Agenda and draft minutes

None.

Scrutiny Committee Public Open Forum ~ Guidance

Our Scrutiny Committee meetings are live streamed and a link to the live stream will be available on the meeting page of the Monmouthshire County Council website

If you would like to share your thoughts on any proposals being discussed by Scrutiny Committees, you can submit your representation in advance via this form

·     Please share your views by uploading a video or audio file (maximum of 4 minutes) or;

·     Please submit a written representation (via Microsoft Word, maximum of 500 words)

You will need to register for a My Monmouthshire account in order to submit the representation or use your log in, if you have registered previously.

The deadline for submitting representations to the Council is 5pm three clear working days in advance of the meeting. 

If representations received exceed 30 minutes, a selection of these based on theme will be shared at the Scrutiny Committee meeting.  All representations received will be made available to councillors prior to the meeting.

If you would like to attend one of our meetings to speak under the Public Open Forum at the meeting, you will need to give three working days’ notice by contacting Scrutiny@monmouthshire.gov.uk .  

The amount of time afforded to each member of the public to speak is at the chair’s discretion, but to enable us to accommodate multiple speakers, we ask that contributions be no longer than 3 minutes. 

If you would like to suggest future topics for scrutiny by one of our Scrutiny Committees, please do so by emailing Scrutiny@monmouthshire.gov.uk

None.

To review the recent inspection report. 

Jane Rodgers and Ben Anderson introduced the report which was a performance evaluation of the children's services by Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW), highlighting the strengths and areas for improvement identified by the inspection report. Ben Anderson, CIW, commented that the inspection overall was positive and that there was evidence of ongoing development of the service since February. He highlighted the focus going forward would be to focus on practice and quality to ensure compliance with statutory duties and to capture the voice of children. Diane Corrister answered the members’ questions in detail, together with Jane Rodgers and Ben Anderson. 

Key points made by Members: 

• Members asked how leaders are having greater oversight of the quality of assessments and plans and noted that training, quality assurance, and implementation support was being provided to staff.  

• A member asked for an explanation of the new practice model and the Early Help Assessment Team.  

• Clarity was sought on what improvements are being made to bring practice in line with Welsh safeguarding procedures. 

• Another member sought clarity on the compliance with paperwork for child protection conferences and how much advocacy parents are offered prior to a case conference stage.  

• The committee questioned the main strengths and areas for improvement identified by the inspection report, noting the report had recognised the positive outcomes achieved for children looked after, the family support offer, and the morale and leadership within the service as strengths. Areas for improvement were acknowledged to include responding to and dealing with the impact of demand across the service, and making sure that the workforce corresponds with those levels of demand.  

• Members asked for an explanation as to how the team was addressing the issue of demand and workforce capacity in the service, to retain staff and reduce the reliance on agency workers.  

• Members sought to ensure that the voice of children is captured in a consistent and meaningful way and according to the age of the child and then reflected in assessments and care plans. 

• A member referred to paragraph 4.8 in the report which suggested a cautious approach to risk management, questioning whether given our lower than national average number of children looked after, there may be a contradiction. The officers clarified that to an extent, this is because of the impact of demand on the front door; and that strengths-based practice needed to be more consistent across all areas of the service.  

• Members asked for clarity on the outcomes of the platform service for young people's emotional health.  

• Another member queried the increase in referrals and also inappropriate referrals and how these could be reduced, noting that this is currently subject to a data and audit analysis to understand the sources and the reasons for the referrals. Members requested a report on this be brought back to them at the appropriate point, with officers confirming this should be available after September. Action: Jane Rodgers and Diane Corrister.  

• A member commented that the threshold document assisted the addressing of the increase in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

To conduct pre-decision scrutiny on the proposals under consultation. 

Cabinet Member Martyn Groucott introduced the report, explaining that the purpose of the consultation and the report brought to the committee was to consider whether to adopt the statutory distance eligibility criteria for the provision of free home to school transport. He answered the members’ questions with Debra Hill-Howells. 

Key points made by Members: 

• Members asked for clarity on the two options for changing the statutory distance over which free transport is provided and queried how much savings each of these options would generate. The member commented that the consultation didn’t offer alternatives to changing the statutory distance for the public to consider, for example, an increase in council tax. Councillor Groucutt confirmed that increasing the council tax by approximately one percentage point, would generate about £700,000 per year, but that this needed to be considered as part of the wider budgetary process as there are other budgetary pressures that will need to be considered. 

• A member highlighted that the time of year is not particularly good for achieving responses from the public to consultations, as many people would be on holidays. It was confirmed that the consultation commencement date had been delayed by the general election, however, all emails had been sent to existing users of transport, schools, stakeholders and operators to make them aware of the consultation. Officers confirmed that there will be sessions in hubs and there is documentation online explaining the purpose of the consultation as well as a survey that invites people to provide their feedback on the proposals. 

• A member shared their concerns about increasing the in-house service, and staffing implications. The officer confirmed that the cost of in-house provision is compared to external tenders and the in-house service only undertakes the service if they are the best financial option. 

• A member asked how the council would monitor the environmental impact of increasing personal transport budgets and car use and officers responded that the council has a carbon reduction plan in place and has made a climate emergency declaration, and that they will assess the carbon footprint of the different transport options and work with schools and parents to promote sustainable travel choices whilst considering the environmental impact as part of the decision-making process, to mitigate any adverse effects. 

• A member asked how the council would support working parents who may face difficulties due to the changes and what mitigations would be offered. Cllr Groucutt responded that there is already discretionary support to help families and that the details would be shared.  

• Members asked how the available walking routes are assessed for safety and suitability and heard that there is a standard Road Safety GB assessment process which is normally undertaken by Highways officers. Where an assessment is challenged, officers will walk the route with parents and members. 

• A member asked why the draft policy wording wasn’t included in the consultation document and was advised it’s because it hasn’t changed, except for the three options that are being considered and that if any of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Noted.  

Noted.  

Noted.