Agenda, decisions and minutes

At the Annual Meeting, Council resolved that the Independent group should nominate the Chair of the Committee. The Committee is requested to formally appoint the duly nominated Chair.

That Councillor Carol Ellis be confirmed as the Chair of the Committee.

The Social & Health Care Overview & Scrutiny Facilitator advised that it had been confirmed at the Annual Meeting of the County Council that the Chair of the Committee should come from the Independent Group.  As Councillor Carol Ellis had been appointed to this role by the Group, the Committee was asked to endorse the decision.

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Carol Ellis be confirmed as the Chair of the Committee.

To appoint a Vice-Chair for the Committee.

That Councillor Gladys Healey be appointed Vice-Chair of the Committee.

Councillor Cindy Hinds nominated  Councillor Gladys Healey as Vice-Chair of the Committee and this was seconded by Councillor Andy Dunbobbin.

On being put to the vote Councillor Gladys Healey was appointed Vice-Chair of the Committee.

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Gladys Healey be appointed Vice-Chair of the Committee.

To receive any Declarations and advise Members accordingly.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 29 March  2018.

That, subject to the above amendment,  the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

The minutes of the meeting held on 29 March 2018 were received.

Accuracy

Page 7, item 54: Councillor Marion Bateman said that her visit to Croes Atti had been positive and asked that this be recorded in the minutes.

RESOLVED:

That, subject to the above amendment,  the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

(a)       That the social care activities  that are being delivered within the third sector in Flintshire be noted; and

(b)       That the Third Sector’s valuable contribution in providing support and services to the Social Care Sector be recognised.

The Chief Officer (Social Services) introduced a report on the annual review of the social care activity undertaken by the Third Sector in Flintshire.  He advised that the report detailed some recent work carried out in reviewing services commissioned through the Third Sector and provided an overview of the range and breadth of services supported by the Council.  The report also detailed the approach taken to co-produce new and innovative services including the disability service which was to be procured in the next couple of months and the learning disability day and work opportunities services. 

            The Chief Officer referred to the main considerations as detailed in the report and advised that Flintshire had a thriving voluntary/third sector which provided support and services to Flintshire residents.  The implementation of the Social Services and Well-being Act (Wales) 2014 had seen further development of services to ensure duties within the Act were met. 

The Chief Officer advised that Flintshire Local Voluntary Council (FLVC) was the umbrella and support organisation for over 1200 voluntary and community groups based in Flintshire and was involved in a range of local and regional partnerships.  He introduced Ann Woods, Chief Officer, FLVC, and invited her to give an overview of the support the FLVC provided to the Council on projects and developments.

Mrs. Woods advised that the FLVC continued to work in partnership with Statutory and Third Sector colleagues to promote, support, and develop multi-agency approaches to Public Service delivery.  She distributed a paper which provided some examples of the collaborative Health and Social care initiatives that the Council and FLVC were working on.  

In response to a query from Councillor Cindy Hinds, Mrs. Woods advised that the role of the Health and Social Care Facilitator was to link with the local community and link individuals with services. 

Councillor Hilary McGuill asked if electronic signposting to services could be provided via an APP linked to the Flintshire website.  The Chief Officer (Social Services)  agreed this was something that could be considered.  The Chief Officer (FLVC) advised that the Family Information Service and the DEWIS website were both useful signposting initiatives. 

Councillor Kevin Hughes referred paragraph 1.10 of the report concerning the Council’s intention to establish a process of coproduction for service development and asked if moving to a tendering process would result in a loss of services.   The Commissioning Managerexplained that there would be no loss of services, however, there may be a change in how disability services were provided. 

Councillor Hughes also  commented on funding for carer services and asked if there was any assurance that the funding provided by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) would continue.  The Chief Officer (Social Services) advised that although he could not give any long term assurance regarding funding, there was no further reductions proposed  to funding from the Authority.   The Senior Manager Safeguarding and Commissioning confirmed that funding from BCUHB would continue for a further 18 months.

Councillor Kevin Hughes referred to paragraph 1.12 of the report concerning  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

That the effectiveness of the complaints procedure with lessons being learnt to improve service provision be noted.

The Chief Officer (Social Services) introduced a report on the Annual Report on the Social Services Complaints and Compliments Procedure.  He provided background information and advised that  the percentage of complaints from adults on the services received had dropped since the previous year although the number of referrals had increased.  The Chief Officer explained that all complaints were scrutinised and used to improve both services as part of a ‘lessons learned’ process.    He invited the Complaints Officer for Social Services to present the report.

                        The Complaints Officer for Social Services referred to the main considerations, as detailed in the report, concerning complaints received by Social Services for Adults and Social Services for Children.  He advised that a summary of the complaints across both service areas was appended to the report. 

The Complaints Officer also advised that Adult Social Services received 204 compliments during the year which was an increase on the previous year, and Children’s Social Services recorded 82 compliments during the year from families and the Courts.  A summary of the compliments received was  appended to the report.  The Complaints Officer advised that responding to complaints in a timely manner would be raised again with managers at the May meeting in response to the drop in response times by Social Services for Adults.

Councillor Hilary McGuill commented that many of the complaints were due to a need for “better” communication with individuals and asked how the Service would seek to improve this.   The Chief Officer said the Service was not complacent and commented that partner agencies were also involved in service provision. He acknowledged the need to strive for improvement in communications with individuals.

Councillor Kevin Hughes commented that some of the complaints received seemed to be multiple complaints from the same person.  The Complaints Officer confirmed that this was not the case.

Councillor Marion Bateman queried the time limit for dealing with complaints.  The Complaints Officer explained that most would be addressed within 10 days although some complaints took longer to resolve.

In response to a query from Councillor Ian Smith it was agreed that a list of all acronyms used in reports to the Committee would be provided to Members.

In response to a question from Councillor Hilary McGuill,  the Senior Manager Safeguarding and Commissioning confirmed that there were no  complaints received by Social Services for Children which had related to a Serious Case Review.  She commented on the learning from regional safeguarding reviews and cross border child practice reviews.

RESOLVED:

That the effectiveness of the complaints procedure with lessons being learnt to improve service provision be noted.

To receive a verbal report from Members of the Committee.

That the information be noted.

Councillor Kevin Hughes reported on his visit to AROSFA.  He said his visit had been positive and that he had been impressed by the high standard of care provided by staff.  

RESOLVED:

That the information be noted.

(a)       That the Forward Work Programme be updated accordingly;

(b)       That the Facilitator, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee, be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, as the need arises;

(c)       That that representatives of the L’Arche Flintshire be invited to attend a future meeting of the Committee to raise awareness of its work; and

(d)       That representatives of the Community Health Council  be invited to attend the meeting of the Committee to be held on 31 January 2019.  

In presenting the Forward Work Programme, the Facilitator referred  to the items for the next meeting of the Committee to be held on 14 June, and drew attention to the visit by representatives of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust.  She asked Members to send her any specific questions they wished to raise with the representative by Friday, 18 May. 

Following a suggestion by the Chair it was agreed that representatives of the L’Arche Community be invited to attend a future meeting of the Committee to raise awareness of its work.   .

It was also agreed that representatives of the Community Health Council  be invited to attend the meeting of the Committee to be held on 31 January 2019.  

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Forward Work Programme be updated accordingly;

(b)       That the Facilitator, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee, be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, as the need arises;

(c)       That that representatives of the L’Arche Flintshire be invited to attend a future meeting of the Committee to raise awareness of its work; and

(d)       That representatives of the Community Health Council  be invited to attend the meeting of the Committee to be held on 31 January 2019.  

There were no members of the press or the public in attendance.