Agenda item

¾    To approve the allocation of up to £375,000 of a one-off resource (analysed in the table in section 4 of the report) to the Adults Department 2020/21 budget, together with a further one-off resource of £390,000 to the 2021/22 budget, with the exact sum of the allocations to be reviewed at the end of the relevant two financial years.

¾    To support the proposal to spend the above additional
budget on the cost of employing the workforce beyond the normal
staffing budget levels, in response to the inevitable increase in demand
for a social care service to safeguard the people of Gwynedd and to fill
staffing gaps that occur as a result of Covid19. 

The report was presented by Cllr. Dafydd Meurig

DECISION

·         To approve the allocation of up to £375,000 of a one-off resource (analysed in the table in section 4 of the report) to the Adults Department 2020/21 budget, together with a further one-off resource of £390,000 to the 2021/22 budget, with the exact sum of the allocations to be reviewed at the end of the relevant two financial years.

·         To support the proposal to spend the above additional budget on the cost of employing the workforce beyond the normal staffing budget levels, in response to the inevitable increase in demand for a social care service to safeguard the people of Gwynedd and to fill staffing gaps that appeared as a result of Covid19.

DISCUSSION

The report was submitted, noting that the application was for one-off funding of £375,000 for 2020/21 and £390,000 for 2021/22. It was stated that the previous report had given the background to the need for funding and everyone was aware of the significant challenges facing the Adults' Department. It was noted that the report was an attempt to look at the worst possible scenario. It was added that there was a need to look at this before winter as the situation would interfere with staff well-being with staff not having an opportunity to take leave, members of staff being taken ill and an increase in demand.  

The Leader of Community Transformation Health and Care Team Programme added that the department had prepared a Workforce Plan which was a piece of work that looked at areas such as what had happened, staff sickness levels and the demand for a service. It was noted that this piece of work had used the best possible national work model to try and predict covid numbers and give an idea to see what might hit the department during the second wave. It was highlighted that the department had coped incredibly and staff were willing to go the extra mile and a pool of temporary workforce had been established. It was further noted that the department was in a rather different place with staff now getting tired and had not had an opportunity to take leave and was looking to re-open some services. In addition, it was added that there were signs of an increase in demand as people were discharged home from hospital with the effects of Covid. 

It was stated that the department had predicted how many staff could be off work ill and the department had planned reasonably on the basis of absences between 1 and 2%. This meant that approximately £60,000 needed to be identified in order to backfill absences due to sickness. It was noted, as staff had not been taking leave, that the amount of leave not taken was equivalent to 18 persons working for 20 hours a week until the end of the financial year. Therefore, £135,000 funding would need to be identified in order to backfill for staff to take their leave. 

In addition to this, it was noted that there had been an increase in demand and the Council had a specific plan to respond to this by opening additional beds and care centres at Glan Llyn and Plas Menai. It was noted that in order to maintain services for a high number of people the equivalent of 30 additional members of staff would be required and this would be a cost of £120,000 this year and £390,000 in 2021/22. The need to recruit staff without delay was emphasised to ensure that staff were sufficiently trained. 

Observations arising from the discussion

¾  It was stated that assessments suggested that at worst we may need over 300 additional staff for six weeks. Accepting that it was not practical to deliver this, the solution would entail a combination of appointing a little more staff and then staff temporarily transferred and to divert staff from other council departments.

¾  Support for the application was highlighted and that the department was preparing as best it could. 

¾  It was noted that the Finance Department was trying to maximise the sum that the Council claimed from the Government. It was explained that the Council would continue to spend as required in order to save lives and protect the health of Gwynedd residents, but the flexibility to claim had been reduced following the first quarter of the 2020/21 financial year, and there was no certainty of any additional funding by 2021/22. However, it was confirmed that every effort would be made to claim funding, with a need for Care officers, as well as the Council's Finance officers, to convince relevant civil servants in the context of funding this proactive Adult Care Services Workforce Plan.