Agenda and decisions

The content of the report on the outcome of the statutory consultation (Consultation Report) on the proposal to close Ysgol Nebo on 31 December 2026 and provide a place for learners at Ysgol Llanllyfni from 1 January 2027 was considered, and the publication of a statutory notice on the proposal was approved, in accordance with the requirements of Section 48 of the School Standards and Organisation (Wales) Act 2013.

The content of the report on the outcome of the statutory consultation (Consultation Report) on the proposal to close Ysgol Baladeulyn on 31 December 2026 and provide a place for learners at Ysgol Talysarn from 1 January 2027 was considered, and the publication of a statutory notice on the proposal was approved, in accordance with the requirements of Section 48 of the School Standards and Organisation (Wales) Act 2013.

Resolved: 

a) To commission the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Council Leader, and where relevant, the Monitoring Officer, to proceed with the further investigations and reviews noted in part 4 of this report following the publication of the Our Bravery Brought Justice report, including:

(a) Agreement on the terms of reference and operational steps

(b) Identify and appoint an external independent investigator where required

(c) Arrange for the receipt of final reports and take steps to submit them to the relevant committees and forums

b) To authorise the Chief Executive to continue to communicate with other relevant bodies and partners about what action and investigations they are undertaking and the lessons learnt that may benefit the Council

c) To authorise the Chief Executive to divert staff resources to support independent investigators to complete the work

ch) To authorise the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Head of Finance and Cabinet Member for Finance, to prioritise and approve allocations from the fund established through the 2026-27 One-off Bids system to fund the investigations.

Resolved:

To allocate the additional income from the premium on empty properties and second homes to the priority areas set out in Part 4 below.

To commission further work to formulate proposals for the use of the additional premium funding of £914k relevant to 2025/26 and the remaining £4k unallocated in this report.

To accept the report and consider the final financial position of the Council's departments for 2025/26:

Noting that there is substantial expenditure above the budget by the Adults, Health and Well-being Department, the Children and Families Department and the Environment Department in 2025/26 (see Column A in the table above). The following financial virements (explained in Appendix 2) were approved –

· The departments that are over-spending to receive one-off financial assistance and to limit the overspend that will be carried forward by the Department to £100k (see column B in the table above).

· It was confirmed to provide financial support of £269k above the contracted payment to Byw'n Iach (see column C in the table above).

· To fund the overspend of £1.256 million in the Waste field by using £786k from the Parc Adfer Contributory Earnings Recovery Fund and £470k from the Producer Extended Responsibility Fund for packaging materials (see column CH in the table above).

· To allocate a financial bid of up to £800k to the Housing and Property Department to fund the pressure on the emergency accommodation service in 2026/27.

· On Corporate budgets:

- use from the corporate underspend (£2.8 million) to assist the departments that have overspent in 2025/26.

- the remainder (of £3.174 million) required to fund all requirements to be funded from the Council's Financial Strategy Support Fund.

– the underspend (of £914k) on Council Tax Premium is transferred to the Council Tax Premium fund for use to be determined by Cabinet.

The amounts to be carried forward were approved (the "Adjusted Over/(Under) Expenditure" column in column D above and column D of Appendix 1).

To approve the financial virements from the Council's Financial Strategy Support Fund as outlined in Appendix 3 following a review of the funds.

- £6.6 million being moved to the Council's general balances 

- £1.5 million being moved to the Building Safeguarding Fund.

To accept the report on the year-end review (31 March 2026 position) of the capital programme.

The following modifications to the Capital Budget approved on 6 March 2025 and adjusted on 11 November 2025 and 20 January 2026 were approved in terms of the funding methods of the programme (as set out in part 3.2.3 of the report), namely:

- a £35,000 increase in borrowing use

- an increase of £14,058,000 in the use of grants and contributions

- a £485,000 increase in use of capital receipts

- an increase in the use of revenue contributions of £1,313,000

- a £2,493,000 reduction in capital fund utilisation

- a reduction of £667,000 in the use of renewal and other funds.