Agenda and draft minutes

[The Chair to welcome everyone to the meeting.]

Cllr Val Evans, Chair, welcomed everyone to the meeting and advised it was being live streamed to the press and public. A recording of the meeting would be available for viewing on the Council’s website at a future date.

[The Chair will explain how the meeting will proceed, how questions are to be asked and any matters of meeting etiquette.]

Cllr Evans explained the protocol to be followed during the meeting for asking

questions.

Apologies were received from the following:

Cllr Dr Michael Hardacre

Cllr Jenny Cockayne

Cllr Rohit Mistry

Cllr Udey Singh

Cllr Paul Sweet

Cllr Iqra Tahir

No declarations of interest recorded.

Minutes of the meeting 20 February 2024 were approved and signed by the Chair as correct record.

[Courtney Abbott, Quality and Improvement Advanced Practitioner for Children and Adults, to present report]

The Chair invited Courtney Abbott, Quality and Improvement Advanced Practitioner for Children and Adults, to present report. 

The Quality and Improvement Advanced Practitioner advised the panel that the report and presentation will provide a summary of the findings of the 2023 social work provider workforce health check survey.  

The panel were asked to note and comment on the findings in the report and attached presentation. The panel were also asked to comment and challenge the proposed actions to improve practice conditions for the health of Social Workers and the wider social care workforce. 

The Quality and Improvement Advanced Practitioner advised the panel that the survey is completed every year to check on the health of the social care workforce as part of the adult social care ongoing self-assessment. The report gives an overview of the survey findings and actions to address areas of improvement that have been identified. The survey findings have also helped with workforce development planning that support the continuous improvement of Adult Social Care practice across Wolverhampton. 

The Quality and Improvement Advanced Practitioner gave a short presentation which gave summary of the main findings from the survey and the planned actions.

The Quality and Improvement Advanced Practitioner commented that in response to previous panel comments that the latest report includes some critical survey responses.  The Quality and Improvement Advanced Practitioner commented that in response to request from the Chair in November 2023 two social workers Emily Haynes and Natalie Simmons had been invited to share their experiences of working in social services to give some context to the survey findings. 

The Chair invited Emily Haynes and Natalie Simmons to contribute to the discussion on Adult Services Social Work and Wider Workforce Health Check Survey report. 

Natalie Simmons, Social Worker, advised the panel that she has worked as a social worker in Wolverhampton since July 2023 and qualified as a social worker ten years ago. Natilie explained that she was originally appointed to Wolverhampton as an agency social worker but in November 2023 was appointed as a permanent social worker. 

Natalie commented when compared to other authorities she has found the experience of working in Wolverhampton to have been very positive and highlighted the forward-thinking approach taken to support social workers, for example, streamlining work processes. Natalie also commented on the value of having the strong presence of senior management in supporting social work teams in helping to support this. Natalie concluded by commenting that she would be happy to continue working for the Council and progress further with her social work practice. 

The Chair thanked Natalie for attending the meeting and her contribution.  

The Chair invited Emily Haynes who was taking part on Teams to contribute to the discussion. 

Emily Haynes advised the panel that she has been employed by City of Wolverhampton Council since June 2022 and has been a qualified social worker for five years prior to that in a neighbouring local authority. Emily commented that she was impressed by the support from the senior  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.