To receive declarations of personal and prejudicial interest (if any) from Members/Officers in accordance with the provisions of the Members Code of Conduct adopted by Council from 1 September 2008 (including whipping declarations)

Cllr CA Webster declared a personal interest in item 4 because her son had had recently been referred to the Social Services transition service.

Cllr SK Dendy declared a personal interest in item 4 because she led one of the volunteer groups during the first lockdown and was now employed through Direct Payments to someone referred via social services.

To receive for approval the minutes of a meeting of the Subject Overview and Scrutiny Committee 2 of the 14/12/20

RESOLVED:                      That the Minutes of a meeting of Subject Overview and Scrutiny Committee 2 dated 14 December 2020 be approved as a true and accurate record.

Invitees:

Claire Marchant - Corporate Director Social Services & Wellbeing

Councillor Nicole Burnett - Cabinet Member for Social Services & Early Help  

Jackie Davies - Head of Adult Social Care

Laura Kinsey - Head of Children’s Social Care

Nicola Echanis - Head of Education and Family Support

Liz Walton James - Group Manager IAA & Safeguarding

Mark Lewis - Group Manager - Family Support

Terri Warrilow - Safeguarding & Secure Estates Manager

Claire O’Keefe - Deputy Head of Safeguarding - Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board

Superintendent Karen Thomas - Communities and Partnerships - South Wales Police

Detective Inspector Ben Rowe - Strategic Safeguarding Inspector - South Wales Police

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing introduced the report and explained that the presentation would be a group effort to enable the Committee to hear from those directly involved in providing safeguarding, during the last year.

The Group Manager IAA and Safeguarding, provided an overview of the safeguarding arrangements for adults and children during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Head of Education and Family Support advised Members about the support available for vulnerable learners in partnership with colleagues in Safeguarding services. The Acting VAWDASV Service Manager explained about the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) meetings and other meetings, along with support and communication for victims and how the service would look from the 1^st May.

The Interim Deputy Head of Safeguarding, Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board (CTM UHB) talked about referrals and the activities undertaken to mitigate any risks in relation to those reductions in referrals in addition to recovery planning, and the Safeguarding.

The Secure Estates Manager gave an overview on Adult Safeguarding, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), the Secure Estate - Parc Prison and Residential and Nursing Homes. The Group Manager IAA and Safeguarding thanked colleagues and partners for their availability, flexibility and support over the past twelve months which had ultimately helped to keep children and adults safe.

Following the presentation of the report, Members of the Committee asked the following:

A Member appreciated the ongoing good progress being made with MASH and managing provision through this difficult time. They referred to point 4.7 DoLS and the Safeguarding and Secure Estates Manager advising that the backlog of assessments had reduced from 152 to 122, and asked how the backlog was being cleared.

The Head of Adult Social Care advised that clearly in Adult Safeguarding, DoLS has been one of the priorities, but also one of the challenges in terms of the ability to carry out that function. The Safeguarding and Secure Estates Manager had explained what was being done and that this was something to continue monitoring.  DoLS referrals fluctuated so where there were new referrals as care homes and nursing homes opened back up, an increase in the number of referrals received could be seen. The position was constantly being reviewed while looking at ways to increase the number of people that had the right skill base to carry out these assessments. It was hoped that the backlog would be cleared in the early part of the financial year, but because of the uncertainty of the situation, no definite date could be given at this stage.

The Safeguarding and Secure Estates Manager confirmed that there were a number of suitably qualified independent assessors coming on board that would assist in that process.

The Cabinet Member for Social Services and Early Help thanked Officers for their presentation and stated that she was proud of how safeguarding was at the forefront of everything being done.  In terms of DOL’s and nursing homes, it was good to see vaccinations taking place, but she could not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 133.

To consider any item(s) of business in respect of which notice has been given in

accordance with Part 4 (paragraph 4) of the Council Procedure Rules and which the person presiding at the meeting is of the opinion should by reason of special circumstances be transacted at the meeting as a matter of urgency.

None