Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - County Hall, Llandrindod Wells, Powys

Contact: Stephen Boyd  01597 826374

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

To receive apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from County Councillor James Evans.

2.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 73 KB

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 18th December 2018 as a correct record.

3.

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. Councillors who were local authority appointed school governors had a dispensation to speak and vote on the schools funding formula report.

 

4.

Formula Review Post Consultation pdf icon PDF 126 KB

To consider a report by County Councillor Myfanwy Alexander, Portfolio Holder for Learning and Welsh Language and County Councillor Aled Davies Portfolio Holder for Finance.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Portfolio Holder for Learning and the Welsh Language outlined the reasons for the review which had been undertaken by the Formula Review Group. The formula aimed to address concerns about the level of deficit occurring in some schools and the need to ensure all schools were funded sufficiently to be able to deliver an appropriate curriculum.

 

The Director of Education advised that Powys had the highest gross expenditure per pupil in Wales in 2018/19 and that gross funding had increased by 4.9% between 2017/18 and 2018/19. The 2.2% net increase in funding per pupil compared favourably to the 1.6% Welsh average. He also noted that the Council spent above the Welsh Government Indicator Based Assessment and he refuted a press report that Welsh medium education was not being properly funded. He explained that the majority of schools were in deficit because some governing bodies were not managing resources effectively and the Council hadn’t been allocating funds effectively. Implementing the new formula would mean that the Authority would be allocating funds effectively to individual schools in future, based on a clear rationale/ operating model, and that there would be transparency wherever Governing Bodies spend above the notional operational model on leadership or any other heading.

 

County Councillor Pete Roberts responded on behalf of Scrutiny. He noted that the version of the report before Cabinet differed from that considered by Scrutiny and that it was difficult to see which of the Scrutiny recommendations had been accepted because the report had not been completed properly. The Director of Education confirmed that there would be a formal response to the Scrutiny report and that there would be a review of the impact of the changes in the first year of implementation followed by annual reviews. Clarification was provided on the Individual School Range (ISR) set by governing bodies for leadership posts. The ISR dictates the maximum funding the formula would attribute for leadership posts and not necessarily reflect what the schools were currently paying. The old and new formula both cap the funding based on the ISR and the impact of this change was circa £20k.

 

County Councillor Bryn Davies argued that there should be more support for Welsh medium education to address the decline in the number of Welsh speakers and that the core funding formula should fund opportunities for immersive learning whenever a pupil came into the system. Cabinet was advised that this would not be possible as an immersive stream could not be put in every school, but that funding followed pupils, so that where there was a need this was resourced. The Director acknowledged that the Welsh in Education Strategic Forum needed to be more active and he advised that it would be meeting more frequently in future.

 

The Director also outlined the support offered to school governing bodies and the Leader advised that a seminar to brief members on the new Funding Formula would be held in February. 

         

RESOLVED:

Reason for Decision:

To implement the new school funding  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

WHQS Achievement and the adoption of Damp and Energy Efficiency Strategies for Powys pdf icon PDF 86 KB

To consider a report by County Councillor James Evans, Portfolio Holder for Corporate Governance, Housing and Public Protection.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Leader was pleased to report that the council had successfully achieved completion of its WHQS programme. Around £72 million has been invested in the Council’s housing stock in the last 7 years. The Leader thanked everyone involved in helping the Council achieve this landmark. The next phase of investment involved the adoption of a Damp Strategy and a Thermal Comfort Strategy, to develop a ‘WHQS Plus’ programme, and address WHQS ‘acceptable fails’. Officers explained how the works would be arranged to maximise the spend with local contractors.

 

 

 

RESOLVED

Reason for Decision:

That Cabinet notes the successful outcome of the WHQS programme, and approves the adoption of the Damp and Thermal Comfort Strategies.  

To demonstrate the council’s:

·       Continue to meet statutory obligations

·       Maintain leadership ambition to over achieve in relation to the WHQS standard

·       Commitment to pro-actively addressing fuel poverty

 

6.

Financial Overview and Forecast as at 30th November 2018 pdf icon PDF 211 KB

To consider a report by County Councillor Aled Davies, Portfolio Holder for Finance.

Minutes:

Cabinet considered the Financial Overview and Forecast report for the period ended 30th November 2018.

 

RESOLVED

Reason for Decision

1.     That the contents of the report are noted.

2.     That the grant reported in section 6.1 of the report is accepted.

3.     That given the pressure on the revenue budget the Cabinet supports the S151 Officer’s requirement to control discretionary expenditure until the end of the financial year.

To monitor the council’s financial performance and ensure that spending remains within approved limits and that the 3% minimum general fund reserve is maintained.

 

7.

Capital Programme Update for the period to 30th November 2018 pdf icon PDF 117 KB

To consider a report by County Councillor Aled Davies, Portfolio Holder for Finance.

 

Minutes:

Cabinet considered the Capital Programme update for the period ended 30th November 2018.

 

RESOLVED

Reasons for Decision

1.     That the contents of the report are noted by Cabinet.

 

 

2.     The Capital virements set out in section 2 of the report be approved, and those over £500k be submitted to full council for approval.

To outline the capital budget position as at 30th November 2018.

 

To ensure appropriate virements, are carried out. To align budgets with spending plans.

 

 

 

 

Recommendation:

Reason for Recommendation:

  1. The contents of this report are noted by Cabinet.
  2. That Cabinet approves the virement proposed in section 2 of this report.

 

 

8.

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.

9.

Delegated Decisions Taken Since the Last Meeting pdf icon PDF 35 KB

To note the delegated decisions taken since the last meeting.

Minutes:

The list of delegated decisions taken by portfolio holders was noted.

10.

Forward Work Programme pdf icon PDF 89 KB

To consider the Cabinet forward work programme.

Minutes:

Cabinet received the forward work programme.