Meeting documents

The Chair extended a warm welcome to Miss Sioned Wyn Jones of the Committee Services Section who was attending a meeting of this Committee for the first time.

Councillor A. Morris.Jones declared an interest in Item 13 of these minutes, remained at the  meeting   but did not take part in any discussion or voting thereon.

None to declare.

The Chair extended a warm welcome to Mr.Alan Morris (Relationship Manager),Mr. Huw Lloyd Jones, Welsh Audit Office and Mr. James Quance of Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

Submitted -  a presentation by the Relationship Manager, Wales Audit Office on the Annual Letter for 2008/09 which set out the key messages arising from work undertaken over the last twelve months and which included a summary of audit and inspection work and reported progress against improvement actions. It drew on the published reports of other inspectorates to provide an annual summary of findings and conclusions as regards this Council.

The Annual Letter had been presented to the Audit Committee on 14th January, 2010 and to all members in December, 2009 by the Interim Managing Director.

The Auditor General’s Appointed Auditor had completed the audit of accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004 and the Code and had concluded that:-

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The Council had complied with financial and performance improvement reporting requirements, but the next 12 months were critical for the Council to improve it’s arrangements to secure economy, efficiency and effectiveness in its use of resources.

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The Council had appropriate arrangements to administrate and report financial matters but did not have appropriate arrangements to secure value for money in its use of resources in 2008/09.

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The Statement of Accounts 2008/09 was prepared in accordance with statutory requirements and presented fairly the financial position and transactions of the Council.

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The Council did not have appropriate arrangements in place to secure economy, efficiency and effectiveness in its use of resources in 2008-09.

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The Council’s Improvement Plan 2009-10 met statutory requirements and provided a balanced view of its performance in 2008-09 but data demonstrated that performance against targets had declined slightly.

The Relationship Manager had concluded that:-

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Review of services and corporate arrangements indicated that the Council needed to address any significant weaknesses and had a poor record in responding to the recommendations of external regulators.

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The Council’s long history of not being properly run had a corrosive effect on the exercise of its functions and left it poorly placed to meet future challenges.

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The Council recognised that there was considerable room for improvement in its asset Management arrangements but progress was beginning to be made.

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The Council had made limited progress in implementing many previous recommendations but was strengthening its arrangements for monitoring the response to Wales Audit Office reports.

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Reviews undertaken by the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales had identified a number of areas of concern.

Members were afforded the opportunity of raising questions on the contents of the annual letter. The Leader thanked the representatives of the Wales Audit Office and PWC for their presence today and looked forward to them presenting their report to the County Council on 4th March, 2010. He also stated that because of what had been recently raised at the Audit Committee as regards the assessment of proper arrangements for securing value for money, that the Executive would take those views on board and respond to the Audit Committee as soon as practicable.

RESOLVED to accept the contents of the report and to also note that the Executive would report back to the Audit Committee as soon as practicably possible with regard to the assessment of proper arrangements for securing value for money as referred to in the Auditor’s annual letter.

Submitted for information- The minutes of the meeting of the Local Service Board held on 15th December, 2009.

RESOLVED to note the contents of the minutes.

Reported- That the Principal Scrutiny Committee at it’s meeting on 3rd December, 2009 had resolved as follows:-

“To request the Executive to look at Fleet Management across the Council’s departments, with the recommendation that it reconsiders the level of risk which this matter represents and includes it as one of the recognised risks to the Council.”

Reported by the Head of Service (Highways and Waste Management) - That the need for a Fleet and Driver Management Policy and Procedures arose from an audit by Pricewaterhouse Coopers  on behalf of the Welsh Audit Office and the subsequent report, Fleet Management Isle of Anglesey County Council, which was published in July 2008.

The policy before the Executive today (Appendix 1) established the principles for fleet management within the County Council and explained the role of the fleet in supporting the Council’s corporate aims. A synopsis of the roles and responsibilities which arose from best practice in fleet management was provided in Appendix 2 and these would be incorporated into the procedures referred to at Paragraph 3.2 of the report.It was intended to review the Policy and procedures within three years of publication, but in the meantime it would be necessary to regularly review them in order to ensure that they confirmed with any legislative changes.

The Interim Managing Director referred Members to Para 3.2 of Appendix1 of the report which stated that the Fleet and Driver Management Team would have overall management and deployment responsibility for the Authority’s vehicle fleet. An additional recommendation (4.3) had been added to the report. The Interim Managing Director felt that it was possible, not only to respond to the issues of risk, but also in terms of issues of cost by greater centralisation. It was important to make it clear what was meant by management and deployment, i.e. taking decisions about the replacement of vehicles, the times they were replaced, the vehicles used, making sure that the DLO was efficient in terms of its maintenance workshop, etc.After today’s discussion, he would be making Directorates aware of what exactly that meant in terms of centralising aspects of control and management to improve proactivity and efficiency.

RESOLVED

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To accept the Fleet Management Policy as the official policy of the Council and that the Fleet and Driver Manager be authorised to act in accordance with this Policy.

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That the Fleet and Driver Manager, following consultation with the Head of Service (Highways and Waste Management) be given delegated authority to make changes to the Policy and Procedures as is necessary in order to ensure that they are kept up to date and comply with legislation, relevant national regulations and best practice.

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That the Fleet and Driver Manager, together with the Head of Service (Highways and Waste Management) takes full control of the management of the Council’s vehicle fleet , in order to maximise efficiency savings and reduce running costs.

Reported - That this Council currently owned and managed 6 residential care homes for older people. Five of these were purpose built units and the sixth was an adapted older property. The homes were located across the island and offered 165 residential beds.

During the last quarter of 2009, the Director of Social Services visited all 6 residential homes and was extremely concerned at the condition of some of the buildings and the quality of the rooms and facilities available to residents(details provided within the report).The Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales had identified the need to refurbish and redecorate some rooms in all of the Council’s care homes.The Authority by not taking action was leaving itself open to possible prosecution and closure of one or more of the non compliant care homes.The residential homes required considerable investment to ensure that they met the standards as defined in legislation.

There were 3 options which the Authority was able to consider and these were listed at Paragraph 4 of this report. Although all three were viable, Options 1 and 2 would not attend to the immediate challenge that faced the Authority. Investment was required across the group of 6 homes so that a standard of care could be offered to current and future residents that preserved their dignity and enabled them to enjoy the quality of life they deserved .

Members enquired as to the covenant in place with regard to Haulfre residential home and asked officers to investigate the matter further.

The Corporate Director(Finance) reminded members that a decision was still required as regards the indicative budget of £600k set aside within the Capital Plan to finance a programme of upgrade and the provision of en-suite bathrooms at some of the homes. If this was not decided upon then the Executive may not be conforming with the budgetary policy of the Council as adopted.

Following lengthy discussion on the matter,some of the Members felt that the matter should be deferred for a month,pending the receipt of further information from the Social Services and Property Departments as to what was achievable,including a planned maintenance scheme for the homes in question. Other Members considered that Option 2 should be pursued. The matter was put to the vote.

The Interim Managing Director stated that prior to preparing a comprehensive strategy for its homes, the Council had to analyse the problems it faced.The Council had to understand the level of private sector provision, the competitive market it was working in, whether investing money would increase capacity, the impact of planning policies particularly extra care housing, Government proposals as regards the funding of care, the Council’s own backlog maintenance, design and remodelling costs.To expect a comprehensive report on all these matters within the timescale proposed was not feasible and Members should not to raise their expectations.  

RESOLVED

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To defer consideration to enable the Acting Corporate Director (Housing and Social Services) and the Head of Service (Property) to provide within a month’s time, a further detailed report on the options presented to this Committee in consultation with the relevant Portfolio Holders.

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That the Acting Corporate Director (Housing and Social Services) also be requested to report back to that meeting following consultation with the Director of Legal Services/Monitoring Officer as regards any covenants relating to Haulfre residential home

Submitted for information- The 7th quarterly report of the Solicitor to the Monitoring Officer on claims/complaints by means of payments of compensation including ex-gratia payments for the period September to November 2009.

RESOLVED to note the contents of the report.

Reported by the Solicitor to Monitoring Officer- That the new Corporate Complaints and Compliments procedure was introduced on 1st June 2009. and the County Council on 5th May 2009 resolved “that the procedure be monitored by the Executive in 6 months time”. Attached was a Report on the pilot period of the new Procedure for the period 1st June to 30th November,2009.

The Public Services Ombudsman for Wales was chairing a working group looking at a common system for public services in Wales. A consultation paper was expected early in 2010. It was  suggested that the new procedure remained in place and continued for a further period until the Ombudsman’s consultation was concluded and that matters be considered further at that time.

Councillor Ieuan Williams requested that monthly graphs on response times should be made available as soon as possible on the Council web site.

RESOLVED

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That the current Corporate Complaints and Compliments Procedure continues for a further period until the Ombudsman’s consultation is concluded and that the whole matter of complaints is considered further at that time.

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That the Solicitor to the Monitoring Officer be requested to introduce as soon as possible the listing of complaints data on the Council website with regard to response times.

Reported by the Head of Service (Highways and Waste Management) - That the Service was preparing a Highway Asset Management Plan (HAMP) and as part of this work it became apparent that the existing Highway Inspection Policy needed to be reviewed in order to comply with changes to the “Well-maintained Highways - Code of Practice for Highway Maintenance.”

To ensure that a common standard was adopted throughout the County Council, highways were to be inspected to the frequencies defined in Table 1 of this report, whilst footways were to be inspected as defined in Table 2 of the report.An Inspection Register was to be maintained and updated regularly.Noted defects were to be made within prescribed time scales in Table 3 of this report.Amendments to the Policy were vital in order that the Council could conduct robust defences to claims against the Authority relating to defective highway components.

RESOLVED 

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To accept the new Highway Inspections Policy.

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To agree that the Head of Service (Highways and Waste Management) be given delegated authority to amend the Winter Maintenance Policy for 2010/11 to conform to the amended Highways Inspection Policy.

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To express this Committee’s appreciation to the Highways Service for their work in gritting the highways during the recent spell of inclement weather.

Reported by the Head of Service (Planning) - That both SPGs had been subject to a period of formal consultation between 1st September to 20th October, 2009.The comments and proposed changes had been considered and appropriate alterations had been made to both documents,  attached to this report.The proposed changes were included in the appendix,along with details of whether they had been implemented in the revised versions of both documents.

RESOLVED to recommend to the County Council that it adopts the two Design Guides as part of the Urban and Rural Environment S.P.G.

Submitted for information - An update by the Corporate Director (Education and Leisure) on the draft 5 year Leisure Services Strategy and the comprehensive report on the indoor facilities provision required by the Executive for January 2011.

Officers of the Service were currently up-dating the draft strategy to reflect recent changes in the allocation of expenditure, to carry out essential repairs to the Centres, and to reflect the difficulties ahead in accessing resources in the economic downturn. A Task and Finish Group of members and officers had been established and it was intended to report back on its progress to the Executive within 6 months time.

The Interim Managing Director stated that 3 different Task and Finish Groups had been established across the Council and he felt that their work should be made known to the general public via the Communications Officer with regard to their running costs.This would get the right message out to the general public before the Council reached any final decision.  

RESOLVED to accept the contents of the report and to also note that a further progress report would be submitted to the Executive in 6 months time on the progression of the strategy.

Reported by the Corporate Director (Education and Leisure)- That in order to meet the requirements of the Education Act, all Education Authorities were required to devise a formula to allocate funding to all of its schools.

The core of the formula currently being used in Ynys Môn was identical to the formula that was devised in the early 1990’s. Work was started in 2008 by a small task-group on revising the current formula. It was made clear to that group from the outset, that a new formula would not lead to higher levels of expenditure - the funding levels would remain unchanged.This principle accounted for the fact that, in implementing a new Formula, there would be ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ among schools. Nevertheless, it was felt that a new formula should not be based on such consideration, but rather on new principles that were not reflected in the current formula.  

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To implement a 5% ‘safety net’ principle for both ‘winners’ and ‘losers’.

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That the new formula be kept under constant review.

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Amlwch Capital Works (£1,400k)

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Llangefni Capital Works (£1,850k)

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Holyhead Capital Works & Townscape Heritage Initiative (£4,588k)

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Capital Project Management (£410k)

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Town Centre Management (£490k - Revenue)

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To Approve the Anglesey Three Towns programme.

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To authorise acceptance of the Welsh Assembly Government grant offer of £7,609,525, subject to approval by the Director of Finance and Director of Legal Services.

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To approve the inclusion of the programmed expenditure in the Council’s capital plan and capital revenue budgets.

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To endorse and adopt the Tourism Strategy North Wales 2010-2015 as the collaborate way forward for the development of Tourism on Anglesey.

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That a review of the Anglesey Tourism Action Plan be carried out post 2010, using this Strategy as the basis.

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To adopt a co-ordinated approach to the implementation of those actions identified within the Strategy Action Plan as being led by local authorities.

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to approve the request for financial assistance and to allocate a sum of £30,000 capital receipt from the sale of both residential plots, and that this sum is subsequently transferred to the Town Council on completion of the following:-

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the groundworks and erection of all new boundaries to the play area, to the complete satisfaction of the County Council, and

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on execution of the proposed Lease in respect of the children’s play area.