Agenda and minutes

It was agreed that Councillor A Lockyer be appointed Chairperson of the meeting.

Members considered the report on the Western Bay Population Assessment that had been developed following the publication of the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014.

Officers advised that this had been an onerous task to collate the information and it was planned to undertake a lessons learned exercise at the end of the process to identify any barriers to further assessments.

Members noted that a web page had been created that contained the relevant information and Members asked if this could be demonstrated when the report was considered by Council on 15 March 2017.

Members raised concern that the table contained within the report that highlight the themes of Western Bay Population Assessment was confusing and should be reformatted so that it was easier to understand.

Members asked what the term “Milestone Period” meant and officers that it was a new expression and that it meant the timescales for the achievement of particular issues.

Clarification was sought on how the population assessment links with other strategic planning arrangements in particular the Local Health Board Medium Term Financial. Officers stated that the Health Board was required by legislation to produce funding allocations and savings over a period of time and the ABMU Local Health Board was currently in the second year of a 3 year process. Officers advised that this assessment also overlapped with the assessment that was being undertaken following the Wellbeing of Future Generations legislation.

Members noted the Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) and wished for their concerns to be recorded that they felt the completed EIA that accompanied the report left more questions to be answered than answers.

Concern was raised on section 3 of the EIA in particular as it stated that further investigation was required on the impact on protected characteristics. Members stated that this in their opinion rendered the EIA incomplete.

Further concern was raised in relation to the action plan contained within the EIA was also lacking information that Members stated they needed to consider. Members noted that there were objectives contained within the action plan but nothing more.

Members stated that due to the EIA they could not support the recommendations contained within the report and they wished to send a letter to the Regional Programme Director of the Western Bay Programme highlighting their concerns that the EIA is incomplete and that they wished for a revised EIA to be included when the report is presented to Council on 15^th March.

Following scrutiny the Committee did not support the recommendations contained within the report and asked for a revised EIA to be completed prior to Council.