Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from County Councillors R. Edwards, D. Edwards, R, Harris, S. Howarth, A. Webb, D. Evans and Co-opted Member Mr. Plow & Mrs D. Hudson.

There were no declarations of interest.

Context:

To provide members with an overview of the current strategic risks facing the

Authority.

Key Issues:

1.         The risk assessment ensures that:

·         Strategic risks are identified and monitored by the authority.

·         Risk controls are appropriate and proportionate

·         Senior managers and elected members systematically review the strategic risks facing the authority.

2.         The existing risks on the Strategic Risk Assessment have been updated based on evidence available in 2015, as presented at Appendix 1.   Changes to the council’s risk management policy were approved by Cabinet in March 2015. These are:

·         including pre-mitigation and post-mitigation risk scores, this was also a key recommendation from scrutiny of the 2014 risk assessment

·         ensuring greater clarity to the phrasing of risk so that each statement includes an event, cause and effect as shown below:

 3.     The risk assessment only covers high and medium level risks.  Lower level operational risks are not registered unless they are projected to escalate within the three years covered.  These need to be managed and monitored through teams’ service plans. The pre and post mitigation risk levels are presented separately. In most cases mitigating actions result in a change to the likelihood of the risk rather than the consequences as our actions are generally aimed at reducing the chance of a negative event occurring rather than lessening it’s impact.  Clearly there will be exceptions.

4.         Following presentation to select committees, the risk assessment will be presented to Cabinet for sign off. Prior to this, it will also form part of budget papers for discussion at Council to reflect alignment with strategic risks and proposed budget decisions the Council is taking. 

5.       The risk log is a living document and will evolve over the course of the year as new information comes to light. An up-to-date risk log is accessible to members on the Council’s intranet - The Hub.  This will ensure as well as the ongoing specific scrutiny of the risk assessment annually, that select committees are able to re-visit the information at any point in the year to re-prioritise their work plan as appropriate.

Member Scrutiny:                                                                                     

It was asked by a Member if the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act deserved its own risk. We were advised that it feed into a number of areas of risk, looking at the potential impact especially reputational. Cabinet and Audit Committee had received the report and it was felt we were on track. It is a significant risk with huge challenges.

A Member commented that was important that as a Committee, along with Officers that we pay close attention to the financial standing of the services we are responsible for, with 3 in particular; Children’s Social Services, Youth Services and Adult Education.

We were reassured by the Cabinet Member that the Children’s Social Care budget had the full support of Cabinet, it was appreciated that it is an under resourced  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Context:

To provide members with a report card that considers quarter 2 performance in children’s social services.

Key Issues:

1.         The report card uses a narrative format alongside graphs to show how the service is performing using a range of measures from the initial referral through to what care leavers are doing when they turn nineteen. It is supplemented by two appendices:

·         Appendix 1 contains national performance indicators showing how we have performed over time and compared to other council’s in Wales.

·         Appendix 2 contains a broader range of measures including local data, Wales averages are available for these measures but we are unable to publish performance for other authorities individually

2.         The number of looked after children has increased from 108 at the end of 2014/15 to 121 at the end of quarter 2. Over the same period the number of children on the child protection register has declined from 49 to 41.

3.         Children’s Services continue to focus on four key National performance indicators where significant improvements were made last year. These are:

4.         Performance in three of the four key indicators is lower at Quarter 2 than at the end of 2014-15. Charts 2, 3, 7 and 8 in the main body of the report show rolling-year data for these indicators. 

5.         Improvements have been made in 2 of the 3 indicators measuring the timeliness of the children protection process. The timeliness of initial child protection conferences and first core groups have both improved since last year but the timeliness of child protection reviews has decreased.

6.         At the end of quarter 2, seven looked after children have had a non-transitional school moves (SCC/002), compared to 15 in the whole of last year. Continuing at this level would produce year-end performance slightly lower than 2014/15 when we were 21^st in Wales. The service manager has confirmed that most (but not all) moves are due to children moving into long-term placements.

7.         Two looked after children had 3 or more placements (SCC/004) during 2014/15. By the end of quarter 2 this year two children have had 3 or more placements, a further 8 children have had two placements so we are likely to exceed last year’s total.

8.         Three care leavers have turned 19 by quarter 2 and are in touch with social services (SCC/033d). Four more will turn 19 in the remaining 6 months. At present, of those four, two appear to be in contact meaning our likely year end position is 71% (5/7), down from 88.9% last year.

9.         Of the three care leavers who are 19, one is in suitable accommodation (SCC/033e). Of the remaining two in touch who will turn 19 later in the year, both are currently in suitable accommodation. Our year end position  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Context:

The report sets out the key areas of progress and areas for improvement in Monmouthshire County Council Social Services for the year 2014–15.

Key Issues:

1. The council is making good progress with a transformation in practice agenda and is well placed to meet the requirements as set out in the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act (SSWBW Act). The council has concentrated on moving forward an ambitious agenda in adult’s services. This has been more difficult in children’s services where the department has been working hard to deliver on the post inspection action plan. This was developed to address the recommendations in the inspection undertaken by CSSIW in children’s services in November 2014 where a number of areas of weakness were found. The action plan also identified the areas for improvement set out in last year’s Annual Council Reporting Framework (ACRF).

2. Progress has been made in a number of areas to date. In particular the council has made improvements around statutory visits to looked after children and the timeliness of reviews for children in need as well as recruitment to permanent posts. However, there is still a journey of improvement that children’s services will need to continue over the next year.

3. The council works well with partners across both adult and children’s services to deliver better outcomes in the most efficient and effective ways. In adult services, partnership arrangements with Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (ABUHB) are mature at both strategic and operational levels. However, although work is progressing sometimes this needs to develop at a faster pace with renewed energy and clear objectives. The mental health integration work around the Listen Engage Act Participate (LEAP) project across the whole council is an example of this.

4. Performance in adult services has improved further in a number of key areas in particular in relation to delayed transfers of care which have decreased. Ongoing progress in reablement services is evident and is working effectively in the hubs where they have been implemented. However, whilst headway has been made, the pace of change to roll out services overall more systematically across the whole council needs to

increase in order to recalibrate services in an appropriate and timely way.

5. There is significant support corporately and from members who have a good understanding of the challenges facing social care. This is evidenced by the protection of budgets in Social Services in 2014-15 and the agreement reached for additional funding of £1.2million in children’s services in order to deliver its statutory functions and safeguard children effectively. However, this will become more difficult in the future when there is a need to make significant savings across all services within the council.

6. The council acknowledge that whilst its citizens have high expectations of public services in the future services will need to be provided in a different way and not necessarily by the council. Greater emphasis will be placed on support.

Member Scrutiny:

It was asked by a Member if placements  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Context:

The purpose of this report is to obtain approval for a 3 year Service and Financial Plan for Children’s Social Services which will form part of the overarching Social Care and Health transformation programme, Changing Practice, Changing Lives.

Key Issues:

This plan forms part of an overarching transformation programme in Monmouthshire County Council Social Care and Health which was designed to deliver the cultural and practice change necessary to realise the benefits from the legislative framework in the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act (2015). The transformation programme in Social Care has delivered both improved outcomes and quality of life for people and significant savings over the last 4 years in adult social services.

Recognising the differences in children’s services, and the different starting place, the first phase of the transformation programme in children’s services has focussed on getting the basics right and improving performance. The Changing Practice, Changing Lives programme will continue to be sensitive to those differences between adults and children’s services, but also build on the strengths within the different part of the business to deliver a coherent purpose and governance for practice and commissioning in Social Care and Health.

A shared understanding of ‘what good practice looks like’ and alignment of all systems (from supervision to quality assurance to management meetings) is needed. Change is delivered by individual practitioners and teams coming together around a common purpose, supported by managers and leaders who set direction and remove the barriers that exist. Some limited external support from a recognised expert in children’s services will be sought to develop the detail of practice transformation programme within children’s services.

This plan has been developed for a very specific purpose – to ensure there is clear set of prioritised actions to deliver service and financial recovery. It builds on the very positive progress which has been made in children’s social services over the last 2 years and sets direction over a medium term time frame to address increasing challenges around managing need, workforce stability and financial sustainability. It reflects increasing challenges since the Service Improvement Plan (SIP) for 2015/16 was agreed. As such, the plan includes a set of actions which are additional to current SIP. The 3 year timescale of the plan and financial model, recognises that practice led transformation requires sustained direction and effort over a prolonged period of time.

The detailed plan is appended to this paper. There are 4 themes contained within the plan which detail the improvements required:

Quality and Effectiveness of Social Work Practice

Capacity and Capability of the Workforce

Improved commissioning

Service and Financial Performance and Accountability

The plan also contains within it a financial model, risks, mitigations and measures which will enable robust tracking of whether the plan is delivering the outcomes required. The key actions from this transformation plan will form the core of an updated Service Improvement Plan for 2016/17. The plan will also need to be flexible and contain within it a dynamic model which allows service  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.