This meeting was scheduled to consider a range of reports including inspection reports from Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) on the council's fostering service and adult services, as well as to monitor progress on the council's corporate plan. The meeting also included an update on preventative work across adult services, a discussion about performance monitoring reporting and consideration of items for future scrutiny.

Scrutiny of Fostering Service Inspection Report

The committee was scheduled to review a report from CIW on an inspection of the council's fostering service, Foster Wales Neath Port Talbot. The report, which was previously considered by the Cabinet on 11 December 2024, provided an overview of the inspection process and detailed the key findings. The report highlighted several areas of strength, including safeguarding, the effectiveness of the fostering service in fulfilling its role and the matching of children with foster carers.

All evidence gathered at this inspection indicates the fostering service is well developed and effective in fulfilling its role in safeguarding children and promoting their well-being. Children are suitably placed and matched with foster carers who are trained, supported and committed to their roles.

The report also identified some areas for improvement, particularly in relation to ensuring that the statement of purpose provides all of the information required by regulations. The report also highlighted the need for further development of systems to monitor, review and inform the ongoing improvement of the fostering service.

Scrutiny of Corporate Plan Annual Report 2023/2024

The committee was also scheduled to review the council's Corporate Plan Reset, Review, Recover 2022-2027 Annual Report ¹, which covered the period from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. The report detailed the progress that has been made against the four well-being objectives set out in the Corporate Plan and considered whether the current well-being objectives remained relevant.

The report identified a number of key achievements during the year. These included:

• Providing 2393 full day childcare places and ensuring 1463 children aged 3 and 4 accessed part-time childcare via the Childcare Offer;
• Launching the Housing and Homelessness Strategic Plan 2024/2027: A Place To Call Home, and;
• Launching the Culture and Heritage Strategies along with the Destination Management Plan.

However, the report also highlighted a number of areas where more work needs to be done, such as lowering the number of school exclusions, expanding the range of foster carers and reducing energy consumption.

Adult Services Prevention, Early Intervention and Community Services Progress Update

The committee was also scheduled to receive a progress update report ² on the work of the council's Adult Services Prevention, Early Intervention and Community Services Team. The report provided a summary of service activity for the 2023/24 period, an update on activity for the first six months of 2024/25 and feedback about the impact of the work. It also outlined the future work plan for the service.

The report provided details on the variety of services offered by the Prevention, Early Intervention and Community Services Team. These included the Ageing Well, Bspoked, Community Connecting Team, Digital Enablement, Freshstart, Local Area Coordination, Technology Enabled Care (Assistive Technology) and Volunteering services, as well as support for unpaid carers.

The report highlighted the significant increase in demand for these services, with 1,414 individuals being supported during the 2023/24 period and 2,964 individuals being supported between April and September 2024. It also identified an increase in the complexity of needs presenting to the service.

The report detailed the team's vision for the future, which is to:

Create an inclusive and empowering model of support and progression where individuals can explore, discover, and grow.

This vision will be delivered by integrating existing Prevention and Early Intervention services into a centralised, accessible pathway and strengthening the community offer through the development of early help hubs. The report noted that the team is working to ensure that the service model is sustainable and flexible and that there is a continued focus on the identification and support of unpaid carers.

Scrutiny of Adult Services Assurance Check

The committee was scheduled to review a report by CIW on an assurance check ³ of the council's adult services. The purpose of the assurance check was to review the council's performance in fulfilling its duties under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014. The report identified both strengths and areas for improvement.

Among the strengths identified by the report was the accessible and supportive nature of the leadership team, the enthusiasm and dedication of practitioners, and the learning culture within adult services. The report noted that:

Adult services benefits from visible and accessible leaders. Staff describe timely and good quality supervision which meets their development needs. Practitioners are enthusiastic about their work, and there is an embedded learning culture.

However, the report also identified some areas for improvement. In particular, the report highlighted concerns about the consistency and quality of care planning, the need for greater focus on the voice of people and their personal outcomes, and a perceived lack of community services able to meet the holistic well-being needs of people. The report noted that carers have reported difficulties in accessing support and that partnerships require further development.

Corporate Plan 2024-2027 – Half Yearly Update 2024/2025

The committee was also scheduled to receive a half-yearly performance update ⁴ on the council's Corporate Plan 2024-2027. The plan, which was adopted by the council in July 2024, sets out the council's well-being objectives for the 2024-2027 period. It includes nine transformation programmes designed to help the council meet its objectives within the context of significant budget challenges.

The report highlighted the progress that has been made towards achieving the council's four well-being objectives, as well as the 48 strategic priorities and 76 qualitative and quantitative performance measures included in the plan. It noted that 46 of 48 strategic priorities and 65 of 76 performance measures were on track.

Options for Quarterly Performance Reporting

The committee was also scheduled to consider different options for how performance monitoring is reported to the committee in future. This included reviewing a list of performance measures and indicators, and selecting which of these should be scrutinised on a quarterly basis.

Scrutiny of Private Items

A private session was scheduled to be held to discuss the Direct Payments Payroll Service Review.

Selection of Items for Future Scrutiny

Finally, the committee was scheduled to consider items for future scrutiny. This included a review of the Cabinet and Scrutiny Committee's forward work programmes ^{5 6}.