Agenda item

ANNUAL COUNCIL REPORTING FRAMEWORK

Meeting of Performance Scrutiny Committee, Friday, 24 May 2013 10.00 am (Item 9.)

To consider a report by the Corporate Director: Modernisation and Wellbeing (copy enclosed) which detailed the self-assessment of social care in Denbighshire and identified improvement priorities for 2013/14.

12.00 – 12.30

Minutes:

A copy of a report by the Corporate Director: Modernising and Wellbeing (CD:MW), which provided a summary of the effectiveness of the authority’s social care services and priorities for improvement, had been circulated with the papers for the meeting.

The draft annual report for 2012/2013, included as Appendix 1, intended to provide an honest picture of services in Denbighshire and demonstrated a clear understanding of the strengths and challenges faced, and would be subject to further consultation and refinement prior to being presented to Full Council by July, 2013.

A summary of the four components of the Annual Council Reporting Framework (ACRF) had been outlined in the report:-

- A detailed self-assessment and analysis of effectiveness

- Evidence trail

- Integration with business planning

- Publication of an annual report

The report formed an integral part of the CSSIW performance evaluation of Denbighshire Social Services, and the evaluation informed the Wales Audit Offices assessment of Denbighshire as part of the annual Improvement Report. The overall assessment indicated that Denbighshire Social Services had succeeded in making real improvements in terms of both performance and quality over the past year, and details of the areas of progress had been summarised in the report. There had been some real challenges for both Adult & Business and Children’s Services and Appendix 2 provided an overview of the challenges and how the Council intended to respond to them. Members were informed that views and challenges on the draft report had been sought from officers in Flintshire County Council and BCUHB.

Improvement priorities within the annual report recognised the need to continue to adapt and modernise services in order to respond to the expectations and requirements of the Welsh Government’s Social Services and Wellbeing Bill. Details of the key features to the Council’s approach to proactively remodel and develop new service patterns to improve local services had been included in the report. Areas of improvements were highlighted which included Children’s Services, collaborative working and quality assurance.

The Council’s commitment to modernisation would involve an increased investment in preventative and early intervention services to enable citizens to be independent, resilient and able. The approach would need to be underpinned by a range of services, activities and support networks which people could access in their own community, and the delivery of the agenda would require cross-council/service and cross-sector solutions including community led initiatives.

Members were informed that remodeling and development of new services and approaches would inevitably result in some unpopular change. There would be a focus on making changes which deliver cost effective, sustainable services to ensure vulnerable people were protected and received high quality services which provided dignity in care and good outcomes.

Priorities detailed within the ACRF directly contributed to priority 4 of the Council’s Corporate Priorities: vulnerable people are protected and are able to live as independently as possible. Activity identified within the annual report would continue to directly contribute to, and benefit from, the delivery of both the Economic Ambition and Modernising the Council programmes.

The CD:MW responded to a question from Councillor W.E. Cowie and provided details of the charging process for Residential Care Home provision which would be agreed on an annual basis and subject to regulatory requirements. Councillor D. Owens referred to the 58% increase in children looked after by the Authority and the Service Manager: Quality and Systems Development explained that the increase had been experienced on national level, and was partly attributable to new procedures adopted by the courts. An outline of Denbighshire rehabilitation programme was provided for the Committee. Details of the Council’s monitoring process for Care Homes, together with the national standards, were provided in response to a question from Councillor R.J. Davies.

The availability of services bilingually was highlighted by the CD:MW and reference was made to the initiative introduced by the Welsh Government which contained working standards and a strategic framework which related to health and social care. She explained that there were some areas where the provision of bilingual services could be challenging and reference was made to the work undertaken by the Welsh Language Strategy Group.