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Contact: Stephen Boyd 01597 826374
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Apologies To receive apologies for absence. Minutes: There were no apologies for absence reported.
The Leader advised that he was changing the order of the agenda to take the correspondence item on the closure of the HSBC branch in Knighton. |
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Closure of HSBC branch in Knighton PDF 424 KB To receive a letter from HSBC giving notice of their intention to close the HSBC branch in Knighton on 19 May 2017. Minutes: County Councillor Peter Medlicott, the local member for Knighton, spoke about the hardship the closure of the HSBC bank in the town would cause. He advised that he had submitted a motion for Council objecting to the closure of bank and similar institutions in small towns and communities and he asked for the Cabinet to lend its support by writing to HSBC objecting to the closure.
RESOLVED that a letter be sent to HSBC objecting to the closure of the Knighton branch. |
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To authorise the Chair to sign the minutes of the last meeting held as a correct record. Minutes: The Leader was authorised to sign the minutes of the last meeting held on 17th January 2017 as a correct record. |
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Declarations of Interest To receive any declarations of interest from Members relating to items to be considered on the agenda. Minutes: County Councillors AW Davies, PE Lewis and RG Thomas declared personal, non-pecuniary interests in C27-2016 Llanfyllin High School Investigation Report as local authority appointed governors at the school. Councillor Davies explained that his wife and son were employed at the school but noted that the report did not relate to employment issues and therefore he did not have a pecuniary interest.
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Financial Overview and Forecast as at 31st December 2016 PDF 230 KB To consider a report by County Councillor Wynne Jones, Portfolio Holder for Finance. Minutes: Cabinet received the financial overview and forecast for the period ended 31 December 2016. The projected forecast for the revenue budget was to overspend by£4,850k against the approved budget, an improvement of £784k on the position reported at the end of November. This included £318k savings in the Adult Social Care budget and the progress being made to address the overspend in the Adult Social Care budget gave the Portfolio Holder for Finance a degree of confidence that the overspend could come down and this may possibly be to £2.5m by the year end as services worked to deliver savings and further opportunities were taken around financing. The revenue saving target was £12,139k made up of in year and previous years’ targets of which £8,799k, or 72%, had been delivered. Where services could not deliver savings in some areas they sought to compensate in other areas and the Chair of the Audit Committee asked that this detail be included in future reports. In response to comments on about the reliance on staff vacancies to contribute to savings and comments on missed savings or income targets, the Portfolio Holder for Finance reminded Members that despite having the worst settlement in Wales for the last 7 years the Council continued to deliver services, and was the 4th most improved Council in Wales last year.
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Minimum Revenue Provision Annual Statement 2017/18 PDF 119 KB To consider a report by County Councillor Wynne Jones, Portfolio Holder for Finance. Minutes: Cabinet considered the Minimum Revenue Provision Annual Statement for 2017/18. Minimum Revenue Provision was capital expenditure not financed from revenue resources, capital grants or receipts, but from borrowing.
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To consider a report by County Councillor Wynne Jones, Portfolio Holder for Finance. Additional documents:
Minutes: Finance Scrutiny Panel report on the Budget
Before the Cabinet considered the agenda item the Chair of the Finance Scrutiny Panel presented the Panel’s report on the budget proposals for 2017/18. He reported the Panel’s concerns over the substantial draw on reserves and that some services seemed to be moving from cash limited to demand led budgets. The Panel wanted to see the base budget review in Adult Services to be rolled out to all directorates. The Panel was also concerned that levels of Council Tax did not reflect average income in the county and that council tax base in Powys was one of the highest in Wales meaning it made a significant contribution to the overall funding.
The Cabinet noted the Panel’s comments, but did not accept their conclusion that untested proposals should not be put forward for consultation arguing that it was important to take account of representations made. The Leader and Portfolio Holder for Finance thanked the Finance Scrutiny Panel for their work.
RESOLVED that the report of the Finance Scrutiny Panel be noted.
Cabinet then considered the budget for 2017 - 2018, the medium term financial strategy for 2017 - 2020 and the capital programme for 2017 – 2021 (copy filed with the signed minutes).
The Portfolio Holder for Finance explained the approach taken by the Cabinet in seeking to present a balanced budget. The budget had been set in the midst of ongoing austerity with the funding received from Welsh Government reduced by 0.5%. Welsh Government funding made up 70.6% of the council’s net expenditure, with additional specific grants. The remaining net expenditure was funded by Council Tax,and a 4.5% increase in Council Tax would be recommended to Council. The budget included provision for investment and service pressures of £13.621m and in order to produce a balanced budget savings of £9.636m and other strategies had been identified and included in the plan. The savings proposed were backed by impact assessments and it was confirmed that each was considered by a panel of Cabinet members. Those that had identified risks had to include mitigation measures before they were signed off by the panel.
The proposals included a net increase in the revenue base funding for Adult Social Care of £3.378m. This represented a 6% increase in net budget. In addition a specific reserve of £2.75m would be set aside and Cabinet has received advice from the S151 Officer on this issue, but the reserve would only be accessible through a virement process, with demonstrable evidence of need and supporting business case and subject to the following criteria:
1. The use of the reserve can only be agreed as part of a report to formal cabinet. This can be part of the budget monitoring report so long as there is a clear separate recommendation. Depending on the amount it may also need to go to the following Council Meeting for agreement under the terms of the constitution. 2. Any draw down of the reserve will need ... view the full minutes text for item C19- 2017 |
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Housing Revenue Account Rent Setting Policy PDF 121 KB To consider a report by County Councillor Rosemarie Harris, Portfolio Holder for Property, Buildings and Housing. Additional documents:
Minutes: Cabinet considered proposals for a new Rent Setting Policy for Housing Revenue Account (HRA) dwellings from April 2017. The proposal had been approved by the Tenants Liaison Forum and tenants had been invited to submit their comments which were attached to the report.
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Correspondence |
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To receive such other correspondence as in the opinion of the Leader is of such urgency as to warrant consideration. Minutes: The Leader reported receipt of an email from Jeremy Barnes Chair of the Carno Station Action Group asking that the group be represented on the Growing Mid Wales Partnership in furtherance of the group’s aim to have Carno train station reopened.
County Councillors Rachel Davies and Michael Williams spoke in support.
Cabinet was advised that the Carno Station Action Group would be invited to join the Transport Working Group of Growing Mid Wales Partnership.
RESOLVED that the Leader and Portfolio Holder for Highways be delegated authority to respond.
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Household Waste Recycling Centre Review - Future Options Following Consultation PDF 116 KB To consider a report by County Councillor John Powell, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Sustainability. Additional documents:
Minutes: The Portfolio Holder for Environment and Sustainability reminded members that Council agreed in February 2016, to close two of the five sites to realise a saving of £700,000 from April 2017. He explained that the results of consultation showed that residents overwhelmingly favoured reducing opening days at the five Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) as opposed to closing facilities overall.
Having considered the results of the consultation Cabinet were proposing in the budget to provide £200k to reduce the pressure on this service. A further £300k contribution from the Budget Management Reserve was proposed for the financial year 2017/18 to allow the service area to develop alternative proposals to make the full savings from 2018/19, primarily through the development of infrastructure to provide a longer term solution. This left the service with a shortfall of £200k to be found for 2017/18 and the report set out a series of proposals to make up that shortfall
The Portfolio Holder reported comments from County Councillor Francesca Jump opposing any cuts to the services in Welshpool and responded to them. County Councillor Graham Breeze spoke as a local member and he urged the Cabinet to take account of the consultation and not make any further reductions in the waste and recycling service. It was confirmed that site opening times would be widely communicated and that the impact of the reduced opening hours monitored.
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Living Wage Rate Increase PDF 113 KB To consider a report by County Councillor Wynne Jones, Portfolio Holder for Finance. Additional documents: Minutes: Cabinet considered proposals to increase the level of the Living Wage Foundation Level in line with the recommendation of the Living wage Foundation. Members were advised that the cost to the Council of the difference between the Living Wage Foundation and the Government’s National Living Wage was an additional £450k.
County Councillor WT Jones left the meeting at 17.28 to attend another meeting. |
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Housing Revenue Account Rent and Related Charges Increase for 2017/18 PDF 98 KB To consider a report by County Councillor Rosemarie Harris, Portfolio Holder for Property, Buildings and Housing.
Additional documents: Minutes: Cabinet considered proposed rent increases for Council Housing Rents, Garage Rents and all property and tenancy related service charges.
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To consider a report by County Councillor Arwel Jones, Portfolio Holder for Education and County Councillor Wynne Jones, Portfolio Holder for Finance. Additional documents:
Minutes: The Chair of the People Scrutiny Committee expressed disappointment that only one of the Education Scrutiny Group’s observations had been addressed in the Fair Funding Formula report and that no account had been taken of the comments submitted by Crickhowell and Newtown High Schools.
RESOLVED that the Education Scrutiny Group report be noted.
Cabinet received the results of the consultation exercise on proposed changes to the Authority’s Fair Funding Formula for Schools and the Scheme for Financing Schools and the recommendations of the Powys Schools Forum. The Chair of the People Scrutiny Committee repeated the criticisms of the formula made by the Education Scrutiny Group. In response the Head of Schools explained that budgets were delegated to schools and that it was for them to decide how to organise their year groups and classes. Officers accepted that because there had to be a set date on which to take pupil numbers there would be anomalies leading to winners and losers but where there were significant changes for schools transitional arrangements were considered. In response to a query about the funding of dual stream schools, the Head of Schools said that the Council would have to consider whether this was the best form of provision or whether it would be better to have dedicated Welsh medium schools.
Councillor Hayes asked that the issues raised by Newtown and Crickhowell High Schools and the policy effects of changes in the Fair Funding Formula be examined.
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Llanfyllin High School Investigation Report PDF 928 KB To consider a report by County Councillor Arwel Jones, Portfolio Holder for Education. Additional documents: Minutes: The Cabinet received and considered the independent investigation carried out by Jonathan Walters QC into a whistleblowing complaint about the governance of Llanfyllin High School. The Investigator had considered each of the 28 allegations made by the whistle-blower, upholding 11 of the allegations and not upholding 17 of the allegations. The Investigator had made 11 recommendations. Recommendations 1 to 8 inclusive and 11 required action by the school and 9 and 10 action by the Council.
The Monitoring Officer read out an email from County Councillor Darren Mayor who was unable to be present at the meeting. County Councillors Peter Lewis, Gwynfor Thomas and Aled Davies, who were Governors at the School, questioned why the report was being considered and why Mr Walters had been chosen to carry out the investigation. The Monitoring Officer advised Members that he and the Head of Schools had attended a meeting of the Governors and they had agreed that an independent investigation should be carried out into the allegations and that they were happy for Mr Walters to conduct the investigation. The members questioned whether it was appropriate for the report to be considered by Cabinet and noted the progress being made by the school in addressing a number of the Investigator’s recommendations.
The Monitoring Officer confirmed that it was appropriate for the Cabinet to consider the report. The Portfolio Holder for Education said that the Council had the interests of the school at heart and the recommendations were intended to support the school. The school had the opportunity to respond in its action plan.
County Councillor WT Jones did not vote having returned to the meeting during the debate.
The Leader adjourned the meeting at 18.57 and advised that it ... view the full minutes text for item C26- 2017 |
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Education standards report for the academic year 2015-16 PDF 78 KB To consider a report by County Councillor Arwel Jones, Portfolio Holder for Education. Additional documents: Minutes: Cabinet considered the Education Standards report for the academic year 2015-16. Powys schools remained in the top 5 of Welsh authorities in respect of Foundation Phase, Key Stage 2, Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 GCSE results. Cabinet congratulated staff and pupils on the results achieved. However, in doing so Cabinet noted that some secondary schools were performing below their expected level and that there was a significant decline in the number of pupils taking three or more A levels. There was also emerging evidence of slippage in performance in some subject areas at GCSE due to non-specialist teaching.
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Education Scrutiny Working Group comments on Education Standards PDF 113 KB To consider the comments of the Education Scrutiny Working Group. Minutes: Cabinet noted the Education Scrutiny Working Group comments on the education standards report.
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To consider a report by County Councillor Arwel Jones, Portfolio Holder for Education. Minutes: Cabinet considered the School Improvement report which had been requested by the Strategic Overview Board. The Head of Schools confirmed that a preliminary report on results could be provided to Cabinet earlier in the year on a confidential basis.
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Strategic Overview Board PDF 77 KB To consider a report by County Councillor Wynne Jones, Portfolio Holder for Finance and Performance. Additional documents: Minutes: Cabinet received the report arising from the last meeting of the Strategic Overview Board held on 13 December 2016 together with the minutes of that meeting. Cabinet felt that the Board was working very well measuring performance against agreed priorities and objectives.
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Delegated Decisions Taken Since the Last Meeting PDF 37 KB To note the delegated decisions taken since the last meeting. Minutes: Cabinet received details of delegated decisions taken by Portfolio Holders.
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Forward Work Programme PDF 67 KB To consider the Cabinet forward work programme. Minutes: Cabinet received the forward work programme. The Solicitor to the Council stressed the importance of ensuring it was kept up to date at least 8 months in advance to help Scrutiny plan their work.
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Exempt Items The Monitoring Officer has determined that category 3 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules applies to the following items. His view on the public interest test (having taken account of the provisions of Rule 14.8 of the Council's Access to Information Rules) was that to make this information public would disclose information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).
These factors in his view outweigh the public interest in disclosing this information. Members are asked to consider these factors when determining the public interest test, which they must decide when considering excluding the public from this part of the meeting.
Minutes: RESOLVED to exclude the public for the following item of business on the grounds that there would be disclosure to them of exempt information under category 3 of The Local Authorities (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007).
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Learning Disability Day Services North Powys To consider a report by County Councillor Stephen Hayes, Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care. Additional documents:
Minutes: Cabinet considered options for day services for people with learning disabilities in Montgomeryshire. This was the third phase of the project to review and remodel all of the day and employment services for people with a learning disability to meet their needs in a more efficient manner and deliver the required level of cost savings.Service users and their families, advocacy services, providers, current staff, professional teams and third sector partners had been consulted on a series of options. The second most favoured option and the one being recommended was option 5, a mixed model of services which would require separate solutions for each service area.
County Councillor Michael Williams spoke as a local member in support of the work of Cyfle Newydd Day Service.
The Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care noted the comments of the Scrutiny Working Group and group leaders but advised that he would not be bringing a further report back to Cabinet with more detail of option 5 noting that he had not done so for phases 1 and 2.
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Adult Social Care Scrutiny Working Group comments on Learning Disability Services To consider the comments of the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Working Group. Minutes: Cabinet noted the comments of the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Working Group on the Learning Disability Services report. |