Issue - meetings

Consideration was given to the report of the Corporate Director Social Services.

The Corporate Director Social Services referred to the Annual Report of the Director of Social Services 2020/2021 which was detailed in Appendix 1 and invited questions from Members.

A Member referred to the priority ‘to develop alternative models of support that promotes independence and supports well-being outcomes’ and in particular individuals 25 years and over. The Member advised that many of these young people are keen to get back to normality and asked what plans are in place going forward to get service users over 25 years old back into the community out of their homes where they have been since the start of the pandemic.

The Corporate Director Social Services referred to the presentation provided at a previous meeting in relation to the pressures in the social and health care system. It was informed that day care staff were supporting services in other areas as a result of staff shortages in frontline services due to the pandemic. Therefore, some services were not operating as they would have before the pandemic and a ration day service had been developed to fit an individual’s needs. The Corporate Director added that there was a need to establish a model for day services facilities as the Department could not return to pre-pandemic ways as Social Services had an obligation to protect the most vulnerable in our communities and needed to comply with Welsh Government risk assessment to stop the spread of COVID-19 which would include social distancing restrictions. It was added that once this review had been undertaken it would be presented to Members for consideration, however the Corporate Director stated that the pandemic was continuing and there was a need for risk assessments to be undertaken to maintain some social distancing in our facilities.

It was noted that during the pandemic services have been offered virtually and on a 1-2-1 basis and service users had welcomed this contact and it was hoped that this interaction could be continued. There would be consultation undertaken with families and service users to identify their needs.

The Member welcomed the work undertaken by Social Services, however he further asked if projects were being sought with community clubs and organisations to get these individuals outdoors. The Member stated that these young people had been indoors for 18 months and families were keen to see the outdoor activities resume.

The Corporate Director confirmed that work was ongoing with other sectors where support could be offered within the community. The Head of Adult Services agreed to take the matter up with the respective Members direct.

A Member referred to the complaints and compliments section of the report and felt that there should be a number of compliments received which recognised the good work undertaken by Social Services to support families during the pandemic.

The Corporate Director Social Services advised that due to closures of facilities the Department was unable to gather compliments as the majority of correspondence  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5