Improvement Review 2012-2013 by Pembrokeshire County Council

Pembrokeshire County Council

2012/2013

Foreword .............................................................................. 5 1 Introduction .................................................................... 7 2 Progress Report .............................................................. 8 • Wellbeing – we will take action to support independentand healthy living...................................... 9 • Environment – we will reduce our carbon footprint and operate more sustainably .................................... 21 • Economy – we will work with our partners to improve Pembrokeshire’s economy ............................ 30 • Housing – we will work with our partners to reduce housing need in Pembrokeshire ...................... 38 • Education – we will develop a high quality education service ...................................................... 45 • Access – we will work with our partners to improve communications links to and within the County ................................................................ 56 • Safety – we will work with our partners to ensure Pembrokeshire remains a safe place .......................... 64 • Governance – we will encourage greater Member engagement and challenge to drive service improvement .................................................. 74 3 Performance Analysis .................................................... 79 4 Regional Working .......................................................... 84 5 Outcome Agreement ...................................................... 86 6 Finance .......................................................................... 91 7 Equalities and Sustainability............................................ 95 8 Planning for the Future .................................................. 98 Glossary ............................................................................ 100

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I am pleased to introduce Pembrokeshire County Council’s Improvement Review for the year 2012–2013. This is our fourth Improvement Review. It is our self-assessment of the progress we made during the previous financial year. It helps us to identify where we have been successful and where we may need to focus our efforts to secure further improvement. The publication of this review is one of the most important methods we use to communicate with you, our customers. Last year I stated that I was looking forward to sharing evidence of our continued improvement with you this October. I am pleased to say that our performance did indeed improve during 2012 – 2013. In relation to the 118 measures that can be compared legitimately over the past three years, 70% either improved or remained static.

For a copy of this document in large print, Braille, audio tape or an alternative language please contact Jackie Meskimmon on 01437 776613. A summary of this document is available on our website or via the contact details below. This plan and its summary discharges our duty under section 15 of the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009 to publish improvement information. More detailed information is available in the Improvement Planning section of our website. You can also track our recent performance by looking at integrated performance management reports that go to both our Cabinet or the more detailed versions that go to our Overview and Scrutiny Committees on a quarterly basis. We are always keen to hear your views. If you have any feedback on this review or would like to inform the development of future Improvement Objectives, please contact us using the details provided below: Dan Shaw Corporate Planning Manager Pembrokeshire County Council County Hall, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire SA61 1TP Tel: 01437 775857 policy@pembrokeshire.gov.uk www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk

Once again we achieved this level of progress when a considerable proportion of attention has been dedicated, quite rightly, to addressing the concerns previously raised in relation to safeguarding children and the performance of our education services. Our focus on safeguarding has paid dividends and we are now in a position where we can be more confident that we are doing all that we can to ensure that children are safe. The Pembrokeshire Ministerial Board concluded its work in March this year and left the Authority with a positive endorsement of the work we have completed in this area. Similarly, performance in our education service and in our schools is improving. Attendance and attainment both improved dramatically last year and the majority of our secondary schools have improved their banding position. We have also now completed the recruitment of an entirely new senior management team within our Children and Schools Directorate. We recognise that we have more to do in this area and the fact that the Authority’s education services were placed in special measures last December is of concern to me. However, I have every confidence that the new team will work constructively with the Recovery Board appointed by Welsh Government to assist us, to drive further improvement in our schools. Another area where we have previously been criticised is that of scrutiny and democratic oversight. I am pleased that our efforts in these areas have been recognised by the Pembrokeshire Ministerial Board and the Wales Audit Office, which recently reported that we had made “good progress” against the relevant proposals for improvement previously made by the Auditor General for Wales. It is likely that the forthcoming year will be dominated by difficult decisions regarding the way in which we fund the services we provide. It is clear that Welsh Government intends to reduce the level of grant it provides to us. We are already considering how we might go about managing reductions in funding by providing services in new and innovative ways. We will do our best to maintain service provision but expectations of further improvement must been seen against a backdrop of reducing expenditure. Jamie Adams, Leader

1.1 This review looks back on our performance during 2012 – 2013. Though we have a formal duty to publish this review, the process of analysing our achievements is critical to the way in which we plan and deliver our services. The review process will inform our plans for next year and will help us to identify and address further opportunities for improvement. Further information concerning our approach to improvement planning is available on our website. We have made a number of changes to the format of our Review for this year, in order to make it easier see how we performed against our priorities. 1.2 This document addresses the commitments we made in our 2012 – 2013 Improvement Plan as well as our performance for the previous year. For the purposes of this report we have grouped these commitments into the eight themes included in Section 2. These are: well-being, environment, economy, housing, learning, access, safety and governance. 1.3 Section 3 looks in greater detail at the performance data we use to monitor our services. It tracks how our performance has changed over time and draws comparisons with other local authorities in Wales. 1.4 Section 4 describes the progress we have made on regional and collaborative working. Welsh Government has stressed that we need to work with other local authorities. These sorts of arrangements may well become more important in future. Welsh Government recently established a Commission to examine Public Service delivery in Wales, which is due to report this Christmas. 1.5 Section 5 sets out the current position regarding our Outcome Agreement (OA). The OA is our agreement with Welsh Government to deliver certain improvements for the people of Pembrokeshire. The OA covers the period 2010 – 2013. 1.6 Section 6 provides a brief summary of our spending during 2012 – 2013. More detailed information is available in the form of our Statement of Accounts, which is available on our website (www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk). 1.7 Throughout the document you will see a number of examples that illustrate our commitment to equality and sustainability. Much of the work we have done to contribute to these agendas is described in Section 2. Section 7 deals with these issues specifically and in greater detail. 1.8 Finally, Section 8 covers our plans for the future and explains how this review will inform our priorities for future years. 1.9 We believe in securing continuous improvement across everything we do. The Improvement Objectives we identified for 2012 – 2013 covered a broad range of Council services. For this reason we have not included a separate review of our overall performance for 2012 – 2013. Our review of progress against our Improvement Objectives already covers the majority of Council functions.

2.1 This section describes our progress and performance in relation to each Improvement Objective over the course of the past year. We identified eight Improvement Objectives in our 2012 – 2013 Improvement Plan. We have included a summary self-assessment for each Objective. Our Improvement Objectives for 2012 – 2013 were:

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2.2 Supporting people to live independent and healthy lives underpins quality of life in all our communities. People’s health in Pembrokeshire is relatively good compared with the rest of Wales, but we are determined to secure further improvement.

living in n e m r fo y anc Life expect th highest 7 e h t is e shir Pembroke . in Wales. th highest 6 is it , n e For wom

2.3 Many of the services we provide support independent and healthy living. Some, such as our adult social care services, do this directly. Others, such as our leisure service, do so indirectly, by helping to prevent ill health and chronic conditions. 2.4 Many of the actions that contribute directly to The number of people aged over this Improvement Objective require us to work with other agencies, particularly the Health 85 living in Pembrokeshire will Board. This adds an additional layer of increase by over a third between complexity. A further challenge is the fact 2012 and 2020. that demand for social care provision is rising, and will continue to rise as our population grows older. Although we continued to build upon the progress that we have made in previous years in 2012 – 2013, we will need to increase the pace of change in order to meet future demand.

2.5 During 2012 – 2013 we made progress against the key actions under this Improvement Objective. For example, we wanted to improve the experience of people who access health and social care services and make better use of our resources.

Percentage of clients who are supported in the community during the year, who are in the age group 65+ 100

90 80 70

2.7 We made progress in relation to joint commissioning with the Health Board and third sector organisations by developing a series of protocols to underpin how we commission services in the future.

2.8 We also reviewed a range of current contracts. We undertook desktop audits to match services to our customers’ care plans and appropriate funding streams. This is helping us to manage the social care budget and will help us to restrict unsustainable growth in the future.

85.1

84.1

83.7

83.5

83.4

83.0

82.0

81.9

80.8

80.6

80.2

79.6

79.4

Bridgend

Wrexham

Cardiff

Torfaen

Wales

Newport

Blaenau Gwent

Rhondda Cynon Taf

Conwy

Isle of Anglesey

Carmarthenshire

Swansea

Powys

Neath Port Talbot

75.1

86.0 Flintshire

The Vale of Glamorgan

86.9 Monmouthshire

77.3

86.9 Ceredigion

30 20 10

Denbighshire

We supported a total of 6386 clients aged over 18 during 2012 – 2013. Of those clients over the age of 65, we supported 90% in the community. We were the highest performing authority in Wales in this area last year.

We were also successful in continuing to reduce delayed transfers of care for social care reasons, and remained one of the highest performing authorities in Wales. The rate of delayed transfers of care for social care reasons per 1,000 population aged 75 or over The rate of delayed transfers of care for social care reasons per 1,000 population aged 75 or over

5 Pembs

Wales 3

4.27

2 1.71 0.79

0.32

0.27 2008/09

2009/10

2010/11

Gwynedd

89.1 Merthyr Tydfil

2.9 We managed to support a greater proportion of people in the community during 2012 – 2013, in spite of an increase in the frailty of our customers. The proportion of delayed transfers of care for social care reasons also reduced. Both of these achievements help our clients to live independently, thereby preventing them from becoming unnecessarily ‘institutionalised’. Further service improvement is being planned in the form of projects that focus on patient and family centred care and co-ordinated care for people with complex chronic conditions.

89.3

89.5 Caerphilly

col was o t o r p is h T practice in t s e b f o y ultation s n case stud o c ’s t vernmen t Welsh Go velopmen e D le b a stain on the Su ltation. Bill consu

90.7

2.6 We continued to develop our relationship with the Health Board. Following the retirement of our Director of Social Services (who was jointly employed by the Authority and the Health Board), we appointed a new Director who was solely accountable to the Council. This strengthened our capacity to manage children’s social services effectively. However, we also improved our working relationship with the Health Board by reviewing and re-launching the Health, Social Care and Well-being Partnership, which is now a sub-committee of the Local Service as a Board. included

Pembrokeshire

2011/12

2012/13

Percentage of adult protection referrals completed where the risk has been managed 100 90 80 70

Helping Mrs P back on her feet

74.62

86.34 Powys

80.37

87.36 Bridgend

92.00 Swansea

89.30

92.78 Isle of Anglesey

Caerphilly

92.92 Rhondda Cynon Taf

90.00

94.21 Cardiff

Blaenau Gwent

95.12 Ceredigion

90.61

95.83 The Vale of Glamorgan

Newport

96.91 Denbighshire

90.64

98.04 Carmarthenshire

Wrexham

98.70 Merthyr Tydfil

91.84

98.96 Flintshire

Wales

99.40 Gwynedd

91.85

100.00 Neath Port Talbot

Conwy

100.00

Pembrokeshire

30 20 10

We knew that, without support, there was a risk that Mrs P would fall again. We agreed to provide a re-ablement package of four calls a day (almost 16 hours per week) to support Mrs P, as well as: • leg strengthening exercises to help with balance and confidence, • a perching stool for preparing food in the kitchen, • adaptation of a ground floor toilet into a wet room • a programme of dressing, and • regular monitoring to avoid pressure sores.

2.11 We made considerable progress on adult protection during 2012 – 2013. We increased the pool of people who can chair adult protection meetings and undertake non-criminal investigations. We established a group to review allegations of abuse of vulnerable adults by people who work for statutory organisations. While examples of such abuse are, thankfully, rare, where it has been found it has led either to disciplinary action or to additional training and supervision of staff.

Mrs P is progressing well. The district nurses no longer attend as her risk of developing pressure sores has reduced. Under supervision, she has been able to reheat a meal in the microwave and transport it to her chair independently. Mrs P is now washing and dressing independently and is regaining some strength and confidence. It is highly likely that Mrs P will now be able to remain in

2.12 We also improved our approach to managing care, so as to avoid problems escalating. We have worked with regulators and care home providers to maintain appropriate standards in care homes. For example, following an investigation by ourselves under the Protection of Vulnerable Adults proceedings, we worked with the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW) and the owner of a local care home to improve the condition of its repair, as well as the robustness of its management. Follow-up visits indicated that insufficient progress was being made and whilst enforcement action was being undertaken, the home’s owner took the decision to close. We acted swiftly, and all the home’s remaining residents were re-settled in appropriate settings with minimum disruption. 2.13 We made progress in providing health and social care services that are closer to people’s homes. The construction of Crymych extra care scheme commenced during 2012 – 2013. When it is finished, the facility will provide around 60 supported accommodation units, as well as a general practitioner surgery and day care facility on site.

her home.

Torfaen

Mrs P was determined to return to her home after living in a residential care home for two years. She was first admitted to residential care after a serious fall inside her home.

0 Monmouthshire

2.10 We completed a range of actions to improve our support and advice to carers last year. Further details of our success in this area are included under our Safety Improvement Objective of this Review (paragraphs 2.135 – 2.167).

In a recent survey, 95% of our domiciliary care customers agreed that their carers respected their dignity. Ninety-three percent agreed that they felt safe with the carers who provide their services. We are one of the highest performing authorities in Wales in this area. Last year, 89.7% of adult protection referrals were completed where the risks had been managed. This year, 100% of referrals were completed with risks managed.

An artist’s impression of the finished facility

During out of a 2012 – 2013, ferrals total of 1,190 re hild made to our c 58 care team, 1,1 within were decided a day.

2.14 Ensuring requests for services for health and social care are processed quickly and efficiently is another area we set out to improve last year. This work applies to the adult and children’s social care services we provide.

2.15 In relation to adult care, we expanded the role of our professional help desk. This work enabled us to review the needs of a greater proportion of our customers in the round, and identify an appropriate package of care. The number of referrals from the helpdesk almost tripled over the course During 2012 – 2013, of the year. One thousand nine-hundred referrals were made. we improved the 2.16 Our helpdesk is linked to our community resource teams. These teams continued to co-ordinate care for people who live in their own homes and have complex needs. 2.17 Not all the support we provide for customers is managed by ourselves. Some clients opt to receive direct payments to commission their own care. During 2012 – 2013, we improved We supported how we communicate with over 370 direct these customers in order to payments for monitor packages of care customers during they receive. This has led to funding being used more the year. effectively.

timeliness of the service – waiting times to see the team dropped from around two weeks to three days. As a result of the team’s intervention, one community resource team customer, who had been admitted to hospital 12 times in a previous year, avoided being admitted at all.

2.18 We improved transition arrangements for young people leaving care to become clients of adult social services. We appointed a dedicated transition worker to undertake assessments with young people and their families. When we assessed the effectiveness of this initiative, the feedback we received Your views a about having g in was that all families felt their key th st e b e h “T e worker was reliable and kept in aving someon h is r e rk o w y e k vice regular contact with them. The vast es help and ad id v ro p o h w majority of families felt that their key s stress for our worker represented their views in which reduce meetings, helped them to maximise Service User family.” their income and provided them with the information and support they needed. 2.19 Another area for improvement we identified for last year was access to essential services in order to reduce reliance on non-emergency ambulance transport. In partnership with the Health Board, we made good progress on non-emergency transport by making more effective use of the third sector to deliver transport for secondary care. We estimate that we saved Voluntary transport approximately £90,000 during the year, while vehicles are almost seven providing a better quality service with fewer times cheaper than the aborted journeys. 2.20 The Pembrokeshire Town Rider Service became even more popular during 2012 – 2013. The service helped residents previously unable to access public transport to maintain their independence by accessing services, amenities and social activities. There were just over 13,000 passenger journeys last year, and there has been a steady year-on-year increase. We made it easier for people to book transport by offering the service through our telephone contact centre. There are high levels of satisfaction with the service provided.

statutory provider

Your views “This is truly my last bit of independence – I can’t explain how much this means – it’s very much what keeps me going” Service User

2.21 We also stated that we wanted to improve the financial resilience of vulnerable groups which has a positive impact on well-being. We consulted on a new council tax scheme (which was withdrawn by Welsh Government just before implementation) and completed work on the impact of the benefits cap, as well as under-occupation (sometimes called the bedroom tax). We have also worked with credit unions in the County to help them become more financially sustainable.

Number of visits to local authority sport and leisure centres during the year where the visitor will be participating in physical activity, per 1,000 population

12000 Pembs

Wales

10000

8000

2.22 Earlier this year, Welsh Government re-launched its Communities First programme, which aims to regenerate the most deprived areas in Wales. Through the Local Service Board, we started the process of aligning Community First priorities with those in the Single Integrated Plan.

6000

9846

10034

2008/09

2009/10

10731

11192

4000

2.23 We set ourselves the challenge of developing the capacity of our communities to support themselves by strengthening key local organisations. We know that no one action will achieve this, so we have been testing a number of different models for increasing the vibrancy of communities. 2.24 We expanded the coverage of our community visitor pilot which provides support to people in social housing to maintain their tenancy. We explored the possibility of revising our good neighbour scheme to make it more straightforward to implement as well as undertake the preparatory work to implement a befriending scheme. The coverage of the good neighbour scheme was also expanded to cover two more communities. However, we did not complete the planned evaluation of the scheme as a whole.

There are good neighbour schemes in place in eleven communities across Pembrokeshire. 2.25 FRAME is an important social enterprise in Pembrokeshire. We have been working closely with FRAME to bring the walled garden at Scolton Manor back into use. Renovation work on the walls started in the year, which meant that using the garden to grow food has had to be put on hold until works are complete.

FRAME also help us to recycle and re-use waste. FRAME recycled 879 tonnes on our behalf during 2012 – 2013.

2.26 We also commenced the construction of the Tegryn Community Centre, which will provide a new community centre within a new school building. This will provide a modern community facility in one of the most rural areas of the County.

2000

0 2010/11

2011/12

2.27 Finally, we set ourselves the challenge of increasing the number of people participating in sports and leisure activities to deliver improvements in health and wellbeing. Our leisure and sports centres had a successful year and there was a substantial increase in the number of people visiting leisure centres, take-up of leisure centre membership, a broadening of the types of sports promoted and an increase in the number of disabled people participating in sports (which is in line with the Creating an active Wales action plan to extend opportunities for all to take part in sport). 2.28 Seven of our leisure centres operate national exercise referral and cardiac referral schemes. During 2012 – 2013, over 1,400 people were referred to the centres by their General Practitioner. Junior membership of our centres also increased by 120% last year, which is further evidence that awareness of healthy living among young people is increasing. 2.29 Underpinning our success in these areas last year, is the investment that we have made in leisure centres over a number of years. During 2012 – 2013, we completed the design for the refurbishment of Tenby Leisure Centre, which will include new gym facilities. 2.30 Another of our planned areas of work for 2012 – 2013 was ensuring there are adequate opportunities for people to participate in cultural activities. During the year, we agrred to fund the joint appointment of an Arts Officer with Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority. We opened a new purpose-built archives unit in March 2013, which offers

customers better facilities and will preserve the County’s written heritage. We also completed branch development action plans for all of our libraries and developed our plans to relocate the County Library (we had previously planned to refurbish the library, but it became clear during detailed survey work that the costs involved are prohibitive). Measure of Success SCC001a % of first placements of looked after children during the year that began with a care plan in place SCC004 % of children looked after on 31 March who have had three or more placements during the year SCC011a - % of initial assessments that took place during the year where there is evidence that the child has been seen by the Social Worker SCC011b % of initial assessments that were completed during the year where there is evidence that the child has been seen alone by the Social Worker SCC025 % of statutory visits to looked after children due in the year that took place in accordance with regulations SCC030a - % of young carers known to social services who were assessed SCC033d % of young people formerly looked after with whom the authority is in contact at the age of 19 SCC041a % of eligible, relevant and former relevant children that have pathway plans as required SCC045 % of reviews carried out in line with the statutory timetable AC015 % reduction in the planned domiciliary care hours of customers who have completed a period of reablement during the year AC016 % of community care customers provided with a service during the year who are in receipt of a direct payment

11/12 Actual

11/12 Wales

12/13 Target

12/13 Actual

12/13 Wales

DoT

QRT T;M;L

100

88.9

100

98.5

89.1

Our performance slipped in 2012/13, though only one (out of 66) placement began without a care plan in place. 10.5

9.2

8.8

9.4

We performed better than the Welsh average and improved our performance on the previous year. Out of 147 looked after children, 15 had three or more placements during the year. 49.6

67.9

85.5

75.4

There has been a substantial improvement in this indicator. This was as a result of a restructure of our children's social services team, which freed up time for qualified social workers to undertake assessments. 25.1

33.0

43.2

37.5

Despite an increase in the number of initial assessments over the year by 175 a significant increase in performance has been seen. Organisational restructuring has helped to achieve this result. 86.2

82.5

87.5

83.0

691 out of 790 statutory visits took place in accordance with regulations. Performance has improved for two successive years. The latest data produced for quarter 1 in 2013/14 suggests a further improvement to nearly 90%. 100

90.6

100

92.3

Positive performance maintained. All young carers that were known to social services were assessed. *

100

87.5

93.4

The authority was in contact with 14 out of 16 former looked after children. 99

91.1

100

96.2

89.5

Small reduction in performance, although there were an additional 34 relevant children included in this cohort compared to the previous year (131 versus 97). 85.9

83.1

89.8

86.4

6.3

SCA002b The rate of older people (aged 65 or over) whom the authority supports in care homes per 1,000 population aged 65 or over at 31 March SCA007 % of clients with a care plan at 31 March whose care plans should have been reviewed that were reviewed during the year SCA018a % of carers of adults who were offered an assessment or review of their needs in their own right during the year SCA020 % of adult clients who are supported in the community during the year LCS002b No. of visits to local authority sport and leisure centres during the year where the visitor will be participating in physical activity, per 1,000 population LSPI2 The customers overall service quality rating (1 good 5 poor) for leisure centres SP04b No. of disabled club members in disability sport in Pembrokeshire LCL001b No. of visits to Public Libraries during the year, per 1,000 population

Overall number of customers supported in the community has increased. However, the number of customers choosing direct payments has decreased slightly. While we set a target for this area, our primary aim was to make better use of direct payments, rather than simply increase the proportion of customers who use them.

SCA002a The rate of older people (aged 65 or over) supported in the community per 1,000 population aged 65 or over at 31 March

Performance has improved. Reablement continues to support customers, through early intervention, to remain independent. 6.8

SCA001 The rate of delayed transfers of care for social care reasons per 1,000 population aged 75 or over

This indicator combines reviews for children in need, children on the child protection register, and looked after children. The improvement for 12/13 result was a result of better performance for children in need. 34.0

Measure of Success

11/12 Actual

11/12 Wales

12/13 Target

12/13 Actual

12/13 Wales

DoT

QRT T;M;L

1.71

5.03

1.0

0.32

4.57

WŽƐŝƚŝǀĞ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ͕ ŽŶůǇ ĨŽƵƌ ƌĞƐŝĚĞŶƚƐ ĞǆƉĞƌŝĞŶĐĞĚ Ă ͞ĚĞůĂǇĞĚ ƚƌĂŶƐĨĞƌ ŽĨ ĐĂƌĞ͟ ĐŽŵƉĂƌĞĚ ƚŽ ϮϬ ƚŚĞ ǇĞĂƌ ďĞĨŽƌĞ͘ Qualified by Wales Audit Office July 2013 in all authorities. 79.16

78.6

72.3

77.53

Early intervention, joint working, appropriate assessment and scrutiny of arrangements continue to support the majority of our customers in the community. Performance has reduced, although the number of people aged 65+ in the county has increased by 1,400 year on year. 18.04

21.35

17.1

20.63

Pembrokeshire has an increasing population of elderly people with complex needs. Care home placements are commissioned after careful consideration, consultation with customer and family and detailed needs assessments. 84.0

78.3

100

83.6

80.9

We maintained our performance despite fluctuating capacity in our teams and increasing demand. 31.6

76.1

97.7

86.8

Significant improvement in performance due to changes in the process used to offer carĞƌ͛Ɛ ĂƐƐĞƐƐŵĞŶƚƐ͘ 91.6

86.55

91.5

86.16

Early intervention, joint working, appropriate assessment and scrutiny of arrangements continues to support the majority of our customers in the community *

11,200

10,841

8,864

The number of visits to centres increased by nearly 20,000 compared to the previous year. We are unable to compare with historical data as the definition of this measure was revised during 2012/13. 1.9

1.7

1.8

Improvement in performance over the year. From 2013/13 a revised measure will be introduced to assess customer satisfaction using a computerised system. * * 217 234 * It is considered that the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London have had a positive impact on this indicator. There has also been a focus on coaching. In ĂĚĚŝƚŝŽŶ͕ Ă ŶƵŵďĞƌ ŽĨ ͞ĐŽŵĞ ĂŶĚ ƚƌǇ͟ ƚĂƐƚĞƌ ĚĂǇƐ ŚĂǀĞ ďĞĞŶ ŽƌŐĂŶŝƐĞĚ͕ ƉƌŝŵĂƌŝůǇ to increase membership rates at local community sports clubs. 4,726

6,048

4,773

5,743

5,968

/ŵƉƌŽǀĞŵĞŶƚ ŝŶ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ƉĂƌƚůǇ ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ͞ǀŝƌƚƵĂů ǀŝƐŝƚƐ͟ ƚŽ ůŝďƌĂƌǇ ǁĞďƐŝƚĞ being included in calculation.

* Relates to a new Performance Measure or a new definition - Relates to cases where it is not possible to draw comparison with other authorities legitimately

Our overall assessment

We are satisfied with our performance against this objective last year. Our performance against the relevant indicators was good, and in many instances we improved on the figures we achieved last year. We completed the majority of the actions we set ourselves and have identified tangible examples of people living in Pembrokeshire living independently and enjoying better health as a result. However, we also know this is a challenging area of work and our ability to cope with increasing demand in social care services in particular, will be impacted by reductions to our budget settlement from Welsh Government. We identified this issue as a priority in our 2013 – 2014 Improvement Plan and we are currently in the process of reviewing our adult social care service to improve its efficiency and sustainability.

'/#+('& '-54 50#%%5+ . 5(.+ + ('5 ((-)+#'-5 ' 5() + - 5&(+ 5,.,- #' %2 2.31 Pembrokeshire has a high quality environment. Our overall objective is to protect this while encouraging balanced development that will result in sustainable growth. 2.32 During 2012 – 2013, we continued to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide that we emit. We have adopted a systematic approach to reducing carbon emissions and have used technologies with the fastest pay-back on investment, such as combined heat and power. In addition, we adopted a new Local Development Plan setting out the framework for the sustainable development of the County. We also exceeded our recycling and waste diversion targets once again, and set in motion steps to make further progress in this area in the future. 2.33 We have developed a proactive approach to tackling climate change that focuses on reducing carbon emissions. During 2012 – 2013, we continued to implement partial switch-offs of street lighting in many of our communities. Our Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee also reviewed how this policy is working, to ensure that the right balance is being struck between flexibility and consistency across the County. 2.34 Heating systems and associated equipment at leisure centres use a lot of energy. During 2012 – 2013, we installed more efficient equipment in both Crymych and Milford Haven leisure centres.

Annual percentage reductionAnnual in Carbon Dioxide emissions percentage reduction in Carbon Dioxide emissions 4.5

4.5

3.5

2.5

1.5

During 2012 – 2013, we saved a total of £784,679 in revenue costs and reduced our annual CO2 emissions by 6,250 tonnes.

4.25 3.89 3.26

2.46

0.5

0 2009/10

2010/11

2011/12

2012/13

2.35 We also developed a shortlist of sites for renewable energy schemes and have undertaken detailed investigations on potential projects where there appears to be a good case for renewable electricity generation. For example, we looked in detail at whether or not it would be feasible to fit a hydro-electric turbine to the weir outside County Hall in Haverfordwest. We concluded that the technical constraints involved made the scheme unviable at the current time. 2.36 One of the ways in which we are taking a pro-active approach to climate change is by determining whether some of the solutions proposed by local residents are appropriate. For example, we saw a significant increase in planning applications for renewable energy projects during 2012 – 2013. We received 50 applications for wind turbines and a further 82 applications for solar energy schemes, ranging from proposals for domestic buildings through to large scale solar parks. Our policies require us to balance the potential for a reduction in carbon emissions associated with these schemes with their visual impact. 2.37 Around half of the reduction we made in our carbon dioxide emissions last year arose as a result of re-negotiating our electricity supply contracts. Our suppliers now provide us with ‘clean electricity’1 at over 300 sites across the County. We also made good progress in monitoring how we use energy on a day-to-day basis (by installing intelligent meters) and simplified the energy usage returns we supply to Welsh Government and the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

2.38 It is possible that climate change will lead to more extreme weather events. We set ourselves the challenge of improving how we respond to such events and reduce the disruption they cause. We did not progress our proposal to take on formal responsibilities as a lead local flood agency as the guidance from Welsh Government was delayed. We continued with technical work to agree the shoreline management plans that cover our coast. There have been some delays, but this has been due to other authorities needing more time to complete their sections of the shoreline plans. 2.39 During 2012 – 2013, we responded to a large number of extreme weather events. In both May and June, we cleared roads of fallen trees and branches due to storms and high rainfall. 2.40 We continued to raise awareness and understanding of sustainability issues both in schools and within the Council. By the end of the year, 97.5% of Pembrokeshire schools were enrolled on the sustainable schools award scheme. Ten schools had progressed to a higher level in the year and three of the The three schools achieved the top schools level for saved £900 the award.

and almost 5 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

2.41 The scheme covers energy use and other environmental topics. It also promotes broader sustainability issues such as healthy living and global citizenship. We were able to utilise British Council funding so that 10 schools in Pembrokeshire started partnerships with 10 schools in Nepal – teachers from both countries visited their host schools during 2012.

During 2012 – 2013, we saved the equivalent annual carbon dioxide output of 500 homes by purchasing clean electricity (electricity produced without polluting the atmosphere). 1

Electricity that is produced without polluting the atmosphere

On 22nd November a particularly strong storm caused structural damage in Pembroke Dock, Milford Haven and Fishguard, as well as widespread flooding. We and our partners put over 30 teams in place to clear blocked roads and deal with other incidents.

5!.#

2.42 Another example of how we involved young people in sustainability projects was Operation Energy. Pupils in three schools took part in a scheme developed in partnership with a voluntary organisation. Pupils surveyed energy usage in their schools and then encouraged their peers to save energy. 2.43 Through West Wales Eco Centre, we undertook climate change training for both Members and Officers in order to improve how climate change issues are built into decision making. 2.44 Another of our ambitions for 2012 – 2013 was to maintain Pembrokeshire’s outstanding natural and historic environment. In order to help achieve this, we adopted a new Local Development Plan. The plan sets out the framework for development in Pembrokeshire for the next decade and is the single most important development policy statement in the County. The adoption of the Plan was the culmination of over five years of work. Over the course of its development, we consulted widely with the public, community councils and developers. The work conducted last year was focused on preparing our deposit plan for its Examination in Public, as well as dealing with the Inspector’s subsequent recommendations. Hundreds of documents and representations were considered, and all of these are available on our website. However, we did not make progress using other mechanisms, such as Article Four directions to conserve the built environment. 2.45 Also during 2012 – 2013, we assessed the bio-diversity implications of numerous planning applications. Around 50 site visits were undertaken, and as a result of these we requested further survey work at around 20 sites. The aim of the We assessed 12 assessments is to ensure applications under the that there are measures EU Habitats Directive in place to mitigate potential adverse during 2012 - 2013. All impacts.

potential adverse impacts were dealt with.

50 %$5' +5 %

2.46 We continued to support a range of projects to raise awareness of, and safeguard, biodiversity. Examples included supporting Wales Biodiversity Week and Wildlife on your Patch events. These enabled people to go on a guided walk with a wildlife expert. In total, 975 people attended events organised by or promoted through the local biodiversity partnership. 2.47 We wanted to ensure that any new building that we designed met high environmental standards (for instance, incorporating sustainable drainage). We won a number of awards for new school builds in Fishguard, Neyland and Llangwm. All these schools were designed by our own internal team of architects and engineers. 2.48 Fishguard school became the first school in the County to achieve a design-stage Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) Excellent Rating. It also won the 2012 CLAW Sustainability Award and was one of the finalists in the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors South West & Wales Awards. Both " 5 0 + 50#''#'!5 ,!(%5 % '' .5 0 .'5 Neyland Primary School and Cleddau Reach VC in Llangwm also met BREEAM Excellent standards. 2.49 A clear focus for us in 2012 – 2013 was the reduction in the amount of waste we send to landfill, the production of energy and other useful products from waste (for instance we recycled the waste material that we produced from road repairs) as well as minimising the associated costs. We continued to make good progress in this area. By the end of the year, 53% of all waste had been re-used or recycled. Almost 70% of waste collected at civic amenity sites was re-used, re-cycled or composted.

2.52 We also changed the way in which we manage our civic amenity sites during the year. Our Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee assisted with this work and as a result we agreed to improve signage at sites and to make charging at civic amenity sites more transparent.

Percentage of municipal waste collected sent to landfill 100 90 80 70

2.53 Work also started on reconfiguring the community recycling facilities we provide. Due to the fact that a greater proportion of households have glass collected from their homes, demand for community facilities is declining.

60 50

20.32

16.69

53.45

49.69

49.49

47.13

46.87

45.23

43.72

43.42

42.81

42.17

42.01

41.53

41.03

40.98

38.95

38.91

38.21

37.59

32.73

49.53

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2.50 We increased the proportion of households that have the opportunity to recycle glass from the kerbside. This service is now available to almost every household in the County. We also increased the proportion of households who have food waste bins and worked with our trade waste customers to increase recycling rates. 2.51 Last year, we phased in new refuse collection vehicles that can collect different types of waste / recyclate to improve operational efficiency. This is helping to reduce costs and save fuel.

Torfaen

Newport

Swansea

Merthyr Tydfil

Gwynedd

Wrexham

Pembrokeshire

The Vale of Glamorgan

Isle of Anglesey

Conwy

Monmouthshire

Carmarthenshire

Caerphilly

Flintshire

Wales

Blaenau Gwent

Cardiff

Powys

Rhondda Cynon Taf

Denbighshire

Ceredigion

Neath Port Talbot

Bridgend

Three thousand nine hundred tonnes of food waste was recycled during 2012 2013.

Our efforts are designed to make it easier for every household to participate in recycling and waste minimisation. We are however delighted that some families use this as the foundation to go even further. One family in Pembrokeshire put out just one black refuse bag for collection between January and July 2012. They already recycled, but by deciding, wherever possible, not to buy items packaged in plastic they managed to drastically reduce the number of black bags they used.

The family bring their own containers to the shops for food (where they found that most packaging came from) as well as other sorts of items such as bathroom products. And having carefully monitored their expenditure, they've also found that the cost of their weekly shop has gone down by a third.

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We wanted to increase the proportion of people who recycle their waste. By monitoring the tonnage of material collected, we knew that fewer households in some areas, Pembroke Dock for example, put out separate orange recycling bags, glass or food waste boxes. With funding from the European Regional Development Fund, we employed a number of waste recycling advisors to work within communities to increase recycling rates. The advisors have gone from door-to-door, offering advice to people to encourage them to recycle. The results were impressive with an 8% increase in households who put out their waste either on a weekly or three weekly basis.

The advisors also attended numerous events over the past year. These included farmers markets, Christmas markets, the opening of fish week, disability events and meetings of tenantsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; associations. The advisors spoke to around 700 people and processed just over 100 requests for service at these events throughout the year. 26

2.54 We also made progress in relation to a range of longer term projects that will help to improve the disposal of waste. We are working with a consortium of other local authorities across South and West Wales to procure a bio-digester to treat the food waste that all authorities in the consortium collect. A preferred bidder for the facility has been identified. We are also making progress on a regional solution to dispose of black bag waste so that it does not go into landfill. We have started work on contingency plans should this regional work be delayed.

Measure of Success STS006 The % of reported fly tipping incidents cleared within 5 working days WMT004b % of municipal waste sent to landfill WMT011 % of municipal waste received at all household waste amenity sites that is reused, recycled or composted WMT009b % municipal waste collected by local authorities and prepared for reuse and/or recycled, including source segregated biowastes that are composted or treated biologically in another way.

The Cleanliness Index 100 90 80 70

76.0

83.0

91.7

93.0

93.7

94.1

94.2

95.5

95.8

96.0

96.4

97.2

97.4

98.1

98.4

98.5

99.1

99.5

100.0

Flintshire

Neath Port Talbot

Blaenau Gwent

The Vale of Glamorgan

Wrexham

Isle of Anglesey

Gwynedd

Cardiff

Swansea

Wales

Merthyr Tydfil

Ceredigion

Pembrokeshire

Newport

Conwy

Powys

Caerphilly

Torfaen

Monmouthshire

Bridgend

Carmarthenshire

Rhondda Cynon Taf

Denbighshire

As well as collecting refuse, we also clean streets and other open areas in order to keep them clean and tidy. We have always performed well in this area and as the graph above demonstrates, 2012 2013 was no exception:

11/12 Wales

12/13 Target

12/13 Actual

12/13 Wales

DoT

QRT

97.3

91.4

96.1

91.36

Performance similar to previous year. An additional 38 fly tipping incidents reported compared to previous year (633 versus 595). * * 47.5 45.2 41.03 * M Better than target. Approximately 29,000 tonnes of municipal waste sent to landfill, some 2,000 fewer tonnes than previous year. *

STS005b The percentage of highways and relevant land inspected of a high or acceptable standard of cleanliness

69.2

66.47

Better than target. Over 12,000 tonnes was reused, recycled or composted compared to 11,500 the previous year. *

53.1

52.26

Better than target. Some 34,300 tonnes reused and/or recycled, compared to 33,100 tonnes the year before. 9

OAEV61b No. of schools to have progressed to a new level of bronze, silver, gold or acorn attainment

11/12 Actual

Successful programme delivery led to the target being met. Incorporation of ͞KƉĞƌĂƚŝŽŶ ŶĞƌŐǇ͟ ŝŶƚŽ ƚŚĞ ^ƵƐƚĂŝŶĂďůĞ ^ĐŚŽŽůƐ ^ĐŚĞŵĞ ŚĂƐ ďĞĞŶ ďeneficial in assisting schools to attain the energy topic. Two schools attained the bronze award this year, 2 schools progressed to silver and 3 to the gold award. A ĨƵƌƚŚĞƌ ϯ ƐĐŚŽŽůƐ ŚĂǀĞ ĂƚƚĂŝŶĞĚ ƚŚĞ ŚŝŐŚ ůĞǀĞů ͞ĂĐŽƌŶ͟ ĂǁĂƌĚ ĨŽƌ ƚŚĞ ĨŝƌƐƚ ƚŝŵĞ this year. 98.7

95.3

96.4

95.4

The reduction in performance equates to 5 sites, which at the time of inspection were not of an acceptable standard or higher. Our Environment Overview and Scrutiny committee has focussed on performance in this area.

Our overall assessment

We were generally satisfied with our performance in this area. The majority of planned actions were completed and our performance against key indicators was good. We are operating within our landfill diversion allowance and have deliberately worked to take maximum advantage of this on economic grounds. As a consequence however, comparison with other authorities indicates that some are diverting more waste from landfill than us. We are satisfied that our approach represents value for money for our County. We do not believe it would be prudent to over-invest in this area merely to improve our position relative to others. We are satisfied with our rate of progress in relation to waste minimisation and slightly exceeded Welsh Government targets again during 2012 – 2013. However, we also recognise that achieving these targets will become more and more challenging and we will need to retain focus on this area in future years. 29

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2.59 Over the course of the past year we took action to broaden our economic base and improve resilience by increasing the quantity and quality of employment opportunities in Pembrokeshire. We made progress on actions in this area despite tough economic conditions.

2.55 It is difficult to overstate the contribution that Pembrokeshire’s economy makes to the wellbeing of local people. No one sector – public, private or voluntary – can improve the local economy by working in isolation. This section focuses on our contribution to this agenda.

2.60 For example, we helped secure the declaration of an Enterprise Zone for the Haven waterway. The Enterprise Zone focuses on the energy sector and will help to secure the longer term future of its associated industries. The Enterprise Zone Board is independent of the Council, but we have worked with Welsh Government to secure the incentives that will attract investment to the energy sector.

2.56 The actions that we took during 2012 – 2013 to strengthen the economy included facilitating the development of employment sites and working with Welsh Government to progress the Haven Waterway Enterprise Zone. We undertook projects to improve the vitality of our town centres, where much of Pembrokeshire’s retail sector is based. We also took action to support sectors, such as tourism and agriculture, which provide employment in Pembrokeshire.

2.61 We continued to work with developers to bring forward marinas in Fishguard and Pembroke Dock. We approved planning permission, subject to a Section 106 agreement, for Fishguard marina. As well as a 450 berth marina, the proposal includes significant land reclamation works, together with new breakwaters, apartments and retail units. The development will also facilitate the expansion of the existing port.

2.57 Evaluating the success of our work in this area is not straight-forward. We are able to assist with creating an environment that will encourage growth, but our powers to intervene directly in the economy are relatively limited. There is also often a considerable time-lag between the interventions we are able to make and a consequent improvement in the local economy.

2.62 Work on the proposed Pembroke Dock marina also continued. The developer is now at the point of attracting businesses to some of the leisure facilities associated with the development.

2.58 A key outcome for our work in this area is ensuring there is adequate local employment. Though there are many factors outside of our control that affect employment, we do monitor the rate of unemployment. The graph below shows that, once seasonal variations are taken into account, unemployment in Pembrokeshire has remained relatively stable over the past three years. The rate of unemployment in Pembrokeshire remains well below the Welsh average.

2.63 The property market remained stagnant last year and, as a result, we were unable to make progress with the redevelopment of Pembroke South Quay. At the beginning of the financial year, we appointed a preferred developer. However, following consultation with the local community, the developer decided not to take the scheme forward. We appointed a new developer in June 2013. 2.64 We manage a number of business parks across the County where entrepreneurs can rent premises. During the year, we improved our marketing of the sites on our website.

Occupancy levels at the Bridge Innovation Centre increased from 50% to 82% for the main building during the year. Occupancy of the attached growth units remained low. A strategy and business plan has now been prepared to encourage even greater take up of the growth units.

2.65 Improving the quality and attractiveness of our town centres and increasing the range of goods and services available in the County was one of our key priorities last year. In common with many parts of Wales, Pembrokeshire’s town centres are being impacted by changing shopping patterns. We attracted grants and other investments into towns, such as Townscape Heritage Initiative funding for Haverfordwest.

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2.67 We worked with private sector developers to bring forward schemes that have the potential to draw in additional investment into towns. One such scheme was a new supermarket for Haverfordwest, linked to a large housing development and the redevelopment of a number of buildings adjacent to Swan Square.

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2.66 We also re-declared Renewal Areas within Haverfordwest and Milford Haven. We approved the future strategy in respect of the Milford Haven renewal area and a new programme of action was developed. The appearance of our towns is improving, but the tough economic climate is such that vacancy rates in many towns continued to rise.

Vacancy rates for our main towns increased from 13.7% to 15.4% during 2012 – 2013. Rates in both Milford and Pembroke Dock are now in excess of 25%.

2.68 Discussions have now taken place with all of the Chambers of Trade and Town Councils for the six main towns in Pembrokeshire. The purpose of these discussions was to identify a common vision / plan for each town. Already, a broad consensus is emerging in relation to this work. Improving town centres is one of the Improvement Objectives that we have set for 2013 – 2014. 2.69 Another of our specified aims for 2012- 2013 was that we wanted to ensure Pembrokeshire's traditional employment base and economy continued to flourish. Sectors such as tourism and agricultural or food businesses are significant employers in Pembrokeshire. 2.70 We continued to develop Pembrokeshire’s reputation for quality food produce during the year, by supporting through initiatives like Fish Week, for example. The 2012 festival saw record attendances at the opening weekend, and all cookery workshops were sold out. We also improved how we manage our estate of County Farms – by simplifying our processes for collecting rent, for example.

Your views “We can’t turn the clock back, I feel like we’re moving in the right direction”

David Fletcher, President of Haverfordwest Chamber of Commerce

2.72 We took action to help the tourism industry meet the challenges of the future. We agreed a new tourism strategy (the Pembrokeshire Destination Management Plan) in partnership with the industry and other public bodies. The strategy charts how the industry will meet the changing expectations of visitors. It also outlines how marketing will adapt to new technologies. We made progress on this by re-positioning our tourism marketing to electronic media. We held a digital tourism event to encourage greater use of these tools.

Although budgets are reducing in real terms, the Council still has significant spending power. During 2012 – 2013 we spent nearly £80m with local suppliers, nearly 54% of our total spend. We have been successful in increasing this figure over a number of years.

2.73 We made progress on a set of schemes to improve access to the sea. At Coppet Hall near Saundersfoot, planning permission for a new visitor centre was granted and works commenced. Enhancement work was also carried out at Solva car park and Tudor Square in Tenby.

2.71 We also re-tendered our contracts for purchasing food for school meals. Contracts with a collective value of £1.5m were awarded to Pembrokeshire based firms during the year. In addition to supporting the local economy, this exercise also helped us to save a significant amount of money at a time of rising food costs.

Total % of spend with Pembrokeshire based suppliers for the year 100

30 48.0

49.8

50.5

51.1

f hits on our o r e b m u n e h T rew by a third g te si b e w sm touri rease in tourism c in e h T r. a e y last +300% and s a w se u r te it Tw book. During e c a F r fo % 5 2 +1 f 4,225,700 2012, a total o ated to have im st e re a le p o pe keshire. The ro b m e P d e it is v of visitor spend e lu a v d te a im est as for the year w £570 million.

53.7

2.74 Pembrokeshire has high self employment rates. Another of our aims last year was to improve the resilience of small and micro businesses in Pembrokeshire.

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2.75 We used a local investment fund to support a number of businesses, including those involved in engineering, manufacturing, tourism and food production. This investment is expected to help existing businesses improve their competitiveness, assist new business to start and to create new employment opportunities in the County.

The £50,000 we invested in four businesses is expected to generate £500k in additional turnover and create 13 new jobs.

0 2008/09

2009/10

2010/11

2011/12

2012/13

2.76 We have been successful in attracting funding to Pembrokeshire from various European programmes for many years, but we anticipate this task will become more difficult in the future. During 2012 – 2013, we started to draw up plans for the European programmes that will operate in the County from 2014-2020. These programmes will be much more focussed on a small range of interventions than in the past, with a continued emphasis on regional cooperation. Measure of Success PL9 Average time taken (days) from registration of a planning application to issuing a decision (excluding section 106 agreements from 11/12). PIA030 Total % of spend with Pembrokeshire based suppliers for the year. RG22 No. of local investment fund grants (LIF) received by local businesses RG20 No. of qualified inward investment enquiries received. RG24 % of let (Pembrokeshire County Council owned) floor space at the Bridge Innovation Centre RG25 No. of associate businesses using the Bridge Innovation Centre RG30 No. of physical regeneration projects delivered (includes THI, Lottery & renewal area projects) RG4 Tourism conversion rate - actual visits following brochure requests RG13 External funding levered into Pembrokeshire Community projects (£m)

11/12 Actual

11/12 Wales

12/13 Target

12/13 Actual

12/13 Wales

DoT

QRT

66.3

64.8

Increase in performance. Staff are encouraged to deal with simple cases earlier in the cycle which has improved efficiency. An initiative has been introduced to improve the pre-application service, and this should help in speeding up the determination of applications. Data for the first quarter in 2013/14 show a further improvement to just over 59 days. 51.1

53.7

Target exceeded. The Council must ensure that its procurement activity is legal and offers value for money. It is important however to measure the level of our expenditure that goes to Pembrokeshire business. 64

We made good progress against our planned actions under this Improvement Objective last year. However, we recognise that the impact our work is having on the health of the economy is limited. The state of Pembrokeshire’s economy, though more healthy than in many other parts of Wales, remains fragile. Unemployment remains relatively low, but our town centres are suffering. We know that many local residents would like us to do more to help town centres and we have identified this as a priority in our 2013 – 2014 Improvement Plan. We are already working closely with Chambers of Trade in a number of towns in Pembrokeshire and have been enthused by the willingness of local communities to take the lead on this agenda.

Target exceeded, performance maintained from 2011/12. 41

The economic climate is still restricting business investment and Wales as a whole is attracting few enquiries and projects. This reduction was also seen in Pembrokeshire. *

Target exceeded, reflecting successful marketing of the Bridge Innovation Centre, especially the main building. *

Target achieved, reflecting successful marketing of the Bridge Innovation Centre especially the main building. 2

Pembroke Dock THI was completed in 2012/13. Funding was committed in Pembroke and Pembroke Dock Physical Regeneration Project. 22.85

In light of the decision to move from a paper brochure to digital formats, no research was undertaken during 2012/13 to calculate this indicator. 4.28m

1.5m

1.3m

External funding opportunities have been driven down by the prevailing economic climate. We anticipated that funding opportunities would reduce and we came close to meeting our target. 10

RG14 No. of Social Enterprises in Pembrokeshire whose development was supported

Our overall assessment

This indicator has been driven by the Collaborative Communities Project which started in September 2011 and will finish in December 2013. This project aims to strengthen the economic base of the region by supporting existing, emerging and potential social enterprises. Some examples of organisations supported include Age Concern Pembrokeshire; Tenby Development Trust; Theatre Gwaun Community Trust; Pembroke Dock Sunderland Trust.

* Relates to a new Performance Measure or a new definition - Relates to cases where it is not possible to draw comparison with other authorities legitimately

(.,#'!565 50#%%50(+$50#-"5(.+5) +-' +, Did you know? -(5+ . 5"(.,#'!5' 5#'5 & +($ ,"#+ 2.77 Housing is a key component underpinning quality of life in our communities. Our work under this objective is multi-faceted. We aim to develop a mix of housing, including affordable housing, which will meet the needs of our communities. We aim to help people to live longer in their own homes by helping them to make adaptations. We also manage and maintain a significant number of homes.

We provide around 5,800 homes for low cost rent. Our partner organisations provide a further 2,500.

2.83 Our performance relative to other local authorities in Wales in this area does not compare favourably. We were ranked 20th last year, having declared that 17% of all housing units completed in Pembrokeshire during the year were additional affordable units. We believe there are a number of issues with the way in which this indicator is calculated and audited. One of our neighbouring authorities reported that 99% of all new housing in its area completed last year were additional affordable units.

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2.78 We had a number of successes in relation to housing this year, such as achieving the Welsh Housing Quality Standard on time and on budget. However, we did not make the progress that we would have liked in introducing further improvements to our housing repairs service; this will be a priority dwellings during 2013 – 2014. r of new

e a he numb t h g u o h as up by w Alt 3 1 / 2 1 d in 20 rs it was a e y o complete w t s e previou h t n ld have o u o d ir w th e w l f the leve o lf a h ly ession. c on e r e h t o prior t expected

2.79 Ensuring there is an appropriate supply of housing and accommodation in Pembrokeshire was a key priority for us last year. We drew down £3.2m of Social Housing Grant2 to support the development of affordable housing during the year. This was more than we had anticipated as we were able to access funding from elsewhere in Wales that would not otherwise have been spent on time.

2.80 Through the adoption of the Local Development Plan, and associated supplementary planning guidance for affordable housing, we have sought to maximise the delivery of affordable housing without constraining development. As part of the preparatory work for the Local Development Plan, we calculated the number of affordable houses that we can expect based on today’s market conditions for each major settlement based on viability assessments. 2.81 We informed agents and applicants of the ability to negotiate affordable housing contributions in order to reduce the risk of developments stalling. We also began prioritising the determination of developments that have the potential to deliver affordable homes. 2.82 In total, we delivered almost 50 additional affordable homes during 2012 – 2013 (including 12 delivered through Section 106 Planning agreements). Over the course of the forthcoming year, we anticipate being able to deliver an additional 120 affordable homes. 2

2.84 In order to stimulate further the supply of affordable housing, we launched a local authority mortgage scheme in June 2012. The scheme guaranteed a proportion of a customer’s loan, meaning they were able to access more attractive interest rates. The scheme was targeted at first time buyers. Schemes such as these will be used sparingly to avoid artificially maintaining high house prices. This is reducing pressure on private rented and social housing. 2.85 We worked in partnership with registered social landlords to review the policy we use to manage allocations to all social housing in Pembrokeshire. During the year, we consulted on possible changes with customers and the wider public and agreed a new allocation policy for implementation from April 2013. The updated policy reflects changes to housing benefit rules, with the result that future tenancies will be more sustainable. The revised policy also targets people in need more effectively. 2.86 Our performance figures suggest we performed poorly last year in bringing vacant private sector dwellings back into use. We were ranked at the bottom of all local authorities in Wales against the relevant indicator. We will be discussing with Welsh Government why the work we have done to turn surplus and vacant commercial premises into homes cannot be counted in calculating the performance indicator. We anticipate that the work that we and our neighbouring authorities completed in the year for the houses to homes loans scheme will result in more empty properties being brought back into residential use.

Social Housing Grant remains the key funding source to deliver affordable housing for rent

2.89 We wanted to ensure the quality of our housing stock is fit for purpose and the long-term costs of repair and maintenance are reduced. During the year, we achieved the Welsh Housing Quality Standard for the homes that we manage. This was the culmination of a decade long programme of improvement, and we achieved this on time and on budget. This was a significant achievement in terms of ensuring that our housing stock is in a good state of repair, well insulated, has efficient heating, modern kitchens and bathrooms, is located in safe and attractive environments and, as far as possible, suits the specific requirements of customers.

2.87 We obtained funding to improve our gypsy sites and to extend the existing site at Castle Quarry last year. The scheme will be completed during 2013 – 2014. We also began to make progress on a number of legal issues relating to Kingsmoor Common. These matters will need to be addressed before the site can be expanded.

As at January 2013, we provided 132 pitches at nine separate sites. We have the second highest number of pitches in Wales and 22% of the total number of local authority pitches across Wales.

During 2012 – 2013, nearly 370 properties were vacated and turned around ready to be re-let. On average this process took 37.3 days.

2.90 As well as delivering major improvements, we also improved the way in which we plan future work. We developed comprehensive forward maintenance registers for jobs in houses that require attention on a cyclical basis. This has prevented simple problems from escalating and becoming more costly to repair.

2.91 Regardless of how well we plan maintenance of homes, we will always need to undertake responsive repairs. During 2012 – 2013, we introduced framework contracts for a range of repairs in order to obtain economies of scale and save money. A contract framework for delivering disabled adaptations in council housing was introduced. Unfortunately, the appointed contractor withdrew at the end of the year, having underestimated the complexity of some of the work involved.

2.88 Though we included no specific actions concerning our homelessness prevention services in our Improvement Plan, we continued to perform well in this area during 2012 – 2013.

Percentage of all potentially homeless households for whom homelessness was prevented for at least 6 months

2.92 The average amount of time taken to complete a repair in 2012 – 2013 was very similar to that in 2011 – 2012. We are committed to reducing the time that customers have to wait for repairs. We made progress in the year by developing new software that will help us manage repairs. We will be implementing this solution over the forthcoming year.

100.00 90.00 80.00 70.00

88.65

91.60

91.71

92.02

92.48

95.52

96.54

97.14

Isle of Anglesey

Merthyr Tydfil

Conwy

Torfaen

Gwynedd

Carmarthenshire

Ceredigion

Neath Port Talbot

100.00

88.34 Rhondda Cynon Taf

84.15 Pembrokeshire

88.21

83.71 The Vale of Glamorgan

65.28 Powys

83.41 62.64 Wales

52.89

61.60

33.88

Newport

10.00

1.20

20.00

21.44

12.81

30.00

49.32

40.00

Flintshire

50.00

Caerphilly

60.00

Denbighshire

Bridgend

Swansea

Cardiff

Monmouthshire

Wrexham

Blaenau Gwent

2.93 We continued to simplify and improve how we deliver disabled facilities adaptation grants during 2012 – 2013. We set up a forum with our customers to review service provision. We also updated our policy and e s we hav t n e m e procedure manual and v o The impr e having r a e ic v r commenced a review of the e this s made to ance and m effectiveness of the Private r o f r e p t on Sector Housing Policy we an impac ustomer C . e r a c r as implemented in 2011. We did not custome service w e h t h it complete a planned audit of nw satisfactio 013, up 2 – 2 1 current good practice, and we will 0 g2 93% durin 2011 and – be focussing on this again during 0 1 0 2 in from 80% 2013 – 2014. 012.

011 – 2

90% in 2

2.94 Our performance in delivering Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs) during 2012 – 2013 was disappointing. For a number s against le a of years we have improved our W in h nked 16t a r e r timeliness of delivery. This year, our icator for e d w in e c We n a performance against the relevant t perform n a v le e r elow the e b h t e r e w performance indicator declined. We will 2013 and . – 2 1 0 2 be looking at this in detail during 2013 – s a whole a s le a W for 2014. average

Measure of Success

The average number of calendar days taken to deliver a Disabled Facilities Grant

600

500

400

391

386

365

331

327

320

311

299

298

276

271

260

248

244

240

236

201

182

176

159

100

153

200

346

539

300

Newport

Flintshire

Powys

Torfaen

The Vale of Glamorgan

Ceredigion

Pembrokeshire

Swansea

Carmarthenshire

Caerphilly

Gwynedd

Isle of Anglesey

Wales

Blaenau Gwent

Wrexham

Neath Port Talbot

Rhondda Cynon Taf

Monmouthshire

Bridgend

Merthyr Tydfil

Denbighshire

Cardiff

Conwy

SCC033e % of young people formerly looked after with whom the authority is in contact, who are known to be in suitable, non-emergency accommodation at the age of 19 HHA002 The average number of working days between homeless presentation and discharge of duty for households found to be statutorily homeless HHA013 % of all potentially homeless households for whom homelessness was prevented for at least 6 months HMGvoids The average number of calendar days apportioned to housing management to relet a LA residential property, not requiring capital works or major / structural improvements. MBMvoids The average number of calendar days to turnaround a voids LA residential property, not requiring capital works or major/structural improvements. PSR002 The average number of calendar days taken to deliver a Disabled Facilities Grant PSR8 % of applicants surveyed who stated that the Disabled Adaptation Service is good or excellent PLA006b No. of additional affordable housing units provided during the year as a percentage of all additional housing units provided during the year PSR004 % of private sector dwellings that had been vacant for more than 6 months at 1 April that were returned to occupation during the year through direct action by the local authority

11/12 Actual

11/12 Wales

12/13 Target

12/13 Actual

12/13 Wales

DoT

QRT

100

78.6

93.2

This indicator is calculated on a small number of cases and it tends to vary from year to year. We missed our target last year due to the fact that 3 out of 14 ĨŽƌŵĞƌ ǇŽƵŶŐ ƉĞŽƉůĞ ǁĞƌĞ ĐůĂƐƐŝĨŝĞĚ ĂƐ ŶŽƚ ďĞŝŶŐ ŝŶ ͞ƐƵŝƚĂďůĞ͕ ŶŽŶ ĞŵĞƌgency ĂĐĐŽŵŵŽĚĂƚŝŽŶ͘͟ 89

128

69.4

130

A significant improvement in performance. Making further improvements will be a challenge in light of Welfare Benefit Reform and a lack of housing to meet demand (note that we only meet our duty when we discharge into suitable accommodation). 84.6

60.5

84.2

62.6

We maintained our performance last year. We perform well compared with the rest of Wales and we were just outside the top quartile of all local authorities.

14.5

11.5

20.1

25.8

Taken together, these two indicators show how long it takes to re-let an empty house. We made progress during the year but we still need to ensure that repairs are carried out in a more timely fashion. 318

326

300

327

271

The dates used in the calculation of this measure have been checked to ensure they comply with Welsh Government guidelines. The process used to administer grants will be reviewed during 2013/14. Data for the first quarter 2012/13 shows an improvement in performance following recent declines, the number of days taken having reduced to just over 300. 90

50 out of 54 returned surveys considered the service to be good or excellent, a slightly higher percentage than in 2011/12.. *

Target exceeded. A number of strategies and policies have been put in place to maximise the delivery of affordable housing. As this indicator measures units built, there will be a time lag between adoption of these new policies and delivery of new units. Qualified by Wales Audit Office July 2013 in all authorities. 0.09

4.62

0.5

0.66

5.11

5 properties were returned to occupation during year. In order to count against the indicator, a property needs to have had a residential use prior to its refurbishment. As a result, empty commercial properties that we returned to residential use did not count towards the indicator. Qualified by Wales Audit Office July 2013.

Our overall assessment Though our progress under the Improvement Objective was reasonable, we are disappointed that our performance results present something of a mixed picture. While our homelessness services continued to perform well, the increase in the time taken to process a DFG is a concern to us. Equally, the increase in the time taken to process a DFG is a concern to us. Equally, while we have reservations about the way in which comparisons are drawn between authorities in relation to the provision of affordable housing, and recognising that performance in this area is dependent on the activities of private developers, we are committed to helping to deliver greater numbers of affordable units in the future. We are delighted to have achieved the Welsh Housing Quality Standard on time and on budget. We were the only local authority in Wales to meet these requirements.

. -#('565

50#%%5 / %()5 5"#!"5*. %#-2 . -#('5, +/#

2.95 During 2012 – 2013, Welsh Government made three Ministerial Statements regarding the quality of the education services. The way in which education is provided in the County, and the way in which children are safeguarded, were also examined by the Pembrokeshire Ministerial Board, Estyn and the Wales Audit Office. Though many of the reports issued by these bodies highlighted historical failings, all acknowledged the Authority’s desire to move forward and tackle the concerns head on. We are now making good progress in relation to a range of these issues. 2.96 The actions we set ourselves for 2012 – 2013, such as improving school buildings, attainment and safeguarding practice remained constant throughout the year. However, we did alter how we propose to deliver change during the year. Towards the end of 2012 we developed a Post Estyn Inspection Action Plan (PIAP); this is the blueprint we are using to drive improvement in our education service. 2.97 The PIAP envisages a phased approach to improvement. The first phase was structural change. This has now been achieved; we created a new Children and Schools Directorate, which is managed by an entirely new senior leadership team. We also made good progress in terms of how we work with our neighbouring authorities; we established a shared school improvement service with Carmarthenshire. The final two stages set out in the plan, achieving behavioural and cultural change, will take rather longer to achieve. Already, however, there are encouraging signs that these challenges have begun to be addressed. 2.98 We wanted to help our learners to achieve consistently high levels of attainment and meet the expectation of parents and learners. In order to achieve this, we worked with other local authorities to share best practice and make best use of our collective pool of education advisors. Structures for regional working in education evolved during 2012 – 2013. We narrowed the range of authorities that we worked with to develop school improvement and we established a hub arrangement with Carmarthenshire County Council. A joint head of service has been appointed and the new team is in place.

In its last inspection of the Authority, Estyn found that our use of the support and challenge framework has contributed to greater consistency in the arrangements for link visits to schools.

Through this hub arrangement, we delivered training to school leaders, building on the concept of system leadership introduced in 2011 – 2012. The training included data analysis, self-evaluation, Welsh language and improving the attainment of more able and talented pupils.

2.100 We improved the way in which we use performance and management information in schools. We worked with a group of neighbouring authorities to introduce a Regional Support, Challenge and Intervention Framework. This gave us a better perspective on how well schools are doing, as well as their capacity to improve. Through the framework we created consistent data profiles, which we used to improve target setting for pupils and schools. 2.101 Another key action for 2012 – 2013 was improving attendance. We worked with schools and helped them to intervene earlier when non-attendance becomes an issue. Attendance increased substantially during the year; the increase for secondary schools was the largest increase achieved in any local authority area in Wales.

during ls o o h c s y ur primar o r o f s e t a r nd best o e c c e n s a e d h n t ( Atte ere 93.9% w in Wales) 3 y 1 it 0 r 2 o h – t 2 u la 201 ugh we f any loca o o h e T c . n ls a o perform dary scho n o c e he last s t r r e o f v o % a .6 re and 92 s in this a s e r relation g o in r p o d e d o t a re have m e have mo e w w o where ar n ( k e e c n w a , r d a n ye hool atte out of the c s h t y r 2 a 1 d s n u to seco ar placed e y proving t s im la o t e c d n e a t it perform are comm e W . ) s ie rit 22 autho . 3 – 2014 1 0 2 in r furthe

Percentage of pupil attendance in secondary and primary schools 100

Pembs Secondary 98

Pembs Primary All Wales Primary

All Wales Secondary

2.102 Educational attainment improved significantly during 2012 – 2013. This was largely the result of work in previous years. Improvements in attainment were also reflected in the banding positions of our secondary schools3. Seven out of the eight secondary schools in Pembrokeshire went up at least one band. None of the schools in Pembrokeshire are in the lowest band. While the headline figures were reassuring, the detail revealed some other issues that we know we need to rectify. Achievement by our most able and talented children was not as high as we would’ve liked, and we have already begun to address this issue.

510

Further analysis of the data also suggests an overall trend of improvement over time. The average point score achieved by students is a useful means of tracking progress in this way.

Pembs actual

490

Wales actual Pembs trend

470

Wales trend

450

430

410

390

370

350 2008/09

2009/10

93.4

93.3

90.9

91.1

93.2

92.7

93.9

92.6

91.3

90.7

2008/09

2009/10

2010/11

2011/12

2010/11

2011/12

2012/13

The banding takes into account the relative deprivation of catchment areas.

Attainment in 2012 – 2013 was much better than in previous years. A new National Strategic Indicator was introduced in 2012 2013 – the percentage of pupils achieving the level 2 threshold (including a GCSE grade A* - C in English or Welsh and Maths). We achieved top quartile performance against this indicator and were ranked 4th in Wales.

Average point score for Wales and Pembrokeshire

Average Point Score

2.99

2012/13

The percentage of pupils assessed at the end of Key Stage 2 (the final year of primary school) achieving the Core Subject Indicator, was almost the same as the Welsh average at 82.7% during 2012 – 2013. The percentage of pupils assessed at the end of Key Stage 3 (the middle of secondary school) was in the top quartile for Wales at 76.9%. However, we also know that these high level indicators can mask dips in performance in specific areas. We are currently revising our approach to performance management with our schools, so that we are able to access more robust ‘real time’ data that will help us forecast and mitigate potential problems with attainment.

2.103 In order to cement improvements in attainment we wanted to improve how we evaluate our performance, so that potential problems are picked up at an earlier stage. We invested in additional capacity to examine and evaluate education data during the year. This work is being closely monitored by our Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

5 5

Inspections undertaken during the year highlighted that the performance of too many primary schools lagged behind other primary schools in Wales. The percentage of pupils achieving the core subject indicator at the end of Key Stage 2 rose between 2011 – 2012 and 2012 – 2013. However, we narrowly missed our target and did not see the same rate of improvement as other local authorities in Wales. Attainment by secondary school pupils increased in the examinations taken in June 2012. The percentage of pupils who achieved the level 2 threshold with good grades in English/Welsh and Maths increased to 56%, the joint third highest percentage in Wales. The average point score for pupils in Pembrokeshire (this is a measure used to compare results over time) increased to over 502 points, the seventh highest figure in Wales. There is discussion at a national level on ‘grade inflation’ and the circumstances surrounding the re-grading of examinations awarded in 2012. For this reason, comparing ourselves to the rest of Wales rather than looking at absolute increases may be more reliable. 2.104 We also made progress on providing better support to young people who are not reaching their potential in school due to disruption and problems in their home lives. There is clear evidence that our education and children’s services are now working together more effectively. 2.105 One of the actions we wanted to address during 2012 – 2013 was improving the quality of our learning environments. During the year, we obtained an in principle agreement from Welsh Government to invest around £150m in schools (half of which is to be provided by the County Council). We also worked closely with Pembrokeshire College to plan the redevelopment of Bush School in Pembroke and the creation of a joint learning campus.

2.106 Through the e-portal, we continued to increase the range of resources that young people can access to enhance learning. A number of schools have acquired suites of iPads and work was undertaken to ensure that these can be used within the broader on-line environment. Usage of the e-portal increased by a fifth during the year.

%)#'!5 &#%# , " %),5 "#% + ' One of the families we helped during 2012 – 2013 was referred to us because of concerns about one of their children. It appeared that a family breakdown was causing the child in question to misbehave at school. The TAF service arranged for advocacy support for the child and put in a referral to a school counsellor. The team provided listening skills training for the parents and ensured that a contact diary was maintained.

2.107 We undertook a large number of actions to promote learning environments for children and young people that are safe during 2012 – 2013. Details of much of our progress in this area are included under our Safety Improvement Objective (paragraphs 2.135 – 2.167 of this review). The following paragraphs describe issues that are specific to education. 2.108 In response to the concerns raised previously, we reviewed the way in which the Pupil Referral Unit operates and developed plans to bring all provision together onto one site in Neyland. In order to better support the needs of pupils with more challenging behaviour, we developed an authority wide behaviour support strategy and evaluated the quality of individual education plans and behaviour management plans for vulnerable learners. 2.109 In order to ensure best practice becomes embedded across all schools, we reviewed the model schools’ child protection policy. All head teachers were consulted on its implementation as part of a safeguarding in education conference held in the Autumn. All school governing bodies considered the model reasonable force policy, which combined with training is designed help teachers diffuse situations. The new model policy provides for consistency across schools.

As a result of the TAF team getting involved, the child felt happy, content and secure for the first time since the family break-up. The school reported a significant improvement in behaviour. Tensions between the parents eased and court proceedings were also dropped.

2.110 We undertook actions to support disadvantaged people to maximise their potential and provided courses to assist residents who do not speak English as a first language. The results achieved by students last year were substantially above national comparators. 2.111 We increased the level of qualifications achieved by Gypsy Traveller students by working with individual pupils to widen the range of courses they take. We also improved attendance rates; 94% of pupils attended for the expected number of sessions. We are one of the few authorities in Wales where Gypsy traveller students have achieved GCSE level qualifications. 2.112 We improved the way we support vulnerable children and families by establishing an Integrated Family Support Service and Teams Around the Family (TAF). Bringing these teams together has strengthened referral pathways and improved the quality of the service that families receive.

2.113 Some of the most disadvantaged young people in Pembrokeshire are those in, or have recently left, the care The system. During 2012 – 2013, we reviewed the support average external that we give to these young people. Opportunities for looked after children and care leavers to access points score achieved by 2012 – work based learning opportunities was identified as looked after children in being an issue by the review. Supporting People 242, ranking 10th in as w 13 20 funding was also secured to develop a atic Wales. This was a dram specialised housing and outreach support – 2012, project. This helped care leavers to make the improvement on 2011 8. transition to independent life more successfully. when the score was 12

2.114 We continued to provide a range of high quality services to meet the needs of children and adults with learning disabilities during the year. We reviewed all contracts for commissioned residential services and have formalised contracts for bought in day care services. The review of contracts has put us in a better position to commission services in the future. These contracts tend to be more costly and more complex than for other clients. 2.115 One area where our performance was inadequate last year was the issuing of statements of special educational need. There are two National Strategic Indicators relevant to this area of work. Our performance in relation to statements issued within 26 weeks (including exceptions) was just above the average for Wales as a whole. However, our performance in relation to statements issued within 26 weeks (excluding exceptions) was very poor – we were ranked 20th in Wales. We are already addressing this issue and hope to improve our position significantly during 2013 – 2014. 2.116 Another of our ambitions for the previous year was widening the opportunities for students across Pembrokeshire to access the full range of the curriculum and ensuring local people have access to the skills demanded by prospective employers. We addressed this is by developing federated working relationships between our schools, as well as with other education institutions such as Pembrokeshire College. We aligned timetables for post 16 education courses for both the North and South Pembrokeshire federations. These will be used for courses run from September 2013. We also commissioned a review of 14 – 19 provision in Pembrokeshire, which will inform our future plans for education.

2.117 We also delivered more specialist courses to help those people who need more help with their skills in order to find a job. The COAST project is a good example of the work we support in this area.

5 The Pembrokeshire COAST project gives people with a disability, long term illness or a significant barrier to employment, a wide range of opportunities, aimed at improving their training, chances of finding work and social inclusion. More than 550 people have been enrolled in the project to date, working with many different local organisations. Examples of those people who have been helped include those who were experiencing severe anxiety which had left them socially isolated and unable to work. In such cases the project commissions a third sector mental health agency to provide additional support. In one case, just such a package of support has enabled one client to improve their confidence and gain valuable skills. The individual concerned is now working towards owning their own gallery.

Prior to implementing this approach we were conscious of the need to establish whether the additional travel associated with federated working would have a negative impact on student attainment. We have analysed the results from our federated courses. Learners generally performed as well at ‘away centres’ as they did at their ‘home schools’. 52

Measure of Success SCC002 % of children looked after at 31 March who have experienced one or more changes of school, during a period or periods of being looked after, which were not due to transitional arrangement, in the 12 months to 31 March SCC033f % of young people formerly looked after with whom the authority is in contact, who are known to be engaged in education, training or employment at the age of 19 SCC037 The average external qualifications point score for 16 year old looked after children, in any local authority maintained learning setting EDU002i % of all pupils (including those in local authority care) in any local authority maintained school, aged 15 as at the preceding 31 August, that leave compulsory education, training or work based learning without an approved external qualification EDU002ii % of pupils in local authority care, in any local authority maintained school, aged 15 as at the preceding 31 August that leave compulsory education, training or work based learning without an approved external qualification EDU003 % of pupils assessed at the end of KS2, in schools maintained by the local authority, achieving the Core Subject Indicator, as determined by Teacher Assessment EDU004 % of pupils assessed at the end of KS3, in schools maintained by the local authority, achieving the Core Subject Indicator, as determined by Teacher Assessment EDU006ii % of pupils assessed, in schools maintained by the local authority, receiving a Teacher Assessment in Welsh (first language) at the end of Key Stage 3

11/12 Actual

11/12 Wales

12/13 Target

12/13 Actual

12/13 Wales

DoT

QRT

12.4

12.2

7.6

13.7

The indicator is based on a small number of children, so small changes in absolute numbers translate to a large change in the rates. During 2012/13, 8 children looked after experienced one or more changes of school, compared to 12 the year before. *

57.1

56.4

The definition of this indicator changed for 2012/13. During 2012/13, 8 (out of 14) young people were known to be engaged in education, training or employment compared to six (out of 13) the previous year. 128

193

155

242

221

There was a significant increase in performance, moving from lower to top quartile performance over the year. 1.2

0.5

0.15

0.4

Only 2 pupils (out of 1334) left compulsory education, training or work based learning without an approved qualification. This was an improvement on 2011/12, and reflects the work we have done with children from disadvantaged communities. 0.0

3.5

0.0

5.7

Our previous good performance maintained. All pupils in local authority care left education, training or work based learning with an approved external qualification. 81.7

80.3

82.7

82.8

Performance has improved for four successive years but in 2012/13, our performance dipped below the Welsh average. Through the Post Inspection Action Plan a number of initiatives have already been put in place to further improve attainment in primary schools. 70.8

68.1

76.9

72.7

Performance has improved for 5 successive years. We were pleased with this result as it puts us in a good position to continue to improve GSCE results. 12.7

17.2

13.7

16.8

Target narrowly missed. 185 out of 1,350 received an assessment in Welsh (first language). The Strategic School Improvement Programme which we adopted in June 2013 will address Welsh medium provision.

Measure of Success EDU011 The average point score for pupils aged 15 as at the preceding 31 August, in schools maintained by the local authority EDU015a % of final statements of special education need issued within 26 weeks, including exceptions EDU015b % of final statements of special education need issued within 26 weeks, excluding exceptions EDU016a % of pupil attendance in primary schools

EDU016b % of pupil attendance in secondary schools EDU017 % of pupils aged 15 at the preceding 31 August who achieved the level 2 threshold.

11/12 Actual

11/12 Wales

12/13 Target

12/13 Actual

12/13 Wales

DoT

QRT

430

424

435

502

468.3

There has been a significant improvement in performance. 87

73.3

78.7

71.3

Small reduction in performance. 37 (out of 47 statements) issued within 26 weeks. It should be noted that the number of statements issued during 11/12 was 23. 100

94.4

100

83.3

95.9

Small reduction in performance due to one out of six statements being issued outside of the 26 week period (by one day) 93.2

93.3

93.9

Attendance increased. However, we missed our target and matched the Welsh average (a slight improvement in relative terms compared with 2011/12). We recognise we need to improve in this area. 91.3

91.4

92.6

92.1

Better than target, but early indications for this year suggest we need to continue to focus on this area. *

56.1

50.7

We exceeded our target for this area and were pleased that we are now in the top quartile for Wales.

* Relates to a new Performance Measure or a new definition - Relates to cases where it is not possible to draw comparison with other authorities legitimately

Our overall assessment We were pleased with our progress in relation to this Improvement Objective. A significant proportion of the Authority’s effort has been invested in this area for the last two years, and it is gratifying that important measures relating to attendance and attainment have improved significantly. We were also pleased with our progress against the actions set out in our PIAP and the role that Members have played in scrutinising performance in our schools. However, we know that the issues concerning our education service previously identified will take some time to rectify and that the journey of cultural change we need to make is one that we have only recently embarked upon. Though the data has yet to be verified, and relates to examinations taken outside of the year with which this report is concerned, attainment in 2013 at GCSE, A-Level and within our primary schools was disappointing. We included school improvement as an Improvement Objective in our 2013 – 2014 Improvement Plan and it remains one of the highest priorities for the Authority. 55

,,565 50#%%50(+$50#-"5(.+5) +-' +,5-(5#&)+(/ (&&.'# -#(',5%#'$,5-(5 ' 50#-"#'5-" 5 (.'-2 2.118 Communication links are an important issue in Pembrokeshire. Although local ports and ferry transport presents opportunities to promote growth, our road and rail links to the rest of Wales are relatively poor. As much of Pembrokeshire is rural, it is also more expensive and technically more difficult for providers to supply fast broadband services. 2.119 The actions we undertook under this objective during 2012 – 2013 included facilitating improvements to road and rail infrastructure. We also improved broadband infrastructure and took steps to make our transport network more sustainable, by investing in bus corridors for example. 2.120 The key challenge we face in making infrastructure improvements is accessing external funding. The scale of investment needed means that we are unable to support projects entirely on our own. Over the years, we have been successful in accessing funding to make improvements around the major employment sites in the South of the County. We continued to make progress in this area in 2012 – 2013. We attracted funding to improve the road network and have also used our own resources to invest in the condition of roads. The scale of the challenge we face for access is significant and improvements will take time to come through but we are moving in the right direction. 2.121 For 2012 – 2013 we set ourselves the challenge of developing our links to the major road network andmainline rail networks. We took the view that this would help mitigate some of the competitive disadvantages faced by Pembrokeshire’s businesses.

2.123 Through our work on the Enterprise Zone and the marinas at Fishguard and Pembroke Dock, we are helping to secure the long term future of port development in Pembrokeshire. We also continued with our detailed study work concerning proposals to improve road and rail access to Blackbridge. This is the last remaining undeveloped site with deep water access on the Haven. Welsh Government invested in land around the site during 2012 – 2013. 2.124 We took action to improve opportunities for businesses and members of the public to access high speed broadband to ensure that Pembrokeshire does not get left behind other areas and to help local businesses compete with those in other areas. 2.125 In order to increase the speed of broadband for schools and our own offices, we negotiated terms and joined the Public Sector Broadband Aggregation (PSBA) project. A major part of our network is now managed through PSBA, but elements of this work still need to be implemented. 2.126 During the year, we improved access to broadband for some communities through the Connecting Communities project. For instance, properties in Angle were connected to a 10Mb service, whereas previously their service has been less than 1 Mb. 2.127 The last strand to this work involved lobbying BT to advance their programme of upgrading telephone exchanges under their Next Generation Broadband programme. We have worked with Welsh Government to press this case; BT is currently evaluating all exchanges in the County with a view to upgrading them.

2.122 We continued to develop and improve the road network to complement the Welsh Government’s investment priorities around the Enterprise Zone. For example, we progressed the Southern Strategic Route – a series of improvements that collectively link the A477 trunk road via Pembroke to Pembroke Power Station and the Valero Refinery. We completed highway works at Kingsfold Junction and made progress with the legal and planning work required for the remaining sections. We also obtained funding for improvements to Bulford Road and are now in a position to tender for the scheme.

25.0

20.0

17.2

15.2 Ceredigion

13.4

12.6

14.7

Cardiff

Wrexham

Newport

11.6

Bridgend

Blaenau Gwent

8.8

Caerphilly

11.1

8.6

Neath Port Talbot

Isle of Anglesey

8.6

Merthyr Tydfil

10.3

8.0

Monmouthshire

The Vale of Glamorgan

7.9

Gwynedd

10.0

7.8

Torfaen

Denbighshire

7.0

7.7

9.4

6.7

5.4

14.5

Swansea

5.0

10.0

20.1

15.0

Rhondda Cynon Taf

Percentage of roads in poor condition over time

Percentage principal (A) roads, non-principal (B) roads and non-principal (C) roads that are in overall poor condition

9.6

2.128 We wanted to reduce congestion within Pembrokeshire and avert future repair costs through prioritised maintenance and investment. As a result of successive severe winters the condition of roads in Pembrokeshire had deteriorated. We continued to invest in road repairs during 2012 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 2013; we spent around ÂŁ3m on road maintenance. Funding was prioritised through the completion of road condition surveys. This has helped us to avoid investing unnecessarily in patching work where more substantial repairs are planned. Road condition indicators for all types of roads in Pembrokeshire improved during the year.

13.5

14.17

12.5 13.16

12.65 12

11.5 2011/12

2012/13

We prioritise the significant investment we make in carriageway resurfacing by focussing on routes that carry the most traffic. We have made progress against the performance indicators used to monitor this area. However, the indicators also suggest that roads in Pembrokeshire are in a poor condition compared to those in some other parts of Wales. We are in the process on analysing why this appears to be the case. 58

Powys

Carmarthenshire

Wales

2.129 Developing sustainable modes of transport was another important priority last year. A third of all carbon emissions come from transport, but transport also underpins wellbeing and independence.

2010/11

Pembrokeshire

Conwy

Flintshire

0.0

2.130 We continued to support public and community transport. However, much of the funding we use to do this comes in the form of specific grants from Welsh Government; some of these grants were cut during the year. We consulted on the changes we were forced to make as a result in order to minimise the impact on our customers. 2.131 We accessed additional capital funding to make the public transport routes that we support more accessible for people with mobility problems. We achieved this by implementing upgrades to bus stops on particular routes, such as the 381 route from Haverfordwest to Tenby. 2.132 We maintained the community transport schemes that we support during the year in the face of a range of funding pressures. The number of passengers using the services grew by three percent over the course of the year. Satisfaction with the services we provide for both social services transport and for community transport is high. Ninety-eight percent of people surveyed during 2012 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 2013 were either very satisfied or fairly satisfied with the overall quality of the service.

2.133 We have made less progress than we would’ve liked on developing a marketing programme for sustainable access opportunities. However, we have commenced our work on a sustainable travel map guide.

Percentage of adults aged 60+ who hold a concessionary bus pass 100

84.7

84.8

85.5

86.2

86.3

88.1

88.3

88.4

91.0

91.8

93.5

94.9

Carmarthenshire

Wales

Blaenau Gwent

Newport

Rhondda Cynon Taf

Denbighshire

Merthyr Tydfil

Caerphilly

Bridgend

Neath Port Talbot

Cardiff

Torfaen

81.1 Flintshire

84.7

79.6 Ceredigion

Gwynedd

79.4 Vale of Glamorgan

84.3

79.0 Conwy

Wrexham

76.6 Monmouthshire

69.1

74.5

63.8

Pembrokeshire

98.2

Community Transport keeping people in the community At 86 years old, Mrs B. has used the Town Rider service for at least four years. Though she has a bus pass, mobility problems prevent from accessing public transport.

Mrs B. usually travels on the Town Rider twice a week to go to the local shops, enjoys meeting the other passengers and appreciates the polite attitude and practical help she receives from the driver. She says, “I would be absolutely lost without the Town Rider, I wouldn’t be able to get out except by using a taxi and I cannot afford their costs. I do not have any family around me or neighbours who could help me”. Mrs B. enjoys her chats with passengers and the driver; the service is clearly enriching her daily life.

Swansea

Isle of Anglesey

Powys

In spite of our efforts, the total number of journeys by public or community transport declined by 9% between 2011 – 2012 and 2012 – 2013. The total number of passenger journeys was 1,135,961 last year. However, the number of people using community transport scheme has grown by 16% since 2009 – 2010. The performance data suggests that relatively few adults over 60 in Pembrokeshire hold a bus pass (when compared to other areas). We will be looking at this in detail during 2013 – 2014.

2.134 We continued to publish information on visiting the countryside by train or bus for walkers and cyclists. We worked with Greenways and PLANED to improve information, simplify presentation and reduce reliance on paper leaflets. The most recent example of this being the launch of a guide to footpaths around St Dogmaels, the start of the Pembrokeshire Coast path.

A pocket-sized waterproof map was produced by the St Dogmaels Footpath Association with support from ourselves. Group members spent many hours checking all the routes so that walkers can be confident of a good walk experience.

2.135 We have a longstanding ambition to complete the North-South multi user route. During 2012 – 2013, we made little additional progress due to funding constraints and the difficulty of acquiring land, especially on former railway corridors. We decided to change our approach and looked at alternative routes such as the Cardibach line, which are currently being evaluated.

Although the number of 2.136 We implemented a range of projects in and around Haverfordwest to electric cars on facilitate more sustainable travel choices. We anticipated future the road is still transport demand when we fitted a charging post for electric cars in relatively small, one Haverfordwest’s multi-storey car park. We also invested in improving cycle routes around the town, providing real time information at bus of the reasons for stops, providing a secure cycle store, and enhancing the bike mobility this is the lack of scheme which provides a variety of adapted adult and children's bikes charging for people of differing abilities, on outdoor or indoor tracks. We continued points. with preparatory work for the proposed transport interchanges at Milford Haven and Pembroke Dock.

" 5+

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2.137 During the year, we also re-opened Goodwick station. This is the first time that a train has stopped at this station since 1964, when it was closed as part of the Beeching cuts An additional five trains a day now run following the station’s re-opening. Measure of Success

11/12 Actual

11/12 Wales

12/13 Target

12/13 Actual

12/13 Wales

HC10 No. of supported bus & community transport passenger journeys.

1,249,105

1.3m

1,135,961

89,442

93,900

82,884

HC11 No. of passengers who have used coastal buses during the year. RG15 No. of householders and businesses benefitting from an increased broadband speed (10Mbps) as a result of work undertaken by the Connecting Communities Project. THS007 % of adults aged 60+ who hold a concessionary bus pass. THS011a % of principal (A) roads that are in overall poor condition. THS011b % of non-principal / classified (B) roads that are in overall poor condition THS011c % of non-principal / classified (C) roads that are in overall poor condition THS012 % of principal (A) roads, non-principal (B) roads and nonprincipal (C) roads that are in overall poor condition

DoT

Ø Ø

QRT -

We set our 2012/13 targets prior to a reduction in funding. There was little opportunity to compensate for commercial operations and this led to reduced service provision. Reduced service provision has impacted on our opportunities to increase usage. *

The target was not achieved because 6 month delay was incurred when changing scheme terms and conditions. Once approval came back from Welsh Government, work commenced in Angle. Performance for 13/14 will be well in excess of this level. 78.5

82.6

74.5

84.8

The number of people aged over 65 who had a bus pass dropped by 0.5%. However, there was a much larger change in the indicator as 2011 Census figures were used for the 2012/13 calculation. The percentage of older people who hold a bus pass tends to be lower in predominantly rural counties. 6.3

6.0

5.7

5.3

8.3

7.8

7.5

6.9

7.5

17.8

19.2

15.6

18.8

14.2

13.5

12.6

13.4

× ×

M L

Significant investment has been made in carriageway resurfacing and these have been concentrated on routes that carry the most traffic. We are in the process of analysing why our comparative performance in this area appears poor.

Our overall assessment Our performance in relation to this Improvement Objective was satisfactory. Though we implemented the majority of our planned actions for the year, the performance data suggests, at first glance, that we still have some way to go to see the levels of improvement that we would expect. Though our investment in road repair work and resurfacing has led to an improvement in road condition, we still appear to be one of the poorer performing local authorities in Wales. However, we have some concerns about the indicators that are used to monitor these areas of work – our experience of driving in other parts of Wales would suggest that road condition in Pembrokeshire is actually well above the average. We will be exploring this further during 2013 – 2014. Our work to support the provision of public transport is dependent on specific grant funding from Welsh Government. We will be unable to maintain consistent levels of support if this funding is cut, as was the case this year.

* Relates to a new Performance Measure or a new definition - Relates to cases where it is not possible to draw comparison with other authorities legitimately

-2565

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2.138 Pembrokeshire is a relatively safe County. Along with our partners, we want to ensure that this continues to be the case. Our focus in recent years has been on domestic abuse and alcohol related crime, where indicators suggest Pembrokeshire does less well. Perceptions concerning crime and safety are also important; it is vital that people have confidence in the services that we and others provide. 2.139 During 2012 – 2013, we wanted to improve our safeguarding practices. In large part, this involved embedding and reinforcing the changes we had made in the previous year. For example, we established a quality assurance framework to maintain a sharp focus on safeguarding practice. Members and senior managers now have much greater oversight over safeguarding issues. This focus was further reinforced by the appointment of a Cabinet Member for Safeguarding, as well as the establishment of a Safeguarding Overview and Scrutiny Committee. 2.140 Work on improving community safety has also gone well. By working more closely with licensees, we have helped to reduce alcohol related crime and the number of people attending accident and emergency services.

Upon concluding its work with the Authority in March 2013, the Pembrokeshire Ministerial Board stated: “As with any major change, there is some degree of fragility in what are even now early stages. There is a considerable distance to go. However the direction of travel is right and significant progress has been made. In the board’s view the prospects for permanent embedded change are good.”

2.143 Undertaking appropriate checks on all those people who work with children is a critical part of safeguarding. During 2012 – 2013 we evaluated the changes made the previous year to ensure they were robust. We did this by setting up a properly resourced task and finish group, which reported to the Safeguarding Overview and Scrutiny Committee in July 2013. The Group reviewed a wide range of documents and interviewed people throughout the council in order to form its judgements. The Task and Finish Group found that vetting systems for employees were robust. 2.144 We made progress in improving how we hold information relevant to safeguarding on employee records. The recording of all allegations of abuse against staff members since 2004 was audited and systems implemented to enable allegations of professional abuse to be recorded electronically. 2.145 We were committed to strengthening how we assess risk following allegations of professional abuse during the year. We completed the first part of this task by concluding a review of the twenty six historic allegations of abuse of children by professionals that sparked concerns about our safeguarding practice. We introduced practical changes to practice such as improved minute taking. We also addressed cultural issues that had complicated investigations of professional abuse by establishing crystal clear lines of communication and oversight between education and social services. 2.146 We wanted to ensure that everyone involved in recruiting people who will work with children is trained in safe recruitment and practice. An induction checklist was produced for schools and we contracted a national charity with expertise in child protection training, the Lucy Faithfull foundation, to deliver the required training. The training covered safe school recruitment and selection, as well as dealing with disciplinary matters and grievance matters in schools.

2.141 Our highest priority for 2012 – 2013 was improving our systems and processes to reduce the risk of children being harmed. The framework for monitoring tasks concerning this work was the Safeguarding Children Action plan. 2.142 A joint meeting of Children’s and Families and Safeguarding Overview and Scrutiny committee closed down the plan in January 2013, concluding that all but a handful of actions had been implemented in full. Outstanding actions, such as our plans to establish a Junior Local Safeguarding Children Board and improve advocacy arrangements, as well as actions to monitor the longer term success of the plan, were incorporated into the PIAP.

2.147 We made significant progress in strengthening referral pathways between social care and education. We created an integrated safeguarding unit with a single point of contact for all allegations of professional abuse. 2.148 During the year, we restructured our children’s social services division. This had the impact of increasing the proportion of assessments undertaken by a qualified social worker substantially. Our performance in this area now compares favourably with the all Wales average. The timeliness of assessments for those children at most risk also improved.

2.151 Another of our aims for 2012 – 2013 was to ensure vulnerable people are cared for appropriately. We have already explained how re-modelling our children’s social care teams led to an increase in initial assessments where a child is seen by a social worker. Bringing together the TAC and TAF has also made a significant contribution to how well we provide support for vulnerable people.

2.152 Many vulnerable people are supported by carers. We worked with carers (including young carers) to help them manage their support arrangements. We consolidated a number of small contracts with organisations that provide support to young carers. Support is now provided by a major third sector organisation and is more consistent as a result.

Percentage of initial assessments that were completed during the year where there is evidence that the child has been seen by the Social Worker 100 90 80

2.153 When we examined this issue, many adult carers indicated that they were not aware they were entitled to an assessment in their own right. Consequently, we wrote to almost all carers during the year and invited them to take up an assessment. We used our fair access to care panel to assess all requests for respite care, so that these were dealt with in a fair and equitable way.

89.81

88.59

86.92

85.71

85.64

85.61

85.47

83.20

82.86

79.24

75.42

74.38

74.23

74.15

74.11

72.82

71.21

67.69

67.47

66.88

59.56

68.58

88.30

“Pembrokeshire is now very different in terms of both culture and practice in safeguarding arrangements” Pembrokeshire Ministerial Board, March 2013

The percentage of carers of adults who were offered an assessment or review of their needs in their own right during the year 100

20 90 10 80

81.7 Isle of Anglesey

39.5

84.6 Powys

61.6

85.3 Conwy

67.3

86.8 Wales

74.2

87.0

96.6 Swansea

Ceredigion

97.7 Pembrokeshire

88.9

98.6 Torfaen

Bridgend

100.0 Carmarthenshire

90.0

100.0 Blaenau Gwent

Caerphilly

100.0 Merthyr Tydfil

90.1

100.0 The Vale of Glamorgan

Denbighshire

100.0 Neath Port Talbot

91.8

100.0

Wrexham

60 100.0

Eighty-six percent of initial assessments were undertaken by a qualified social worker last year. This compares with 50% for the previous year. We are now one of the better performing authorities in Wales in this area.

Gwynedd

Isle of Anglesey

Gwynedd

Denbighshire

Torfaen

Powys

Monmouthshire

Merthyr Tydfil

Pembrokeshire

Swansea

Conwy

Neath Port Talbot

Wales

Bridgend

Flintshire

Blaenau Gwent

Wrexham

Ceredigion

Carmarthenshire

The Vale of Glamorgan

Rhondda Cynon Taf

20 10

2.150 The final action we took in this area was to develop a Quality Assurance Framework for Safeguarding Children. This has embedded change and provided confidence that new policies are being adhered to. The Framework sets out clear standards against which performance will be measured. It enables children’s voices and experiences to be heard.

Cardiff

Newport

Rhondda Cynon Taf

2.149 Complaints from customers can flag up potential safeguarding issues at an early stage. During 2012 – 2013, we reviewed how schools handle complaints and examined the practical issues of implementing a single system to record and analyse complaints across all our schools. Work will continue in this area during 2013 – 2014.

Monmouthshire

0 Flintshire

Caerphilly

Newport

Cardiff

During 2012 – 2013, all young carers in Pembrokeshire were assessed and provided with a service. We also tripled the percentage of adult carers who were offered an assessment compared with 2011 – 2012. Only 2.3% of adult carers were not offered an assessment last year. We are now one the highest performing authorities in Wales in this area, having previously been poor. 67

2.159 We continued to deliver high quality substance misuse prevention work through the Specialist Under-18 Drink and Drugs Service. This delivered training through schools and youth work settings, as well as confidential advice and support to clients. We also commissioned a new service to meet the needs of carers of people misusing drugs and alcohol.

M a n a g i n g d e m e n t ia t h a t i s b e c om i n g a n a d u l t pr o t e c ti o n i s s u e

2.154 We also wanted to improve the services we provide for vulnerable adults. We produced and distributed several leaflets to increase community awareness of adult protection issues and the support that we can offer. We also worked with the Police to improve how we identify potentially vulnerable people at an early stage.

BH is a wheelchair user and has dementia. He sometimes behaves in a challenging manner with care staff and family members. BH was already receiving a large package of care at home. By amending this support to provide him with a personal assistant, we are helping BH to deal with some of his frustrations so that he is able to remain in the community.

2.155 Our community resource teams also helped a number of vulnerable customers where their situation may have escalated to become an adult protection issue.

2.156 Another key area for us last year was keeping young people safe from verbal, psychological and physical harassment. We achieved this by rolling out internet safety campaigns and by adopting an anti-bullying strategy for our schools. 2.157 We also put in place a mentoring scheme that supported young people making the transition from primary to secondary school. We continued to provide effective counselling services for all young people, regardless of where they are being educated (including those who are home educated). The service has a good track record of helping young people to deal with emotional problems. The service measured its effectiveness throughout the year using a distance travelled tool.

Your views â&#x20AC;&#x153;I feel that by attending counselling I have become more emotionally stable and have been able to control my temper moreâ&#x20AC;?

Service User

2.160 We had particular success in reducing problems associated with some licensed premises. We drew up action plans with the licensees of premises where there were potential problems, with the result that we saw significant reductions in violent crime. We reduced the levels of formal enforcement action that we were obliged to undertake, but saw much reduced levels of alcohol related anti-social behaviour and crime. 2.161 Levels of domestic abuse are higher in Pembrokeshire than in some of our neighbouring areas and we continued to address this during the year. We introduced a range of projects to reduce the risk of people becoming victims, to support victims and to deal with perpetrators.

2.162 We introduced the STAR programme to ensure young people are able to recognise abusive behaviour and understand healthy relationships. This was delivered through one-to-one youth work. Services for victims were strengthened by an additional project funded through Families First, and we also secured significant amounts of funding for a one stop shop for domestic abuse in Haverfordwest. This will house multi agency advice and support services for people affected by domestic abuse so that victims can easily access all services and the support they need in one place at one time. 2.163 Our work with the perpetrators of domestic abuse also improved during the year. For example, we held multi-agency risk assessment conference meetings more frequently. These meetings bring together all the relevant agencies to manage the risk of immediate re-offending and further intimidation of victims.

2.158 We wanted to ensure that crime and disorder levels in Pembrokeshire remained low. We developed a new substance misuse strategy and examined how our local plans could add value at a regional scale. This may help us to reduce our costs over time.

In one Haverfordwest premises, incidents of disorder for the year fell by 75%. Violent crime reduced by 68%.

2.164 Pembrokeshire has low crime rates and a small number of people are responsible for a disproportionately large number of the crimes that do take place. We carried out work to evolve our existing Prolific and Priority Offender Scheme The scheme into an Integrated has led to a Offender Management significant Framework, which deals reduction in with a wider range of offenders causing harm re-offending. and nuisance to the Arrests were community.

down 79%, and convictions by 83%, for those participating in the programme.

2.165 We were committed to increasing the confidence consumers can have in business transactions in Pembrokeshire last year. With this in mind, we implemented the National Food Hygiene Standard; so far 1,463 (80.5%) premises have been rated out of a possible 1817 ‘eligible’ premises. Of the 354 ‘eligible’ premises yet to be rated, 322 fall in the lowest risk category (E) which, in accordance with the national Code of Practice, are not routinely inspected.

2.166 We continued to minimise the risk of our customers or employees coming to harm as a result of using or providing our services. Much of this work related to improving road safety. We completed safer routes to communities schemes in Narberth during the year. Funding was obtained to carry out further work in Pembroke Dock during the summer of 2013. 2.167 We worked with other local authorities through the regional Road Safety Forum to share knowledge and best practice. We also let a number of joint contracts to carry out road safety promotions.

Total number killed/seriously injured in road traffic collisions

100 KSI for Pembrokeshire 90

Trend over time

80 65

2011

2012

0 2008

2009

2010

2.168 We strengthened our resilience to the risk of major incidents. We developed a better model of joint working with other local authorities in Wales, which has been accepted by Welsh Government’s Organisational Development Simpson Implementation Board. Our emergency planning teams now meet once a month to undertake joint training.

Though the number of people killed or seriously injured in Pembrokeshire rose slightly last year, an overall trend of improving road safety is evident when the data for the past four years is taken into account.

2.169 We also promoted Pembrokeshire’s public spaces and made them more pleasant and safer. Our Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee examined how we could better enforce dog fouling regulations. One of the conclusions the Committee drew was that geographic targeting was essential and we have consequently started to map problem areas for dog fouling. We continued our work with a number of community councils to enhance the cleanliness of their areas. More recently, we have begun to ask some community councils whether they would wish to take on the management of certain public conveniences. 2.170 We examined the case for a Purple Flag initiative in Haverfordwest. As the town was subject to two cumulative impact policies under the Licensing Act, we decided it was simpler to continue with our own successful model of working with licensees.

Measure of Success SCC014 % of initial child protection conferences due in the year which were held within 15 working days of the strategy discussion SCY003a % of children & young people in the youth justice system identified via screening as requiring a substance misuse assessment that commence the assessment within 5 working days of referral SCY003b % of those children & young people with an identified need for treatment or other intervention, who receive that within 10 working days of the assessment SCA019 % of adult protection referrals completed where the risk has been managed

HC1a Total no. killed / seriously injured in road traffic accidents PP10 % housing enforcement inspections completed within 15 days, once contact made and access agreed. PPN007i % of significant breaches that were rectified by intervention during the year for trading standards PPN009 % of food establishments which are 'broadly compliant' with food hygiene standards

11/12 Actual

11/12 Wales

12/13 Target

12/13 Actual

12/13 Wales

DOP

QRT

97.7

80.0

93.0

87.4

14 conferences (out of 199) were not held within 15 working days. The number of initial conferences that took place in 2012/13 was 50% higher than in 2011/12, and this increase in demand impacted on timeliness of assessments. 75

100

87.5

In order to make this improvement we decommissioned an external service provider and brought the service in-house. By re-allocating workload we were able to appoint a specialist substance misuse worker at no additional cost - we then used the money saved from decommissioning to employ two extra substance misuse support workers. 63.6

100

92.9

19 out of 25 people received treatment or other intervention within 10 working days. The service was in a transition period during 2012/13 (for instance the support workers referred to above did not start in post until June) and although we improved in the year, we were still below the Welsh average. 89.7

88.0

100

91.84

Target met. In all cases, the risk was managed following a referral. This improvement reflects a range of improvements to the way in which we manage adult protection cases, such as increasing the number of people who have undertaken specialist training. 62 59 64 2011 2012 2012 Cal Yr Cal Yr Cal Yr Although there was a small increase compared to the previous year, the long term trend is for the number of people killed or seriously injured to reduce. Our long term target is that 58 or fewer will be seriously injured or killed by 2020.

100

Target achieved once again. We undertake around 400 visits each year and aim to complete these inspections within a week of making contact 82.0

80.2

79.1

Our overall assessment We were very pleased with our progress in relation to this Improvement Objective last year. Concerns with our safeguarding arrangements were first raised in June 2011 and we have invested considerable effort in strengthening our arrangements. Our regulators have supported our view that our safeguarding processes and procedures are now robust. We performed very well against the indicators relevant to this area of work and our support for vulnerable people and carers places us at a high level when compared to other areas in Wales. We also made good progress in relation to our community safety work last year. Due to the critical nature of safeguarding, we retained a focus on this by identifying it as an Improvement Objective in our 2013 – 2014 Improvement Plan.

We exceeded our target for the year. The number of significant breaches tends ƚŽ ǀĂƌǇ ĨƌŽŵ ǇĞĂƌ ĚĞƉĞŶĚĞŶƚ ŽŶ ƚƌĂĚĞƌƐ͛ ĐŽŵƉůŝĂŶĐĞ͕ ŝŵƉůĞŵĞŶƚĂƚŝŽŶ ŽĨ ŶĞǁ legislation and so forth. 86.12

83.0

87.1

86.6

Small improvement in performance; an additional 40 food establishments were assessed compared to the previous year. We also implemented the National Food Hygiene Rating Scheme, which focuses our attention on those premises that are higher risk.

* Relates to a new Performance Measure or a new definition - Relates to cases where it is not possible to draw comparison with other authorities legitimately

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2.174 During 2012 – 2013, we wanted to provide assurance that decision making is undertaken appropriately and transparently, and that there are sufficient opportunities for internal challenge. In order to achieve this, we published terms of reference for our main decision making bodies on our website and wrote a simple guide to inform citizens of the role of these bodies. We also developed and published a concise guide setting out the relationships between the various committees that operate underneath the Council.

2.171 Last year, we made clear our intention to strengthen our internal governance procedures. We wanted to do this for a number of reasons. External regulators had recommended that we needed to formalise some of our processes. We also took the opportunity to use the new duties and powers in the 2011 Local Government (Wales) Measure to strengthen our scrutiny system. 2.172 The challenges we faced in completing this work were the relatively large number of changes that needed to be put in place simultaneously. We needed to create new committees, redefine working relationships between existing committees, induct newly Elected Members and train all Members in the changes to our governance systems. 2.173 Our governance processes are now more transparent and we have made it easier for citizens to get involved in how Pembrokeshire is governed. Some changes have yet to be implemented, due to delays in the publication of Welsh Government regulations (such as the duty to scrutinise the wider public sector). The changes that we have made will also take time to bed in. The creation of a dedicated partnership and scrutiny team has been welcomed by our own Members and has been praised by inspectors.

have produced e w h ic h w in y a The w ew is a practical vi e R t n e m ve ro p this Im ave supported h e w w o h f o le p exam . e more effectively is tin ru sc to rs e b Mem airs of scrutiny ch ce vi d n a s ir a ch The consider our committees met to 2012 – 2013 r u o st in a g a ss re prog e arlier this year. Th e n la P t n e m ve ro Imp irs and vice chairs, a ch y tin ru sc f o s view factual report, d ile ta e d a ith w g alon at a seminar d e ss cu is d n e th were embers. This convened for all M ge of views and n ra e id w a d re tu cap e development of th e p a sh d e lp e h has its consideration to r o ri p w e vi e R this decision making l a rm fo r u o h g u thro processes.

2.175 We published the agenda, papers and notes of all Corporate Management Team meetings on our intranet site. As a result the whole organisation can see what the Council’s most senior officers discussed and the actions that arose from these deliberations. 2.176 Not all decisions made by the organisation are taken by the Cabinet, and in Spring 2012 we published registers of delegated decisions taken by Directors on our website. 2.177 In order to sharpen the focus of our scrutiny committees, we have introduced quarterly integrated reports onto the agenda. These reports cover the budget of services that fall within the terms of reference of each committee, as well as risk management and performance indicator information. Combining information in this way has allowed each committee to come to a more rounded view of how well services are performing. All scrutiny committees also considered our annual equalities report and worked alongside the Audit Committee to consider emerging policies and practices. 2.178 We published a Cabinet forward work programme on our website. This gives citizens and other stakeholders notice of when issues are likely to be considered. We also included descriptions of the roles that our members may undertake (for instance as a cabinet member or as a committee chair) as part of our Members’ handbook.

2.179 The changes that we made last year need to be reflected in our Constitution – the legal document setting out how the Council works. In order to achieve this, we instigated a cross-party working group and commissioned external policy support to review it. The group met several times to consider a range of amendments which have been incorporated into the March 2013 version of the Constitution. Further amendments are planned during 2013 – 2014. 2.180 We also focussed on improving how we support Members to discharge their duties effectively last year. It was a good time to commence this work as local government elections were held in May 2012. This led to a number of new Members being elected and provided an opportunity to re-evaluate how Members were supported, particularly those involved in scrutiny. 2.181 We developed and delivered role specific training packages for scrutiny members and committee chairmen and vice-chairmen. This included general training for all overview and scrutiny members and more specific training on questioning skills to improve the rigour with which policies are scrutinised. 2.182 We have been developing a self-assessment toolkit for Members to evaluate their effectiveness, linked to the analysis of Member training needs that we undertook at the start of the year. As a result of the feedback we received from Members, we changed our approach to Member training and have tried to focus on more bespoke sessions for smaller groups. 2.183 In order to demonstrate that Members take their development seriously, we published annual Member attendance registers covering committee meetings and seminars. Information on attendance at formal meetings was previously available, but the new register ensures this information is available in a single document.

2.184 We realigned existing resources to provide strategic policy support to scrutiny committees. This work has been completed and a scrutiny and partnership support team established. Bringing partnership and scrutiny support together gives an outcome focus to scrutiny improvement work and puts us in a good position scrutinise the wider public sector in Pembrokeshire.

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The Improvement Assessment Letter published by the Wales Audit Office during August 2013 stated that, “Scrutiny support services are developing well”. This is view is also supported by Members themselves: “Scrutiny has improved 1000%” “The development of scrutiny support has been very high quality” Feedback from Members at Improvement Review seminar

2.185 We reprioritised our scrutiny work programmes so that they align with the Council's strategic priorities and improvement objectives. Each committee has considered how the timing of when they look at issues fits with the Cabinet work programme. 2.186 We also developed an information sharing protocol for Members. The protocol explains the types of information Members will have access to, the arrangements in place to prevent information being disclosed inappropriately and how potential conflicts of interest should be managed.

On average Members attended 18 seminars last year over and above formal committee meetings, a quarter of Members attended 25 or more during the year.

had sufficient ty ri o th u A e th ll, "Overa there continues d n a ce la p in ls o contr ive control ct e ff e lly ra e n e g a to be environmentâ&#x20AC;? provement Im e ic ff O it d u A s Wale August 2013 Assessment Letter,

2.187 Finally, we set ourselves the challenge of ensuring there are sufficient assurance mechanisms in place to enable us to effectively manage risk.

2.188 The Authorityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s internal audit workplan is addressing this matter and the review is currently ongoing. The work will evaluate the effectiveness of our current arrangements, especially how performance reviews help us to ensure all staff are working towards the overall priorities of the Council.

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Our overall assessment

We are very pleased with our progress in relation to this Improvement Objective. Most of the actions we set ourselves have been completed and it is clear that the culture of the organisation has changed fundamentally since concerns were first raised by regulators in June 2011. Our scrutiny committees are operating effectively and are appropriately supported by the Authority. We will continue to ensure that decision making is open and transparent and that Members are supported to have effective oversight. We will be making further positive changes to our Constitution during the forthcoming year.

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3.7 Of the 118 indicators relating to Pembrokeshire that make up the NSI, PAM and SID indicator sets (and that can be compared legitimately between the periods 2010 – 2011 and 2012 – 2013) 70% either improved or remained static. The following graph charts our progress from 2010 – 2011 and 2012 – 2013. Against the targets we set ourselves for 2012 – 2013 we either got very close to or exceeded the target set for 73% of the indicators.

3.1 We rely on a variety of performance indicators to monitor and manage our performance. Many of these indicators are either National Strategic Indicators (NSIs), Public Accountability Measures (PAMs)4 or are included in the Service Improvement Data (SID) sets that exist across a range of services5. The suite of indicators we use supplements other information relating to cost, quality and customer satisfaction; this provides us with a balanced view of performance across the organisation. 3.2 Increasingly we rely on ‘outcome measures’ to help us evaluate the impact of our actions on our customers and the community. Such measures are not perfect; it is sometimes difficult to draw links between such measures and the projects that have been implemented. Equally, it is not always appropriate to use such measures to draw comparisons between different areas; their real value lies in being able to track trends over time. 3.3 In Pembrokeshire we use outcome measures to monitor our Single Integrated Plan. We have also developed measures that can be used to evaluate our progress against the improvement objectives we publish each year.

Performance of National Measures 70%

60%

50%

40% Improved Maintained

3.4 Section 2 included a selection of the measures we used during 2012 – 2013 to monitor progress against our improvement objectives. For each indicator, we set out, where available, a comparison with the average for Wales and an indication of whether our performance placed us in the highest, middle or lowest band of Welsh local authorities.

63%

30% 51% 20%

30% 25%

24%

23%

10%

3.5 When comparing our performance with the national average it is important to consider that different local authorities will prioritise services in different ways (often to reflect local variations in need). Performance information may often be an indicator of the resources allocated to particular service areas. Overall, we are a relatively low spending authority and have achieved the performance levels set out in section 2 while maintaining sensible levels of investment. 3.6 Furthermore, data provided for NSIs is subject to auditing by the Wales Audit Office and it is worth noting that in a number of instances the quality of the data assessed for 2012 – 2013 was ‘qualified’ (which means there were questions regarding its accuracy). All authorities had their calculations for two indicators qualified, these were for the rate of delayed transfers of care for people aged over seventy five and the number of additional affordable housing units provided during the year as a percentage of all additional housing units provided during the year. In addition, we had a third indicator qualified (the percentage of private sector dwellings that had been vacant for more than 6 months at 1 April that were returned to occupation during the year through direct action by the local authority). 4 5

15%

12%

0% 2010/11

2011/12

2012/13

3.8 The majority of the indicators that we monitor, and which can be compared over the three years legitimately, improved. We also recorded figures above the Wales average for 58% of the 76 indicators that can be compared at a national level. 3.9 Though the proportion of all indicators that can be compared over time, deteriorating performance increased to 30% between 20112012 and 2012 – 2013, analysis of the most important indicators (NSIs and PAMs) indicates an improving picture. Due to definition changes for a number of indicators (and the introduction of PAMs in 2010/11), it is only possible to draw a comparison against last year’s improvement.

We have a statutory duty to collect the data used to generate the NSIs and PAMs. Although there is a requirement to collect data for the SIDs, we do not have to use them in our planning processes.

Declined

58%

3.13 Our performance for issuing final statements of special education within 26 weeks excluding exceptions was in the lower quartile. We know that recent performance against this indicator has also been poor and are in the process of taking steps to address this.

Performance against NS and PAM indicators (year on year comparison) 70%

60%

3.14 Finally, during 2012 – 2013 we were the second worst performing authority in Wales when it came to taking direct action to bring vacant private sector dwellings back into occupation. We will be looking at this matter again during the forthcoming year.

50%

40%

3.15 When compared to the other local authorities in Wales, our record of improvement during 2012 – 2013 was ‘mid table’. Twenty two of our 44 NSIs or PAMS improved, two remained the same and 12 declined. It is not possible to make year-to-year comparisons for eight of the indicators due to changes in definition and these indicators have been included on the graph.

Improving Maintained 61%

30%

Declining

54%

20%

36%

33%

National Performance Comparison 2012/13 versus 2011/12 (NS and PAM Measures)

10%

11%

52%

50%

Flintshire

Merthyr

6% 58% Monmouth

55%

9% 58% Neath Port Talbot

60%

Carmarthenshire

11% 56% Gwynedd

11% 59% Powys

14%

61% Wrexham

60%

61% Pembrokeshire

Vale of Glamorgan

6% 63% Ceredigion

11%

55%

39%

37%

35%

34%

33%

30%

26%

33%

26%

22% 63% Blaenau Gwent

15%

33% 2%

33%

65%

67% Isle of Anglesey

Torfaen

67% Cardiff

67% Caerphilly

67%

70% Bridgend

Rhondda

70% Conwy

33%

11% 70% Denbighshire

2% 72%

70%

40%

50%

30%

39%

Percentage of Measures

3.10 Our most notable successes included improvements in the indicators relating to children’s social services (such as the percentage of initial assessments where a child is seen by a social worker, the attainment of looked after children or placement stability of young people in care). For adult social care, we maintained performance despite increasing demand and increased the percentage of carers that were offered an assessment in their own right. We continued to decrease the amount of waste we sent to landfill and also increased recycling. We increased the level of spend with local suppliers by a further 5% compared with 2011 – 2012. Our services to prevent homelessness also improved against the key indicators.

Swansea

80%

33%

28%

90%

2012/13

28%

2011/12

24%

20%

10%

26%

100%

20% 10%

3.11 We were particularly heartened by the improvement in attainment in our secondary schools (for pupils aged 14 years as well as 16 years), with almost no pupils leaving school without a formal qualification. Secondary school attendance improved and we are now better than the Welsh average. Indicators for the condition of our roads also improved and this reflects significant investment over the past three years. 3.12 There are areas where we know we need to improve further. We did not provide as many affordable housing units as we would have liked last year. There are issues with how the indicator that measures this provision is calculated (and from 2013 – 2014 this will be calculated in a different way). We facilitated the delivery of 49 units in 2012 – 2013, nearly double the figure for 2011 – 2012, but much lower than historic levels. We anticipate that our performance in 2013 – 2014 will be much better and is likely to be above the Welsh average, once the relative size of authorities is taken into account.

Improved

Maintained

Newport

Declined

3.16 It is important to note that this type of comparative analysis is not particularly sophisticated (it ignores relative spend and efficiency, for example; Pembrokeshire sets the lowest Council Tax levels in Wales). It is an indication of relative improvement in relation to a small number of performance measures, but it is not weighted by significance of indicator (about which views would vary across Wales) or the degree of improvement / decline. Nor does it show overall levels of performance (arguably it is more difficult for the better performing authorities to improve year on year). Overall however, we were broadly satisfied with our performance during 2012 – 2013.

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4.1 We have a strong track record of working with other organisations to improve the delivery of services to our customers. In last year’s review, we highlighted Welsh Government’s desire to see greater collaboration between local authorities. 4.2 Over the course of the last year, we have built on the progress that we made following the publication of the Simpson Report in 2011 – 2012. One of the most significant changes we implemented last year was that ourselves, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Powys became the usual unit for working at a regional level. However, not all our collaboration work is on this footprint. Our hub arrangement for school improvement involved just Carmarthen. By contrast collaboration on procurement is now with all other authorities in Wales. 4.3 We have already commented on many of the service areas covered in section two of the review – the two regional waste projects, our regional school improvement service and other initiatives such as joint working with health. 4.4 In relation to social services, we worked through the Mid and West Wales Social Services Improvement Collaborative to develop regional safeguarding children boards. The board will commence in shadow form from autumn 2013 and will take over from the current local safeguarding children boards from April 2014. We also implemented regional arrangements for grant funding to support vulnerable families through the regional families first consortium. 4.5 We continued to work with other local authorities to share costs on some planning specialities such as minerals and ecology. We worked with authorities in South and West Wales on a regional economic development strategy and continued to progress workforce training issues through the regional learning partnership.

4.6 The Professional Construction Services regional project has progressed well. A framework (which simplifies how contracts are let across the region as well as achieving cost savings) was put in place for building work with a value of less than £3.5m, and for design work worth less than £0.5m. 4.7 We also continued to support the shared legal services project for South West Wales, which is delivering more efficient and robust legal services for ourselves and the other authorities in West Wales and Swansea Bay. During the year we set up a joint commercial property law team, which is hosted by Swansea City Council. We were also successful in bidding for funding to create a regional litigation team to deal with personal injury claims. 4.8 We made a bid to the Regional Collaboration Fund to lead the development of a Shared Regional ICT resource. The newly established regional project team will develop a new regional business case, specification and implement ICT solutions on a wider regional basis. 4.9 In relation to civil contingencies, we completed the business case for new ways of working through the Dyfed Powys Local Resilience Forum. These cover joint training exercises and follows on from well established collaborative arrangements.

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5.1 In January 2011, we commenced a three year Outcome Agreement (OA), covering the period April 2010 to March 2013. The OA set out how we were going to improve outcomes for local people within the context of Welsh Government’s national priorities. 5.2 The OA framework consisted of ten overarching strategic themes, drawn from Welsh Government’s policy framework for 2011. The priorities we chose were consistent with the Pembrokeshire Community Plan and our Improvement Plan for that year. 5.3 Following the end of each financial year, we were required to submit a monitoring report to Welsh Government so that our performance could be assessed. The OA is linked to a pro-rata grant paid at a level which is dependent on our achievement against our identified outcomes. The date for submitting the OA for 2012 – 2013 is September 2013; we do not expect to hear whether we have been awarded the full grant until early 2014. 5.4 A fundamental principle of the OA process is working with partner organisations, as this is seen to be central to achieving effective outcomes for local people. To be eligible for the full grant entitlement, we have to demonstrate that we have successfully delivered our desired outcomes through partnership working.

Area of Work

Progress during 2012 - 2013

Our language, culture and heritage thrives. Participation in sports and active recreation increases. x Our beaches continue to grow in safety due to a better trained, better resourced and more professional Lifeguard service, a direct result of the partnership between ourselves and the RNLI; Ensure that our beaches x We have supported voluntary Surf Life Saving Clubs (SLSCs) to build capacity are safe by forming a to make our beaches safer and to extend opportunities for active lasting partnership with the recreation. The SLSCs how have 525 members; RNLI, Surf Lifesaving Clubs x We have built upon our programme of beach safety information for tourists (SLSCs) and the emergency and locals by introducing the mobile beach information unit, which services. attracted 895 visits; x We have delivered the most successful to date Hit the Surf programme with 1,172 children attending. Public services are efficient and provide value for money. More efficient and effective procurement. x Work as part of the Welsh Purchasing Consortium (WPC) to achieve greater value for money from our procurement expenditure, while passing on the benefits of quality and choice to our service users.

x x x

Improved quality and length of life, with fairer outcomes for all. Healthier sustainable communities. x

5.5 During the second year of the OA, we secured the full grant for which we were eligible. This reflected the improvements we had made under the ten projects, as well as improvements we made to our self assessment and reporting procedures. 5.6 Welsh Government is in the process of finalising how the outcome agreement will work for the period 2013/14 – 2015/16. It is likely that the future scheme will closely mirror the current arrangement. We have already commenced the process of identifying suitable outcome agreement projects.

Working with partners in the Welsh Purchasing Consortium, we achieved financial savings of £432,673, exceeding our target by 27%. We have achieved savings of £155,429 through our collaborative procurement agreement with Hywel Dda Health Board, exceeding our target by 94%. We have provided high quality care packages appropriate to individual need, while maintaining value-for-money. We took the lead, on behalf of the Mid and West Working Group, for the regional procurement of residential care packages for adults with Learning Disabilities and/or Mental Health issues, and Physical & Sensory Disabilities. We have used these savings to help deliver strategic objectives and to protect the provision and delivery of essential frontline services.

x In conjunction with partners, establish multidisciplinary Community Resource Teams (CRT) across the county

x x x x

The Professional Help Desk (PHD) has been expanded to provide support to all Community Resource Team (CRT) areas. As a result, the number of referrals received by the PHD has increased from 683 in 2011/12 to 1,904 in 2012/13. 100% of CRT customers now have contingency plans in place, compared to 71% in 2011/12. Hospital admission was prevented for 72.4% of customers experiencing an acute period, exceeding the target by 0.4%. 92 customers were supported at home as an alternative to residential or nursing care placement, exceeding the target of 85 customers. Pembrokeshire was awarded demonstrator site status by the Kings Fund for their integrated care project. In a needs assessment survey undertaken, a significant number of respondents agreed that a healthy diet (88.9%), not smoking (67%) and regular exercise (60%) contribute to a healthy lifestyle. This demonstrates an awareness of the key contributors to healthy living.

Area of Work

Progress during 2012 - 2013

Area of Work

Progress during 2012 - 2013

A strong and prosperous economy helps to reduce poverty.

The environment is protected and sustainable.

Businesses in the local economy are supported to thrive.

Enhancing the quality and enjoyment of the natural environment.

x Provision of support and advice to business.

x x

We have assisted 75 businesses to access grants totalling £557,664.80 which in turn has drawn in an additional £836,497.00 for the development of Pembrokeshire businesses. Overall since the start of the Local Investment Fund project we have helped to create 59 jobs and safeguarded 32 others. We have dealt with 100 enquiries from young people with business ideas, ĂƐƐŝƐƚĞĚ ϯϬ ǇŽƵŶŐ ƉĞŽƉůĞ ƚŽ ƐƚĂƌƚ ĂŶ ĞŶƚĞƌƉƌŝƐĞ ĂŶĚ ƉƌŽǀŝĚĞĚ ϲ ͚^ŵĂůů ^ƚĞƉƐ ƚŽ ŶƚĞƌƉƌŝƐĞ͛ ůŽĂŶƐ ƚŽ ǇŽƵƚŚ ĞŶƚĞƌƉƌŝƐĞ ŝŶŝƚŝĂƚŝǀĞƐ͘

People have the education and skills to live prosperous, fulfilled lives.

x x Enhance the quality of WĞŵďƌŽŬĞƐŚŝƌĞ͛Ɛ ŶĂƚƵƌĂů environment and enjoyment for residents and visitors through education and awareness raising.

Educational attainment improves.

Develop federated working arrangements between providers of 14-19 education across Pembrokeshire.

x x

x We have fully aligned timetables across both Federations to allow learners to maximise their options and curriculum pathways. x Commissioning of provision has continued to make efficiencies in delivery; in 2012-13 there has been a significant effort in meeting a minimum class size of 12 learners in all centres. x We have maintained our focus on learner outcomes; for the first time there is a network-wide Quality Group that scrutinises outcomes and has generated a federation-wide self-assessment report on post-16 outcomes. This has undoubtedly impacted on us meeting our KS4 and KS5 attainment targets. x The federation-ǁŝĚĞ ͚ůŝƐƚĞŶŝŶŐ ƚŽ ůĞĂƌŶĞƌƐ͛ ƐƵƌǀĞǇ ǁĂƐ ƌĞ-run at the start of 2013 and was completed by more learners than in 2011. x We have continued to receive high levels of satisfaction from learners. x The Federation website has attracted more users and they download on average more data/information on their visits.

Wales is an energy efficient, low carbon and low waste society.

Good social care allows people a better quality of life. People are protected from harm and abuse x x

Improve outcomes for vulnerable adults.

x x

Contribute to climate change mitigation. x Reduce energy and water consumption in the public building stock to enhance financial efficiency and lower carbon dioxide emissions.

x x x x

We have reduced carbon dioxide emissions in non-domestic building stock by a further 3.26% between 2011/12 and 2012/13. We completed an additional 35 projects in public buildings that have contributed to the above figure. We have achieved annual revenue and value savings of £784,678. We have undertaken energy and water surveys in an additional 5 sites. We delivered the awareness-ƌĂŝƐŝŶŐ ͚ŽƉĞƌĂƚŝŽŶ ĞŶĞƌŐǇ͛ ƉƌŽũĞĐƚ ŝŶ ϯ Ɛchools with further schools planned for 2013/14.

14 events were organised for biodiversity week with 169 people attending. 9 Wildlife on Your Patch events were also organised with 186 people attending. 125 partner events were promoted with 617 people attending. Pembrokeshire Biodiversity Partnership has established a presence on social media site Facebook (see: https://www.facebook.com/PembrokeshireBiodiversity). This is proving a popular and efficient way of maintaining and extending engagement with ƚŚĞ ƉƵďůŝĐ͘ ƵƌƌĞŶƚůǇ ϭϲϵ ͚ůŝŬĞƐ͛ ǁŝƚŚ ǁĞĞŬůǇ ƌĞĂĐŚ ƌĞŐƵůĂƌůǇ ĞǆĐĞĞĚŝŶŐ 1000 people. ϵϳ͘ϱй ŽĨ WĞŵďƌŽŬĞƐŚŝƌĞ͛Ɛ ƐĐŚŽŽůƐ ŚĂǀĞ ŶŽǁ ĞŶƌŽůůĞĚ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ƐƵƐƚĂŝŶĂďůĞ school award scheme. 48 schools have achieved the bronze level, 25 have achieved the silver level and 15 are at gold standard.

We have recruited a transition social worker, which has helped to improve the transition process for young adults resulting in a more seamless service for the customer. The service provided to children through the PCC/Action for Children contract has received very positive feedback from customers in relation to the reliability and regular contact of the key worker (100% satisfaction), and the extent to which they felt their views were represented by the key worker (91% satisfaction). 5 Designated Lead Managers (DLMs) received second phase DLM training and 1 to 1 mentoring through investigations and case management by the adult protection co-ordinator. 10 members of Health and Social Care staff were trained to undertake noncriminal adult protection investigations increasing the capacity within the organisation to deal with adult protection cases in a timely and appropriate manner.

Children and young people grow up as active citizens and achieve the highest possible standards of wellbeing. All children and young people in Wales achieve a flying start in life. x Develop the concept of Teams Around the Family x (TAF) to improve the way in which services that support children and young people x work together. x

We have recruited the full TAF team and enhanced the services of TAF to provide a support package which families can access from one single point of contact. We have successfully marketed TAF to Head teachers and consequently received a huge increase in referrals, 702 in 2012/13, exceeding by far the target of 325 referrals. 481 families have a TAF plan in place, exceeding the target of 200 for 2012/13. In terms of customer satisfaction, 96% of families gave their interventions a satisfaction rating of 3 and above out of a possible 5.

Area of Work

Progress during 2012 - 2013

Communities are vibrant and safe, with access to good housing and sustainable transport. Quality community transport services are available x x Provision of community x transport services that meet a wide range of needs through a more integrated x approach between partners. x

We have conveyed 3661 non-emergency patient journeys using our own and voluntary sector vehicles an increase of 11% on 2011/12. The number of journeys undertaken by passengers on the town rider scheme has increased by 3% on the 2011/12 figure. Social impact surveys have shown that the town rider service is essential and without it 68% of users say that they would become isolated, housebound or lose their independence. dŚĞ ͚ŽŶĞ-stop-ƐŚŽƉ͛ ĂƉƉƌŽĂĐŚ ĨŽƌ ĐƵƐƚŽŵĞƌƐ ĐŽŶƚĂĐƚŝŶŐ ƵƐ ƌĞŐĂƌĚŝŶŐ Community Transport enquiries has been maintained. There were 13,119 enquiries made through the Contact Centre in 2012/13. A call handling customer satisfaction survey demonstrated that 97% of customers were either very satisfied or satisfied with the way in which we dealt with their enquiry.

, 6.1 The Council again faced significant pressure during 2012-13 to reduce costs as a result of reductions in public spending at a national level. At the same time as attempting to meet this challenge, we developed budget strategies which enabled us to take a longer term view and deliver key policy commitments such as highway improvements and the 21st Century School building programme. A new pay and grading structure was introduced and the first tranche of equal pay settlements were made. We continued to make efficiency savings with £1.5m achieved during the year (cumulative £6.4m over five years) with a further £8.6m planned for the period 2013-14 to 2015-16 (though we are anticipating that we will need to make savings over and above this amount). We were able to fund an ongoing capital programme (which will in turn help us to reduce costs in the future). 6.2 In addition to the real terms reduction in grants received from Welsh Government, price inflation continued to impact upon a broad range of service areas. Demographic pressure, particularly Pembrokeshire’s ageing population, is an on-going challenge and demand for Social Care services shows no signs of abating. Gross expenditure on Adult Social Care Services increased by over 4.6% to £58.5m in 2012-13, compared to gross expenditure of £55.9m in 2011-12. Residential fee payments for 2011-12 and 2012-13 have now been settled. By continuing to build on the efficiencies made in previous years, the Council has been able to meet these challenges and remain broadly in line within its approved budgets.

6.5 Capital Investment – Capital investment is the money spent on constructing and improving buildings, infrastructure and other assets. The capital investment programme expenditure and funding for 2012-13 is summarised below, with the 2011-12 position shown for comparison purposes. Where delays occurred, the projects and associated funding have been rolled forward to future years.

6.3 The following tables provide an overview of spending during 2012-13. The information provided is based on our Statement of Accounts, which is available on our website (www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk). In the tables, the original estimate is the budget the Council approved for the financial year (1st April – 31st March). The revised estimate is determined in October with actual expenditure determined after the financial year has ended. The additional council tax received has been earmarked to fund capital investment.

Table B: Capital Investment

Division of Service

6.4 Council Tax and Revenue Expenditure – The Council again set the lowest council tax (county council component) in Wales (£719.93 for a Band D property), an increase of 1.7% over the previous year, and remained broadly in line with its revised revenue budget. Table A summarises how your money was spent, the amount of non-service specific grant (revenue support grant) received, the share of income allocated by Welsh Government from the non-domestic rate pool and the amount of money raised from council tax payers. Where a service received income from specific grants attributable to that service, or from fees and charges (for example car parking), these amounts have been netted off the gross service cost. Table A: Net Revenue Expenditure Summary 2012 – 2013

Service ŚŝůĚƌĞŶ͛Ɛ ^ĞƌǀŝĐĞƐ Adult Social Services General Fund Housing Highways and Transport Services Culture, Environment and Planning Services to the Public Corporate and Democratic Core Non-Distributed Costs Court Services Net Cost of Services Levies Interest and Investment Income Capital Financing Costs Net Total Expenditure Financed by: Revenue Support Grant National Non Domestic Rates Council Tax Total Funding

Actual Expenditure 2011 - 2012 £000 96,542 38,671 1,516 10,525 24,681 1,762 2,890 (439) 182 176,330 6,788 (1,386) 15,223 196,955

Original Estimate 2012 - 2013 £000 97,884 38,116 1,651 10,351 25,104 1,739 3,356 (520) 171 177,852 6,965 (1,400) 14,571 197,988

(132,368) (27,561) (37,977) (197,906)

(128,316) (31,765) (37,907) (197,988)

Revised Estimate 2012 - 2013 £000 97,941 40,887 1,658 10,466 24,713 1,782 3,060 (1,390) 186 179,303 6,964 (1,093) 13,089 198,263

Actual Expenditure 2012 - 2013 £000 97,764 40,680 1,451 10,546 24,479 1,778 3,077 (1,024) 206 178,957 6,964 (1,113) 13,404 198,212

Education Social Services Highways & Transportation Housing HRA Housing General Fund Culture & Related Services Planning & Development Environmental Services Corporate Services Total Expenditure Financed by: Borrowing Capital Grants and Contributions Capital Receipts & Capital Fund Earmarked Reserves Total Funding

Actual Expenditure 2011 - 2012 £000 11,487 32 11,377 7,224 2,368 382 1,767 2,582 2,514 39,733

Original Estimate 2012 - 2013 £000 8,047 528 16,320 5,697 5,160 3,315 3,432 2,653 4,379 49,351

Revised Estimate 2012 - 2013 £000 7,636 533 12,807 5,908 4,343 1,838 3,718 1,598 4,258 42,639

Actual Expenditure 2012 - 2013 £000 5,806 184 8,914 5,778 1,628 1,207 2,385 752 3,159 29,813

(4,170) (18,330) (9,531) (7,702) (39,733)

(17,244) (24,127) (1,001) (7,159) (49,531)

(17,319) (19,611) (550) (5,159) (42,639)

(9,115) (16,147) (2,644) (1,907) (29,813)

6.6 Council Housing – The financing of the council housing service is ‘ring fenced’, with tenants funding the cost of the service through the rent they pay. In recognition of the economic climate, a 2% rent increase was approved for 2012-13, compared to the Welsh Government’s recommended 5.6% guideline rent. Approximately 70% of customers in Pembrokeshire are in receipt of rent rebates to assist with rent payments.

(128,316) (31,765) (38,290) (198,371)

6.7 The annual running costs and income in respect of council housing is summarised below: Table C: Council Housing

Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Expenditure Management, Maintenance. & Improvement Negative Subsidy Capital Financing Costs Other Total Expenditure Financed by: Income Rents ʹ Dwellings Other Total Income

Actual Expenditure 2011 - 2012 £000

Original Estimate 2012 - 2013 £000

Revised Estimate 2012 - 2013 £000

, #' & %,

,%'%&

&*,

Actual Expenditure 2012 - 2013 £000

12,379

12,521

12,579

12,597

6,075 430 129 19,013

6,280 409 237 19,447

6,161 418 235 19,393

6,161 397 227 19,382

(18,038) (975) (19,013)

(18,351) (1,096) (19,447)

(18,310) (1,083) (19,393)

(18,315) (1,067) (19,382)

6.8 Capital investment required to improve our housing stock is financed by contributions from rents, capital receipts from sales of houses and from the major repairs allowance grant received from Welsh Government. Receipt of the grant is dependent on the Council meeting the Welsh Housing Quality Standard, which it achieved in March 2013. The HRA business plan has been revised for 2013-14 and again submitted to the Welsh Government in support of the bid for additional grant, required to maintain the standard and undertake further improvements.

7.1 Considering the impact of our proposed actions in terms of the equality and sustainability agendas is an important aspect of our work. It helps us to establish how we might use our resources to best effect as well as how best to mitigate any negative impacts arising from our work on any of the protected characteristics. 7.2 We used our Integrated Impact Assessment tool to assess the potential impact of our 2012 – 2013 Improvement Plan. The assessment found that there were positive impacts on most of the protected characteristics with age, gender and disability featuring most frequently. The impact on gender re-assignment, sexual orientation and marriage were broadly neutral. The assessment did not identify any actions that were likely to have a negative impact. 7.3 This Improvement Review does not set out any new policies or procedures, so it was not necessary to undertake an equality impact on the Review itself. However, we analysed progress (including lack of progress) on the actions in the review. This shows that the way in which the Improvement Plan was implemented has not had any negative impacts. 7.4 We published our Strategic Equality Plan just before the start of the 2012 – 2013 year. This set out how we will meet our duties under the Equality Act 2010. These duties can be summarised as eliminating discrimination, advancing equality of opportunity, and fostering good community relations.

7.5 We have a duty to report in detail on equalities and we will do this before March 2014. The following provide a summary of the work that we completed in the year. 7.6 In order to eliminate possible discrimination we implemented Single Status across the workforce. The aim was to deliver a fair and affordable pay structure that delivers equal pay for work of equal value. This was a significant and complex piece of work that addressed a potential gender bias within our former pay structure. 7.7 This Review document contains details of a wide range of activities that advanced equality of opportunity during the year. Examples included obtaining funding for the domestic abuse one stop shop and making more frequent use of multi-agency risk assessment conference meetings to support victims of abuse. We improved the attainment of gypsy traveller children and performed better than the Welsh average for courses undertaken by people who speak English as an additional language. We made a number of improvements to both adult and childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s social care and addressed barriers caused by age. We also launched a social care complaints booklet designed for use by customers with learning disabilities to ensure that all customers find this process easy to access and understand. 7.8 We undertook a number of actions to foster good relations in our communities during the year. We appointed a community cohesion co-ordinator who works across both Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire. The appointment has increased our capacity to carry out work in this area. 7.9 In December 2012, we celebrated UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities; the event attracted more than 300 people. Over 30 groups gave information and advice and there were also talks and demonstrations. For example, Pembrokeshire BikeMobility provided supervised opportunities for people to have a go at cycling. Disabled people were involved in running the event and some of our adult social care clients provided catering. We also hosted a special art display by a group of people with learning disabilities in the foyer of county hall showcasing the talents of members of Pembrokeshire People First.

7.10 We improved the way that we engaged with groups representing the interests of people who share one or more of the protected characteristics under the Act. Examples included community groups and a Gender Identity group based in Pembrokeshire. 7.11 We improved a number of our internal processes in response to the Equality Act 2010 duties, which came into force at the beginning of the year. We re-launched equality training for staff and reviewed the process we used for undertaking assessments of the likely impact of major plans and strategies, such as the Single Integrated Plan and proposed changes to the benefits system. We also completed a workforce monitoring exercise to inform the annual equality report, which we produced at the end of the year. 7.12 The key to making growth in Pembrokeshire sustainable is taking account of the likely impacts of decisions on future generations. Almost everything that we do has an impact on sustainability and these have already been covered in the Review. Examples include the work that we are doing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, encourage waste reduction and improve how waste is dealt with, our work with schools on awareness of sustainability as well as improving skills and health. Our approach to sustainable development also recognises that this cannot be achieved unless poverty is also tackled. Our account of performance against our wellbeing Improvement Objective, as set out in section 2 of this document, describes of how we and other organisations are contributing to this important agenda. 7.13 In March 2013, we adopted the Pembrokeshire Single Integrated Plan for 2013 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 2018. The Plan sets out a sustainable vision for Pembrokeshireâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s future. We are using the Plan to inform our thinking about how we plan and deliver services.

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8.1 This Review looked back on our progress during 2012 – 2013. While we can be broadly satisfied with the progress we made against out planned objectives, it is clear that our improvement journey is not yet complete. 8.2 We have invested considerable effort in rectifying the deficiencies in our safeguarding arrangements. We have embedded the necessary change in the culture of our organisation. We will continue to strengthen our governance arrangements so that members of the public have confidence in us as an organisation.

8.5 Though we are confident we will deliver the required savings, the challenge is to mitigate, as far as possible, any negative impacts on service delivery. This is becoming more and more difficult to achieve. For example, we have already achieved considerable ‘back office’ savings in recent years. It now looks inevitable that we will need to look beyond the back office. That is not to say that the cuts will necessarily lead to service reductions in all areas. However, we can say with some certainty that the Authority will look very different in the future.

8.3 We anticipate that the coming years will present significant financial challenges to the Authority. We are already committed to securing savings of £8.6 million over a three year period. We are now in the process of assessing how we might deliver savings over and above this amount. 8.4 To date we have been successful in absorbing the reductions in public spending at a national level, largely by streamlining our processes and by managing vacancies effectively. We have started to take some difficult decisions on service delivery and it is clear that we will need to continue with this process in order to achieve a balanced budget in 2015 – 2016.

Affordable housing Average point score Bio-degradable landfill diversion target British Council Carbon emissions Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales Combined Heat and Power Consortium of Local Authorities in Wales Clean electricity Community Plan Community Resource Teams Core subject indicator Delayed transfers of care direct payments Disabled Facilities Grant Estyn

Any housing (e.g. for rent, for purchase, or for part rent or part purchase) that is available at less than market rates.

EU Habitats Directive

ŵĞĂƐƵƌĞ ŽĨ ƉƵƉŝůƐ͛ ƌĞƐƵůƚƐ ŝŶ ' ^ Žƌ ǁŽƌŬ-based qualifications.

Examination in Public

These are statutory targets that set the maximum amount of biodegradable waste that can be disposed of in landfill sites. Targets apply to all authorities in the United Kingdom. In Wales, the scheme is administered by Natural Resources Wales. The British Council is a statutory body which aims to promote cultural relationships and the understanding of different cultures between people and peoples of the United Kingdom and other countries. An estimate of the total amount of carbon dioxide, or its equivalent, produced by a person, organisation, event or product.

Federation Good Neighbour Scheme Improvement Plan

CSSIW - A regulatory body which regulates the delivery of early years and social services in Wales.

KS2

Combined heat and power (CHP) integrates the production of usable heat and power (electricity), in one single, efficient process. CHP generates electricity while also capturing usable heat that is produced in this process. The Consortium of Local Authorities in Wales (CLAW). A Welsh local government forum for developing and sharing best practice in the management of property assets in the public sector. Clean electricity is generated from certified good quality combined heat and power and has up to 43% lower CO2 emissions than traditional methods of generation. This is the over-arching plan for Pembrokeshire and sets out how the main public and voluntary sector agencies will work together to improve quality of life. These are teams which bring together people who work in primary care services such as occupational therapists, social workers and nurses. The percentage achieving the expected level in English or Welsh (first language), Mathematics and Science in Key Stage 1-3 and at least GCSE Grade C at Key Stage 4. This is sometimes called bed-blocking. This can happen when someone has been in hospital and no longer requires medical services, but requires additional services to be in place before they can go home. It is often our responsibility to ensure that these services are in place. Payments made to someone or the person who is looking after them so that they can buy care services for themselves A grant that is available to adapt the home of someone living with a disability. An example of the work that has been funded is the addition of level access showers. Her Majesty's Inspectorate for Education and Training in Wales. Its purpose is to inspect quality and standards in education and training in Wales.

Level two threshold Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009

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KS3

The European Union's nature conservation policy. It includes both a network of protected sites and measures to protect individual species. A process where a Planning Inspector examines a local development plan to test that it is sound. This is the penultimate stage in the adoption of a local development plan. An arrangement between education providers to increase the range of qualifications that is available to young people. In Pembrokeshire this project requires local schools and Pembrokeshire College to coordinate the provision of some courses. A programme to help local residents encourage and manage volunteer activity in their areas. This shows how we plan to make improvements to our services. It is a statutory plan required under the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009. Key Stage 2. Year 6, the final year of primary school. Pupils are aged either 10 or 11 Key Stage 3. Year 9, the middle year of secondary school. Pupils are aged either 13 or 14. A measure of attainment which takes into account both vocational and GSCE attainment broadly equivalent to 5 GCSEs at grades A ʹ C. National Assembly for Wales legislation that prescribes how local authorities should improve their services as well as providing the legal underpinning for the Single Integrated Plan.

Children that the Council has taken into care. Looked after children are Looked after placed either with foster carers or adoptive parents. However, the Council retains a legal responsibility for their welfare (this is known as children corporate parenting). Waste collected directly from households, at civic amenity sites, from Municipal waste litter bins or through street cleaning. Pembrokeshire A panel of experts appointed by Welsh Government to oversee the work Ministerial Board that we have undertaken to improve our practice in safeguarding POVA Protection of Vulnerable Adults Reablement Helping people to regain their independence and live at home This term describes the services and processes we put in place to protect Safeguarding children and vulnerable adults from neglect or physical and sexual abuse. This is a legal agreement and forms part of a planning approval. Section Section 106 106 requires developers to pay for or undertake works, provide agreement affordable housing or provide additional funding for services. An organisation that aims to achieve social or environmental goals as Social Enterprise well as (and sometimes instead of) financial profit. Source This is waste that can rot which is collected separately from other waste segregated or recyclate. An example is the food waste bins which are collected weekly from the vast majority of premises in Pembrokeshire. biowastes

Statement of Accounts Town Rider service Wales Audit Office

This is a high level set of accounts for a financial year. The format and content of the accounts is defined by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants and the associated Statement of Recommended Accounting Practice. A dial-a-ride service for elderly and disabled people who find it difficult to use bus services. The organisation that audits our finances and advises us on how to improve systems and processes.

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