Issue - meetings

(a)       That, subject to the suggested changes, the Committee accepts the content of the Improvement Plan and ‘How we Measure Achievement’ document for the ‘Living Well’ priority; and

(b)       That the Committee accepts the strategic approach to the Improvement Plan and its delivery; and

(c)       That the Committee accepts the proposed targets for the national performance indicators.

The Chief Officer (Social Services) introduced a report on the draft Improvement Plan 2016/17 relevant to the Committee.  He explained that the Improvement Plan had been updated to reflect the key priorities of the Council for next year.  Members were asked to consider the content of the Plan and ‘how we measure achievement’ document for the priority ‘Living Well’.

The Chief Officer referred to the Living Well priority for 2016/17, which was appended to the report, and consisted of the three sub-priorities ‘Independent Living’, ‘Integrated Community Social & Health Services’ and ‘Safeguarding’.  He reported on the main activities relating to each of the sub-priorities as detailed in the report.

The Chair thanked the Chief Officer for his presentation and invited Members to raise questions.

Councillor Dave Mackie referred to page 7, paragraph 1, of the executive summary of the report and sought clarification around the meaning of the final sentence. He expressed a number of concerns regarding the formatting of the information on the proposed national performance indicator targets which was appended to the report and said the data, as presented, was difficult to read on an ipad.  The Chief Officer acknowledged the points raised and agreed to feedback the comments made.  

            Councillor Cindy Hinds referred to the list of activities under the ‘Safeguarding’ sub-priority and suggested that the work undertaken with outside agencies also be included.  The Chief Officer agreed to revisit the ‘Safeguarding’ sub-priority to include a reference to multi agency partnership working.

            Referring to ‘Safeguarding’, Councillor David Healey asked if there was a single named point of contact for outside bodies to seek advice or make a referral.  The Senior Manager Safeguarding and Commissioning explained that no single individual was named on the Authority’s website as a contact point as this was not practical but telephone numbers were given to ensure overall contact and a central point of contact was provided for the Duty and Assessment team. The Senior Manager Children’s and Workforce Services explained that a safeguarding link was also available within each school.  The Chief Officer suggested that it may be helpful if Members met with the Safeguarding Team to enable a more holistic understanding to be gained around how access to the safeguarding services worked.

            Councillor Christine Jones drew attention to the range of initiatives provided in Flintshire to raise awareness and support people with dementia and provide respite, help, and advice to carers.   Councillor David Wisinger congratulated the Chief Officer and his team on the positive developments in Flintshire regarding independent living and quality of life.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That, subject to the suggested changes, the Committee accepts the content of the Improvement Plan and ‘How we Measure Achievement’ document for the ‘Living Well’ priority; and

(b)       That the Committee accepts the strategic approach to the Improvement Plan and its delivery; and

(c)       That the Committee accepts the proposed targets for the national performance indicators.