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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 the Safeguarding performance within Pembrokeshire data for the first quarter of 2022-23 be approved and that a letter be drafted between the Chair, the Head of Children’s Services and a key Member from Education to Welsh Government raising the concerns discussed.
RESOLVED That the Directors Annual Report be noted. [The Head of Children’s Services left the meeting at this juncture]
RESOLVED That the Impact of Cost of Living Crisis on unpaid carers and paid care workers report be noted with an update presented to the March meeting.
RESOLVED That the Forward Work Plan be approved. The Chair announced that this would have been the final meeting for Mr Jonathan Griffiths as Director of Social Care and Housing noting that he was a dedicated and committed man. He further gave thanks from the committee for all of his hard work and personally for all the sound advice and all Members of the Committee agreed.
Councillor Nicola Gwynn declared a personal interest in item 26: Paid and Unpaid Carers, by virtue of a family member working as a domiciliary carer.
Moved by Councillor Steve Alderman; Seconded by Councillor David Bryan The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the Minutes of the meeting held on 8 September 2022 be approved as a correct record.
No public submissions/correspondence had been received.
The Committee agreed a change to the order of business as follows to allow the Head of Children’s Services to leave the meeting after the next item.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the Safeguarding performance within Pembrokeshire data for the first quarter of 2022-23 be approved and that a letter be drafted between the Chair, the Head of Children’s Services and a key Member from Education to Welsh Government raising the concerns discussed.
The Committee considered a report by the Head of Children’s Services on the measures that are in place to comply with our statutory duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. The Chair welcomed the Cabinet Member for Social Care and Safeguarding to the meeting who introduced the item providing ongoing scrutiny and oversight of safeguarding data and information ensuring adequate measures are in place. The Cabinet Member noted that some areas of concern related to Covid Lockdowns, workforce pressures and increasing demand. The Cabinet Member then introduced the Head of Children’s Services to the Committee who presented the Quarter 1 Performance Data Report 2022-23 and the Quarter 4 Performance Data Report 2021-22 highlighting Children at Risk to allow scrutiny on any changes between quarters. The Committee then debated the contents of the report and the key points were highlighted as follows: · The Head of Children’s Services had highlighted the Increased pressure on mental health services for Children and Young People and the programme that had been rolled out in order to promote early intervention within schools. · In response to a concern raised by the Chair, the Head of Children’s Services clarified the term ‘children in custody’ referred to them being under the responsibility of the Police rather than being held in a Police Cell. · The report was a summary of the information discussed at the local operational safeguarding group, which included CAHMS services and the increase in pressure on children and young people causing significant capacity issues contained within the report and the multi-agency Task and Finish Group for reviewing suicide prevention, self harm and attempted suicide to better understand the areas of risk. · Health referrals in all areas had seen a marked increase in adult and safeguarding activity across all areas as well as an increase in the number of Looked after Children (LAC). · In response questions from the Chair, the Head of Children’s Services clarified the definition of a juvenile being a person under the age of 18 years and that the number of missing children information had not been received from the Police. · The Head of Children’s Services informed Members that Pembrokeshire does have a higher number of S.46 Police Protection Orders in place, giving the Police the power to take children into their safe custody where there were concerns on their safety or wellbeing. This lasts for 72 hours prior to passing over to children’s services. However, it was noted that the Police in Pembrokeshire action the S.46 powers more frequently than the rest of Dyfed Powys and that often this power was actioned inappropriately as the child was already under the protective services and that the S.46 was not required. The Head of Children’s Services advised Members that discussions had taken place with DCI Jane Butler regarding this. · In response to a query from Councillor Alistair Cameron, the Head of Children’s Services advised that the figures within Priority 7: Adults at Risk were a full year compared with a Quarter confirming that the figures were given by Health Professionals, Police and Social Workers via the Multi-Agency Referral Form (MARF). · Councillor Cameron highlighted the high level of Priority 9: Place of Abuse reported in Care Homes and was advised that abuse can be referred by visiting relatives, self-reporting, staff Members which informed a defined process of investigation. · In response to a question from Councillor Maureen Bowen, the Head of Children’s Services advised that where it was noted that Police take a child into custody for 72hours prior to handing them into care, this would be immediately engaging with Social Services to provide safe arrangements. It was the safe custody of the police rather than the term custody. · Concerns were raised by Councillor Michael James on the increase of children under Elective Home Education (EHE) and whether the discussions held with Welsh Government had been useful. The Head of Children’s Services advised that they were now into their third administration of Welsh Government where concerns of EHE had not been acted upon following Kirsty Williams announcement to shelve the plans. He noted that EHE does not make children more vulnerable but it does make them less visible reducing the professional contact. Representations had been made to the Safeguarding Board, Welsh Government, this Committee and more. · The Cabinet Member for Social Care and Safeguarding advised that a number of concerns had been covered by the Head of Children’s Services and recognised that a number of the Councillors in attendance were School Governors. She further emphasised that there remained an absenteeism concern on the cohort of children who were not under EHE or attending school. A number of promotions and activities had taken place during National Safeguarding week to raise the awareness of safeguarding signposting anyone with any concerns. · In response to a question from Councillor Anji Tinley, the Head of Children’s Services advised that a MARF could be actioned by any Authority and was completed about a person of concern with their details, the incident of concern and was submitted to the Childcare assessment team or Adult safeguarding team where it would be screened, ranked on seriousness and immediacy of concern and dealt with appropriately. · Councillor Steve Alderman voiced his support regarding the letter to Welsh Government noting the massive gap in safeguarding with EHE and the need for Welsh Government to have an understanding as to why EHE had been chosen. The Head of Children’s Services advised that the oversight and monitoring of EHE whilst supporting the parents rights to EHE was difficult. The main concern being the invisibility of the young person. Moved by Councillor David Bryan; Seconded by Councillor Steve Alderman The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands was carried. RESOLVED That the Safeguarding performance within Pembrokeshire data for the first quarter of 2022-23 be approved and that a letter be drafted between the Chair, the Head of Children’s Services and a key Member from Education to Welsh Government raising the concerns discussed.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the Directors Annual Report be noted. [The Head of Children’s Services left the meeting at this juncture]
The Committee considered the report scrutinising the performance of Social Services during the financial year 2020/21. The Cabinet Member for Social Care and Safeguarding presented the report which had been produced to meet the legislative requirements of Part 8 Code of Practice on the Role of the Director of Social Services (Social Services Functions) and the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 and is shared with the Care Inspectorate Wales. The Head of Children’s Services gave a brief summary highlighting the work on cost reduction and the challenge on a shrinking resource and workforce followed by the Committee debating the contents of the report. · There were now almost 100 different groups/organisations either re-established or started following the pandemic that had formed a community network supported by the community hub providing a centre of support and information throughout Pembrokeshire. · A strategy to reduce the number of children in the care of the Authority had been launched and, whilst the first 12-18 months were slow, the numbers had now stabilised and were no longer rising. · Prevention is key in adults and children to reduce the escalation of need, enabling families and adults to access needs themselves prior to requesting help from the Authority. · In response to a question from the Chair, the Head of Children’s Services confirmed that early intervention gave the opportunity to head off problems before they develop. The Authority did not want to remove a child from their family or go to court. Early intervention could also reduce the need for NHS support however, the biggest challenge was resources. · The community had evidenced their resourcefulness and resilience during the pandemic and the Authority would need to build on this strategy. The Service Manager for Adult Care stated that the Commissioning Team were the lead on the Community hub which, in partnership with PAVS, was the heart of the Community. The Head of Strategic Joint Commissioning agreed that strength of the Community hub was that it was rooted in Communities and in the third sector. · Following Flyers and a roadshow promoting the community hub where the community were asked what they wanted, a lot of work had taken place loaning out equipment to improve digital communications, developing literacy skills, reviewing Alexas, supporting dementia etc. · In response to a question from Councillor Cameron, the Service Manager advised that there remained a real challenge on reaching some communities as some were not IT literate and did not engage; however, the strength of the commissioning work was the work that had taken place with local people and local community champions. Work had also taken place with churches/faith groups, different cohorts of people to improve engagement. · The Cabinet Member informed Members that there was a really strong preventions model in Pembrokeshire but that the current position of ‘fire-fighting’ was a fair reflection. The Authority was considered as an exemplar in their preventions work but it remained a work in progress. The Head of Strategic Joint Commissioning further advised Members that through the Connecting to Communities work, a small innovation/community grant was being administered by PAVS for a ‘proof of concept’ and to enable and develop the strength in communities. · Councillor Cameron welcomed any opportunity to further engage as the Champion for Learning Disabilities for the Authority and the Service Manager for Adult Care advised that Councillor Cameron would be invited to attend the next Board meeting. Moved by Councillor Steve Alderman; Seconded by Councillor Danny Young The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands was carried. RESOLVED That the Directors Annual Report be noted. [The Head of Children’s Services left the meeting at this juncture]
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the Impact of Cost of Living Crisis on unpaid carers and paid care workers report be noted with an update presented to the March meeting.
The Committee received a report by the Director of Social Care and Housing on the impact of the Cost of Living crisis on unpaid carers and paid care workers. The Cabinet Member for Social Care and Safeguarding introduced the report to the Committee noting the impact and the measures of support on offer. The Head of Strategic Joint Commissioning introduced the Senior Commissioning Manager and the Commissioning Manager to Members. The Committee debated the contents of the report and the key points were highlighted as follows: · The Commissioning Manager advised Members that unpaid care workers were often forced to reduce or give up work in order to provide care requiring different support mechanisms to those in paid carers. Teams across the County ensured eligible carers were applying for benefits and reported 76% had done so. The rights of unpaid carers were also being promoted along with financial hardships being supported. The Young Carers scheme was also recognised by Welsh Government. A discretionary pot of money was being well used and digital connectivity was being supported providing improved access to schemes including discount schemes for online shopping · In response to questions from the Chair regarding deductions being made from the £1000 payment by the Welsh Government and the pence per mile (PPM) paid to carers, the Senior Commissioning Manager advised that the deductions were National Insurance and Tax. Whilst a number of different rates had been paid to carers, with the increasing costs of fuel, all providers were expected to pay 45ppm with effect from April 2022. Any carers that had not received that amount would be receiving backdated pay. · In response to a concern raised by Councillor Cameron, the Cabinet Member agreed that a lot of care workers were feeling undervalued and that this would be monitored with an update report being brought before the meeting on 16 March 2023. The Chair noted that the Authority was extremely lucky to have the unpaid carers and Councillor Alderman concurred with this. Moved by Councillor David Bryan; Seconded by Councillor Anji Tinley The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands was carried. RESOLVED That the Impact of Cost of Living Crisis on unpaid carers and paid care workers report be noted with an update presented to the March meeting.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the Forward Work Plan be approved. The Chair announced that this would have been the final meeting for Mr Jonathan Griffiths as Director of Social Care and Housing noting that he was a dedicated and committed man. He further gave thanks from the committee for all of his hard work and personally for all the sound advice and all Members of the Committee agreed.
The Chair presented the Forward Work Programme to the Members advising that it was fairly full at present and that the next meeting would be concentrated on the budget but invited any comments to be made direct to himself. Moved by Councillor David Bryan; Seconded by Councillor Steve Alderman The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands was carried. RESOLVED That the Forward Work Plan be approved. The Chair announced that this would have been the final meeting for Mr Jonathan Griffiths as Director of Social Care and Housing noting that he was a dedicated and committed man. He further gave thanks from the committee for all of his hard work and personally for all the sound advice and all Members of the Committee agreed.
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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