Agenda item

[Becky Wilkinson, Director of Adult Services, to present report]

The Chair invited Becky Wilkinson, Director of Adult Services, to present the report.

The Director of Adult Services gave apologies for Sandra Ashton-Jones, Head of Service, who was unable to attend the meeting to present the report.

The Director of Adult Services introduced Leslie Johnson, Manager of the Carers Support Team and Rachael Murphy, Head of Adult Services, to the panel and advised they also would be available to answer any questions.

The Director of Adult Services presented information about the definition of a ‘carer’, the amount carers are estimated to save the economy and details about the numbers of carers in the City. The Director of Adult Services advised the panel that the local authority has a statutory duty to assess and provide support to carers.

The Director of Adult Services advised the panel that the issue of the level of support for carers was a main discussion item at the recent ADASS Spring Conference where there was recognition of the critical contribution that unpaid carers give to the social care sector.

The Director of Adult Services commented that some people supporting a family member, or a friend would not see themselves as a carer, but their efforts support the work of social care. There is estimated to be 27,000 people in Wolverhampton who identify themselves as a carer based on Census data in 2011. The Director of Adult Services advised the panel that the latest Census figures when published is expected to show an increase in the number of carers and commented on work being done to improve the support offered to them

The Director of Adult Services commented on the priorities of the Council’s commitment to All Age Carers strategy and the core values that support them. There is a linked action plan for achieving the priorities detailed in the strategy.

The Director of Adult Services commented that the strategy will be refreshed in December 2022 and will be regularly reviewed in discussions with different groups of people and feedback from the public about the issues of concern, for example, employment and financial wellbeing services, and the support for young carers to encourage them to contact the service for advice and support.

The Director of Adult Services commented on the importance of not only supporting people in Wolverhampton but also supporting Council employees, in recognition of the increasing pressures on people who may be looking after children and or relatives with additional care needs.

The Director of Adult Services highlighted the challenge in identifying young carers who may not consider that they are caring for somebody in their family and outlined work being done to identify and support them. A series of workshops is planned to talk with different groups about ideas for reaching younger carers.

A series of events hosted by Wolverhampton Cares and other organisations is also being planned to find out the views of older carers, and to promote the support available to them.

The Director of Adult Services reassured the panel that there is commitment to the principal of co-production with the public in the future development of the strategy.

The panel were invited to comment on the report.

The panel commented on the challenges facing people who care for others and praised their commitment and dedication.

The panel suggested that it would be helpful for a future report to include performance and future targets to make it easier to monitor and evidence that progress is being made towards achieving the priorities detailed in the strategy document. 

The panel welcomed the reference to offering carers adult education learning opportunities but queried the feasibility of people being able to take up the offer due to their caring responsibilities. The panel also queried the financial support available to help carers with the cost of attending adult education lessons.

Leslie Johnson, Manager of the Carers Support Team, advised the panel that the service offers a home respite service if a carer was interested in training or further education. The service would also provide the necessary support and IT equipment to allow a carer to attend lectures either online or in person. The level of support offered is flexible to meet the needs of the carer.

The Director of Adult Services welcomed the suggestion of including performance data in future reports and agreed to include the information in the action plans.

The panel welcomed the report and the supported the role of Council in supporting carers and in particular the focus on the needs of young carers who face different challenges compared to those of adult carers.

The panel queried if there were events being arranged by the carers team to identify young carers by going into schools and to provide them with support that could help build their confidence.

The Manager of the Carers Support Team outlined the range of support available to young carers and efforts are being made to identify and talk to children in schools. The Manager of the Carers Support Team commented on the importance for young carers have a good quality of life and a normal childhood experience as possible and to support them in making choices as they move to becoming a young adult carer.

The panel queried the feedback received from the focus workshop sessions about the carers strategy and suggested that it would be helpful for a future report to show any changes made in response to the comments received.

The panel also queried progress being made to engage with carers and highlighted a concern that with an estimated 4000 carers on the register, less than 2000 carers are being sent the Council’s carers quarterly information newsletter. The panel suggested that  more work was needed to improve the situation.

The Director of Adult Services agreed to share feedback from the workshops with the panel when available and accepted the ideas for making improvements to the content of a future report.

The Director of Adult Services accepted the need to engage more with carers already known to the service and commented on work being done with local communities and GPs to promote the support available.

The panel highlighted the importance of including performance data in the report which can provide a useful indicator of where the service is expected to be in six to 12 months’ time.

The Director of Adult Services supported this idea in helping to shape the delivery and development of services for carers.

The panel thanked the presenters for the report.

Resolved:

1.    The panel comments about the layout and content of the strategy to be included in a future report in 2023.

2.    The Director of Adult Services to provide the panel with a summary of the feedback from the focused workshop sessions with carers and stakeholders and details of any changes made to the Our Commitment to All Age Carers strategy when available.

3.    The Director of Adult Services to share a final draft of the Our Commitment to All Age Carers with the panel when available.