PUBLIC BOARD MEETING 15 July 2021 Virtual meeting 09:30 – 13:00 Public session Page 09:30 1. Welcome and Opening Comments from the Chair Oral 09:35 2. Apologies and Declaration of Interests Oral 09:40 3. Minutes of the Board meeting 29 April 2021 SCW/21/17 3 To endorse 09:45 4. Action log & Matters arising SCW/21/18 25 09:50 5. Update from Committee Chairs Oral To note and receive 10:05 6. Context setting and key messages from the Chief Oral Executive To note and receive For decision: 10:20 7. Draft Annual Report and Accounts 2020-21, audit of SCW/21/19 29 accounts report Appendix 1 Appendix 2 To consider and approve 10:50 – 11:00 Comfort Break 11:00 8. Chair of Audit and Risk Committee assurance report to SCW/21/20 124 the Board Annex 2 To consider and approve 11:10 9. Equal Pay Review 2021 SCW/21/21 150 To consider and approve 11:20 10. Scheme of Delegation SCW/21/22 164 To consider and approve 11:30 – 11:40 Comfort break 1/189 11:40 11. Business Plan: Quarter 1 progress report SCW/21/23 171 To consider and approve 12:15 12. Strategic Plan overview 2022-2027 Presentation To consider and approve the direction For discussion: 12:50 13. Meeting effectiveness Oral To discuss Date of next meeting: Thursday 21 October 2021 2/189 PUBLIC BOARD MEETING 29 April 2021 Virtual Zoom meeting 09:30 - 13:00 Present: Board Members: Social Care Wales Officers: Mick Giannasi Sue Evans (Chief Executive Officer) Abigail Harris Andrew Lycett (Director of Finance, Strategy and Corporate Carl Cooper Services) Damian Bridgeman David Pritchard (Director of Regulation) Donna Hutton Sarah McCarty (Director of Improvement and Development) Emma Britton Geraint Rowlands (Assistant Director Finance & ICT) Jane Moore Kate Salter (Assistant Director Corporate Services) Jo Kember Rhianon Jones (HR and Wellbeing Manager) Kate Hawkins Llinos Bradbury (Governance Senior Officer - minutes) Maria Battle Peter Max In attendance: Rhian Watcyn Jones Aled Jones, Cymen (simultaneous translation) Simon Burch Natalie Price Trystan Pritchard Public session: 1. Welcome and Opening Comments from the Chair i. The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and stated that this was a virtual public Board meeting with simultaneous translation available. The Chair encouraged those who were able, to contribute in Welsh. ii. The Chair informed the Board members that like the January meeting the section on meeting effectiveness would be undertaken slightly differently. For this meeting members are encouraged to provide their feedback on a Jamboard where three questions had been asked, and the comments will be picked up at the end of the meeting. 2. Apologies and declarations of interest i. Apologies were noted from Grace Quantock. 3/189 ii. CC declared an interest as Chair of the Resourcefulness Communities Partnership which is referenced within the Business Plan 2021-22 on the agenda. 3. Minutes of the Board meeting 28 January 2021 i. The minutes of 28 January 2021 were discussed and endorsed by the Board as an accurate record of the meeting. 4. Action log and matters arising i. Members’ attention was drawn to the rolling action log which provides updates on progress which has been made against outstanding actions since the last meeting. ii. JM asked whether the legacy report from the Vulnerable Children and Young People Ministerial Advisory Group (MAG) had been produced and was available. SMc confirmed that the legacy report had been produced and discussed at a MAG meeting; the finalised version is currently being translated and designed and will be shared with MAG members to cascade once ready. iii. The Chair updated the Board on the action in relation to inviting the Registration team to a Board meeting to thank them for their work which did not happen due to COVID- 19. This then resulted in a structured programme of increasing the Boards visibility and engagement with staff whilst working remotely. Over the last 6 months the Chair, supported by members of the Board, has met with around 80% of the organisation through their departmental meetings. The meetings provided the opportunity for a two- way conversation to ‘test the temperature’ of the organisation. It is clear from the conversations that the Board can be reassured that the organisation has a dedicated and committed workforce, with high morale and engagement. Staff have valued the visible support from the Executive Management Team, which is consistent with the results of the recent staff survey undertaken. A more detailed briefing paper has been prepared and will be uploaded onto the portal in the next few days. Thought should be given to repeating the process over the next 12 months albeit on a slightly revised format. iv. SB asked whether discussions relating to Black and Asian Minority Ethnic Groups’ recruitment and equalities action was progressing, as this had been an action since the October meeting. RJ apologised for the delay in progressing these actions and confirmed that emails to arrange a meeting had been sent to EB and DB this week to help support upcoming recruitment to the organisation. v. The Chair asked for the actions to be given a reference number going forward to help identify actions in future. ACTION vi. There were no further comments or questions on the action log. 5. Update from Committee Chairs 4/189 i. As Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee, RWJ provided a summary of the discussions at the March Committee meeting and in particular, highlighted: - a very positive internal audit report where substantial or moderate assurance was provided in a number of areas. the scrutiny which had been provided in relation to the ISO re-accreditation process or Information Security Management System (ISMS) which would be discussed later in the agenda. a productive discussion in relation to remote working and how best to implement a future of blended working model based on learning from good practice. ii. As Chair of the Improvement Committee, PM highlighted two key items: - a deep dive which was conducted into the interim review of the Social Care Research Strategy. a presentation from the Assistant Director of Regulation which outlined the offer to registered persons and the regulation for improvement agenda (the same presentation was also heard at the Regulation and Standards Committee meeting). iii. The presentation highlighted (i) the longer-term opportunity to improve practice from the register, (ii) considerations for future CPD which will move away from an emphasis on counting hours to providing opportunities for people to reflect on their learning and (iii) capturing themes from Fitness to Practise (FtP) to be shared with the sector. iv. As Chair of the Regulation and Standards Committee, SB commented on the quality of the strategic and operational discussions which took place during the meeting. In particular, he highlighted the stimulating presentation which had been provided by Sarah Harris from Kingsley Napley setting out the interim findings of the review of the FtP process. The presentation highlighted a range of emerging opportunities to improve efficiency, most notably around thresholds and risk management. She had also commented that staff had engaged fully in the process and there was a genuine commitment to the process and to the concept of continuous improvement. The full report and management response will be discussed at the June Committee meeting. v. Following a request from the Committee for an update on COVID-19, David Pritchard presented the Committee with an update from a regulatory perspective. SMc also provided an update on the winter pressures from the sectors’ perspective, where the demand is likely to continue well into the summer. She also reflected on the positive changes to practice that have come from working through the pandemic. vi. The Chair also added his reflections on the Committee meetings having observed all three. In particular, he commented on the increasing synergy between the Committees and the value of the interaction with external stakeholders in attendance. SE also added that extending the membership of the Committees has helped to strengthen the discussions as well as reflecting the maturity of the organisation, the Board and the Committees. She felt the Committees function well, enabling the Board to delegate work, where deeper discussion and scrutiny can take place. vii. There were no comments or questions from the updates provided. 5/189 6. Context setting and key messages from the Chief Executive and Directors i. The Chair said that this item had been moved nearer the start of the agenda, following feedback at the January Board meeting, when members stated it is sometimes difficult to get the context of the agenda items until the Chief Executive had provided her update. ii. In terms of the agenda for today’s meeting and context, SE reflected that the elections for the Welsh Senedd were on 6 May and social care was high on the list of priorities within all of the major parties’ manifestos. The stakeholder and evidence briefing prepared last year will be refreshed and shared with all Senedd members. The new Government will also develop its response to the White Paper on Rebalancing Care and Support following the recent consultation, with potential new work for Social Care Wales once the new government and Cabinet is formed and programme of work agreed. SE and the Chair will meet with both the WLGA and ADSS Cymru soon after the elections to collectively discuss the new government’s priorities and what it means for the sector. iii. SE informed the Board that Welsh Government has confirmed that the date for the registration of adult care home workers will be deferred to October 2022.