Agenda item

Context;

The Chair of the Public Service Board spoke of being pleased with the feedback from both Welsh Government and the Future Generations Commissioner and explained the reasons why;

Both bodies felt that we are following the correct path with the approach taken to build this piece of work being deliberately inclusive.

Officers of the Council and its partners are going out to engage and encourage participation with the community.

In regard to the feedback from the Future Generations Commissioner is was felt that the vast majority of the points made could and would be accommodated, as they were not considered to be too challenging. The one issue which we cannot pick up in real time is the point regarding the scenario for the futures work, for which we are commissioning for another programme of work entitled Future Monmouthshire.

The Chair mentioned that he was concerned that we would receive feedback that would take us in a direction inconsistent with our evidence as with national feedback it was important that evidence from the locality was given priority. The Chair spoke of being reassured that there is evidence that we are getting better and understanding the principles surrounding this fundamental legislation.

The Chair felt it important that when the piece of work was finished it was useful and as outgoing Chair, when gifting it to his successor, how would his successor check that all the bodies which have engaged in the work to date are committing to actions which will take the work forward. If the wellbeing plan needs to be written in a way that allows the Chair to check his own organisation, checking goals, actions and priorities. Similarly The Chair would expect with partner organisations and ask them to show where they have committed to the wellbeing goals and how they have used their resources to do this.

Member Scrutiny:

A Member commented that at the wellbeing assessment workshop the comment was made that there was no economic representation on the PSB and wondered how that had been addressed. In answer we were told that at present the PSB membership had not been changed to date as they have been focussed on this current piece of work. They will look to find individual(s) that are genuinely representative of the community, it is a dynamic we are also playing through the Cardiff Region City Deal agenda.

It was asked what feedback Welsh Government had given in regard to a collaborative working approach and in respect of making it a civic endeavour, rather than a council led process it needs to be a PSB partnership approach. We were told that in terms of Welsh Government feedback nothing explicit had been commented on which implies that they are happy with the level of working they have seen.

A comment was made about the PSB feeling ‘top heavy’ with council officers and we were told that at present the council’s representatives on the PSB are Paul Matthews and Peter Fox with many council officers playing a role in the Programme Board, Quite often the PSB and the Programme Board are brought together to expose each other to their ideas, desires and thought processes. It may feel that the PSB has a large membership, but it does not, the PSB was drilled down two years ago and is now a tight group and smaller than the average board. The danger with this being the possibility of becoming an exclusive club rather than an inclusive moment, however the Programme helps in countering this.

It was asked if the EAS was a member of the PSB and we were informed that no, it is not a member but potentially it could be, but it was felt that being a member of the PSB would not be the best use of its time.

In terms of commissioning work it was asked who are we commissioning and what for, we were told that this was limited into the research base at this point in time because we are not in a delivery pattern.

When asked will the remit of the PSB work with of the City Region Deal or are they two separate entities without communicating we told that it would be tacit rather than explicit at this moment at time. As it is most likely that each authority will have its own priorities with its wellbeing assessment it would seem probable that the City Deal will find the PSB will find the PSB quite closely. PSB do not have many resources or money, their currency is influence. The integration of the work streams will be very important.

After reading previous minutes a member asked is the remit of the PSB too big and is it lost in identifying objectives. The Chair agreed that this could be the case but the board need to concentrate on three things and make a notable impact rather than attempt to focus on thirty and not being able to evidence any positive impact. The Chair highlighted the necessity of collective action and what can the PSB do that cannot be done by a uniquely sovereign body - that is the challenge we need to serve ourselves with.

A member commented that they were not clear where the lines were drawn between the PSB and the programme board in terms of their work and make-up and remarked that this is the time for clarity before the new administration in May. To hold the PSB to account members have to be clearer on information flow and have repeatedly asked for information form the PSB which we have not received, the member was particularly disappointed by the lack of detail in the PSB minutes.

In respect of scrutinising the development of the wellbeing assessment the member felt the Select Committee had done that with the information available but equally they were being asked to take assurance that the feedback had been used to refine the Wellbeing Assessment but do not have an updated version of the assessment to scrutinise. The member asked the Chair of the PSB what his reflections were on how best to highlight the exchange of information. The Chair appreciate that this particular select committee is still very new and spoke of the scrutiny being formative policy development with some challenge. The Chairs of the existing select committees are members of the PSB Select committee to add maturity to the scrutiny taking place and at this point the committee can only scrutinise what is put in front of them.

A Member asked the Chair of the PSB for an overview of the Programme Board and asked for the committee to receive copies of their outputs in the form of minutes or notes. The member appreciated that the select committee sets its own work programme, but remarked this is set from the output of the PSB and in order to sense the work is moving in the right direction the members need help to better understand the work of the PSB and Programme Board so that the PSB Select Committee’s programme scrutinises the correct items.

The Chair of the PSB offered to navigate members around the architecture underpinning the PSB; the working groups, terms of reference, memberships, the work output, agendas and minutes. This could be done quickly and easily as the information is web based.

A Member asked if the Chair was confident that adequate checks and balances were in place to ensure that the policy being put forward is implemented and effective and are the community and partners going with the plan. The Chair of the PSB spoke of not having confidence in performance management as yet as we are not doing that work at present, this would be something we would look for in the near future.