Loading
The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED to exclude the public for the following item of business on the grounds that there would be disclosure to them of exempt information under category 3 of The Local Authorities (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007). The Monitoring Officer has determined that category 3 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules applies to the following item. His view on the public interest test (having taken account of the provisions of Rule 14.8 of the Council's Access to Information Rules) was that to make this information public would disclose information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information). These factors in his view outweigh the public interest in disclosing this information. Members are asked to consider these factors when determining the public interest test, which they must decide when considering excluding the public from this part of the meeting. Proposed by Cllr D Edwards and Seconded by Cllr C Robinson with all Committee Members in agreement.
Apologies for lateness received from County Councillors Sian Cox and Ange Williams, and Officer Sharon Powell.
The Committee received the following Declarations of Interest from Members relating to items to be considered on the agenda: County Councillor Deborah Edwards Declared an Interest in item 9, Powys Owned Care Homes.
The Committee did not receive any disclosures of prohibited party whips which a Member had been given in relation to the meeting in accordance with Section 78(3) of the Local Government Measure 2011.
Minutes of the previous meetings held on the 29th of November and 19th December 2024 were agreed by all. Proposed by Councillor Gareth E Jones and Seconded by Carol Robinson.
Background Introduced by the Portfolio Holder for a Safer Powys: • The follow-up audit review conducted in Autumn 2024 was discussed. 7 out of 11 recommendations had been completed, with progress on the remaining 4. • The committee had previously requested more detailed Corporate Safeguarding Board Activity Reports, which was addressed in the report provided for the meeting. Background Introduced by the Director of Social Services: • The Board discussed: • Item 2.1, which highlighted 1 outstanding item on the Safeguarding Regulatory Tracker, to be reviewed in 2025. • The follow-up inspection report, also presented to the Governance & Audit Committee. • Training policies and their impact on volunteers. • The HR system and improvements in monitoring volunteer training across the council, with an update on timescales to be provided in March 2025. • A tender for the Contract Management Framework and Systems which was planned for early 2025. • Schools' mandatory training compliance which was now available on a BI dashboard for schools, governors, and teachers, with assurance of ongoing monitoring and updates to the Board. • Updates to contractors' guidance for safer recruitment. • An update from the Regional Safeguarding Board. • The Safeguarding Self-Assessment Action Plan Dashboard, with suggestions for improvement to be incorporated in an updated version. • The Education Safeguarding Action Plan, with 80% of actions completed and nearly 85% of milestones achieved. • An update on work following the JICPA review, with an action plan update due in six months. • The mandatory safeguarding training completion rate was at 95.7%. • Volunteers' VAWDASV training, with compliance rates of 93.2% for corporate staff and 62.1% for school staff. The lower rate for school staff was noted. • National training framework achievements. • A query raised about volunteers in the countryside access department. The Head of Service tasked to investigate extending training to these volunteers and report back at the next Board meeting. • A safeguarding in education item which outlined progress on school attendance policies and practices, with Powys Education Service's work on absence recognised as best practice. • A summary of operational reports which was provided for information. Member Questions Officer Responses What mechanisms had been introduced to promote corporate safeguarding, and which had provided the most assurance that corporate safeguarding was being taken more seriously? The Director of Social Services and Wellbeing answered that the increased visibility of her role and that of the Cabinet Member for a Safer Powys had promoted the visibility of corporate safeguarding. Easily accessible information online via the Council’s website with case studies had increased understanding of individual roles in safeguarding. Regular activity reports demonstrated corporate safeguarding being at the forefront of people’s minds. Was it possible to reassess how volunteers undertook training, to ensure that necessary training was undertaken whilst not being too onerous? Were statistics available around volunteers? Volunteers would be an area of particular interest for the Corporate Safeguarding Board moving forward. It was acknowledged that achieving a balance between supporting volunteers; understand their roles and ensuring they received necessary training was vital and a working progress. Using the existing HR systems for volunteers would allow the Council to monitor volunteer training going forward. A more detailed update of this could be provided to the committee at a future meeting. ACTION 61% of school staff having undertaken VAWDASV training seemed low. Why was this training so low and who was accountable for this? This had been noted by the Board. A BI dashboard had been put into place and would be made available to schools, head teachers and Chair of Governors. Work was ongoing to ensure the data provided was correct. Would this report be seen by the Learning & Skills Scrutiny Committee due to the concerns raised? Action taken to provide report to the Learning & Skills Scrutiny Committee. ACTION Why were the education items in the report confidential? The report on Home Educated Children had national and local data that was confidential. Further details could be provided in a confidential session. The committee thanked officers for providing overviews of the presentations in section 2.9 of the report and asked what level of questioning was provided by the Board to ensure that care leavers were provided with adequate housing and support when leaving care? At the December Board meeting this item was provided for information only. In previous Board meetings these concerns were discussed, and work had been carried out between Social Services and Housing to understand how care leavers were prioritised in Policy. If a trend was seen, questions would be raised, and work carried out.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED to exclude the public for the following item of business on the grounds that there would be disclosure to them of exempt information under category 3 of The Local Authorities (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007). The Monitoring Officer has determined that category 3 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules applies to the following item. His view on the public interest test (having taken account of the provisions of Rule 14.8 of the Council's Access to Information Rules) was that to make this information public would disclose information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information). These factors in his view outweigh the public interest in disclosing this information. Members are asked to consider these factors when determining the public interest test, which they must decide when considering excluding the public from this part of the meeting. Proposed by Cllr D Edwards and Seconded by Cllr C Robinson with all Committee Members in agreement.
RESOLVED to exclude the public for the following item of business on the grounds that there would be disclosure to them of exempt information under category 3 of The Local Authorities (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007). The Monitoring Officer has determined that category 3 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules applies to the following item. His view on the public interest test (having taken account of the provisions of Rule 14.8 of the Council's Access to Information Rules) was that to make this information public would disclose information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information). These factors in his view outweigh the public interest in disclosing this information. Members are asked to consider these factors when determining the public interest test, which they must decide when considering excluding the public from this part of the meeting. Proposed by Cllr D Edwards and Seconded by Cllr C Robinson with all Committee Members in agreement.
This item was postponed.
Councillors must say when they have a personal link to something being discussed, such as a job, a property or a family member. A prejudicial interest is one strong enough that the councillor usually leaves the room and takes no part.
Declarations are read from the minutes once they are published.
Lists the council's current councillors only. Co-opted members, officers and former councillors aren't shown.