Agenda item

Councillor Alun Williams (Cabinet Member for Through Age and Wellbeing) explained that Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) carried out a performance evaluation inspection of the local authority’s Social Services in March 2023. He noted that most improvement areas have now been addressed. In addition, the launch of a formalised Quality Assurance framework in the Spring of 2024 and the deployment of regular Thematic Reviews and Practice Assessments within this strengthened the Division's oversight. The report focused on areas where continued activity was underway across the four domains namely People (voice and control), Prevention, Wellbeing and Partnerships.

Development/repair activity across the four domains of SSWBA remained a key focus for the Social Care Teams as they were central to the overall long-term Through Age Wellbeing (TAW) strategy. Despite the significant recruitment challenges referenced throughout (meaning that one in four statutory roles currently required Agency personnel to cover), the permanent management teams within the Social Care establishment continued to collaborate on the Division-wide priorities of Safeguarding, prevention, early help and step-down recovery to independence and wellbeing. It was envisaged that as the third year proper of the six-year TAW Model Strategy came to an end (in October 2024), the planning for the second half of the programme would focus even more on strengthening the base practice, responding to and leveraging repair action from the CIW evaluation. This should ensure the full benefits of Proportionate Assessments, What Matters Conversations and Early Interventions could be fully achieved.

Audrey Somerton-Edwards, Corporate Lead Officer: Porth Cynnal explained that the inspection was the first undertaken by CIW with the TAW Model in place. The improvements highlighted in the report were foreseen by the local authority and steps were in place to address these.

Members were provided with the opportunity to ask questions which were answered by Officers present and Councillor Alun Williams. The main points raised were as follows:

·       Social care recruitment challenges had not improved for any local authority across Wales. This was compounded by the county’s rurality, shortage of staff, a reduction in the number that enrolled on social care courses at university and that the sector was not recognised financially. A single national pay grade would somehow address this and although Welsh Government had agreed to this in principle, there were no resources financially to support this at present.

·       It was clarified that the local authority’s Learning and Development team were active in promoting Social Care as a career to schools, universities and further education providers.

·       Collaboration regionally and with other local authorities was already in place, but ultimately, each local authority had its own constitution and policies.

·       At the last count, 38 agency workers covered Social Care posts in the local authority, and although agency staff were paid more, they were not entitled to the same benefits as local authority employees such as annual leave, pension contributions, sick pay etc.

·       As awareness of the Centre of Independent Living’s relocation to Penmorfa increased, the take up of services had slowly increased too.

It was AGREED:

·       To continue to monitor CIW Evaluation Actions at CLO level, including visibility at Leadership Group

·       To return to Healthier Communities Scrutiny and Overview in early 2025 providing more detail on closing out the Actions and to update on expected evaluations by Social Care inspectorates that are due in the interim.

·       To send a letter on behalf of the Committee to Welsh Government to highlight the need for and the importance of a National Pay Grade for Social Care in Wales, and to explain that local authorities were impacted financially at present due to its absence.