The Corporate Director – Social Services and Wellbeing submitted a report, the purpose of which, was to provide Members with the revised statements of purpose for the current children and young people’s residential services provision in Bridgend County Borough Council.  It was a requirement under the Council’s constitution that these are presented to the Corporate Parenting Committee to approve.

He advised Members, that Bridgend County Borough Council currently has four children’s residential homes delivering services to children and young people aged 0-19 years, namely:-

• Maple Tree House;
• Sunny Bank;
• Bakers Way; and
• Harwood House

The introduction of The Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 (RISCA) came into force on the 2nd of April 2018. The purpose of the Act, was to build on the success of regulation in Wales and reflected the changing world of social care. It places service quality and improvement at the heart of the regulatory regime and strengthens protection for those who need it. Such regulation would move beyond compliance with minimum standards, and focus more on the quality of services and the impact which they have on people receiving them.

The Group Manager – Placements and Provider Services confirmed, that in the Autumn of 2018, all of the Council’s social services were registered to meet the requirements of the new legislation. Each in-house service provision has its own statement of purpose and these were attached at Appendices 1 – 4 of the report.

He advised the Committee that in terms of the above mentioned premises, Sunnybank and Maple Tree House, had the same Manager.

In line with the Regulations, the Group Manager – Placements and Provider Services confirmed, that the Statements of Purpose had now been subjected to their annual review and changes to the statements were detailed in paragraph 4.4 of the report. The revised Statements now more reflected a level of consistency across the 4 Homes, than had possibly previously been the case, he added.

The Chairperson confirmed that the report was very timely and made for interesting reading. Together with the supporting Statements of Purpose, it had put ambitions for our Care Homes firmly in place, with there being a clear perspective now in terms of aiming for the high standards in these facilities, the Directorate needs to be working to.

In terms of the revised Statements of Purpose, the Cabinet Member – Wellbeing and Future Generations asked if the staff at the Care Homes had been advised of these, as well as if there were any changes to their terms and conditions as a result of them being brought in.

The Group Manager – Placements and Provider Services confirmed that each of the Residential Managers at the Homes had confirmed any such changes that had been put in place to the staff that worked there. In terms of Maple Tree House and the revised staffing structure there, consultation had taken place with employees there regarding this.

The Leader asked if our children and young people had some involvement in the revised Statements of Purpose for reasons of service development, as well as receiving some recognition that ‘their voices were being heard.’

The Head of Children’s Social Care confirmed that this was the case. She then gave some examples of how children and young people were involved and listened to by the service, for the benefit of Members. She added that, their involvement was also registered in their records, which also formed part of any report’s to the CIW.  

RESOLVED:                            That Members noted the content of the report and approved the Statement of Purpose for each of the 4 residential service provisions.