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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED: To approve the minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on the 6th October 2025
RESOLVED to: Provide feedback, as the Committee considers appropriate, as part of the Council’s 2026-27 Budget Consultation.
RESOLVED to: 1. 2.1 Undertake pre-scrutiny on the report (attached at Appendix 1), thus providing Scrutiny with an opportunity to contribute to this matter; and 2.2 Authorise the Service Director Democratic Services, Welsh Language and Communications to provide the comments and observations of the Committee to Cabinet, prior to their consideration of this matter at its meeting in December.
In accordance with the code of conduct the following declarations were made: County Borough Councillor B Stephens, C Middle & W Lewis and officer Ms C Hutchings made personal & non Prejudicial declarations in item 4
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: To approve the minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on the 6th October 2025
RESOLVED: To approve the minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on the 6th October 2025
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED to: Provide feedback, as the Committee considers appropriate, as part of the Council’s 2026-27 Budget Consultation.
The Service Director - Democratic Services, Welsh Language and Communications presented the report for Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to be consulted and to formally respond to the first phase of the Council’s 2026/27 Budget Consultation. Members were advised that the Committee’s feedback will be incorporated into a Budget Consultation report, alongside all other feedback received from stakeholders, for consideration by Cabinet as part of developing a draft Revenue Budget Strategy for 2026/27. The draft Revenue Budget Strategy will then be pre-scrutinised by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee as part of phase 2 of the Budget Consultation process in early 2026. The Director - Financial Services & Transformation then provided Members with detail on the presentation for the phase 1 Budget Consultation and invited feedback from the Committee. Members noted that there was often misunderstanding from the public on the use of the Council’s reserves and emphasised the need for clearer information from the Council to support, for example, public understanding of the reserves held and their purpose; the level of reserves that are already committed; and why reserves are not a sustainable approach to setting balanced revenue budgets. The Director fed back that a detailed overview of the reserves held by the Council was reported to the October 2025 full Council meeting and that work was underway to create more user-friendly information that will support communication with residents on this area. The update provided was welcomed by Members. Members recognised the growing pressures across social services, including rising demand and complexity of care. Members supported the principle to continue to prioritise funding for adult and children’s services and some Members also highlighted the limited flexibility across social services due to many areas being statutory in nature. Members were supportive of the principle to continue to protect the school budget and they viewed safeguarding educational outcomes as a key strategic priority and if investment in education was not prioritised this could undermine the improvements achieved across the County Borough. A Member also raised issues relating to school deficits and, following discussion, the Chair provided clarity that the detailed scrutiny of the school budget is not within the remit of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Members acknowledged the difficult balance between keeping council tax increases as low as possible for residents and maintaining essential services, particularly in the current challenging financial climate. Members emphasised that any increases in Council Tax should remain minimal and proportionate. Members broadly accepted the proposed approach to minimal inflationary uplifts to fees and charges and favored an approach to review fees and charges individually to inform the level of charge rather than a blanket increase approach. Specific Members provided a range of individual feedback covering: keeping leisure membership and pay and play charges affordable to avoid loss of members and pay and play users; keeping car parking and wider community facing charges as low as possible; reviewing visitor attraction fees to ensure the Council continues to be competitively priced; increasing school meals by inflation only; and increasing fines and penalties above any standard increase that is applied to other fees and charges areas. Members were supportive of strengthening preventative work, particularly in relation to homelessness and temporary accommodation, welcoming the focus on projects such as working with prison leavers, partnerships with registered social landlords and efforts to expand suitable accommodation options. Several Members acknowledged the Council’s approach to digitalisation and at the same time stressed the continued need for accessible face-to-face services, particularly for vulnerable residents and where the Council’s customers and service users have specifically requested this to be case. Members expressed caution around reducing opening hours of services at quiet times and also on moving primarily to online provision. Following conclusion of discussions it was RESOLVED to: Provide feedback, as the Committee considers appropriate, as part of the Council’s 2026-27 Budget Consultation.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED to: 1. 2.1 Undertake pre-scrutiny on the report (attached at Appendix 1), thus providing Scrutiny with an opportunity to contribute to this matter; and 2.2 Authorise the Service Director Democratic Services, Welsh Language and Communications to provide the comments and observations of the Committee to Cabinet, prior to their consideration of this matter at its meeting in December.
The Service Director Democratic Services, Welsh Language and Communications presented the report to Members to allow them to undertake pre-scrutiny on the proposed changes to the Council’s Housing Allocation Scheme, following the outcome of the public consultation and legal review. The Head of Housing Strategy and Investment advised Members of the proposed changes which include: • Rent Arrears: Applicants with arrears over 8 weeks will have their priority reduced unless they adhere to a repayment plan for 12 weeks. • Adapted Properties: Allocation will be based on matching applicant needs with property adaptations, considering priority and waiting time. • Hate Crime: Inclusion of definitions and processes to protect applicants experiencing severe harassment. These changes aim to improve fairness, legal compliance, and responsiveness to housing needs. Members were then invited to comment on the proposals The Chair acknowledged the value of the work undertaken but asked officers to consider potential consequences for vulnerable households, particularly those already at risk of poverty. She sought assurances around early intervention and prevention, to avoid situations where households could fall further into difficulty due to arrears or wider financial pressure. Officers responded by emphasising that early intervention is key to their approach, detailing how verification and panel processes consider the full circumstances of each applicant. They described the significant role played by commissioned tenancy support services and highlighted that around 89% of individuals receiving this support are sustaining their tenancies. Members discussed issues arising within their wards, with a recent case involving a mother with three children who had been served notice by a private landlord but remained in Band B until the point of being made homeless. Members expressed concern that families reach crisis point before their priority changes, despite months of known risk, which can create anxiety and increases the likelihood of families needing to use temporary accommodation. Officers advised that they examine the case outside the meeting but explained that statutory homelessness triggers occur at defined points in the process and that officers routinely negotiate with landlords to minimise disruption where possible. The Member also voiced strong concerns about the consistency of support provided by some RSLs and suggested that the support described in their policies does not always align with tenants experiences. Officers clarified that much support is commissioned services rather than RSLs themselves but offered to discuss specifics with the Member outside of the meeting. A Member raised several queries around households who fall into arrears because private rents have increased sharply above Local Housing Allowance rates. The Member questioned whether it would be better to support an early move into social housing to prevent homelessness, rather than penalise applicants. Officers confirmed that prevention work is prioritised by acknowledged the limited available stock. The Member also sought clarity on how applicants needing adapted homes are supported when an appropriate property becomes available far from their support networks. Officers reassured that no household would be compelled to relocate and confirmed that applicants would always have the final choice. The Member also raised concerns about the impact of large concentrations of similar unit types such as developments with significant numbers of one-bedroom homes on the stability and balance of local communities. Officers responded that they continue to scrutinise development proposals carefully and seek mixed communities wherever possible, agreeing to discuss localised issues separately with the Member. Another Member echoed the concerns about community stability, citing examples where unsuitable allocations had caused distress and disruption for existing residents. The Member also queried whether rent arrears had increased since payments began being made directly to Landlords. Members discussed the challenges around adapted properties, noting that changes to Physical Adaptation Grant arrangements had made it harder to deliver adaptations within existing stock. The member highlighted cases where highly adapted properties later proved unsuitable because families lacked the nearby support networks they relied on. The Member also sought clarification regarding the potential removal of Band D, noting that a number of households had been allocated homes from Band D in the previous year. Officers confirmed that no change would be made until Welsh Government issued its guidance. A Member asked for indication of the timescale for Welsh Governments review of Band D and requested the cost of commissioning the external review and queried the low number of respondents to the adapted property consultation. Officers explained that despite direct outreach to all registered applicants needing adapted homes, only 21 had responded, though attempts had been made multiple times and through disability forums. The Member also queried the wording of the proposal relating to matching properties to adaptation needs and asked for more clarity. Officers agreed to review and amend the wording before the report is presented to Cabinet for consideration. The Member also noted that the consultation highlighted challenges faced by people with neurodiverse conditions and learning disabilities in navigating the housing system and asked what multi-agency support was available. Officers provided an overview of community drop-ins, facet o face support, and extensive signposting arrangements and agreed to circulate further detail on the wider range of Housing Support Grant Services. A Member raised concerns on the long term strategic impact of demographic change, noting both the ageing population and the number of large under occupied homes in many communities. He asked whether future supply planning accounts for the need to future-proof communities as part of preventing isolation. He also raised questions about supported accommodation placements originating from outside the county, asking whether individuals then become the responsibility of the authority. Officers clarified the local connection policy and noted that applicants without a local connection are not prioritised over those with one. The Member also queried the terminology used in the documentation relating to ethnic groups and asked for it to be updated; officers confirmed this would be reviewed and amended across all the documents. A Member praised officers for their responsiveness and recalled cases where support has been provided quickly and efficiently. The Member described the significant shortage of single person and adapted accommodation and suggested that new developments could incorporate a proportion of homes designed to be adaptable at the build stage. He also queried how best to speed up the reuse of long-term empty homes and warned against designing developments that place too many similar household types together which can create pressure for residents and services. Officers confirmed that the empty homes programme remains active and that nomination rights are secured where private landlords receive support to bring properties back into use. They also noted that the development referenced includes both one- and two-bedroom units including some adapted homes. The Chair concluded by thanking officers for their detailed contributions and Members for their questions. RESOLVED to: 1. 2.1 Undertake pre-scrutiny on the report (attached at Appendix 1), thus providing Scrutiny with an opportunity to contribute to this matter; and 2.2 Authorise the Service Director Democratic Services, Welsh Language and Communications to provide the comments and observations of the Committee to Cabinet, prior to their consideration of this matter at its meeting in December.
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.
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