Alison Hulmes presentation at the Rural Social Work Conference held on 11 March 2020 in Dumfries.

1. Gwaith Cymdeithasol
Mewn Cymru/Rural
Social Work in Wales
Cultural, Socio-Economic,
Legal and Policy Framework
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

2. Senedd
Cymru
• Devolved since 1998 - Government of Wales
Act
• Social Services/Health and Housing devolved to
Wales – Benefits and Criminal Justice are not.
• 2 official and EQUAL languages – Welsh and
English
• Number of Welsh speakers - 891.100 or 30%
(2019)
• Services must be offered in language of choice
– ‘Active Offer’
• 22 Local Authorities
Approx 6000 registered social workers

3. Socio-
Economic
Climate in
Wales
• Population - 3.1 million
• Wales has a large rural environment with
around 1:3 people currently living in an area
defined as ‘rural’
• Latest data reveals 710,000 people in
Wales live in poverty
• 39% of disabled people are in poverty
compared to 22% of non-disabled people
The poverty rate for disabled people in
Wales is the highest in the UK

4. Socio-
Economic
Climate in
Wales
• Wales has a higher proportion of people with
lower financial means compared to the rest of
the UK
• Around 200,000 children are living in poverty
in Wales, or one in three of the total
• In addition, as many as 90,000 children live in
severe poverty
On both counts, Wales has the highest rate of child
poverty of any nation in the UK
Only UK nation to see a rise in child poverty in
the last year

5. Socio-
Economic
Climate in
Wales
• 38% increase in the numbers of children
looked after in Wales in the last decade
• 43% rise in foodbank use in 5 years –
causative link with welfare reform

6. Key
challenges
of providing
health and
care
services in
rural areas
Travel and access to services
• Rural areas have lower levels of social housing,
residential care and day care
• Those needing care and support living in rural
communities often face longer travelling times
to access the services they need
• Many people may not have access to their own
vehicle, this creates even greater problems,
additional pressure on carers/families
• Public transport services also face challenging
workforce and financial pressures

7. Key
challenges
of providing
health and
care
services in
rural areas
• Social service provision and delivery
challenges are accentuated in rural areas
due to increased social isolation and
population dispersal leaving rural
communities having to travel longer
distances to access services than those in
urban areas
• Remote locations make it more difficult to
recruit and retain the workforce required to
provide and deliver services

8. Key
challenges
of providing
health and
care
services in
rural areas
Cost
• There are increased costs in providing services
for a large, sparsely-populated area as it is
more difficult to achieve economies of scale
• Some social care services in rural areas need
to be provided across several different sites to
reduce lengthy travel times, whereas in more
populated areas, the service can be provided in
one location
A greater number of social care staff are
needed per head of the population to
deliver services in rural areas

9. Legislation
and policy
drivers?
Transformation of Health and Social
Care in Wales
• Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales ) Act 2014
• Parliamentary Review of Health and Social Care 2018
• A Healthier Wales 2019
• Integration of health and social care - workforce
strategy/Co-production
• Prevention/Early intervention
• Reducing numbers of looked after children
• Improved access to mental health support for adults
and children
• Innovation – New models of care/Broadband
• Reducing poverty
• Wellbeing of workforce – BASW Toolkit

10. Solutions
Partnership working
• The legislative landscape for joined up working
between Local Authorities and Health Boards
has been established by the Social Services
and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014.
• This legislation provides the strategic direction
to drive forward change and deliver more
integrated and targeted support for citizens
• Greater investment in local community transport
• Opportunities for social interaction
• High speed broadband
• Recruit and retention of workforce/workforce
strategy/BASW wellbeing toolkit

11. Diolch Yn Fawr/Thank
you
Cwestiynau/Questions?