ECPN CymruStatus – Final

Briefing Paper – Public Service Boards’ responses to Child Poverty in local Draft Wellbeing Plans

ContextThe Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 (‘Act’) made consequential amendments to sections of Part 1 of the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010 and brought in new arrangements for public bodies to report against existing duties to tackle child poverty. The Act also established Public Service Boards (PSBs) as statutory local partnership bodies required to undertake wellbeing assessment and develop wellbeing plans. These Plans became the new vehicle for public bodies to collectively discharge the child poverty duty under the Act as a function of the PSBs. The Welsh Government has stated that well-being plans are intended to provide a more holistic, citizen focused approach to the planning and delivery of public services in Wales. Well-being plans are expected to include local objectives to improve the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing of individuals, groups and communities, including those who are vulnerable or disadvantaged

Wellbeing AssessmentsOn behalf of the ECPN Cymru, Children in Wales undertook an overview of the Wellbeing Assessments which were released for consultation in the first half of 2017. From the Assessments, PSB established local objectives for their areas, based on the National Wellbeing Goals, as set out in the Act.

Twenty Well-being Assessment were published, with Denbighshire and Conwy producing a joint Assessment and one under the Cym Taf banner, covering RCT and Merthyr Tydfil. The length, presentation, structure, depth of analysis and quality of the Assessments was very diverse. The longest was 642 pages and the shortest was 22 pages. This is not necessarily a representation of the quality of the content, as some used a variety of Infographics to convey information.

The highest number of references (in relation to the number of pages in the Assessment) to children and young people come from Carmarthenshire, Conwy & Denbighshire, Flint, Powys and Swansea.  Cardiff, Wrexham and Cwm Taf had the lowest.  For references to poverty, the highest were Swansea and Carmarthenshire and the lowest were Neath Port Talbot, Blaenau Gwent and Ceredigion

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All assessments give percentages of children living in poverty in their area, although different measures were used including WIMD, entitlement to Free School Meals and HBAI, babies’ birth weights, etc. It was sometimes difficult to extrapolate what information has come from where and different statistics quoted for the same measure in different parts of the assessment.

All, except one, discussed child poverty at some level; seven Assessments has sub-sections on Tackling Poverty, Deprivation or Inequality which included child poverty. Poverty was included under different headings in Assessments – Economic, Social and Community. All assessments make reference to ACEs and their impact but in most cases no local data was available, except a few which quotes figures for domestic violence and alcohol/drug statistics. Three Assessments made no reference to the Wales Index of Multiple Deprivation.

The Future Generations Commissioner commissioned and have since published a detailed Overview Report with 17 recommendations alongside individual feedback to each of the PSB’s on their well-being assessments

Draft Well-being PlansNineteen draft Well-being Plans were produced by Public Service Boards. Six PSBs produced joint draft Plans. Ten Plans have specific objectives is relation to giving children the best start in life and 5 Plans had specific objectives on poverty and inequality.

The intention of this briefing is to give a flavour of what each Plan says about child poverty. The differences between the Plans; length, layout and focuses made it challenging to give details or in depth analyses of them. Members should refer to the individual plans themselves to gain more detail and insight of where child poverty sits within a particular local plan.

General observationsMany of the draft Plans give quite detailed accounts of what needs to happen to achieve their objectives but lack detail on how they will be achieved. This could be explained by the following except from Torfaen’s draft Well-being Plan:

“We have taken advice from the Future Generations Commissioner on the development of these objectives, in particular the importance of not rushing to solutions when deciding the collective steps we need to take to achieve our well-being objectives. As a result we have purposely kept the plan high level in some places to give us time to build our understanding. Our rationale is that these are big issues that will take longer to research and really understand what actions will be effective”.

Excerpt from Torfaen Draft Well-being Plan

All of the draft Plans have had a three month consultation period and residents have been invited to comment on the plans and give suggestions on what the Final Plan should look like. Most Plans cover a five year period up to 2023 but some extend beyond that to achieving long term objectives up to 2040.

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A word search was carried out on each Wellbeing Plan using search terms ‘child’ (to include childhood and children), ‘young people’, ‘poverty’, ‘deprivation’, ‘disadvantage’ and ‘inequality’ Child and young people were grouped together and poverty related words were grouped together under ‘poverty’, to give an overall total of the number of times child/young people and poverty were found within the report. Where a Plan made limited references to children and young people (relative to the length of the Plan) a further search was done to identify references to ‘education’ and ‘school’. Where this is done, it is stated in the narrative for that particular Plan. A table is attached at Appendix 1, giving the number of times keywords were mentioned in each Plan.

As with the Wellbeing Assessments, the length, presentation and level of detail within the Plans varied enormously and this paper is a minimal overview of how each Public Service Board has addressed the issue of child poverty within the draft Plan.

Blaenau Gwent References to CYP – 70 and Poverty/Deprivation – 12

Blaenau Gwent’s Wellbeing Plan has identified 5 well-being objectives to pursue: Everyone to have the best start in life Safe and friendly communities Look after and protect the natural environment Forge new pathways to prosperity Encourage people to make healthy lifestyle choices

In relation to children and young people, the Plan states ‘Blaenau Gwent wants to ensure the early years of future generations are healthy, happy, free from harm and ready to succeed. The Plan goes on to give comprehensive examples of the type of activities they could undertake to achieve this.

This section of the Plan goes on to state: “Ensuring everyone has the best start in life has the potential to bring wide benefits to other areas of well-being. For example, children, young people and families will be more economically and socially resilient and will be able to effectively contribute to the culture and vibrancy of the area. Investing in early years will lead to safer, more confident communities who utilise their environments to explore, develop and learn.”

In relation to poverty/deprivation, the Blaenau Gwent Plan states that they want to forge new pathways to prosperity and for BG to be a place where people thrive and achieve their full learning and lifelong potential.

For each objective the Plan illustrates what steps could be taken to achieve them, including: Delivery of the 1st 1000 Day Programme Support the development of existing early years interventions Development of an ‘early year’s road-map’ Development of Well-being Hubs

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Consider anti-poverty initiatives Taking forward the Happy Communities project to assess children, young people and

families levels of well-being Addressing in-work poverty Making use of developments in technology Capitalising on Blaenau Gwent’s existing assets.

There is no reference to children’s rights in the Plan.

BridgendReferences to: CYP – 36 and Poverty/Deprivation – 1

The Bridgend Wellbeing Plan has 4 overarching Wellbeing Objectives, the first of which is a 10 year aim that every child and family in Bridgend will benefit from integrated services that support their development in early years, to give them the ‘best start in life’. They list a number of steps they will take to achieve this, including supporting parents and children in the first 1000 days of life, addressing adverse childhood experiences and developing information systems that will benefit families and front-line staff across the public and third sectors.

Although there was only one reference to poverty/deprivation in the draft Plan, their Wellbeing Objective 3 addressed ‘social and economic inequalities’ and included a reference to tackling in-work poverty.

They have 2 priorities from this Objective: Maximise the health and wellbeing of the Bridgend workforce and work together on

improving the health and wellbeing of staff, and see wider benefits for their families and communities.

Improve the skills level of the workforce in Bridgend to reduce economic inequality; increase the opportunities for apprenticeships across PSB partners and improve skill levels.

There is no reference to children’s rights in the plan.

CaerphillyReferences to: CYP – 17 and Poverty/Deprivation - 1

‘The Caerphilly We Want’ draft Wellbeing Plan states that “ Understanding the horizons, the experiences, and concerns of children and young people is potentially the most useful lens through which to shape activity in relation to future generations.”

The Plan identifies 4 overarching Objectives:

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Positive Change – A shared commitment to cross-sectoral change Positive Start – Giving our future generations the best start in life - including investing in

the early years to build resilience across the life course and improve outcomes for current and future generations and create an ACE informed Caerphilly county borough to enable collaborative strategic action that can reduce and prevent ACEs

Positive People – Empowering and enabling all our residents to achieve their own potential

Positive Places - Enabling our communities to be resilient and sustainable - Support our most disadvantaged communities to be resilient, cohesive and enable them to help themselves; provide primary and community health services closer to home.

There is no reference to children’s rights in the Plan.

CardiffReferences to CYP – 83 and Poverty/Deprivation – 50

Cardiff draft Wellbeing Plan has 7 Wellbeing Objectives, two of which are relevant to Child Poverty:

Well-being Objective 4 - Cardiff is a great place to grow up

Under this Objective the PSB will: Adopt a Child’s Rights approach to public services and work towards becoming a UNICEF

‘Child Friendly City.’ Adopt a ‘Think Family’ approach by public services which are joined up. Develop a joined up approach to the first 1000 days of a child’s life Develop placed-based approaches to integrating public services for children and families in

the city’s most deprived communities Develop innovative approaches to identifying those at risk of Adverse Childhood experiences

(ACEs), putting in place multi-agency response to support children and families before they reach crisis point.

Work with communities and across partners in the public and private sector to tackle Child Sexual Exploitation.

Improve mental health and emotional well-being for young people by deliver an integrated approach to Children and Young People Emotional and Mental Health Support.

Support young disabled people and their families through the delivery of the Disabilities Future programme.

Make sure young people are prepared for and given opportunities to participate in the world of work through delivery of the ‘Cardiff Commitment’, in partnership with the private and third sector.

Well-being Objective 5 - Supporting people out of poverty

Cardiff PSB will:

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Aim to provide more well-paid jobs in Cardiff through acting as an advocate for the Real Living Wage initiative across the public, private and third sector employers, and including its consideration in commissioning and funding decisions.

Support people who are adversely affected by welfare reform by providing an integrated approach, locally delivered in Community and Well-being Hubs.

Develop an integrated approach to employment services in Cardiff, helping people to find work, stay in work and progress at work, working in partnership with Welsh Government, DWP and training providers.

Ensure that the Welsh Government’s flagship anti-poverty programmes (Communities First Exit Plans, Families First, Flying Start and Supporting People) are designed and delivered in a co-ordinated way.

Seek to end rough sleeping in the city and tackle the causes of homelessness. Seek to increase the impact of public services as anchor employers on tackling poverty and

promoting ‘fair work’ practices by developing cross-public service approaches to ‘Social Responsibility’, ‘Community Benefits’ and ‘Ethical Employment’.

Support a city wide Food Partnership to ensure citizens have access to sustainable, healthy and affordable food, including the continued roll out of the school holiday enrichment programme.

Undertake additional research on how best to tackle health inequalities and reduce the healthy life expectancy gap.

Work to support delivery of Cardiff’s Sport and Physical Activity Strategy to increase participation of current and future generations in sport and physical activities, particularly in our city’s most deprived communities.

There is reference made to children’s rights in the Plan.

CarmarthenshireReferences to CPY – 7 and Poverty/Deprivation – 8

Carmarthenshire’s Draft Well-being Plan has four objectives:

Healthy Habits - People have a good quality of life, and make healthy choices about their lives and environment

Early Intervention - To make sure that people have the right help at the right time; as and when they need it

Strong Connections - Strongly connected people, places and organisations that are able to adapt to change

Prosperous People and Places - To maximise opportunities for people and places in both urban and rural parts of our county

There were minimal references to children/young people within the Plan: Consultation exercise undertaken in Assessment with children and young people Childhood obesity

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Reducing incidents of arson

Because of this a further search was carried out on the keywords ‘education’ and ‘school’ with the following result, found in the objective for Prosperous People and Places:

Goal: Understand the employment needs, expectations and trends for Carmarthenshire in order to better align the educational curriculum, other support and training to enable individuals to develop skills for life. This will include PSB partners developing opportunities for work experience, apprenticeships, fast tracked training etc.

References to poverty/deprivation identified that 1 in 3 households are living in poverty, the majority in rural areas. Urban centres also face significant challenges, with several communities experiencing generational poverty. Those living in rural poverty face additional challenges of fuel poverty and are subject to the poverty premium.

In the long term, the people of Carmarthenshire will be economically prosperous and thriving wherever they live in the county. Respondents to the consultation are asked what they think the long term actions will need to be to meet this objective (7-20 years).

There is no reference to children’s rights in the Plan.

CeredigionReferences to CYP – 24 and Poverty/Deprivation – 2

Ceredigion’s 6 well-being aims are centred on ‘Community Resilience’ and ‘Individual Resilience’.

They include: Enable communities to become prosperous, sustainable and connected by supporting the

transformation of economic prospects Create conditions for communities to support individuals from all backgrounds to live

fulfilling, independent lives Enable every child to have the best start in life - Support parental preparedness through

early intervention, overcome inequalities and promote holistic learning

For each well-being aim there are short, medium and long term actions needed to achieve the aim. For example, under enable every child to have the best start in life includes:Short Term - Undertake a scoping exercise to investigate the benefits of co-location and integration of front line services with an initial focus on the early years, working towards a county wide model of best practice.Medium Term - Provide a Ceredigion model of childcare in the workplace, delivered through PSB partners in the first instance and then shared with employers across the county.Long Term - Ensure universal services are well-resourced and used by all.Along with each action a rationale is given as to why that particular action was chosen and how the action will be delivered.

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Within the Draft Well-being Plan, there is one reference to poverty under ‘Tackling Inequalities’ and one reference to deprivation as a headline statement at the beginning of the plan, that ‘13% live in material deprivation’.

There is no reference to children’s rights in the Plan.

Conwy & Denbighshire References to: CYP - 25 and Poverty - 6

Conwy and Denbighshire have joined together to form a single Public Service Board for the two counties.

Their Draft Well-being Plan focuses of 4 objectives: Cultural well-being Economic well-being Environmental well-being Social well-being

From these objectives they have developed 6 priority areas: The First 1,000 days of life Promoting community hubs Promoting mental well-being for all ages Promoting resilience in older people Promoting environmental resilience Raising resilient and aspirational young people

If focus was given to the First 1000 Days priority, the outcomes could be: The best possible outcome for every pregnancy Children across the region achieving their developmental milestones Children growing up in stable and healthy families Fewer children exposed to or harmed by ACEs.

If focus was given to the priority of raising resilient and aspirational young people, the following could be achieved:

Communities that meet the needs of all ages Creating a more balanced age profile Support young people’s well-being, aspiration, resilience and ‘life skills’ More job opportunities and support to start-up their own businesses Create centres of excellence helping young people excel and move to the area Work together with universities and higher education to give more opportunities Enable young people to get on the property ladder Reduce educational inequalities.

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The Plan identifies that 7,600 people in Conwy and Denbighshire are affected by fuel poverty and the 30-31% of children live in poverty across the two counties.

There are no references to children’s rights in the Draft Well-being Plan.

The Plan states that action plans for chosen priorities will be developed through focus groups.

Cwm TafReferences to CYP – 49 and Poverty - 17

Cwm Taf’s Wellbeing Plan is written around 3 draft Wellbeing Objectives:

To promote safe, confident, strong, and thriving communities improving the well-being of residents and visitors and building on our community assets.

To help people live long and healthy lives and overcome any challenges. To grow a strong local economy with sustainable transport that attracts people to live, work

and play in Cwm Taf.

The Plan uses the Assets and Challenges model of well-being (Dodge et al, 2012) and draws on information from other Assessments undertaken in the County, eg the Population Needs Assessment and the Community Safety Strategic Assessment.

The Plan discusses each draft Wellbeing Objective and how it was informed by the Wellbeing Assessments. It then sets out how the Objective could be achieved through actions in the short term (up to 5 years), medium term (5-10 years) and long term (10-30 years). For example, Draft Objective 1 discusses ACEs and the need for prevention and minimising the impact of ACEs. Actions they could take to achieve this are set out as short term - develop Community Zones as an area or place based approach focussing support to improve outcomes for people experiencing ‘the greatest challenges’. The approach would be initially targeted at communities in Gurnos and Upper Rhondda Fach.

Community Zones are also mentioned in Draft Objective 2, as being key to this objective, particularly in relation to the First 1000 Days.

Short term actions for Draft Objective 3 include: Deliver regeneration in areas covered by the Metro. Developing community transport projects across the Valleys. New employability programmes, to include providing a gateway to skills, experience,

qualifications and employment, supported by Community Zones and the anti-poverty programmes of the Welsh Government, along with higher and further education.

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The Plan includes an appended Logic Model flowchart showing the development of the well-being objectives, considering assets, challenges and outcomes. There were also mentions of rural poverty and fuel poverty.

There is no reference to children’s rights in the Plan

FlintshireReferences to CYP – 11 and Poverty/Deprivation – 1

Flintshire’s draft Draft Well-being Plan is focused on 5 priorities: Community Safety Skills and Economy Environment Resilient Communities Well-being and Independent Living

The Plan considers the rationale, evidence, commitment, actions and impact for each priority area.

Children and young people are mentioned Community Safety, in relation to child sexual exploitation, violence against women and ACEs; Well-being and Independent Living, in relation to the needs of looked after children and the implementation of an Early Help Hub. There is one reference to reducing in-work poverty in the Skills and Economy section.

A further search was undertake on the keywords ‘education’ and ‘schools’ with the following results:

In Skills and Economy - Work with the Careers Service, schools, further and higher education, and employers to give young people the widest range of career options to help meet the needs of employers for recruitment.

In Environment - Number of people using the outdoors for exercising, volunteering or educational purposes increased, resulting in benefits in mental and physical health and stronger community and family cohesion

There is no reference to children’s rights in the Plan.

Gwynedd and AngleseyReferences to CYP - 23 and Poverty/Deprivation - 10

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Gwynedd and Anglesey have produced a joint Draft Well-being Plan, centred on 2 Well-being Objectives underpinning 5 priority areas:

Wellbeing Objectives:

Communities which thrive and are prosperous in the long-term with priority areas of:o Welsh Languageo Homes for local peopleo The effects of poverty on well-being

Residents who are health and independent with a good quality of life, with priority areas of:o Health and care of adultso The welfare and achievement of children and young people

The Plan also identifies a further 9 priorities, informed by local consultations:

Priority:1. The need to maintain a healthy community spirit2. The importance of protecting the natural environment3. Understanding the effect of demographic changes4. Protecting and promoting the Welsh language5. Promoting the use of natural resources to improve health and well-being in the

long term6. Improving transport links to enable access to services and facilities7. The need for good quality jobs and affordable homes for local people8. The effect of poverty on well-being9. Ensuring an opportunity for every child to succeed

The two final Priorities above focus on poverty and children and young people.

On Priority 8 the Plan states: “The Board will prioritise this area of work in order to get a detailed understanding of the implications of living in poverty. We will continue to develop the Well-being Assessment to get a better picture of the area and where the lack of access to services is more challenging, due to poverty.”

On Priority 9 the Plan states: “The Board will give priority to supporting families to try to ensure that every child has the best start in life. We will also work with key partners to deliver the best possible results for children and young people.”

There is no reference to children’s rights in the Plan.

MonmouthshireReferences to CYP – 82 and Poverty/Deprivation 6

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Monmouthshire’s draft Well-being Plan states that its aspirations are to:

o Reduce inequalities between communities and within communitieso Support and protect vulnerable peopleo Realise the benefits that the natural environment has to offer

The Board has developed these aspirations into four Objectives, two focused on People/Citizens:1. Provide children and young people with the best start in life2. Respond to the challenges associated with demographic change

And two focused on Places/Communities:1. Protect and enhance the resilience of our natural environment whilst mitigating and adapting

to the impact of climate change2. Develop opportunities for communities and businesses to be part of an economically thriving

and well-connected county

The narrative of each Objective contains a Situation Analysis, Response Analysis, alignment with Welsh Government Well-being Goals and Delivering the Solutions.

The situation and response analyses for the Objectives make various references to children and young people, inequality and poverty.

The Objective on children and young people includes tackling ACEs and childhood obesity, improving educational outcomes and building resilience in children and young people.

The Plan considers information from the Population Needs Assessment, under the Social Services and Well-being Act, as well as the Future Monmouthshire Plan. There are also a number of appendices to the Plan, explaining how the Plan was developed.

There is reference made to children’s rights in the Draft Well-being Plan.

NewportReferences to CYP – 37 and Poverty – 4

Newport’s Draft Well-being Plan, entitled ‘One Newport’, has identified and agreed 4 draft well-being objectives:

People feel good about living, working, visiting and investing in Newport People have skills and opportunities to find suitable work and generate sustainable

economic growth People and communities are friendly, confident and empowered to improve their well-being Newport has healthy, safe and resilient environments

These objectives were developed out of 13 emerging priorities identified by the PSB:

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1. Improve the perceptions of Newport as a place to live, work, visit and invest 2. Drive up skill levels for economic and social well-being 3. Support regeneration and economic growth 4. Provide children and young people with the best possible start in life 5. Long and healthy lives for all 6. Ensuring people feel safe in their communities 7. People have access to stable homes in a sustainable supportive community 8. People feel part of their community and have a sense of belonging 9. Participation in sports and physical activity is important for people’s well-being 10. Participation in arts, heritage and history is important for people’s well-being 11. Newport has a clean and safe environment for people to use and enjoy 12. Improve Air Quality across the city 13. Communities are resilient to climate change

From the above well-being objectives and priorities, the PSB have developed 5 ‘Integrated Interventions’:

The Newport “Offer” - To attract and retain people and businesses to the city, recognising that desirability to work and live in the city is the result of the “complete package” including employment, housing solutions, infrastructure, environment, cultural opportunities and public services.

Strong Resilient Communities - Developing a place based approach with local communities that consider the long term needs alongside the short term needs and assets of that community. Working in collaboration with the community and a range of organisations. Identifying assets and needs and empowering local people to lead and develop their local community.

Right Skills - Newport people have the skills and education to meet the changing needs of business, enabling individuals, businesses and the city’s economy to achieve their potential.

Green and Safe Spaces - Newport is a greener, healthier and safer place where all communities have easy access to quality greenspace for health, play and recreation.

Sustainable Travel - Efficient, safe and accessible transport with overall low impact on the environment, including walking and cycling, low and ultra- low emission vehicles, car sharing and public transport.

Each intervention identifies which Objectives and priorities it contributes to and steps they will take in the short, medium and long term to meet the objective.

The two priorities regarding children and young people are mentioned in 4 of the above interventions; Strong Resilient Communities, Right Skills, Green and Safe Spaces and Sustainable Transport

Priority Integrated Intervention StepsStrong resilient communities

Work with communities to improve outcomes and prevent ACEs

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Provide children and young people with the best possible start in life

Right skills Investing in First 1000 days

Ensure young people leave school with the support, skills and confidence to successfully enter work, training or education. School and businesses work together to enable young people to have the skills to be ready for work

Green and safe spaces Children need access to safe clean places to play outdoors. Access to high quality greenspace is a massive opportunity to improve the health of the residents.

Sustainable travel Increasing levels of sustainable travel improve air quality and have a beneficial effect on people’s health, especially those suffering from Asthma and other respiratory disease. Encouraging people to walk and cycle to school and work will reduce poor air quality while engendering healthy behaviours for life and reducing obesity.

Long and healthy lives for all

Right skills Engaging children in education and giving them the skills they need will help them reach their potential in later life.

Green and safe spaces Children need access to safe clean places to play outdoors. Access to high quality greenspace is a massive opportunity to improve the health of the residents.

Sustainable travel Increasing levels of sustainable travel improve air quality and have a beneficial effect on people’s health, especially those suffering from Asthma and other respiratory disease. Encouraging people to walk and cycle to school and work will reduce poor air quality while engendering healthy behaviours for life and reducing obesity.

In relation to poverty, reference is made in the Foreword and under the ‘Right Skills’ intervention the Plan states: “Employment is a key determinant of health. People living in material deprivation are less like to be healthy. Therefore supporting people to acquire the skills they need to find work and to reach their potential may also contribute towards reducing health inequalities.”

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There is no reference to children‘s rights in the Draft Well-being Plan.

Neath Port TalbotReferences to CYP – 40 Poverty – 7

NPT’s Draft Well-being Plan appears to have one overarching Well-being Objective, which encompasses the environment, green infrastructure and green spaces. The Plan does set out a number of local priorities, the first of which is:

“Support children in their early years, especially children at risk of adverse childhood experiences.” This will be achieved by developing and piloting a Children’s Community in Sandfields West, based on the ‘children’s zone’ model of place based service delivery. The pilot will allow the PSB to:

trial the benefits of tailoring services to support the needs of the child rather than focusing on a single problem that presents itself at a particular time in childhood;

move away from disconnected approaches led by individual institutions to a strategy uniting partners in the interests of the community’s children; and

evaluate the impact of the work.

The Plan goes on to describe how the Children’s Community will be developed and implemented, together with a list of action to be taken.

The second draft priority is:“Create safe, confident and resilient communities, focussing on vulnerable people”, through:

Making individual issues community issues, build around identified needs and aspirations, build supportive groups and networks, whilst developing opportunities for meaningful engagement.

Identify, building on and mobilising personal, local assets and resources – such as people, time, skills, experience – mapping the capacities and assets of individuals, associations and local organisations.

Build on and use local knowledge and experience to influence change, engaging people in decision making and local governance, building a community vision and plan and defining local priorities

Empower the workforces in key organisations, change the relationships between service users and providers and between providers to share and re-allocate resources

Focus on facilitating, enabling and empowering rather than delivering services in the usual way

There is also a list of actions to be taken to achieve all of this.

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There are references to poverty for older people but no mention of child or family poverty. There is mention of ‘breaking the cycle of deprivation’ through preventative and early intervention strategies with families.

There are no reference to children’s rights in the Draft Well-being Plan.

PembrokeshireReferences to: CYP – 2 Poverty 3

Pembrokeshire’s draft Well-being Plan is centred around two broad well-being objectives underpinned by 2 different work streams for each objective:

1. Who we are Living and Working Resourceful Communities

2. Where we live Tackling Rurality Protecting our Environment

There is no mention or reference in the Plan to children, child or childhood. There are two mentions of young people, both in relation to the number of young people leaving Pembrokeshire. A further search was carried out on the keywords ‘education’ and ‘schools’ with the following results:

Under the ‘Living and Working’ objective, to tackle the problem of young people leaving Pembrokeshire, the short term measure should be: “Identify employment needs, opportunities and barriers, and align education and training provision with employment needs where possible.” There were no references to ‘schools’. Rural poverty is discussed briefly in the Tackling Rurality stream.

There is no reference to children’s rights in the Plan.

PowysReferences to: CYP - 13 Poverty - 3

Powys PSB have identified 4 local objectives: Stable and thriving economy Sustainable and productive environment Healthy, socially motivated and responsible Connected, resilient communities and a vibrant culture

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The Plan links local objectives to national goals and indicators of success linked to national indicators. Under the heading ‘The Powys we want’, the plan says:

Children enjoy a good childhood experience and are ready to learn when they enter school Schools offer pupils of all abilities a more flexible teaching approach ensuring everyone has

the best possible school experience, achieves their potential and can move forward with their lives

There is a further reference under the ‘Healthy, Socially Motivated and Responsible’ objective and refers to a good childhood experience and school readiness. Under this objective there is a section entitled ‘What we know about Powys’ which identifies the following in relation to children and young people:

o Disabled children wanting better access to community activities o Sufficient childcare places in the county but not always in the right placeso Young people with caring responsibilities that impact on their life chanceso Increase in the numbers of children needing to be looked after by the local authorityo Improving standards in schools but a lack of consistency across Powyso Young people choosing other options than school for sixth formo A future decrease in the population of young people in Powyso The increase in the number of young people accessing emotional and mental health

services

The three references to poverty within the Plan all refer to fuel poverty.The plan identifies 15 Wellbeing Steps to achieve their local objectives; there are no short, medium or long term interventions to indicate how these steps will be implemented.There is no reference to children’s rights within the Plan for Powys.

SwanseaReferences to: CYP - 102 Poverty - 3

Swansea’s Draft Well-being Plan has four key objectives: Early Years - To ensure that children have the best start in life to be the best they can be. Strong Communities - To empower communities promoting pride and belonging. Live Well, Age Well - To make Swansea a great place to live and age well. Working with Nature - To improve health, enhance biodiversity and reduce our carbon

footprint.

The Plan states that giving children the best start in life falls into three categories in Swansea:

Promoting important messages and information to all Enhancing universal Early Years services through the availability of additional early

intervention provision for expectant parents and young children to ensure strong foundations are in place for their future development

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Adding value to universal and early intervention services through the engagement and involvement of wider services and organisations to promote, signpost, co-plan and deliver community based support and activities.

For each objective the Plan addresses aims, challenges, primary and secondary drivers and links these to the ‘5 Ways of Working’. For children and young people the primary aims are:

Parents and families are well prepared for birth All children develop to their full potential Support services are high quality and well integrated Children are safe from harm

The Plan acknowledges that there are families living in poverty in Swansea living and states:

“There are large inequalities between our most and least deprived neighbourhoods in Swansea. For those in poverty well-being is low, with households – especially digitally excluded or without access to information – subject to the ‘poverty premium’.”

The Plan identifies what needs to happen to achieve the PSB’s objectives but does not contain any related actions they should be taking to move towards achieving the objectives.

There is reference made in the Draft Well-being Plan to children’s rights.

TorfaenReferences to: CYP - 39 Poverty - 41

Torfaen’s Wellbeing Plan has 7 Objectives, of which two are centred on children and young people, and tackling poverty

Provide children and young people with the best possible start in life Tackle the intergenerational patterns of poverty and develop economic resilience

Each objective is set out in terms of short, medium and long term plans to achieve the objective. For children and young people having the best start in life these are the goals:

Short term - Co-ordinate the systems of early years universal interventions and resource, proportionate to need, to: a) make the most of current antenatal support, ensure access to evidenced-based parenting and family support programmes and b) to encourage families to take up their Healthy Child Wales entitlement.Medium term - Plan and coordinate partnership action to prevent and reduce impact of ACEs.Longer term - Prevent and reduce childhood over-weight and obesity by implementing the partnership actions in the Gwent childhood obesity strategy.

The aims for the objective on tackling poverty are:

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Short term - Extend financial inclusion and improve people’s financial skills; reduce levels of food and fuel poverty.Medium term - Reduce Poverty in working age by:

Supporting people to gain the skills and capabilities to find a job and progress once in work; Influencing others to ensure that more jobs offer at least a Living Wage, with greater job

security and opportunities for progression.o Long term - Reduce Child Poverty levels by:

Supporting people to be good parents, helping parents share care and stay in work, minimising the adverse impacts of separation on children, and supporting children and parents’ mental health; Giving access to high-quality, flexible and affordable childcare to parents on low incomes, allowing them to work and improving children’s pre-school development;

Ensuring all children from low-income backgrounds can succeed in school; Ensuring all young people leave school with the support, advice, skills and confidence to

move successfully into education, training or the labour market and towards independence; and

Raising and protecting family incomes so they can afford essentials, reduce stress and give children the opportunity to participate socially and educationally.

o There are no references to children’s rights within the Plan.

Vale of GlamorganReferences to: CYP - 80 Poverty - 53

Vale of Glamorgan’s Draft Well-being Plan identifies 4 Well-being Objectives:

Objective 1 - To enable people to get involved, participate in their local communities and shape local services.Objective 2 - To reduce poverty and tackle inequalities linked to deprivationObjective 3 - To give children the best start in lifeObjective 4 - To protect, enhance and value our environment

For each objective, the Plan states what they want to achieve, why the Objective is important, evidence of need and what they are going to do to achieve the Objective. The Plan also explores what success will look like for each Objective.

Objective 3, to give children the best start in life features:

What we are going to do –

Short term: Use the findings of the First 1000 Days pilot to challenge and inform early years provision in

the Vale Develop a more strategic and innovative approach to improving parenting skills

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Work together to develop a better understanding of the effect of ACEs for individuals and communities in the Vale

Review services across partners and work together to identify the contribution that we can make towards giving all children the best start in life

Longer term: Review multi-agency arrangements for the delivery of preventative and statutory services for

children and young people. Recognising the role played by adults in children’s lives, explore how partners can work

together to provide the right support and preventative services for adults who may otherwise be at risk of losing their home or entering the criminal justice system through for example domestic abuse, poor mental health or anti-social behaviour.

What success will look like

We all understand how our organisation’s activities can contribute to giving children a good start in life and what the long term effects of not doing this can be.

Across the Vale more children achieve their developmental milestones in the early years. Parents across the Vale are able to access information and services to develop their

parenting skills. Parents and children recognise the value of play, being outside and the contribution it makes

to well-being and a child’s development. Referrals for services are more meaningful. Agencies know when it is appropriate to refer, to

which services and the potential outcome. We recognise the impact of ACEs and work together to both prevent the root causes of and

respond to ACEs. We understand people’s holistic needs and adapt provision accordingly to take a more

preventative approach. The right help is available to parents and children at the right time. Individuals, families and communities are safer, stronger and more resilient.

Objective 2 – Reduce poverty and tackle inequalities linked to deprivation

What we are going to do

Short term Build on the well-being assessment to undertake further engagement, research and analysis

regarding inequalities between our least and most deprived communities. Work in partnership with other agencies, for example foodbanks, debt advice services and

other projects in the community. Work together to promote healthy behaviour messages and to develop an evidence based

approach to prevention. Work with local residents to identify and deliver an environmental project, recognising the

opportunities for community participation.

o Longer Term:

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Build on the legacy of Communities First and work undertaken through programmes such as Flying Start, Families First and Supporting People.

Work together as local employers and education and training providers to develop new opportunities for work experience, placements, apprenticeships and develop skills aligned to future job opportunities.

Develop a co-ordinated approach to tackling fuel poverty recognising the expertise and contribution of Registered Social Landlords towards achieving this goal.

Work with local communities and research successful initiatives in other parts of the UK to identify opportunities to improve the environment and encourage outdoor play.

What success will look like

A better understanding of the needs of those living in our most deprived communities and how partners can work together to reduce education, health and other inequalities.

People are supported into employment and have access to training and apprenticeships. Training and skills development is aligned to future job markets within the region. The Vale PSB works with and influences the direction of the Capital City Region to ensure

opportunities for the Vale are maximised. Greater alignment across services, projects and initiatives to tackle poverty, maximising how

resources and expertise are utilised to achieve the best outcomes. Communities are safer, stronger and more resilient. A reduction in fuel poverty. Improvements in healthy life expectancy in our most deprived areas and across a range of

health indicators. Residents have a better understanding of the contribution the environment can make to their

well-being and partners work together to protect and improve the environment. A sustainable environmental project which brings a range of well-being benefits to the local

community (e.g. health, new skills, confidence) and which can inform work in other areas.

Wrexham

Wrexham PSB did not publish a draft Well-being Plan. Instead they conducted 4 separate Phases of consultation, through online surveys based on the priorities from the Well-being Assessment. In each Phase residents identified which priorities they thought were the most important. The following is an extract from the Wrexham PSB website:

“The evidence within the Well-being Assessment was used (along with what people told us in the first two phases of the consultation) to develop a list of fifteen possible priorities which could be addressed by the Public Services Board to improve well-being in Wrexham. (This list of priorities can be found on pages 2 and 3).

During the ‘What matters most?’ consultation (i.e. Phase 3), we asked people to tell us how important each of these priorities was to them by giving each one score out of 10 (1 being ‘not

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important at all’ and 10 being ‘very important’). Each priority area was then given an average score out of ten – these can be found in figure 1 on page 3.

We also asked people to tell us what they thought each priority could mean, and what achieving them might look like for Wrexham in the short, medium and long-term.”

Children in Wales, on behalf of the ECPN Cymru 2018

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Local Authority No of References to ‘child …’ or YP

No. of References to Poverty/Deprivation

No. of References to

Children’s RightsBlaenau Gwent 70 12 0Bridgend 36 1 0Caerphilly 17 1 0Cardiff 83 50 2Carmarthenshire 7 8 0Ceredigion 24 2 0Conwy & Denbighshire 25 5 0Cwm Taf 49 17 0Flintshire 16 1 0Gwynedd & Anglesey 23 10 0Monmouthshire 82 6 3Newport 37 4 0Neath Port Talbot 40 5 0Pembrokeshire 0 3 (rural) 0Powys 13 3 (fuel) 0Swansea 102 8 3Torfaen 39 37 0Vale of Glamorgan 80 43 0Wrexham No published plan, online survey only

Appendix 1

Results from Keyword Search on Well-being Plans

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