CABINET
MINUTES of a meeting held on 22nd
November, 2006.
Present: Councillor H.J.W. James
(Chairman); Councillors G.A. Cox, A.M. Ernest, A.D. Hampton, T.H.
Jarvie, G.C. Kemp, A.C. Williams and A.J. Williams.
Also present: Councillors N. Moore, A.
J. Readman.
C2754
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE -
These were received from Councillors M.R.
Harvey and J.W. Thomas.
C2755
MINUTES -
RESOLVED - T H A T the minutes of the meeting
held on 8th November, 2006 be approved as a correct
record.
C2756
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST -
No declarations were received.
C2757
REVIEW OF VEHICLE ACCIDENTS IN THE VALE OF GLAMORGAN (REF)
-
Councillor M.R. Wilson had requested Scrutiny
Committee (Economy and Environment) to conduct a review of vehicle
accidents in the Vale of Glamorgan in order to examine the causes
of those accidents and to assess what could be done to reduce them
further. It was reported on 24th October, 2006
that the Highways and Traffic Group of the Engineering Design and
Procurement Division of Visible Services dealt with traffic
management matters in the Vale. That included reviewing the
road traffic collision (RTC) data provided by the police and the
fact that if the police believed that any lack of action or
foresight on the part of the Council could have contributed to any
collision, Council staff would be required to give account as if
there were a criminal case to answer. Appended to the report
were data comparing the number of personal injury collisions
throughout the Vale over the last three years with data from other
unitary authorities. It was accepted that RTCs could be
caused by any number of factors for which the highway authority was
directly responsible for only a few. Appropriate action
following an accident would depend on the cause and options
available to a highway authority and could include the
following
To address inappropriate speed
·
introduce speed restrictions (require Traffic Regulation Orders and
police support for enforcement)
·
introduce 20 m.p.h. zones (near schools - must be self
enforcing)
·
introduce physical measures (humps, cushions, narrowings - not
suitable on primary routes)
·
install safety cameras (strict national criteria dictating site
selection based on accident/speed records - approval required from
the Department for Transport)
To address poor highway lighting
·
undertake a lighting survey and consider augmenting the lighting as
required
To address poor highway design
·
undertake a safety audit and consider addressing issues raised as
appropriate
To address inappropriate traffic
management
·
undertake a review of Traffic Regulation Orders and revise as
appropriate (e.g. parking restrictions - which would need police
support for enforcement)
·
undertake a review of traffic signing and revise as appropriate
To address poor highway condition
·
undertake a review and consider addressing the issues raised as
appropriate
To improve pedestrian crossing facilities
·
undertake user surveys to justify crossing provision and determine
the most appropriate (zebra, pelican, toucan)
·
should the site be near a school, encourage the school to prepare a
Travel Plan (with officer assistance) to support a capital bid for
Safe Routes to School (Transport Grant) funding
To improve use of accident data
·
undertake route analyses and accident cluster analyses utilising
the data provided and identify possible improvements based on the
findings
·
lack of resources currently prohibited the analyses described.
The Road Safety Team (Planning and
Transportation Policy Division) also undertook education, training
and publicity work. As well as “Vale-wide” initiatives, the
Team also focussed on the specific geographical areas where there
was evidence of collision site clusters or a general history of
casualties in the area. Such interventions could include
Education
·
child car seats
·
driver behaviour
·
pre-school and school groups
Training
·
defensive and advanced training (aimed at all sections of the
community but with specific schemes for the more vulnerable groups
such as young drivers and mature drivers)
·
motorcycle training
·
cycle training for children and adults
·
pre-driver training for schools
·
Kerbcraft (a practical child pedestrian training scheme for 5-7
year olds)
Publicity
·
new car seat regulations
·
anti-drinking and driving campaigns.
Consideration then focussed on existing
resources. The Highways and Traffic Group operational budget
for 2006/07 amounted to £136k. of which £35k. was utilised to
provide additional staff resources to respond to highway safety
issues raised on a daily basis with the remainder being used to
progress the highway safety schemes already prioritised and as
indicated in an appendix to the report. It had to be noted
that there was currently a backlog of other schemes valued in
excess of £2m. awaiting funding. The operational budget had
been augmented for the financial year 2006/07 by £95k. asset
renewal funding which would be used to progress highway safety
schemes already prioritised and as shown in a further appendix to
the report. Following a successful bid for funds from the
Safe Routes to School Transport Grant for 2006/07, £150k. was being
used to progress schemes at St. Richard Gwyn School and Rhws
Primary School. The Local Road Safety Grant allocation of
£212k. for 2006/07 was also being utilised to progress highway
safety schemes already prioritised. Current staffing
difficulties compounded the above resource issues. Attention
was drawn to the lack of qualified traffic engineers nationwide,
particularly those with local government experience, and the
suggestion made that inducements would be required to attract
appropriate applicants for the two permanent posts available.
Partnership working with other Councils and the private sector
already took place and was not, therefore, a solution to the
current difficulties. The current staffing situation
precluded the in-depth analyses of the data currently collected
which was required prior to effective remedial action(s) being
identified and progressed to fruition. The question then
ensued particularly on ways of reducing speed and on the costs and
criteria associated with the installation of pedestrian crossings,
following which it was
Scrutiny Committee (Economy and Environment)
had
RECOMMENDED -
(1) T H A
T Cabinet be requested to designate the two vacant Principal
Engineer posts as hard-to-fill and implement appropriate measures
to fill those posts.
(2) T H A
T, once filled, the necessary in-depth analyses be undertaken to
progress any necessary remedial action identified.
(3) T H A
T, where feasible, further and more close collaboration take place
with other Councils.”
Cabinet, having considered the recommendations
of the Scrutiny Committee,
RESOLVED -
(1) T H A
T the views of Scrutiny Committee (Economy and Environment) be
noted.
(2) T H A
T a further report be brought before Cabinet on the matters raised
by Scrutiny Committee (Economy and Environment) together with
information appertaining to the wider issues surrounding vehicle
accidents and the appropriate responses by the Council.
C2758
JOINT CONSULTATIVE FORUM -
The following minutes of a meeting held on
19th October, 2006 were submitted:
Present: Councillor A.C. Williams
(Chairman); Miss J. Cole, E. Hacker, Mrs. A.J. Preston, Mrs. M.
Randall and M.R. Wilson.
Representatives of the Trade
Unions:
Mr. G. Beaudette (N.U.T.); Mr. P. Carter
(UNISON), Mr. T. Cox (NASUWT), Mr. S. Gregory (ATL), Mr. D. Jones
(UNISON), Mr G Moseley ( UNISON ) , and Mr. R. Phillips
(GMB).
(a)
Apologies for Absence -
These were received from Councillors A.J.
Williams, Mr. N . Patterson (T&GWU), Mr. S. Robertson (AMICUS),
Mr. G. Lewis (GMB) and Dr. V. Browne ( ASCL ) .
(b)
Vice-Chairman -
Mr. P. Carter (UNISON) was nominated as
Vice-Chairman of the Joint Consultative Forum.
(c) Minutes
-
AGREED - T H A T the minutes of the
meeting held on 9th May, 2006 be approved as an accurate
record subject to it being recorded that Mr. T. Cox (NASUWT) had
tendered his apologies for absence.
Reference was made to paragraph (g) of the
minutes, “Sickness Monitoring and Proposed New Corporate
Arrangements”. Certain of the trade union representatives
stated that as a result of the re-introduction of the overtime and
flex leave accrual controls, members of staff were resorting to the
use of their annual leave entitlement rather than within the
Sickness Absence scheme provisions Members of the trade
union representatives stated that, in their view, employees should
not be financially penalised for taking sickness absence .
.
The Forum were reminded that the
reintroduction of the overtime and flex leave accrual controls were
being operated as a pilot scheme at the Alps Depot. The
possibility that the operation of the pilot scheme could be
reviewed, and the possibility of the introduction of discretionary
elements to the scheme was mentioned and it was
AGREED - T H A T the operation of the
overtime and flex leave accrual controls be reviewed with a view to
the introduction of discretionary elements, and that a report on
this matter be brought before a future meeting of the
JCF.
(d)
Teacher’s Facility Agreement - Time Off For National Office
-
There were provisions currently in place
for time off for those teaching unions recognised by the
authority. These were ASCL, ATL, NAHT, NASUWT, NUT and
UCAC. The current arrangements for local representatives
were, it was claimed, adequate. The subject of the report
only related to those people with national office. It was
reported that there was no formal written agreement and that some
of the detail of the agreement was a matter for
conjecture.
There were two teacher trade unions in the
Vale of Glamorgan who had national office appointments
: Tim Cox and Brian Lightman.
Mr Cox was a member of the National
Executive of NASUWT and Mr. Lightman had been an executive member
of SHA (now ASCL) and had been the national treasurer from
2003. For the current year he was national vice-president of
ASCL and would be the national president in September
2007.
In addition , the GTCW provided Mr
Cox with up to 20 days a year for undertaking work for their
organisation . It was claimed that the Vale of Glamorgan, by
contrast, had refused to provide any facility time to reflect
Mr. Cox’s role as a national executive member or for Mr. Lightman’s
role as national president.
There had been many discussions over the
years resulting in a report being presented to Cabinet in May
2004. The Cabinet decided that although recognising the
rights to time off, they were not prepared to fund
it.
It was noted that the release of trade
unionists who are teachers from their workplaces was much more
complex than from most other workplaces. Timetabled teacher
commitments and the provision of cover for the use of supply
teachers required there to be a great deal of detail in the
arrangements so that all parties were aware of the
position.
Entitlement to release for trade union
duties with pay required the funding of supply cover or the
reimbursement of schools for salary by the local
authority.
The provisions of the burgundy book
allowed national representatives to take reasonable time off but
with no prescribed limits. To do this without a clear
agreement setting out the limits and the funding would cause great
difficulties on the teacher and, in a different way, the
Headteacher, and pupils being taught and to the organisation of the
school.
Mr. Cox referred to his personal problems
in fulfilling his trade union duties. Performance of his
national duties prevented him from fully undertaking his local
duties. His duties placed him under a great deal of stress,
particularly in the previous year, and his work/life balance was
under strain.
Members retired to consider this matter
and upon their return it was
AGREED -
(1) T
H A T in principle support be granted to Mr. Cox’s request for
increased funding for additional representation.
(2) T
H A T in view of Mr. Cox’s expressed concerns regarding his
wellbeing, Mr. Cox be asked to reduce his discretionary activities
to maintain his work/life balance at this point in time.
(3) T
H A T Mr. Lightman’s situation regarding funding be supported in
principle for two years.
(4) T
H A T a further report be produced for the Joint Consultative Forum
regarding the operation, funding and financial implications of the
above.
(e)
Draft Report on Personal Use of the Internet for Staff -
The Forum considered a revised draft
Computer Code of Practice policy which was subject to further
consultation prior to progressing to the Corporate Management Team
and Cabinet.
The Council currently had a Computer Code
of Practice which prohibited personal use of the internet
completely. Earlier this year, the Council had approved a
change in the Computer Code of Practice for Members to allow
Elected Members personal use of the equipment and facilities
provided to them by the Council for personal use as there were no
additional cost implications. This was envisaged as a trial
to ascertain any impact on the Council’s infrastructure with the
possibility of personal use being extended to staff at a later
date.
Staff had previously been
disciplined for inappropriate use of the internet during work
hours, even with the existing strict policy of no personal
use. Any loosening of this policy would be strongly resisted
by both internal audit and ICT on the grounds that it would be more
difficult to monitor abuse and it would increase the threat to the
Council’s infrastructure from the downloading of illegal software,
music files, viruses and other malware.
In an attempt to provide access without
compromising the Council’s IT systems, it was proposed that
departments procure a number of PC’s that could be located in
suitable areas within the Council’s buildings from which staff
would have free access to the internet for personal use in the same
was as if they were using one of the Council’s libraries where
similar facilities were already available.
With regard to the downloading of music
files, a view was expressed that the proposals should be more
flexible in view of the existence of the Council’s firewall and the
amount of space available on the Council’s system, and the
downloading of media files onto the Council’s system should be
explored . The view was also expressed that the Council
should trust its staff not to abuse the internet.
In response, the Head of Strategic IT
advised:
·
The Council’s IT system existed to meet the business needs of
the Council.
·
Whilst there may be no objection to people bringing their
personal i-Pods to work following agreement with their manager ,
the use of the Council’s IT system for personal storage could not
be advocated in view of limited storage space.
·
Whilst the majority of the Council’s staff could be trusted,
experience indicated that a small minority would abuse the
system. Whilst “occasional use” of the internet outside
working hours was not, in practice treated as a disciplinary
offence, prolonged use was a different matter.
·
Whilst the Council’s system did make use of a firewall,
unfettered use of the internet could result in severe strains being
placed on the firewall.
·
It was felt that the proposals in the draft report represented
a fair compromise.
Members of the Forum noted that
“occasional” personal use of the internet by the Council’s
staff outside normal office hours was, in practice, not the
subject of disciplinary action and felt that this should be
formalised within the Council’s Computer Code of
Practice.
The Forum also requested that it receive a
further report detailing internet usage by the Council’s staff over
the previous six months.
A trade union representative referred to a
previous decision (Minute No. C2278 (b) (3) refers) to remove the
swap shop from the Council’s Intranet site, and proposed that this
decision be rescinded.
Following further discussion of the above,
it was
RECOMMENDED -
(1) T
H A T the proposals contained in the report be supported subject to
it being recorded that “minor” and “occasional” use of the internet
by staff outside normal working hours was permissible.
(2) T
H A T any security issues surrounding the use of the internet by
staff be referred to the IT User Group for consideration.
(3) T
H A T the JCF receive a report outlining the internet usage by
staff during the previous six months.
(4) T
H A T the decision to remove the Swap Shop facility from the
Council’s Intranet be rescinded.
(f) Draft
Corporate Smoke Free Work Place Policy -
The Forum were advised that the issue of
passive smoking had been raised by building staff who undertook
repairs in tenants houses where there may be heavy smokers.
This had been discussed at a previous meeting of the Forum.
Passive smoking affected all staff who assumed such duties as home
visits/inspections on behalf of the Council. The hazards of
passive smoking had been included in the draft together with
changes to comply with the legislation coming into force on
1st April, 2007. As of this date, all public
places and work places had to become smoke free. It was hoped
to introduce the revised policy from 1st January,
2007.
A draft report which contained headings on
policy statement, support, hazards of passive smoking, visiting
clients premises, managers responsibilities, employees
responsibilities and exceptions was currently undergoing
consultation within the Council.
The contents of the report were
noted.
(g)
Handling Organisational Change - Staffing Issues -
The Forum received two documents:
·
handling organisational change, staffing issues
·
key reminders
which had come about following extensive
consultation mainly due to OneVale but also relating to other
organisational changes.
It was proposed to formalise the documents
as Council policy in order to manage staffing issues for current
and future organisational change.
Having considered the documents, Members
enquired, in relation to “matching”, whether provision existed for
salary protection. In response, Members were advised that the
member(s) of staff involved would be entitled to two years salary
protection.
Members also requested that the words “it
is presumed that” be deleted from the first sentence of the first
paragraph of Section 3.
RECOMMENDED - T H A T Cabinet be requested
to approve the Handling Organisational Change - Staffing Issues and
Key Reminders documents subject to:
1. Reference to
“two years salary protection where appropriate” being included
within Section 2 of the Handling Organisational Change - Staffing
Issues document.
2. The words
“it is presumed that” being deleted from the first sentence of the
first paragraph of Section 3 of the Handling Organisational Change
- Staffing Issues document, i.e. the sentence to read “all posts
will be advertised internally first and filled on merit”.
(h)
Feedback on Policy Development -
AGREED - T H A T the details as submitted
relating to the above, which included those policies recently
approved, those about to be submitted for approval, those
concerning which ongoing discussions were being taken and those in
the process of being drafted, be noted.
(i) Grievance
Procedure - Appeals -
The Forum considered a draft grievance
procedure and appeals procedure.
The draft grievance procedure had a
revised Stage 3 which contained the proposal that the Stage 3
grievance be considered by Chief Officers rather than
Members.
Following consideration of the above, it
was
AGREED - T H A T Cabinet be recommended to retain the involvement
of Members in the Stage 3 grievance procedure.
Having considered the views of the Joint
Consultative Forum, it was
RESOLVED -
(1) T H A
T the recommendations contained in Minute (c) be adopted.
(2) T H A
T a further report be brought before Cabinet relating to the wider
implications of the recommendations contained in Minute (d).
(3) T H A
T a further report be brought before Cabinet relating to the issues
raised in Minute (e).
(4) T H A
T a further report be brought before Cabinet relating to the issues
raised in Minute (g).
(5) T H A
T the recommendation contained in Minute (i) be agreed
C2759
CABINET ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR REGENERATION, TOURISM AND LEISURE
-
The following minutes of a meeting held on
30th October, 2006 were submitted:
Present:
Cllr. M.R. Harvey (Chairman)
Cllr. H.J.W. James
Cllr A.M. Ernest
Cllr M. Kelly-Owen
Cllr S.T. Wiliam
Chris Fray (Head of Development & Leisure)
Dave Knevett (Operational Manager:Leisure and Tourism)
Emma Smith (Town Centre Manager)
Sarah Jones (Events Officer)
Beverly Noon (OM: Corporate Policy and
Communications)
Rhian Thomas (Acting Consultation Officer)
Gary Price (Managing Director, Bro Radio)
Danny Chang (Commercial Development Director, Bro Radio)
Mark Petherick (Cabinet Officer)
Sarah Hicks (Cabinet Assistant)
Apologies for
Absence:
Cllr G.A. Cox, Claire Evans
(a)
MINUTES-
Recommended – That the minutes of the
meeting held on 27th July 2006 be
approved.
Recommended – That the minutes of the
meeting of the Dyffryn Advisory Group held on 8th
December 2006 and 3rd April 2006 be noted and
approved.
(b)
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST-
None were declared.
(c)
Vale of Glamorgan Community Radio - Presentation
The Managing Director and the Commercial
Development Director of Bro Radio provided the committee with a
video presentation and details of the proposals for the project. It
was requested by the Managing Director of Bro Radio that the
Council provide a letter of support for the project. A copy
of the Business Plan Presentation is attached at appendix
A.
Recommended – That Cabinet be
requested to consider the following proposal:
1. That
the Leader write a letter of support in principle for the project
due to the urgency of the matter. That Cabinet confirm their
support for the proposed project following the letter from the
Leader.
Reason for Recommendation
1. In
order for the project to progress.
(d) Leisure and
Tourism Strategy Research - Presentation
A powerpoint presentation was made to the
Committee by the Operational Manager for Corporate Policy
and Communications and the Acting Consultation Officer. The
presentation detailed the findings of the recent Leisure and
Tourism Strategy Research. The presentation is attached at
appendix B
Recommended – That Cabinet be requested to
consider the following proposal:
1. That
the presentation be noted and that the Operational Manager for
Corporate Policy and Communications meet with the Operational
Manager for Leisure and Tourism to progress the Leisure and Tourism
Strategy research and report to Cabinet on the findings in the New
Year.
2.
That the Tourism Strategy be developed to focus not only on
tourism marketing, but also in improving the tourism 'product'. The
Council's primary role in this would be to develop the
infrastructure to support increased tourism, to influence key
members of the community (including the business community) and to
define a vision for tourism.
3. That
the Tourism Strategy consider taking an approach based on market
(or geographical) segments rather than a Vale wide
approach.
C
(1) – (3) To progress the
matter
(e) Air Show
Wales
The Cabinet Advisory Committee for
Regeneration, Tourism and Leisure received a report seeking
approval to enter into discussions with the organisers of Air Show
Wales. See report attached at Appendix C
Recommended – That Cabinet be
requested to consider the following proposal:
Reason for Recommendation
1. To
provide initial support to an event which could have positive
benefits for the Vale of Glamorgan
2 & 3 To
find out more information regarding the proposed Wales Air
Show
(f) Grant Aid
to Vale Council Owned Community Centres
This report has been held over for a
future meeting due to the need for further discussions between the
Leader and the Director of Finance, ICT and Property on the
issue.
Recommendations – That the
Committee recommend to Cabinet the following:
1. The
utilisation of the events provision to support the continued
development of the Tall Ship Festival in Barry Waterfront
2. To
consider the possibility of increased wet weather facilities at
future festivals
3. To
consider the provision of extra facilities to allow additional
ships to attend the festival
Reasons for
Recommendations:
1 & 3 To
continue to develop the Tall Ship Festival as a major event held in
the Vale of Glamorgan
2. To
reduce the threat of bad weather at future
events.
(h)
Leisure Centres: Holiday Opening Hours
Recommended – That Cabinet
be requested to consider the following proposals:
1.
That the Christmas opening hours details in Appendix 1 be
approved.
2.
That the principle of opening one large and one small Leisure
Centres between the hours of 8.00am and 5.00pm be adopted for
future Bank Holidays.
Reasons for Recommendations
1 & 2 To ensure that the Council’s Leisure Centres are open
during holiday periods at times that they are most likely to be
used.
(I)
Forward Work Programme
Tourism and Leisure
Successes
The Operational Manager for Leisure &
Tourism wished to bring to the attention of the Committee the
success of the Leisure and Tourism Team. The Leisure and
Tourism Team were awarded the Best Communicating Team Award at the
Vale of Glamorgan Council Team Awards 2006. It was also
brought to the attention of the Committee that the Tourism Unit has
undergone a BSI Assessment and have consequently been awarded a
quality stamp.
Recommended – That Cabinet be
requested to consider the following proposals:
1. That
the Committee note the recent success of the Leisure and Tourism
Team
Reasons for Recommendations
1. To
acknowledge its success
Ryder Cup
The Committee briefly discussed the Ryder
Cup and requested that due consideration be given to the
relationship between the golf related development and the Local
Development Plan.
RESOLVED - T H A T the recommendations
contained therein be adopted.
C2760
VALE OF GLAMORGAN LOCAL HEALTH BOARD: APPOINTMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE
(CX) (SCRUTINY - CORPORATE RESOURCES) -
Cabinet considered the nomination of a
representative to maintain the Council’s representation on the Vale
of Glamorgan Local Health Board.
RESOLVED - T H A T consideration of this item
be deferred pending an exploration of expressions of interest for
the appointment from all Members of the Council.
Reason for decision
To maintain full representation on the Vale of
Glamorgan Local Health Board.
C2761
CAVITY WALL AND LOFT TOP UP INSULATION PROJECT FOR ALL LOCAL
AUTHORITY HOUSING (DCS) (SCRUTINY - COMMUNITY WELLBEING AND SAFETY)
-
Cabinet were advised of progress in the cavity
wall and loft top up insulation project for all local authority
housing, and approval was sought to pay directly to Scottish Powers
sub-contractor.
The scheme had been progressing well, and a
firm Domestic and General, had been sub-contracted by Scottish
Power to undertake the work. To date all work had been
carried out to specification and to agreed standards.
To facilitate a speedier financial response
and to minimise unnecessary paperwork, it had been requested that
payment be made direct to the sub-contractor and not through
Scottish Power.
To ensure no future call was made against the
Council, written confirmation from Scottish Power had been
requested and would be received prior to any arrangement being
initiated.
This was a matter for Executive decision.
RESOLVED - T H A T, following agreement
reached with Scottish Power, the Vale of Glamorgan Council pays
invoices provided by their sub-contractor, Domestic and General
Limited, for approved work undertaken and completed, directly to
Domestic and General Limited, and not to Scottish Power for
subsequent redistribution.
Reason for decision
To enable a more efficient and direct payment
of invoices for the work undertaken.
C2762
LOCAL AVERAGE INTEREST RATE (DFICTP) (SCRUTINY - CORPORATE
RESOURCES) -
Cabinet received a report which recommended
the rate of interest to be charged on Council mortgages.
This was a matter for Executive decision.
RESOLVED - T H A T the authority declare an
unchanged rate of interest on all new and existing variable housing
loans including the sale of Council dwellings of 6.28% with effect
from 1st December, 2006.
Reason for decision
Interest rate recalculated in accordance with
statutory requirements.
C2763
INITIAL CAPITAL PROGRAMME PROPOSALS 2007/08 (DFICTP) (SCRUTINY -
ALL) -
Approval was sought for the revised capital
programme for 2006/07 and the initial capital proposals for 2007/08
so that they may be submitted to Scrutiny Committee for
consultation.
With regard to the 2006/07 capital programme,
it was requested that Cabinet approve the following changes to the
capital programme and refer their recommendations to Council for
approval.
Policy
Dyffryn House Enveloping - enveloping works
commenced on site during September 2006 and were due for completion
during July 2007. It was requested that £796,000 be carried
forward into 2007/08 and £35,000 into 2008/09 to reflect the
revised timescale.
Barry Town Hall - practical completion was
achieved on this scheme during 2006. The consultants were now
in the process of agreeing the final account with the
contractor. Since the last report to Cabinet, the projected
outturn had increased by £585,000. This was due to several
reasons, including the requirement for additional steel work,
removal of contaminated soil and the agreement of an extension of
time. It was proposed that these additional costs be funded
from the project fund.
Uncommitted Budgets Over 18 Months Old
Council on 12th October, 2005 gave
Cabinet the authority to withdraw a budget from the capital
programme if the scheme was not contractually committed within 18
months of being included in the capital programme. If this
happened, a new bid would have to be submitted as part of the
coming years budget setting process to reintroduce the scheme into
the capital programme. The following schemes remained
contractually uncommitted 18 months after approval and a proposal
for the way forward had been made against each scheme.
Directorate of Learning and Development
Accommodation for Cogan Hall Farm - this
budget was allocated to accommodate an increase in pupil numbers,
as a result of the Cogan Hall Farm housing development. The
required works, at various schools, had now been identified and
would commence during the Easter and summer holidays 2007. It
was requested that the £150,000 be carried forward into
2007/08.
Nursery Units - a total budget of £650,000 had
been allocated for a three year period, commencing in 2005/06, for
a review of nursery units. There had been a range of
technical difficulties and the projects were now due to commence in
2007/08. The budget was required to enable the Council to
provide the necessary school places and it was therefore requested
that the budget be carried forward to future years.
Directorate of Environmental and Economic
Regeneration
Cesspits, Marcross - this scheme had not
progressed as there were outstanding legal issues to be
resolved. A report would be prepared updating Cabinet on the
issues in the near future and it was therefore proposed that no
reduction be made to the budget at this stage.
With regard to the 2007/08 capital programme,
it was reported that the Welsh Assembly Government had announced a
provisional 2007/08 general capital funding. The provisional
allocation for 2007/08 was £8,175,000, which was a £297,000
increase over the current year. The final settlement was
expected to be announced during December 2006.
The Major Repairs Allowance which was the
grant that provided capital funding the housing revenue account,
had not yet been announced by the Welsh Assembly Government.
Cabinet, on 6th September, 2006 had approved the use of
the 2007/08 Major Repairs Allowance for schemes totalling
£850,000. Any further proposals for 2007/08 HRA capital
programme would be reported at a later date. At year end, any
unspent Major Repairs Allowance could be carried forward into the
new year, subject to approval from the Welsh Assembly. At the
end of 2005/06, grants totalling £2.8 million remained
unspent. Approval to carry forward this balance had not yet
been received, and Cabinet would be advised of the outcome via a
future report.
In addition to funding from the Welsh Assembly
Government, the Council would finance part of the capital programme
from its own resources, e.g. capital receipts and
reserves.
Appendix B to the report outlined the
indicative 2007/08 capital programme. The table below
detailed the general capital funding allocated by the Assembly and
internal resources required to fund the proposed schemes:
|
Analysis of Net Funding Required for
the Indicative 2007/08 Capital Programme
|
£000
|
£000
|
|
|
|
|
|
General Fund Resources from Welsh
Assembly Government
|
|
|
|
Supported Borrowing
|
6,143
|
|
|
General Capital Grant
|
2,032
|
|
|
|
|
8,175
|
|
Council Resources
|
|
|
|
Capital Receipts
|
5,438
|
|
|
Reserves/Leasing
|
8.906
|
|
|
|
|
14,344
|
|
Net Capital Resources
|
|
22,519
|
The indicative 2007/08 capital programme shown
at Appendix B to the report included allocations already approved
by Council and the slippage requests mentioned earlier in the
report.
Indicative asset renewal budgets had been
included within Appendix B, as follows:
·
Education
£800,000
·
Social
Services
£150,000
·
Visible
Services
£800,000
·
Leisure
Services
£150,000
·
Miscellaneous
Buildings
£200,000
and these constituted an un-earmarked general
provision. In addition, Directors had made specific bids
which had been classed as asset renewals. Due to the
inclusion of the indicative asset renewal budgets, these specific
bids had been shown as a specific heading within Appendix C to the
report, which listed the unsuccessful bids. Specific asset
renewal schemes would be reported to a future Cabinet
meeting.
Three schemes were currently planned to the
funded from next years asset renewal budget. It was requested
that Cabinet approve the allocation of the budget for these schemes
at this early stage to enable work to proceed within the planned
timescale:
·
St. Athans Primary Cladding Phase 2 - it was proposed that this
scheme be funded from the Education Asset Renewal/School Buildings
Improvement Grant budget. Design work would be funded from
this year’s programme and tender acceptance was planned for January
2007. This would enable works to commence during the Easter
holidays and it was requested that £302,000 be approved from the
2007/08 budget and £8,000 from 2008/09, to allow the scheme to be
undertaken within the planned timetable.
·
Gwaun Y Nant/Oakfield Roofing - it was proposed that this scheme be
funded from the Education Asset Renewal/School Buildings
Improvement Grant budget. Design work would commence this
year and tender acceptance was planned for March 2007. This
would enable works to commence during the summer holidays and it
was requested that £200,000 be approved from the 2007/08 budget and
£5,000 for 2008/09, to allow the scheme to be undertaken within the
planned timetable.
·
Barry Leisure Centre Ventilation - there was currently a budget of
£41,000 included within this years Leisure Asset Renewal budget for
the scheme. This budget would only allow part of the required
works to be undertaken and was not considered to be an effective
use of money. It was proposed that £49,000 be allocated in
2007/08 to allow a larger scheme to be undertaken. Works
would commence at the end of January 2007 and continue into the new
financial year.
It was proposed that Cabinet be given
delegated authority to approve certain budgets being brought
forward during 2007/08 if the schemes progressed ahead of
schedule. These schemes were identified with an asterisk
within Appendix B to the report. Some capital schemes spanned
more than one financial year and to allow the scheme to proceed,
the total budget needed to be approved and not just an individual
year. It was therefore proposed that where schemes are shown
in bold within the Appendix, the total budget across all years be
now formally approved.
In addition to the capital bids shown in
Appendix B to the report, Appendix C included capital bids received
that had not been put forward for inclusion in the 2007/08
programme. The Corporate Asset Management Group had
prioritised schemes that fell within their remit.
Council on 12th October, 2005
approved the School Investment Strategy. It approved that the
School Development Budget be increased by £500,000 in 2007/08 and
£1 million from 2008/09 onwards. These budget changes had
been included within Appendix B to the report. It also
approved that the £9 million one off School Building Improvement
Grant and £1.4 million of existing useable capital receipts be
utilised for the School Investment Strategy. These budgets
had not been included within Appendix B. Approval had also
been given for capital receipts generated by schools to be
ring-fenced for the investment strategy up to £6.5 million and that
unsupported borrowing of up to £7.3 million could be
undertaken. MACE were the successful consultants who had been
appointed as external technical advisors and a report had been
presented to Cabinet on 20th September, 2006 outlining
their recommendations. The consultants were undertaking
further work, which was due for completion by April 2007 and it was
reported that the capital programme would then be
amended.
Included in the new bids shown in Appendix B
to the report were works that were a requirement of previous
planning applications. As capital funds were very restricted
and to ensure that all capital commitments were included in the
programme, it was proposed that bids for schemes should include all
costs, including those that are a condition of planning
consent. This would avoid the Council committing to future
expenditure that it was unable to fund.
Bids had been received for schemes that were
100% grant funded, even though grant approval had not yet been
received. Whilst the schemes had no cost to the Council, it
was proposed that they are not included in the programme at this
stage, as it was not certain whether approval would be received and
inclusion of these budgets could lead to slippage. The
schemes are Central Station land purchase - £1,400,000 and safety
cameras - £50,000.
Included within the unsuccessful bids shown in
Appendix C to the report, were two bids which related to the
required match funding for applications submitted to the Welsh
Assembly Government for Physical Regeneration Fund grant. The
outcome of the applications was not due to be announced until
December 2006 and it was proposed that if the bids were successful,
£757,000 be made available for the Chapter Arts Centre 2:
Enveloping of the Hydraulic Pumphouse Scheme and £104,000 for the
Penarth Town Centre Regeneration Action Plan Scheme, from the
Project Fund. The value of the Physical Regeneration Fund
grant applied for was £1,400,000 and £1,335,000 respectively.
Cabinet were advised that the next stage was
for the estimates to be submitted to Scrutiny Committees for
consultation. Scrutiny Committee (Corporate Resources) was
the lead Scrutiny Committee and would consider both the initial
budget proposals and the comments that other Scrutiny Committees
had made. Responses of Scrutiny Committee must be made by no
later than 15th December, 2006.
Each Scrutiny Committee would be asked to
first consider the indicative capital proposals and the priority
given to new bids in the light of the limited resources that were
available. They then may make recommendations for
changes. If the Scrutiny Committees wished to make a change,
the reason for this needed to be recorded in order to assist the
Cabinet and the Cabinet Budget Working Group draw up the final
proposals.
As well as considering the priority awarded to
capital bids within its own services, the Scrutiny Committee
(Corporate Resources) would be asked to look at the priority for
bids across the whole range of Council services.
Cabinet’s final capital programme proposals
would be considered at a meeting of the Council to be held on
19th February, 2007.
The proposals to the making of the budget did
not need to be referred to Council. However, the final
2007/08 budget would require the approval of Council. The
requests for slippage were a matter for consideration by
Council.
RESOLVED -
(1) T H A
T the initial budget proposals be approved for consultation with
Scrutiny Committees.
(2) T H A
T budgets be carried forward from 2006/07 into future years and
that the amendments be referred to Council:
·
Dyffryn House Enveloping - reduce budget from £1,381,000 to
£550,000 (carry forward £796,000 into 2007/08 and £35,000 into
2008/09).
·
Accommodation for Cogan Hall Farm - reduce budget from £150,000 to
nil (carry forward £150,000).
·
Nursery Units - reduce budget from £75,000 to nil (carry forward
£75,000).
(3) T H A
T the Council be requested to increase the Barry Town Hall 2006/07
budget by £585,000 and that this increase be funded from the
Project Fund.
(4) T H A
T the allocation of the following budgets be approved and referred
to Council:
·
£302,000 of the Education Asset Renewal/School Buildings
Improvement Budget for 2007/08 and £8,000 of the 2008/09 budget be
approved for the St. Athans Primary Cladding Phase 2
scheme.
·
£200,000 of the Education Asset Renewal/School Buildings
Improvement Budget for 2007/08 and £5,000 of the 2008/09 budget be
approved for the Gwaun Y Nant/Oakfield Roofing scheme.
·
£49,000 of the Leisure Asset Renewal Budget for 2007/08 be approved
for the Barry Leisure Centre Ventilation scheme.
(5) T H A
T capital bids for schemes should include all costs, including
those that are a condition of planning consents.
Reasons for decisions
(1) To
allow full consultation on the future capital programmes.
(2) To
amend the 2006/07 and future years capital programmes.
(3) To
amend the 2006/07 capital programme.
(4) To
allow schemes to be let prior to the beginning of 2007/08.
(5) To
avoid the Council committing to future expenditure that it was
unable to fund.
C2764
INITIAL REVENUE BUDGET PROPOSALS 2007/08 (DFICTP) (SCRUTINY -
CORPORATE RESOURCES) -
Cabinet approval for the amended original
budget for 2006/07 and the initial revenue budget proposals for
2007/08 were sought in order that they may be submitted to Scrutiny
Committees for consultation.
The Council’s budget was determined largely by
the Revenue Support Grant (RSG) settlement set by the Welsh
Assembly Government. A provisional settlement had been
announced on 25th October, 2006 with details of the
final settlement expected in late November early December.
SSA (Standard Spending Assessment) represented
WAG’s view of the resources needed to provide a standard level of
service in each local authority in Wales and its primary use was to
allocate RSG to these authorities. For 2007/08, the Council’s
provisional SSA had been notified as £181,045,000 a headline
increase of 5.8% over the unadjusted 2006/07 figure.
The Council had been provisionally advised
that for 2007/08, it would receive from WAG, RSG of £107,041,000
and non-domestic rates (NDR) of £29,117,000. Together, these
sums constituted the Council’s aggregate external finance
(AEF). The AEF represented an increase of 5.2% over that
received for 2006/07 (after adjusting for transfers into the
settlement) and is net of an assumed 1% efficiency savings.
The provisional settlement included additional resources for new
responsibilities including smoke free legislation, schools councils
and EU food hygiene.
WAG had announced that the Council would
provisionally receive a deprivation grant of £167,000 and a
performance grant of £1,239,000. These were both
unhypothocated grants. Confirmation of the continuation
and/or amounts receivable in the form of other specific and special
grants had yet to be received.
Appendix 1 to the report set out the necessary
amendments to the original estimate for 2006/07, which were
required to be made as follows:
·
Asset Rents - changes to the amounts charged to services for the
use of assets in accordance with revisions to the Accounting Code
of Practice. It was mainly due to the removal of the capital
financing charge element (interest).
·
Recharges etc - movement in charges between internal Council
services.
·
Budget Transfers - budget adjustments to reflect transfers of
functions and responsibilities between services. Primarily,
this related to:
·
the transfer from Education to Lifelong Learning in respect of a
Youth Scheme Co-ordinator and other cost pressures (£102,000)
·
the transfer from libraries of a member of staff to ICT and monies
held in respect on Town Hall costs to Policy (£91,000)
·
the transfer from Visible and Building Services to Chief Executive
re Contact Centre (£26,000)
·
the transfer from Policy to Visible Services re additional staff
costs at Dyffryn (£53,000).
The amended original budget was compared with
the estimated outturn for 2006/07, and reasons for the variances
were provided:
Learning and Development - a saving of
£120,000 on education and schools arising from a lower than
expected inflation increase on renewed large contracts such as
school transport together with staff vacancies within the Education
Department had been used to off-set the overspending on Lifelong
Learning Job Shop Extra (£10,000) and the Training and Heritage
Skills Centre (£110,000). The adverse variance on libraries
(£267,000) was due to the costs of the new library.
Community Services - the overspend of
£1,481,000 on Children’s Services was primarily due to the cost of
child placements, with a further £665,000 expenditure on this area
as a result of a lower than anticipated available balance on the
social services reserves. Community Care and Health were
projecting an overspend of £2,846,000 a significant proportion of
which was due to the number and cost of care packages. The
adverse variance of £130,000 on catering was mainly due to a
reduction in the number of meals being provided and increased costs
in meeting Assembly requirements on nutritional standards.
The underspending on private sector housing/community safety
(£118,000) was mainly attributable to an increase in subsidy income
and savings on staff salaries.
Environmental and Economic Regeneration -
included in the figures was an anticipated deficit on leisure
management (£150,000) due to significant increases in utilities
costs and on Building Maintenance (Trading Unit) (£150,000)
attributed to pricing policy. These deficits were to be
off-set by an underspending from within the Directorate.
Policy - the underspending of £600,000 was
mainly attributable to additional external interest
earned.
There was an estimated Council Tax surplus for
2006/07 in the sum of £1million. This would be transferred to
the General Fund.
The overall deficit of £4,664,000 would need
to be funded from reserves, in addition to the £2,250,000 required
to balance the 2006/07 budget. General reserves as at
1st April, 2006 amounted to £6.4 million and
consequently, as a prudent minimum level for the General reserve
was £4 million, some specific reserves would need to be
“un-earmarked”.
The budget strategy for 2007/09 outlined
that:
· In
order to establish a baseline, services were to prepare initial
revenue budgets for next year based on the cost of providing the
current level of service and approved policy decisions. This
meant the cost of price increases and pay awards should be
included.
·
Increases to budgets approved during the course of a financial year
could restrict the freedom the Council had to allocate its
resources to priorities during the following budget cycles when it
was aware of all the competing demands. Consequently:
·
supplementary estimates would only increase the base budget if
Council had given specific approval to this effect. Increases
met by virement within a year would not be treated as committed
growth.
·
Directors should find the cost of increments and staff changes from
their base budget unless the relevant specific approval had been
given for additional funding.
·
The effect of replacing grant from outside bodies that had
discontinued would not be treated as committed growth. In
addition, before any project or initiative was to be met either
wholly or partly by way of grant may proceed, the exit strategy
must be approved.
·
Certain items of unavoidable committed growth would continue and
these included the effect of interest changes and the financing
cost of a capital programme, increases in taxes, increases in
levies and precepts charged by outside bodies and changes to
Housing Benefits met expenditure.
·
Services would be expected to identify and achieve the current
efficiency savings equivalent to 1% of their budget.
·
The eventual level of Revenue Support Grant settlement that made up
the bulk of the Council’s funding would be influenced by WAG
expectations for efficiency savings in local government as set out
in their “Making the Connections” document. As such, it was
envisaged that the costs of service delivery would need to be met
from within the respective services from the efficiency savings
that they identified; inefficient works may need to be prioritised
within a service to meet any higher priority demands.
Services had therefore been asked to identify any burgeoning
revenue cost pressures.
A summary of the overall base budget for
2007/08 was attached at Appendix 2 to the report. This had
been arrived at by adjusting the 2006/07 budget for items such as
inflation and unavoidable growth.
Inflation amounted to £4.3 million of which
£1.5 million related to pay awards and £2.8 million for general
price increases. It was noted that these figures excluded
inflation for schools.
Committed growth totalled £4.324 million and
related to the following items:
·
Libraries - cost of accommodation at Town Hall/library -
£509,000
·
Environmental and Economic Regeneration - economic development and
leisure - loss of income to the Council resulting from the sale of
Vale workshops - £102,000 and cost of accommodation at Town
Hall/library - £5,000
·
Visible Services - £150,000 for landfill tax costs.
·
General policy - General policy - £2,250,000 use of balances during
the 2006/07 budget process, reduction in interest receivable of
£320,000 as a direct result of the use of balances, £200,000 is the
estimated cost to the General Find of the interest due to the
project fund following the estimated advance, £300,000 increased
cost of funding the capital programme, £390,000 for ICT software
licences and £98,000 for the cost of accommodation at the Town
Hall/library.
A list of the 2007/08 cost pressures as
identified by services was attached at Appendix 3 to the
report. These were not shown in any order of priority and
included costs relating to social services that were a continuation
of the level of overspending in 2006/07, no reduction of costs had
been taken into account which may arise from the Action Plan.
Altogether these totalled £16.842 million and some would need to be
met. They excluded the cost of redundancies which may be
incurred in order to maintain the budget within the resources
available. It was reported that these costs could be
significant.
It was reported that the continued level of
overspending on Social Services (around £5 million for this year)
was of particular concern. The cost pressures identified for
2007/08 assumed that the overspend was not addressed.
However, this was not sustainable and to be financially stable the
Council must address this issue in next years budget. It was
not financially prudent to fund current expenditure from reserves
except for a very limited time whilst a recovery plan was actioned
to bring expenditure down. In any case, reserves were under
pressure. Consequently, the Council was faced with two
options. The first being to reduce Social Services
overspending. The second option was to increase the service’s
base budget. This could only be achieved by transferring
resources from other services with a consequent impact on that
service(s) or increasing the level of Council Tax to generate
additional resources.
Cabinet were advised that it was absolutely
essential that the underlying causes for the Social Services
overspending were identified and resolved. If not, no matter
what the level of budget was, overspendings could continue and
threaten not just the financial stability of the Council but its
ability to deliver other statutory services.
Each year the purpose, nature and level of
earmarked reserves were reviewed and would again be reviewed as
part of the 2007/08 budget process. The projected overspend
in Social Services in 2006/07 would require the un-earmarking of
certain of these reserves as otherwise the General Reserve could be
completely extinguished. This meant that the Council
priorities for which such reserves were initially set up may not
now be achieved and certain schemes may not go ahead (this could
have a detrimental impact upon capital programme schemes).
The risks to the Council were also increased if certain reserves
were diminished (e.g. Job Evaluation). The exercise could
also act as a disincentive to good financial management. Some
reserves had been built up by services setting aside small
underspends to meet future known liabilities. If these were
now taken, they may view it as being penalised for their own
prudence and in future spend any used budget at the year end.
This could result in expenditure on low priority items, limited the
service’s ability to financially manage and reduce future options
for the Council.
The next stage in the process was for the
estimates to be submitted to Scrutiny Committees for
consultation. Scrutiny Committee (Corporate Resources) was
the lead Scrutiny Committee and would consider both the initial
revenue budget proposals and any comments that other Scrutiny
Committees had made. The responses of Scrutiny Committee was
required by now later than 15th December, 2006.
Cabinet’s final budget proposals would be
considered at a meeting of Council to be held on 19th
February, 2007.
The proposals in the report did not need to be
referred to Council. However, the final 2007/08 budget would
require the approval of full Council.
RESOLVED -
(1) T H A
T the amended original budget as set out in Appendix 1 to the
report for 2006/07 and the funding from Policy of the additional
costs of the new library be approved.
(2) T H A
T the initial revenue budget proposals for 2007/08 be approved for
consultation with Scrutiny Committees.
(3) T H A
T the Leader respond to WAG on the provisional Revenue Support
Grant settlement in view of the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s
financial position.
Reasons for decisions
(1) To
facilitate monitoring of the budget.
(2) In
order that Cabinet be informed of the comments of Scrutiny
Committees before making a final proposal on the budget.
(3) To
inform WAG.
C2765
INITIAL HOUSING REVENUE ACCOUNT BUDGET PROPOSALS 2007/2008 AND
REVISED BUDGET 2006/2007 (DCS AND DFICTP) (SCRUTINY - COMMUNITY
WELLBEING AND SAFETY AND CORPORATE RESOURCES) -
Cabinet approval was sought for the revised
estimates 2006/07 and the initial budget proposals for 2007/2008,
so that they may be submitted to Scrutiny Committee for
consultation.
Cabinet were advised that, comparing the
original current budget with the proposed revised estimate, a net
increase of £120,000 was indicated and which was due to several
reasons. An increase in security measures at High View was
likely to cost around £80,000. Electricity and gas prices had
also risen by approximately £55,000 on sheltered properties and
communal lighting during the year. General efficiency savings
accounted for any reduction in budget.
The budget strategy for 2007/08 outlined that,
in order to establish a baseline, services should prepare revenue
budgets for next year based on the cost of providing the current
level of service and approved policy decision. This meant the
cost of price increases and pay awards should be
included.
Due to the nature of the Housing Revenue
Account in that it is ringfenced and any growth had to be funded
from the balance, no cost pressures had been formally
identified. The budget was presented in the traditional
objective analysis format.
The proposed 2007/08 budget was set out at
Appendix A to the report. An estimated rent increase of 4.6%
had been included.
(a) HRA
(General) - this budget head related to general expenditure such as
insurance and audit fees and income from rents. It included
an estimated increase in rents and an estimate of the housing
subsidy payable to WAG. However, no increase in the
management allowance per property, as distributed via the housing
subsidy had been taken into account.
(b)
General Management - this budget head related to the general
management of the Council’s housing stock, for work carried out
within the Housing Division, and for various issues relating to the
Council tenancies excluding the repairs and maintenance
function.
(c)
Special Services - this budget related to the running expenses and
the cost of staff employed directly within the Housing Division, in
relation to functions such as elderly services, running the hostel
etc. The increase was largely due to increased security
at High View (Penarth Heights) and increased fuel costs for
sheltered homes and communal lighting.
(d)
Housing Repairs Fund Contribution - this budget related to the
repairs and maintenance service for the Council Housing stock.
(e)
Central Support and Operational Building Charges - this budget
related to the services provided by other Departments, and the cost
of office accommodation occupied by the Housing Divisions
staff.
(f) Capital
Financing - this budget included debt charges for any capital works
undertaken relating to the Housing Revenue Account.
The charges for rent and other services
provided by the Housing Division were reviewed annually.
These would be subject to a future report once the information had
been received from WAG. However, until the work currently
being undertaken by the consultants on the rent review had been
finalised, it was proposed that, for next year, annual rent levels
would continue to be linked to pre 2005/06 Council Tax
bands.
In summary the change in budget was itemised
as follows:
|
2006/2007 Original
Budget £0’000
|
Inflation/ Pay
Award
£0’000
|
Committed Growth/
Savings
£0’000
|
Estimated Rent
Increase £0’000
|
2007/2008 Proposed
Budget £0’000
|
|
(127)
|
135
|
652
|
(500)
|
160
|
The committed growth of £652,000 was due to an
increase in the subsidy repayable to WAG (£747,000), a reduction in
rent income due to rights to buy sales reducing the stock level
(£39,000) and an increase in central recharges (£38,000).
Increases in income, such as recalculation of interest expected on
the HRA working balance (£110,000), second phase of the 40%
increase on heating charge services (£16,000), and general budget
adjustments and efficiency savings (£46,000) have off-set this.
The next stage was for the estimates to be
submitted to Scrutiny Committee for consultation. Responses
from the relevant Scrutiny Committee (Community Wellbeing and
Safety) and (Corporate Resources) would need to be made by
15th December, 2006 so that the Cabinet may make its
recommendations on the final budget proposals by 14th
February, 2007.
Cabinet’s final budget proposals would be
considered at a meeting of the Council to be held on
19th February, 2007.
The final 2007/2008 budget would require the
approval of Council.
RESOLVED -
(1) T H A
T the revised estimate for 2006/07 be approved.
(2) T H A
T the initial budget proposal for 2007/08 be approved for
consultation with Scrutiny Committees.
(3) T H A
T the increase suggested for rent and other services be subject to
a future report as soon as the information is available from the
Welsh Assembly Government.
Reasons for decisions
(1) To
facilitate monitoring of the revised budget.
(2) In
order that Cabinet be informed of the comments of Scrutiny
Committees before making a final proposal on the budget.
(3) In
order to meet the statutory deadline to notify tenants of the new
charges as required by Statute.
C2766
COMPLAINTS OF MALADMINISTRATION AGAINST THE COUNCIL (MO) (SCRUTINY
- AS INDICATED IN THE REPORT) -
Cabinet were advised of the outcome of
investigations conducted by the Commissioner for Local
Administration in Wales into allegations of maladministration
against the Council.
This was a matter for Executive decision.
RESOLVED - T H A T the contents of the report
be noted.
Reason for decision
To inform the Cabinet and Council.
C2767
MATTERS WHICH THE CHAIRMAN HAD DECIDED WERE URGENT -
RESOLVED - T H A T the following matters,
which the Chairman had decided were urgent for the reasons stated,
be considered.
C2768
SOCIAL SERVICES BUDGET ISSUES (REF) -
Urgent by reason of the need to
apprise Cabinet of the recommendations of the Audit
Committee
The Audit Committee on 24th
October, 2006 had considered a reference from Cabinet on
20th September, 2006 in the form of a report of the
Director of Community Services and accompanying Action Plan
outlining options for addressing the current budget issues within
Social Services in the light of a projected overspend in the
current financial year estimated at £5m.
As part of these deliberations, Audit
Committee had felt that the role of the Committee would be best
served if the Committee were to investigate the history and reasons
for the current budget issues within Social Services.
Audit Committee on 21st November,
2006 received an analysis of the budgeted and actual expenditure
for Social Services in each of the financial years from 2003/04,
including projections for 2006/07. The trend showed
significant expenditure in excess of the allocated base budget, the
majority of which was attributable to Children and Family Services
(primarily the costs of “Out of County” placements) and Community
Care and Health (where the increasing numbers and cost of care
packages had impacted across all service functions, in particular
Learning Disabilities).
Whilst the establishment of the £5m.
Children’s Management Fund in 2003/04 enabled Children and Family
Services to draw upon funding whilst the Children’s Placement
Strategy was implemented, overspends on Community Care and Health
were increasingly reliant on central support and retrospective
Assembly funding (e.g. Supporting People and Residential Allowances
Grants). This situation continued until 2005/06 when the
Children’s Management Fund was re-classified as the Social Services
Reserve and brought back to a balance of £5m. All but £0.4m.
of this balance was then expended during 2005/06 (£2.2m. for
Children and Family Services and £2.4m. for Community Care and
Health).
Of the £5m. anticipated overspend in 2006/07,
as at September 2006, £2.2m. related to Children and Family
Services (of which £0.6m. was due to a lower than anticipated
balance in the Social Services Reserve) and £2.8m. to Community
Care and Health. However, based upon the Children’s Placement
Strategy, the maximum draw-down in 2006/07 was projected at £1m.
(and the minimum draw-down was nil, indicating break even).
Whilst reports were produced on individual issues, no overall
strategy was put in place to address the Community Care and Health
deficit.
Monthly budget monitoring reports to both
Cabinet and Scrutiny Committees had highlighted the building
financial pressures within Social Services that resulted in these
additional costs. In addition, annual reports on the
Council’s final budget proposals had emphasised the unsustainable
nature of the Social Services overspend. This message had
also been repeated in the Council’s Medium Term Financial Plan,
which had also predicted additional costs falling on the Service in
future years.
The Medium Term Financial Plan 2006/07 to
2009/10 emphasised the need to ensure that a sustainable budget was
achieved and funding identified for future service
development. As such, it identified the Social Services
overspend as being the single biggest challenge now facing the
Council.
Notwithstanding the steps being taken and
proposed to reduce the level of overspend, it was nevertheless
essential for the Council to develop a firm view of the future
resources required to run Social Services in the light of the
overall resources available to the Council and its various
statutory obligations and to address this as part of the 2007/08
budget process. It was also incumbent upon the Director of
Community Services to deliver the required services within the
allocated resources.
Councillor A.J. Readman spoke on the above
with the consent of the Committee.
Following consideration of the contents of the
report, it was
RECOMMENDED -
(1) T H A
T the report be noted.
(2) T H A
T the report be referred to Cabinet and that Cabinet be advised of
the great concerns of the Audit Committee at the situation.
(3) T H A
T Cabinet be informed of the view of the Audit Committee that it
was essential for the Council to develop a firm view of the future
resources required to run Social Services in the light of the
overall resources available to the Council and its various
statutory obligations and to address this as part of the 2007/08
budget process, and the view that it was also incumbent upon the
Director of Community Services to deliver the required services
within the allocated resources.
Cabinet, having considered the recommendations
of the Audit Committee,
RESOLVED - T H A T the recommendations of the
Audit Committee be agreed.
C2769
SOCIAL SERVICES ACTION PLAN - RISK ASSESSMENT (REF) -
Urgent by reason of the need to
apprise Cabinet of the recommendations of the Audit
Committee
The meeting of the Audit Committee on
24th October, 2006 had considered a reference from
Cabinet on 20th September, 2006 in the form of a report
of the Director of Community Services and accompanying Action Plan
outlining options for addressing the current budget issues within
Social Services in the light of a projected overspend in the
current financial year estimated at £5m.
As part of its deliberations, the Audit
Committee had resolved that the Action Plan should be the subject
of a formal risk assessment. This had been undertaken in
accordance with the Council’s Risk Management Strategy.
Audit Committee on 21st November,
2006 received a copy of the Risk Management Strategy which
illustrated the matrix used to formulate the score for each
risk. This was assessed according to the impact that each
risk would have on both the clients and the Council’s
(“Magnitude”). This would include public wellbeing,
environmental and social, reputational and health and safety
implications as well as financial consideration. The
probability of each risk occurring (likelihood) was then assessed
and the two scores multiplied. The higher the resulting
score, the greater the risk and the more important it was then to
take appropriate action in the form of counter measures the control
the risk.
Appendix B to the report showed the detailed
results of the risk assessment for each of the Action Plan
items. Whilst a number of options appeared to have little or
no risk associated with the implementation (e.g. risks CCH8,
CCH10), their projected savings in relation to the total Social
Services overspend was small. A number of other options (e.g.
CCH11, CF11) were considerably under-developed in their potential
for delivering the savings indicated and could also have
significant cost implications for the Council which had yet to be
properly assessed (including their evaluation in the context of an
overall Asset Management Strategy for the Council).
In addition, following discussions between the
Directors of Community Services and Legal and Regulatory Services,
emanating from matters relating to the Council’s Policy Framework,
it was reported that Action Plan proposals CCH1 and 2 had now been
withdrawn. In the short term, at least, the savings of
£400,000 identified in the Action Plan were not now likely to
materialise.
In viewing the Action Plan as a whole, the
view was expressed that many of the proposals appeared at present
to be disparate and lacking any overall strategic direction for the
Service. It currently fell £2m. short in addressing the
current projected level of overspend and, with the withdrawal of
actions CCH1 and 2, it was also far from certain that this
shortfall would not now be even greater and the £1m. target for
2006/07 achieved.
If this situation was to be properly
addressed, it would be essential that managers had a clear
understanding of exactly why the overspends were occurring in order
to be able to take the appropriate remedial action as part of a
planned and structured programme of future service delivery.
For this reason, the present overall
assessment of the Action Plan was that of high risk, scoring 4 for
magnitude and 3 for likelihood. If allowed to continue, the
level of overspend also posed a significant risk to the Council’s
finances and its ability to deliver services across the board.
However, both during the risk assessment
process and, as a result of work undertaken separately by the
Director of Legal and Regulatory Services, two significant risks
had been identified that were central to the issues of the
overspend on Social Services. These had not been identified
in the Action Plan as options but, as indicated above, relate
instead to issues surrounding the proposals made in CCH1 and 2 and
also CF1.
Specifically, the risks were the review and
setting of eligibility criteria for all Community Care and Health
Care packages having regard to the available resources in relation
to client needs for Community Care and Health and the review and
successful delivery of the Children’s Placement Strategy.
Together with the improvements required in budgetary control as
outlined in CS1, 2 and 3, taking the appropriate counter measures
to control these risks as part of an overall strategy for Social
Services should result in significant savings in the current level
of overspend. This would be essential if services to those
clients most in need were to be maintained and the interest of
future clients protected.
It was reported by the Chairman that the
Department of Works and Pensions was about to embark on a review of
previous decisions relating to the granting of benefits. It
was assumed that the general thrust of this review would be in a
downwards direction, which could have a significant impact on the
operation of the Council’s eligibility criteria.
Following the withdrawal of Action Plan
Proposals CCH1 and 2, Members were advised by the Director of
Community Services that the Council’s eligibility criteria was
being reviewed and that a draft report would soon be
available. It was acknowledged by Members that decisions
relating to the operation of the eligibility criteria could result
in conflicts with the Council’s Community Care partners.
It was also felt that the proposal within
Action Plan CCH4 relating to the employment of a specialist nurse
to challenge decisions made by the Local Health Board on Continuing
Health Care Issues, would also lead to conflict with the Local
Health Board.
(Councillors Ms. M.E. Alexander and A.J.
Readman spoke with the consent of the Committee).
Having considered the contents of the report
and discussions made, it was
RECOMMENDED - T H A T, in considering the
proposals contained in the Social Services Budget Action Plan,
Cabinet be requested to pay particular attention to those Action
Plan references categorised as being High / Medium risk.
Cabinet, having considered the recommendations
of the Audit Committee,
RESOLVED - T H A T the recommendations of the
Audit Committee be agreed.
C2770
SOCIAL SERVICES - REVIEW OF ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA (REF)
-
Urgent by reason of the need to
apprise Cabinet of the recommendations of the Audit
Committee
The meeting of the Audit Committee on
24th October, 2006 had considered a reference from
Cabinet of 20th September, 2006 in the form of a report
of the Director of Community Services and accompanying Action Plan
outlining options for addressing the current budget issues within
Social Services in the light of a projected overspend in the
current financial year estimated at £5m.
As part of these deliberations, Committee had
resolved that a report be produced on the eligibility criteria as
applied by Social Services. This related specifically to
Community Care and Health as there were other considerations that
influenced decisions on Children and Family Services.
Audit Committee, on 21st November,
2006 received a report which informed that of the overall deficit
projected for Social Services during this financial year, £2.8m.
related to the Community Care and Health Service and in particular
the number and cost of packages for both domiciliary and
residential care.
The Action Plan produced by the Director of
Community Services in response to the overspend included proposals
to restrict the funding available for new care packages during any
week to 50% of the savings identified in the previous week (Action
Plan references CCH1 and CCH2 refer). However, following
discussions between the Director of Community Services and the
Director of Legal and Regulatory Services, emanating from issues
connected with the Council’s Policy Framework, implementation of
these options had now been withdrawn
As a consequence of the above, extensive
research undertaken by the Director of Legal and Regulatory
Services (including the opinion of Counsel), had revealed
considerable emphasis in Welsh Assembly Government and Department
of Health guidelines on the setting of eligibility criteria for
Community Care and Health Car