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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Apologies were received from Grace Lee (Youth Council representative), Cllr Thomson (Cabinet Member for Adult Services, Public Health & Equality) and Emma Richards (UNISON Branch Secretary, Cardiff Council).
The following declarations of interest were received in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct. Councillor Item Nature of interest Reason Peter Littlechild 5 Personal Supports migrant workers and their families as a community worker at Albany Road Baptist Church Bablin Molik 5, 6 Personal CEO of Sight Cymru, which holds commissioned contracts with the council and employs migrant workers
The minutes of the 15th December meeting were approved and signed as a correct record.
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 provided with background information and an overview of the report due to be considered by Cabinet on 22nd January. The Chair reminded Members that Appendices A, B, C, D, E and F contained exempt information pursuant to paragraphs 14, 16 and 21 of the 1972 Local Government Act, and as such any discussion of those documents would have to take place in closed session. For this item, the Chair welcomed: Cllr Lynda Thorne Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities Sarah McGill Corporate Director, People & Communities David Jaques Assistant Director, Development & Regeneration Neil Taylor OM Delivery The Cabinet Member was invited to make an opening statement, in which she described the proposal as an opportunity for the council to advance a high quality mixed-tenure development in line with its housebuilding programme. 1,700 homes had already been delivered already across the city, with a further 412 for sale through development partnership schemes and 2,000 more in the pipeline over the next five years. Demand pressures remained despite this progress and the development team continued to seek suitable sites, with the land at Central Quay presenting a significant opportunity. Officers gave a presentation providing further detail, explaining that the freehold purchase at Central Quay would enable between 460 and 730 apartments to be built to rent, depending on the massing and height options chosen. It was the site of the former Brains Brewery, and development was well underway on phases 1 and 2. The plots were within an approved masterplan, serviced and cleared and within the council’s LDP for mixed-use development. Overall, it was considered to be a good development opportunity on a prominent high-profile city centre site. Members were invited to ask questions and make comments; the discussion is summarised below. Members noted the high demand for housing and asked how the varying needs of the population were taken into account, for instance older people who needed more accessible accommodation. Officers clarified that this scheme would be entirely apartments, with a range of unit types to be determined but including family apartments. There were a number of other housing developments in Cardiff designed for older persons accommodation, such as the former St Michaelston College site in Ely. The intention for Central Quay was to provide a mix of one, two and three bedroom units that could be used for family accommodation, Members asked about car parking spaces, and heard that the designs were still in a relatively early stage. Parking space was always at a premium but they ensure the scheme met planning requirements and local need, with emergency vehicle access forming part of the design standards. There would be some parking, just not spaces for every single flat, and public transport links in the area were very good. Members acknowledged that plans were at a relatively early stage and asked that the Committee be able to feed into their development as they progressed. Members welcomed the support for multigenerational living and advocated providing community facilities like garden areas to account for the lack of green spaces in the city centre. Officers agreed that this was a key consideration, not just to ensure sustainable urban drainage but also for mental health and wellbeing reasons. Green spaces and communal areas were included within the wider masterplan, and every flat would have a balcony. Members asked whether it was possible for multiple units to be combined into larger units that better suited families, and heard that this could be utilised in the James Street scheme in the bay. Members noted the impact of major developments on local amenity like school places, and heard that this was closely factored into the planning process, with aspects such as health provision having been central to the delivery of the older persons scheme in Ely. This site was already masterplanned and designated for housing, so if the council didn’t build on it a private developer would. 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 provided with background information and an overview of the report due to be considered by Cabinet on 22nd January. For this item, the Chair welcomed: Jane Thomas Director of Adults, Housing and Communities Angela Bourge OM Strategy, Performance and Resources Louise Bassett Assistant Director, Adult Services Tom Goodwin UNISON Cymru Local Organiser Ditene Favour Emono Home Care Worker and Women’s Officer, UNISON Cymru (Cardiff County Branch) The Director of Adults, Housing and Communities made an opening statement emphasising the report’s importance, before the UNISON representatives addressed the Committee. Ditene Favour Emono explained that many care workers in Cardiff were from Africa and South Asia, having been invited to fill a major gap in the UK care sector a few years ago. They faced low pay and poor terms and conditions, and some were forced to pay thousands of pounds illegally, threatened with deportation and forced to reply positively to care inspectorate reports. Visa rules imposed minimum income requirements and tied them to a particular employer. If she were to lose work, she would be forced to leave within 60 days, despite her children being at school in Cardiff. She sought to call attention to these issues and asked the council to support staff and protect whistleblowers. Officers gave a presentation outlining how the social care workforce was highly reliant on migrant workers. 56% of domiciliary care providers in Cardiff used sponsorship, and 43% of the workforce were sponsored with some agencies being more than 50%. The care home workforce was slightly less reliant on sponsorship, with the figure around 27%. Home Office reforms, in particular ending sponsorship in July 2028, posed a significant risk to the sector, and efforts to recruit UK nationals were challenging. Officers added that migrant care workers were particularly vulnerable to exploitation and unfair work practices, with visa restrictions and economic dependency limiting their ability to change employers or raise concerns. Unison had sought to highlight migrant workers’ distressing accounts of exploitation, including excessive hours and unpaid travel time, and at a meeting with the Leader and Cabinet in February it had been proposed that the council adopt a Migrant Workers’ Charter based on Salford Council’s model. Many employers demonstrated strong fair work practices and support for migrant workers’ wellbeing, and these examples could be used to promote improvement. On the wider policy context, they noted the national framework for care in Wales and the social partnership model which brought government together with employers and unions. Local authorities have statutory duties to ensure fair work in commissioning social care, and the council’s Corporate Plan reinforced this commitment. Officers had worked with Unison to develop the charter, with input from the Unison Migrant Workers Network to ensure it reflected lived experience and sector insight, and embedded ethical practices in commissioning. Officers explained that the charter included 11 commitments in total, including anti-slavery measures, pay transparency, protection against sponsorship exploitation, fair housing arrangements and secure hours. These were supported by practical guidance for commissioners and providers in the form of an Operational Tool which set out expectations. Some commitments could be implemented immediately, while others such as pay structures and payment of travel time required formal contractual changes, planned for the 2027 recommissioning cycle. Appendix A outlined the Alternative Sponsorship Support Pathway for migrant care workers, providing a clear process for workers who lost sponsorship and helped prevent them losing their visa status, co-designed with Cardiff Cares Academy. They added that the implementation of the charter would be robustly monitored to ensure compliance, with strengthened contract monitoring and employee feedback. They sought to support providers to address issues, and would not take a punitive approach unless concerns were serious and persistent. The first engagement session had been held in December with 35 providers attending, who noted that many issues fell under Home Office rules rather than local authority control. Providers also called for better alignment between Home Office policy and Welsh social care needs, and would have an opportunity to shape the Operational Tool through participation in working groups. Officers concluded by suggesting that the charter demonstrated the council’s commitment to preventing exploitation, modern slavery and unethical practices. Cardiff would become the first council in Wales to sign it, leading the way in ethical care commissioning and setting a benchmark for best practice. It was also a proactive commitment to safeguard vulnerable migrant workers, to strengthen compliance with legal and ethical standards, and to underline their commitment to fairness and integrity. Members were invited to ask questions and make comments; the discussion is summarised below. Members welcomed the work being done and noted that they were familiar with cases of exploited migrant workers. Members noted the reference to maternity protections and asked whether sickness was supported in a similar way, and care workers who might be injured at work. Officers explained that this fell under fair work practices, and was a question of how to ensure workers got the support they were entitled to under UK employment law. Members explored the timescale for implementation and heard that while some things like the living wage could be put in place and monitored straight away, others needed to be written into new contracts at the next recommissioning phase in 2027. Officers saw it as an incremental process, building on what was already good and identifying non-compliance. They suggested that the way the council currently commissioned made it more difficult for providers to plan out their provision, and there were issues around cost and sustainability. Members highlighted the importance of ensuring migrant workers were fully aware of their rights, and heard that while UNISON provided some training on this, more was always needed. Officers added that the council had developed a training program for migrants on rights, work practices and entitlements some time ago but had no sign-up at all, presumably because many care workers were not paid to undertake training. They now offered an app which signposted workers towards support and information about their rights, with about 300 users. The app lacked the infrastructure to enable users to make complaints about their workplaces, but it showed them where to go to do so. Members requested more information when available about the take-up of the union training, and recommended including raising awareness on workers rights in the charter. Members asked the union representatives how they felt about the communication and engagement undertaken, and heard that UNISON’s role alongside the government and employers on the Social Workforce Partnership helped to maintain their relationship is there. They considered the charter to be a good starting point, and while some elements were non-negotiable there was a lot they could work with employers on going forward. Members noted the long-running difficulty of trying to recruit care workers locally, and asked what the main reasons for this were. Officers explained that while the Cardiff Cares Academy had had a positive impact, it had not been sufficient to fill all the posts needed. Care was a challenging job with unsociable hours, and while the council paid the living wage it was conscious that their budget settlement had not met the increase in costs, and had written to the Welsh government making this clear. Members queried how workers could be empowered to report concerns given their insecure visa status, and asked whether an anonymous helpline was in place. Officers explained that this was already part of their whistleblowing policies, with the Care Inspectorate Wales also receiving anonymous reports, and carefully investigating issues without identifying individuals to their employer. They hoped that the charter would help to give individuals the confidence to voice their concerns. 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 provided with background information to aid their understanding of Disabled Facilities Adaptions. This sought to provide an introductory understanding of procedures and performance, as requested by the Committee as part of their 2025/26 Work Programme. For this item, the Chair welcomed: Cllr Lynda Thorne Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities Jane Thomas Director for Adults, Housing and Communities Louise Bassett Assistant Director for Adult Services Carolyne Palmer OM Independent Living & Community Social Care The Cabinet Member was invited to make an opening statement, in which she emphasised the importance of timely adaptations in helping people live independently at home. This helped to reduce the need for formal care and was therefore a significant investment every year. Officers gave a presentation, first outlining the statutory duties behind the service. Disabled facilities assistance included ramps, stairlifts, bathroom facilities and ceiling-tracked hoists, and was based on an Occupational Therapist (OT) assessment of what was necessary and appropriate. The Disabled Facilities Service (DFS) worked closely with OTs to provide the necessary adaptations in a reasonable and practical ways, and worked with services users to meet their needs. The main relevant legislation was the 1996 Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act, which had been amended in 2022 with the Regulatory Reform (Housing Assistance) (England and Wales) order, giving local authorities more flexibility to create discretionary grant and loan schemes to support local needs. This allowed councils to recover assistance in certain circumstances and enabled them to take a more citizen-focused approach, giving the individual more control over what was done, and how. The first £5k of discretionary assistance was offered free of charge, and if costs exceeded that a charge was placed against the property. This was only repayable when the property changed ownership, normally when the resident passed away. The money was interest free and ring-fenced for providing new adaptations for the next generation of residents. Housing Associations had access to separate funding to provide disabled adaptations for their tenants through the Physical Adaptations Grant. The service had a total budget of £10.6m in 2025/26, with £5.7m coming from the General Fund and £3.7m from the HRA. A £927k grant was also received from the Welsh government to provide adaptations strategically with partners, though this was not permitted to replace funding they would spend otherwise. Officers added that the service sought to prioritise quick fixes like key safes to enable carers to come by, and Telecare or automatic lighting for people who had had a fall. They emphasised the value of technology-enabled care in empowering people to live independently in their own homes and retain control over their own lives, contributing to making Cardiff a great place to grow old. It also provided value for money compared to the alternatives, and fit in with the drive to reduce the cost of care, with disabled adaptations generally paying for themselves within a few months. They added that demand on the service went up and down, having seen a substantial increase between 2019/20-2023/24 and a decrease since then, while the user demographic was getting slightly younger and seeing more comorbidities. The number of referrals was growing, though this was due in part to the promotion of earlier intervention and prevention through small, low-cost adaptations like grab rails and small ramps. The cost of delivering adaptations had gone up significantly, by around 25% in five years, due to a shortage of labour as well as increased material costs. The service reviewed its specifications in 2023/24 to try and ensure the available funding was used as effectively as possible, including minimising decoration works, greater use of modular (pre-built) extensions and ramps and handrails. This helped to reduce the cost of adaptations back towards what it once was without compromising quality or impacting on the service user, with an average cost of £6,600 compared to a peak of £7,800. Finally, officers noted the importance of the time taken to deliver adaptations. There was a legislative requirement to determine an application within six months, but the service used that as its target for the entire process (i.e. finished works). This target was met in all but the most complex cases, which often required planning permission or Welsh Water consent. ‘Safety @ Home’ assistance works were completed on average in 36 days, with an average cost of £450. Members were invited to ask questions and make comments; the discussion is summarised below. Members asked whether the targets could be split into separate groups, for instance above and below £10,000, to show that the majority cases were completed on time. Officers agreed that this would more accurately reflect the service, and were happy to provide a more detailed breakdown. They also suggested separating adults’ and children’s adaptations, noting that the latter often took the longest to implement because they needed to plan for how the child grew up, without taking up all the space in the family home. Members asked whether excess within the budget could be invested in community schemes that kept older people more active, and heard that although the budget was fully committed, that type of reinvestment was always a good idea that paid dividends down the line. The service worked with the third sector and Hubs For All to join up support, including wider fall prevention strategies, and could be supported by reablement funding from the Welsh government. Members explored the assessment process, and heard that OTs were responsible for identifying the adaptations needed, with DFS in charge of delivering this in a reasonable and practical way, and working in partnership with providers to implement it. Members asked whether adaptations from vacant houses were recycled, and heard that they were through the care and repair service. Members asked how adaptations were prioritised, and heard that urgent circumstances like hospital discharge or the breakdown of someone’s care network were key. For example, the average time to get someone a suitable shower was 35 days, but these had been installed within 7 days when circumstances were urgent, and it was possible to implement interim measures like a mobile shower. Members asked whether the £5k threshold might need to be reduced in the future to reflect the ageing population, and heard that it wasn’t just about the ageing population but also the more complex needs presenting to the service, and greater comorbidities among younger people. The service was already looking internally at how it could more effectively meet the needs of individuals. The Cabinet Member advised visiting the smart house model in Llanishen to get an idea of the kind of things that were possible. Members queried the dip in referrals in 2024/25 and heard that officers were looking into why this had occurred, given that the overall trend was a consistent rise. They noted an increase in the use of OT assistants, which enabled more adaptations to be completed, and suggested that it may have partly been a case of people not knowing what they were entitled to. Members added that long waiting lists for surgeries could also have had a downstream effect on adaptation needs. 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 provided with background information to aid their understanding of the monitoring of the current situation with the Responsive Repairs Unit. For this item, the Chair welcomed: Cllr Lynda Thorne Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities Jane Thomas Director for Adults, Housing and Communities Naomii Thomas OM Homes and Neighbourhoods The Cabinet Member was invited to make an opening statement, in which she acknowledged the difficulties faced by the Responsive Repairs Unit and apologised for issues faced by users. Officers gave a presentation outlining how the service would be enhanced and invested in going forward, having been overwhelmed in the post-pandemic period due to high demand and difficulty in recruiting and commissioning. A service review had been undertaken in response and a Repairs Improvement Project developed. Four cases had been subject to a full ombudsman investigation, and one had been upheld with a report published in the public interest. This complaint showed serious failings across a range of issues, including repeated failure to identify the source of a leak and resolve it, as well as a failure to take into account the family’s health issues. There were two other cases where the complaint was upheld but the findings weren’t published, though they showed similar failings to a less serious degree. Officers explained that all of the ombudsman’s recommendations had been agreed and implemented, with some still in progress. This included an audit of records to identify whether other tenants had experienced significant hardship, and officers had identified 187 repeated damp cases which were being triaged. Serious cases would be assessed by senior managers, and this review was due for completion in April 2026. Various areas of improvement had been identified, including customer service and the response to complaints. They added that the service’s backlog had been significantly reduced, from nearly 6,000 at its peak to 632 as of November 2025, and the time taken to deliver urgent repairs down from 15 days in April to 9 days in November. Damp and mould cases had also been reduced hugely, thanks in part to a new case management team working alongside the Dry Homes team, enabling them to be more proactive about complex cases. They were expanding the team further with more officers and a new workflow system, and seeking to reduce reliance on contractors. Officers added that they had mapped out the customer journey to see how this could be improved, and all staff would undergo customer service training tailored to their roles. A single new joined-up IT system would be key to resolving these issues and was in the pipeline. Overall, the number of complaints had fallen since last year, thanks to daily reviews, strengthened follow-up processes and improved quality monitoring, as well as triaging and escalating damp, mould and leak cases on day one. Officers would continue their wider review of the policies and procedures used by the council in its role as a landlord to ensure continuous improvement. Members were invited to ask questions and make comments; the discussion is summarised below. Members asked about the timescale for the joined-up IT system and heard that while bringing repairs online had been a long-term objective, bringing all their systems together, including diaries for operatives and contractors’ systems, was a more significant piece of work. They were seeking a consultant to assess their needs, and it would need to be done promptly to align with changes to the council’s SAP and ERP systems. Members advocated empathetic and patient customer service and heard that the service had sought to identify the people involved and spoken to them separately where possible. In addition to this, they had written to all Responsive Repairs Unit operatives setting out the standards expected and were developing customer service training to ensure this was embedded. Members queried the details of the other ombudsman complaints and heard that the two unpublished cases were not deemed to have been in the public interest in the same way. Both related to shorter timelines, although there was a financial settlement in the more recent one. The one outstanding case, with the decision still to be made, partly concerned repairs. The Cabinet Member apologised for the errors in the service and emphasised the changes made since, for example in how homes not fit for habitation were identified. Members noted the importance of continuity of care, and asked how much the in-house team had been expanded. Officers did not have the figures to hand but were happy to provide details after the meeting, and noted that the number of plumbers and the size of the dry homes team would grow further. They were seeking to deliver more in-house at lower costs, with more control over how they communicated with tenants too Members highlighted the importance of identifying recurring issues, and queried how long the system retained records of previous repairs. Officers responded that they could currently view up to two years of records, and agreed that it would be beneficial to have a longer term dataset in the new system. 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.
23rd February at 10am (Budget meeting).
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