Healthier Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Consideration was given to the overview of the Parenting and Family Support Team – Early Intervention, in line with the work of the Budget Task and Finish Group in advance of the 26/27 formal Budget Setting process. Iwan Davies, Corporate Manager: Early Intervention provided a presentation to the Committee outlining the following: - Background of the Parenting and Family Support Team - Links to Corporate Strategies & Finance - Functions · Flying Start Provision (Full Flying Start/ Flying Start Childcare only) · Integrated Children’s Centres & Headline Data 2024-2025 · Non-Flying Start work / Family Support o Provision for Parents o Families First Commissioned Services (external and internal/ health) & Headline Data 2024-2025 · Feedback from Service Users & 2025-26 Priorities Members were provided with the opportunity to ask questions which were answered by Officers and Councillor Alun Williams. The main points raised were as follows: · Members expressed their gratitude to the service and suggested that without the early intervention in place, there would be a greater demand on specialist services. · Concerns were raised with the level of staffing and services within the team that depended on grant funding. Officers explained that there were challenges with maintaining the level within Families First without an increase in grant funding; however, funding for Flying Start had increased over the years to allow for the provision’s expansion. · In response to a query on Flying Start’s expansion to additional postcode areas within the county, it was noted that this was based on Lower Super Output Areas data. The aim in the future was for the provision to be available universally. · It was noted that the Family Centres across the county provided valuable support and services to families. Concerns were raised that not all young children were visited by Health Visitors and as a result, could miss out on support in place. Officers clarified that work was ongoing in the background across Porth Cymorth Cynnar to improve communication with families, which included an online calendar. It was AGREED to note the report.

Consideration was given to the overview of the Carers and Community Support Team – Early Intervention, in line with the work of the Budget Task and Finish Group in advance of the 26/27 formal Budget Setting process. Iwan Davies, Corporate Manager: Early Intervention provided a presentation to the Committee outlining the following: - Background, Team Structure, Roles, Legal Framework and Rights - Demographics and Caring Statistics - Links to Corporate Strategies, Finance & Team Composition - Unpaid Carers – Messages from Research - Supporting Unpaid Carers – Carers Information Service Impact 2024-25 - Investors in Carers, Community Connectors, Community engagement and Community Connectors by ward - Promoting Age Friendly Ceredigion & Catalyst for Care - Feedback & 2025-26 Priorities Members were provided with the opportunity to ask questions which were answered by Officers and Councillor Alun Williams. The main points raised were as follows: · In response to a query, Officers clarified that Community Connectors attended several Warm Spaces, and this could be explored further where required. In addition, Councillors were encouraged to utilize Community Connectors to support unpaid carers and to link them with different agencies and services. · It was noted that every carer’s needs varied, as did their desire to take up the opportunity for respite. It was noted that building regular breaks into the timetable of carers who wished to take the opportunity was key. · Members suggested there were many unpaid carers caring for people with dementia in the community, many of whom were unaware of the support available. Work had been undertaken with agencies to put support in place, such as the Dementia Café based in Llandysul. There were discussions on offering a similar provision in north Ceredigion. It was recognised that access to public transport could prove challenging, but the service worked with other agencies where possible to enable carers to access support across the county. · It was noted that a list of useful contact numbers was included in the magazine published 3 times a year for unpaid carers. Officers clarified there was no need for carers to renew their Ceredigion Carer Card yearly. It was AGREED to note the report.

Councillor Alun Williams (Cabinet Member for Through Age and Wellbeing) presented the report on the achievements of the Ceredigion Carers and Community Support Team and progress against their agreed targets and objectives for 2024-2025. Iwan Davies, Corporate Manager: Early Intervention provided an overview of the report to the Committee. He explained there had been a significant increase in the Carers Information Service membership by 7%, and the Young Carers Information Service membership by 20%. He added that the Carers and Community Support Team had a regular presence at the Centre for Independent Living in Penmorfa to provide advice and support to the residents of Ceredigion. He noted the case studies and the support provided to unpaid carers, as well as the innovative approaches to engaging with and supporting carers. The Committee and Councillor Alun Williams thanked the team for providing such a comprehensive and detailed report in an easy-to-read style, and for their commitment to Ceredigion’s unpaid carers and the wider community. It was AGREED to note the report and recommend to Cabinet for approval.

Councillor Alun Williams (Cabinet Member for Through Age and Wellbeing) presented an update on the development of the in-house 24-hour children’s safe accommodation provision in Ceredigion following approval by Ceredigion’s Cabinet on 07.12.21. All three provisions had received grant funding totalling c£2.1m through WG Housing with Care Fund (HCF). This supported the acquisition of the properties (Aeron Valley and Aberystwyth) as well as to convert the homes into therapeutic environments in line with Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 (RISCA) in readiness to register the homes with CIW. Two of three facilities had been successfully registered with CIW, with the third currently going through the registration process. One of the facilities has been registered on a Through Age and was the first of its kind in Wales. This would provide flexibility in meeting the future needs of the population. The service continued to make progress with recruitment campaigns, which would help establish a structure that met the needs of all three facilities. At present, it was only possible to staff one provision, based on the care and support needs of the young people and during the past month, placements had been welcomed to one of the facilities. This has been a collaborative effort between several teams (Direct Services, Planned Care and Education Colleagues) with transition plans focused on the needs of the young people. As a new provision, there would inevitably be learning opportunities and areas for development that would need to be addressed collectively to best support the needs of young people. The Chair thanked all involved with the new provision and stated it was pleasing to hear that young people had been welcomed back to the county. It was AGREED to note the report.

Councillor Alun Williams (Cabinet Member for Through Age and Wellbeing) presented the Statutory Director of Social Services Annual Report for 2024-25. The compilation of the annual report provided the underlying context and culture of the organisation and how the statutory duty to deliver social care services was met by Ceredigion County Council. He explained that the Annual Report provided an overarching summary of all the work that the Through Age Wellbeing services provide on behalf of the most vulnerable in Ceredigion including children, the disabled and the elderly, and that a third of Ceredigion County Council’s entire budget was spent on social care. Audrey Somerton-Edwards, Executive Corporate Lead Officer: Porth Cynnal explained that the report had been prepared in a more succinct and appealing manner, providing a snapshot of all the services provided across all areas of the Through Age Wellbeing in accordance with statutory requirements. In response to a query on whether the number of adults awaiting a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards assessment were waiting to go to care homes, they were advised that some were living in the community and some in care homes and that there was no direct correlation between those that were waiting for an assessment and those waiting to go to care homes. The Committee and Councillor Alun Williams expressed their gratitude to Audrey Somerton-Edwards and the whole team for the report and for providing exceptional services to such a high standard. It was AGREED to note the report and to recommend it for approval by Cabinet.

Justin Davies, Corporate Manager: Core Finance provided an overview of the quarterly Controllable Revenue Financial Monitoring report and quarterly Capital Financial Monitoring report for Quarter 4 24/25 presented to Cabinet on 01.07.25 and Quarter 1 25/26 presented to Cabinet on 02.09.25. The final overall revenue outturn position to report for 24/25 was an underspend of £310k, against a budget of £193.6m. The Through Age & Wellbeing model collectively achieved a small underspend position (£169k) which was a significant improvement on the projected position at the Q3 stage and against a combined TAW budget of just under £59m. This was a phenomenal achievement given the range of pressures, challenges and complexities those Services faced daily. It was the first time since the inception of the Through Age & Wellbeing model that an underspend had been achieved. It was noted that the use of agency staff within Social Care remained considerable, however a downward trend had been seen as the year has progressed. In relation to the Capital Programme Outturn Position for 24/25, the actual expenditure for the year was £64.093m. The expenditure was £29.7m higher than the level incurred during 23/24, due mainly to a combination of 2 major capital schemes incurring significant capital expenditure during 2024/25 – namely the new Dyffryn Aeron School and the Aberaeron Coastal Defence scheme. In relation to the Committee’s remit, the Disabled Facilities Grants had ended slightly under budget with spend of £1.3m, whilst the Land and Buildings Development Fund's had ended with a spend of £1.4m, which had been carried forward from 24/25. In addition, there was expenditure of £1.1m for Housing with Care Fund - Safe Accommodation for Children along with nearly £1.3m for the Residential Homes upgrade including Hafan y Waun. Justin Davies proceeded to explain that at the quarter 1 point for 25-26, the financial position was robust, albeit it was still early in the new financial year. A broadly breakeven position was currently forecasted on the Controllable Budget for the year, with a very small projected underspend of £15k (0.01% of the 25/26 Budget). An overview of the Post Budget Setting Update as outlined in the report was provided along with the Key Challenges (high-end children’s placements and use of agency staff within social care). From a Capital Programme perspective, total expenditure for quarter 1 25-26 was £4.9m, from a Capital Programme Working budget of £38.9m (excluding Contingencies) for the year. At the end of quarter 1, there were no particular concerns for services within the committee’s remit. Nearly £300k against a budget of £1.4m for the Disabilities Facilities Grant had been utilised and £113k of spend had been incurred against a budget of £506k for Residential Homes upgrade work. Councillor Alun Williams highlighted that Social Care recruitment was a national challenge, but with the establishment of Ceredigion’s ‘Grow your Own Social Worker’ scheme, the aim was to further reduce the use of agency workers. It was noted that information on the use of agency workers would be provided in the Workforce Update to be presented to the Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny on 08.12.25. It was AGREED to note the report.

It was AGREED to note the contents of the Forward Work Programme presented.

It was AGREED to confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 10.06.2025 and 16.09.2025. Matters arising: None.