Agenda, decisions and draft minutes
Venue: Council Chamber, County Hall, Ruthin
Media
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TRIBUTE OF COUNCILLOR HUW JONES Prior to the start of the meeting the Leader paid tribute to
Councillor Huw Jones who had sadly passed away at the weekend. He referred to Councillor Jones as a dear
friend, colleague and esteemed councillor who put Corwen
at the heart of his work. Councillor
Jones had been a Cabinet member from 2012 – 2017 and had been highly regarded
amongst officers and members and would be sorely missed. Thoughts were with his family and community
at this sad time. All present stood in
silence as a mark of respect. Additional documents: |
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APOLOGIES Additional documents: 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. Additional documents: Decision: No declaration of interest had been raised. Minutes: No declaration 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. Additional documents: 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 21 January 2020 (copy enclosed). Additional documents: Decision: RESOLVED that the minutes
of the meeting held on 21 January 2020 be received and confirmed as a correct
record. Minutes: The minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 21 January 2020
were submitted. RESOLVED that the minutes
of the meeting held on 21 January 2020 be received and confirmed as a correct
record. At this point the Leader referred to his intention to vary
the order of the agenda to accommodate the availability of officers attending
the meeting. |
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FINANCE SYSTEM PROCUREMENT PDF 147 KB To consider a report by Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill, Lead Member for Finance, Performance and Strategic Assets (copy enclosed) seeking Cabinet approval to commence a procurement process for a core financial system for the Council. Additional documents: Decision: RESOLVED that Cabinet – (a)
approves the commencement of the procurement for a core
financial system as set out within the report, and (b)
confirms it has read, understood and taken account of the Well-being
Impact Assessment (Appendix 1 to the report) as part of its consideration. Minutes: Councillor
Julian Thompson-Hill presented the report seeking Cabinet approval to commence
a collaborative procurement process with Conwy County Borough Council for a
core financial system for the Council. The
reasoning behind the collaborative process was explained given the similar
legacy systems operated by both authorities and risks associated with existing
solutions and unsupported software. The
intention was to set up a framework which would allow either council to have
their own solution or a shared solution, either hosted by a supplier or hosted
on site by one or more of the councils.
The framework would also allow for Wrexham and Flintshire local authorities
to purchase their own core financial system in future if they wished. Details of the financial implications had
been provided within the report which should result in the delivery of
efficiencies to ensure the project was cost neutral over time; details had also
been provided in terms of governance arrangements and project management. Cabinet
was satisfied with the contents of the report and had no questions to
raise. Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill
responded to a question from Councillor Martyn Holland confirming that existing
solutions would be taken into account as part of the procurement process. The Head of Finance and Property added that a
phased approach would be taken firstly to deliver a financial system for core
functions with phase two involving a payroll and HR solution and potential
all-encompassing system. Market testing
had shown there to be existing solutions and the next stage involved going
through the procurement process and considering the outcomes. RESOLVED that Cabinet – (a)
approves the commencement of the procurement for a core
financial system as set out within the report, and (b)
confirms it has read, understood and taken account of the Well-being
Impact Assessment (Appendix 1 to the report) as part of its consideration. |
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RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE STRATEGIC INVESTMENT GROUP PDF 231 KB To consider a report by Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill, Lead Member for Finance, Performance and Strategic Assets (copy enclosed) seeking Cabinet’s support of projects identified for inclusion in the 2020/21 Capital Plan. Additional documents:
Decision: RESOLVED that – (a) the projects detailed in Appendix 1 to
the report for inclusion in the 2020/21 Capital Plan be supported and
recommended to full Council, and (b) Cabinet requests that officers in the
Highways Service carry out an assessment of damage caused to the network by the
recent storms in order that the extent of further funding can be identified. Minutes: Councillor
Julian Thompson-Hill presented the report seeking Cabinet’s support of projects
identified for inclusion in the 2020/21 Capital Plan as recommended by the
Strategic Investment Group (SIG) and detailed in Appendix 1 to the report. Councillor Thompson-Hill guided members through
the report and explained the funding available for block allocations for
on-going programmes of work. Reference
was made to the work of the SIG in reviewing the bids for allocations and a
summary of their recommendations had been provided and elaborated upon further
at the meeting which included the recommended funding source for each project
together with the reasoning for supporting those specific projects and
allocations. Cabinet considered the recommendations detailed
within the report. Councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts referred to the
recent adverse weather conditions and thanked staff for their hard work in that
regard. Given the storm damage to the
highway infrastructure he queried whether there was a need to revisit the
investment in that area to take account of remedial work required and ensure
highway works were financed appropriately and due diligence observed. The Leader advised that the First Minister
had called an emergency flood summit with local authorities (to be attended by
Lead Member Councillor Brian Jones) and other agencies and it was expected that
funding would be forthcoming to help deal with the aftermath. Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill also provided
assurances that emergency remedial works would be funded as appropriate and
explained the funding streams available, including the severe weather reserve,
but confirmed there was likely to be a national grant scheme which could be
accessed if a particular threshold was met.
With regard to SIG’s recommended allocation for highways, £1.750m had
been allocated for capital expenditure to be prioritised as appropriate by the
Highways Service and there may also be further opportunities to submit bids for
remedial works pending the allocation of additional funding in year. Officers added that following the clean-up
operations an assessment of the damage would be carried out – whilst it was
recognised that damage would have been caused to the highway infrastructure it
was too early to confirm the extent of the damage and adjust the capital
allocations in that regard. Councillor
Brian Jones advised that an assessment of the damage would be undertaken as
soon as possible and work was ongoing in terms of planning and focusing
resources. In light of the recent storm
damage to the highway infrastructure and subsequent funding pressures to be met
it was agreed to include in the resolution reference to the assessment of
damage and identification of savings required. Councillor Bobby Feeley referred to the Queens
Market Development and queried the confirmation of external funding. It was explained that the buildings had been
purchased with the assistance of Welsh Government (£2.5m) and European (£2.5m)
funding. Whilst the Welsh Government
funding had been received, the European funding had been confirmed subject to
the Council achieving key stages of development and timescales had been set for
that purpose. A detailed report on the
development would be submitted to a future Cabinet meeting. Councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts welcomed the
additional funding recommended for school capital maintenance which was an
increase on the previous year. Lead Members responded to issues raised by
non-Cabinet members as follows – · Councillor Martyn Holland was pleased to note the funding allocated for bridge repairs given their importance, particularly for rural communities, and asked that the issue be raised in the forthcoming meeting with Welsh Government. In response to his concerns regarding potholes, Councillor Brian Jones advised that work was ongoing to find a more permanent solution and in addition to the forthcoming annual visits ... view the full minutes text for item 6. |
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To consider a report by Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill, Lead Member for Finance, Performance and Strategic Assets (copy enclosed) detailing the latest financial position and progress against the agreed budget strategy. Additional documents:
Decision: RESOLVED that Cabinet – (a) note the budgets
set for 2019/20 and progress against the agreed budget strategy; (b) approve the revised guidance relating to
Business Rate Relief criteria to be published on the Council’s website and that
the transparent scoring matrix is introduced with immediate effect as detailed
in Appendix 6 and Section 6.2 of the report, and (c) approve the
write-off of Business Rates as detailed in Appendix 7 and Section 6.3 of the
report. Minutes: Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill presented the
report detailing the latest financial position and progress against the agreed
budget strategy. He provided a summary
of the Council’s financial position as follows – ·
the net
revenue budget for 2019/20 was £198.538m (£194.418m in 2018/19) ·
an
overspend of £1.614m was forecast for service and corporate budgets ·
highlighted
current risks and assumptions relating to individual service areas ·
detailed
required savings and efficiencies of £5.672m with an approved allocation of
£616k from the Savings Achievement Contingency to offset known non-achievement
savings (approximately 11% of the total savings identified) ·
provided a general
update on the Capital Plan, Housing Revenue Account and Housing Capital Plan. Cabinet was also asked to approve the revised
guidance relating to Business Rate Relief criteria and to approve the write off
of Business Rates totalling £57k. Councillor Mark Young referred to the
additional costs arising from the recent storm damage in the county, including
flooding incidents, both in terms of remedial and flood defence works and asked
that those costs be identified within the regular finance reports to Cabinet in
future as a known risk. The Head of
Finance and Property advised that in addition to pressures within the Highways
Service, there would also be impacts on other service areas, such as leisure
and social services, and an assessment of those wider impacts would also need
to be undertaken. It was agreed that the
impact of the storm damage be included as part of Cabinet’s regular finance
report in future. RESOLVED that Cabinet – (a) note the budgets
set for 2019/20 and progress against the agreed budget strategy; (b) approve the revised guidance relating to
Business Rate Relief criteria to be published on the Council’s website and that
the transparent scoring matrix is introduced with immediate effect as detailed
in Appendix 6 and Section 6.2 of the report, and (c) approve the
write-off of Business Rates as detailed in Appendix 7 and Section 6.3 of the
report. |
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CABINET FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME PDF 281 KB To receive the enclosed Cabinet Forward Work Programme and note the contents.
Additional documents: Decision: RESOLVED that Cabinet’s
forward work programme be noted. Minutes: The Cabinet forward work programme was
presented for consideration and members noted that the North Wales Growth Bid
Governance Agreement 2 scheduled for April would likely be delayed and would be
considered by Partnerships Scrutiny Committee prior Cabinet. It was also noted that the Queens Market
Development would feature as a future Cabinet agenda item. RESOLVED that Cabinet’s forward work programme be noted. |
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To consider a report by Councillor Bobby Feeley, Lead Member for Well-being and Independence (copy enclosed) seeking Cabinet approval to undertake the procurement process for the tendering of care and support for the Extra Care Housing Scheme, Awel y Dyffryn, Denbigh. Additional documents: Decision: RESOLVED that Cabinet
approves the undertaking of the procurement process for care and support as
detailed within the report with the outcome of each tender to be brought back
to Cabinet for final approval. Minutes: Councillor
Bobby Feeley presented the report seeking Cabinet approval to undertake the
procurement process for the tendering of care and support for the Extra Care
Housing Scheme, Awel y Dyffryn, Denbigh. Awel
y Dyffryn Extra Care Housing Scheme had been developed by the Council in
partnership with Grŵp
Cynefin Housing Group and it was anticipated that the scheme would be ready for
1 September 2020. It was proposed to
undertaken two tender exercises for the procurement of care and support
services to 66 older people units and 8 complex disability units situated on
the site to provide care provision 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year in line
with the Denbighshire Regional Domiciliary Care Contract and other governing requirements. Two separate tenders would be run through the
respective frameworks for the two elements of support within the scheme with
the outcome of each tender being brought back to Cabinet for final approval. Reference to the estimated tender costs and
further details of the contract had been included within the report. Cabinet
supported the scheme in providing health and social care provision in the area
and considered the detail of the proposed procurement process. Officers
responded to questions and comments from members as follows – ·
given the extra work involved for local
doctors Councillor Mark Young sought assurances regarding appropriate
consultation and it was confirmed that Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board
attended the project’s Service Delivery Group and doctors surgeries were also
involved as part of that process ·
it was anticipated that the Older People care
provider would be appointed by May/June and the Complex Disability provider
appointed by July/August ·
there was a mixed market of provision in
Denbigh and the scheme would first look to service Denbigh and the surrounding
areas with further work ongoing with regards to the general health and social
care offer in the area ·
assurances were given that the ability to
provide social care services through the medium of Welsh was a priority issue
and formed part of the contract requirements which would be evaluated through
the tender process. However there were
challenges around recruitment and work was ongoing with the social care workforce
development unit to support Welsh language service provision ·
in relation to staff opportunities,
Councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts confirmed that all council staff had the
opportunity to learn Welsh and to improve and develop their Welsh language
skills and funding was provided for that purpose. Problems with recruitment were not confined
to Denbighshire with neighbouring authorities also experiencing difficulties in
that respect ·
with regard to the sufficiency of staffing
levels at night Grŵp
Cynefin would provide a concierge type service with a person on site to provide
housing management support 24/7 in addition to the care team on site. Care was planned and delivered in accordance
with the identified need at the time and consequently the number of staff
required would fluctuate to accommodate those changing needs. RESOLVED that Cabinet
approves the undertaking of the procurement process for care and support as
detailed within the report with the outcome of each tender to be brought back
to Cabinet for final approval. At this juncture (11.15 a.m.) the meeting adjourned for a refreshment break. |
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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 would involve the likely disclosure of
exempt information as defined in Paragraph 14 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A of the
Act. Additional documents: |
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APPROVAL FOR THE NORTH WALES SUPPORTED LIVING AGREEMENT To consider a confidential report by Councillor Bobby Feeley, Lead Member for Well-being and Independence (copy enclosed) seeking Cabinet approval for the acceptance and rejection of tenders in relation to the procurement exercise for the North Wales Supported Living (Framework) Agreement. Additional documents:
Decision: RESOLVED that Cabinet – (a) approve the acceptance of the tenders of
the 35 suppliers and to reject the tenders of 6 suppliers for the reasons detailed
and as stipulated within the Framework Agreement Award Recommendation Report
(Appendix 1 to the report), and (b) confirms that it has read, understood and
taken account of the original Commissioning Form (Appendix 2 to the report),
the Well-being Impact Assessment (Appendix 3 to the report) and the Data
Processing Impact Assessment for the Domiciliary Care tender (Appendix 4 to the
report). This tender forms part of that
original work stream. Minutes: Councillor Bobby Feeley presented the
confidential report regarding the outcome of the procurement exercise for the
North Wales Supported Living (Framework) Agreement and recommended acceptance
and rejection of tenders. The procurement exercise had been led by
Denbighshire County Council on behalf of the six North Wales Councils and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health
Board and involved a third procurement exercise to provide opportunities for
new providers wishing to provide Supported Living Services across the North
Wales Region and for existing approved providers of Domiciliary Care Services
providers to also provide Supported Living Services. Details of the procurement process had been
provided resulting in a recommendation to accept the tenders of 35 suppliers
and to reject the tenders of 6 suppliers for the reasons detailed within the
report. Cabinet considered the procurement exercise and
outcome of that process. Officers
responded to questions regarding the recommended rejection of tenders which did
not meet qualification and quality requirements following evaluation. RESOLVED that Cabinet – (a) approve the acceptance of the tenders of
the 35 suppliers and to reject the tenders of 6 suppliers for the reasons
detailed and as stipulated within the Framework Agreement Award Recommendation
Report (Appendix 1 to the report), and (b) confirms that
it has read, understood and taken account of the original Commissioning Form
(Appendix 2 to the report), the Well-being Impact Assessment (Appendix 3 to the
report) and the Data Processing Impact Assessment for the Domiciliary Care
tender (Appendix 4 to the report). This
tender forms part of that original work stream. |
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SUB-REGIONAL CONTRACT (DCC/CCBC) - SHARED LIVES SERVICES To consider a confidential report by Councillor Bobby Feeley, Lead Member for Well-being and Independence (copy enclosed) seeking Cabinet approval to award the contract for the provision of Shared Lives Services following a tender exercise. Additional documents:
Decision: RESOLVED that Cabinet – (a) agree to the award of the contract for the
provision of Shared Lives Services to
the named provider as detailed within the report for a period of seven years with the option
to extend for a further three year period, and (b) confirms that it
has read, understood and taken account of the Well-being Impact Assessment No.
688 (Appendix 3 to the report) as part of its consideration. Minutes: Councillor Bobby Feeley presented the
confidential report seeking Cabinet approval to award one contract for the
provision of Shared Lives Services across Conwy and Denbighshire to the
successful provider following a tendering exercise. The service enabled a range of citizens who had
been assessed in need of support to live independent lives, reducing admission
to hospital or residential care and supporting informal carers by providing
regular respite. Eligible adults were
offered long/short term placements in the homes of a self-employed Shared Lives
carer specifically trained and recruited and supported by the Shared Lives
provider. Details of the financial
considerations and basis of the contract had been provided together with
procurement process and outcomes. Cabinet considered the recent procurement
exercise and outcome of that process together with the report recommendations
and reasons therefore and it was – RESOLVED that Cabinet – (a) agree to the award of the contract for the
provision of Shared Lives Services to
the named provider as detailed within the report for a period of seven years with the option
to extend for a further three year period, and (b) confirms that it
has read, understood and taken account of the Well-being Impact Assessment No.
688 (Appendix 3 to the report) as part of its consideration. The
meeting concluded at 11.40 hrs. |