Agenda, decisions and minutes

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

No declaration of interest was received.

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

None to report.

To submit for confirmation, the draft minutes of the meetings of the Executive held on the following dates:-

·      16 July, 2018

·      18 July, 2018 (Extraordinary)

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Executive held on 16 July, 2018 and the extraordinary meeting held on 18 July, 2018 were presented for confirmation.

It was resolved that the minutes of the previous meeting of the Executive held on the 16 July, 2018 and the extraordinary meeting held on 18 July, 2018 be confirmed as correct.

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, 2018 to May, 2019 was presented for the Executive’s approval.

The Head of Democratic Services reported that the following were items new to the Executive’s Forward Work Programme –

•  Items 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 which are scheduled to be considered by the Executive’s 29 October, 2018 meeting.

•  Item 11 which subject to confirmation, is scheduled to be considered by the Executive’s 12 November, 2018 meeting.

•  Item 18 which is scheduled to be considered by the Executive’s 17 December, 2018 meeting.

•  Items 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 and 29 which are Budget related and are scheduled to be considered by the Executive’s 18 February, 2019, meeting.

•  Items 33 and 34 which are scheduled to be considered by the Executive’s 25 March, 2019 meeting.

Other Changes not included in the published Work Programme -

•  A report by the Head of Education on the Strategic Business Case for extending Ysgol y Graig and closing Ysgol Talwrn is an additional item for the Executive’s 26 November, 2018 meeting.

•  An extraordinary meeting of the Executive to consider the Transformation of Education and Anglesey Schools’ Modernisation Strategy is now confirmed for 15 October, 2018.

It was resolved to confirm the Updated Forward Work Programme for the period October, 2018 to May, 2019 with the changes outlined at the meeting.

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

The report of the Head of Profession (Human Resources and Transformation) outlining the position of the Council against its operational objectives for the first quarter of the 2018/19 financial year was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Corporate Services reported that this year’s indicators (similar to previous years) have been  decided via a workshop held on the 2 July, 2018 with members of the Senior Leadership Team, the Executive and the Shadow Executive following guidance from Heads of Service as to which indicators they identified as important. They include new Public Accountability Measures (PAM) which are a set of indicators which measure performance on a national basis. The Portfolio Member said that at the end of Quarter 1 it is encouraging to note that the majority of the performance management indicators are performing well against their targets. This also compares well with the equivalent position for 2017/18. However, two indicators have started the year as underperforming against their annual target and are denoted as Red/ Amber with the one relating to Children and Families’ Services (PM28 – the average length of time for all children who were on the CPR during the year and who were de-registered during the year) and the other to Adults’ Services (PM20a – the percentage of adults who completed a period of reablement and have a reduced package of care and support 6 months later). Both indicators deal with a small number of cases which means that any fluctuation can affect performance.  The remaining indicators for Quarter 1 are ragged Green or Yellow and have started well against their target. In addition, of the 8 indicators which were highlighted as Red or Amber at the end of 2017/18, it is good to see that of those that can be tracked during Quarter 1 of the current year, 5 of the 6 have improved in performance with only one currently underperforming.

The Portfolio Member said with regard to People Management that at the end of Quarter 1, the Council’s sickness rate of 2.69 days per FTE shows a decline in performance when compared with the 2.23 days achieved for the same period in 2017/18. On a service level, the two services that are underperforming compared to their targets for the quarter are Adults’ Services due mainly to a number of long-term sickness cases in the Provider Unit and the Learning Service where long terms sickness absence is again a factor along with high sickness levels in the Primary sector. Both Heads of Service are aware of the issue and are working to instigate mitigating actions.

With regard to Customer Complaints management, at the end of Quarter 1 13 complaints were received compared to 20 for the same period in 2017/18. This is an improvement in terms of the Council’s service provision especially given that all of the complaints requiring a response by the end of Quarter 1 (12 in total) have received a response within timescale. Of the 10 complaints under the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

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

The report of the Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer incorporating the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) for 2019/20 to 2021/22 was presented for the Executive’s consideration. The plan outlines 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.

The Portfolio Member for Finance reported that the Council is required to put in place a robust system to monitor and control its revenue budget with the Medium Term Financial Plan being a key element of that system. He said that the Council will have to make difficult decisions over the next three years with no prospect of a let-up in the funding cuts which local authorities in Wales have experienced over the past few years. The introduction of the austerity programme by the Westminster Government has resulted in reductions in the funding passed onto the Welsh Government and this in turn has affected the level of funding which councils in Wales receive with year on year cuts to council budgets. But although local authority funding levels have continued to decline the Council still has to deliver services to the people of Anglesey - those include services for vulnerable people and services which by law it must provide.

The Portfolio Member referred to Table 2 in the report which provides an analysis of the savings made per service over the three year period form 2013/14 to 2018/19 compared to the net revenue Budget for 2018/19. The Council has made savings to the value of £21.748m in this period and whilst it has sought to provide some level of protection to schools, Adults’ Services and Children’s Services, other frontline services – Leisure, Maritime, Economic Development, Housing, Highways, Waste and Property in particular – have borne the brunt of the savings and have provided the greatest proportion of savings in relation to their net budget.

The Portfolio Member said that the Medium Term Financial Plan describes how the Council proposes to deal with the financial challenges it faces in the coming three years whilst at the same time balancing its budget and continuing to deliver services and fulfil its statutory responsibilities. He commended the Plan to the Executive.

The Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer said that the MTFP set the financial context in which the Council will have to operate for the next three year period. The current situation is not encouraging with the Council, based on Quarter 1 data forecasted to overspend its budget by £1.744m at the end of the 2018/19 financial year. Alternatively, it could be said that budgets are underfunded and have failed to keep up with demand.

Notwithstanding, the underlying causes of service overspends have to be tackled otherwise the Authority’s reserves will be further depleted potentially taking them from where they currently stand at just above the minimum reserves threshold of £6.5m agreed by the Council down to below the £5m level. This is unacceptable and poses a risk  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

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

The report of the Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer outlining the financial performance of the Council’s services at the end of the first quarter of the 2018/19 financial year (1 April to 30 June) was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Finance reported the Council in February 2018 set a net budget for 2018/19 with net service expenditure of £130.870m to be funded from Council Tax income, NDR and general grants which after adjustments came to a total of £130.9m The budget for 2018/19 included required savings of £2.522m. These have been incorporated into the individual service budgets and achievement or non-achievement of these is reflected in the net (under)/overspend shown in the report. The Portfolio Member said that based on the outcome for Quarter 1, the overall projected financial position for 2018/19 including Corporate Finance and the Council Tax fund, is an overspend of £1.744m. This is 1.33% of the Council’s net budget for 2018/19.This is due to similar budget pressures experienced in 2017/18, the most significant of which is the cost of statutory children’s services.

The Portfolio Member for Finance said that much has been made of the Authority’s use of agency staff and/or consultants and the costs arising therefrom; the Authority monitors these costs closely reporting on them on a quarterly basis as part of budget monitoring. He pointed out that the Authority is currently involved with two major infrastructure projects which require specialist expertise and support from outside the Council.

The Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer said that the forecasted outcome of an overspend on the 2018/19 budget is a reflection of the cumulative effects of budget cuts on services over time. Historically, services at the Council in Anglesey have a relatively good record of living within their budgets with services that underspent helping to mitigate overspends in other service areas. However, as budgets have reduced and unused budgets have been deleted, the scope for services to deliver underspends on their budgets has also diminished – the report shows that most services are likely to be on, or marginally over budget at year end which is not helpful in terms of offsetting a significant budget overspend in Children’s Services. The report covers the first quarter of the new financial year so the situation can change particularly over the winter months. The position with regard to the main overspend which is in Children’s Services will have to be addressed although the opportunities for action are limited due partly to the shortage of placements locally on the Island for children who are looked after. Because of this, the Service has to seek placements out of county which are expensive and which also have cost implications for the Learning Service in terms of funding the education provision for those children placed outside Anglesey.

The Officer said that some other services are also currently overspending for example Central Education where there are significant budgetary pressures on school transport; Adults’ Social Care where the budgetary pressures  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

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

The report of the Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer outlining the financial performance of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) at the end of Quarter 1 2018/19 was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer reported that the opening balance of the HRA Reserve stood at £7.407k. Expenditure of £6m was planned thereby bringing the reserve down to £1.3m. Due to slippage on capital expenditure the use of the HRA Reserve will be less than envisaged leaving a balance of £3.098m at the end of the financial year to fund future HRA expenditure.

It was resolved to note the position set out in respect of the financial performance of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) for Quarter 1 along with the forecast outturn for 2018/19.

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

The report of the Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer outlining the performance of the Capital Budget for the first quarter of the 2018/19 financial year was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Finance reported that Table 2.1 of the report provides a summary of the capital expenditure to 30 June, 2018 (£3.198m), the profiled budget to 30 June, 2018m (£4.192m) and how the annual capital budget (£58.853m) is to be funded. The profiled budget spent to the end of Quarter 1 for the general fund is 75% whilst only 5% of the annual budget has been spent to date due in the main to a number of capital schemes being weighted towards the latter part of the financial year. Table 3.2 shows the position with regard to capital receipts with only £270k being received at 30 June, 2018 against a projected capital receipts of £3.046m. Table 4.1 of the report shows the projected actual expenditure for 2018/19 as a whole.

The Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer said that the forecast underspend on the Capital Programme for 2018/18 is £22.594m with this being potential slippage into the 2019/20 Capital Programme. The funding for this slippage will also slip into 2019/20 and will be factored in when producing the Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Capital Programme for 2019/20. The main projects that are forecast to be underspent are listed in Section 4.2 of the report and encompass three major projects (Gypsy and Travellers site, Improvements to the A5025 to Wylfa Newydd and the 21st Century Schools Llangefni New Build). The funding for these will be carried over into 2019/20 and it is not anticipated at this point that any funding will be lost because of the delays.

It was resolved to note the progress of expenditure and receipts against the capital budget for 2018/19 at Quarter 1.

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

The report of the Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer incorporating the Annual Treasury Management Review for 2017/18 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 2017/18. The report meets the requirements of both the CIPFA Code of Practice in Treasury Management and the CIPFA Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities.

The Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer said that the Treasury Management Strategy has remained largely consistent over the past few years with the approach being to internalise borrowing where possible using the Council’s own balances to fund part of its capital borrowing. However it is expected that in the longer term borrowing will need to be taken out to replenish the Council’s balances. In terms of investment the returns have remained low due to low interest rates and the strategy has been to minimise risk by choosing investment counterparties based on credit ratings provided by the three main credit rating agencies supplemented by additional market data. The key objectives have been security and liquidity ensuring that there is sufficient cash to pay the Council’s creditors etc.

It was resolved –

•  To note that the outturn figures in the report will remain provisional until the audit of the2017/18 Statement of Accounts is completed and signed off; any resulting significant adjustments to the figures included in the report will be reported as appropriate.

•  To note the provisional 2017/18 prudential and treasury indicators in the report.

•  To accept the Annual Treasury Management Report for 2017/18 and to forward the report to the Full Council without further comment.

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

The report of the Head of Children and Families’ Services documenting progress to date against the Service Improvement Plan was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The Leader and Portfolio Member for Social Services reported that the Service despite the national shortage of Social Workers has succeeded in recruiting two experienced Social Workers and has implemented the contingency plan which is to recruit Newly Qualified Social Workers who will be supported by Agency Social Workers over capacity for a period of one year. The Independent Support Team (IST) which has been working with the Service to support improvement following the inspection by CSSIW (now CIW) in late 2016 presented its final report to the Children’s Services Improvement Panel in July. Extracts from the IST’s feedback are reproduced in the report; these are predominantly positive and they highlight a number of areas where the changes made have led to significant improvements. Notwithstanding there remain issues which require ongoing attention, the IST deems that the improvements made bode well for the future and provide a solid platform on which to build upon. The Portfolio Member also referred to the marked improvement in the Service’s performance against PIs in the last quarters as reflected in section 3 of the report; the performance in relation to achieving corporate performance standards such as sickness absence targets and completion of mandatory online training modules is also much improved.

The Executive noted that the evaluation of progress as presented in this and previous updates have provided assurance that Children and Families’ Services are improving enabling the Executive to be more confident about how the Service is now operating but with the following caveats –

•  That Children and Families’ Services need to have in place arrangements to ensure that the improvements made are sustainable over time in order to lessen the possibility of peaks and troughs in performance.

•  That the rate of attrition among experienced Social Workers is a concern and is a risk that needs to be mitigated against.

The Assistant Chief Executive/Statutory Director of Social Services acknowledged that having in place effective and robust arrangements to sustain the changes made in terms of practice, policies and staff structures is important. Supervision, quality assurance and audit processes have been developed and these will ensure that the quality of practice remains consistent on a day to day basis and that this can be evidenced. With regard to the pressures on Social Workers, the staff restructure implemented means that Children’s Social Workers now work in smaller teams, have reduced caseloads, better access to Practice Leaders and are supervised more consistently – these factors all contribute to making their work safer.

It was resolved to confirm that the Executive is satisfied with the steps taken to progress the implementation of the Service Improvement Plan and the pace of progress, and also with the pace of progress and improvements made to date within the Children and Families’ Service.

To submit a report by the Assistant Chief Executive (Governance and Business Process Transformation and Statutory Director of Social Services).

The report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Governance and Business Process Transformation) /Statutory Director of Social Services incorporating a Protocol on the Role and Accountabilities of the Statutory Director of Social Services within the Isle of Anglesey County Council was presented for the Executive’s consideration. The Executive was informed that the original protocol drafted in 2016 has been reviewed and updated to set out the role of the of the Director of Social Services in line with Part 8 of the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014 .

It was resolved to recommend that the Council -

•  Adopts the Protocol set out in Appendix 1 to the report.

•  Authorises the Council’s Head of Function (Council Business/ Monitoring Officer to make the necessary changes to the Scheme of Delegation for the Assistant Chief Executive (Governance and Business Process Transformation) in the Constitution, and any consequential amendments, to reflect the adoption of the Protocol in Appendix 1.

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

The report of the Head of Regulation and Economic Development incorporating the Corporate Health and Safety Annual Report for 2017/18 was presented for the Executive’s consideration. The report noted the number of health and safety incidents recorded during the year with an analysis thereof; the number of incidents reported to the Health and Safety Executive and whether any follow-up action was required and provided a summary of partnership working.

It was noted that significant work has been done by Senior Officers, Human Resources and Corporate Health and Safety to establish a method of revitalising Health and Safety within the Council. The revised Health and Safety Policy which clearly identifies Health and Safety as the responsibility of all Council Members and Staff should lead to an improved Health and Safety culture within the Council and, together with the role of the Health and Safety Co- ordinators should set the foundations for maintaining and improving health and safety within the Council.

The Corporate Health and Safety Advisor said that Health and Safety is an ongoing process and that currently work is focused on continued improvement as supported by the Health and Safety Action Plan (appended to the annual report).

The Executive noted the information presented and acknowledged the work that has been done to strengthen Health and Safety arrangements and structures within the Council. The Executive noted also that concerns have been raised and reported in the media recently about the safety of glyphosate as an ingredient in certain brands of weed killer. The Executive sought clarification of the Authority’s approach to the use of glyphosate.

The Corporate Health and Safety Advisor said that glyphosate is licensed by the HSE and as such there are strict controls on its use with which all contractors working for the Authority are required to comply. The Authority is monitoring the situation.

The Chief Executive confirmed that the Authority has discussed the use of glyphosate with other authorities and is keeping a watching brief on the matter. The Authority’s approach which is generally shared by the other North Wales authorities is to carry on using glyphosate as a herbicide within the strict guidelines issued whilst continuing to monitor the situation for any developments.

It was resolved to accept the Corporate Health and Safety Annual Report 2017/18 and to implement the Development Plan.