Agenda item

To review the delivery arrangements of the Public Services Board and monitor the progress in implementing the 2023-2028 Well-being Plan.

To accept the report:

·       Ask that future reports include more detail about the delivery arrangements and how progress is measured to realise the objectives of the Well-being Plan.

·       Recommend to the Public Services Board that the annual report contains information about:

·      how the Welsh language is promoted according to each well-being objective

·      how the Whole System Thinking and Healthy Weight: Healthy Wales methodology is a golden thread throughout the work.

The report was submitted by the Corporate Director (in the Council Leader's absence) and the Gwynedd and Anglesey Public Services Board Programme Manager. Reference was made to the following main points:

It was explained that the report presented the delivery arrangements of the Gwynedd and Anglesey Public Services Board for 2024-2025 based on the Gwynedd and Anglesey Well-being Plan 2023-2028. It was detailed that there were three specific Well-being Objectives within the plan, namely:

·       Working to mitigate the effect of poverty on the well-being of our communities.

·       Working to improve the well-being and success of our children and young people to enable them to realise their full potential.

·       Working to support our services and communities to shift towards net zero carbon.

It was added that 'Healthy Weight: Healthy Wales', the Welsh Government's long-term strategy to prevent and reduce obesity in Wales, had been adopted by the Board as a golden thread and it would be a central consideration for the Board's operation. It was considered how the Board would monitor this golden thread bearing in mind that the Welsh language was also a golden thread through the Board's operation.

It was acknowledged that the Welsh language was not clearly seen as being central to the Board's work, as mentioned in discussions about the work of the Board at this Committee. It was emphasised that a change had been presented by the Board to ensure that the commitment to the Welsh language was now much clearer. It was ensured that all Board partners operated with the Welsh language central to their considerations.

It was confirmed that several sub-groups of the Board had now ended and were treated as task and finish groups where officers from each partnership contributed on an operational level to realise objectives. It was noted that many of these groups were already in place such as the 'benefit claiming promotion group' and the 'travel charter group', to assist with mitigating the impact of poverty on our communities. Details were shared about the travel charter group noting that it considered a number of factors in addition to public transport, such as staff modes of travel, vehicle charging and people working from home.

It was emphasised that the Welsh Language Sub-group continued to be operational, with a representative from each partnership being a part of it and collaborating with the Welsh Language Commissioner. It was reported that this sub-group had been working on a project to respond to recruitment challenges in the area and the results would be published soon.

It was reported on high-level delivery procedures that the Board intended to achieve over the next two years. ⁠It was explained that procedures for two years had been noted so far, although the well-being plan was for five years. It was confirmed that the Board had only established procedures for the next two years in order to ensure the strong foundations of operational matters. It was recognised that one of the challenges facing the Board was adding value to communities without duplicating the work already being done by partners themselves.

In response to an enquiry, attention was drawn to two of the high-level delivery procedures submitted. It was explained that the 'becoming a Trauma Informed Board' procedure was a requirement by the Government and that Board members were currently receiving detailed training about the subject. It was confirmed that the intention of this procedure was to ensure that the Board and its partners were aware of service user situations and took their experiences into consideration when providing services. It was elaborated that 'Supporting families and reconciling the rights of children' had also been noted as a procedure for the Well-being Plan to ensure that children's rights received consideration as the Board accomplished it work.

Gratitude was expressed for the thorough information in the officers' oral presentation but disappointment was expressed by committee Members about the lack of written information in the report. It was noted that this had led to difficulties when trying to prepare to scrutinise the Board's arrangements efficiently during the discussion.

RESOLVED:

To accept the report:

·       Ask that future reports include more detail about the delivery arrangements and how progress is measured in order to realise the objectives of the Well-being Plan.

·       Recommend to the Public Services Board that the annual report contains information about:

·       how the Welsh language is promoted according to each well-being objective

·       how the Whole System Thinking and Healthy Weight: Healthy Wales methodology is a golden thread throughout the work.