Agenda, decisions and minutes

The Leader of the Council welcomed the Members and Officer to the first hybrid meeting of the Executive. 

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 25 April 2022.

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Executive held on 25 April, 2022 were presented for confirmation.

It was RESOLVED that the minutes of the previous meeting of the Executive held on 25 April, 2022 be approved as correct.

To submit a report by the Interim Head of Democratic Services.

The report of the Interim Head of Democratic Services incorporating the Executive’s Forward Work Programme for the period July 2022 to February 2023 was presented for consideration and the following changes were noted :-

·      Item 1 – Lowering the Admission Age to Ysgol Corn Hir – delegated decision.

·      Item 3 – 2021/2022 Draft Accounts and use of balances and reserves – new item for the Executive’s 19 July, 2022 meeting.

·      Item 9 – Medium Term Financial Plan 2023/24 to 2025/26 – new item for the Executive’s 27 September, 2022 meeting.

·      Item 10 – Market Stability Report (Social Care) – new item for the Executive’s 27 September, 2022 meeting.

·      Item 14 – Council Plan 2022-2027 – new item for the Executive’s 25 October, 2022 meeting.

·      Item 20 – Council Tax Base 2023/24 – new item for the Executive’s 29 November, 2022 meeting.

·      Items 24 – 26 (Quarterly financial monitoring reports) – Revenue Budget Monitoring Report – Quarter 3, 2022/23; Capital Budget Monitoring Report – Quarter 3, 2022/23; Housing Revenue Account Budget Monitoring – Quarter 3, 2022/23 – new items for the Executive’s 14 February, 2023 meeting.

·      Item 27 – Anglesey Further Education Trust Annual Report and Accounts 2021/22 – new item for the Executive’s 14 February, 2023 meeting.

·      Item 28 – HRA Housing Rents and Housing Service Charges 2023/24 – new item for the Executive’s 14 February, 2023 meeting.

Since the publication of the agenda:-

·      Decision Delegated to the Leader - Public Services Board – agreement to continue to work collectively or to merge with the Gwynedd Public Services Board – July 2022.

·      Report on Residential and Nursing Homes Fees 2022/23 be considered in the July meeting of the Executive.

It was RESOLVED to confirm the Executive’s updated Forward Work Programme for the period July 2022 to February 2023 as presented.

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

The report of the Head of Profession (Human Resources) and Transformation incorporating

the Corporate Scorecard for Quarter 4 2021/2022 was presented for the Executive’s

consideration.

Councillor Robin Williams, Portfolio Member for Finance, Corporate Business and Customer Experience presented the report and noted that it was encouraging to report that the majority (92%) of the corporate indicators monitored against the targets had been achieved.  It was also encouraging that service indicators had been reached with 91% of the specific performance indicators are performing above target.  He gave examples of good performance during the year which included the percentage of NERS clients whose health had improved on completion of the exercise programme – which has a performance of 84% against a target of 80%.  Number of empty properties brought back into use – where 91 properties have been brought back into use against a target of 50.  The Portfolio Member further said that three waste management indicators have performed well against targets during the year with 95.5% of streets surveyed in the year were clean of any waste and it is encouraging to note that fly tipping incidents are cleared within 0.25 days.  The three highways indicators related to the Island’s A, B and C roads condition surveys are Green against targets and have improved compared to 2020/21.  The year on year performance for all comparable indicators (30 in total) demonstrates that 18 (60%) have improved during the year, 10 (33%) have declined and 2 (7%) have maintained on their performance levels. 

Councillor Robert Ll Jones, the Chair of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee outlined the role of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee.  He said that the Scorecard Monitoring Report was considered by the Corporate Scrutiny Committee on 20^th June, 2022 and the following matters were raised by the Committee: 

• Members noted that the Scorecard summarises the Council’s local performance during Quarter 4 of 2021/22 and reports a positive picture;
• The report discussed the performance of our child protection arrangements (CPR).  The Committee sought assurance that Children and Families Services are addressing this key issue;
• Concern was expressed by the Committee regarding local performance against Performance Indicator 32 → percentage of waste reused, recycled or composted.  Questions were asked about any financial impact of underperformance and also the mitigation measures in place to have a positive impact on local performance.  It was agreed that there was a need to give detailed consideration to the Council’s performance on recycling and the mitigation measures to be introduced after the Recycling Working Group with WRAP Wales report on the findings of their review
• The Committee asked for an explanation regarding underperformance against Indicator 36 - percentage of planning appeals dismissed.  The Committee accepted the explanation regarding the impact of a small number of cases on the final percentage
• The timely response to complaints by Social Services was reported as an issue in Quarter 4 and the Committee sought an explanation regarding performance in this area.

The Chair of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee said that the Committee resolved  ...  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

Council’s financial performance to date and expected outturn for 2021/2022 was presented

for the Executive’s consideration.

Councillor Robin Williams, Portfolio Member for Finance, Corporate Business and Customer Experience presented the report and said that on the 9 March, 2021, the Council set a net budget for 2021/2022 with net service expenditure of £147.420m, to be funded from Council Tax income, NDR and general grants.  This includes a total for general and other contingencies amounting to £1.333m.  The budget for the Council Tax Premium was reduced by £0.121m to £1.514m.  £0.300m was used from general reserves to ensure that a balanced budget was set with the agreed Council Tax rise of 2.75%.  Unlike previous years, the budget for 2021/2022 does not include any requirements on the services to make savings.  He further said that the reports sets out the financial performance of the Council’s services at the end of Quarter 4, 31 March, 2022.  This financial year, claims have been made in relation to the Covid crisis to the Welsh Government, which totalled £6.135m, with £3.854m having been received.  The Welsh Government has stated that no further funding will be released to cover the loss of income going into the new phase of the Covid pandemic.  The overall financial position for 2021/2022, including Corporate Finance and the Council Tax fund, is projected underspend of £4.798m.  This is 3.25% of the Council’s net budget for 2021/2022.  The Portfolio Member expressed that it is impossible to predict as to the challenges that will be faced during the current financial year together the increasing challenges with increasing costs and work is being undertaken by the Finance Department as to the possible effects that is likely to be faced.

The Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer said that the 2021/22 financial year was an exceptional year due to the Covid pandemic which had an impact on the Council’s work especially during the Q1.   He referred to the underspend as noted in the report and said that grants were received from Welsh Government towards services and especially Social Services to assist in the pressures faced within the service. The usual RSG grant was received by Welsh Government together with an additional grant at the end of the year of £1.4m as was received by every other local authority in Wales and this has contributed to the underspend within the budget.  The Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer further said that the borrowing costs has decreased due to the underspend in the capital budget and the Council Tax premium has been higher than the targets which has also contributed to the underspend in the budget together with vacant posts in the authority and income received especially in the Maritime Service during the Summer of 2021 due to the increase in visitors to the Island.  The income from planning and recycling fees have also contributed to the underspend especially during the last quarter.  The general  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

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 Council’s financial performance of the Capital Budget for the 2021/2022 financial year, subject to audit was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

Councillor Robin Williams, Portfolio Member for Finance, Corporate Business and Customer Experience presented the report and said that in March 2021, the Council approved a Capital Programme for non-housing services of £15.842m for 2021/2022, and a Capital Programme of £20.313m for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA).  In addition, in June 2021, the Executive approved Capital Slippage of £11.898m to be brought forward from 2020/21, bringing the Capital Programme for non-housing services to £25.492m, and £22.561m for the HRA.  Since the budget setting process, there have been additional schemes added onto the programme, most of which are grant funded, which amounted to £15.445m.  This brings the total Capital budget for 2021/22 to £63.498m.  The budget for the General Fund was £40.937m, with Expenditure of £23.734m incurred at 31 March 2022 which equates to 58% of the budget.  The reasons for the underspend were listed under paragraph 2.2 of the report.  He further said that the Housing Revenue Account has spent 43% of its total budget, with a significant underspend being forecast throughout 2021/2022.

The Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer explained the reasons for the underspend for 2021/2022 and specifically that grants have been received from Welsh Government towards capital projects and since these grants are received later in the financial year and it is impossible to spend the grants on the specific projects Welsh Government have earmarked for these grants.  The building sector has faced problems in the supply of building materials during the pandemic, and after, with delays in the delivery of materials causing delays for contractors to complete works. He further said that receiving acceptable tenders, within budgets, has also been an issue due to the rise in the costs materials.

 It was RESOLVED:-

·           To note the draft outturn position of the Capital Programme 2021/2022 that is subject to Audit, and

·           To approve the carry-forward of £11.242m to 2022/2023 for the underspend on the programme due to slippage.  The funding for this will also carry-forward to 2022/2023 (Appendix A – paragraph 4.3 to the report).  The revised capital budget for 2022/2023 is £47.203m.

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 Budget for the period 1 April, 2021 to 31 March, 2022 was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

Councillor Robin Williams, Portfolio Member for Finance, Corporate Business and Customer Experience presented the report and said that the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) is ring fenced towards for the housing stock and its reserves cannot be transferred to the General Fund nor can General Fund reserves be used to fund the HRA.  The combination of both the revenue budget and adjusted capital budget gave a planned budget deficit of £9,116k which would be funded from the HRA reserve.  The Capital expenditure is £12,667k below budget, this is after taking account of the additional Social Housing Grant funding of £706k, details can be seen within Appendix A and B of the report.  The surplus (combining both revenue and capital) is £11,726k lower than the budget, largely the result of lower than budgeted capital expenditure.  This is an increase of £1,851k compared to the forecast shown in the Quarter 3 report, this mainly relates to additional Capital Grant Income received in Quarter 4 which offset the fall in the revenue surplus of £648k compared to the Quarter 3 forecast. 

The Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer said that the balance of the HRA is £12m but it will be used over the year towards the projects within the 30 year Business Plan; the intention is to bring the balance within the HRA down to around £1m.  The HRA budget will be used to fund the new housing stock the Council intends to build and when the HRA fund falls below £1m the Council will borrow money to fund the new build projects on the Island.

It was RESOLVED to note the position set out in respect of the financial performance of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) for the 2021/2022 financial year.

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

The report of the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer was presented to the Executive for the consideration.

Councillor Robin Williams, Portfolio Member for Finance, Corporate Business and Customer Experience presented the report and said that Welsh Government has provided additional funding to each local authority to enable support under a discretionary scheme, in order to help households considered to be in need of assistance with their living costs.  The schemes are intended to provide immediate support to households as Wales recovers from the pandemic and to deal with the impact of increasing energy and other living costs. In developing the local Discretionary Scheme, each local authority has completed autonomy to target the funds to best support its residents and to ensure its approach best suits the needs of individual households.  The schemes are as follows:-

The Main Scheme – approximately 23,000 households on Anglesey will receive £150 payment if they are in Council Tax Bands A to D, along with any households in receipt of assistance through the Council Tax Reduction Scheme living in properties in bands E to I.  This is circa 75% to 80% of household population.

Local Authority Discretionary Scheme – circa. £580,000 is available to the Council to administer based on local need and demand, in order to support households affected by the substantial increased costs of living. 

The Portfolio Member referred as to how the Authority will distributed the funding of both the scheme as is noted within the report.

The Leader of the Council wished to thank the partnership working in disturbing this funding which will help people in the challenging situation that is faced at present due to the increase in the costs of living.

It was RESOLVED :-

·           To approve the groups in 2.1.1 to the report to be provided with £150, with a budget of 150,000 administered by the Revenues and Benefits Section of the Isle of Anglesey County Council;

·           To approve the hardship funding for residents moving out of emergency accommodation into settled accommodation :-

‘Up to £300 of funding to cover food and/or fuel costs during their move on into more settled accommodation.  Funding can be used to cover immediate fuel costs, such as oil.  Additionally, this aspect can support furniture costs.  This funding of £50,000 to be administered by the Statutory Homeless Services based on assessed need.’

·           To approve £150 for Anglesey residents that are in Higher Education and rent or own accommodation on the Island that were exempt from phase one :-

·         £5,000 to be provided to Grwp Llandrillo Menai to administer for the above group;

£5,000 to be provided to Bangor University to administer for the above group.

·           To approve the following for phase two of the cost of living scheme for Anglesey residents that are ex-forces/veterans and are in financial hardship.  This funding will be based on an assessed need for up to £300 payment per household in need:-

‘£10,000 to be provided to the Anglesey British Legion & SAFFA as part of their offering  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.