Wrthi'n llwytho
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AGREED – That subject to the aforementioned amendments, the Work Programme be agreed.
AGREED – (i) That the Lead Members and Officers be thanked for the report. (ii) That staff be thanked for their commitment and dedication in achieving improvements in Children’s and Adult’s Social Services, which Members look forward to continuing in the coming years.
AGREED – (i) That the Lead Member and Officers be thanked for the report. (ii) That the improvements being made against very high benchmarked standards be noted. (iii) That Members look forward to continuous improvement in all aspects of Children’s Social Care.
AGREED – That the Minutes of the Meeting held on 12 October 2022 be signed as a correct record.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
AGREED – That subject to the aforementioned amendments, the Work Programme be agreed.
The Chief Officer Governance and Customer submitted a report (COGC/102/22s) asking Members to consider the revised work programme. The Scrutiny Facilitator presented the report and highlighted the changes made since the last Meeting. He also referenced a Topic Selection Form which had been received for submission to the Meeting in February 2023 on the Prevention and Early Help Partnership. The Chair advised that a report on GP Practices and GP Recruitment was scheduled for the Meeting on 14 June 2023. Representatives from the Welsh Ambulance Service would be attending but it was requested that the Scrutiny Facilitator invite representatives from the Management Team in the Accident and Emergency Department at the Wrexham Maelor Hospital to attend. AGREED – That subject to the aforementioned amendments, the Work Programme be agreed.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
AGREED – (i) That the Lead Members and Officers be thanked for the report. (ii) That staff be thanked for their commitment and dedication in achieving improvements in Children’s and Adult’s Social Services, which Members look forward to continuing in the coming years.
The Lead Member for Adult Social Care, Councillor John Pritchard and Councillor Rob Walsh – Lead Member for Children’s Services submitted a joint report to provide Members with an update of the outcome of a Performance Evaluation Inspection of Social Care Services by Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) in June 2022. The Lead Members in turn presented their areas of responsibility within the report and responded to questions accordingly. A detailed discussion ensued and the following points were raised: · Acknowledgement that whilst there were still some challenges to work on, the Department had made good progress within Children’s Services. · Confirmation that the Accelerated Improvement Board had expanded their focus to include both Children’s and Adult’s Social Services. · Improvements had been made to waiting times for Occupational Therapy and Domiciliary Care. Members were pleased to note that a local company had recruited some foreign nationals to work in the Wrexham area which had had a positive impact on the number of people waiting for Domiciliary Care. · Confirmation that changes had been made to staffing within the Department which had resulted in more support and a more stabilised workforce in certain areas. · Acknowledgement that whilst improvements had been made, the challenges ahead shouldn’t be under estimated. · Importance of ensuring that the Rota Visits to Care Homes were resumed as soon as possible. Officers advised that training would be provided to Members early in the New Year to enable visits to be undertaken as soon as possible. · Confirmation that Officers would circulate some further information to Members on the “Grow your Own” Social Workers scheme whereby sponsorship of formal qualifications and offers of practice learning was provided to Social Work students studying at Glyndwr University. · Concern that as Social Workers left the Authority, their records may not be up to date. Members highlighted the importance of ensuring that children/families were not expected to repeat conversations about traumatic experiences that they had already discussed with former Social Workers. Officers confirmed that the Life Journey policy had been launched this week, and was about how the life journey of the child was documented. It removed any language that referred to the child as being a victim, and the policy was seen as a flagship policy which Officers had been requested to share nationwide. · Confirmation that work on ensuring a stable workforce was being undertake across the Department. Officers visited schools and spoke to pupils about working in the Social Care sector. Work was also undertaken with Yale College and Glyndwr to offer placements in Social Care. · Acknowledgement that agency rates of pay were higher than the Local Authority, but unfortunately, the numbers of agency staff needing to be employed was driven by the requirement to meet statutory targets which ensured that children and families were kept safe. · Confirmation that there had previously been issues with the electronic system used by Social Workers, but the matter had now improved. The Social Care Business Solutions Board looked at the systems in use and how these could be improved, and Officers would ensure they did everything possible to support that work. Members noted that if the problems continued, then consideration would be given to the future use of the system. AGREED – (i) That the Lead Members and Officers be thanked for the report. (ii) That staff be thanked for their commitment and dedication in achieving improvements in Children’s and Adult’s Social Services, which Members look forward to continuing in the coming years.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
AGREED – (i) That the Lead Member and Officers be thanked for the report. (ii) That the improvements being made against very high benchmarked standards be noted. (iii) That Members look forward to continuous improvement in all aspects of Children’s Social Care.
The Lead Member for Children’s Services submitted a report (COSC/35/22) asking Members to consider the update and progress made by the Children’s Social Care Improvement Accelerated Improvement Board in the accompanied Annual Monitoring Report. The Lead Member presented the report and highlighted the main points contained within it. A discussion ensued and the following points were highlighted: · Acknowledgement that there were a few areas highlighted as red. It was noted that the Department had been experiencing resource issues, but now that there was a more stable Senior Leadership Team in place, focus would be put into those areas. · Previously the number of looked after children had been concerning, but a lot of work had been carried out which had resulted in the number of care proceedings coming down. It was envisaged that over the next two quarters, the figures would continue to improve. · Concern that there needed to be an increase in the number of approved foster carers. Officers advised that the Authority had invested heavily in recruitment and retention campaigns, but it was difficult competing with independent fostering agencies who were able to recruit more heavily as their levels of pay were higher. It was noted that a report on this issue was in the process of being prepared. · Confirmation that work was being undertaken on the package offered to foster carers in order to increase the number being recruited. · Suggestion that Members could help to promote recruitment of foster carers, such as adding Foster Wales on email signatures, or changing backgrounds in remote meetings such as Zoom or Teams. · Clarification sought regarding the Departmental budget. It was noted that if a stable workforce were in place, then the budget would be around adequate, but it was acknowledged that investment still needed to be made in order to secure more stability in the workforce. · Confirmation that working conditions at the Local Authority were better than those offered by an Agency, but staff were moving over to Agencies as a result of the impact of the cost of living crisis. This was a situation experienced by other Local Authorities. · Challenging financial circumstances across the country and job losses in other sectors may lead to an increase in the number of people interested in applying for jobs in Social Care. · Confirmation that the Chief Executive and representatives from Education, Legal, and Performance, Improvement & Partnerships were on the Accelerated Improvement Board, and ICT and other Services were asked to attend where necessary. · The Accelerated Improvement Board regularly engage with third sector partners, including AVOW, the Venture and Homestart. · Confirmation that the Health sector engage with the Authority regarding the pre-birth strategy, and how to support mothers-to-be and unborn babies. The Authority also worked with partners in Youth Justice, the Police and the Crime Commissioner. AGREED – (i) That the Lead Member and Officers be thanked for the report. (ii) That the improvements being made against very high benchmarked standards be noted. (iii) That Members look forward to continuous improvement in all aspects of Children’s Social Care.
RESOLVED - That the press and public be excluded from the Meeting during consideration of the following items as it is likely that, if they were present, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 12 and 13 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).
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