Agenda and minutes

www.swansea.gov.uk/disclosuresofinterests

None Disclosed

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

Notes of the Panel meeting held on 6 September 2017 were agreed as a correct record

Accepted

Rhian Millar – Consultation Co-ordinator

Ann Williams – Network 50+ Administrator

Rhian Millar Consultation Coordinator, and Ann Williams Equalities Policy Development Officer, attended to brief the Panel on the Welsh Language Standards 2016/17 Annual Report.

Key Points Raised

·         The standards came in last March 2016 and the Annual Report is mandatory

·         There is lots of support available to staff including training and a Welsh Language Champion in each department

·         There is an outline 5 year plan to increase Welsh speaking – external agencies such as Menter Iaith have been invloved

·         The responsibility lies with the Chief Executive and Corporate Management Team with Access to Services as the first point of contact

·         Welsh speaking lanyards are available from security and there has been work undertaken in setting up groups

·         There has been an increase and improvement in understanding the need to comply and using translation services properly

Questions and Discussions focussed on

·         The Panel liked the lanyards which indicate you are a Welsh speaker/learner and wondered whether Councillors knew about them

·         The Panel wondered whether the Annual Report was available in Welsh

·         The Panel asked that any only adjustments be reported annually to the Panel rather than the full Annual Report

·         Standard 33 requires translation services are available in public meetings. There was discussion around what constitutes a public meeting

Actions

·         Disseminate information about lanyards to all Councillors via Democratic Services

·         Send a link to the Welsh version of the Annual Report to be send to the Panel

·         Ann Williams will clarify ‘public meeting’. Panel to be updated

Richard Rowlands - Corporate Performance Manager

Richard Rowlands Corporate Performance Manager, attended to brief the Panel on Q1 2017/18 Performance Monitoring Report.

Key Points Raised

·         AS9 (The % of Deprivation of Liberty Safeguarding assessments completed in 21 days or less) is a continuing concern – a new team is being established to deal with it

·         The total number of staff completing the corporate mandatory safeguarding awareness training is 176 against a 200 target – effort required to increase uptake

·         CUST5/CUST6/SUSC2 shows a reduction in comparison to Qtr1 2016/17 this information is based on perception surveys

·         The Chief Social Services Officer, in his overview set out within the report, states that there are concerns about the number of children and young people requiring statutory children services support and that there are higher numbers of looked after children, which is borne out in some of the data in the report. The Chief Social Services Officer also states in the report that this highlights the importance of properly targeted preventative services.

Questions and Discussions focussed on

·         The need to increase staff uptake of safeguarding training

·         How perception surveys are carried out – when, what format, weighting given to questions etc

·         Public perception of the Council when staff members are smoking outside – the policy around this

·         The Scrutiny Performance Panel Child & Family Services continuing to focus on the level of demand being experienced by Child & Family Services.

Actions

·         Add Work Plan item for Lee Wenham and Chris Sivers to attend Panel to discuss perception surveys and their process

·         Contact Steve Rees to establish staff smoking policy – linking in with public perception of Swansea Council

Local Government Data Unit Wales

Local Government Performance summary discussed.

Key Points

·         Swansea has 6 indicators in the top quarter, 3 in the bottom quarter, 2 in the upper middle quarter and 2 in the lower middle quarter

Questions and Discussions focussed on

·         Landfill, fly tipping and municipal waste – the scores seem low considering the Waste Department received a performance award within the last year

·         The Panel were disappointed that the measure around days taken to deliver a disabled facilities grant still at 22 of 22

Actions

·         Send link to full report Local Government Performance Report 2016/17 to Panel

·         Ask Steve Rees to include feedback on fly tipping and municipal waste performance at his next Scrutiny Visit

·         Get feedback on performance in relation to Disabled Facilities Grants

·         Panel reminded of additional meeting 16^th October for Public Protection Commissioning Review

·         Add item relating to Public Perception Surveys with Lee Wenham and Chris Sivers

·         Add extra item to the Recycling and Landfill Annual report to explain the low scores on the Local Government Report