A view of the Vale of Glamorgan

The Vale of Glamorgan Public Services Board (PSB) has recently published its latest Well-being Assessment.

The Assessment brings together national and local data, research and engagement findings to further develop the PSB’s understanding of life for different areas, communities and people across the Vale of Glamorgan. It presents a study of the experience of life in the Vale of Glamorgan now, but also an analysis of the different factors that may affect life in the future.

A View of the Vale of Glamorgan – An Assessment of Current and Future Well-being brings together the findings of four key reports, which provide an in-depth review of each subject, but also illustrate the interconnected nature of well-being. The four in-depth reports are:

Demographic Report – a detailed analysis of past, current and future population changes and trends.

Education and Economy Report – an analysis of education and skills, employment and earnings, economic growth and housing.

Health and Communities Report – an analysis of key health indicators, healthy behaviours, social and cultural well-being.

Environment and Transport Report – an analysis of the climate and nature emergency, habitats, flooding, transport and energy.

How Can the Well-being Assessment Help you?

The Assessment provides detailed data and information about life in the Vale of Glamorgan from the number of people aged 65 and over in 2020 (28,638) to detailed commuting patterns on the number of people who live and work in the Vale of Glamorgan. To accompany this evidence and data, the assessment provides a narrative of how experiences in the Vale of Glamorgan may compare to other Local Authorities in Wales or against the Welsh/UK national average. This insight can be used to support the development of services and projects, undertaking of equality impact assessments, the completion of the five ways of working and well-being objective sections of committee reports and the submission of grant bids.

While much of the data in the Assessment provides the most up-to-date evidence available, work is currently on-going to develop a live interactive PowerBI resource that will bring together the key datasets used in the assessment and ensure the assessment remains a live resource that can be used by colleagues.

What has the Assessment found?

The assessment has found that for many, well-being in the Vale of Glamorgan is good. This is shown through generally good educational outcomes, earnings above the Welsh national average, good health outcomes and access to high quality green and blue spaces. These experiences are not consistent for everyone, however. For some of our citizens, their well-being continues to be affected by experiences of financial hardship, poorer health, crime and disorder and unequal exposure to environmental risk. These experiences have been further exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, which although has impacted all living across the Vale, has hit particularly hard for those who were already struggling under the burden of poor well-being.

While we now appear to be emerging from the worst of the pandemic it is clear that it will continue to have a long-lasting impact on our lives. Some changes that have arisen through the pandemic may help us to meet future challenges such as the climate and nature emergency, while others have further exposed the unequal nature of experiences in the Vale of Glamorgan. What is clear is that it will be key that the changes necessary to address the climate and nature emergencies are undertaken in a way that helps to address the disparities in experience and well-being across the Vale of Glamorgan.

The Assessment will inform the development of the PSB’s new Well-being Plan which will be published in May 2023 and which will be developed in partnership to address the issues identified through the Well-being Assessment and further engagement with the community and stakeholders.

For further information on the Well-being Assessment and the work of the Public Services Board please get in touch with Helen Moses, Lloyd Fisher or Joanna Beynon in the Strategy and Partnerships Team.

HMoses@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk

lfisher@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk

jbeynon@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk