Council's Annual Report 2023-2024
Introduction by Cllr. Darren Price, Leader of Carmarthenshire County Council
Welcome from the Leader of the Council to our Annual Report for 2023-2024
It’s the time of year again where we reflect on our progress over the last year through our Council Annual Report. As I write this introduction, I consider where we were as an organisation this time last year and where we are now. We have continued to deliver services to the approximately 188,000 people that call Carmarthenshire home, improving things where we’ve been able to and delivering some innovative projects, however, significant challenges continue to influence the way that we work.
As is the case for all Welsh councils we find ourselves in an extremely challenging financial position. We now have less money to deliver services at a time where demand for our help and support is increasing. This is concerning and frustrating in equal measure but does present an opportunity for us to think and do things differently. Our Transformation programme to ensure our services are as efficient and effective as possible is working right across the Council to support this, and is underpinned by the guiding principle to provide the best possible services to our residents and service users.
Our consultation activity with residents tells us that the cost-of-living crisis is still a challenge, which is why our activity to support in any way we can continues. Our ‘Hwb Bach y Wlad’ service offers cost of living support and guidance to residents living in the most rural parts of the County. This is complemented by the support offered by Hwb advisors in the three main town centres. It’s been encouraging to hear the individual stories of those we’ve helped.
Developments at Pentre Awel in Llanelli have continued at pace, with wider benefits to the community now being realised. Local businesses have benefitted from contracts, jobs have been created and training programmes for apprentices, graduates and trainees have been supported. This one-of-a-kind project promises to be transformational for the County and I look forward to seeing how it progresses over the coming year.
The economic regeneration of the County continues with re-developments including the YMCA building in Llanelli, Llandeilo Market Hall and Parc Gelli Werdd in Cross Hands being of note. These spaces offer a mix of residential, office and retail space which support the local area through attracting investment, supporting businesses and creating jobs.
An external inspection of our Education Services commended our clear vision and strong leadership which has a robust impact on improving education provision and learner outcomes. An identified culture of self-evaluation shows our commitment to continuously reviewing the service to ensure children and young people have the best start in life. Attendance has improved, free school meals are provided to all relevant age groups and teachers and pupils continue to co-design a learning curriculum that is based on the Curriculum for Wales. We also fully recognise the financial pressures facing our schools and will continue to work with school leaders to address these on-going challenges.
Access to Healthcare Services is a priority for our residents and whilst much of this is outside the Council’s remit we have made strides in developing preventative services. Investment in mental health support services has enabled us to establish a well-being pathway across the County which provides an inclusive and preventative approach with further work on preventative initiatives being developed in collaboration with partners.
We have developed a range of actions to tackle the climate and nature emergencies and are making progress where we can, but also recognise that there are significant challenges to address. We remain fully committed to making progress and look forward to continue working in collaboration with our local and national partners including Welsh Government on this agenda.
As has been the case in past years, despite the challenges, we continue to make good progress in a number of areas and to be as innovative and resilient as possible in the face of significant pressures and demands. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our staff, elected members, partner organisations and a wide range of stakeholders for their continued support and effort as we attempt to make further progress to improve the lives of the people that we serve.
Introduction to Our Annual Report
Carmarthenshire County Council (CCC) is a large, complex organisation with a workforce of approximately 8,350 employees and a budget for 2024/25 of over £900 million. In the face of unprecedented pressure due to the inadequate funding of public services year on year for over a decade, we continue to face unprecedented pressure in the delivery of services to the approximately 188,000 people who call Carmarthenshire home. In doing this we strive to make progress against our four well-being objectives.
The purpose of this annual report is to provide an overview of the progress we’ve made during 2023/2024 against these well-being objectives, which are:
- Enabling our children and young people to have the best possible start in life (Start Well)
- Enabling our residents to live and age well (Live and Age Well)
- Enabling our communities and environment to be healthy, safe, and prosperous (Prosperous Communities)
- To further modernise and develop as a resilient and efficient Council (Our Council)
These objectives are designed to address the most pressing challenges for the County whilst maximising our contribution to the seven national well-being goals. Each objective has a set of outcomes which support us to measure our progress and guide our activity as an organisation. These will be referred to throughout this report however, our Corporate Strategy for 2022-2027 provides a detailed overview. They were developed in 2022/2023 following an extensive needs assessment and period of consultation.
Whilst the primary purpose of this report is to provide residents, service users and key stakeholders with a good understanding of how we’ve been performing it also satisfies the statutory duty placed on us through the Local Government and Elections Act (Wales) 2021 and the Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015.
Key Principles
Core Values and Behaviours
The Council’s vision underpins everything that we do as an organisation.
‘Developing Carmarthenshire Together: One Council, One Vision, One Voice.’
When considered together, the vision and our core values and behaviours help us to make the right decision and shape how we work together to deliver services and do the best job that we can.
Our six core values form the overarching principles which frame our twenty behaviours, these behaviours describe the individual actions and approaches for how we work and treat others. Our values are as follows but can be viewed in full along with our behaviours here:
- Working as one team,
- Focus on customers,
- Listen to improve,
- Strive for excellence,
- Act with integrity,
- Take personal responsibility.
Governance
As a Council we are responsible for ensuring that our business is conducted in accordance with the law and proper standards. We 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.
We are responsible for putting in place proper arrangements for the Governance of our affairs and facilitating the effective exercise of our 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 we are directed and controlled and also the way it accounts to, engages with, and leads the Community. It enables us to monitor the achievement of our strategic objectives and to consider whether those objectives have led to the delivery of appropriate, cost-effective services.
Our Annual Governance Statement as included in our Statement of Accounts details how we have complies with the various elements of our Governance Framework.
Equality and Diversity
The Council is committed to ensuring that we are fair and equitable to all in everything that we do. Our Strategic Equality Plan sets out the principles of our commitment to equality and diversity and outlines how we intend to fulfil our responsibilities as an employer, a service provider and as a community leader.
As a public body we need to ensure that everybody has equal access to our services and is treated fairly by our services. The fundamental principles of human rights also need to be at the core of service delivery. We are required to focus on achieving measurable equality outcomes through specific improvements in policies and the way our services and functions are delivered.
We are committed to treating our staff, and the people of Carmarthenshire, fairly. We will make sure that we do not discriminate against people because of their age, disability, ethnic origin, nationality, religion, belief or non-belief, social class, gender, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, responsibility for dependents or for any other unfair reason.
We are committed to ensuring the delivery of excellent public services to everyone living, working, studying, and visiting Carmarthenshire. This is underpinned by our four equality objectives for 2024- 2028:
- Being an employer of choice;
- Enabling our residents to live and age well;
- Embedding Community Cohesion in our organisation and our community; and
- Protecting and strengthening equality and human
Measuring Progress and Self-Assessment
Measuring Progress
Our well-being objectives are firmly rooted in a principle which promotes a focus on all public bodies working together to progress outcomes that improves the quality of life of citizens and communities, both now and in the future.
To effectively measure our progress against achieving our objectives we look at a range of data and evidence including the findings of our self-assessment and the findings of regulatory reports to build as comprehensive a picture as possible of our progress both in terms of trends over time and in relation to how we compare with other local authorities in Wales.
For us to do this effectively we have developed a data suite of indicators and measures, which, when considered together cover a wide range of different sources allowing us to reflect on the evidence available to us in the round. The range of data covers the following and will be referred to throughout this report and can be viewed in full in Appendix 5:
Population Indicators
In the main include publicly available data that have been identified to develop an understanding of trends and Carmarthenshire’s position relative to the other local authorities in Wales. Sources include (but are not limited to): National Survey for Wales, Annual Population Survey, Public Health Wales, Welsh Government, Department for Work and Pensions.
Performance Measures
Inclusive of statutory returns, internal Council measures and primary intelligence in the form of consultation findings that we utilise to measure and monitor performance on a regular basis. These are the direct responsibility of the Council. Our well-being objectives also frame our approach to self-assessment. This approach provides the context within which we exercise our functions, use resources, and ensure governance is effective:
- It ensures that our 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 Business Plans. This forms an important part of the Council’s approach to performance management as detailed in our Performance Management Framework which is based on a Plan/Do/Review cycle.
Well-being Objective 1
Enabling our children and young people to have the best possible start in life (Start Well)
Overview of Progress
Supporting our children and young people to have the best possible start in life provides a strong foundation on which to limit inequalities. What happens in these early years has a long-term effect on health and well-being outcomes, educational achievement, and economic status. With 34.6% of Carmarthenshire’s children thought to be living in poverty, it is crucial that every child has access to the same the opportunities regardless of their background and that they receive the right support when and where they need it.
The Council is committed to doing its very best in this regard, with a focus on prevention and early intervention and a well-functioning education system which recognises that all children are individuals. An external inspection of our Education Services commended our clear vision and strong leadership which has a robust impact on improving education provision and learner outcomes. An identified culture of self-evaluation shows our commitment to continuously reviewing the service to ensure children and young people have the best start in life.
We continue our efforts to keep children at home with their families where possible, evidenced by the County’s comparatively low rate for Children Looked After. We are also taking proactive steps to address the identified shortage of foster carers in the County. The number of children on the child protection register has increased, but the level is still significantly below the Welsh average. Strategic planning is focussed on prevention and joined up thinking, with a notable example being the Regional Maternity and Early Years Strategy.
We recognise that the childcare offer in the County needs to improve, and appropriate steps continue to be implemented to address this. More areas will benefit from funded childcare places through the Flying Start childcare expansion and a Childcare Sufficiency Action Plan has been developed with a focus on increasing the offer generally coupled with a focus on strengthening the Welsh-medium offer.
Our education service delivers a well-rounded curriculum taking account of the individual needs of each learner. Pupils with additional learning needs are well supported through our strategic focus on providing an inclusive education offer and schools have responded well to reforms. Whilst attendance saw a dip following the Covid period we are seeing some signs of recovery; however, this is very much an ongoing priority to ensure further and sustained improvement. Attendance is closely monitored for whole school as well as for specific groups of pupils such as those entitled to Free School Meals and pupils with additional learning needs.
Teachers and pupils co-design a rounded curriculum that is based on the Curriculum for Wales. There is a focus on learning experiences which have raising educational standards at their core, effectively developing literacy, numeracy, and digital skills as well as bilingual Welsh and English skills. Areas for celebration and improvement were noted in a recent Estyn inspection which are reflected within this report.
Carmarthenshire has the highest childhood obesity levels in Wales with 30.5% of 4-5 year olds being overweight or obese. The Council’s commitment to doing all it can to support in addressing this issue is evidenced by the range of Actif initiatives in place to ensure that children and young people have access to activities which improve their health and well-being. In addition, the roll out of the universal primary free school meals offer continues to progress well, ensuring that children are provided with nutritious and balanced meals which support their development.
Well-being Objective 2
Enabling our residents to live and age well (Live & Age Well)
Overview of Progress
Enabling our residents to live and age well is a priority for the Council in recognition that the County’s greatest asset is the people who live here. Whilst gross weekly income has improved substantially in the County, over a third of households are still thought to be living in poverty and material deprivation is rising. Considering this, the Council recognises the need to support households to alleviate the effects of poverty and the rising cost of living. Our dedicated Tackling Poverty Plan details the wide- ranging support initiatives and our commitment to doing all that we can to ensure residents access the support they are entitled to and access appropriate services.
Good quality affordable homes as well as continued investment in existing homes promotes health and well-being and forms the foundation of improved living standards. Housing affordability in the County compares positively with national averages, however, we recognise that more can be done to improve access to suitable housing allowing residents to live in the area of their upbringing. We continue to deliver against our Affordable Homes Delivery Plan and our Housing Regeneration Development Programme. In addition, to address the second home crisis, we will be charging a premium on second homes and long-term empty properties. Our work on existing homes and improving the availability of new provision across our rural and urban communities will be key to enabling community resilience and cohesion. Positively, our continued efforts have seen sustained improvement in the percentage of households successfully prevented from becoming homeless.
With people living longer, services will see increased demand in coming years. There are also variations in healthy life expectancy between males and females with Carmarthenshire levels below the Welsh average. In recognition of this the development of a prevention strategy substantiates our commitment to a whole population approach to prevention, which is expected to reduce demand for statutory intervention. Our long-term aim is to help people to maintain their independence at home for as long as possible, prevent unnecessary admissions to hospital and support timely discharge from hospital to ensure that those that need good hospital care can access it. Positively, there has been a notable improvement with fewer people waiting in hospital for domiciliary care. Collaborative efforts and integrated services between Health and Social Care have also been strengthened, which is positively impacting hospital flow and reducing waiting lists.
In recognition that Adult Mental Well-being scores are on a downward trend, investments have been made in Mental Health Services to deliver a well-being pathway across the County, focussing on early intervention and prevention.
The number of adults with two or more Healthy Lifestyle Behaviours has increased slightly, which is positive and is reflective of the number of health and well-being services available to our residents. In providing these services recognition has been given to accessibility with many activities delivered in an innovative way. The National Exercise Referral Scheme Wales has seen a dramatic increase in referrals, with 1,537 received during 2023/24, and a high completion rate of over 70% for the 16-week program.
Well-being Objective 3
Enabling our communities and environment to be healthy, safe and prosperous (Prosperous Communities)
Overview of Progress
A healthy and well-functioning economy provides the foundation for sustainable growth, improved living standards and the development of prosperous communities. The Council recognises that fair and meaningful employment, a thriving business base and well skilled labour market are the foundations of a healthy economy and are committed to driving this agenda forward. Economic recovery following a challenging Covid period continues at pace, however some challenges remain. Disposable household income remains below national averages and economic inactivity rates remain above averages.
Businesses continue to be supported through a range of interventions, including improved access to commercial space, networking opportunities, access to funding and an increased focus on ensuring businesses can take advantage of local supply chains and procurement opportunities. Wider regeneration activity has seen improvements to our town centres with the aim of increasing footfall and attracting inward investment.
Our employability schemes continue to support those furthest away from the labour market and jobs are actively being created through Council intervention to ensure that people can access opportunities to improve their lives. Training and upskilling to create a future proofed workforce continues with uplifts seen in the numbers of those qualified to level 4 and above.
The delivery of Pentre Awel continues at pace which will have far-reaching benefits for the County, some of which are already being realised through Community Benefits.
Work continues to address one of the common barriers faced by individuals looking to return to or find employment by seeking to increase the availability of childcare in the County where demand is not being met.
The Natural Environment is a core component of sustainable development. The Council declared its commitment to addressing the climate and nature emergencies and will continue working towards becoming a Net Zero Carbon Local Authority by 2030, addressing the issues that are driving a decline in our biodiversity and support nature recovery. A slight increase in Nitrogen Dioxide levels has been observed, however, this is still lower than the Wales average. The first phase of the Waste Strategy has been implemented and changes have resulted in an increase in reuse and recycling tonnage performance which has already surpassed the national target which was expected by 2025. Furthermore, the percentage of waste sent to landfill has reduced, working towards the National target of Zero Waste to landfill by 2025.
Areas of the County are susceptible to the negative effects of the climate emergency, especially flooding. The Council has implemented interventions through the Flood & Water Management Act and Shoreline Management Plan to mitigate against the effects of flooding, which is a growing concern among residents.
The County remains a key strategic stronghold for the future of the Welsh language, with the social and economic benefits of bilingualism being widely recognised. Our 'Strategy to Promote the Welsh Language in Carmarthenshire 2023-28' sets out what we will do to work towards restoring the Welsh language in the County by increasing the numbers of those who can speak Welsh, increasing the situations where people can speak Welsh, raising the status of the language, supporting communities to maintain the language and by having a positive effect on population movements.
Total Crime in Carmarthenshire has reduced by over 14% during 2023/24 which is positive. We recognise the importance of effective partnership working to sustain these low rates which is evidenced by the activity of the community safety work, Community Cohesion Team and the collaborative working required with regards to the Serious Violence Duty.
Transportation and highways play a key role in supporting and sustaining our communities, providing the vital infrastructure which connects people to one another, supports access to services and supports a thriving economy. The Council prioritises maintaining the highway network within its means, however, special provision is made during the winter time to ensure uninterrupted access to essential services.
The County is vast and mixed in terms of its rural/urban landscape, this poses challenges, which are difficult to address, especially with depleting resources. We have continued our work to enhance road infrastructure and develop transport solutions for the more rural areas of the County.
There has been a significant increase in the number of people killed or seriously injured (KSI) on Carmarthenshire roads, with a 66% increase from 2022 to 2023. We are committed to making roads safer through partnership working, awareness, education, and training to improve road user skills and behaviour.
Sport, leisure, culture and outdoor recreation are the heartbeat of our communities. These services provide a range of health and well-being activities, facilities, and programmes to support our residents and communities to lead healthy, safe, and prosperous lives. Similarly, the promotion of our County as an attractive and commercially viable place to visit and invest in is a key economic and well-being factor. Overnight and day visitors to the County contributed £597m to the local economy supporting 6,652 full time jobs. In addition, visits to libraries and leisure centres are up significantly on the previous year. Several innovative leisure and well-being initiatives are also delivered through a variety of mechanisms to ensure people have a wide range of options and opportunities to lead active and enriched lives.
Well-being Objective 4
To further modernise and develop as a resilient and efficient Council (Our Council)
Overview of Progress
The Council, like all other public services, faces significant financial pressures, increasing demand and workforce challenges over coming years as well as responding to the net-zero agenda, the impact of demographic change and inequality.
Budgetary pressures mean that some services have experienced significant real-terms funding reductions over recent years whilst demand increases, and the complexity of that demand increases as well.
This is having a significant impact on our workforce who are faced with increasing demand at a time of reduced resources. Recruitment pressures in certain areas continue and budgetary pressures mean that any vacancies have to be considered carefully before being filled. Additionally, the Council is experiencing a significant increase in stress-related sickness absence, with an exponential increase of staff being referred to our Well-Being Support Service. The increase in sickness absence compounds the current workforce pressures. Staff commitment and resilience is to be commended but current pressures cannot be sustained long-term and work is on-going to address workforce pressures going forward.
Thinking in a long-term and joined up way is difficult when faced with such challenges and depleting resources, however, we recognise that to continue our important work in service-delivery we must do things differently, fully maximising the opportunities that the sustainable development principle offers.
We are actively modernising and developing as a resilient and efficient organisation to ensure our future sustainability. There is a strong emphasis on planning and supporting the development of a skilled and agile workforce, maximising opportunities within digital transformation to improve service delivery, reduce costs, and enhance customer experience and satisfaction.
Our Transformation Strategy supports the strategic objectives of our new Digital Strategy for 2024- 2027 to deliver a better experience for customers. This includes the implementation of electronic signatures, hybrid mail solutions, and the rollout of robotics technology in specific processes, which has led to productivity improvements and cost savings. Work is also on-going to introduce a Commercialisation Strategy, to allow us to capitalise on income generation, to help address the financial challenges ahead of us.
Significant investments have been made to enhance operational efficiency and agility. We have also focused on upgrading on-premises environment to provide enhanced resilience.
The new Digital Strategy for 2024-2027 emphasises leveraging digital, data, and technology to enhance public services, aiming to create a digitally inclusive environment that empowers every resident.
How are we doing?
We place significant emphasis on the importance of the views of our residents. As such the primary way of measuring progress against WBO 4 is through our annual resident’s survey. The results for 2023 are provided below with a comparator for the previous year. These statements relate directly to the Council and our performance.
Of the nine statements posed in relation to the Council and its performance, respondents agreed or strongly agreed with 56% of them. This is consistent with trends seen for the previous year.
However, whilst this is the case, eight of the nine AIS scores saw slight decreases on the previous year’s result which suggests that on balance disagreement levels were slightly higher for 2023.
Several findings from the evidence received, namely:
Most respondents believe that the Council provides good quality services overall. However, many residents took the opportunity to share comments to the contrary with the main themes aligning with evidence received last year. These themes include:
- Unreliable and infrequent waste collection;
- Perceived lack of town centre regeneration;
- Poor road conditions e. potholes;
- Lack of street cleansing;
- Long waits for housing repairs;
- Increased litter and fly-tipping;
- Lack of public transport;
- Lack of street lighting;
- A perceived underperforming social care
Most respondents find staff to be approachable and friendly when they access Council services
The Council’s communication process is mainly effective in terms of allowing residents to access up to date information about our services and most agree that they find contacting the Council simple and easy. However, there are some issues with direct contact processes such as on occasions when residents utilise the main switchboard, utilise email to connect with officers or wish to speak directly with officers within individual departments. These findings are consistent with the previous year.
On the whole respondents believe that the Council does not make good use of the financial resources available to us and that investment is not focussed on the right areas. These were the two lowest scoring statements, a consistent trend with last year.
Similarly to last year, statements on Council communications in relation to performance and opportunities to participate in decision-making received mixed responses. Overall, more people disagree with these statements, however, a significant number reported ‘neither’ which may indicate a wider issue with the type of information shared with residents on these themes and how this information is shared.
For progress and data on this objective see pages 4-18 -
Core Business Enablers
In addition to the identified thematic and service priorities, there are a range of core business enablers which underpin the Council’s daily functions and our delivery of services. Several are detailed within this section; however, ICT, Marketing & Media, Finance, People Management, Policy & Performance, Estates and Asset Management and Business Support have been interwoven within the content in well-being objectives 1-4.
For progress and data on these core business enablers see -
