and did not have a specific legal definition in the way that sexual exploitation did. Members welcomed the focus on intercepting knives bought online, and asked whether the council could do anything to prevent knives being stolen in person by shoplifters. The representative from South Wales Police explained that this wasn’t something they saw in large numbers, partly because retailers’ approaches to selling knives and other sharp objects had changed a lot in recent years. There were strict safeguards in place and additional offences introduced by national government which enabled them to treat shoplifting as robberies when violence was used, meaning longer sentences could be given. They also noted the link to issues like substance misuse, when people shoplifted to fund an addiction. Members asked whether the range of the Community Safety team after-hours could be extended out of the city centre to hotspot areas like in Butetown. Officers added that they had set up locality meetings in Butetown alongside ward members to try and figure out solutions, which had led to increased CCTV provision in key areas and was seeking to bring extra resource for city wardens. There was also a task and finish group in progress relating specifically to the Butetown area. Members explored the issue of community safety, noting that petty crime made people feel unsafe in their local area. The police representative agreed and noted that while the focus of their presentation had been on serious violence, community safety was a broad topic which included acquisitive, financial and community-based crimes, and they would be happy to come back in the future with more information on those specific areas. They worked closely with retailers to design out crime where possible and ensure that the best possible evidence was gathered when offences took place. Fraud was a trickier topic as it largely took place online, at a distance from the victim, but it could be minimised through prevention, in particular by engaging with vulnerable members of the community. Members noted the increase in violent crimes between young women, and asked why this might have emerged. Officers explained that as part of their evidence-based approach they were engaging with schools and young people to get the fullest possible picture of what types of offences were taking place and who the perpetrators and victims were. Engagement with schools had raised social media and anxiety as key contributing factors, and stressed the importance of early intervention and immediate support for those affected. Members asked how protocols regarding weapons in schools could be taught to children without causing undue fear and making them feel like their school wasn’t a safe environment. Officers explained that they had developed weapons protocols alongside schools, with the voices of young people key to that. Drills normally related to things like a stranger or dog on site, and were not intended to be traumatic for the children. The VPU would introduce the protocol in September and follow the process throughout. Members raised the question of funding, and in particular how to ensure that good prevention work was sustainable. The Cabinet Member noted that Cardiff lost out on around £10m a year because the Home Office didn’t classify Cardiff as a capital city, and that they and the PCC were lobbying Westminster to change this whenever possible. Members asked about the main issues within the budget and heard that staffing was key, with many posts doing important work not guaranteed funding in the long term. They had attracted a lot of external funding in the last few years and been able to expand the team accordingly, but there would always be some uncertainty over funding in years to come. This year, parts of the community safety budget would be invested in locality work in Butetown, violence prevention projects and youth intervention projects in hotspot areas. Members recalled the Ely riots and asked how the police were seeking to build up trust among the communities affected. The SWP representative explained that they had been working closely with the local authority and charities to see what that breakdown in trust looked like, and acknowledged that the community felt it wasn’t being listened to, not just in terms of community safety but also in terms of job and education opportunities. They felt that they were turning a corner in Ely and Caerau, and were bringing in an action plan that was more responsive to what the communities were telling them. Young people in the community were key to this, so they were engaging with schools. Members noted that city centre wardens carried Naloxone as a nasal spray as part of their standard kit to aid people who were suffering opioid overdoses, and advocated that the police carry this as well. The police representative explained that while it wasn’t compulsory kit because the police’s first duty was to investigate and report crime, rather than first aid, they had seen a lot of uptake amongst officers who volunteered for training in its use, and they hoped this would continue. The Cabinet Member added that city centre wardens also carried bleed kits, which could be rolled out more widely. Members noted the importance of children playing outside, and suggested that repeated petty crime created a negative perception of an area which led to parents being reluctant to let their children spent time outside. The Cabinet Member suggested that community safety was a two-way process, where the police and local authority engaged with the local community, while individuals also reported issues and raised awareness of problems as they developed. Officers highlighted the South Wales Listens project, which sought to identify the petty, repeated issues that impacted on daily quality of life, which could be mitigated by targeted patrols and enforcement. AGREED: that the Chairperson, on behalf of the Committee, writes to the Cabinet Member conveying the observations of the Committee when discussing the way forward.
Decision as recorded
AGREED: that the Chairperson, on behalf of the Committee, writes to the Cabinet Member conveying the observations of the Committee when discussing the way forward.
Members were advised that this item provided them with an opportunity to consider the Cabinet report titled ‘Proposed Policy Principles for the Care and Support for Older People and an update on the Commissioning of Care Home Services’, prior to its consideration by Cabinet on 19th June. For this item, the Chair welcomed: Cllr Leonora Thomson Cabinet Member for Adult Services and Public Health & Equality Jane Thomas Director of Adults, Housing and Communities The Cabinet Member was invited to make an opening statement, in which she emphasised the important of the care system being fair, sustainable and fit for the future, enabling independence for individuals and delivering value for money. The officer gave a presentation outlining the broader context and highlighting Cardiff’s ageing population, with the number of people aged over 85 expected to increase by 28.8% in the next ten years. The city was also not ageing well, with the number of those aged 65+ who struggled with daily living expected to increase by 16.7%, the number with dementia increasing by 30.2% and severe dementia by 35.9%. The council already spent more than £55m a year on commissioned care, and this would only increase over time. A full service review had been undertaken in response to budget challenges, and had led to a five-year plan that sought to deliver a more cost-effective and sustainable service. This focused on prevention, reablement and right-sizing care, while also providing alternative forms of care and taking a full cost recovery approach. The programme was structured around three main areas with their own directorates: Complex Needs and Partnerships, Independent Living and Community Social Care, and Cross Cutting Projects. They sought to develop a preventative approach at the ‘front door’ which provided support at the right time. To enable this, Independent Living Officers could now prescribe aids and equipment and Occupational Therapists could now prescribe care, allowing social workers to spend their time on the most complex cases. This had already led to a significant reduction in the number of cases awaiting assessment. A Prevention Toolkit had been rolled out to staff, supporting decision-making by providing alternative solutions such as technology-enabled care. Aligned services had been brought together, with Telecare now within Independent Living Service and Meals on Wheels moving to Community Services, both helping to support independence. It was important to prevent costly crises and support carers, and they were reviewing their duty service and providing a rapid response service for those who were struggling. The CRT homecare team had been restructured to focus more on reablement, so individuals stepping down from hospital could reach their reablement potential before a long-term package of care was prescribed. They were also undertaking more reviews of larger care packages to embed right-sizing. This was already delivering savings and would be extended to more cases. The Housing With Care program was seeking to develop cost-effective specialist housing schemes for older people, with 12 schemes and 620 apartments in development. This would reduce the amount of domiciliary care needed, and would enable greater community and independence for those living there. They were also developing new specialist accommodation gateway through the multi-disciplinary team, across housing and adult services. The officer added that since April 2025, the charge for domiciliary care had fully reflected its cost, so the full cost of care could be recovered. Work was underway to improve the debt recovery process, and it was important to do this fairly. They were looking at how to approach difficult cases, for example when an individual deprived themselves of their own assets to avoid paying for care. The document Cabinet would consider sought to set out clear principles that informed the use of funding for care and increased consistency across the service, and would be closely monitored over time through a comprehensive suite of dashboards. Members were invited to ask questions and make comments; the discussion is summarised below. Members asked how a sustainable care system could be created, and heard that funding was crucial to tackling both the scale and complexity of demand, and it required a whole system approach built around early intervention focused on wellbeing. Members asked how feasible this was given the forecasted rise in those requiring support. Officers believed they could improve services while reducing their cost, and emphasised that while the forecasted figures were over ten years, it was important to set out and implement preventative measures and key principles now, such as keeping people as social and independent as possible. Members requested that officers bring an update report to the Committee outlining progress. Members queried alternative ways of meeting care needs, and heard that individuals could be helped to increase their income in small but valuable ways such as through disability benefits or community support. Local support networks were key, and other council departments like housing played a key role in keeping people active and embedded within their communities. Members noted that the Committee had visited some of the new older people’s housing in Canton, and welcomed the focus on communal areas to fight social isolation. Officers explained that ‘extra care’ residences of this kind were considerably less expensive than residential care homes, with St Mellons due to have the first larger scheme run on that basis. It was effectively a normal housing scheme where people could live in their own homes, with staff, a scheme manager and a registered domiciliary care provider based on site. Costs were further reduced because properties could be designed for individual specifications, mitigating the need for disabled adaptations. Members noted the perception that older people needed to sell their homes to access care, and asked whether this kept people who needed it from seeking care. Officers clarified that domiciliary care was limited to £100 a week and wasn’t means-tested, so didn’t take the home into account. However, there was a national issue where people did sometimes have to sell their home to afford residential care. Members noted that the report acknowledged a reluctance to ask for support, and asked whether this was more common among any particular group. Officers explained that this was an issue across all groups but especially so for older people, and emphasised the importance of going out into communities and engaging directly with them. The Cabinet Member added that it was important for the first point of contact to be empathetic and effective, demonstrating straight away how small things could lead to a real increase in quality of life, and combatting the stigma against asking for help. Hubs were particularly useful as someone could come in without an assessed need and be clearly and sympathetically signposted towards the right form of support. Members noted that 95% of respondents to the consultation were classed as white, and that it was only carried out in English, Welsh and Arabic. Officers explained that while Arabic was used by a lot of communities as a second language, they were always looking at ways to improve engagement. Members explored the different forms of dementia care and heard that it ranged considerably depending on the severity and complexity of each case, and was mostly externally commissioned. As far as possible, they tried to help people continue living at home with the help of technological assistants, such devices that reminded them to take medication or sent an alert when they left the house, while emergency provision could be provided in the most high-needs cases. AGREED: that the Chairperson, on behalf of the Committee, writes to the Cabinet Member conveying the observations of the Committee when discussing the way forward.
There were none.
Monday 7th July at 4:30pm.
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