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Social Services Annual Report

Published: 12/08/2020

Flintshire County Council’s Social Services annual report has been published here https://www.flintshire.gov.uk/en/Resident/Social-Services/Social-Services-Reports.aspx.

This is the fourth year of a new format for the Social Services Annual Report which is prepared under the requirements of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 and the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 (RISCA).

The Council has much to celebrate in the work being done to promote and improve the wellbeing of people in the County, including:

  • The opening of Hwb Cyfle.
  • The development of our Extra Care facilities.
  • Becoming a Council ‘Working Towards Becoming Dementia Friendly’, the first in North Wales.
  • Our positive feedback from Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) following their focused inspection.
  • The implementation of the Micro-care Enterprises Project.
  • Continued successes with Progress for Providers.

The year ahead will, no doubt, bring further challenges as we fully realise the impact of Covid-19 on our population, businesses, services and communities. The strict new measures for essential travel and social distancing have brought major changes to what we have considered normal. There is now a new understanding of the outstanding work our social services colleagues do every day. This workforce should continue to be celebrated as heroes alongside the health workforce, those in the food production supply chain, delivery and postal workers, volunteers and the many others.

Neil Ayling, Chief Officer, Social Services, said: 

“This comprehensive report lays out a positive position for social services in Flintshire and demonstrates that despite the current unprecedented pressures on services, our staff continue to provide excellent services to support the most vulnerable residents in the county. The report also sets out a full programme of service improvement in both adult and children’s services, to respond to future needs and ensure our services maintain their positive reputation.”

Flintshire’s Cabinet Member for Social Services, Councillor Christine Jones, said: 

“This is an excellent report and a fair assessment of our performance as a service last year. It has been particularly pleasing to see how our officers have adapted and continued to support our residents during this difficult time.  However, we are not complacent, and we will continue to seek ways to improve, particularly during such challenging times which show increasing demands on our services.”

The annual report outlines the improvement priorities identified for 2020/2021. These include:

  • Implementing the national Young Carers ID card.
  • Developing support options for parents and young people with low/moderate mental health needs.
  • Developing our next Action Plan to support people living with dementia and their carers and continue to be recognised as a Council ‘Working Towards Becoming Dementia Friendly’.
  • Establishing a multi-disciplinary team to provide ‘rapid response’ assessment and support for children and families on the edge of care.
  • Implementing the ‘Mockingbird Model’ of fostering.
  • Working with young people and further education providers to create opportunities for young people with additional needs to access education
  • Working to safely reduce the numbers of children entering care and improve outcomes for those in care.
  • Completing the Extra Care Programme. 
  • Progressing in-house residential care expansion schemes.
  • Increasing early intervention and support to prevent youth homelessness for young people aged 16-24.