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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
Resolved: to appoint Councillor Cheryl Carlisle as the Vice-Chair of the Conwy and Denbighshire Public Services Board Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 municipal years.
Resolved: that the minutes of the Conwy and Denbighshire Public Services Board Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 18 October 2024 be approved as a true and correct record of the proceedings. No matters were raised in relation to the contents of the minutes.
Resolved: subject to the above, to receive and acknowledge the Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales’ contribution and commitment to the work of the Conwy and Denbighshire Public Services Board and the benefits to the Commissioner of being an invited participant on the Public Services Board.
Resolved: subject to the reporting back to the Public Services Board of the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s observations and suggestions as outlined above, to receive the Conwy and Denbighshire’s Public Services Board’s Annual Report for 2024 to 2025.
Resolved: subject to the above to receive the Conwy and Denbighshire Public Services Board’s Risk Register as revised in April 2025, acknowledging the key changes made and the rationale behind the amendments.
Resolved: (i) subject to invitations being extended to the above-named partner organisations to attend the October 2025 and March 2026 meetings, to approve the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s forward work programme; and (ii) that in future arrangements are made to hold a pre-meeting preparatory session for the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the purpose of determining potential lines of enquiry.
As per the Conwy and Denbighshire Public Services Board Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s (JOSC) Terms of Reference a nomination for Chair for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 municipal years was sought from amongst Denbighshire County Council’s representatives on the JOSC. Councillor Gareth Sandilands was proposed and seconded. No other nomination was received. The JOSC therefore unanimously: Resolved: to appoint Councillor Gareth Sandilands as the Chair of the Conwy and Denbighshire Public Services Board Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 municipal years.
Decision as recorded
Resolved: to appoint Councillor Cheryl Carlisle as the Vice-Chair of the Conwy and Denbighshire Public Services Board Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 municipal years.
Furthermore, and in accordance with the JOSC’s Terms of Reference, a nomination for a Vice-Chair for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 municipal years was sought from amongst Conwy County Borough Council’s representatives on the JOSC. Councillor Cheryl Carlisle was proposed and seconded. No other nomination was received. The JOSC therefore unanimously: Resolved: to appoint Councillor Cheryl Carlisle as the Vice-Chair of the Conwy and Denbighshire Public Services Board Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 municipal years.
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Cheryl Carlisle, Pauline Edwards, Paul Keddie, Bernice McLoughlin, Will Price, Kay Redhead, Austin Roberts, and John Roberts.
No members declared any interests of a personal, or personal and prejudicial nature, in any of the business items listed for discussion.
No matters of an urgent nature had been drawn to the Chair or to officers’ attention ahead of the meeting.
Decision as recorded
Resolved: that the minutes of the Conwy and Denbighshire Public Services Board Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 18 October 2024 be approved as a true and correct record of the proceedings. No matters were raised in relation to the contents of the minutes.
The minutes of the Conwy and Denbighshire Public Services Board Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 18 October 2024 were submitted for approval. The JOSC: Resolved: that the minutes of the Conwy and Denbighshire Public Services Board Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 18 October 2024 be approved as a true and correct record of the proceedings. No matters were raised in relation to the contents of the minutes.
Decision as recorded
Resolved: subject to the above, to receive and acknowledge the Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales’ contribution and commitment to the work of the Conwy and Denbighshire Public Services Board and the benefits to the Commissioner of being an invited participant on the Public Services Board.
The Chair welcomed Mr Andy Dunbobbin, the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for North Wales, to the meeting to discuss with the Committee the PCC’s contribution and commitment to the work of the Public Services Board (PSB), along with the benefits to the PCC of being an invited participant on the PSB. During his introduction, the PCC advised that being an invited participant on the PSB gave the Commissioner an insight into the work of the PSB and an opportunity to share his priorities, a number of which were similar to those of the PSB. It also provided both the Commissioner and the PSB with an insight into the long-term thinking of both organisations and an opportunity to share and develop innovative ideas and solutions for the delivery of public services. Reference was made to ‘North Wales without Violence’, the regional Serious Violence Response Strategy launched in March 2024 under the auspices of the Safer North Wales Partnership Board, with input from the six local authorities in the region, the Health Board, North Wales Police and the Fire and Rescue Service, as well as HM Prison and Probation Service. The objective of this specific Strategy was to prevent and reduce incidents of all forms of serious violence. Its production, publication and implementation illustrated the benefits of having effective networking and partnership working arrangements across the region. In his role as the PCC, he attended meetings of various regional boards and found them both informative and useful to him in his role. Whilst the PCC was an ‘invited participant’ rather than a ‘statutory member’ of the PSB, he still felt that this position was beneficial and influential as it provided him with an opportunity to network with other public service organisations, promote the work of the PCC amongst other public organisations, and assisted in ensuring that they were all contributing towards the safety, cohesion, and the health and well-being of residents and communities across the region. As part of his introduction the PCC gave an overview of his work in holding the Chief Constable and the North Wales Police Service to account. He also outlined the role of the Police and Crime Panel in scrutinising his work and achievements as PCC. Reference was made to some specific projects which the PCC had been involved with in both Conwy and Denbighshire, such as the installation and upgrading of CCTV systems, community safety and anti-social behaviour (ASB) initiatives in the Llandudno area which included working with local hoteliers, and the ‘Clear-Hold-Build Programme’ in Rhyl which had resulted in a 14% reduction in crime levels in the Rhyl West area. Responding to members’ questions the PCC: · encouraged members to report incidents such as non-compliance with the 20 mile per hour (mph) speed limit, parking breaches, dangerous driving etc. to their local Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) to enable the Police Service to target their traffic surveillance and enforcement work at problem areas. Any other non-emergency criminal activity should be reported via the 101-telephone number service, or Crimestoppers if the person reporting an incident wished to remain anonymous. All emergency incidents should always be reported via the 999 service. · confirmed that in his view the existence of the PSB and other regional and sub-regional boards had forged strong partnerships and fostered good working relationships between a number of different organisations. The North Wales Strategic Chairs of Chairs Meeting (NWSCCM) aimed to ensure that all organisations’ priorities dovetailed and supported each other. NWSCCM also had a role to play in avoiding the duplication of work across all boards. · advised that his 4-year Police and Crime Plan 2025-2028 outlined the PCC’s priorities for his term of office – this included neighbourhood policing presence; supporting victims, communities, and businesses; and a fair and effective criminal justice system. All of these priorities were aimed at improving outcomes for all residents and businesses, whether they lived in urban or rural areas, including areas of deprivation. The Police Service’s Delivery Plan was the operational plan which was aimed at fulfilling the Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan. · advised that the UK Government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee had promised more visible policing. Neighbourhood policing formed a cornerstone of the PCC’s Plan. · confirmed that the PCC also had specific financial resources available to award grant funding to various initiatives established to try and engage young people and other residents in community activities with the aim of reducing anti-social behaviour and instilling in people a sense of pride in the communities where they lived e.g. Pride in your Place initiative, ‘Our Rhyl’ project, local boxing and cycling clubs etc. The Summer Sports Fund had proved extremely popular with 87 applications for funding received across the region this year. · concurred with members that a number of the PSB’s priorities and those of the local authorities would have an impact on the PCC’s priorities. For example, economic development and increasing the area’s prosperity should have a positive impact on crime levels. · advised that the delivery of the PCC’s Police and Crime Plan was monitored at the quarterly Strategic Executive Board meeting held with the Police. The performance against its delivery was also reported on a regular basis to the Police and Crime Panel. In his role as PCC, he expected the Police Service to perform to their best every day of the week. Whilst his role was to hold the Chief Constable and the Police Service to account the Police and Crime Panel held him to account · confirmed that recruitment and retention of operational police officers could at times be challenging, but the Service was continually actively recruiting at all levels. North Wales Police had just over 3,000 officers to cover the entire North Wales area. The recent ‘Uplift Programme’ encouraging Special Constables and PCSOs to apply to become serving Police officers had been successful. However, its success had led to financial pressures in recruiting replacement staff to cover Special Constable and PCSO roles. A lot of work had also been undertaken by the Chief Constable in an attempt to retain Police staff under the ‘Say and Stay’ initiative. · advised that the Service’s dedicated Rural Crime Team were very much appreciated by the rural communities and regularly attended local shows and events to engage with the rural communities. The value of their work had been highlighted by the farming unions at the Royal Welsh Show earlier in the week. · confirmed that North Wales Police had a process in place for managing unauthorised Gypsy and Traveller encampments. They had monitoring arrangements in place with neighbouring forces, such as Cheshire and West Mercia, which alerted them to potential traveller movements. This enabled them to manage and plan resources effectively. Members were encouraged to contact the Police if they became aware of illegal encampments or problems caused by them. · advised that crime levels in North Wales during recent years were on a downward trajectory. The biggest concern at present was serious organised crime, which was an extremely complex and resource intensive area of work. The Chair thanked the Commissioner for attending and for providing comprehensive answers to members’ questions. The Committee: Resolved: subject to the above, to receive and acknowledge the Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales’ contribution and commitment to the work of the Conwy and Denbighshire Public Services Board and the benefits to the Commissioner of being an invited participant on the Public Services Board.
Decision as recorded
Resolved: subject to the reporting back to the Public Services Board of the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s observations and suggestions as outlined above, to receive the Conwy and Denbighshire’s Public Services Board’s Annual Report for 2024 to 2025.
The Chair of the Public Services Board (PSB), Councillor Jason McLellan, presented the PSB’s Annual Report for 2024/25 (previously circulated) to the Committee. He explained that it was a statutory responsibility for the PSB to prepare and publish an annual report. The PSB was also legally bound to submit a copy of its Annual Report to the designated local government scrutiny committee to enable it to fulfil its statutory obligations. During his introduction, the Chair of the PSB thanked all partner organisations for their work in progressing the delivery of the PSB’s Well-being Plan 2023 – 2028. The Plan had four key themes or priorities – Well-being, Economy, Equality and Housing. In delivering each of these themes PSB partner organisations applied nine principles, all of which were detailed in the report. During 2024/25 the Board had focussed its work on where and how it could make the greatest, more meaningful impact on people’s lives. In line with this objective, it had used different, more creative methods such as art and photography for engaging with communities on potential projects. It had continued to receive regular progress updates on the work led by the Health Board on the Healthy Travel Charter and Public Health Wales (PHW) on the Sharing Places Wales project. During the year, the PSB agreed to facilitate and support the implementation of the national social prescribing framework for Wales. It also considered food security and committed to work with the Corporate Joint Committee (CJC) Ambition North Wales and others to play its part when partner understanding of the present landscape became clearer. Internally, the Board had been proactive in addressing governance issues such as quorum at meetings in order to avoid delays in decisions being ratified which could potentially impact on the delivery of the PSB’s priorities. Whole systems thinking and data interrogation methods had been further explored with a view to supporting the development of the PSB’s forward work programme. Amongst the areas of focus for the PSB during 2025-26 would be the effective management of funds, adding value to partnership working to avoid duplication and to co-devise concepts and ideas, and exploring the potential benefits of a regional PSB. Responding to members’ questions the Chair of the PSB and officers: · confirmed that the £104k North Wales PSB Support Grant was a regional fund which had to be spent to the mutual benefit of all three North Wales PSBs. That PSB officers worked with each other and members to explore and agree how to deliver maximum benefit through the delivery of PSB statutory duties, such as delivering Well-being Assessments. Strengthening community involvement and engagement was a cross-cutting focus of all activities that were central to the funding. · concurred with Committee members that the ever-increasing demand for access to foodbanks was a sad reflection of the current economic climate. The PSB’s food security workstream was currently exploring how to improve access to healthy food options with local authority-led food partnerships already working with foodbanks. The intention of this work was to support people to access healthy food in a way that was resilient to expected shocks including educating people on how to have a healthy relationship with food, supporting increased access to growing spaces for fruit and vegetables, and working with farmers and food producers to strengthen local food supply chains. It was noted the Coop was currently undertaking a study on ultra processed foods. · advised that among other initiatives in the county, the Kaleidoscope Drug and Alcohol Service in Rhyl was currently undertaking pilots supporting individuals to have a healthy relationship with food and on food preparation. · advised that the Agri-food and Tourism Programme of the Ambition North Wales CJC had previously worked with Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, Welsh Government and the six local authorities to undertake an assessment of the scale of supply and demand for food across the region with the aim of identifying key barriers and enablers for the development of stronger regional and local food systems. · informed members that the Future Generations Commissioner, had made four recommendations in relation to the PSB’s work on food security. Plans were well underway within PSB member organisations to respond to those recommendations by the statutory deadline of 31st October 2025. Whilst acknowledging the work underway with foodbanks and other support agencies in relation to healthy eating the Committee had concerns that some individuals e.g. the homeless would not have the facilities needed to prepare healthy meals and food received from the Foodbanks. Members therefore felt that consideration needed to be given to the types of healthy food that may be available to certain groups at foodbanks, including whether vouchers could be provided for certain foods e.g. fruit and vegetables, and fresh milk. The Chair and officers undertook to report back to the PSB on the Committee’s observations on this matter and explore what further work could be undertaken. At the conclusion of the discussion the Committee Chair thanked the Chair of the PSB and officers for presenting the report and answering members’ questions. the Committee: Resolved: subject to the reporting back to the Public Services Board of the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s observations and suggestions as outlined above, to receive the Conwy and Denbighshire’s Public Services Board’s Annual Report for 2024 to 2025.
Decision as recorded
Resolved: subject to the above to receive the Conwy and Denbighshire Public Services Board’s Risk Register as revised in April 2025, acknowledging the key changes made and the rationale behind the amendments.
The Chair of the PSB introduced the report (previously circulated) which presented the revised, April 2025, version of the PSB’s Risk Register and outlined the measures in place to manage the identified risks. The latest review of the risk register had resulted in one risk (PSB 5) being reprofiled and rescored in order to encompass a broad range of emergency events, rather than focus solely on Covid-19, and a new risk (PSB 7) added around the capacity of the PSB to meet its statutory obligation to publish an updated Well-being Assessment for Conwy and Denbighshire by May 2027. Risk PSB 5 had been reprofiled based on the lessons learnt from the Bryn Cowlyd Water Treatment Works incident in early 2025, whilst PSB 7 had been identified as a new risk given the continual financial and resource pressures faced by all public service organisations who were members of the PSB. In response to members questions raised in relation to risk PSB 5 the Chair of the PSB confirmed that the Board had recently met with representatives from the North Wales Counties Regional Emergency Planning Service (NWC - REPS) to examine in detail the plans and procedures in place to deal with emergency situations. Emergency Planning work was governed by legislation set out in the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. This framework set out the roles and responsibilities of various organisation, including local authorities and emergency services, when preparing and responding to emergencies. This work was planned and co-ordinated by the Local Resilience Forum (LRF). The PSB had recently received a presentation by NWC - REPS which had reassured the Board that robust processes were in place to deal with emergency situations as and when they arose. At the conclusion of the discussion the Committee: Resolved: subject to the above to receive the Conwy and Denbighshire Public Services Board’s Risk Register as revised in April 2025, acknowledging the key changes made and the rationale behind the amendments.
Decision as recorded
Resolved: (i) subject to invitations being extended to the above-named partner organisations to attend the October 2025 and March 2026 meetings, to approve the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s forward work programme; and (ii) that in future arrangements are made to hold a pre-meeting preparatory session for the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the purpose of determining potential lines of enquiry.
The Scrutiny and Committee Services Officer (CCBC) introduced the JOSC’s draft forward work programme (previously circulated) and sought the Committee’s suggestions for items to include on the forward work programme for the forthcoming meetings. Members suggested that representatives from Community and Voluntary Support Conwy (CVSC) and Denbighshire’s Voluntary Services (DVSC) be invited to attend the JOSC’s next meeting in October 2025 to discuss their contribution to the work of the PSB and the benefits to them of being an invited participant on the PSB. In addition, it was suggested that an invitation be extended to North Wales Police and the National Probation Service to attend the meeting in March 2026 for this standing item. The Chair also suggested that it would be beneficial to hold a pre-meeting briefing session for the JOSC ahead of the scheduled meeting with a view to devising lines of questioning for the formal meeting. The Committee: Resolved: (i) subject to invitations being extended to the above-named partner organisations to attend the October 2025 and March 2026 meetings, to approve the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s forward work programme; and (ii) that in future arrangements are made to hold a pre-meeting preparatory session for the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the purpose of determining potential lines of enquiry.
The following document was submitted for members’ information: (i) Minutes of the Public Services Board meeting held on 8 April 2025 The information item was noted. Prior to bringing the meeting to a close as this was Dawn Hughes, CCBC’s Scrutiny and Committee Services Officer’s last meeting of the JOSC before her retirement, the Chair on behalf of all JOSC members thanked her for her commitment and support to members and the work of the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee ever since its establishment and wished her well in her retirement.
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