Agenda, decisions and minutes

The Chair extended a warm welcome to all those present at this virtual meeting of the Executive.

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

Councillor Richard Dew declared a personal and prejudicial interest with regard to item 6 on the agenda and was not present when the matter was discussed.

Councillor Ieuan Williams declared a personal interest with regard to item 4 on the agenda.

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

None to report.

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

The report of the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer incorporating the initial capital budget for 2021/22 was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

Councillor Robin Williams, Portfolio Member for Finance introduced the report by explaining that as part of the budget setting process the initial proposed capital budget along with the draft revenue budget proposals under the subsequent item will be the subject of formal consultation with the Corporate Scrutiny Committee and the general public following which the Executive will make its final 2021/22 budget recommendations to the County Council. The Full Council meeting on 9 March, 2021 will then approve a budget and related Council Tax demand for 2021/22.

The Portfolio Member said that formulating the capital budget has been made more difficult this year due to a funding shortfall meaning that additional funds will have to be identified in order to realise the recommended capital projects in full. The General Capital Funding received from Welsh Government for 2021/22 (excluding the 21st Century Schools programme and the Housing Revenue Account) based on the provisional Local Government settlement figures totals £4.321m. From this allocation, £4.167m is required to support the programme for refurbishing and replacing existing assets in line with the Council’s adopted Capital Strategy.  Four one off capital projects are recommended for inclusion in the capital programme for 2021/22 and these amount to £1.105m which exceeds the available funds by £921k. A potential underspend in the revenue budget for 2020/21 may mean an additional £1m could be added to the general reserve which could be used to fund the additional capital expenditure in 2021/22. However, this is not guaranteed and should the revenue budget position deteriorate over the second half of the financial year, the level of funding available may be less than £1m. Of the 4 one off schemes detailed in Table 4 of the report the match funding for Economic Development projects (£95k) and the purchase of chrome books for pupils (£305k) are considered a priority which means that if sufficient reserves are not available then the other two schemes – resurfacing play areas and flood relief schemes may have to be scaled back. A total capital programme of £36.155m is proposed for 2021/22.

The Director Of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer advised that one of the key  principles of the Capital Strategy is that capital funding will be allocated each year to ensure investment in the Council’s existing assets to protect them for the future; this priority  has been  delivered in the main through Welsh Government’s  Capital Grant and supported borrowing. These two headings have remained fairly constant over a number of years with Welsh Government supporting specific capital expenditure projects through grant funding. This means that the core funding available for capital purposes has in effect been reducing year on year making it more difficult to fund investment in existing assets. The Council has in the past used capital receipts as a source of additional capital funding; however the potential for any significant capital  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

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

The report of the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer incorporating the draft Revenue Budget for 2021/22 was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

Councillor Robin Williams, Portfolio Member for Finance reported that the Revenue Budget for 2020/21 i.e. the current financial year was £142.146m. For 2021/22 a number of known committed changes are likely to affect the budget and these are detailed in section 3 of the written report and they include variations in pupil numbers, payments to the North Wales Growth Bid, historic Pension costs and investment in Information technology. The most significant change is the increased cost of the new Refuse Collection and Street Cleansing Contract with Biffa which is £909k above the current budget. Taking into account all the adjustments and assumptions as set out in Section 3, the standstill budget for 2021/22 totals £147.076m, an increase of £4.930m on the 2020/21 final budget. An increased provisional settlement from Welsh Government will meet £3.821m of the increased costs leaving a funding shortfall of approximately £1m to be funded through Council Tax.

The standstill budget of £147.076m would allow the Council to maintain its existing services; however the Council faces new budget pressures and new demands for services which have not been allowed for in the budget. These pressures and demands – some of which are in services that have suffered reductions during austerity - have become more apparent as the Council has responded to the Covid pandemic. The priority areas identified as requiring additional funding are detailed in section 10.6 of the report and encompass reinstatement of the professional trainee programme; strengthening Public Protection capacity; Education Inclusion; IT support for schools; management of tourism and climate change. Having considered the standstill budget and in light of the fact that an increase of 2.55% is mainly required to fund the increase in the cost of the new refuse collection contract, an additional rise of 1.2% in the Council Tax has been considered as a means of funding the additional budget pressures and demands. An additional increase of 1.2% above the level required to fund the standstill budget (Table 4 at para. 9.2 refers) would generate an additional £494k in funding. It is therefore proposed that the Council Tax be increased by 3.75% which translates to a 94p weekly increase for a Band D property.

The Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer highlighted the following risks to the budget –

•           Uncertainty in respect of the potential pay awards for the two main groups of local government workers – teachers and NJC staff. Although a pay freeze for all public sector workers (excluding NHS) earning over £24,000 was announced in November, 2020 with the award for those earning less than £24,000 being at least £250, the pay award for local government workers NJC staff is set not by the UK Government but by the body which represents local government employers. In addition, the setting of the annual teachers’ pay award has been devolved to the Welsh Government. A 1%  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To consider adopting the following –

“Under Section 100 (A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, to exclude the press and public from the meeting during the 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 considered and it was resolved –

Under Section 100 (A0(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the press and public from the meeting during the discussion on the following item 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 Director of Education, Skills and Young People.

The report of the Director of Education, Skills and Young People incorporating the Full Business Case (FBC) for a new school building to replace Ysgol Corn Hir in Llangefni was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

Having declared a personal and prejudicial interest in this matter, Councillor Richard Dew withdrew from the meeting during the discussion and determination thereof.

Councillor R. Meirion Jones, Portfolio Member for Education, Libraries Culture and Youth introduced the report by saying that the Full Business Case has been prepared to secure capital funding for a new school building for Ysgol Corn Hir under the 21st Century Schools Band A Programme which if successful, will mean Welsh Government funding 50% of the costs of the proposal with the remaining costs to be funded through the Council’s capital resources.

The Director of Education, Skills and Young People recapped on the background to the proposal advising that all the elements of the FBC are based on the Council’s new preferred option after holding a statutory consultation between 6 February and 20 March 2020 and approved by the Executive on 17 December, 2020 which is to build a new school for Ysgol Corn Hir and leave Ysgol Bodffordd as it is. The Business case has been compiled in line with the 21st Century Schools Business Case guidance based on the Five Business Case Model and provides information in relation to each stage of the proposal’s development with regard to the strategic case, the economic case, the commercial case, the management case and the financial case for the proposal.

The Executive thanked the Learning Service and the Transformation Service staff for their work on the FBC.

It was resolved –

·        To approve the Full Business Case (FBC) for a new school building to replace Ysgol Corn Hir

·        To approve the submission of the FBC to Welsh Government

·        To approve ring-fencing capital receipts for the construction of the new school building to replace Ysgol Corn Hir, subject to no problems arising with selling the site.

·        To delegate authority to the Director of Education, Skills and Young People in consultation with the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer and Director of Function (Council Business)/Monitoring Officer to amend the FBC if necessary – if the changes do not result in material changes (in terms of policy, principles, financial contribution, risks and harm to third parties).