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Thank you, Councillor Townsend, for
raising this question.
We know from recent ONS data that
Newport is on track to have the fastest growing youth population in
Wales. This coupled with the current
and growing cost of living crisis means that Newport is facing
significant challenges in how it can support its residents, and how
services can be smartly distributed to ensure the greatest reach to
those in greatest need.
Locally we are supporting a
multi-agency strategic approach, headed up with the newly
established Prevention and Inclusion service area. We will ensure
services continue to respond to crisis yet also embed an improved
effective early intervention approach. Improving family wellbeing,
functioning and aspirations, can be achieved with the right support
at the right time, and the service area brings a renewed focus to
achieving this. Aligning many of the
universal support services under one umbrella will provide greater
opportunities, reduce duplication and bring improved co-ordination
to the swathe of services available to residents in
Newport. Support is available on
debt, childcare and increasingly so, foodbanks as they struggle to
cope with the rising living costs.
Evaluating good practice, creating
seamless pathways and sharing learning will all be priority actions
to develop a robust early intervention model. As the service area becomes more established a
clear communication strategy will be developed for families to
access on what support is available and how to access
it. This will include information,
signposting and links for people to self-refer themselves for
support.
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