Overview and Scrutiny
Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report 2022-2023
Scrutiny provides opportunities for members of the public to get involved with the work of the Council.
Overview and Scrutiny in Pembrokeshire
Schools and Learning Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Corporate Overview and Scrutiny
Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Policy and Pre-Decision Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Democratic and Scrutiny Support Team
Chairs' Review
Welcome to Pembrokeshire County Council’s Annual Scrutiny Report which highlights the work of our five Overview and Scrutiny Committees during 2022-2023. The Overview and Scrutiny process is an essential part of the Council’s democratic structure and governance framework. It plays a key role in scrutinising the delivery and performance of Council services and holding decision-makers to account through an approach based on positive pressure and constructive challenge.
Theme-based scrutiny is now weaved through the work programmes of Overview and Scrutiny Committees to support the effective delivery of the Council’s objectives as set out in the Corporate Plan. The Committees recognise the sustained pressures on services and are keen to manage them carefully by designing reviews to support service activity.
This report covers the period June 2022 to March 2023. During this period meetings have been held as hybrid meetings with some being held fully remote which has enabled sustained levels of Member engagement and attendance by experts.
As a new cohort of Chairs of Overview and Scrutiny Committees we have met informally with our Vice-Chairs, the Chair of the Governance and Audit Committee, the Scrutiny Champion and Democratic Services after each cycle of meetings to reflect and self-evaluate the performance of each Committee which has been a great support to us in our role as Chairs.
Targeted communications have been undertaken to inform the public of scrutiny topics to improve engagement in recognition of the benefits that wider opinions bring to the table. This will be continued for all future meetings. Although there has been limited public submissions during the period of the report, there was a significant increase in the number of viewers to webcasts following the sharing of the links to Scrutiny meetings.
We would like to thank elected and co-opted Members for their contributions and commitment in scrutinising the Authority’s performance and policies. We would also like to take the opportunity to thank Democratic Services, Directors, Officers and Cabinet Members for their input and professionalism in supporting the work of each of the Committees.
As Chairs of Overview and Scrutiny Committees we recognise our shared responsibility to work together to strengthen the Council’s governance arrangements through delivering value-added scrutiny. We hope to continue to demonstrate a shared commitment to focus on the issues which matter most to Pembrokeshire residents.
Overview and Scrutiny in Pembrokeshire
Overview and Scrutiny is a key component of Pembrokeshire County Council’s governance and democratic framework. Its role is to help shape and develop policy, to identify and challenge under-performance, to strengthen decision-making and to hold the Executive to account for the decisions it takes. It is common to think of Scrutiny as a ‘critical friend’, and through constructive challenge and support it seeks to provide assurance to people for the actions and decisions the Council takes.
Overview and Scrutiny is a legislative requirement under the Local Government Act 2000 which introduced major changes to the way in which Councils make decisions. The Act enabled Councils to introduce new political structures, including one involving a Leader and Cabinet model (the Executive) and Overview and Scrutiny Committees.
The Executive is responsible for taking key decisions about services in accordance with the policies adopted by the Council. Overview and Scrutiny Committees monitor performance, contribute to policy development and review and investigate matters which affect the County and its residents. Another function of Overview and Scrutiny Committees is to balance the Executive's powers, if necessary, by holding the Executive to account by examining and questioning their decisions. In simple terms, the function of Scrutiny allows non-Executive Members to influence how decision-makers can work more effectively for the people they serve.
Overview and Scrutiny Committees are responsible for developing their own work programmes and are encouraged to adopt an outcome-focussed, risk-based prioritised approach to the topics it decides to scrutinise. It is important to note that an Overview and Scrutiny Committee cannot make decisions; it can only make recommendations. It is for the Executive to determine whether to accept or not recommendations made by a Committee.
This annual report provides an overview of the work of each of the five Committees over the past 12 months and highlights some of the good practice and positive outcomes which have been achieved, as well as noting some of the challenges the Committees face.
Schools and Learning Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Role and remit
The role of the Schools and Learning Overview and Scrutiny Committee is to review and scrutinise services delivered to improve outcomes for children and young people, youth support and other community based services including Adult Learning, and to support the raising of educational standards and outcomes for learners.
The remit and scope of the Committee includes the following:
- Educational outcomes for all ages, particularly at Key Stage 4
- School categorisation
- School support through Regional Working
- Individual Schools (through a Schools Scrutiny Panel)
- Inclusion Services
- Youth support and other community based services
- Post-16 learning, skills and training
- Music Service
- Sports Development
- Children’s voice and participation
- Financial arrangements in relation to schools and learning
- Safeguarding in Education
Membership and Attendance
The Committee has 13 Members and 4 statutory co-optees. As at March 2023, the Membership was as follows:
- Cllr Huw Murphy, Chair (Independent)
- Cllr Pat Davies, Vice-Chair (Not affiliated to any group)
- Cllr Maureen Bowen (Labour)
- Cllr Alistair Cameron (Welsh Liberal Democrats)
- Cllr David Howlett (Welsh Conservatives)
- Cllr Rhys Jordan (Welsh Conservatives)
- Cllr Mel Phillips (Not affiliated to any group)
- Cllr Bethan Price (Not affiliated to any group)
- Cllr Sam Skyrme-Blackhall (Not affiliated to any group)
- Cllr Mike Stoddart (Not affiliated to any group)
- Cllr Marc Tierney (Labour)
- Cllr Anji Tinley (Independent)
- Cllr Iwan Ward (Independent)
- Cllr Viv Stoddart (Not affiliated to any group) – Reserve Member
Co-optees:
- Rev. John Cecil (Church in Wales representative)
- Mrs Alison Kavanagh (Parent Governor representative)
- Mr Tom Moses (Parent Governor representative)
Member attendance at Meetings of this Committee was 90.8%.
Work of the Committee in 2022 - 23
The Committee has scrutinised a broad and diverse range of topics related to schools during 2022-23. During the period, the Committee conducted its annual reviews in relation to the Effectiveness of the Memorandum of Understanding for delivery of Post-16 Education in Pembrokeshire, Whistleblowing in Schools, and the Section 175 Safeguarding Audit. Following oversight of the Safeguarding Audit, the Committee scrutinised the associated Safeguarding Action Plan and agreed to do this annually to ensure adequate safeguarding actions required by Pembrokeshire schools and the Local Authority were being undertaken.
Consideration was given to the implementation of the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal Act, where the Committee scrutinised the ongoing support and resource arrangements required to support schools across the three-year transitional period of Implementation.
As part of ongoing concerns, and following a previous Committee decision to write to the Children’s Commissioner for Wales, Elective Home Education (EHE) provisions were scrutinised to ensure that local support arrangements were adequate, despite there being no change to the Welsh Government’s position in respect of the legislative framework.
Throughout the year, the Committee scrutinised the following:
June 2022
- Annual review of the Memorandum of Understanding for the delivery of Post-16 Education in Pembrokeshire
- Section 175 Safeguarding Audit 2021-22
- Elective Home Education in Pembrokeshire
- Welsh in Education Strategic Plan
- Education Improvement Priorities and Directorate Plan Updates
- Partneriaeth Update
October 2022
- Estyn Action Plan Update
- Additional Learning Needs Policy
- Membership arrangements for the Schools Scrutiny Panel
- Overview and Scrutiny Committee Annual Report 2021-22
- Capital Programme Bid - Ysgol Bro Penfro (call-in)
November 2022
- Estyn Action Plan Update (post-visit)
- Section 175 Safeguarding Action Plan
- Educational Attainment of Small and Rural Schools
February 2023
- Manorbier School Update
- Formula Funding Review Update
- Estyn School Inspection Reports
- Whistleblowing in Schools Annual Report
- Schools Scrutiny Panel Monitoring Report - Pembrokeshire Learning Centre (PLC)
- Outline Draft County Council Budget for 2023-24 and Outline Draft Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) for 2023-24 to 2026-27 / Provisional Local Government Settlement for 2023-24
April 2023
- Manorbier School Update
- School Attendance Data
- Adult and Community Learning and Youth Service Provision
- Scrutiny of external education providers
- Curriculum Update includin Learning within the Outdoor Provision Audit
- Schools Scrutiny Panel Monitoring Report - Ysgol Y Preseli
What difference did the Committee make?
Following a call-in of a Cabinet decision in relation to a Capital Programme Bid for Ysgol Bro Penfro, the Schools and Learning Committee effectively scrutinised the decision and concluded that the decision be upheld.
Regular scrutiny of the Education Improvement Priorities and Directorate Plan was undertaken to ensure that secure and sustainable progress continued to be made following Estyn’s decision to remove the Authority from the follow-up category of ‘causing significant concern’, after being placed there in 2019.
The Schools Scrutiny Panel’s work resumed, with visits to two schools being undertaken in this period, with a number of recommendations being reported back to the Committee highlighting areas of concern and ways in which the Authority could further support the schools.
The Committee further scrutinised the ongoing review of the Schools Formula Funding methodology and sought assurance that it was being conducted in consultation with all stakeholders and that further progress reports on the review would be reported back to the Committee in an easy-read format, before final decisions were made.
Oversight of the draft Welsh in Education Strategic Plan was undertaken, with the Committee concluding that Cabinet be recommended to approve the plan for the period 2022 -2031 with it being reviewed annually as a working document.
Future challenges
In the year ahead the Committee will continue to scrutinise areas of challenge which will be likely to include ongoing budgetary pressures, recruitment and retention of teaching staff, pressures linked to the new National Curriculum and educational attainment of small and rural schools.
Through work programming and oversight of educational outcomes and other relevant data, the Committee will continue to provide assurance that there is appropriate Member oversight and challenge of school performance, educational standards and outcomes for all learners and that appropriate support is being provided to Pembrokeshire Schools by Partneriaeth (Regional body for Education improvement services).
Following Manorbier Primary School suffering a major fire in October 2022, the Committee will continue to receive updates regarding the ongoing matter to ensure that all is being done to enable to school to fully re-open by September 2024.
Continual consideration of the Committee’s work programme will give assurance of dedicated and effective scrutiny for the year ahead, but to ensure scrutiny is meaningful and manageable, it is important that the Committee identifies appropriate scrutiny topics through a prioritised, risk-based approach.
Corporate Overview and Scrutiny
Role and remit
The role of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee is to review and scrutinise corporate functions and support services and its scope includes oversight of the overall strategic direction, policies, plans and priorities of the Cabinet and Council (post decision) and to monitor the implementation of these as appropriate.
The Committee’s scope also includes scrutiny of corporate support services through a risk-based approach utilising relevant management information such as Service Transformation Plans, performance measures, business risk and external inspection / regulatory reports. The remit of the Committee specifically covers the following:
Corporate functions:
- Office of the Leader
- Cabinet Member annual reports
- Chief Executive
- Budget monitoring
- Corporate performance monitoring
- Corporate planning
- Audit Wales corporate reports
- Corporate safeguarding
- Welsh Language
- Risk Management
- Whistleblowing
- Transformation Programme management
- City Deal Programme management
Corporate services:
- Law and Governance
- Electoral Services
- Human Resources
- Customer Services
- Audit, Risk and Information
- Information Technology
- Corporate Communications, Press, PR and Marketing
- Financial Services (Including Revenues & Benefits and Procurement)
- Corporate Policy and Partnership
Membership and Attendance
Membership of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee as at March 2023 was as follows:
- Cllr Michael John, Chair (Independent)
- Cllr Mike Stoddart, Vice-Chair (Not affiliated to any group) from 23 March 2023
- Cllr Steve Alderman (Not affiliated to any group)
- Cllr Alan Dennison (Independent) had been Vice-Chair until 23 March 2023
- Cllr Andrew Edwards (Welsh Conservatives)
- Cllr Jonathan Grimes (Welsh Conservatives)
- Cllr Simon Hancock (Labour)
- Cllr Mike James (Independent)
- Cllr Bethan Price (Not affiliated to any group)
- Cllr Thomas Tudor (Labour)
- Cllr Jacob Williams (Not affiliated to any group)
- Cllr Michael Williams (Plaid Cymru)
Member attendance at Meetings of this Committee was 93.4%
Work of the Committee in 2022-23
The Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s work programme is largely driven by the corporate and financial planning timetable, the review of budget and performance outcomes, and the development of the Council’s strategic objectives and priorities as set out in the Corporate Plan. The Committee has a role in supporting the creation and delivery of the Authority’s well-being objectives which summarise the priorities for the organisation derived from the Programme for Administration and will provide the framework for the development of a new Corporate Strategy for 2023-28.
The Committee also has a key role in maintaining oversight of corporate safeguarding matters and Welsh Language Standards.
The Committee has oversight of a number of strategic partnerships which include the Swansea Bay City Deal and South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee and work of the Public Services Board (PSB) and Community Safety Partnership (CSP) through a standing Partnerships Panel comprising of the Chairs and Vice-Chairs of all five Overview and Scrutiny Committees.
In general, the Committee focuses on the corporate policies and financial management of the Authority and therefore the Committee’s work is heavily weighted towards reviewing past financial performance and scrutinising developing proposals around key strategic corporate planning arrangements. In doing so, the Committee provides assurance that the Council continues to deliver value for money for Pembrokeshire residents within budget, and that it meets its core statutory corporate responsibilities.
Throughout the year, the Committee scrutinised the following:
June 2022
- Performance Measurement Monthly Monitoring Report for April 2022
- Welsh Language Standards Annual Report 2021 – 22
- Notice of Motion Relating to St. David's Day Bank Holiday
October 2022
- Referral from Governance and Audit Committee - 'Financial Resilience' Strategic Business Risk
- County Council Budget - Outturn Monitoring Report 2021-22
- County Council Budget - Budget Monitoring Report - Period 4 (July) 2022-23
- Overview and Scrutiny Committee Annual Report 2021-22
- Annual Corporate Self-Assessment Report
November 2022
- Corporate Services - Law and Governance
- Organisational Learning Review - Follow Up
- Strategic Partnerships - Swansea Bay City Deal and South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee
January 2023
- Capital Projects Programme
- Budget Monitoring Report 2022-23
- Corporate Scorecard – Monthly Performance Data
- Draft Well-being Objectives 2023 – 2028
- Outline Draft County Council Budget for 2023-24 and Outline Draft Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) for 2023-24 to 2026-27 / Provisional Local Government Settlement for 2023-24
March 2023
- Cyber Security
- Pembrokeshire County Council Whole Authority Safeguarding Group Annual Report 2021-22
- Strategic Partnership - Partnerships Panel
What difference did the Committee make?
The Committee continued to scrutinise individual corporate service areas, and this year focused on Law and Governance. This enabled scrutiny Members to shine a lens on an area of the organisation which had been subject to significant upheaval, having lost an extraordinary amount of experience from the team and provided Members the opportunity to have oversight of how the service would operate going forward.
The Committee played an important role in scrutinising the work of the Public Services Board and its partners in respect of the exercise of joint functions conferred on them as Members of the Board. Following scrutiny of the PSB’s draft Well-being Plan, the Panel collated a collective response to the statutory consultation.
Following a referral from the Governance and Audit Committee in relation to Financial Resilience, the Committee considered the Strategic Business Risk and risk control measures and whilst it did share the concerns of the referring Committee, the Committee accepted that the strategic business risk would be reviewed and updated on an ongoing basis.
On considering a Notice of Motion in relation to making St. David's Day a Bank Holiday, the Committee recommended to Council that the Notice of Motion not be adopted but that the Authority put pressure on Welsh and National Governments to consider making St David’s Day a holiday in Wales.
Cyber security continues to be a significant risk for the Authority and the Committee continued to take a watching brief to ensure that risk control measures are in place and monitored to give assurance that IT systems are robust.
Future challenges
The financial pressures upon the Authority continue as they have done for several years and are becoming that much greater, therefore over the next 12 months the Committee will undertake specific scrutiny in relation to the risks linked to the Capital Programme and the realistic longevity of delivery of the programme and also the sustainability of the Medium Term Financial Plan.
Recruitment and retention across a wide range of service areas is still proving to be a significant challenge with a range of contributory factors being the cause, and whilst some of which go across the whole economy, comparative pay with other Authorities and organisations is a factor. The Committee needs to provide assurance that statutory corporate responsibilities are being met and that redundancies being made in line with budget pressures are not having a detrimental effect on operations.
It is vital that performance data continues to be regularly scrutinised to ensure that issues requiring intervention around performance of key areas are identified and dealt with in a timely manner.
Informal Committee sessions will continue to be held to discuss the Committee’s forward wok programme to ensure it is dynamic and captures any areas of concern promptly.
Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Role and remit
The Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee reviews services delivered by the Council to its customers. To determine its priorities the Committee assesses the quality and performance of Council services using a range of management information including Service Transformation Plans, performance measures, business risk and external inspection / regulatory reports.
Specifically, the remit and scope of the Committee covers the following Council services (and divisions within them):
- Infrastructure
- Environment and Civil Contingencies
- Housing
- Building Maintenance
- Planning
- Property
- Public Protection
- Economic Development and Regeneration
- Cultural Services
- Leisure Services
Membership and Attendance
The membership of the Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee as at March 2023 was as follows:
- Cllr Mark Carter, Chair (Welsh Conservatives)
- Cllr Chris Williams, Vice-Chair (Not affiliated to any group)
- Cllr Steve Alderman (Not affiliated to any group)
- Cllr Di Clements (Welsh Conservatives)
- Cllr Alan Dennison (Independent)
- Cllr Tim Evans (Not affiliated to any group)
- Cllr Brian Hall (Independent)
- Cllr Rhys Jordan (Welsh Conservatives)
- Cllr Shon Rees (Independent)
- Cllr Viv Stoddart (Not affiliated to any group)
- Cllr Thomas Tudor (Labour)
- Cllr Tony Wilcox (Labour)
- Cllr Mike Stoddart (Not affiliated to any group) – Reserve Member
Member attendance at Meetings of this Committee was 93.6%
Work of the Committee in 2022-23
Development of the Committee’s Forward Work Programme is guided by the Committee Members utilising performance data and a range of management information relating to how individual services and teams are delivering on their key objectives and priorities. This allows the Committee and Officers to prioritise reporting adding value to the work of the Council and Officers and providing feedback and support.
During the past year, the Committee has changed Membership due to the May 2022 elections which resulted in a change of eight Members of the Committee including a new Chair and Vice-Chair as well as the introduction of a Reserve Member.
The Services Committee has retained the strong focus on regular scrutiny of activity resulting from the flooding event which occurred at Lower Priory and Haven’s Head in November 2018
Through looking at the performance of services over several months, the Committee identified a range services or specific service areas for scrutiny and requested these be brought before the Committee, as follows:
June 2022
- Havens Head Flood Prevention update
September 2022
- Delivery of the Planning Service
- Enforcement update
- Leisure Function Report
- Overview and Scrutiny Committee Annual Report 2021-22
November 2022
- Visit Pembrokeshire
- Flood Prevention Work
- Incidents of vandalism on the Authority’s properties
- Public Protection Services - update
January 2023
- Emergency Response update
- Enviro-Crime Enforcement update
- Delivery of the Planning Service
- Outline Draft County Council Budget for 2023-24 and Outline Draft Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) for 2023-24 to 2026-27 / Provisional Local Government Settlement for 2023-24
- Review of Cabinet Decision on Public Transport Interchange - Stage 2 Construction of Haverfordwest Public Transport Interchange (Call-in of Cabinet decision)
March 2023
- Regeneration Programme
- Havens Head & Lower Priory Flood Alleviation Study – Update
- Performance update on PCC Bus company and school transport acquisition
- Pembrokeshire Nature Partnership
What difference did the Committee make?
In the last year, five Scrutiny meetings and a Call-In meeting were held.
The Committee has continued to regularly scrutinise the work of various departments including the Planning Section; noting the difficulties faced in recruitment and retention of staff and the new six-month training plan that had now been developed to improve retention. The Enforcement section; by conducting a survey regarding enviro-crime with all County Councillors allowing focussed reporting to the Committee to provide some strong ideas and feedback identifying areas of particular concern to Councillors and residents.
As part of its role of scrutinising external partners, the Committee continued its annual scrutiny of a number of external providers that receive support/funding from the Authority including the work of Visit Pembrokeshire in relation to promoting and managing tourism and the Pembrokeshire Nature Partnership, promoting the bio-diversity and management of our County.
The decision of Cabinet in relation to the Public Transport Interchange – Stage 2 Construction of Haverfordwest Public Transport Interchange was called-in by 11 Members of the Welsh Conservatives due to rising costs and unknown status of the funding bid to support the project. Having received presentations from the Cabinet Member and Officers on the issues raised, the Committee decided that the decision be returned to Cabinet for the necessary external funding to be guaranteed before further work continued. The Call-In was a serious matter but an excellent meeting that stripped the issue down to the bare bones and encouraged the Cabinet to listen to what the thoughts of the Committee were and slightly alter their approach to the matter.
The Committee also scrutinised the acquisition of a local bus company and school transport provision. The reports received were informative and confirmed the decision had been the correct one ensuring the provision of school transportation was not affected.
The Committee has also continued to keep a focus on Regeneration and has scheduled regular updates on developments across the regeneration and economic development functions to provide assurance to residents that value for money is being achieved and that any redevelopment is in the best interests of the County and its residents.
Through its work programming and oversight of service performance information the Committee will continue to provide assurance that there is appropriate Member oversight and challenge of service performance and delivery.
Future challenges
In the year ahead the Committee will continue to use relevant service performance information to determine its work programme, again with a particular focus on services that are seen to be underperforming.
One of the main challenges faced with the Committee is public engagement which has been actively encouraged through the Chair, Vice-Chair, Committee Members and a targeted approach via Social Media. The Forward Work Programme of the Committee is published on both the Council’s web page and on Social Media to increase engagement with residents.
Updates on the work of various projects and services from across the Authority are planned for the coming year from both internal and externally supported projects including Visit Pembrokeshire and the Pembrokeshire Nature Partnership to support the continuation of the excellent work undertaken by the Authority.
Regular updates on the Havens Head and Lower Priory Flood prevention work, incidents of vandalism on the Authority’s properties and Housing are scrutinised throughout the year.
The challenge to engage with residents and to keep meetings purposeful continues with our Forward Work Programme.
Policy and Pre-Decision Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Role and remit
The role of the Policy and Pre-decision Overview and Scrutiny Committee is to undertake pre-decision scrutiny of policies, plans and strategies in order to contribute to the quality and robustness of Cabinet decision-making. The remit and scope of the Committee includes:
- Cabinet’s forward work programme
- Proposals for services changes, transformation and / or efficiencies
- Integrated Impact Assessments
- Strategies and plans, as appropriate
- Annual budget proposals
Membership and Attendance
Membership of the Policy and Pre-decision Overview and Scrutiny Committee as at March 2023 was as follows:
- Cllr Joshua Beynon, Chair (Labour)
- Cllr Michael Williams, Vice-Chair (Plaid Cymru)
- Cllr Di Clements (Welsh Conservatives)
- Cllr Pat Davies (Not affiliated to any group)
- Cllr Simon Hancock (Labour)
- Cllr Mike James (Independent)
- Cllr Elwyn Morse (Independent)
- Cllr Bethan Price (Not affiliated to any group)
- Cllr Jordan Ryan (Labour)
- Cllr Aled Thomas (Welsh Conservatives)
- Cllr Michele Wiggins (Not affiliated to any group)
- Cllr Steve Yelland (Welsh Conservatives)
- Cllr Mike Stoddart (Not affiliated to any group) – Reserve Member
Member attendance at Meetings of this Committee was 81.7%.
Work of the Committee in 2022-2023
The Committee’s work programme has covered a broad range of important topics over the past year. It has included some one off Policy areas and topics; however, it has also included some topic areas, which the Committee are continuing to scrutinise and review. Such topic areas that the Committee has looked at this year which will be put on the forward work programme for 2023 -24 are the Local Toilet Strategy, Poverty Strategy and Rights of Way Improvement Plan.
Following the 2022 May Elections, the new Committee Membership resolved to continue the work of the Finance Panel, with the new Membership of the Panel as follows:
- Councillor Joshua Beynon (Chair)
- Councillor Simon Hancock
- Councillor Elwyn Morse
- Councillor Aled Thomas
- Councillor Michael Williams
This was to ensure ongoing non-Executive Member engagement and involvement in the development of the Council’s budget, thereby enabling the Committee to effectively deliver on its remit to scrutinise Council budget proposals.
When the Cabinet is faced with increasingly challenging decisions about how and where to allocate resources and what the future shape of Council services should look like, the Policy & Pre-decision Overview and Scrutiny Committee will continue to provide non-Executive Members with a vehicle through which they can have a voice and represent the views and concerns of residents in order to inform and shape the decision-making process.
Throughout the year, the Committee scrutinised the following:
June 2022
- Finance Panel
- Climate Change
- Child Poverty
October 2022
- Records Management Policy
- Rights of Way Improvement Plan for Pembrokeshire 2018-2028
- Finance Panel
- Overview and Scrutiny Committee Annual Report 2021-22
November 2022
- West Wales Care Partnership's (WWCP) Dementia Strategy
- Draft Public Participation Strategy 2022 – 2027
- Draft Procurement Strategy
- Update on Work Streams Feeding into the Development of a Transport Plan
- Housing Revenue Account - Rent Setting Policy Options for 2023-2024
January 2023
- Pay Policy Statement 2022 – 2023
- Pembrokeshire Council Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan 2022-2027
- Development of a Poverty Strategy
- Asset Management Strategy
- Outline Draft County Council Budget for 2023-24 and Outline Draft Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) for 2023-24 to 2026-27 / Provisional Local Government Settlement for 2023-24
March 2023
- Rights of Way Improvement Plan
- Finance Panel Update
- Toilet Strategy 2023
- Notice of Motion relating to Reinstatement of County Farms Working Group
What difference did the Committee make?
The Committee’s primary functions are to provide effective non-Executive Member engagement in the development of major proposals prior to Cabinet decision through focussed and appropriate constructive challenge, and in the development and review of Council policy and strategy. Through using its positive pressure and influence, the Committee contributes to a stronger and more robust decision-making and policy framework, which fully represents the needs and concerns of Pembrokeshire’s residents.
While much of the Committee’s work takes place in the formal public meeting setting some of its most effective work occurs as a result of establishing working groups which act on behalf of the full Committee. These working groups enable Members to properly explore and understand the rationale and drivers for potentially significant service or policy changes in the kind of detail that is not possible in a one-off Committee meeting. Through the process of utilising working groups the full Committee is able to make clear, evidence-based recommendations.
Since the Committee resolved to continue the work of the Finance Panel and established its new membership, it has met on three occasions, supported in its work by the Cabinet Member for Corporate Finance, the Director for Resources and other officers as appropriate. Meetings have focused on the Capital Programme, Regeneration Projects, and the impact of proposed budget saving options on Social Care. The Panel has been able to delve into the issues and provided valuable feedback to Officers and the Committee. Some key areas identified going forward are the Medium Term Financial Plan and School Budgets.
In July 2018 the Committee agreed to undertake a review of the County Farm Estate policy and established a working group to carry out that review. The task and finish group concluded their review and reported their recommendations and a draft County Farms Policy to the Policy and Pre-decision Overview and Scrutiny Committee in January 2020. These were supported and recommended to Cabinet. The Committee considered a Notice of Motion relating to the reinstatement of the County Farms Working Group in March 2023 and has resolved to form a working group to look again at this matter, which will form an important part of the forward work programme for 2023-24.
The Committee considered in detail two important Housing Policies, which were the Housing Revenue Account – Rent Setting Policy Options for 2023-24 and the Draft Rapid Rehousing Plan. In relation to the Draft Rapid Rehousing Plan, the Committee resolved to recommend to Cabinet that the Pembrokeshire County Council’s Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan be submitted to Welsh Government to alleviate the exceptional difficulties that Pembrokeshire residents were having with housing. The Committee also played an integral part in scrutinising the Rent Setting Policy Options and providing their recommendations and feedback to Cabinet.
The Committee also considered in detail the Asset Management Strategy. It set out a clear rationale in terms of alignment with corporate strategies and identified a number of objectives that would shape the Asset Management Action Plan and included a range of performance measures that were being considered for ongoing monitoring of property performance. Members supported adoption of the strategy and recommended that Cabinet consider the involvement on the Asset Management Group for ongoing involvement by Members. As part of the strategy it set out there would be an Annual Statement plan, which would be considered by the Committee on an Annual basis
There was constructive scrutiny of the WWCP Dementia Strategy, where the West Wales Care Partnership attended the Committee to set out the plans to deliver the Dementia Strategy, which would be overseen by the West Wales Care Partnership’s Dementia Steering Group. The Committee recommended to Cabinet that the Strategy be endorsed, which was also endorsed by Cabinet.
To ensure oversight of the development of a Poverty Strategy in Pembrokeshire, the Committee has considered this matter on two occasions over the last year and it is due to come back later in the year. The Committee has looked at the work of the Poverty Working Group, which is a sub group of the Public Services Board and is a ‘whole county’ approach. The Committee has scrutinised the steps the group has made towards the development of an initial strategy for poverty, with information about strategies developed in other areas, research both from a national and a local perspective contributing to discussion. The Committee will continue to look at this matter to try and drive this work forward and will have ongoing oversight by Members.
Future challenges
Given its pre-decision function, the Committee’s work programme needs to be fully aligned with that of Cabinet’s so that sufficient time is built into the decision-making process to allow the Committee to undertake its work in a timely, informed way.
Public engagement remains an area for improvement as this provides a means to ensure that the scrutiny process provides a more rounded view of what matters most to people.
The positive relationships which have formed between Executive and non-Executive Members through scrutiny is a positive sign of improving governance arrangements in the Council and a recognition that working together ensures better decisions and in turn that effective, efficient services are provided for the people of Pembrokeshire.
Social Care Overview and Scrutiny
Role and remit
The Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee is focused on the care, support and well-being needs of children and adults. Its purpose is to scrutinise the quality and performance of all Social Care related services delivered by the Council, through the development of a risk-based approach utilising relevant management information such as:
- service improvement plans
- financial information
- performance measures
- business risk
- self-assessment
- customer feedback / surveys
- external inspection / regulatory reports
The Committee’s remit and scope provides for a specific focus on the following services, functions and partnership arrangements:
- Adult Care
- Children’s Services
- Strategic Joint Commissioning
- Carers
- Integrated services and well-being
- Domiciliary care
- Work with third sector
- Compliance with the Social Services and Well-being Act
- West Wales Care Partnership
- Regional Safeguarding
- Regional Fostering
- Regional Adoption
Membership and Attendance
Membership of the Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee as at March 2023 was as follows:
- Cllr David Bryan, Chair (Welsh Conservatives)
- Cllr Steve Alderman, Vice-Chair (Not affiliated to any group)
- Cllr Maureen Bowen (Labour)
- Cllr Alistair Cameron (Welsh Liberal Democrats)
- Cllr Terry Davies (Not affiliated to any group)
- Cllr Nicola Gwynn (Labour)
- Cllr Delme Harries (Independent)
- Cllr Mike James (Independent)
- Cllr Mel Phillips (Not affiliated to any group)
- Cllr Vanessa Thomas (Not affiliated to any group)
- Cllr Simon Wright (Independent)
- Cllr Danny Young (Welsh Conservatives)
Member attendance at Meetings of this Committee was 90.3%
Work of the Committee in 2022-23
The Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s work programme is largely driven by the requirement to scrutinise a diverse range of services relating to the care, support and well-being needs of children and adults.
Following the elections in May 2022, there has been a change of Committee Membership with only two Members retained.
The Committee has maintained a strong focus on scrutinising the Director of Social Services’ Annual Report and Directorate performance reports to ensure services are being delivered to key areas. The Committee has been involved in the interview and recruitment of a new Head of Adult Services as well as Director of Social Services and Housing.
Throughout the year, the Committee scrutinised the following:
June 2022
- West Wales Care Partnership - The Health and Social Care Regional Integration Fund (RIF)
- Notice of Motion relating to Supporting the Fight to Retain Services Essential to the Health and Wellbeing of Residents
- Looked After Children Reduction Strategy and Action Plan Update
- Safeguarding
September 2022
- Notion of Motion relating to Supporting the Fight to Retain Services Essential to the Health and Wellbeing of Residents
- Care Inspectorate Wales - Pembrokeshire County Council Report of Performance Evaluation Inspection
- Social Services Risk - Social Care Demand
- Social Care Service User Debt
- Social Services 2021/22 Performance Report Quarter 4
- Overview and Scrutiny Committee Annual Report 2021-22
November 2022
- Paid and Unpaid Carers
- Director’s Report 2020/21
- Safeguarding
January 2023
- Social Services 2022-23 Performance Report Quarter 2
- Quality Assurance Framework Working Group
- Outline Draft County Council Budget for 2023-24 and Outline Draft Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) for 2023-24 to 2026-27 / Provisional Local Government Settlement for 2023-24
March 2023
- Impact of Cost of Living crisis on unpaid and paid care
- West Wales Adult Advocacy Strategy 2023-2027
- Strategy for Keeping Families Together (previously known as LAC Reduction Strategy) and Action Plan
- Safeguarding
What difference did the Committee make?
On an annual basis, the Committee scrutinises the Director of Social Services’ Annual Report and considered the report for 2020-21. Members spent a considerable amount of time scrutinising the Directorate’s key strategic plans and current areas of priority work, and how the Directorate would be responding to maintain service delivery with the ongoing financial challenges of meeting demand which had been exacerbated by the pandemic. The Committee looked at debt recovery, recruitment and retention, direct payments, delayed transfers of care and day opportunities. Members were given assurance that the Care Inspectorate Wales had provided a positive review in regards to maintaining service provision during the pandemic.
Furthermore, the Committee scrutinised quarterly performance reports on Social Services and Safeguarding arrangements seeking assurances that services were being maintained post-pandemic. The Committee undertook to write to Welsh Government regarding concerns of safeguarding arrangements for Elected Home Educated (EHE) children.
The Strategy for Keeping Families Together and Action Plan (formerly known as the Looked After Children Strategy) has been continually scrutinised by the Committee and Members requested that six-monthly updates be provided to enable the Committee to continue to monitor performance.
The Committee reviewed reports on the Workforce Action Plan, the four Social Care Medium Term service plans detailing an assessment of where the service was currently and the current challenges together with areas for improvement; plus the multi-agency Community Hub which had provided a vital service during the pandemic.
The Committee had been keen to receive updates from the Micro-Enterprises and social enterprises across the County that had developed during the Pandemic delivering social care projects working with the Third Sector.
Future challenges
The delivery of core, statutory social care services will present an increasing challenge in view of increasing demand, a growing ageing population, recruitment and retention of staff and the financial constraints under which the Council is operating.
The Committee will continue to scrutinise various projects including the Shared Lives Initiative, West Wales Regional Partnership Board as well as updates from the Citizens Advice Bureau and collaborations with the Hywel Dda Community Health Council (now known as Llais) and Health Board.
Looking ahead towards 2023-2024
The Council has put a significant amount of targeted effort into improving the scrutiny function over several years. Despite the real improvements and good progress we have seen in many areas there still remains work to do to continue to strengthen and embed the role of scrutiny in the Council in order to meet current and future challenges and to reach our aspiration to be seen as among the best performing in Wales.
A new Council was elected in May 2022 and 25 new Members were elected to the Council. The Democratic and Scrutiny Support Team has been working with the new Committees to facilitate training and support for the new cohort of Members. Development sessions were arranged for new and existing scrutiny Members as part of the Council’s Induction Programme post May 2022. This included training on the role of scrutiny, scrutiny questioning and chairing skills. Further training will be provided as identified by Members as a Committee or through completion of the Learning Needs Analysis. This will be supplemented by seminars and workshops on key topics to support the scrutiny function.
Clearly the biggest challenge facing the Council over the next 12 months (and potentially beyond) is how the Council deals with its budget and financial challenges with higher rates of inflation than previously forecast resulting in cost pressures in capital and revenue budgets. A reduction in real terms budget for 2023-24 (currently forecasting an overspend) with significant real terms budget reductions required over Medium Term Financial Plan will be a real challenge.
Scrutiny will continue to concentrate on topics where Members’ input will result in positive outcomes to drive forward service improvement.
Members' Survey
Members were asked to complete two surveys in the period of this report.
Firstly, Members were asked for their views on the timing, length and frequency of meetings of Council and its Committees.
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.
The results are published here. Council decided to maintain the status quo. The Democratic Services Committee supported surveying Members again once Members had a fuller understanding of the impact of meeting times.
More recently, all Members of Council, including Executive Members, were invited to complete an electronic survey on the Overview and Scrutiny Committees arrangements covering a range of factors relating to function and practice.
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 scrutiny’s effectiveness, and a recognition of the key role Members themselves have to play in the process.
You can find the results of this recent survey from the report which went to Council in July 2023.
Democratic and Scrutiny Support Team
Susan Sanders: Manager
Lydia Evans: Officer
Jackie Thomas: Officer
Elieze Hinchliffe: Officer
Kate Matthews: Assistant