Agenda and minutes

None.

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 November 2017 were considered.  Councillor Marshall advised that at the bottom of page 6, mention of court declaration costs had been omitted.

Agreed:

The minutes of the meeting held on 4 October 2017 were approved as an accurate record of the meeting, subject to the above.

Invitees;

-      Will Godfrey (Chief Executive for Newport Council)

-      Keir Duffin (Head of Regeneration Housing & Investment (RH&I) for Newport Council

-        William Beer - Public Health Wales Lead Officer

-        Chief Inspector David Morgan – Gwent Police

The Chief Executive introduced the Quarter 2 performance update for the Single Integrated Plan (SIP) to the Committee. It was explained that this was a transition period from the SIP that would be replaced by the Wellbeing Plan. It was noted that many of the underlying themes within the SIP priorities were evident in the emerging priorities within the draft Wellbeing Plan. The Committee was being presented with an update on the progress being made against the three themes. 

Economy and Skills Theme:

The Head of Regeneration, Housing and Investment gave apologies for the Strategic Director - Place, and presented an overview of the progress being made within this theme. 

Members discussed how the performance measures were set, and how it was ensured that the targets were set at an appropriate level to make them challenging.

The Committee enquired whether long term unemployed had been included in the performance dashboard, as well as the number of young people Not in Education, Employment and Training (NEETs), and outlined the importance of addressing the issue of long term employment as a priority. 

Members were advised that those that had been close to employment and sustaining employment were now currently employed.  Employment in Newport was at a 25 year high, and it was hoped that the Workplace Academy had played in a role in those figures. In addition, a programme was in place with the Department for Work and Pensions for those unemployed for 6 months or more, and its success in the Newport area was the second highest across the UK.

In-work poverty was discussed, and how the inability to afford rent payments and cost of living could affect mental health. Members queried as to how the partners engage with those at risk of in-work poverty, to assist them with managing finances. The Head of Regeneration Investment and Housing advised that there was a good working relationship with the Newport Credit Union in relation to this matter and that 7 barriers were being addressed as part of the partnership working, including housing, drugs & alcohol, mental health and financial concerns. It was explained that most clients usually had between 4 and 5 of the barriers, and so a programme was developed around their specific situation. The Health and Wellbeing Lead also advised of the links between other partners in addressing this problem, such as GPs who may be treating a patient for mental health issues, who may have underlying issues with debt management. The importance of a partnership approach to addressing this was stressed, as the issue was rarely down to a single contributory factor.

Health and Wellbeing Theme:

Shisha Update:

The Public Health Wales Officer updated the Committee upon information previously requested by the Committee regarding the use of Shisha. It was advised  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Invitees:

-       Rhys Cornwall - Head of People and Business Change;

-       Tracy McKim - Partnership Policy and Involvement Officer;

-       Emma Wakeham - Senior Policy and Partnership Officer;

-       Andy Robinson - Natural Resources Wales;

-       Jeff Scrivens - South Wales Fire and Rescue Service.

The Head of People and Business Change provided the Committee with an overview of the consultation process for the Draft Well-being Plan. It was advised that delivery and development of the Well-being Plan is a statutory duty and has to be produced and reviewed after 12 months. Following the consultation process, the final draft would be approved and adopted in May 2018. It was explained that the plan was developed following the Wellbeing assessment.

Members discussed sustainable travel including plug in points for electronic cars at Civic Offices and at other locations around Newport. The Committee were informed that this was currently being looked into.

Members welcomed the strategic plan for all partners, and queried how the plan would be measured on a year to year basis to see if it is working. Members were advised that the Performance Measurement Framework is to be developed and will be signed off by the Public Services Board. Members were also advised that as part of the consultation they asked which of the five interventions were the most important to the wellbeing of the city.

The Committee queried how the Well-being Plan would contribute to making a more Equal Wales. Members were advised actions in the plan would address aspects like inequality of health, preventable diseases and improving health across Wales.

The Committee raised the importance of visitors to Newport and the need to improve people’s perceptions to encourage visitors to Newport. Members noted the need for a travel plan for sustainable travel, inter-city travel and the need to have the right prices and times convenient for people to use.

The Committee discussed references to the Welsh Language in the plan, and Members felt that the links between the objectives and welsh language was not made clear within the plan. Members were also advised that the intention from the development of the plan had been to embed the Welsh Language within the document and thread it through every objective.

Members queried if the partners would be working with a baseline and asked why some measures are “number of” and some are “% of”, why have both measures? Members were advised that there had been a lot of indicators available nationally and for Newport but they were annual, not quarterly. Consultees were being asked which to prioritise for the first year. They were also advised that the measures were taken from what is currently being measured.

Members asked on what the accountability arrangements were for the plan, and who the PSB were accountable to. Members were advised that the PSB was accountable to Welsh Government, and in Legislation and Guidance the Public Service Board must report to Scrutiny who had overview of the plan. Each of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Chair referred to the email circulated with the Pre-Meeting Agenda advising Members of the Committee that they could contact Scrutiny with any queries on Scrutiny Reports or any further information required before the meeting.  Members were reminded of the importance of attending an All Member Seminar upon the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act Training sessions on either 6 or 7 February.

The Overview and Scrutiny Officer presented the Forward Work Programme to the Committee in particular the items scheduled for the next two meetings.   Members requested that the Chair of the Association of Governors, Mr A Speight be invited to the meeting when the Committee considers the EAS Governor Support Report.

Members discussed training regarding:  WG Guidance upon PSB Scrutiny, and; statutory Education Achievement Service (EAS) reports.  The Senior Overview & Scrutiny Officer suggested that training be provided upon relevant sections of guidance or requirements applicable to PSB reports, to be scheduled prior to the Committee’s consideration of the item and similarly for the relevant EAS reports.

Agreed:

The Committee endorsed the proposed scheduled for the next two Committee meetings, confirmed the topics to be considered and requested that the Chair of the Association of Governors, Mr A Speight be invited to the meeting when the Committee considered the EAS Governor Support Report.

The Overview and Scrutiny Officer advised that this was a new item upon the  Agenda, the purpose of which was to give the Members of the Committee the opportunity to feed back constructively about how they felt the meeting had gone, suggest improvements to the structure of reports, what worked and what could assist.

Members fed back that:

·         Less time spent on Invitee  presentation to maximise opportunity for questioning invitees would be preferable;

·         Agreed that for this Committee all invitees for a report should come to the table together as cross cutting questions need answers from multiple invitees.