Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Councillors Annwen Daniels, Anwen Davies, Rheinallt Puw and Angela Russell.  Also Councillor W. Gareth Roberts (Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Well-being).

To receive any declarations of personal interest.

Councillor Elin Walker Jones declared a personal interest in Item 6 - Autism - Children Services and the Education Service - because:

·         She worked for the central team, that was the equivalent of Derwen, at Besti Cadwaladr University Health Board.

·         Her daughter worked as a Behavioural Analyst at Ysgol Pendalar.

She was not of the opinion that the matters were prejudicial interests, and she 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 previous meeting of this committee held on 7^th June, 2018 be signed as a true record  (attached).

The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee held on 7 June 2018, as a true record.

Cabinet Member – Councillor W.Gareth Roberts

To receive a report on the above  (attached).

Submitted - the report of the Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Well-being, updating members on the action plan stemming from the inspection of the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales and Healthcare Inspectorate Wales into the quality of care and support provided by the Learning Disabilities Service. 

The Leader and the Senior Manager elaborated on the content of the report, and also responded to questions / observations from members. The following main points were raised:-

·         Since the Active Support and the PBS Team is the first team of its kind in Wales, it was noted, once the work of gathering the data has been completed in March 2019, that a report outlining lessons from this model, the outcomes and how it was intended to be developed in future with other counties would benefit the Committee.

·         Close and positive collaboration between the service and the Health Board was welcomed.

·         It was noted that, as regards the weaknesses, the relationship with the specialist occupational therapy services needed to be improved and refined in addressing the needs of adults with more complex and challenging learning disabilities.   Recruiting information and advice officers to the new Preventative Team that would come into force in April 2019, would also need to be considered.

·         It was noted that the service was addressing the financial challenge through a combination of factors, including collaboration with external providers to look at every opportunity to submit grant applications, identify over-provision, review every case the service supports and consider out of county placements.

·         The service's vision and the development work taking place with Dr Sandy Toogood from Bangor University was welcomed.

·         In response to an enquiry into the number of applications for support and assistance that were turned away and why, it was explained that, unlike the historical arrangement where people were turned away if they did not fit into a specific category, the needs would now be met in alternative ways. It was noted that the figures could be looked at in more detail to see whether there could be figures about people who were turned away. It was believed, however, that if needs did exist, they would be met, either by the Learning Disabilities Service or by the Adults Service. It was added that discussions about strengthening the arrangements for those adults where an element of risk existed but who would not necessarily need specialist support were taking place.  It was further noted, when considering the service's data, that information could be found to answer the questions raised by the member and the discussion could be continued with her.

·         Staff members who worked during their own time to assist with groups and evening social opportunities, mainly the cookery groups, were thanked. However, the question was raised as to why that happened in the first place and whether there was a role for the third sector to assist with these kinds of activities.

·         It was noted that the Audit and Governance Committee had looked at the backlog of DoLS assessments  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Cabinet Members – Councillor W.Gareth Roberts, Dilwyn Morgan and Gareth Thomas

To receive the following reports  (attached):-

(A)       Learning Disability Services

(B)       Childrens Services

(C)       Education Service

Submitted - the report of the Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Well-being, the Cabinet Member for Children and Families, and the Cabinet Member for Education elaborated on the current services in the field of Autism and the plans to develop them over the coming years.

Since the work was taking place across a number of services and as they were planned and maintained by three Departments within the Council, the three Departments provided separate reports.

The Cabinet Members and officers expanded on the content of the reports, and also responded to questions/observations by the Members.

(A)     Learning Disabilities Services

The following main points were noted:-

·         Concern was expressed that the needs of adults with autism, but who did not have learning disabilities, were not being met and that autism was being discussed under the learning disabilities services. Most people with autism did not have learning disabilities and there was now a move toward considering autism as a condition rather than a disability. Furthermore, everybody had a contribution to make and it was important to promote the skills of each individual.  In light of the fact that the Autism Bill was currently being discussed by the Senedd in Wales, the Council would have to take seriously the needs of people with autism, and treat these needs differently henceforth. In response, it was noted that the Learning Disabilities Service took these needs seriously.  It was confirmed that autism was not a separate service within the Adults, Health and Well-being department at present. It was believed, however, that it was currently located where the expertise existed to deal with complex cases within the Departments, and that this was where coordination across the Department and contact with other Departments took place.

·         It was noted that there was a lack of support for people with less profound and less long-term conditions and the importance of supporting adults before they became isolated or before they found themselves in a situation where they needed professional help or medication was emphasised.  It was also noted that early intervention saved money in the long term and reference was also made to the lack of mental health experts in the Health Service.

·         The view was expressed that the Council should employ an autism officer to be a point of contact for families and who would be able to collaborate with the third sector.  It was also suggested that information should be included on the website about which resources, groups were available.  In response, it was noted that a support worker had been appointed through the IAS Project to work in Gwynedd.  Also, as requirements changed, and more data emerged about things the Council needed to do, the Department would continue to consider what exactly to provide. This could, eventually, lead to the need for a coordination officer or the like, but the Council had not yet reached this point.

(B)     Children’s Service

The Cabinet Member took the opportunity to thank Councillors Beth Lawton and Angela Russell for their contribution  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.