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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.
Chris Holley declared a personal interest.
No declarations were made.
No questions were received.
Councillors Louise Gibbard, Alyson Anthony and Hayley Gwilliam along with relevant officers attended and went through the budget proposals in relation to Adult Services, Child and Family Services and Tackling Poverty, highlighting the main issues and answering questions. The Panel agreed the following views and recommendations on the budget proposals in relation to Social Services it would like to make to Cabinet: · Budget increase - Panel is pleased to see quite a significant increase in the proposed Social Services budget for 2025-26 of £25.5m which is 14.9%, but it has some concerns around the savings proposals. · Transparency – Panel feels it is important the budget proposals are really transparent, and the inclusion of percentages is a good way forward. · Level of support for people - Budget proposals talk about realignment, but the Panel has concerns about a potential reduction in the level of support for people and maintaining the quality of service. · Increase in Living Wage and National Insurance - The potential increase in the living wage and national insurance cost to employers is of concern to the Panel, as these increased costs are likely to be passed onto the Council by external service providers. Also, it is not yet clear whether the government will fully compensate Councils for the additional cost of the NIC increase as a result. · Preventative agenda - Panel feels the number of savings the Department is hoping to make is dependent on the preventative agenda and this will require careful monitoring going forward. · Reducing external Foster Care - One of the savings in the proposals is to reduce external foster care. Panel is concerned that if this is reduced, whether there will there be sufficient capacity in Foster Wales to pick up the extra. · Home adaptations – These need to be in place before people can be discharged from hospital and go back to their own home. Panel feels there is a need to ensure this process works more effectively so people can leave hospital sooner and stay at home longer. The Convener of the Service Improvement, Regeneration and Finance Panel will attend Cabinet on 20 February to feed in the collective views of the scrutiny performance panels and write a letter to the Cabinet Member.
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.
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