Council's Annual Report 2022-2023

Introduction to Our Annual Report

In May 2022 a new administration was elected, and the Cabinet outlined its Cabinet Vision Statement 2022-2027. We therefore set about reviewing our Corporate Strategy and Well-being Objectives. As part of developing a Carmarthenshire Well-being Plan with our Public Services Board (PSB) partners we undertook a comprehensive well-being assessment to identify key issues. As part of the preparation of the well-being assessment and plan we undertook a series of engagement and consultation exercises to seek feedback and we also consulted with residents, businesses, staff and Trade Unions on Council performance during 2022.

We considered this feedback as we refreshed our Corporate Strategy and set our new Well-being Objectives and it was agreed to revise our previous 13 Well-being Objectives into a more compact set of population level objectives which resulted in the new Corporate Strategy adopting 4 Well-being Objectives. See Appendix 1 to see more on how our new Corporate Strategy and Well-being Objectives were formulated.

Throughout 2022/23 we monitored the delivery of the former 13 Well-being Objectives on our Performance Information Monitoring System (PIMS). On the approval of our new Corporate Strategy and 4 Well-being Objectives we reassigned the actions and targets set for the 13 Well-being Objectives to the 4 new Well-being Objectives. We can report against progress on both sets of well-being objectives during the year. However, the emphasis of this Annual Report will be on the new Well-being Objectives.

This Annual Report is based on the new Well-being Objectives for 2022/23

This Annual Report is produced by the Council because we believe we should provide comprehensive and balanced information to the public about our services, so that they can see how we are performing and the challenges we are facing. It is also a statutory duty under the Local Government and Elections Act (Wales) 2021 and the Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015 (See Appendix 2a).

This annual report and self-assessment addresses two legal duties:

• Well-being of Future Generations Act (Wales) 2015 and
• the Local Government and Elections Act (Wales) 2021

Our Approach to self-assessment is via our Well-being Objectives

Using well-being objectives to frame the self-assessment enables the Council to integrate the reporting requirements of both the Local Government & Elections (Wales) Act and the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act into a single report.

This approach provides the context within which we exercise our functions, use resources and ensure governance is effective:

• It ensures the self-assessment is strategic, focusing on the organisation, rather than individual services and on the extent to which the Council is achieving its well-being objectives and intended outcomes.
• It allows us to reflect at a strategic level on how all our functions (including corporate activities) are contributing to the achievement of our well-being objectives, how we are operating and what action we need to take to improve further and continue to provide effective services now and for the long-term.
• Using well-being objectives as the overarching framework encourages a more holistic view of Council performance, recognising that many services ‘join-up’ and contribute to one or more well-being objective.
• We continue to manage individual service performance via Divisional Delivery Plans.

Managing Performance in Carmarthenshire County Council

Our Performance Management Framework is based on a Plan/Do/Review cycle, and we have strengthened it to enhance self-assessment. This will be further developed to reflect the expectations of the Local Government & Elections (Wales) Act and statutory guidance.

Governance

Carmarthenshire County Council (the Authority) is responsible for ensuring that its business is conducted in accordance with the law and proper standards. It must also ensure that public money is safeguarded and properly accounted for and used economically, efficiently and effectively and to secure continuous improvement in this regard.

The Authority is responsible for putting in place proper arrangements for the Governance of its affairs and facilitating the effective exercise of its functions including having appropriate arrangements for the management of risk.

The Council sees Corporate Governance as “doing the right things, in the right way, for the right people in a timely, inclusive, open, honest and accountable manner.” The Governance Framework comprises the systems, processes, cultures, and values by which the Authority is directed and controlled and also the way it accounts to, engages with and leads the Community. It enables the Authority to monitor the achievement of its strategic objectives and to consider whether those objectives have led to the delivery of appropriate, cost-effective services.

We have continued our revamped approach to the Annual Governance Statement. In addition to looking at what arrangements were in place for 2022/23 we considered how well these arrangements are doing, how do we know and how can we improve? See Appendix 5