Agenda item

• To note the content of the North Wales Regional Anchor Charter, approved by the Regional Partnership Board on 8 May 2026.

• To note the cross-referencing work completed between the commitments of the Charter and the priorities of the 2023-28 Cyngor Gwynedd Plan and the Council's day-to-day work.

• To acknowledge that the Council's existing work already makes a substantial contribution towards achieving the objectives of the Charter, and that there is an opportunity to strengthen these contributions in accordance with the Council Plan priorities.

• To note the opportunity to share the learning from the cross-referencing process, as well as examples of noteworthy practice, with other partners across the region as a part of the Council's commitment to the Well-being, Prevention and Anchor Framework approved by the Regional Partnership Board on 8 May 2026.

The report was submitted by Cllr Dilwyn Morgan.

DECISION

• To note the content of the North Wales Regional Anchor Charter, approved by the Regional Partnership Board on 8 May 2026.

• To note the cross-referencing work completed between the commitments of the Charter and the priorities of the 2023-28 Cyngor Gwynedd Plan and the Council's day-to-day work.

• To acknowledge that the Council's existing work already makes a substantial contribution towards achieving the objectives of the Charter, and that there is an opportunity to strengthen these contributions in accordance with the Council Plan priorities.

• To note the opportunity to share the learning from the cross-referencing process, as well as examples of noteworthy practice, with other partners across the region as a part of the Council's commitment to the Wellbeing, Prevention and Anchor Framework approved by the Regional Partnership Board on 8 May 2026.

DISCUSSION

It was explained that the Charter was based on the belief that the area's large public institutions could use their influence to create economic and social benefit for local communities. It was elaborated that the Charter was led by the Regional Partnership Board, as part of the wider work of the Regional Wellbeing, Prevention and Anchor Framework. It was explained that the purpose of the report was to highlight how the Council's day to day work was already contributing to the objectives of the Charter. It was suggested that there might be an opportunity to look at what the Council could do to encourage staff to do more in their communities as well.

It was stated that the Regional Partnership Board had already adopted the Charter. Attention was drawn to the completed self-assessment of the Council's work against the items contained in the Charter, and it was highlighted that a large proportion of the scores were consistent, but that one area was low. Details of this were provided noting that several organisations were giving their staff time to go volunteering, and it was suggested that this was something to consider going forward. It was reported that there was a desire to use this information and discussion to enable this to feed into strategic considerations going forward.

The Strategic Partnerships Manager of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board was welcomed to the meeting. Life expectancy was highlighted as one of the indicators considered by the Public Health Team when assessing population health and explained that this indicator was declining in North Wales. It was said that there was a difference in this indicator between people who are most and least deprived in our communities. While there were several factors at play here, it had been identified that wider indicators such as education, jobs with a fair wages, secure homes and safe communities, had the greatest influence on health and wellbeing and were therefore at the heart of this work. It was revealed that this Council was the first in north Wales to go through the process of self-assessment, adding that much of the work contained in the Charter was already being carried out within the Council. The officer went on to urge the Council to look at how these aspects could be further strengthened, and to consider what opportunities there were to share good practice outside the organisation.

Observations arising from the discussion:

It was recognised that the Council's score in encouraging and enabling staff to participate in community and voluntary activity was lower than the other scores in the self-assessment, and it was suggested that this may be something the Council could consider going forward. It was reiterated that encouraging staff to volunteer could contribute to the Council's attempt to strengthen provisions and contribute positively to our communities.