Agenda item

To consider a report by the Principal Manager:  Business Support (copy enclosed) which presents a draft of the Director of Social Services Annual Report 2014/15 for the Committee’s comments prior to its submission to the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW)

The Lead Member for Social Care, Adult and Children’s Services, Councillor Bobby Feeley, introduced the Director of Social Services Annual Report (previously circulated). 

The Director of Social Services (DofSS) advised that whilst the County’s social care services were improving there was always room for further improvement.  Amongst the challenges that lay ahead would be the enactment of the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014, which would come into full effect in April 2016. 

In response to Members’ questions the DofSS:

·       Advised that the challenges for the forthcoming year were detailed within the report.

·       Outlined the Service’s commitment to residents and service users wishing to communicate through the medium of Welsh.  The Council’s Welsh language portfolio holder, Councillor Huw Ll Jones, attended the Service’s Welsh Language Monitoring Group and Councillor Arwel Roberts would be in attendance in the near future.  The Group monitored the Service’s compliance with the “Mwy Na Geiriau – More Than Words” Action Plan.

·       Detailed the quality monitoring process to ensure services commissioned met the service users and the Council’s needs, and the changes to the complaints process aimed at expediting the resolution of complaints.

·       Explained that Direct Payments were paid into the service user’s account of choice to permit them to pay for their care.  The account could be a Post Office, bank, building society or credit union account.

·       Denbighshire performed well with regards to “delayed transfer of care” indicator.  There had been some issues with delayed transfers of care in the south of the county, which were in the main due to the rural nature of the area.  The problems were more prevalent when two carers were required to be in attendance at the same time.  The Council and the Health Service were working closely to resolve this issue.

·       Risks related to the amalgamation of the Education and Children’s Services under one Head of Service were being managed well, and elected members were being regularly briefed on the progress of the project.

·       The potential closure of residential care homes had been identified as a challenge in last year’s plan, these were currently being worked through.  The Lead Member for Social Care had emphasised the need for elected members to communicate clearly to residents the reasons behind the proposals to allay their concerns with respect to proposed future changes to service delivery.

·       Gave an explanation of what was classed as a “move” for a child in care.  These had included positive moves e.g. back to parents, discharge from hospital or adoption.  Consequently the statistics relating to this particular performance indicator (PI) had the potential not to give the full picture.   The Council had been chosen as one of the pilot authorities for trialling “outcome” measures for looked after children.  The purpose of this pilot was to devise a meaningful data set for looked after children which would assist authorities to improve services to them.

·       Despite registering a high rate of sickness absence in comparison to other council services, the Social Services Department’s performance was improving and compared well against the Wales and UK average for Social Services.

·       Briefed members on developments relating to the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) following the Minister for Health and Social Services’ recent announcement that the Board would be placed in special measures.  The Lead Member for Social Care would be attending a meeting that afternoon with the newly appointed Accountable Officer at the Board, Mr Simon Dean.  The DofSS and Chief Executive would meet the Accountable Officer the following week.  The Chair of BCUHB had given assurances that it would be “business as usual” and, as a result, the Council was confident that plans already in the pipeline would be delivered.  The Lead Member and officers would seek assurances that capital programmes previously announced i.e. The Royal Alexandra Hospital project, would be delivered and that other ongoing funding streams and projects and the Intermediate Care Fund would continue. 

Following a discussion, the Committee:

RESOLVED that subject to the above observations:

(a)  To receive the report and endorse it as a clear account of performance in 2014/15.

(b)  That the Services’ performance in delivering their services and in addressing the challenges identified for 2015 be closely monitored via the Service Challenge Process, with any areas of concern being escalated to the Committee’s attention, and

(c)  That the Lead Member for Social Care and the Director of Social Services keep members fully informed on developments relating to the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and their impact on residents and Council services.