Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors Menna Baines, Rheinallt Puw and Gareth Coj Parry.

To receive any declarations of personal interest.

The following member declared that he had an interest in relation to the item noted:

·       Councillor Gwynfor Owen in items 5 and 6 on the agenda as his son was autistic. The Member was of the opinion that it was not a prejudicial interest and he did not withdraw from the meeting.

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

None to note.

The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the meetings of this committee held on the 16^th of February 2023 be signed as a true record.

The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this Committee held on 16 February 2023, as a true record.

Cabinet Members: Councillor Elin Walker Jones and Councillor Dilwyn Morgan

To consider the update on progress

DECISION

a)    To accept the report, noting the observations made during the meeting.

b)    Establish a Task and Finish Group to discuss the implementation of the Plan with the new team and ensure representation from the Education Department and the Health Board.

c)    To receive a progress report in 6 months.

The Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Well-being highlighted that the report was a joint report between the Adults Services and the Children's Services to ensure that the Autism plan was incorporated smoothly into both services. He noted, as Chair of the Regional Partnership Board (which is responsible for gathering information to improve and the quality of the services provided to autistic people and their families or carers), that the Plan received prominent attention.

Councillor Elin Walker Jones (Cabinet Member for Children and Young People) confirmed that significant progress had been made by Cyngor Gwynedd since the Code of Practice for the Delivery of Autism Services came into force in September 2021. There was reference to the successful bid that had been made which would mean that staffing resources could be increased for the development of Autism services across the County, development of E-learning modules to raise the awareness of Local Authority staff, the Health Board and the Police and reference to the National Autism Team which had a general role in the development of services throughout Wales and, by meeting every quarter, provided an opportunity to share relevant information and updates.

It was noted that the priorities for the next six months included

·       An induction plan for the new team and the launch of the new service to raise awareness.

·       Establishing clear processes and arrangements for the team to work across children's and adults' services. Contacting existing forums.

·       Further strengthening the links with the Regional Integrated Autism Service, attending their local information events and looking for opportunities to work alongside their contact worker in Gwynedd.

·       Engaging with autistic individuals and their families as well as partners locally in order to move towards the co-production of local services.

·       Establishing a working relationship with the neurodevelopmental service and offering support during the early stages of assessment and diagnosis.

·       Completing the implementation update as part of the baseline assessment for north Wales by the end of May.

·       Reviewing Gwynedd's autism plan based on the information contained in the baseline assessment.

Gratitude was expressed for the presentation.

During the discussion, the following observations were submitted by members:

·       Praise for the work that the service does.

·       Welcoming the appointment of a Coordinator/Project Officer to develop Autism Services.

·       That it was necessary to ensure Welsh language appointments so that children from Welsh households were not at a disadvantage.

·       That there was a need to see change and ensure that this was not merely a paper exercise.

·       That the Autism Bus was excellent (offering innovative and practical training developed to give people who are not autistic an experience of the difficulties faced by people on the autism spectrum) and that this touring bus should be promoted.

·       That the spectrum was broad and that it was important to recognise who really needed support.

·       That there was a need to ensure appropriate support for adults and children as they went through the assessment process.

·       Concern that children were being rejected by the assessment service because they did not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Cabinet Member: Councillor Dilwyn Morgan

To consider the update on new developments in Gwynedd to support individuals with dementia

DECISION

To accept the report, noting the observations made during the meeting

The report was submitted by Cllr Dilwyn Morgan, Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Well-being. He highlighted that the main purpose of the report was to outline the new developments in Gwynedd to support individuals who had dementia.

The Senior Manager of Adults Services added that the County's vision was to support individuals living with dementia in order to enable them to live at home as independently as possible for as long as possible with the need to ensure the correct, timely care provision and support, in the right place to meet a range of needs.  She explained that the role of Gwynedd Dementia Coordinator was recently created in order to lead in the field within the Council by working with individuals who had been affected by dementia, the Health Board and the Third Sector. The coordinator would be responsible for creating a vision and strategy for Dementia Gwynedd to respond to the care standards pathway. This was a temporary post funded from the Regional Integrated Fund (RIF).

Reference was made to the next steps, reporting that the Service was dependent on temporary funding to support a great number of the developments in care provision for individuals with dementia. The challenge would be to secure long-term funding to ensure the sustainability and continued development of these services. Work would be done to predict the impact of demand on budgets over the next few years and difficult decisions would need to be made in terms of reprioritising resources if no additional budget was available.

Gratitude was expressed for the report.

During the discussion, the following observations were submitted by members:

·       The development of Penyberth Care Home, Penrhos, was welcomed, a direction the Council wished to follow and which steered the direction of care in the future and the transformation of the service.

·       That the Gwynedd Dementia Actif Service was doing exceptional work that had been recognised across Wales - congratulations to the team.

·       That involving the family in care assessments was essential to dementia support.

·       That people must be kept in their communities.

In response to the observations and questions from members, it was noted:

·       In response to a comment that there was no specialist nursing provision available for individuals living in the Llŷn and Meirionnydd areas and the suggestion that adequate provision should be demanded through influence, it was noted that it had not been possible for Local Authorities to provide nursing care but that the Council was now intervening more in the market as gaps in services appeared in the areas.  It was noted that some elements of the provision could be resolved but that  neither the Health Board nor independent companies were compelled to provide a dementia specialist nursing care service in all parts of the County - however, business decisions could be encouraged and influenced.  Despite appreciating the work that was being done, the need must be responded to and therefore the Council was considering the efficiency of providing a service rather than buying in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.