Venue: By Zoom. View directions
Contact: Wyn Richards, Scrutiny Manager and Head of Democratic Services Email: wyn.richards@powys.gov.uk
No. | Item | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apologies To receive apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from County Councillors D Evans and L Corfield. |
|||||
Disclosures of Interest To receive any disclosures of interests by Members relating to items to be considered at the meeting. Minutes: County Councillor J Pugh declared a personal but non-prejudicial interest in item 4 (Child Poverty in Powys) as one of his businesses related to property letting. |
|||||
Declaration of Party Whips To receive disclosures of prohibited party whips which a Member has been given in relation to the meeting in accordance with Section 78(3) of the Local Government Measure 2011.
(NB: Members are reminded that under Section 78 Members having been given a prohibited party whip cannot vote on a matter before the Committee.) Minutes: The Committee did not receive any disclosures of prohibited party whips which a Member has been given in relation to the meeting in accordance with Section 78(3) of the Local Government Measure 2011. |
|||||
Child Poverty in Powys PDF 2 MB To receive and consider the following:
(i) A report prepared by the Business Analytics and Research Unit in relation to child poverty in Powys.
(ii) A presentation by Ellie Harwood (Child Poverty Action Group).
(iii) The results of a survey commissioned by the Chair of the Committee.
As background information below is a link to the End Child Poverty Website which reviewed child poverty comparing 2014/15 and 2019/20.
Child poverty in your area 2014/15 – 2019/20 – End Child Poverty
The interactive map at the end of this page will show the position for Powys.
In addition, below is a link to the Frequently Asked Questions which explains the information used for the research.
FAQ on local child poverty research – End Child Poverty
Additional documents: Minutes: Documents Considered: · Poverty – Children and Young People in Powys – Report by the business Analytics and Research Unit. · Presentation – Addressing Child Poverty in Powys – Ellie Harwood, Child Poverty Action Group. · Child Poverty in Powys – Council Survey conducted between 12 to 30 August 2021.
Issues Discussed: · There is evidence from the UK Coalition to end child poverty that once housing costs taken into account there is increasing child poverty in Powys. There are measures in the Corporate Improvement Plan and the question for scrutiny is whether the Council is doing enough or could be doing something differently. · There are other determinants of poverty which link to other agencies which the Council works with through the Public Service Board.
Presentation - Ellie Harwood – Child Poverty Action Group. · The Group is the leading charity campaigning to end child poverty in the UK. The Group is also part of the UK Coalition, which is committed to ending child poverty. · The presentation is around defining and measuring Poverty, causes of poverty and how people can get out of poverty, child poverty trends and forecasting, and best practice examples. · The standard technical definition for poverty used by governments is based on the distribution of all incomes across the UK, and identifying the median (half way point) of all incomes. The poverty line (after housing costs) is 60% below the median line. This means that 14m people in the UK live in households below the poverty line. For Wales this is 23% of the Welsh population, that is 700,000 people of which 195,000 are children. · A minimum income standard is also used which identifies the minimum amount of money each type of household needs to participate in society, each a healthy diet, afford to heat homes properly, travel to work and basic costs of living. When a minimum income standard is used it sets a slightly higher line than the technical poverty line. · Whichever method is used there are a significant number of people in Wales living below the poverty line and children are the group in the Welsh population that are most at risk. The poverty line also moves depending on the type of household as differing compositions of households require a different level of minimum income to achieve a standard of living. · Child Poverty is relative, dynamic, scarring, often hidden, and possible to solve. It is also not static as in a given year one third of people leave poverty and another third enter into poverty. The nature of poverty and approaches to solving it have also changed over the last ten years. · Mitigating policy decisions for elderly people has meant that lesser numbers of older people are now living in poverty. · Common events ... view the full minutes text for item 4. |
|||||
Leadership and Apprenticeships PDF 463 KB To receive and consider a presentation by Paul Bradshaw (Head of Service) and Lynne Griffin, Workforce and Organisational Development.
Minutes: Documents Considered: · Presentation.
Issues Discussed: · A large range of Apprenticeships and Leadership opportunities are offered by the Council. · Existing members of staff can undertake apprenticeships. · Apprenticeships are at no cost to the learner or the Council, with funding provided to the Council for the cost of the training provided for the apprentice. · Since January 2020, 18 apprenticeship positions were advertised with 6 in the past month. There are currently 15 apprentices and 15 career graded apprentices in post. 162 staff care currently undertaking apprenticeship training programmes to allow upskilling and personal development. · Kickstart placements have not progressed as much as hoped at present. This is a new government initiative specifically for people on universal credit and between the ages of 16 and 24. The Council is working with other bodies such as the Health Board to provide more opportunities. The Council has 19 places available and currently only had one referral from the DWP (Department for Work and Pensions). · The majority of fixed term apprenticeships do lead to permanent appointments with the Council. · The target is that by March 2024 the Council will have appointed an additional 27 apprentices as part of a new programme commencing in 2021-22. The 2021-22 target is ten and the Quarter 1 target is 2.5. Six new apprentices have been appointed in Quarter 1. · The Council is aiming to encourage 40 learners to start the programmes this year. The annual target is 40 learners. The progress in Quarter 1 is 3 learners.
· Questions:
|
|||||
To receive and consider a presentation from Ashley Collins, Senior Manager – Waste and Recycling Services. Minutes: Documents Considered: · Presentation
Issues Discussed: · The presentation shows the data collected to monitor progress towards achieving the statutory Welsh Government recycling targets. When data is compiled, projections are made on a worst case scenario so that the Council does not become complacent in term of target rates. The monthly recycling rate can fluctuate considerably due to the levels of recycling which the Council has collected during a month. · The recycling statistics are reported to Natural Resources Wales. There was a reporting error in 2019/20 which meant that the Council did not achieve its target of 64% but procedures are now in place to ensure that such an error does not occur again.
· Questions:
|
|||||
Scrutiny Work Programme To note that future meetings of the Committee are scheduled as follows:
Minutes: The Committee noted the dates of forthcoming meetings and that a separate meeting was to be held to consider future work programming.
|