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Social services in Wales is the second largest department within local government and is integral its core functions. Within Wales local authority social services are structured a variety of ways which may include being as a separate department or combined with housing or education.

Social Care services in Wales currently support over 125,000 vulnerable individuals and account for £1.1 billion in public spending with an employment of more than 70,000 people. In the context of social care within the UK it is important to note the distinction between Wales and England. Many English authorities have moved to implement integrated children services with a director of children’s services as required by statute and a second director for their adult services. Wales in contrast has retained the statutory role of a single director for Social Services which covers both children and adults.

The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) offers a wide range of support to councils through its political spokesperson, dedicated department and the Social Services Improvement Agency (SSIA). Working collaboratively with a range of professional bodies and partners they support improvement and deliver social care to very vulnerable people.

Strategic leadership for social services is also driven by the Association of Directors of Social Services Cymru (ADSS Cymru) and in partnership with the Association of Directors of Education in Wales (ADEW). A further key partner to local government is the Care Council for Wales who play a critical role in the development and regulation of the workforce.
To guide local government on the road to improvement and collaborative working a set of nine commitments were developed and endorsed by the WLGA in partnership with the ADSS Cymru:

The nine commitments are:

To have a collective responsibility for the reputation and performance of all social services departments in Wales.
To use its collective resource of skills and knowledge to support those councils who are considered in most need to raise their performance.
To ensure that services are individual focused and that the needs of individuals and families are at the heart of the planning, prioritisation and delivery of services.
To collaborate with each other to ensure that resources are used effectively and that commissioning processes support value for money, responsiveness and quality.
To build on local partnership arrangements to deliver high quality care in an integrated manner appropriate to the service being delivered.
To work towards a system of standardised employment practice, opportunities and conditions of service that do not favour or hinder individual councils but promote benefit for all councils and employees.
To secure adequate resources, capacity, skills and information and knowledge to provide high quality care that reflects best practice and the needs of local populations.
To enhance existing specialist support available to promote and co-ordinate a programme of improvement and organisational development and research.
To work constructively with external regulators and inspectors to promote best practice and attain high standards of service.

A major challenge facing local authority social services for the next term will be the delivery of the Assembly Government’s ten year plan for social services ‘Fulfilled Lives, Supportive Communities’. This is set in the context of the ‘Making the Connections: Delivering Beyond Boundaries’ policy framework which sets the direction for public service reform underpinned by strategic collaboration.

The role of local authorities
Local authorities have a statutory responsibility for planning and commissioning social services as well as a duty to safeguard individuals through a range of partnerships. Social services are integral to local authority’s role in protecting and supporting vulnerable people, and promoting well being. The WLGA supports local authorities to plan and deliver services in an effective and efficient way. Much work has been undertaken within the WLGA to support the development of a strategic improvement agenda for social services which is underpinned by Fulfilled Lives Supportive Communities and supported by the SSIA.

The Children’s Agenda
Underpinned by ‘Rights to Action’ children social services is an integral function of local government with approximately 4,500 children in care and supporting vulnerable children is an absolute priority for local government.

A great deal of good work has been undertaken in collaboration with Welsh Assembly Government and the NHS to develop a holistic agenda responsive to the needs of the child. Current policy drivers include the National Service Framework and a new strategy for vulnerable children. Local authorities are working together strategically to develop new services that place the needs of the child at the centre of service delivery. One major All Wales project in line with ‘Making the Connections’ and the WLGA’s Manifesto is the Children’s Commissioning Support Resource (CCSR). This nationally funded Welsh Assembly initiative was setup to improve commissioning for looked after children and is hosted by the WLGA. The principal objective of this initiative is to support and inform local authority commissioning for children’s services, by using ‘real time’ information from the CCSR database on provider provision vacancies, usage and pattern of provision across Wales.

The National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services in Wales (NSF) produced by the Welsh Assembly Government which sets standards to improve the health and well-being of all children and young people and underpins the wider strategic agenda. The standards mainly apply to health and social care but, will also affect other local government services such as education, housing, leisure and transport all of which exert a strong influence on the health and well-being of children and young people.

Alongside the NSF ‘Towards a Stable Life and Brighter Future’ endorsed by the Welsh Assembly Government in early 2007 has refined the placement process and created dedicated posts in health and education, which will support the ongoing needs of looked after children.

The Adult’s Agenda
In Wales there are approximately 60,000 older people assessed in a single year with over a third of this number being aged 85 and over. Social Service key objectives for these people are the protection of vulnerable adults and the promotion of independence and social inclusion. In particular, the enabling of vulnerable people to live as full a life as possible for as long as possible in their own homes. To achieve this, authorities effectively and reliably assess people’s needs, mange their care and provide access to a range of services suitable to meet the assessed needs.

Adult social services in Wales are developing within the wider context of increasing citizen engagement, with an expectation of higher standards of customer service and of increased collaboration between public services. This context reinforces the changing relationship in recent years between adult service users and their carers on the one hand and commissioners and providers of services.

A major challenge facing authorities will be the development of models of service which both prevent the escalation of need and can meet more complex needs when they arise.

The protection of vulnerable adults in communities continues as part of a comprehensive approach for authorities, including the provision of a well regulated and competent workforce, regulated and inspected care settings and effective assessment of individuals and management of their care. The progressive registration of the workforce, the introduction of the protection of vulnerable adults list and the introduction of a degree in social work are examples of steps to ensure the quality of staff.

A further area within adult services is mental health. To help support and guide local authorities the Welsh Assembly Government produced ‘Adult Mental Health Services for Wales: Equity, Empowerment, Effectiveness, Efficiency’ which set out a vision for mental health services for the next ten years. This strategy lays down the plans to modernise and develop mental health services in Wales to a position where they provide the best possible care for those with mental health problems.
To help support service users with learning difficulties local authorities follow the ‘All Wales Strategy for People with a Mental Handicap (Learning Disability)’ which sets out that people with learning disabilities should have: