Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors Anwen Davies, Elwyn Jones and Linda Ann Jones.

A speedy recovery was wished to members who were currently poorly.

To receive any declarations of personal interest.

Councillor Gwynfor Owen declared a personal interest in item 7 as his son was autistic.

He was of the opinion that it was a prejudicial interest, and he left 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.

None to note.

The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the meetings of this committee held on the 1^st of February, 2024 be signed as a true record.

The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee held on 1 February 2024 as a true record.

To prepare an Annual Report on the implementation of the Representations and Complaints Procedure for submission to the Cabinet and Scrutiny Committee in order to scrutinise and monitor the arrangements for dealing effectively with complaints received from service users and their representatives.

To accept the report, noting that it was nice to see the expressions of gratitude, and for the committee to scrutinise the Annual Report on the Complaints, Enquiries and Expressions of Gratitude Procedure for 2023-24 when it will be ready in the coming months.

The Cabinet Member for Children and Families, the Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Well-being and the officers were welcomed to the meeting.

Submitted - Annual Report on the Children and Supporting Families Department and the Adults, Health and Well-being Department's Complaints, Enquiries and Expressions of Gratitude Procedure for 2022-23. The committee was invited to scrutinise the arrangements for dealing effectively with complaints received from service users and their representatives.

The two Cabinet Members set out the context, thanking staff from both departments for their commitment when responding to complaints and expressions of gratitude from the public and service users. The Customer Care Officer - Adults, Health and Well-being then gave an overview of the report's content.

Members were then given the opportunity to ask questions and submit observations.⁠ 

It was requested to inform members whether there was a trend of something going wrong, instead of the members hearing about those complaints on the media or from members of the public. In response, it was noted that:-

·         It was wished to avoid such situations and it was attempted to ensure that contact with the Council's Press Team worked as conveniently as possible in terms of informing them of anything that was likely to raise.

·         It was clear that examples sometimes arose where that had not happened, and there was always room for improvement.

It was noted that it was comforting to see that there was a clear procedure to submit complaints and deal with complaints, but it was suggested that telling people that their complaint could not be received at the time because another investigation was underway caused more concern to those people, who had already reached the end of their tether. Enquiries were made about the arrangements for re-submitting such a complaint once the other investigation had come to an end. In response, it was noted that:-

·         It was not legally possible to respond to a complaint if an investigation, e.g. a Police investigation, was underway as this could be prejudicial to any other investigation.

·         The person who submitted the complaint received a leaflet explaining that it was not possible to look into the complaint straight away in some cases and welcomed them to re-submit the complaint once any other investigation had concluded.

·         In some cases, e.g. investigation under the Safeguarding procedures, it was possible to discover that the process had concluded and offer the complainant to re-submit their complaint. Also, a process that had already started could sometimes be sufficient to solve the matter so as to ensure that there was no need to raise the complaint again.

It was noted that the two findings that derived from the report this year was that the expectations of families of the service was extremely high and there was a need for clear and regular communication. It was enquired whether it was possible to manage the expectations by informing families from the outset that it was not possible for the Council to offer everything to them. In response, it was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To obtain assurance that suitable provision is available to all who need the service.

To accept the report and to thank everyone who works in the Short Breaks Service, and express hope that the funding will be available to continue to offer the service for everyone who needs it as time goes by.

Submitted - the report of the Cabinet Member for Children and Families on the Short Breaks service (Derwen Integrated Team). The committee was invited to scrutinise the content of the report to have assurance that suitable provision was available for everyone who needed the service.

The Cabinet Member set out the context and thanked the staff for their tireless work and their enthusiasm and love whilst working with the most vulnerable children in Gwynedd. The Assistant Head of Resources - Children and Supporting Families expanded on the content of the report and members were given the opportunity to ask questions and offer observations. 

It was noted that the report and the presentation highlighted the huge demand for the short breaks service, and it was clear that excellent and vital work was being done.

Attention was given to the demand for a short breaks service for adults too, but it was explained that this item only discussed the provision for children. 

Concern was expressed from understanding that the number of volunteers had reduced from 20 before the Covid period to 3 by now. It was enquired what was being done to try and recruit more volunteers, and it was requested whether it was possible to use the current volunteers in an effort to try and attract more. In response, it was noted that:-

·         As it was not possible to continue with the short breaks plan over the lockdown periods, many volunteers were lost as people moved on.

·         The Short Breaks Officer met regularly with Bangor University, which was the main contact in terms of recruitment campaigns.

·         They agreed with the observation regarding using current volunteers, but all they could do was highlight that the opportunities existed and be as proactive as possible in terms of responding to any enquiries.

·         Five prospective volunteers were currently going through the DBS process and it was hoped that these individuals would soon be available for the service in order to make a difference.

·         It was possible that the cost-of-living crisis impacted people's desire to put themselves forward to volunteer, but the Service would definitely persevere to try and increase the number.

It was enquired what service was offered to families of children with less intense needs as well as what were the projections for the future, considering that the demand increased year on year. It was also requested whether they could be confident that we could meet the intense needs, without mentioning the other needs, in the face of the Council's financial situation for the next few years. In response, it was noted that:-

·         The questions reflected the challenges that the Service faced and clearly discussed them in terms of development etc., and how to adapt the service to meet the needs that arose.

·         The current provision addressed a variety of needs, not only the higher needs, with the higher needs tended to be short breaks in Hafan y Sêr and perhaps more supportive hours than the lower needs.

·         A range of needs were provided  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To present the findings and recommendations of the Task and Finish Group.

a)    Accept the findings of the Task and Finish Group.

b)    To ask the service:-

·         to undertake an audit of the situation regarding the professional training of staff who work in the field as a first step.

·         Then to consider setting a target for completing training with the aim to include it on the core training programme as follows:-

a) staff who work or who come into contact with people with autism (by department and including schools) and

b) raising awareness training amongst all Council staff.

·      to build on the training for staff in schools and surgeries regarding referring to the Neuro-Developmental Team in cases where they are not eligible.

·      to encourage all the Councillors to follow the Autism Awareness training e-module and attend open days across the County which enables everyone to experience the autism bus.

c)    It was recommended that the Scrutiny Committee in conjunction with the Cabinet Member for Children and Families to contact the Cabinet Member for Housing and Property to secure input from the Additional Learning Needs Service to any development of a new school or any future adaptations to schools to make them suitable for individuals with autism e.g. quiet spaces, the ability to dim lighting etc. It would be beneficial to establish the principle of ensuring input from the Autism Team (Children and Adults Department) for any new development or adaptation to any other Council building.⁠

ch) Following concern that the plan was currently grant-funded, that the Care Scrutiny Committee asks for an update after a further 12 months of operating to ensure that progress is continuing, and request the input of Education and Health once again.

Submitted - the report of the Chair of the Autism Plan Task and Finish Group, Councillor Elwyn Jones, which invited the committee to scrutinise findings and recommendations of the Task and Finish Group.

In the absence of Councillor Elwyn Jones from the meeting, the report was presented by the Democracy and Language Services Manager. It was noted that the Chair of the Task and Finish Group wished to:-

·         Thank all the officers, not only for their work in preparing before the task group meeting, but also for their contribution during the meeting and their clear and honest answers.

·         Thank his fellow councillors for the preparation work before the meeting and for presenting such good questions during the meeting, and that he was of the opinion that ensuring clear understanding came as a result of robust questioning and responses.

·         Emphasise that every member also had an integral role to participate in the training available in the autism field.

Members were given an opportunity to ask questions and offer observations. 

A member of the Task and Finish Group noted that:-

·         The personal experience and professional insight of Councillors Dawn Jones and Gwynfor Owen had steered the Group's discussions, and he thanked them for their valuable contributions.

·         It was a pleasure to collaborate and see the work that went into the autism field and clear transparency and honest discussion was had with the officers.

·         He wished to give specific attention to recommendation 3, which related to ensuring that the development of any new school or adjustments to any school in the future was suitable for individuals with autism, and recommendation 4, which asked for an update for the committee after a further 12 months of operating to ensure that progress continued.

The Statutory Director of Social Services noted that:-

·         This was an excellent report and that he was happy that the Group had addressed this extremely important subject.

·         The autism field was a field that was increasing in terms of the number of people who needed support and was a field that increased in terms of complexity too.

·         One of the most challenging factors was that a grant paid for a substantial percentage of the new Autism Team, and because there was no assurance that the Welsh Government would protect this money in the future, there was a need to safeguard the Council and the people who received the services by looking at that.

·         There was definitely a need to take advice when planning any new building or adaptation to any of the Council's buildings or schools to ensure that they were suitable for individuals with autism, but it would suggest amending the wording of recommendation 3 as follows in order to reflect the fact that the Education Department had their own team who had specific expertise in terms of building schools, and also to clearly highlight the responsibilities:-

Recommend that the Scrutiny Committee, jointly with the Cabinet Member for Children and Families, contacted the Cabinet Member for Housing and Property to ensure  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.