Consultation Draft Well-being Plan for Gwent

Welcome to the consultation draft of the first Well-being Plan for Gwent. The Public Services Board, or often called the PSB, have used the information contained in the Well-being Assessment to look at how to improve well-being across the region. We are interested to know if you think the plans we have will help to make things better for you and your community. We’d also like to know if you have any other ideas about how we can work together for the benefit of Gwent.

The plan will change and evolve over the next few weeks and months as we get more information and an even better understanding of what matters and how we can work together to make Gwent a better place to live, work and visit. That’s why some of the detail around the proposed objectives and how we’ll know if we’re making a difference is missing.

We will be talking to people and gathering views until the 31^st December so there’s plenty of time for you to let us know your thoughts.

Introduction

The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act established Public Services Boards, more commonly known as PSBs, for each local authority area to work together to improve well-being in their area. PSBs are made up of senior leaders from the local authority, the health board, the fire and rescue service and Natural Resources Wales. A number of other organisations are also invited to join the PSB, such as the police service, the Police and Crime Commissioner and the voluntary sector.

In September 2021, the five individual PSBs for Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Newport, Monmouthshire and Torfaen, merged to become the Gwent Public Services Board. Together the Gwent PSB developed and published the Well-being Assessment for Gwent earlier this year, which showed that inequality and deprivation in our communities and the need to take action on the climate and nature emergencies were having an impact on well-being. This draft Well-being Plan used the evidence from the assessment to inform what the PSB could do over the next five years to tackle the social, economic, environmental and cultural issues which can affect well-being in Gwent – this is the Well-being Plan.

A Well-being Plan

Must include: Local objectives – the long term vision for where we want to get to. The plan needs to explain what we want to do, why we chose the objectives, using the findings of the Well-being Assessment, and how we think the objectives can improve well-being.

Steps – the short term actions we’re going to do to deliver the objectives.

Timescale – when we’re going to do things by.

The Sustainable Development Principle – how we’ve used this in developing the steps.

Five Ways of Working

Just as when we were preparing the Well-being Assessment, we have used the five ways of working, collaboration, integration, involvement, long term and prevention, to guide our work. This means that while considering how to improve well-being in our communities now, we’ve also looked at how well-being could be affected in the future and how we can prevent issues becoming worse. We will need to work together to see what we’re each doing in a community and how this affects what we do, individually and in partnership. Finally, but most importantly, we want our communities, professionals, businesses and others to identify the issues which are most important to them.

Figure 1: The 5 ways of working from the Well-being of Future Generations Act

This element of the plan will be developed as we work on the final plan, taking into account new information and ideas suggested during the consultation with communities and other stakeholders.

Seven Well-being Goals

The actions in the Well-being Plan must contribute to the Well-being Goals for Wales. Together they show the Wales we’d like for the future and cover all aspects of well-being. While the Plan may not do as much for one goal as another, each of the goals are as important as each other.

Figure 2: The 7 Well-being Goals from the Well-being of Future Generations Act

The Marmot Principles

Recognising the inequality that exists in our communities, identified in the Well-being Assessment, the Gwent Public Service Board has agreed to become a ‘Marmot’ region with the intent to implement this approach to undertake evidence-based action to reduce inequalities in Gwent.

This will re-focus and accelerate progress towards reducing the root causes of health and related inequalities across Gwent. As part of this, the PSB will use the eight Marmot Principles, alongside the Objectives and Steps, as part of the Well-being Plan.

Eight Marmot Principles

1. Give every child the best start in life

2. Enable all children, young people, and adults to maximise their capabilities and have control over their lives

3. Create fair employment and good work for all

4. Ensure a healthy standard of living for all

5. Create and develop healthy and sustainable places and communities

6. Strengthen the role and impact of ill-health prevention

7. Tackle racism, discrimination, and their outcomes

8. Pursue environmental sustainability and health equity together

The Public Services Board will use the evidence base Marmot provides to inform the actions it needs to take, by working with the specialist, and vastly experienced support of Professor Marmot and the University College London Institute of Health Equity Team to further build on the evidence already gathered and develop its actions in response to the challenges faced across Gwent. This work will help to inform the development of the PSB’s Well-being Plan.

Draft Well-being Objectives

Using the evidence in the Well-being Assessment, the PSB has identified three draft objectives:

· We want to create a fair and equitable Gwent for all.

· We want to create a Gwent that has friendly, safe and confident communities

· We want to create a Gwent where the natural environment is protected and enhanced to maximise the well-being benefits that nature provides to current and future generations.

For each of these objectives, the tables below give more information about why they’ve been chosen, what steps we are considering taking to deliver them and how they contribute to each of the Well-being Goals. As explained earlier, these will be amended and refined during the consultation period as a result of more information and people’s views.

The final Well-being Plan for Gwent will be published in May 2023.

Objective 1 – What do we want to achieve?

We want to create a fair and equitable Gwent for all.

The Evidence Why did we choose this objective?

The latest Well-being Assessment shows that the inequalities that exists in our communities have the potential to impact on all aspects of well-being both at a personal and community level. There are also a range of challenges that could potentially widen these inequalities in the future and impact negatively on well-being. People who live in more deprived communities have fewer years of life that are free from ill health and are more likely to have shorter lives. Children from deprived households get poorer school results; limiting their opportunities and increasing the risk that poverty will be passed from one generation to the next. Some people in our communities are experiencing in-work poverty with the amount of spare money they have after paying their bills making it difficult to afford food, transport, energy and to be digitally connected – especially as costs increase. The assessment tells us that house ownership is already unaffordable for many low-income households, and as house prices rise more pressure is put on our social housing stock. Future Gwent will also need more housing stock that meets the needs of an aging population and changing family structures and is resilient to a changing climate.

The Steps How will we achieve the objective?

1. By reducing the gap in the number of years lived in good health between the most and least deprived communities in Gwent 2. By ensuring that our communities feel empowered, healthy and safe. 3. By creating equitable opportunities in education and by reducing the gaps in achievement. 4. By reducing the impacts of child poverty. 5. By improving low and no carbon transport links that enable access to employment, education, culture and leisure. 6. By supporting the creation of meaningful employment and training opportunities that enable everyone to receive fair pay for the work they do. 7. By working with housing providers and other stakeholders to ensure good quality, energy efficient and appropriate housing for all.

Performance Management How will we know that we are making progress?

Links to the 5 Ways of Working

Long Term

Integration

Involvement

Collaboration

Prevention

Links to the 7 Wellbeing Goals

Prosperous

Resilient

Healthier

Equal

Cohesive

Culture & Language

Global

The Marmot Principles

• Give every child the best start in life. • Enable all children, young people and adults to maximise their capabilities and have control of their lives. • Create fair employment and good work for all. • Create and develop healthy and sustainable places and communities • Strengthen the role and impact of ill-health prevention

Objective 2 What do we want to achieve?

We want to create a Gwent that has friendly, safe and confident communities

The Evidence Why did we choose this objective?

The latest Well-being Assessment showed that our communities are strong with many people feeling connected to their neighbourhoods and proud of their surroundings. Covid-19 lockdown saw our communities come together to support the most vulnerable, their friends, family, neighbours. Despite that, many people still felt unsafe and isolated. The assessment shows how the legacy of austerity has already effected community cohesion, safety and empowerment over the past decade and introduced widening economic, health, well-being and other inequalities. The Covid-19 pandemic, the cost of living crisis, the effects of Brexit, the war in Ukraine, and the increasing impacts of climate change, make the lives, livelihoods, health, safety and wellbeing of the people of Gwent even more challenging. The people of Gwent are likely to experience real-terms reductions in income and living standards; inflationary pressures and disruption to supply chains of goods, services and food; and shocks to the general sustainability and resilience of the local economy for the foreseeable future. If left unaddressed, this will lead to reductions in health and well-being through increased deprivation, substance misuse, mental health problems, civil disorder and crime, and antisocial behaviour. Evidence is already showing this will impact the health and well-being of already disadvantaged people and communities the most, who will need additional focus and support.

The Steps How will we achieve the objective?

1. By creating a safer Gwent by reducing anti-social behaviour, preventing crime as much as possible, improving road safety and enhancing our green spaces. 2. By ensuring that Gwent is a welcoming, diverse and thriving place to live and visit by being inclusive and creating cultural opportunities for all. 3. By creating volunteering opportunities across the region which will empower residents to have control over their own communities. 4. By creating access to good quality, healthy and affordable food with secure supply chains and opportunities for local growth. 5. By reducing digital exclusion and embracing digital innovation. 6. By enabling access to valuable work for everyone by enhancing skills and education opportunities and taking advantage of emerging sectors.

Performance Management How will we know that we are making progress?

Links to the 5 Ways of Working

Long Term

Integration

Involvement

Collaboration

Prevention

Links to the 7 Wellbeing Goals

Prosperous

Resilient

Healthier

Equal

Cohesive

Culture & Language

Global

The Marmot Principles

• Ensure a healthy standard of living for all. • Strengthen the role and impact of ill health prevention. • Tackle racism, discrimination and their outcomes.

Objective 3 What do we want to achieve?

We want to create a Gwent where the natural environment is protected and enhanced.

The Evidence Why did we choose this?

The latest Well-being Assessment showed that although Gwent is abundant in natural resources they are not all in a good condition and we know that many of our plants and animals are in decline. This decline is, in turn, making it more difficult to deal with challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality. The ‘green economy’ could provide jobs in the industries of the future such as renewables, energy efficiency and decarbonisation and supporting good health. Many of the unsustainable approaches that are putting pressure on our natural resources are also causing the climate to change. We need Gwent’s natural resources to be resilient to the impacts of a changing climate including more extreme weather events. There will also be challenges associated with transitioning to a low carbon future, and we will need to consider the whole energy system – heat, power and transport. Whilst projections of milder winters associated with a changing climate may help to reduce fuel poverty, we know that much of our housing stock has poor thermal efficiency and will be challenging to retrofit.

The Steps How will we achieve it?

1. By reducing the environmental impact of production and consumption. 2. By declaring a nature emergency in Gwent. 3. By responding to the climate emergency and protecting and preparing communities for the risk associated with climate change. 4. By exploring and promoting community energy projects. 5. By transforming food transport and energy in Gwent. 6. By recognising biodiversity as an asset, addressing the root causes of biodiversity loss and better managing the pressures on natural environments.

Performance Management How will we know that we are making progress?

How does this link to the 5 ways of working?

Long Term

Integration

Involvement

Collaboration

Prevention

How does this link to the 7 wellbeing goals?

Prosperous

Resilient

Healthier

Equal

Cohesive

Culture & Language

Global

The Marmot Principles

• Create and develop healthy and sustainable places and communities. • Pursue environmental sustainability and health equity together.

Other Initiatives

In each of the local authority areas which make up the Gwent region, Local Delivery Groups (LDGs) have been set up to deliver the PSB’s objectives at the local level. Their membership is similar to that of the PSB, , with additional local representation. Activity to deliver the objectives may look different in different areas and the LDGs will be able to better connect with and draw on local expertise and groups to provide a local flavour. In time these groups may want to deliver their own action plans creating a link between local and regional priorities and action.

Across the Gwent region, and beyond, there are a number of other partnerships and initiatives which will make a difference to people: the Regional Partnership Board is developing work to improve services for carers, older people and others; the Cardiff Capital Region, through the City Deal is working to improve prosperity in the region. Rather than repeat what these groups are doing, the Gwent PSB will look to work with them to deliver its objectives for Gwent.