Safeguarding, Communities and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee/Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Committee

AGREED – That Item 6 be brought forward and taken at this time.

The Lead Member for Education submitted a progress report (COEEI/08/24s) on work associated with the Local Authority’s Play Sufficiency Duty, in particular; consideration of the areas of work included in the Play Sufficiency Action Plan 2023/24. This included an overview on the child’s play satisfaction survey, Wrexham’s community play schemes and proposed actions to complete Wrexham’s fifth Play Sufficiency Assessment due for submission to Welsh Government in June 2025. Introducing the report the Lead Member reported that as with last year’s presentation the authority has a duty placed on it by Welsh Government to provide adequate access to Play. The report contains reference to a survey which will be further updated this year. Monies from a City of Culture Bid is being used to commission the survey. The Lead Member also cited the increase in new homes being built around Wrexham which will only serve to increase the need for Play opportunities. The Assistant Lead Play and Youth Officer provided Members with a quick overview of what play sufficiency was. The Head of Prevention and Support highlighted that the play team was solely funded by grants and that the mass amount of value of work generated from this services delivered at schools and communities was massive for a small team and also included the youth provision. The following matters were discussed by the Committee – · Since the boundary changes Grants were becoming difficult to obtain. · A Member enquired about how the Play Support team was dealing with securing the funding for Gwenfro Valley and other play areas in the Wrexham County Borough. · A Member acknowledged the excellent report and the fact that there was a small team delivering a play support service. · Concerns that Gwenfro Valley and other play support area schemes were located in places where a majority of children went into care and that by taking away this play support would have a detrimental effect in this area because it was seen as a positive preventative measure. · A Member enquired about the Community Councils that were not involved in the Play Support service and advised officers to approach them regarding the take up of this beneficial service. · The Assistant Lead Play and Youth Officer provided Members with a brief update regarding the weaknesses outlined within the Creating a Capital of Play report as follows: a) The Council’s Play Development Team was reliant on Welsh Government programme grant funding only, with funds diminishing over time. b) Third sector play work providers were, too. c) There did not appear to be a clear vision of what the ‘capital of play’ looked like. d) There was confused language and understanding of why play has been included. e) Some reliance on support by council officers, rather than by department Children and teenagers did not feel safe or welcome in the Town. · Members were informed that if they had willing volunteers the play and youth development team would provide them with some training on play support. · The core funding element for the play and youth service was discussed. · Members touched upon the reputational risk associated to the City of Culture Capital of which formed a major of the next City of Culture bid. · A Member highlighted how difficult it was to secure grant funding for play support and requested that the Lead Member for Education look into the funding element for this important service. AGREED – (i) That the Safeguarding & Well-being Scrutiny Committee thank the Officers and the Lead Member for this report, we note the improved amount of Children taking part in the surveys year on year since 2012. We also note and appreciate the satisfaction ratings are excellent considering the recent pandemic. (ii) That the Committee asks Officers to do everything possible to keep the Gwenfro Valley play scheme a going concern to maximise the number of children allowed to play there. Furthermore, where possible working on strategies with colleagues in the Council to include core funding as part of the ongoing scheme. (iii) That the Committee asks that the department consider the involvement with Elected Members in any consultation you may need in our wards.

The Lead Member for Children’s Services submitted a report (COSC13/24) that provided an update on progress against the Childcare Sufficiency Assessment (CSA) Action Plan, which was attached in Appendix 1. Presenting the report the Lead Member advised the report was an update from last year’s report which responded to the duty under Section 22 of the 2006 Act requiring local authorities to ensure that sufficient childcare was in place to meet local needs. A full assessment was conducted every 5 years and this was updated annually. The Action Plan highlighted 6 key areas of work. The work was very broad and increasingly seeks to operate in a low funding environment with access to grants significantly reducing. In order to provide some level of sustainability the department works with a wide range of partners to provide innovative solutions. In comparison with other local authorities Wrexham’s childcare offer has remained relatively stable. Rhian Thomas, Senior Head of Children's Social Care, Rebecca Roberts, Lead for Prevention and Service Development and Lisa Atherton, Assistant Team Manager for Wrexham Family Information Service were introduced to Members and they provided an overview of the key elements outlined within the action plan and of the report. The following was highlighted: · Child care supply was relatively static within Wrexham County Borough Council compared to other local authorities. · Funding as a Local Authority (LA) to support child care and to support additional support workers was not sufficient and the department has been looking at other funding alternatives. · Explained ways to improve support settings with best practice for support workers and staff so that they could adapt accordingly to changes within the service. · The Lead for Prevention and Service Development was working in collaboration with the Flying Start Lead to identify and improve sites through capital development in line with the roll out of the various phases of the Flying Start expansion. · The Childcare Team worked closely with Mudiad Meithrin to ensure that the Welsh medium childcare sector within Wrexham County Borough was supported. · The Child Care Team have collaborated with other local authorities and have supported a significant portion of funding to child care providers. · In total £525,606 was awarded to child care settings which included child minders, and nurseries. · Despite budget cuts, the child care service aims to keep the training directory and will continue to provide online training courses at an affordable level. · The Child Care Team were currently working with the Additional Learning Needs Team, Early Education and Flying Start to revise the training directory. · Child Care Officers have promoted the profession by attending job fare events and have had informal conversations with people studying Childcare in Wrexham. A discussion ensued and the following points were made: · The qualifications for child care providers depended on the requirements of various settings which were made up of people who owned their own businesses, had limited companies, or charities. · Childcare provider vacancies depended on the requirement of the job which may require a level three in childcare learning play and development or a level five. · Over the past two years the Child Care Team has lost two funding streams that supported this sector. · A Member raised concern regarding the potential closure of the Sparkles day nursery. · A lot of effort has gone into promoting the Wrexham Family Information Service and the Child Care Team via social media campaigns, reaching and out to parents and providers directly, communicating through letters and via the Portal. · The Wrexham Family Information Service offer a number of drop in sessions, has a well-being hub which has been published on Facebook. · The service have been currently working with Welsh Government on a child care pilot scheme for North Wales promoting the value of the Family Information Service. · It was advised that Councillors promoted the Family Information Services and the Wellbeing Portal on their own social media accounts and their Community Councils websites. · The Family Information Service will also go out to the community to promote the service including, health clinics and schools. · The training courses provided by the Child Care Team were funded by Welsh Government and were heavily subsidised. · Drama based training covered actors acting out safeguarding concerns that were based on real life scenarios which will be recorded in future for training purposes. · The Safeguarding Board was exploring how to take the safeguarding training forward including virtual reality methods. · There was a range of safeguarding training available to meet the National Minimum Standards and the Child Care Team offers this training setting at a subsidised rate. AGREED – That the Safeguarding, Communities & Well-being Scrutiny Committee thank the Officers and the Lead Member for the positive report considering the obstacles faced by the department and look forward to a future report maintaining the present level of service provided throughout the County Borough.