Members raised concerns about shared sleeping spaces, time limits on emergency places and eligibility rules, and considered that a national review was needed. The committee agreed that the Chairperson will write to the Cabinet Member with its observations.
Pre-decision scrutiny means councillors question a report before the Cabinet decides on it. On both items the Committee did not vote on the proposals. It resolved to send its comments to the Cabinet Member for Transport and Strategic Planning.
Cancelled
The first was an outline application for a health and wellbeing hub at land near Park View Health Centre in Caerau, subject to a binding Section 106 legal agreement and an amended condition protecting the children's playground. The second, for a dormer loft extension and a change of use to a house in multiple occupation at 57 Inglefield Avenue, Gabalfa, was also granted.
At its meeting on 23 March 2023, the Cabinet considered 12 substantive items, including Cardiff's Local Well-being Plan, a bid to host matches in UEFA Euro 2028, school places in Cathays and nearby areas, pay grades, hybrid working, the Atlantic Wharf regeneration scheme and the Housing Revenue Account business plan. Main decisions: it approved the Euro 2028 bid submission, approved the Well-being Plan for Council, approved draft school admission arrangements for 2024/25, authorised consultation on three school options, and approved the Housing Revenue Account business plan for presentation to Welsh Government. Several items are recommendations to the full Council, which has yet to decide them.
It also gave policy development scrutiny to a draft Participation Strategy, and the Chairperson agreed to write to the Cabinet Member with the committee's comments.
The Economy & Culture Scrutiny Committee examined Cardiff's proposed bid to host Euro 2028 and the Atlantic Wharf scheme before they go to Cabinet, and both items ended with the Chairperson writing to the Cabinet Member with the Committee's observations. Members also sought expressions of interest for a joint scrutiny task and finish group on the Replacement Local Development Plan, and discussed the Committee's pages of the draft Scrutiny Annual Report. The minute records no final decisions on the bid, the scheme or the annual report.
It agreed to write to the Cabinet Member with its comments on both.
For both items the committee agreed that the Chairperson will write to the Cabinet Member with its observations.
The Environmental Scrutiny Committee met on 16 March 2023 to consider two reports. On recycling, members heard about the roll-out of segregated recycling and raised problems with the containers and collections. On the Cardiff Crossrail tram project, members asked about capacity, timing and funding, and the Chair will write to the Cabinet Member on both items. The Committee also approved its pages of the Scrutiny Annual Report 2022/23.
The minute records that the Committee granted all three.
Cancelled
Council met on 9 March 2023. It approved the Corporate Plan 2023-26 and set the 2023-24 budget, including a 3.95% Council Tax rise, rejecting the opposition alternative budgets. It also agreed to raise the Council Tax premium on long-term empty homes to 100% from April 2023 and to apply a 100% premium to second homes from April 2024, and it made committee appointments.
Cabinet met on 2 March 2023. It received two scrutiny committee reports, approved the draft Corporate Plan 2023-26 for Council to consider, and recommended to Council a 3.95% council tax rise for 2023-24 and two council tax premiums. It also noted the month 9 budget monitoring position and updates on two UK funding schemes, and approved moving a former community centre site into the council housing account.
On 1 March 2023 the Policy Review and Performance Scrutiny Committee considered three items: the final draft Corporate Plan 2023-26, the draft 2023-24 budget, and a proposed land exchange at Maindy Park held in trust. On each, the Committee agreed that its Chairperson would write to the Cabinet Member with its observations. The minutes record no decision on the land exchange itself, which goes to Cabinet.
The Committee scrutinised the draft Corporate Plan 2023-2026 and the draft budget proposals for 2023-2024 before the Cabinet considers them. Scrutiny here means councillors who are not in the Cabinet check the proposals before a decision is made. The minutes record no vote on the plan or budget; instead, the Committee agreed that the Chairperson would write to the Cabinet Member with its comments.
Councillors questioned cabinet members and officers on jobs, libraries, the city centre, major projects, culture and the Museum of Cardiff, and asked for further information on several points. The committee agreed that the Chairperson will write to the Cabinet Member with the committee's observations.