Agenda and minutes

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In accordance with the Code of Conduct adopted by the City & County of Swansea, no interests were declared.

To approve & sign the Minutes of the previous meeting(s) as a correct record.

Resolved that the Minutes of the People Policy Development Committee held on 15 July 2020 be approved and signed as a correct record.

The Chair commenced by thanking Simon Jones for all his hard work, not only on this report, but also the work undertaken in supporting the Committee during the last two years.

Simon Jones, Social Services Strategy and Performance Improvement Officer presented the People Policy Development Committee Summary Report for 2019-2020 which summarised the work undertaken by the People Policy Development Committee (PDC) during 2019/20.  It highlighted the notable activities and achievements within the policy areas considered, as part of the work programme agreed with the Cabinet Member.

The work programme of the People PDC (as set out in Appendix A) contained two significant areas of work:

·                     Transition for Children and Young People with disabilities;

·                     Strategic Approach to Commissioning new models of care & support.

He outlined why these topics had been selected, the policy commitments, lead officers, work undertaken, outcome and next steps.  He went on to explain how co-production had been used for each of the subject matters.

He also mentioned the piece of work undertaken on “Supported Living” that had been concluded by the People PDC in April 2019.

The Committee discussed the impact of Covid-19 on the Social Services department and the recovery plan that was expected to be presented to Cabinet in October 2020.  The Chair stated that the Cabinet report should provide further direction and outline the focus of work to be undertaken by the People PDC during 2020-2021.

Resolved that:

1)            The report be forwarded to the relevant Cabinet Members to determine whether it should be presented as a “For Information” report to the next available Cabinet meeting.

The Chair outlined the Work Plan for 2019-2020.

As previously advised, he expected the Recovery Plan report scheduled to be presented to Cabinet in October 2020 would provide further advice and guidance on the future work of the Policy Development Committees. 

He also expected further update reports in relation to the Strategic Approach to Commissioning Models over the remainder of the 2020-2021 Municipal Year.

Councillor Ceri Evans, Chair of People PDC expressed his thanks to everyone for all of their support, hard work and contributions during the past 18 months, in particular:

Allison Lowe & Jeremy Parkhouse, Democratic Services Officers;

Simon Jones, Social Services Strategy & Performance Improvement Officer;

Chris Francis, Jane Whitmore & Lisa Banks for their work on the two main topics focussed on this year;

Dave Howes, Director of Social Services and Julie Thomas, Head of Child & Family Services who would be retiring shortly;

The Legal Officers, in particular Lisa Thomas and all of the People PDC Councillor members for supporting the Committee so diligently.