CABINET

 

 

MINUTES of a meeting held on 16th April, 2008.

 

Present: Councillor Ms. M.E. Alexander (Chairman); Councillor N. Moore (Vice-Chairman); Councillors R.F. Curtis, Mrs. V.M. Hartrey, G. John, Mrs. M. Randall, Mrs. M.R. Wilkinson and C.J. Williams.

 

 

C3476                        APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE -

 

These were received from Councillors S.C. Egan and N.J. Gibbs.

 

 

C3477                        WELCOME -

 

On behalf of the entire Cabinet the Chairman welcomed Councillor Mrs. Randall who was attending her first meeting for some time.

 

 

C3478                        MINUTES -

 

RESOLVED - T H A T the minutes of the meeting held on 2nd April, 2008 be approved as a correct record.

 

 

C3479                        DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST -

 

Councillor C.J. Williams declared an interest in Agenda Item No. 6 in that a close family member worked in OneVale and vacated the room during the consideration thereof.

 

 

C3480                        VOLUNTARY SECTOR COMPACT (REF - MINUTE NO. 860) -

 

As had been previous practice, a review of the Compact had been conducted by a Joint Working Group with the voluntary sector to develop an agreement for further consideration by the Voluntary Sector Joint Liaison Committee.  Once agreement had been reached on a revised Compact, a further report would be brought to that Committee seeking approval for an Action Plan for 2008/09.  The Committee had, subject to the views of the other partner agencies, referred the revised Compact to Cabinet for consideration.

 

RESOLVED - T H A T, since the Compact would be reported back to the Voluntary Sector Joint Liaison Committee following the outcome of the consultation with other partner agencies and thence Cabinet for endorsement, the current position be noted.

 


 

Reason for decision

 

To have regard to the process.

 

 

C3481                        WARD MEMBER CONSULTATION TASK AND FINISH GROUP (REF) -

 

The focus of the above review by the Scrutiny Committee (Corporate Resources) had been to assess current procedures for the purpose of developing improved consultation arrangements between officers and elected Members on service issues which arose within individual electoral wards and neighbouring wards (near to ward boundaries).  The Task and Finish Group had made the following recommendations to the Scrutiny Committee:

 

“(i)    That the Scrutiny Committee (Corporate Resources) consider the terms of the draft protocol as appended to the report;

 

(ii)     That the Scrutiny Committee (Corporate Resources) having considered and approved the terms of the draft protocol for the consultation of Ward Members on draft reports for consideration by the Cabinet, Council and other Committees (with the exception of the Planning and Licensing Committees), recommends to the Cabinet that the draft protocol be adopted.”

 

The Scrutiny Committee had subsequently endorsed the same, adding that a review of the protocol should be undertaken within twelve months of its implementation, and referred the same to Cabinet for consideration and adoption with immediate effect. Cabinet fully accepted that ward members should be consulted and kept up to date on current and future developments/matters affecting their wards. Particular reference was made to the disruption to localities by road works, much of which was not attributable to the Council, and to ways in which communities could be better informed as to the reason and nature of the works being undertaken and the body responsible for those works.

 

RESOLVED -

 

(1)    T H A T the draft protocol as developed by the Task and Finish Group as endorsed by the Scrutiny Committee be accepted and a report submitted to Cabinet on its implementation in 12 months.

 

(2)    T H A T consideration be given by the Director of Environmental and Economic Regeneration to developing a protocol to publicise the type, duration and body responsible for works within communities likely to cause local disruption/inconvenience.

 

Reasons for decisions

 

(1) To improve ward member consultation.

 

(2) To improve communication with the local community.

 

 

C3482                        ONEVALE BUSINESS CASE UPDATE  (CX)  (SCRUTINY COMMITTEE - CORPORATE RESOURCES) -

 

Consideration was given to the details of the progress to date since the last report to Cabinet in January 2008 as summarised below: 

 

·        The single number had been implemented as of 17th March, 2008;

·        Adult Services Contact and Information Centre integrated into Contact OneVale;

·        Vale Community Alarm Service (VCAS) to be integrated into C1V by the end of April 2008;

·        Implemented Oracle Financials system as of 1st April, 2008;

·        Implementation of the Oracle i-Procurement system as of 1st July, 2008;

·        Corporate Electronic Document and Records Management system now procured;

·        Commenced tender process for external support in implementing Oracle Payroll and i-Expenses during 2008/09.

 

It was noted that the Business Case was monitored on a quarterly basis.  Overall there was a favourable variance of £5.726m., details pertaining to which were appended to the report. During the course of subsequent discussion, consideration was requested as to ways in which the initial contact message for the public with the Contact Centre could be improved. It was agreed that the matter would be investigated.

 

This was a matter for Executive decision.

 

RESOLVED - T H A T the progress to date with the OneVale Business Case be noted.

 

Reason for decision

 

To note progress.

 

 

C3483                        TRANSPORT GRANT AWARD 2008/09: ACCEPTANCE (DEER)  (SCRUTINY COMMITTEE - ECONOMY AND ENVIRONMENT) -

 

Attention was drawn to the fact that 2008/09 was likely to be the final year of Transport Grant (TG) in its current form.  It was considered more probable that, in future years, TG would be applied for and awarded through SEWTA to enable the delivery of the Regional Transport Plan.  The schemes submitted for TG funding had, therefore, been restricted to those schemes already in receipt of TG funding from 2007/08 together with new Safe Routes in the Communities Schemes (which were funded from a separate funding source).

 

The Council had again been successful in securing significant TG funding for transportation schemes and for Safe Routes in the Communities Schemes, with an award of £1.639m. being made for 2008/09 by WAG as detailed below:

 

·        The Merrie Harrier Gyratory and Cardiff Road Bus Lane - £852,000

·        Safe Routes in the Communities - £787,000 for improvement measures to be undertaken at Barry Comprehensive, Sully Primary, Cadoxton, Llandough, St. Illtyd’s, St. Brides Major and Barry Island Schools.

 

Clarification was given at the meeting as to the reference in the appendix to the report relating to Barry Central Station; the scheme was now completed with funding received in 2007/08, hence there being no need for funding in 2008/09. Since the offer of TG funding for 2008/09 had to be accepted by 11th April, 2008, the use of the Urgency Procedure had been implemented.

 

This was a matter for Executive decision.

 

RESOLVED -

 

(1)       T H A T the Transport Grant award of £1.639m. from the WAG for transportation schemes within the Vale of Glamorgan during 2008/09 be noted.

 

(2)       T H A T the WAG offer of £1.639m. Transport Grant funding for 2008/09 be accepted.

 

(3)       T H A T the use of the Urgent Decision Procedure to accept the WAG offer of £1.639m. funding for 2008/09 as set out in Article 13 of the Council’s Constitution be endorsed in view of the need to meet the WAG deadline of 11th April, 2008.

 

Reasons for decisions

 

(1)       To advise Members of the 2008/09 TG award from the WAG.

 

(2)       To formalise the acceptance of the Director of Environmental and Economic Regeneration’s TG offer.

 

(3)       To meet the required deadline set by the WAG.

 

 

C3484                        CONSULTATION ON THE UPDATE OF THE WALES SPATIAL PLAN (WSP) (DEER)  (SCRUTINY COMMITTEE - ECONOMY AND ENVIRONMENT) -

 

WAG was current consulting on the update of the WSP, asking for any representations to be received by 24th April, 2008.  The Wales Spatial Plan had been adopted by the National Assembly for Wales in 2004 and was intended to set an agenda for sustainable development in Wales over the next twenty years, assisting the WAG to address the key challenges for Wales in relation to climate change, tackling poverty and ensuring Wales became a prosperous and inclusive society.

 

The update of the Plan proposed distinct approaches for three areas in the South East, including:

 

·        City / Coast - an area including the two main cities of Cardiff and Newport as well as smaller district communities (including the Vale of Glamorgan), offering a high quality of life located in rural coastal locations;

·        Heads of the Valleys Plus - an area comprising the Upper Valleys of South East Wales;

·        Connections Corridor - an area of Mid Valleys and rural South East Wales under pressure for economic and housing development spilling out of the cities.

 

The Update Plan focused on delivery recommending that existing structures drive forward the key initiatives through collaborative working and building on existing connections, placing emphasis on drawing all plans together to work in unity to ensure that all aspirations were consistent and achievable.

 

The recognition of Barry was welcomed as being one of fourteen key settlements within the Plan to have been identified as having a critical role to play in the success for the city-region.  The Plan would complement the Council’s Local Development Plan (LDP) Draft Preferred Strategy and SEWTA’s Regional Transport Plan.  It was recognised that in the Council’s vision for the Vale Barry would play a vital role in achieving success in all five themes outlined in the WSP Update although it had to be emphasised that Barry was independent of St. Athan and should be treated as such in terms of funding.  Given the emphasis placed on Barry and St. Athan, it was essential that similar emphasis was placed on improving surface access to Barry and the coastal area from the M4 Motorway.  The need to recognise that improvements had to be delivered on surface access between Barry and Cardiff was also imperative.  Whilst it was recognised that works were currently underway in assessing the need to improve access to and from Barry, the Airport and the St. Athan areas, the WSP, in recognising Barry as a key settlement and St. Athan as a Strategic Opportunity Area, also needed to recognise the essential requirements to improve and enhance the highway network, both northwards to the M4 and eastwards to Cardiff.  The fact that the proposed St. Athan Military Training Academy had been identified as a Strategic Opportunity Area within the Update Plan was welcomed although it was noted that the second phase of the Defence Academy might actually not be delivered at St. Athan.  Given that the WSP focused particularly around the implementation of developments at St. Athan, it was considered critical that the first phase of the Defence Training Academy and the WAG’s own Aerospace proposals were properly progressed and acknowledged.

 

Whilst acknowledging the importance of a Severn Barrage in contributing to the renewable needs of the UK, it was considered, however, that the inclusion of the “National Connectivity” link in the location shown at Lavernock Point largely formalised the Barrage concept and pre-empted the completion of the recently announced WAG feasibility study.  It was likely that the matter would be reflected within the emerging LDP in due course.  As regards housing, included within the WSP Update was the regional housing household needs requirement figure of 106,000 for the period up to 2021.  It was noted that the Council had used that figure as a starting point for the housing requirement figure within its LDP Draft Preferred Strategy and it was considered that the WSP Update should contain a paragraph endorsing the apportionment of that requirement figure by SEWSPG.  It was also considered appropriate that within the WSP Update a paragraph should be inserted stating that the SEWSPG appointment process had been undertaken in line with the aspirations of the current WSP.

 

This was a matter for Executive decision.

 

RESOLVED -

 

(1)       T H A T the contents of the WSP Consultation document be noted.

 

(2)       T H A T the comments outlined above and contained within paragraphs 11-15 of the report be forwarded to the WAG as the Council’s formal response to the consultation in advance of the deadline for comments.

 

(3)       T H A T the Urgent Decision Procedure under Article 13.09 of the Constitution be implemented to authorise the Director of Environmental and Economic Regeneration to issue the response to the WAG on the WSP Consultation document in advance of the deadline for comments.

 

Reasons for decisions

 

(1)          To ensure that the Vale of Glamorgan has every opportunity to contribute to the Plan.

 

(2)&(3)   To respond to the deadline set by WAG.

 

 

C3485                        CARBON MANAGEMENT PLAN (DEER)  (SCRUTINY COMMITTEE - ECONOMY AND ENVIRONMENT) -

 

The Draft Carbon Management Plan, having already received the endorsement of the Corporate Management Team, was now before Cabinet for approval.  This Council along with all other Welsh Authorities had signed the Welsh Commitment to Address Climate Change in April 2006, and the Carbon Management Plan formed the framework and implementation plan to achieve the necessary carbon emission reductions.  The Draft Plan had been submitted to the Carbon Trust for comments and feedback.

 

The Carbon Management Plan aimed to reverse the increasing energy use and increasing carbon emissions by the Council and save over £6m. over the lifetime of the Plan.  The European Buildings Directive would come into force in the UK later in the year requiring over fifty of the Council’s public buildings (including the Civic Offices and certain Libraries and Schools) to be graded in terms of energy performance.  With the lack of wide-scale investment in improving the energy performance of Council buildings, the Carbon Management Plan would be vital in making the necessary improvements and enabling the Council to perform well.  A further risk to the Council would be the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) which might require the Council to join a mandatory carbon trading scheme which, if implemented, would penalise poor performing Councils.  The Plan included a number of actions where building user behaviour and Council policy decisions could make significant reductions in energy use and, for that reason, a corporate approach by all services and a wide-range of officers had been identified for implementing the actions embodied within the Plan.  Attention was drawn to the fact that Schools and Leisure Centres were currently responsible for over 75% of the Council’s carbon emissions; those service areas would, therefore, need to endorse and implement the Plan if the Plan were to succeed.  It was noted that the capital expenditure required would be subject to the normal bidding process where new resources were required.

 

The Carbon Management Plan itself was appended to the report.  It was considered important to emphasise that the Council should lead by example and demonstrate that through its activities the Council could contribute specifically to carbon reduction.  The Council had decided to participate in the Carbon Trust programme for Local Authority Carbon Management Plan and was one of only two Welsh Local Authorities participating in the current programme.  Additional financial resources of £1.9m. would be required to implement the 20% carbon emissions over the lifetime of the Plan and further details relating to the resource implications were contained within the report.

 

This was a matter for Executive decision.

 

RESOLVED - T H A T the Vale of Glamorgan Strategy and Implementation - Carbon Management Plan (Spring 2008) be approved and submitted to the Carbon Trust.

 

Reason for decision

 

To enable the Council to reduce its carbon emission by 20% by the financial year 2015/16.

 

 

C3486                        BARRY WATERFRONT DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES: DRAFT FOR CONSULTATION (DEER) (SCRUTINY - ECONOMY AND DEVELOPMENT) -

 

The above document, as appended to the report, set out the key principles which had to be considered as part of any future master plan and subsequent planning submission for the Waterfront.  These were:

 

·        A mix of uses

·        Use of the Water

·        A phased development

·        Integration

·        A sense of place

·        Community Pride

·        Sustainability

·        Design Quality

·        Movement and Accessibility

·        Planning obligations.

 

In particular, the document made it clear that the Council expected a highway link to the Island in advance of the occupation of any development on the West Pond and South Quay sites, the provision of a range of non-residential uses, including community based and a range of leisure and commercial facilities to be delivered in a phased manner.  Furthermore, the document made it clear that the Council required an exemplar development in terms of design and sustainability.  It was proposed that, subject to consideration by the Planning Committee and the Scrutiny Committee (Economy and Environment), the development be made subject to consultation for a period of four weeks following which the matter would be reported back to Cabinet to consider the results of the consultation exercise and the requirement, or otherwise, to amend the document.

 

A letter from Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners, written on behalf of the Consortium, was circulated at the meeting together with an initial response from the Head of Planning and Transportation. Whilst supporting the broad development principles proposed in the document as the basis for the production of a joint development brief and subsequent masterplan,  Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners expressed significant concerns regarding the proposed Planning Obligation Requirements. The point made by the Head of Planning and Transportation, that the document was very much a draft document on which consultation would be undertaken, was fully accepted. Members stressed the need for Council’s aspirations for the area – which echoed those of the community - to be clearly identified at an early stage. The document was imminently to be considered by the Planning Committee and it was confirmed that the letter from Nathaniel Lichfield and response from the Head of Planning and Transportation would be circulated simultaneously for consideration.

 

This was a matter for Executive decision.

 

RESOLVED -

 

(1)       T H A T, subject to consultation with the Planning Committee and the Scrutiny Committee (Economy and Environment), the Draft Barry Waterfront Development principles document be endorsed for the purposes of consultation.

 

(2)       T H A T, following the undertaking of consultation, Cabinet receive a further report detailing the outcome of the consultation process and consider whether any amendment of the document were necessary as a consequence.

 

Reasons for decisions

 

(1)       To allow the Council to consult on the content of the document.

 

(2)       To allow Cabinet to consider the responses arising out of the consultation process in advance of adopting the Barry Waterfront Development principles document.

 

 

C3487                        SICKNESS ABSENCE REPORT - APRIL TO DECEMBER 2007 (DLD) (SCRUTINY - CORPORATE RESOURCES) -

 

Within the Corporate Plan and the Human Resources Strategy, the aim was for the Council to review and implement new systems to improve sickness management and achieve a reduction in levels of sickness absence.  A key target in the Plan was to reduce sickness absence from an average of 14.71 days per annum (2004/05) per full time employee  (FTE) to 9½ days by 2009.  The total lost days across the Council for April to December 2007 had been 39,615 which equated to a PI figure of 10.23 days/shifts per FTE.  Details of service areas comparing 2007 with 2006 showed a reduction of 0.20 days/shifts per FTE.  Details of supporting information excluding Education (Schools) were appended to the report.  Chief Officers had been trained on the application of the Council’s Management of Attendance Policy which came into operation from 1st March, 2005.  Since April 2007, 17 employees had left the Council through ill health retirement (12) or ill health dismissal (5).  There were currently 158 long term sickness cases going through case management within the Policy, it being noted that the Policy itself was being reviewed as part of the WAO recommendations.  The Wales Audit Office (WAO) report regarding Sickness Absence Management across the Authority had included an Action Plan detailing a number of measures, and an updated Action Plan was appended to the report.  The WAO Action Plan contained specific recommendations about setting both short and long term absence targets including the development of robust target setting processes which

 

·        ensured that all absence targets were subject to robust challenge by CMT;

·        ensured individual departmental sickness absence targets contributed to and were consistent with the achievement of the corporate wide target;

·        set differentiated targets for short term and long term absence;

·        involved managers in setting sickness absence targets for their teams and areas of responsibilities.

 

It was reported that the above measures had been incorporated into the new “Management of Attendance Policy” which was currently going through consultations.  The CMT had raised serious concern about the current levels of sickness and was in the process of setting new sickness targets for next year.  The CMT had agreed the following

 

[i]         To continue to support positive health measures, the effective use of the Occupational Health Service and to reaffirm the commitment to the Corporate Health Standard.

 

[ii]        To re-emphasise that whilst the Council would continue to be supportive, fair and reasonable, continuing absence which impacted on the capacity of the organisation to deliver its statutory obligations would be dealt with through the agreed procedures, potentially leading to dismissal of staff.

 

[iii]       To confirm that management of the corporate risk relating to sickness absence would rest with the Corporate Management Team.

 

[iv]       To establish specific arrangements to review sickness management and the effectiveness and consistency of case management through:

 

·        This sickness report being referred to all Directorate Management Teams to consider and to develop local action plans within the agreed procedure.

 

·        Each Directorate to nominate a Head of Service to take the lead in sickness management and to be accountable to the Corporate Management Team for monitoring and reviewing progress.

 

·        The establishment of targets to reduce sickness absence levels within each service area, those targets to be included in service plans, reported to Scrutiny Committee and disaggregated and discussed at team level.

 

·        The -establishment of a new management of attendance working group with revised objectives based on the WAO recommendations and involving the relevant Cabinet Members and Chief Officers.

 

·        A launch of the Council’s revised Sickness Management policy with explicit Corporate Management and Elected Member support.

 

·        An exploration of the possibility of reviewing Occupational Sick Pay for short term sickness.

 

In order to ascertain more accurately the most appropriate steps needed to address in particular the issue of long term sickness, and given that the number of long term sickness absentees within a Division could skew the statistics, the Head of Human Resources was requested as to investigate whether it would be useful to identify the number of absentees in future reports in addition to the percentage of time lost.

 

This was a matter for Executive decision.

 

RESOLVED -

 

(1)       T H A T the content of the report be noted.

 

(2)       T H A T the actions of the Corporate Management Team as outlined above and contained within paragraph 12 of the report be endorsed.

 

(3)       T H A T a further report on the implementation of the CMT decision be submitted when sickness figures were next reported to Cabinet.

 

(4)       T H A T a further report giving details of long term absences within services be submitted to Cabinet.

 

Reasons for decisions

 

(1)&(4)      To bring matters to Members’ attention in line with corporate aims and objectives.

 

(2)&(3)      To ensure Chief Officers and Line Managers take the necessary action within the Council’s Management of Attendance Policy and to continue to review sickness absence levels.

 

 

C3488                        EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC -

 

RESOLVED - T H A T under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 4 of Schedule 12A (as amended) of the Act, the relevant paragraph of the Schedule being referred to in brackets after the minute heading.

 

 

C3489                        PENARTH CENTRAL RENEWAL AREA: GROUP REPAIR PHASE 6A - APPOINTMENT OF CONTRACTORS (EXEMPT INFORMATION - PARAGRAPH 14)  (DLPPHS) (SCRUTINY - COMMUNITY WELLBEING AND SAFETY) -

 

Five tenders had been received in respect of the above. 

 

This was a matter for Executive decision.

 

RESOLVED - T H A T, subject to the contractor providing a satisfactory Health and Safety Plan for the construction stage and the required Performance Bond, the tender from Roalco Ltd. in the sum of £399,895.00 be accepted and that the Council enter into a contract with the said company to undertake Phase 6A of the Group Repair Programme for the Penarth Central Renewal Area.


 

 

Reason for decision

 

To enable progress of the Group Repair Programme and the Penarth Central Renewal Area Strategy 2004-08.