To
select appropriate items from the Cabinet Board agenda for Pre-Decision
Scrutiny (Cabinet Board reports included for Scrutiny Members)
Minutes:
The Committee chose to
scrutinise the following Cabinet Board items:
Quarter 3 Performance
Report 2021-22
Members were presented
with the Children and Young People, and Adult Services Performance Report for the
3rd Quarter Period (April 2021 – December 2021).
The circulated report
detailed an increase in pressure in the single point of contact care centre;
the report noted that there was an increase in the number of cases in which
risk was being identified as a result of the section 47 enquires. It was asked
if Officers could confirm if the increase in pressure was related to the
pandemic. The Head of Children and Young People Services confirmed that the
single point of contact care centre had been under significant pressure
throughout the pandemic. It was explained that Officers were prepared and
responsive to the rise in demand, as prior to the pandemic a substantial amount
of resource, including additional staff, had been allocated to the service. It
was added that demand currently remained high in Neath Port Talbot, however
Officers were able to continue to meet this. Members were reassured that
children services had maintained safeguarding responsibility throughout the
whole pandemic; Officers continued to visit families and children who were
vulnerable in the community.
Reference was made to
the percentage of re-registrations of children on the local authority child
protection register; it was queried why this performance indicator was listed
as red. Officers explained that the Council had created an arrangement with its
partners, local schools, health visitors and families, in which they were all
encouraged to re refer should a situation change in the future; this must be
kept in mind when looking at the re referral rate. It was highlighted that the
referral rate was regularly monitored, and Officers audit all of the cases in
order to determine if there were any lessons learned or themes; this type of
information will then be fed back into the service. Officers mentioned that
they were not concerned with the figure that was listed in the performance
indictors due to these reasons.
Members asked Officers
to elaborate on the performance indicator relating to delayed transfers of
care; the report detailed that Officers were unable to calculate this
performance indicator as no data had been provided by Welsh Government since
March 2020 due to Covid-19. Officers explained that this indictor had been stopped
at the start of the pandemic. Members were reassured that the Head of Adult
Services was aware of the figures relating to those in hospital beds, those
waiting for a package of care or those waiting a residential care placement;
this breakdown of information was provided to Officers on a weekly basis. It
was noted that there were delays, however the Team were aware of the position
of each of these delays and the reasons why.
A discussion took place
in relation to the number of cases of adults at risk being reported. The
circulated report highlighted that it was unsurprising that reports had
increased, as professionals were more cautious in their reporting; however, the
number of reports that led to enquiries needed was 20%. Officers explained that
there were a combination of reasons as to why this was the case:
·
The Team does encourage reports to be made, even in circumstances where
partners only have a slight inkling;
·
In the case where an adult at risk doesn’t automatically trigger a
safeguard in response, the Team had really experienced ‘front doors’ across
Children and Adult Services which slowed the process down; they gather
information and undertake lateral checks, which then might result in someone
receiving advice, support or caring support as a result of that report. It was
mentioned that this wasn’t necessarily safeguarding, however had an impact on
the figures report to the Committee;
·
The Team had also changed how they approached adult safeguarding; before
safeguarding was moved into ‘front door’, a lot of safeguarding cases went
straight into adult safeguarding. However, it was noted that the Team had
started to allocate reports into various sub sections, such as those relating
to professional concerns and those relating to adult as risk; this in itself
had seen a significant reduction in the section 126 enquiries.
It was stated that the
points raised above were factors as to why there was a lower percentage of
reports which led to enquiries needed; Officers carefully monitor and check
these figures, as well as check in on a monthly as a Safeguarding Team to look
further into some of the cases.
Concerns were raised in
regards to the high number of caseloads per worker for the Disability Team.
Members asked if there was any particular reason why the Team had the highest
number of cases, and if Officers were satisfied that this was safe. It was
stated that the caseloads across the whole service were closely monitored;
there wasn’t any unallocated cases within the Team, and all cases were
appropriate and managed safely within the service. The Committee was informed
that additional staff had been brought into the service to make the caseloads
manageable, and the Team were fortunate to have a number of specialist workers.
It was noted that there wasn’t a great deal of scope to move cases once they
had met their criteria for children with disability, given the nature of the
reasons why those children were being supported by Team; this meant that a high
level of experience and expertise had been built up within the service.
Officers added that the Team was busy, and had a lot of work to be carried out;
however, there were no concerns with regards to the volume of work.
Members asked what
provisions and support was in place in the County Borough for young people with
profound multiple learning difficulties, after they left school. In order to
provide sufficient information to Members, Officers asked if they could prepare
a briefing paper to circulate to the Committee outside of the meeting; as this
meeting was the last in the administration for the Social Care, Health and
Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee.
Reference was made to
the Learning Review detailed in Appendix 6 of the circulated report. The
reported highlighted that the aim of the review was to try to understand the
practice on the case against the background of their physical and psychological
work environment; and that the point of the review was to not assign blame or
responsibility, but to learn to improve. The Committee asked for information on
how the case was chosen, and for assurances that the review was carried out as
stated in the report; to not assign blame or responsibility. Officers explained
that it had been acknowledged in the recent multi agency inspection, that the
Learning Review was in place to establish a learning culture within Neath Port
Talbot; a genuine attempt to get individuals together, and take the
opportunities for lessons learned. It was stated that exercise was completed
with Council Officers and partners; the feedback received from the reviews were
humbling, as staff appreciated the time spent with them, and the approach
taken. The Head of Children and Young People Services assured Members that the
Learning Reviews had been a very positive experience, and couldn’t be further
away from a blame culture.
Following on from the
above, Officers expressed that it was a reflective space for practitioners,
which was very well received and very well established. It was noted that a
number of learning reviews had been undertaken, and Officers were happy to
share the criteria used to select the cases; the criteria was always under
review, as Officers recognised the importance of feedback into the system. In
regards to the specific case, the results were highlighted to be those of any
case that progresses to a child or adult practice review. It was mentioned that
internal learning was held immediately in a bid to identify early learning;
this prevents waiting for a child practice review, and helps to inform practice
immediately, without any delays.
Following scrutiny, the
report was noted.
Deprivation of Liberty
Safeguards to Liberty Protection Safeguards - An Overview
The Committee received a
report detailing an overview of the Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) and the
work currently underway to prepare for its implementation, and the anticipated
implications for the Local Authority.
Members suggested
holding an All Member Seminar for the new administration on the topic of LPS,
to inform all Members of the new set up.
The circulated report
stated that the Local Authority was currently in the process of reviewing the
Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) team
structure, in-house versus agency. It was expressed that in-house would be most
preferred, as it would be the only way the Council could have full control over
the issues. Officers confirmed that the preference would be in-house; the
reference to agency was included in the report to reflect the current response.
It was noted that agency was only used in cases which needed to be responded to
in a timely manner, to those urgent requests for DoLS.
Officers added that the Team had always worked to a backlog in cases, it wasn’t
unusual, as it was through the sheer demand that DoLS
had brought.
It was acknowledged that
a start date for the new set up hadn’t been confirmed due to the implications
of the pandemic. Members asked how Officers were managing with budget planning
with no apparent start date. Additionally, the report referenced that the existing
team may need to be expanded; it was asked if Officers were confident that
they’ll be able to recruit the necessary new staff. The Principle Officer for
Safeguarding explained that throughout the report Officers had used the word
‘may’; this was due to Officers waiting for codes of practice, and for the
other Welsh Government Working Groups to feed into the Regional Working Group.
It was highlighted that at the moment, there was a lot of guesswork; some of
the figures in the report were conservative, however this was the best that
could be predicated across the Region. Officers suspected that the implementation
of LPS will be set back for another year; however, this will provide the
Council and the Region with more time to plan.
In regards to the
Information Technology element of the report, Members hoped that a stand-alone
system for Neath Port Talbot would not be adopted, as the need for a flow of
communication and information across the Region was very important.
Following scrutiny, the
report was noted.
Procurement of Falls
Mobile Response Service - 6 Month Pilot
A report was provided to
the Committee regarding the proposed six month pilot of a falls mobile response
service for users of NPT lifeline/telecare services.
Concerns were raised in
relation to the fact that the pilot was only aimed at those who were users of
NPT lifeline; it would be beneficial to include others who could potentially
have a fall. Officers highlighted that this was a small pilot, with a small
amount of money to trial this service in one specific area; the Afan Cluster had been chosen to trial this as there was
currently a set up with Health in the Swansea Valley and Neath
areas. Members were informed that the Council were exploring a number of
avenues in relation to this matter; this trial was on aspect in order to
identify if the concept could work. It was added that Officers were also
exploring whether this was something the Council’s in-house home care service
could utilise; in the past, the Council used to run a 24/7 service, however at
the time it was analysed that the need wasn’t there throughout the night.
Officers stated that times had changed since then, as the statistics showed;
therefore, the need for a 24/7 service could be re-analysed. It was explained
that if the pilot was successful, the plan would eventually be to spread this
out to enable anyone to access the relevant care. Officers will be presenting
the evaluation of the pilot to the Committee.
Members asked if it
would be possible to work with the welfare benefits section, and the third
sector to increase the number of people using a lifeline service through the
access of grants. Officers confirmed that this was possible; there was
opportunity at this stage with the partnership work being undertaken with
welfare, and the preventative agenda itself, to be able to identify
opportunities and how they can be maximised. It was mentioned that a smaller
project called ARMED was running alongside this pilot; this project did not
require lifeline, and was based on preventative work and monitoring, to enable
support to be provided before a fall takes place.
The Committee asked what
ARMED stood for. The Director of Social Services, Health and Housing explained
that Advanced Risk Modelling for Early Detection (ARMED) was an innovative
prevention and self-management certified medical device; it combined pioneering
predictive analytics modelling with wearable technology, and health and social
care data. It was added that Officers had been working on this initiative with
partners in Cardiff, who ran it at the beginning of the pandemic and saw a
significant decrease in the number of people who were falling due to the
prevention element. Members were informed that ARMED was a wearable device
which monitors activity level and blood pressure; this information would then
be reported back to base to highlight any change or fluctuation in mobility. If
the data highlighted any changes, it was explained that Delta Wellbeing would
complete a welfare check, and link in with the Council’s in-house physio who
could recommend various exercises.
It was queried when the
pilot was going to take place, and if Officers were going to encompass the
winter months, as this could possibly highlight more falls. Officers hoped to
start the project as soon as possible; if approved at Cabinet Board, it was
aimed that the end of March / beginning of May would be the start of the six
month pilot. It was noted that a lot of pre-work had been completed beforehand
in order to progress on this. The Committee was informed that this pilot won’t
quite encompass the winter months, however, it will provide opportunity to
evaluate the pilot; if successful, Officers could progress a case ready for
coming winters.
Following scrutiny, the
Committee was supportive of the proposals to be considered by the Cabinet
Board.
Neath Port Talbot
Housing Support Programme Strategy
Members were informed of
the draft Neath Port Talbot Housing Support Programme Strategy and the proposal
to seek approval to undertake a 90 days public consultation.
A discussion took place
in regards to ‘plan on a page’. Officers explained that it was used for most of
the strategic strategy work carried out; it highlights the key points on a
page, to enable anyone to look at the information quickly and easily, in order
to understand what it was that the Council was intending to do.
The Committee was
reminded that, at the start of the pandemic, Welsh Government amended the
legislation relating to Council duties for people applying for homelessness
support, by removing the requirement that a household was in priority need. The
circulated report stated that this had more than doubled the demand for
emergency housing; Members asked if these regulations were likely to continue.
It was confirmed that the regulations were likely to continue; Welsh Government
were committed to having zero homelessness across Wales, and they had been
trying to get Councils to address the huge rise in demand. Officers stated that
the demand for interim accommodation had more than doubled; pre pandemic, the
Council had approximately 35-40 people in interim accommodation, however this
week have had 151. It was explained that the priority need which was removed,
which was what had caused the rise in demand, was still being noted as
suspended; however, it was Welsh Governments intention to keep it this way, as
they were expecting Local Authorities to establish a rapid rehousing model to
address the issue. Officers noted that this programme was medium term, and it
would be 5+ years before it was implemented; there was a lot of work to do for
it. However, it was confirmed that there were a
number of short term solutions in place; there were a number of accommodations
that were being built/converted, Officers were working very closely with the
Registered Social Landlords (RSL’s), and there was a prevention team in place
to try and work with individuals e.g. handling their debts, before they declare
being homeless.
Members expressed the
need to identify the plans for the longer term. It was hoped that the new
administration would look into bring empty homes in the County Borough, back
into Council ownership; as this could go a long way in addressing this issue.
Following scrutiny, the
Committee was supportive of the proposals to be considered by the Cabinet
Board.