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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED- That the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 11 October 2022 be approved and signed as a correct record.
RESOLVED- That the Cabinet Member for Environment, Roads and Facilities – Environment and Neighbourhood establishes a Working Group to work with Officers and stakeholders, to deliver an action plan for the management of Feral Goats in Llandudno and that outcomes be reported to the Economy and Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee within 6 months.
RESOLVED- That the minutes of the meeting of the Conwy Harbour Advisory Committee held on 28 September 2022 be noted.
RESOLVED- That the sum of £10,000 be approved from the Projects Match Funding Provision to provide match funding to other grants to deliver improvements to the Authority’s nature reserves.
RESOLVED- That Corporate Issues and Risks Registers be approved and adopted, subject to the inclusion of biodiversity in CR6.3 and CR6.6.
RESOLVED- That Llandudno Junction be submitted to the Welsh Government for Phase 2 of the Flying Start Expansion in Conwy.
RESOLVED- (a) That the hourly rate for domiciliary care be increased to £21.60, for the remainder of this financial year, on the proviso that the funding be passed directly to care workers. (b) That the elderly, mentally infirm (EMI) and nursing fees be increased by adjusting the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate from 5.4% to 10.1%. Councillor Aaron Wynne declared a personal interest in the above item, as a close family member works in a nursing home. As the interest was not considered prejudicial, Councillor Aaron Wynne was able to speak and vote on the matter.
RESOLVED- That the Public and Press be excluded from the meeting under the provisions of Section 100A of the above Act during consideration of the following item as it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 14 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A to the Act and that in all the relevant circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.
None.
Councillor Aaron Wynne declared a personal interest in Agenda Item 12 (Mid-year Review of Domiciliary and Residential Care Fees), as a close family member works in a nursing home. As the interest was not considered prejudicial, Councillor Aaron Wynne was able to speak and vote on the matter.
None.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED- That the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 11 October 2022 be approved and signed as a correct record.
The minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 11 October 2022 were submitted for approval. RESOLVED- That the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 11 October 2022 be approved and signed as a correct record.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED- That the Cabinet Member for Environment, Roads and Facilities – Environment and Neighbourhood establishes a Working Group to work with Officers and stakeholders, to deliver an action plan for the management of Feral Goats in Llandudno and that outcomes be reported to the Economy and Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee within 6 months.
The Cabinet Member for Environment, Roads and Facilities (ERF) – Neighbourhood and the Environment presented a recommendation from the Local Area Forum – North, supported by the Economy and Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Minute 298 refers), requesting the establishment of a Working Group, to work with Officers, to deliver an action plan for the management of Feral Goats in Llandudno. The Head of Neighbourhood Services advised that the Working Group would review the issues, with a view to producing a formal management plan. The Working Group should include relevant stakeholders including Natural Resources Wales, RSPCA, Local Ward Members and Llandudno Town Council. It was noted that the goats were feral and not owned by anyone. They had provided good publicity during the pandemic, but some had not returned to settle on the Great Orme. Members supported the Working Group, which would investigate a short-term and long-term workable solutions to the feral goats. RESOLVED- That the Cabinet Member for Environment, Roads and Facilities – Environment and Neighbourhood establishes a Working Group to work with Officers and stakeholders, to deliver an action plan for the management of Feral Goats in Llandudno and that outcomes be reported to the Economy and Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee within 6 months.
The Leader made reference to the current turmoil of the financial markets, which would have a direct impact on the funding for Local Government. Cabinet Members were working hard with their Services to review budgets, but there would be difficult decisions, which would require support to find the best solutions to service provision.
The Chief Executive announced the appointment of Gareth Evans, currently of Audit Wales, as the new Head of Finance, who would start in the position in the New Year.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED- That the minutes of the meeting of the Conwy Harbour Advisory Committee held on 28 September 2022 be noted.
The minutes of the meeting of the Conwy Harbour Advisory Committee held on 28 September 2022 were submitted. RESOLVED- That the minutes of the meeting of the Conwy Harbour Advisory Committee held on 28 September 2022 be noted.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED- That the sum of £10,000 be approved from the Projects Match Funding Provision to provide match funding to other grants to deliver improvements to the Authority’s nature reserves.
The Leader presented a report, which sought approval for £10,000 from the Project Match Funding Provision to support a project that would provide improved management and infrastructure of the Council’s nature reserves. It was noted that £10,000 had been secured from Natural Resources Wales, leaving a funding gap of £10,000. The Leader advised that, under the current financial challenges, any request for funding had to be carefully considered before any decision was made. In response to the above, the Cabinet Member for Environment, Roads and Facilities – Neighbourhood and the Environment advised that the funding had been discussed and could be made available. The projects would safeguard the biodiversity and eco-systems of the nature reserves for future generations. Alternative funding streams would need to be sourced for any future projects relating to the nature reserves. RESOLVED- That the sum of £10,000 be approved from the Projects Match Funding Provision to provide match funding to other grants to deliver improvements to the Authority’s nature reserves.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED- That Corporate Issues and Risks Registers be approved and adopted, subject to the inclusion of biodiversity in CR6.3 and CR6.6.
The Cabinet Member for Democracy and Governance presented the Corporate Risk Register and Corporate Issues Register for approval. The Registers provided a record of all corporate risks and issues that had been identified throughout the Authority and had been reviewed by the relevant risk owners. The Cabinet Member outlined the new risks and issues, the issues and risks removed and the key changes to the Corporate Risk Register. It was noted that the risks and issues were monitored via the Service Performance Reviews, which all Members could attend. The Finance and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee considered the report on 17 October 2022 and requested that Cabinet consider the inclusion of the following:- The risk that schools will be unable to balance their budgets, which will have a significant adverse impact on school culture, workforce and service delivery. That the risk control measures in respect of merged risks CR6.3 (The risk that Conwy Council does not achieve local and national carbon reduction targets) and CR6.6 (The risk that we do not respond to the climate change emergency) make reference to biodiversity. Discussion ensued as follows:- · In relation to the above request to include school budgets as a separate risk, it was agreed that all services were experiencing financial constraints and schools should not be considered separately. · Schools were included as part of risk CR9.3, which included the risk of being unable to manage and/or resource the ability to pay for all statutory services. · The Cabinet Member for Finance, Revenue and Benefits advised that that mitigations were being considered in terms of adjusting the risk to identify the current financial challenges. · The inclusion of biodiversity in CR6.3 and CR6.6 was supported. RESOLVED- That Corporate Issues and Risks Registers be approved and adopted, subject to the inclusion of biodiversity in CR6.3 and CR6.6.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED- That Llandudno Junction be submitted to the Welsh Government for Phase 2 of the Flying Start Expansion in Conwy.
The Cabinet Member for Integrated Adult and Community Services presented a report, which sought a decision on the geographical areas to be put forward for the Welsh Government’s (WG) Phase 2 of the Flying Start Expansion in Conwy, which would include only the childcare element of Flying Start to children aged 2 – 3 years only. Flying Start was WG’s flagship Early Years Programme for families with children who were under 4 years of age. It had historically been available to children living in the more deprived parts of Wales, based on the WG Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD), and Phase 1 in Conwy had been running for many years in parts of Abergele, Colwyn Bay and Llandudno. Phase 3+ of the expansion was still under development and would include plans to deliver universal Flying Start provision for all children in Wales. The Social Care and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee considered the report on 19 October 2022 and requested that Cabinet supported Option 3 within the report:- Expansion to include parts of Llanrwst and Llandudno Junction. The option would focus on only the more deprived areas of Llandudno Junction and Llanrwst. It would start to establish a Flying Start presence in these areas that could be expanded upon in future. The Cabinet Member advised that Option 3 was the weaker of the 3 options, which included expanding the provision in Llandudno Junction (Option 1), or Llanrwst (Option 2), or in both areas (Option 3) as above. Based on the evidence and data provided, the Cabinet Member proposed Option 1. Discussion ensued as follows:- · As a Local Electoral Ward Member for Llanrwst and Llanddoged, the Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure stated that, following the advice that funding could be lost if both areas were put forward, he would support Option 1 (Llandudno Junction), with any future phases to include the rural areas. · Further to the above, it was acknowledged that the rural areas had pockets of deprivation and the implementation of Flying Start across Wales was welcomed. · Llanrwst had the benefit of a Family Centre, with no such provision in Llandudno Junction. RESOLVED- That Llandudno Junction be submitted to the Welsh Government for Phase 2 of the Flying Start Expansion in Conwy.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED- (a) That the hourly rate for domiciliary care be increased to £21.60, for the remainder of this financial year, on the proviso that the funding be passed directly to care workers. (b) That the elderly, mentally infirm (EMI) and nursing fees be increased by adjusting the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate from 5.4% to 10.1%. Councillor Aaron Wynne declared a personal interest in the above item, as a close family member works in a nursing home. As the interest was not considered prejudicial, Councillor Aaron Wynne was able to speak and vote on the matter.
The Head of Law and Governance advised Members that the item contained an appendix that was exempt, as it contained financial information relating to fees of other Local Authorities. If Members wanted to discuss that appendix, then the press and public would need to be excluded from the meeting. The Cabinet Member for Integrated Adult and Community Services sought a decision on the fees set for both residential care and domiciliary care prior to the start of the new financial year, following consultation with providers, which were applicable from 1 April in any given year. In March 2022, it was recognised that inflationary pressure was mounting and it was the case that over the past few months the entire sector had been under increasing pressures due to rising inflation and workforce constraints. Representations had been received from Care Forum Wales and a number of providers earlier in the year to further increase Conwy’s fees and, in response, it was agreed that a mid-year fee review would be undertaken to assess the position. In addition, Conwy received one off funding of £368,000 in March 2022, as part of a supplementary budget increase to the 2021/2022 settlement. The report considered options for the use of this one off funding. The Finance and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee considered the report on 17 October 2022 and requested that Cabinet supported increasing the hourly rate for domiciliary care to £21.60, on the proviso that the funding be passed onto care workers and that their fuel costs be addressed. It was noted that no recommendation was made in relation to residential fees. Discussion ensued on the domiciliary care fee element of the report:- · In relation to the increase to £21.60, which was welcomed, the Cabinet Member for Finance, Revenue and Benefits requested that the decision reflected the fact that any future inflationary increase should be based on the £20.60, as to base an increase on £21.60 would severely impact on the budget. · With reference to the above, the Strategic Director – Finance and Resources advised that to base the uplift on £21.60 could create significant financial pressures and it should be clear that the increase was only for this financial year. · It was important that the care workers received the £1 increase directly into their pay. · The Chief Executive noted that the Scrutiny recommendation included an uplift to fuel costs, but he advised that Members may prefer the whole £1 uplift going in carers’ wages direct, rather than potentially being lost to a certain extent within fuel payments. Discussion ensued on the residential care fee element of the report:- · The Cabinet Member for Integrated Adult and Community Services supported Option B: That the elderly, mentally infirm (EMI) and nursing fees be increased by adjusting the Consumer Price Index (CP) rate from 5.4% to 10.1%. This would exclude residential care as Conwy County already had a relatively high residential care rate when comparing rates across North Wales. · Members supported the above, as there had been closures of EMI and nursing care provision over the years and the County Borough had a disproportionately high number of older people living in the area. RESOLVED- (a) That the hourly rate for domiciliary care be increased to £21.60, for the remainder of this financial year, on the proviso that the funding be passed directly to care workers. (b) That the elderly, mentally infirm (EMI) and nursing fees be increased by adjusting the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate from 5.4% to 10.1%. Councillor Aaron Wynne declared a personal interest in the above item, as a close family member works in a nursing home. As the interest was not considered prejudicial, Councillor Aaron Wynne was able to speak and vote on the matter.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED- That the Public and Press be excluded from the meeting under the provisions of Section 100A of the above Act during consideration of the following item as it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 14 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A to the Act and that in all the relevant circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.
RESOLVED- That the Public and Press be excluded from the meeting under the provisions of Section 100A of the above Act during consideration of the following item as it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 14 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A to the Act and that in all the relevant circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.
Councillors must say when they have a personal link to something being discussed, such as a job, a property or a family member. A prejudicial interest is one strong enough that the councillor usually leaves the room and takes no part.
Declarations are read from the minutes once they are published.
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