Issue - meetings

(a)          That the Committee notes the requirements of the Socio-economic Duty;

(b)          That the Committee is assured of the Council’s preparedness in meeting the new duty; and

(c)          That the Committee receives a quarterly report to demonstrate how the requirements of the legislation are considered for strategic reports.

The Chief Executive introduced a report on the Council’s preparations for the commencement of the socio-economic duty.  This was a statutory requirement upon relevant public bodies to have due regard to the need to reduce inequalities of outcomes resulting from socio-economic disadvantage.

The Strategic Policy Advisor and Benefits Manager gave a joint presentation covering the following:

·         What is the Socio-economic Duty and what does it do?

·         Key terms

·         Inequalities of outcomes

·         Examples of poverty

·         Demonstrating due regard - audit trail

·         Meeting the duty - what we are doing

·         Better outcomes

·         Case study

The presentation highlighted the broader examples of poverty which linked to one of the priorities within the Council Plan.  The report was being shared with all Overview & Scrutiny Committees to raise awareness of the new obligations.  Amongst the actions, the inclusion of Integrated Impact Assessment outcomes on committee reports would help to demonstrate consideration of potential impacts of poverty in strategic decision-making.  As requested, copies of the presentation would be circulated by email to the Committee.

In response to comments from the Chairman on the impact of digital poverty, the Chief Officer (Governance) spoke about work to improve digital connectivity and would share the relevant contact officer’s details.  He took the opportunity to highlight the forthcoming Member briefing on the Digital Strategy.

Councillor Patrick Heesom acknowledged the importance of the report in having regard to these issues, and the responsibility on Welsh Government to instigate change and make a difference to people’s lives.

As requested by the Chairman, officers would provide a separate response on the take-up of vaccinations in Flintshire.

In welcoming the report, Councillor Paul Shotton thanked the Benefits Manager for her work in tackling food poverty.  In response to a query, she spoke about the importance of working with communities to fully understand the impact of inequality to residents and identifying actions to address that.

Councillor Richard Jones welcomed consideration of the duty at strategic level and proposed an additional recommendation that the Committee receives a quarterly report to demonstrate how this was being done.  This was seconded by Councillor Paul Shotton.

On that basis, the recommendations were supported.

RESOLVED:

(a)          That the Committee notes the requirements of the Socio-economic Duty;

(b)          That the Committee is assured of the Council’s preparedness in meeting the new duty; and

(c)          That the Committee receives a quarterly report to demonstrate how the requirements of the legislation are considered for strategic reports.