Issue - meetings

(a)       That the role and responsibilities of the Flintshire Public Services Board are supported;

(b)       That the priorities for 2016/17 are supported;

(c)       That Members are assured of the level of progress that the Flintshire PSB has made since its establishment;

(d)       That Members are supportive of the pilot work being undertaken around the CAMMS performance management system; and

(e)       That the final draft of the Well-being Assessment be brought to a future meeting of the Committee to which the Social & Health Care Overview & Scrutiny Committee should be invited.

The Corporate Business & Communications Executive Officer introduced an overview of the establishment and work of the Flintshire Public Services Board (PSB) following the introduction of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.  The report focussed on areas of governance for the new statutory body which was a continuation of the former Flintshire Local Services Board and its priorities.

Information was circulated on the seven well-being goals which public bodies were expected to work towards, along with the five sustainable development principles to be applied when considering how to add value to the priorities.  Members were also shown a map of proposed community areas across the county to be used for a Well-being Needs Assessment.  Work was underway on scoping the PSB priorities which focussed on issues such as health, community safety, looked after children and vulnerable adults.  Details were shared on new workstreams aimed at inspiring community resilience and supporting families with complex needs through early intervention.

In response to a question from Councillor Robin Guest, explanation was given on the approach to quarterly meetings of the PSB with the full membership required to attend.

Councillor Arnold Woolley raised concerns that Wales could not be protected from the effects of global issues.  He commented that the activities, roles and duties of the PSB did not match and asked about the process of reaching agreement within the membership.  He felt that managing the principal activities would be difficult as these were subjective rather than measurable targets.  He pointed out a typing error in paragraph 1.09 of the report and went on to refer to balancing cost against aspirations, querying funding sources and raising concerns about unforeseen challenges as seen with the Welsh Government (WG) decision on Communities First.

Councillor Aaron Shotton described the work of the PSB as an extension of previous practice on a statutory footing.  He said that the Council had always engaged positively with its partners and that the introduction of the PSB had not been an issue in Flintshire.  He spoke about the Council’s representation on the PSB and the aim to achieve a democratic fit with partnership’s public and voluntary organisations by building on those relationships and the priorities.  He drew attention to the priorities for 2016/17 and highlighted the opportunity to influence issues on health and social care.

The officer advised that the PSB was currently developing a mediation protocol in the event of any conflict of agreement.  She gave assurance that a significant number of targets and milestones, built into the priorities, were subject to monitoring and would be formalised in the Local Well-being Plan to be published following the completion of the assessment.  On the matter of cost, collaborative working between partners would add value with only limited additional resources, for example on the early intervention hub.

Following comments on the quality of the papers circulated at the meeting, the officer agreed to provide these electronically to Members.

Councillor Richard Jones linked the priorities of the PSB with those of the Improvement  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48