Press Releases

The review by the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales and the Wales Audit Office says that the Council’s social services are mainly good, and the authority is strongly placed to further improve services in the future. Reviewers found that the Council’s ongoing commitment to making social services a priority area, as well as the provision of significant financial investment, has helped to support continuous improvement since the last joint review report was published in November 2001 .

The review found that clear leadership and a strong corporate focus on social services has resulted in the effective management of change in modernising service delivery. The Council’s staff are fully engaged and committed to the changes being made, which have led to a growing range of services available to help people lead independent and fulfilling lives. Overall reviewers were very impressed with the progress which has been made and with the high quality of many of the services seen.

The report identifies a number of areas where further improvement is still required, including the need to address known pressures and gaps in some services . Other areas for development identified by reviewers include improving the timeliness and quality of assessments, ensuring effective risk management, promoting further support to meet the needs of carers and people from minority communities, securing value for money across all activities and further improving scrutiny arrangements.   .

The Council acknowledges these shortfalls, and is aware that change must gather pace in order to tackle these issues and ensure that social services remain in a strong position to respond effectively to the major changes managers have planned for the future. The report makes a number of key recommendations. These include:

• Improving assessment and care management reviews across a number of service areas;
• Developing effective commissioning strategies; and
• Ensuring that there is sufficient management capacity to deliver the change programme that has been drawn up.

The Chief Inspector of CSSIW, Rob Pickford said today:

“Neath Port Talbot Council has demonstrated that it has a strong and sustainable commitment to social services and has made excellent progress  in continuing to improve the quality and range of social services available to the public.  The Council and its managers and staff can take pride in this achievement ‘

Auditor General for Wales, Jeremy Colman said today:

”Neath Port Talbot has improved social services and should be congratulated on its progress to date. The Council’s commitment to improvement will be central to the major programme of change it has developed within the tougher financial environment that now exists.”

Notes to Editors:

• This report is part of a second series of joint reviews, a rolling five-year programme to assess the performance of individual social service authorities in Wales. The review of Neath Port Talbot took place between September 2007 and November 2007.
• Joint reviews are conducted jointly by the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales and the Wales Audit Office.
• Joint reviews are carried out in accordance with the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003, which gives the National Assembly for Wales the power to conduct reviews of the way in which local authorities discharge their social services functions.
• Joint reviews set out to answer two key questions: How good are the social services that people in the area receive and how well placed is the Council to sustain and improve services?
• Further information can be found on the joint review web-site:
  www.joint-reviews.gov.uk