Agenda item

To consider a report by the Strategic Planning Team Manager (copy attached) for Committee to receive and agree the report and respond as a statutory consultee.

10.10 a.m. – 10.50 a.m.

Councillor Gareth Lloyd Davies declared a personal interest as an employee of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB).

The Deputy Leader and Lead Member for Finance, Performance and Strategic Assets, deputising for the Leader who was away on another appointment, introduced the report and the Conwy and Denbighshire Public Services Board’s draft Well-being Plan 2018-2022 (previously circulated).  During his introduction he briefed the Committee on the background to the establishment of the Public Services Board (PSB), its membership, purpose and remit prior to presenting the draft Well-being Plan to members.  He advised the Committee that the draft Plan, which had been developed using a similar methodology to the Council’s own Corporate Plan, had recently been published for public consultation and that the Committee was one of the statutory consultees with whom the PSB was required to consult on its proposed plans, hence the reason why the Board was seeking its views on the seven consultation questions listed in the report and draft Plan. The public consultation period would run for a period of twelve weeks at the conclusion of which each partner organisation would take the Plan through their designated decision-making bodies.  In Denbighshire full Council would consider and hopefully approve the final Plan in February 2018.

During the introduction the Strategic Planning Team Manager stated that Denbighshire County Council was encouraged by the synergies between the six priorities in the  PSB’s draft Well-being Plan 2018-2022 and the five priorities in the Council’s own Corporate Plan 2017-2022.  Responding to members’ questions the Lead Member and officers advised that :

• the Plan itself was a high level strategic document which set out the PSB’s aims and aspirations for the next five years.  It would be underpinned with detailed cross organisational delivery plans for how these objectives would be achieved;
• whilst the priority relating to  ‘Promoting Resilience in Older People’ did not specifically mention physical well-being, the aim of building resilience amongst older people would include physical and mental well-being and ensuring that they were socially connected and did not suffer from isolation.  It was all part of the prevailing ‘prevention agenda’;
• similarly, in a bid to reduce obesity, particularly child obesity, education and prevention during the first 1,000 days was seen as key in order to nurture good habits for life;
• prevention was a key feature of both the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, both of which emphasised the need for every individual to take responsibility for their own health and well-being;
• whilst people were free to make their own life choices, in order to secure sufficient resources to deliver sustainable services for future generations an effective communication strategy required to be drawn up to ‘sell’ the benefits of sensible life choices and the prevention approach to residents.   Consideration was currently being given to linking into work being undertaken by Bangor University on behavioural rates and how to change the focus of corporate communications from emphasising the negative impact of behaviours to highlighting the positive impacts and achievements of changing behaviours and practices i.e. how much residents had achieved by recycling more waste etc.;
• there was a need encourage medical practitioners to promote the availability of physical or social activities taking place in their area, be they local authority, private or volunteer run,  as a non-medical way of improving resilience and well-being;
• whilst the Well-being Impact Assessment’s (WIA) conclusion on the draft Plan’s effect on the well-being goal of ‘a Conwy and Denbighshire of vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language’ was that it would be neutral, this related to the Plan itself.  Each individual project taken forward would be individually assessed and monitored on its impact on each of the individual well-being goals.  It was anticipated that if the priority relating to developing the economy could be progressed this could potentially improve the future sustainability of the language and culture in the area;
• it was highly unlikely that any of the PSB partner organisations would decide against approving the Well-being Plan in early 2018, as each individual organisation had been involved with its development since the beginning; and
• that the power to implement the priorities listed in the Well-being Plan lay with the constituent public service organisations that were members of the PSB, i.e. via their strategic plans, in Denbighshire its Corporate Plan.  The success of the Plan’s delivery would depend on effective working between all partner organisations and clear communication channels.  The powers to implement the Plan were stipulated in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 which placed a duty on public sector organisations in a geographical area to work together to improve outcomes for residents.

During the course of the meeting councillors raised concerns about how the ‘normality’ of excessive drinking and over indulging in alcohol was portrayed on various media portals and therefore accessible to all ages at all times of the day.  Officers offered to raise these concerns with Public Health Wales (PHW) as education in relation to alcohol, tobacco and substance misuse formed part of its work, as did healthy eating etc.

Members asked for clarity to be provided on whether the term of the Well-being Plan was 2018-2022 as stated on the covering report or 2018-2023 as stated on the draft Plan, and stressed the need for Welsh Government (WG) priorities and policies to reflect and complement those of local authorities and public service bodies across Wales in order to realise maximum benefit from their delivery.  In addition they asked that the Welsh version of the Plan be proof-read and checked thoroughly for typographical errors prior to the publication of the final version.

Prior to the conclusion of the discussion the Scrutiny Co-ordinator informed the Committee that the Scrutiny Chairs and Vice-Chairs Group (SCVCG) had, as part of its work in exploring effective methods of scrutinising the PSB, asked officers to research potential options for future scrutiny of the Board, including the advantages and disadvantages of undertaking the scrutiny on a joint basis with Conwy County Borough Council.  This work was at present at a very early stage.  A report on potential options would be presented to the Scrutiny Chairs and Vice-Chairs Group for consideration in due course, and to its equivalent group in Conwy Council.  At the conclusion of the discussion the Committee:

Resolved:

(i)           subject to the above observations, to receive and support the report and the Conwy and Denbighshire Public Services Board’s (PSB) Well-being Plan 2018-2023;

(ii)          that in response to the consultation questions it wished to inform the Board that it:

·         wholeheartedly agreed and supported the Well-being Priorities the Public Service Board (PSB) was attempting to achieve;

·         was of the view that the strength in the combined power of the Public Services Board (PSB) to make a difference lay in effective collaboration, pooling of resources,  and communication between all partners and residents to drive forward a prevention/early intervention strategy with a view to mitigating problems from escalating to more complex and intensive ones in future;

·         was of the view that, initially, the Board should focus on the ‘Supporting the First 1,000 Days of Life’ and ‘Raising Resilient and Aspirational Young People’ (including all children of school age) priorities;

·         was not of the view that anything in the draft plan required to be changed;

·         was of the view that no major elements had been omitted from the Plan, but it would be strengthened further if the importance of leading healthy lifestyles (including the dangers of tobacco and substance misuse, the benefits of active travel etc.), the need for affordable leisure facilities for all, and an objective of encouraging medical practitioners to ‘prescribe’ leisure and social interest as a way of improving health and well-being were explicitly referenced within it;

·         felt that effective regular communication about the Plan and the Board’s work would be key in order to continually engage residents and realise the Plan’s delivery; and

·         was of the view that effective scrutiny of the Council’s Corporate Plan and the work of the Public Services Board (PSB) should help ensure the delivery of the Well-being Plan.

(iii)         that for collaboration to work effectively, the priorities and work of the Public Services Board (PSB) needed to be embedded in the work of Denbighshire County Council (and vice versa) through synergies between the Council’s Corporate Plan and the Board’s Well-being Plan; and

(iv)        confirmed that it had read, understood and taken into account the Well-being Impact Assessment (Appendix B) as part of its consideration.