Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

The Leader welcomed everyone to Cabinet’s first public hybrid meeting.

The Head of Legal, HR and Democratic Services explained that the Council Chamber had been equipped to enable fully hybrid meetings to take place with participants being able to attend in person in the Council Chamber or remotely via Zoom.  Details were provided of those present in the Council Chamber for clarity.

There were no apologies.

There were no apologies.

No declarations of interest had been raised.

No declarations of interest had been raised.

No urgent matters had been raised.

No urgent matters had been raised.

To receive the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 15 February 2022 (copy enclosed). 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 15 February 2022 be received and confirmed as a correct record.

The minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 15 February 2022 were submitted.

Matters Arising – Item 7 – Proposed Scheme of Delegated Decision Making for Land Acquisition for Carbon Sequestration and Ecological Improvement Purposes – The Head of Legal, HR and Democratic Services advised that the Cabinet decision had been called in for scrutiny and had been considered the previous week by Communities Scrutiny Committee who had resolved to refer that matter back to Cabinet for consideration.  Consequently, a report would be submitted to a future Cabinet meeting to consider the Scrutiny Committee’s recommendations.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 15 February 2022 be received and confirmed as a correct record.

To consider a report by Councillor Arwel Roberts, Chair of Performance Scrutiny Committee (copy enclosed) recommending that Cabinet, on behalf of the Council, lobby Welsh Government to provide sufficient financial support to local authorities to help them eliminate the use of non-recyclable goods and facilitate carbon reduction measures in School Catering Services.

RESOLVED that Cabinet, on behalf of the Council, writes to the Welsh Government seeking it to –

(a)       work with local authorities across Wales in a bid to reduce and eradicate the practice of using single use plastics and non-recyclable goods in the supply,  preparation and serving of school meals;

(b)       provide sufficient financial resources to all local authorities to enable them to realise the above objectives and facilitate carbon reduction measures within their School Catering Services whilst securing the delivery of a sustainable school meals service, and

(c)        that the Cabinet, on behalf of the Council, writes to the Welsh Local Government Association seeking their support in lobbying the Welsh Government to progress the measures set out in (a) and (b) above.

At the Leader’s invitation Councillor Arwel Roberts, Chair of Performance Scrutiny Committee presented the report recommending that Cabinet, on behalf of the Council, lobby Welsh Government to provide sufficient financial support to local authorities to help them eliminate the use of non-recyclable goods and facilitate carbon reduction measures in the School Catering Service, without compromising their ability to deliver a viable and sustainable school meals service.

Councillor Roberts referred to the work undertaken with a view to eliminating the use of non-recyclable goods in the service to support the Council’s carbon neutral ambition for 2030.  He reported on the Committee’s comprehensive discussion on the subject and valuable contributions to the debate from two pupils representing Ysgol Dinas Bran.  Cabinet’s attention was drawn to the significant financial pressures facing the service and its reliance on income from the sale of plastic bottled drinks to provide nutritious and cost effective meals for pupils together with the additional forthcoming pressure to provide free school meals for all primary school pupils which further complicated matters.  Gratitude was expressed to Ysgol Glan Clwyd for conducting a drinks trial in their efforts to address the issue which highlighted the costs associated with that approach and challenges involved.  It was clear that the financial and staffing pressure on the service, time constraints to serve meals, limited canteen space and the need to educate some pupils to return their cutlery made it difficult at present to reduce the reliance on non-recyclable materials and the service’s carbon footprint whilst preparing nutritious yet affordable school meals.  The service’s commitment to reducing its carbon footprint and use of non-recyclable material was recognised as was the need to deliver a viable service.  Consequently, it was felt that approaches should be made to Welsh Government to seek its support for local authorities nationally to achieve those goals.  Cabinet was asked to write to Welsh Government asking them to work with local authorities across Wales to reduce and eradicate use of single use plastics or non-recyclable products in the service and provide sufficient financial resources for that purpose and facilitate carbon reduction measures whilst delivering a sustainable service.

The Leader thanked Councillor Roberts for the report and work of the Scrutiny Committee and had been pleased to note the involvement of young people as part of that process to ensure they had a voice in matters affecting their future.

Councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts thanked the Scrutiny Committee for their work and fully supported the recommendations given the financial support required to deliver on aims to reduce usage and dependency on single use plastics.  He elaborated on the drinks trial at Ysgol Glan Clwyd and the challenges faced together with the significant financial impact: approximately £220k per annum for stopping the sale of drinks in secondary schools and £200k per annum for selling/decanting drinks into reusable cups.  There were also problems with reusable cups not being returned.  Whilst the service was committed to reducing its use of plastic it was hampered by the financial costs associated with that aim and current model for school catering.  The expansion of the service to provide free school meals for all primary pupils also raised additional challenges in terms of its future delivery and impact on the service.

Cabinet considered the report and debate focused on the following points –

·         Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill acknowledged the difficulties faced by the service in attempting to meet environmental ambitions and fully supported the recommendation to engage with Welsh Government in that regard.  Given that it was a national issue and to further strengthen the Council’s position, he proposed an additional recommendation to also  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To consider a joint report by Councillors Hugh Evans, Leader and Lead Member for Economy and Corporate Governance and Julian Thompson-Hill, Deputy Leader and Lead Member for Finance, Performance and Strategic Assets (copy enclosed) regarding the second stage of the process to award a contract for the construction of the Queen’s Buildings development in Rhyl and seeking Cabinet approval to award a contract to the preferred contractor via delegated decision.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)       delegates authority to award a Contract for the construction of Phase 1 of the Queen’s Building development to the preferred Contractor to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Section 151 Officer, Monitoring Officer and relevant Lead Members at the conclusion of the detailed design stage providing the cost plan is within the envelope of affordability for the works;

(b)       approves the immediate implementation of the Delegated Decision due to the urgency to award a Contract to allow works to commence on site as soon as possible to meet grant funding deadlines, and

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

Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill presented the joint report with the Leader updating Cabinet on the Queen’s Buildings Rhyl Project and second stage of the process to award a contract for the construction of the Queen’s Buildings development, and seeking Cabinet approval to award the contract via delegated decision.

Following Cabinet approval of the revised Business Case and additional funding at the last meeting the purpose of the current report focused on the letting of the phase 1 construction contract.  Wynne Construction had been appointed in the first stage to work on the scheme through planning approval and detailed design ready for construction to start mid/late April.  Lot 3 of the North Wales Construction Partnership Framework had been utilised for the phase 1 construction element.  Given the tight timescales for project delivery and letting of the contract which fell outside the Cabinet meeting timetable due to May’s elections, Cabinet approval was sought to award the contract via delegated decision.  In addition, until a formal contract was in place the Council would be required to underwrite costs of circa £500k for advance orders relating to construction items that had a long lead in time.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)       delegates authority to award a Contract for the construction of Phase 1 of the Queen’s Building development to the preferred Contractor to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Section 151 Officer, Monitoring Officer and relevant Lead Members at the conclusion of the detailed design stage providing the cost plan is within the envelope of affordability for the works;

(b)       approves the immediate implementation of the Delegated Decision due to the urgency to award a Contract to allow works to commence on site as soon as possible to meet grant funding deadlines, and

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

To consider a report (which includes a confidential appendix) by Councillor Tony Thomas, Lead Member for Housing and Communities (copy enclosed) seeking Cabinet approval to award a contract to appoint a Principal Contractor to renovate the terraced houses at 2 – 16 Aquarium Street, Rhyl.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)       approve the award of a Contract to Anthony Dever Construction Limited as per the Contract Award Recommendation Report (Appendix 1 to the report), and

(b)       confirms that it has read, understood and taken account of the Well-being Impact Assessment (Appendix 2 to the report) as part of its consideration.

[The Head of Legal, HR and Democratic Services referred to a confidential appendix to the report for reasons of commercial sensitivity and advised that any detailed questioning on that element should be carried out in private session.]

Councillor Tony Thomas presented the report seeking Cabinet approval to award a contract to appoint a Principal Contractor to renovate the terraced houses at 2 – 16 Aquarium Street, Rhyl.

Councillor Thomas advised that the scheme would deliver one of the final elements of the West Rhyl housing regeneration programme and commended the excellent work carried out in that regard and benefits of the scheme for residents and the area.  Cabinet had approved the housing capital scheme in Aquarium Street, Rhyl in March 2019 and the report summarised the process undertaken during the procurement exercise which had resulted in four tender submissions.  Following an evaluation exercise using a scoring methodology with a weighting of 70% for price and 30% for quality a preferred contractor had been selected and recommended to Cabinet.  The estimated value of the contract had been £2,148,143.80 and the total estimated cost submitted by the recommended tender was £2,641,828.05 which was within budget for the project in the Housing Stock Business Plan.

Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill referred to the increase in the estimated value of the contract highlighting the steep rise in construction costs which had been well documented and outside of the Council’s control.  However, the scheme was fully funded and he supported the recommendation to approve the contract award.  The Housing Development Manager added that the scheme would provide much needed affordable homes for local people whilst removing the current eyesore site.  In response to questions he confirmed that the rear extensions would be removed; the recommended contractor was based in Denbigh and had carried out work previously for the Council and other partners, and the tender price was valid for some months following the closing date.  Councillor Alan James added his support for the scheme and looked forward to its completion, thanking all those involved.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)       approve the award of a Contract to Anthony Dever Construction Limited as per the Contract Award Recommendation Report (Appendix 1 to the report), and

(b)       confirms that it has read, understood and taken account of the Well-being Impact Assessment (Appendix 2 to the report) as part of its consideration.

RESOLVED that Cabinet’s forward work programme be noted.

The Cabinet forward work programme was presented for consideration.

The Head of Legal, HR and Democratic Services advised that, whilst it had been anticipated that a Cabinet meeting would not be held in April, there were some items of business that needed to be dealt with before May’s elections and therefore officers were working with members to confirm a date for an April meeting; following that the next meeting of Cabinet would be in the new Council on 7 June.

RESOLVED that Cabinet’s forward work programme be noted.

The meeting concluded at 11.10 hrs.