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Hello.
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My name's Mick Giannasi and I'm the Chair
of the Board of Social Care Wales.
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This time four years ago,
just as you are now,
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I was looking for a new challenge,
an opportunity to use the skills
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and experience
I'd gained during a long and varied career
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to make a positive difference
to public life in Wales.
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To be honest,
I'd never heard of Social Care Wales,
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let alone thought about applying
to be the Chair of the Board.
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But the more I spoke
to people who knew the organisation,
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the more attracted I became to it.
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It quickly became clear to me
that Social Care Wales
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was a well-respected,
well-led organisation which is driven
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by a strong set of public service values
which underpin everything that it does.
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And everyone I spoke to,
from senior government officials to key
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stakeholders and service
users, had really positive things
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to say about the organisation
and the people who work in it.
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And four years on, nothing I've seen has changed
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my initial impression
of a highly effective organisation,
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which makes a positive difference
for care and support in Wales, for adults
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and children who need care and support
for their families and carers.
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That's not to say that
there is not more work to do
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because there is. The challenges
which face the social care sector
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have never been greater than they are
today.
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Social Care
Wales has an important leadership role
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in supporting the transformation
which is necessary to make social care
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services in Wales fit for purpose,
and sustainable for the future.
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Our primary role is to regulate
those who work in the social care sector.
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People like social workers,
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domiciliary care workers
and those who look after children.
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That means that we register
social care practitioners,
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set standards for their practice
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and make sure that there are adequately
trained and fit to carry out their role.
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And beyond our role as a regulator
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we also have a wider responsibility
to help develop and improve the workforce.
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We also work with other agencies
to improve the quality
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of social care services and set priorities
for research, innovation and data.
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We're accountable to Welsh Government ministers for
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what we do and our objectives are set
through an annual remit letter.
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And this tells us how much funding
we have been allocated each year,
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it's currently around £30 million,
and what we have to deliver in return.
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Our chief executive, Sue
Evans, is the accountable officer.
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That means she's directly responsible
for leading the organisation,
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for managing the money,
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and for ensuring that the commitments
we make are delivered.
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So if Sue's responsible
for leading the organisation,
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what then, is the role of the Board?
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Well, the role of the Board
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is to bring an independent perspective
to the running of the organisation.
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More specifically,
we work with the CEO and her team
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to set the strategic direction
for the organisation
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and ensure that the strategy we do set
reflects government policy
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and meets the remit,
which is set annually by ministers.
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It's also our responsibility
to appoint the CEO
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and to hold her and her team to account
for delivering the agreed strategy.
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Beyond that, we have a duty to provide scrutiny
and challenge
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to ensure that public resources
are being used effectively
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and to ensure that risk is recognised
and managed appropriately.
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Although we meet regularly
as a full Board,
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most of our detailed scrutiny
work is done through three committees,
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Audit and Risk, Improvement,
and Regulation and Standards.
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And if you're successful
in your application,
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as well as participating
in the regular meetings of the Board,
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you'll also be a member
of two of those three committees.
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Being a Board member is not just about
attending meetings though.
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You will play a part in other aspects
of the organisation's work.
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For example, Board
members are actively involved in judging
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the Accolades, our highly regarded
annual awards for the social care sector.
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As you will have seen from the recruitment
pack,
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most of our long serving members
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will reach the end of their tenure
over the next two years,
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and this will create the opportunity
for 11 new people to join the Board.
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We'll be looking for six of those
to join the Board in April 2024
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and the other five to join 12 months later
in April 2025.
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For some of those positions
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we're looking for people
with direct experience in social care.
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For example, is a registered
social care worker
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or is a senior or middle manager
in the private or local government sector
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or in the field of social care training
and qualifications. For other roles
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there's more flexibility,
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and we have set out in the recruitment
pack the kind of insights
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and perspectives that we think
will add value to our existing membership.
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That includes professional backgrounds
like accountancy and digital services.
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And we're also keen to recruit
people who have used social
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care services
or supported others who have.
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In fact,
we're more interested in who you are
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as a person and the qualities and insights
that you will bring to the role
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rather than what you've done in the past
or what qualifications you hold.
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Now we're
already a relatively diverse Board,
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but there's still much more
we need to do to be truly
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representative of the communities
we serve.
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For that reason, we would warmly welcome
applications from people from Black,
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Asian and minority ethnic groups.
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We're also keen to encourage applications
from people with disabilities,
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people who are lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender and people
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under the age of 30, all of whom
are underrepresented at Board level.
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If you haven't been a Board member
before, please don't be put off.
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We'll provide all of the development,
support and encouragement
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you need to help
you become an effective Board member.
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So if you think you have the skills
and abilities that we're looking for
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and you share our organisational values
and you have a genuine passion
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for social care,
then I would strongly recommend
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that you put yourself forward
for consideration.
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I've certainly not been disappointed
by the choice
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I made to join Social Care Wales,
and I'm fairly confident that if you are
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successful in your application,
you won't be disappointed either.
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So thank you for your interest
in Social Care Wales
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and the very best of
luck with your application.