Mark Isherwood
North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has called on the Welsh Government to empower communities and front-line professionals as real partners.
Questioning the Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty, Mr Isherwood emphasised the need for real collaboration with the Third Sector over the design and delivery of services.
He said:
“There has been increasing concern that what is termed the third society is increasingly being seen as a vehicle for delivering programmes and strategies as an extension of Welsh Government, increasingly conditional on processes and box-ticking. When, therefore, will the Welsh Government empower communities and front-line professionals as real partners, allowing them to identify what is going to deliver the best outcomes, re-able communities, and deliver potentially more with the public sector for the resource available?”
Mr Isherwood also questioned the Minister on the role of the third sector in delivering integrated health and social services for older people.
He said: “You will be aware of the growing call, in the budgetary environment and more broadly on principle, for more co-production and co-design, and the joint commissioning of services. How do you respond to the statements in this month’s briefing from Age Alliance Wales—an alliance of 18 voluntary organisations—on the role of the third sector in delivering integrated health and social services for older people? That briefing identifies a pressing need to develop new ways of working that deliver outcomes for the individual at minimum cost. It also calls on the Welsh Government to involve the third sector in the design, planning and delivery of services, in this case for older people.”
The Minister replied: “In terms of the specific issues that you raise with Age Concern, and in the delivery, particularly, of health-related matters, I think that that is really a matter for the Minister for Health and Social Services. I would urge you to urge Age Concern to contact the Minister in that regard.”
Mr Isherwood added: “This is not just a matter for the Health Minister, this is a matter which should be prioritised within all Ministerial briefs, not least his own as the Minister responsible for the third sector, where real collaboration with the Third Sector over the design and delivery of services is essential if we are to deliver the better outcomes needed.”
