To submit the report of the
Head of Corporate Support.
Minutes:
Discussion on this report was postponed at the
previous meeting of the Committee on 1 December 2015 due to the volume of
information in order to allow members to give due attention to the report.
The Senior Manager -
Revenue and Risk set out the context, and noted that a more thorough procedure
had been set in order to allow the Committee to satisfy itself that the actions
to respond to the improvement proposals contained in external auditors' reports
had been implemented.
It was noted that a report in terms of external
audits was submitted to the Committee every six months. It was explained that
the intention under the new procedure was to consider every
proposal/recommendation individually and when the Committee was satisfied that
a proposal/recommendation had been completed or that it was no longer relevant
it could be removed from the list.
In
response to members' concerns in terms of seeking actual assurance that the
actions in response to improvement proposals had been implemented, the Senior
Manager - Revenue and Risk noted that the work of the Heads of Department and
officers must be relied upon but if the Committee was of the opinion that there
was a need for further explanation a Cabinet Member or officers could called
before them.
The
Chief Executive noted that the role of the Committee, as the body responsible
for governance, was to keep track of the actions and to decide whether it was
satisfied that they had been completed or with the progress to date and not to
redo the work of the Scrutiny Committees.
The
Strategic Planning and Performance Manager guided the members through the
appendix which noted the audits undertaken by external auditors during the last
three years together with their proposals for improvement, the action plans to
respond to the proposals by the auditors as well as progress to date. Specific
attention was given to the recommendations where it was noted that they had
been completed.
During the discussion the following main points were
noted:
·
That some observations were very lengthy and
therefore more concise information was requested in future with reference to a
project in the Council's strategic plan when relevant e.g. Estyn Inspection;
·
Consideration
should be given to including the links to the reports in the table;
·
Page 15 1.2.1 4i. Ensure that services
promote independence for older people.
- need confirmation that this work was only completed in relation to telecare;
·
Page 20 1.2.2 ii. Strategic planning with
BCUHB in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS). - need confirmation that monitoring of the
therapeutic service for children/young people placed outside the authority's
area was undertaken;
·
That there was a
need for clarity in terms of leader/responsibility where it was not noted;
·
Page 20 1.2.2 iii. Awareness and use of
advocacy services - that further
information should be received as the observations did not confirm that the
quality of the care plans was consistent;
·
Page 23 1.2.2 iia. Opportunities to take
advantage of health care and accommodation for looked-after children
(Accommodation) - that confirmation should be received in
terms of the intentions of the Children and Supporting Families Department in
relation to responding to the lack of range of placements available for those
with complex needs;
·
Page 26 1.2.2 i. Raise awareness of the
implications and requirements of Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and
improve the governance arrangements for the operation of the procedures - that confirmation should be received as to why
DoLS applications had increased from 7 in 2013-14 to 365 in 2014-15;
·
Page 59 2.2 Gwynedd Older People Domiciliary
Care Review by the Care and Social Services Inspectorate (CSSIW) - it was noted as 'In progress (continuous)', it
would be more sensible to note that it had been completed on a specific date
and noting that it was continuous work. It was noted that a request was made
for confirmation of the situation;
·
Page 60 and 61 2.3 National Review of the
Use of DoLS in Wales 2014 - Gwynedd Local Authority and Betsi Cadwaladr
University Health Board - CSSIW -
the progress column noted that specific steps in the action plan had been
realised but not the entire recommendation. One progress should be noted,
namely 'In progress';
·
Page 65 2.5 C3 Ensure that the process of
transferring activities for promoting benefits from the Council to the
Citizens’ Advice Bureau (CAB) does not have a negative effect on the process of
engaging with citizens - In response to an observation by a member
regarding the annual contract with CAB expiring on 31 March 2016, the Senior
Manager - Revenue and Risk noted that there would be a new annual contract for
the year 2016-17.
The
Strategic Planning and Performance Manager noted that the national reports of
external auditors would be included when a list would be submitted to the
Committee in six months' time together with the ones specific to Gwynedd. The
Chief Executive added that when national reports were considered, the Committee
should satisfy itself in terms of the reasons for not taking action in
accordance with some recommendations.
RESOLVED:
(i) To
remove the completed recommendations from the list with the exception of the
ones for which further explanation/information is requested, namely:
·
Page 15 1.2.1 4i. Ensure that services
promote independence for older people;
·
Page 20 1.2.2 ii. Strategic planning with
BCUHB in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS);
·
Page 20 1.2.2 iii. Awareness and use of
advocacy services;
·
Page 23 1.2.2 iia. Opportunities to take
advantage of health care and accommodation for looked-after children
(Accommodation).
(ii) To
ask for further explanation/information in terms of the following recommendations
where they are noted as 'In progress':
·
Page 26 1.2.2 i. Raise awareness of the
implications and requirements of Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and
improve the governance arrangements for the operation of the procedures;
·
Page 59 2.2 Gwynedd Older People Domiciliary
Care Review by the Care and Social Services Inspectorate (CSSIW).
(iii)
To approve this procedure as the future
procedure for the Committee to satisfy itself regarding the Council's actions
to respond to external auditors' reports, including national reports.
Supporting documents: