The Social Services, Health and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee are scheduled to meet to discuss the findings of recent Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) inspections of children's and family services and the local authority fostering service, as well as year-end performance and a forward work programme update.

CIW Improvement Check of Children and Family Services

The committee will be presented with the findings of the Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) Improvement Check of Childrens and Family Services June 2025. The check focused on how well Bridgend County Borough Council (BCBC) has progressed on recommendations for improvement that were outlined in previous inspections in 2022 and 2023.

The report pack states that Ben Anderson and Suzanne Pile from Care Inspectorate Wales will be in attendance at the meeting.

The report pack says that the IC found that:

BCBC leaders have consistently prioritised children and family services, to support sustained and timely improvements. This, in turn, has significantly strengthened the quality and delivery of our social services functions.

The report pack also includes an action plan in response to the CIW's recommendations. The actions in the plan are cross-referenced with the council's three-year strategic plan for children and families, which was approved in September 2023, entitled 'Think Family'.

The report pack notes that the areas for improvement identified in 2022-23 included:

• Seeking, hearing and recording the voice of the child
• People consistently feel listened to and treated with dignity and respect
• Workforce recruitment and retention
• Recording demographics and associates
• Management oversight
• Staff support, supervision, and training
• Provision of information, advice, and assistance (IAA). People receive the right support at the right time
• Placement sufficiency
• Thresholds for early help and statutory services
• Learning from reviews and audits
• Compliance with statutory responsibilities
• Arrangements for supervised contact between children and their families
• Identification and response to child exploitation
• Ensuring priority status, pace, quality, delivery, and impact of its improvement activity

The report pack says that progress has been made in all of these areas, but that further action is required in some.

CIW Fostering Service Inspection

The committee will also be presented with the Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) Fostering Service Inspection June 2025 report. The inspection followed a previous visit in November 2023, where eight areas were identified as requiring significant improvement.

The report pack states that Daniel Bolton, Group Manager – Provider Services will be in attendance at the meeting.

The report pack says that CIW found that progress has been made in all areas, with some requiring further improvement. Particular strengths related to safeguarding, oversight, and the support provided to prospective carers. The service has benefited from recent leadership stability and a clear strategic focus on improving outcomes for children.

However, the report pack notes that three areas continue to require further improvement: the robustness of matching processes, consistency in the review and monitoring of foster carers, and the quality and delivery of carer training.

The report pack includes a Fostering Service Action Plan, and a Foster Wales Bridgend Draft Plan on a Page.

The report pack notes the areas of improvement identified in 2023 were:

• Oversight and governance of the service
• Application of policies and procedures
• Safeguarding arrangements – safety and protection from harm
• Foster carers' delivery of safe and supportive care
• Monitoring and reviewing foster carers' responsibilities
• Foster carer training, support, and information
• Training, advice and guidance for prospective carers
• Adherence to statutory and regulatory responsibilities across the fostering service

Quarter 4 / Year End Performance 2024-25

The committee will receive the Quarter 4 / Year End Performance 2024-25 report, which was presented to the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee (COSC) in July 2025. The report includes the Corporate Performance Dashboard for Quarter 4 / Year End 2024-25 and the Regulatory Tracker updated for Quarter 4 2024-25.

The report pack notes that Audit Wales highlighted the requirement for the council to improve arrangements dealing with recommendations from regulator reports in November 2022. In response, a 'regulatory tracker' was developed, which is considered at the Governance and Audit Committee (GAC) twice yearly.

The report pack sets out details of the scale for scoring the council's performance, a summary of progress on corporate commitments, a comparison with the previous quarter, overall performance on Performance Indicators (PIs) by Wellbeing Objective, PI trends, and measuring performance against the five ways of working.

Forward Work Programme Update

The committee will consider and agree its Forward Work Programme, identify any specific information it wishes to be included and any invitees they wish to attend for the reports for the next two committee meetings. The committee will also identify any further items for consideration on the Forward Work Programme, and consider the Recommendations Monitoring Action Sheet for this committee.

The report pack includes the committee's draft forward work programme, and the Recommendations Monitoring Action Sheet 2025-2026.