Venue: Council Chamber - County Hall, Llandrindod Wells, Powys
Contact: Stephen Boyd 01597 826374
No. | Item |
---|---|
Apologies To receive apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from County Councillors A Davies and P Davies and from County Councillor J Evans who was on other Council business.
|
|
To authorise the Chair to sign the minutes of the last meeting held on 21 January 2020 as a correct record. Minutes: The Leader was authorised to sign the minutes of the last meeting held on 21st January as a correct record. |
|
Declarations of Interest To receive any declarations of interest from Members relating to items to be considered on the agenda. Minutes: There were no declarations of interest reported.
|
|
Housing Revenue Account Rent and Related Charges Changes for 2020-21 PDF 195 KB To consider a report by County Councillor James Evans, Portfolio Holder for Economic Development, Housing and Regulatory Services. Additional documents: Minutes: Cabinet considered Council Housing Rents, Garage Rents and all property and tenancy related service charges.
RESOLVED
1. That with effect from April 2020 the average rent in Powys will increase by 2.7% (£2.42 per week) for all 5375 Council owned homes.
2. That service charges charged to HRA tenants are amended from April 2020 to allow the Council to recover the cost of providing these services during 2019-2020.
3. That the weekly cost for Careline in 2020-2021 is £1.10 per week.
4. That the Careline service is, as part of the installation of new equipment during 2020-2021, no longer considered a mandatory part of the tenancy of a property designated for older people.
5. That HRA garage rents in Powys for 2020-2021 are increased by 3.00%+£1.00 per week.
6. That garage plot charges for 2020-2021 increase by £17.50 per annum.
7. That the weekly occupation charges for Gypsy and Traveller sites in 2020-2021 will be increased by 2.7%.
8. That all other rental and service charges, not detailed above, will increase by 2.7% from April 2020.
|
|
Financial Overview and Forecast as at 31st December PDF 928 KB To consider a report by County Councillor Aled Davies, Portfolio Holder for Finance, Countryside and Transport.
Minutes: Cabinet was advised that the forecast outturn was a projected overspend of £0.57 million down from £1.77 million reported in November. The improved position reflected the delivery of additional savings with £14.58 million achieved by 31st December. Further savings were expected in the last quarter and a surplus of £0.62 million was forecast. This position remained dependent on Adult Social Care continuing to manage service pressures. The Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care advised that the service was managing delayed transfers of care well but noted that when patients transferred out of hospital the costs fell on the council. Whilst she was grateful for the additional funding from Welsh Government to manage winter pressures, she would like to see this built into the base budget.
RESOLVED that the report be noted.
|
|
Capital Programme Update as at 31st December PDF 776 KB To consider a report by County Councillor Aled Davies, Portfolio Holder for Finance, Countryside and Transport. Minutes: Cabinet considered the Capital Programme update for the period ended 31st December 2019. The report also contained four requests for budget virements:
Highways, Transport and Recycling: £0.10 million unallocated HAMP budget rolled forward into 2020/21 for highways strengthening.
Highways, Transport and Recycling: £0.07 million removed from budgets to create a fleet facility (£0.02 Million) and a household waste recycling facility (£0.05 million) into a budget for future projects that will be identified through the new governance framework.
Housing and Community Development: £0.29 million extra for the Machynlleth Gypsy and Traveller Site funded from Home Finder capital receipts.
Housing and Community Development: £0.20 million removed from the underspent Disabled Facility Grants project and returned to the unallocated budget held under Corporate Services.
RESOLVED
1. That the contents of the report are noted.
2. That the virements set out above are approved. |
|
Quarter 3 Performance Report To consider a report by County Councillor Aled Davies, Portfolio Holder for Finance, Countryside and Transport. This is the link to the Sway report https://sway.office.com/eqKH7SoUOC4sHXNc
Minutes: Cabinet considered the performance report for the third quarter of 2019/20 which set out details of the top 20 Powys specific performance measures, top priorities and milestones in the Corporate Improvement Plan 2018-23, Public Accountability Measures, progress against the Strategic Equality Plan and the Quality Assurance Framework. The report set out remedial actions for targets that had not been met and Portfolio Holders and Heads of Service met quarterly to discuss the performance data for their services.
RESOLVED
1. That Cabinet note the remedial actions set out in the report and allocate resources accordingly to ensure their effective implementation.
2. That Portfolio Holders discuss any activities or measures with a red or amber status with the relevant Corporate Director and Head of Service to ensure actions are taken forward to bring performance back on track.
3. That Cabinet note the proposed quality assurance measures outlined in section 5 in the report and approve the set for monitoring from quarter 4 onwards.
4. That Cabinet notes that the review of the current Top 20 performance measures is ongoing, in parallel to the work that the Transformation and Communications team is undertaking to support education, adults and children’s services to develop and define its critical measures.
|
|
Strategic Risk Register Quarter 3 Report PDF 345 KB To consider a report by County Councillor Graham Breeze, Portfolio Holder for Corporate Governance and Engagement. Additional documents:
Minutes: Cabinet considered the strategic risk register. As at the end of quarter 3 2019-2020, there were 11 risks on the strategic risk register. During the quarter one additional risk, Compliance in Powys County Council Housing Stock, had been added to the register on the advice of EMT. All risk owners had provided a short summary of progress since quarter 2, to give assurance that mitigating actions were being actioned and monitored and would update their portfolio holders at quarterly meetings.
The Portfolio Holder for Corporate Governance and Engagement advised that an error in the version of the report presented to the Audit Committee had been corrected in the report being considered by Cabinet.
The Chair of the Audit Committee provided Cabinet with feedback from that meeting. He noted that Wales Audit Office would like the Audit Committee to receive a separate report from that considered by Cabinet and he suggested meeting the Portfolio Holder and Corporate Director Transformation to discuss this. He commented that some of the terminology used in the report required explanation for members of the public and that mitigation could be better signposted. The Committee had noted that the Council was managing some very high-level risks and he hoped that the Audit Committee and Cabinet could work together to help mitigate risks. The Audit Committee would welcome attendance by Heads of Service to explain how they were mitigating risk and they were keen to make training for risk champions compulsory. The Portfolio Holder for Corporate Governance and Engagement welcomed the comments and the offer to work together.
RESOLVED
1. Cabinet notes the current Strategic Risk Register and is satisfied with progress against mitigating action for quarter 3.
2. Cabinet approves the following risk to be escalated to the Strategic Risk Register: Compliance in County Council Housing Stock.
|
|
Brecon and Newtown Business Improvement Districts Update To consider a report by County Councillor James Evans, Portfolio Holder for Economic Development, Housing and Regulatory Services. Additional documents:
Minutes: Cabinet received a report on progress with the Business Improvement District (BIDs) proposals for Brecon and Newtown. Following a period of consultation with local businesses, the Brecon BID had developed into a formal proposal document. The proposal would incorporate premises with a rateable value of £3,000 or more potentially resulting in:
· Up to 393 business premises being part of the BID · A bid levy of 2% on premises · A potential annual BID levy income of £158,000
The postal ballot process for Brecon will take place from 23 January and conclude on 20 February 2020 with a final ballot decision on Friday 21 February 2020. The County Council owned a number of properties in Brecon but the process needed to be led by the local business community and therefore it was proposed that it should abstain in the ballot.
The Leader confirmed receipt of an email from Councillor Iain McIntosh who was supportive of the proposal to all members of the Cabinet who was supportive of the proposal.
The BID proposal for Newtown was being developed and a ballot was expected by June 2020.
RESOLVED
1. That Powys County Council notes and supports progress with the BID proposals for Brecon and Newtown.
2. That Powys County Council abstains from the BID postal ballot votes.
3. That council’s cabinet will receive further updates on the BIDs process at the appropriate time.
|
|
Treasury Management Quarter 3 Report PDF 590 KB To consider a report by County Councillor Aled Davies, Portfolio Holder for Finance, Countryside and Transportation.
Additional documents:
Minutes: Cabinet considered the Treasury Management report for the third quarter.
RESOLVED that the report be received. |
|
Report of the Independent Chair of the Improvement and Assurance Board PDF 460 KB To recive and consider the report of the Independent Chair of the Improvement and Assurance Board. Minutes: Cabinet received the report of the Independent Chair of the Improvement and Assurance Board. |
|
Improvement and Assurance Board Minutes PDF 531 KB To receive for information the minutes of the Improvement and Assurance Board – Education held on 9th January 2020 and Social Care meeting held on 10th January 2020. Additional documents: Minutes: Cabinet received the minutes of the Improvement and Assurance Board meetings held on 9th and 10th January 2020. |
|
Correspondence To receive such correspondence as in the opinion of the Leader is of such urgency as to warrant consideration. Minutes: There were no items of correspondence. |
|
Delegated Decisions Taken Since the Last Meeting PDF 8 KB To note the delegated decisions taken since the last meeting. Minutes: Cabinet received details of decisions taken by Portfolio Holders since the last meeting. |
|
Forward Work Programme PDF 75 KB To consider the Cabinet forward work programme. Minutes: Cabinet received the forward work programme and the Leader reminded colleagues of the need to keep it populated.
|