Agenda item

To scrutinise the Gwynedd and Anglesey Public Services Board Progress Report.

Resolved:

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

2.    ⁠To request that future reports will include information/data on progress in terms of delivery.

The report was presented by the Council Leader, Gwynedd and Anglesey Public Services Board Programme Manager and the Corporate Director. ⁠

The members were reminded that Cyngor Gwynedd was one of the five statutory members of the Board, noting that a total of 15 organisations were members of it. Further details were given that these included the Chief Executives and Senior Officers of the Fire Service, Natural Resources Wales, Mantell Gwynedd, Coleg Llandrillo Menai, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and the Isle of Anglesey County Council.

It was noted that Gwynedd and Anglesey's Well-being Plan 2023-28 was published in May 2023. It was elaborated that this Plan set out three objectives where Board Members would work together to achieve them, namely:

·       Mitigate the impact of poverty on the well-being of communities.

·       Improving the well-being and success of children and young people to realise their full potential.

·       Support services and communities to move towards carbon net zero.

It was announced that the Board's delivery arrangements had been modified following comments received from Cyngor Gwynedd's Scrutiny Committees and the Isle of Anglesey Council. It was elaborated that the only Sub-group accountable to the Board was the Welsh Language Sub-Group. It was explained that this permanent Sub-group had been working closely with the Language Commissioner and the ARFOR project to solve bilingual workforce planning challenges, developing a good practice checklist for employers to follow. It was added that the Sub-group had presented ideas for a ‘myth-busting’ project soon to continue to address workforce planning challenges.

It was confirmed that the Board was committed to the Healthy Weight scheme. It was detailed that the Board was working together at a regional level to ensure that the scheme adds value and that procedures are in place to assess the future impact of the scheme.

Pride was expressed that the Board was leading on an Active Travel Charter, noting that an event had been organised for March where Board Members will officially commit to the Plan in the presence of the Welsh Government's Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales. It was added that an active Task and Finish Group was in place for the implementation of this Charter, ensuring that good practice and resources were shared with all Members.

It was reported that a delivery plan had been developed by the Board, noting that reports on the progress of the Board's Objectives were received on a regular basis. It was explained that this information enabled the Board to identify whether there was any timeframe slipping to complete any Objective, and the reasons for this.

Attention was drawn to the engagement work the Board had undertaken with communities. It was explained that this included visits to four secondary schools in Gwynedd to discuss the implications of the Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and the Well-being Plan. It was added that work had been carried out at Hafod y Gest, Porthmadog to establish how 'age-friendly' the area was, at the request of Cyngor Gwynedd's Adults, Health and Well-being Department. It was confirmed that further engagement activities were planned in the future in preparation for the development of new well-being assessments in 2025/26.

During the discussion, the following observations were made: - 

The Board was thanked for acting on this Committee's comments following the Progress Report submitted to the Committee in 2024/25 by ensuring that project progress monitoring arrangements were included in the Report. It was asked whether future Reports could include information showing whether the plans were delivering to ensure that the Scrutiny process was as effective as possible. In response to the query, the Programme Manager for the Gwynedd and Anglesey Public Services Board confirmed that the Committee was able to receive this data as it was being shared with the Board as part of a new arrangement. Assurance was given that this information would be included in future Progress Reports.

It was asked why Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board had not been identified as Members of the Welsh Language Sub-group or the Healthy Weight Sub-group. It was also asked what the arrangements were in terms of determining membership and how the Health Board could be encouraged to get involved in the work in these key areas as they had an important input to deliver. In response, the Programme Manager for Gwynedd and Anglesey Public Services Board confirmed that this was due to staffing issues this year, but they had committed to being part of the Welsh Language Sub-group. It was explained that Public Health Wales was leading on the work of the Healthy Weight Sub-group and the Board's work on healthy weight was being fed into the work of the Regional Strategic Group led by the Health Board. For clarity, it was confirmed that future Reports would detail whether there were any vacancies on the Sub-groups by any of the Board Members. Similarly, it was noted that the Housing Associations currently had a vacant seat on the Board and were striving to find the right person to attend meetings.

It was pointed out that the Trauma-Informed training session for Board Members, to enable the objective of 'Improving the well-being and success of children and young people to realise their full potential' had slipped. In response to the comments, the Programme Manager for the Gwynedd and Anglesey Public Services Board confirmed that there had been a slippage in the timetable to provide this training to Board Members and this delay had arisen due to difficulty in securing a convenient date for each Member. It was emphasised that it was hoped that this training session would take place before the end of the summer and the Isle of Anglesey Council were thanked for their pledge to provide free training to Board Members. It was expressed that this Public Service Board would be the first Board to become Trauma Informed when this training had been undertaken and Members would complete the work with enhanced awareness of the issue.

The members expressed their thanks for the report.

       RESOLVED

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

2.     To request that future reports contain information/data on progress in terms of delivering