Agenda and draft minutes

i.    Councillors Bryan Davies, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Democratic Services, Policy, Performance and People and Organisation, Caryl Roberts and Chris James apologised for their inability to attend the meeting.

ii.   Councillor Matthew Vaux, Cabinet Member for Partnerships, Housing, Legal and Governance and Public Protection apologised for his inability to attend the meeting due to other Council commitments.

There were no disclosures of Personal and Prejudicial Interests (including whipping declarations) from Committee Members.

Hazel Lloyd-Lubran presented the report on the Ceredigion Local Well-being Plan in the absence of Councillor Bryan Davies. The public consultation on the draft Ceredigion Local Well-being Plan 2023-2028 ended on the 31^st of January 2023. Changes and improvements including those suggested by the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales and Welsh Government have been completed. All PSB member organisations considered the proposed amendments in their meeting on the 6th of March 2023, with a view to approve the Plan through their usual governance arrangements before the PSB can give final approval to publish the Plan in May 2023. 

Members were provided with the opportunity to ask questions which were answered by Hazel Lloyd-Lubran, Naomi McDonagh and Diana Davies. The main points raised were as follows:

• A higher response rate to the consultation was expected; however, consultation fatigue was acknowledged as a possible factor for the low response rate. In addition, given the early engagement of partners in the process, there was less feedback from these bodies as they had already contributed to plan development.
• In terms of the consultation process, a range of organisations were contacted, a social media campaign was held, details were included on the Council’s online consultation page, and it was raised at numerous meetings including at Ceredigion’s Youth Council meeting. An engagement exercise was undertaken with 13 primary and 3 secondary schools across the county and groups including the Disability Forum were consulted. Posters and paper copies were available in libraries and leisure/ wellbeing centres. All PSB Partners had a responsibility to ensure people’s views were known. In moving forward, ongoing engagement and discussions with communities would be beneficial along with reinventing how views and opinions were gathered.
• Whilst it was important to consider the 12% who disagreed that the 5 well-being objectives were the right priorities, it is pleasing to note that 88% agreed. It was also important to consider the numbers involved as opposed to percentages given the low response rate. The Future Generations Commissioner for Wales and Welsh Government have commented on the robustness of the Assessment of Local Well-being including the engagement which led to the plan being formed, and therefore, officers were confident that the priorities were correct and reflected the views of partners and the public.
• Concerns were raised that although Welsh Government (WG) were ambitious in its plans, there was no funding available for local authorities to achieve this. The Local Well-being Plan would lead to further collaboration between the PSB Partners and WG and hopefully, by focusing on the priorities, it would aid in the delivery of the plan. Councillor Keith Henson (Cabinet Member) noted that WG attended the Carbon Management and Climate Change Group and contributed to the discussions but agreed that further collaboration was important.
• Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire PSBs work independently but closely to ensure there is a consistent approach for all involved. The priorities may vary in each PSBs Local Well-being Plan, however, the regional priorities and those of individual bodies were considered  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

In Councillor Matthew Vaux’s absence, Harry Dimmack explained that a report on amendments to the Whistleblowing Policy was last presented to the committee on the 16^th of May 2018, which was later approved by Cabinet on the 19^th of June 2018. An overview of the key amendments as shown in tracked changes in Appendix 1 of the report was provided. The address for Audit Wales would be amended before the report was presented to Cabinet.

Members were provided with the opportunity to ask questions which were answered by Harry Dimmack. The main points raised were as follows:

·       As there were only minor changes to the policy, presenting the policy to Scrutiny and Cabinet was sufficient. 

·       In the event a person wished to raise a concern externally, the relevant contact details were noted on page 8 of the policy.

Following questions by the Committee Members, it was agreed to recommend that Cabinet approves the amendments to the Whistleblowing Policy as shown in Appendix 1, subject to updating the contact details for Audit Wales.

It was agreed to confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 2 February 2023.

Matters arising: None.

Each Chair (or Vice-chair in the Chair's absence) in turn, gave an update on their respective Committee’s Forward Work Plans. 

1.    Coordinating Committee

The Chair provided an update in relation to the Coordinating Committee’s future work plan.

2.    Learning Communities

The Chair noted that following consideration by the committee, feedback on the 23/24 budget setting process and Ceredigion Deprivation and Equity Strategy was presented during a meeting of the Cabinet on 14th February 2023. An update in relation to the committee’s future work plan was provided and as part of the workstream, members visited Plascrug Community Primary School and Ysgol Bro Siôn Cwilt on 1^st February 2023.

3.    Thriving Communities

The Chair explained that following a meeting of a Task and Finish Group on 30^th January 2023, a Special Meeting had been held on 21^st March 2023 to discuss waste collection further with officers. An update in relation to the Thriving Communities future work plan was provided. An invite had been sent to National Resources Wales to attend a meeting in June to discuss Climate Change and Coastal Erosion / Flooding, but no response had yet been received. It was agreed to extend an invite to Welsh Water Dŵr Cymru to attend the meeting and Sarah Groves-Phillips, Service Manager - Planning Policy.

4.    Corporate Resources

The Chair explained that the work of the Task and Finish Group around County Farms was ongoing. In relation to the rules around NVZs imposed on the agricultural sector, the Chair clarified that officers had visited and undertaken an assessment of the farms accordingly. An update in relation to the meeting held on 13th March 2023 was provided. Given the proposed budget cuts, the Chair encouraged all Overview and Scrutiny Committees to consider this in moving forward and to look for areas to make savings.

5.    Healthier Communities

In the Chair’s absence, Councillor Ceris Jones, Vice- Chair provided an update in relation to the Healthier Communities future work plan. Councillor Ceris Jones stated that she would clarify the title of the report on the inspection of food outlets, as the Forward Work Programme differed in English and Welsh.