Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from County Councillors J Pugh and J Wilkinson. Apologies were also received from County Councillors D Evans and L George who were on other Council business as Members of the Dyfed Powys Police and Crime Panel.

To elect a Vice-Chair for the period ending in May 2019.

RESOLVED that County Councillor Gareth Jones be elected as Vice-Chair for the period ending in May 2019.

RESOLVED that County Councillor Mark Barnes be appointed as the scrutiny observer onto the Local Development Plan Working Group.

To receive and consider the report of the Head of Workforce and OD.

The Committee received and considered the report of the Head of Workforce and OD.

The gender pay gap had reduced over the past year. There was a requirement for the Council to publish this information on its website by the end of March 2019. An action plan would also be produced on how to improve this position further. The Committee commented that there was no benchmarking data in relation to the gender pay gap. It was also noted that the pay gap occurred due to gender stereotyping of roles i.e. certain roles such as part time or some lower paid roles were traditionally more likely to be occupied by women. Some other Councils had improved their gender pay gaps partly through the externalisation of services, which Powys had not done to the same degree.

It was noted that Powys’ gender pay gap was better than some other Councils in Wales. As most of the lower paid grades employed women, this was the biggest issue for Powys in reducing the gender pay gap. The Council’s recent decision to incorporate the Living Wage Foundation rates would improve the situation.

The Committee suggested that as part of preparing the action plan an analysis of the lower pay grades be undertaken and to the types of jobs, whether they were part time of full time etc. so that there was a clearer picture of the situation. The Committee asked for the action plan and research to be circulated to the Committee.

A Member commented that the issue here was not about pay equality, but is about getting more women into higher paid salaries.

It was suggested that what the council needed to do was to ensure that there were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To receive and consider a presentation by the Project Officer – Workways+ Powys.

Extracts of the Top 5 Moniting Tracker and Quarter 3 Impact Assessment are attached as background information.

The Committee received a presentation by the Project Officer Workways+ Powys.

It was noted that there are two separate projects:

·      Workways+ Powys is a joint European and Council funded project.  A similar project operated in South West Wales previously. When the South West developed its current project Powys established its own scheme as it is in a different European funding area. Workways+ Powys was first piloted in South Powys for a 30+ age group. The current Workways+ Powys project is for a 54+ age group who are economically inactive i.e. not working and not registered as unemployed. It is delivered by the charity Prime Cymru and is a three year project which ends in February 2020.

·      Communities for Work+ (CfW+) is a fully Welsh Government funded scheme operating across all of Wales and delivered through local authorities. This is for people aged 16+ who are in or at risk of poverty which includes people who are not working as well as those who are employed. This scheme commenced in 2018 and though it is funded on a year by year basis is anticipated to continue for some years.

The aims and delivery approach of both projects are the same. Support is on a one to one basis, with clients meeting mentors on an individual basis. Both projects also have some discretionary funding available to support clients with training and other barriers they might have to employment.

Participant numbers and job outcomes are behind targets on both projects (-58% for Workways+ Powys) though to a lesser extent with CfW+ (63 participants out of a target of 100) and for this project it is because the mentors were in place for the equivalent of just half the year. Actions are planned to address this situation for both projects, though care needs to be taken not to increase promotions beyond mentor capacity.

It is accepted that the targets were set too high initially. A backlog of assessment by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) meant that there were fewer referrals than expected. The numbers of individuals who are eligible for the scheme has also dropped since the project started by 12.5%. There has also not been sufficient promotion of the scheme at the start.

The Council is currently negotiating with Welsh Government to get targets lowered and eligibility widened as pro rata to the level of funding the targets should be approximately a third of the current level. Some participants have greatly benefited from support through these projects.

The Monitoring Officer has determined that category 3 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules applies to the following item. 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). Because of this and since there did not appear to be an overwhelming public interest requiring the disclosure of the information he felt that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the 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.

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).

To receive and consider the report of the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Governance, Housing and Public Protection.

The Committee received and considered the report of the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Governance, Housing and Public Protection.

The Committee whilst supportive in principle of the overall concept set out in the report expressed reservations regarding some aspects of the proposal. It was suggested that further detailed work would be required prior to a decision being taken as to whether to finally proceed with the proposal or not.

Outcome:

Recommended to the Cabinet:

1.         that if the Cabinet approves the preparation of an outline business case, further detailed work be undertaken in relation to the proposal to take account of the Committee’s comments, prior to a decision as to whether or not to proceed to a full business case being prepared.

2.         that if the project proceeds that the outline business case be submitted to scrutiny for comment.