Agenda item

To submit a joint report by the Head of Adults’ Services and the Interim Head of Children’s Services in relation to the above.

Submitted – a joint report by the Head of Adults’ Services and the Interim Head of Children’s Services in relation to the above.

The Assistant Chief Executive (Governance and Business Process Transformation) reported that the North Wales Population Assessment sets out the current and future care and support needs of the population, together with the support needs of carers.  The North Wales Region comprises the six North Wales Local Authorities, Betsi Cadwaladr University Board (BCUHB) and Public Health Wales.  A single report must be prepared for the North Wales Region and be approved by the six County Councils and the Board of the Local Health Service by the 1 April, 2017.    She noted that the Social Services and Wellbeing Act (2014) requires that Local authorities and Local Health Boards produce a population assessment report per local government electoral cycle, every 5 years, together with a review of the assessment after two years. It was noted that the Population Needs Assessment will be presented to the Executive at its meeting held in February and thereafter will be submitted to the full Council for approval. 

The Head of Adult’s Services stated that the Population Needs Assessment will act as a base for considering future care and support services required by the people of the Island.  Addressing the increases in older people and disabled populations will be challenging.   Members expressed concerns as to the level of funding available for the implementation of the Local Area Plan.

Members raised the following issues :-

·           Questions wasasked as to how the population needs assessment was funded.  The Assistant Chief Executive  (Governance and Business Process Transformation) responded that a number of grants have been received by Welsh Government to support this work, along with the time of Local Authority and health board officers. She referred specifically to the Developing Transformation Grant (DTG) received from the WG; this is a regional grant to fund joint working and innovation across a number of areas. Funding from the DTG grant has facilitated the employment of an Officer to co-ordinate the preparation of the Population Needs Assessment. The Intermediate Care Fund (ICF) grant has also been received which focuses on providing people with the help required to allow them to avoid going into hospital unnecessarily, to help them to be as independent as possible after discharge from hospital, and to prevent them having to move into residential or nursing homes until they really need to; this fund will support the regional partnership to consider innovative services to meet the needs highlighted in the PNA going forwards.

·           Questions were raised as to when the authority will consult with outside organisations/groups that have not been approached during the current consultation process.  The Assistant Chief Executive responded that the Social Services and Wellbeing Act requires consultation with the services users together with the organisations that provide the services. The Integration and Engagement Manager reported that due to the time-frame of the consultation period the Substance Misuse sector has not been consulted in detail.  She noted that it would be useful to obtain a list of potential consultees that haven’t been engaged with during this process to ensure these consultees are engaged with during the next review of the population assessment in 2 years.

·           A question was raised as to the joint working with the local authority and the Local Health Board and especially with regard to Garreglwyd Residential Home.   The Head of Adult’s Services said that the Local Health Board is working in partnership with the local authority with regard to Garreglwyd Residential Home and noted that he shared the local Elected Members frustration as to the slow progress at present.

·           Members considered that Careers Advice for young people within Secondary Schools needs to focus on careers within the health sector and especially as the PNA highlighted that there may be a shortage of Occupational Therapist and Physiotherapist in the future.  Questions were raised as to difficulties in the recruitment of Welsh speaking staff within the health sector.  The Head of Adult’s Services responded that many of the Occupational Therapist and Physiotherapist who work on the Island are able to speak Welsh but it is more of a challenge to have workers within the care sector to be bilingual.

·           Questions were raised as to how many children from other local authorities are in care on the Island.   The Assistant Chief Executive said that 50 children between the age of 0 – 18 are in care on the Island. Members questioned as to how many children from Ynys Môn are placed in care in other authorities in North Wales and beyond.  The Assistant Chief Executive said that she would consult with the Children’s Services and report back through the Scrutiny Officer with this information.

·           Questions were raised as to the proposed changes to Home Care fees.  Members questioned if some people are able to afford such an increase and if there would be a risk for people not being able to live longer within their home environment.  The Head of Adult’s Services said that feedback from some service users reflected that they would prefer no change in the costs of the Home Care Service. He also noted that should a person indicate that they would not be able to afford the increase in the charge, their case will be considered on an individual basis.

It was RESOLVED to recommend to the Executive as follows :-

·           That the Executive approves the full report and thereafter submit the report to the County Council for confirmation;

·           That the Social Services Department shall start working on the Local Area Plan through the Regional Partnership Board;

·           That it notes the Committee’s concerns in respect of the level of funding available for implementation of the Local Area Plan (that will follow on from the North Wales Population Assessment) and that any additional costs should not be borne by affected groups.

(The Chair of the Partnership and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee will present the extract of the draft minutes to the Executive on 14 February, 2017.  Copy of the draft minutes will be made available to the Executive on or before the 14 February, 2017).

ACTION : As above.