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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 3C - Guildhall, Abertawe. View directions

Contact: Democratic Services - (01792) 636923 

Items
No. Item

10.

Welcome & Apologies for Absence.

Minutes:

Councillor Rob Stewart, Joint Chair welcomed everyone present to the meeting and introductions were made. 

 

The Chair explained that due to a family bereavement, Councillor Clive Lloyd had given his apologies for the meeting.  The Committee passed on their condolences to Councillor Lloyd.

11.

Disclosures of Personal & Prejudicial Interest.

Minutes:

No declarations were made.

12.

Minutes. pdf icon PDF 250 KB

To approve and sign the Minutes of the previous meeting(s) as a correct record.

Minutes:

Agreed that the Minutes of the Public Services Board Joint Committee held on 15 August 2019 be approved and signed as a correct record.

13.

Update on Actions from Previous Meeting. (Verbal)

Minutes:

Early Years

 

Emma Woollett, Interim Chair of Swansea Bay University Health Board explained that unfortunately, due to a number of changes in personnel, the actions had not been allocated to date.  She would ensure that they were allocated and an update provided at the next meeting.

 

Live Well Age Well – Adam Hill

 

1)              Confirmed that Cultural Change would be included as a cross cutting theme in all of the 4 workstreams.

 

2)              City for All - had been discussed in the Partnership Forum in a bid to embed the work in order to deliver on all of the agendas in a much better way and to stop duplication.

 

Working With Nature - Martyn Evans 

 

1)        Wider Engagement – being actioned via the Working with Nature Task & Finish Group;

 

2)        Phase 2 Climate Change Scheme – Martyn Evans to confirm that the documentation had been circulated.

 

Strong Communities – Roger Thomas

 

Unfortunately neither Roger Thomas nor Steve Davies were present to provide an update on their actions, however Adam Hill explained that:

 

1)        This action was for the whole Joint Committee not just the one workstream;

 

2)        This had been discussed at the Partnership Forum and it had been confirmed that names would be allocated to each of the actions in the action plan.

 

Other Actions raised:

 

A discussion ensued regarding the Public Services Board (PSB) and the Regional Programme Board (RPB). 

 

There needed to be clarity in relation to what the PSB could achieve that was additional to what was already being delivered.  What was new and how a fundamental change could be coordinated to make a real difference. 

 

1)              4 Lead officers meet more frequently – action ongoing;

2)              JAD inform SD of the rep from NHS on the Strong Communities workstream – action outstanding;

3)              Healthy Cities be included in the City for All – action complete.

 

Minute 6 – Future Public Services Board Work Plan - action ongoing;

 

Minute 8 – Hosting of Partnership Forum – action complete;

 

Minute 9 – Future Agenda Items – action complete.

 

Action:

 

1)              The PSB Support Officer update the action log and present to the next meeting.

14.

Public Question Time.

Questions must relate to matters on the open part of the Agenda of the meeting and will be dealt with in a 10 minute period.

Minutes:

There were no public questions.

15.

Highlight Reports on Well-being Objective Workstreams (including Risk log). pdf icon PDF 452 KB

·                 Early Years – Swansea Bay University Health Board;

·                 Live Well, Age Well – Adam Hill, Swansea Council;

·                 Working With Nature – Martyn Evans, Natural Resources Wales;

·                 Strong Communities – Roger Thomas, Mid & West Wales Fire & Rescue Service.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

·                 Early Years

 

Joanne Abbott-Davies explained that Sandra Husbands, one of the Project Leads for the workstream had left the Health Board and it had been proposed that Keith Reed would be covering. 

 

She stated that following discussions at the Partnership Forum, both the PSB and the Health Board needed to be more focused on exactly what they were trying to achieve that was “additional” to the day job and not “business as usual”.  What were they doing that added value as a result of being part of the PSB or informed by the PSB that would not have been done otherwise. 

 

In addition, she stated that as a PSB we needed to be clearer about the parameters and the resources of each partner and how to best utilise these to achieve the outcomes.

 

·                 Live Well Age Well

 

Adam Hill stated that even though they were a little further forward in some regards in relation to the priorities outlined on page 19, the targets needed to be ‘SMART’ and he agreed that more detail was required in relation to what was being done that was not “normal business”.

 

In addition, he outlined the challenges / barriers and risks that seemed to be a common theme throughout all the worksteams.  It was acknowledged that the Joint Committee was the strategic part of the PSB with the work being carried out within the 4 worksteams.

 

·                 Working with Nature

 

Martyn Evans outlined the good work that had commenced in relation to:

 

·                 Green Infrastructure Strategy – common ownership established with other public bodies in the City Centre to make Swansea better connected.  He did not think this work would have been undertaken without the involvement of the PSB.  The work had been identified as beneficial to all involved and the wider community;

·                 Urban Tree Planting – Green roof on Morriston Post Office, opportunities with the Health Board as a big land owner, discussions commenced with South Wales Transport in relation to train corridors, pollination lines, species, water ways, etc.  The Health Board commented that they had since focussed on the benefit of incorporating green space into future projects;

·                 Area Natural Resource Management Statement due to be published on 31 March 2020 – ambitious action plan in progress.

 

·                 Strong Communities

 

Councillor Jan Curtice, Chair of Mid & West Wales Fire Authority apologised that an update had not been provided on the outstanding actions.  However, Amanda Carr clarified that the actions should relate to the “Real Living Wage” rather than the Living Wage.  All partners needed to ensure they were paying the “Real Living Wage”.

 

She stated that a considerable amount of work had been undertaken in this workstream in terms of removing unnecessary detail and in terms of getting the right people on board.  Again, the workstream needed to focus on things it could do differently.

 

Agreed that the updates be noted.

16.

Joint Committee Risk Log. pdf icon PDF 316 KB

Minutes:

The Chair stated that new leads needed to be identified quickly and confirmed that the lead did not need to be a member of the Joint Committee.

 

Action:

 

1)              Objective Leads to be identified by the next meeting.

17.

Our Future Wales - Involvement for the Future Generations Report 2020. (Verbal)

Minutes:

Adam Hill reminded the Committee that this item had been discussed at the last meeting and partners had been asked to forward their comments / views to the PSB Support Officer in order that they could respond as a Board.

 

Action:

 

1)              Adam Hill to co-ordinate a response to be submitted to the Future Generations Commissioner in November 2019.

18.

Wales Audit Office Report - Review of Public Services Boards. pdf icon PDF 3 MB

Minutes:

Adam Hill stated that the report had reflected relatively well on Swansea Public Services Board.  He would consider the recommendations and put together a list of actions in order to facilitate a discussion at the next meeting.

 

The Committee had a discussion on the wider role of the PSB in relation to the regional footprint.  Comments from partners centred on:

 

·                 The need to focus on a smaller number of deliverable actions;

·                 What were the 2 biggest priorities for the next 5 years?;

·                 Continue with 4 PSB’s or reduce to 2 to link in with the regional footprint;

·                 The number of meetings and time that Strategic Officers were spending discussing the same subjects/issues;

·                 The link with West Glamorgan Regional Partnership Board (RPB);

·                 Still major issues around substance misuse, mental health issues, suicide, which affected all the public services;

·                 A more joined up approach was required;

·                 The impact on other issues such as homelessness / rough sleeping.

 

Adam Hill suggested that he review the terms of reference for the RPB and PSB to highlight any duplication.  In addition, he would liaise with Neath Port Talbot PSB to gauge their views.

 

Action:

 

1)              Adam Hill to consider the recommendations and put together a list of actions in order to facilitate a discussion at the next meeting.

19.

Update from Critical Incident Group - High Street, Swansea. (Verbal)

Minutes:

Adam Hill commented on the positive work undertaken by the Critical Incident Group. 

 

A Communication Strategy, led by the Police would enable information to be “joined up” via the Safer Swansea Partnership.

 

A fourth workstream “Public Realm”, had been added to the existing workstreams of the High Street Critical Incident Group.  This work had resulted in High Street being nominated for the “Best High Street in the UK”.

 

Work on Substance Misuse should be maintained with consideration given to the impact on Mental Health and Suicide.  This would be raised at the next joint meeting of Swansea PSB and Neath Port Talbot PSB. 

 

He went on to state that a request had been received for a Homelessness and Rough Sleeping review to be set up via the Safer Swansea Partnership.

 

Joanne Abbott-Davies stated that some preparatory work had commenced some time ago via the Regional Partnership Board in relation to a feasibility study for a Hub for Homelessness Services.  She confirmed that ESF money had been made available, which she believed could be utilised for this scheme.

 

Agreed that:

 

1)              Adam Hill and Joanne Abbott-Davies provide a joint report to a future PSB Joint Committee regarding proposals for a Hub for Homelessness Services;

2)              A Homelessness and Rough Sleeping review be set up via the Safer Swansea Partnership.

20.

Feedback on Partnership Forum - 8 October 2019. (Verbal)

Minutes:

Adam Hill stated that the first Partnership Forum following the Governance Review had been very interesting. Some things had worked well and they would learn from what hadn’t worked quite as well as anticipated.

 

However, engagement had been extremely positive and he had received several emails following the event that would be added to the action plan in order to improve the next event.

 

The whole event required “buy in” from all of the partners and he would be looking to one of the other 3 partners to host the next Partnership Forum.

 

Amanda Carr stated that Swansea Council for Voluntary Services (SCVS) had considerable experience in organising co-production events and offered their services for next time.

 

It was suggested that a working group be set up in advance of the next Partnership Forum.

 

Action:

 

1)              The PSB Support Officer compile a feedback document for circulation to all workstream leads.

21.

Future Items for next Swansea Public Services Board Joint Committee. (Verbal)

Minutes:

Adam Hill expressed his disappointment that very few items had been received from partners for inclusion on the agenda and it remained the responsibility of the Local Authority to produce items for discussion.  As equal partners he requested their views on the main issues affecting them all.

 

Topics discussed mainly related to Substance Misuse and Mental Health issues which affected many community safety issues.

 

In addition, Amanda Carr had been asked by several 3rd sector representatives to raise issues which cut across different agencies around Refugees and Asylum Seekers.  She enquired whether the PSB should be involved in or could assist.  Issues included:

 

·                 Children being used as translators;

·                 Travelling expenses – for things such as social prescription/unscheduled trips to hospitals;

·                 Being released from prison – individuals not knowing whether they would be deported;

·                 Schools not being informed when the children of families had been moved to a different area – safeguarding issue.

 

It was suggested that the Strong Communities Workstream could consider.  Any issues not resolved in the workstream should then be escalated via the Highlight Report to the Joint Committee.

 

Martyn Evans highlighted the Ash Dieback Programme and the fact that each of the partners would need to deal with a large number of trees that would require felling.  He suggested joint procurement in terms of contractors, as availability was limited.

 

It was suggested Task & Finish Groups might be more appropriate for these items, however it was emphasised that the workstreams should only identify up to 3 critical things to focus its work on.

 

Joanna Maal commented that although multiple planning meetings had taken place in relation to Brexit and that the Local Resilience Forum were leading on the issue, it was still relatively unknown exactly what the implications would be after 31 October 2019. 

 

It was acknowledged that an emergency PSB Joint Committee might need to be convened to deal with issues as they arose.

 

Actions:

 

1)              The Working With Nature workstream make recommendations for partners to consider in relation to the Ash Dieback Programme and present to the next PSB Joint Committee;

2)              Partners submit agenda items to the PSB Support Officer in advance of the next PSB Joint Committee.