Agenda item

To consider a report (copy attached) to see the County Council’s approval of the draft North Wales Population Assessment before the final version is produced by 1 April 2017

The Lead Member for Social Care, Adult and Children’s Services introduced the report (previously circulated) to provide general information regarding the draft Population Assessment for North Wales, which had been produced in partnership with the other five North Wales Local Authorities, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and Public Health Wales.

The Population Assessment had to be produced on a legal basis under Section 14 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 and the Care and Support (Population Assessment) Wales Regulations 2015.  It must be jointly produced by the six North Wales Local Authorities and the Local Health Board.  Once completed, it had to be published on the Denbighshire website and submitted to the Welsh Government.

The Service Manager: Strategic Development gave an in-depth explanation to Members of the Population Assessment.

The Population Assessment would ensure services were planned and developed in an efficient and effective way by public sector partners to promote the well-being of people with care and support needs.

The Strategy and Development Officer (SDO) confirmed he had been involved in writing the chapter regarding children and young people. 

The population of children and young people had remained fairly stable during the past five years.  There had been an increase in the number of children on the child protection register and in the number of children looked-after in North Wales.  There had also been an increase in cyber-crime and victimisation.

During in-depth discussions, the following main points were raised:

·       The use of caravans as a residence by people who were registered outside the county.  This added pressure on to existing services e.g. hospitals, doctors, schools etc.  The precept was for the number of people registered within the county.  The Service Manager: Strategic Development (SM:SD) ensured he would check the statistics with colleagues as to what the latest position was.  At this point, the Corporate Director: Economic and Community Ambition confirmed there was a live piece of work taking place regarding people residing in caravans and she would ensure colleagues in Planning and Public Protection would keep Members informed.  It was also raised that there were single caravans on pieces of land in which people resided and those would need to be included within the investigation.

·       The work taking place between the six Local Authorities and the Local Health Board working required a strategy that action would be taken following this report.  The SM:SD confirmed he would ensure the changes would be noted and the report be correct in that respect.

·       Working with veterans would be required as they had specific needs and there were a large number who were homeless.

·       Petty crimes committed by school aged children who were vulnerable between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.  It had been requested research take place covering the end of the school day and the time parents returned home from work.  The SDO confirmed the question would be fed back to the Steering Group and the response included in a further document.

·       During the past 2 years, there had been a significant improvement in the wellbeing of young carers.  Denbighshire had been working in partnership with social services, Wrexham and Conwy Council, together with the Health Board and the work was developing immensely.

·       It was agreed that the Assessment needed to be more than a worded document.  The Assessment would inform the North Wales area plan which had to be produced by 1^st April 2018. Denbighshire would need to continue working with partner Authorities, the Local Health Board and the third sector in producing this plan.  Members were also to be encouraged to be involved with the work on the area plan.

·       North Wales had a high number of children from outside the region who were being looked after locally and the number had been increasing.  This placed additional demand on local services.  Information was being collated and it was to be part of the next phase and partnership key element.

·       Denbighshire were increasing the provision of Extra Care Housing as an alternative to residential care (unless nursing or mental health care was required).  Analysis in February 2016 suggested, with the exception of Elderly Mental Health Nursing, in most areas there were sufficient care home beds to meet demand and over-capacity in certain areas.

·       People moving into care homes from outside the region – some of those placements would be self-funded. If people needed to be closer to their families, they could purchase a bed in a care home directly, likewise if anyone needed to move from Denbighshire to another area.  This would need to be addressed in the future.

·       The impact of Berwyn Prison, Wrexham would be addressed.  A Homeless Strategy was currently being developed.  Prisoners were referred to a housing officer to deal with their needs prior to discharge from prison.  This would need to be addressed and consultation with colleagues with a possible report back to Council in 2-3 months’ time.

·       Welsh language was a key priority.  25% of the population of Denbighshire were Welsh speakers. There were some challenges to recruit Welsh speaking staff in some areas.

·       There were four wards in Denbighshire which were in the top twenty most deprived areas in Wales (Welsh Government 2014). The figures were produced every three years with the next being produced in 2018.

·       Reference was made to high rates of smoking and obesity levels in Denbighshire as compared to other North Wales authorities 

The Corporate Director: Communities explained the North Wales Population Assessment had to be produced and published by 1 April 2017 but any chapters could be referred to Scrutiny.  The statutory requirement was to have it published and agreed by 1 April 2017 but it was a living document, and this was one area of information which could shape and develop that.

The Lead Member for Social Care, Adult & Children’s Services clarified that work had been taking place across North Wales with all six Local Authorities and the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.   

She confirmed that the Berwyn Prison issue was being led by Wrexham County Council, and the Population Assessment was being led by Conwy County Borough Council.

At this juncture the Lead Member expressed gratitude to all the work which had been carried out over the years by Gwynfor Griffiths, the Service Manager: Strategic Development.  He was retiring at the end of March 2017 and wished him well in his retirement.

RESOLVED that subject to the above, Members approved the draft Population Assessment pending the final versions being produced.