Annual Self-Assessment 2022-23

SA3- Leadership, Governance and Culture

SA3.1 Overview and Scrutiny

Assessment of current performance – how well are we doing?

  • Overview and Scrutiny Committees monitor performance, contribute to policy development and review and investigate matters which affect the County and its residents.  Their role is also to balance the Executive's powers, if necessary, by holding the Executive to account by examining and questioning their decisions.
  • In terms of holding the Executive to account, two Executive decisions were called-in and considered by committees in the period of this assessment.  They related to the capital bid for Ysgol Bro Penfro (decision upheld by the Schools and Learning Overview and Scrutiny Committee) and Haverfordwest Transport Interchange (decision referred back to Cabinet with recommendations from Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee).
  • This year, targeted communications have been undertaken to inform the public of scrutiny topics to improve public engagement in recognition of the benefits that wider opinions bring to the table.  A press release was issued in February 2023 and social media reminders were sent informing the public of forthcoming meetings of each of the Scrutiny Committee meetings advising them of the items for discussion and providing links to submit questions and topics for consideration.  This will be continued for all future meetings.   Although there has been limited public submissions during the period of the report, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of viewers to webcasts following the sharing of the links to Scrutiny meetings.
  • The Scrutiny Strategy Group comprising the Chairs and Vice-Chairs of each of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees, together with the Chair of the Governance and Audit Committee and the Cabinet Member Champion, have met after each cycle of meetings to exchange good practice and learning and discuss cross-cutting themes, such as Elective Home Education.  The issues raised by the Corporate Peer Challenge Report relating to Overview and Scrutiny Committees has been highlighted with the new committees to have regard to when setting their Forward Work Programme to look at areas where the topics will add value and are for the benefit of Pembrokeshire residents rather than parochial issues.
  • Two new Chairs have been appointed to Overview and Scrutiny Committees following local government elections last May and they have been supported by the Democratic Services Team and respective Directors to undertake their roles and have found the Group beneficial to their support.  The Group has been looking at webcasts and contacting counterparts in neighbouring local authorities to examine and understand scrutiny practice elsewhere.  Feedback has indicated that elected members are satisfied with the way scrutiny is currently undertaken in Pembrokeshire.
  • Democratic Services has been working with Chairs and Committee members to ensure Forward Work Programme items are relevant and add value to residents of Pembrokeshire whilst discouraging ‘to note’ items and ensuring agendas are manageable.  Regular Forward Work Programming sessions have been held and this will continue.
  • A training programme was delivered for all members of Overview and Scrutiny Committees as part of induction process.  In conjunction with the WLGA, modules were delivered on Introduction to Scrutiny, Chairing Skills and Scrutiny questioning.  There were also online modules relating to Scrutiny provided on POD (the Council’s in house e-learning platform) and signposting to other resources available.   Further training is planned.  Feedback indicated the sessions were valuable.
  • All elected members were encouraged to complete a Learning Needs Analysis to identify collective and individual skill needs and were invited to meet with the Learning and Development Manager to discuss their training needs.  The results of the LNA has been collated and a three year training plan is being developed to capture those identified training requirements.  Further work needs to be undertaken to work with those members who have as yet not completed a LNA and the issue will be continue to be monitored by the Democratic Services Committee.
  • An electronic survey of all elected members was undertaken to gather views on the structure and arrangements of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees after a year of operating as a new Council.  The response rate to the survey was 67% (40 responses) which is positive and is reflective of the firm commitment of the majority of members to continue to strengthen the effectiveness of scrutiny, and a recognition of the key role members themselves have to play in the process. Of the 40 responses received, 88% (35) indicated that the arrangements were generally effective.  The survey was undertaken to inform the Annual Report which will be presented to all Overview and Scrutiny Committees in the June cycle of meetings and presented to Council in July for endorsement.  The report will capture the work of the Committees over the period May 2022 to March 2023.
  • All elected members were also surveyed to ask for their views on the timing, length and frequency of meetings of Council and its Committees as required by the Local Government Measure 2011. An electronic survey was set up and distributed to all elected members in August.  47 members completed the survey (78%).  80% of respondents indicated that they found the current arrangements satisfactory.  On that basis, Council decided to maintain the status quo.  The Democratic Services Committee supported undertaking the survey again once members had a fuller understanding of the impact of meeting times.
  • Scrutiny Action Plan – the outstanding issues on the self-assessment action within the action plan are still on-going.
  • Team development – the team is relatively new and officers will be supported to undertake the ADSO qualification to become accredited Democratic Services Officers.
  • Democratic and Scrutiny Support Officer has been attending regional network meetings with other Scrutiny Officers to share experiences and learn from each other.
  • Simultaneous Welsh Language provision has been extended to the Schools and Learning Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  This is available to all other committees if required.

 

Evidence – how do we know?

 
Web statistics:
1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022
 Overview and Scrutiny Committee  All Views  Live Views  Archive Views
 Corporate  650  165  485
 Policy and Pre-decision  662  187  475
 Schools and Learning  704  194  510
 Services  698  135  563
 Social Care  391  90  301
 Total  3105  771  2334
1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023
 Overview and Scrutiny Committee  All Views  Live Views  Archive Views
 Corporate  659  175  484 
 Policy and Pre-decision   582   134   448 
 Schools and Learning   979   212   767 
 Services   931   218   713 
 Social Care   455   87   368 
 Total  3606  826   2780 

 

Improvement actions – what can we do better and how? 

  • Public participation – this is still work in progress and we will continue to promote this area to encourage members of the public to ask questions and/or submit topics for consideration.  We will seek to compare and contrast our methods of public participation with other Authorities to learn from best practice.
  • Scrutiny Action Plan – the outstanding issues on self-assessment are still on-going. Training for elected members is planned in this area of work.  With Chairs and Vice-Chairs we will focus on annual self-evaluation for scrutiny work to feed into the Annual Report.

 

Current performance - 2

Improvement phase - 2

2021-22 performance - 3

2021-22 improvement phase - 3

 

SA3.2 Democratic participation

Assessment of current performance – how well are we doing?

  • Participation in scrutiny and broadening the democratic agenda – the Democratic Services Team has been working with the Communications Team to raise the profile and promote the work of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees. 
  • Targeted communications have been undertaken to inform the public of scrutiny topics to improve public engagement in recognition of the benefits that wider opinions bring to the table.  A press release was issued in February 2023 and social media reminders were sent informing the public of forthcoming meetings of each of the Scrutiny Committee meetings advising them of the items for discussion and providing links to submit questions and topics for consideration.  This will be continued for all future meetings.   Although there has been limited public submissions during the period of the report, there has been a significant increase in the number of viewers to webcasts following the sharing of the links to Scrutiny meetings.
  • The Participation Strategy has been adopted by the authority to encourage democratic participation.  This will be reviewed by the Policy and Pre-decision Overview and Scrutiny Committee in the autumn.  A member of the public has submitted questions to full Council and petitions have been submitted.  The ‘Have your Say’ webpage has been developed and improved to assist members of the public to engage in consultations on projects and to make comments.
  • Following the introduction of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 the authority is fully compliant with the requirements of the Act in terms of promoting democracy.
  • Council adopted a multi-location meetings policy in March 2023 which consolidated previous policies on hybrid and remote meeting etiquette to ensure compliance with the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021.  Data will be gathered on in-person and remote attendees to inform a review on whether thresholds should be imposed on in-person meetings for the efficiency of running meetings.  Hybrid meetings are effective and are now embedded in the way the authority holds its meetings and Member attendance has improved.
  • The Petition Strategy has been online since May 2022 and three petitions have been received.  As this is a new page on our website we have welcomed feedback on its operation.  A review will be undertaken following that feedback and a report will be taken to Democratic Services Committee in the autumn on any suggested improvements.
  • The Chair of Council has held a number of engagement events with schools and young people, inviting them into the Council Chamber to undertake debates on topical issues.  These have been engaging and enlightening events and will be continued.
  • Electoral Services have continued to engage with young people to promote democratic participation and to strengthen their understanding of the election process and the importance of representation.  Events were held as follows:
    • 28 October 2022 – Event in the Council Chamber with young people
    • 24 January 2023 – Hosted Train the Trainer to give teachers confidence in delivering Democracy lessons in schools
    • 30 January 2023 – 3 February 2023 – Social media campaign shared with schools to support Welcome to your Vote Week
    • February 2023 - Young People’s Democracy Event in the Council Chamber
    • 13 – 17 March 2023 – Supported Youth Voice, Politics, Democracy and Activism week at Pembrokeshire College
    • 24 May 2023 – Democracy Champions - Young People Event with secondary schools at Pembrokeshire Archives
  • Electoral Services send birthday cards when young people reach their 16th birthday and also contact them directly with invitations for them register to vote for those over 16 who are not registered.  They are identified from Education data matching.
  • The outcomes of the local government elections held in May 2022 were reported in last year’s self-assessment.

 

Evidence – how do we know? 

 

Improvement actions – what can we do better and how?

  • Continue to support Town and Community Councils to strengthen participation in local democracy.  
  • Continue to monitor the Diversity Action Plan and seek participation from political group leaders to champion diversity expectations within their selection processes earlier in preparation for the 2027 elections.
  • Continue developing the Democracy web page as a resource and commence planning for Member Induction at the earliest opportunity.
  • Seek participation from political group leaders to champion diversity expectations within their selection process for roles within the Council.
  • Carry out a review of communities and electoral arrangements in Pembrokeshire as required under the Local Government (Democracy) (Wales) Act 2013.  The Council has asked the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales to undertake this work on its behalf and established a member working group to support this process.
 

Current performance - 3

Improvement phase - 2

2021-22 performance - 3

2021-22 improvement phase - 3

 

SA3.3 Audit and Governance

Assessment of current performance – how well are we doing?

  • This section looks at audit and governance systems in the round, and also by its nature some of the broader work of the Council’s own Internal Audit team, which plays a key role in providing independent, objective assurance that the Council functions effectively.  It also comments on progress to deliver the Council’s Corporate Governance Improvement Plan which was prompted, in part, by an Audit Wales public interest report.
  • A requirement under the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021, the Governance and Audit Committee is now firmly embedded in the Council’s governance and assurance framework.  The Committee is fulfilling its statutory functions, such as receiving a copy of the last year’s annual self-assessment report at its meeting in November 2022, prior to it being considered by Council.
  • The Governance and Audit Committee plays a key oversight and assurance role in considering how the Council is responding to reports from external regulators.  The Committee also has oversight of business risk management (including monitoring of individual directorate risk registers), financial management, and has oversight of the process for producing the Annual Governance Statement (AGS).
  • The Council is required to produce an AGS on an annual basis reviewing the effectiveness of its governance framework, which includes consideration of internal controls, risk management and financial management arrangements.  The AGS outlines any significant challenges in regard to these, and priorities for improvement to address any areas which require strengthening.   The Governance and Audit Committee reviewed the Annual Governance Statement 2021-22 at its meeting on 31 January 2023 with Council approving the AGS at its meeting on 2 March. 
  • The Council continues to deliver actions in its Corporate Governance Improvement Plan (CGIP), responding to recommendations made in an Audit Wales public interest report.  Progress on the delivery of the plan has been reported routinely to Governance and Audit Committee through 2022-23 and periodically to Council and Cabinet.  Many of the actions in the plan have been implemented and a considerable amount of officer time and work has been invested in delivering these improvements.  However, some actions remain outstanding and are taking longer to implement than originally anticipated, due in large part to capacity issues.
  • One of the key actions in the plan, a full and thorough review of the Council’s Constitution, is nearing completion and is anticipated to be approved by Council in October 2023.  This has been a lengthy and complex piece of work and a good example of effective member-officer joint working which it is anticipated will strengthen the Council’s governance processes in time.  As part of this work, a new member/officer protocol adhering to the Nolan Principles has been produced and will be incorporated into the new Constitution.  Further awareness-raising of the protocol will be required to ensure that it is fully understood by all stakeholders.
  • While training has been delivered, further work is required to ensure that members and officers have a clear understanding of roles and responsibilities, or how the Councils will assess that the relationships between elected members and officers are constructive and respectful.
  • Audit Wales has undertaken a follow-up piece of work on the Council’s progress to address the recommendations in its initial public interest report.  They have recommended that the Council ensures that the improvement actions are effectively evaluated to ensure that they have the intended impact and result in sustained improvement over the longer term. The Council intends to review and revise the CGIP in response to Audit Wales’ report so it reflects the regulators views and that the plan has sufficient focus and direction in terms of its improvement activity over the next 12 months.  The revised CGIP will presented to Governance and Audit Committee and continue to be monitored on an ongoing basis.
  • Each year, a Strategic Internal Audit Plan is developed in accordance with the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards (PSIAS).  The Strategic Internal Audit Plan outlines the approach to audit planning and delivery for the financial year which objectively assesses the adequacy and effectiveness of governance, internal control, risk management and financial management arrangements within the Council.  Progress is reported on a quarterly basis to Governance and Audit Committee. 
  • The Head of Internal Audit Annual Assurance Opinion is compiled on the outcome of assurance work undertaken, which is used by the Council to inform its Annual Governance Statement.   The Head of Internal Audit Opinion for 2022-23 was that the Council has a moderate framework of governance, internal control, risk management and financial management arrangements in place.  This meant that there are weaknesses in the adequacy and effectiveness of the above arrangements, however these are unlikely to have a significant impact on the Council to achieve the Corporate and Well-being Objectives set.
  • 95% of the Strategic Plan for 2022-23 was completed with 80% of the work completed within timescales (an improvement on 79% from the previous year).  Of the audits undertaken 100% of the post-audit questionnaires returned gave the Internal Audit service a rating of ‘Substantial’, which provides assurance that the work being undertaken is adding value to the Council and its objectives. 
  • The Council’s internal audit team continue to provide the regional audit service for strategic partnerships such as Swansea Bay City Deal, Partneriaeth and the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee.
  • A revised Business Risk Strategy 2022-25 was approved by Governance and Audit Committee in July 2022.  The Corporate Risk Register is reported to the Committee on a quarterly basis and was approved by Cabinet in January 2023.  This key document highlights the key risks to the organisation along with how threats will be mitigated and opportunities maximised.
  • A revised Counter Fraud, Corruption and Bribery Policy Statement and Strategy 2022-25 was approved by Governance and Audit Committee in July 2022.  The Governance and Audit Committee receive quarterly updates on the Counter Fraud work undertaken by the Internal Audit Service.  This document endorses a culture in which fraud, corruption and bribery is unacceptable, with all individuals and organisations associated with the Council playing their part in eradicating them.

 

Evidence – how do we know?

 

Improvement actions – what can we do better and how?

  • Review and re-focus the Corporate Governance Action Plan, ensuring that the Council is focused on assessing the impact of its activity to secure longer term sustainable improvements.
  • Respond to recommendations in Audit Wales’ follow-up report in relation to the above.
  • Complete the review of the Constitution and ensure adoption by Council in the autumn.
  • Raise awareness and understanding of the new member/officer protocol and evaluate its effectiveness is providing informal mechanisms for resolving disputes.
  • Continue to embed the role of Governance and Audit Committee in the Council’s governance framework so that it delivers its statutory functions effectively.
 

Current performance - 2

Improvement phase - 2

2021-22 performance - 2

2021-22 improvement phase - 2

 

SA3.4 Equalities 

Assessment of current performance – how well are we doing?

  • The Council has started to develop a new Strategic Equality Plan to cover the period 2024 – 2028 working with regional partners to consult on a new strategic equality objectives.  The consultation closed on 31 July 2023 and the results of this will inform the 2024 – 2028 Plan.
  • The Council continues to monitor the 2020 – 2024 Strategic Equality Plan through the Strategic Equality Action Plan group.  One of the main themes of the year was considering how Welsh Government’s An Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan andtheWelsh Government’s LGBTQ+ Action Plan will be incorporated into our equalities work.
  • We published equality monitoring information on our own workforce for the 2020-21 year (the 2022-23 statistics will be reported within the 2023-24 year).  The report shows that the gender pay gap continues to narrow.
  • 2022-23 was the first full year that the amended Integrated Impact Assessment templates were used for key decisions; committee templates were also revised and Impact Assessments were extended to Council reports.  Whilst Impact Assessments are being considered for a wider range of reports, as the section SA3.5 on Welsh Language notes, there are inconsistencies in their application.   Audit Wales published a national Report titled ‘Equality Impact Assessments: More than a Tick Box Exercise’ which was considered by Governance and Audit Committee at its 29 November 2022 meeting and the recommendations of this national report will be considered for any redrafting of our impact assessment process.
  • Towards the end of 2022-23, the first results of the 2021 Census became available.  This is enabling the Council to get a much better insight into its communities especially for protected characteristics such as sexuality and gender identity.
  • The Council is the only local authority in Wales to be a Disability Confident Leader and this was renewed in March 2023.  We also awarded ‘Silver’ status through the Defence Employer Recognition schemes and will work towards Gold status.
  • Throughout 2022-23 we continued to provide practical support to Ukrainian refugees.  In total up until 21 March 2023, 333 people had arrived at some point in the year with 237 people living in Pembrokeshire on that date. We have a range of initiatives in place to support Ukrainian people and their hosts and we are confident that we can finance the scheme until April 2025.  The Pembrokeshire Migration Partnership has a sustainable financed operating model in place until April 2025.  This partnership working arrangement means that we will be able to respond quickly and effectively to any demand made of us relating to migration schemes in general.

 

Evidence – how do we know?

 

Improvement actions – what can we do better and how?

  • Prepare and implement our revised Strategic Equality Plan 2024 – 2028.
  • Review the Council’s integrated impact assessment process.
  • Analysis of 2021 Census results for protected characteristics.
 

Current performance - 3

Improvement phase - 3

2021-22 performance – n/a

2021-22 improvement phase – n/a

 

SA3.5 Welsh Language

Assessment of current performance – how well are we doing?

  • Much of the information in this section is taken from the Welsh Language Standards Annual Report 2022-23.  This was considered by Cabinet at its 22 May 2023 and subsequently scrutinised by Corporate O&S at its 8 June 2023 meeting and is published on our website.
  • The Council received fewer telephone calls through the Contact Centre in 2022-23 than it did in 2021 – 22, but the volume of English language calls has fallen slightly more sharply (down 15%) than the volume of Welsh language calls (down 13%).  Callers to the Welsh language line waited on average 26 seconds compared with an average of 41 seconds for English language callers.
  • The use of the Welsh language website is growing faster than that of the English language site (up 43% v. 34% increase for English language) but the number of customers registering for My Account, and to receive My Account communications, through the medium of Welsh is not growing as fast as it is in English (30% increase in Welsh compared to 34% in English). 
  • The number of followers of the Council’s Welsh language Facebook page increased 16% from 265 in 2021/2 to 309 in 2022/3. Interest has been boosted by coverage of the St David’s Day parade, Shwmae Day promotions and Welsh language education news stories.
  • There has been a slight decrease in demand for written Welsh translations of all lengths but an increase in demand for simultaneous translation services for meetings, which now includes provision at full Council meetings, as well as other formal committee meetings.
  • Policy Making Standards - there continue to be lapses in Integrated Impact Assessment processes, which includes the Welsh language. Additional guidance has been added to the corporate Integrated Impact Assessment guidance, in line with recommendations made as a result of a recent findings in relation to a decision taken by Swansea Council.
  • Operational Progress - the number of employees wishing to receive correspondence relating to their employment has almost doubled from 33 to 62.
  • Welsh language skill levels of employees have remained largely static compared with 2021/22 but the number of employees taking up Welsh language learning opportunities from 79 in 2021/22 to 118 at present.
  • The designations of Welsh language requirements on posts advertised has remained largely unchanged since 2021-22.
  • We adopted a new Welsh in Education Strategic Plan in July 2022 in response to Welsh Government statutory requirements (further detail in section 5.1).
  • Towards the end of 2022-23 results from the ONS 2021 Census started to become available; these are the most accurate source of information on people’s Welsh skills.  2021 Census results suggest that, across Wales, it is likely to be more difficult to hit the national target of 1 million Welsh speakers by 2050 than previous research suggested.
    • Pembrokeshire is one of only five Welsh local authorities where there is a local area (LSOA) where 50% or more people in a local area can speak, read and write Welsh.  Seven of our 71 local areas are in the highest 10% for the percentage of people who can speak, read and write Welsh.
    • The percentage of Pembrokeshire’s population who do not have any skills in Welsh has increased from 72% to 75% which is very similar to the all Wales increase.  The percentage who can read, write and speak Welsh has decreased to 13% from 14%, again a similar decline to that seen across all of Wales.  The percentage who can speak Welsh (but cannot read and write in the Welsh language) has decreased from 19% to 13%, a faster fall than across Wales.  In common with many areas in Wales, there has been a decrease in children and young people being able to speak Welsh over the last ten years - particularly between the ages of three and fifteen.
  • Welsh Government published a consultation on a Welsh Language Education Bill which aims to enable all pupils in Wales to become confident Welsh speakers through the statutory education system.  In the foreword to the consultation, Welsh Government state the Bill has been prompted by the 2021 Census results.

 

Evidence – how do we know?

 

Improvement actions – what can we do better and how?

  • Respond to the requirements of any new Welsh Language Education Bill.
  • Continue to promote opportunities to learn and use Welsh in the workplace.
 

Current performance - 3

Improvement phase - 2

2021-22 performance – n/a

2021-22 improvement phase – n/a

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