Agenda item

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 that the figure for children living in poverty in Gwynedd was 23.6%. That was confirmed to be equivalent to 4571 children in Gwynedd. It was pointed out that for each of the children in this figure, there was at least one parent living in poverty, which was around 6-7 thousand people. Members were thanked for their observations and for presenting these important statistics, and it was confirmed that Bangor University was a great resource in tackling poverty issues with an exciting project underway in Maesgeirchen. Furthermore, it was noted that there was collaboration with a foodbank, Bwyd Da Môn, to see where referrals were coming from and to investigate whether the data was similar to what was seen in Gwynedd as well.

In response to an enquiry as to whether the 'Our Bravery Brought Justice' report had contributed to the board's trauma-informed work, the Programme Manager confirmed that the Board was considering the report. Cyngor Gwynedd and the Isle of Anglesey County Council were thanked for their pioneering work in leading the way in this area, confirming that the 'Our Bravery Brought Justice' report would receive due attention on the Board's work programme for the future.

It was pointed out that the Isle of Anglesey County Council already had Trauma-informed accreditation, and it was asked if there were plans in place to ensure that Gwynedd also received this accreditation. In response, the Deputy Leader of the Council confirmed that discussions were taking place with the Isle of Anglesey County Council regarding the process of obtaining this accreditation. It was elaborated that Cyngor Gwynedd officers were in favour of obtaining this accreditation and confirmed that the Education Department and the Children and Supporting Families Department were already Trauma-informed. It was noted that all Departments of the Council were making enquiries to see how they could contribute to the accreditation and the importance of obtaining it for their department, confirming that a timetable would be drawn up.

In response to a further enquiry on the project of ‘Busting Myths about Working in Welsh', the Programme Manager confirmed that Careers Wales was working with the Board to produce a brief of the myths that existed and how they could be resolved. It was noted that this project used social media and videos to dispel the myths such as by making content for Tiktok and Instagram. It was emphasised that various organisations from north Wales were contributing to this project to ensure that the project included the voices of ordinary people.

Thanks was expressed for the report and the Board was congratulated for its work.

RESOLVED

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

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