a. Councillor Liam Fitzpatrick – Cabinet Portfolio Holder: Highways
b. Councillor James Evans – Cabinet Portfolio Holder: HR, Communications and IT
Minutes:
Members welcomed the opportunity to receive reports from, and to put questions to, Cabinet Portfolio Holders.
Councillor Liam Fitzpatrick – Cabinet Portfolio Holder: Highways
a. Savings / Budget Cuts – the services with the portfolio are very visible to the public. There had been cuts in recent years which had removed 53.4% to the operating budget
b. Depots – there are two depots in Radnorshire (Penybont and Llangammarch). The Portfolio Holder would welcome members meeting with operatives and in viewing operations. Members would be welcome to approach the depot with a view to taking part in activities i.e. waste collections
c. Income Generation – there’s potential to provide services in order to bring in income
d. Apprentice Schemes – nine apprentice positions had been offered
e. Car Parking – members were urged to respond to the car parking report proposal which would be considered by Cabinet in October. Views from members to help shape options for consideration would be very important. Income from car parking charges supports the provision of public transport. Members would welcome pre-scrutiny consideration of proposals for car parking prior to a Cabinet decision or discussion. The Portfolio Holder agreed to discuss scrutiny arrangements with the Democratic Services Manager (Wyn Richards)
f. Scrutiny Function – during discussion members agreed the importance of pre-scrutiny input especially in relation to matters being considered by Cabinet for determination
g. Grass Cutting – Cabinet would be considering options including providing the service in-house
h. Traffic Regulation Orders – Cabinet would lift the moratorium on TROs in respect of speeding traffic and traffic calming measures. The moratorium had been in place since 2008
i. Engaging with Members and their Communities – the portfolio holder would welcome engagement and input from communities regarding ideas and opportunities for their areas
Councillor James Evans – Cabinet Portfolio Holder: HR, Communications and ICT
a. Radnorshire Young Farmers Club – the last time the Portfolio Holder attended a Radnorshire committee meeting had been as a young farmer which was years ago
b. Recruitment and Retention – there are recognised recruitment and retention issues that would be addressed. There would be a period of targeted recruitment to look to appoint to vacant positions. Members welcomed targeting and for the area of recruitment and retention to be recognised. There are wider considerations that would extend across the Council in terms of making Powys a place that people would want to live and work in i.e. sports, leisure facilities, supporting local businesses
c. Apprentice Schemes / Careers Fair – there’s a drive to operate more apprentice schemes. Last year’s Powys Careers Fair was very popular, there would be a 2018 fair
d. Health and Safety – there are four health and safety advisors and a secondment of a team member to the health board. There had been a review of towered housing in response to the Grenfell Tower incident. Dwellings meet safety standards
e. Welsh Community Care Information System (WCCIS) – the system went live in April and allows for the local authority and health service to have joint use. The system allows for the sharing of patient information
f. E-mail – the Authority’s contract with the NHS for use of their e-mail system is nearing an end (it had been a five year contract). There are options to explore in terms of use of web-based systems
g. Mobile Phones – the decision to provide members with mobile phones had been taken by the previous portfolio holder. The portfolio holder would be reviewing the position given that members had experienced issues with operating them. The review would include re-considering whether they were fit for purpose. A member queried the cost of the contract for mobile phones for members against the budget (£10k had been identified, the contract rate for all members being around £12,450k)
h. Skype – using skype in order to modernise IT activity would continue to be explored. The telephone system had moved to being skype based. There are some teething problems and the positon would be monitored
i. Events – the Council supports a number of very significant and important events which are held in Powys each year. Events which are very important to the local economy
j. Staff Awards - the Portfolio Holder reported that 70 applications had been received for the 2017 staff awards
k. Intranet – the intranet would be re-vamped which would include providing intranet information bilingually in order to meet requirements (the intranet site needs to be bilingual by 2018 in order to comply with a Welsh Government standard)
l. Social Media – the Council recognises the importance of social media and operates relevant accounts. There’s a programme of social media staff training. Members could help in responding to matters raised via. social media
m. Telephony – customer service operatives managed 10,000 calls in-year and received 2000 e-mail service contacts
n. Income Generation – opportunities to generate income from the selling of services would continue to be considered/identified
o. Complaints Procedure – there would be a review of the complaints procedure. The Portfolio Holder is of the view that members could be more involved in terms of looking to resolve matters locally and before they become issues to complain about
p. Community Area Meetings – Cabinet recognise the importance of good engagement with communities and would be reviewing how to work with town and community councils
q. Engagement Policy – the Cabinet view engagement with the community, businesses and other service provider partners as important
r. Community Awards – Cabinet would introduce a community award scheme in order to recognise those in the community who excel
s. Income Generation – the Portfolio Holder would continue to explore options for generating income from services within his portfolio
t. Freedom of Information – a member raised a matter in relation to the previous Portfolio Holder having removed publicising information provided under FOI to the internet. The member also expressed concern in relation to the operation of the unit in terms of the sharing of details of the requester to departments which he felt was not in-line with the spirit of FOI and was in breach of the legislation governing the processes to be followed. The Portfolio Holder would review the issues raised and discuss matters with the unit