Agenda item

Attendee:

-       Phil Diamond – Regional Partnership Board Regional Team

-       Roxanne Green – Regional Partnership Board Regional Team

-       James Harris – Strategic Director - People

The Strategic Director – People advised the Committee that the Head of Children & Young People Services and the Head of Adult and Community Services had sent their apologies for the meeting. The Director continued to present a brief overview to the Committee and highlighted they key areas for consideration. The Director explained that the Regional Partnership Board was very significant for Newport and the region, and was a partnership that not only delivered services, but also drove change and improvement for the all parties involved.

Members asked the following:

·                Members were pleased to see the budget on page 79 of the report. It was asked how the budget was shared out, and if there was a summary for Newport. The Officer advised that Newport had been given a £1,300,000 investment. The funds for the emerging financial year had not yet been fully committed, so the report was not a full picture of what each area had. It was also noted there were various funding streams, such as Dementia Friends funding.

The Strategic Director explained that the challenge for Newport was making sure that Newport was appropriate proportion of services, which he believed it was. The Regional Area Team took a holistic view and approach to how care was delivered across Gwent. Newport in some instances got less than a proportional share and others get more, but this was determined on the needs of the area. There was a give and take by all of the regions in Gwent, although Newport did get a fair share.

·                The Committee discussed the number of people who had received the Attachment Training, and Members asked if they could be given details on the number of people in Newport who have received the training. The Officer advised that a quarter of staff had reported for training. The details were available to be seen by the public across Gwent, as such include all of Gwent, but the Officer instructed the Members that a report just for Newport could be provided.

Member enquired about the procurement of the training provided by the Regional Area Team. The Officer explained that the Attachment training, in particular, had been funded through the ICF. This might not have been brought into Newport had it not been for partnership working. The training had been in high demand, as there were only 20 places per training session. The Regional Area Team would have liked to have been able to deliver the training to every Social Work Team and health partner, but due to funding restraints, this was difficult. After the training, what normally followed was a ‘Train the Trainer’ session. The Regional Area Team hoped that the ‘Train the Trainer’ would allow every team to have some access to the training through Team Members who were able to pass on their knowledge.

The Strategic Director informed the Committee of the different types of procurement, and gave the example of a regional wide procurement process would be led by a single organisation, then run through the procurement channels. The Regional Area funding was funnelled through the Health Board.

·                The Members enquired if the Regional Partnership included the voluntary sector, and could the attendees describe where the voluntary sector had been effectively included. The Officer advised that the voluntary sector were included in decision-making forums, and gave the example of the creation of the Dementia party based workshops. Those workshops based in Newport were some of the best attended. The Officers explained that the voluntary sector’s voice was heard around the table at an operational level and a strategic one, and had board representatives at a strategic level. Voluntary sector organisations were included to be an advocate for the Gwent residents, ensuring their needs were met.

·                Members enquired whether there were many volunteers available to support projects. Officers were unsure of the actual number of volunteers, but there were large numbers of volunteers available to support initiatives. The Regional Area Team have met with schools who had had young people who volunteered, this volunteering had in some cases counted towards their grades.

·                Members wished to know how we assured good partnership working and how challenges were met together, and what challenges were there moving forward. The Officer explained that there was a real will and positive enthusiasm around the board to move forward together; this was from all partners including the Health Board, voluntary organisations and Local Authorities. The Attendees stated that it was fair to say that Gwent was recognised to have one of the strongest regional partnerships in Wales.

The Strategic Director advised that at a strategic level there was the usual challenges and disagreements, of which you would normally expect, but nothing more than that. They channelled the mutual respect into working practices, jointly constructed work and programmes supported good partnership working.

There were difficulties associated with funding responsibility, and again relating to individual or specific cases, in particular when funded by Local Authority or Health Board. Different approaches were driving change, which was further strengthening the partnerships. An example of how the partnership working had influenced other areas of practice included a new type of panel where the Local Authority and Health Board engaged independently. At this panel, the Health Board agreed to fund the care of a child with complex needs, whereas a year ago they might have refused because they believed it was the remit of a Local Authority Social Services department.

·                Members asked whether there were theme leads in the organisations, for example, a Mental Health theme lead. The Officer advised that in the Regional Group there were six PSB Managers across the Local Authority and partners. The Regional Area Team explained that they engaged with the Newport Citizen Panel when planning in order to avoid duplication, and ensuring resources were used effectively. Members were informed that in some areas, including improving mental health and increasing employment levels, the work done by the PSB was vital and had a significant impact on the work the Regional Area Team had undertaken.

Members then asked if this was the same with voluntary organisations. Members were told that six voluntary partners came together as a consortium when a single provider for a service could not be found. The service was a flexible respite care provider and when no suitable provider could be found, the Regional Area Team offered local care providers the opportunity to work in partnership, of which six did. 

·                How was working with communities and community groups fed into the performance outcomes, and how was it monitored? The Officer advised that this had been recognised by the Regional Partnership Board as an area needing to be strengthened. When funding a service or provision, feedback by service users is important, but there was a deficit. This deficit had been acknowledged as something to be developed. Members were informed that recruitment was currently taking place for a team member with the responsibility for this area.

·                Members commented that it might be useful for Councillors to be involved as they are working closely with communities. The Officer advised that this was a good partnership structure to be built on and they would look at ways of including Councillors in future.

·                The Committee were concerned about how long the 60 million pound funding was sustainable for? Members were advised that the 60 million was for a 2-year period, and was not designed to be sustainable year on year. The primary reason for the funding was to drive and instigate changes to working practices across the region, with the ultimate goal being effective partnership working.

·                Members advised that sometimes carers were left out and needed support. Officers responded that there had been revised ICF guidance, which required regions to have carer initiatives.

The Chair thanked the Officers and Representatives from the Regional Area Team for attending.

Conclusions

The Committee noted the Regional Area Plan 2018 / 19 Summary Update and agreed to forward the minutes to the Regional Partnership Board as a summary of the issues raised.

The Committee wished to make the following comments to the Regional Partnership Board:

1.    The Committee commended the Regional Area Team for their work, especially those areas of best practice and the work done to avoid duplication. 

2.    Work needed to be done on the methods of evaluating and evidencing the work completed with the use of the funding. The Strategic Director - People would provide the Committee with this information.

3.    The Committee requested an all member seminar on the ICF and the services it funds in Newport.

4.    The Committee requested that the Regional Area Team change the format of their Regional Area Plan on their website from MS Publisher to make the document more user friendly and accessible.

5.    The Committee requested more Newport specific examples and references were provided to the Committee.

6.    The Committee requested the Regional Area Team provide the Committee with a quarterly report on the performance against the plans objectives.