Agenda, decisions and draft minutes
Venue: Conference Room 1a, County Hall, Ruthin
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Leader highlighted that the last Cabinet meeting of the current Council term was a time to celebrate achievements during that period, including delivery of the Corporate Plan, and the difference made to the county and its residents. He thanked officers and members for their valuable support and hard work and advised that it had been a privilege and an honour to lead the Council during the current administration. Councillor David Smith paid tribute to the Leader’s dedication and commitment and thanked him for his support and hard work undertaken on behalf of the Council. |
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APOLOGIES Decision: There were no apologies. Minutes: There were no apologies. |
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DECLARATION OF INTERESTS PDF 116 KB Members to declare any personal or prejudicial interests in any business identified to be considered at this meeting. Decision: No declarations of interest had been raised. Minutes: No declarations of interest had been raised. |
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URGENT MATTERS 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. Decision: No urgent matters had been raised. Minutes: No urgent matters had been raised. |
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To receive the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 28 February 2017 (copy enclosed). Decision: RESOLVED that the minutes
of the meeting held on 28 February 2017 be approved as a correct record and
signed by the Leader. Minutes: The
minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 28 February 2017 were submitted. RESOLVED that the minutes
of the meeting held on 28 February 2017 be approved as a correct record and
signed by the Leader. |
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CORPORATE PLAN PERFORMANCE REPORT QUARTER 3 - 2016/17 PDF 218 KB To consider a report by Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill, Lead Member for Finance, Corporate Plan and Performance (copy enclosed) presenting an update on the delivery of the Corporate Plan 2012 – 17 as at the end of quarter 3 2016/17. Additional documents: Decision: RESOLVED that Cabinet
receives the report and notes the progress in delivering the Corporate Plan as
at the end of quarter 3 of 2016/17. Minutes: Councillor
Julian Thompson-Hill presented the report updating members on the delivery of
the Corporate Plan 2012 – 17 as at the end of quarter 3 of 2016/17. The report included two main elements – ·
Executive Summary
– detailed achievements and key exceptions with good performance overall. Only one outcome had been assessed as Red:
Priority for Improvement – Outcome 7 Students achieve their potential, which
was an annual indicator as previously reported and discussed. All other outcomes had been evaluated as
acceptable or better, and ·
Full
quarterly report – provided an evidence based assessment of the current
position focusing on key exceptions. An explanation behind the status of particular
indicators had been included within the report with key issues highlighted at
the meeting. Most of the areas were
annual indicators and there had been little movement since the last quarter. During consideration of the report members
discussed the following – ·
Developing
the Local Economy – Cabinet was pleased to note the success of the new cross
service approach to dealing with businesses looking to invest in the county as
evidenced by the £6m investment secured from The Real Petfood
Company in Bodelwyddan. It was also noted that the initiative March
for Business had been very well attended.
The Leader highlighted the future challenge of aligning the Council’s
priorities with the North Wales Growth Plan to ensure Denbighshire was well
placed to benefit from future investment, particularly in terms of transport
infrastructure. The Corporate Director
Economy and Public Realm referred to the points raised during debate at the
previous Cabinet meeting when considering the Growth Vision Strategy and
confirmed that those points, including the importance of the transport
infrastructure, would be taken forward ·
Students
achieve their potential – it was clarified that the performance data for the
year included all EOTAS (Education Other Than At School) for the first time
which referred to a very small cohort of children and young people, including
those who were home taught and in educational and custodial placements. Councillor Eryl Williams drew attention to
indicator EDU017 (% of pupils achieving the level 2 threshold) and advised that
GwE was developing a more effective model and programme to further improve
standards. He also referred to past
disparities between Welsh Government funding allocations and advised that
recent changes would result in additional funding for North Wales which should
have a positive effect on outcomes ·
Improving
our roads – Councillor David Smith reiterated the need for additional highway
funding in order to continue to maintain roads to the current standard. RESOLVED that Cabinet
receives the report and notes the progress in delivering the Corporate Plan as
at the end of quarter 3 of 2016/17. |
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To consider a report by Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill, Lead Member for Finance, Corporate Plan and Performance (copy enclosed) detailing the latest financial position and progress against the agreed budget strategy. Additional documents:
Decision: RESOLVED that Cabinet – (a) notes the budgets
set for 2016/17 and progress against the agreed budget strategy, and (c) notes the
proposed use of service underspends where indicated and that formal approval
will be requested when exact figures are known as part of the Final Outturn
Report. Minutes: Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill presented the
report detailing the latest financial position and service budgets for
2016/17. He provided a summary of the
Council’s financial position as follows – ·
a net
underspend of £0.213m was forecast for service and corporate budgets ·
68% of
savings had been achieved to date (target £5.2m) with a further 2% making good
progress; 25% would be deferred and achieved in 2017/18 with only 5% of savings
not being achieved within the timeframe ·
highlighted
current risks and assumptions relating to individual service areas ·
a general
update on the Housing Revenue Account, Housing Capital Plan and the Capital
Plan (including the Corporate Plan element). Cabinet was also asked to note the proposed use
of service underspends. Formal approval
would be sought when exact figures were known as part of the Final Outturn
report. The following matters were raised during debate
– ·
details of
the Leisure Services Revenue Budget 2016/17 had been appended to the report as
requested at the last Cabinet meeting.
Cost comparisons between 2013/14 (the last year of trading before
leisure provision was undertaken in-house) and 2016/17 showed a saving of
approximately £80k. Councillor Huw Jones
highlighted that providing existing leisure facilities at the current cost
(£560k) was a remarkable achievement and compared more than favourably with
other local authorities. Cabinet was
pleased to note the success of the approach taken by the authority to invest in
its leisure facilities and paid tribute to the Head of Facilities, Assets and
Housing and his team in the management and operation of leisure services within
the county ·
reference
was made to Ruthin Craft Centre and whilst noting the success of the exhibitions
and displays together with the café, questions were raised as to whether the
studio units were operated to capacity with maximum effectiveness. It was noted that previous grant conditions
had restricted use of the units but work was ongoing to secure a greater degree
of flexibility to allow for the space to be used more commercially which would
also result in a reduction of the subsidies from the council and the Arts
Council. A recent presentation had been
made to Ruthin Town Council in that regard.
Councillor Bobby Feeley was pleased to report upon the renowned success
of the Centre but felt that it would also benefit from more local
publicity. Reference was also made to
the publicity generated after the Director of Ruthin Craft Centre, Philip Hughes
was awarded the MBE for his contributions to art and craft and to the success
of the centre ·
the
pressures faced by Community Support Services as highlighted in the report were
noted but it was unclear at this point how much of the additional funding for
Wales recently announced by the UK Government as a result of the extra
investment in the social care sector in England would be passported to Welsh
local authorities to help meet cost pressures in social care services ·
reference
to ‘Community Services’ in the report should read ‘Community Support Services’
and Councillor Bobby Feeley highlighted the hard work in reviewing the future
provision of in-house care services in order to deliver a better service for
the benefit of residents and paid tribute to all those involved within that
process. She was also pleased to note
the success of the amalgamation of Education and Children’s Services which
would lead to further service improvements. The Leader felt the regular finance report was a valuable way of keeping Cabinet well informed of the latest financial position and current pressures. The report showed that services were well managed and performed well and also ensured that pressures were ... view the full minutes text for item 6. |
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CABINET FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME PDF 266 KB To receive the enclosed Cabinet Forward Work Programme and note the contents.
Decision: RESOLVED that Cabinet’s
Forward Work Programme be noted. Minutes: The Cabinet Forward Work Programme was
presented for consideration and it was noted that the next Cabinet meeting would
be held on 6 June 2017. RESOLVED that Cabinet’s
Forward Work Programme be noted. |
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EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC RESOLVED
that under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the Press and Public
be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds
that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in
Paragraphs 12 and 14 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act
1972. |
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BUSINESS RATES WRITE OFFS To consider a confidential report by Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill, Lead Member for Finance, Corporate Plan and Performance (copy enclosed) seeking Cabinet approval to write off irrecoverable Business Rates as detailed within the report. Decision: RESOLVED that Cabinet
agrees to write off the irrecoverable Business Rates as shown in Table 1 of the
report. Minutes: Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill presented the confidential
report seeking Cabinet approval to write off irrecoverable Business Rates for
four companies/individuals where recovery action could not continue because
they had either been subject to insolvency action or had absconded. In response to questions Cabinet was advised of
the robust debt recovery process to ensure the best chance of a favourable
outcome but there was little the authority could do over and above that process
in terms of preventing recurrent bad debts from the same individual
traders/businesses. Some discussion
focused on the recent revaluation of business rates and effect on smaller
businesses and officers provided assurances that the relevant information and
support was being made available to businesses in terms of the transitional
changes, rate relief and appeals processes.
The Leader also confirmed that he had written to the Welsh Government
directly expressing concern regarding the impact on local businesses arising
from changes to businesses rateable value and proposals on rate relief. Cabinet noted there was no prospect of recovering any of the
business rates debts as detailed within the report. It was also noted that there would be no
direct cost to the council for the debts written off which were met by the
National Pool. RESOLVED that Cabinet
agrees to write off the irrecoverable Business Rates as shown in Table 1 of the
report. Prior to the close of the meeting the Leader conveyed his
best wishes to those members standing for re-election. Councillor David Smith would not be standing
for re-election and the Leader paid tribute to his work and valuable
contribution during his term of office and wished him well in his
retirement. The Chief Executive also
took the opportunity to thank Cabinet on behalf of officers for their support
and collective commitment in order to deliver the best for Denbighshire. The
meeting concluded at 11.00 a.m. |