Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from County Borough Councillors G Jones and A Ellis.

To receive disclosures of personal interest from Members in accordance with the Code of Conduct

Note:

1.    Members are requested to identify the item number and subject matter that their interest relates to and signify the nature of the personal interest: and

2.    Where Members withdraw from a meeting as a consequence of the disclosure of a prejudicial interest they must notify the Chairman when they leave.

In accordance with the Code of Conduct, there were no declarations of interest made.

To approve as an accurate record the minutes of the virtual meeting of the Community Services Scrutiny Committee held on the 21^st November 2023.

It was RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the 21^st November 2023 as an accurate reflection of the meeting.

Information is provided in respect of relevant consultations for consideration by the Committee.

Members acknowledged the information provided through the consultation links in respect of open consultations, Welsh Government consultations and those matters being consulted upon by the local authority.

To scrutinise any matters with the portfolio holder responsible for Public Health and Communities and to ensure that there are appropriate mechanisms in place to effectively scrutinise the Executive.

The Chair welcomed the Cabinet Member for Public Health and Communities to the Committee and thanked hr for attending. The Service Director, Democratic Services & Communications presented his report to Members and advised Members that they have an opportunity to scrutinise any arising matters with the portfolio holder responsible for Public Health and Communities and to ensure that the appropriate mechanisms are in place to effectively scrutinise the Executive.

Discussions ensued regarding the progress of the establishment of the Community Safety Partnership board and a Member queried regarding engagement and ensuring in terms of community engagement that this would carry through in to the new structure. The Cabinet Member shared that a multi-agency focus group is currently in place and working towards a regional Cwm Taf Morgannwg Community Safety Partnership Board implementation date of the 1st April 2024. A progress report is due to be presented to the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the 23rd February and to the RCT Community Services (Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Committee on the 28th February.

A Member queried whether consideration been made regarding the potential for one Local Authority to dominate the partnership with the Cabinet Member acknowledging that this is a concern that has been raised, and recognised the risks associated with this issue. Members were informed that to keep local autonomy and accountability within each individual Local Authority, the partnership will recognise that any review of the structures must deliver not only a suitable integrated regional structure, but one which ensures that arrangements for local accountability are comprehensive and precise.

Therefore, the Partnership will ensure that each Local Authority will be monitored and held accountable for their contributions. When pressed further on the risk of one local authority dominating the partnership the Cabinet Member added the development of a regional strategic partnership should not impact adversely on those Councils and respective agencies that are successfully operating and delivering local safety initiatives to the community it serves.The new Terms of Reference of the Community Safety Partnership will include the importance of upholding local community safety arrangements, and also upholding the current local scrutiny arrangements that are in place for Community Safety.

Discussions continued and focussed on the Local Toilet Strategy with a Member asking whether the Council is doing enough to communicate with residents over what facilities are available and where. The Member also referenced vandalism in public toilets and asked what is being done to tackle this. The Cabinet Member recognised the issue of vandalism and the impact this has on the Council and funding challenges to repair damage. With regards to communications, the Cabinet Member shared that a plan has been developed with other service areas and an RCTCBC web page is being developed to provide public toilet locations throughout the borough. The potential of an app will also be explored. Public toilets will also be identifiable through use of a logo sticker. The Cabinet Member also highlighted the locations of available changing spaces within the County Borough.

A Member  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

For Committee Members to pre-scrutinise the revised Contaminated Land Strategy.

The Service Director Democratic Services and Communications outlined the purpose of the report for Members to pre-scrutinise the detail provided in the report and to provide the comments and observations of the Committee to Chief Officer and relevant Cabinet Member prior to their consideration of the proposed Contaminated Land Inspection Strategy for RCT, through the delegated decision process.

The Environmental Protection & Housing Standards Manager outlined the background to the Contaminated Land Inspection Strategy (CLIS) and Members were informed that following a public consultation Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council published its initial CLIS in January 2004. Members were also informed that the Council’s CLIS was designed to achieve the following set of priorities with respect to potential contaminated land:

a. To protect human health and well being

b. To encourage the redevelopment of damaged land/ reuse of Brownfield land

c. To encourage voluntary remediation

d. To communicate and work effectively with other organisations to protect other receptors

e. To engage with local communities to establish their priorities

f. To ensure compliance with and enforcement of the legislation and statutory guidance.

The Environmental Protection & Housing Standards Manager highlighted to Members that historically a number of key strategic sites have been investigated and remediated by the Council in partnership with the Welsh Development Agency (WDA) and other stakeholders, giving the examples of Coed Ely Colliery and Coking Works, and the Phurnacite works in Abercwmboi. The remediation of many other sites has been secured through the planning process. A geographical information system (GIS) developed by the Public Health and Protection Department has proved invaluable at the planning consultation stage in identifying such areas of land. Members were informed that contaminated land issues are often complex and dealing with potential contaminated sites is difficult especially as information is often limited or unavailable.

Members were also informed that since 2010, the Welsh Assembly Government has not provided a capital funding programme for the investigation and/or remediation of contaminated land. In addition to this, the Council has no specific capital budget for the investigation and/or remediation of contaminated land. As a result, the Council has focused its resources on ensuring effective site investigation and remediation via the Development Control process, by conditioning planning consents where necessary. Investigations are carried out prior to development and seek to characterise the exact nature of any potential pollutant linkages and ensure they are appropriately remediated.

The Environmental Protection & Housing Standards Manager continued to present key aspects of the CLIS and of the most recent review. Members were advised that the CLIS review process has been used to assess the effectiveness of the original CLIS in meeting the requirements of Part 2A legislation and statutory guidance. The first full review of the CLIS was completed in December 2008. In 2016, the strategy was then revised to take account of the change in statutory guidance in 2012.  It was highlighted to Members that timescales in the original Contaminated Land Strategy were deemed to be arbitrary, which needed to be redefined in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

To Scrutinise a further report regarding arrangements to address pressures across the Health and Social Care system and the impact on hospital avoidance and discharges.

The Director of Adult Services presented the report to provide Members with key Pathways of Care Delays information for Rhondda Cynon Taf residents between April and November 2023, an update on current winter pressures impact on hospital discharges and information relating to the use of electronic whiteboards and sharing of patient’s information to support hospital discharge.

The Director also shared with Members that colleagues from Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board were present in the meeting.

The Director outlined the background to hospital discharge delays as contained within the report explaining to Members that previous assumptions about delayed discharges often focused on limited capacity in social care as the root cause of delays, but there are a mix of other factors that can cause delays in discharging patients from hospital, including challenges accessing other NHS services in the community.

It was highlighted to Members that there has been three different data collections relating to hospital transfer delays which were:

• Delayed Transfers of Care (DToC) which were available from 2004 until February 2020.

• Management information reports on hospital discharge delays from July 2020 to March 2023 (generated and validated only by the Health Boards).

• Pathways of Care Delays introduced from April 2023.

Members were informed that there is a requirement for each Health Board to measure Pathways of Care Delays via a monthly snapshot census on the third Wednesday of the month and, after validation and agreement with social services and wider local government partners, to report this information to the Welsh Assembly Government.

The Director explained that there are a wide variety of reasons for a Pathways of Care Delay and Members were directed to the full list at Appendix 1.

Members were taken through the data analysis information as contained within the report with the Director highlighting an overall downward trend in the number of reported delays for Rhondda Cynon Taf over the year to date and despite having the largest population performance overall is good when compared to wider Cwm Taf Morgannwg activity.

The Director provided an overview of the information provided within tables 2a-d in the report and explained that the top 4 delay reasons in Rhondda Cynon Taf reflect similar themes across Wales and other Local Authorities.

The Director continued the presentation by explaining from the report that an Integrated Discharge Board has been established to take overall accountability for discharge performance across the Health board footprint, including ensuring Pathways of Care Delays are reported effectively, and most importantly implementing an improvement plan to tackle the areas that pose the greatest risk to delay. Members were provided with an overview of the areas of greatest risk for Cwm Taf Morgannwg and action plans as required.

The Director explained to Members the current position with regards to the Pathways of Care Delays data and how Social Services staff have worked closely with the Health Board to expedite discharges especially from Royal Glamorgan and Prince Charles Acute Hospitals as part of an established Gold Command  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

To reflect on the meeting and actions to be taken forward.

The Chair thanked Officers for their attendance at the meeting and their comprehensive report presentations. The Chair also thanked Members for their contribution and questions during the meeting.   

To consider any items, which the Chairman, by reason of special circumstances, is of the opinion should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency.

None.