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DECISION
i.
That the budget
mentioned in the cabinet member's report for 2016/17 should be adopted which
means a budget of £227,227,120 should be set for 2016/17, to be funded
by £166,950,760 of Government
Grant and £60,276,360 Council Tax income, with an increase of 3.97%,
namely an increase of £46.09 in
the Band D Council Tax from £1,161.07 to £1,207.16 per annum..
ii.
Also, to accept
the medium-term financial strategy, and consequently plan to increase the
Council Tax by 3.97% in 2017/18 which would mean having to meet a financial
deficit of £4.94m over the next two years after meeting the efficiency
savings of £14.054m noted in clause 21 of the report "2016/17 Budget and 2016-17 - 2019-20 Financial Strategy".
iii.
To establish a
capital programme of £22.141m in 2016/17 and £12.286m in 2017/18 to be funded
from sources noted in clause 9.4 of the appendix to the report. "2016/17 Budget and 2016-17 -
2019-20 Financial Strategy".
iv.
To meet the
deficit of £4.94m noted in part (ii) above, that the following cuts regime
should be implemented -
|
No.
|
Possible cut
|
Amount
£
|
|
C2
|
Delete 2 posts out
of 7.5 in the Systems Support Unit within the Adults Service
|
80,000
|
|
C3
|
Delete 3 posts out
of 20.6 in the Workforce Support Unit which supports adults and children's
services
|
90,000
|
|
C4
|
Delete 2 posts out
of 10.5 in the Workforce Development Unit within the Adults Service
|
75,000
|
|
C5
|
Delete 1 post out of
2.5 within Housing Management and Strategy
|
37,500
|
|
C7
|
Delete 1 post out of
3 in the Information Unit which deals with Data Protection Act and the
Freedom of Information Act
|
30,000
|
|
C8
|
Close Frondeg Pwllheli and Beach Road Felinheli
offices but that the Service should
be requested to report back to the Cabinet on the business case of scheme
C8 (Frondeg) before moving on to realise it to ensure that there are
acceptable solutions to the needs of those who are currently there
|
60,000
|
|
C9
|
Delete 1 post out of
8.5 in the Building Maintenance Unit
|
28,000
|
|
C10
|
Delete 1.5 post out
of 7.2 in the Estates and Facilities Unit
|
40,000
|
|
C11
|
Delete 2 posts out
of 37.62 in the Finance Units
|
50,000
|
|
C12
|
Stop providing
Information Technology support outside normal working hours
|
39,500
|
|
C13
|
Delete the Gwynedd
Trainee scheme and the Professional Trainee scheme
|
258,720
|
|
C14
|
Delete 2 posts out
of 8.8 in the Health and Safety unit
|
80,000
|
|
C15
|
Remodel the Gwynedd
and Anglesey partnership due to the changes in the Public Service Boards
|
130,000
|
|
C16
|
Delete the
contribution towards the Gwynedd Environmental Partnership
|
7,620
|
|
C18
|
Delete the budget to
support alcohol and drugs misuse
|
28,900
|
|
C19
|
Delete 1 post out of
2 within Project Management
|
31,060
|
|
1
|
Grass cutting main
areas of our towns 6 times a year rather than 8 times however consideration should be given to whether more efficiency
savings can be found on Scheme no. 1 (Grass Cutting in Town Centres) by
reducing basic cuts further and asking local communities to pay if they
want a better standard
|
120,000
|
|
2
|
Delete 1 post out of
10.5 in the Joint Planning Policy Unit
|
15,000
|
|
3
|
Reduce 50% of the
strategic grants for the arts budget, but
to be implemented on 1 April 2017 in order to give the Service an
opportunity to discuss its implementation with the organisations supported
and seek to attract assistance from other sources to replace the reduction
in grant from the Council
|
84,850
|
|
4
|
Cut 2 posts out of 7
in the Street Enforcement Unit
|
64,500
|
|
5
|
Reduce the opening
hours of the Dolgellau archives from 3 days to 2 and Caernarfon archives
from 4 to 3 days per week
|
41,670
|
|
6
|
Grass cutting in 131
children’s playing fields every two months rather than every month
|
60,000
|
|
8
|
Reduce an element of
the "Gwynedd Ni" budget, focusing on the statutory element
|
70,000
|
|
9
|
Delete 1 post out of
27.7 in the Council Tax Processing unit
|
25,000
|
|
10
|
Cut 50% of the
maintaining promenades, benches and street name signs budget
|
40,000
|
|
11
|
Stop providing a
hard copy of the ‘Snowdonia Mountains and Coast’ booklet
|
46,000
|
|
12
|
Reduce 50% of the
grants given to voluntary organisations for specific projects
|
62,500
|
|
13
|
Stop paying the fee
to pay Council Tax in post offices
|
40,000
|
|
14
|
Reduce frequency of
grass cutting in the Council’s cemeteries from 7 times per year to 5
|
60,000
|
|
15
|
Cut 10% on the
budget for purchasing library books
|
26,000
|
|
16
|
Delete 1 post out of
14 in the Building Control unit
|
40,000
|
|
17
|
Delete a second post
out of 10.5 in the Joint Planning Policy Unit
|
15,000
|
|
19
|
Reduce the time and
/ or raise a fee for childcare element within the Free Breakfast scheme in
primary schools
|
100,000
|
|
20
|
Keep the CCTV service but rather than delete the resources which continually monitor it,
that the savings should be achieved by seeking to reduce the Council's contribution
and make any operational changes that can be made without affecting the
effectiveness of the system
|
90,000
|
|
21
|
Delete 1 post out of
2.45 in the Biodiversity unit
|
30,000
|
|
22
|
Reduce 50% of the
traffic management budget
|
65,000
|
|
23
|
Delete 20% of the
public footpath budget including 1 post out of 7.2
|
110,000
|
|
25
|
Delete 1 post out of
8.5 in the Pollution Control Unit
|
35,000
|
|
26
|
Delete the Noddfa
Centre grant
|
5,000
|
|
27
|
Delete 1 post out of
13.8 in the Food Hygiene Unit
|
36,000
|
|
28
|
Delete 1 post out of
21.7 in the Council Tax and Housing Benefit unit
|
25,000
|
|
29
|
Delete the Arfon
Community Gang service
|
70,000
|
|
30
|
Cut the highway
maintenance budget (and note that
the amount of the cut was adapted in accordance with the recommendation in
the report)
|
850,000
|
|
31
|
Rather
than the original proposal of closing 30 of the 42 Youth Clubs, that the scheme
in question should be changed to realise the savings of £200,000 (along
with the expected efficiency saving of £70,000) by redesigning the Youth
Service and accepting that the grants to youth organisations will have to
be considered as part of the entire review
|
200,000
|
|
32
|
Cease running the Lloyd George Museum but to be implemented from 1 April 2017
in order to give the Service an opportunity to hold discussions with any
organisation that would wish to take responsibility for the museum
|
27,000
|
|
33
|
Increase the price
of primary schools meals from £2.30 to £2.50 (and note the change in the maximum price to be charged)
|
105,000
|
|
37
|
Delete 2 posts out
of 85 in the Social Workers, Occupational Therapists and Care Workers Unit
within the Adults Service
|
80,000
|
|
38
|
Reduce the frequency
of cleaning villages and industrial estates to every 3 months rather than
every month and increase the time to respond to incidents
|
130,000
|
|
39
|
Cut 25% on the
budget for purchasing library books
|
39,000
|
|
40
|
Delete 1 post out of
12 in the Housing Enforcement Unit
|
30,000
|
|
42
|
Reduce 12.4% of the
budget of £801,790 paid by the Adults Service to voluntary / charitable
organisations
|
100,000
|
|
43
|
Delete 10% of the
budget of Derwen Children’s Service (which employs 19.4)
|
75,000
|
|
44
|
Delete the Healthy
Living schemes
|
54,050
|
|
46
|
Delete the budget to
maintain Nature Reserves
|
59,400
|
|
47
|
Delete the Community
Safety and Domestic Violence project budget
|
24,250
|
|
48
|
Manage Blue flag and
Green flag beaches only
|
24,200
|
|
49
|
Delete 1 post out of
7.7 on managing flood risk
|
40,000
|
|
50
|
Delete 1 post out of
7 in the unit which manages grants and adaptations for the disabled
|
30,000
|
|
51
|
Close 50 out of 73
of the county's public toilets
|
244,000
|
|
52
|
Delete 1 post out of
21 in the multi-agency Youth Justice Service
|
25,000
|
|
53
|
Delete the sports
development schemes
|
71,180
|
|
58
|
Close the Council's
Tourist Information Centres
|
155,000
|
|
63
|
Delete 1 post out of
7 on road works management
|
30,000
|
|
65
|
Delete 4 posts out
of 85 in the Social Workers, Occupational Therapists and Care Workers Unit
within the Adults Service
|
80,000
|
|
71
|
Delete 1 post out of
21.4 in the Homelessness Unit
|
25,000
|
v.
Also, to note
that whilst we would not expect the cuts element of £28,000 noted against
scheme 55 (Libraries), that we would continue to expect changes for the
libraries service which would be restricted to the efficiency saving amount
targeted for them which will possibly involve implementing a large element of
the change noted against scheme number 55.
vi.
For Scheme 66
(Women's Aid), whilst it should not be cut at present, this should be subject
to them satisfying the Service that they have looked for all possible
opportunities to be as efficient as possible, including any saving which
would derive from that in the efficiency savings.
vii.
For Schemes 72
(Barmouth Bridge) and 78 (Aber Bridge), that these budgets should not be cut
at present, but this should be subject to reaching the target of
significantly reducing the cost to the Council of contributing to their
future, including any saving which would derive from that in the efficiency savings.
viii.
For Scheme 59
(Neuadd Dwyfor), that this budget should not be cut, but this is subject to
discussing options with any local organisation with a view to them taking
responsibility for it with the aim of reducing the costs for Gwynedd
ratepayers, and that any savings should be included in the efficiency
savings.
ix.
With
recommendations vi), vii) and viii) above, that we should receive a report
back within a year and review the situation at that time as a result of any
developments.
x.
The Head of Finance
Department is authorised, in co-operation with the Cabinet Member for
Resources, to review the level of specific funds (as suggested in paragraphs
8.6 - 8.8 of the appendix "2016/17 Budget") in order to fund the
need to "bridge" £2,106,050 in 2016/17 as it would not be possible
to implement all the cuts at once from April 2016.
xi.
The Head of
Finance Department, in co-operation with the Cabinet Member for Resources, to
arrange to finance a revised amount from reserves, as necessary, in order to
protect the Council's decisions on the budget and tax should there be
marginal changes in Government grant, following the Welsh Government's
decisions, which will lead to the announcement of the final grant settlement
for local government on 2 March, and a vote thereon in the Assembly on 9
March 2016 to confirm.
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