Loading
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 held on 26 May 2026 be received and confirmed as a correct record.
RESOLVED that Cabinet – (a) notes the contents of the reports and actions required to respond to performance issues highlighted within the reports and as agreed by Cabinet (noting feedback from Committees summarised at Appendix V to the report); (b) confirms the content of Appendices I to IV for submission to Council in July for approval, and (c) notes the key messages arising from the Self-Assessment and the October to March Performance Update Report (particularly the improvement actions).
RESOLVED that Cabinet – (a) notes the final revenue outturn position for 2025/26 as described in the report and detailed in Appendices 1 to 4 and 7 as set out within the report, and (b) approves the reserves position for 2025/26 as described in the report and detailed in Appendices 5 – 6.
RESOLVED that Cabinet note the budgets set for 2026/27 and progress against the agreed strategy.
RESOLVED that Cabinet’s forward work programme be noted.
RESOLVED that Cabinet – (a) approves the upgrade of the Council’s Microsoft Enterprise Agreement from E3 to E5 licensing, utilising Microsoft’s E3-to-E5 “ramp” pricing model for a three year term; (b) notes the associated costs have been included within, and approved as part of, the Council’s 2026/27 budget and Medium Term Financial Plan; (c) delegates authority to the Chief Digital Officer, in consultation with the Section 151 Officer and the Monitoring Officer, to finalise and enter into the necessary contractual documentation, and (d) confirms that it has read, understood and taken account of the Well-being Impact Assessment (Appendix 3 to the report) as part of its consideration. The meeting concluded at 12.05 pm.
There were no apologies.
No declarations of interest had been raised.
No urgent matters had been raised.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 26 May 2026 be received and confirmed as a correct record.
The minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 26 May 2026 were submitted. RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 26 May 2026 be received and confirmed as a correct record.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED that Cabinet – (a) notes the contents of the reports and actions required to respond to performance issues highlighted within the reports and as agreed by Cabinet (noting feedback from Committees summarised at Appendix V to the report); (b) confirms the content of Appendices I to IV for submission to Council in July for approval, and (c) notes the key messages arising from the Self-Assessment and the October to March Performance Update Report (particularly the improvement actions).
Councillor Julie Matthews presented the report which comprised of the Council’s Performance Self-Assessment for 2025 to 2026, Performance Update Report (October 2025 to March 2026) together with associated documentation for Cabinet’s consideration ahead of its submission to Council. The report had been submitted as part of the Council’s statutory duties and its core purpose was to assess how well the Corporate Plan was being delivered. Cabinet was guided through the report contents which consisted of an Executive Summary (Appendix I) highlighting performance against objectives and the seven governance areas; the Performance Update Report October 2025 to March 2026 (Appendix II); the Citizen Voice report triangulating a range of data (Appendix III); the Corporate Plan Performance Scorecard (Appendix IV), and recommended changes by Governance and Audit and Performance Scrutiny Committees (Appendix V). Councillor Matthews advised that the reports showed some solid delivery across key priority areas alongside ongoing pressures and areas for improvement. The Citizen’s Voice report provided valuable stakeholder feedback but a gap remained between performance and public perception and further work was required. Key messages for Cabinet included maintaining confidence in the strength of delivery in many areas, ensuring public messaging reflected achievements and challenges, and continuing to strengthen communication and engagement. She also thanked officers for their hard work in compiling the data and carrying out the analysis. The Head of Corporate Support Service: Performance, Digital and Assets, the Insight, Strategy and Delivery Manager and Strategic Planning and Performance Officers attended for this item. The Head of Service also thanked the team for the work carried out and for the input of both Governance and Audit and Performance Scrutiny Committees (Appendix V to the report). She then provided Cabinet with a general overview of the report contents, also noting that the annual review helped develop a culture of continuous improvement to deliver for residents in line with the Council’s values and principles. A final report would be presented to Council in July. The Insight, Strategy and Delivery Manager provided a more detailed overview. She elaborated on the headline position, noting that overall performance was mixed but broadly stable, with strong delivery in some service areas alongside pressures linked to rising demand, increasing complexity, inequality, financial sustainability and public confidence. 14% of measures remained a ‘priority for improvement’, down from 20% at the same point last year, indicating where further action was needed. She also guided Cabinet through each key Corporate Plan theme, highlighting both achievements and challenges. Attention was drawn to the proposed new actions, two of which were set out in the report, with the third outlined verbally as follows ‘by September 2027 to redesign and expand Additional Learning Needs (ALN) provision pathways using the additional £1.7m investment to increase local capacity for children with complex needs, reduce out of county placements and improve timeliness and quality of support in line with ALN reform’. Cabinet thanked officers for their hard work and comprehensive report which provided a valuable tool for Lead Members and Senior Officers to monitor progress and to identify and focus on areas requiring improvement. Cabinet felt there was much to welcome in terms of progress, including the reduction in measures classed as a priority for improvement compared with last year. It was also recognised that, although some measures remained in the same category, many of those areas had shown positive performance trends. The challenges had been clearly set out and there was a strong emphasis on actions to address and target those areas. Cabinet discussed with officers various aspects of the report and its performance findings. Main areas of debate focused on the following – · the impact of deprivation, poverty and wider socio‑economic factors on the measures was highlighted. While the Council continued to use the tools available to it to respond to these issues, many of the underlying factors were beyond its direct control, and it was felt that this point could be communicated more clearly to residents. Even so, the Council played a key role in convening and influencing partners, and the importance of collaborative working was highlighted with particular reference to the Marmot pilot. The Council was also reviewing its current strategies to ensure they applied an equity lens, making effective use of related data to inform how functions and services were planned and delivered to address these challenges · due to the success of last year’s performance summary infographic which had been well received, work was underway to extract key data to produce similar summaries for the past year’s performance. It was hoped that this information would be ready for the Council meeting on 7 July, with the intention to publish the infographics shortly after the reports had been approved. The data points would then be shared through segmented social media posts over time and included on the Council’s website and in County Voice · the gap between performance and public perception highlighted through the service-user feedback and Citizen’s Voice report was discussed along with what more could be done between service departments and the Communications Team. It was suggested that this may warrant further consider by the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) or jointly by Cabinet and SLT, as part of the forthcoming tranche review of the Corporate Plan · reference was made to the six-monthly Performance Report Update and inclusion of Welsh Language and Culture in bold text and brackets after relevant projects/activities to show links with foundational themes in the Corporate Plan · nearly 86% of properties in Denbighshire now had access to full‑fibre broadband, which was welcomed, although some issues remained in more rural areas. Earlier in the month, the Digital Officer had presented a report to the Performance Scrutiny Committee outlining the current position on internet connectivity in Denbighshire which provided the latest update on the situation · the reference to 121 (1:1) on page 26 of the Council’s Performance Self-Assessment had not translated well into Welsh and would be amended · Councillor Diane King provided an overview of the position in Education, emphasising the importance of children’s health and wellbeing. She outlined areas of investment and targeted intervention along with progress in developing community focused schools, expanding access to the childcare offer, extending Flying Start support and improving attendance, with further work still required. The additional £1.7m investment in ALN provision was welcomed and desperately needed and she fully supported the third improvement action in that regard. Cabinet confirmed their support for all three proposed new improvement actions and noted the value of the performance reports in identifying them. Councillor Delyth Jones added that she had written to the Welsh Government Minister for Finance to highlight the needs of schools and begin that dialogue · in response to Councillor Bobby Feeley’s question, the Lead Member and Head of Finance and Audit outlined the distinction between the financial resilience and financial sustainability statements which reflected on performance for the year while considering the wider operational context. The Council remained in a challenging financial position but was managing its budget effectively, having delivered 97% of planned savings (up from 95% at the time the report was written) with a strategy to strengthen unearmarked reserves to ensure the Council could respond to unforeseen pressures. The Leader reflected on the report, noting that although the Council had some tools to address deprivation and poverty, many wider socio-economic factors were beyond its control. He stressed the need to focus on levers the Council did have, including the well-received Economic Strategy currently being implemented, partnership work to support jobs and strengthen the local economy, progress on the Growth Deal, discussions on pipeline projects to boost prosperity in the county, the Marmot pilot to tackle inequalities, and Working Denbighshire. Together, these provided a set of levers to move things in the right direction. He asked officers whether they were satisfied that there was enough capacity to drive these improvements, and how progress would be tracked through democratic processes. Officers outlined the reporting pathway through the committee structure with a final version of the report presented to Council on 7 July. Performance was reported to committees every six months, services reviewed and updated their performance quarterly, and annual service challenges were held. A Council Workshop had also been scheduled for July to explain the performance challenge process. In terms of capacity to drive the required improvements, the Council was actively considering what to stop, start or delay, with prioritisation built into service planning. Opportunities to bring in extra capacity such as the Marmot pilot were highlighted and performance reports were used to identify priority areas on which to focus. RESOLVED that Cabinet – (a) notes the contents of the reports and actions required to respond to performance issues highlighted within the reports and as agreed by Cabinet (noting feedback from Committees summarised at Appendix V to the report); (b) confirms the content of Appendices I to IV for submission to Council in July for approval, and (c) notes the key messages arising from the Self-Assessment and the October to March Performance Update Report (particularly the improvement actions).
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED that Cabinet – (a) notes the final revenue outturn position for 2025/26 as described in the report and detailed in Appendices 1 to 4 and 7 as set out within the report, and (b) approves the reserves position for 2025/26 as described in the report and detailed in Appendices 5 – 6.
Councillor Delyth Jones presented the report on the final revenue outturn position for 2025/26 and proposed treatment of reserves. Members were guided through the report. In brief, the final position on service and corporate budgets (including £250k underspend in schools’ non‑delegated budget) was an underspend of £1.741m. Coupled with the £939k shortfall in Council Tax collection enabled a contribution of £802k to the Budget Mitigation Reserve. Schools in total overspent and drawn down from reserves by £3.061m. The 2025/26 budget included £4.170m savings/efficiencies with 97% of these delivered. Other key points were highlighted. Collectively, services underspent by £487k mainly due to reduced use of emergency temporary accommodation and additional grant funding. Schools finances remained a concern with a deficit balance of £2.457m carried forward into 2026/27. Discussions continued with schools to support budget management. Work was also underway to assess school-related pressures as part of the Budget and Transformation agenda. Transfers to and from earmarked reserves had been set out and most movements had been budgeted for or approved previously. Proposed transfers included £1m to unearmarked reserves, £1m to the Council Tax reserve and £1.27m to support Additional Learning Needs pressures. The capital financing budget underspent by £2.702m due to coastal defence scheme funding. Housing Revenue Account balances carried forward into 2026/27 totalled £803k. At the end of March borrowing was £336.971m at an average interest rate of 4.86%; investment balances were £21m at an average interest rate of 3.68%. Capital Plan expenditure totalled £55.7m. The financial climate remained challenging and pressures were becoming increasingly difficult to finance. As a result, the Medium Term Financial Strategy along with robust budget setting and monitoring processes were essential going forward. Councillor Jones thanked the Head of Service and her team for their work. Cabinet discussed the schools’ financial position with the Lead Member and Head of Finance and Audit. The situation was not unique to Denbighshire with all local authorities in Wales seeing more schools moving into deficit. Several factors were driving this trend including rising complexity of learners’ needs, particularly ALN, alongside wider societal changes. Despite additional funding it was not sufficient to meet the rising demand. Falling pupil numbers also made it difficult for schools to reduce their cost base to meet the financial challenge. A number of workstreams were underway with schools to review the situation, understand the underlying issues, identify where any extra funding would have the greatest impact and what further support could be offered to help schools manage deficits. It was clarified that legislation required school funding to be allocated on a per pupil basis. However, this created challenges as small schools had fixed running costs that made their per pupil figures appear high while larger schools benefitted from economies of scale. Differences between primary and secondary schools, urban and rural settings, and language streams also affected costs. The wider importance of community focused schools was also highlighted. The review aimed to better understand those variables and the pressures facing schools and report back to members on what could realistically be done. While the Council could not provide significant additional funding without new external funding, the review would consider how modest amounts could be targeted most effectively and what could be done differently to achieve best outcomes. Councillor Diane King also reported on the ongoing work to address the issues facing schools highlighting the huge complexities in that regard together with support for schools in financial difficulties. Cabinet welcomed the work underway with schools, and the Leader was keen to receive early reports and feedback as that work progressed. RESOLVED that Cabinet – (a) notes the final revenue outturn position for 2025/26 as described in the report and detailed in Appendices 1 to 4 and 7 as set out within the report, and (b) approves the reserves position for 2025/26 as described in the report and detailed in Appendices 5 – 6.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED that Cabinet note the budgets set for 2026/27 and progress against the agreed strategy.
Councillor Delyth Jones presented the first monitoring report for 2026/27 detailing the latest financial position and progress against the agreed budget strategy. A summary of the Council’s financial position was provided as follows – · the net revenue budget for 2026/27 was £308.905 (£290.735m in 2025/26) · it was too early in the financial year to give a reliable outturn estimate but future monitoring reports would be provided to Cabinet on a regular basis · proposals to achieve a balanced budget for 2026/27 amounted to £3.170m and progress in delivering savings would be monitored and tracked going forward · set out current risks and assumptions relating to corporate and service budgets · outlined extra funding for pressures in the 2026/27 budget including £2.171m for Children’s Services and £4.328m for Adult Social Care and Homelessness · an update on Schools, Housing Revenue Account and Treasury Management. The Lead Member guided members through the report detail. Additional pressures had been included in the budget in key areas including £2.1m for Children’s Services, £1.7m for schools to support Additional Learning Needs and £4.3m for Adult Social Care and Homelessness. Despite an increase in funding for schools a deficit balance of £2.457m was carried forward into 2026/27 and work was ongoing with schools regarding budget management and further evaluation of pressures as part of the Budget and Transformation agenda. Forecasting future cost pressures was challenging as they were largely driven by increases in demand and cost of delivery. The Council’s reserves mitigated against risks materialising in the year. The Leader thanked the Lead Member for the comprehensive introduction and noted that the report, a standing item on the Cabinet agenda, was being presented early in the financial year and in the context of a new Welsh Government. RESOLVED that Cabinet note the budgets set for 2026/27 and progress against the agreed strategy.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED that Cabinet’s forward work programme be noted.
The Cabinet forward work programme was presented for consideration. Members noted that an additional item on the Housing Management System Replacement was scheduled for September. RESOLVED that Cabinet’s forward work programme be noted.
RESOLVED that under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the Press and Public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it would involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 14 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A of the Act.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED that Cabinet – (a) approves the upgrade of the Council’s Microsoft Enterprise Agreement from E3 to E5 licensing, utilising Microsoft’s E3-to-E5 “ramp” pricing model for a three year term; (b) notes the associated costs have been included within, and approved as part of, the Council’s 2026/27 budget and Medium Term Financial Plan; (c) delegates authority to the Chief Digital Officer, in consultation with the Section 151 Officer and the Monitoring Officer, to finalise and enter into the necessary contractual documentation, and (d) confirms that it has read, understood and taken account of the Well-being Impact Assessment (Appendix 3 to the report) as part of its consideration. The meeting concluded at 12.05 pm.
Councillor Julie Mathews presented a confidential report seeking Cabinet approval to upgrade the Council’s existing Microsoft Enterprise Agreement from E3 to E5 licences. Cabinet approval was required due to the value of the contract. The proposed upgrade represented a strategic investment to improve cybersecurity, enable modern ways of working and support efficient, data-driven services across the Council. Some background was provided to the current agreement and reasoning behind the timing of the upgrade to maximise both financial and functional benefits for the Council. Further details of the additional functionality and financial implications; key risks and mitigations, and conclusions of the Wellbeing Impact Assessment had been included in the report and appendices. The Head of Corporate Support Services: Performance. Digital and Assets and Chief Digital Officer attended for this item. Officers responded to questions on the timing of the upgrade, outlining both the financial and operational benefits identified through the options appraisal, as well as the potential for future upgrades as new licences were released in line with technological advances. Details of recent cyber-attacks on the Council were provided and the upgrade would deliver significantly enhanced cybersecurity. For most staff, day‑to‑day work would remain unchanged, with no large‑scale training required beyond targeted training for ICT specialists. Cabinet accepted the strong case for upgrading the Council’s Microsoft Enterprise Agreement from E3 to E5 licences and endorsed the report’s recommendations. It was agreed to amend recommendation 3.3, to replace ‘Head of Legal and Democratic Services’ with ‘Monitoring Officer’ as the appropriate officer designation. RESOLVED that Cabinet – (a) approves the upgrade of the Council’s Microsoft Enterprise Agreement from E3 to E5 licensing, utilising Microsoft’s E3-to-E5 “ramp” pricing model for a three year term; (b) notes the associated costs have been included within, and approved as part of, the Council’s 2026/27 budget and Medium Term Financial Plan; (c) delegates authority to the Chief Digital Officer, in consultation with the Section 151 Officer and the Monitoring Officer, to finalise and enter into the necessary contractual documentation, and (d) confirms that it has read, understood and taken account of the Well-being Impact Assessment (Appendix 3 to the report) as part of its consideration. The meeting concluded at 12.05 pm.
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.
The council hasn't recorded attendance for this meeting.
Lists the council's current councillors only. Co-opted members, officers and former councillors aren't shown.