Agenda, decisions and minutes

As noted above.

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

None received.

To submit, for confirmation, the minutes of the following meetings :-

·       Minutes of the special meeting held on 13 November, 2024;

·       Minutes of the meeting held on 20 November, 2024.

The minutes of the following meetings were confirmed as correct:-

·         Minutes of the special meeting held on 13 November, 2024.

·         Minutes of the meeting held on 20 November, 2024.

Arising thereon:-

Item 3 – Gwynedd & Ynys Môn Community Safety Partnership Annual Report – 2023/2024

It was noted that progress has been made following the recommendation to request that the Executive seeks an update from the Regional Group, led by the Health Board, on the work and discussions regarding the prevention of suicides.

Minutes of the meeting held on 12 September 2024 – Item 5 – Môn Communities Forward

Reference was made to the matter raised at the meeting held on 12 September 2024 that Officers in collaboration with Môn CF to investigate whether there are individuals in communities where the bus service has been withdrawn who would benefit from Môn CF’s driving programme. It was noted that the matter has received attention by Medrwn Môn.

To receive a presentation by Medrwn Môn.

The Chair welcomed Lyndsey Campbell-Williams, Chief Officer of Medrwn Môn to the meeting.

The Leader and Portfolio Member for Economic Development said that Medrwn Môn is one of 19 Community Voluntary Council’s (CVC’s) funded across Wales to support community groups and voluntary organisations.  He noted that Medrwn Môn is a strategic third partner organisations with this Authority and their main aim is to help and promote volunteers and to support community organisations across the Island.  Medrwn Môn also supports the Council as regard to ‘Place-Shaping’, ‘Local Alliances’, Transport Plans within Communities together with the ‘Age-Friendly’ Island.  He further noted that Medrwn Môn leads on the poverty prevention plan in partnership with the local authority. 

The Chief Officer of Medrwn Môn said that Medrwn Môn is an independent agency providing support and advice to voluntary organisations and community groups enabling them to work more effectively.  She said that Medrwn Môn is funded through Welsh Government towards their core work. The current funding arrangements will cease on 31^st March, 2025; work has been undertaken to establish a business plan across the 19 CVCs for funding for a two-year period 2025/2027. She highlighted that the focus and concerns of community groups is to secure sustainable funding to enable them to fund activities within their communities.   11 Community Groups were supported in 2023/2024 to secure funding of £353,000 from large funding organisations i.e. National Lottery, WCVAs and Welsh Government. Medrwn Môn supported 84 further groups which totalled over £200,000 which included working in partnership with the County Council to secure the Youth Volunteering grant, Warm Spaces Grant, Autumn Activities and Place Shaping funding.  She further said that Medrwn Môn has been offering free training sessions which has seen a high percentage of people taking advantage of these sessions.  It was noted that £1.9m has been secured through the support of Medrwn Môn by Community Groups through large funding organisations and £313k has been distributed from key funds i.e. SPF funding towards supporting Community Alliances.   She said that restructuring of the core staff within Medrwn Môn has been undertaken to support Community Alliances.  She referred to the volunteer services provided by Medrwn Môn i.e. Carlink, Good Turns Scheme, Technology & Care, Môn Community Link.  She expressed that the working relationship between Medrwn Môn and the County Council is one of the best across the CVCs in Wales.

The following were points of discussion by the committee –

·     Questions were raised as to what the most important elements of the work are undertaken by Medrwn Môn within regards to the context of poverty. The Chief Officer of Medrwn Môn responded that the main challenges is to secure core funding to support community groups to afford activities within the communities and to be sustainable in the long term.   

·     Questions were raised as to what changes has there been in the demand for the type of support individuals and local voluntary organisations need and whether it is anticipated that the demand will increase over the next  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To submit a report by the Director of Social Services.

The report of the Director of Social Services was presented for consideration by the Committee.

The Portfolio Member for Children, Young People & Families said that Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.  All the Authority’s Services and employees, regardless of their role, have a responsibility to safeguard people.  He referred to the data within the report which highlighted the number of staff who have completed mandatory safeguarding training during 2023/2024.  He further said that a new Action Plan will be introduced together with a review of the Corporate Safeguarding Policy and the Training Plan which will be undertaken in Q4.

The Director of Social Services reported that the report highlights the County Council’s responsibility to ensure that staff, volunteers and contractors are aware of safeguarding in their day-to-day work for the Council and know how to raise concerns.  A review of the Corporate Safeguarding Plan has been undertaken which will be published on 1^st April, 2025.  The Council will continue to ensure that effective practice, that includes setting clear and effective standards and robust contract compliance requirements with all external providers of services to the public. 

In considering the report, the Committee discussed the following main matters-

·     Questions were raised as to the role of the Deputy Chief Executive as the anti-slavery champion.  The Deputy Chief Executive responded that he is a member of the joint Community Safety Board with Gwynedd Council which encompasses attending regional meetings with the Chief Executive attending national safeguarding meetings.  The Director of Social Services said that there are several wide-ranging areas as regards to safeguarding (i.e. modern slavery, prevent, violence against women and girls) with different Officers from the Council attending different meetings.  He noted that there is a need to ensure that the appropriate Officers attend these meetings and to share information thereafter.

·     Reference was made within the report that the Director of Social Services has recently visited each Service across the Council to promote how safeguarding encompasses every service within the Council.  Questions were raised as to level of seniority these visits were undertaken.  The Director of Social Services responded that he has a statutory responsibility as Director of Social Services to ensure that people are aware and understand the meaning of Corporate Safeguarding.  He said that he attended meetings of Senior Managers, grade 8 and above, to highlight safeguarding issues and to gauge the requirements of specific services. He referred to ‘Teulu Môn’ which is the first point of contact for social care services that takes a family-based approach to early intervention and prevention.  He noted that any person can contact ‘Teulu Môn’ to report any issues of concerns. 

·     Questions were raised as to what assurances can be given that the Local Authority is meeting its Corporate Safeguarding obligations.  The Director of Social Services responded that there are strong policies and procedures in place which have been embedded into the services of the Council, staff also access regular training, however, there is always a risk that a child or adult can  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To submit a report by the Scrutiny Manager.

The report of the Scrutiny Manager setting out the Partnership and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee’s indicative Forward Work Programme for 2024/2025 was presented for consideration.

It was RESOLVED to:-

·       Agree the current version of the forward work programme for 2024/2025.

·       Note progress made thus far in implementing the forward work programme.