Issue - meetings

(a)       That the Committee supports Flintshire County Council signing up to the North Wales Carers’ Strategy; and

(b)       That representatives of NEWCIS and Barnardo’s be invited to attend a future meeting of the Committee.

The Senior Manager Safeguarding and Commissioning, introduced the report to provide an overview of the North Wales Carers’ Strategy and to support Flintshire County Council signing up to the Strategy. 

The Senior Manager provided background information and explained that the Strategy was made up of the following three parts:

·         a North Wales vision for carers services

·         Service standards

·         an action plan

The Senior Manager reported on the key decisions and activities undertaken to develop a North Wales Carers’ Strategy, as summarised in the report.  She explained that the Strategy asked that local, sub-regional, and regional commissioning gave carers a voice in local decision-making  and made sure that all services in the area become more carer aware and carer friendly.    It was also incumbent on those in commissioning to ensure services were designed to find carers and help them to identify their needs and to commission support services for carers with particular support needs and/or entitlements.  The Senior Manager referred to the North Wales Carer’s Strategy – A Strategy for carers of all ages, which was appended to the report.

Councillor Kevin Hughes asked how young carers were identified and supported in Flintshire.    The Senior Manager – Children and Workforce, explained that not all young carers were known to the Authority and said work was ongoing with agencies, schools, and young people to identify and contact young carers to offer support and information and signpost to other support services    He referred to the referral pathways that had been agreed with Barnardo’s and said he would ask Barnardo’s to provide data to show the Committee what their views were about young people. 

The Chief Officer suggested that representatives of NEWCIS and Barnardo’s be invited to attend a future meeting of the Committee.   Councillor Hilary McGuill proposed that this be included as an item on the Forward Work Programme for the Committee.

Councillor McGuill commented on the needs of elderly carers and expressed concern that they were not being signposted to the appropriate information and services available to assist them.    

The Senior Manager - Safeguarding and Commissioning commented on the importance of early identification and the assessment and understanding of the needs of carers of all ages.  She referred to the impact of caring on individuals and the aims of the North Wales Carers’ Strategy to give a voice to carers in decision-making and help them identify their needs and entitlements.

Councillor Andy Dunbobbin commented on the need for raising awareness and engagement with the general public.  The Senior Manager Safeguarding and Commissioning drew attention to the action plans for key partners in the Strategy and reiterated the need for early identification and support.   The Senior Manager – Children and Workforce, advised that National Carers Week would be held in June 2019 and suggested that the Committee might wish to consider promoting the information and services which were available to support carers.

Councillor Gladys Healey spoke of the needs of young carers and in particular young people who were still in full-time education.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41