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APOLOGIES To receive any apologies for absence. Additional documents: Minutes: Apologies were received from
Councillors Linda Ann Wyn Jones, Peter Read and R H Wyn
Williams. |
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive any declaration of personal interest. Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor Eryl Jones Williams declared
a personal interest in Item 7 - Care and Health Workers
and Carers Investigation however he would not withdraw
from the Chamber unless there was a specific discussion regarding carers during a discussion on the item. |
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URGENT BUSINESS To note any items that are a
matter of urgency in the view of the Chairman for consideration. Additional documents: Minutes: There were
no urgent business. |
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The
Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the meeting of this Committee held
on the 27 September 2016, be signed as a true copy. (Copy
enclosed) Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair signed the
minutes of the previous meeting of this Committee held on 27 September 2016. |
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Cabinet Member: Cllr. Gareth Thomas To receive
a report by GwE in response to specific enquiries by the Scrutiny Committee. (Copy
enclosed) Additional documents: Minutes: A report was submitted by the Senior GwE Challenge and Support Adviser
in response to specific enquiries from members of the Services Scrutiny
Committee. The Cabinet Member for Education noted that the relationship between GwE
and the authority was very important and he took pride in the work throughout
the County and in the fact that there were no schools in Gwynedd within the
Significant Improvement / Special Measures statutory category. An increase of 5% had been seen in the performance
of pupils within the TL2+ threshold and since 2012 the performance had improved
by 13.5% since the commencement of this Council term. It was explained that GwE had a business
plan across the north Wales region and that the six authorities had their own
specifications. The County Quality Board
had been established where GwE officers and the education authorities discussed
individual schools. The following points were highlighted by individual Members and they
were responded to as follows: (a) How many Gwynedd schools staff members were on secondment with GwE at
the moment? It was noted that
there was one head teacher and one deputy on secondment with GwE and working in
Gwynedd/Anglesey. The Head of Education
explained that advertising jobs at GwE was an open process and due to the
language element and the requirement to be bilingual, the jobs were attractive
to the staff of Gwynedd's schools. It
was not possible to prohibit staff from applying for jobs, however the balance
was currently quite equal. The
education authority was not eager to see head teachers moving to work for GwE
but at the moment it was a way of being able to share expertise and this in
turn could be valuable. The problem
faced by the County was attracting school leaders and it was a must to nurture
leaders and secure strong standards for the future. Reference was made to a historical example of losing a Head of
Mathematics Department post and that the pupils had suffered because of this,
the Head of Education explained that the lack of teachers in the core subjects
was a concern and following a recent meeting with the Secondary Sector Group it
had been decided: ·
To joint-appoint
teachers centrally above what was needed in order to fill posts in cases of
sickness absence, maternity leave etc. ·
That a Group of
Secondary Head teachers would hold discussions with Bangor University on the
type of programme they wished to see in future.
Through joint discussions and nurturing the expertise of sixth form
pupils it could be possible to respond to the lack of subject teachers in the
long term. (b) Was there representation of the schools on
the County Quality Board? The Committee was reminded that the national model was based on regions and set on a specific framework and governance arrangement. It was explained that six Education Cabinet Members across the north served on the GwE joint committee and set a strategic direction for GwE and that the business plan was now fairly ... view the full minutes text for item 5. |
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END TO END, CHILDREN AND SUPPORTING FAMILIES SERVICE PDF 38 KB Cabinet Member: Cllr. Mair Rowlands To consider responses
to members' observations from the preparatory meeting on 18 October,
2016. (Copy
enclosed) Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted - the report of the Cabinet Member for Children and Young
People in response to specific questions raised by members at the preparatory
meeting held on 18 October 2016. Members were given an opportunity to ask further questions of the Head
of Children and Supporting Families Department and she responded as follows: (a) There were 15 children being looked after at residential units and this
figure was significantly lower than it had been in the past. It was noted that the strategy in terms of
reducing the number of children who went to out-of-county placements to receive
care from residential units was relatively effective. It was
emphasised that some of the cases were unavoidable. (b)
It was difficult to
anticipate whether the above mentioned figure would increase however it was
confirmed that there were no other cases from the population who were currently
being looked after and looking for an out-of-county placement. (c)
The Respite Unit at
Ysgol Hafod Lon, Penrhyndeudraeth, would offer provision for disabled children
in Gwynedd and it was likely that it would significantly contribute towards
increasing the Children and Supporting Families Service's capacity to support
families. (ch) In terms of plans to develop provision for some specific sectors
such as autism, it was explained that the matter had been discussed at the
regional Heads of Children's Services Group.
It was acknowledged that there was certainly a cohort of children who
fell between two stools between the Council and the Health Board in terms of
their needs, however, the Group did not wish to establish any regional or
sub-regional provision. The priority and
the intention of the Heads of Department was to seek to support children in
their own homes rather than establish residential provision. (d)
In response to the
enquiry regarding whether or not it would be possible for the authority to
develop its own provision for looked after
children, it was explained that the Service was of the opinion that it
would not be possible to provide for every possible need on a county level in a
residential Unit. It was explained that
respite care from foster parents was being provided through the support service
and additionally it was possible for the children to receive support from community
activities. It was noted that Support
Workers within the Service offered service to over 300 children. The strategy of the Service was to provide
for children and families within their own homes. In terms of the 15 children who were placed
out-of-county, apart from 3 or 4, it was noted that the children were subject
to full orders to the authority meaning that they needed to be moved in order
to safeguard them. (e) In terms of arrangements for scrutinising new placements, she elaborated that there was no cost associated with the procedure as it had been established internally by the Service in the form of a Placement Scrutiny Panel that was convened on a monthly basis. The Head of Children and Supporting Families Department was ... view the full minutes text for item 6. |
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CARE AND HEALTH WORKERS AND CARERS INVESTIGATION PDF 211 KB Cabinet Member: Cllr. W. Gareth Roberts To consider
a draft brief in respect of undertaking a Scrutiny Investigation. (Copy
enclosed) Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted – a draft brief for
an investigation into the effectiveness of the Council's arrangements for supporting unpaid carers, and how best
to support and increase the care and nursing workforce. The Member Support and
Scrutiny Manager set out the context and drew attention
to the brief and the aim of answering the question "How sustainable is the workforce and carers (including
unpaid carers) in Gwynedd today and in the future?". Seven members had already expressed an interest
in serving as members of the investigation. The Cabinet Member for
Adults, Health and Well-being welcomed the proposal but expressed some
concern that the scope of the work was extensive given the timetable for the remaining Council term and there was a need to remain focussed if the investigation was to be completed within the available time frame. The Head of Adults, Health and Well-being Department noted that work
was being undertaken on a regional level
and that it would be possible
to share the evidence gathered with the investigation in January. During the ensuing discussion, many members expressed
concern regarding the challenging timetable and that it
should be decided whether or not to undertake the investigation on a strategic level or to focus
on a specific work stream within
the agenda. Having
considered the timetable, it was suggested that the best way
forward would be to hold an investigation
that would focus on provision
for informal carers and how
the Council could help family
carers. It was noted that
the investigation could be extended on a more strategic level when the new Council was established should there be justification that it would
add value. The need to incorporate the voice of the service user in
the Investigation was emphasised.
Resolved: (a) Resolved: (i) to hold an investigation
and to focus on the specific field of provision for informal carers (ii)
that the following members will serve
on the investigation: Councillors Selwyn Griffiths, Siân Wyn Hughes, Linda Ann Jones, Eryl
Jones-Williams, Ann Williams, Eirwyn Williams and R H
Wyn Williams (b)
To ask the Member Support and Scrutiny Manager
to re-draft the brief, in consultation with the Cabinet Member and Head of Adults,
Health and Well-being, and to proceed
without delay given the challenging timetable. |
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ALLTWEN SCRUTINY INVESTIGATION PDF 200 KB Cabinet Member: Cllr.
W. Gareth Roberts To consider
the final report of the Alltwen Scrutiny
Investigation. (Copy
enclosed) Additional documents:
Minutes: Submitted - the final draft report
of the Alltwen Scrutiny Investigation
which outlined the work of the Investigation along with recommendations
to be submitted to the Cabinet Member
for Adults, Health and Well-being for further
action. In the absence of the Chair of the Investigation, Councillor Selwyn Griffiths
took the opportunity to thank the members of the Investigation for their commendable work and also
in particular to thank those listed
on page 51 of the report, as well as Gareth James (Member Support and Scrutiny Manager)
and Bethan Adams (Member
Support and Scrutiny Officer). He drew the Cabinet Member's attention to the recommendations and specifically, asked him to secure
the service of a receptionist
to deal with calls during the integrated team's core working hours
at Ysbyty Alltwen. The Cabinet Member also
thanked everyone who had participated in the Investigation and paid tribute and congratulated the staff of
the Health Board and the local authority
for this pioneering scheme, the outcomes of which had been very valuable. He welcomed and accepted the recommendations, especially the recommendation to extend the integrated working model across the County as he was of the opinion that this
should be the method of working in future. Some of the recommendations were operational ones and a number of the work elements to deal with these
matters were either already in place or
in the pipeline. During the ensuing discussion the following comments were made: (a) an explanation was provided of the fish bowl term, noting that it was a multi-agency
meeting with a specific structure including a nurse and physiotherapist, and that it
was a valuable way to consider solutions. However, it was not possible to hold one for
every case as it depended
on the timetable. (b) In order for recommendation
4.1 to succeed, the need to
have a single computer system was emphasised, in order to record patient details so that staff from
the Health Board and Social Services could have access
to it. (c) It was asked whether or
not it was intended to seek the opinion of the service users as
an attachment to the report. (d) In response to the above, the
Alltwen Team gathered information and noted it on
the RAISE system. Also,
the procedure was based on a face-to-face
chat with the users and would also
seek the service users' opinion when undertaking reviews with everyone.
(e) A question was asked
about the response of the Health Board and
specifically were the
Senior Managers supportive?
(f)
In response, it was noted that they
were very supportive and the Regional Director - West, Betsi
Cadwaladr University Health
Board listed awards that had been won by
staff from the West region and from approximately
50 awards it was a pleasure to note the following winners: · Ffordd Gwynedd Team - ... view the full minutes text for item 8. |