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The Scrutiny Programme Committee met on 9 December 2025. It considered progress on the Children and Young People's Rights Scheme and the annual complaints and compliments report for 2024-25, and noted progress reports from its performance panel and work programme. It also approved the membership of a new Cost of Living inquiry panel and a Taxi Services working group.
In accordance with the Code of Conduct adopted by the City and County of Swansea, no interests were declared.
In accordance with the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011, no declarations of Whipped Votes or Party Whips were declared.
Resolved that the minutes of the Scrutiny Programme Committee held on 18 November, 2025 be approved and signed as a correct record.
There were no public questions.
The Cabinet Member for Community (Support) and Cabinet Member for Education & Learning assisted by the Head of Child & Family Services, Partnership & Involvement Team Manager – Commissioning Hub, Learning & Innovation Manager – Child & Family Services and Policy & Strategy Officer, presented the report on the progress of the Children & Young People’s Rights Scheme. Officers provided an update on the implementation of the Children and Young People’s Rights Scheme, highlighting efforts to embed the UNCRC principles through the ‘Right Way’ approach across Social Services, Place, and Education Directorates. The progress report included examples of participation, empowerment, embedding, accountability, and non-discrimination, and areas for further development were highlighted. Committee questioning and discussion focussed on the following: · Engagement & Inclusion – Officers informed the Committee of the various ways that children and young people were able to participate in decision making across the Council services such as Youth Forums / Clubs, the Welsh Youth Parliament, National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS), the YMCA provides LGBTQ+ support through the Good Vibes Youth Club, EYST services represent Ethnic Minority Youth Voices, a Young Carer Service had been commissioned and Foster Swansea operates a Young Panel to uplift the voices of those in care. · Influence & Leadership - Officers provided examples of how feedback from children and young people had directly led to changes in Council policy or services in the last two years: Young people were asked their views on the Supported Accommodation and youth homelessness services and provided feedback on what they thought the Authority could do better and differently. This feedback was utilised to shape the specification for that service provision. In addition, they contributed questions that were used as part of the selection process for staff recruitment and formed part of the interview panel for the posts advertised. Care experienced young people host a “Voice in Action” podcast to discuss issues such as those not in education, employment or training (NEET), entering care and knife crime. The Authority had signed up to the seven key areas for our looked after children via our Corporate Parenting pledges. These had been formally approved by Council and formed our “whole Council approach”. · Youth Service - It was acknowledged that the recruitment of qualified youth workers was a problem across the whole of Wales. Whilst it was challenging it did not affect the Council’s ability to support participation and embed children’s rights. Officers were in the process of making our youth work more attractive by investing more in ensuring that staff were qualified to a certain level and had the ability to progress further. Good practice was also shared between departments and other Council’s in Wales. · Embedding - In order to show how well children’s rights were being embedded across all Council departments, Swansea had adopted the Children’s Commissioners framework “The Right Way Approach”. In addition, it had adopted the five Human Rights principles which were also utilised across the Council. Officers confirmed that all Schools in Swansea had adopted the UNCRC by 2018. Decisions regarding maintaining that award were now made with the individual schools due to the UNCRC being embedded within Welsh law policy and the Curriculum for Wales. · Staff Training - Schools were encouraged to utilise the Welsh Government’s website for comprehensive online training which included toolkits directly from the Children’s Commissioner. Swansea Social Services delivered children’s rights and advocacy training for staff, adopters, social workers and partner agencies. Staff training could be monitored via Oracle and as part of annual performance appraisals. · Monitoring & Feedback - Officers reported that monitoring and feedback was provided via the annual update report as well an in-depth report to Welsh Government every 5 years and an interim report every 2 1/2 years. In addition, feedback was provided every November on World Children’s Day and a video or presentation was also provided for all schools. · Measuring Impact - Officers explained the use of Integrated Impact Assessments for all developmental work, which included taking account of human rights elements and various ways of consulting with young people. These were utilised in conjunction with dashboards and other systems to understand how children & young people could be involved to develop better recording across the Authority. · Areas for Development - The priorities for further development in embedding children’s rights included gaining feedback from the young people so they could share their experiences via an “appreciative inquiry”. In addition, officers would be expanding the reach with under-represented groups, via induction programmes, existing training programmes and by sharing best practice via national and regional forums. The Chair thanked the Cabinet Members for Community (Support) and Education and Learning and the Officers for the informative report. Resolved that: 1) the Chair of the Scrutiny Programme Committee write to the Cabinet Member for Community (Support) reflecting the discussion and sharing the views of the Committee. 2) the Committee receive future updates on a two-yearly basis.
The Cabinet Member for Corporate Services (Performance) assisted by the Head of Digital & Customer Services presented the Annual Complaints & Compliments Report 2024-2025. The report highlighted an increase in complaints alongside significant improvements in response times and positive feedback from residents. The report also included an overview of social services complaints, learning from complaints, and the annual letter from the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales. The Committee focused on the Corporate Complaints & Compliments Annual Report as the Social Services report would be discussed by Child & Family Services / Adult Services Scrutiny Performance Panel members on 6 January. Committee questioning and discussions focussed on the following: · Trends & Performance - The new complaint “React” system had significantly improved response times which had led to better management and resolution of complaints. There had been increased accessibility for residents to report via online forms as well as via telephone. Improvements would be made based on feedback from officers and the sharing of best practice across departments. · Improvements – An example was provided of the Waste Management department’s response to complaints, with the development of a comprehensive action plan which had seen significant improvements following a major recruitment campaign, the development of a working group and reviewing new “in cab” technology which had resulted in an immediate positive impact. · Promotion of the Annual Report - The report had been shared with all the services contained within the report. In addition, it would be presented to other Council Committees and discussed with the Improving Customer Access Working Group. · Ombudsman - Following last year’s request from the Scrutiny Programme Committee, reporting, particularly in categorising and analysing complaints had been aligned with the quarterly submissions. Further discussions would take place with the Ombudsman regarding redundant categories. In addition, there was a slight disconnect due to the Council’s financial year reporting as opposed to the Ombudsman reporting across years on occasion. · Departmental Accountability - Complaints Officers continue to escalate complaints to the Head of Digital & Customer Services where necessary, which could be escalated to Managers or Heads of Service if trends were identified in order to implement action plans. Further escalation could be made to the Corporate Management Team or relevant Cabinet Member. The Chair recommended a feedback survey via an instant message service or similar following the conclusion of a complaint. The Chair thanked the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services (Performance) and the Head of Digital & Customer Services for their input. Resolved that: 1) the Chair write to the Cabinet Member reflecting discussion and sharing the views of the Committee.
Part of an issue followed across 3 meetings
The Chair welcomed Councillor Chris Holley, Convenor, Service Improvement, Regeneration & Finance who provided the Committee with a progress report on the work / activities of the Service Improvement, Regeneration & Finance Scrutiny Performance Panel. Resolved that the progress report be noted.
The Committee was asked to approve the membership of the · Cost of Living and Community Resilience Scrutiny Inquiry Panel · Taxi Services Scrutiny Working Group. Resolved that the report be approved.
The Chair introduced the agreed Work Programme to facilitate the Committee’s monitoring of all Scrutiny activity. Various information was provided to ensure progress could be reviewed with the agreed Programme. He referred to the headlines in the covering report, and in the appendices, members noted: · the Committee’s own work plan · the Cabinet Forward Plan was also included for review for anything significant within, should the Committee feel Pre-decision Scrutiny was merited for any particular report, not already identified · timetable of all Scrutiny activities and progress with Scrutiny Panels and Working Groups and regional Scrutiny work Key items for the next meeting (on 20 January 2026) included: · Q&A with Leader of the Council / Cabinet Member for Economy, Finance & Strategy; · Follow-up on the Public Engagement Scrutiny Working Group; and · Final Report – Grants Scrutiny Inquiry Panel.
The Chair referred to the following letters, reflecting on recent Scrutiny activity: · Committee – Scrutiny of Western Bay Drugs Commission Report – 14 October 2025 – Letter to Cabinet Member for Well-being. · Committee – Follow Up: Scrutiny Working Group – Co-Production – 14 October 2025 – Letter to Cabinet Member for Community (Support).
The Chair referred to upcoming Panel/Working Group/Regional Scrutiny meetings, for awareness.
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