Wrthi'n llwytho
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AGREED – That the Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday, 13 September, 2023 be signed as a correct record
AGREED – That the Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday, 8 November, 2023 be signed as a correct record
AGREED – That subject to the above, the work programme be agreed.
AGREED i. That the Committee thanked Lead Members and Officers for this positive report and for the way the WG policy is being introduced into the County. ii. The Chair welcomed a future report to include how this policy is progressing and requested an update on further properties acquired within our communities.
AGREED – i. That the Committee thanked the Lead Member and Officers for the report which is showing improved outcomes for the children in council care. ii. We look forward to an updated report with details of our plan to continue to increase permanent staff and reduce agency staff in place being presented in 2024. The Chair (Councillor Derek Wright) left the meeting
AGREED: i. That the Committee thanked the Officers and Lead Members for this report and ask that the budget pressures in Social Care and our work to manage them are reflected in the Council Plan 2023-28 on page 11. ii. The report due in April 2024 includes the potential changes in the Social Care Offer as a result of transformation of services. iii. The Committee will send representations to Welsh Government to raise the profile of the financial pressures of Social Services in Wrexham, Regionally & Nationally.
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Annette Davies and Kate Wilkinson
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
AGREED – That the Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday, 13 September, 2023 be signed as a correct record
The minutes of the meeting held on the Wednesday, 13 September, 2023 were submitted. AGREED – That the Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday, 13 September, 2023 be signed as a correct record
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
AGREED – That the Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday, 8 November, 2023 be signed as a correct record
The minutes of the meeting held on the Wednesday, 8 November, 2023 were submitted. AGREED – That the Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday, 8 November, 2023 be signed as a correct record
There were no declarations of interest made at this meeting
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
AGREED – That subject to the above, the work programme be agreed.
The Chief Officer Governance & Customer submitted a report (COGC/119/23) asking Members to consider the Committee’s work programme. The Scrutiny Facilitator introduced the report, referring in particular to the proposed changes as follows which were highlighted in the work programme (as attached at Appendix 1 to the report). That the Wellbeing Hub Report and The Review of Day and Employment Opportunities Report be considered at the Committee Meeting in January, 2024. The Committee agreed that the start time of future committee meetings would be 4.00 p.m. commencing in February 2024. AGREED – That subject to the above, the work programme be agreed.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
AGREED i. That the Committee thanked Lead Members and Officers for this positive report and for the way the WG policy is being introduced into the County. ii. The Chair welcomed a future report to include how this policy is progressing and requested an update on further properties acquired within our communities.
The Lead Member for Children’s Services, Councillor Rob Walsh, introduced the report, which provided Members with information and updates on the Care Closer to Home (CC2H) capital programme within Wrexham, inclusive of plans and changes with regards to Welsh Government (WG) capital funding. In 2020 CC2H was launched, responding to the Welsh Government’s Programme for Government commitment to ‘remove private profit from the care market for children looked after’. The report provided Members with an overview of capital projects over the last 12 months and looks forward to future projects. Care Closer to Home has 3 common themes – · Elimination of profit from the care market · Better outcomes for young people in the context of local provision · Supports budget management The Chief Officer Social Care informed members of the following: · We are currently developing a range of services to manage young people’s needs locally. · There are a range of different specialisms that are required. · There are live challenges to support children with severe autism which need to be taken into account · We need to get the right place with the right body of staff to care for our children. · A number of homes run by Wrexham are now in operation but challenges with staffing them permanently remain. Members were informed of progress to date: · Acquired and developed two properties into 3 bed children’s homes . · Secured planning and procurement approval for an extension to respite service in Tapley. · Purchased and developed two supported living services, with First Choice Housing A discussion ensued and the following points were raised: · Clarification was sought with regards to whether the authority had considered transferring people over from private care to council care. · The Chief Officer Social Care responded and confirmed that care homes are developing within a Local Authority template. A ‘process to eliminate’ will take place and consider any person who could be transferred. · Confirmation that there is a need for recruitment of more specialist care staff as we work towards a ‘Not for Profit’ position in 2027 AGREED i. That the Committee thanked Lead Members and Officers for this positive report and for the way the WG policy is being introduced into the County. ii. The Chair welcomed a future report to include how this policy is progressing and requested an update on further properties acquired within our communities.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
AGREED – i. That the Committee thanked the Lead Member and Officers for the report which is showing improved outcomes for the children in council care. ii. We look forward to an updated report with details of our plan to continue to increase permanent staff and reduce agency staff in place being presented in 2024. The Chair (Councillor Derek Wright) left the meeting
The Lead Member for Children’s Services, (Councillor Rob Walsh) submitted a report (COSC/25/23) to provide Members with an update on progress made by Children’s Social Services towards the six improvement outcomes agreed by the Social Care Improvement Board. In introducing the report the Lead Member drew members’ attention to Appendix A of the report which sets out a summary of how well Children’s Social Services had performed against the Social Care Improvement Board improvement outcomes. Appendix B shows the full plan but this is underpinned by significant budget challenges. The report was structured around five themes of improvement that support the achievement of the six high-level improvement outcomes during the period October 2022 to September 2023. The Chief Officer, Social Care informed members that: · The focus going forward will be on Adult Services after a significant period concentrating on Children’s Services. · Performance infrastructure had been put in place in children’s services and we will primarily focus on the same within adults and the improvements needed. · Recognition of our achievements so far, which we need to sustain and continue to make further improvements · Acknowledgement that agency staff numbers have come down and assurances that we can continue with these improvements. · Reassurances given that in Children’s Social Care the work is robust and we hold monthly performance meetings as well as quarterly performance workshops with Managers to assess where our challenges are. A discussion ensued and the following points were raised: · Assurances sought in relation to the 2022 figures for children’s referrals, are they timely? · The Interim Business Information Officer, Social Care Services, will forward related data to the Scrutiny Facilitator for circulation to Committee Members. · Reference was made to a point in Appendix C in relation to the percentage of cases that audit rated as inadequate. · Assurances were given by the Chief Officer, Social Care that we do see improvement and that we are being critical in showing this figure. We are aware of the challenges and we are addressing them. · Acknowledgement that the development of a Recruitment and Retention Plan has been one of the major strategies to overcome the cost pressures on the department and the authority as a whole. · Assurances sought in relation to recruitment of foster carers. Confirmation was given of the importance of ‘on boarding’ of foster carers and that recruitment is an ongoing issue. We aim to recruit and retain foster carers. · The Special Guardianship (SGO) is a model of fostering which means we have less intervention and is a better model for the stability of the child. · Allocation of Social workers to individual case – we are not always able to guarantee consistency · Reference was made to the number of children in care and assurances were given that the number has reduced and we continue to target further reductions. · Members placed on record recognition and thanks to all foster carers. AGREED – i. That the Committee thanked the Lead Member and Officers for the report which is showing improved outcomes for the children in council care. ii. We look forward to an updated report with details of our plan to continue to increase permanent staff and reduce agency staff in place being presented in 2024. The Chair (Councillor Derek Wright) left the meeting
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
AGREED: i. That the Committee thanked the Officers and Lead Members for this report and ask that the budget pressures in Social Care and our work to manage them are reflected in the Council Plan 2023-28 on page 11. ii. The report due in April 2024 includes the potential changes in the Social Care Offer as a result of transformation of services. iii. The Committee will send representations to Welsh Government to raise the profile of the financial pressures of Social Services in Wrexham, Regionally & Nationally.
Vice Chair (Councillor Jeremy Kent) in the Chair The Chief Officer Social Care introduced the report (COSC/28/23) to members giving a brief update with regards to the delivery of savings proposals that Social Care have progressed in order to support the councils overall budget challenges and efforts to reduce the budget in 2023/2024 and highlight where good progress had been made and areas where progress budget challenges were ongoing. In doing so, he explained that the steps to generate savings in Children’s Services cover three core areas. These are: · Reducing the number of agency staff employed and where possible reducing and altering the overall staff mix. · Reducing the number and overall cost of placements with a focus on reducing high cost placements by both discharging the care of some children and delivering more care closer to Wrexham. · Utilising grant underspends where appropriate to support overall budgetary position. The steps to generate savings in Adult Services noted in the report cover four areas. These are:- · Increased income generated through revaluations of properties and resolving Court of Protection matters. (These areas are explained more fully in points 4.24 to 4.26). · Utilising grant underspends where appropriate to support overall budgetary position. · Rightsizing & reducing care provision across all areas. · Vacancy Management. The budget report provides an overview in the departments’ areas of progress, these include:- · Request made to Health Authorities for monies under Section 117 · Property Revaluation · Vacancy Saving c £100k · Agency spend reduced from £7.7M to £5.8M. An update will be provided to members in relation to Additional Grants to show the steps that are being taken moving forward. Acknowledgement that some progress had been made, with focus on the way savings can be made and how services can be transformed. Members sought clarification on the budget implication for Social Care in particular Children’s Services, and what it is having on overall WCBC spend, should this be included in the Council Plan 2023-28? The Chief Officer Social Care accepted the comment as a valid point and informed members that the costs are so great due to specialist residential placements within the private sector. When we commission externally we lose the capability to control the costs. · Encouraging news that Agency spend on staffing has reduced from £7.7M to £5.8M. · There has also been an increase in demand leading to a further demand for placements increasing. · Confirmation that we need to look at modernising services and finding ways of doing what we do better. · The expected savings from grants were less than expected at £600k of £1.6M. however, management are looking to continue to manage demand and utilise grants where possible. · A Member raised the question on whether, across Wales, appropriate pressure is being put on Welsh Government as we move forward. · Assurance was given by the Lead Member that the Welsh Government are aware of the challenges, this has been raised with them. AGREED: i. That the Committee thanked the Officers and Lead Members for this report and ask that the budget pressures in Social Care and our work to manage them are reflected in the Council Plan 2023-28 on page 11. ii. The report due in April 2024 includes the potential changes in the Social Care Offer as a result of transformation of services. iii. The Committee will send representations to Welsh Government to raise the profile of the financial pressures of Social Services in Wrexham, Regionally & Nationally.
Rhaid i gynghorwyr ddweud pan fydd ganddyn nhw gysylltiad personol â rhywbeth sy'n cael ei drafod, fel swydd, eiddo neu aelod o'r teulu. Mae buddiant sy'n rhagfarnu yn ddigon cryf i'r cynghorydd adael yr ystafell fel arfer a pheidio â chymryd rhan.
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