Agenda, decisions and minutes

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

Councillor Ieuan Williams declared a personal interest with regard to item 9 on the agenda.

Councillor R. Meirion Jones declared a personal interest with regard to item 18 on the agenda.

No urgent matters at the time of dispatch of this agenda.

None to report.

To submit for confirmation, the draft minutes of the meeting of the Executive held on 17^th July, 2017.

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Executive held on 17th July, 2017 were presented for confirmation.

It was resolved that the minutes of the previous meeting of the Executive held on 17th July, 2017 be confirmed as correct.

To submit for adoption, the draft minutes of the Corporate Parenting Panel held on 10^th July, 2017.

The draft minutes of the meeting of the Corporate Parenting Panel held on 10^th July, 2017 were presented for adoption.

It was resolved that the draft minutes of the meeting of the Corporate Parenting Panel held on 10^th July, 2017 be adopted.

To submit a report by the Head of Democratic Services.

The report of the Head of Democratic Services incorporating the Executive’s Forward Work Programme for the period from October, 2017 to May, 2018 was presented for the Executive’s approval.

The Head of Democratic Services reported on changes to the Forward Work Programme since the previous reporting period as follows –

•  Items new to the Forward Work Programme

   •  Item 5 – Schools’ Modernisation: Seiriol Area Informal Consultation scheduled for consideration at the Executive’s 30th October meeting. A further report is to be scheduled for presentation in March, 2018.

   •  Item 7 – Annual Report: Achievement against the Tenants’ Participation Strategy scheduled for consideration by the Executive at its 30th  October, 2017 meeting.

   •  Item 17 – Asset Management Strategy: Council Housing scheduled for consideration by the Executive at its 27 November, 2017 meeting.

   •  Item 18 – Holyhead Council Housing Development Plan scheduled on the Work Programme to be considered at its 27th November, 2017 meeting but to be brought forward to the 30th October, 2017 meeting at the request of the service.

   •  Item 19 – Tackling Poverty Strategy scheduled for consideration by the Executive at its 27th  November, 2017 meeting.

   •  Item 22 – Schools with fewer than 120 pupils scheduled for consideration by the Executive at its 18th  December, 2017 meeting.

   •  Item 41 – Tenants’ Participation Strategy 2018-21 scheduled for consideration by the Executive at its 26th  March, 2018 meeting.

The Head of Democratic Services informed the Executive that further progress reports will be arranged in relation to item 13 on the agenda of today’s meeting (CSSIW Inspection of Children’s Services in Anglesey – Improvement Plan); additionally, due the timing of the Welsh Government’s announcement of the provisional Local Government 2018/19 financial settlement, pre-decision scrutiny of the initial draft budget proposals has been deferred from 17 October (as shown on the Work Programme)  to 31 October, 2017.

It was resolved to confirm the Executive’s updated Forward Work Programme for the period from October to May, 2017 subject to the additional changes reported at the meeting.

To submit a report by the Head of Corporate Transformation.

The report of the Head of Corporate Transformation incorporating the Council Plan for the period from 2017 to 2022 was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Corporate Services reported that the Council Plan will provide the context for all the Council’s high level decisions in the next five years; the Council’s performance in implementing the Plan and realising the aspirations within it will be closely monitored.

The Head of Corporate Transfomation said that the Council Plan is the Council’s most significant strategic document for the forthcoming five year period. The contents of the Plan have been subject to robust, detailed and comprehensive consultation with particular emphasis placed on engaging with the citizens’ of Anglesey and listening to their views from the outset of the process; approximately 900 citizens have been given the opportunity to comment on the draft Plan. The response to the Plan has been generally positive with the majority of respondents concurring with the broad aims of the Plan. Some particularly constructive and useful feedback has been received from individuals and groups on how the Council might successfully work with communities to deliver the priorities of the Plan over the next five years. The Service is confident that the draft Plan is a reflection of a collaborative endeavour between the Council; its partners and the public to improve the lives of Anglesey’s citizens and business prosperity over the Plan period.

The Executive noted and welcomed the success of the consultation exercise in reaching 900 citizens.

The Portfolio Member for Major Developments referred to the publication last week of the Welsh Government’s report on local government performance against national strategic indicators which shows that the Isle of Anglesey Council is second in Wales for progress.

It was resolved to recommend the Isle of Anglesey Council Plan 2017 to 2022 to the Full Council for its endorsement and adoption.

To submit a report by the Head of Corporate Transformation.

The report of the Head of Corporate Transformation incorporating the Corporate Scorecard for Quarter 1, 2017/18 was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Corporate Services reported that performance against the agreed indicators in the first quarter of the financial year has been relatively good with most indicators performing well against their targets. However, three indicators have been identified as underperforming and these are detailed in the report along with the mitigation measures proposed to rectify the issues arising. The performance of the Council’s sickness rates shows a further improvement on that for the same period in 2016/17. The Senior Leadership Team is keeping a watching brief on performance and is managing specific areas in order to ensure continued improvement.

The Assistant Chief Executive (Governance and Business Process Transformation/ Statutory Director of Social Services) informed the Executive that the performance against indicator SCC/O25 (the % of statutory visits to looked after children due in the year that took place in accordance with regulations) which is one of the three underperforming indicators,  is being re-assessed to ensure that the data is being collected and calculated correctly so that it provides an accurate reflection of actual performance. An update will be provided once the figure has been verified.

The Executive noted the information, and noted also that the Quarter 1 performance has been scrutinised by the Corporate Scrutiny Committee at its 4th September meeting. In addition to those indicators reported by the Portfolio Member for Corporate Services as underperforming, the Executive highlighted performance against Indicator 04b under Customer Service on the Scorecard (total % of written responses to complaints within 20 days – Social Services) as requiring close monitoring being 53% against a target of 80%.

It was resolved –

•  To note the areas which the Senior Leadership Team are managing to secure improvements into the future as set out in paragraphs 1.3.1. to 1.3.4 of the report.

•  To accept the mitigation measures as outlined in the report.

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

The report of the Head of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer incorporating the Medium Term Financial Plan for 2018/19 to 2020/21 was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Finance reported that the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) sets out the Council’s budget strategy over the next three year period and sets out the assumptions which will be taken forward to the annual budget setting process. A number of factors makes it particularly difficult at present to forecast the future with any confidence; additionally the rescheduling of the UK Government’s main budget statement from March to November means that the budget the Welsh Government will receive will not be known until after the date on which the Welsh Government publishes its provisional settlement currently planned for 10 October, 2017.

From 2014/15 to 2016/17 the Council has seen cash reductions in the grant it receives from the Welsh Government as shown in Table 1 of the report. The trend was reversed in 2017/8 when the Council received a slightly higher settlement in cash terms. This represents an overall reduction in Aggregate External Funding (AEF) of 8.1% between the 2013/14 level and the 2017/18 level. In order to mitigate the effect of this loss, the Council has increased the Council Tax at a higher rate than inflation over the same period (Table 2 of the report) with Council Tax as a percentage of the Council’s total funding having risen to 26.6% by 2017/18. Given the uncertainty regarding the UK economy, local authorities will be expected to shoulder further reductions in funding, possibly to the extent of 3.3% in 2018/19 and 2.6% in 2019/20 – a reduction in monetary terms of £5.4m over two years in AEF.

Added to this, local government generally is facing a number of budget pressures; Anglesey will also face its own unique budget pressures which will have to be factored into the MTFP. These are detailed in section 5 of the report and as well as the National Living Wage, the Public Sector Pay Award include service specific pressures in relation to Adult Social Care, Looked After Children, School Modernisation, Highway Maintenance and funding the Corporate Plan as its implementation progresses. The budget process also examines estimated inflation over a number of different areas of expenditure some of which e.g. energy, experience higher levels than others. These are set out in section 6 of the report.

Taking into account all the known budget pressures and the inflationary and other assumptions, it is possible to determine a standstill budget for the period 2018/19 to 2020/21, the standstill budget being the revised costs of continuing to provide services to the same level, delivered in the same way as they are delivered in 2017/18. The estimated standstill budget for the next three year period is shown in Table 5 of the report.

In light of the funding gap between the estimated standstill budget (table 6) and the estimated funding available (Table 7), it is projected that savings in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

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

The report of the Head of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer setting out the financial performance of the Council’s services for the first quarter of the 2017/18 financial year along with a summary of the projected position for the year as a whole was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Finance reported that based on the information to date, the overall projected financial position for 2017/18 including Corporate Finance and the Council Tax Fund is an overspend of £2.119m which is 1.68% of the Council’s net budget for 2017/18. The provisional outturn for 2016/17 resulted in general balances at the start of the current financial year of £8.697 m (subject to audit). However, there is a risk against this £8.697m in the form of Equal Pay claims of £2m which the Council may or may not be able to capitalise depending on a capitalisation directive from Welsh Government. The report details the significant variances in service budgets but excludes the impact of winter maintenance as well as the impact of the new highways maintenance contract which is likely to cost more.

There is a risk therefore that the overspend might be higher than £2.19m. The most significant budgetary pressure is the cost of Corporate Parenting, as the Children and Families Service is expected to overspend by £2.106m. If the current forecast is realised, the general reserve will be put under considerable pressure. An alternative to funding the overspend from the general reserve would be to review earmarked reserves of which there are £13.357m. This would identify any reserves that are no longer required or which do not meet the priorities of the Council given the difficult financial position which the Council is likely to be at year end. However, some earmarked reserves can only be used for their specific purpose e.g. delegated schools funded reserves or grant funded reserves.

The Head of F unction (Resources) and Section 151 Officer said that Quarter 1 is early in the financial year and many things can happen in the period from now until year end. However, the report does flag up the risk that services including smaller as well as larger services, will be under pressure to provide within their budgets. Any spare capacity within service budgets has long gone after several years of efficiency savings meaning that any unforeseen expenditure during the year is likely to tip services into a position of overspend.

The Executive noted the position and noted also that certain areas e.g. school transport/taxis budget could benefit from closer scrutiny and tighter management. The Executive whilst it noted that agency and consultancy costs for the quarter are relatively high, recognised that Agency cover is sometimes required at times of staff turnover or absences and that consultants are used on occasion for their specific expertise and are often funded from external sources/grants for the projects in which they are involved. The Executive further noted that routine scrutiny of budget monitoring will now be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

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

The report of the Head of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer setting out the position in respect of the financial performance of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) for the first quarter of 2017/18 was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Finance reported that through the HRA the Council manages its housing stock and garages. The HRA budget includes funding for repairs and maintenance of the current stock as well as funding to develop a programme of new council housing on the Island. The HRA is ring-fenced and its reserves cannot be transferred to the General Fund. Whilst the report does note some areas of overspending on the HRA, it is expected that the end of year outcome will be in line with the budget. The HRA is in a healthy position.

The Head of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer confirmed that the HRA is by statutory requirement completely separate from the remainder of the Council’s accounts and cannot be used for any purpose other than the maintenance and development of the housing stock for which the Council is responsible.

It was resolved to note the positon set out in respect of the financial performance of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) for Quarter 1 2017/18.

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

The report of the Head of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer setting out the financial performance of the capital budget for the first quarter of 2017/18 was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Finance reported that as shown in Table 4.1 of the report, the forecast underspend on the Capital Programme for 2017/18 is £10.317m with this being potential slippage into the 2018/19 Capital Programme. The funding for this slippage will also slip into 2018/19 and will be factored in when producing the Treasury Management Strategy Statement and the Capital Programme for 2018/19.The main projects that are forecast to be underspent are the Holyhead Strategic Infrastructure, Llangefni Strategic Infrastructure and the New Highway to Wylfa Newydd projects details of which are provided in Appendix B. Included in the approved Capital Programme for 2017/18 is a budget of £0.250m for the refurbishment of Garreglwyd Care Home. The projected costs are now expected to rise by £0.041m and the Executive needs to consider whether to approve this additional funding. The increase in costs is as a result of having to split the scheme into two phases bringing extra costs to the scheme. If the additional budget is to be approved, it will be funded by the Capital Reserve.

It was resolved –

•  To note the progress of expenditure and receipts against the capital budget 2017/18 at Quarter 1.

•  To approve an extra £0.041m of capital funding to finance the additional costs at Garreglwyd care home.

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

The report of the Head of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer incorporating the Treasury Management Review for 2016/17 was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Finance reported that the Council is required by regulations issued under the Local Government Act 2003 to produce an annual treasury management review of activities and the actual prudential and treasury indicators for 2016/17.The report provides a review of the Council’s borrowing and investment activities during the year and the considerations pertaining thereto. The financial year 2016/17 continued the challenging investment environment of previous years, namely low investment returns.

The Head of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer said that the Council is required to report on its treasury management activities and to confirm that it has complied with its legislative and regulatory requirements. The Officer said that the External Auditors who will be formally reporting on their audit of the Council’s final accounts for 2016/17 to the Audit Committee later in the week had not as part of the audit made any significant adjustments to the treasury management outturn figures.

It was resolved –

•  To note that the outturn figures in the report will remain provisional until the audit of the 2016/17 Statement of Accounts is completed and signed off; any resulting significant adjustments to the figures included in this report will be reported as appropriate.

•  To note the provisional 2016/17 prudential and treasury indicators in the report.

•  To forward the report to the next meeting of the Full Council without any further comment.

To submit a report by the Interim Head of Children’s Services.

The report of the Interim Head of Children’s Services setting out the progress made to date with the Service Improvement Plan was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Social Services reported that progress has been made against many of the themes in the Service Improvement Plan; the service has been re-structured to introduce smaller Practice Teams and new appointments to Practice Leader posts have been made and have come into effect at the beginning of this month. Progress is being closely monitored and scrutinised by the Children’s Services Improvement Panel.

The Assistant Chief Executive (Governance and Business Process Transformation/ Statutory Director of Social Services) said that the new structure and the additional appointments made as part of the restructuring process will help bring stability to the service at management levels and will lead to greater consistency in Social Workers’ practice thereby enabling them to move forward with the required improvements. Considerable work has also been undertaken with the Service’s partners both within and outside the Council. It is expected therefore that all the steps taken hitherto will produce tangible improvements very shortly.

The Executive noted the progress made but noted also that the report acknowledges under quality assurance, that performance remains inconsistent. The Executive sought an explanation for the continuing inconsistency several months on from the receipt of the post inspection report and asked whether the Quality Assurance framework will lead to more consistent performance. The Assistant Chief Executive (Governance and Business Process Transformation/ Statutory Director of Social Services) said that there are examples of very good practice within areas of the service but that these are not replicated throughout the service as a whole. The introduction of smaller practice teams and the implementation of the Supervision Policy will make a difference in terms of facilitating supervision and enabling Social Workers to become more familiar with their caseloads. Whilst the process is ongoing, improvements should be seen from October onwards.

It was resolved to confirm that the Executive is satisfied with the steps and pace undertaken by Children’s Services in relation to the progress made with the Service Improvement Plan.

To submit a report by the Head of Housing Services.

The report of the Head of Housing Services incorporating a Sensitive Allocations Policy for Council Housing was presented for the Executive’s approval.

The Portfolio Member for Housing reported that the Sensitive Allocations Policy is a proactive means of allocating Council property and will apply to specific areas on the Island and will sit alongside the Council’s Common Allocations Policy and the Council’s Anti-Social Behaviour Strategy. It is meant to proactively address issues which exists on certain estates on the Island, e.g. anti-social behaviour which can affect the image of some areas for specific periods. The policy can be implemented on any Council Housing estate on the Island at any time and the criteria for assessing candidates to ensure that they apply for these schemes are listed.

It was resolved –

•  To approve the Sensitive Allocations Policy for a period of two years and that the Housing Services Board assesses the policy’s impact within one year.

•  To approve that the implementation of the policy on specific estates will be the responsibility of the Head of Housing Services in consultation with the Portfolio Holder.

To submit a report by the Head of Regulation and Economic Development.

The report of the Head of Regulation and Economic Development incorporating a Vision for 2025 – A Thematic Framework to Realise the IoACC’s Legacy Aspirations was presented for the Executive’s approval.

The Portfolio Member for Major Developments reported that the Framework has been prepared to demonstrate to developers the need to acknowledge, incorporate and integrate legacy benefits from the outset of their project development activities. It proposes numerous economic, social, environmental and cultural activities (linked to the potential scope of the proposed major project’s legacy benefits and impacts) which the County Council believes could improve the well-being and quality of life of the Island by 2025.

It was resolved to formally adopt the draft Legacy Framework (Vision for 2025 – a thematic framework to realise the Isle of Anglesey County Council’s legacy aspirations) as presented.

To submit a report by the Head of Regulation and Economic Development.

The report of the Chief Executive providing an update on the development of a Growth Bid for North Wales was presented for the Executive’s consideration. The Growth Bid is linked to and derives from the Growth Vision for the Economy of North Wales strategy paper which was adopted by Anglesey’s Executive in February, 2017 and by the Executive Committees of the other five partner councils in the region and other partner organisations at the same time. The report sets out the considerations pertaining to the development of a Growth Bid, the preferred governance model and the resource implications.

The Chief Executive outlined the four phases in the development of the Growth Deal Bid; the governance arrangements have yet to be discussed in detail although a statutory joint- committee model is recommended as the preferred governance model in principle. The development of the North Wales Bid has reached the latter stages of the second phase and aims to reach a Heads of Terms agreement within the current financial year. Each of the six North Wales authorities is being asked to approve a contribution of £50k from their 2017/18 budgets towards the development of the Bid.

It was resolved –

•  To note and support the progress of the development of a competitive Growth Deal Bid for the region.

•  To support in principle the preferred governance model of a statutory joint- committee model for further development with a full report on a recommended constitution and terms of reference supported by an inter-authority agreement to follow later in the year.

•  To authorise the Leader to act as a member of a Shadow Joint-Committee in the interim period.

•  To grant authority to the Leader as one of the Leaders of the six partner councils represented on the Shadow Joint-Committee to enter into collective first stage negotiations with Governments over the scale and outline content of the Growth Deal Bid, noting that no financial or other commitments will be entered into at this first stage of the negotiations.

•  To delegate authority to the Chief Executive to authorise an initial revenue contribution from 2017/18 expenditure for the detailed development of the Growth Deal Bid up to a maximum of £50,000.

To consider adoption of the following:-

“Under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, to exclude the press and public from the meeting during discussion on the following item on the grounds that it may involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Schedule 12A of the said Act and in the attached Public Interest Test”.

It was resolved under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, to exclude the press and public from the meeting during the discussion on item 18 on the grounds that it involved the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Schedule 12A of the said Act and in the Public Interest Test as presented.

To submit a report by the Head of Housing Services.

The report of the Head of Housing Services which provided an update on the development of sites on Anglesey for gypsies and travellers was presented for the Executive’s consideration. The report outlined the progress to date on developing a design scheme in respect of a temporary stopping place at Star and a permanent residential site at Penhesgyn along with the cost estimates for the construction of the respective sites. The Executive was informed that the planning documentation for both sites has been prepared and is substantially complete and ready for submission.

The Portfolio Member for Housing reported that the report in seeking approval for the submission of planning applications for both sites represents the next step forward in a process which has involved site selection, a public consultation exercise thereon and design related assessments made. The Council is required by law to provide sites for gypsies and travellers where a need has been identified.

It was resolved –

•  To note the budget costs associated with the project delivery and that the funding of those costs will be considered at a later date once planning permission is received and grant funding agreed with Welsh Government.

•  To authorise Officers to progress to the next stage i.e. the submission of detailed planning applications in respect of a temporary stopping place at Star and a permanent residential site at Penhesgyn.

(Councillor R. Meirion Jones did not vote on the matter)

To consider adoption of the following:-

“Under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, to exclude the press and public from the meeting during discussion on the following item on the grounds that it may involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Schedule 12A of the said Act and in the attached Public Interest Test”.

It was resolved under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, to exclude the press and public from the meeting during the discussion on item 20 on the grounds that it involved the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Schedule 12A of the said Act and in the Public Interest Test as presented.

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

The report of the Head of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer in relation to an insurance contract was presented. The report sought the Executive’s approval for a course of action in order to respond to issues arising in respect of the insurance contract.

It was resolved to approve the course of action recommended by the Head of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer as stated in the report.

To consider adoption of the following:-

“Under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, to exclude the press and public from the meeting during discussion on the following item on the grounds that it may involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Schedule 12A (Category 16) of the said Act”.

The Head of Function (Council Business) and Monitoring Officer clarified that the report on the subsequent item is considered exempt by virtue of its containing legal advice. In that case, a Public Interest Test does not apply. However, the disclosure of the information in the report could also potentially reveal the identity of an individual thus making the matter exempt under Paragraph 13 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

It was resolved under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, to exclude the press and public from the meeting during the discussion on item 22 on the grounds that it involved the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Schedule 12A of the said Act.

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

The report of the Head of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer in relation to a proposal to write off a specific debt was presented. The report set out the context and circumstances wherein the debt arose and it sought the Executive’s approval for writing off the debt for the reasons outlined therein.

Councillor R. Meirion Jones sought clarification as to whether he should declare an interest having been previously employed in the Council’s Legal Department.

The Head of Function (Council Business) and Monitoring Officer advised that as the Member had not been involved with this matter at the time of his employment, it was not necessary for him to declare an interest.

It was resolved –

•  To proceed in accordance with the recommendations of the report.

•  That the Council’s processes and procedures in relation to similar matters are reviewed and a progress report on implementing a resulting action plan be presented via the Portfolio Member for Finance to the Executive and Scrutiny.

(Councillor R. Meirion Jones did not take part in the discussion nor vote on the matter)