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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 report be noted. [At this juncture the Meeting was paused for a 10 minute comfort break]
RESOLVED That the Committee recommend to Cabinet that the Pembrokeshire County Council’s Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan be submitted to Welsh Government.
RESOLVED That the Committee recommend to Cabinet that the Asset Management Strategy 2023-30 be approved and that Cabinet consider the involvement of members on that asset management group.
There were no declarations of interest.
Moved by Councillor Joshua Beynon; Seconded by Councillor Pat Davies The vote, by way of show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the Minutes of the Meeting held on 22 November 2022 be approved as a correct record.
No public submission/correspondence were received.
The Committee considered a report by the Director of Resources on the Outline Draft County Council Budget for 2023-24, Outline Draft Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) for 2023-24 to 2026-27 and the Provisional Local Government Settlement for 2023-24. The Cabinet Member with responsibility forCorporate Finance introduced the reports stating that the provisional Welsh Government financial settlement which the Authority received in December 2022 had been as good as could have been expected, and had assisted in reducing the expected funding gap by around £9m, leaving the gap now in excess of £18m. It was recognised that to bridge the funding gap a balance would need to be struck between an increase in Council Tax and a range of budget savings It was stated that some of the appendices provided as part of the agenda pack were in the process of being updated, of which refreshed versions would be circulated to all Members in advance of the scheduled budget seminar. Due to Cabinet not having yet had the opportunity to discuss and provide their indication on the level of Council Tax increase required, the Cabinet Member offered his personal thoughts on the matter, of which the Committee welcomed. It was emphasised that due to two of the appendices being deemed private and confidential by virtue of paragraph(s) 14 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, if Members wished to discuss details of those individual Budget savings options during the meeting they should consider going into private session. The Director of Resources reiterated the significant challenge that lay ahead for the Authority in bridging the funding gap and added that it was a pressure which would be felt for the duration of the medium term financial plan at the very least. A reminder was provided that Pembrokeshire still had the lowest Band D Council Tax rate in Wales with any increase generating less in monetary terms than other Welsh Local Authorities. The Committee debated the contents of the reports and the key points were highlighted as follows: · Councillor Di Clements commented that she would be content to use the income generated from Council Tax on second homes to bridge the funding gap providing this would be used to address Housing issues. · Councillor Aled Thomas queried the £8 million figure for the Haverfordwest Transport Interchange in Appendix D following the Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which had highlighted the figure, was incorrect. In response the Cabinet Member advised that it had been part of the report presented to full Council in December and clarified that updated and corrected information would be provided to Members ahead of the Budget Seminar and apologised for the error. · In response to a query from Councillor Aled Thomas on car park revenue and loan repayments for the Haverfordwest Transport Interchange project, the Cabinet Member clarified that car parking revenue could be used across the County. · Councillor Sam Skyrme-Blackhall referred to the Enhancing Pembrokeshire Grant Scheme and commented that she felt that to take away all that funding would be unfair on local communities that were most affected by second homes and puts more pressure on town and community councils. Councillor Michael James and Councillor Bethan Price concurred with this viewpoint. · Councillor Huw Murphy echoed the concerns of Councillors Michael James, Sam Skyrme-Blackhall and Bethan Price in retaining the income allocated to the Enhancing Pembrokeshire Grant Scheme. He also expressed concerns over the funding of the Haverfordwest Transport Interchange and that it could be subsidised from car park revenue from across the County only 10% of the population in Pembrokeshire live in Haverfordwest. The Cabinet Member clarified that the project could be financed from car parking revenue from across the County; however, he stipulated that he would rather that it be financed by Welsh Government funding and that this was very much the approach that was being taken. · It was commented by Councillor Jordan Ryan that the Council needed to ensure that a sizeable part of the second home council tax premium was kept for building homes, as this was very important in the current climate. In response the Cabinet Member clarified that he had met with the Cabinet Member for Housing Operations and Regulatory Services, and the Chief Housing Officer to discuss meeting those different budget priorities, and that more detail would be provided at the Budget Seminar. · Councillor Pat Davies highlighted that when the decision was made by Council on second home council tax that part of that decision would have been that some of the revenue generated would be invested back into the communities that were effected and highlighted that the funding had made a difference in her community. · The Chair highlighted his concerns around inflation and the impact that would have on the Council and the services it provided. He advised that he had seen the impact of cuts to services and that his personal view was that Council Tax should be increased to 10%. · The Chair referred to the Authority having the lowest council tax in Wales and the impact that had on Pembrokeshire in relation to the standard spending assessment. In response to a query from the Chair on figures compared to other local authorities in Wales he clarified that Pembrokeshire did have the lowest council tax and on Band D figures it was £1249.17, with the highest at £1768.27 and the average at £1452.49. · Councillor Di Clements highlighted that when comparing council tax figures with other authorities they needed to ensure there was like for like and referred to whether average earnings were comparable to other authorities. The Chair provided figures from 2020 which gave average earnings for Pembrokeshire as £26,731; Ceredigion as £27,156; and Carmarthenshire as £26,036. · In response to a query from Councillor Steve Yelland on how many residents pay council tax the Director of Resources provided figures from last year’s budget report. These were dwellings with 100% or Greater - 57%; dwellings with 25% / 50% Discount – just under 24%; 100% Council Tax Reduction – 12.5%; Partial Council Tax Reduction – just under 3%; and exempt dwellings – 3%. The Committee agreed to note the report.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the report be noted. [At this juncture the Meeting was paused for a 10 minute comfort break]
The Committee considered a report by the Chief HR Officer on the Pay Policy Statement 2023-24 The Cabinet Member for Corporate Improvement and Communitiespresented the report. It was noted that the Committee were being asked to consider and scrutinise the Pay Policy Statement 2023-24 and advise Council of any observations to be considered before the Pay Policy Statement 2023-24 is considered for approval by Council on 2 March 2023. Councillor Pat Davies highlighted point 5.3.2, which was in relation to the cost of two subscriptions to professional bodies or associations for the chief executive, the assistant chief executive and each director, with it queried what the cost to the Authority was. The Chief HR Officer agreed to circulate those figures to the Committee. The Chief HR Officer responded to a query from Councillor Di Clements on the deletion of the deletion of pay point 1 from the NJC pay spine. It was clarified that the deletion had been determined at national level and was to create a buffer between national minimum wage and the bottom of the NJC pay spine. Moved by Councillor Joshua Beynon; Seconded by Councillor Huw Murphy The vote, by way of show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the report be noted. [At this juncture the Meeting was paused for a 10 minute comfort break]
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the Committee recommend to Cabinet that the Pembrokeshire County Council’s Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan be submitted to Welsh Government.
The Cabinet Member for Housing Operations and Regulatory Services presented the Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan 2022 – 27 for the consideration of the Committee. The Committee debated the contents of the report and Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan 2022 – 27 and the key points were highlighted as follows: · Councillor Pat Davies highlighted the amount of people waiting for one bedroom properties and queried what the demographic was of people waiting for one bedroom properties as she believed it would be mostly young people. The Head of Housing and Public Protection advised that she would provide those figures to Members. It was noted that 60% of the waiting list was from one bedroom properties and outlined some of the ongoing work to address these issues. · The Head of Housing and Public Protection Services responded to a query by Councillor Pat Davies on the capacity of the team to deal with the increase in homelessness. She advised that it was a challenge and that there was a case load of 700 across 10 members of staff. However, just increasing capacity would not address all the issues as it was also about Housing supply as well. · In response to a query from Councillor Di Clements on using empty properties in Haverfordwest for residential accommodation, the Head of Housing and Public Protection Services referred to work in this area. This included reference to the Transforming Town Funding; a report going to Cabinet in February 2023 on the Empty Home Scheme Funding; and outlined a project, where a property had been converted into flats in Haverfordwest High Street. · On the request of Councillor Di Clements the Head of Housing and Public Protection Services provided further detail on the impact of phosphates on affordable housing. She highlighted that two of the Authorities Housing Association Partners had been impacted; however, it had not significantly impacted the social housing development programme. · The Head of Housing and Public Protection Services responded to Councillor Di Clements in relation to the of use of the extra revenue from second homes council tax premium towards building affordable housing. She highlighted they were using the revenue to help speed up the programme. · Councillor Jordan Ryan commented on the need to tackle voids and ensure a quicker turn around to get more people housed and suggested an in house voids team. The Head of Housing and Public Protection Services advised that she would like to be in a position where voids had a quicker turn around, with it noted that where significant works were needed there was a delay due to the capacity of the Building Maintenance Service. The issues with recruitment and retention and the decarbonisation programme were highlighted. · Councillor Michael James highlighted his concerns over the impact on hosuing with the increase in Air BnB. · It was queried by Councillor Michael James if there was any data on homelessness by ward and also the difference between urban and rural areas. The Head of Housing and Public Protection Services advised that she had requested that data and referred to the need to look at place planning. [At this juncture Councillor Michael James left the Meeting] Moved by Councillor Joshua Beynon; Seconded by Councillor Pat Davies The vote, undertaken by way of a roll-call was carried. The votes were recorded as follows: For the Motion: Councillors Joshua Beynon, Di Clements, Pat Davies, Huw Murphy, Bethan Price, Jordan Ryan, Sam Skyrme – Blackhall, Aled Thomas, and Councillor Steve Yelland [9] There were no votes against or abstentions. RESOLVED That the Committee recommend to Cabinet that the Pembrokeshire County Council’s Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan be submitted to Welsh Government.
Councillor Tessa Hodgson, Cabinet Member for Social Care and Safeguarding presented the report to the Committee, which provided an update from the Poverty Working Group on the development of a Poverty strategy, and on the deployment of cost of living grant money via the ‘Keep Warm, Keep Well’ initiative. The Committee then considered the report and the key points were highlighted as follows: · In response to Councillor Jordan Ryan’s the Cabinet Member for Social Care and Safeguarding clarified that the ‘Keep Warm, Keep Well’ initiative had been funded through Welsh Government grants. · Reference was made by Councillor Pat Davies to a previous Notice of Motion that referenced the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report that highlighted Pembrokeshire as having high rates of child poverty and she queried if this was being looked at across all areas. The Interim Director of Social Services highlighted that the working group had expanded the remit to focus on poverty and not just child poverty to encompass everybody and everything within the approach and strategy. · In terms of the composition of the Working Group, the Interim Director of Social Services in response to Councillor Pat Davies, confirmed that the Group was a whole Pembrokeshire approach and was a sub group of the Public Services Board (PSB). It was noted that the PSB was Chaired by Councillor Neil Prior and any progress of the working group was reported to the PSB. · The Chair suggested that an update on progress be added to the forward work programme of this Committee to ensure Member oversight. · Councillor Di Clements asked how we ensure that the ‘Keep Warm, Keep Well’ initiative was going to the people who really need it. The Cabinet Member highlighted that decisions being made regarding the phase 2 deployment would be partly based on analysis of the take-up of the schemes within phase 1. · Councillor Huw Murphy commented that the warm spaces initiative was a missed opportunity to support smaller businesses, as through the cost of living crisis seasonal small businesses were struggling and not eligible to apply for the funding. The Interim Director of Social Services clarified that there was no offer for businesses under this funding award. · Councillor Michelle Wiggins outlined her experience in helping out on the warm spaces initiate facilitated through PAVs and encouraged more people to get involved as could already see the benefits to the community. · In response to a query from Councillor Bethan Price on the warm packs the Interim Director of Social Services advised that not all packs had been requested and would be carried over to phase 2 if any remained. The Committee agreed for a further update on this matter to be scheduled for the June 2023 Meeting.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the Committee recommend to Cabinet that the Asset Management Strategy 2023-30 be approved and that Cabinet consider the involvement of members on that asset management group.
The Director of Community Services presented the draft Asset Management Strategy 2023-30 for the consideration of the Committee prior to approval by Cabinet. In considering the draft Asset Management Strategy 2023-30 the key points were highlighted as follows: · The Chair asked about the action plan, priorities and the timescales involved. The Chief Property Officer advised that Service Asset Management plans were being developed, which would provide a better understanding and identify assets to either retain, refurbish or dispose of. · The Chair highlighted his concerns over resources within the Property Service, which he commented had been severely diminished over recent years. He asked about how other departments could support the Property Service in implementing this strategy. The Director of Community Services referred to the establishment of a new Corporate Asset Management Board chaired by the Chief Executive for a more joined up approach. · Councillor Di Clements queried whether the funding gap figures used under the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) were still accurate. The Director of Community Services confirmed that the size of the funding gap had altered since the final draft strategy had been produced and would look at a way of rewording the paragraph and not honing in on specific numbers, as some would invariably change. · The Director of Community Services responded to Councillor Di Clements on member engagement. He referred to the Strategic Asset Management Group and looking at how that aligns with the role of the scrutiny committee. He concluded that the Chief Executive was currently reviewing this and proposals would be coming forward. · Councillor Pat Davies commented on the importance of member engagement in the process, as local knowledge was vital. · The Chair requested that as part of the monitoring and review that the Annual approval of a State of the Estate report summarising progress in the preceding 12 month period be considered by this Committee on an annual basis to provide some oversight for members. · In response to Councillor Aled Thomas the Director of Community Services provided assurance that the comments from the Committee would be captured in the final report to Cabinet. In relation to the issues raised relating to the funding gap figures he would ensure that the specific figures would be removed and replaced with wording that effectively set the scene in terms of the Council’s financial challenges. Moved by Councillor Joshua Beynon; Seconded by Councillor Huw Murphy The vote, undertaken by way of a roll-call was carried. The votes were recorded as follows: For the Motion: Councillors Joshua Beynon, Di Clements, Pat Davies, Huw Murphy, Bethan Price, Jordan Ryan, Sam Skyrme – Blackhall, Aled Thomas, Michele Wiggins and Councillor Steve Yelland [10] There were no votes against or abstentions. RESOLVED That the Committee recommend to Cabinet that the Asset Management Strategy 2023-30 be approved and that Cabinet consider the involvement of members on that asset management group.
The Committee considered the Forward Work Programme with it noted that the following would be added: · Update on the Poverty Strategy would be added in June 2023 · State of the Estate report for the Asset Management Strategy to be considered by the Committee on an Annual basis.
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