The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act has been in force since April 2016. The Act imposes duties on local authorities, health boards and Welsh Ministers that require them to work to promote the well-being of those who need care and support, or carers who need support. There is a requirement on local authorities and Local Health Boards to undertake an assessment of the extent to which there are people who need care and support and carers who need support. This assessment brings together information from Powys County Council, Powys Teaching Health Board and Public Health Wales for Powys. Together with partners we have analysed our data and assessed the current state of care and support for our population. The act requires us to assess and report our findings against eight core themes:
- Children and Young People
- Older People
- Health and Physical Disabilities
- Learning disabilities and Autism
- Mental Health
- Sensory Impairment
- Carers
- Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence.
Our assessment looks at each theme and assesses the issues impacting on people’s daily lives and well-being. This means looking at things like people’s health, access to services and education/training opportunities, condition of housing and access to transport. It aims to capture the strengths and assets of our communities as well as to identify issues that people or communities are facing.
The evidence in this assessment will allow us to identify and prioritise the issues that are most important locally and begin to examine how they can be addressed. It will be used to make decisions about the services we need to provide in Powys to meet peoples care and support needs and the support needs of carers. We will use our findings to set objectives which will be published in our local area plan which is due for publication in 2018.
This assessment was undertaken at the same time as the Well-being Assessment required under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act, and although the definition of well-being is slightly different in each Act, we recognise that both assessments need to be fully aligned, to ensure our responses meet the needs of our residents. Ar