Agenda item

That Social and Health Care Overview & Scrutiny Committee receives the report for information and notes the consultation response.          

The Director of Community Services introduced a report to provide an update on the draft Social Services (Wales) Bill and Flintshire County Council’s response to the recent consultation paper.  The Director introduced Alison Kulkowski, the Planning & Development Officer, to the Committee and explained that she had prepared the response shown as appendix 2.   

                        The Director detailed the background to the report and explained that appendix 1 gave a summary of the Bill with appendix 2 showing the responses provided to the consultation.  It had not been not possible for the response to be discussed by Committee before the deadline due to the Election and formation of a new Committee, however copies of the bill had been sent to previous Members to provide any comments or feedback to officers prior to the deadline.  The six main areas were reported in paragraph 2.05 and the key points for each area were summarised in appendix 1 to the report.  The Director explained that not all of the 98 questions had been answered in the response.  In particular he highlighted responses to questions in section 2.2 on Assessment of Need, section 2.3 Portability of Assessments and section 3.4 Collaboration in Integrated Social Services. 

                        It was reported in paragraph 3.02 that the Bill repeatedly stated that Welsh Government (WG) did not see the need for any additional resources.  However Flintshire’s response raised concerns about whether there would be sufficient resources available to meet increased commitments and expectations in the face of growing demand for services.  Paragraph 3.03 also reported that Flintshire’s considered response also advocated for flexibility in how local authorities delivered services in order to be responsive to local need and protect local democracy.  The Director explained that the response highlighted that the proposals in the Bill could not be achieved by Social Services alone and that commitment by all statutory partners would be required to fully take forward and implement the change programme. 

                        He concluded by informing the Committee of the statement made recently by the Deputy Minister that a significant decision had been made that the Bill would not include an element in the regulations of inspection of Social Services and that this would be the subject of a separate White Paper.  It had also been agreed that the Bill would be introduced into the National Assembly in January 2013 instead of October 2012 as had been indicated in appendix 1. 

                        The Chair felt that the introduction of a common IT system would be required to allow all statutory partners to work together but she felt that this would be a major cost.  She also expressed her gratitude for the comments of the Deputy Minister on the issue.   

            Councillor S. Jones welcomed partnership working but said that a number of colleagues had reservations about decisions being made by others and the issue only being brought back to Overview & Scrutiny for rubber-stamping.  She felt that there had to be an opportunity for Scrutiny Committees to be able to discuss issues and have an input into the final decision.  The Director agreed and said that there was a need for a full and frank discussion.       

            The Cabinet Member for Social Services commented on the statement by the Deputy Minister who she said had been supportive.  She added that a Citizen’s Panel was to be introduced to give users and stakeholders involved a voice in the strategic design at an All Wales level.  This had been welcomed as a positive step. 

            On the issue of collaboration, Councillor M. Bateman queried why video conferencing was not used more frequently.  The Director advised that it was used at officer level and the Chair indicated that she had used it during her time as an Executive Member.  Councillor P. Curtis felt that video conferencing was useful on a one-to-one basis but said that it was difficult when more people were involved. 

            The Learning and Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Facilitator advised the Committee that the recommendation at paragraph 4.01 should start with the words ‘That Social and Health Care Overview & Scrutiny Committees’ and not as indicated in the report. 

RESOLVED:

That Social and Health Care Overview & Scrutiny Committee receives the report for information and notes the consultation response.