Assembly Committee seeks public views on Local Service Boards  

The  Health, Wellbeing and Local Government Committee has agreed to undertake an inquiry into the progress of the six Local Service Board (LSB) pilots in Wales and how LSBs might develop in future and is calling for those with an interest or expertise in this area to submit written evidence.

Background

The Report of the Beecham Review, Beyond Boundaries: Citizen-Centred Local Services for Wales, made a range of recommendations for the Welsh Assembly Government and other Welsh bodies. Two recommendations for the Assembly Government were:

• The piloting an ambitious, realistic set of Partnership Action Contracts (PACts) with joint outcomes negotiated with local delivery organisations.

• Considering piloting a local public service board model after the outcome of PACts has been evaluated. Report of the Beecham Review, Beyond Boundaries: Citizen-Centred Local Services for Wales, 2006.

In Delivering Beyond Boundaries, its response to the Beecham Report, the Assembly Government announced the establishment of Local Service Boards (LSBs) in 2007-08. Welsh Assembly Government, Delivering Beyond Boundaries, 2006.  It anticipates that these will grow out of the existing community strategy partnerships. Their role is to pursue joint action where it will mean better outcomes for citizens, based on ambitious joint planning and integrated delivery of services.

Six development projects were subsequently announced in Caerphilly, Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Gwynedd, Neath Port Talbot and Wrexham.  

Terms of Reference

The Committee has agreed the following terms of reference for the inquiry:

To examine the early progress of the six Local Service Board (LSB) pilots in Wales and to make recommendations in respect of the future development of Local Service Boards, with reference to:

• The process of putting together “local leadership teams” in the pilot areas and the effectiveness of collaboration between core bodies and stakeholders

• The monitoring and evaluation of progress in setting up Local Service Boards (LSBs) to date and the “action learning” process in their development.

• The agreement of Local Delivery Agreements (LDAs) in the pilot areas, including the extent to which local citizens have been involved.

• The relationship between LSBs and existing partnership structures, in particular the community strategy partnerships and sub-regional structures such as the WLGA Regional Boards.

• The scrutiny and accountability of LSBs.

• How partners that cover several unitary authorities engage with multiple LSBs.

• The role of Local Authorities in relation to LSBs.

• The role of the Assembly Government officials in respect of LSBs.

• The role of “Spatial Plan” Ministers to LSBs in their area.

• The extent to which Local Public Service Boards and Local Area Agreements in England have informed the development of the Welsh model.

Interested parties are invited to submit written evidence to: Steve George, Clerk of the Committee, Assembly Parliamentary Service,Cardiff Bay, Cardiff, CF99 1NA,  to arrive no later than Friday 26 September 2008. If possible, please supply an electronic version in MS Word or Rich Text format, either by e mail to health.wellbeing.localgovt.comm@wales.gsi.gov.uk or on a disk.

The Committee may call on those who have submitted written evidence to supplement it in oral evidence to the Committee.  Please indicate in your response whether you would be prepared to give evidence in person.

Witnesses should be aware that once written evidence has been submitted to the Committee it is treated as the property of the Committee. It is the Committee’s intention to place written papers on its website, and they may subsequently be printed with the report.  

Report of the Beecham Review, Beyond Boundaries: Citizen-Centred Local Services for Wales, 2006.