Issue - meetings

To scrutinise the work of the Public Services Board.

Resolved:

·       To accept the report, noting the observations made during the discussion.

·       That the Committee welcomed the Board's work in relation to poverty, children's rights and being trauma informed.

Submitted – the report of the Deputy Leader of the Council and the Gwynedd and Anglesey Public Services Board Programme Manager. They referred briefly to the following main points:

A summary of the work of the Gwynedd and Anglesey Public Services Board (the Board) in implementing the Well-being Plan 2023-2028 was presented.

It was reported that the Board was in its third year of its five-year plan, confirming there was evidence of positive progress towards its objectives. It was elaborated that most objectives had been completed or were developing and on-schedule. Pride was expressed that the Board had been able to collaborate with its partners at an operational and strategic level and were constantly sharing resources and good practice with each other.

Pride was expressed that the Board had been able to enhance the partnership and work with the Welsh Government, the Future Generations Commissioner, the Welsh Language Commissioner and the Children's Commissioner which had now led to innovative work across several priority areas.

It was confirmed that the Board's Language Sub-Group had completed the 'Good Recruitment Practices' project as well as the ‘Busting the Myths about Working in Welsh' project. It was emphasised that this work highlighted that prioritising the Welsh language was a principle that was embedded across all elements of the Board's work.

Pride was expressed that the Board continued to be innovative by being the first Public Services Board to co-sign an Active Travel Charter. It was noted that this was an objective within its climate priority confirming that six board members had now formally committed to it and that a further four partners were in the process of doing so.

It was emphasised that work was ongoing to develop the Board to become trauma-informed. It was explained that specialist sessions had been held for all Board Members with follow-up work to assess their understanding and current practices. It was confirmed that there were plans to expand this training across North Wales.

Reference was made to some of the Board's further developments such as working with Public Health Wales's Healthy Weight Team to develop resources that helped organisations review their internal policies for a whole-system approach. Similarly, pride was expressed in the establishment of a regional website (agenda.wales) to share resources and good practice with Public Services Boards across the north Wales region.

This Scrutiny Committee was thanked for its observations and recommendations to constructively challenge the Board to ensure it was effective and delivered meaningful outcomes for residents.

During the discussion, the following observations were made by Members:-

The Board was thanked for its work to become Trauma-informed as well as the work done to assist anyone living in poverty. The Board's work to identify where trauma and poverty originated and to work on ways to address that effectively was welcomed. Statistics on child poverty were presented, explaining that there were an estimated 4.5 million children living in poverty in the United Kingdom (31% of the child population). It was emphasised  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8