Agenda item

To submit a report by the Director of Social Services.

The report of the Director of Social Services incorporating a Proposal Paper for the future of Learning Disability Day Opportunities on Anglesey was presented for the Executive’s consideration. The report sought the Executive’s approval to formally consult on the proposal to “develop more community based opportunities for people with a learning disability, extend the provision at Gors Felen and close the services at Morswyn, Blaen y Coed and Gerddi Heulfre.”

The Chair and Portfolio Member for Social Services reported that it is necessary to reshape and modernise the day opportunities services in order to –

•           develop sustainable opportunities for individuals;

•           further improve the delivery of the service in the most cost-effective way;

•           respond to feedback from service users and their families as to what they would like day opportunities to look like in the future;

•           meet the current and future needs of the people whom the Authority supports;

•           meet the requirements of the Social Services Well-being (Wales) Act 2014

She highlighted that the most important people in a consultation are those who are affected by it, their families and carers and she emphasised that should the Executive decide to proceed to consultation, she was keen that it be on the basis of the following drivers  -

•           a focus on an outcome based approach i.e. a shift from  paying for prescribed activities within a set timeframe to paying for results or outcomes which increase and individual’s skills, well-being and confidence;

•           to ensure the same standards of service delivery across all services with both the in-house and external services focusing on ensuring progression and achieving outcomes for individual service users;

•           to ensure that resources are allocated fairly with the same assessment and access criteria for both in-house and external services;

•           to ensure that there is fair pricing for services reflecting the differing needs of the individuals attending e.g. it may be appropriate to pay a premium rate to support an individual with more profound or multiple learning disabilities or complex support needs;

•           providers will have greater freedom and flexibility to work with the people they support to design and co-produce the activities that will achieve those outcomes. Some of these activities may be delivered in partnership with other community groups and organisations;

•           to encourage service providers, both internal and external, to develop, adapt and change in response to this new way of working;

•           to encourage community based groups to offer regular supported placements that can add to an individual’s skills and ensure progression.

The Director of Social Services confirmed that the case for change is based on the belief that the nature of the provision for people with learning disabilities needs to be reformed to provide better outcomes for those individuals within their local communities and to ensure that those services remain sustainable and effective into the future. The Council currently has a number of different day opportunities available to people with learning disabilities some of which are provided in-house by the Council itself and some of which are commissioned externally. Under the direction of the Adults’ Services Transformation Board, a series of visits to various day centres on the Island was arranged for Elected Members in July 2019 which helped provide a clearer understanding of the services provided by the centres; additionally, a new Strategy for Day Opportunities for People with a Learning Disability has been adopted after intensive engagement with service users about what they would like to see in the form of support and opportunities for personal development and progression. The proposal paper elaborates on these elements and also identifies the key challenges facing the current in-house day centres at Morswyn, Holyhead; Blaen y Coed, Llangoed; Gerddi Heulfre, Llangoed and Gors Felen, Llangefni. The Officer said that the intent  as part of the consultation, is to give a clear direction about the commitment to develop  services over a period of time be that in the independent or voluntary sectors or internally within the Council in order to extend the opportunities for individuals within their communities. For those with more profound and complex needs it is considered that a single more specialised centre is required which would form part of the consultation – it is   envisaged that Gors Felen could fulfil this purpose. The proposal also envisages the learning disability day opportunities provision becoming more community rather than centre based in the long-term. It is hoped that the proposal will provide greater flexibility and offer better and more varied opportunities for individuals within their local communities.

Councillor G.O.Jones, Chair of the Partnership and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee was invited to present the Committee’s perspective on the matter following its scrutiny of the proposal paper at its meeting on 21 January, 2020. Councillor Jones reported that the Committee although fully supportive of the intention to modernise day opportunities services for people with learning disabilities  was concerned about the reference to closing three centres which it considered premature at this time. The Committee in making the point that the consultation process should concentrate on having a dialogue with service users and their families and other stakeholders so as to create the conditions whereby they could influence the model of delivery for the future, resolved to recommend to the Executive that it support in principle going out to consultation on the proposal to develop  more community based opportunities for people with a learning disability and authorises Officers to conduct a formal consultation thereon.

Councillors Lewis Davies and Alun Roberts as Local Members spoke of their disappointment about the proposal’s reference to the closure of three day centres which they felt did not provide a basis for constructive consultation wherein individuals and their families and carers could provide their views on what is important to them thereby helping to shape the form and direction of the service in future. In order to have a positive discourse with service uses and their families and communities, the Local Members urged the Executive to remove the reference to centre closure from the proposal and instead focus in the first place on having a conversation with stakeholders about what they would like from the day opportunities service.

The Executive considered the proposal paper, the feedback from Scrutiny and the views of the Local Members and although accepting the central premise regarding the need to modernise the way opportunities are provided for people with a learning disability, expressed reservations about the proposal as it was currently formulated believing that it might not to take the process forward in as positive a way as hoped for nor encourage as wide ranging a discussion as possible. The Executive also noted that as it is important that stakeholders and their families appreciate what modernising the day opportunities services entails and what is being proposed there needs to be an accessible and user friendly version of the proposal/consultation paper.

In light of the discussion the Chair and Portfolio Member for Social Services put forward an amended proposal which was supported by the Executive  - namely that a formal consultation be conducted on the following –

•           To develop more community based opportunities for people with a learning disability.

•           To establish whether there are advantages to extending a day centre to meet more profound needs.

•           To review the current learning disability day service provision. 

It was therefore formally resolved to authorise Officers to conduct a formal consultation on the following -

•           To develop more community based opportunities for people with a learning disability.

•           To establish whether there are advantages to extending a day centre to meet more profound needs.

•           To review the current learning disability day service provision.