TOWN and community councils will be invited to meet the Powys Service Board (PSB) soon.

At their meeting held at Llandrindod Wells County Hall, the board agreed to go ahead and arrange a meeting soon, possibly following one of the future PSB meetings.

Under the terms of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 community councils with a turnover of more than  £200,OOO per year must take all reasonable steps in their areas towards meeting the local objectives, including the well being plan.

In Powys there are five community councils that are known to meet this threshold: Brecon, Machynlleth, Newtown, Welshpool and Ystradgynlais.

Powys County Council Leader, Cllr Rosemarie Harris (Independent, Llangynidr), who chaired the board meeting, said: “We have an obligation to engage with five community councils. I have been to Brecon (Town Council) to speak to them.

“They did ask if they should be represented on this body and a number of them have told me they are not familiar with what the PSB does.

Cllr Harris added: “As budgets have tightened with other bodies, they are taking over more and more services.”

Head of performance, strategy and transformation programmes, Emma Palmer, said: “Thinking about, Towards  2040, our plan to the future which we have all signed up to. This is an opportunity for us to discuss with town and community councils their  plans and how they considering delivering the steps.”

Vivienne Harpwood, of Powys Teaching Health Board (PTHB), added. “It’s so important that people realise that we appreciate the work they are doing.”

The finer details still need to be worked out and the partners agreed to allow PCC to organise it.

The next meeting of the PSB takes place on September 19 at the Brecon Beacon National Park Offices in Brecon.

And the following meeting on December 19 at Llandrindod Wells Fire Station.

Meeting town and community council would be expected to take place after one of these two board meetings. PSB’s have been set up in Wales under the 2015 Well Being of Future Generations Act.

They are made up of representatives from the local authority, health board, fire and rescue authority and Natural Resources Wales (NRW).

Representatives of the police, Welsh Government and volunteer groups could also be invited to be part of meetings.

The idea is that PSBs are supposed to improve joint working across all public services in each local authority area in Wales.

In Powys the future well being plan is called “Towards 2040” and it has four identified objectives:

People will experience a stable and thriving economy

People will enjoy a sustainable and productive environment.

People will be healthy, socially motivated and responsible

People will be connected by strong communities and a vibrant culture