Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Rachel Flynn, Peter Scott and David Williams.

Members to declare any personal or prejudicial interests in any business identified to be considered at this meeting

No personal or prejudicial interests were declared.

Prior to seeking nominations for the role of Committee Chair and Vice-Chair for the 2019/20 and 2020/21 municipal year, in line with the Committee’s terms of reference, DCC’s Head of Democratic Services sought the Committee’s views on how they wished to elect both office holders, by a show of hands or by a secret ballot.  It was:

Resolved: - that both office holders be elected through an open show of hands ballot.

To elect the Committee’s Chair for the 2019/2020 and 2020/21 municipal years

Nominations were sought for appointment to serve as the Chair of the JOSC.  Councillor Brian Cossey was nominated and seconded.  No other nomination was received.  Therefore it was:

Resolved: - that Councillor Brian Cossey be elected Chair of the Conwy and Denbighshire Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the Public Services Board for the 2019/20 and 2020/21 municipal years

Councillor Cossey thanked everyone for their support and trust in him.

To elect the Committee’s Vice-Chair for the 2019/2020 and 2020/21 municipal years

Nominations were sought for appointment to serve as Vice-Chair of the JOSC.  Members were advised that in accordance with the Committee’s terms of reference the Vice-Chair should be appointed from amongst Committee members representing the local authority who did not hold the Chair of the Committee.  Councillor Graham Timms was nominated and seconded.  No other nominations were received and it was:

Resolved: - that Councillor Graham Timms be elected as Vice-Chair of the Conwy and Denbighshire Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the Public Services Board for the 2019/20 and 2020/21 municipal years

Notice of items which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency pursuant to Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act 1972

No notifications of urgent matters had been received.

To consider the Annual Report of the Conwy and Denbighshire Public Services Board (PSB) for 2018/19 (copy attached) and provide feedback and/or recommendations to the Board as appropriate

2.10pm – 3.10pm

Iwan Davies, Public Services Board Vice Chair (PSBVC) advised members that as of June 2019, Sian Williams, Head of North Wales Operations for Natural Resources (HNWONRW) would be the Chair of the PSB and Judith Greenhalgh, Chief Executive of Denbighshire County Council would be the PSB Vice Chair.

The PSBVC introduced the report and presentation (previously circulated) to presenting members with the PSB’s Annual Report for 2018-19.  He explained that every local authority area had a legal obligation to establish a PSB. As Conwy and Denbighshire had previously established a joint Local Service Board (LSB), the PSB’s predecessor, it was agreed to continue this partnership by establishing a joint PSB.   The membership of the PSB included both Councils, Police, Police and Crime Commissioner, Fire and Rescue Service, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB), Natural Resources Wales (NRW), Welsh Government (WG), North Wales Probation Service, Public Health Wales (PHW), the Wales Community Rehabilitation Company and the Voluntary Services Councils in both counties (CVSC & DVSC) etc. Other public type organisations could be invited to participate with the PSB’s work if it was deemed appropriate.  The PSB’s role was to improve the economic, social, environmental and cultural well-being of both county areas by working to achieve the seven well-being goals outlined in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 (WBFG (Wales) Act 2015).

Members were advised of the process followed to draw up the PSB’s Well-being Plan.  As part of this process the Public was approached in the summer of 2016 using the County Conversations approach.  The purpose of this was to gain an understanding of what worked well in the different areas and what required to be focused on for the benefit of future generations.  Between the summer of 2016 and April 2017, the Wellbeing Assessment was compiled. 

The PSB decided that it should not duplicate the work that other organisation had done or would be doing, therefore the PSB identified 6 themes that could be reviewed. These being;

1. The First 1,000 days of life

2. Promoting community hubs

3. Promoting mental well-being for all ages

4. Promoting resilience in older people

5. Promoting environmental resilience

6. Raising resilient and aspirational young people

Via the County Conversations process the PSB consulted with the public on these themes and based on the feedback received decided to rationalise the number of priority themes from 6 to 3. That was done by assessing the impact, long term implications and exploring whether work had already taken places elsewhere in relation to them.  Following this process the Wellbeing Plan itself was approved by each of the statutory partners prior to being approved by the PSB in April 2018.  This final Plan identified a total of three themes that the PSB should collectively address, these being:

1. People – Supporting Good Mental Well-being for all ages

2. Community – Supporting Community Empowerment

3. Place – Supporting Environmental Resilience

The PSB also committed to 4 additional principles which support the 3 priority themes:

a. To tackle inequalities and treat everyone equally

b. To support and promote the Welsh Language

c. To support people so they can access healthy, safe appropriate accommodation

d. To avoid duplicating work.

The Head of North Wales Operations for NRW explained that at the beginning the PSB wanted to approach the project from a different angle, instead of having specialist in their relevant areas leading on delivering the priorities they would adopt a different approach by appointing specialists from other subject areas to lead on priorities outside of their specialist areas i.e. NRW to lead on mental health.  The aim of this was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To consider a report (copy attached) which seeks members to review the Committee’s draft forward work programme for 2019/20

3.10pm – 3.30pm

Conwy’s Scrutiny and Committee Services Officer introduced the Committee’s draft forward work programme for the 2019/20 (previously circulated).  Members were advised that the Committee’s terms of reference stipulated that it should meet at least twice in each municipal year.  However the Committee felt it would be beneficial if the Committee met on a quarterly basis, as soon as possible following meetings of the PSB.  Members were advised that the PSB’s next meeting was scheduled for 5 July 2019.  They agreed that the following items be included on the Committee’s forward work programme for the forthcoming year.

1. Progress update on the Public Services Board priorities (Agreed for next meeting)

2. The Positive Impact of the PSB on Conwy and Denbighshire to date (Agreed for next meeting)

3. Contribution of PSB Partners to work of the PSB – Agreed for later meeting

4. PSB’s Communication Plan/Engagement Strategy – Agreed for later meeting

5. Risk Register – Agreed for later meeting

Members also agreed to add the Wales Audit Office Report to the forward work programme for late 2019/early 2020.  It was:

Resolved: - subject to the above amendments to approve the Committee forward work programme for 2019/20

Meeting concluded at 3.30pm