Gwent Area Public
Services Board
Local Delivery
Group - Caerphilly
Terms of Reference
Prepared with reference to the Welsh Government Statutory guidance: SPSF
3 Collective Role (Public Services Boards) “Shared Purpose Shared Future” and
Schedule 3 of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.
Status
1.
The Gwent
Area Public Services Board (hereafter the Gwent Public Services Board, or, the Board) is a statutory board
established by the Well-being of Future
Generations (Wales) Act 2015.
2. The former five local Public Services
Boards, covering the geographical local authority
areas of Blaenau Gwent CBC, Caerphilly CBC, Newport CC, Monmouthshire CC and Torfaen CBC, have agreed to merge under Section
47(1) of the Act to assist them in
delivering the well-being goals for Wales.
Purpose
3. The purpose of the Board is to improve the
economic, social, environmental, and
cultural well-being of the combined area, referred to as ‘Gwent’.
4. In pursuing this purpose, the Board will
contribute to the national well-being goals
and its Vision Statement.
· A prosperous Wales
· A resilient Wales
· A healthier Wales
· A more equal Wales
· A Wales of
cohesive communities
· A Wales of vibrant
culture and thriving Welsh language
· A globally
responsible Wales
Vision
Statement
The
shared long-term vision of all partners for the Gwent area is for sustainable
communities, supported by actions that enhance the quality of life for all.
This means we need
to make sure that when making decisions, we take into account the impact they
could have on people living their lives in Wales in the future.
Main Tasks
5. The Board has four main tasks:
· To prepare and
publish an assessment of the economic, social, environmental and cultural
well-being of the Gwent area.
· To prepare and
publish a Local Well-being Plan for the Gwent area setting out well-being objectives
and the steps it proposes to take to meet them.
· To take all
reasonable steps to meet the objectives they have set.
· To prepare and
publish an annual report that sets out the Board’s progress in meeting the well-being
objectives.
Principles and
Values
6. Sustainable development is the overriding
principle of the Board’s activities. This means acting in a manner which seeks to
ensure that the needs of the present
are met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
7. The Board will operate with mutual respect
and challenge, in the spirit of collaborating
to improve the well-being of the area. Members will seek to be at the forefront of planning, will be inquisitive
of new approaches, and will act to bring
their combined resources to bear to make any changes in partnership delivery that are needed to secure the
well-being of future generations.
8. This means working in ways that take into
account:
· Long term: The
importance of balancing short-term needs with the need to safeguard the ability
to also meet long-term needs.
· Prevention:
Understanding the root causes of issues that affect well-being and
acting to prevent problems occurring or getting worse.
· Integration:
Considering how the Board’s well-being objectives may impact upon each
of the well-being goals, on their other objectives, or on the objectives of
other public bodies.
· Collaboration:
Acting in collaboration with any other person that could help the Board
to meet its well-being objectives.
· Involvement: The
importance of involving people with an interest in achieving the well-being goals
and ensuring that those people reflect the diversity of the area which the body
serves.
9. In addition, the Board, will strive to work
in accordance with:
· The United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child
· The National
Principles for Public Engagement in Wales
· The National
Standards for Children and Young People’s Participation
· Welsh Language
(Wales) Measure 2010
· Equality Act 2010
· Public Sector
Equality Duty
Membership
Statutory Members
10. The statutory members of the Board are:
· Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council (Leader and Chief
Executive)
· Caerphilly County Borough Council (Leader and Chief
Executive)
· Newport City Council (Leader and Chief
Executive)
· Monmouthshire County Council (Leader and Chief
Executive)
· Torfaen County Borough Council (Leader and Chief
Executive)
· Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (The Chair and Chief
Executive)
· South Wales Fire and Rescue Service (The Chair and Chief
Officer)
· Natural Resources Wales (Chief Executive)
11. Individuals may be designated to represent
any of the named persons above. Council Leaders may only designate
another member of the Council’s Cabinet to
represent them.
12.
Any
designated representatives should have the authority to make decisions and commit resources on behalf of their
organisation.
12.
Invited
Participants
13.
The
following statutory invitees are invited to participate in the board’s activity:
· The Chief
Constable of Gwent Police
· The Gwent Police
and Crime Commissioner
· National Probation
Service for Wales
· Gwent Association
of Voluntary Organisations
· Torfaen Voluntary
Association
· The Welsh
Ministers
14. The following non-statutory invitees,
exercising functions of a public nature, are
invited to participate in the board’s activity:
· Local Director of
Public Health and Strategic Partnerships
· A representative
of the Registered Social Landlords in the region
· A representative
from the tertiary academic sector
·
A
representative (Chair or Vice-Chair) from the Gwent Strategic Well-being Action
Group
15. Invited participants are not required to
accept their invitation.
16. Invited participants are not members of the
Board. They are entitled to make representations to the board about the
assessments of local well-being and
local well-being plan, take part in Board meetings and provide other advice and assistance.
17. Invited participants will be asked to join
the Board via a letter from the Chair
setting out the reasons for the invitation and the expectations upon the invitee.
18. Having joined the Board, invited
participants will participate in meetings in the same way as statutory members.
Observer
19. The Board will invite the Chair (as an alternate
Vice-Chair) of the Regional Scrutiny
Committee to attend Board meetings as an observer.
Other partners
20. The Board will work with key partners
either directly, or through Local Delivery Groups,
who exercise functions of a public nature and who;
have a material interest in the well-being of the area; deliver important
public services; and are involved in the in the preparation,
implementation and delivery of the work of the board.
21. These
partners will include, but are not limited to:
· Community Health
Councils
· Town & Community
Councils
· Registered Social
Landlords
· Tertiary Colleges
· National Park
Authorities
· Higher Education Funding
Council for Wales
· Further or Higher
Education institutions
· Arts Council of
Wales
· Sports Council for
Wales
· National Library
of Wales
· National Museum of
Wales
Quorum
22. The quorum of a public services board
meeting is all its statutory members.
Decision Making
23.
Members will appoint a Chair and Vice Chair from
the statutory members or the invited participants, to hold office for two years.
24. Board decisions, for example the agreement
of the assessment of local well- being
and the local well-being plan, are only valid when made jointly and unanimously
by all statutory members and with all statutory members in attendance.
25. Other Board decisions will be agreed by
consensus but may be taken by vote carried
by a simple majority.
26. In the event of a disagreement between
members it is the responsibility of the Chair
to mediate an agreement and to ensure that this is presented to the next available meeting of the Board or to a
special meeting if required.
Mandatory Meetings
27. The Board will hold a “mandatory meeting”
chaired by one of the constituent local
authorities, no later than 60 days after each subsequent ordinary election of councillors.
28. At this meeting the Board will:
a) Nominate
a Chair and Vice-chair
b) Determine
when and how often it meets
c) Review and agree its terms of
reference
Ordinary Meetings
29. Ordinary meetings of the Board will take
place, as a minimum, every three calendar
months at a time and venue to be agreed by the members. Members may attend virtually.
30. Each meeting may consider, but not be
limited to, the following agenda items:
· Welcome and
apologies
· Declarations of
interest
· Minutes of the
last meeting
· Progress on
well-being objectives
· Forward work plan
· Public questions
and communication
Minutes of meetings, and
relevant reports, will be on the Gwent Public Services
Board’s website.
Sub-groups
31. The Board is able to establish sub-groups
to support it in undertaking its functions
and the board can authorise sub-groups to exercise a limited number of functions.
32. Each
sub-group of a public services board must include at least one statutory member of the board, who can choose an
appropriate representative to attend to
contribute to the work of the sub-group.
The sub-group can include any invited
participant or other partner.
33. Sub-groups’ functions will be guided by
these PSB terms of reference.
34. Sub-groups cannot be authorised to:
(a) invite persons to participate in the
board’s activity
(b) set, review or revise the board’s local
objectives
(c) prepare or publish an assessment of
well-being
(d) consult on an assessment of well-being
or to prepare a draft of an assessment for the purposes of consulting
(e) prepare or publish a local well-being
plan
(f) consult on a local well-being plan or to
prepare a draft of a local well-being plan for the purposes of consulting
(g) review or amend a local well-being plan
or to publish an amended local wellbeing plan
(h) consult on an amendment to a local
well-being plan
(i) agree that the board merges or
collaborates with another public services board
35. The matters above require all statutory members
to act jointly and so must be taken by
the Board itself.
36. Whilst sub-groups cannot themselves be
authorised to finalise and approve the
assessment of local well-being, or the local well-being plan, it is expected that they will play an important role in
researching and developing those products
in draft.
37. The aims of each sub-group will be
determined by the Board when the sub- group
is established.
38. Each sub-group will prepare terms of
reference and the Chair of the sub- group will submit them to the Board for
approval.
39. The
following sub-group is currently established:
Gwent
Strategic Well-being Action Group. The aim of this sub-group is:
·
To act as the officer support group to the Board
·
To prepare the local assessment of well-being and
Gwent Well-being Plan
·
To ensure that regional activity that contributes
to the Board’s well-being objectives is delivered in collaboration
·
To liaise with Welsh Government and the Office of
the Future Generations Commissioner on behalf of the Board
·
Facilitate the relationship, continuity and
reporting between regional activity and the work of the Local Delivery Groups
·
Provide evidence to the Regional Scrutiny Committee
· To
ensure that the work of the partnership is open and transparent and that it’s
activity and performance is available on the Gwent Public Services Board’s
website
·
To prepare an annual report on behalf of the Gwent
Public Services Board
41. The
following sub-groups will be established to operate in each geographical local authority area:
Local
Delivery Groups. The aim of each of the five sub-groups is:
· To
ensure the delivery of local actions that contribute to the Board’s well-being
objectives
· To
contribute to any regional activity that contributes to the Board’s well-being
objectives
· To
involve local communities, local community areas and any person or group with
an interest in the well-being of the area covered by the partnership
· To
take forward any actions of a local nature set out in the Gwent Well-being Plan
· To
report as requested through local democratic scrutiny arrangements
· To
report as requested to the Regional Scrutiny Committee
· To
report on activity to the Gwent Public Services Board as required
· To
ensure that the work of the partnership is open and transparent and that it’s
activity and performance is available on the Gwent Public Services Board’s
website
· Continue
to deliver 2018-23 Local Well-being Plans
42. Local
Delivery Groups will comprise senior officer representatives of the statutory and invited partners of the
Board who will have the ability to take decisions
and direct resources within the area they operate.
43. The
Gwent Public Services Board will ensure the continued effectiveness and operation of Local Delivery Groups and
will hold themselves to mutual regional account should the performance
of a Local Delivery Group fall below expectations.
Support
44. Administrative support for
the Board will be provided by one of the five local authorities on a two-year cycle, timed with the two-year cycle of
the Chair and Vice-Chair.
Where the Chair is the Leader of one of the local authorities the administrative support will be provided by
that local authority. This includes:
· Ensuring the Board
is established and meets regularly
· Preparing the
agenda and commissioning papers for meetings
· Inviting
participants and managing attendance
· Ensuring the Gwent
Public Services Board website is current, open and transparent
· Work on the annual
report
· Preparation of
evidence for Regional Scrutiny
45. Ensuring that the
functions of the Board are properly resourced is the responsibility of all members equally. Members may
provide advice, assistance, and other
‘in kind’ resources to the board for instance in the form of analytical or professional
expertise.
46. Invited participants and
other partners may also provide advice, assistance, and other ‘in kind’ resources to the Board for instance in the form
of analytical or professional expertise.
Wider Engagement
47. The Board’s citizen focus
means it will engage in a purposeful relationship with the people and communities in the area, including children
and young people, Welsh-speakers and
those with protected characteristics (Equality
Act 2010), in all aspects of its work. The Board will also take account of people with an interest in achieving
the well-being goals and will ensure those
persons reflect the diversity of the population of the Gwent area. It will abide by the National Principles for Public
Engagement in Wales and the National
Standards for Children and Young People’s Participation.
· The Board
encourages dialogue with persons and bodies who have an interest in the
well-being of the area and will consider any questions raised through the administrative
support to the Board. Contact is facilitated by the Public Services Board
website and meeting papers will be published on the website one week in advance.
· Interested parties
can be invited to make presentations to the Board on any items that are being
considered. The Board will take care,
however, to ensure the propriety and impartiality of processes and be alive to
the risks of any perception arising that a particular group is being afforded excessive
access to, or influence over the Board’s deliberations.
· The Board will
take additional steps outside of meetings to ensure that the public voice is
heard and helps to shape both the well-being assessment and well-being plan. This is expected to include consultation
exercises and opportunities for people to raise and debate ideas through online
and offline engagement arrangements.
· The Board will
seek advice and guidance from the Future Generations Commissioner as and when
appropriate.
·
The Board is subject to scrutiny through the Regional
Scrutiny Committee and this process provides a further route for public
engagement. The Board will
ensure the scrutiny committee has adequate engagement with a wide range of
relevant stakeholders who can help hold PSBs to account.
Performance and Reporting
48. The
Board will adopt a robust performance management framework and will ensure that it is measuring outcomes and
progress towards its well-being objectives.
The performance will be examined at each meeting and progress will be publicly available on the Gwent
PSB website.
49.
The Board will prepare and publish a report no
later than 14 months after the publication of its first local well-being plan.
This will enable the board to report on the full year’s activity.
50.
Subsequently,
an annual report will be published no later than one year after the publication of each previous report.
51.
In the year following an ordinary local government
election, when a new local well-being
plan is being prepared and published, there is no requirement to also produce an annual report.
52.
The Annual Report will set out the steps taken
since the publication of the Board’s
most recent local well-being plan to meet the objectives set out in the plan. It
can also include any other information the Board thinks would be appropriate.
53.
A copy of the Annual Report will be sent to the
Welsh Ministers, the Future Generations
Commissioner, the Auditor General for Wales and to the Regional Scrutiny Committee
Regional Scrutiny
54.
The role of scrutiny is to provide challenge and
support to secure continuous
improvement for the Board.
55.
In order to assure democratic accountability, there
is a requirement for a designated local government scrutiny committee to
scrutinise the work of the Public
Services Board. The scrutiny will be provided by a Regional Scrutiny Committee
to be supported by one of the constituent local authorities.
56.
Welsh Ministers have a power to refer a plan to the
scrutiny committee if it is not considered sufficient; for example, due to an
adverse report by the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales or a concern
statutory duties are not being met.
57.
The Regional Scrutiny Committee can require any
member of the board to give
evidence, but only in respect of the exercise of joint functions conferred on
them as a member of the Board.
58.
The Regional Scrutiny Committee must send a copy of
any report or recommendation it makes to
the Welsh Ministers, the Commissioner and the Auditor General for Wales.
Openness
and Transparency
59.
The openness and transparency of the
PSB is important for all members organisations, but particularly in the light
of responsibilities placed on the members with democratic accountability – that
is, the local authorities, the fire and rescue service and the health board.
The PSB is committed to encouraging the involvement of other organisations and
the general public with an interest in the well-being of the Gwent region. It
is especially keen to encourage interest and participation from people who have
not been engaged before. The PSB will therefore commit to:
o Make publicly available on the Gwent PSB website:
agendas, reports and other relevant papers for business meetings as well as
reports on performance such as against targets for the Well-being Plan.
o Welcome
questions from the public via its website
o Making
recordings of business meetings available on the website (although it should be
noted that it may be necessary to hold closed portion of meetings in certain
circumstances where the matter under discussion was sensitive, identified
individuals, or would result in a conflict of interest).
o Providing
a Communications Officer, on a rotational basis from member organisations, to help
raise awareness of and publicise the work of the PSB including to live tweet
during meetings.
Correspondence
with the PSB
60.
Any Correspondence received by the
Chair in respect of the PSB where matters require a response, this will
generally be dealt with by the Chair. However, anything that requires the
collective views of members will be circulated to gather those views before a
response is sent, by the Chair.
61.
Additionally, it has been made clear
to most regular corresponding organisations that items should also be sent to
the constituent members. However, the coordinating local authority will ensure
that any relevant correspondence received by the Chair only is also shared among
all PSB members. And where correspondence is received which is more obviously a
matter for a single organisation, this will be passed on for that member to
deal with.
Review and
Amendment
62.
While the Board must review these terms of
reference at the mandatory meeting,
the Board may review, and agree to amend it at any time providing all statutory
members agree.
Agreed: 1st
October 2021
Amended: Draft 22nd June 2022
Amended:
Amended: