Agenda and draft minutes

Councillor Hugh Evans – Denbighshire County Council

Councillor Sam Rowlands - Conwy County Borough Council

Gary Doherty – Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board

Jason Devonport – North Wales Police

Teresa Owen – Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (Public Health Wales representative)

Wendy Jones – Community and Voluntary Support Conwy

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 25 March 2019 (copy attached).

The minutes of the Conwy and Denbighshire Public Services Board held on 25 March 2019 were submitted for approval.

The matter of the PSB becoming more action orientated would be discussed at the next meeting in September.

Bethan Jones (BCUHB) – Queried whether the Local Development Plan (LDP) would be working closely with health to ensure that housing would meet people’s health needs. Both DCC and CCBC were in consultation stages and would work closely with the BCUHB.

Sian Williams also noted that access to green spaces should also be included in the LDP.

RESOLVED that, subject to the above, the minutes of the Conwy and Denbighshire Public Services Board meeting held on 25 March 2019 be approved as a correct record.

9:30am – 9:35am

ID informed the Board that the inaugural meeting of joint PSB scrutiny committee took place in May 2019. Cllr Brian Cossey from Conwy County Borough Council was elected as chair and Cllr Graham Timms from Denbighshire was appointed as vice chair. 

The Committee scrutinised the PSBs annual report.  The joint committee are developing their forward work plan.  The next meeting would be held in September and will focus on the environment priority.

It was also agreed that the PSB scrutiny arrangements could be discussed with other PSB’s across Wales, as Conwy and Denbighshire are the first to create a joint committee. The contacts for the joint scrutiny committee were Dawn Hughes at Conwy County Borough Council and Rhian Evans in Denbighshire County Council.

To inform members of progress to date against the priority areas and seek approval for specific areas of work.

a.    People - Mental Well-being

To receive a verbal update on the Mental Well-being priority.

Teresa Owen (Executive Director, BCU)

b.    Community - Community Empowerment

       i.        To receive an update on the Community Empowerment priority and to seek approval for the approach and resourcing of the weight management project. 

Judith Greenhalgh (Chief Executive, DCC)

      ii.        To receive a verbal update on the Dementia Aware Community Led programme.

Helen Wilkinson (Chief Executive, DVSC)

c.    Place - Environmental Resilience

To receive an update on the Environment Resilience priority and to seek approval for the Community Green Pledges and Environment Position Statement. 

Iwan Davies (Chief Executive, CCBC)

Questions for the Board to consider -

·         Should a regional approach be taken to the priorities? (e.g. environment)

·         Committing staff / financial resources / assigning leads

·         Who can contribute to the priorities? (e.g. representatives on each working group)

·         How is PSB work embedded in your organisation?

9:35am – 10:35am

a.            People - Mental Well-being

It was clarified that there was no major information to present since the last update.

It was raised that other PSB’s across Wales had been approaching mental health differently. It was suggested the PSB could liaise further with the Regional Partnership Board and Local Implementation Team (LIT) as. It would be beneficial to discuss what avenues of work were being carried out by both organisations. The landscape of the work being carried out in regards to mental health was clustered and clarity of the work being conducted would be beneficial.

It was agreed that the Mental Well-being would be the focus of the next PSB meeting.

b.         Community - Community Empowerment

Judith Greenhalgh – Chief Executive (JG) presented the update on the Community aspect of the PSB priority.

The implementation of the Weight Management project was likely to be focused in Rhyl within Denbighshire, there would be close working with the BCUHB on the project. Nominations of organisations to work on the project would be sought and returned to the PSB.

A dementia awareness workshop which was carried out during Dementia awareness week was commended as being a community led event, with stakeholders present. There was an impact report being produced which would be presented in the autumn; following the report being brought a joint event between DCC and CCBC would be arranged to engage with a larger demographic.

Dementia awareness was highlighted by the board and whether there had been correspondence with the Alzheimer Society. It was clarified that communication had not been carried out, but discussions would be carried out in the future. Welsh language within the Dementia friendly organisations was highlighted and whether there was enough work being carried out with Welsh speaking staff. Responding it was clarified that the Welsh language was taken seriously, it was noted that current vacancies within the DVSC were highlighted as Welsh essential. It was agreed the vacancies could also be advertised through DCC’s sites.

RESOLVED – that a progress report on dementia projects be returned to PSB in autumn, including considerations for scaling the work up and including partners.

c.         Place - Environmental Resilience

Iwan Davies Chief Executive (ID) of Conwy County Borough Council presented Community Green Pledges and Environmental Policy Statements update (previously circulated).

The purpose of the report was for members to note the progress with the Community Green Pledges and Environmental Policy Statements.

In relation to the Community Green Pledges, the Board agreed to approve this work.  The Chair proposed that any final amendments be circulated to the project officers by the end of July.  

The Board were informed that a communication plan is in development to launch the scheme.  Funding is being sought from the regional PSB grant to support this work.

In relation to the Environmental Policy Statement, it was clarified that it would be beneficial if the board would agree to focus on select number of commitments within the environmental policy statements as initial priorities.  

The commitments that were suggested to be focused on were the first two, which were:

·         To reduce our carbon and energy usage, so by 2030 we would be a carbon neutral public sector.

·         To reduce the amount of waste generated from our activities, so by 2050 there would be zero waste sent to landfill.

It was advised that a partnership approach towards the commitments would be beneficial; with the environmental policy especially, as all organisations within the PSB had their own approaches to deal with the carbon neutral commitment. The board was informed of a workshop to discuss climate change was organised for the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To receive the PSB Annual Report 2018/19 for final approval.

The Chair will be taking this item.

10:35am – 10:40am

The Corporate Performance and Improvement Manager (CCBC), Fran Lewis, introduced the draft annual report (previously circulated).

It was clarified that final approval of the Annual report was sought, and it was asked whether there were any comments.

There were no comments from members of the board.

RESOLVED that the PSB annual report 2018/19 be approved.

To receive a verbal report from Sian Williams (Natural Resources Wales) on a overview of Natural Resources Wales.

10.40am – 11:00am

Sian Williams Natural Resources Wales (NRW) presented the overview of the work which was being carried out by the NRW.

The board were informed that there had been a recent reorganisation within NRW, North Wales had been divided into two regions of East and West. The West regions consisted of Anglesey, Gwynedd and Conwy, whilst the East region included Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham.

Both regions would have their own environmental priorities and statements, and almost all positions within the reorganisation had been filled.

RESOLVED – that the committee note the overview from Natural Resources Wales.

To receive a presentation from Euros Jones (Natural Resources Wales) on the Uwch Conwy project prior to the site visit.

11:00am – 11:15am

Close of Formal Meeting

Sian Williams Natural Resources Wales (NRW) presented the overview of the site visit to Penmachno.

It was stated that the site visit to Penmachno was not a direct project connected to the PSB. However it highlighted the good partnership work which had been carried out at the site. The site visit would also highlight the work being carried out with flood prevention in the area.

The formal meeting concluded at 10:49.

This item was discussed informally.

To review the site visit and discuss how the PSB support the project.

1.15pm – 1.45pm

This item was discussed informally.

The Chair will lead on this item.

1.45pm – 1.55pm

This item was discussed informally.

This item was discussed informally.

A)   WAO local government studies – Review of PSBs and the effectiveness of partnership working (Circulated on the 08/05/19)

B)   WAO local government studies – Call for evidence (Circulated on the 22/05/19)

1.55pm – 2:00pm

This item was discussed informally.