At its meeting on 16 November 2022, the Cabinet considered the council's response to cost of living pressures, and received reports on complaints and safeguarding. It endorsed the council's 2021/22 annual performance report and agreed a new five-year Corporate Plan, which now goes to Full Council for adoption. It also agreed to share the cost of demolishing the Newport Centre with Coleg Gwent, which plans a new city centre campus on the site.
On Norse, the Committee judged progress against the partnership's aims to be satisfactory, but some Members disagreed with the profit-sharing model and asked for more information.
The Planning Committee considered its schedule of planning applications and noted a report on recent planning appeal decisions. The minute resolves that decisions be recorded as shown on an attached schedule, and authorises the Planning and Development Manager to draft changes to conditions or reasons for refusal. The schedule of individual applications is not in the material available, so this summary does not record the outcome of any single application. No declarations of interest were recorded.
The Committee considered the Regional Integration Fund, a five-year Welsh Government fund for health and social care in Gwent, and its tapered funding model, under which partners must pay a growing share of project costs. The Committee agreed to tell Welsh Government that now is not the time for the taper, and asked for its deadline to be pushed back to 2024. The meeting also reviewed the committee's forward work programme and action sheet.
It made a series of comments and recommendations, including requests for more data, more detail on partnership work and clearer wording on several points. It also agreed to receive the Scrutiny Annual Report 2021-22 by email so that members can comment on it.
The Cabinet met on 12 October 2022 to consider a range of reports, including the July revenue budget monitor, the first capital monitor for 2022/23, the corporate risk register, the draft Corporate Plan, and annual reports on equalities and climate change. Cabinet also agreed the Gwent Market Stability Report on social care and noted an update on the council's response to cost of living and other external pressures. The minutes record decisions on the budget monitor, the capital monitor, the risk register, the Corporate Plan principles, the equalities and climate reports, and the market stability report.
The Planning Committee on 5 October 2022 considered a schedule of planning applications and a report on recent planning appeals. The minutes record that decisions should be recorded as shown on the schedule, but the individual decisions are not in the material available. The appeals report was noted for information only.
The committee considered three items: the One Newport Partnership's annual report on its Well-being Plan for 2021-22, the Gwent Local Well-being Assessment, and its own work programme and action sheet. The committee sent a series of comments to the One Newport Partnership, including a recommendation that Community Safety be considered for future scrutiny. It noted the Gwent assessment for information.
The committee considered the draft Corporate Plan 2022-27, which sets out four well-being objectives for the council, and the Corporate Safeguarding Annual Report 2021-22. Members welcomed both reports and asked for more detail on Newport's heritage, wider ways to consult residents, plainer wording in the plan, and more specific data and training updates on safeguarding. Scrutiny committees do not make final decisions, so their comments go to the Cabinet.
At its meeting on 27 September 2022, Newport City Council agreed appointments to school governing bodies and to outside bodies, and carried unanimously a motion of condolence on the death of Her Majesty the Queen. Councillors also questioned Gwent Police about local policing, and written answers were published to earlier questions to Cabinet Members on investments, 20mph limits, buses, parks and fly-tipping.
The Committee noted the market stability report and agreed that the council keeps working with the Gwent Regional Partnership Board. It also approved the 2022-23 work programme and the schedule of meetings.