Chris Bowie declared a non-prejudicial interest as Chief Exec of My Monmouthshire, as it receives financial assistance from the MCC funding stream.

Select Committee Public Open Forum ~ Guidance

Our Select 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 Select Committees, you can submit your representation 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 Select Committee meeting.  All representations received will be made available to councillors prior to the meeting.

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

No members of the public were present.

Report on the performance against the 5 goals

Emma Davies presented the report and answered the members’ questions with Julie Boothroyd and Eve Parkinson.

Challenge:

What is the position for vulnerable residents who have difficulty connecting? How do we deal with that?

Staff have supported those who need help or assistance to access the technology or get the right kit. There has been very high uptake, exceeding expectations. An unintended benefit has been that it has given people other skills: so, as well as meeting physically, there is now the ability to meet virtually. People have taken to everything really well.

Do we know the amount or percentage of people that haven’t engaged or have lost patience?

We aren’t aware of anyone who has said that that is an issue. If anyone has had difficulties, we have helped them through it. The technology really has been more of an enabler than a barrier for people.

Are there any plans that can be shared about the future of My Mates?

We are currently looking at what we should be doing next, by talking to people. We’re finding that there is a lot of support for the newer ways of working. As well as virtual work, we’ve done many things physically, such as one-to-one visits and taking people out. Now, as restrictions are easing, friends and groups are meeting. Things have been a lot more person-centred over the past year. A number of people and families say that they like this way better, which we are bearing in mind in discussions about how we will work in the future.  

Many are still volunteering – could we hear more about that?

People have put in an amazing effort to this. From the perspective of health and social care, the joining of work with the community and partnerships team has been really helpful – the coordination has been very strong. A lot of very good work was going on in the volunteer sector pre-pandemic, so we were in a good position to build on that when the pandemic hit. The numbers have gone up and down, as expected, but there’s a strong foundation in place. The network of health and social care, community and partnerships and third sector has bolstered that. An example is that we now have a social worker based in the community and partnerships team, which has added great depth to their ability to act across that sector. We have a strong, embedded infrastructure that should manage the peaks and troughs.

Could we have a comment on the percentages and targets in the summary table at the end regarding reablement after 6 months?

That is one of our national indicators, which we are requested to record for benchmarking purposes. We haven’t done so this year because the information hasn’t necessarily been robust enough for the local authorities in Wales to share – ordinarily, there would have been that comparison with other authorities. Regarding the change this year, it’s one of the national measures that has been updated, so we’ve  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Scrutiny of the directorate's progress and strategic direction via the Chief Officer's Annual Report.

Julie Boothroyd presented the report and answered the members’ questions with Eve Parkinson.

Challenge:

Has Social Services been badly affected by the ‘Pingdemic’ in recent weeks?

It’s been more of a collateral problem. We’ve had some of it in our own parts of the business but not significantly. What has been challenging is when our commissioned providers have been affected by it, and then we have experienced – in the short term – challenges with handing back or packages not being able to be fulfilled by the independent sector. We have then had to support them, point them in the direction of other services that might be able to pick up, or we have incorporated those into our own.

What’s happening with regard to, for example, someone needing to leave hospital and go into a care home – do they have to take a LFT before they go?

The care home sector has been incredible through this time. The process around hospital discharges is now very rigorous: everyone has to have a PCR within the 48 hours prior being moved to a residential setting, with a period of isolation once they’ve transferred over. The efficiency has improved markedly since the early days. Over the past year, we’ve consolidated some of the relationships with our providers, which includes weekly meetings with them. The guidance has sometimes been challenging, and it can change very quickly. We’ve given a lot of support and direction regarding the hardship fund. Generally, feedback from providers has been very positive. We are seeing a slight increase now in people going into placement. Regarding PPE, we’ve done a sterling job. No one has been left without. We have done regular deliveries to all of the sector (care home and residential). Also, if any of our commissioned providers has run short, we’ve stepped in and supported them. We deliver a huge amount of stuff around the patch regularly.

Are Care At Home providers still using masks and aprons, etc.?

There is no change: everyone is still wearing the same PPE as they have been throughout. Additionally, everyone now does twice-weekly lateral flow testing and weekly PCR, and the residential settings have regular whole-home testing. We have weekly meetings about the residential sector to identify if there have been any incidences, what tracking and tracing needs to do, if any support is needed around infection control, etc.

Who are the ‘providers’ described as the main source of reports in this period?

This is a term for anyone who delivers a service, so it could be independent sector, residential care homes, Llanarth Court (one of our main contributors to adult safeguarding referrals), etc.

There seems to be a discrepancy between some of the figures given. What about the 51% of enquiries dealt with in the first 7 days?

The figures aren’t necessarily meant to total up in a way that is consistent, as some of the referrals into our system get screened out – but, yes, it would be useful for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

A date for the Gypsy & Travellers workshop will be organised with officers.

The minutes were confirmed and signed as an accurate record.