Agenda item

Members considered a report on the Corporate Improvement Objective – Improving Outcomes, Improving Lives that highlighted the progress made in the first six months of the year.

Officers advised that the Department was not pressurising individuals to receive Direct Payments where it was not appropriate for them to do so.

Officers took Members through the risks linked with this Corporate Improvement Objective and stated that the biggest risk was in relation to the loss of senior staff and the potential failure of service delivery. Officers stated that in effect the whole senior management team had left the authority in a short space of time this coupled with a number of staff taking early or voluntary redundancy had resulted in pressures but the situation was managed tightly.

The Directorate has taken the view that instead of having consultants sitting outside highlighting what should be done they are now engaged as Principal Officers on specific projects. Members were advised that there had been a failure to recruit to the post that covered mental health and complex learning disabilities and there had only been one applicant but they lacked line management experience.

Officers advised that a new Principal Officer had been appointed but they were responsible for a number of areas and this would not be sustainable for the future. It was stated that in the short term Principal Officers from Children’s Services would be used to manage Safeguarding in Adult Services.

Officers continued that the staffing issues are a real risk to the Directorate but officers were doing everything they could to manage the situation.

Members requested a report be brought back to a future meeting that would highlight the staffing issues and the workforce in general along the same lines that the Children, Young People and Education have received.

Members asked what duration was remaining on the contracts of the consultants and officers advised that one would end at the end of December and the other at the end of March. Officers further advised that one of the consultants had now assumed responsibility for the area around Direct Payments.

Members raised concern in relation to the areas that were identified with a Green RAG status but there had been a dip in performance. Officers advised that because the dips in performance were less than 5% it would be recorded as a green.

Clarity was sought on how £115k had been reclaimed in respect to over supported Direct Payment Packages. Officers noted that they would come back to Committee with a full answer outside of the meeting.

Members asked for a progress report on the community care organisation. Officers agreed to bring back a progress report to the Committee at a later date but indications are that it is working well and only one complaint has been received and this was dealt with on a one to one basis.

With regards Direct Payments Members asked what the process was if someone was allocated Direct Payments but disagreed with the amount. Officers stated that if this was the case they can ask for their assessment to be reviewed by a special panel.

Members continued by asking was the Directorate on target in relation to administering Direct Payments. It was confirmed that it may not be possible to achieve the initial target as it had been a challenging one. Officers stated that it was important to ensure that those individuals who need Direct Payments do get them.

Members asked whether there were any reasons why the Council could not recruit new staff. It was suggested that there were no real hard and fast reasons but the fact that Swansea has recently recruited 3 Principal Officers and Bridgend 2 Principal Officers then this could have had an impact. It was also noted that the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) has also noted that there are recruitment problems across Wales.

Following Scrutiny the report was noted.