Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone present this hybrid meeting of the Corporate Scrutiny and he extended a particular welcome to Mr John Tierney who was present for the first time as representative of the Catholic Church.

To receive any declaration of interest by any Member or Officer in respect of any item of business.

Councillor Llio Angharad Owen declared a personal but not prejudicial interest with regard to item 4 due to the nature of her employment.

To present the minutes of the previous meeting of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee held on 20 June, 2022.

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee held on the 20 June, 2022 were presented and were confirmed as correct.

To present the report of the Head of Profession (HR) and Transformation.

The report of the Head of Profession (HR) and Transformation incorporating the Corporate Scorecard for Quarter 1 of the 2022/23 financial year was presented for the Committee’s consideration and comment.

The Chief Executive in presenting the report said that the scorecard monitoring report is used to monitor the performance of the Council’s identified key performance indicators – a combination of local and nationally set indicators - in delivering its day to day activities. It provides the intelligence to enable the Council to take a proactive approach to performance management and equips it with the information it needs to make changes and to implement mitigating actions agreed by the Leadership Team to drive and secure improvements into the future. The performance monitoring KPIs are aligned with the Council’s three current wellbeing objectives as set out in the report and they will be developed and aligned with the new Council Plan for 2023 to 2028 when that is adopted later in the year. The outcomes within the scorecard are cumulative meaning that the trends column will inform performance trends from quarter to quarter starting from Quarter 2.

The Chief Executive in saying that the scorecard reflects an encouraging picture overall highlighted that there are areas in which the performance can be further improved and that those improvements have to take place in a climate of uncertainty where demand is rising in some service areas but capacity and resources are not. The financial management section of the report identifies the financial risks and challenges facing the Council and these will be closely monitored as the year unfolds. The report also brings to the fore areas of positive performance including the number of visits to leisure centres; the number of empty homes brought back into use; the homelessness indicators; three of the four waste management indicators exceeding target; Adults’ Services indicators all performing above target for the quarter and continuing improvement in the road condition of the Island’s A, B and C roads. The Council will continue to be alert to and monitor risks and/or areas where performance can be bettered for example, the number of child assessments completed within time. However, the scorecard at Quarter 1 provides assurance that the Council’s day to day activities in managing its people, finances and its customer services are delivering against their expectations to an appropriate standard.

The Officers and Portfolio Members responded to points raised by the Committee and advised as follows  -

·      Acknowledged that maintaining this positive level of performance amid increasing challenges and uncertainties could be difficult especially in light of growing demand for the Council’s services as more people face cost of living pressures. Individuals as well as children and families who might not previously have needed to access Council services are coming to the Council for advice and support which in turn puts pressure on services in meeting those needs. Maintaining the performance percentage levels set out in the report will therefore be a challenge given that extra funding is not always  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

To present the report of the Director of Social Services.

The report of the Director of Social Services setting out progress and developments to date in Children and Families’ Services and in Adults’ Services was presented for the Committee’s consideration. The report also provided an outline of the business undertaken by the Social Services Scrutiny Panel over the course of Quarter 1 2022/23 including a summary of the issues considered at its meetings held on 18 July and 12 September, 2022.

The Director of Social Services in presenting the report said that the work of developing services continues in tandem with fulfilling day to day statutory responsibilities. He referred to some of the initiatives currently in development and progressing as follows -

·      Successful recruitment to the new post of Service Manager – LAC Education, Youth Services and Children and Young People’s Wellbeing which straddles Children and Families’ Services and the Learning Service. The role will also include realising the vision of becoming a Trauma Informed Island across schools, Early Years, Youth Services, Fostering Services and the Social Work Teams.

·      Working to implement an integrated approach – the Virtual Schools Model – to improving educational outcomes for looked after children in line with the recommendations of Sir Alasdair Macdonald’s review of ways to improve the educational outcomes of looked after children through implementing an integrated approach across Wales.

·      Extension of the Welsh Government’s Flying Start Early Years Programme to include an additional 49 children in Anglesey during 2022/23 as the first phase. Social Services will be working closely with childcare providers and parents/carers in the new Flying Start area.

·      Achieving Maethu Cymru Môn’s target for recruiting foster households in 2021/22 whilst also focusing efforts on retention which is seen to be improving meaning that the number of Fostering Households approved and registered to the Council is on a steady increase.

The Head of Adults’ Services provided an overview of activities in Adults’ Services in the period since the last update including –

·      The appointment of a Transformation and Development Manager to work on a number of projects including the Learning Disability Programme.

·      The completion of a positive Internal Audit review of Direct Payments

·      Development of a range of community activities in Holyhead working alongside Boston Centre Stage.

·      Implementation of pooled funding arrangement with BCUHB to support care packages for people with learning disabilities.

·      Establishment of a Dementia Centre offering bespoke dementia services for individuals and carers

·      Merger of Adults’ Services’ Single Point of Contact and Teulu Môn into one integrated front door access point.

·      Stepping up the recruitment effort for home care and care home workers with an advertising campaign on Council vehicles, promoting a career in Social Care.

The Committee welcomed the report as testimony of progress made and highlighted a number of aspects for special praise specifically the success of the Foster Carers recruitment drive, the pooled funding initiative with the Health Board and the creative and resourceful approach to addressing issues and overcoming difficulties. The Chair emphasised that all schemes/changes need to be fully costed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To present the report of the Scrutiny Manager.

The report of the Scrutiny Manger outlining the progress of the Finance Scrutiny Panel during Quarter 1 of 2022/23 was presented for the Committee’s consideration.

Councillor Dafydd Roberts, Chair of the Finance Scrutiny Panel reported that the Panel met on three occasions during this period, the first of which took place on 4 July which agreed the terms of reference and context to the Panel’s work which is considered especially pertinent in the current economic climate. Planning the work programme for the next six months was also discussed. The 28 July meeting focused on the Budget setting process for 2023/24 including the annual consultation process. A scrutiny workshop led by CIPFA Wales formed part of the Panel’s 8 September meeting whilst the Panel also looked in detail at the latest budget monitoring information for Quarter 1 2022/23.

Councillor Roberts explained that as the majority membership of the Panel comprises of Members newly elected in May, 2022, it will be necessary to create the conditions for all Members to fully take part in the Panel’s scrutiny work including making full use of the forward work programme to ensure appropriate and timely inputs to support members of the Panel.

It was resolved to note the initial progress to date of the work of the Finance Scrutiny Panel.

To nominate a member of the Committee to serve on the Waste Steering Group with WRAP Cymru

The report of the Scrutiny Manager seeking the Committee’s agreement to nominate a Committee Member to serve on the Waste Steering Group with WRAP Cymru was presented for consideration.

The report noted that the Steering Group has been established to mitigate the current underperformance with regard to the percentage of waste reused, recycled or composted  by the Council as evidenced in the Quarter 4 2021/22 Corporate Scorecard report discussed at the Committee 20 June, 2022 meeting. Membership includes senior Members, senior Officers and partners from the Welsh Local Government Association and WRAP Cymru and group’s terms of reference are as set out in Appendix 1 to the report.

It was resolved to nominate Councillor Llio Angharad Owen as this Committee’s representative on the Steering Group with WRAP Cymru.

To present the report of the Scrutiny Manager.

The report of the Scrutiny Manager setting out the Corporate Scrutiny Committee’s Forward Work Programme for 2022/23 was presented for consideration.

The Scrutiny Manager referred to the Committee’s next meeting in October, 2022 and confirmed the business to be considered at that meeting.

It was resolved –

·         To agree the current version of the Forward Work Programme for 2022/23.

·         To note the progress thus far in implementing the Forward Work Programme.