The Performance Scrutiny Committee - People met to discuss the Director of Social Services Annual Report 2024-25, and to review actions arising, the forward work programme, and outcomes monitoring. The committee made several recommendations for the Director of Social Services to consider in the final report.

Director of Social Services Annual Report 2024-25

The committee reviewed the Director of Social Services Annual Report 2024-25, which is required under the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014¹. The report outlines how social services are meeting the needs of service users and carers, how the service has delivered on priorities, and areas that have been prioritised for future improvement.

The report highlighted several successes, including:

• Upgraded broadband in three adult residential care homes, including Parklands Care Home, which has improved residents' ability to connect with family and friends.
• The relocation of the Smart Hub to Newport's central library, which provides information and advice about assistive technology.
• The implementation of Dementia Hubs in each local authority across Gwent, which provide information, advice, and support for people concerned about their memory, living with dementia, or caring for someone with dementia.
• The unveiling of a graffiti artwork by the Newport Partnership Youth Forum, designed to ensure young people's voices are represented in child protection conferences.
• The Care to Career initiative, in collaboration with Newport Children's Services, training providers, and Premier Forest Products, which provides traineeship opportunities for care-experienced young people.

The report also acknowledged several challenges, including:

• The increasing complexity of needs presented by children and young people.
• The need to replace the WCCIS² system by Spring 2026.
• The increasing demand for preventative and statutory services, while budgets are not increasing in line with demand.

The report also detailed the financial resources available to social services, noting a £4.1m underspend across the social services portfolio in 2024-25. However, it also highlighted significant budget pressures for 2025-26, including:

• Childrens Out of Area Residential £1.2m
• Childrens Emergency Placements £849k
• Childrens Remand beds £200k
• Transport costs £200k

The report noted that social services are required to make budget cuts totalling £1.9m during 2025/26.

The committee made several recommendations for the Director of Social Services to consider in the final report, including:

• Including workforce data from previous years in the Mid-Year Review to compare progress.
• Including data on the ages of adults being supported by the service.
• Including data on feedback mechanisms that were available to residents.
• Increasing capacity, where necessary, to meet the demand created by increasing numbers of referrals.

Scrutiny Advisor Report

The committee considered the Scrutiny Advisor Report, which included updates on actions arising from previous meetings, the forward work programme, and outcomes monitoring.

Actions Arising

The Scrutiny Advisor noted that there were no updates to the actions arising from previous meetings. The actions included:

• Providing updates on progress regarding Millbrook and St Andrews' schools.
• Providing a 6-month update on how the recommendations from the Independent Living Strategy have been implemented and the Strategy's progress.
• Providing an information update from the Head of Adult Services providing more detail regarding the amber status reported under Objective 1 Action 1 – Direct Payments.
• Providing an information update from the Head of Adult Services providing more detail about the impact of failing to meet MTFP savings.

Forward Work Programme

The committee reviewed the draft forward work programme for the year 2025-26.

Outcomes Monitoring

The Scrutiny Advisor informed the committee that all the outcomes have been updated and the recommendations from the meeting would be added to the Outcomes Monitoring document.