Annual Self-Assessment 2024-25
Conclusion
This section concludes the annual self-assessment report and draws together actions for the organisation as a whole. These are our provisional conclusions and will be further considered and developed in response to our consultation on the draft document.
We have continued to manage our challenging financial situation and while these pressures are expected to remain an issue, there are early signs that the Council is making progress in its quest to place itself on a more sustainable footing over the medium to longer term. However, this is in the context of unknown future pressures at a macro level which may put further strain on Council resources. In positive news, the Council ended the financial year with an underspend of £2.0m.
While there has been significant transformational activity in several service areas, there has been a gap in programme management arrangements at an authority-wide level that can provide co-ordinated and strategic direction and oversight. In view of this, and given the importance of transformation and the role it can play in delivering financial savings and efficiencies, as well as improving services for customers, in April 2025 Cabinet agreed to a re-purposed Transformation and Innovation Board. The new Board will provide renewed energy and focus around the key thematics of Digital & AI, Preventions (0-25 year olds), Vanguard/Target Operating Model, and Decarbonisation & Climate Adaptation and 2025-2026 will be a crucial year to drive this agenda forward.
Demand pressures in adult social has been a consistent theme in previous versions of this report, and while these remain a significant challenge, proactive work particularly around preventions and demand management suggest that the pressure is easing, albeit remains at very high levels. We have made good progress through the adult care improvement and recovery board to address issues previously raised by regulators, improving processes through the Vanguard methodology, and this work will continue for the foreseeable future. There is a similar story with regards to children’s services, though perhaps at an earlier phase of recovery, with an increase in demand in early part of 2024-25 before stabilising, with early signs of reduction towards the end of the financial year. Continued monitoring of progress in 2025-2026 will be essential to provide assurance that this improvement is sustainable, and further investment in capital schemes, particularly in relation to children’s residential provision, will be an important factor as part of this.
In terms of economic development and regeneration, we continue to encourage private sector investment in new energy industries. We are a key partner of the Celtic Freeport which will help realise ambitions around green and blue energy, supporting local businesses and creating jobs. Projects to regenerate our town centres are continuing but perhaps more slowly than anticipated, and this is also contributing to capital underspends (and consequential revenue underspends).
In housing, we have made good progress in addressing the issue of homelessness, with a significant decrease in the numbers of people presenting, though clearly there is always room for improvement. We have also increased the numbers of our own stock through our housing development scheme and through acquisitions. Issues with affordable housing will be targeted through our new Homebuy scheme, which will be launched during 2025-2026.
We remain one of the best performing local authorities not just in Wales, but the UK, in terms of waste and recycling. Our new Environmental Services Strategy developed this year, sets the direction of travel for maintaining our strong performance in this area. A highlight this year was the opening of the Eco Park, which provides enhanced recycling segregation facilities, and will support us to meet challenging environmental targets.
We have continued to introduce initiatives to counter local challenges around recruitment. Examples include flexible work options/hybrid working, targeted recruitment campaigns with improved use of social media (‘In Pembs We Care Campaign’), active marketing of our employee benefits, attractive relocation packages, golden hellos, market supplements and gateway payments, graduate training programme and apprenticeship schemes. Work to strengthen our practices around recruitment and retention is tailored to tackle issues affecting specific service areas and difficulties in attracting people to particular job roles.
We have reported on progress to deliver our Corporate Governance Improvement Plan over the past couple of years and have made good progress in this regard. Audit Wales Phase 2 follow-up report which was produced during the year made no further recommendations. While this is positive, it is important not to be complacent, and as such, the Council has requested that governance and decision-making is a specific focus of our Panel Performance Assessment in October 2025 to gain further independent assurance and perspectives on how improvements can be sustained.