Agenda and minutes

It was UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED to appoint Councillor G. Thomas as Chair for the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors S.M. Allen, D.J.R. Bartlett, D.J.R. Llewellyn, J. Williams and Canon B. Witt. 

There were no declarations of party whips.

No public questions were received.

Councillor K. Madge declared an interest in that his daughter works in Social Care Services.

Councillor E. Morgan declared an interest in that his daughter is a staff nurse in Mental Health Services.

The Director of Community Services presented his annual report on the effectiveness of the Social Care Services in the county. Members considered the report which gave an overview of the progress made on areas identified for improvement in last year’s report and highlights those areas to be developed in the current year. Members also noted that there was a statutory requirement for the Director of Social Services to report annually to the Council on the delivery, performance and risks as well as plans for the improvement of the whole range of Social Services.

The Director of Community Services noted that he considered the presentation of this report to scrutiny members as an important element within the development of the final document. He reminded members of both Committees that this draft report provided them with the opportunity to question the content and gave him an opportunity, as the Statutory Director for Social Services, to consider any comments elected members might have. 

The following issues were discussed during consideration of the report:

It was asked whether any studies on the impact of population movements on health and social care services had been undertaken (e.g. a resident of another county receiving care in a Carmarthenshire hospital or vice-versa). The Director of Community Services informed members that whilst such instances were not recorded in the Authority’s statistics, they did impact in terms of adding pressure to the care system. However, he added that no new or significant trends had emerged from the population profile and census data used during the past year. However, officers had undertaken some work in relation to looked after children from other local authority areas being moved to Carmarthenshire, due to the pressure that such movements placed on the Authority’s services and in particular, the County’s schools. The Director of Education & Children informed the members that numbers were volatile and that these figures were monitored on a regular basis by officers from the Authority alongside colleagues in the Hywel Dda Health Board. He acknowledged that there were large numbers of looked after children residing in the County but that the report highlighted the good work being done in this complex and challenging area.

It was asked whether the numbers of children moving into the County was due to the quality of the services provided by the Authority. The Director of Community Services noted that there was limited evidence to suggest that families moved nearer schools with good disability services/centres but there was no evidence of substantial movements of children into specific catchment areas.

Reference was made to travelling times of staff in rural areas and it was asked whether this was now taken into account in terms of their work hours and salaries. The Director of Community Services informed the members that payment for domiciliary care workers  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.