Agenda item

The Chair welcomed to the meeting Mr. Barry Liles, Principal of Coleg Sir Gar and Chairman of the Public Services Board, who presented the Carmarthenshire Public Services Board Annual Report 2016-17. The report provided an overview of the requirements of the Board and the steps taken during the first year of its being to establish its ways of working, undertake the necessary statutory requirements and develop the role of the PSB in order to improve the economic, social, environmental and cultural well-being of Carmarthenshire and Wales. It was a requirement of The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 that a local authority scrutiny committee was responsible for the overview and scrutiny of the work of the PSB and in Carmarthenshire, the Policy & Resources Scrutiny Committee had been identified as the lead scrutiny committee.

Amongst the issues raised during consideration of the report were the following:

·         In response to a comment relating to the invitation referred to at the last meeting for members of the Policy & Resources Scrutiny Committee to observe a PSB meeting Mr. Liles stated that he would look into the possibility of holding a meeting at a venue which could accommodate the full committee. It was considered, however, that there was a benefit in a lower number of members attending meetings on different dates at the various venues utilised in order to gain an appreciation of the range of issues discussed;

·         The question was asked as to whether the partners on the PSB had been able to achieve savings in terms of property as a result of collaborative working. In response it was stated that the focus of The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 was to improve the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of Wales and efficiencies would hopefully follow on;

·         It was clarified that Carmarthenshire County Council provided the secretariat for the PSB but there was also payment in kind from the partners who provided officer support. In addition, Welsh Government provided annual funding of £55k at a regional level (Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire) which, to date, had been used to support the development of the Well-being Assessment and Well-being Plan;

·         In terms of representation at PSB meetings Mr. Liles commented that he was highly critical when organisations did not send representatives to the meetings but he was confident that those who did attend were capable of relaying the Board’s decisions, requests or concerns back to the organisations they represented. It was emphasised, however, that the PSB was only an in-principle decision making body and recommendations had to be considered by the individually accountable organisations represented;

·         It was commented that improvements to transport links from areas such as Ammanford to Llanelli needed to take place in light of the developments proposed as part of the Swansea Bay City Deal such as the Wellness Village at Delta Lakes. The Leader gave an assurance that transport issues would be addressed as part of the City Deal.

Whereupon the Chair thanked Mr. Liles for attending.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the Carmarthenshire Public Services Board Annual Report 2016-17 be received.