Agenda and minutes

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

None received.

To present the minutes of the previous meeting of the Partnership and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee held on 21 June, 2022.

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Partnership and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee held on 21 June, 2022 were confirmed as correct.

To present the report of the Director of Social Services.

Submitted – a report by the Director of Social Services in relation to the above.

The Head of Adults’ Services reported that the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014 introduced a new duty on local authorities and health boards to develop a joint assessment of the sufficiency and sustainability of the Social Care Market.  The report enables the authority to understand the social care market in North Wales, so that the authority can effectively commission and support providers of health and social care services to meet the needs of the population effectively.  However, local authorities must ensure that the market stability report also contains an assessment of the market for care and support within each local authority area as well as across the RPB area as a whole.  The report will inform both regional and local decision making around commissioning care and support, feeding into the strategic plan for the RPB area and helping shape local and regional commissioning strategies.  He noted that there is a strong link between the Market Stability Report and the Population Needs Assessment where the population needs assessment sets out current and projected need and demand for care and support, and the range and level of services that will be required to meet that demand.  Both the Population Needs Assessment and Market Stability Report documents will be used to plan local and regional delivery plan and service development plans going forward. 

He further reported that Home Care Service has seen an increase in demand for the service of 33% over recent years and the demand is projected to grow.  There has been a fall in providers affording the Home Care service and it is concerning that recruitment into the Care Sector is decreasing and especially within the Home Care provision with the average age of Home Carers being over 50 years of age.  He referred to Residential Care and concerns regarding the growth in the ageing population requiring these services and especially when individuals require specialist care; greater provision is required especially in Dementia Services. 

The Head of Adults’ Service further said that the demand for specialist care is also required within Children Services and the local authority has established the Cartrefi Clyd provision on the Island.  The Fostering and Adoption Services has seen an increase in Foster Carers with 80% of children in care being located on the Island which compares favourably with areas.

The Committee considered the report and made the following main points:-

·           Questions were raised as to how the authority has attracted Foster Carers and whether they have been sourced through private companies.  The Director of Social Services responded that the package afforded to Foster Carers has been improved and the authority has been able to attract 6 new Foster Carers every year over the last 3 years.  He further said that prospective Foster Carers showed an interest whilst vising the County Council’s facility at the Anglesey Show recently.  The Director of Social Services also referred to the Cartrefi Clyd  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

To present the report of the Scrutiny Manager.

Submitted – a report by the Scrutiny Manager in respect of the above.

The Chair of the Education Scrutiny Panel, Councillor G O Jones, gave an oversight of the work of the 3 scrutiny panels established.  He noted that in terms of local context, the membership of the Education Scrutiny Committee comprises of Members newly elected in May.  It will therefore be necessary for the Council to create the conditions for all Members to participate fully in the Panel’s scrutiny work e.g. skills for effective scrutiny, effective questioning, understanding of the Education system, raise awareness of national education work streams etc.  It is therefore the intention to make full use of the forward work programme to ensure appropriate and timely inputs to support members of the Education Scrutiny Panel.   The Chair of the Education Scrutiny Panel said that it is an intention that the Education Scrutiny Panel shall met monthly and report quarterly to the Partnership and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee.  The next meeting of the Panel will focus on the Estyn Inspection report on the Education Authority received in June, 2022 and the post inspection action plan.  He noted that the Estyn Inspection report received by the Authority is highly commendable of the Education Service on Anglesey.

It was RESOLVED to note the initial progress to date regarding the work of the Education Scrutiny Panel.

ACTION : None                                

To present the report of the Chief Executive.

Submitted – a report by the Chief Executive in relation to the above.

The Chief Executive reported that the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) 2015 places a duty on public bodies to improve the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of Wales. The act is based on the principle of sustainable development and places a duty on public bodies to set and publish well-being objectives and to take all reasonable steps to achieve those objectives.  The Act also established Public Service Boards with representation from key public bodies.  Every five years the Public Services Boards must prepare and publish an assessment of the state of economic, social, environmental and cultural well-being in their areas and use this as the basis of the Well-being Plan for the following five years.  He noted that working in partnership has focused on six key areas over the 2017-2022 Well-being Plan for Gwynedd and Anglesey i.e. The Welsh language, Homes for local people, the effect of poverty on the well-being of our communities, the impact of climate change on the well-being of communities, Health and Care of Adults and the Welfare and achievement of children and young people.  The Chief Executive said that it is accepted that a monitoring framework is required to highlight that the Public Services Boards and the partnership working within the Boards add value in the main areas that the partnership has focused upon over the last 5 years. 

The Gwynedd and Anglesey Public Services Board Programme Manager reported on the membership of the Public Services Board.  The work of the Public Services Board is subject to scrutiny by the designated Scrutiny Committees of both Gwynedd and Anglesey local authorities and a report is submitted twice yearly.  She noted that with the support of the team at Co-production Wales, workshops have been held to enable the members of the Public Services Board to reflect on whether current priorities are still relevant and to review the role and purpose as a Board going forward.  The Board members are eager to make a meaningful contribution to the partnership landscape without duplicating the work of other partnerships and so the next Well-being Plan will be clear about whether the Public Services Board has a leadership or delivery role in relation to the Well-being priorities.  It is intended to publish the final Well-being Plan with detailed goals in May 2023.

The Committee considered the report and made the following main points:-

·           Reference was made that previously it has been reported that the partner organisations have not been regularly attending the Public Services Board.  Questions were raised as to whether the attendance at the Board has increased recently.  The Programme Manager responded that there are statutory representatives that have to attend the Board meetings and it is intended to revisit the membership of the Board to ascertain whether other representatives from other organisations can be invited to attend.  The Chief Executive said that both the Leader of the Isle of Anglesey County Council and the Leader  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To present the report of the Scrutiny Manager.

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

It was RESOLVED :-

·           To agree the current version of the Forward Work Programme for 2022/2023.

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