Agenda item

Cabinet Members:   

Councillor Gareth Griffith    Environment Department

Councillor Catrin Wager      Highways and Municipal Department and the Consultancy Department

To consider the report

A report was presented providing details of savings proposals that would contribute to the potential financial gap in the 2020/21 budget. The Members were reminded that the annual grant received by the Welsh Government had not been sufficient for the last 12 years, and this had subsequently led to a situation where the Council had to plan to plug the financial gap. For 2020/21 it had been resolved to plan for a £2m gap and ask all the departments to find their contribution towards this amount. The Committee was asked to consider the proposals of the Environment Department, the Highways and Municipal Department and the Consultancy Department together with their implications.

The Cabinet Members and the Heads of Departments elaborated on the content of the report, and responded to questions / observations from the Members. The Cabinet Members thanked the Departments for finding further savings that would not impact directly on the residents of Gwynedd.

The Savings of the Consultancy Department

The committee welcomed the practice of increasing the resources within Gwynedd Consultancy Units to enable the Department to increase income which as a result would keep people employed in high-skilled jobs within the County through the medium of Welsh.

The Savings of the Highways and Municipal Department

In response to a suggestion regarding reducing / cutting down on external contracting costs so that smaller / local companies could compete for the work (below the threshold) it was accepted that more could be done to keep the benefit local and provide opportunities for local businesses to bid for the work.

In response to a request for information about the cost and arrangements for commercial waste, it was explained that the Department served over 2,000 businesses across Gwynedd by providing a unique offer to recycle or dispose of their residual waste. The service would sort out waste that could be recycled in Parc Adfer in the Deeside Enterprise Zone. It was added that this gave the Department the opportunity to improve the service by attracting and encouraging more companies to stay. It was also noted that a new act would be emerging which would require Local Authorities to recycle more, and the current arrangement of recycling commercial waste would be advantageous for Gwynedd. The aim was to offer a green / responsible service and look to develop this service further.

The Savings of the Environment Department

In response to the sentence which read 'the impact on residents will be reduced through closer collaboration with the Highways and Municipal Department', and that this should be the natural way of working regardless, it was noted that the Departments were conducting cross-departmental discussions to try to identify opportunities to collaborate within common areas so as to avoid duplication of work.

General observations:

·         Consider making savings by using local consultants rather than external consultants

·         Impose a fine for breaching planning conditions – this was an opportunity to generate income.

RESOLVED to accept the report and approve the departments' proposals to meet their share of the relevant savings.