Eitem Agenda

This Report enables the Committee to be updated on the progress being made on the Information, Advice and Assistance Service.

(a)  Tony Young (Director Social Services) and Nicola Poole (Regional Lead – Sustainable Social Services) will introduce the briefing and be available to answer questions;

(b)  Questions from Committee Members;

(c)   The way forward for this item will be considered at the end of the meeting.

The Chairperson welcomed Councillor Lent (Cabinet Member for Early Years, Children and Families, and Deputy Leader), Tony Young (Director Social Services, Nichola Poole (Regional Lead, Sustainable Social Services) and Irfan Alam, (Assistant Director – Social Services) to the Meeting.

Members were provided with a briefing in relation to the Information and Assistance Service which is central to the success of the transition to the care and support systems under Act.  As the Committee were aware that system is to be operational from 6 April 2016.  Information was provided in relation to the new resource directory which will be available across Wales – Dewis Cymru. 

The Chairperson thanked Officers for the briefing and invited questions and comments from Members.

• Members questioned the use of the name Dewis Cymru, explaining that they felt that it was not a memorable name and did not describe the purpose of the directory.  Officers advised that the public would not search for the name, they would for a service. 

• Members queried whether there was any proposal to operate the C2C service 7 days a week as not everyone had access to the internet. Officers advised that there were no plans to increase the hours as the amount of usage outside of office hours is low. 

• Members requested information in respect of the vetting process of the services that can be accessed through the site, together with information about how the information about the use of resources will be used.  Officers advised that the information on the site is owned by the organisation/provider of the service however, there are journalists and editors populating the site.  There will be records of ‘hits’ on the system and the information accessed which will evidence of any gaps in the resources being offered. 

• Members queried the effectiveness of the first point of contact for Adults, bearing in mind the experiences evidenced by NHS Direct.  Officers advised that some analysis has been undertaken, the volume of call from members of the public is low, the majority of referrals are from professionals.  However, further analysis is being undertaken in the next quarter. 

• Members queried whether analysis of the currently accessible information is being conducted to ensure that any outdated information is removed.  Members were informed that the Family Information Service currently provides statutory information, Dewis Cymru is to provide information in relation to a broader and more specialised range of options/services.

The Chairperson thanked the Cabinet Member and Officers for their attendance, briefing and for answering Members questions.

AGREED – That the Chairperson writes to the Cabinet Member on behalf of the Committee expressing their comments and observations.