Venue: Siambr Hywel Dda, Council Offices, Caernarfon, Gwynedd, LL55 1SH
Contact: Annes Siôn 01286 679490
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APOLOGIES Additional documents: Minutes: Cabinet Members and Officers were welcomed to the meeting. Apologies had been received from Cllr Dyfrig Siencyn and Cllr Craig ab
Iago. |
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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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PERFORMANCE REPORT OF THE CABINET MEMBER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT PDF 147 KB Cyflwynwyd gan: Cyng / Cllr Dafydd Meurig Additional documents:
Decision: To accept and note the information
in the report and to reduce the savings target for travel savings from £390,000
to £240,000 and move the delivery year from 2018/19 to 2019/20, however,
requesting for the scheme to be implemented before 1 April 2019 if it is ready.
Minutes: The item was
submitted by Cllr Dafydd Meurig RESOLVED To accept and note the
information in the report and to reduce the savings target for travelling
savings from £390,000 to £240,000 and to move the delivery year from 2018/19 to
2019/20, however, requesting for the scheme to be implemented before 1 April
2019 if it is ready. DISCUSSION The report was submitted, noting that it was
a report that noted the latest information about the Department. It was
emphasised that, when looking at the financial situation, the Department had
now realised, or was on track with, 97% of the existing Savings Plans.
Nevertheless, it was explained that there would possibly be a slight slippage
in two schemes, namely the Review of Smallholding Rents and Public Protection -
Charging a Fee for Offering Advice but it was anticipated that the savings
would be realised in full by 2018/19. In addition to discovering the department's
savings, the Environment Department was responsible for leading a project
across the Council to reduce travelling costs in future. Having received an
External Audit of the costs, an external company had suggested that there was a
potential saving of £390,000 to be made. Additional work carried out internally
showed that this sum had been overestimated and that the sum therefore needed
to be reduced to £240,000, and it was noted that further work needed to be
undertaken before it could be realised and, therefore, there was a need to
re-profile the saving. By looking at the Department's performance,
it was noted that work had been carried out to develop graphs when looking at
performance. Specifically, the 'Percentage of customers who stated that they
were satisfied or very satisfied with the level of the Planning service' graph
was examined. It was expressed that there had been a fall during the period
but, on the whole, the accumulative response showed a better picture of how the
department was performing. It was explained that when there were major changes
in the graphs, it would be possible to ask why and to look at the data in more
detail. Observations arising from the discussion - Customer
satisfaction and the level of planning service was discussed, in particular why
some applications had taken years. It was emphasised that these applications
were quite large and the Redrow estate in Bangor was used as an example. It was
emphasised that these applications were quite large and the Redrow estate in
Bangor was used as an example. - It
was asked where Gwynedd was in terms of staff and time compared to other
counties in regard to food hygiene inspections. It was noted that the Cabinet
Member would follow this up with the service. - It was asked whether there was a decline in performance as a result of the cuts the Department had made during recent years, and it was asked whether this was a matter we should be more concerned about in general. It was noted that the service was only slightly behind ... view the full minutes text for item 5. Awdur: Dilwyn Williams |
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PERFORMANCE REPORT OF THE CABINET MEMBER FOR EDUCATION PDF 240 KB Cyflwynwyd gan: Cyng / Cllr Gareth Thomas Additional documents:
Decision: To accept and note the information
in the report as well as approving to re-profile the delivery of £263,000 of
the "Additional School Savings” plan, which was to realise £4.3m in
savings during the 2015/16 to 2018/19 period by slipping £65,000 to be realised
in 2021/22 and £198,000 to be realised in 2020/21. Minutes: The item was submitted by Cllr Gareth Thomas RESOLVED To accept and note the
information in the report as well as approve and re-profile the delivery of
£263,000 of the "Schools' Additional Savings" scheme, which was to
realise £4.3m in savings in the 2015/16 to 2018/19 period, by slipping £65,000
to be realised in 2021/22 and £198,000 to be realised in 2020/21. DISCUSSION The report was
submitted noting that the Cabinet Member was comfortable with performance on
the whole, but some fields needed more work. The Member guided everyone through
the report, highlighting some matters. It was noted that, when looking at
Improving and Standardising Education Standards in the Foundation Phase, the
summer 2018 results had been static for the third year and Gwynedd had been
placed in 15th place nationally. He expressed that Gwynedd should be in fourth
or fifth place, and therefore the results were disappointing. The Department
had commissioned GwE to consider the situation. By looking at the
Programme for a Network of Viable Schools for the Future: Bangor Project, it
was noted that the discussions had been held with the area's Headteachers,
governors and councillors to discuss options. By now, the favoured option had
been identified at the Catchment Area Review Committee, and it would be
presented at the Cabinet in February. The summer results were discussed, noting that the performance of Key Stage
4 and GCSE results were disappointing this year as there had been a fall in the
performance. However, it was emphasised that these results reflected the fall
nationally. The main reason for the fall was the changes to the examining system
and the specification for subjects such as Mathematics and English that had
significantly impacted the GCSE results for Wales. It was noted that the expected savings that would derive from
re-organisation schemes would be delivered later than expected, but rather than
asking the schools to face the burden in the meantime, it was noted that it
would be more sensible to re-profile the expected saving. Observations arising from the discussion - It was noted that Improving and Standardising Education Standards provided a foundation for the Department and was one of the main projects. The result was specifically low in the Foundation Phase and it was asked when a report would be submitted to the Cabinet to ensure that the standard of education would improve. It was expressed that the department had commissioned GwE to look at the matter but there had been some delay with doing the work. In addition, it was noted that when looking at the standards of the Foundation Phase, the results were lower as a result of Language. The teaching was through the medium of Welsh and many of the children came from non-Welsh speaking homes and may not have had a grasp of the language by the time they were seven years old. However, by looking at the standards of 11 year old children, the levels were much higher because they had had a grasp of ... view the full minutes text for item 6. Awdur: Iwan Trefor Jones |
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PERFORMANCE REPORT OF THE DEPUTY LEADER PDF 250 KB Cyflwynwyd gan: Cyng / Cllr Mair Rowlands Additional documents: Decision: To accept and note the information in the report. Minutes: The report was presented by Cllr Mair Rowlands DECISION In order to ensure effective and
transparent performance management, Cabinet Members are required to report
periodically on the performance of the field for which they are responsible to
the Cabinet. DISCUSSION The report was submitted
by noting that the Deputy Leader was generally happy with the progress in the
projects of the Corporate Support Department. Attention was drawn to the fact
that by looking at Keeping the Benefit Local, the Department was now reporting
on revenue expenditure only, and excluded capital expenditure. It was noted that
there had been some progress when looking at the Audit of the Welsh Language’s
situation in Gwynedd Council due to internal staffing circumstances.
Nevertheless, language awareness sessions had been held, questionnaires had
been shared out and a discussion had been held to arrange suitable training. It
was emphasised that the work of developing the Language Strategy was ongoing. It was expressed that
Ffordd Gwynedd training sessions for managers were continuing, and 70 had
attended by the end of 2017. It was noted that managers would have been
immersed in the principles of Ffordd Gwynedd, ensuring that they understood the
relevant concepts. The intention was that all managers would have attended the
course by the end of 2017/18. Since the Cabinet had
received the Self-Service Business Project Plan during October, a number of
services were available on-line to Gwynedd residents. Observations arising
from the discussion -
The
Ffordd Gwynedd training was discussed and it was noted that it was very
important that the training was properly embedded, and it was asked whether
there would be any follow-up training. It was noted that sessions were held
four months after the training in order to see how things were going. It was
expressed that it was one thing to understand it, but that it was something
else to actually do something about it. When we would know what difference the
development sessions made, we would need to consider where we would go next. -
It was asked whether it was the Cabinet Members'
responsibility in the Performance Challenge Meetings to ensure that the
operation of Ffordd Gwynedd would take place. It was suggested that it would be
a good idea to ask which managers had been on the training therefore when there
would be an opportunity to challenge their performance, there would be a
possibility of asking at that time what had been done as a result of the
training. It was expressed that Ffordd Gwynedd was a culture that needed to be
permeated throughout the Council and Cabinet Members had a role to play to show
that it was important to them. Awdur: Dilwyn Williams |