Agenda item

Dyma gyfle i Aelodau'r Cydbwyllgor Trosolwg a Chraffu fod yn ymgyngoreion Ymgynghoriad Asesu Lles 2022 a rhoi adborth ar y cynnydd hyd yn hyn a chynlluniau ar gyfer y dyfodol.

Members of the JOSC received an update regarding the Wellbeing Assessment Consultation 2022.

The Senior PSB Support Officer, Lisa Toghill, thanked Members of the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee of Cwm Taf PSB for allowing us the time and opportunity to provide an update on the progress on the activity since the December meeting of the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The Senior PSB Support Officer set everything out under the following headings:

The Approach

Members were reminded that there is a requirement under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act to undertake an assessment of Wellbeing and the guidance sets out the specific elements that the assessment must contain.

Bridgend PSB and the Cwm Taf Morgannwg Regional Board (RPB) have collaborated on the Assessment work and engaging with the communities that we all serve. As Members are aware, a joint Community Assessment Action Group has been set up and until recently included Cllr Caple as a Member. We also have the support of Co-Production Network for Wales helping us to improve our engagement with our communities.

The next meeting of the Community Assessment Action Group is scheduled for 3 February where we will have opportunity to review drafts of the Well-being and Population Needs Assessments covering Cwm Taf Morgannwg.

The statutory consultation period for the Well-being Assessment is planned to begin on 14 February and will run for 6 weeks.

What have we done?

·       Engagement and Involvement

Members will remember the summary of engagement activity carried out throughout the autumn that was provided at the December meeting that covered groups we’ve met with and activities we’ve been involved with.

The Co-Production Network were asked to provide additional support to analyse all the engagement notes and products. An engagement report has been produced summarising key findings and reflecting the scope of the conversations held as well as the challenges we’ve faced. This has been shared with Members, from page 17 of the Document Pack. You will note that at the back of the Engagement Analysis document is some recommendations that we will be looking to address during the consultation process, including addressing gaps.

This engagement analysis document will be translated and used as part of our consultation work, and we are also keen to return to the groups that were involved in the first part of the process to show how their contribution has been used and to continue as an ‘ongoing conversation’. This will be dependent on appetite from the groups, as well as covid restrictions.

The Engagement Group needs to consider how it wants to continue now that the initial phase of activity has passed. There is an appetite to keep momentum going, but there needs to be commitment and resourcing to allow this to happen, as well as understanding and appreciation from all levels about the value that comes from working in a more co-productive way.

Following the update, Members were provided with the opportunity to ask questions.

Councillor Cox began and queried why there had been no engagement with Welsh speakers. The Senior PSB Support Officer noted that they have worked within the resources available to them. Kirsty Smith, another Senior PSB Support Officer, agreed with this comment to an extent, however, Members were advised that the survey itself was available bilingually and when colleagues in Merthyr were asked to share it bilingually there were challenges as to why it was only shared out in English. It is up to each organisation to make sure that they are compliant with their own Welsh language standards. The response rate through Welsh was also dramatically lower than in English and school leavers from Welsh medium secondary schools also preferred to partake through the medium of English. It was emphasised that ultimately this is driven by how people choose to respond. Councillor Cox responded by noting that it is no surprise that the engagement has been through the language that has been prioritised and emphasised that usually when there is a lack of response, measures are put in place. Councillor Cox argued that the engagement work is weaker as this was not taken into account and requested that this should be rectified going forward. Lisa Toghill, Senior PSB Support Officer, noted that this will be taken into account and will be fed into the assessment and feedback into the engagement.

Mr Brace, Chair of the Cwm Taf PSB, continued the conversation and began by congratulating the Chair and Vice Chair on their appointments. I respect if the comments from Councillor Cox, Mr Brace noted that this is an ongoing conversation with communities and that they will continue to target specific groups and raising the profile of the Welsh language. Mr Brace also noted that they will look to increase their use of the Welsh language in terms of the consultation process.

Discussions ensued and Mr Jehu passed on his congratulations to the Chair and Vice Chair on their new appointments. In terms of the consultation process, Mr Jehu note that Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB has done a lot of work in terms of making a list of organisations and communities that will include the Welsh language groups that Councillor Cox is referring to. Mr Jehu also noted the importance of having a full list appendices to the end product of everyone who has been consulted with during the process. Lisa Toghill, Senior PSB Support Officer, noted that all these comments will be taken on board and that a full list will be provided of all the partners who contributed in the project.  

Mr Brace also noted that there is a huge amount of reliance on partners of the PSB spreading the word with regards to the consultation and tha this is something they will pick up going forward. Mr Brace also emphasised the importance of making people feel comfortable in the way they respond to them and in the language they prefer.

The Service Director, Communications & Democratic Services emphasised that Members will be asked to be included as part of the consultation process.

Following discussion, Members RESOLVED to note the Well-being Assessment Consultation 2022 update and to be involved in the consultation process.    

·        Data Group

The draft Data Report produced by Practice Solutions (PSL) has been made available to Members via a hyperlink (p16 of your packs) shows the depth of work that has taken place to capture information against the four pillars of cultural, economic, environmental, and social wellbeing. Colleagues from across the partnerships have been involved in drawing information together.

We are addressing final gaps to ensure a blanket spread of information across the region.

Like the Engagement analysis, the Data Report will form part of the Assessment and be used in the consultation process. Key findings and infographics are being used to create ‘fact sheets’ bringing together the headlines of the data and engagement reports. We have been working with PSL to make sure these are written in clear, easy to understand language.

·        What next?

We are still on schedule for the draft Assessment – bringing together the data and engagement reports by the end of January. We will be working to sign off this draft from PSB for consultation by 7 February.

This will then be sent for translation, along with all other relevant materials like the fact sheets, to begin our statutory consultation on 14 February. The consultation period will run from 14 February to 28 March and during this time it will be sent to all partners for opportunity to give a formal response, as well as the Office of Future Generations Commissioner and Welsh Government. It will also be shared for comment online and sent to those who have left contact details during the earlier engagement work. As mentioned, we are also intending on returning to those groups who have contributed so that they can see how their information has been used, and they remain part of the process.

We would also ask that the Committee considers how it wants to contribute to the Assessment and the consultation process prior to purdah.

April will be used to undertake any final revisions, respond to feedback and produce, design and translate the final Assessment product ahead of publication on 30 April 2022.

That’s a very brief overview of the work done to date, (and I’m happy to take any questions).

If there’s any questions specifically for the PSB then these will be fed back and raised when the PSB next meets