Agenda, decisions and minutes

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

Councillor Kenneth Hughes declared a personal but not prejudicial interest in respect of item 9 on the agenda and said that he would be leading on the report as the Portfolio Member for Education.

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

None received.

To submit for confirmation, the minutes of the meeting of the Executive held on 26^th May, 2015.

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Executive held on 26th May, 2015 were presented for confirmation.

It was resolved that the minutes of the previous meeting of the Executive held on 26th May, 2015 be confirmed as correct.

To submit the report of the Head of Democratic Services.

The report of the Head of Democratic Services incorporating the Executive’s Forward Work Programme for the period from July, 2015 to February, 2016 was presented for the Executive’s approval.

The Head of Democratic Services reported that item 5 on the Executive’s Work programme for July, 2015 (Housing Services Board) has slipped and will be rescheduled as soon as possible. The Housing Services has requested that an additional item be included on the Work Programme for July, 2015 in relation to transforming the Sheltered Housing Warden Service. Three other items are new on the Work Programme for July and these are items 6, 7 and 13.

It was resolved to confirm the Executive’s updated Forward Work Programme for the period from July, 2015 to February, 2016, subject to the additional changes outlined at the meeting.

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

The report of the Interim Head of Resources and Section 151 Officer on the Capital budget out-turn for 2014/15 was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Finance said that the report, which reflects a generally satisfactory outcome to the 2014/15 Capital Programme was scrutinised by the Corporate Scrutiny Committee at its meeting on 10th June. He reported that the overall expenditure was 85% of the total budget and that one of the positives to be taken from the report is the increase in capital receipts in 2014/15. An area requiring further attention is the smallholdings programme of improvements which is now in its fifth year and which continues to run a deficit  which, carried forward to the 2015/16 stands at  £1.393m. The Portfolio Member said that subject to the Executive’s approval, he proposed that a report be brought back to the Executive on how the deficit can be addressed and the smallholdings improvement programme completed.

The Portfolio Member for Education emphasised that once the improvements programme is completed, it is important that the estate is maintained.

It was resolved -

•           To note the progress of expenditure and receipts against the capital budget.

•           That a report with regard to the actions and resources required to address the deficit and complete the smallholdings programme of improvements be brought back to the Executive.

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

The report of the Interim Head of Resources and Section 151 Officer setting out the provisional financial performance of the Council’s Services for the 2014/15 financial year including the overall position and sources of the main variances in budgets was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Finance reported that the Authority had to contend with a 4% reduction in its budget allocation from the Welsh Government for 2014/15 meaning that revenue savings in the region of £6m had to be found for the 2014/15 financial year. Those have been achieved and the overall draft financial position for 2014/15 is an underspend of £599k which provides the Authority with a good foundation for meeting the anticipated financial challenges in the year ahead. The report sets out the main budget variances including certain service areas that were overspent.

The Chair said with reference to the variances reported, that he would like to see the Authority adopting a zero based budget approach as a more exact way of setting the budget whereby services are required to demonstrate what is their need for resources.

It was resolved to note the following –

•           The position set out in respect of financial performance for 2014/15

•           That the out-turn reported in the document remains provisional until the completion of the statutory audit.

To submit the report of the Head of Environment and Technical Services.

The report of the Head of Environment and Technical Services with regard to the purchase of land to progress the Llangefni link road project was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Education suggested that it would be prudent with this and other major projects to incorporate a provision within contracts that would set a charge for each day they overrun.

The Head of Environment and Technical Services confirmed that such considerations would be dealt with as part of the contract.

It was resolved to agree to the purchase of the necessary land for the construction of the proposed new Llangefni Link Road and to approve the utilisation of Compulsory Purchase Order powers if necessary.

To consider adoption of the following:-

“Under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, to exclude the press and public from 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 considered and 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 the following item as it involved the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Schedule 12A of the said Act and in the Public Interest Test presented.

To submit the report of the Head of Environment and Technical Services.

The report of the Head of Learning with regard to the site for the new primary school in the Llannau area was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Education in presenting the report said that he had received legal advice which confirmed that his interest in the matter was not deemed to satisfy the test for a prejudicial interest as the report is about moving the project forwards after consultation and the implementation of the decision to create a new area school, thus allowing him to lead on the matter.

It was resolved to approve the purchase of the land as noted in the report subject to the conditions set out therein.