Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Nicola Stubbins, Corporate Director:  Communities.  Gary Williams, Corporate Director: Governance and Business & Monitoring Officer was in attendance as corporate support.

Members to declare any personal or prejudicial interests in any business identified to be considered at this meeting.

Councillor Kelly Clewett declared a personal interest in business item 6, ‘Regional Partnership Board’s Annual Report 2021/22’, in her capacity as Team Leader of the Denbigh Community Resource Team (CRT) and an employee of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB).

Notice of items which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency pursuant to Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act 1972.

None.

To receive the minutes of the Partnerships Scrutiny Committee held on 7^th July 2022 (copy enclosed).

10.05am – 10.10am

The minutes of the Partnerships Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 7 July 2022 were submitted.  The Committee:

Resolved:  that the minutes of the meeting held on 7 July 2022 be received and approved as a true and correct record of the proceedings.

No matters arose from the contents of the minutes.

To consider a report by the Interim Head of Highways, & Environmental Services (copy enclosed) which provides information and seeks members’ observations regarding the current status and the proposed future direction of environmental enforcement services across the county.

10.10am – 10.45am

Lead Member for Waste, Transport and the Environment, Councillor Barry Mellor, introduced the report (previously circulated) alongside the Interim Head of Highways and Environmental Service and the Interim Waste and Recycling Manager. The report provided members with an update on the progress of this outsourced arrangement at the end of the contract period and detailed proposed future arrangements for the continued delivery of these services across the Denbighshire area, highlighting the risks to this outsourced arrangement and how those risks were being managed.  The Lead Member explained that whilst the decision to award the contract could have been taken by the Head of Highways and Environmental Service, under powers delegated to him, both the Head of Service and Lead Member were keen to seek members’ views on the contract specification, in particular the proposed amendments to the contract.

The service provider delivered Environmental Enforcement officer patrols county-wide (publically accessed land) to raise awareness and issue Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) for low-level environmental crime offences. Most offences related to littering and contraventions of Denbighshire’s Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) Dog Control. They also issued FPNs for other environmental violations, including fly posting and graffiti and the enforcement of smoke-free legislation. The service provider was also responsible for a range of back-office support in relation to Fixed Penalties, including managing payment rates and preparing case files for potential prosecutions (for non-payment of FPNs and walk-offs.) They were also required to be the first point of contact for complaints and representations from the public.

The Committee was informed of the contract variations, which were –

Three Variations to the 2019 contract specification, these had come into force on 10th October 2022:

(i)    To extend the current contract for 24 months (Substantial Variation) to 9th October 2024.

(ii)  To extend the scope of the contract by including two additional areas of environmental enforcement – initially through two six-month pilots. (Not considered a substantial variation);

(iii) The inclusion of a “termination for convenience” clause, enabling the contractor to terminate the contract with 12 weeks’ notice should the contract fail to be commercially viable for them. (Not considered a substantial variation)

Members discussed the following in further detail –

·         Concerns were raised regarding the low number of patrols recorded for the county’s more rural areas, i.e. the Dee Valley, Denbigh and Ruthin areas, as some members felt that the patrols currently focused on tourist areas. The Committee felt that there needed to be a whole Denbighshire approach to the new contract. Officers confirmed that this matter had been identified and was currently being part of an on-going discussion between the Council and the company.

·         The Committee had concerns relating to the cost and profit margins for the company for delivering the service, Members were worried that this could push the company to go to sources of profit rather than dealing with the issues that concerned residents, littering and dog fouling. The officers clarified that the proposal to raise the fine levels with regards to dog fouling offences would hopefully deter such offences and reduce the levels of such offences in future.  Dog fouling was regarded by the general public as a crime against people and communities therefore it was important that fines were set at a level to help deter reoffending whilst also educating persistent offenders of the impact of the crime.  The Committee agreed that educating people was vital, and a good working relationship with the Communications Teams would be vital to tackling the issue effectively.

·         Members referred to the possibility of some people evading being caught and fined as they walked their dogs during  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To receive a report by the Corporate Director and the Head of Regional Collaboration (copy enclosed) which presents the Committee with the North Wales Regional Partnership Board’s Annual Report on its activities during 2021/22.

10.45am – 11.15am

The Lead Member for Health and Social Care alongside the Head of Regional Collaboration presented the Regional Partnership Board – Annual Report 2021/22 (previously circulated).  The purpose of the report was to provide information to partners with regard to the North Wales Regional Partnership Board (NWRPB) and its activities during 2021/22.

In March 2018 the Welsh Government issued Guidance for the completion of the Regional Partnership Board Annual reports and Boards were expected to use this guidance for the completion of their reports. The report presented to the Committee contained all the information which was required to be included in accordance with the Guidance. The NWRPB report was written in a format that captured all information which required to be presented. The report also included views of a number of the Board’s members.

The Board had been established to meet the requirements of Part 9 of the Social Services and Well-Being (Wales) Act 2014. The Act required local authorities to make arrangements to promote co-operation with their relevant partners and others, in relation to adults with needs for care and support, carers and children. It also placed a duty on relevant partners to co-operate with, and provide information to, the local authorities for the purpose of their social services functions.

The Head of Regional Collaboration highlighted specific areas of interest within the report –

The Regional Partnership Board’s role is to bring together health, social services, housing, the third sector and other partners to work together to integrate health, social care and well-being services across the region.

To support the work undertaken there is a complex governance structure as you can see on page 6 of the Annual report.  The main board is the Regional Partnership Board which meets monthly and is responsible for setting a clear direction for partnership working and ensuring that this is achieved. The NWRPB formally reports to the North Wales Leadership Board.

Welsh Government provide us with revenue and capital funding to support this work. 

The Integrated Care Fund (ICF) was established in 2014 and enables health and social care services to work together to support: older people with complex needs and long term conditions including dementia people with learning disabilities children with complex needs due to disability or illness carers, including young carers children at risk of becoming looked after, in care or who are adopted.

And the transformation programme which commenced in April 2018 to improve health and social care services across Wales.

Both programmes were there to help deliver the Social Services and Wellbeing Act and the Welsh Government Strategy, A Healthier Wales through the Regional Partnership Board.

The last 12 months has seen the previous two programmes for Integration – Transformation Programme and the Integrated Care Fund come to an end and a new fund developed – the Regional Integration Fund.

• The Population Needs Assessment 2022 - the Board had successfully completed a full review of the North Wales Population Assessment in partnership with local authority and health board leads, supported by the Research, Innovation and Improvement Coordination Hub and Public Health Wales.  The data and analysis contained in this Assessment would be used to help shape regional priorities and area service plans going forward.

• The establishment of a Children’s Sub-Group of the NWRPB to provide strategic direction in respect of supporting families of children with specific health and social care needs.

The information contained in the Population Needs Assessment and Annual Report would assist the Board to scope and develop its regional priorities and to plan and improve services across the region.

During the discussion members raised the following matters  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To consider a report by the Scrutiny Coordinator (copy enclosed) seeking a review of the committee’s forward work programme and updating members on relevant issues.

11.15am – 11.30am

The Scrutiny Coordinator submitted a report (previously circulated) seeking members’ review of the Committee’s work programme. Members were informed the purpose of the report was to review the Committee’s future work to ensure it included all items requested by members.

Members were informed that items of the previous meeting which was cancelled had been moved to the December meeting.

The Scrutiny Coordinator queried with the committee whether they had any nominations for the representative to serve on the Project Board for Bwthyn y Ddôl. Councillor Bobby Feeley was happy to be a representative on the board, which was seconded by Councillor Martyn Hogg all present were in agreement with the proposal.

The Committee:

To receive any updates from Committee representatives on various Council Boards and Groups.

11.30am – 11.35am

None.

The meeting concluded at 12.15pm.