To receive
a presentation by the Cabinet Member for Care.
Minutes:
The Cabinet Member for
Adults and Health set the context by explaining that
the purpose of this item was to raise awareness regarding the Social Services and Well-being Act which would come into
force in April 2016. He noted that the act was very broad and included
extremely important principles, but that he intended
to focus on just one element
of the field at this meeting, namely the work of supporting people with learning
disabilities.
The Head of the Adults,
Health and Well-being Department gave an introduction
to the act and regarding implementing the act, and noted:-
·
That the act responded to huge
demographic changes and the increasing demand on care
services in a period when the financial squeeze was extremely challenging.
·
That this was
the kind of change that only happened
in a generation as the changes were so fundamental
and far-reaching, but that it
offered many opportunities to look again at the kind of services that were
offered by the Council and its
partners.
·
That one significant change was the voice and control
that the act offered by putting individuals'
needs and wishes at the heart of the everything.
·
That there was also an emphasis
on prevention, early intervention, joint-producing as well as multi-agency elements.
·
That all of these changes
involved a considerable change in culture
and that it would take
time to reach the aim and expectations
that the Government had of us.
·
That the aim of the item
was presenting a video to
the members of the daily work of the Arfon Community Scheme in Frondeg,
as an example
of work that tied in with
the principles and spirit of the new act, but that also
highlighted that there was a lot of catching up to do in other
settings.
·
That he was happy to welcome Andrew Guy, Day Care Supervisor at Frondeg, his colleagues, and users of the service to the meeting.
·
That there was a need for members to be aware of the changes and the impact in terms of the services and reference
was made to a training session organised for them at Ysbyty Alltwen on the morning of 21 January.
As senior manager, with responsibility for the specific field that was addressed in the video, the Senior Operational Manager gave a background of the work and the idea behind
it.
Then, Councillor Lesley Day said a few words about
her own experience when the video had been shown at a conference in Caernarfon, noting that she
had made a request for the video to be presented to the Full Council.
Following the film, the Chairman thanked Andrew Guy and the team at the Community Scheme for all of their work.
During the discussion:-
·
Great appreciation
and admiration of the team's work was expressed.
·
It was noted, although it was obvious that service users
could use their mother tongue
at the Centre, that the linguistic
balance on the video was a matter of concern.
·
No comment was made in the presentation regarding outsourcing even though the act also mentioned that.
In his closing comments, the Cabinet Member for Adults
and Health noted:-
·
That this work was not unique, and that
good work was also happening in the third sector.
·
That this was a field where there was scope for changing
and adapting and that the act focused on these
needs.
·
That he urged members to come to the awareness-raising event on 21 January.