Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any declaration of interest from any Member or Officer in respect of any item of business.

None received.

To submit, for confirmation, the minutes of the meeting held on 6 February, 2024.

The minutes of the meeting held on 6 February, 2024 were confirmed as correct.

To submit a report by the Director of Social Services.

The report of the Director of Social Services incorporating the Tackling Poverty Strategic Plan 2024-2029 was presented for the Committee’s consideration and scrutiny.

The Portfolio Member for Adult’s Services, in the absence of the Leader said that the Tackling Poverty Strategic Plan is a key plan and has been recognised as a priority and is also driven by the 2023-2028 Council Plan.  The Plan provides clear direction and sets out a vision and key priority areas in tackling poverty over the next five years, and the steps the Council intends to take with external partners to ensure delivery of the Council’s services to remain sustainable and effective in tackling poverty. In developing this Strategic Plan, consideration has been given to the Council’s current financial position, which is an ever-reducing core and grant funding position, combined with increasing demand for services.  The Council has engaged with internal officers at all levels, and various stakeholders in preparing the Plan.

The Director of Social Services reported that the Plan gives a clear direction as to how the Council can assist the residents of Anglesey to try and reduce the poverty that they are encountering and to direct them to other outside bodies that offer support.  An engagement session with partner organisations was arranged with representatives from the third sector, Older People’s Forum, Children and Young People’s Forum and representatives from all the services of the Council to ensure delivery of services remain sustainable.  He further said that to facilitate the plan a newly launched cost of living dashboard has been established to provide a strong, integrated, evidence-based data to enable the Council to make correct, informed decisions in tackling poverty on Anglesey and to gauge as to how much food is distributed from the Food Banks and as to how many people are engaging with services in respect of the needs. 

In considering the Tackling Poverty Strategic Plan the Committee raised the following issues:–

·             Clarification was sought as to how the decision was made by the Council to adopt the definition of poverty as ‘poverty means not having enough resources and opportunities to meet basic needs, including needs associated with being part of society’.  The Director of Social Services responded that the Bevan Foundations definition of poverty was adopted..  He noted that there is no single definition of poverty as poverty can be associated to lack of experiences in various ways by different people that affects all aspects of their lives.  Its exact nature can depend on individual circumstances from not having enough money to pay for basic essential such as food, clothing, housing, heating, to a lack of awareness of the support that is available. 

·             Questions were raised as to whom was consulted in preparing the Strategic Plan and whether it is considered that some stakeholders have not participated.  The Programme Manager responded that the process in preparing the Plan was undertaken in November, 2023 with third party partnerships and other stakeholders to gauge initial priorities to tackle poverty.  The Director  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

To submit a report by the Director of Social Services.

The report of the Director of Social Services incorporating the Strategic Corporate Safeguarding Update was presented for the Committee’s consideration and scrutiny.

The Portfolio Member for Adult’s Services said that prevention and safeguarding is listed as one of the Council’s key general principles within the Corporate Plan 2023-2028.  He emphasised that safeguarding is a priority for everyone in every service within the Council. 

The Director of Social Services reported that the focus has been on safeguarding action plan and ensuring that services remain focused with mandatory training for all Council staff.  A successful Safeguarding week was held in November 2023 with details contained within the report.  He noted that a notable increase in domestic abuse cases on Anglesey was discussed at the Safeguarding Board to which an action was to escalate matters to the Director of Social Services, Head of Housing Services and the Deputy Chief Executive at the Anglesey and Gwynedd Community Safety Partnership Board.  It was noted that this is not a unique situation for Ynys Môn as other local authorities are noticing a rise in domestic abuse cases.  A new Safeguarding Strategic Plan will be developed over the coming months together with a forward work programme and the Terms of Reference for both the Strategic and Operational Groups will also be reviewed. 

In considering the Strategic Corporate Safeguarding Update the Committee raised the following issues:–

·         Clarity was ascertained as to what measures are in place to ensure full compliance with corporate safeguarding training requirements and how it is monitored and especially in schools.  It was also expressed that attendance of  Elected Members training data should also be included within the report.  The Director of Social Services responded that the data shows that attendance on the mandatory safeguarding are lower than expected in some services.  He noted that some services have recently experienced a turn-over of staff and some staff who do not have access to laptops to receive such training.  He said that arrangement will be made to invite these individuals to the Council Offices to receive the mandatory safeguarding training in due course.  Discussions are undertaken with the Heads of schools to ensure that the mandatory safeguarding training course is completed by all staff.

·         Reference was made, within the report, that a notable increase in domestic abuse cases on Anglesey.  Questions were raised as to what extent is the Authority currently fully equipped to deal with the situation and the role of North Wales Police as regards to the increase in domestic abuse cases.  The Director of Social Services responded that whilst there is an increase in domestic abuse cases there is no additional resources to address the situation.  He noted that discussions are taking place with Gorwel who provide a range of support services which include people affected by domestic abuse and homelessness.  Discussions are also undertaken across services of the Council and especially the Housing Services and Social Services Department to share data of incidents of domestic abuse.  Staff within the Children’s and Families  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To submit a report by the Head of Regulation and Economic Development.

The report of the Head of Regulation and Economic Development incorporating the Levelling Up Programme for Holyhead was presented for the Committee’s consideration and scrutiny.

The Portfolio Member for Adult’s Service, in the absence of the Leader of the Council and Portfolio Member for Economic Development said that the Levelling Up Fund (LUF) is a capital only fund which is designed to invest in core, social-economic infrastructure that improves peoples lives across the UK.  The £4.8 billion fund, launched in March 2021 and has a focus on 3 key areas to support centre and high street regeneration: local transport projects, and cultural and heritage assets.  The County Council determined that a bid centred on the ‘heritage; culture and townscape’ attributes of Holyhead rather than the Island’s wider regeneration needs would likely be more appealing to the UK Government.  The volume and complexity of work that went into developing the bid was immense which resulted in significant, intensive collaborative working by the County Council with partners from Holyhead. 

The Head of Regulation and Economic Development reported that the timeframe for completion of the projects by the end of March 2025 in Holyhead will be challenging, however, the Council is intending to request an extension to the timeframe which is similar to other LUF projects in the region.  Inflation has influenced the programme with escalating costs, and he stressed that it is important to be realistic as to what is achievable within the timeframe and funding available. He further said that important and prominent projects in Holyhead have started, and this report focuses on the Ucheldre Centre project.  He further said that aims and details of each project in Holyhead can be seen on-line which gives the local community information on the programme.  The Levelling Up Team are located in Holyhead and are available for the community to engage with them and to afford information as required. 

In considering the report the Committee raised the following issues:–

·     Questions were raised as to what extent is the budget sufficient to deliver the entire programme to the timetable set. The Levelling Up Programme Manager responded that the projects are required to follow the Councils procurement process and some tenders have needed to be readvertised which has extended the timeframe.  Following the procurement process it is evident that the funding available is insufficient to carryout all the project identified in Holyhead and work is currently being undertaken with the partner organisations to consider the timeframe and costs of each individual projects.  Further questions were raised as to whether this has resulted in some of the projects not been completed and whether the Board will decide which projects will only receive a proportion of the funding.  The Chief Executive responded that the number of projects within the programme will need to be adapted which could have implications as work is undertaken with external organisations.  The costs, due to inflation, are higher than estimated within the projects and it is a sensitive issue at present.  The scope  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To submit a report by the Director of Function (Council Business)/Monitoring Officer.

The report of the Director of Function (Council Business)/Monitoring Officer incorporating the Annual Equality Report – 2022/2023 was presented for the Committee’s consideration and scrutiny.

The Portfolio Member for Adult’s Services, in the absence of the Leader of the Council said that under the Equality Act 2010 Statutory Duties (Wales) Regulations 2011, the Council must publish an annual report on equality.  The main purpose of the report is to show how the Council has met its equality duties and the report must be published by 31 March in the year following the reporting period.

The Policy and Welsh Language Manager reported that the Annual Equality Report 2022/2023 is the last report in its current form and new arrangements will be established to coincide with the new Strategic Equality Plan for 2024-2028.

In considering the report the Committee raised the following issues:–

·     Questions were raised as to what extent did the Council fully deliver on its equality objectives and priorities for 2020-2024.  The Policy and Welsh Language Manager responded that the Strategic Equality Plan for 2020-2024 included 20 indicators of what should be expected to be seen when actions are completed.  She noted that 19 of the indicators were completed and one indicator, which is a cause of concern, as regards to the gathering of information on equality characteristics amongst employees of the Council.  She further said that there is a need to strengthen equality within the workforce and additionally across the Island with most equality priorities transferring to the new Strategic Equality Plan for 2024-2028.  The Policy and Welsh Language Manager referred that the current Equality Plan was approved in 2020 and several factors, such as the cost-of-living crisis, has arisen to affect the ability to achieve some of the objectives within the plan.

·     Questions were raised as to the risk to the Council that data gaps persist in the equality information regarding the Council’s employees.  The Policy and Welsh Language Manager responded that gathering information as regards to the Council’s workforce is challenging as it is dependent on staff sharing information voluntarily.  Gathering information from new employees is an easier task as there is an expectation when they fill application forms and also during the induction process that they share equality information.  She said that as part of the risk factors, there is a need to gather as much information as possible from the employees to ensure that the Council is a fair employer and can offer equal opportunities to the staff.  She further said that it is important to convey to the employees is that no inappropriate use of the information will be shared.  However, if the information from employees is not shared, the Council could be prejudicial unknowingly.  Quality data is essential to ensure equality within the workforce and that the Council is an inclusive and appealing employer. 

·     Reference was made to the hybrid working policy and questions were raised as to the effect on staff with criticism and inappropriate/negative comments that has been seen on social  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To submit a report by the Scrutiny Manager.

The report of the Scrutiny Manager setting out the Partnership and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee’s indicative Forward Work Programme 2023/2024 was presented for consideration.

It was RESOLVED:-

·         To agree the current version of the forward work programme for 2023/2024;

·         To note the progress thus far in implementing the forward work programme.