Agenda item

Adults Select Committee Members are invited to attend the Select Committee meeting to scrutinise this agenda item, as it affects both the Children and Young People Select Committee and the Adults Select Committee.

 

Context:

 

·         To provide an overview of Monmouthshire’s Tackling Poverty Programme of Intent.

 

·         To highlight the current activity taking place across Monmouthshire, which contributes towards tackling poverty.

 

·         To provide an overview of the current approach to tackling poverty, which is aligned to the Monmouthshire Single Integrated Plan. 

 

Key Issues:

 

Overview of Monmouthshire County Council’s Tackling Poverty Programme of Intent

 

Poverty results in poorer educational and health outcomes for individuals, reduces life-chances and prevents people from fulfilling their potential.  Poverty also imposes enormous costs on society and increased demands on public services. In Monmouthshire poverty is often hidden or in small pockets.  The focus is to identify those who are affected by poverty and provide a coherent range of services which support people to overcome barriers, allowing them to fully participate in society and engage in education, training and employment. 

 

It is intended for this to be done by focusing on the following:

 

§  Preventing Poverty by giving people the best start in life. Breaking the link between socio-economic disadvantage, educational under-achievement and impaired life chances.

 

§  Helping people to improve their skills, enhance the relevance of their qualifications and remove barriers to employment.

 

§  Mitigating the impact of poverty through the provision of a coherent programme of support targeted towards those who are disadvantaged by poverty

 

Monmouthshire’s Single Integrated Plan 2013-17 is viewed as the main vehicle for addressing inequality and tackling poverty. Working in partnership with the community, service providers and employers it is recognised that tackling poverty is a cross-cutting theme where cooperation is critical in the delivery of the Plan to ensure that: Nobody is left behind, People are Confident, Capable and Involved and Our County Thrives.

 

The Strategic Needs Assessment undertaken to inform the production of the Single Integrated Plan recognised the disparity in wealth across the county and in key factors such as life expectancy. There are clearly identifiable areas in our towns where people are disadvantaged and this creates a sense of ‘pockets of deprivation’.

 

The nature of poverty in Monmouthshire is also characterised by the rural make-up of the county.  The Joseph Rowntree Foundation estimates it costs 10-20% more to achieve a basic adequate standard of living in rural than urban areas mostly due to increased transport and heating costs. 

 

To address poverty we are driven by an ambition to align national and local initiatives to deliver a coherent range of services which are well publicised and accessible. 

 

A number of PSB Partnerships have been identified delivering in the three key areas:

§  Preventing Poverty: Supported by Flying Start, Families First Programmes, TAF, Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership and Integrated Youth Offer.

 

§  Helping people into work: Supported 16+ Employability Group, Integrated Youth Offer, and Families First Programme.

 

§  Mitigating the Impact of Poverty: Supported by the Financial, Economic and Digital Inclusion Partnership, Flying Start, Families’ First Programme and Integrated Youth Offer.

 

Partnership Groups, Governance and Accountability

 

§  The Corporate Anti-Poverty Champion and the Elected Member Anti-Poverty Champion are the strategic leads for anti-poverty in Monmouthshire.

 

§  The Corporate Anti-Poverty Champion has oversight of the poverty-related actions and targets for each of the partnership groups, which are tasked with delivering towards the Single Integrated Plan’s nine key outcomes.

 

§  Regular updates and reports on progress will be provided to the PSB Programme Board and Public Service Board.

 

The partnerships under the Monmouthshire Public Service Board (PSB) are instrumental in ensuring that the Authority continues to focus its efforts and resources towards preventing poverty and mitigating the effects of poverty. Our focus moving forward will be to regularly review performance indicators with each partnership to ensure that they are aligned to national initiatives and local needs, whilst ensuring an intelligence-led approach to targeting those in need.  Consequently, the performance indicators may be subject to change as we refine our approach.

 

Moving Forward

 

The Authority is committed to the following:

 

§  Establishing an Anti-Poverty Working Group that will oversee the development, integration, alignment and reporting of national and local anti-poverty programmes.

 

§  Developing an Anti-Poverty Action Plan that will bring together the performance indicators of Public Service Board Partnerships; which relate to tackling poverty.

 

§  Undertaking a mapping exercise of provisions which aim to prevent and mitigate the impact of poverty, highlighting gaps in provision to shape future commissioning.

 

§  Raising awareness of services that can help to alleviate poverty by updating and promoting Monmouthshire’s Family Information Service (MONFIS).

 

Member scrutiny:

 

·         We received a presentation and short film which identified ways in which officers are tackling poverty in Monmouthshire.

 

·         On 1^st June 2016 workshops were being held regarding tackling poverty.

 

·         Discussions have been held with Monmouthshire Housing Association and Big Lottery in which ideas have been emerging to provide care and to help people get back into work.

 

·         County Councillor P. Hobson is the County Council’s Anti-Poverty Champion.

 

·         Monmouthshire’s Tackling Poverty Programme has an extensive range of partnerships bringing key parties together. 

 

·         Groups are currently focussed on key actions and are currently delivering a good service.  However, with the introduction of the Public Service Board, there might be a reduction in the number of partnerships required.

 

·         This summer, a whole Member Seminar will be held in respect of this matter. During the summer / autumn of 2016 officers will spend time visiting schools and village halls.  Following this, a public session will be held to establish what it is like to live in Monmouthshire which will involve Elected Members and members of the community.

 

·         It was noted that there was a need to engage with people who were living just above the poverty line.  Information would be obtained from the school community, as well as obtaining children’s views.

 

·         In response to a Select Committee’s question regarding homelessness and large families living in crowded conditions, it was noted that this was a challenge.  Also, the current cost of housing in Monmouthshire meant that it was difficult for young people to live in Monmouthshire and were forced to live outside of the County and were not living locally to provide care for family members.

 

·         There was a need for more social housing in Monmouthshire and this matter may need to be addressed.

 

·         The Team of officers is committed tackling the issues of poverty in the County.  However, addressing the statutory requirements in future might require a review of resources.  However, currently, the Authority has a strong link with partnership working.

 

We resolved to receive the report and noted its content.