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There is no summary of this meeting yet. Summaries are written once the council publishes the minutes, which are its official record of what a meeting decided. They usually appear a few weeks after the meeting.
No disclosures of interest were received.
No declarations were made.
Panel agreed the Minutes of the meeting on 24 June 2024 as an accurate record of the meeting.
No questions were received.
Louise Gibbard, Cabinet Member for Care Services and relevant officers provided an overview of annual performance for 2023-24 and some comparison data for 2022-23. Discussion Points: · Report shows strong performance despite continuing to be a challenging time for Child and Family Services. · Panel asked what the relationship is with other non-statutory organisations providing support and heard the Department does engage with external agencies. · Panel queried if the Department sees any issues arising from the impact of early prison release. Officers confirmed this is creating additional pressure on the system. The Department is endeavouring to do all it can to support probation, when necessary, in relation to safeguarding children and adults. · Panel commented on the need to ensure appropriate support mechanisms are in place to support staff to cope with the pressures they face. · In terms of the Contextually Missing Exploited Team (CMET), Panel noted a big increase in missing children over the last 12 months and asked if this has caused any major problems. Informed the biggest challenges in terms of missing children continues to be other local authorities looked after children that are placed in Swansea. · Panel noted Exploitation appears to have slightly reduced and asked if the Department feels this is under control and the system is being managed. Officers confirmed the response to Exploitation has significantly improved over the last 2 years because of enhanced modelling. · Panel had previously discussed the WCCIS system and that it was going to be replaced. Panel asked if this was still going to happen. Director confirmed it is being replaced and local government is effectively taking over responsibility for commissioning the new system across Wales. · Panel concerned that a lot of operational data is obtained from the WCCIS system and the need to ensure this information is available during the transition. Heard that part of the work being undertaken currently is looking at what is needed going forward in the new system so they should not be missing any data in that period. · Panel had a further query following the meeting and would like to know what measures have been put in place to prevent the possibility of a young person's belongings being put into black bags when they move into, or between, placements. And assuming there are measures in place, how they are monitored. Actions: • Information on the measures in place regarding how a young person’s belongings are carried, and how these are monitored.
Helen Williams, Principal Officer Adolescent and Young People Services and Mark Gosney, Commissioning Team Leader attended to brief the Panel on this item. Discussion Points: · Panel heard this is an important part of the Department’s Preventative Work and short breaks are used as part of the assessment of need. · Panel heard a real challenge for the Service is demand for provision compared to what is available. This has led to a review of Preventative Services around additional learning needs and involved looking at short breaks provision. · Panel commented on the list of COAST (Create Opportunities Across Swansea Together) activities and funding, showing the people and providers working within the area, how big the list is, how wide ranging and how impressive it is. · Panel felt this report highlighted the amount of work going on out in the community which is very important.
Panel considered the work plan and noted items for the next meeting.
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