VULNERABLE people are being let down by a council which has failed to deliver its good intentions, a report found yesterday.

A joint review of Gwynedd Council said it delivers “inconsistent services” and is “badly placed” to make further improvements.

The review team found that the council had made inadequate progress to develop modern social services and said it had failed to deliver the many good intentions promised after its last joint review in 2001.

Gwenda Thomas, deputy Minister for Social Services, said: “The report shows that the council as a whole faces a significant agenda in order to improve their delivery of social services to the standard required of modernised services and I am sure they will wish to act upon it.

“I will be expecting both the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales and the Wales Audit Office to put in place a robust monitoring programme over the next year to ensure Gwynedd Council effectively tackles this challenging agenda.”

The joint review team found that many planned improvements had not been implemented in adult services and that there was an urgent need for a “more radical shift” in the pattern of services being delivered.

Although more has been done to improve children’s services the team said concerns still remained in key children-care areas.

The council’s spending on social services was also criticised as the inspectors said the money had not been used to best effect.

Rob Pickford, chief inspector of Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales, said: “The review team has judged that social services in Gwynedd are inconsistent and improvements need to be made urgently in order to bring them up to the required standard.

“The council has not moved in the right direction to address its shortfalls, and it now needs to clearly demonstrate that it can address an increasingly challenging agenda and develop an effective response to the concerns raised in this joint review”.

Jeremy Colman, the Auditor General for Wales, said: “Gwynedd is failing to provide social services which consistently meet the needs of all service users and is unable to demonstrate that investment in services has been used to best effect.

“The council needs to focus on developing a broad range of modern services, which provide better all round value for the resources expended.”

by Madeleine Brindley, Western Mail

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