Agenda, decisions and minutes

Cabinet Members and Officers were welcomed to the meeting.

No apologies were received.

There were no declarations of personal interest

There were no urgent items

There were no matters arising from overview and scrutiny.

DECISION

Resolved to:

1.1   Note the final financial position of the Council’s departments for 2018/19.

1.2   To approve the amounts to be carried forward (the “Revised Over/ (Under) Spend” column of the summary in Appendix 1), namely -

1.3   To approve the following recommendations and financial transfers (as outlined in Appendix 2) -

·         The Children and Families Department to receive a one-off partial financial assistance of £1,544k to restrict the level of overspend that will be carried over by the department, to support them to move on to face the challenges of 2019/20.

·         The Education Department to receive one-off partial financial assistance of £16k to limit the overspend that will be carried forward by the department to £100k.

·         Compensate the Economy and Community Department £157k, the sum of the overspend due to the slippage of establishing ‘Cwmni Byw’n Iach’ to run the leisure centres, which limits the overspend that will be carried forward by the department to £28k.

·         The Highways and Municipal Department to receive a one-off partial financial assistance of £518k, which limits the overspend that will be carried forward by the Department to £100k, to support them to face the challenges of 2019/20.

·         In accordance with the financial regulations it is recommended that the usual practice is adhered to in order to allow the Environment Department to keep (£100k) of their underspend, and to move (£392k) which is the sum above (£100k), to be used to support the departments that have overspent in 2018/19.

·         On Corporate budgets, transfer:

- (£19k) related to the Council Tax Premium to a specific reserve to be considered for the Housing Strategy.

- (£551k) relating to capital costs to a capital programme fund.

- (£738k) on maintenance to a maintenance reserve.

·         Use (£1,843k) of the net underspend on the Corporate budget to support the departments that have overspent in 2018/19.

·         The remainder of the Corporate underspend (£173k) to go to the Council’s general balances.

1.4  To approve the virements from the specific reserves and provisions as outlined in Appendix 3 following a review of reserves and provisions, namely:

·                     Harvest (£3.931m) from reserves and (£69k) from provisions.

·                     Assign £3m to the transformation fund for the Council Plan.

·                     Transfer £1m to the Council’s General Balances.

·                     Assign for a one-year period, £262k from the Supporting the Financial Strategy Reserve to bridge the funding source relating to liabilities of the Pension Fund.

The item was submitted by Cllr Ioan Thomas   

RESOLVED

1.1   To note the final financial position of the Council’s departments for 2018/19.

1.2   To approve the amounts to be carried forward (the “Revised Over/ (Under) Spend” column of the summary in Appendix 1), namely -

1.3   To approve the following recommendations and virements (as outlined in Appendix 2) 

·         The Children and Families Department to receive a one-off partial financial assistance of £1,544k to restrict the level of overspend that will be carried over by the department, to support them to move on to face the challenges of 2019/20.

·         The Education Department to receive a one-off partial financial assistance of £16k to limit the overspend that will be carried forward by the department to £100k.

·         Compensate the Economy and Community Department £157k, the sum of the overspend due to the slippage of establishing ‘Byw’n Iach’ to run the leisure centres, which limits the overspend that will be carried forward by the department to £28k.

·         The Highways and Municipal Department to receive a one-off partial financial assistance of £518k, which limits the overspend that will be carried forward by the Department to £100k, to support them to face the challenges of 2019/20.

·         In accordance with the Financial Regulations, it is recommended that the usual practice is adhered to in order to allow the Environment Department to keep (£100k) of their underspend, and to move (£392k) which is the sum above (£100k), to be used to support the departments that have overspent in 2018/19.

·         On Corporate budgets, transfer:

- (£19k) related to the Council Tax Premium to a specific reserve to be considered for the Housing Strategy.

- (£551k) relating to capital costs to a capital programme fund.

- (£738k) on maintenance to a maintenance reserve.

·         Use (£1,843k) of the net underspend on the Corporate budget to support the departments that have overspent in 2018/19.

·         The remainder of the Corporate underspend (£173k) to the Council’s general balances.

1.4   To approve the virements from the specific reserves and provisions as outlined in Appendix 3 following a review of reserves and provisions, namely:

·                     Harvest (£3.931m) from reserves and (£69k) from provisions.

·                     Assign £3m to the Transformation Fund for the Council Plan.

·                     Transfer £1m in to the Council’s General Balances.

·                     Assign for a one-year period, £262k from the Supporting the Financial Strategy Reserve to bridge the funding source relating to liabilities of the Pension Fund.

DISCUSSION

The report was submitted, noting that the report elaborated on the Council's expenditure for 2018/19.  Cllr Peredur Jenkins was thanked for his commitment to secure the Council's financial position over the past years. It was expressed that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

DECISION

To accept the report on the end of year review (31 March 2019 position) of the capital programme, and approve the revised financing as shown in part 4 of the report, that is:

·         £7,000 increase in the use of borrowing

·         £1,739,000 increase in the use of grants and contributions

·         £71,000 increase in the use of capital receipts

·         £158,000 increase in the use of revenue contributions

·         No change in the use of the capital reserve

·         £184,000 increase in the use of renewal and other reserves

Submitted by Cllr Ioan Thomas

DECISION

To accept the report on the end of year review (31 March 2019 position) of the capital programme, and approve the revised financing as shown in part 4 of the report, that is:

·         £7,000 increase in the use of borrowing

·         £1,739,000 increase in the use of grants and contributions

·         £71,000 increase in the use of capital receipts

·         £158,000 increase in the use of revenue contributions

·         No change in the use of the capital reserve

·         £184,000 increase in the use of renewal funds and others

DISCUSSION

The report was submitted, noting that its main purpose was to present the final situation of the 2018/19 capital programme. It was expressed that the report provided an analysis per department of the capital programme of £53.53 million for the three years 2018/19 - 2020/21.

Attention was drawn to a main conclusion, namely that the Council had spent over £22.8m through capital schemes, where 55% of it was grant-funded.  Concerns were raised about the reduction in the number of Council staff and the capacity that would be available to ensure that the plans were mature to submit for grants in the future. It was explained that the total of £12.7m was slipping from 2018/19, compared with £15.6m at the end of 2017/18. The main reasons for the slippages were elaborated upon, which included the Schools Maintenance Grant of £1.8m arriving late, a change in the timing of the spending on the replacement of the Council's cars and awaiting decisions on match funding from Welsh Government on plans in the Property field.

It was emphasised that the Council had been successful in receiving additional grants since the previous review, including School Maintenance Grants and the Intermediate Care Fund grant.

Observations arising from the discussion

¾     It was asked, as some services depended on grants, how this could affect the Council in the future. It was noted that the Council were attempting to place pressure on the Government for grants to be included as part of the settlement, it was expressed that grant-dependent services caused uncertainty and it was difficult to plan for the future.

¾     The staff were thanked for their hard work in ensuring grants and planning for the future plans.

To note the information within the report and note the encouraging progress towards realising the 2018/19 and previous years savings schemes.

The report was submitted by Cllr Ioan Thomas 

DECISION

To accept the information within the report and note the encouraging progress towards realising the savings schemes of 2018/19 and previous years.

DISCUSSION

The report was submitted, noting that over 96% of the 2015/16 - 2017/18 savings had been realised by March 2018, it was added that this was a total of over £23m. It was expressed that there was slippage on 12 of the plans, with 7 of them in the Adults Department. Concern was raised about 2 schemes in the Education Department, namely the Child-care?? Element within the Free Breakfast Scheme, and the Increasing Primary School Meal Prices from £2.30 to £2.50. It was added that the plans did not meet the expected savings and had consequently led to an overspend.

It was noted that the 2018/19 Financial Strategy had planned for savings to the value of £2.5m.  Nevertheless, it was expressed that 73% of the plans had been realised but that seven had slipped, including a delay in the transfer of the leisure provision to Byw'n Iach, and the 'End to End' scheme in the Children and Supporting Families Department. It was added that a review had been held in the LAC field which concluded that the number of nights that children spent in residential placements had dropped, but the cases had become more intense, and thus had increased the cost of the placements.

In general, it was noted that the progress that had been made to realise savings was acceptable, but that some delivery difficulties had been highlighted. The importance of keeping to the savings was added, noting that unless it was possible to keep to the savings plans, the only other option would be to cut services.  

Observations arising from the discussion

-        In relation to the increase in school dinner prices, it was noted that there had been a reduction in the number of pupils who purchased school dinners following the price increase; consequently, the scheme had not met its savings target.

-        It was noted that delivering savings schemes was becoming increasingly difficult for departments. Nevertheless, it was added that the report showed success on delivering, that the Council had planned appropriately for savings, and that its robust financial arrangements meant that we were in a better position to ensure that this continued.