Councillor Ross Penhale-Thomas to the Leader

 

What is the local authority doing to help address poverty and disadvantage across our communities here in Bridgend.

 

Councillor Tim Thomas to the Cabinet Member - Communities

 

What percentage of County Borough public rights of way are accessible to the public and are at a satisfactory standard.

 

 

Councillor Ross Penhale-Thomas to the Leader

 

What is the local authority doing to help address poverty and disadvantage across our communities here in Bridgend?

 

1. At a strategic level, the Council has set out in its Corporate Plan three wellbeing objectives that aim to help us address poverty and the disadvantaged across our communities in Bridgend County Borough.  These are:

 

·         Supporting a successful and sustainable economy

·         Helping people and communities to be more healthy and resilient

·         Smarter use of resources

 

2. These objectives, also demonstrate the Council’s commitment to the seven well-being goals, introduced by the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and embed the sustainable development principles of the at Act.

 

3. In addition to the objectives set out in the Corporate Plan, and those within the Bridgend County Wellbeing Plan, the Council has to ensure compliance with the Socio-Economic Duty.  From 1^st April 2021, public services are required to think about how their strategic decisions, such as setting objectives and developing public services, can improve inequality of outcome for people who suffer socio-economic disadvantage.  All services areas across the Council are tasked with this consideration and our reporting procedures have been updated to ensure these important questions and responses are fully understood

 

4. One example of how the Council is delivering against our commitment to help address poverty and the disadvantaged across our communities is the Employability Bridgend Programme.  Employability Bridgend supports disadvantaged participants across the whole Council, regardless of location, by offering a suite of interventions that aim to break patterns of multi-generational worklessness and poverty.  These include:

 

·         Building soft skills and confidence to create more resilience and independence

·         Offering upskilling to increase employability

·         Support to look for and sustain employment

·         Providing laptops and wi-fi dongles to help overcome digital literacy and digital access barriers

·         Support for volunteering placements to reduce social isolation and interaction with communities – which also provides work experience to put on a CV.

 

4.1     To date, the programme has achieved over 1200 job outcomes.

 

5. Another example is the Council commissioned Financial Advice and Support Service (FASS) that is delivered by the Citizen’s Advice Bureau.  The service was specifically designed by us to tackle a range of poverty related issues and includes the provision of support across the following areas:

 

·         Debt problems Financial difficulty

·         Unemployment (claiming benefits, including Universal Credit (UC))

·         Inability to budget or manage finances effectively

·         Those experiencing ‘in work poverty’

·         Those requiring information and support to undertake employment better off calculations.

 

5.1 FASS has been instrumental in providing support to those disadvantaged as a result of the pandemic, particularly those who have found themselves struggling financially, whereby 80% of their income has been met by the furlough scheme although unfortunately was not enough to meet their household outgoings.

 

6. These are just two examples of how the Council helps address poverty and the disadvantaged across our communities within Bridgend County Borough.  There is a wide-ranging suite of other support available that includes:

 

·         council tax reduction scheme – support for residents on low incomes to pay their council tax.  The Council also provided residents with flexible options for paying Council tax last year and still enable people to pay over a longer period and council tax reminders provide signposts to support from Step Change, The Money Advice Service,  Bridgend Life Saves Credit Union and Citizen Advice some of which help with poverty related issues

 

·         housing advice and homelessness support – residents who are at risk of becoming homeless or who are homeless, can contact us directly or via the Housing Jigsaw Portal to find out about the range of support available and then follow their own personal housing plan to help them secure accommodation

 

·         housing benefitsupport

 

·         development of the county borough’s new Economic Futures Framework that will provide a long term strategic vision for our economic growth ambitions and set out the priority actions to be undertaken by the Council in the coming months with a focus on supporting our economic recovery

 

·         developing procurement strategies that can boost the foundational economy and create wealth within our local communities

 

• apprenticeship opportunities.

 

6.1 The Council recognises the importance of its partnership arrangements and collaboration with key stakeholders, for example through the Public Service Board and Regional Partnership Board.  This cross-sector collaboration was critical to our response during the pandemic.  Through the Resilient Communities programme, over the last year, 1300 volunteers came forward to help support more than 4444 individuals across a number of areas including mental health, anxiety, financial security, alcohol and substance misuse and reduced mobility/ frailty.

7. To finish, if we focus on the support available to help address poverty and the disadvantaged across our communities in Bridgend County Borough from one of our Directorates, the Education and Family Support Directorate, then the breadth and wealth of support available is clearly demonstrated.
8. Business Support

Schools and local authority caterers encourage the uptake of free school meals and we coordinate the provision of free school meal food parcels during the school holiday periods.

9. Family Support

 

Flying Start provides free help and support for children under four in certain areas. It aims to improve their chances and give them a ‘flying start’ when they go to school with support on:

 

·         High-quality, part-time childcare (up to 30 hours) for two and three-year-olds;

·         a health visitor and Family Support Worker to provide intense support to those families outside of the eligible postcode of Flying Start;

·         access to parenting support; and

·         help with early language development

 

The School Holiday Enrichment Programme (SHEP) is a school-based education programme that provides food and nutrition education, physical activity, enrichment sessions and healthy meals to children in areas of social deprivation during the school summer holidays.

 

Staff are trained and deliver ‘GroBrain’ during pregnancy or following birth to help parents understand how to improve bonding and positively “wire up” their baby’s brain.

 

Nurture programme - parenting support for generally under 5s, working on the child’s strengths and celebrating their positives which improves bonding and family relationships.

 

Early Help is a voluntary service that aims to help provide the right support for individuals and their family to aid positive change. The service focuses on:

·         talking about strengths as well as areas that could be improved;

·         getting you the right help at the right time;

·         bringing together a team of the right people who can help your family;

·         listening to you and giving you choices; and

·         parenting support/mental health support/access to relevant finances and benefits/housing

 

• Delivery of non-violent resistance (NVR) parenting/relationship building.

 

• Wellbeing support for primary school-aged children delivering targeted intervention to support family relationships, improve school attendance and reduce the number of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)

 

• Inspire 2 Work supports young people (16 to 25 years-old) who are furthest away from the labour market to identify and secure relevant employment to improve their individual life circumstances.

 

• The Period Dignity initiative provides free-to-access menstrual products to children and young people from deprived and disadvantaged communities to help support, among other areas, engagement in school.

 

10. Learner Support

 

• The Bridgend Education Psychology Service provides an active and significant role in supporting our most disadvantaged families, children and young people. We work closely with families and other agencies such as social services, health and third sector charities like Barnardo’s so we understand the barriers, wider context and identify the best supports for our children and young people.

 

• We provide the Early Years Education Psychologist contribution to the Flying Start programme across the local authority which promotes the delivery of positive health and wellbeing to vulnerable families and communities. The educational psychologist role includes early identification of additional learning needs and direct support and advice to families and practitioners. This encompasses collaborative work and advice towards supported childcare for families with children with emerging additional learning needs.

 

• The Portage Home Advisory Service which works with families to help them develop a quality of life and experience for themselves and their children in which they can learn together and play together. We deliver Early Years ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant) and THRIVE training, consultation and advice to build knowledge and understanding within early years settings.

 

• The Bridgend Education Psychology Service leads Wales in the development of ACEs training for schools and settings for Welsh Government. We support ACEs awareness raising and recognition of trauma experienced by children and their families, through direct training, discussion, support and listening to the voices of others. This includes staff who have also experienced loss and trauma but are also working with the most disadvantaged and vulnerable children and young people. We raise awareness of diversity and the bias agenda to clarify perception of need and promote further discussion among staff supporting our children and young people.

 

• The Bridgend Education Psychology Service provides a key role in the identification of ALN from birth to 19, and this will now expand to 25 under the ALN Reform. We support pupils who are care experienced and those with any additional needs, building school capacity through training, direct therapy, supervision and support of emotional well-being. We have developed and oversee the training, delivery and supervision of ELSA and the PERMA well-being profiler tool which can directly draw data and support vulnerable groups (eg those children eligible for free school meals (eFSM)). We have ELSAs in almost every school in Bridgend and this year we have set up 20 schools on the PERMA profiler as part of the well-being pilot across the consortium and the roll-out is ongoing.

 

• The Learner Support Team works jointly with National Health Service (NHS)/Learner Support approach to supporting nursery schools in Flying Start areas across the local authority, in order to promote early assessment, identification and support through the WellComm programme. Training, drop-ins, school visits and advice and support is offered and available virtually.

 

• The Learner Support Team provides advice and support to schools related to the management of pupils with speech and language difficulties including differentiation. In addition, team members deliver NHS speech and language programmes to a small number of individual pupils with significant specific speech and/or language difficulties in schools across the borough, including those in Flying Start areas.

 

• The Learner Support Team provides ancillary support for pupils with complex emotional, social and behavioural difficulties, autistic spectrum disorder, and speech and language difficulties.

 

• Working in a person-centred planning way so that all learners have a voice and any educational plan has been identified with the pupils needs as the focus.

 

11. School Support

 

• The local authority, in partnership with Central South Consortium allocates grant funding (eg the pupil development grant) to schools in the region along with guidance and advice on how grant funding can be used to drive improvement.

 

• Improvement partners working with each school in Bridgend offer support so that schools use the funding effectively and in a way that makes a difference to individual children.  Schools are specifically asked to think about how the funding can be used to improve pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills as well as offering enrichment activities.

 

• Professional learning is offered to schools linked to the principle of developing equity and excellence for all our learners. The local authority has contributed to the first version and the re-draft of Central South Consortium’s ‘Equity and Excellence’ strategy.

 

• Schools in Bridgend have made effective use of the funding since it first became available. When compared to similar local authorities, outcomes for pupils entitled to the additional funding are better than other local authorities.  This is a reflection of the strong emphasis that all schools in Bridgend have placed making a difference to pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.

 

• The local authority has supported eFSM pupils by providing digital devices and MiFi equipment, where needed, to ensure that the ‘digital divide’ is diminished.

 

12. School Modernisation

 

• Training and work experience opportunities are sought through construction project via contractors.  In addition, as a named local authority on the SEWSCAP Framework, our construction projects are now able to refer people for training through the On-Site Construction Training Academy which provides a unique opportunity, bringing together employment support partners and employers to ensure sustainable careers across the south east Wales region. This benefits job seekers, construction diploma students and the construction industry itself, creating a throughput of trained local workers to fill roles in this ever-expanding sector.

 

Supplementary question from Councillor Ross-Penhale Thomas

 

To what extent does the local authority currently involve people who have lived experience in poverty, in its decision making processes and will the Leader explore the possibility of setting up a Poverty Truth Commission in Bridgend, such as there are in other locations, so we can lay bare and be transparent about the reality and challenges of poverty and work together, in order to co-produce solutions for this very real problem

 

Response

 

We can certainly consider that suggestion, ie look to set-up such a Commission and explore where it has been used in other areas, any tangible impact it has had on those who experience poverty in their lives. BCBC always try to engage closely with all individuals across the County Borough, including those in poverty, in order to improve our services and the delivery of these. Examples of such services being, Flying Start and the Employability Service. Both these are examples of successful engagement in terms of reaching out to our constituents. We can always do more however and look to improve services and engagement across the County Borough, including in areas where there is poverty and disadvantage.

 

Second supplementary questionfrom Councillor Jon-Paul Blundell

 

What action has been taken to tackle food poverty and those that are disadvantaged in BCBC, through the free school meals programme.

 

Response

 

Members will be aware of the provision that was put in place in order to ensure that no child went hungry at the start of the pandemic. Packed lunches and food parcels were provided, the latter of which are still being provided with the assistance of Welsh Government. This was not just during term time but in school holiday periods also. There had been positive feedback from parents as a result of this, with 1,000’s of families benefitting from this support that reached out to over 5,000 children. The Council were also looking to encourage more people to sign up for free school meals, and this was a priority moving forward, as there are those families that though being eligible for free school meals, were not at present claiming for them. Some were now eligible as a result of the pandemic and family members losing jobs. Welsh Government were also funding the School Enrichment Programme, in order that even more children can benefit this year, through play and learning opportunities during school holidays, where included in this, was a healthy nutritious meal for them at lunchtime, in order to encourage healthy eating at a young age. 

 

Third supplementary question from Councillor S Dendy

 

The valleys regeneration report 2019 gives an overview of the issues faced in areas north of the M4 and makes reference to the fact the 'Valleys' area has 13 lower super output areas, classed as being in the 20% most deprived in Wales.

 

The report highlights some startling points:

 

27% of people in the Garw Valley have limiting long-term illness who have limited access to healthcare provision

 

35% of adults in the Garw Valley alone have no qualifications.

 

A serious lack of job opportunities within the Valleys

 

The blight of derelict large scale buildings impacting on mental wellbeing, impacting community pride.

 

And the enormous need for public transport with 27% of households in the Garw Valley alone having no car and as we all know in recent years the subsidies have been cut and reducing of routes.

 

Although these statistics relate to the Garw Valley these issues are faced by the Ogmore and Llynfi communities.

 

This really plays into the creation of poverty in these communities. Is this council dedicated in fulfilling that framework, through tackling the issues which feed into the poverty experienced within these communities?

 

Response

 

I fully agree with some of these points which have been rightly identified. Examples such as those above, have blighted our communities for some generations, particularly the loss of the coal industry which was a massive blow to certain valley areas. This was hard to recover from, though we are continually looking at ways to do so. One of my proudest moments since becoming Leader, was seeing the Authority opening two new schools in Bettws in the form of both an English and welsh medium school, which amounted to a record level of investment in the Garw Valley. I am also very pleased to see young people benefit from state of the art facilities at Coleg-Y-Cymunedol Y Dderwen, where children from both the Ogmore and Garw Valleys are educated. I am also pleased to announce, that we will be having a ground breaking ceremony this week for a new welsh medium childcare facility in Blackmill and developing a similar facility in the Garw also. This is because, we know from research and evidence that childcare issues can be a major barrier to parents having employment opportunities and promotion in work. These would meet a major need for improved childcare arrangements in the Ogmore/Garw Valleys, as had been identified in the last Annual Childcare survey. Examples of the above, are developments in regeneration, only in a wider sense, educational progression. The Council were also looking at transport infrastructure improvements across the valley locations, with a transport Hub and facility looking to be developed at the Ewenny Road site, Maesteg, that had been supported as part of the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal initiative. 

 

Councillor Tim Thomas to the Cabinet Member - Communities

 

What percentage of County Borough public rights of way are accessible to the public and are at a satisfactory standard.

 

Response

 

Bridgend has 800 individual public rights of way with a total network length of 613.72 Km. These routes include Public Footpaths (84% of the network), Public Bridleways (14.6%), Restricted Byways (0.1%) and Byways Open to All Traffic (1.3%).

 

The County Borough Council has overall responsibility for the maintenance of the network and also has a duty to protect the rights of the public to use the network and to prevent routes from being stopped up or obstructed. However, landowners too have a responsibility in that they are generally responsible for the maintenance of structures i.e. stiles, kissing gates, field gates, etc. on routes, although they can recover some costs from the Council for this.

 

Through the Wales Programme for Improvement the Council used to be required to report annually on the condition of the public rights of way network using a nationally adopted Performance Indicator, namely ‘Paths that are easy to use’. This Indicator stopped being reported nationally approximately 8 years ago, although it was reported internally for a number of years after that with the last 5% random sample survey being carried out in 2016. The Council did, however, have a whole network survey completed last year in preparation for the review of the Council’s Rights of Way Improvement Plan.

 

Information from that survey has been analysed and the results are as follows:

 

•           69.5% of the total number of paths are classed as being available for use, whilst

•           59.5% of the total length of paths were classed as being available for use

 

It is impossible to say at any one time which routes are available as it is, by its very nature, ever changing. A path that may be considered as being passable one day may, for a variety of reasons, be unusable the next. An unscrupulous landowner may deliberately obstruct a route, or routes may become overgrown or structures fall into disrepair through lack of use or maintenance, even for only a short time.

 

When any of these issues are identified to us we try to resolve and reopen routes as soon as possible. We work with landowners to remove obstructions and repair structures and with many of the Town and Community Councils who have Agency Agreements with us to remove vegetation. We have, however, seen a several fold increase in the use of the rights of way network since the start of the pandemic and our maintenance officer has seen an increase in the number of issues being reported as well as dealing with the results of the whole network survey.

 

Although the Performance Indicator is no longer reported nationally an attempt has been made to contact other Rights of Way teams throughout Wales to determine the current situation. From the small number of responses received to date only one authority has decided to continue with collecting that data with the rest citing a lack of resources as the reason.

 

In terms of accessibility for persons with mobility issues the rights of way section has, and continues to, make improvements where funding is made available, particularly internal capital and grant funding from Welsh Government or other groups such as the Ramblers, has permitted. This has included replacing stiles with kissing gates and making surface improvements where possible. It should be remembered that much of the rights of way network crosses agricultural land and as such the surface would be of natural formation and not surfaced. Furthermore, structures have to remain stock proof.

 

Supplementary question by Councillor T Thomas

 

I acknowledge that some Rights of Way are blocked by landowners, including some in the Valleys Gateway. This is a longstanding problem and is frustrating, particularly when pursuing complaints in respect of this through the member referrals process. Would the Cabinet Member – Communities join me and with a couple of constituents to walk these paths to see the problems and look at ways to rectify them?

 

Response

 

Yes course. Please tie in with me and we can arrange a suitable date for this.

 

Second supplementary question from Councillor Ken Watts

 

Where evidence exists of over ploughing of footpaths, could I have a reassurance that action will be taken to restore the paths, or alternatively, have put in place Diversion Orders. I have had a Member referral(s) on this also.

 

Response

 

If you share further details of this including the referral with me, I will look into this issue for you.

 

Third supplementary question from Councillor Sorrel Dendy

 

In terms of accessibility to public Rights of Way, some routes are on rough ground. Is it possible to have a graded system put in place, so that people looking to access them are aware of their length and gradient, etc. We are looking at this with footpaths in the Garw Valley, in order that members of the public are aware of the condition of such footpaths, when bearing in mind their levels of fitness and ability to walk them.

 

Response

 

As I do not have information on this to hand, in order to give you a detailed response, I will refer this matter to the Public Rights of Way Officer for consideration and either he or myself will come back to you, outside of the meeting.