Agenda and minutes

Councy Councillor M. Hickman and Mr David Hill.

Item 6

County Councillor P. Farley declared a non-prejudicial interest as a trustee of Chepstow Senior Citizens Welfare Trust

There were no members of the public present.

The minutes of the Committee meeting dated 20^th September 2016 were confirmed and signed by the Chairman.

In relation to item 8, as per the Chair’s summary, a number of recommendations were made to Cabinet.  The Chair wrote a letter to the Cabinet member on these terms, no date no formal response has been received.

In view of this, despite the January meeting agenda being solely dedicated to scrutiny of the budget proposals, the Cabinet member will be invited to address the issues and concerns previously raised.

Context:

To provide Adult Select committee with information on the number and types of complaints, comments and compliments received and dealt with from 1April 2015 until 31 March 2016.

Key Issues:

All Local Authority Social Services are required to follow the new Social Services Complaints Procedure (Wales) Regulations 2014 and The Representations Procedure (Wales) Regulations 2014.

Guidance is also issued under Section 7 of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970. This means that local authorities must comply with it.

Member Scrutiny:

It was asked if the council had serial complainers who raise issues on a regular basis and we were told that yes, there were regular complainers but there were not such persistent complainers in adult services.

It was asked in what format information on raising a complaint was available and where this information could be found. The officer advised that the information was available via the website and leaflets left at various places around the county (hospitals, libraries, etc.) and once people contacted customer services they were advised of the complaint process.

It was asked by a member if the public’s expectations were unrealistic and times and we were told that this could be the case at times, with resources stretched currently it often left members of the public unhappy with service timescales which led to complaints.

Context:

To present quarter 2 performance data for the Improvement Objectives which are under the remit of Adults Select Committee. This is:

·         Improvement Objective 2 - We will safeguard people, whether young or old, while reducing people’s dependence on social care.

Supplementary to this paper a separate report on adult social services performance at quarter 2 is on the agenda. This presents data from the new measurement framework introduced as part of the Social Services and Well-being Act.

Key Issues:

Improvement Objectives are set annually by the Council to deliver on priorities, these are set in the Improvement Plan 2016/17. While objectives being focussed on the long term they are supplemented by annual actions and milestones that mark the progress towards their delivery.

Activity that contributes to the delivery of some objectives cross cuts select committee remits and these will also be reported to the other relevant committee(s). Therefore it is suggested members focus their scrutiny on the activity relevant to the committee with consideration of its contribution to the objective as a whole.

The Improvement Objectives will be evaluated at the end of the year (2016/17) based on the council’s self-evaluation framework, as set in the Improvement Plan 2016-17. Performance against them will be reported to committees and in the Stage 2 Improvement Plan published in October each year.

This is likely to be the final annual cycle of Improvement Planning in this format. The council is currently undertaking two substantial assessments of need and wellbeing within the county as a consequence of the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act and the Social Services and Wellbeing Act. This information will provide a much deeper evidence base of well-being in the County and will be used to review the council’s current improvement objectives in preparation for the publication of the council’s wellbeing objectives by 31st March 2017.

Member Scrutiny:

A member of the committee who volunteers at the Raglan project commented on the vast improvements in outcomes recently and emphasized how forward thinking Monmouthshire was to go ahead with this project.

The asked the Officer if he had a feel for how evenly spread place based working was becoming across the county and was it stronger in some places than others. In response we were told that there has been very different results across different communities and going forward community mapping will help us understand the particular needs of each area.

A Member asked how many residents needed local authority funded care as this wasn’t made clear by percentages. We were answered that it was approx. 230 older people and smaller number in the under 65 age group. The Member asked if that going forward would there be figures available to compare our authority against other authorities, the officer confirmed that he had this information and would distribute this after the meeting. (ACTION M.G.)

A Member of the Committee commented that recent reports had expressed the importance of early intervention and perhaps by the time people get to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Context:

The Committee received a presentation on a new initiative ‘My Mates’. The scheme has been set up to encourage people with a learning disability make friends and close personal relationships and is based at the Hub in Abergavenny.

The group run a number of social events and activities throughout the year based on suggestions made by members of the group. They provide advice and support to people looking to meet new people.

Membership is free, however members need to pay for meals, transport and entrance fees when at a social event.

Member Scrutiny:

Members were unanimous in their support of this initiative and were keen that it was suitably publicised.

A Member commented on the isolation felt by children with learning disabilities when they grow up and lose their parents, who are often their care givers and applauded the initiative for helping people socialise.

Members discussed the Work Programme for the Adults Select Committee. In doing so noted the frailty item for future review.

Members considered the Cabinet Forward Work Planner – no issues were identified as requiring pre-decision scrutiny.