Invitees:

Susan Cooper – Corporate Director, Social Services and Wellbeing;

Cllr Phil White – Cabinet Member – Social Services and Early Help;

Jacqueline Davies – Head of Adult Social Care;

Laura Kinsey – Head of Children’s Social Care.

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing briefly presented the Director of Social Services’ draft Annual Report to Committee, the purpose of which was to outline how Social Services in Bridgend County Council had delivered services during 2018/19.

The Committee were advised of the objectives for 2018/19 and were provided information on whether the Directorate were successful in their aims and similarly what the Directorate hoped to achieve in the following year.  The proposed changes for 2019-20 included:

• To provide people with more choice and control over what support they receive;
• Roll out of plans in relation to the running of day services and day opportunities in the future;
• Implement plans surrounding looked after children;
• Finalise a transition service model to assist disabled children transition into adulthood effectively.

The Committee received the annual report well and were very complimentary on the content, specifying how well written the report was due to the plain language used throughout, which would assist the public to follow and understand the information within the document with ease.

Members also commended the Corporate Director of Social Services and Wellbeing and her team on the obvious shift in culture undertaken by the Directorate and the embedded new ways of working.

The Committee questioned working relationships with other departments, specifically with the Education and Family Support Directorate and further queried if there were any gaps that required work.  The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing explained that current working relationships across all Directorates was the best it has ever been.  She explained that the Corporate Management Board were a small team that all sit in one room, which provided a greater opportunity to discuss topics as and when they arise. 

The Head of Children’s Social Care provided an example of successful partnership working between both Directorates, where the Social Services Directorate where involved in discussions in the early stages regarding allocations of the Integrated Care Fund that is directly provided to the Education and Family Support Directorate for preventative work.

A Member made reference to performance indicators provided at a Corporate Performance Assessment (CPA) meeting where it was acknowledged that sickness levels within the Directorate were not improving, as well as an increase in delays with transfers of care for social care reasons and asked that both these statistics are provided within the report along with an explanation of how they will be dealt with.

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing proceeded to update the Committee on the transfer from Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board to Cwm Taf University Health Board, as well as the possible options for the adoption services.

Resolved:

The Committee commended the Corporate Director on the production of the Social Services Annual Report 2018/19 for the reason that the report is written in plain English which will enable the public to easily recognise how social services in Bridgend have been delivered over the past year and will be in the future.

The Committee congratulated the Directorate on the change management undertaken within Social Services and recommend that the Directorate share best practice with other Directorates with changing mind-sets on working cultures.

Members noted that Directorate sickness levels are increasing and that the Directorate are encountering delayed transfers of care for social care reasons and therefore recommended that both these areas are referenced within the Social Services Annual Report, along with what mitigating factors will be put in place to increase future performance.