SWANSEA: Just four in ten reports of abuse against vulnerable adults checked within a week, council figures show

Someone rings Swansea Council to say an elderly neighbour is being hit, or a disabled relative is being robbed, or a care home resident is being left in soiled sheets. The council’s own rule is that the check gets done within seven working days.

Between April and June, it happened on time in just 41.8% of cases.

The target is 80%. The council’s director of social services, in the report going to councillors on Tuesday, calls the delay “the most concerning performance issue” in his department.

The council’s explanation is that the cases have got harder. “Enquiry performance reflects a more complex caseload following earlier intervention,” the report says. A three-month review will decide whether the service has to change, or the target does.

Nobody at risk, the council insists

The same report grades safeguarding green. The director writes that services “remain safe and effective”, and the chief executive says they are “safe, effective and outcome-focused”.

Councillors have heard that before. In August the scrutiny panel wrote to the council leader about “examples where performance remained below target but narrative assessments appeared more positive”. The council accepted it was an area for improvement.

Three in ten staff have skipped the training

Every council worker is supposed to complete safeguarding training. Just over 70% have, against a target of every single one.

The council has set up a “frontline-led group” to find out why, and is looking at “technology-enabled compliance options”.

Children on the protection register

Nine in ten visits to children on the child protection register are supposed to happen on time. The report records 73%.

The council says the visits are happening and the problem is the paperwork, with a manual check in place until a new computer system arrives next year.

Finding those children somewhere to live remains “a significant concern”, it admits, a week after figures showed foster carers quitting faster than they join. The council wanted 7% of children in residential care in its own homes. It managed 5%.

And the bill keeps climbing

All of this is happening in a department heading for a £13.6m overspend, the reason the council imposed severe spending restrictions earlier this month.

Adult services alone is £9m over, with demand up 15% on last year, and the council says a recovery plan is being finalised. The same report admits disabled people are facing “unacceptable” waits for home adaptations.

The figures go before the council’s finance scrutiny panel, chaired by Cllr Chris Holley, at the Guildhall on Tuesday morning.

Anyone worried about a child can contact Childline on 0800 1111.