Agenda, decisions and minutes

Councillor Andy Dunbobbin declared a personal interest in Agenda item 3 – Year End Service Performance Report as he was a Kinship Carer. 

                        Councillor Mike Lowe declared a personal interest in Agenda item 3 – Year End Service Performance Report as he was a Carer. 

                        Councillors Hilary McGuill and Dave Mackie declared a personal interest as they were members of the Community Health Council.    

Councillor Andy Dunbobbin declared a personal interest in Agenda item 3 – Year End Service Performance Report as he was a Kinship Carer. 

                        Councillor Mike Lowe declared a personal interest in Agenda item 3 – Year End Service Performance Report as he was a Carer. 

                        Councillors Hilary McGuill and Dave Mackie declared a personal interest as they were members of the Community Health Council.    

The Chair indicated that there would be a slight change in the order of business to bring forward agenda item 5 – Emergency Duty Team. 

            That the update be received.       

The Chair welcomed Mr. Jason Winkworth, Acting Regional Co-ordinator for the Emergency Duty Team to the meeting. 

                        Mr. Winkworth introduced to report to provide an update on the joint Wrexham, Flintshire and Denbighshire Emergency Duty Team.  He explained that the successful partnership provided an emergency social work service for the three counties during the hours when the main stream services were closed.  Sharing of considerable resources was a significant advantage for the Team and further enhancement of information services had been achieved with the inclusion of encryption software on desktops.  He explained that it was important to ensure that information could be accessed where it was needed and he detailed how the system currently worked and the changes that were due to be made.  Mr. Winkworth explained that information on the performance reporting provided detail on variations in call volume broken down over each quarter.  He added that in general, the figures for Flintshire over the last year appeared proportionate to the size of area covered and suggested that the service was being used appropriately. 

                        The team had noticed that hospital referrals had increased and a piece of work was being undertaken to look at the issue in more detail.  Key service objectives for 2014-15 were reported which included the review and assessment of the effectiveness of the existing telephony systems.  Mr. Winkworth advised the Committee of the overspill call centre which was in place for the service and he spoke of a project which was ongoing to introduce the recording of incoming telephone calls.  He highlighted the issue of Health and Safety and commented on the introduction of a new monitoring service for staff to ensure their safety during difficult visits. 

                        Councillor Stella Jones requested that percentage figures and numbers of users be reported in the section on performance data for future reports. 

                        In response to a question from Councillor Hilary McGuill, Mr. Winkworth said that the team consisted of 10 core social workers and 10 sessional staff.  On the issue of hospital discharges after hours raised by Councillor McGuill, Mr. Winkworth explained that the team did not have the capacity to start up any new packages of care.  He added that routine referrals made by Accident & Emergency departments were passed on to the day services and that work on hospital referrals would identify which hospitals were making the referrals.  In response to a further query from Councillor McGuill, he said that the service had two incoming phone lines which would increase to three for the new system; the two existing lines would ring out four times before being transferred to the call centre. 

                        Councillor McGuill referred to the table on page 73 about the source of calls received and queried which other authorities the calls came from.  Mr. Winkworth said that the calls were from a number of sources but did not result in a significant amount of work for the service.  The Chief Officer (Social Services) provided details of the computer services used  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

That the reports be received. 

The Chief Officer (Social Services) introduced a report to request that the Committee consider the 2013/14 Year End Service Performance Report under the adopted business model of the Council.

                        He and the Service Manager/Resources gave a short presentation on the performance within Children’s Social Services, including highlights for the year end 2013-14, Internal and External Regulatory Reports and Corporate Reporting including complaints/compliments and sickness absence. 

                        In response to a query from Councillor Hilary McGuill about the table on page 6, the Chief Officer (Social Services) advised that he could obtain the missing information for Members.  Councillor McGuill also asked why the number of complaints for Childcare Fieldwork had increased and the Service Manager/Resources responded that it could be as a result of the withdrawal of legal aid.  The Chair suggested that future reports include the number of complaints alongside percentage figures to allow Members to compare the results.  Following a query from Councillor McGuill about the indicator on delivery of Disabled Facility Grants reported on page 12, the Disability, Progression and Recovery Service Manager advised that budget figures for adaptations to local authority properties could be obtained for Members.   

                        The Chief Officer (Social Services) and Disability, Progression and Recovery Service Manager then gave a short presentation on the performance within Adult Social Services of highlights for year end 2013-14, Internal and External Regulatory Reports and Corporate Reporting including complaints/compliments and sickness absence. 

Councillor Andy Dunbobbin highlighted the section on Safeguarding Vulnerable adults and sought assurance that colleagues in Social Services and Housing would liaise to ensure that referrals of anti-social behaviour were dealt with as soon as possible as he felt that the issue was a concern.  The Chief Officer (Social Services) agreed to ensure the matter was taken up with the Housing Manager.   

In referring to the national Social Care Accolade on the Recovery approach in the Mental Health Service, Councillor Hilary Isherwood asked whether working within constraints set by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) and Welsh Government would mean that the service could continue to perform to the Measure.  The Chief Officer (Social Services) responded that he had to be optimistic that the service would keep performing even though the prevention of mental health issues would continue to be a challenge.  The Disability, Progression and Recovery Service Manager explained that performance against the measure was recorded by BCUHB and the results had indicated that Flintshire County Council was performing significantly better than other authorities.  She added that she could provide Members with the details.  Councillor Isherwood echoed the comments about the fantastic service provided by the officers in the Mental Health service but raised concern about future issues within BCUHB. 

Councillor David Wisinger asked about the figures for compliments/complaints and in response, the Senior Manager: Commissioning and Performance said that the information reflected the numbers of people who had complained. 

RESOLVED:

That the reports be received. 

That the report be received.

The Senior Manager: Commissioning and Performance introduced a report to consider elements of the 2013/14 Year End Improvement Plan monitoring report relevant to the Committee for the period January to March 2014.  He gave a short presentation on the progress made towards delivery of the impacts set out in the Improvement Plan. 

            Councillor Andy Dunbobbin felt that there was a need to look earlier at the issue of housing for young people including care leavers to try and prevent them becoming homeless.  The Chief Officer (Social Services) responded that discussions had been taking place with the Chief Officer (Community and Enterprise) and Community Support Services Manager on the issue and suggested that a report be submitted to future meetings of this Committee and Housing Overview & Scrutiny Committee. 

            Councillor Hilary Isherwood raised concern that the report did not provide enough information for the public.  In response, the Chief Officer (Social Services) said that it was a summary document on the improvement priorities of the overall Council and that detailed information would be included in the business plans of the relevant services. 

RESOLVED:

That the report be received.

            That the Forward Work Programme be received. 

Prior to the discussion on the Forward Work Programme, Councillor Hilary McGuill asked whether feedback from Rota Visits could be provided to the Committee.  Following a discussion, it was agreed that verbal updates on Rota Visits would be included on agendas for future meetings.  

                        The Environment and Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Facilitator introduced a report to consider the Forward Work Programme for the Committee. 

                        The Facilitator detailed the items scheduled to be considered at the meeting of the Committee on 4 September 2014 and explained that a Forward Work Programme planning session followed by a visit to Hafan Gwydir Extra Care facility in Llanrwst would take place on 25 July 2014.  She asked those Members who had not responded to the invitation to do so and added that an earlier start time for the visit was being explored but a response to the request was awaited. 

                        Councillor Hilary Isherwood suggested that ambulance response times also needed to be considered at a future meeting of the Committee.   

            RESOLVED:

            That the Forward Work Programme be received. 

                        There was one member of the public or press in attendance.