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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED to authorise the Chair to sign the draft minutes as a correct record.
RESOLVED to exclude the public for the following items of business on the grounds that there would be disclosure to them of exempt information under categories 2 and 3 of The Local Authorities (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007).
Apologies for absence were received from County Councillors C Robinson, J Ewing, E Vaughan and S Frewin (Head of Adult Services).
The Committee received the following Declarations of Interest from Members relating to items to be considered on the agenda: 1) County Councillor Heulwen Hulme declared a personal interest in Item 6 (Powys Social Services Response to Llais Feedback (Summer 2023) due to being a member of Llais.
The Committee did not receive any disclosures of prohibited party whips which a Member had been given in relation to the meeting in accordance with Section 78(3) of the Local Government Measure 2011.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED to authorise the Chair to sign the draft minutes as a correct record.
County Councillor C Walsh proposed to authorise the Chair to sign the draft minutes of the meeting held 22nd September 2023 as a correct record, which was seconded by County Councillor B Breeze. The Committee therefore: RESOLVED to authorise the Chair to sign the draft minutes as a correct record.
Documents Considered: • Cabinet Response to Scrutiny Recommendations – Quarter 1 Performance Report Background: • The Health and Care Scrutiny Committee made recommendations to Cabinet regarding the new quarterly Performance Report and Scorecard at the 8 September 2023 meeting. • Cabinet met on 19 September 2023 and accepted all four of the Scrutiny Recommendations. It was expected that the recommendations would be actioned and implemented for the next iteration of the quarterly performance scorecard. • In accordance with the accepted recommendation, Officers were now required to share service-level performance reports/indicators with Committee Members in advance of the meeting, when scrutinising the Performance Scorecard (which relates to the Council’s Corporate and Strategic Equality Plan Objectives). • Quarters one and three of the Performance Report and Scorecard were to be offered to the three Scrutiny Committees for consideration. • All Scorecard reporting information was to be published on the Council’s public website. Observations and Recommendations: • Committee Members noted the Cabinet’s response.
Documents Considered: • Powys Social Services Response to Llais Feedback (Summer 2023) Background: • The Director of Social Services and Housing briefly explained the role of Llais, noting that they engage with people receiving support from health and social care services in Wales and collate their views and experiences. This feedback was then sent to the relevant organisation to consider when planning and delivering health and care services. • Llais attended a number of community events over the summer and collated the engagement feedback received from the public. The anonymised feedback was then submitted to Powys County Council’s Social Services Feedback Team for formal response. • The Social Services Feedback Team reviewed the reports and would progress relevant aspects through the Quality Assurance process for both Adults and Children’s Services. The process considered learning and outcomes from complaints and feedback and promoted best practice. • The letter from the Director of Social Services and Housing, including the anonymised comments and responses to Llais, was provided to the Health and Care Scrutiny Committee for consideration. The Committee’s scope was well suited to scrutinise the Council’s responses to the Llais engagement reports. • The Director of Social Services and Housing noted in her letter to Llais that some responses were limited due to the feedback being anonymised and where there was no indication whether the support was provided by Social Care Services or Powys Teaching Health Board. • Future Director responses to Llais engagement feedback would be raised at Portfolio Holder briefings and provided to the Health and Care Scrutiny Committee for consideration. Issues Raised by the Committee and Responses Received: Issues Raised by the Committee: Responses Received: Was there a governance framework which established how Llais and Powys County Council interact with each other? The Director of Social Services and Housing responded by confirming that both herself and the Director of Education and Children meet with the Llais – Powys Lead on a fortnightly basis. This provided a suitable medium to discuss the formal arrangements. The Director requested that Llais include the Council’s Social Services Feeback team in engagement feedback correspondence. The team would then be able to analyse the comments and identify any emerging themes. These would then be fed back into the Social Service quality assurance process. Where Llais had received multiple comments about a particular issue which suggested a theme or pattern, how would these be responded to? The themes and subsequent actions taken by Social Services would be compiled into the Social Services Compliments, Comments and Complaints Report, which was presented to the Health and Care Scrutiny Committee on an annual basis. This allowed the Services to keep track of and deliver on any identified actions. Was there a concern that this feedback mechanism was redoing what was already in place, specifically with regard to seeking feedback from service users? How do you ensure that this approach with Llais was streamlined and would not create more work for the Council when there were already various pressures and resource issues? Llais had an engagement role and any feedback for Social Services was welcomed. Llais had been asked to send feedback reports directly to the dedicated Social Services Feedback Team, with the Officers being in the best position to deal with and action the comments/complaints. The Director confirmed that it was additional work, although it was expected that value would be realised moving forward. Did any of the feedback responses surprise the Director, was anything new or of concern, that was not expected? No, the feedback was not relating to any new or unexpected issues. Regarding comments associated with package of care issues, does the Council collect data on the average length of time taken for a package of care to be put in place? The Director reported that there was an ongoing Transforming Domiciliary Care project and the Committee could be provided with an update on this work. Social Services do collect data in terms of domiciliary care packages including waiting times and delays. This was included in the monthly performance data provided to the Scrutiny Committee. The Head of Service and Senior Manager responsible for this area could attend a future scrutiny meeting to discuss these issues in more depth. Does the Council benchmark against any other authorities? Yes, benchmarking was undertaken and comparisons were made against other Welsh Local Authorities. Monthly benchmarking data was limited. The Leadership Team regularly review this information. What links does the Council have with the Health Board in relation to developing the packages of care and any associated partnerships? How were both organisations working together on this? The Committee Member expressed concern around carer pay and recruitment challenges due to the demography of Powys; it was further noted that people without a package of care were left in a vulnerable position, which was also much more expensive to manage. Adult Services was working with PTHB and other partners, in addition to the Council’s Commissioning Team who were currently working with external providers to establish whether routes and packages of care could be changed to be more attractive to providers and carers, for example. Please could the Director of Education and Children consider providing a Member Development Session on the new ALN procedures? The Committee Member noted that many County Councillors were also School Governors. Was the aforementioned issue due to be addressed as part of the Direct Payments review? Social Services had already undertaken work to resolve the initial concerns around Direct Payments whilst the review was ongoing. It was a priority that the types of issues identified in the Llais feedback did not reoccur and would be considered as part of the review. The Director was not able to provide a definite timescale for the review during the meeting but noted that this could identified and fed back to the Committee. ACTION Actions: • Request for the Director of Social Services and Housing to provide a timescale for the Direct Payments review. Observations and Recommendations: • Committee Members noted the responses of the Director of Social Services and Housing.
The Committee resolved to add the following items to the forward work programme: 1. Update on Package of Care finances following budget scrutiny in March 2024. 2. Committee visit to Neuadd Maldwyn, Welshpool.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED to exclude the public for the following items of business on the grounds that there would be disclosure to them of exempt information under categories 2 and 3 of The Local Authorities (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007).
Following advice from Officers, due to the likelihood of disclosure of personal and commercially sensitive information whilst discussing the following items, the Committee: RESOLVED to exclude the public for the following items of business on the grounds that there would be disclosure to them of exempt information under categories 2 and 3 of The Local Authorities (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007).
The Committee received a presentation regarding Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) Looked After by Powys County Council. The presentation and discussion covered: the allocation and referral process, locations of placements, support available for UASC, work with other Local Authorities and the budget and financial aspects of supporting UASC referred to Powys County Council.
The Director of Education and Children provided a verbal update to Committee Members regarding the recent Joint Inspection of Child Protection Arrangements in Powys. It was reported that the public report would be published in December 2023.
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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