Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors I.W. Armstrong, P.C. Duffy, H.H. Evans, T.R. Hughes, E.A. Jones and P.W. Owen.      

 

The Chair welcomed Councillor D. Simmons back following recent medical treatment, and he and Members of the Council sent their best wishes to former Councillor Richard Jones who was currently unwell.

 

Members were informed that Councillor H.H. Evans was attending his daughter’s graduation and would be unable to attend the meeting.

 

The Chair announced he would be leaving prior to the end of the meeting to attend the International Musical Eisteddfod at Llangollen and the Vice Chair, Councillor B. Blakeley, would assume the chair for the remainder of the meeting.

 

Members agreed that a letter be sent to the Rhyl Lifeguards Joshua Clough and Simon Casey, thanking them for their courage and bravery in assisting in the rescue of a member of the public.

 

The Chair and Members expressed their congratulations to Councillor M.Ll. Davies on his appointment as Chair of the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service.

 

Members to declare any personal or prejudicial interests in any business identified to be considered at this meeting.

 

No Members declared any personal or prejudicial interests in any business identified to be considered at the meeting.

 

Notice of items which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency pursuant to Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972.

 

No items were raised which in the opinion of the Chair, should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency pursuant to Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972.

 

To note the civic engagements undertaken by the Chairman of the Council (copy enclosed).

A list of civic engagements undertaken for the Council by the Chair and Vice Chair, for the period the 30^th May, 2013 to 24^th June, 2013 had been circulated with the papers for the meeting.

 

The Chair provided a summary of the following events:-

 

31^st May, 2013.  North Wales International Music Festival – As Champion for Learning Disabilities, the Chair explained that a concert would be held at St Asaph Cathedral for persons with learning disabilities.  He confirmed that a donation of £1,000 had been made towards the event from the Chairman’s fund and a further £1,000 towards transportation costs.

 

14^th June, 2013.  The Chair attended Glan Clwyd Hospital,    Bodelwyddan to start the Cyclathon and presented a cheque for £100 towards the provision of a robot for undertaking keyhole surgery. 

 

20^th June, 2013.  The Chair thanked everyone involved in the Denbighshire Schools’ Festival of Performing Arts, held over a period of four evenings, for providing an excellent event.

 

26^th June, 2013. As Governors of Brondyffryn School and Gerddi Glasfryn Denbigh, the Chair and Councillor R.J. Davies, had visited the school to congratulate the staff on achieving an excellent school report following an unannounced visit by school inspectors.

 

RESOLVED – that the list civic engagements undertaken for the Council by the Chair and Vice Chair be received and noted, and the comments of the Chair be noted.

 

To receive the minutes of the meeting of County Council held on the 4^th June, 2013 (copy enclosed).

The minutes of the Council meeting held on the 4^th June, 2013 were submitted.

 

RESOLVED – that the minutes of the Council meeting held on the 4^th June, 2013, 2013 be confirmed as a correct record.

 

To consider a report by the Senior Engineer, Flood Risk Management (copy enclosed) on the findings of the flood investigation, and an update on the progress with the investigation into the Glasdir flood event.

 

A copy of a report by the Senior Engineer: Flood Risk Management, which provided details on the findings of the flood investigation, and an update on the progress with the investigation into the Glasdir flood event, had been circulated with the papers for the meeting.

 

The report was introduced by Councillor D.I. Smith and the Corporate Director: Economic and Community Ambition (CDECA).  It was confirmed that an investigation into the flooding events across Denbighshire in November, 2012 had been completed with the exception of Glasdir, where the complexity of the issues surrounding the flood event had meant that the investigation was ongoing.

 

Significant flooding had occurred at 12 locations across Denbighshire on the 26^th and 27^th November, 2012 with approximately 500 properties having been affected. Under the terms of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 the Council had undertaken an investigation into the causes of flooding and Natural Resources Wales had supported the investigation.  The sources of flooding had been main rivers, for which Natural Resources Wales was the risk management Authority, and ordinary watercourses, for which Denbighshire was the risk management Authority.

 

The investigation had been scheduled to report to Council in May but had been delayed due the complexity and scale of the investigation of the two larger flooding incidents at St Asaph and Glasdir.  The investigation of the St Asaph event had been completed and summarised in Appendix 2.  The full report of the Glasdir event would be delayed until September and the investigation Terms of Reference had been attached as Appendix 1.

 

The purpose of the investigation had been to clarify the reasons for the flooding, the likelihood of it recurring and what, if anything, could be done to manage flood risk appropriately in the future.  The criteria for agreeing a location for investigation of the ten sites included:-

 

·           One or more properties with internal flooding

·           Disruption to critical infrastructure, e.g. roads or utilities

·           A repeated ‘near miss’ of either of the above.

 

It had been decided not to include the general flooding of agricultural land as part of the investigation unless the flood event was unusual or unexpected.  However, the impact of flooding on agricultural land would be discussed at national level.

 

The investigation of flooding for the majority of locations had been undertaken jointly by Denbighshire and Natural Resources Wales.  Due to the complexity of the events at Glasdir, Independent investigators had been commissioned to carry out the investigation into the flooding at this location.   The Independent Investigators had also been requested to review the Council and Natural Resources Wales’ findings for all other flood locations and these included:-

·            St Asaph, including Lower Denbigh Road

·            Rhuddlan, including Sarn Lane

·            Brookhouse, Denbigh

·            Llanynys

·            Gellifor

·            Glasdir, Ruthin

·            Park Place/Mwrog Street/Maes Ffynnon, Ruthin

·            Llanbedr Dyffryn Clwyd

·            Loggerheads

·            Corwen

·            Glyndyfrdwy

 

A report covering the findings of the investigation had been included as Appendix 2.

The flood investigation work had been co-ordinated by a Flood Investigation Working Group comprising officers from the Council, Natural Resources Wales and the Trunk Road Authority.  To date, three Stakeholder briefings had been issued and these had been included for information in Appendix 3.  Meetings had also been held with representatives of residents at the two larger flood locations at Glasdir and St Asaph.

Denbighshire had given consideration to interim measures to reduce flood risk pending the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To consider a report by the Corporate Director: Economic & Community Ambition (copy enclosed) on the development of Denbighshire’s first Economic and Community Ambition strategy in line with the Corporate Plan priority of developing the local economy.

 

A copy of a report by the Corporate Director: Economic and Community Ambition (CDECA), on the development of Denbighshire’s first Economic and Community Ambition Strategy, had been circulated with the papers for the meeting.

 

Councillor H.Ll. Jones introduced the report on behalf of the Leader and explained that a Task and Finish Group (TFG) had developed Denbighshire’s first Economic and Community Ambition Strategy, in line with the Corporate Plan priority of developing the local economy.  Approval was being sought for the draft Strategy to be made available for public consultation as detailed in the report.

 

The Corporate Plan identified Developing the Local Economy as one of its 7 corporate priorities.  Revitalising the local economy had been identified as a key concern by residents during development of the Corporate Plan and seen as a means of achieving a sound base for all other developments.  The Strategy aimed to explain how the Council would meet its corporate objective for developing the economy, and details of the TFG had been included in Appendix 3.

 

The draft Strategy had been developed with a focus on benefits and outcomes and the TFG had agreed that the overall benefit to be achieved by developing the local economy should ultimately be felt by local residents.  The overall outcome behind the strategy had been defined as:-

 

“Denbighshire is a County with high levels of employment and good levels of income in all of its towns and communities”.

From this, the TFG had created the following Vision Statement for Denbighshire’s Economic and Community Ambition:-

-   Developing Opportunities, Creating Confidence

-   Working together to make Denbighshire a place where:-

·                              Businesses, established and new, grow and flourish

·                              Our towns and communities are vibrant and prosper

·                              Residents enjoy a good quality of life and can participate in the local economy

To achieve this core factors would need to be addressed and the following priority areas for action had been identified and formed the core structure of the Strategy:-

·                              The right Infrastructure for Growth

·                              Businesses that are Supported and Connected

·                              Maximised Economic Strengths/Opportunities

·                              A High Quality Skilled Workforce

·                              Vibrant Towns and Communities

·                              A Well Promoted Denbighshire

An initial 4 year indicative Delivery Plan had been developed which aligned with the timescale for delivery of the Corporate Plan. However, the Strategy itself had a longer timescale and covered the period 2013 to 2023.  The TFG had concluded that the outcomes identified and the areas for action highlighted offer the best means of delivering the ambition of both the Strategy and the Corporate Plan.  It recommended that these were tested through consultation with Denbighshire’s communities and businesses prior to the Strategy being presented for formal adoption by the Council.

It was explained by the CDECA that it had been proposed that the draft Strategy and Delivery Plan, Appendix 1, be made available for public consultation during July and August through a range of opportunities as detailed in Appendix 2.  Details of the consultation process had been included in the report.  Specific consultation events would explore in detail the Strategy in relation to Tourism, Priority Sectors for Growth, and Rural Economic Development.  These would be complemented by more generic consultation events arranged on a geographic basis across the County.

The three key questions the consultation would seek to test opinion on included:-

(a)          Are the Vision, intended outcomes and underpinning principles broadly appropriate for Denbighshire?

(b)          Does the Strategy capture the important issues, challenges and opportunities affecting Denbighshire’s local economy?

(c)          Will the headline actions in the Delivery Plan achieve the right impact?

The consultation results would be considered by the TFG before the final  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To consider a report by the Chief Accountant (copy enclosed) which provides an update of the final revenue position and the proposed treatment of balances.

 

A copy of a report by the Chief Accountant, which provided an update of the final revenue position and the proposed treatment of balances, had been circulated with the papers for the meeting.

 

The final outturn report had been accepted by Cabinet on the 25^th June 2013.  The report detailed the final position at financial year end for County Council to consider and approve the treatment of reserves and balances proposed.  The first draft of the Annual Statement of Accounts for 2012/13 would be submitted to the external auditors on the 28^th June, and the audited accounts presented to the Corporate Governance Committee in September for formal approval.

 

The overall financial outturn position for 2012/13 had been an under spend against the approved budget, which together with an increase in the yield from Council Tax strengthens the financial position of the Council.  As a consequence it had been possible to make recommendations for the transfer of funds to specific reserves to assist the Council in addressing the severe financial pressures of the next few years and begin to establish cash resources to deliver the Corporate Plan.  The final Revenue Outturn figures had been detailed in Appendix 1. The final position on service and corporate budgets had been an under spend of £1.525m.

 

The outturn position for services and corporate budgets had been £530k higher than previously reported to Cabinet in March.  The most significant movement had been within School Improvement & Inclusion (£223k).  The final position for Legal and Democratic Services had improved by £76k and the position on corporate budgets had improved by £113k from the forecast reported in March.  Services had continued to be proactive in planning for savings for future years, and the financial impact of some of those proposals began to take affect toward the end of 2012/13.  Services reported commitments against balances of £849k in March.  The majority of balances had been forecast because of timing issues and committed service balances now stood at £1.139m with further details provided in the report.

 

Expenditure on schools had been £1.069m below the delegated budget with Special schools having improved by £490k.  The factors relating to the movement on Special Schools had been included in the report.  School balances stood at £2.870m and details of the balances had been included in Appendix 4.

 

The Council budgeted to make a contribution to balances of £300k, which in keeping with previous reports, had been assumed in the final outturn position.  The Council budgeted to make contributions to the funding of the Corporate Plan which required around £25m of cash and £52m of borrowing to deliver the Council’s ambitions.  The 2012/13 budget assumed £2.073m would be generated through priority funding allocated to services and budgeted provisions within corporate budgets.

 

Further information regarding final service outturn had been detailed in the report as follows:-

 

Business Planning & Performance – the final position was an under spend of £60k.

Finance & Assets - under spend of £16k.

Highways & Environment - position of £278k under, an improvement of £15k from the forecast in March.

Planning & Regulatory - proposed to be used to fund restructuring costs as part of delivering savings for 2013/14.

Adult & Business Service - shown as achieving the budget. 

Children & Family Service – reported at £148k.

Housing & Community Development - arisen due to a review of external grant funding at the end of the year highlighted additional claimable costs.

Communications, Marketing & Leisure - the final outturn position was an under spend of £37.5k.

ICT/Business Transformation - budget under by £108k.

Customers and Education Support - an under spend of £245k.

School Improvement  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To consider a report by the Early Intervention, Strategy and Support Service Manager (copy enclosed) which provides Council with the self assessment of social care in Denbighshire and identifies improvement priorities for 2013/2014.

 

A copy of a report by the Early Intervention, Strategy and Support Services Manager, which provided a self-assessment of social care in Denbighshire and identified improvement priorities for 2013/2014, had been circulated with the agenda.

 

The Corporate Director: Modernisation and Wellbeing (CDMW) provided an in depth summary of the report and explained that every Director of Social Services in Wales would be required to produce an Annual Report summarising their view of the effectiveness of the Authority’s Social Care Services and Priorities for Improvement.  A draft Annual Report for 2012/2013 had been included as Appendix 1.  The report provided the public with an honest picture of services in Denbighshire and demonstrated a clear understanding of the strengths and challenges faced.

 

The CDMW referred to Children’s Services and emphasised the importance of the report in the light of recent media coverage, particular reference being made to the Jillings and Waterhouse Reports which related to child abuse in children’s homes, and she provided details in respect of:-

 

-               The many legislative and regulatory changes affecting Children’s Services.

-               Waterhouse recommendations having become part of the legislative framework for Wales, and instigating the creation of the Children’s Commissioner for Wales.  

-               Improvements relating to the delivery of Children’s Services.

-               Early intervention to address problems and the importance of listening to children.

-               Intensive Family Support Services.

-               Consultation undertaken with Care Workers with regard to the Leadership and Management Strategy.

-               Intensive training provided for foster carers.

-               The importance of safeguarding children.

-               Achieving stable placements for children, through the provision of stable and caring homes.

-               The top priorities for Children’s Services for 2013-14 had been included on pages 18 and 19 of the Annual Report.

 

The CDMW provided details in respect of Adult Services and the following areas were highlighted:-

 

-               Progress with regard to the Social Service and Well-being Bill.  The main implications of the Bill, which related to Wales, correlated mainly to Adult Services, but also encompassed Children’s Services.

-               A need for change in the method of provision of Adult Services, emanating from the expectations of the public who now required more choice and control through the promotion of independence.

-      An increase in the number of people with learning disabilities and in carers.

-               Positive feedback received regarding the provision of Intervention Services, reablement, extra care and work undertaken in the community.

-               Progress made with citizen directed support.

-               The planned utilisation of ring fenced funding within Social Services.

-               Improvements required around the area of sickness absence in Children and Adult Services.

-               The need to further develop the delivery of services through the medium of Welsh being a high and increasing priority.

-               Problems emanating from the demographic backdrop and an aging population.

 

A summary of the following four components within the Annual Council Reporting Framework (ACRF) was provided for Members:-

 

(i)            A detailed self-assessment and analysis of effectiveness

(ii)       Evidence trail

(iii)         Integration with business planning

(iv)         Publication of an annual report

 

In line with the guidance governing the ACRF process the Annual Report had been produced for the public and would published by the 31^st July, 2013.  The overall assessment demonstrated that Denbighshire Social Services had succeeded in making real improvements in respect of the following areas in terms of both performance and quality over the past year:-

 

·                     supported families successfully at an early stage to help prevent problems escalating

·                     provided early support and helped people to regain their confidence and ability to care for themselves e.g. after a fall.  

·                     supported people to live independently in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

To consider a report by the Head of Legal and Democratic Services (copy enclosed) on the appointment of one member to the North Wales Police and Crime Panel for a minimum of one municipal year.

 

A copy of a report by the Head of Legal and Democratic Services (HLDS), on the appointment of an Elected Member to the North Wales Police and Crime Panel for a minimum of one municipal year, had been circulated with the papers for the meeting.

 

The report provided details of the membership of the Panel.  The Terms of Reference of the North Wales Police and Crime Panel stipulated that each of the six Local Authorities in North Wales would nominate a Member or Members to sit on the Panel.  The Panel consisted of 10 Elected Members and 2 Independent Co-opted Members, and the allocation of seats to each Authority had been based on the political balance and population distributions across North Wales as a whole.  The d’hondt methodology had been used to identify the number of seats each Local Authority would be allocated and to which political group(s) they applied.  As host Authority Conwy County Borough Council provided support services.

 

The Democratic services Manager explained that based on population Conwy, Flintshire, Gwynedd and Wrexham had appointed 2 Members each whilst Denbighshire and Anglesey had appointed 1 Member each.  The size of the main political groupings across the Councils in North Wales determined how many seats each group or grouping would be entitled to take.  In determining which Authority appointed individual seats the Panel examined how many seats a political party or grouping had in all the Authorities combined and then assessed which Council or Councils had the best claim to take the available seats.

 

Last year Independent Group Member, Councillor W.E. Cowie, had been Denbighshire’s representative on the Panel.  Following the May, 2013 elections in Anglesey, Denbighshire would be allocated 1 Labour Member seat.  The Council could determine the period of time that the appointment was made, although this should not be less than 1 municipal year.  As the proposed appointment was a ring-fenced position Denbighshire’s Labour Group had been made aware of the issues raised.

 

Members agreed that Councillor W.N. Tasker be appointed as Denbighshire’s representative on the Police and Crime Panel, and that the appointment period extends until any subsequent decision by Council was taken to appoint to the Panel.

 

Councillor Tasker paid tribute to the excellent work undertaken by Councillor W.L. Cowie during his term in office.

 

RESOLVED – that Council:-

 

(a)          appoints Councillor W.N. Tasker, Member of the Labour Group, to the Police and Crime Panel, and

(b)          the appointment period extends until any subsequent decision by Council was taken to appoint to the Panel.

 

To consider a report by the Head of Legal and Democratic Services (copy enclosed) on the potential for webcasting meetings of the Council.

 

A copy of a report by the Head of Legal and Democratic Services (HLDS), on the potential for webcasting meetings of the Council, had been circulated with the papers for the meeting.

 

                        The report sought approval in principle to the introduction of the webcasting of Council meetings.  Welsh Government would make £1.2 million available by way of grant funding to Local Authorities to assist them with implementation costs.  Each Authority would be eligible to a grant of £20k towards the cost of introducing webcasting.

 

The webcasting of meetings would involve the live streaming of sound and images of Council meetings and could be made available on the Council’s website as archived material.  Members of the public who were unable to attend meetings could view them live online or at a later date via the online archive.  Viewers using the archived content would have the advantage of the use of timeline links allowing them to view content by item or speaker.

 

The WG and WLGA had facilitated meetings with officers to discuss webcasting and a demonstration of a system had been delivered for Members.  A facility was provided on some systems to enable members of the public to participate in discussion forums via social media tools and to give their views on issues being discussed.   The HLDS replied to concerns expressed by Councillor M.Ll. Davies and expanded on the operation and provision of the translation facilities as included in the report.

 

There was no statutory obligation for the Council to webcast meetings but this was becoming a more common practice and all Local Authorities in Wales were actively considering its introduction.  The Council was obliged by law to hold meetings in public, subject to the exclusion of the public for certain confidential matters.  The public were entitled to attend meetings of the Council, Cabinet and other Committees but generally there was not a large attendance at meetings and the facilities available to accommodate large numbers of people were limited.  Members of the public interested in hearing the debates may be unable to attend due to commitments or difficulties with transport, therefore webcasting meetings would make meetings accessible. 

 

The WG grant would only be available for one year with no guarantee of future funding.  In addition to software licensing fees there may be additional costs associated with integrating the system with existing cameras and microphones.  It had been suggested that webcasting be limited initially to a duration which could be funded from the grant monies available, with a future review for continued use.  Councillor J. Thompson-Hill replied to a question from Councillor W.L. Cowie and concurred that it would be important to ensure the sustainability of a system prior to its introduction.

 

CET had expressed the view that the question of webcasting be presented to Council for a decision on webcasting meetings, and the Corporate Governance Committee had agreed that a report be presented to the wider membership for consideration.

 

The HLDS responded to concerns expressed by Councillor R.L. Feeley and confirmed that the compatibility of new and current equipment would need to be assured, possibly through trial internally, prior to the introduction of webcasting.

 

RESOLVED – that Council agrees in principle to the webcasting of Council meetings.

 

To consider the Council’s forward work programme (copy enclosed).

 

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services introduced the Council’s Forward Work Programme, previously circulated, and Members agreed the following new items be included in the Forward Work Programme:-

 

RESOLVED - that, subject to the above, the Council forward work programme be approved and noted.

 

 

Meeting ended at 2.05 p.m.