Venue: Committee Room 1/2 - Port Talbot Civic Centre. View directions
No. | Item |
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Welcome and Roll Call Minutes: The
Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. |
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Chairs Announcements Minutes: The
Chair briefly outlined the two items that would be scrutinised at this meeting. |
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Declarations of Interest Minutes: There
were no declarations of interest received. |
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Minutes of Previous Meeting PDF 195 KB Minutes: The
minutes of the meeting held on 9 July 2021 were approved as a true and accurate
record. |
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Officers Announcements Minutes: There
were no announcements from officers. |
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Impact of Covid on Food Hygiene Service and Inspections Minutes: Officers provided Members with a detailed presentation. A
copy of the presentation would be circulated to Members following the meeting. The Food and Health Protection Team were the team that have
been called upon to support the Test, Trace & Protect (TTP) Service.
Officers went through the other functions of the team, which include food
safety and communicable disease control. The effects of the COVID response on
the teams work was outlined, including the suspension of proactive inspections. Members were provided with information in relation to the
outturn on food hygiene inspections for 2019-2020, before lockdown. Following
lockdown the FSA devised new guidance to prioritise the COVID response and also
serious Food Hygiene risks of public health significance. Most of the team were
also involved with supporting care homes. In addition, the team also
contributed to providing guidance to businesses in relation to the restrictions
announced by Welsh Government. New teams were required to be established following the
initial response to assist with the TTP response. The regional team dealt with
the more complex cases. The Care Homes project was prioritised along with food
hygiene advice to new businesses. Various complaints were received concerning
the regulations and restrictions in place. When the winter wave of cases arrived, responses were based
on a triage principle. Members were advised of the Regional Response Team’s 7
day service that was and is currently being provided on a good will basis by
officers. Following Christmas 2020 and the progress of the vaccination
programme, the team began to consider recovery. The premises inspection for the
year 2020/21 was 14%. The latest recovery guidelines were issued by the FSA in
June 2021. Officers also referred to the importance of the recovery of staff,
with many now being encouraged to ensure they take their annual leave. Officers set out the time frame for recovery, in terms of
premises inspections. Most dates are set out by the FSA as soon as full
resources permit. As well as proactive, there is also reactive work which needs
to be undertaken. Members were advised that Welsh Government continue to
provide funding on a six month basis and as a consequence it is difficult to
plan, recruit and deploy resources. This makes it difficult to achieve
continuity across the service. Members queried if the expectations set by the FSA are
achievable. Officers advised that they are fairly confident they can be met
however there are caveats to this, including the Welsh Government TTP response
and the incoming winter season. Members commended the staff of the team for their hard work
during this difficult and stressful period. |
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Community Safety and Public Protection Performance Report - Quarter 1 2021/2022 PDF 236 KB Additional documents: Minutes: A copy of the report from officers had been circulated with
the agenda. Members queried figures in relation to the under performance
of the Community Drug and Alcohol Team. Members sought clarification on the
scale of the waiting list and the timescale for the review due to be undertaken
by the Health Board. Officers advised that traditionally there was no waiting
list in Neath Port Talbot for this service. However, as a result of pressures
on the service, including vacancies and sickness there had been an increase in
the waiting list. The Health Board have confirmed that all the vacancies for
the team are going to be advertised, and if filled should assist with reducing
the waiting list. The impact of sickness absence on the service has also been
flagged up. With regards to the review due to be undertaken, this was scheduled
to be done by the Health Board, with a timescale of completion by the end of
September. However NPT officers have no further information on this item and
are awaiting the outcome from the review. Members queried why the repeat victims significantly
declined during the pandemic. Officers noted the large increase in new
referrals but at a higher level of violence not previously seen before.
Officers agreed that they needed to understand why repeat victims did not come
to the service during the pandemic period and this would require some work.
Further, why people feel the need to present again. What can be done
differently or better to improve this? There could be practical elements around
the lockdown which reduced the number of repeat victims. It was noted that a
repeat victim is not always the victim of the same perpetrator. |
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Forward Work Programme 2021/22 PDF 197 KB Minutes: Members
agreed to note the forward work programme. |
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Urgent Items Any
urgent items (whether public or exempt) at the discretion of the Chairperson
pursuant to Section 100B (4) (b) of the Local Government Act 1972 Minutes: There
were no urgent items. |