Issue - meetings

Consideration was given to the report of the Corporate Director of Social Services which presented the Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) Assurance check summary as identified in their letter dated the 11th June 2021 (Appendix 1). The purpose of the assurance check was to review how well the local authority’s social services continue to help and support adults and children with a focus on safety and well-being. This letter summarises the findings of CIW assurance check on 17 May to 21 May 2021.

The Lead Inspector (CIW) gave an overview of the CIW Assurance check in their letter of 11th June, 2021 which summarised how well the Authority’s Social Services Directorate continued to support vulnerable adults and children throughout the pandemic.

The Chair commented that it was a fantastic report highlighting how well Blaenau Gwent had performed during the pandemic.  Another Member said it was a major accolade as other Authorities could look to Blaenau Gwent to see how well they had performed and hoped that the press would report on this positive message.

In relation to paragraph 6.6 of the report - ‘most practitioners who responded to our survey felt supported by colleagues and managers and regarded their workload as manageable’, a Member enquired regarding the word ‘most’.  The Lead Inspector explained it was usually the case with surveys that some issues arise in relation to change as not all practitioners were happy to embrace change.  The Inspector had spoken with management regarding the issue and felt it was not of major importance.

In response to a Member’s question regarding issues with the Welsh Community Care Information System (WCCIS), the Inspector said there were major problems with the system.  The Corporate Director of Social Services commented that WCCIS was the Health & Social Care computer system that was promoted by the Welsh Government for all 22 Local Authorities and 7 Health Boards to sign up to and implement.  Some Authorities and Health Boards had implemented the system but there were major issues regarding reliability and functionality of the system, the Director was aware of plans to upgrade and make improvements to the system and hoped this would be progressed within the next few months.

A Member commented on the excellent report and praised staff on how they dealt with the difficult period of the pandemic and the measures that had been put in place by the Authority to enable placements to stay together and to allow children to see their families and siblings at such a very difficult time and also the support put in place for Social Workers, Foster carers and everyone else involved, he felt this was excellent news for the Authority.

Another Member commented that it was a glowing report from an external agency and felt that it showed that staff were in touch with the clients they supported and showed that the whole of the Council took their Corporate Parenting role seriously.

Other Members echoed their colleagues’ comments on the excellent report and felt that safeguarding procedures  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7