Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairman for this Committee for 2019-20.

Resolved:  To elect Councillor Dewi Wyn Roberts as Chair of this Committee for the year 2019/20.

The Chair welcomed a new member to the committee, namely Councillor Gareth T M Jones.

Councillor Eryl Jones-Williams was thanked for his work as Chair of the Committee over the past two years.

Gratitude and best wishes were expressed to Gareth James (Member Support and Scrutiny Manager) upon his retirement in August 2019.

To elect a Vice-chairman for this committee for the year 2019-20.

Resolved:  To elect Councillor Beth Lawton as Vice-chair of this Committee for 2019/20.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Councillors Richard Medwyn Hughes, Linda Ann Jones, Cai Larsen, Peter Read.

To receive any declarations of personal interest.

Councillor Dewi Wyn Roberts declared an interest in item seven - Recruitment Difficulties, as his wife was employed in the care sector.  As this item was a general matter concerning the recruitment of new staff, he was not of the opinion that it was a prejudicial interest, and he did not withdraw from the meeting during the discussion on the item.

To note any items that are a matter of urgency in the view of the Chairman for consideration.

No urgent items were received.

The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the meetings of this committee held on the 28^TH March 2019 be signed as a true record.  (attached)

The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee held on 28 March 2019 as a true record subject to the inclusion of a reference to the third sector in the first sentence of the hub services paragraph under item five.  ‘Some ideas were noted along with the need for services that combined the work of the Health Board and Care and the third sector, including an element of Housing.   

Cabinet Member:      Councillor Dafydd Meurig

To receive a report on the above.

*10.35 – 11.35 

(approximation)

A general report for information by the Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Well-being. The report was first presented by the Senior Business Manager in November 2018, revealing the initial findings of the work done by CELyn company, looking into the recruitment and retention of domiciliary care staff.

Since then and on a wider scale, 'The Workforce and Recruitment within the Care Field' had been one of the Council's strategic priorities for 2018-23. The purpose of the report was to introduce a work programme. 

Members' comments were expected, which were to be fed into the four work streams - namely pay, working conditions, workers' specialist skills and job profiles; in order to think of the best way to communicate and market staff recruitment in future. 

Mapping the Work

·         In response to a Member's question, the Cabinet Member noted that a group had been established and had commenced the work of mapping the current situation in order to identify any gaps which existed.  The group included key officers from the Workforce Development Unit, Human Resources and Internal Provision.  It was anticipated that other services would be drawn into the process over the coming months.

·         The Member Support and Scrutiny Manager noted, as this work was ongoing for the unit, that the committee had made a decision the previous year to put the scrutiny investigation into the subject of Recruitment Difficulties on hold for the time being.  One element of importance which needed to be recognised within the mapping work was the foundational work commissioned by the Mid Wales Healthcare Collaborative.  Two Members of this committee had undertaken some scrutiny of the group's work, and therefore these experienced Councillors had an important contribution to make to mapping work.

Specific Steps:

It was expected that the mapping work would be completed by October 2019.

Pay and Working Conditions

The following discussion was presented by the Cabinet Member, while the Senior Business Manager - Adults, Health and Well-being and the Corporate Support Advisory Services Manager provided more detailed input around the work programme.

·         It was noted that the service was of the opinion that there were inconsistencies in working terms and conditions within the independent sector and the internal provision across the field. It was noted that work to transform domiciliary care aimed to reconcile the variety which existed in the interest of the sector.

·         It was explained that the work of transforming domiciliary care placed the focus on removing wastefulness from the current system. The service was of the opinion that it would be possible to fund improvements to working terms and conditions by identifying those elements which did not add value, and redistributing the money. In addition to improving working terms and conditions, there needed to be a change in the way we commissioned in future in order to provide staff with longer term work assurance and working patterns which ensured an improved work-life balance. It was also noted that work in the domiciliary care field was more developed than that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.