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 meeting of the Executive held on 29 November 2022.

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Executive held on 29 November, 2022 were presented for confirmation.

It was resolved that the minutes of the previous meeting of the Executive held on 29 November, 2022 be confirmed as correct.

To submit a report by the Head of Democracy.

The report of the Head of Democracy incorporating the Executive’s Forward Work Programme for the period February to September 2023 was presented for confirmation and the following changes were noted:-

New items

·           Item 3 – New Planning Policy Arrangements – new item for the Executive’s 14 February, 2023 meeting;

·           Item 7 – Treasury Management Mid-year Review 2022/2023 – new item for the Executive’s 2 March, 2023 meeting;

·           Item 21 – Anglesey Town Centres Improvement Strategy – new item for the Executive’s 25 April, 2023 meeting;

·           Item 22 – Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Management Plan (AONB) – new item for the Executive’s 25 April, 2023 meeting;

·           Item 23 – Destination Management Plan – new item for the Executive’s 25 April, 2023 meeting;

·           Item 25 – Welsh Language Standards Annual Report 2022/2023 – Delegated Decision;

·           Item 32 – Draft Final Accounts 2022/2023 and use of Balances and Reserves – new item for the July, 2023 meeting;

Regular items for the September, 2023 meeting

·           Item 34 – Corporate Scorecard – Quarter 1, 2023/2024;

·           Item 35 – Revenue Budget Monitoring Report, Quarter 1, 2023/2024;

·           Item 36 – Capital Budget Monitoring Report – Quarter 1, 2023/2024

·           Item 37 – Housing Revenue Account Budget Monitoring Report – Quarter 1, 2023/2024.

Since the publication of the Work Programme the item on Independent Sector Care Home Fees 2023/2024 be considered at the next meeting of the Executive to be held on 14 February, 2023.

It was resolved to confirm the Executive’s updated Forward Work Programme for the period February to September, 2023.

To submit a report by the Director of Social Services.

The report of the Director of Social providing a review of the Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) Performance Evaluation Review Inspection (PEI) of Anglesey’s Social Services was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member The Portfolio Member for Children’s Services (Social Services) and Youth Services in presenting the report said that the Social Services Departments, both Children and Families and Adults Services were inspected by Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) on the 10^th – 14^th October, 2022, as part of their routine Performance Evaluation Review Inspection (PEI).  He noted that the report is to be welcomed as CIW identified areas of strength, good practice and service development and did not highlight any areas of significant risk or safeguarding matters.  CIW has identified that the Authority demonstrated a strong enthusiasm and readiness to work with partner organisations and the third sector together with other services within the Council.  He further said that there is consistent, positive messages from the workforce regarding the quality of leadership and culture across both the children and adults’ services.   He further noted that he was glad that CIW has recognised the political and corporate support the Social Services Department has received.

The Portfolio Member for Adults’ Services reiterated the comments made by the Portfolio Member for Children’s Services (Social Services) and Youth Services and welcomed the positive CIW report on the Social Services Department.  He further said that in light of the financial challenges, it should be ensured that the support continues in order to further drive improvements across the children and adults’ services.  He wished to thank the staff of both the Children and Adult’s services for their work.

The Director of Social Services reported that he was appreciative that the CIW report was a positive report on both the Children and Adult’s services and especially during the immense pressure on the Care Sector, cost of living crisis and the pressure on the workforce to address these issues.    He noted that there are some areas have been highlighted within the report that needs to be addressed, however, these matters were currently been considered within the service and a report will be submitted to the meeting of the Social Services Scrutiny Committee for consideration in due course. 

Councillor Robert Ll Jones, Chair of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee provided feedback from the Committee’s 19 January, 2023 meeting where the CIW Performance Evaluation Review Inspection Report was discussed, and he confirmed that the Committee was provided with a positive report on the Social Services Department.  Members thanked all Social Services staff and wanted to recognise their dedication and good work. Having considered the information presented both written and verbally at the meeting, it was recommended to note the content of the Care Inspectorate for Wales Performance Evaluation

Review inspection report and to recommend the proposed post inspection actions to the Executive for adoption.

The Leader of the Council also wished to thank the staff of the Social Services Department for their work.  She noted that she was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

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

 The report of the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer setting out the Executive’s provisional revenue budget for 2023/2024 was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

Councillor Robin Williams, Portfolio Member for Finance, Corporate Business and Customer Experience reported that the initial budget has for this year has increased to £172.438m and the main factor is inflation as can be shown in Table 2 within the report.  He further said that public consultation has been undertaken as regards to the revenue budget and the feedback resulted in that a combination of increase in Council Tax, the use of reserves and to increase the premium on second homes.   Whilst the provisional settlement for Welsh Government was higher than envisaged, the authority still has a deficit of £5.396m.  In order to fund the funding deficit, it would be necessary to increase Council Tax by 12%.  In order to reduce the increase in Council Tax, it would be necessary to utilise the Council’s reserves or to implement revenue budget savings.  However, the Executive has set the minimum general balance as 5% of the net revenue budget.   It is recommended that a combination of the use of £1.78m from the general reserves, increase of 5% in Council Tax (taking the Band D charge to £1,435.86) and to increase the premium on second homes from 50% to 75%. 

The Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer highlighted that this is the initial draft revenue for 2023/2024 and the final budget will be submitted to the Executive on 2^nd March, 2023 and thereafter to the full Council on 9^th March, 2023.  He noted that there will be minor adjustments to the budget with the main amendment to the levy of the Fire & Rescue Authority which has decreased from 13.4% to 9.9%.  There are other external partners that the Council funds that will come to a decision on their budget in due course. He highlighted the level of risk surrounding the budget, in particular whether sufficient provision has been made for pay increases, energy inflation and the increasing demand for services. 

Councillor Robert Ll Jones, Chair of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee provided feedback from the Committee’s 19 January, 2023 meeting where the reports of the Scrutiny Manager and Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer were

received by the Committee. Members of the Partnership and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee were also in attendance.  Having considered the information presented at the meeting and having regard to feedback from the Finance Scrutiny Panel, it was resolved to recommend to the Executive that the recommendations contained within the report be approved.

The Executive wished to highlight the work that has been undertaken in setting the draft revenue budget and the balance that is required so that the budget will meet the services demands on the Authority in 2023/2024 and also to protect vulnerable people within society who need the services provided by the Council. 

It was RESOLVED:-

·           To approve the initial proposed budget for 2023/24 of £172.438m.

·           To approve a proposed increase  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

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

The report of the Head of Profession (Human Resources) and Transformation which sought the Executive’s approval on the Draft Council Plan – 2023 – 2028 was presented.

The Portfolio Member for Finance, Council Business and Customer Experience presented the report and said that the report is the culmination of an engagement and consultation exercise with staff, residents, partners and stakeholders which has been on-going since the start of the 2022 calendar year when the Council carried out its initial engagement exercise.  The Council consulted on its strategic priorities which consulted upon for a period of 8 weeks.  These strategic priorities were included within Appendix A of the report.  In excess of 2,500 responses were received on all types of activity throughout the year.  The Engagement and Consultation Report which outlines the findings was included within Appendix B to the report.   He noted that 8 out of 10 of the respondent agreed with the strategic priorities of the Council.

The Performance, Business Planning and Programme Manager reported that it is a statutory requirements under the Local Government and Elections Act 2021 and the Well-being and Future Generations Act that local authorities are required to promote the contribution of residents within the consultation exercise.

Councillor Robert Ll Jones, Chair of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee provided feedback from the Committee’s 19 January, 2023 meeting where the report of the Head of Profession (Human Resources) and Transformation was received by the Committee. Having considered the information presented at the meeting it was resolved to recommend to the Executive that the recommendations contained within the report be approved.

It was RESOLVED:-

·           That the engagement and consultation process has been undertaken as comprehensively as possible during 2022;

·           That the Officers, in collaboration with the Executive, to further develop the draft Council Plan following the consultation process ready for its adoption during the Spring of 2023.

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

The report of the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer on the Cost of Living Discretionary Scheme – Phase 2 was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Finance, Council Business and Customer Experience presented the report and said that the cost of living main scheme has afforded  around 23,000 households receiving a grant of £150 which are within the Council Tax Bands A to D.  Phase 1 of the Discretionary Scheme provided additional support to other vulnerable groups which were not eligible for assistance under the main scheme.  The funding within Phase 2 of the scheme needs to be utilised by 31 March, 2023 and it has been decided to afford funding to Anglesey residents with health conditions and residents who use domestic heating oil to heat their homes as they have not received support during the cost of living discretionary scheme. 

The Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer reported that the

Discretionary Scheme has allowed the funding to be distributed to groups that the Council considers that need support.  He noted that if any person considers that they are eligible for such funding needs to contact the J E O’Toole Centre in Holyhead or the CAB. 

It was resolved:-

·      To expand the funding previously agreed under phase1 to help with housing costs for people moving from temporary accommodation to provide grants to any household where a housing need has been identified (flooring costs, furniture costs, food and rent arrears) where the household is not eligible for help under the Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) scheme (Paragraph 2.3.4 of the report refers).

·      To approve the additional projects as set out in Appendix 1, paragraph 4.

·      To authorise the Community Housing Service Manager to identify a suitable local partner/organisation(s) who could continue to provide cost of living support through the schemes set up by the Council beyond 31 March, 2023, and to authorise the transfer of any remaining funds to the organisation identified, should all the funding not be utilised by the end of March, 2023.

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

The report of the Head of Regulation and Economic Development which sought the Executive’s approval in respect of the Biodiversity Plan – Annual Report was presented consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Planning, Public Protection and Climate Change presented the report and said that the purpose of the report is to state what the Authority has done to comply with the Section 6 duty of the Environmental Act (Wales) to cover the period 2019 to 2022.  The Act places a duty on public authorities to produce a Biodiversity Plan on their aims and objective every three years.  She noted that there are innovative projects which are being undertaken on the Island.  A Biodiversity Plan has taken place in the former landfill site at Clegir Mawr, Gwalchmai and a tree planting scheme at Penhesgyn, landfill site.

The Planning Built and Natural Environment Manager reported that significant work has been undertaken at both Penhesgyn and Clegir Mawr sites which included the planting of 24,000 trees with the view to improving conditions for biodiversity to thrive within these sites.  He noted that some actions set out in the Council’s Biodiversity Plan had not been met, but the report makes recommendations as to how these should be achieved.  An additional Case Study relating to the work at Penhesgyn, led by Natural Resources Wales on Council owned land needs to be included within the report.

It was RESOLVED to accept the report and to endorse the recommendations therein.

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

The report of the Head of Regulation and Economic Development which sought the Executive’s approval in respect of the Delivery of the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund was presented for consideration.

The Deputy Leader and Portfolio Member for Economic Development, Leisure and Tourism said that local government is expected, in developing the programme, to engage with stakeholders including the third sector and business community and to provide opportunities for organisations to secure resources from the programme to deliver against its priorities.  He further said that Gwynedd Council will act as the regional lead authority for the programme.  He also referred to the Levelling Up programme in Holyhead and the work undertaken by the Authority together with partner organisations in Holyhead. 

The Economic Development Manager reported that the UK Government has now launched the Shared Prosperity Fund as a domestically-funded replacement to the European programmes.  He further said that the funding from the Fund is £16m with £3m of that fund towards Multiply programme. 

It was RESOLVED to delegate authority to the Leader in consultation with the Portfolio Holders for Economic Development and Major Projects and Finance, for all Executive decisions which may be required in relation to the SPF on Anglesey (for the duration of the funding).