Agenda item

To consider a report by the Head of Regional Collaboration (copy enclosed) which summarises the work of the North Wales Regional Partnership Board during 2023/24 and seeks the Committee’s observations on the progress made to date in achieving its objectives.

10.40am – 11.10am

The Lead Member for Health and Social Care introduced the report (previously circulated) and advised that the Regional Partnership Board had been formed to meet the requirements of Section 9 of the Social Services and Wellbeing(Wales) Act 2014.  The Board brought together a wide range of voices, including services, carers and service users. The main function of the Board was to ensure that these services were working together effectively and efficiently whilst also overseeing the use of key funding streams. The Lead Member highlighted some aspects of the report including the Radical Thinking Workshop which explored potential principles for transformative change for the wellbeing of North Wales residents.

The Head of Regional Collaboration thanked all staff for their efforts in delivering these services and noted that they were both dedicated and talented. The report highlighted the extent of the work undertaken to set up procedures to enable the delivery of the Collaboration’s objectives. It was noted that one of the main principles within the Collaboration is the need for change and development.

In response to members’ questions, the Lead Member and relevant officers advised that:.

·         the risks outlined in the report were recognised and acknowledged.  As the Regional Boards developed over the years the expectation on the range of work and initiatives overseen by the Board had increased every year which meant that the work of managing the workload was in itself becoming a risk.   This was a national risk and not just a regional one.

·         the Board was meeting all its requirements and Statutory Duties at present but all partners were mindful that this could be a challenge in the future to maintain so it was important for all the partners to understand where these strains were in order to consider the bigger picture. 

·         regarding the setting of care home fees, despite trying to bring about a consistent approach, some authorities had deviated from the care fees agreement. It was for the individual Local Authorities and Health Board to set their own care fees. Whilst the Regional Fee Setting Board (subgroup of the Regional Partnership Board) which worked towards the principles and methodology for the setting of care fees, the Group did not have the powers to actually set the fees, it could only recommend a ‘global’ level across the region.  The Group’s aim was to ensure that all stakeholder worked together to establish better relationships with providers, Ultimately, the agreement had not deviated from, as the methodology had been used. 

·         that Dementia Services, in particular the Memory Support Pathway had recently started to offer services to help sufferers and carers. These events included guest speakers and a variety of services run by the Carers Trust utilising regional funding, with Dementia Support workers attending these events. One notable partner in commissioning and delivering dementia and Alzheimer support services in the Denbighshire area was Denbighshire Voluntary Services Council (DVSC).  Nevertheless, recent changes in the Dementia Friendly accreditation process may have impacted on certain communities not yet being able to regain their accreditation.

·         the Regional Partnership Board’s funding was made up of a mixture of Welsh Government (WG) funding and funding provided by its core partners.  The Regional Integration Fund (RIF) was a 5-year fund worth just over £57m, £29.7m provided by WG and £27.4m from other partners.  The objective of this fund was to support integration and partnership working in relation to priority population groups.  As this was a regional fund it was difficult to quantify exactly how much funding for each individual project operating in Denbighshire had been contributed by Denbighshire County Council in the first instance.

·      the Health Board was a Statutory Partner of the Board and like all other statutory partners took its responsibilities seriously.  It was not just the Health Board who were making cuts all public sector bodies finances were subject to cuts.

·      they were not aware of any current plans to formally integrate Local Authority and Health Board Learning Disabilities Services; however this did not restrict them from working collaboratively.

Following a comprehensive discussion, the Committee:

Resolved:  subject to the above comments along with the provision of the requested information, to –

(i)           confirm that, as part of its consideration of the North Wales Regional Partnership Board’s Annual Report it had read, understood and taken into account the work that is required to be undertaken by the Regional Partnership Board; and

(ii)          acknowledge the progress made during 2023/24 in relation to the work areas being taken forward through the North Wales Regional Partnership Board.

12pm:  At this juncture the Committee adjourned for a break and re-convened at 12.10pm.