To submit, for confirmation, the minutes of the following meetings of the County Council :-

·      11 December, 2018

·      28 January, 2019 (Extraordinary Meeting)

The minutes of the following meetings of the Isle of Anglesey County Council were confirmed as correct :-

·      11 December, 2018

·      28 January, 2019 (Extraordinary Meeting)

To receive any declaration of interest from any Member or Officer in respect of any item of business.

The following declarations of personal interest were received in respect of Item 7 – Medium Term Financial Strategy and Budget 2019/2020:-

Councillors Richard Dew, Carwyn Jones, Richard O Jones, Llinos M Huws, R Meirion Jones, Dafydd Roberts, Bryan Owen, Margaret M Roberts, Nicola Roberts, Robin Williams.

The following declarations of personal interest were received in respect of Item 10 – Pay Policy Statement 2019:-

Councillors Richard Griffiths, Aled M Jones, Carwyn Jones, Robert Ll Jones, R Meirion Jones, Alun W Mummery, Robin Williams.

The Strategic Leadership Team together with the Heads of Function for Resources and Council Business declared a prejudicial interest in item 10 – Pay Policy Statement 2019 and were not present at the meeting during any discussion or voting thereon.

The Chair made the following announcements:-

·      Best wishes was extended to Councillor Richard O Jones and members of the ‘Walking Football Team’ – Amlwch Football Team who will be representing Wales at St George’s Park on Sunday;

·      Congratulations was extended to Ms Christina Darbyshire-Jones, Social Worker who has won the ‘Credo Care Fostering Agency as the most Outstanding External Professional’ recently;

·      Congratulations was extended to Councillor Bryan Owen on becoming a grandfather to twins.

The Chair said that he had the pleasure of meeting a family of Syrian Refugees recently who have been settled on Anglesey.

The Chair wished to remind the Members that the Chairman’s Charitable Concert is to be held at Ysgol Gyfun Llangefni on Friday, 5 April, 2019 at 7.00 p.m.

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Condolences was extended to the former Councillor John Chorlton and his family on the loss of their daughter Heather recently.

Condolences were extended to any Member of the Council or staff who had suffered bereavement.

Members and Officers stood in silent tribute as a mark of their respect and sympathy.

To submit the following question on notice by Councillor Robert Ll Jones to the Portfolio Holder for Finance:-

In view of the large overspend on the Children’s Services -

“What steps were taken to review the spending in the Social Service Department on a weekly basis, and was this brought to the attention of the Executive on a weekly basis?”

To receive the following question on notice by Councillor Robert Ll Jones to the Portfolio Holder for Finance:-

In view of the large overspend on the Children’s Services:-

‘What steps were taken to review the spending in the Social Services Department on a weekly basis, and was this brought to the attention of the Executive on a weekly basis?’

The Portfolio Holder for Finance responded that the Children’s Services is a demand lead service and when a Court decides that a child is to be put in care the Authority must respond.  He expressed that the Authority must make available appropriate facilities for children who are placed in care with foster parents or within specialist units.  The Executive at its informal meetings and the SLT receives monthly reports on every service and the full Executive receives reports on a quarterly basis.  The Portfolio Holder further said that reports are afforded to the Children’s Services Scrutiny Panel and the Head of Services has attended these meetings on two occasions.  Furthermore, the Portfolio Holder for Social Services has monthly meetings with the Head of Children’s Services together with the statutory Director of Social Services and the departmental budget is discussed and monitored within those meetings. 

Councillor Robert Ll Jones thanked the Portfolio Holder for Finance for his response and expressed his appreciation to the staff within the Children’s Services for their work in enabling improvement achieved within the service recently.   He said that he would like to see a new approach as to be able to afford facilities for looked after children within the Island and not having to place them out of county.

To submit the following Notices of Motion by Councillor Robert Llewelyn Jones:-

1.     On the 27^th April 2010, the then Executive passed a motion to try to ensure that the same thing did not happen as happened with the large planning application re Ty Mawr, Llanfairpwll in 2008.  This application was called-in by the Welsh Government and ended up being refused.

It was passed that a Planning Performance Agreement Charter setting out how the Authority should work with the developer, the community and other key stakeholders to ensure that large scale and complex development proposals were carefully considered in a constructive, collaborative and open manner.

The three largest developments in the last ten years did not have a PPA entered into and ended up with one being called-in and the other two, besides Ty Mawr, namely Holyhead Waterfront and the Land and Lakes developments being costly to our authority and the people of Ynys Môn.  If a PPA had been entered into, the chances are that the electorate would have been listened to by the developers.

I am asking that a Planning Performance Agreement be entered into by all developers and that this Agreement is made available for the electorate of Ynys Môn to be kept aware of what is being agreed to.  This would be in line with other Local Authorities.  

2.     During the last 20 years, we have seen more and more chapels and churches closing on Ynys Môn with the loss of community meeting places that have served our residents for over a hundred and fifty years.  Each village on Ynys Môn has one or more places of worship with many more in our towns.

Can the Planning Department through their Heritage Officer look at what has happened to these meeting places and what records are being kept to preserve the history of these important buildings as being part of our history over the last 150 years.  Could a full report be brought back to Council?  Many of these chapels and churches have marble tablets and other records of young men and women who were lost in the two World Wars, what happens to these, and could they also be recorded.

·      Submitted – the following Notice of Motion by Councillor Robert Ll Jones:-

‘On the 27^th April 2010, the then Executive passed a motion to try to ensure that the same thing did not happen as happened with the large planning application re: Ty Mawr, Llanfairpwll in 2008.  This application was called-in by the Welsh Government and ended up being refused.

It was passed that a Planning Performance Agreement Charter setting out how the Authority should work with the developer, the community and other key stakeholders to ensure that large scale and complex development proposals were carefully considered in a constructive, collaborative and open manner.

The three largest developments in the last ten years did not have a PPA entered into and ended up with one being called-in and the other two, besides Ty Mawr, namely Holyhead Waterfront and the Land and Lakes developments being costly to our authority and the people of Ynys Môn.  If a PPA had been entered into, the chances are that the electorate would have been listened to by the developers.’

I am asking that a Planning Performance Agreement be entered into by all developers and that this Agreement is made available for the electorate of Ynys Môn to be kept aware of what is being agreed to.  This would be in line with other Local Authorities.

Councillor Shaun Redmond seconded the motion.

Councillor Redmond said that it is essential that PPAs are entered into when large development are proposed within local communities.  He noted that local communities need to be informed of large development process so as to alleviate any concerns of the effect of such a development.

The Portfolio Holder for Planning and Public Protection responded that the Planning Performance Agreement Charter (PPA) was updated in 2014 and the Charter stipulates that a PPA is a voluntary agreement between the developers of large development projects and the Council.  Discussions are undertaken with developers before a planning application is submitted to the Planning Authority but the Council is unable to enforce developers to enter into a PPA.   The Portfolio Holder referred to the Land and Lakes project and said that a PPA agreement was not entered into but the developers agreed to pay the legal costs of the Council and sign a S106 agreement.  In relation to Glannau Caergybi development discussions were undertaken as regards to the PPA but the planning application was submitted before the Charter was in place.

Councillor Robert Ll Jones said that he wished to see detailed records kept during discussion as regard to PPA with developers to enable the public access to the discussions undertaken.  He noted that PPA was entered into as regards to the Wylfa Newydd project where a record of what charges were made and a contribution of £6.8m from the project.  Councillor Jones expressed that without a PPA being signed there is no record of charges and costs this authority has had to pay. 

The Head of Regulation and Economic Development reported that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To receive any petition in accordance with Paragraph 4.1.11 of the Constitution.

The Chair said that a petition had been received by Councillor Kenneth P Hughes with 131 signatures as regards to objections to the extension to the traffic on the A5025 and to the increase of the traffic through the village of Llanfachraeth before the by-pass is constructed.

Councillor K P Hughes said there has been strong concerns within the village of Llanfachraeth regarding the increase in traffic due to the Wylfa Newydd project.  He thanked the Chair of the Council for meeting representatives from the Llanfachraeth and for accepting the petition.  However, he said that due to the uncertainties as regards to the Wylfa Newydd project the increase of traffic through the village of Llanfachraeth may not materialise. 

(a)    Revenue Budget 2019/20

To submit a report by the Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer, as presented to the Executive on 18 February, 2019.

(b)   Capital Budget 2019/20

To submit a report by the Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer, as presented to the Executive on 18February, 2019.

(c)   Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2019/20

To submit a report by the Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer, as presented to the Executive on 18February, 2019.

(ch)  Council Tax Setting

To submit a report by the Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer.

(d)    Amendment to the Budget

To submit the following amendments to the Budget proposed by the Anglesey Independents Group, of which notice has been received under Paragraph 4.3.2.2.11 of the Constitution as follows:-  

‘The Anglesey Independents Group would wish to propose an increase                   of 5% in the Council Tax for the financial year 2019-2020.

This will be achieved by :-

·      not filling the vacant post of Assistant Chief Executive – saving £100,000;

·      reducing the number of Members on the Executive from 9 to 7 – saving £26,464;

·      delay the construction of the Gypsy and Travellers Site at Star – saving £33,600 in Capital Financing Charges;

·      reducing the Council Tax Reduction Scheme Budget is a consequence of setting a lower Council Tax than proposed by the Executive – saving £225,000;

·      to set the Council Tax increase at 5%.  This would take the Band D charge to £1,197.18 an annual increase of £56.97;

·      to increase the premium on Empty Houses to 35% rather than the 100% proposed by the Executive;

·      the reduction in Council Tax and the Empty Houses Premium would reduce funding through Council Tax by £1,950,449 and this would be funded by reducing expenditure by £385,449 (see above) by using £1m from earmarked reserves and by using £565,000 of general balances;

·      if additional funds are made available for pension provision, these will be transferred back into general balances.’

(Note : All the above papers need to be considered as a single package).

The Portfolio Holder for Finance presented the Executive’s proposals for the Revenue and Capital budgets 2019/20, Treasury Management Strategy Statement and setting the Council Tax – items 7(a) to (ch) within the Agenda. He said that the budget was the most challenging budget the Council had to deliver. The initial budget process was entered into in June 2018 with individual reviews of all the services within the Council taking place.  The services were challenged to identify £5m savings in accordance with the Medium Term Financial Plan.    Numerous workshops took place during October with services submitting their savings proposals for consideration with all Members of the Council invited to attend.  The total savings proposals submitted amounted to £3.747m.  A public consultation was undertaken from the 15 November to 31 December, 2018 concentrating on the 15 main savings proposals.    He said that he appreciated the response to the public consultation and the highest number of responses had been received by the Council in regard to the budget setting process.    He noted that 6 meetings were convened with various groups and stakeholders to discuss the proposed savings and to gauge their opinions.  The strong message from these meetings was that education budgets need to be protected to afford the best possible education in schools.  A report was submitted to the Corporate Scrutiny Committee on the 4^th February, 2019 where the Chair reported back to the Executive on 18^th February, 2019.

He also noted that if the Council should not set a prudent budget at today’s meeting, then the Council might face significant financial problems as was reported by the Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer at the Executive meeting on 18^th February, 2019.  The Council must set a budget that strengthens the Council’s financial position and most importantly protecting the services that the most vulnerable people are reliant upon which are adults services, children’s services and education.  The dire financial position local government authorities across the UK are facing is the result of the UK Government’s austerity policies.  Welsh Government has also cut local government settlements; local authorities in North Wales and Powys have seen a reduced budget settlement from Welsh Government but South Wales local authorities having seen an increase within their local government settlements.   He noted that an increase in staff pay awards and teachers’ pensions and the increase in the Fire Authority precept has put pressure on the budget. The Portfolio Holder said that the authority does not have sufficient financial reserves to allow reserves to be used as a short term funding source.  He noted that the Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer reported at the meeting of the Executive held on 18^th February that the level of general reserves has reached a critical point and should not be allowed to decrease any further.  He further said that the Auditor General in his letter dated 5^th February, 2019 to this Council outlined that it is not sustainable to depend on reserves to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To submit a report by the Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer, as presented to the Executive on 28 January, 2019.

The report of the Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer incorporating a review of the mid-year position in respect of the treasury management activity was presented for the Council’s acceptance.

It was RESOLVED to accept the Treasury Management Mid-Year Review Report 2018/19.

To submit a report by the Head of Function (Council Business)/Monitoring Officer, as presented to the Executive on 18 February 2019.

The report of the Head of Function (Council Business)/Monitoring Officer with amendments to the Council’s Constitution was presented to the Council by the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Services.

It was RESOLVED that the Council:-

·      agrees to remove the requirement to have ‘one representative of other faiths or denominations’ on a Scrutiny Committee when it deals with Education matters (i.e. sits as a Local Education Authority Scrutiny Committee) as is currently included in paragraph 4.5.4.4 of the Constitution (as shown in ENCLOSURE 1), so that paragraph 4.5.4 reads as included within ENCLOSURE 2 to the report;

·      authorises the Council’s Head of Function (Council Business)/Monitoring Officer to make the necessary changes to the Constitution to reflect the removal of the requirement noted above.

To submit a report by the Head of Profession, Human Resources and Transformation.

The report of the Head of Profession Human Resources and Transformation was presented to the Council by the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Services in relation to the above.

The Portfolio Holder for Corporate Services said that the Localism Act 2011 requires authorities to produce and publish a pay policy on all aspects of Chief Officer Remuneration.

It was RESOLVED to endorse the Pay Policy Statement for 2019.