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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED That Councillor Steve Alderman be duly elected as Vice-Chairman for the ensuing Municipal Year.
RESOLVED That the Committee reviewed the report.
RESOLVED That the Committee consider the Notice of Motion at its next Meeting, after the seminar has been held.
RESOLVED That the Committee reviewed the data provided for the update on progress of the Strategy for Keeping Families Together.
RESOLVED That the Committee reviewed the data provided for safeguarding performance within Pembrokeshire for the third quarter of 2021-22.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That Councillor Steve Alderman be duly elected as Vice-Chairman for the ensuing Municipal Year.
Nominations were sought for the role of Vice-Chairman. Councillor Danny Young Moved that Councillor Steve Alderman be duly elected; Seconded by Councillor David Bryan. The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That Councillor Steve Alderman be duly elected as Vice-Chairman for the ensuing Municipal Year.
No declarations of interest were received.
Moved by Councillor David Bryan; Seconded by Councillor Steve Alderman The vote, by way of show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the Minutes of the Meeting held on 7 March 2022 be approved as a correct record.
No public submission/correspondence were received.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the Committee reviewed the report.
The Chairman welcomed Kelvin Barlow from West Wales Care Partnership and Paul Davies from Hywel Dda University Health Board to the meeting (Paul Davies works as a transformation lead for Pembrokeshire across the Health Board and local authority). Kelvin Barlow provided a presentation on the Health and Social Care Regional Integration Fund (RIF). He highlighted that it was a five year fund from April 2022 to March 2027 which would seek to create sustainable system change through the integration of health and social care services. In his presentation he outlined the key features of the RIF, including the allocations; the approach taken to developing RIF Investment Proposals; and the West Wales Programmes that would be part of the investment proposal for agreement. The Committee then considered the report and presentation and the key points were highlighted as follows: · On request of the Chairman, Kelvin Barlow provided further information on the RIF Welsh Government expectation of a minimum of 5% of the RIF to be invested into direct support for unpaid carers in 2022/23. It was noted that this would be in addition to the allocations specifically for carers hospital discharge. He also outlined projects that would be delivering in this area and referenced the West Wales Carers Development Group. · Councillor Tessa Hodgson, Cabinet Member for Social Care and Safeguarding addressed the Committee and provided some background information on the Regional Partnership Board and suggested that a seminar for Members on the work of the Board and how that shapes how services were delivered for residents in Pembrokeshire. The Chairman noted the Cabinet Members’ suggestion of a seminar. · Kelvin Barlow advised that he would be happy to assist with a seminar to provide further information on how the Regional Partnership Board operates. · Councillor Steve Alderman commented on the importance of this work for the ageing population of Pembrokeshire and the creation of self reliance within communities and hoped it would benefit in allowing more people to access healthcare quicker. He also stated his support for a seminar being arranged and asked for the work of the Regional Partnership Board be reviewed every six months. The Chairman advised that this could be looked at within the development of the forward work programme, with the Democratic Services Officer highlighting this item was currently scheduled for January 2023 in the forward work programme. · In response to Councillor Alistair Cameron’s query on the Social Care budget, the Director of Social Care and Housing advised that the overall Social Care budget was in the region of £60 million. · Councillor Alistair Cameron referred to this being a five year programme of work and queried whether it was a pathway to eventually being a system of integrating health and social care. The Director of Social Care and Housing referred to the long term Heathier Wales Strategy issued by Welsh Government just prior to the start of the pandemic. The strategy highlights the requirement to create seamless services across health and social care. Reference was also made to the Social Services and Wellbeing Act 2014, where part of its duty was to look at integration and collaboration wherever that improves outcomes for individuals. · Councillor Alistair Cameron referred to the six programmes that had been highlighted, and advised there could be further discussion on these programmes in the workshop on the forward work programme. He suggested the Committee could visit these schemes and talk to the people involved to get a better understanding. · It was noted that an update on the Health and Social Care Regional Integration Fund (RIF) had been scheduled on the draft Forward Work Programme for January 2023. Moved by Councillor David Bryan; Seconded by Councillor Steve Alderman The vote, by way of show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the Committee reviewed the report.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the Committee consider the Notice of Motion at its next Meeting, after the seminar has been held.
The Committee considered the Notice of Motion relating to supporting the fight to retain services essential to the health and wellbeing of residents submitted by Councllior Jon Cole. It was noted that the Notice of Motion was referred to this Committee by Council on 3 March 2022 and that the Notice of Motion was as follows: With the recently published declaration of the Hywel Dda Heath Board on the future of Pembrokeshire’s only general hospital I would like to ask Council to stand with our electorate in supporting the fight to retain services essential to the health and well-being of residents. Many of our residents feel the Council, particularly us elected Members are, or appear, indifferent to the concerns being expressed. I believe in doing such. We can show that councillors are united and stand with the people of Pembrokeshire we were elected to serve’. would be showing diligence that the best price available is received. The Chairman, in presenting this item, highlighted that a seminar was due to be held for Members on 4 July 2022. This was for Hywel Dda University Health Board to provide details on the current Programme Business Case and proposals/options going forward as well as the implications for Withybush and the future provision of urgent and planned care for residents, businesses and visitors to the county. The Chairman suggested that it would be a pragmatic approach to wait until Members have had the opportunity to attend the seminar before considering the Notice of Motion. Councillor Steve Alderman expressed concerns over paediatric cover at Withybush and stated that he supported what Councillor Cole was trying to do with bringing this Notice of Motion. Moved by Councillor David Bryan; Seconded by Councillor Steve Alderman The vote, by way of show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the Committee consider the Notice of Motion at its next Meeting, after the seminar has been held.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the Committee reviewed the data provided for the update on progress of the Strategy for Keeping Families Together.
The Cabinet Member for Social Services introduced the item which provided an update on the Looked After Children (LAC) Reduction Strategy, which was now entitled a Strategy for Keeping Families Together. She emphasised the importance of our Looked After Children (LAC) as a cohort of young people and highlighted the statutory duty of care. It was noted the aim of the strategy was to improve outcomes and safely reduce the amount of children coming into the care system. The Head of Children’s Services presented the Strategy for Keeping Families Together and Action Plan outlining the progress to date and also providing some background context on why the strategy had been put in place. The Committee then considered the report and the key points were highlighted as follows: In response to the Chairman the Head of Children’s Services clarified that the Welsh Government had provided £1 Million in Covid Recovery funding to the Directorate. The Chairman highlighted family Group Conferences and the opportunities for families to design their own solutions to challenges. The Head of Children’s Services advised that there had been positive feedback from families highlighted within the Annual report, which had been received, since the publication of the agenda. He highlighted that the family group conferences were a key preventative measure and that could be used in transitioning children out of care. Councillor Alistair Cameron referred to In-House Residential Care and the Welsh Government project to eliminate profit from care and whether this could cause problems for capacity for children in care. The Head of Children’s Services advised that in the short term it had led to some problems. He stated that in his view it was not about eliminating profit but ensuring that the profit was utilised in the correct way. It was noted that Welsh Government were starting to communicate better on this issue. He outlined the current projects being developed to provide In House residential care in Pembrokeshire. In response to a query by Councillor Steve Alderman, on the input with children after an accelerated discharge of care order, the Head of Children’s Services outlined the process and monitoring in place. Moved by Councillor David Bryan; Seconded by Councillor Maureen Bowen The vote, by way of show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the Committee reviewed the data provided for the update on progress of the Strategy for Keeping Families Together.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the Committee reviewed the data provided for safeguarding performance within Pembrokeshire for the third quarter of 2021-22.
The Head of Children’s Services presented the Safeguarding report, which consisted of the data provided for safeguarding performance within Pembrokeshire for the third Quarter of 2021-22. It was noted that the final quarter/year-end report and data was not available at the time of submission. The Committee then considered the report. The Head of Children’s Services responded to a question by Councillor David Bryan on the increase in Section 46 police protection orders. He explained that these orders were when police officers make a decision to place those children under protection and might be a number of reasons or scenarios. Further explanation was provided by the Head of Children’s Services on how missing children were defined on the request of the Chairman. He highlighted the process and safeguards in place relating to children who went missing 3 episodes or more in a 12 month period, as it can be an indication of a child being exploited or issues at home. Councillor Steve Alderman highlighted his concern on the issue of Electively Home Educated (EHE) Children and that there was still not a national register. He also drew attention to the 6% increase in EHE children in Pembrokeshire. The Head of Children’s Services commented that children being educated at home need not be concerning; however, the risk was about the visibility of those children at risk. He highlighted that it had been a challenge for a number of years and that it was an issue that the Welsh Government needed to address. He outlined how Welsh Government were continued to be lobbied on the matter, which included all Heads of Education and Children’s Services across Wales provided a statement to Welsh Government on the matter. It was noted that the Children’s Commissioner for Wales had it as part of their agenda, as it was an unresolved issue that was a concern for all authorities. Councillor Steve Alderman advised that concerns on EHE children had been raised previously by himself and other Members, with it noted that the Schools and Learning Overview and Scrutiny had sent a letter to Welsh Government. The Chairman advised that he would seek to have a meeting with the relevant Directors and Cabinet Member on the matter to see how can address the issue. Councillor Alistair Cameron queried the workload and capacity issues within social services. The Head of Children’s Services highlighted that this was a national issue and that there was a shortage of qualified social workers. He outlined that it had reached a critical point last year where a plan was introduced to address this which was in pace for three months. It was noted that recently there had been a dip; however, this was not at the critical stage which was reached last year. He outlined the dedication of staff in extremely challenging circumstances and the long term plan to deal with the issue which included further developing the grow your own scheme to expand to six trainees a year. Councillor Maureen Bowen queried how many current social worker vacancies there were. The Head of Children’s Services outlined the challenges there were in recruitment and that current vacancies were seven social workers and four senior vacancies across the service, with varied reasons for staff leaving. The Head of Adult Services advised that had been out to advert on a number of occasions; however, the service was currently down 10% on capacity. The Chairman drew attention to the increased figures in the home for Adults for ‘places of abuse’ in Pembrokeshire. The Head of Adult Services referred to the impact of the pandemic which included isolation and increased tension at home that had impacted the deterioration of well being and mental health. He also highlighted the impact of recruitment challenges for domiciliary care. It was noted that this trend was not unique to Pembrokeshire and was replicated in the vast majority of Authorities across the region. Moved by Councillor David Bryan; Seconded by Councillor Steve Alderman The vote, by way of show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the Committee reviewed the data provided for safeguarding performance within Pembrokeshire for the third quarter of 2021-22.
In considering the development of its Forward Work Programme the Committee agreed to have a workshop on the 15 July at 2pm.
Councillors must say when they have a personal link to something being discussed, such as a job, a property or a family member. A prejudicial interest is one strong enough that the councillor usually leaves the room and takes no part.
Declarations are read from the minutes once they are published.
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