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

Councillor R.G.Parry OBE, FRAGS declared a personal but not prejudicial interest with regard to item 12 on the agenda and indicated that although he was entitled to do so, he would not be voting on the matter.

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

None to report.

To submit for confirmation, the draft minutes of the Extraordinary meeting of the Executive held on 17 August 2020.

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Executive held on 17 August, 2020 were presented for the Executive’s approval.

It was resolved that the minutes of the previous meeting of the Executive held on 17 August, 2020 be confirmed as correct.

To submit a report by the Head of Democratic Services.

The report of the Head of Democratic Services incorporating the Executive’s Forward Work Programme for the period from October, 2020 to May, 2021 was presented for consideration and the following new items were noted - 

•           For the 26 October, 2020 meeting

•           Item 3 – Public Services Ombudsman for Wales Annual Letter 2019/20

•           Item 5 – Corporate Prevent Strategy

•           Item 6 – Green Waste Collection Fees

•          Item 7 – Introducing Galw Gofal (Care Connect Charges for Council Housing Tenants)

•           For the 30 November, 2020 meeting

•           Item 9 – Corporate Scorecard Quarter 2 2020/21

•           Item 10 – Annual Delivery Document 2020/21

•           Items 11-13 - Budget monitoring items

•           Item 14 – Council Tax Base 2021/22

•          Item 15 – Anglesey Further Education Trust Report and Accounts 2019/20

•          Item 17 – Growth Agreement 2 (North Wales Economic Ambition Board)

•           For the 14 December, 2020 meeting

•           Item 19 – Treasury Management Mid-Year Review 2020/21

•           Item 20 -  Llangefni Golf Course

•           For March 2021

•            Items 24 -34 – Budget setting items (on a date in March to be confirmed)

•          Item 36 - Corporate Scorecard Quarter 3 2020/21(for the 22 March confirmed meeting)

It was resolved to confirm the updated Forward Work Programme for the period from October, 2020 to May, 2021 as presented.

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 financial performance of the Council’s services at the end of Quarter 1 of the 2020/21 financial year was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Finance reported that Quarter 1 2020/21 had been an extremely challenging period for the Council, the Island’s citizens and its businesses as it coincided with the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic meaning that plans were put on hold during the period whilst attention was focused on dealing with the emergency situation. At this stage the Council is managing to keep its head above water financially owing largely to Welsh Government support which has provided £232m to date to meet additional costs incurred by Councils in Wales in dealing with the pandemic. The overall projected financial position for 2020/21 including Corporate Finance and the Council Tax Fund is nearly a balanced budget position with a small overspend of £0.027m which is 0.02% of the Council’s net budget. However, it should be noted that predicting the final year-end position at the end of Quarter 1 is difficult at the best of times as the position can change considerably as the year progresses. For 2020/21 predicting the final year end position is even more difficult because it is still unclear when some of the Council’s services will return to normality and what the additional costs will be in providing those services in a way that minimises the risk of the spread of the virus. Points to note include the following –

•           As the majority of schools were closed for all but one week of the summer term, they have incurred less costs than normal; any underspending that will result will feed through to an increase in school balances as the Council is not intending to claw back any of the underspend.

•           Adults’ Social Care was £716k overspent for the period and the forecast outturn for the year as a whole is a predicted overspend of £195k. The Portfolio Member for Finance in highlighting that this excludes the potential winter pressures grant as the Council has not received a grant offer for these pressures to date said that this uncertainty is a cause of concern and a hindrance to planning and he urged Welsh Government to incorporate Winter Pressures funding within the Council’s overall settlement annually in order to provide the Council with the clarity it needs to continue to provide services which the funding helps support.

•           Children’s Services was underspent by £292k during the period and is projected to underspend by £1.382k at year end. Children and Families Services have seen a reduction in referrals coming into the service and a slight reduction in the number of children coming into the care of the Local Authority.

•           The Waste Service was £32k overspent for the period and is predicted to have an outturn position of £10k overspend at year end made up of overspends and compensating underspends within different sections  ...  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 performance of the Capital Budget for the first quarter of the 2020/21 financial year was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Finance reported that actual expenditure to 30 June 2020 was £1.705m against profiled expenditure of £3.315m which should not come as a surprise as lockdown restrictions came into effect during the period meaning that projects could not make progress as planned during this time. In any case a number of capital schemes are weighted towards the latter part of the financial year and the funding earmarked for schemes is secure. The impact of the pandemic can also be seen in additional costs on the Pentraeth and Beaumaris Flood Alleviation schemes requiring £49k and £39k of additional match funding by the Council respectively for which the Executive’s approval is sought.

The Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer confirmed that  the Council has reserves set aside to help fund its capital programme from which the additional match funding will be drawn. The hope is that all capital projects will make progress against expenditure during the remainder of the year with the exception of the Schools’ Modernisation Programme which has been paused pending a final decision on the configuration of schools in the Llangefni area and where little expenditure is expected, and new build housing development schemes under the HRA budget where despite renewed activity, expenditure is unlikely to recover fully for the rest of the year.

It was resolved –

•           To note the progress of expenditure and receipts against the capital budget 2020/21 at Quarter 1.

•           To approve £49,000 of additional match funding for the Pentraeth Flood Alleviation scheme as per paragraph 3.1.1 of the report. The additional cost is as a direct result of Covid-19 which has increased the contract costs to complete the scheme.

•           To approve £39,000 of additional match funding for the Beaumaris Flood Alleviation scheme, as per paragraph 3.1.1 of the report. The additional cost is as a direct result of Covid-19 which has increased the contract costs to complete the scheme.

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 financial performance of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Budget for Quarter 1 2020/21 was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Finance reported that the revenue financial position for the first quarter shows an underspend of £220k. The income forecast is £50k below the original budget, and expenditure is forecast to be £50k below the original budget. Capital expenditure is £421k below the profiled budget and the forecast expenditure is £2,112k below the budget. The forecast deficit therefore (combining both revenue and capital) is £2,112k less than the budget (reducing the planned deficit to £4,976) largely the result of lower than budgeted capital expenditure.

The Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer advised that the opening balance of the HRA reserves stood at £8,597k.The revised budget allowed for the use of £7,088km of this balance. Forecast underspend on the capital budget will result in an additional £2,112k being transferred into the reserve. This will give a reserve balance of £3,621k by the end of the financial year which will be available to fund housing schemes into next year the HRA being ring-fenced to fund costs associated with the Council’s housing stock. On the revenue side income was less than forecast due to fewer new housing units becoming available to be let than originally projected, but this was offset by reduced repairs and maintenance expenditure with all but the most urgent repairs being suspended during the lockdown period.

It was resolved to note the following –

•          The position set out in respect of the financial performance of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) for Quarter 1 2020/21.

•           The forecast outturn for 2020/21.

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 Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP) 2021/22 to 2023/24 was presented for the Executive’s consideration. The MTFP sets out the Council’s likely resource requirements for the next three financial years and details how the Council plans to balance the resource requirement with the funding available.

The Portfolio Member for Finance reported that the MTFP has been finalised during a period of uncertainty surrounding the UK economy following on from the global pandemic and the continuing Brexit negotiations; putting the Plan together in these circumstances has been a challenging task. A range of factors is likely to affect the assumptions made in the MTFP as the Covid-19 crisis continues including the ending of the Furlough scheme and an expected rise in unemployment which will have an impact on the local economy with implications for the Council’s tax revenue and claims on the Council Tax Reduction scheme. Although Welsh Government has made available additional funding to support the Council in responding locally to the pandemic, there have been no indications hitherto about the local government settlement for 2021/22. Based on last year, information about the indicative settlement is expected in December/January but the figures are liable to change by the time the final settlement is announced. Despite all the uncertainty, the Council will be required to prepare a balanced budget.

The Director of Function(Resources)/Section 151 Officer advised that the purpose of the Medium Term Financial Plan is to project the costs of delivering services over the course of the next three years set against an estimate of the resources available and to chart a course to bridge the budget gap for each of the three years. Whilst the costs can be predicted taking into account known changes and making revised assumptions about the main factors that impact on the Council’s revenue budget including pay costs, inflation, pensions and demand, there is no intelligence to date regarding the level of Welsh Government funding for local government for 2021/22. It was hoped that the improved local government settlement for 2020/21 marked a turning point whereby local authorities would begin to be funded to the level they need to deliver services effectively but the Covid 19 crisis has cast doubt on this outcome. The report as at section 5 sets out the national and local budget pressures facing the Council and how these are planned to be accommodated by the MTFP.  Table 3 of the report shows the projected standstill budget for each of the three years from 2021/22 to 2023/24. The estimated standstill budget (the cost of continuing to provide services to the same level, delivered in the same way as in 2020/21) represents a cash increase of 8.6% over the 3 year period (but not including Covid-19 related costs). The estimated standstill budget is funded from the level of Aggregate External Finance (AEF) received from Welsh Government (made up of the Revenue Support Grant and NNDR pooled funding) and from the Council Tax  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

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

The report of the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 incorporating the Annual Treasury Management Review for 2019/20 was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Finance reported that the Council is required by regulations issued under the Local Government Act 2003 to produce an Annual Treasury Management Review of activities and the actual prudential and treasury indicators for 2019/20. The review reflects on the Council’s treasury management activities during the year in the context of the wider economic factors including interest rate performance during the period, continued uncertainty over Brexit and the impact of Covid-19.

The Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer advised that the Review Report had been considered and accepted by the Audit and Governance Committee at its 1 September, 2020 meeting. From the perspective of the Council’s borrowing strategy, borrowing during the year was within the limits set by the TM Strategy for 2019/20 and was in line with the Prudential Indicators. The Authorised Borrowing Limit (£178m) and the Operational Boundary (£173m) were not breached during the year, with the amount of external debt peaking at £139.2m only, this being attributable to a large underspend on capital projects as outlined in paragraph 3.1 of the report. The Council has implemented an internal borrowing strategy over the last few years meaning that it has used its own cash balances to finance new capital expenditure on the basis that  best value is obtained by avoiding external borrowing when investment rates are below long term borrowing rates (when the cost of borrowing exceeds the returns on investment). As at 31 March, 2019 the Council had used £6.2m of its cash balances to fund capital expenditure but by 31 March, 2020 the Council had borrowed to a level of £2.3m more than required as a result of a £10m loan taken out in March to ensure the Council had sufficient cash going into the Covid-19 emergency. The loan will mature on 18 March, 2021. On the investment side the Council maintained its low risk approach of ensuring ready access to its cash should it be required, keeping to shorter term deposits (whilst retaining the ability to invest out to longer periods) and investing surplus cash by borrowing short term with other local authorities to maximise returns in a secure way.

It was resolved –

•           To note that the outturn figures in the report will remain provisional until the audit of the 2019/20 Statement of Accounts is completed and signed off; any resulting significant adjustments to the figures included in the report will be reported as appropriate.

•           To note the provisional 2019/20 prudential and treasury indicators in the report.

•           To forward the Annual Treasury Management Report for 2019/20 to Full Council without further comment.

To submit a report by the Interim Director of Social Services.

The report of the Interim Director of Social Services updating the Executive on progress in the Social Services was presented for consideration. The report summarised recent developments within Children’s and Adults’ Services with reference also to the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic and the response of Social Services during the lockdown period.

The Chair and Portfolio Member for Social Services referred to progress and delivery in Children and Families’ Services and Adults’ Services respectively under the following headlines and she elaborated on the activities, developments and successes under each heading –

•           Increasing the number of Local Authority Foster Carers

•           Opening the first Cartef Clyd which will enable looked after children from Anglesey to receive care on the Island

•           Opening a training flat for young people leaving care to support them to live independently for the first time

•           Continuation of planning work for a new extra care housing provision in the south of the Island

•           Developing the Shared Lives Programme to support people living with dementia and their carers as well as design a Dementia Strategy in line with Welsh Government’s Dementia Plan

•           Developing opportunities for people with mental health needs to participate in community based group activities

•           Increasing participation levels in the community hub models by promoting and developing the hubs across the Island; working to establish 3 community resources teams in Amlwch, Ysbyty Penrhos Stanley and Llanfairpwll

•           Engaging and consulting with users on the Adult Learning Disability Day Opportunity Strategy to create a greater range of high quality day opportunities for individuals in their communities.

•           Delivering on all statutory duties during the Covid-19 lockdown period

Referring to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Interim Director of Social Services said that Social Services determined to persevere with development initiatives during the emergency period finding alternative processes for moving them forward whilst also fulfilling the Service’s statutory responsibilities during that time. He highlighted that the benefits package introduced to attract potential foster carers to the Council’s Fostering Services has helped to recruit 7 foster carers offering 13 new foster placements for the children and young people of Anglesey which is a gratifying outcome; the package is an important factor in attracting new foster carers as is the good reputation which the Fostering Team has been building over the last few years as the service continues to develop.

Councillor Aled Morris Jones, Chair of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee in reporting from the Committee’s 22 September meeting which considered the progress report confirmed that the Corporate Scrutiny Committee was satisfied with the pace of progress in Social Services as evidenced in the report and was happy to recommend the report for the Executive’s approval.

The Executive welcomed the report and the ongoing progress which it reflected which had been achieved in particularly challenging circumstances and collectively it thanked the Social Services’ Management and staff for ensuring the continuation of essential services during the lockdown period. The recruitment of additional Foster Carers and the opening  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

To submit a report by the Interim Director of Social Services.

The draft Annual Report of the Interim Director of Social Services on the effectiveness of Social Services in 2019/20 was presented for the Executive’s consideration. The purpose of the report the publication of which is a statutory requirement is to promote awareness and accountability for the performance and progress made over the past year in delivering Social Services within Anglesey County Council as well as outlining improvement priorities.

The Chair and Portfolio Member for Social Services thanked Mr Alwyn Jones the former Director of Social Services who was in post for most of the period covered by the Annual Report for leading on the work which the report documents. She also extended her thanks to Mr Fôn Roberts, Interim Director of Social Services for a seamless transition and referred to the breadth of the Social Services portfolio in touching so many people’s lives when they are in need.

The Interim Director of Social Services advised that the report provides extensive and wide ranging evidence of the work and activities undertaken by both Adults’ Services and Children and Families’ Services in 2019/20 in providing services to the people of Anglesey. The Annual Report has been compiled in a format prescribed by reporting requirements set out in statutory guidance which requires that it should be accessible and easy to understand. Also in accordance with requirements,  the report  documents the performance of Social Services for the year under the six quality standards that local authorities are expected to achieve under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 including the actions taken to achieve the quality standards. In terms of local circumstances the Interim Director of Social Serves highlighted a number of new initiatives undertaken by the Social Services in Anglesey in the course of the year including in collaboration with the Save Lives Charity in relation to domestic abuse and with Voices from Care Cymru in relation to establishing a monthly participation group for looked after children and young people. Developing mechanisms to better listen to the voice of service users has been a particular focus during 2019/20.

Councillor Aled Morris Jones, Chair of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee reported that following a productive discussion of the Annual Report at the Committee’s 22 September meeting the Committee had resolved to accept the draft Annual Report having been satisfied that the report captures the Council’s current position with regard to delivering Social Services; accurately reflects the improvement priorities for both Adults and Children’s Services for the forthcoming year and reflects the Council’s accountability and responsibility with regard to Social Services and that it was happy to recommend the report to the Executive.

The Executive collectively thanked the Social Services Management and staff for their efforts during the past year to which the Annual report is testament.

It was resolved to accept the draft Annual Director’s Report on the Effectiveness of Social Services in 2019/20 and to recommend the report to Full Council.

To submit a report by the Head of Highways, Waste and Property.

The report of the Head of Service (Highways, Waste and Property) setting out a request by the Anglesey Agricultural Society to vary elements of a lease agreement with the Isle of Anglesey County Council for the use of land at Mona Industrial Estate was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Highways, Waste and Property introduced the report by explaining that the Anglesey Agricultural Society has successfully used the Council’s land at Mona Industrial Estate as a park and ride facility for the annual Anglesey Show. This provision has been enabled through various licence and short term lease agreements since 2012. In the context of the preparation for a no-deal Brexit the site has been identified by North and Mid Wales Trunk Road Agency (NMWTRA) and the Welsh Government as a suitable location for the short term emergency processing Of HGVs for the checking/processing of import and export paperwork without causing disruption to the road network and port facilities in Holyhead. Some enabling works were carried out in October 2019 by NMWTRA but no further contact took place until the Welsh Government contacted the Council in early April 2020 to resurrect the discussion.

In June, 2020 separate correspondence was received by the Council from the Property Department of HMRC expressing an interest in the land at Mona Industrial Estate for the provision of a facility for 100 HGVs as well as temporary ancillary buildings in readiness for the final departure from the EU specifically for customs use. Use of the Mona site would be required for a period of 5 years.  A response was sent outlining the Council’s position with regard to the land and suggesting that alternative options be considered. It has since come to the Council’s attention that discussions have reached an advanced stage between HMRC and the Anglesey Agricultural Society for the Society to sub-let its interest in the Mona site. The Legal Services Manager on the Portfolio Member’s invitation outlined the relevant terms of the existing agreement between the Council and the Anglesey Agricultural Society (as summarised within the report) with specific reference to the prohibition of sub-letting and sharing occupation.

The Portfolio Member for Highways, Waste and Property concluded that not only is the Council not legally obliged to consent to any of the requests made by the Society, it is not in the Council’s power to allow HMRC’s proposed development owing to the restrictions imposed by the Ministry of Defence (from which the land at Mona was originally purchased by the Council) on the Council’s freehold title. Additionally it is considered that the use of Mona for this purpose will have significant impact on the communities of Gwalchmai and Rhostrehwfa and possibly other villages as well, and the increased volume of traffic will potentially increase the risk of further accidents on the B4422 and A5.Following a separate appraisal of alternative sites along the A55 corridor, more suitable locations than Mona have been identified.

Executive Members supported the Portfolio Member for Highways, Waste  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.