Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

There were no apologies.

There were no apologies.

Councillor Jason McLellan – Personal and Prejudicial Interest – Agenda Item 5

Councillor Rhys Thomas – Personal Interest – Agenda Item 6

Councillor Pauline Edwards – Personal Interest – Agenda Item 6

Councillor Mark Young – Personal Interest – Agenda Item 6

Councillor Jason McLellan – Personal Interest – Agenda Item 7

The following declarations of interest were made –

Councillor Jason McLellan declared a personal and prejudicial interest in agenda item 5 – North East Wales Archive Project as his wife worked on the project for Flintshire County Council.

Councillor Rhys Thomas declared a personal interest in agenda item 6 – Sustainable Communities for Learning – Rolling Programme because he lived close to Denbigh High School and used the cycle path on a daily basis which would be adversely impacted if Ysgol Plas Brondyffryn was located on the favoured site.

Councillor Mark Young declared a personal interest in agenda item 6 – Sustainable Communities for Learning – Rolling Programme because he was a School Governor and Chair of Governors at Denbigh High School.

Councillor Pauline Edwards declared a personal interest in agenda item 6 – Sustainable Communities for Learning – Rolling Programme because she was a School Governor and Vice Chair of Governors at Ysgol Pendref.

Councillor Jason McLellan declared a personal interest in agenda item 7 – Update to Medium Term Financial Strategy and Plan for 2025/26 – 2027/28 and Review of the Council’s Financial Resilience and Sustainability in so far as it related to approval of the Ysgol y Llys project because the school adjoined his home.

No urgent matters had been raised.

No urgent matters had been raised.

To receive the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 19 March 2024 (copy enclosed). 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 19 March 2024 be received and confirmed as a correct record.

The minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 19 March 2024 were submitted.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 19 March 2024 be received and confirmed as a correct record.

To consider a report by Councillor Emrys Wynne, Lead Member for Welsh Language, Culture and Heritage (copy enclosed) seeking Cabinet’s support to accept the grant offer towards the cost of the new joint archive facility and commitment to contribute capital match funding, subject to Flintshire County Council confirming their acceptance of the grant and their capital contribution.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)      confirms its support for North East Wales Archive to accept the National Lottery Heritage Fund grant offer of £7,371,397, subject to Flintshire County Council’s Cabinet doing the same;

(b)      confirms the commitment for Denbighshire County Council to contribute match funding of £2,052,358 of capital funding which would be paid for via prudential borrowing, subject to Flintshire County Council confirming their acceptance of the grant and their capital contribution.  The maximum revenue cost to Denbighshire County Council was expected to be c£136k;

(c)      delegates authority to the Chief Executive Officer and Lead Member for Welsh Language, Culture and Heritage, to sign a Collaborative Agreement that covered the construction of the new facility, and operation of North East Wales Archive, and a Heads of Terms for the Lease of the new building, subject to costs being containable within the overall budget of £12,892,294, and

(d)      confirms that it has read, understood and taken account of the Well-being Impact Assessment (Appendix 1 to the report) as part of its consideration.

Having declared a personal and prejudicial interest in this matter, the Leader Councillor Jason McLellan left the meeting for the duration of the item and the Deputy Leader Councillor Gill German took the Chair.

Councillor Emrys Wynne presented the report on the next stage of the North East Wales Archive project following its approval in principle by Cabinet in October 2023.

The Council had a statutory duty to collect, preserve and make accessible documents of historical importance.  A joint archive service with Flintshire County Council (FCC) had previously been established and work carried out to create a long term sustainable solution for archive storage.  The problems associated with Denbighshire’s archive storage at Ruthin Gaol were reiterated and some years had been spent examining the various options.  That work had concluded the best and most cost-effective option was to work in collaboration with FCC on a new purpose-built net carbon zero building on the Theatr Clwyd campus in Mold and had been supported in principle by Cabinet in November 2020 and October 2023.

In October 2023 Cabinet had approved a joint funding bid with FCC to the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) seeking a capital grant of £7,371,397 to fund a new purpose-built facility in Mold on the understanding that DCC and FCC would provide match funding contributions of £2,052,358 and £3,078,537 respectively. The application to the NLHF had been successful, and the report recommended Cabinet confirmed its support to accept the grant offer and commitment to contribute to capital match funding, subject to FCC doing the same.  If approved, there would still be a continued archive presence at Ruthin Gaol.

The reasoning for the significant spend on the service in the current financial climate was reiterated and the funding explained.  A range of options had been considered for the future storage of archive collections and all came with significant cost and would likely cost more than the current proposal over the longer term.  As the current arrangements were unsustainable and could not fulfil the Council’s statutory duties there was not a “do nothing” option.  Denbighshire’s match funding sum would be funded via prudential borrowing and the proposal would provide an opportunity to acquire a new, fit for purpose archive facility for the next 50 years and long term solution.  Councillor Wynne believed the proposal to be the most cost effective option available and provided the best outcomes for service provision.

The Head of Housing and Communities and Joint Archive Service Manager were in attendance.  It was stressed that much work had been carried out over some time to explore all options available for the long-standing project to find the best solution going forward and ensure the safe storage of archive material and efficient service delivery, maximising public access to those materials.  Work was progressing on the collaboration agreement and Heads of Terms for the lease of the building and Cabinet was also asked to delegate authority to the Chief Executive and Lead Member to sign those documents when ready given the timescales involved.

Cabinet had discussed the merits of the project on a number of occasions, taking into account the current unsustainable arrangements and statutory responsibilities with regard to archives together with the significant costs associated with the project at a time of unprecedented budget pressures.  Cabinet acknowledged the hard work of all those involved in the project and the successful grant application resulting in around £7m of external funding being secured for a purpose built facility which was desperately needed to safeguard archive materials for the future.

Officers responded to questions from Cabinet as follows –

·       the original proposal  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To consider a report by Councillor Gill German, Deputy Leader and Lead Member for Education, Children and Families (copy enclosed) seeking Cabinet approval to submit the draft Strategic Outline Programme for the Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme to the Welsh Government for their consideration.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)      approves the submission of the draft Strategic Outline Programme for the Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme (Appendix 1 to the report) to the Welsh Government for their consideration, and

(b)      confirms that it has read, understood and taken account of the Well-being Impact Assessment (Appendix 3 to the report) as part of its consideration.

Councillor Gill German presented the report seeking Cabinet approval to submit the draft Strategic Outline Programme (SOP) for the Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme to the Welsh Government (WG) for their consideration.

The WG had changed its approach to delivering the Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme (formerly 21st Century Schools), moving away from 5 year bands of investment to a more flexible approach over a longer 9 year time period divided into 3 blocks of 3 years each.  Local authorities had been asked to update their SOP under the new structure with projects essentially ready for business cases to be brought forward in the first 3 years, projects being developed and going through the statutory consultation in the second 3 years and pipeline projects for the final 3 years.  The programmes would be reviewed every 3 years.

The proposals and reasoning behind phasing the Council’s school investment over the next 9 years had been set out in the report and by the Lead Member, in brief –

·       due to delays the 4 Band B projects (Ysgol Plas Brondyffryn, Ysgol Pendref, Ysgol Bryn Collen/Ysgol Gwernant, and Denbigh High School) would not be delivered within the original timescales and given current financial pressures there was a need to reconsider what was affordable over what time period. It was recommended the commitment to developing all 4 Band B projects be retained and incorporated into the new SOP, but the development timescales be reprofiled to spread out the revenue pressures over a longer period

·       an additional project was also proposed to be included in the SOP to be brought forward in the first 3 year timeframe relating to a small extension at Ysgol y Castell which was at risk due to increased costs; its inclusion in the programme would allow it to proceed with no borrowing requirements by the Council with the match funding required being provided by Section 106 developer contributions

·       the Council was required to make a capital contribution to the current Band B projects which would be funded via prudential borrowing.  If all Band B projects rolled over to the first 3 years it was likely that further cuts to services, including delegated school budgets, would be needed to fund the borrowing costs, hence the proposal to stagger that borrowing over a more manageable timeframe

·       as Ysgol Plas Brondyffryn was the most advanced project it was proposed that investment in that school be sought in the first 3 year period with the less advanced Band B projects being included in the second 3 year period (2027 – 2030), and in the final 3 year period (2030 – 2033) consideration would be needed to progress further ambitions dependent on the financial position at the time of the first review in 2027.  It was accepted that the proposal would be a blow to those schools who may need to wait longer for the improvements needed but work would continue towards realising those ambitions as quickly as possible including any interim work that could be progressed in the meantime.

The Corporate Director: Social Services and Education, Head of Education and Principal Manager – School Support were also in attendance for this item.  The Head of Education added that there were difficult and unpopular decisions to be made but given the financial climate it was heartening that the Council’s ambitions for the investment in those schools was being retained over the next number of years.  WG’s expectation for the first 3 year period was for projects that were deliverable within that period to be progressed which was why Ysgol Plas Brondyffryn had been proposed given  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To consider a report by Councillor Gwyneth Ellis, Lead Member for Finance, Performance and Strategic Assets (copy enclosed) providing an update on outstanding matters relating to 2024/25 budget, sets the scene for budget setting in the medium term (2025/26 – 2027/28), and self-assesses the Council’s current level of financial resilience and sustainability.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)      approves the updates as listed in section 2.1 of the report, and

(b)      approves the commencement of the design phase for Ysgol Bro Elwern, Ysgol Henllan, Ysgol Bro Cinmeirch and Ysgol y Llys projects to enable the Full Business Case to be submitted to Welsh Government for approval as detailed in section 4.7 and Appendices 6 to 9 of the report.

Councillor Gwyneth Ellis presented the report providing an update on outstanding matters relating to the 2024/25 budget, budget setting in the medium term (2025/26 – 2027/28) and a review of the Council’s financial resilience and sustainability.

Cabinet was guided through the report detail which focused on the following –

·       a summary of the 2024/25 budget setting position, including an update on the final funding settlement, Voluntary Exit Scheme, and the savings tracker

·       Medium Term Financial Strategy and Plan 2025/26 – 2027/28 including current budget projections along with the assumptions that underpinned the projections and the Council’s strategic approach to the management of its finances and outlined some of the financial issues facing the Council over the next 3 years

·       self-assessment of financial resilience and sustainability setting out an assessment of the Council’s position against common themes and issues identified by CIPFA (Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountability), and

·       sought Cabinet approval to commence the design phase for Ysgol Bro Elwern, Ysgol Henllan, Ysgol Bro Cinmeirch and Ysgol y Llys projects to enable the full business case to be submitted to the Welsh Government for approval.  The projects were fully granted funded and approved by the Capital Scrutiny Group.

The Leader highlighted the importance of the report, which had been debated at length at Cabinet Briefing, and the key pressures facing the Council and how they were being addressed together with the process for scrutiny.  Councillor Julie Matthews welcomed the Communications Plan to ensure all members were involved in the process and kept informed moving forward.  A series of member workshops around the budget and transformation had been planned which would provide the opportunity for all members to engage in that process to deliver public services in incredibly challenging times.  Councillor Gwyneth Ellis drew Cabinet’s attention to the savings tracker which would be incorporated into the monthly finance report to Cabinet in future to monitor progress and delivery of savings.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)      approves the updates as listed in section 2.1 of the report, and

(b)      approves the commencement of the design phase for Ysgol Bro Elwern, Ysgol Henllan, Ysgol Bro Cinmeirch and Ysgol y Llys projects to enable the Full Business Case to be submitted to Welsh Government for approval as detailed in section 4.7 and Appendices 6 to 9 of the report.

RESOLVED that Cabinet’s forward work programme be noted.

The Cabinet forward work programme was presented for consideration and members noted an addition to the September meeting relating to Denbighshire’s Local Area Energy Plan.

RESOLVED that Cabinet’s forward work programme be noted.

The meeting concluded at 12.40 pm.