Welsh Cabinet Committees in 2004
Welsh Cabinet Committees in 2004
Sustainable development, structural funds, public service reform, NHS, children's policies, older people.
The Welsh Government held meetings in 2004 of seven Cabinet Sub-Committees:
Children and Young People
Sustainable Development and Spatial Plan
Local Government and Public Services
Older People
Structural Funds (only one meeting)
Wanless (Badged as a Task and Finish Group)
Subordinate Legislation
This post will deal with the first six. The seventh is for the legal nerds, sorry, experts. And I can’t find links to its papers anyway! As I explained two weeks ago, I am working through the Welsh Government Cabinet Minutes Papers and Cabinet Sub-Committee Minutes and Papers as background research for my next book, which will be on the making of the Welsh Government, and will underpin the chronology for the book. The links to these Minutes are not easily accessible to researchers. Fortunately, years ago I was in touch with the National Archives about this, and although not perfect, I have links which largely do work. I am using these links to make this material available for researchers, principally historians and those interested in policy development over time. I am working through these links and papers one year each week on the whole, with a week on the Cabinet Meetings and Papers, and then a week on the Committee Meetings and Papers.
Reading through these 2004 Cabinet Sub-Committee Reports, it raises some questions for me about the collective memory of governments. I am not certain that the departmental memory which existed when I took over as Education Minister in December 2009 fully embraced these discussions in the Children and Young People committee, for example.. I have written about the challenges of corporate memory in government in my book on my time as Education Minister and my recent book on Ministerial Leadership. But again, it is possible to see developments here which will echo down the years in Welsh Government policies in children and young people, sustainable development, public service delivery, and the health service.
Apologies in advance for what is a VERY long post!
Children and Young People
The committee held its first meeting on 19 January.
There was a paper on Nutrition and Exercise. The Minister for Health and Social Services introduced the paper, which contained a detailed analysis of current action and proposals for future work to provide a co-ordinated approach to food and fitness for children and young people. Ministers agreed that there was a need to tackle this important area especially considering the alarming evidence regarding the eating and exercise habits of children and young people. Ministers agreed to tri-lateral meetings between Minister for Health and Social Services, Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning and Minister for Culture, Welsh Language and Sport, in addition to the proposed Task Group which the Minister for Health and Social Services would chair.
The Cabinet Sub-Committee agreed to establish a Food and Fitness for Children Task Group.
The Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning said there should be a focus on making school meals more nutritious and accessible. Ministers discussed the work that was under way reviewing a number of pilot schemes taking place in England and Wales on healthy school meal schemes. Ministers questioned the ethics of the presence of vending machines in schools that only offered sugary food and drinks for sale to children. Ministers commented on the effect that the products from these vending machines were having on child obesity, although such machines could also generate extra revenue for the schools.
The Cabinet Sub-Committee requested advice on the powers of the Assembly in relation to Local Education Authorities (LEAs) and control of vending machines on school premises. Ministers made the suggestion that additional vending machines offering a choice of healthy options could be available alongside traditional machines. Evidence from pilot schemes had suggested these have been popular. The Cabinet Sub-Committee suggested that consideration should be given to encouraging local authorities to tackle the issue in partnership with schools as part of a pilot scheme for healthy eating.
The Minister for Social Justice and Regeneration commented on increased dependence on pre-packed ready-meals by families, which resulted in a lack of cooking skills. There was, therefore, a need to consider including practical food and nutrition skills within the existing syllabus. The First Minister commented that there was a need to educate children and young people on a healthy balanced diet and to encourage them to adopt one. It might be possible to use role models such as leading Welsh professional sports personalities to achieve this
Ministers were concerned about the proliferation of a number of similar policies each with limited resources. They agreed that there was a need to ensure a more strategic, co-ordinated approach to the issue which reflected available resources. They agreed that it was important to seek input from children and young people from an early stage in developing proposals. Cabinet should consider the issue because of its cross-cutting implications.
The committee next discussed responsibilities for making school transport safer. A paper outlined progress made and set out how the Assembly aimed to lead and support the delivery of transport infrastructure and services with the objective of providing safe and healthy sustainable travel, and accessible and affordable public transport.
The Minister for Social Justice and Regeneration suggested that there was a need to address issue of disruptive behaviour on transport to and from schools. The Minister asked whether there was any legal avenue for making parents take responsibility for their children's behaviour and asked what mechanisms were available for removing individuals who persistently presented a problem. They noted Funky Dragon's concerns including the issue of attitudes of some adults.
Ministers also discussed the issue of contracts between bus companies and schools for provision of transport to and from school. The tendering process often resulted in companies supplying the lowest quote winning contracts. This often led to the use of older buses, which could be both less reliable and generate higher fume emissions. Ministers questioned the suitability of such vehicles for transporting schoolchildren.
Ministers also discussed the issue of safety around schools, especially in rural areas where speeding on main routes was a particular problem. Ministers were concerned that the guidelines for the introduction of speed cameras required evidence of a speed problem or a fatal accident before cameras could be introduced.
A paper on tackling child poverty followed a request by the Minister for Health and Social Services, in the light of the Department for Work and Pensions' public consultation on the subject. The Assembly Government's external child poverty task group had also considered the issue of appropriate indicators in tackling child poverty and established a sub-group to review existing information about causes and significant determinants of child poverty in Wales. Ministers agreed that there was a need to not only look at the statistics but also to involve the individuals affected by poverty.
The committee next met on 23 February. There was a detailed discussion on support for parents and carers of children. Children in Wales gave a presentation to the Cabinet Sub-Committee on the issues surrounding the strategic development of support for mothers, fathers and carers in Wales. It highlighted that the way the child was nurtured at home was crucial in their development both educationally and emotionally.
Policy development on a UK wide level had brought about a new era in the relationship between government and families. The Family Policy Unit, situated in the Department for Education and Skills, was established in 1997 by the Home Office and led to a subsequent increased profile and level of expenditure committed to supporting parents in England. There had been a notable absence of policy formation on the issues in Wales and the presentation attempted to highlight areas for development.
Fforwm Magu Plant had developed the following values to act as guidelines in the policy development:
Bringing up children was the responsibility of both the family and the wider community.
All children had the right to positive and supportive relationships with parents, carers and other adults.
Families were an integral part of society.
Enabling mothers, fathers, carers and children to have their views heard and respected.
To adhere to the rights of the child as laid out in the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the child.
To recognise and respect the diversity of families and the different ways or organising care for children.
Research had highlighted that parents were unsure of where to go when looking for support. It had also recognised that there would be a need to brand this as a new service and thus remove any stigma or stereotypes previously attached to family services.Children in Wales made several recommendations through Fforwm Magu Plant. Ministers discussed the role that society could play in contributing not only to the development of children but in tackling fundamental issues such as nuisance behaviour, truancy, and positive male role models. Ministers agreed that these were important areas which should be included in the work of Children in Wales.
Ministers discussed the increase there had been in childhood obesity and the role that parents and carers would play in tackling the issue. Ministers agreed that it was necessary to provide the means that would enable parents and carers to encourage both healthy diets and regular exercise in children. Ministers suggested the link with the Welsh Assembly Government policy on safe routes to school.
Ministers summarised that any messages on parenting sent out by the Welsh Assembly Government should not portray a negative message to parents. The aim was to try and encourage individuals to seek help where it was needed rather than discouraging the individuals through a nanny state approach.
The Minister for Health and Social Services introduced a discussion of progress on the implementation group on childcare in Wales. The group had been titled the 'Childcare Working group' and its membership and terms of reference had been included as annexes to the paper. Ministers discussed the terms of reference of the group and that it should have been widened to include references to the early years agenda and school premises.
There was a paper on the progress that had been made in progressing the implementation of 14-19 Learning Pathways.
There was a discussion on the Funky Dragon website.
Cabinet Sub-Committee noted a paper on the legislative changes proposed under the UK Children Bill.
The next meeting of the Committee took place on 29 March. There was a presentation on Out of School Learning. There were papers on Extending Entitlement: supporting 11-25 year olds in Wales. The papers provided an update on the assessment of the draft Children and Young People's Frameworks and Children's Plans submitted by local authorities.
There was a discussion on Assembly powers on speed cameras. The Minister for Health and Social Services introduced the paper as an update following its discussion at a previous meeting. The Minister for Culture, Welsh Language and Sport raised concerns over the approach to tackling road safety issues on roads, which often differed between local authorities. In the rail and air transport sectors there was an engineering led approach to examining and tackling safety issues, for example reporting of "near misses". However, that was not the case in road transport. Ministers raised their concerns over the difficulty of getting road safety cameras installed into locations for public safety e.g. school sites, because they did not meet the criteria set by the Department of Transport. In particular, concerns were raised that part of the criteria for their introduction was the need for evidence of fatal or near-fatal accidents at the proposed location. A more practical approach would help to ensure fatalities did not occur.
The next meeting was on 10 May. There was an update on Making School Transport Safer. Ministers asked for clarification on the issue of pupils' behaviour on school transport provided by the Local Education Authority and the mechanisms to control and eliminate disruptive behaviour. Officials confirmed that pupils' behaviour on transport provided by the Local Education Authority to and from school premises is subject to the school's behaviour policy. Disciplinary measures could be taken provided this had been stated in the behaviour policy of the school. Ministers agreed that Local Education Authorities, where they provided transport to and from school, could be encouraged to ensure that the behaviour policies of schools included this.
The Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning raised the issue of the drivers of school buses smoking in the presence of the pupils' and the negative effect this had on pupils' behaviour and health. This had been raised at a previous meeting with Funky Dragon. Officials advised that this could only be tackled by the Local Education Authority who negotiate the contracts with the bus companies. Officials noted that the issue was going to be raised at their next meeting with representatives from the Confederation of Passenger Transport. Officials suggested the possibility of exploring COSHH regulations to prevent drivers smoking on buses and in the presence of children and would report back on this at a future meeting.
The Minister for Health and Social Services introduced the report of the Child Poverty Task Group which was scheduled for debate in plenary on 9th June 2004. The report would also be considered by Cabinet on 24th May. The Child Poverty Task Group had been established in April 2003 with the remit to produce a report setting out long-term strategic direction and recommendations on which the Assembly Government could develop firm proposals. The Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning drew attention to Assembly schemes such as the Assembly Learning Grant which was targeting low income leavers. It was recognised that the report would not have necessarily contained a comprehensive list of all Assembly schemes.
The Minister for Health and Social Services introduced the scoping paper on Transitions which was one of the Cabinet Sub-Committee's themes as part of its approach to delivering the priority policies that would shape its work programme. The paper set out the definition of the concept of transition, proposed the methodology for taking it forward, and identified potential priority areas. Ministers agreed to concentrate on:
(i) The transition of Leaving care which often leads to homelessness
(ii) The transition from Primary to Secondary.
The Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning introduced a paper about the Funky Dragon Grand Council and its Annual General Meeting scheduled for the 2nd July in the Assembly Building in Cardiff Bay.
The meeting on 7 May had an update on School Breakfasts. The Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning introduced the paper on progress towards introducing breakfasts in primary schools in Community First Areas from September 2004. The initiative aimed to provide all pupils of primary school age registered in maintained primary schools in Wales with the opportunity to have a free, healthy breakfast at school each day. The initiative was to be introduced on a pilot basis starting in Communities First areas in nine identified Local Education Authorities. The indications were that up to 11,000 children in Communities First Areas would have the opportunity to have a free healthy breakfast from September 2004. The initiative was scheduled to be expanded from September 2005, with a further group of pilot schools from Community First Areas in all the remaining LEAs included from that date. The initiative was available to all primary schools wishing to participate by January 2007. Assembly officials had worked to ensure the breakfasts offered provided a healthy nutritional balance. The pilot offered four items or groups of food which were: drinks or milk products; cereals - not sugar coated; fruit and breads.
The Deputy Minister for Transport introduced the paper on the Childcare Working Group and the interim report due for debate in plenary on 7 July. The Childcare Working Group had been established in January 2004, and monthly meetings had been held and a number of issues discussed. Ministers suggested the consultation period for the report be extended to 12 weeks to take into consideration notable absences and annual leave over the summer months.
The Minister for Health and Social Services introduced a paper which outlined the issues for young people in making the transition between being cared for by the local authority and independent living particularly with regard to accommodation issues
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The Minister for Health and Social Services introduced a paper on the Food and Fitness Task Group for Children and Young People on 6 May 2004. The Minister informed the group that she would be chairing the group with Professor Stephen Tomlinson, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wales College of Medicine. The group was in the process of prioritising the issues to be taken forward. This would then form the basis of the issues to be tackled initially by the group. Ministers suggested that the Women's Institute should be consulted as they possessed a range of skills and experience in the area of cooking and healthy eating, which could be passed on to the younger generation. They also suggested the wider use of voluntary groups in this field. Ministers suggested the possibility be explored of encouraging a behavioural change in children and young people towards healthy eating through the use of rewards and incentives. Pilot schemes in England used vouchers and smart cards to reward participation in healthy eating schemes.
The Committee next met on 27 July. There was an update on School Transport. The Minister for Economic Development introduced the paper. Ministers welcomed the inclusion of a reference to non-smoking on school buses in revised guidance on school transport due to be issued in 2005. Ministers noted the latest position on Safe Routes to Schools. There was a need to link the work on this with initiatives aimed at encouraging cycling and walking to school including the provision of escorts. Ministers noted that schools in deprived areas appeared to be less successful in attracting funding from the Safe Routes to Schools Grant. In order to address this, Ministers felt that the guidance for local authorities for the next round of bids should include references to social inclusion and shifts in the mode of transport in the criteria for support. Ministers also noted the review of school transport undertaken by the Children’s Commissioner for Wales. The report was likely to include references to the Stuart’s Campaign’s aims of seeking improvements to school transport arrangements and wider concerns regarding school transport in his second annual report. Whilst the issue of the compulsory use of seatbelts was not devolved, Ministers agreed there was a need to consider best practice. Officials advised that the Assembly Government could issue guidance including guidance on contracts let by local authorities for school transport. Ministers noted the position on the draft School Transport Bill which enabled the establishment of local pilots to encourage innovation in the provision of school transport. It was important to encourage local authorities in Wales to bid to carry out pilots under the bill.
The Minister for Health and Social Services introduced a paper on specialist placements for children and young people. Ministers noted the growth in the number of Looked After Children and the costs in funding the placements. Concerns were raised about the number of placements commissioned from outside Wales. There was a need to encourage collaboration between local authorities including consideration of joint commissioning of placements on a cross-boundary basis either on an all Wales or regional level.
The Minister for Health and Social Services drew attention to the paper on the benefits of early years interventions circulated for information.
The Committee next met on 4 October. Eddie Isles and Kevin Haines of Interactive Feedback, provided Ministers with a summary of the key findings of their pilot study on the evaluation of Extending Entitlement. In discussion, Ministers welcomed the report and suggested that future evaluation should also focus on the harder-to- help and those aged 17-25.
The Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning introduced a paper on involving young people in internal Assembly processes, and advised fellow Ministers that explanatory annexes associated with the paper would be circulated in correspondence. Ministers welcomed the paper and agreed that it was important to embed the principles of participation in policy making as well as the processes set out in para 14. The Minister for Economic Development and Transport offered to pilot consultation with young people in respect of Transport policy development.
The Minister for Health and Social Services introduced a paper on tackling child poverty and the need to draw on the mainstream services of both the Assembly Government and the UK Government. Questions were raised about the possible effect of the planned reductions in headcount at the Department of Work and Pensions and Jobcentre Plus, on this agenda, and on the measures designed to raise economic activity levels. In relation to spatial targeting of child poverty, Ministers acknowledged that child poverty was not confined to Community First areas and that there was no contradiction in considering targeted and universal approaches. Ministers also recognised the need for action to be co-ordinated across Ministerial portfolios, particularly where specific problems such as homelessness and mental health required a joined-up approach. Ministers requested a further paper to the sub committee in due course. Officials suggested a further paper should come forward following appraisal against the Policy Gateway. This would also consider the issue of further involvement of young people, possibly via Funky Dragon.
Ministers were advised of the progress of the passage of the UK Government’s Children Bill which had its second reading in the Commons on 13 September.
The Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning suggested that the sub committee should take a paper in due course setting out the measures schools have in place to tackle bullying.
The Minister for Health and Social Services advised that the National Service Framework for Children would be launched in Caerphilly on 15th October.
The next meeting was on 1 November. The Minister for Health and Social Services introduced the item on Play Policy, welcomed Margaret Jervis and Mike Greenaway; and asked them to give their presentation. The Play Policy Implementation Group was set up following the publication of the Assembly Government’s Play Policy in October 2002, which described in broad terms the importance of play for children's well being. The group had reported in March 2004 and had made recommendations on the Play Policy. Within its report the implementation group had recognised the financial constraints and had made its recommendations taking into consideration current policies. The Cabinet Sub-Committee endorsed the report and agreed for its debate in plenary on 10 November, and the subsequent consultation and development of an action plan.
The Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning introduced the paper which provided advice on the action undertaken by schools, local education authorities (LEAs) and partners to improve transition arrangements for young people from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3. The performance of primary school children in Wales had been amongst the best in the UK. However, following the transition to secondary school levels of performance had not been sustained. Ministers agreed the need to capitalise on the positive performance of pupils at key stage 2 and carry that momentum in the transition to key stage 3. They suggested that more could be done at the school level such as:
Encouraging support from School Governors.
Providing emotional support to pupils in the transition and ensuring that this support is provided by appropriately qualified to achieve engagement.
Highlighting differences in approach between LEAs and establishing a consistent approach across all 22.
Engaging with School councils, older pupils, and youth clubs which could provide encouragement and support to younger pupils making the transition.
The paper took stock of the progress made, set out the next steps to be taken, and highlighted the advice provided by Estyn, ensuring: that all Local Education Authorities had effective plans to support schools in improving arrangements for transition; the need for workable arrangements to ensure that information on pupils transfers with them; that schemes of work build on what has been taught previously leading to continuity in teaching and learning methods. Ministers agreed the recommendations in the paper and noted the plan to publish in November a consultation paper on Transition Planning.
The Minister for Health and Social Services outlined the issues for young people in making the transition between being looked after by a local authority and independent living. Ministers acknowledged that progress was being made but recognised that there was still the need for development in some areas. Ministers were particularly interested in a further paper dealing with homelessness and housing issues for care leavers and that such a paper should also cover issues such as sexual health, education and training. Ministers recognised the importance of the support provided to 16-19 year olds by families and that some care leavers could be at a disadvantage. They recognised the difficulty of replicating this for care leavers and suggested the issue of support arrangements for care leavers be considered in preparing the paper.
The Minister for Health and Social Services introduced a paper which provided a brief overview of the use of rewards and incentives to encourage healthy eating.
Ministers acknowledged the short-term evidence on the use of incentives to reward healthy eating but noted that the evidence was limited on the long-term effects.
They were encouraged by the number of schools offering rewards to encourage healthy eating but there was a need to further develop participation in such schemes. Ministers suggested a link into the 'Food dudes' schemes and also a link into the curriculum. Ministers suggested examples of best practice such as those in use in Pembrokeshire should be used as exemplars for other local authorities.
The Minister for Health and Social Services introduced a paper which summarised the discussions and the further work being undertaken from the second meeting of the Food and Fitness Task Group for Children and Young People. Ministers acknowledged Wales' position as a world leader in taking forward issues of food and fitness and that other countries were looking closely at the outcomes of the Group's work. Ministers were keen for the link between healthy food options and sporting activities to be strengthened. They felt leisure centres were in a position to promote these links and the knowledge of the negative effects of unhealthy food choices on the benefit of exercise.
The final meeting of the Committee in 2004 was on 6 December. The Minister for Health and Social Services introduced a first draft of the Parenting Action Plan. It had been drafted in consultation with officials across Welsh Assembly Government divisions and the working group made up of organisations involved with parenting initiatives in Wales. Ministers were keen to maintain and capitalise on the progress made in developing a parenting strategy. However, they were concerned that not enough had been done to promote the Children's Information Services and felt that the communications strategy of the Parenting Action Plan provided a further opportunity to do this. This could work towards engaging with parents and also link into the work of Fforwm Magu Plant. Ministers felt there was a need to include references to parenting and education. They suggested the inclusion of references to schemes such as the Parents and Children Together (PACT) initiative in Blaenau Gwent. This was a primary school initiative to find opportunities within the school setting to recognise and acknowledge a child's performances in their parents' presence. It worked on the basis of rewards rather than sanctions and positive responses had been received on the scheme.
The Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning introduced a paper which outlined the action that was being undertaken to tackle bullying in schools in Wales. The Minister outlined progress made by schools in developing policies to tackle bullying following the issue of the Welsh Assembly Government guidance in 2003. The Minister had written to all schools in Wales in November asking them to submit copies of their anti-bullying policy for the Education and Training Department to assess how well the policies fit in with the guidance. The paper highlighted some examples of good practice and Ministers suggested these be used as pilot studies with wider dissemination
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The Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning introduced a paper which outlined ways in which children and young peoples participation could be embedded further into Assembly Government activity. Ministers agreed the need for children and young people's participation in Wales to be expanded across all portfolios. In encouraging participation Ministers discussed the need for Assembly Government documents covering issues affecting children and young people to be drafted in a way that young people could understand. They agreed the need for young person's versions of documents to be prepared where identified and cited the young person's version of the National Service Framework as a good example. Ministers also agreed the need for work being developed on participation to be sustainable for the future and embedded into the long-term work of the Welsh Assembly Government.
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The Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning introduced a paper which reviewed the Funky Dragon discussion boards. Ministers were interested in the activity levels and use of the Funky Dragon discussion boards. There had been some access problems for pupils from school computers due to firewalls and protection mechanisms. However, there had been no problems with pupils accessing the site from home computers. User numbers and activity on the discussion boards was high and there was evidence that Funky Dragon was increasingly being recognised as a mechanism for providing a voice for a broad range of young people across Wales.
Sustainable Development and Spatial Plan.
The first meeting of the year on 12 January begain with a presentation from the WDA on the progress and initial findings of the Future Technologies Programme. The key objective of the programme was to develop an innovative strategy that would help create in Wales a sustainable competence in key technologies through:
Developing and testing a strategic approach which would allow Wales to identify technologies which could create sustainable economic growth in the medium to long term;
Applying the findings to the structural funds and other strategic programmes in Wales; and
Networking with other European regions to learn from and disseminate best practice.
Technological convergence was proving a challenge for schools and universities, and there was a need for individuals to become multi-skilled. Ministers recognised that there was a need for Wales to recognise and adapt to these new technologies at a faster rate. Ministers also recognised the need for the training facilities to ensure that the future workforce could acquire those skills which were in demand.
Officials introduced a paper which set out the background information on the Interreg IIIB Atlantic Area (AA) programme and the Welsh Assembly Government's direct involvement in a project under this programme. The Interreg III programmes were aimed at developing co-operation between countries and regions in Europe. This strand of the programme covered the western parts of Spain, France, the United Kingdom (including all of Wales) as well as the whole of Ireland and Portugal.
When the spatial plan was launched in North Wales the view had been that it had not looked at Wales's place in Europe enough and given insufficient emphasis to macro-economic analysis.
Officials provided an update on the Wales Spatial Plan. There had been a number of formal and sectoral events throughout Wales and positive responses had been received from the public at these. Ministers discussed cross-border issues in Mid and North Wales with particular reference to training and education. The Training and Education Department had carried out initial work and it was suggested that the Wales Spatial Plan Unit liase with them.
Officials updated the Cabinet Sub-Committee of WWF Cymru's recommendations on the Assembly's Sustainable Development scheme. This assessment was carried out at roughly the same time as the Assembly's own review carried out by CAG consultants and as a result the two reports had a high degree of overlap in terms of their conclusions and recommendations. The WWF report found:
The policy integration tool had failed to make an impact at senior levels and needed a more robust methodology;
More needed to be done to mainstream sustainable development across all Welsh Assembly Government functions and the portfolios of all staff; and
The Welsh Assembly Government needed to make rapid progress on procurement.
The impression had been given that sustainable development was being viewed as something which was merely the latest passing trend. These businesses had been looking at it as a further obstacle and it was necessary to demonstrate the advantages of adopting sustainable development into the core of their working.
The meeting on 9 February had a presentation on Spatial Planning. The Minister for Finance, Local Government and Public Services introduced Vincent Nadin of the University of West of England, whose interests was in Town and Country and Spatial Planning. He had been involved in the North Wales seminar on the Wales Spatial Plan.
He gave an overview on the value of a spatial approach, National plans, which included information on Trans-national strategies and drivers for national spatial planning. He concluded that the benefits of spatial planning included providing strategic spatial analysis and the positioning the country, region or authority. Ministers discussed a number issues relating to spatial planning, such as an ageing population, shrinking school numbers and other demographic issues. Ministers were pleased that the private sector were very enthusiastic about the Wales Spatial Plan.
Officials introduced a paper which identified the potential for supporting indigenous business through public sector procurement, identifying the barriers to releasing the potential and recommendations for improvement. It had been estimated that 35% of the Welsh public sector’s procurement expenditure was won by indigenous business, which supported approximately 70,000 jobs. Although figures needed to be regarded as best estimates, every additional 1% of procurement expenditure won by indigenous business could result in 2,000 jobs additional in Wales. However, there was a lack of a developed procurement infrastructure across Wales, which included a dearth of procurement professionals. There was also a lack of a strategic and co-ordinated approach between the Welsh public sector and its supply chains. Furthermore, the ability to justify a preference policy from a particular location or region was limited by European Union public procurement regulations. To counter these barriers it was recommended that the Welsh Procurement Initiative’s existing Procurement Fitness Check and Expend Information programme’s should be accelerated. In addition, a Sustainable Procurement Business Task Force could be created which will bring together the Welsh public procurement side and the supply side. Officials indicated that the proposed recommendations would benefit from Ministerial support and it was suggested that a Minister could be the chair of the Sustainable Procurement Business Task Force. It was noted that the Welsh Local Government Association was enthusiastically supportive of the Welsh Procurement Initiative but Ministers agreed that more could be done to encourage Assembly Sponsored Public Bodies to adopt best practice in procurement. The Sub Committee requested that the remit letters to the Welsh Development Agency and Wales Tourist Board should include recommendations on procurement.
Officials updated the Sub-Committee on the progress with the consultation on the sustainable development scheme, the development of a sustainable development action plan and on preparations for the Network of Regional Government for Sustainable Development Conference commencing on 22 March. The summary of the responses on proposed changes to the Assembly’s sustainable development scheme had been mostly supportive. The Assembly Government had agreed that an action plan was the best method to implement the National Assembly’s sustainable development scheme. A series of informal consultation workshops had been hosted through January on key issues for a future action plan. A consultation document was being worked up with a view to launch it at the March conference. Attached to the paper was a draft that officials had been working on to inform the Sub-Committee of progress so far. Officials advised the sub-committee that planning of the conference was going very well, however, they were lacking a major international speaker.
At the meeting on 26 April , the Minister for Finance, Local Government and Public Services reported back on her recent visits to Brussels and Limburg and The Hague in the Netherlands. The visit to DG Regio in Brussels had been very useful. The Minister had met officials dealing with Spatial Planning and it was noted that European Union (EU) recommendations on Spatial Planning are likely to be strengthened in regard to structural funds. Limburg, one of the partner regions of the Sustainable European Regions Network, had been pressing its federal government to make spatial planning a key theme of the Netherlands presidency of the EU. It was believed that, with the progress Wales had made with the Spatial Plan, the First Minister could have a major role in driving the agenda in Europe.
The Minister for Finance, Local Government and Public Services had met with Colette Fitzgerald, Deputy Head, European Regional Development Fund Regional Programmes of Innovative Actions for the European Commission, while in Brussels, and the Commission was content with the progress of the Sustainable European Regions Network. Officials updated the Cabinet Sub-Committee of the progress of the Network. The work programme consisted of Baseline Mapping, Inter–regional networking, Development of policy and Management and Liaison. All regions had produced their baseline maps and more had been done on networking than expected, and more discussions had been planned. Studies had been commissioned and a final report on Development of Policy was being firmed up. All of the partner regions had completed the core policy studies of Governance, Regional Spatial Planning and Tools and Indicators and there were similarities in the findings of the specific case studies. Communications had improved and the Sustainable Regions web-site had been re-launched. Ministers agreed that Assembly Members should be made aware of this.
There had been recognition within DG Regio of the Welsh leadership and the Commission was keen to see products at the end of the first phase. Future events including the possibility of a major event in Brussels at the end of the summer were noted. Ministers discussed the number of different European Regional Government networks the Assembly Government was involved in, and raised concerns that Ministers who attend these network meetings are not aware of other networks that might involve the same regions. To allow a better co-ordinated Ministerial approach to these networks the Cabinet Sub-Committee requested a paper for the next Cabinet meeting mapping the different inter- European regional government networks the Assembly Government is involved in.
The Minister for Environment, Planning and Countryside introduced a paper which indicated the work underway to turn the Sustainable Development Scheme into action. Ministers agreed that consideration of resources was important in light of the spending review and discussed how their portfolios could contribute to the action plan. Ministers considered what powers the Assembly Government had to direct organisations to act in a sustainable way and agreed that this needed clarification. Although initial costs may appear to be more, National Health Service Estates had reported that they were predicting early payback on their energy project. It was suggested that the best way to ensure sustainable building practices was through the amendment of building regulations but this currently required primary legislation.
The Minister for Environment and Planning and Countryside reported that the Network on Regional Governments for Sustainable Development Conference in March had been a success and he congratulated the staff involved in the organisation of the conference for their contribution. The Minister for Education and Life-long Learning highlighted the contribution made by the Youth Forum for Sustainable Development and requested that the Minister for Environment, Planning and Countryside send a letter of thanks.
Officials gave an update on progress on the Wales Spatial Plan. Discussions were continuing around Wales with urban regeneration, and more specifically education, health and transport being raised as topics for discussion. It was suggested that portfolios needed to be looked at to examine the impact of the Spatial Plan and there needed to be a cross-reference to the sustainable development action plan.
The meeting on 24 May had a number of presentations but no papers were deposited. Roger Thomas, Chief Executive of the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW), informed members of the Sub-Committee the Council’s approach to sustainable development. Although the Council did not have a statutory duty to promote sustainable development it had embraced the Assembly’s duty under the Government of Wales Act and its corporate plans had been written in these terms over the last two years. The CCW had established an all-Wales corporate planning forum for Assembly Sponsored Public Bodies (ASPBs) to help them consider how to include the Assembly’s sustainable development scheme into their processes. The Forum had met on two occasions and both the Welsh Development Agency and the Wales Tourist Board were present. The CCW had adopted sustainable living as its descriptor for its work on sustainable development and this had been incorporated in to its five themes, which also included: Raising Quality, Enabling Others, Improving Accessibility (Communication) and Understanding Change. The Council had also been involved with the development of the Wales Spatial Plan. Ministers were pleased with CCW’s commitment to sustainable development in Wales and discussed how Tir Gofal was helping to deliver it. The dairy sector had generally been reluctant to join the scheme, but this was improving. CCW were now looking to target groups of farms to join Tir Gofal which would make the scheme community based and linked to Community Strategies.
The Sub-Committee discussed the branding of sustainable development and noted that a lot of what the Assembly Government was doing was sustainable but it was not being branded as such. Ministers agreed that there was room for improving this and suggested that perhaps ‘Sustainable Wales’ would be a better brand name than ‘Sustainable Development’.
Ministers considered the role of Assembly Sponsored Public Bodies in providing educational resources, in relation to sustainable development, to students and agreed that an event should be staged to enable teachers to discuss issues with ASPBs.
Ministers also briefly discussed procurement issues and requested a paper on progress.
The Minister for Finance, Local Government and Public Services introduced Professor Rod Aspinwall, the Chair of Cynnal Cymru, and Merfyn Williams, its Executive Director, to the Sub-Committee. Prof. Aspinwall advised members that Cynnal Cymru was now the brand name of the Sustainable Development Forum for Wales, and the Forum was now fully established as a company limited by guarantee.
Cynnal Cymru’s Action Plan was about to be signed off and members were working towards delivery. The vision of Cynnal Cymru was to help create a Sustainable Wales by playing a leadership role and exercise independence with responsibility. It would also be catalytic, innovative, inclusive and integrative. The organisation had an initial 5 year programme which would focus on four major programmes: an all Wales Sustainable Development Network; an executive leadership programme, an annual convention for a Sustainable Wales and a rolling analysis and critique of sustainable development policy. Prof. Aspinwall reported that in his discussions with members of the established international networks on Sustainable Development the political leadership of the Assembly Government had been recognised. The Sub-Committee noted the progress of Cynnal Cymru and its action plan but believed that it needed to emphasise social justice more. Ministers also suggested that trade unions should be invited to become involved with the work of Cynnal Cymru.
Officials advised the Sub-Committee that the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill had been passed by Parliament which gave the Assembly Government the statutory duty to establish the Wales Spatial Plan.
At its meeting on 21 June, the Committee heard from Carole-Anne Davies of the Design Commission, established by the Assembly Government with 4 Strategic Aims. The aims had been reflected in the Commission’s mission statement, which was to champion high standards of architecture, landscape and urban design in Wales. The Commission had been working in partnership with Government, local authorities, the Planning Inspectorate, professional bodies, schools and communities, to strengthen the skills base. This had been done through building capacity and competence by providing training, and encouraging skill development, and lifelong learning and targeting early years education through the My Square Mile programme. The Commission had been focussing on the public realm, which included transport and highways, the Health and School estates in Wales. It had also been working through design review with the private sector on housing retail and leisure development and had discussions with a number of organisations about public and private sector procurement. The Commission had identified, and was now focusing on barriers to sustainable development. A major problem was a skills and knowledge deficit in the relevant fields, including procurement practices. The Commission was providing help and guidance to a number of bodies including the Assembly Government’s Business Procurement Taskforce. There were examples of good practices, which had been identified in Wales, such as work with the National Health Service estates on design champions, but not enough had been done to communicate these with others. It was agreed that more should have been done on urban and landscape design to ensure adequate provision for public transport and pedestrians. Ministers stressed the importance of engaging with developers at an early stage to ensure sustainable development practices are included. It was also agreed that more work should be done with private developers in building design to reduce the need for fossil fuels.
The Sub-Committee agreed that the Assembly Government should take the lead and ensure that all of its buildings, including those in the Health and Education estates and those belonging to Assembly Sponsored Public Bodies were sustainable. To make a bigger impact across the private sector the Assembly Government needed to take control of the building regulations, without doing this there would be no enforcement option.
The Minister for Environment, Planning and Countryside advised the Sub- Committee that there was still more work to be done on the Sustainable Development Action Plan and he was now planning to take it to Plenary in the autumn after it had been agreed by the Sub-Committee and Cabinet.
The Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning introduced a paper which set out the responsibilities of Local Education Authorities for the planning of school places and it outlined the main issues facing them, which included, surplus capacity, falling pupil numbers, small schools, poor school buildings and inertia. The paper also highlighted the opportunities for extended community use of school buildings. Pupil numbers had been falling since 1998 and there was a high level of surplus capacity within the stock of school buildings, demographic forecasts suggest that the trend would continue, with a predicted 10% decline in school age children over the next ten years.
Officials introduced a paper on the Spatial Plan, which contained a progress report on the draft regional statements that would, once firmed up, form the basis for future collaborative work within the regions. The paper also advised the Sub-Committee of the two national conferences organised for July 2004 as the final part of the consultation process of the draft spatial plan. Ministers agreed that the final Plan needed to be firm and prescriptive. The Sub-Committee discussed the regional propositions in annex 4 and agreed that research should be carried out to map the boundaries of other regional fora and geographically-based structures that exist, such as in the Welsh Development Agency and Education and Learning Wales (ELWa) and identify the overlay with the proposed spatial plan areas. Ministers also requested that Higher Education should be referred to in each region listed.
The final meeting of the year was on 15 November. The Minister for Health and Social Services introduced a paper which updated progress in mainstreaming sustainable development in NHS Wales. The Minister had met Anna Coote, Sustainable Development Commissioner and Head of the King’s Fund, to discuss a joint project which would implement proposals in ‘Claiming the Health Dividend – Unlocking the benefits of NHS spending’ in NHS Wales. The project, which was in its early stages of planning, would build upon the partnership between Welsh Health Estates and Carbon Trust Wales. There had also been discussions with the Welsh Procurement Initiative. A network of interested NHS managers from the Trusts and Local Health Boards from across Wales had been identified and were ready to participate in the project.
The Minister for Economic Development and Transport introduced the paper, which provided a visual summary of place specific Objective 1 projects to end of March 2004.
The projects mapped were limited, representing only 18% of Objective 1 grant committed at the end March 2004 as they did not include spending that was made over wider areas. Ministers noted that the limits of the samples and the sampling methodology of the maps were not necessarily representative of the spatial distribution of Objective 1 commitment and spend. However, the Sub-Committee agreed that knowledge of the spatial distribution of Structural Funds investment would be important in implementing and monitoring the emerging Spatial Plan.
Officials introduced the paper, which proposed a step by step sustainable procurement guide for buildings in the public sector. A cross Departmental steering group would manage the project, with the participation of the Welsh Local Government Association. The proposed guide was expected to be completed in the summer / autumn of 2005. Ministers welcomed the proposals. However, concerns were raised that the guide would be too late to influence local authority expenditure in 2005, in particular in the school building programme, and that more needed to be done to raise awareness in the private sector, perhaps through a centre of excellence.
It was agreed that the Minister for Finance, Local Government and Public Services would write to all local authorities, in relation to their asset management plans, reminding them of the Assembly Government’s commitment that building designs in the school build programme achieve, as a minimum, the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) ‘very good’ standard or equivalent and the BREEAM excellent standard whenever possible.
Officials introduced a paper on sustainable procurement. The Business Procurement Task Force, which was established to provide a strategic leadership role to remove the barriers between the public sector and supply base, met for the first time in September 2004. It was reviewing a proposed action plan and intended to approve a final version at its meeting in February 2005. Already a sub-group had formed to look at medical supplies. Progress had been made with the Procurement Fitness Checks and the use of the National Procurement Web-site ‘sell2wales.co.uk’ had increased making public contracts accessible to more suppliers. The Minister for Environment, Planning and Countryside had published public procurement guidance ‘Food for Thought’. Three pilot projects had also led to construction contracts being awarded using social clauses, through the Community Benefits Project. The Minister for Finance, Local Government and Public Services was due to launch the Sustainable Procurement Programme with associated guidance at the Wales Procurement Initiative conference scheduled for 2nd December.
Officials updated the Sub-Committee on progress on taking forward the Wales Spatial Plan. It was due to be debated and adopted in plenary on 17th November, with a published version being available in mid January. Launches would take place in each area in January, leading to the establishment of local and national implementation structures.
Local Government and Public Services
The first 2004 meeting of this committee was on 23 February. The Minister for Finance introduced a paper which took stock of where matters stood in developing a coherent and distinctive Welsh public service delivery system. The Sub-Committee indicated that they wanted a distinctive approach to public service delivery, with an emphasis on authorities’ commitment to improvement and self-development, and with citizens and communities as the focus of public services. Planning based on need, which would form delivery, with a collective and not consumer approach.
There was also a need to establish how to spread good practice among public service providers, including lessons learned following work by the inspectorates. This could be done through incentivisation but better performing bodies should not be penalised. The Assembly Government’s Sustainable Procurement Policy was highlighted as an example of sharing good practice, with local authorities learning from Carmarthen County Council’s improvements in procurement. Ministers agreed that there was a need to look at the language used in the paper, with an emphasis on the citizen and services for citizens rather than providers of service and public service delivery. It was noted that the paper had not discussed how to communicate the programme. The Cabinet Sub-Committee agreed that the paper should be discussed at Cabinet on 8th March with the following amendments:
The title of the paper should be amended to reflect planning and citizens;
The sections on participation should refer to ‘all ages’;
The language and style of the Assembly Sponsored Public Bodies remit letters should be strengthened;
The paper should encourage the sharing of good practice among public bodies; and
There should also be a section on communication of the approach once it had been agreed.
The Cabinet Sub-Committee noted the paper, which introduced the papers on Wales Programme for Improvement and the Balanced Scorecard and Performance Management in the National Health Service (NHS). The Cabinet Sub-Committee agreed the paper.
The Minister for Finance introduced a paper on the Wales Programme for Improvement Performance Measurement Project. This would provide a future framework, and inform the future set of performance indicators for local government.
The review, being carried out by the Local Government Data Unit – Wales over a two-year period, aimed to provide an important opportunity to develop a consistent and coherent set of measures for the Assembly, local government, the public and other stakeholders. This would track progress against national strategic priorities and monitor local government services. In July 2003 a consultation paper had been published, seeking views on the framework underpinning the review. The consultation closed at the end of September 2003, with almost 70 written submissions, including responses from 21 Welsh local authorities.
The Cabinet Sub-Committee had a brief discussion about the paper on the Balanced Scorecard and Performance Management in NHS Wales and agreed that there was a need to look at how the Assembly Government was demonstrating that it was tackling the things that matter to the people of Wales. Ministers agreed to defer the paper until the next meeting but requested that an additional paper, clarifying the glossary and illustrating how the initiative might be put in to practice, should accompany the original.
The Committee met again on 29 March. The Minister for Heath and Social Services introduced the paper on the Balanced Score-card and Performance Management Initiative. This paper had been updated since the last meeting, and included clarification terms used in the original and illustrations on how the initiative might have been be put into practice. The performance framework for National Health Service (NHS) Wales had been developed as part of a longer-term, wider and strategically focused approach to improving the provision of healthcare services in Wales. The review of health and social care had recommended that a more robust performance framework was necessary and it should be set within the context of the innovation programme. The intention had been to establish a framework, which took a holistic view of the services provided by NHS Wales to its patients and the public.
There was a feeling that the Health Service in Wales was well understood by its customers, the public had been informed and engaged and the Score-card for Cancer Services had been particularly well received. Staff in NHS Wales were also supportive of the new approach. There was a similar basic approach to performance management in local government and Ministers established that there was a need to use common, jargon-free, language in the delivery of all public services across Wales. The Sub-Committee agreed that there was a need to look at the methods and principles being used in public service delivery areas to secure improvement, identify a common language and set of overarching principles for all performance improvement initiatives, and note areas where improvement activity did not appear to feature strongly. Ministers requested a paper to look at these issues for the next meeting.
The Minister for Finance, Local Government and Public Services introduced the paper on Regulation and Inspection in Wales. The Cabinet had agreed a set of actions to improve the quality, delivery and effectiveness of public services in Wales. The paper asked Ministers to agree a strand of work focusing on the contribution which regulation and inspection could and should make to public service and the improvement and dissemination of good practice. Ministers welcomed the paper and agreed that regulation and inspection should help deliver a key role in improving the quality and management of public services in Wales. It was important to look at all bodies that had a direct influence on regulation and ensure that they were engaged in a broadly consistent and coherent framework tailored to the needs of public service in Wales. Ministers agreed that a further paper should be produced to establish a better information base on regulation and inspection in Wales and in particular on how information from these sources could be used to improve service delivery and quality as well as contributing to policy development.
The Minister for Finance introduced the paper, which described current arrangements for collaboration between local authorities in Wales. There were 4 areas where local authorities collaborated: voluntary, stimulated, statutorily promoted and statutorily mandated. Local authorities were already collaborating some areas, such as e-government and transport. Gwynedd and Anglesey had been successfully collaborating in education for sometime but that was not widely known. Authorities considered that collaboration was seen as a symptom of failure and self-contained authorities were seen as the better performing ones. Ministers agreed that there was a need to encourage, and champion collaboration among authorities. It was considered that the Spatial Plan, the Gershon review, Excellence Wales and procurement would provide further scope for the local authorities to collaborate. Ministers agreed that a paper should be prepared to look at what intervention the Assembly Government could take to encourage authorities to collaborate further.
Cabinet had approved a report produced by the Minister for Finance on findings of the Two-tier Workforce Task and Finish Group. The report was a result of a group established to discuss issues surrounding a two-tier workforce in which individuals doing the same work and providing the same service to the public but receiving different levels of pay. This was typically the result of services being contracted out: while Tupe guaranteed the terms and conditions of staff at the point of transfer, there was no protection for those who were subsequently recruited
The Committee next met on 10 May. The Minister for Local Government and Public Services advised the Sub-Committee of a Public Service Project, which had been commissioned by the First Minister and herself. The project would look at creating an efficient and improved public service in Wales and would consider the wider implications of the Chancellor’s forthcoming spending review for the funding of public bodies. Officials would report back to the Sub-Committee on progress of the project before the summer recess. (It is not clear from the minutes whether this refers to the later Beecham Review or the July announcement on absorbing a number of ASPBs into the Welsh Government).
The Welsh Local Government Association had valued its participation at the November Sub-Committee meeting and supported the renewed impetus being given to the rationalisation of plans. Ministers noted that that there might be other items the Association would wish to explore with the Sub – Committee, in particular the need to work on a pay and workforce strategy for the public sector in Wales.
Officials introduced a paper recommending a forward programme for implementing revised governance arrangements for ASPBs. Ministers agreed that the Minister for Culture Welsh Language and Sport should be kept informed of discussions.
Ministers had a general discussion about the relationship between the Assembly Government and its ASPBs (again, there is no more detail). Ministers agreed that officials should test the current approach to monitoring with ASPB planners. Officials would also develop a consistent process for assessing plans and commission review work on the performance indicator regime. The Cabinet Sub-Committee approved the paper.
The Cabinet Sub-Committee noted progress to date on the programme of reviewing the Assembly Sponsored Public Bodies. The paper noted the Quinquennial Reviews asked ‘is there still a need for the function to be carried out and for how long, and is the ASPB the best means to deliver the functions or is there a preferred option?’
The meeting on 7 June had a paper from Officials which set out a draft framework of principles for regulation and inspection of key public services in Wales. The paper suggested areas where there would be a case for exploring ways to improve the focus, coverage and impact of regulation and inspection. The paper also sought Ministers’ agreement to develop proposals to improve the effectiveness and contribution to raising service quality, and to agree that emerging proposals should be developed for public consultation as part of the proposed policy statement on public services due in the Autumn. Ministers believed that there was a general lack of understanding as to the role of the regulators and whether their purpose was to report on performance or to share good practice. There was also a question of the independence of the various regulatory bodies and their relationship with the Assembly Government. The Sub-Committee was concerned that there appeared to be no evaluation of what was working well by regulators and a lack of sharing of best practice. It was agreed that the role of inspection and regulation bodies was not just to inspect but also provide guidance. Ministers agreed that it was important to raise the profile of the different inspectorates to increase public awareness of their roles and responsibilities. The Sub-Committee agreed the recommendations in the paper and that other areas, such as transport, housing and the Welsh language, should be included in the next report.
Following a request from a previous meeting of the Cabinet Sub-Committee, a further paper on collaboration between local authorities in Wales was introduced. The paper built upon earlier discussions and invited Ministers’ views on what action should be taken following the local government elections, publication of the Spatial Plan and spending decisions. Further consideration should be given to encouraging more collaboration through appropriate conditions attached to specific grants. Ministers also agreed that the capacity of E-Government and Merlin should also be looked at as a way to promote collaboration.
Officials introduced a paper on the various strands of work on pay and workforce strategy across the Welsh Public Sector. The paper was an introduction, setting out the main issues and initial proposals for further work. The discussion paper indicated that overall action should be coherent and that the Assembly Government should ensure that there were no significant gaps. Action on pay and workforce matters would make a substantial contribution to delivering excellent public services.
It was suggested that people in similar occupations in the public sector across Wales, including the Assembly Sponsored Public Bodies, should be paid at a comparable level. It was agreed that there should be a brief stock-take of the work already being done with a view for considering proposals for a strategy in Wales. The paper outlined progress made on the second round of local authority policy agreements. It also contained a preliminary assessment of the impact on Assembly Government key policy areas.
A further paper outlined progress made on the second round of local authority policy agreements. It also contained a preliminary assessment of the impact on Assembly Government key policy areas. Ministers noted the paper and suggested that future agreements should include reference to the post 16 agenda.
Officials advised Ministers that a progress report on the Public Service Project would be available for the next meeting of the Sub-Committee.
At the meeting on 5 July Officials advised Ministers that a draft policy document on the Public Service Project would be produced in mid September with an aim to publish the final version in late October. Ministers welcomed the update on the project.
Officials provided the Sub-Committee with a progress report on the Regulation and Inspection Project. They had been looking closely at the inspection bodies and linking to the wider public service in Wales. It was intended that the report on Regulation and Inspection would be published at the same time as the policy document on Public Services.
Officials introduced a paper which outlined the progress made by local authorities and their partners in preparing Community Strategies. Community Strategies were the overarching strategies that would influence all other strategies relating to the county area and determine how the area as whole or specific parts of it developed over a 10-15 year period. These strategies were key source documents for the Assembly in formulating its national policies and priorities. Carmarthenshire County Council’s strategy was highlighted as a good example of a local authority working well with its communities and consideration could be given to how best local authorities could deliver the Government’s Communities agenda. Ministers asked officials to undertake a full evaluation of the first round of strategies to determine how effective the process had been. It was agreed that the local authorities should receive guidance on facilitating and improving partnership working and identifying good practice on public participation and engagement. Ministers questioned how the community strategies of the local authorities were linking to the Assembly Government’s strategies, and requested a flowchart to illustrate this.
Officials introduced a paper which contained a draft forward work programme of the Local Government Partnership Council. It was noted that following the recent elections there would be a number of new representatives from local government attending these meetings and it was agreed that the Welsh Local Government Association would be encouraged to provide agenda items. One item suggested was celebrating what local authorities had achieved.
The meeting on 20 September had a paper on Delivering Better Services and the proposed consultation document, which had been revised since being discussed at full Cabinet. Ministers agreed that they would take a further look at the paper and provide written comments and or drafting changes to officials.
Officials introduced a paper which contained a working draft of the proposed consultation paper on Regulation and Inspection. Ministers agreed that progress to date on Regulation and Inspection should be reflected in the paper being drafted on Delivering Better Services.
Neither of these papers were published with the minutes.
The meeting on 1 November heard that the Assembly Government’s vision for a Public Service in Wales had been well received among local authorities, within the Health Service and by trade unions. Collaborative working was now seen as a real possibility. Ministers suggested that the Assembly Government should take the lead by providing constitutional models and notes on financial issues to encourage further collaboration. Ministers also requested that a range of current examples of delivery and collaboration be prepared and updated regularly.
Officials introduced a paper which provided information on a number of current issues in local government finance, including increasing transparency in the presentation of the local government revenue settlement. The paper also included information on the independent inquiry being convened by the UK Government, which followed the Balance of Funding Review in England. This year, for the first time, the Minister for Finance was intending to publish, with the final local government revenue settlement, a breakdown of the Standard Spending Assessments (SSAs) service blocks by local authority. This would be a further step forward in ensuring that the settlement process would be as transparent as possible. Sub-Committee welcomed this extra transparency and agreed that it was important to be clear that SSAs were not a guide for expenditure: they were a tool which the Welsh Assembly Government used to arrive at as fair a distribution of resources as it could between authorities. The Welsh Assembly Government remained committed to the principle that local authorities were best placed to decide on allocation of their resources between services. The SSA information would not include a breakdown per head of population. This was found in the Assembly Government’s formula and data employed in determining the distribution of the annual local government revenue settlement, known as the ‘Green Book’. Publication of the Green Book had been brought forward and it was hoped that it would be available as soon, as is practicable after the scheduled plenary debate on the revenue settlement.
Officials introduced a paper which provided the Sub-Committee with information on the outcome of the current round of negotiations on local authority policy agreements, spanning the financial years 2004/05 to 2006/7. Ministers were asked to note the potential publicity from the overall package of agreements and consider emerging issues from the exercise which could inform any future round of policy agreements.
Ten local authorities had signed Policy Agreements so far and the others were working towards theirs. However, the process had not been as smooth as hoped, with some authorities submitting their agreements late and or failing to grasp the purpose of some of the measures. Some of the authorities had also professed great difficulty with meeting some of the prescribed measures, notably in the areas of homelessness and energy efficiency. It was agreed that the future round of policy agreements should be linked to the Assembly Government’s vision for public services in Wales.
The final 2004 meeting of the Committee was on 6 December. The Cabinet Sub-Committee discussed the Assembly Government’s relationship with the Wales Audit Office and how it was going to monitor the ‘value added’ of inspection and whether the aims of better targeting and co-ordination were being achieved.
The deadline for the Making the Connections consultation was 31st January. There had been a higher than expected demand for the document and the responses so far had been generally favourable. It had featured in a number of Ministerial speeches and conferences. Officials were working on the publication of a working paper on the citizen-centred model and a number of seminars had been planned for Public Service Management, Local Government and the National Health Service (NHS) in Wales. Guidance was being prepared on the £600 million Value for Money gains and officials were in the process of setting up ‘Value Wales’ to improve: performance on procurement; commissioning; project management and brokering shared services.
Ministers noted the importance of the ‘E Government’ agenda in helping deliver the proposals contained in Making the Connections. Collaboration across sectors had been improving, with models established between Local Government and NHS Wales, which had resulted in some savings. Ministers agreed that they should have guidance on how to handle the £600 million efficiency savings. Ministers indicated that they were content with progress so far and requested a paper and a chart setting out how Making the Connections would be delivered.
Officials introduced a paper, which provided a progress report on the review of the local government performance measurement framework. The Local Government Data Unit had been commissioned in 2003 to carry out a fundamental review. The Unit had worked with key agencies, which included, local government, regulators, policy departments of the Assembly Government and service experts to develop a new framework. Consultation was in progress and was due to close on 10th December. It proposed a radically different framework for performance measures in four distinct categories: 21 national strategic indicators as opposed to the current 89; a larger suite of core indicator sets, to provide a balanced picture of performance across local authority services; shared outcome measures, which would capture the outcomes arising from partnerships with other agencies; and local measures, to allow authorities to develop indicators for their own priorities. Ministers welcomed the proposals and agreed that the new indicators would help the authorities shift from compliance to using the data to report on performance management.
Officials introduced a paper which outlined the in-house evaluation of the first round of Community Strategies. The evaluation included those adopted and those still in draft.
The strategies were assessed against three criteria: compliance with the Assembly’s guidance; the extent to which they integrate the Assembly’s cross cutting priorities; and the extent to which they link to the Assembly’s key strategies and supporting partnerships. Ministers noted the paper and requested further advice on how community strategies were influencing local authorities’ more detailed plans and what action was being taken in-house to further support the development and implementation of community strategies.
Officials introduced a paper which informed the Sub-Committee of the revised corporate planning arrangements for ASPBs. The paper also included a copy of the proposed ASPB remit letter template
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The Older People’s Committee had two meetings in 2004. At the meeting on 8 March the Minister for Health and Social Services introduced a paper which provided an update on the progress made on the action points from the first meeting.
Ministers noted the funding being provided to the Beth Johnson Foundation for the development of a structured plan for intergenerational practice in Wales. Ministers also noted that funding was being provided by the Home Office, for a Grandparents Project, which recognised the changing role of the extended family in society. This issue also needed to be referred to the Children and Young People sub committee to examine how progress could be made in Wales, linking to the developing parenting strategy. The Minister for Health and Social Services suggested that the parenting strategy could be expanded to incorporate the role of grandparents.
Ministers noted the progress being made on the development of entitlement cards. Further information was requested about how the New South Wales scheme operated in practice. The Minister for Culture, Welsh Language and Sport suggested that the cards could also be used for the free swimming initiative and possibly linked to access to CADW sites. There was a need to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the development of entitlement cards between the Assembly Government and other public and voluntary sector developments. The Minister for Finance, Local Government and Public Services highlighted the need for effective communication to ensure the Assembly Government involvement was recognised. Ministers noted the lessons from the communication of the free bus pass scheme. The Minister with specific responsibility for Older People was asked to take a lead in making progress on this issue.
The Minister for Health and Social Services introduced a paper that sought the approval of the Cabinet Sub-Committee for the first Annual Report on the progress in implementing the Strategy for Older People. Ministers noted the progress being made by local authorities across Wales in implementing the strategy, which was generally positive. However some concerns were raised about the lack of appointment of older people’s champions within the Cabinets of three local authorities.
The Minister for Health and Social Services asked the Deputy Minister for Older People to introduce a paper on the proposal to establish a Commissioner for Older People in Wales. The Deputy Minister reported that it had been a constructive exercise. There was a high level of support for an appointed champion for older people from the focus groups and voluntary organisations involved in the process. Ministers noted the draft recommendation six was no longer considered appropriate by the Advisory Group. Ministers also discussed the powers and status of the commissioner recommended by the advisory group. The recommendations would require primary legislation and there was a need to consider interim arrangements. In particular Ministers noted the proposals for a ‘first stage’ commissioner. There were a number of issues, which needed consideration. There was a need to consider whether this was an appropriate title, which did not pre-empt the possibility of a future statutory commissioner.
The Minister for Health and Social Services introduced a paper which provided advice on a stronger economic focus to the implementation of the Strategy for Older People and the economic contribution of older people. There was an increasingly ageing population in Wales, insufficient investment in pensions and debt in society, all of which pointed to the need for people to work longer. Officials advised that the paper was a first attempt to pull together the issues in the economic area where non-devolved areas of policy were particularly important. A large scale research project exploring the barriers faced by inactive people was underway. The research would include an examination of the difficulties faced by older people (though it would be confined to those of working age) This was a significant piece of research and was scheduled to report later in the year. Ministers discussed the issues raised by the paper. Part time employment offered a number of possibilities however Ministers noted a number of barriers faced by older people attempting to return to work or change careers. These included the possible loss of pension rights. Ministers also noted varying retirement ages operated across the public sector. There was a need to ensure a more consistent and flexible approach to employment, which enabled the contribution of older people to be maximised. There was also a need to engage with the private sector as well as the public and voluntary sectors. Ministers agreed that the paper should provide the basis of a consultation with the Business, Local Government and Voluntary Sector partnership councils. Ministers welcomed this initial analysis but agreed that further work was required and requested a further paper addressing the issues raised during the discussions.
At the meeting on 21 June, the Minister for Health and Social Services introduced the paper which provided an update on the progress made on the action points from the meeting on 8 March.
It was noted that Officials had arranged a video conference meeting between the Minister and the Department for Work and Pensions Minister, Malcolm Wicks MP for 8 July.
The Minister for Health and Social Services introduced Alan Hatton-Yeo of the Beth Johnson Foundation who gave a brief presentation on the development of Intergenerational Practice in Wales. The work on Intergenerational activity had been commissioned following recognition in the marked changes in society. The gap between the older and younger generations had increased and the natural relationships between them affected accordingly. The Wales Centre for Intergenerational Practice was established in May 2004, and is administered and hosted by the University of Glamorgan. It was an initiative of the Beth Johnson Foundation, and funded by the Welsh Assembly Government as part of the Strategy for Older People for Wales. Ministers discussed potential for greater involvement and participation of older people in their communities. The potential was there for more older people to participate in a mentoring capacity e.g. advice to single mothers on a range of parenting issues, in schools and youth groups. There was also the potential for their increased involvement in volunteer sporting groups and societies. Parents tended to be reluctant to become involved because of busy working lives and there was a risk these groups could have collapsed from lack of volunteers. Older people could become more involved in groups of this nature and others, not just as coaches or to provide leadership but also in a mentoring role. The Cabinet Sub-Committee suggested further work be carried out on the role of grandparents and older people as carers for children and young people. Ministers suggested this be linked into the work commissioned on a parenting strategy for Wales and to lead to the development of a grand-parenting strategy
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Officials introduced a paper which provided advice on the concept of an Entitlement Card for Older People in Wales and examined the options, feasibility and broad costs likely to be involved.
The Minister for Health and Social Services introduced a paper which provided advice on the economic contribution of older people and introduced the draft paper for consultation with the partnership councils. The document had been drafted to include contributions from across Assembly Policy Divisions and specifically to include the additional information previously requested on the public sector.
Ministers discussed the issue of pension provision and the changes that were taking place in working practices where people were working beyond the traditional age limit of 65. These changes were in response to a variety of factors including the increased number of older people, the pressure on pension funds and individuals financial requirements. They agreed that in advance of forthcoming legislation, there was a need for employers to adopt more flexible employment practices to allow people to work longer if they wished. In discussing this they recognised the need to consider the National Assembly for Wales policies on retirement and to set an example of good practice for other public and private bodies in Wales
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The Minister for Health and Social Services introduced a paper which provided initial advice on Independence and Housing Needs of Older People. The paper advised on the Social Justice and Regeneration Committee's report on Housing for Older People and its main recommendations. It also gave an outline of future action in respect of the report and more generally in respect of policy development in the area. Ministers discussed the options for meeting the housing needs of older people and noted the fact that 68% of the age group of 80-90 year olds were owner-occupiers. There were concerns over the conditions of some of these properties where there was evidence of a need for considerable investment to bring the standards up to ensure suitability for their habitation. However, they were keen to ensure the general health and active ageing of older people in was promoted and support arrangements provided, including lower level needs, for them to remain within their local communities.
Ministers were also concerned at the increasing number of equity release schemes available and the effects these had on older people and families. This was scheduled for consideration as part of the National Debate on independence and housing of older people. Ministers were keen to see the policies developed to maintain the independence of older people which enabled them to remain in their own homes for as long as possible
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Structural Funds
There was one meeting of a committee on Structural Funds during the year, on 26 April.
The Minister for Economic Development and Transport introduced a paper which outlined the current position on the Structural Fund Programmes for 2000-2006. The Cabinet Sub-Committee discussed the additional £65.4 million of funding which Wales had received from the European Commission's Performance Reserve in recognition of the efficient administration of structural funds to date. Ministers expressed their interest for a promotional event related to the award of this bonus and asked for officials to explore possibilities at future public events. The First Minister requested briefing on the award in preparation for First Ministers Questions on Tuesday 27th April and the subsequent debate on the Third Cohesion Report, to include details of how the money would be spent.
The Minister for Economic Development and Transport introduced a paper which considered the delivery of structural funds for a range of strategic developments. The Mid Term review of the Structural Fund programmes recommended that the Welsh Assembly Government and Assembly Sponsored Public Bodies (ASPBs) should address specifically the role of Objective 1 in providing a delivery mechanism for high-level strategies to reflect the different needs of the programmes. This had been addressed through the Mid Term Review and the allocation of the Performance Reserve. The Spending Review provided the opportunity to ensure that Assembly programmes obtained maximum synergy with the Structural Fund programmes.
The Minister for Economic Development and Transport introduced a paper which summarised the progress which had been made in securing match funding for the structural funds programmes. The paper identified the level of expenditure expected for the remaining period up to the end of 2008 and how much would come from Assembly Government programmes, pots of last resort and ASPBs. Private sector match funding was ahead of forecast levels. Ministers asked for information on the typical private (for profit) businesses who had provided contributions for match funding programmes, identifying the top ten contributors.
The First Minister introduced a paper which updated the Sub-Committee on the ongoing debate on the future of EU regional policy. The paper detailed the work that was being undertaken in the Welsh Assembly Government to prepare for post-2006, whatever the source of funding. Ministers recognised the need to monitor the potential impact upon public expenditure in Wales as a consequence of the changes arising from the review of EU regional policy. Ministers noted that the situation could change later in the year following the EU elections and the appointment of new Commissioners and as EU budget negotiations proceeded. Negotiations on the draft regulations and later data becoming available would also have a bearing
The Minister for Economic Development and Transport introduced a paper which informed the Sub-Committee about current discussions taking place on the next generation of regional aid guidelines. The review had clear connections with the wider current debate on the reform of regional policy post 2006, and was part of a broader state aid reform agenda initiated by the Commission. The paper set out the implications of the current thinking of the regime of state aid and anticipated existing tier 1 areas in Wales could become subject to transitional arrangements. Ministers raised the question of the future of regional aid guidelines with the enlargement of the EU and that the only area in the EU retaining Tier 1 status would have been Cornwall. As a result the areas in Wales currently benefiting from Tier 1 status, West Wales and the Valleys, might fall under transitional arrangements phasing out that status over the period to 2013. A visit by the European Commissioner for Competition, Mario Monti, was scheduled to take place on 10 May at Cardiff Business School. Ministers expressed the need to be briefed in preparation for the visit.
Wanless
The role of the Task and Finish Group, listed as a Cabinet Committee, was essentially to oversee the Health and Social Care Review (Wanless) Implementation Plan. At the meeting on 9 February the Minister for Health and Social Services summarised the progress that had been made since the first meeting of the group which included the setting up of:
a Programme Board to manage the implementation process using a formal project management approach thereby enhancing the role of the steering committee;
sub groups to support the programme board; and
a support group of officials steered by the Permanent Secretary to support the Task and Finish Group and to ensure implementation of its recommendations.
Guidance had been issued on 29th December 2003 requiring each Local Health Board (LHB) to produce their outline Wanless Local Action Plans by 30th April 2004.
The Chief Medical Officer gave a presentation to the Task and Finish Group on Prevention as a core part of the overall Wanless Implementation Programme. Wales had previously been a European leader in this area and Wales needed to regain that standing. Strategic targets for development had been identified and from these five key priorities for primary prevention were listed as follows:
Smoking;
Obesity;
Accidents;
Alcohol and other substance misuse; and
Infections (sexually transmitted; healthcare acquired; vaccine preventable; dental decay)
Officials gave a presentation on NHS Waiting Times. The presentation highlighted the different methodologies used to calculate waiting times in England and Wales. This contributed to a degree to the differences between the waiting times figures for both countries. The Department of Health (DoH) had made a considerable investment in staff to do clinical and clerical validation of waiting list and arrange out-of-area treatment. The presentation identified interim measures under consideration while a sustainable long-term approach was developed to reduce long waits. The proposed interim measures considered the use of spare capacity within: NHS Wales, NHS UK, Private sector Wales, private sector UK and overseas.
The meeting on 29 March discussed the financial implications of implementing the Wanless Action Plan. The First Minister introduced a paper on the Indicative Work Programme and the Minister for Health and Social Services outlined some of the items on the forward work programme. Ministers noted the work being carried out on performance measurement, spread of best practice and the incentives and sanctions which could be used to ensure compliance by the NHS. There was a need to ensure the levers for ensuring improved delivery were effective.Ministers noted the work on Innovations in Care and requested further advice on the initiative including information on the relative return from the investments proposed. Ministers concluded by approving the forward work programme.
The Minister for Health and Social Services introduced a paper on Optimising Service Delivery and gave an overview of the current position on waiting times in Wales lined to the Innovations in Care programme. A number of recent initiatives had produced promising results for a reduction in waiting times. There was a need to ensure work on the reduction of waiting lists fed into the Spending Review. Ministers noted the implementation of the Second Offer Scheme and the Treat in Turn initiative from 1st April. It was important that announcements on the initiatives were communicated effectively and Ministers requested a draft article for the Minister for Health and Social Services to issue to the free press across Wales.
The Minister for Health and Social Services introduced a paper on Health Challenge Wales. Ministers made a number of comments on the paper. Further work was needed to ensure links were made with work in other portfolios. There was also a need to consider the communication of Health Challenge across portfolios in a way which positively engaged with people.
On 24 May, officials gave a presentation on the emerging findings from the 22 Wanless Local Action Plans. These plans had been produced as joint ventures and demonstrated a partnership approach between the Local Health Boards (LHBs) and the engagement of local stakeholders e.g. local authorities, National Health Service (NHS) Trusts, in the production of the plans. Partnerships and strategic plans were more developed in some areas than others. All three regions in the NHS in Wales had signalled ongoing and proposed reviews of hospital and General Medical Services provision. Local health boards and local authorities in the South East Wales region had been more explicit in articulating service models for the future.
The Wanless Local Action Plans required more work in terms of:
detailed workforce planning/redesign across health and social care;
the use of research evidence for their service models;
modelling the impact of investment on activity and outcomes across the whole system;
analysing the total existing spend as opposed to just focusing on the initial £30m allocation;
remodelling health and social care; and
mainstreaming leading edge service redesign and innovation.
The action which had been taken to improve the plans included the following:
5 LHBs had been identified to develop workforce planning/redesign models, under the Wanless Implementation Workforce Project;
the Wales Office of Research and Development had been commissioned to provide support for evidence; and
the Chief Inspector of Social Services had commissioned a social care remodelling project.
Ministers discussed the issues associated with the population distribution across Wales with particular reference to the different population concentrations in North Wales, South West Wales and South East Wales.
In further developing the plans it was suggested the use of incentives and sanctions be investigated to progress the development of the plans and accelerate the process of change.
The Minister for Health and Social Services introduced a paper on the communication strategy which had been developed to support the implementation of the Health and Social Care Review. Ministers agreed that more work would be required and to learn from previous experience with the media. They also agreed the language used in getting the message across would need to be tailored to provide a positive message. Officials informed the meeting that the Director of the Health and Social Care Department had regular meetings with the correspondents for technical briefings, on health issues including Wanless. Ministers agreed that a meeting should be arranged between the First Minister, Minister for Health and Social Services and editors of the welsh media to try and encourage positive media coverage.
In addition Ministers recognised the importance of communicating the information to those that worked in the service. They hoped to use the good relationships established with the Royal Colleges and governing bodies to communicate this to staff.
There was a need to engage with local stakeholders, including those potentially opposed to changes in the services provision, during the consultation process. Ministers suggested the use of focus groups to encourage involvement and ownership of the Review
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The Minister for Health and Social Services introduced a paper with an outline plan to Ministers of the events and activities relating to the Health Challenge Wales agenda in 2004 and early 2005. Ministers discussed the possibility of sending direct mail to all households, as listed in the outline plan. Officials notified Ministers that a marketing plan for Health Challenge Wales was being prepared in preparation for approval by Ministers.
The Minutes for 27 July are not cleanly archived, but I have salvaged them here. Professor Peter Townsend gave a presentation reporting on progress of the Standing Committee on Resource Allocation and highlighted the direct contribution of the health and social care system in addressing the inequalities in care and treatment and how to best operationalise this in the reform of health care delivery.Since the establishment of the Standing Committee a revised formula had been established to ensure that all Local Health Boards received a common amount or increase to improve and maintain service stability, with any additional growth funds then distributed to those Health Boards furthest from the target share. A number of steps had been taken to improve the formula, and in future it would include updated information from a new Welsh Health Survey. There were some concerns in the service about whether specific needs or social characteristics in local populations were captured, but the need for a transparent formula based on relative health need had not been questioned.
To address the concerns a series of evidence sessions, involving Local Health Boards, trusts, local authorities and stakeholders were planned for September to enable the Standing Committee to present the case for the adjustments and discuss concerns. The objective of the sessions was to build confidence in the allocation mechanisms and the outcome would be reflected in the Professor’s final report. As part of the direct needs formula two health areas had been earmarked to be pilots to receive funds to tackle inequalities in health. The Minister for Heath provided a list of the projects concerned. The overall costing on each project was relatively modest, which illustrated that much could be done on prevention with careful targeting of resources. Everybody concerned was working with the Local Health Boards to help deliver the objectives of the projects.
Ministers noted that evidence suggested better health was associated with higher income levels, whereas poorer health was linked to living in deprived areas and poor living conditions, with genetic factors only playing a small part in the overall health of the individual. The implications of these conclusions would have to be addressed but there was also the issue of a moving target, an improving economic base had implications for general and mental health; high levels of incapacity benefit claims and people returning to work following illness.
Ministers agreed that Professor Townsend’s resource allocation should be part and package of the Health and Social Care review and his paper, which was presented to the Task and Finish group, should be used as a basis for the evidence sessions in September. Ministers thanked Professor Townsend for his considerable contribution to the debate about inequalities in health in Wales and looked forward to the publication of his final steering group report.
The Minister for Health and Social Services introduced a paper which updated the Task and Finish Group on the progress of the implementation programme, highlighting what had been achieved and the work that lay ahead. There had been eight meetings with the Local Health Boards and partners and they were valuing working together. The Wanless Implementation Plan had been aligned to the four themes of prevention, optimising service delivery, involving people and performance and accountability. The Initial Financial Plan 2004-5 had incorporated the Wanless priorities and key priorities identified in the Wanless Local Action Plan were to be reflected in the three year Strategic Framework. Furthermore, the Department’s management board undertook formal bi-monthly reviews of progress. Progress had been made in reducing the number of people who enter the health system through Accident and Emergency Departments as a result of better use of General Practitioner (GP) clinics. Health Boards were taking the lead in dealing with delayed transfers of care and it was reported that figures had reduced from over 1000 in the system to around 800.
The Minister for Health introduced a paper which set out the broad principles underpinning change in the organisation of secondary health care across Wales and illustrated the potential impact of change with reference to the emerging strategy within the Gwent Areas. Ministers noted that a more detailed work on proposals to reconfigure secondary care across Wales would be brought forward through the Wanless programme in the autumn.
The Minister for Health and Social Services introduced a paper on progress in implementing the communication strategy for the Health and Social Care review.
All activities in the Action Plan planned for June had been delivered and activities for July were on target. Ministers agreed that Communications would continue to be a regular agenda item.
The Task and Finish Group did not meet again until 6 December. The Minister for Health and Social Services introduced a paper on the progress of the Implementation Programme since its inception in January 2004. The work had progressed from remit to Implementation. It was being overseen by mainstream mechanisms: locally, using the Health, Social Care and Wellbeing Strategy planning framework; regionally, through oversight of the secondary and specialist National Health Service (NHS) reconfiguration plans based on health economies; and nationally, through a strategic planning sub-committee of the Management Board of the Assembly Government’s Heath and Social Care Department. Ministers discussed the strategic alignment of Townsend review and asked officials to take account of management and resource issues in respect of the Spatial Plan.
Officials gave an update on progress in relation the areas of work being taken forward by the Performance, Universalising Best Practice and Tackling Waste Sub Group. The review of the Health and Social Care group had identified evidence of good and excellent performance in health and social care, with some of the Welsh Trusts in the top 50 of Dr Foster’s performance table (the independent authority generally accepted as measuring the relative performance of the UK’s 197 NHS Trusts). The Review had also established widespread under-performance associated with systemic defects and the lack of performance management and incentive systems to drive, create and imitate best practice. Changes had been made, with the formation of the Health and Social Care Department, which had helped to bring about significant improvements in delayed transfer of care. Three regional offices had been established, to manage NHS performance and the Performance Improvement Framework for NHS Wales had been implemented and developed. Other changes included the establishment of Healthcare Wales and the Healthcare Standards Board, the implementation of the balanced scorecard and improved target setting processes. Proposals for a new performance measurement framework for local government in Wales, which incorporated social care, had been developed and Policy Agreements with the Assembly and local governments, which incorporated social care performance indicators, had been introduced. Six programmes of work had been established: the development of the balanced scorecard approach; philosophy and components of an incentive system; an integrated system to capture best practice; benchmarking strategy and tools; information to underpin performance management; and an integrated process for annual target setting.
Ministers noted that officials had given consideration to the design of an incentive system. The principles mandated that systems would reward success with financial and non-financial incentives. There would be a balance between reward and equality, and a sanction system based on support. There would also be a methodology for intervention.
The Minister for Health and Social Services introduced a paper which identified how the spending review provided the Health and Social Services Department with significant capital investment over the following three years. It would enable the first elements to proceed with a much longer programme of modernisation following over the next 10 to 20 years. The key elements of the capital programme would include investment in the re-configuration of hospital sites, funding of the diagnostic services strategy and improved clinical infrastructure supported by Information Technology (IT). It also provided the opportunity to look at the re-configuration of secondary care across Wales and how services could be re-configured on a regional basis.Ministers discussed the availability of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Scanners and noted the variations in wait times between Cardiff and other hospitals, such as those in West Wales. Although the workflows of smaller hospitals were not as efficient as those in Cardiff the possibility for use of spare capacity should be explored at every opportunity. Ministers were pleased with the progress on the new hospital scheme in Caerphilly County Borough. They felt that the project was a potential template for future development of a number of other local general hospitals in the region, especially considering the age and condition of these and the consequent need for replacement.
Overview
These committees show the Welsh Government geting deep into policy examination in some fields. But much of the ‘Big Picture’ action is happening off the stage of Cabinet Committees during the year, as the Richard Commission reports its conclusions and plans to merge some key ASPBs with the Welsh Government are announced. Nevertheless, researchers with an interest in Welsh policy development over time would do well to study the papers in their areas of interest, since significant areas of work are covered in these Cabinet Committee papers in major areas of policy such as NHS Strategy, children’s policies, the work on Sustainable Development which ultimately leads to the 2015 Future Generations Act (and which has not been deeply researched) and public service reform.