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Executive Members (with Portfolios): Councillors: Anthony Hunt – Leader and Executive Member for Strategic Leadership Richard Clark – Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Children, Families and Education Fiona Cross – Executive Member for Communities David Daniels – Executive Member for Adult Services and Housing Joanne Gauden – Executive Member for Economy, Skills and Regeneration Peter Jones – Executive Member for Corporate Governance and Resources Sue Morgan – Executive Member for Waste and Sustainability Mandy Owen – Executive Member for Environment Officers: Nigel Aurelius - Deputy Chief Executive Jason Austin - Food and Health Protection Manager Rachel Beale – Personal Assistant to Leader and Deputy Leader Justine Cass - Deputy Monitoring Officer and Solicitor Niall Flack - Apprentice Democratic Services Officer Robert Green – Head of Financial Services Neil Jones - Head of Comms, Elections & Contingencies Dave Leech - Strategic Director for Adults and Communities Andrew Lovegrove - Strategic Director Resources Daniel Morelli – Head of Public Protection and Environment Jason O’Brien – Strategic Director, Children and Family Services Simon Rose - Group Manager - Housing & Commissioning Mark Thomas - Deputy Chief Officer Highways & Climate Change Stephen Vickers – Chief Executive
2.1 There were no apologies received.
3.1 There were no declarations of interest.
4.1 The minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 10th September 2024 were agreed as a true and accurate record.
5.1 The update on actions were noted.
6.1 The Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Children, Families and Education introduced the report and made the following comments: · At the previous Cabinet Meeting it was agreed to bring a report to this Cabinet to outline what the service would be doing to address the £3.2 million adverse position in Children Services. · The spend was largely due to high-cost residential placements and other third party spends which all related to an increase in demand. · Work had commenced on short-term measures to deal with the issue and work was starting on developing longer term strategies to make the service sustainable, as this was not a position that could be endured year on year. · Prevention and demand management were key to sustainability and the Accelerated Improvement Group would ensure that sustainability was brought into the service area. · The Strategic Director had taken deep dives into practice, process and cases to ensure that now and in the future the right services were provided at the right time and were based on assessed needs. 6.2 The Strategic Director, Children and Family Services outlined the key areas of the report commenting on the following: · The whole service area had been working together to counteract the immediate financial position. · Several actions had been taken since the previous Cabinet meeting and since the adverse financial position was made apparent. · Deep dives into the service had been undertaken by himself particularly looking at where the levels of spend were significant. · Most of the demand and therefore majority of overspend was within the residential cohort. There were only a small number of children who needed to be in residential care, however children were being placed in residential either on short term basis or because there was no other alternative provision available at that time. · There were 19 children currently in residential provision, however as part of the analysis done on residential provision, seven children had been identified as being able to be stepped down, if the right services were available. · A longer-term objective of the service was to continue to reduce the need to use residential provision, this was not just from a cost element but evidence showed that children who entered residential care generally did not have good outcomes and remained within the system. · The Council had development its own in-house residential provision which would become operational in November and there would be some financial savings as a result of that. The in-house provision would give greater control of the quality of service provided and the ability to step children down and move them back out into families or back into some form of rehabilitation in the community. · Work had also been undertaken on individual cases, which included looking at how to change and amend practice to build upon the strength based approach to practice and how to develop that and make it front and centre of service delivery. · A review had been carried out on the use of taxis and already they were starting to see a reduction in spend in that area. The review of taxis was not just about looking at reducing the spend for purposes of mitigation for the current spend but the use going forward as it was important to get best value for money and reduce spend in the longer term. · All Independent Foster Placements had been reviewed where there were additional costs in place and they were being challenged. · The Service has a continued drive on exiting children from care who were placed with parents and whilst this would not have any significant impact on the immediate costs or financial position it would continue to decrease demand and increase capacity, and with the increased capacity the service could focus its energies on the right areas. · As a result of the deep dives carried out, the approval process for spend had been heightened to Group Manager approval rather than within Teams and Team Manager sign off. · As part of the changes in the Service Area, the Strategic Director now had to be sighted on all decisions that were made through the legal decision-making process which was the primary route by which cases proceeded to court. · The process for reviewing residential placements and Independent Foster Placement had been varied with a drive to move children on safely. · The structures within the service area were being reviewed to ensure that they were fit for purpose and to make sure that the right resource was being allocated within the right part of the system. · Based on the work started in the service area, and if realised could provide a spend recovery of £500,000 within the current financial year. 6.3 In response to questions and comments made by Cabinet, the Strategic Director made the following points: · The cost increases for third party spend were not distinct to Torfaen and were common across Wales and were linked to the eliminate agenda. The market was shrinking’ however level of demand was increasing. The Strategic Directors view was that private and profit-based organisations were taking advantage and increasing costs before the eliminate agenda came in to force in 2027, which would prevent them from operating on a for profit basis. One of the key issues for Torfaen was the level of demand that was being placed upon residential provision. · The Council’s vision going forward was to have more Council owned residential provision that fit the cohort of those that needed to be in residential, but it was important to find a balance as the Council wanted to the least usage of residential placements. · Work within the Service Area was taking place at pace through the Accelerated Improvement Group and by January the Strategic Director would be able to provide an update on the financial position and changes within the structure. 6.4 The Deputy Chief Executive added that the financial position of Children’s Services would feature as part of the budget reports presented to Cabinet in the run up to receiving a Children’s Services specific report in January. 6.5 The Executive Member for Communities commented that she had visited the new Council owned Children’s Residential Home which was fantastic and the Council should be commended for their work on developing it. She felt that the home would not only provide savings for the future but provided huge benefit for those residing there as it enabled the young people to remain close to their communities and networks. 6.6 The Leader stated that there was a pressure across Wales in both Children and Adult Services. He was pleased that the Council was addressing the projected overspend in a calm but determined way, this was the first year the Council had been in this position, but it was being addressed early. The issue was not just about money but was about finding more sustainable solutions for the most vulnerable young people in a way that improved their experiences and their life outcomes. The Council had worked hard to bring the number of Looked After Children down but there was still more work to do, it was vital that this was done in a safe and sustainable way. The Leader added that he looked forward to receiving further reports as the worked continued. 6.7 Cabinet agreed to note and approve: · The work being carried out within the service to achieve a level of financial recovery · That further update reports will be provided to Cabinet in January outlining ongoing work and impact relating to financial recovery and longer-term demand management
7.1 The Deputy Chief Executive presented the report to Cabinet in detail, commenting on the following: · The report provided an update on the position reported to Cabinet in September 2024 and articulated a way of managing the pressures with Children’s Services for 2024/25 which did not destabilise other service areas. · To manage the adverse variance in Children's Services a recovery plan had been put in place and the financial challenge was being addressed as a corporate issue. · It was anticipated that measures outlined in the recovery plan could achieve a £500,000 reduction on the overall variance. · It was not unreasonable to assume that Adults and Communities and Economy and Environment would address their variances by year end and achieve a balance position and together an improvement of a £500,000 could be achieved and taken of the Children’s Service variance. · Officers had also been considering available contingency budgets, including the General Contingency which had an uncommitted balance of £480,000 and the Pay Contingency, which could add a further £170,000 favourable variance to the position. The two items combined would improve the position by £650,000. · The Children and Families Specific Reserve of £1.4 million would need to be utilised in its entirety, which would impact on the service being able to invest or cover unexpected costs in future years but it which would bring the Children’s Services variance down to around £500,000. The remaining variance would need to either come from General Reserves or other reserves which would be looked in to at year end. · If Members were minded to approve the recommendations, it would mean that the pressure in Children’s Services would be addressed without having to destabilise the rest of the Council. · The Deputy Chief Executive would continue to encourage all Directors to exercise financial restraint and where possible hold vacancies and limit non-essential expenditure. 7.2 The Leader agreed that the calm and determined way that the Council was approaching the financial issues within Children’s Services was the best way to manage the situation without destabilising other service area in year. He welcomed the progress in Adult Services and the financial position across the rest of the service areas which made the position more manageable. He felt that the Council was make sensible steps to resolve the position. 7.3 Cabinet agreed to: • Note the updated financial forecasts • Approve the proposed measure outlined in paragraphs 5.3 and 5.4 of the report.
8.1 The Executive Member for Environment introduced the report and made the following points: • The report related to the introduction of a licensing scheme for practitioners of acupuncture, body piercing, electrolysis and tattooing, also known as Special Procedures in Wales. • There were widely reported health effects associated with Special Procedures performed using unsafe or hygienic practices. In response to inadequacies in the current regulatory system Welsh Government had introduced legislation to require compulsory licensing to strengthen controls in place and make procedures safer. • To implement the legislation in Torfaen, the Council had to ensure enforcement powers were appropriately delegated and to agree a local fee structure for the licensing regime which the report seeks to achieve. 8.2 The Food and Health Protection Manager presented the report to Members commenting on the following: • The report related to new legislation expected to come in to force in November. The legislation would require the licensing of Special Procedures in Wales. • The current legislation did not require licensing of these procedures. • The new legislation aimed to combat some of the issues relating to the Special Procedures such as disfiguration or complications arising from unsafe working practices. • The Council’s Public Protection Team would be responsible for assessing the risk from the establishments and would be required to implement the legislation when it came into force. • Updates on the new legal requirements were presented to the Licensing Committee last November and a Members Seminar also took place at the start of the year. • The report seeks to obtain approval to set an appropriate fee structure and scheme of delegated authority in relation to administration and enforcement. The fees had been agreed nationally with the aim of each Local Authority adopting unified fees, the fees would be reviewed within a year and then subsequently every 3 years. • All income from fees was expected to cover the expenditure of running the scheme and should be cost neutral for the Authority. • In preparation for the implementation of the licensing of Special Procedures, practitioners were currently being sign posted to newsletters, being given the opportunity of attending a webinar and Officers were also working closely with the Community Learning Assessing Examinations that practitioners were required to undertake on infection prevention. 8.3 In response to Member questions, the Food and Health Protection Manager gave the following replies: • It was anticipated that based on the fee structure, the fees would cover the costs of both administration and enforcement, however the fees would be reviewed after a year and Local Authorities would be able to learn a lot from each other especially those who had to take enforcement action. • There were currently 50 businesses and 80 registered practitioners in Torfaen who undertook Special Procedures. The team were currently reviewing the database to identify anyone who had left the business or any new practitioners so that they were updated and had received all the relevant information. • Officers would be looking at other procedures in addition to the four outlined and he was hopefully that the legislation would be revised going forward to include procedures such as Botox. 8.4 Cabinet agreed to: • Approve the proposed fee structure as set out in the table at paragraph 4.3 of the report • Approve the scheme of delegated powers set out at paragraphs 4.6 and 4.7 of the report
9.1 The Executive Member for Adult Services and Housing presented the report and made the following comments: • The report was seeking approval to award the contract to deliver the generic floating support and homelessness service. • The service would tailor the support to the needs of each client with the aim to prevent or alleviate homelessness. • Two providers came forward in the tendering process. The Council continued with a 80% emphasise on quality with 20% on cost which showed that even in the difficult financial times, the Council was prioritising quality of service over price. 9.2 The Group Manager - Housing & Commissioning added that the service would link into the overall approach that the Council had in Torfaen to tackle homelessness which was all in line with the rapid rehousing approach. As part of the tendering process, two very good agencies submitted bids and there was one clear winner which was recommended for approval to Cabinet. 9.3 In response to a question asked, the Group Manager – Housing & Commissioning stated that all providers in Wales worked towards a PIE approach and adverse childhood experiences was one of the key aspects that providers looked at as part of that support needs assessment. There were some real positive success stories with the housing first programme where the team have been able to engage with individuals who have had multiple issues and had been very challenging over the years to get them sustained in accommodation. The team operated a sticky support approach, which meant that the models of support were not prescriptive, and it was about understanding that individual’s level of support did fluctuate, and more support may be required one week than the next. 9.4 The Leader welcomed the quality emphasis of the tendering process. He was really assured by the determined team that they were doing everything that they could to support individuals. Torfaen Council also operated a discretionary house payment scheme which was a service which helped stop people drifting into housing crisis and therefore prevented homelessness. 9.5 Cabinet agreed that the contract for the provision of the Generic Floating Support and Preventing Homelessness Service is awarded to provider 1 following the outcome of a tender process.
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