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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED 1. To note the work of the Mid Wales Education Partners. 2. That the democratic accountability set out in the Memorandum of Understanding for 2023 – 2026 is agreed.
RESOLVED 1. That Cabinet note the projected full year forecast to the end of March 2023. 2. That Cabinet approve the setting up of the specific pay reserve as set out in section 4.3 of the report. 3. That the grants received in this quarter as set out in section 5.1 of the report are noted. 4. That the virements set out in section 5.2 are approved, this is to comply with the virement rules for budget movements between £100,000 and £500,000 as set out in the financial regulations, and those virements in excess of £500,000 are recommended to council for approval.
RESOLVED 1. That the contents of the report are noted. 2. The displaced council funding by utilising grant, as outlined in paragraph 3.8 of the report is carried forward to 2023/24. 3. That the virements in section 5 are approved.
RESOLVED 1. That the report is noted 2. That a “deep dive” piece of work is undertaken on the Adult Social Care debt and HTR debt and reported back to Cabinet.
Apologies for absence were received from County Councillor J Brignell-Thorp (Cabinet Assistant) for the first part of the meeting and from County Councillor DOCVARIABLE "MembersExcusesShortRoleList" \* MERGEFORMAT A Kennerley (Cabinet Assistant).
The Leader was authorised to sign the minutes of the last meeting held on 28th March 2023 as a correct record.
There were no declarations of interest reported.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED 1. To note the work of the Mid Wales Education Partners. 2. That the democratic accountability set out in the Memorandum of Understanding for 2023 – 2026 is agreed.
Cabinet received a presentation on the work of the Mid Wales Education Partners (MWEP). MWEP was the successor body to ERW and a collaboration between Ceredigion and Powys County Councils to support all learners, practitioners, and schools. Whilst both Local Authorities maintained their own school improvement services, the collaborative arrangements allowed for economies of scale and the sharing of resources. The Partnership also ensured that officers from Powys and Ceredigion were able to fully contribute to key policy development and professional learning development at a national level. MWEP was governed by a Memorandum of Understanding which Cabinet were asked to approve. Ceredigion Cabinet would also be asked to approve. RESOLVED 1. To note the work of the Mid Wales Education Partners. 2. That the democratic accountability set out in the Memorandum of Understanding for 2023 – 2026 is agreed.
Cabinet considered the Regional Partnership Board area plan for 2023/24 – 2027/28. The plan set out the high-level principles, outcomes and priorities for regional working across health and care in Powys focusing on those areas which required partnership working. Whilst the Cabinet was in broad agreement with the aims and objectives of the plan, particularly on integration of services which was a priority, Members were not clear from the plan how integration would be achieved or what the next steps would be. Cabinet did not feel that the plan was clear in demonstrating what the Health and Care Strategy had achieved to date or what the Health and Care Academy was delivering. Cabinet also felt that support for the Welsh language did not come through strongly enough in the report. Members also commented that links between the plan and council services were not clear and therefore there was a risk of no one was taking ownership. The Director of Social Services and Housing would feed the comments back to the RPB. She explained that work had commenced on the next phase of the plan on design and delivery which would address many of the issues raised by Cabinet.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED 1. That Cabinet note the projected full year forecast to the end of March 2023. 2. That Cabinet approve the setting up of the specific pay reserve as set out in section 4.3 of the report. 3. That the grants received in this quarter as set out in section 5.1 of the report are noted. 4. That the virements set out in section 5.2 are approved, this is to comply with the virement rules for budget movements between £100,000 and £500,000 as set out in the financial regulations, and those virements in excess of £500,000 are recommended to council for approval.
Cabinet considered the Revenue Financial Forecast for the year ending 31st March 2023 as at 28th February 2023. The projected underspend against budget was £3.4 million after the drawdown of the payroll reserve of £1.2 million and a further anticipated draw down of £2.5 million from specific reserves to support expenditure as planned. Cabinet noted that the nationally agreed pay awards for 2023/24 were likely to exceed the Council’s budgeted costs (5% for NJC and 5.5% for Teachers (from the September 2023)) leaving a shortfall for next year. Every 1% above the estimate would require a further £1.5 million. It was therefore proposed that any additional underspend achieved in the 2022/23 financial year is set aside in a specific reserve to fund the likely shortfall in next year’s budget. The report also detailed a number of grants received during the quarter and made a number of requests for budget virements. RESOLVED 1. That Cabinet note the projected full year forecast to the end of March 2023. 2. That Cabinet approve the setting up of the specific pay reserve as set out in section 4.3 of the report. 3. That the grants received in this quarter as set out in section 5.1 of the report are noted. 4. That the virements set out in section 5.2 are approved, this is to comply with the virement rules for budget movements between £100,000 and £500,000 as set out in the financial regulations, and those virements in excess of £500,000 are recommended to council for approval.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED 1. That the contents of the report are noted. 2. The displaced council funding by utilising grant, as outlined in paragraph 3.8 of the report is carried forward to 2023/24. 3. That the virements in section 5 are approved.
Cabinet considered an update on the financial position of the Council’s capital programme for 2022/23 as at 28th February 2023. The revised programme at the 28th February 2023 was budgeted at £95.53 million following the successful award of additional grants and the reprofiling of budgets between financial years. Actual spend amounted to £49.74 million, representing 52% of the total budget. The report noted that £2.20 million had been received from Welsh Government as a Capital Funding Grant to Support Capital Maintenance and Energy Efficiency Works. This must be utilised in this financial year. It was proposed to carry forward the displaced council funding to fund future energy efficiency and other urgent capital works to schools. The report also set out details of budget virements. RESOLVED 1. That the contents of the report are noted. 2. The displaced council funding by utilising grant, as outlined in paragraph 3.8 of the report is carried forward to 2023/24. 3. That the virements in section 5 are approved.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED 1. That the report is noted 2. That a “deep dive” piece of work is undertaken on the Adult Social Care debt and HTR debt and reported back to Cabinet.
Cabinet considered the Treasury Management report for quarter 3. The report highlighted the levels of longer term debt with most held by Adult Social Care followed by HTR. RESOLVED 1. That the report is noted 2. That a “deep dive” piece of work is undertaken on the Adult Social Care debt and HTR debt and reported back to Cabinet.
It was noted that the delegated decision on enforcement policy attributed to the Cabinet Member for a Fairer Powys was taken by the Cabinet Member for a Safer Powys.
The Cabinet Member noted that there were a number of reports from his service area that he had expected to see in the forward work plan which weren’t there and he asked the Cabinet Manager to liaise with Heads of Service.
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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