- Cymraeg
- English
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Peter Black and South Wales West Liberal DemocratsRepresenting Aberavon, Bridgend, Gower, Neath, Ogmore, Port Talbot, and Swansea |
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Statement on Social Services Bill
January 24, 2012 2:57 PM
By Peter Black
By Peter Black
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Peter Black: I start by welcoming this statement and the level of consensus that the Deputy Minister has gathered around this Bill. It is important that you have the agreement not only of Members across the Chamber, but of the Welsh Local Government Association to the vast majority of it-not everything, but the vast majority-as well as that of ADSS and a number of other bodies. That augurs well for the Bill when it comes in October. I particularly welcome the commitment in the statement to extending the range of services for which people will have the right to a direct payment. That is something that the Welsh Liberal Democrats have been pressing for for some time, and I am pleased that the Deputy Minister has listened to that. I also welcome the strengthening of the complaints procedure and the extension of the public service ombudsman's powers to consider complaints. That is essential, particularly given some of the casework that I have come across, as I am sure have other Members, in terms of social services departments. |
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Minister, I have a number of questions around this statement. I think that the pooling of budgets is important and it is certainly to be commended. However, there is also a need to integrate the care elements of both health and social services over time in a planned and coherent fashion that builds on the community networks in place. I think that we need to wean the NHS in particular away from its dependence on acute services. Could you explain how the pooling of budgets will lead to that further transformation of services, not just in terms of sharing money, but of the way in which they both work together in a more integrated fashion? Could you also say how the work that the Welsh Government is undertaking in terms of the Marmot review will inform this Bill? It is important that we deal with some of the issues of health inequity around Wales, and the Bill needs to recognise that changing that is a generational thing; it is not something that you can do overnight. I would hope that we can look at that in terms of how you structure the way that social services operate in the future. |
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The big issue that I have come across in terms of my own casework as an Assembly Member is the turnover of social workers in some social service departments, which can have a huge impact on the level of care available, particularly for vulnerable children, but also for vulnerable adults. I welcome the commitment to further professionalise social work and to offer support to social workers as part of that. We certainly need to find ways to stabilise that profession, and I hope that you will be able to bring forward proposals to help social services departments to manage that situation. |
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Finally, Lindsay Whittle raised the size and number of safeguarding boards, and it is an issue that concerns local government. There have been issues where safeguarding boards work together without stability of personnel, which has meant that important work is not being done and not being sustained. I would hope that we could look at that. Certainly, there is some concern that we have too few safeguarding boards trying to do too much work. Perhaps you could look at that as part of the consultation process. |
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The process for serious case reviews, which are charged to those safeguarding boards, is eminently unsatisfactory and cumbersome at present. It does little to protect children in a timely manner; it certainly protects them over the long term, but a number of cases have arisen that required a timely response, yet the response took several years to come. That needs to be looked at as well |
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