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:-

•  29 November 2021

•  13 December 2021

The minutes of the previous meetings of the Executive held on 29 November, 2021 and 13 December, 2021 were presented for confirmation.

It was resolved that the minutes of the previous meetings of the Executive held on the following dates be approved as correct –

·         29 November, 2021

·         13 December, 2021

To submit for adoption, the draft minutes of the Corporate Parenting Panel held on 7 December 2021.

The draft minutes of the meeting of the Corporate Parenting Panel held on 7 December, 2021 were submitted for adoption.

It was resolved that the draft minutes of the meeting of the Corporate Parenting Panel held on 7 December, 2021 be adopted.

To submit a report by the Head of Profession – HR and Transformation (and Interim Head of Democratic Services).

The report of the Interim Head of Democratic Services incorporating the Executive’s updated Forward Work Programme for the period from February to September, 2022 was presented for the Executive’s consideration and the following changes were highlighted –

·         Item 2 – Anglesey Further Education Trust Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 which is a new item for the Executive’s 14 February, 2022 meeting.

·         Item 6 – Road Maintenance and Highways Asset Management Policy which is to be re-scheduled to a date to be confirmed.

Items 8 -18 (Budget setting and Budget monitoring related) confirmed for the Executive’s 3 March, 2022 meeting.

·         Item 23 – Population Needs Assessment: Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 which is to be re-schedued from the Executive’s 14 February, 2022 meeting to its 21 March, 2022 meeting

·         Item 36 to 38 – Quarterly Performance Monitoring reports which are new items for the Executive’s September, 2022 meeting.

·         Item 39  – Social Services Improvement Progress Report which is also a new item for the Executive’s September, 2022 meeting

·         Renting Homes (Fees etc.) (Wales) Act 2019 – implementation arrangements – a new item not on the published work programme requested for the Executive’s 14 February, 2022 meeting.

It was resolved to confirm the Executive’s updated forward work programme for the period January, to August, 2022 with the additional change outlined at the meeting.

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

Councillor Robin Williams, Portfolio Member for Finance presented the report by the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer setting out the Executive’s provisional revenue budget for 2022/23.

The provisional settlement for Local Government in Wales announced on 21 December, 2021 shows an increase of £456m in the overall level of funding for Wales which is equivalent to a 9.8% increase in cash terms. For Anglesey, the increase in comparison to the Aggregate External Funding (AEF) in 2021/22 is £9.74m or 9.27%. While the increase is to be welcomed and provides the Council with an opportunity to invest in services for the first time in many years, the positivity has to be caveated by what the 2022/23 provisional settlement says about subsequent years with an indicative rise of 3.5% in the AEF for Wales indicated for 2023/24 which would still make it possible to continue to invest in services should that increase be replicated for Anglesey before the position begins to worsen again in 2024/25. The figures presented include estimated provision for pay awards regarding which there remains an element of uncertainty - and other staffing pressures, non-pay inflation, movement in pupil numbers, levies including for the newly established North Wales Corporate Joint Committee, capital financing charges and contingencies. The budget has been developed to also allow for funding expectations from Welsh Government where the AEF is expected to cover other cost pressures in 2022/23 for which no extra funding will be provided by Welsh Government. These include payment of the Real Living Wage to care staff, homelessness prevention; managing the ongoing impact of the Covid pandemic and new duties arising from the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 and are set out in more detail in section 4.8 of the report. The settlement provides the Council with an opportunity to address some of the service related risks and issues that have arisen as a result of a long period of austerity during which capacity and provision have been reduced. Table 2 summarises the proposed investment in services although these proposals will be further examined before the adoption of the final budget proposal in March, 2022.

After taking account of the provisional settlement from Welsh Government and the main budget changes (before any change in Council Tax) the starting point for the 2022/23 budget is a shortfall of £859k which it is proposed be funded by a 2% increase in Council Tax (likely to be among the lowest increases in Wales) taking the Band D charge to £1,367.46. The proposed net revenue budget for 2022/23 is £158.365m.

The Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer reported that the main financial risks to highlight for the budget are summarised in section 6.5 of the report; these  are not covered in the budget or potentially are only partly addressed and they relate to Covid costs and potential loss of income although it is hoped Welsh Government would step in to provide support should the Covid situation deteriorate significantly; uncertainty around the final staff  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

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

Councillor Robin Williams, Portfolio Member for Finance presented the report by the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer setting out the draft Capital Budget proposal for 2022/23.

The draft Capital Budget for 2022/23 takes into account the principles set out in the Capital Strategy as approved by both the Executive and Full Council in March, 2021.The proposed Capital Programme for 2022/23 totals £35.961m and is funded from the sources set out in Table 1 of the report. The General Capital grant from Welsh Government has reduced by £677k compared to the funding received in 2021/22 with it being proposed therefore that £1.681m be drawn from General Balances to help fund the proposed programme. The capital programme proposes spend on existing assets (£5.042m), new one off projects as per Table 3 of the report to include the upgrade of public toilets and provision of match funding for flood relief schemes (£1.432m), and new one off projects to be  funded from earmarked reserves, service reserves and unsupported borrowing(£783k) – Table 4 of the report. Due to the significant amount of Welsh Government funding for the 21^st Century Schools Programme, the Council is committed to funding these schemes through the use of unsupported borrowing and the capital receipts from the sale of old school sites. The estimated cost of the programme in 2022/23 is £8.598m. The proposed programme under the Housing Revenue Account which is a ring fenced budget for managing income and expenditure relating to the Council’s housing stock will see continued investment in existing stock as well as the development of new properties.

The Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer affirmed the reduction in the General Capital Grant for 2022/23 which has led to a shortfall in the capital budget which after careful consideration the Executive is proposing be met from General Balances having concluded that given the robustness of the General Balances, utilising the balances to support capital expenditure in 2022/23 would not be unreasonable and would not put the General Reserve position at risk. Although General Capital Grant allocation is expected to increase in 2024/25 the overall capital budget position will be tighter making it difficult to formulate a capital programme that is not limited to the refurbishment and replacement of existing assets.

Councillor Dylan Rees, Vice-Chair of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee reporting from the Committee’s meeting that morning confirmed Scrutiny’s endorsement of the 2022/23 Capital Budget proposal with no votes against. Councillor Dafydd Roberts, Chair of the Finance Scrutiny Panel likewise confirmed the Panel’s support for the proposed capital budget as a reasonable use of resources.

It was resolved to recommend to the Full Council the following capital programme for

2022/23 –

                         £’000

2021/22 Schemes Brought Forward                       1,322

Refurbishment/Replacement of Assets                 5,042

New One Off Capital Projects                                 1,432

New One Off Capital Projects (funded

from Reserves and Unsupported

Borrowing)                                                                   783

21^st Century Schools                                                8,598

Housing Revenue Account                                   18,784

Total Recommended Capital

Programme 2022/23                                                 35,961

Funded By –

General Capital Grant                                              1,486

Supported Borrowing General                               2,157

General  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To submit a report by the Head of Housing Services.

Councillor Alun Mummery, Portfolio Member for Housing and Supporting Communities presented the report by the Head of Housing Services which incorporated the Shared Equity Policy designed to offer First Time Buyers an opportunity to obtain an equity loan to enable them to purchase a suitable home in their local area which would otherwise be unaffordable.

As part of its range of initiatives to offer affordable housing, Housing Services propose to introduce a Shared Equity Policy which will assist those who are unable to buy their home on the open market and those unable to gain access to Social Housing. Buying a home remains outside the range of many first-time buyers due to high property prices relative to local income and the deposits required. The Shared Equity Policy assists in meeting two objectives identified within the Service’s Housing Strategy which are - firstly the development of the right homes for Anglesey’s future and - secondly, making the best use of existing housing stock and improving homes and communities with the action being to offer social rented properties, intermediate rents, self-build and assistance to first time buyers.

The Head of Housing Services confirmed that the Shared Equity Policy is one of the options which the Service is utilising to respond to the local housing challenge and to assist local households to access affordable homes to buy and that the policy will widen the range of affordable homes that can be offered for both existing and Council build properties. As of December, 2021 there were 458 applicants registered for affordable properties on the Tai Teg website with 260 of these applicants looking to purchase an affordable property on Anglesey

The Executive welcomed the Shared Equity Policy as a positive addition to the range of initiatives which Housing Servcies are developing to respond to the local housing challenge and also as a constructive use of the Council Tax Premium which is used to fund these initiatives.

It was resolved to approve the Shared Equity Policy.

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 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 the following item on the grounds that it involved the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 12, 13 and 14 of Schedule 12A of the said Act and in the Public Interest Test presented.

To submit a report by the Head of Housing Services.

Councillor Alun Mummery, Portfolio Member for Housing and Supporting Communities presented the confidential report by the Head of Housing Services seeking the Executive’s approval for the development of 23 new houses that will be available to local residents as affordable homes to buy or rent in response to the current housing challenge on land near Ysbyty Penrhos Stanley, Holyhead.

The Executive was advised of the location and layout of the proposed development and that the need for these homes in Holyhead has been confirmed by the Tai Teg affordable housing register. Financing would be based on the financial model used to assess the viability of housing developments and approved by the Section 151 Officer and Head of Housing Services for each individual development with the aim being to build highly efficient new homes. Subject to approval, the development timescale would be as broadly outlined.

It was resolved to approve the development of 23 new houses that will be available to local residents as affordable homes to buy or rent in response to the current housing challenge on land next to Ysbyty Penrhos Stanley, Holyhead.