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APOLOGIES Additional documents: Minutes: The Cabinet
Members and Officers were welcomed to the meeting. No
apologies were received. Front-line
staff were thanked for their work during the harsh weather. |
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST Additional documents: Minutes: There were no declarations of
personal interest. |
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URGENT ITEMS Additional documents: Minutes: There were
no urgent items. |
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MATTERS ARISING FROM OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY Additional documents: Minutes: There were
no matters arising from overview and scrutiny. |
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MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON PDF 86 KB Additional documents: Minutes: The minutes
of the meeting held on 19 December 2023 were accepted as a true record |
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REVENUE BUDGET 2023/24 - END OF NOVEMBER REVIEW 2023 PDF 529 KB Cyflwynwyd gan: Cllr. Ioan Thomas Additional documents: Decision: 1) To accept the report on the end of
November 2023 review of the Revenue Budget and consider the latest financial
situation regarding the budgets of each department / service. 2) To note that significant overspend
is anticipated in the Adults, Health and Well-being Department, the Children
and Supporting Families Department, and the Highways, Engineering and YGC
Department this year. 3) Approve the transfer of £4,241k of
underspend on corporate budgets to the Council's Financial Strategy Reserve. Minutes: The report was submitted by
Cllr Ioan Thomas. DECISION 1)
To accept the report of the end of November
2023 review of the Revenue Budget and to consider the latest financial
situation regarding the budgets of each department / service. 2)
To note that significant overspend was
anticipated in the Adults, Health and Well-being Department, the Children and
Supporting Families Department, and the Highways, Engineering and YGC
Department this year. 3)
Approve the transfer of £4,241k of underspend
on corporate budgets to the Council's Financial Strategy Reserve. DISCUSSION The report was submitted, and it was noted that the
review detailed the latest review of the Council's revenue budget for 2023/24,
and the forecasts towards the end of the financial year. It was explained that
the review suggested that all the ten departments would overspend by the end of
the year. It was added that there would be a substantial overspend by the
Adults, Health and Well-being Department, the Children and Supporting Families
Department and the Highways, Engineering and YGC Department. It was noted that the department anticipated a
financial gap of £8.1m compared to the £9.1m noted in the August review. It was
explained that the position was better by a million because of the use of
one-off funds to assist the situation within departments. The following main issues were highlighted: Adults, Health, and Well-being Department - It was
noted that the latest forecasts suggested £5.4 million overspend, which was a
combination of several factors including several new and costly cases, higher
staffing costs and sickness levels and high rates of non-contact hours. It was conveyed that the work commissioned by
the Chief Executive was now underway to obtain a better understanding of
matters and create a clear response programme. Children and Supporting Families Department - it was
explained that the financial situation had worsened substantially since the end
of August review, and this was due to an increase in the costs of out-of-county
packages. It was noted that the Department anticipated an overspend of £1.3m. Education Department - It was noted that there was
increasing pressure on the Byw'n Iach - it was expressed that Covid had had an
impact on Cwmni Byw'n Iach and it was noted that the financial support would
continue this year and the required amount for this year had been decreased to
£360k. Highways, Engineering and YGC Department - an
overspend of £780k was anticipated by the department, it was noted that this
was because of a reduction in the commissioned work that had had a negative
impact on the income of highway services. It was noted that income losses in
ground maintenance and public toilets were also a factor. Environment Department - it was noted that there was an annual trend of overspending in the waste collection and recycling fields, it was explained ... view the full minutes text for item 6. Awdur: Ffion Madog Evans |
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SAVINGS OVERVIEW: PROGRESS REPORT ON REALISING SAVINGS SCHEMES PDF 714 KB Cyflwynwyd gan: Cllr. Ioan Thomas Additional documents:
Decision: To accept the information
in the report and note the progress towards realising the savings schemes for
2023/24 and previous years. Minutes: The report was submitted by
Cllr Ioan Thomas. DECISION To accept the information
in the report and note the progress towards realising the savings schemes for
2023/24 and previous years. DISCUSSION The report, which
summarised the situation with the Council's savings, was submitted. It was noted that to close the funding gap
this year £7.6m worth of savings needed to be implemented during 2023/24. It
was a combination of almost one million previously approved, savings for
Schools of £1.1m, £3m for Council departments and a further £2.4m by reviewing
the Council's capital debt repayment policy. Recent years had
highlighted difficulties in realising savings in some of these areas most
prominently in the Adults, Health and Well-being
Department and in the Waste field. It was expressed that £2m worth of schemes
with significant risks for delivery were scrapped as part of the End of August
Review. It was explained that 98% of the schemes from 2015/16
up to the 2023/24 financial year had now been realised namely £33.7m of the
£34.3m. In the context of new schemes in the current financial year, it was
noted that 81% had already been realised and a further 6% were on track to be
realised on time. It was clarified that there was a slight delay to the
realisation of £694k worth of savings schemes, but the Departments did not
anticipate a problem to realise these. It was emphasised that the majority of this amount consisted of £539k savings from
schools as they worked in line with the academic year and therefore realisation
would slip into the next financial year. It was emphasised that £39m
of savings had been realised from the required £41m over the period. It was anticipated that an additional 1%
would be realised by the end of the financial year. The Head of Finance
highlighted the comments and points raised in the Governance and Audit
Committee as follows. It had been asked how one could choose between financial
propriety and the performance of a statutory duty, and what would need to be
done once the money ran out. It had been explained that it was essential that
the Council did everything to ensure that it did not get to this point. It had
been noted that there was a need to ensure the Council received value for money
and made the most of every pound. It had been expressed that failure to do this
gave rise to a need to make a s114 statement, and that everything needed to be
done to avoid getting to this point. It
had been acknowledged that there was concern about a lack of resources to get
things done but that this was the current reality. It had been noted that there was an application to undertake modelling to predict future demand, and it had been explained that the Research and Information Team was at the forefront of this area. It had been highlighted that members had indicated that they were rapidly reaching the point where ... view the full minutes text for item 7. Awdur: Ffion Madog Evans |
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CAPITAL PROGRAMME 2023/24 - END OF NOVEMBER REVIEW PDF 1 MB Cyflwynwyd gan: Cllr. Ioan Thomas Additional documents: Decision: ·
To accept the report on the end of November review (30 November 2023
position) of the capital programme. ·
To approve the revised financing as shown in part 3.2.3 of the report,
namely: - an increase of £3,576,000
in the use of borrowing - an increase of £2,373,000 in the use of grants and
contributions - an increase of £317,000 in the use of revenue contributions -
an increase of £1,038,000 in the use of renewal and other reserves. Minutes: The report was submitted by Cllr Ioan Thomas. DECISION ·
To accept the report on the end of November
review (30 November 2022 position) of the capital programme. ·
To approve the revised financing as shown in
part 3.2.3 of the report, namely: - an increase of £3,576,000
in the use of borrowing - an increase of £2,373,000 in the use of grants and
contributions - an increase of £317,000 in the use of revenue contributions -
an increase of £1,038,000 in the use of renewal funds and others. DISCUSSION The report was submitted noting that the main purpose was to present the
revised capital programme and to approve the relevant financing sources. It was
explained that the main conclusions were that the Council had concrete plans in
place to invest around £86.8m in 2023/24 on capital schemes, with £41.5m funded
via specific grants. It was expressed that the impact of recent financial challenges continued on the capital programme, with £23.2m namely 27%
of the budget spent up to the end of November this year, compared to 40% over
the same period a year ago. It was noted
that an additional £27.4m of proposed spending had been re-profiled from
2023/24 to 2024/25 and 2025/26.
Attention was drawn to some of the schemes which included £12.2m School
Schemes, £11m Housing Strategy Schemes, £3.9m Coastal Risks and Flood
Prevention Schemes. It was highlighted that the Council had been
successful in attracting additional grants since the last review which included
£661k Circular Economy Capital Grant, £550k Grants for a 3G Community Synthetic
Field on the Syr Hugh Owen School site. Observations arising from the discussion ·
It was stated that there was so much worry
about the revenue schemes that the capital programme was often forgotten. It
was made clear that the Council's ten-year assets plan would be set over the
coming months, and it was highlighted that each service's requirements came to
a total of £82m with capital funding at £38m and therefore there would be a
need to cut back on expenditure. ·
It was noted that this year's spending share
was reported to be 27% which was lower than last year, and it was asked what
the reason for this was. It was explained that this was due to poor profiling
and some education schemes that had not moved forward. Awdur: Ffion Madog Evans |
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PERFORMANCE REPORT OF THE CABINET MEMBER FOR EDUCATION PDF 196 KB Cyflwynwyd gan: Cllr. Beca Brown Additional documents: Decision: To accept and note the information in the report. Minutes: The report was submitted by
Cllr Beca Brown. DECISION To accept and note the
information in the report. DISCUSSION The report was submitted and
Gwern ap Rhisiart was congratulated on his new role as Head of the Education
Department. Members were reminded that the Authority had received a positive
Estyn report published in September last year which testified to the
organisation's hard work and everyone was thanked for
their work. It was highlighted that the
department had been implementing plans within the new Council Plan but they were early days as it was a new plan. Some
areas were highlighted as follows. In terms of the Transforming Early Years
Education plan, it was noted that an external commissioner had been
commissioned and a draft work plan had been created. It was expressed that this would reduce
inconsistency in terms of the offer across the county. It was made clear that
the Council was ahead of the Government's free school meals timetable, and that
the upgrading work had now been carried out within schools. It was added that promotion work was needed
specifically in some schools where the rate of children who benefited was
lower. It was expressed regarding the
modernising of buildings and the learning environment that money may be
re-directed to invest in Ysgol Hirael and Ysgol
Tryfan in Bangor, as construction costs had increased so much. It was added that in terms of the Well-being
of Children and Young People and the Cost of sending Children to School that a
questionnaire had been shared which would identify the actual cost of sending
children to school and highlight the obvious costs of school uniforms, as well
as drawing attention to more hidden costs.
In terms of the Immersion
scheme, staff were thanked for their work and the children for all their
efforts and there was a real need to celebrate the number of new Welsh-speakers
the service had created. It was expressed that training continued within
schools and that some secondary schools were in a Say Something in Welsh
pilot scheme with the Welsh Government and that this highlighted that the
department was seeking every opportunity to ensure the use of Welsh. On a day-to-day basis it was
highlighted that the attendance level remained an issue, but was visible
locally, nationally and internationally following
Covid. It was noted that the reasons
were complex, but a great deal of work was being done. Sadness was expressed
that Cabinet had taken the decision to close Ysgol Felinwnda but staff were thanked for all their work
and the children were wished well in transferring to the two neighbouring
schools. Observations arising from the discussion ·
The Head of Education
added that the report highlighted a great deal of good news
but the department was facing challenges; however, he was looking forward to
moving on to work closely not only with department staff but also with the
schools. · It was highlighted that a teacher’s job was not an easy job and all teachers and ... view the full minutes text for item 9. Awdur: Gwern ap Rhisiart |
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PERFORMANCE REPORT OF THE CABINET MEMBER FOR FINANCE PDF 256 KB Cyflwynwyd gan: Cllr. Ioan Thomas Additional documents: Decision: To accept and note the information in the report. Minutes: The report was submitted by
Cllr Ioan Thomas. DECISION To accept and note the
information in the report. DISCUSSION The report was presented, and
it was noted that the department's performance had been generally good over the
last few months and had made satisfactory progress with the relevant priority
projects. Key issues arising from the department's performance were highlighted
including the following items. In terms of the IT Service –
Support, it was noted that the service had been successful in filling key
vacancies. It was highlighted that there had been over 3,453 requests for IT
support during October and November 2023, with 93% calls opened and closed
during the period. In looking at the IT Service – Infrastructure, it was noted
that the availability of the Core Network and Critical Systems had been 100%
during the period and there were no serious cyber incidents or service
breaches. Looking at finance services,
the following projects were highlighted. In terms of the Income Service
it was noted that the report continued to address the progress of the cases the
service referred to the Legal Service to ensure that there was effective
collaboration between both units. It was
highlighted that the Benefits Service was performing consistently well, and the
Manager and all service staff were thanked for ensuring that Gwynedd's most
vulnerable people received the financial support they qualified for. It was expressed that the Payroll
service had responded in a timely manner to the pay agreement for 2023/24 and
had ensured that increases and remuneration had been paid to staff during
November. Concern was highlighted at the failure of some services to notify the
Payroll Service in a timely manner of any change in an individual's position so
that action could be taken on time. Much work had been undertaken
to carry out the Ffordd Gwynedd review on the Tax
service, and clear improvements had now emerged from the commitment of the
Manager and the whole team to do the work. The savings schemes were highlighted and it was noted that all schemes except for one
had been delivered for the 2015/16 – 2022/23 schemes. It was noted that the
department did not anticipate that the scheme – Attracting additional income
through an Internal Collection Agency would realise the £35k savings target so
the department was looking for an alternative scheme. The total savings for 2023/24 for the Finance
Department were noted to be £294,060 over 7 schemes. It was explained that
£19,820 worth of schemes had already been realised and there were 3 other
schemes and a total of £138,670 that were on track to deliver to the timetable.
It was highlighted that 2 schemes worth £135,570 were slipping. Observations arising from the discussion ·
Attention was drawn to
the Benefits Service, and it was noted that the department was consistently
good; however, there was a need to encourage the people of Gwynedd to use the
service to ensure they received the financial support available to them. Awdur: Dewi Aeron Morgan |
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FORWARD WORK PROGRAM PDF 74 KB Cyflwynwyd gan: Cllr. Dyfrig Siencyn Additional documents: Decision: To approve the Forward Work Programme included with the meeting
papers. Minutes: The report was submitted by
Cllr Dyfrig Siencyn. DECISION To approve the Forward Work
Programme included with the meeting papers.
DISCUSSION None to note. |