Agenda, decisions and minutes

The Chair welcomed the newly elected member Councillor Sonia Williams to the meeting.

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

None received.

To present the minutes of the previous meetings of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee held on the following dates –

·                28 February, 2023

·                14 March, 2023

The minutes of the following previous meetings of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee were confirmed as correct:-

·                    28 February, 2023

·                    14 March, 2023

To present the report of the Director of Social Services.

The report of the Director of Social Services incorporating the Corporate Parenting Strategy 2023-2028 was presented for the Committee’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Children, Youth & Housing Services in presenting the report said that the role as corporate parenting is one of the most important role of an Elected Members.  He noted that the corporate parenting refers to the shared responsibility across the Council to ensure that children and young people in the care or leaving care of the Council are supported to thrive.  A good corporate parent should have the same aspirations for a child/young person in care, as a good parent would have for their own child.  It is also means supporting them to gain the skills and confidence to live independently, whilst letting them know they have someone to call on for help if required.  He further said that this is the first Corporate Parenting Strategy as the internal audit within the service identified the need for such strategy to be produced which will be for the next five years. 

The Interim Service Manager reported that as part of the consultation process on the Corporate Parenting Strategy work was undertaken with the ‘Voices from Care Cymru’ who were in partnership with the Council at the time.  He noted that the young people in care therefore have had input into the Strategy.  He further said that a ‘workshop’ was undertaken in February with Elected Members and relevant Officers which enabled input into the Strategy.  The Interim Service Manager further said that the Strategy sets out the aspirations of the Council for children and young people in care or leaving care.

In considering the report, the Committee discussed the following:-

·      Questions raised as to how does the Looked After Children and Care Leavers Strategy link to the Council Plan – 2023-2028?  The Committee was advised that the Corporate Parenting Strategy has been produced in accordance with the priorities of the Council Plan and especially that the residence of Anglesey are healthy, prosperous and where people can thrive. 

·      Questions raised as to what are the resource implications of implementing the proposed Strategy and how affordable is this in the current climate?  The Committee was advised that currently 150 children and young people are in care of the Authority with 70 young people to be leaving care.  However, if there was a significant increase in the number of children and young people coming into care this would have an effect on the staffing of the service.  The Interim Service Manager said that at present the number of children and young people in care is stable and this was reflected within the Care Inspectorate Wales inspection recently.  The Portfolio Member for Children, Youth & Housing Services said that the Strategy strengthens that children and young people in care receive the same opportunities and able to thrive as other children and young people. 

·      Questions raised as to the risks faced by the Authority and what mitigation measures are proposed to minimise impact on the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

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

The report of the Head of Profession (Human Resources and Transformation incorporating the Self-Assessment Improvement Actions 2022 was presented for the Committee’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Corporate Business and Customer Experience said that this is the first report of its kind recognising accomplishments against the self-assessment improvement actions for 2022.  It provides an update against the relevant improvement actions agreed by the County Council at its meeting in October 2022.  He noted that 2022 has been a challenging year with the Council having a new administration, a new leadership team and a new Strategic Plan for 2023-2028.  Despite all the changes and development over the past 12 months, the Council continues to perform consistently, is meeting its expectations against the majority of the 2022 self-assessment improvement actions and is fulfilling its duties under the new Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021.  He noted that the indicators within the Corporate Scorecard are also performing well. Staff compliance with the Authority’s policies have improved together with e-learning training and the annual appraisal have been undertaken with staff.  The Corporate Safeguarding Board has received the outcomes of the service reviews and expected improvements.  The main meetings of the Council are now hybrid meetings which are webcasted on the Council’s website.  The Portfolio Member further said that the work streams noted in the report at 1.4 will be considered by the Executive and should be included in the Corporate Self-Assessment for 2023.

In considering the report, the Committee discussed the following:-

·      Questions raised as what role does the self-assessment play as part of the governance arrangements?  The Committee was advised that the Self-Assessment fills its duties under the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 and states that public bodies should continuously reviews its performance effectively.  The expectations of the Act is that an annual Self-Assessment report is created which addresses the matters that need to be improved.  It was noted that over the last twelve months work has been undertaken to develop the Self-Assessment by submitting the document to the full Council on 30 September 2022 before inviting further comments by the Governance and Audit Committee on 20 October, 2022 and the final version was adopted by the County Council at its meeting held in October 2022. 

·      Questions raised as to whether amendments will need to be made by the Council to the Quarterly Monitoring Performance Scorecard to ensure it is aligned with the Self-Assessment?  The Committee was advised that it is important that the Corporate Scorecard is developed continuously and a plan is in place to revise the Scorecard and comments will be sought from the Senior Leadership Team and Elected Members through the Group Leaders’ meetings together with Elected Members Briefing Sessions.  It was noted that there will be a need to identify the requirements for self-assessment and it is important to recognise that the Scorecard will need to include how the Council is meeting its expectations which arises from the Act.

·      Reference was made that the self-assessment referred  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To present the report of the Scrutiny Manager.

The report of the Scrutiny Manager was presented for the Committee’s consideration.

The Scrutiny Manager reported that one vacancy has arisen on the Social Services Scrutiny Panel/Corporate Parenting Panel as a result of Councillor Neville Evans recent appointment to the Executive.

It was RESOLVED to appoint Councillor Sonia Williams to serve on the Social Services Scrutiny Panel/Corporate Parenting Panel.