4. Will the Cabinet Secretary provide an update on the work of public service boards? OAQ51546

Positive progress has been made by public services boards to meet their obligations under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. Having published their assessments of local well-being, PSBs are now consulting on their draft well-being plans. The focus must then shift to making a difference for their communities.

Thank you for that answer. When public service boards were set up in 2016, one of the objectives was a set objective that was designed to maximise the public services boards’ contribution to the well-being goals. What progress has been made towards achieving this?

Currently, all public services boards are consulting on their objectives as part of their well-being plans. Local well-being plans must explain why the objectives the public services boards have chosen will maximise their contribution to achieving their national well-being goals.

I will say to Members that I have seen some of these plans. The quality of some of them is, quite frankly, variable, shall we say? We are working with local authorities and PSBs and others to ensure that we do provide the support for PSBs to deliver the sort of planning that we would all like to see.

I also want to take the opportunity to welcome the initiatives that some PSBs have taken in order to ensure that they are able to strengthen their work. I’m aware that Conwy and Denbighshire have formally merged to create a single PSB, as have Rhondda Cynon Taf and Merthyr. Anglesey and Gwynedd have chosen to collaborate to produce a joint assessment plan for their areas. I welcome those initiatives, and I welcome the way in which PSBs have moved to address these issues.

Cabinet Secretary, these boards are largely invisible, and they certainly need a sharper focus. I think they should be tasked with showing how they’re implementing the well-being of future generations Act. And the way they can do that is to actually demonstrate, perhaps in an annual report, what is changing, what services have been adapted, what services are being collaborated on in their delivery, so we can actually see the change agenda taking place.

The Conservative Member for South Wales Central has described what my expectations are as well. I would say, very gently, that we are at the beginning of this process, rather than halfway through or at the completion of it. PSBs are, at the moment, undertaking their consultation. The Member would be very welcome, of course, to contribute to his own PSB with those observations, and I would very much welcome that. Certainly, the test for this piece of legislation, and the test for this process, is how it affects people’s lives. That is the key issue for all of us, and that is what I would certainly be seeking to address in the future.