Decisions

The Gwynedd Council Plan for 2018-23, Review 2021/22 was approved subject to amendments to the wording of Priority 4 and Priority 7, and to recommend that the Full Council adopted the Plan at its Full Council meeting on 4 March 2021.

It was agreed to:

·         finance the funding gap for Canolfan Dolfeurig (£600,000)

·         finance the funding gap for the former Llanrug school house site (£150,000) and recoup the majority of the initial investment by selling the house and part of the land for affordable housing to local people and to make improvements to the primary school

·         that a further £2m is provided to commence work on constructing industrial units in the county

·         wait to see what the outcome of the discussions held with Welsh Government regarding Barmouth Promenade will be, before considering any further allocations in the Asset Plan.

It was resolved to recommend to the Full Council in March that Gwynedd Council:

·         Allowed no discount on class A second homes, in accordance with Section 12 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992

·         Allowed no discount and raised a premium of 100% on class B second homes, in accordance with Section 12B of the Local Government Finance Act 1992

·         Allowed no discount on homes that have been empty for 6 months or more and raised a premium of 100% on homes that have been empty for 12 months or more, in accordance with Section 12A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.

It was agreed to recommend the following to the Full Council on 4 March:

1.    Establish a budget of £271,751,360 for 2021/22 to be funded through a
Government Grant of £194,793,140 and £76,958,220 of Council Tax income with
an increase of 3.7%.

2.    Establish a capital programme of £47,085,960 in 2021/22, to be funded from the sources noted in Appendix 4 of the report.

It was noted that the figures in recommendation 1 above would change in line with the figures in Appendix 5 of the report should the Full Council increase the Council Tax Premium from 50% to 100%.

The amendments to the Parking Strategy were adopted by changing the parking management arrangements and implementing the parking fees structure in Gwynedd to be implemented from 1 April 2021. It was agreed on an additional late adjustment to the report, reconciling the enforcement hours of Band 1 Car Parks to be operational between 10am and 4:30pm, and to keep the income level under review during 2021/22, with a view to assist the Environment Department should the real income from parking fees be lower than the target in the budget due to this late adjustment. The Head of Environment was authorised to take the necessary statutory steps to implement the revised fee structure from 1 April 2021.

It was agreed that the Council would join the BES2 Scheme in accordance with the report.

Delegated powers were granted to the Head of Environment Department in consultation with the Head of Finance Department and Head of Legal to agree and complete the Voluntary Regional Partnership Agreement for the implementation of the scheme in North Wales.

The business case to invest £15.4m to purchase approximately 100 houses to let to Gwynedd residents on an affordable rent was approved with every purchase to demonstrate its own financial viability on a case-by-case basis.

It was agreed that the Head of Housing and Property in consultation with the Head of Legal Services and the Head of Finance Department review the statutory arrangements for implementing the Scheme following the publication of revised Government Housing Revenue Account Guidance and report further to Cabinet if additional decisions are needed.