Dewi A Morgan, CJC’s
Chief Finance Officer, Dafydd
L Edwards, CJC’s Project Lead
Officer and Sian Pugh, CJC’s Group Accountant to present the report.
Additional documents:
Decision:
Resolved to adopt option B with a total of
£764,820 for the 2023/24 Budget for the North Wales Corporate Joint Committee, and
to approve the relevant levy on the constituent authorities, as noted under
Option B.
Minutes:
The report was submitted by Dafydd L. Edwards (the
Joint Committee's Project Lead Officer).
DECISION
Resolved to
adopt option B with a total of £764,820 for the 2023/24 Budget for the North
Wales Corporate Joint Committee, and to approve the relevant levy on the
constituent authorities, as noted under Option B.
DISCUSSION
The report was submitted, noting that the Corporate
Joint Committee was required to approve its budget by the end of January 2023.
It was explained that two options had been formulated for different levels of
operations, to both fulfil the Planning and Transport functions and to enable
the Joint Committee to be administered properly.
It was noted that Option A reflected the Transport and
Planning professionals' aspirations to deliver the two strategic plans. It was
added that in an ideal situation, Option A would be recommended for the CJC's
budget for 2023/24 but in the context of the financial pressures on several
authorities this year, option B had been presented as a realistic minimum
budget and this was the recommendation.
It was added that option B reflected the Joint
Committee's previous decisions in terms of the assumed resource level. It was
noted that the 2022/23 estimates included an assumption of employing Transport
officers for 9 months and Planning officers for 4 months, while the 2023/34
budget included a full-year effect of employing the above for a full 12 months.
In addition, this option included the estimated cost of the Chief Executive's
role for two days a week together with the cost of corporate functions to
support the Planning Sub-committee and Transport Sub-committee.
It was expressed that the cost of Option B would also
be lower than Option A as it assumed a one-off use of reserves worth £80,000,
which was the estimated underspend for the 2022/23 financial year. Furthermore,
the need to charge separate levies for Planning and other functions was identified.
It was noted that Snowdonia National Park would only contribute towards the
cost of the Planning element. It was suggested that the levy be apportioned
between the constituent Authorities based on the population relevant to the
field of work. The levy amounts for the constituent Authorities were detailed
in point 2.2 of the report.
Observations arising from the discussion
¾
Option B was supported.
¾
A comment was made that
further discussions were required on Planning, the Economy
and Transport with the Chief Executives in order to plan for the way forward in
the context of the Corporate Joint Committee. Members were keen to discuss the
arrangements of the Sub-committees and to have meetings soon. They requested
that a meeting be arranged with the Leaders and the Chief Executives as soon as
possible to discuss the above.
¾
It was explained that
an annual meeting of the Corporate Joint Committee would likely be conducted in
May where a Chair would be appointed for the 2023/24 Committees year.