Agenda and minutes

We elected County Councillor P. Farley as Chair of the Public Service Board Select Committee. 

It was noted that the Chair of the meeting would be on a rotation basis between the Chairs of the four select committees.  It was agreed that the Chair for the next meeting would be noted at the end of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest made by Members.

There were no members of the public present for the Public Open Forum.

·         To discuss and agree the governance arrangements for the PSB Select Committee.

·         To agree the Terms of Reference for the PSB Select committee.

Context:

We received a report detailing the governance arrangements for the Public Service Board (PSB) Select Committee to provide Members with the opportunity to discuss and agree the governance arrangements for Monmouthshire’s PSB Select Committee, including the drafting of appropriate terms of reference.

Key Issues:

The Future Generations Act 2015 requires public bodies to improve social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing in their area through statutory a Public Service Board (PSB). Local government has been afforded the responsibility to scrutinise the PSB and to ensure the principles of the act are applied to policy and decision-making in Monmouthshire.

The background paper attached to the report provided a detailed explanation of the requirements of the act in relation to scrutiny of the PSB and the wider scrutiny responsibilities. The report sought the agreement of Council on 21st January 2016 to establish a bespoke scrutiny arrangement to scrutinise the activities of the PSB. It proposed that the existing four scrutiny committees play a key role in ensuring that future generations are considered through their scrutiny of policy and decision-making. The report’s recommendations were accepted and the council has established a PSB Select Committee to scrutinise the activities of the PSB.

The report provided a framework for the future working arrangements and general conduct of the PSB Select Committee in line with the proposals agreed by full council.

The Public Service Board Select Committee shall comprise 9 non-executive Members. The four Select Committee Chairs shall be standing Members of the new committee with the remaining elected membership selected to ensure political balance.

The PSB Select Committee work programme will be reported to each Select Committee meeting to enable the Committee to review its content and include new items and to define the arrangements required for the next meeting. The updated work programme will be presented by the Select Committee Chairs to Coordinating Board.

Members Scrutiny:

During discussion following presentation of the report the following points were noted:

·         The role for the PSB Select Committee in  the first instance would be to scrutinise the strategic shift as the PSB evolves and to form a judgement as to whether what is being presented is a genuine embrace of the Future Generations Act, rather than a tweak of existing arrangements to comply with legislation.

·         Some key areas for early exploration with the PSB could include:

o   What each partner is offering to the PSB in terms of capacity and expertise.

o   How the actions of individual partners meet the sustainability development principle.

o   How the PSB plans to maximise efficiency in terms of reporting.

·         The PSB Select Committee will plan its forward work programme in conjunction with key decisions that the PSB will take, however, the Select Committee has the power to call-in decisions should it need to use that power.  The Scrutiny Manager advised that it was hoped the development of an effective working relationship with the PSB and pre-decision scrutiny of key decisions would reduce the need to exercise the call-on power.

·         The Select  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

We received a presentation from the Public Service Board Development Manager, and the Policy and Performance Manager in order to inform Members of the PSB working arrangements.

Following the presentation Members were invited to comment, during which time the following points were noted:

·         The Police force are keen to be engaged in the process, however, due to being a service led via the Home Office in Westminster, they are not subject to Welsh Government legislation, and are therefore not a statutory partner on the PSB.

·         GAVO are a key representative in the partnership, representing the third sector organisations.  Armed Forces representation would be made by ABUHB Armed Forces Forum.

·         There is a lack of specific children’s representation on the PSB.  Members were advised that young people are fully engaged and that they had not wished to sit on the PSB.  The Select Committee suggested that organisations such as Children in Wales could be engaged s and when necessary to ensure a young person’s perspective is provided.

·         Clarification was sought on the collective budget for the PSB. The Policy and Performance manager explained that there was additional funding at the current time and that the Council was supporting the PSB through existing funding.  It was agreed this was a challenge in terms of resources but that the team would ensure the wellbeing objectives were fulfilled.  The PSB was expected to be a collaborative approach with all partners being collectively involved in setting the well-being objectives and agreeing the well-being plan. A staff briefing session had identified key individuals across the Council who could assist in engaging the community to collect the evidence to support the well-being assessment.  Members were advised that the Whole Place team was involved in this work together with the Communications Team. 

·         Members highlighted the need for a collective responsibility for shared objectives the need for the PSB to be taken seriously as a board of partners delivering for people of Monmouthshire. The Select Committee expressed deep concern that the resources to administer the PSB and to evidence the Well-being Assessment would be provided primarily by Monmouthshire County Council staff. 

The PSB Select Committee to review and make recommendations as appropriate.

The Public Service Board Manager presented a report outlining the Governance Report for the PSB.  Members heard that under the existing structure the programme board consists of deputy chief executive officers of all the partner organisations of the PSB, whose responsibility it is to deliver the objectives of the PSB.

Members commented that there would be instances when the Programme Board may be better placed to answer questions posed by the Select Committee or to provide a deeper insight into the progress of specific activities to achieve the objectives.  The Scrutiny Manager explained that whilst the Programme Board could be invited to support discussions, the key focus for the Select Committee would be to scrutinise the PSB as a strategic partnership. 

The Chairman thanked officers for their attendance and look forward to welcoming them back for future meetings.

Agreed:

·         The Select Committee Chair would write to the Chair of the PSB to:

o   reflect the Select Committee’s concerns about the capacity of the team to deliver the work on behalf of the PSB;

o   advise that the PSB will not be required to attend all meetings of the PSB Select Committee (invites to be offered as and when required);

o   request that the PSB agrees a brief action list at the close of each of their meetings to assist the Select Committee in monitoring the PSB’s progress;

o   request that the PSB’s terms of reference be amended to include an expectation that in instances where a PSB partner is unable to attend a PSB meeting, a deputy attends on behalf of the partner to ensure that absence is not detrimental to the board’s overall progress.

o   invite the Chair of the PSB to attend the PSB Select Committee on 11th October (10am) at which, feedback of the community engagement in preparation for the well-being assessment will be presented.

·         The Chair would write to the Commissioner to communicate the Select Committee’s outcomes and to invite her to attend the meeting on 11th October (10am) to offer her perspective on the powers offered to both the Commissioner and the Select Committee to ensure the PSB performs effectively.

Background Paper for information.

Members received the minutes of the first PSB meeting held on 7^th April 2016 for information.  The Chair noted that four partners had been absent at the first meeting and there appeared to be an over-representation of some partners.  Members requested advance notice of PSB meeting dates.

We agreed that County Councillor P. Jones would Chair the next meeting.  The Scrutiny Manager would draft the forward work programme for agreement at the meeting on 11th October 2016.

·         Tuesday 11^th October 2016 at 10.00am.

We noted the date and time of the next meeting as Tuesday 11^th October 2016 at 10.00am.