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Bank holiday information - Easter

Bank holiday information for our services, including opening times and emergency contacts. All recycling collections will take place on the usual days.

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 5, Guildhall, Swansea. View directions

Contact: Liz Jordan 01792 637314 

Items
No. Item

1.

Disclosure of Personal and Prejudicial Interests.

Minutes:

No disclosures of interest were made.

2.

Notes of meeting on 28 August 2018 pdf icon PDF 227 KB

To receive the notes of the previous meeting and agree as an accurate record.

Minutes:

The Panel agreed the notes as an accurate record of the meeting.

3.

Public Question Time

Questions must relate to matters on the Agenda and will be dealt with in a 10 minute period.

Minutes:

No members of the public were present at the meeting.

4.

Update on Youth Offending Service pdf icon PDF 119 KB

Amanda Turner, Western Bay Youth Justice and Early Intervention Post Court Manager

Minutes:

Amanda Turner, Huw Fyfe and Carl Matthews of Western Bay Youth Justice and Early Intervention service attended to brief the Panel on performance and answer questions.

 

Discussion points:

 

·       Number of first time offenders of children and young people is falling substantially. 

·       Swansea was the first Authority to introduce the bureau system

·       Youth Justice Service should be looking at case studies etc to identify and prove that intervention with young people is working. 

·       It would be useful to track young adults to check if this intervention continues to work once young people become 18. 

·       The number of custodial sentences imposed on young people in the region reduced to 9 in 2017/18.  This is a real success story.

·        The budget for Western Bay Youth Offending Service reduced from £4.2m in 2015/16 to £3.68m in 2017/18.  There has been no negative impact on performance and no compulsory redundancies as a result of this.  There are now 19 shared posts across the region compared to 11 in 2017/18.  This is a good positive story for joint working.

·       There are strong links between the regional Youth Offending Service and our Child and Family Services in the Authority and Info-nation so there is an integrated approach.

·       Youth Offending Service does not have immediate access to the CAMHS service.  They are making a case to the Health Board for having a defined route into CAMHS in a timely manner.

·       Panel feels the CAMHS service is not working effectively.  This issue is being raised in lots of forums including the Education Scrutiny Panel.

·       Concern about what the effect will be of Bridgend leaving Western Bay.  There are currently 19 shared posts in the region.  Have to ensure none of the 3 areas are disadvantaged, particularly the children and young people in the areas.

 

 

5.

Performance Monitoring (including BAYS +) pdf icon PDF 57 KB

Julie Thomas, Head of Child and Family Services

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Julie Thomas, Head of Child and Family Services went through the Performance Report for September 2018 highlighting the main points and answering the Panel’s questions.

 

Discussion points:

 

·       Looked After Children (page 2) – the Department is undertaking an audit as there has been an upward trend in this figure.  Plan to bring a briefing report to the December Panel meeting.

·       Panel feels the Department is going in the right direction but there are a few issues they need to keep an eye on as a Panel.

 

Actions:

 

·       Add ‘Report on Looked After Children Audit’ to Work Programme for December 2018

6.

Feedback on Inspection Report

Julie Thomas, Head of Child and Family Services

Minutes:

Julie Thomas provided feedback to the Panel on the findings and areas for development from two inspections undertaken by Care Inspectorate Wales in July 2018 - a full inspection of Children’s Services in the Authority and an inspection of Foster Swansea.

 

Discussion points:

 

·       Foster Swansea has consistently received positive reports in inspections.

·       Panel feels that overall the inspection report on Child and Family Services is excellent but there is always room for improvement.  Panel expressed their gratitude to Julie and the rest of the team as the progress made has been through hard work and commitment and is excellent.  Julie is pleased with the report but not complacent and that is why the improvement plan has been put in place.

·       From a scrutiny point of view, the Panel will continue to scrutinise the Service and make suggestions and recommendations for improvement.

7.

Work Programme Timetable 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 73 KB

Minutes:

The Panel considered the Work Programme.

8.

Letters pdf icon PDF 258 KB

a) Convener’s letter to Cabinet Member (28 August 2018 meeting)

 

Minutes:

Letters received and considered by the Panel.

Convener's letter to Cabinet Member (29 October 2018 meeting) pdf icon PDF 258 KB