Care for older and disabled people, children's services and safeguarding.
What councils do
Councils arrange care and support for older people, disabled adults and carers, protect children and adults at risk, and look after children in care. Much care is provided by private and charity providers the council pays.
Who decides
The Cabinet member for social services leads, and each council has a statutory Director of Social Services. Scrutiny committees examine how services are doing.
Having a say
Anyone can ask the council for an assessment of their care needs, or of their needs as a carer. If you're worried about someone's safety, contact the council's safeguarding team.
In numbers
Welsh councils plan to spend £1,045 per person on this in 2026-27.
It ranges from £918 in Monmouthshire to £1,337 in Ceredigion.
Children in care: 114 across Wales (2024-25).
Children in care who moved home three or more times: 8% across Wales (2024-25).
Children's assessments done on time: 85% across Wales (2024-25).
RESOLVED – T H A T the dispensations as set out in the schedule below be
granted up to the date of the next Local Government Elections or as and where
indicated:
Member Requesting Paragraph(s) of Decision
Dispensation the Standards
Committee (Grant
of Dispensations)
(Wales) Regulations
2001 Under Which
Dispensation is
Granted and as
applied for
Councillor H.J. Payne (d), (e), (f) and (i) To speak and vote at Vale
of Glamorgan Council
meetings on matters
relating to the review of
Council employee terms
and conditions ( including
budgets) in view of family
members being employed
by the Authority .
Dispensation granted to the
date of the next Local
Government Elections
Councillor G. Smith (d), (e) and (i) To speak only on matters
relating to the forthcoming
Vale of Glamorgan Local
Development Plan
throughout the entire period
of consultations relating to
the forthcoming Vale of
Glamorgan Local
Development Plan 2021-
2036. Dispensation
granted throughout the
entire period of consultation
relating to the replacement
LDP up until its adoption
Councillor Dr. P. Dickson (a) and (i) To speak and vote at
Llantwit Major Town
Council Planning
Committee meetings in
relation to Planning
Application
2023/00596/FUL – Purlon
No.
Farm. The dispensation to
be granted for the one
meeting when the
application is to be
discussed.
Councillor G. Morgan (a) and (i) To speak and vote at
Llantwit Major Town
Council Planning
Committee meetings in
relation to Planning
Application
2023/00596/FUL – Purlon
Farm. The dispensation to
be granted for the one
meeting when the
application is to be
discussed
Councillor D. Foster (a) and (i) To speak and vote at
Llantwit Major Town
Council Planning
Committee meetings in
relation to Planning
Application
2023/00596/FUL – Purlon
Farm. The dispensation to
be granted for the one
meeting when the
application is to be
discussed
Councillor J. Deakin (a) and (i) To speak and vote at
Llantwit Major Town
Council Planning
Committee meetings in
relation to Planning
Application
2023/00596/FUL – Purlon
Farm. The dispensation to
be granted for the one
meeting when the
application is to be
discussed
Councillor G. Hughes (a) and (i) To speak and vote at
Llantwit Major Town
Council Planning
Committee meetings in
relation to Planning
Application
2023/00596/FUL – Purlon
Farm. The dispensation to
No.
be granted for the one
meeting when the
application is to be
discussed
Councillor S. Sivagnanam (d), (e), (f) and (i) To speak and vote at Vale
of Glamorgan Council
meetings when matters are
discussed, including
budgets, in relation to the
school. Dispensation
granted to the date of the
next Local Government
Elections
Reason for decisions
To comply with the regulations and obligations for the grant of dispensations to
speak and vote and having regard to the applications submitted.
RESOLVED –
(1) T H A T the updates to the Cabinet Quarterly Work Programme for April to
June 2023 attached at Appendix 1 be agreed.
(2) T H A T the Cabinet Quarterly Work Programme July to September 2023
attached at Appendix 2 be endorsed.
Reasons for decisions
(1) To monitor progress.
(2) To approve the Work Programme for July to September 2023.
C43 CLOSURE OF ACCOUNTS 2022/23 (EL/PR) (SCRUTINY –
CORPORATE PERFORMANCE AND RESOURCES) –
The Leader presented the report, the purpose of which was to inform Cabinet of the
provisional financial position of the Council for the 2022/23 financial year.
There had been significant inflationary and demand pressures during the year for
Childrens Services including legal costs for complex cases and placement costs,
supply of HGV drivers, rising fuel and school transport costs, additional pay
pressures and rising energy costs. Additional payments in Social Care were made to
social care providers to assist commissioning and recruitment and retention of
providers.
Minutes - MS
Some provision was made for additional Council Tax income of £1.5m earlier in the
year which was not achieved in full as arrears had increased but was able to be
offset by underspend elsewhere. Additional pay costs had been offset by vacant
posts in service budgets, however it was important to be mindful that vacant posts
put additional pressure on existing staff.
The Leader referred to a typographical error in paragraph 10.5 of the report that
referred to the 2020/21 the Statement of Accounts, which should have referred to the
2022/23 accounts, which was noted.
This was a matter for Executive decision.
Cabinet, having considered the report and all the issues and implications contained
therein
RESOLVED –
(1) T H A T the report and the financial measures taken and proposed be
approved.
(2) T H A T the allocation of overall Council surplus as set out below be
approved.
• £200k transfer to Education Pressures and Improvements Reserve to
provide additional support to schools in special measures.
• £850k to Education Pressures and Improvements Reserve support ALN
support in mainstream schools.
• £20k to Neighbourhood Services Reserve for repairs in to single use
sports facilities
• £350k to Neighbourhood Services Reserve for micro asphalt schemes to
address the condition of roads within the Council area.
• £150k to Neighbourhood Services Reserve to support the delivery of
health and safety works in leisure centres.
• £200k to Reshaping Risk and Investment Reserve to provide additional
support to Children and Young people over the summer period.
• £120k to Neighbourhood Services Reserve to support the implementation
of A48 Scheme to improve Road Safety.
(3) T H A T the report be referred to Corporate Performance and Resources
Scrutiny Committee.
Reasons for decisions
(1) To approve the report and the financial measures taken and proposed.
(2) To approve the allocation of the 2022/23 surplus to support the delivery of
schemes supporting key priorities identified by the Council.
Minutes - MS
(3) To enable the Scrutiny Committee responsible for finance to review the year
end position.
C44 CAPITAL CLOSURE OF ACCOUNTS 2022/23 (EL/PR) (SCRUTINY –
ALL) –
The Leader presented the report, the purpose of which was to inform Cabinet of the
provisional financial position of the Council’s Capital Programme for the 2022/23
financial year.
Delivering 98% of the programme before the end of the financial year had been
outstanding and due to the commitment and hard work across all directorates. The
Leader said it was important to recognise the work undertaken to deliver the capital
programme, not only the impact of the continued school building programme but with
work going on to maintain, renovate and update existing Council properties.
Councillor Wilson concurred with the Leader’s comments concerning the teams that
had worked so hard to deliver the capital programme, often under difficult
circumstances. He referred to the successful delivery of the Resource Recovery
Facility and that it was a delight to see it delivered and working.
Councillor John said that the development at Hayes Road that consisted of 19 four-
person two-bedroom houses and 4 five person three-bedroom houses was
extremely good news with further schemes in the pipeline which would make a
difference to people across the Vale.
The Leader also referred to the installation of automatic water meter readers which
gave advanced warning of water leaks on the estate which saved water and money.
Paragraph 2.12 of the report noted the progress made within the Band B Programme
for six of the schools in the Vale with more to come in Cowbridge, St Nicholas, Ysgol
y Deri 2, Iolo Morgannwg and St Richard Gwyn from September onwards.
This was a matter for Executive decision.
Cabinet, having considered the report and all the issues and implications contained
therein
RESOLVED –
(1) T H A T the year end capital position for financial year 2022/23 be noted.
(2) T H A T the additional scheme budgets as set out in Appendix 1 be approved.
(3) T H AT the summary position of the changes in the Capital Programme by
directorate from approval at Council on 7th March, 2022 to 31st March, 2023, as set
out in Appendix 2 be noted.
(4) T H A T the Emergency Power approved in respect of the slippage as set out
in Appendix 3 be noted.
Minutes - MS
(5) T H A T the report be referred to Corporate Performance and Resources
Scrutiny Committee.
Reasons for decisions
(1) To inform Cabinet of the year end capital position for financial year 2022/23.
(2) To inform Cabinet of the additional schemes added to the approved
programme for 2022/23.
(3) To inform Cabinet of the changes to the Approved Capital Programme set on
7th March, 2022.
(4) To advise Cabinet of the approved slippage in the Emergency Powers in the
2022/23 Capital Programme.
(5) To enable the Scrutiny Committee responsible for finance to review the year
end position.
C45 ANNUAL TREASURY MANAGEMENT REPORT 2022/23 (EL/PR)
(SCRUTINY – CORPORATE PERFORMANCE AND RESOURCES) –
The Leader presented the report, the purpose of which was to present the annual
review report on Treasury Management 2022/23.
This was a matter for Executive decision.
Cabinet, having considered the report and all the issues and implications contained
therein
RESOLVED – T H A T the annual report on Treasury Management 2022/23 and that
the report be referred to the Corporate Performance Resources Scrutiny Committee
prior to being referred to Full Council for approval.
Reason for decision
To accept and refer the report to Council.
C46 CORPORATE RESOURCES DIRECTORATE - CAPACITY & WAYS
OF WORKING (EL/PR) (SCRUTINY – CORPORATE PERFORMANCE AND
RESOURCES) –
The Leader presented the report, the purpose of which was to provide an update on
proposals to make changes within the Corporate Resources directorate following the
restructure of the Strategic Leadership Team in 2022 and reflecting the future ways
of working to support the Council.
Minutes - MS
Paragraph 2.5 of the report highlighted that the Authority had been operating without
a Head of Policy and Business Transformation or Operational Manager for
Performance and Policy which had put pressure on other staff and was not a
sustainable situation. Paragraph 2.8 of the report proposed reorganising the
directorate around four key service areas of HR & Organisational Development,
Legal & Democratic Services, Finance & Digital and had no financial implications to
the Authority.
Councillor Sivagnanam stressed the importance of the Vale’s participation and
engagement and equality strategies and that there was no cost implication for the
Authority.
This was a matter for Executive decision.
Cabinet, having considered the report and all the issues and implications contained
therein
RESOLVED –
(1) T H A T the contents of the report be noted.
(2) T H A T the proposals contained in the report be endorsed.
Reasons for decisions
(1) To update Cabinet on the proposals to make changes within the Corporate
Resources directorate.
(2) To enable additional strategic capacity to be created to progress the Council's
digital ambitions and support the Council to deliver its strategic priorities.
C47 DRAFT DIGITAL STRATEGY (EL/PR) (SCRUTINY – CORPORATE
PERFORMANCE AND RESOURCES) –
The Leader presented the report, the purpose of which was to provide Cabinet with
an overview of work undertaken to develop a new draft Digital Strategy and seek
approval to consult on the same before adoption.
Digital innovation was a step change away from where it was prior to the pandemic
where many service users became much more used to accessing services online.
The Strategy would address how digital technology could be used to become more
effective, more active, more accessible, more inclusive, and also more data driven.
There was a fear that some people would be left out because of such changes, but
residents would still be supported by in-person and telephone services.
Councillor Sivagnanam said it was important to recognise that both digital and in
person support services were available, and that demand for digital services had
increased, e.g., 95% of residents in the Vale of Glamorgan digitally completed the
census survey. Data gathered could be used to provide better services to residents.
Minutes - MS
This was a matter for Executive decision.
Cabinet, having considered the report and all the issues and implications contained
therein
RESOLVED –
(1) T H A T the contents of this report be noted.
(2) T H A T the draft Digital Strategy and proposals contained in the report be
endorsed as the basis for wider consultation.
(3) T H A T the report and Appendix A be referred to Corporate Performance &
Resources Scrutiny Committee as part of the consultation process.
(4) T H A T Cabinet receives a further report on conclusion of the consultation
process in order to consider a final Digital Strategy to be adopted.
Reasons for decisions
(1) To update Cabinet on the approach taken to developing the draft Digital
Strategy.
(2) To enable the draft Digital Strategy to be consulted upon.
(3) To enable the Corporate Performance & Resources Scrutiny Committee to
participate in the consultation process.
(4) To enable Cabinet to consider the outcomes of the consultation process and
proposed changes to the draft Digital Strategy and to ensure the Council adopts a
Digital Strategy to provide the framework for digital development in the future.
C48 STRONG COMMUNITIES GRANT FUND 2020-2025 (DL/SP)
(SCRUTINY – CORPORATE PERFORMANCE AND RESOURCES) –
The Deputy Leader presented the report, the purpose of which was to provide
Cabinet with an update on the Strong Communities Grant Fund 2023 -24 and to
seek approval for the award of funding for the fourth round of applications.
Councillor Brooks emphasised the help and support available to a variety of applying
organisations and gave examples of some of the different types of applications that
had been made to the Fund.
The Leader added that bringing funding together in this way had enabled different
organisations from across the Vale of Glamorgan to apply for support for a variety of
different reasons and had proven to be amazingly successful. The Creative
Communities team had developed a high level of expertise in helping organisations
out together effective applications but also assisting with monitoring expenditure.
Minutes - MS
This was a matter for Executive decision.
Cabinet, having considered the report and all the issues and implications contained
therein
RESOLVED –
(1) T H A T grant funding of up to £152,916.58 be approved and the Evaluation
Panel's recommendations as outlined in Appendix A be endorsed.
(2) T H A T the content of the report and Appendices B and C be noted.
Reasons for decisions
(1) To enable Strong Communities Grant Funding to be awarded to submissions
as outlined in Appendix A attached to the report, in line with the Council's
Constitution and the scope of the scheme.
(2) To provide Cabinet with an update on the Strong Communities Grant Fund.
C49 WELSH LANGUAGE STANDARDS ANNUAL MONITORING
REPORT 2022-23 (EAWL) (SCRUTINY – LEARNING AND CULTURE AND
CORPORATE PERFORMANCE AND RESOURCES) –
The Cabinet Member presented the report, the purpose of which was to seek
approval for the Council’s Annual Welsh Monitoring Report and update on 5-year
Promotion Strategy.
Councillor Birch listed matters already in place bilingually including the website that
was available and updated bilingually and would soon include historical pages also,
staff pages enabled staff to view their information on internal news, policies, payslips
etc., the Chief Executive posted a weekly message to staff bilingually,
Communications teams produce material bilingually and the Contact Centre and
Reception at the Civic Offices were able to conduct business in either medium of
English or Welsh. Recruitment and retention of Welsh speakers was a priority and
Welsh language courses for all levels offered during work time and at no cost to
staff, with classes held remotely including members of the community. Welsh
awareness training had also been made available for elected Members as part of
equalities training.
The Leader noted that the Report Owner listed on the report was incorrect, stated as
the Executive Leader and Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources when it
should have been the Cabinet Member for Education, Arts and the Welsh Language.
This was a matter for Executive decision.
Cabinet, having considered the report and all the issues and implications contained
therein
Minutes - MS
RESOLVED –
(1) T H A T the Annual Welsh Monitoring Report for 2022-23 (Appendix 1) and
Update on the Welsh Language Promotional Strategy (Appendix 2) be approved in
principle, subject to consideration by Scrutiny Committee (Learning & Culture and
Corporate Performance & Resources).
(2) T H A T the report and appendices be referred to Learning & Culture and
Corporate Performance & Resources Scrutiny Committees for consideration and if
endorsed by the Committees, that the report be published.
Reasons for decisions
(1) To allow the Council to meet its reporting duty to the Welsh Commissioner as
part of the Welsh Language Standards.
(2) To enable Learning & Culture and Corporate Performance & Resources
Scrutiny Committees to consider the report (and appendices) prior to publication.
C50 DAMP AND MOULD POLICY (NBS) (SCRUTINY – HOMES AND
SAFE COMMUNITIES) –
The Cabinet Member presented the report, the purpose of which was to approve the
Damp and Mould Condensation Policy. Councillor Wilson said there were
management arrangements in place for addressing condensation and damp issues
in residential properties, but the Policy consolidated the detail into a working
document for stakeholders, including residents, Officers and the general public, who
may be concerned or interested in damp and condensation issues within their
properties. He emphasised that Officers in the Housing Department or
Neighbourhood Services Department could help people if there were issues with
damp and mould.
This was a matter for Executive decision.
Cabinet, having considered the report and all the issues and implications contained
therein
RESOLVED – T H A T the Damp and Mould Policy provided at Appendix 1 be
approved.
Reason for decision
To enable the practices set out within the policy to be adopted and practiced.
Minutes - MS
C51 PROPOSED TRAFFIC REGULATION ORDER FOR EXCEPTIONS
TO WALES 20MPH DEFAULT SPEED LIMIT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF
ANCILLARY SPEED LIMITS (NBS) (SCRUTINY – ENVIRONMENT AND
REGENERATION) –
The Cabinet Member presented the report, the purpose of which was to update
Cabinet on the Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) process associated with proposed
exceptions to Wales 20mph Default Speed Limit and proposed ancillary speed limits.
Councillor Wilson said that a similar exercise had taken place in Spain where a
substantial decrease in the number of deaths and serious accidents had occurred
because of the lowering of the speed limit. It was also hoped that the speed
reduction would help to promote sustainable mobility and encourage active travel
options and therefore in the future potentially assist to reduce the number of journeys
by private car.
Councillor John encouraged people to take part in the consultation to express their
views.
The Leader said the consultation was an example of data driving actions and echoed
Councillor John’s encouragement of people taking part in the consultation to express
their views. She said that speed reductions would make it safer for pedestrians and
cyclists, near schools and would not add a lot of time to average journeys around the
Vale of Glamorgan.
This was a matter for Executive decision.
Cabinet, having considered the report and all the issues and implications contained
therein
RESOLVED –
(1) T H A T the public consultation for the proposed Traffic Regulation Order
(TRO) associated with exceptions to Wales 20mph Default Speed Limit and
proposed ancillary speed limits which commenced on 22nd June, 2023 be noted.
(2) T H A T the report be referred to the Environment and Regeneration Scrutiny
Committee for consideration.
(3) T H A T Cabinet be provided with a further report on this matter to consider
the responses and comments received during the public consultation period and
make a final decision on the implementation of the proposed TRO.
Reasons for decisions
(1) To advise Cabinet of the proposed TRO and public consultation process.
(2) To ensure that the views of the Scrutiny Committee are considered prior to a
future decision being taken by Cabinet on the proposed TRO.
Minutes - MS
(3) To confirm the Council’s position in respect of any objections that may be
made to the Order.
C52 VALE, VALLEYS & CARDIFF ADOPTION COLLABORATIVE
AGREEMENT (SCH) (SCRUTINY – HEALTHY LIVING AND SOCIAL CARE) –
The Cabinet Member presented the report, the purpose of which was to agree to
enter into a new Collaborative Agreement, a copy of which was appended to the
report, between Vale of Glamorgan Council, The County Council of the City and
County of Cardiff, Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council and Merthyr Tydfil
County Borough Council.
This was a matter for Executive decision.
Cabinet, having considered the report and all the issues and implications contained
therein
RESOLVED –
(1) T H A T a new Collaborative Agreement be entered into between the Vale of
Glamorgan Council, the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff, Rhondda
Cynon Taf County Borough Council and Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council to
commence on 1st June, 2023.
(2) T H A T authority be delegated to the Monitoring Officer/Head of Legal and
Democratic Services to agree and execute the Collaborative Agreement and future
variations to the Agreement.
Reasons for decisions
(1) To provide a governance framework which ensured the continued operation
and delivery of the Collaborative and outlined the responsibilities of partners.
(2) To bring the Collaborative arrangements into line with current practice and
requirements.
Minutes - MS
RESOLVED –
(1) T H A T the draft response at Appendix 1 to the report in respect of the Welsh
Government Consultation on the recommendations of the Independent Review of the
Ethical Standards Framework (Richard Penn Report), with the additional
amendments as below, be agreed:
No.
Question 5 – What avenues would be open to the Adjudication Panel for
Wales if a summons was not adhered to and the implications.
Question 7 – That the following words be added to the end of the response
“…albeit it is noted that the general rule is that hearings are to be held in
public.”
10a – That the words “… even where there are very serious safeguarding
concerns” be added to the second sentence of the second paragraph of the
response i.e. the sentence to read as “ No such similar provision exists in
relation to members even where there are very serious safeguarding
concerns”. That an extra paragraph be included relating to when a Councillor
was charged with a specified category of an offence and particularly offences
which carried a custodial sentence an interim suspension would be
appropriate.
Question 13 – The response be amended to No and the response paragraph
deleted with a new sentence inserted as “ It is important to ensure that
potential candidates from a wide range of backgrounds are attracted to the
role and all channels including newspapers, websites or existing networks are
utilised”.
Question 16 – The additional response be added as agreed for Question 5
above.
(2) T H A T it be recommended to Cabinet that the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s
threshold for Gifts be amended in line with paragraph 1.5 of the report as follows:
Gifts, material benefits or advantages – £25.00 or totalling £100.00 over a year from
a single source.
(3) T H A T delegated authority be granted to the Monitoring Officer / Head of
Legal and Democratic Services in consultation with the Chair of the Standards
Committee, to make the amendments to the response as agreed by the Standards
Committee at the meeting.
(4) T H A T the report be referred to Corporate Performance and Resources
Scrutiny Committee for consideration.
Reasons for decisions
(1) In order to respond to Welsh Government consultation in respect of the
recommendations of the Richard Penn Report.
(2) To recommend for approval in line with agreement of All Wales Monitoring
Officer Group an All Wales Standards Committee Forum in the interest of
harmonisation across all Welsh Local Authorities.
(3) Having regard to the comments made at the meeting.
No.
(4) For pre Cabinet scrutiny and having regard to the deadline for submission of a
response on 23rd June, 2023.
AGREED –
(1) T H A T a copy of the presentation be forwarded to all Members of the Council
for their information and consideration.
(2) T H A T a further presentation or report having regard to the Social Care
Review (when available) and an update in respect of the CAMHS Service be
provided to a future meeting of the Committee.
Reason for decisions
(1&2) Having regard to the contents of the presentation and discussions at the
meeting.
RESOLVED – T H A T the Housing Revenue Account Business Plan 2023/53
attached to the report to Cabinet on 2nd February, 2023 (Min. No. C215) be
approved and submitted to Welsh Government.
Reason for decision
To enable the submission of the above Plan to Welsh Government by the
required deadline of 31st March, 2023.
COUNCIL TAX UNOCCUPIED DWELLINGS: 2023/24 (REF)
The Leader presented the reference, the purpose of which was to reaffirm the
previous decision not to grant any discount in Council Tax for empty properties
and furnished second homes for the 2023/24 financial year.
The report proposed that the Council consulted on the levying of a Council Tax
premium in 2023/24 in respect of long-term empty properties and in 2024/25 in
respect of second homes. This was in line with the Council’s objective to
increase the supply of housing in the Vale of Glamorgan. The headline annual
need for affordable housing in the Vale of Glamorgan from 2021 to 2026 was
1,205 dwellings.
The Leader outlined both proposals, the first being the charging of premiums on
long term empty properties (over 12 months) from 2023/24 financial year and
second homes from 2024/25 financial year. She also reminded Members that
the Council had published its Empty Homes Strategy in March 2020 the findings
indicating that quality rented homes were becoming increasingly difficult to find
coupled with increasing prices incentivising landlords to sell and the ever
widening gap between local housing allowance rents and market rents. This
created a shortage of housing and in terms of underlying need and there was an
obvious financial benefit to the Council in introducing premiums which in part
could contribute to greater engagement and enforcement work. She also
alluded to the 528 long term empty properties and 402 second homes in the
county. She considered that empty homes were a drain on the Council’s overall
resources and the exemptions meant that the properties affected will be lower
than 930 in total. She reminded Members that the Council had consulted on the
proposals and 385 responses had been received of around 56% were against
the proposals however, just over 40% were in favour of charging a premium at
some level.
Councillor Dr. Johnson referred to his comments made at previous Council
meetings in regard to the slowness of the Council to charge the premium and
was pleased to see it now being put forward. He considered there were obvious
benefits which would encourage bringing empty homes into useful use.
Referring to the proposals of Cabinet in terms of its recommendations,
Councillor Dr. Johnson sought clarification from the Leader as to how the
premiums would be agreed beyond the current fixed stepped increase beyond
the period set out in the report as he understood it from the legislation, this
would require an annual consultation on either or both of the premiums in future
years ahead. He also sought clarification as to whether the Chief Executive and
the Leader would be reviewing the premiums and setting these under the
delegated authority if granted.
Councillor Mahoney referring to the proposals shared concerns regarding empty
homes which he felt blighted communities. However, he considered the
proposals to be an infringement on civil rights and was of a concern to him as he
did not see it was the Council’s responsibility to dictate to individuals regarding
the use of their property. He was also concerned that the Council was again
ignoring the response of the public consultation exercise not for the first time
and he had significant reservations regarding this matter.
The Leader, referring to the comments made by Councillor Dr. Johnson,
indicated that the recommendations before Council were to provide a
reassurance to Members that any review of charges or to change premiums
would be brought back to Cabinet and Council for decision and this would also
allow the Council to be able to benchmark against other Councils to see how
well the initiative worked.
In terms of the comments made by Councillor Mahoney, the Leader indicated
that she had no problem with people owning two homes or more. However,
they had to be in productive use and if they were not they should be prepared to
pay an additional contribution and that was the purpose of establishing the
policy.
RESOLVED –
(1) T H A T the following Council Tax premiums be approved:
• A 100% Council Tax premium be levied in 2023/24 in respect of long-
term empty properties, a 150% premium in 2024/25 and a 200%
premium in 2025/26.
• A 100% Council Tax premium be levied in 2024/25 in respect of
second homes.
(2) T H A T delegated authority be granted to the Head of Finance to
implement the changes and to notify the owners of all affected properties.
(3) T H A T delegated authority be granted to the Head of Finance to
determine applications for an exception under the regulations as set out in
paragraph 5.5 of the report (see Cabinet report 16th February, 2023.)
(4) T H A T the Chief Executive and Leader review those premiums in future
years and bring changes to Cabinet and Council for approval as appropriate.
Reasons for decisions
(1) The Council was required to determine its policy on the introduction of
premiums in respect of second homes and long-term empty properties as
defined in Sections 12A and 12B of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as
inserted by the Housing (Wales) Act 2014.
(2) To ensure that all customers impacted by the introduction of premiums
were aware of the changes.
(3) To ensure arrangements were put in place to consider exceptions.
(4) To ensure premiums levied were kept under review as appropriate.
(N.B. Councillors Buckley, Campbell, Charles, Driscoll and Haines
withdrew from the meeting during consideration of this item.)
DRAFT VALE OF GLAMORGAN COUNCIL ANNUAL DELIVERY PLAN 2023-24 (REF)
Cabinet had considered the report on 16th February, 2023 (Minute No. C226
refers) together with the reference from Corporate Performance and Resources
Scrutiny Committee, and had referred the same to Council for consideration and
approval.
The report set out how the draft Annual Delivery Plan (the Plan) 2023-24
(Appendix A to the report) had been developed, the outcome of the consultation
and the subsequent changes to the Plan, which detailed the activities that would
be undertaken in 2023-24 to deliver those objectives. The Plan also detailed
three critical challenges which would be a key focus for the organisation in
2023-24, these being cost of living, Project Zero and organisational resilience.
The Council’s four Well-being Objectives provided the framework for the Annual
Delivery Plan 2023-24.
The commitments within the Annual Delivery Plan would be reflected in Annual
Service Plans together with a suite of performance measures which would detail
how different Council services would contribute to the delivery of the Council’s
four Well-being Objectives.
Publishing the Council’s Well-being Objectives at the start of the financial year
would enable it to meet its statutory obligations under the performance duties of
the Local Government and Election (Wales) Act 2021 and the Well-being of
Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, both of which placed specific duties on
the Council in relation to objective setting and reporting. Under the Well-being
of Future Generations (Wales) Act, the Council was required to publish its Well-
being Objectives by 31st March each year and to keep these under review.
RESOLVED – T H A T the Draft Vale of Glamorgan Council Annual Delivery
Plan 2023-24, as attached at Appendix A to the report to Cabinet on 16th
February, 2023 (Minute No. C226) be approved.
Reason for decision
Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting.
CAPITAL STRATEGY 2023/24 AND FINAL CAPITAL PROGRAMME PROPOSALS 2023/24 TO 2027/28 (REF)
The Leader, in presenting the report advised that the report had been
considered by Cabinet at its meeting on 27th February, 2023 (Minute No. C236
refers) and provided the Council's Capital Strategy for 2023/24 at Appendix 1.
The Capital Strategy provided a framework which outlined how capital
expenditure, capital financing and treasury management activity contributed to
the provision of corporate objectives, along with an overview of how associated
risk was managed and the implications for future financial sustainability.
The report set out the Council’s proposed Final Capital Programme for the
period 2023/24 to 2027/28 at Appendix 2.
The Council was facing significant pressures in relation to price inflation and the
cost-of-living crisis which had seen increases in the costs of materials and
labour. This had had an impact on the current schemes within the Capital
Programme and the funding available to fund new schemes within the Capital
Programme. The total value of capital schemes over the next five years was
£345m. This included £41m for the Band B Sustainable Communities for
Learning Programme (excluding the pipeline schemes) and £167m for the
Housing Improvement Programme.
Since the Draft Capital Programme proposals reported in January, a number of
changes had been made including the re-profile of the Sustainable Learning
Communities schemes, inclusion of the School Maintenance Grant, the inclusion
of two pipeline schemes, (as referred to at Appendix 2 to this report, in relation
to St. Richard Gwyn Redevelopment and Cowbridge Primary Phase 2 and
worked on two Leisure Centre boilers at Llantwit Major and Cowbridge.
Councillor Franks indicated to Members that it was worth considering in the
financial year 2021/2022 there had been slippage in the amount of £11.5m and
in the current financial year there was a minimum of £8m and therefore he felt
that the Administration’s track record on fulfilling the Council’s Capital Budget
had not been good. He highlighted that of the £88.2m which was in the budget
for the current year only £42.7m would be spent by the end of January with the
£8m of slippage likely to grow further. He felt that these figures highlighted that
residents in the Vale of Glamorgan had been badly let down by the
Administration and was only one area where there had been a failure to invest
funding in social housing. He also referred to the fact that he had challenged a
statement that work had been continuing at the Hayes Road site and despite
promises that the matter would be investigated he had not received any further
information on progress of the site to date. He also touched on other schemes
which had underspent or either had slipped. He also felt that schools had been
badly let down as maintenance had not been carried out and he also highlighted
the condition of roads and pavements and queried why the Council had not
allocated additional funding to improve matters. In concluding, he felt that the
proposed budget was not credible and that the Administration was failing its
communities.
There being no further comments it was subsequently,
RESOLVED –
(1) T H A T the Capital Strategy 2023/24 as set out in Appendix 1 to the
report to Cabinet on 27th February, 2023, be approved.
(2) T H A T the final Capital Programme for the years 2023/24 to 2027/28 as
set out in Appendix 2 to the report to Cabinet on 27th February, 2023, be
approved.
(3) T H A T the Chief Executive and the Head of Finance, in consultation with
the Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources, be granted delegated
authority to make additions, deletions or transfers to or from the 2023/24 to
2027/28 Housing Improvement Programme as appropriate.
(4) T H A T the Chief Executive and the Head of Finance, in consultation with
the Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources, be granted delegated
authority to make additions, deletions or transfers to or from the 2023/24 to
2027/28 Asset Renewal budgets as appropriate.
(5) T H A T the Chief Executive and the Head of Finance, in consultation with
the Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources, be granted delegated
authority to make additions, deletions or transfers to S106 funded schemes
subject to Member consultation as required under the existing process.
(6) T H A T the Chief Executive and the Head of Finance, in consultation with
the Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources, be granted delegated
authority to make additions, deletions or transfers to or from Energy
Management Schemes.
(7) T H A T the Chief Executive and the Head of Finance, in consultation with
the Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources, be granted delegated
authority to make additions, deletions or transfers to or from the Building Strong
Communities Fund schemes.
(8) T H A T the Chief Executive and the Head of Finance, in consultation with
the Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources, be granted delegated
authority to make additions, deletions or transfers to or from the Sustainable
Communities for Learning Band B programme (Previously 21st Century Schools
schemes).
Reasons for decisions
(1) To approve the Capital Strategy for 2023/24.
(2) To set and approve future Capital Programmes to 2027/28.
(3) To enable the Housing Capital budget to be managed effectively.
(4) To enable the Asset Renewal budgets to be managed effectively.
(5) To enable S106 schemes to be managed effectively.
(6) To enable the Energy Management Schemes to be managed effectively.
(7) To enable the Building Stronger Communities Fund to be managed
effectively.
(8) To enable the Sustainable Communities for Learning Band B programme
to be managed effectively.
TREASURY MANAGEMENT AND INVESTMENT STRATEGY 2023/24 AND UPDATE 202223 (REF)
The report, which had been considered by Cabinet on 27th February, 2023
(Minute No. C237 refers) provided an update on the Council’s Treasury
Management operations for the period 1st April to 31st December, 2022. All
activities were in accordance with the Council’s approved strategy on Treasury
Management. Details of monies borrowed and repaid and those invested were
outlined in the report.
The report presented the proposed 2023/24 Treasury Management and
Investment Strategy at Appendix 1.
The Council needed to ensure that the Prudential Code was complied with,
which had been developed by CIPFA as a professional code of practice and
recently revised in December 2021. To demonstrate the Council had fulfilled
these objectives, the Code set out prudential indicators that should be used and
the factors that had to be considered. These were shown in Appendix 1 as part
of the Strategy.
The Council also had a legal requirement to comply with the Welsh Government
Guidance on Investments and had taken this into consideration when
developing the Strategy.
New Borrowing in the period was expected to be £127m for new Capital
Expenditure and a further £24m of borrowing to replace maturing loans and
reflected the Council’s reducing ability to internally borrow over the period.
Capital expenditure when financed by long term debt incurred two elements of
cost, interest and repayment of the principal sum borrowed. The resources the
Council must put aside in each year to repay the principal sum borrowed was
known as Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) and the Council's policy for the
calculation was detailed in the report.
The Treasury Management Policy Statement for 2023/24 was attached at
Appendix 2 to the report.
The Council was required to keep its Treasury Management Practices (attached
at Appendix 3 to the report) up to date and these procedures for management of
Treasury Management processes were kept under regular review by the team.
The Leader confirmed that there were 12 management practices that the
Council was required to address and these were set out in the Appendix. The
Council’s Treasury Management Practices had been compiled in line with the
Treasury Management in the Public Services: Code of Practice and Cross-
Sectional Guidance Notes (2021 edition). These had been written in
conjunction with the Council’s Treasury Management Policy Statement (TMPS)
and Investment Strategy for 2023/24. The TMPS set out the way the Council
would seek to achieve its Treasury Management Policies and objectives and
how it would manage and control those activities. She reminded all Members
that the Financial Management Code was the collective responsibility of all
Elected Members.
Councillor Champion referred to a recent report that had been submitted to the
Welsh Church Act Estate Committee which had led to a request to officers to
investigate investing in green funds and to move away from fossil fuel
companies. He acknowledged that it may not get the best return by investing in
these companies, but the Council needed to demonstrate that it was moving
towards this.
Councillor Dr. Johnson referred to the recent and important training provided on
Treasury Management and acknowledged that the subject matter was not easy
to understand. He was pleased to see, for the first time since he had been a
Member of the Council, investment income being received as previously this
had been limited. Referring to Councillor Champion’s comments, it was his
understanding from the training that much of the Council’s income and
investments was linked to the Council’s risk appetite and therefore investments
were generally made to organisations that had high credit rating given that the
funds invested were tax payers’ money. He alluded to recent revenue forecast
reported where income was likely to be £75k in the next financial year, but the
most fundamental part of the Council’s Treasury Management Strategy was to
hold tax payers’ money safely and that it could be used when the Council
required it.
The Leader, in response, indicated that it was a matter of balancing the need to
get a return on investments against the likely risk to that investment. She was
glad to see that the Council was getting a return on its investments, but
acknowledged that she would like to see the Strategy be as ethical as possible.
She hoped that Members would become more engaged in how the Council
developed its Strategy on its investments, what the Council was doing with
those investments and how it would benefit local residents.
RESOLVED –
(1) T H A T the policy for making Minimum Revenue Provision in 2023/24 be
approved.
(2) T H A T the proposed 2023/24 Treasury Management and Investment
Strategy, including the following specific resolution (detailed in Appendix 1 to the
report), be approved:
• The Authorised Limit for External Debt be set at £225.439m for
2022/23, £247.141m for 2023/24, £276.773m for 2024/25 and
£305.927m for 2025/26
• The Operational Boundary for External Debt be set at £212.292m for
2022/23, £234.021m for 2023/24, £263.349m for 2024/25 and
£292.295m for 2025/26.
• The Section 151 Officer be given delegated authority within the total
Authorised Limit and Operational Boundary as estimated for
individual years to effect movement between the separately agreed
limits for borrowing and other long term liabilities.
• An upper limit of £10m for 2022/23, £10m for 2023/24, £10m in
2024/25 and £10m in 2025/26 is set for total principal sums invested
for over 364 days.
• The amount of projected borrowing that is fixed rate maturing in each
period as a percentage of total projected borrowing that is fixed rate
for 2023/24 be set as:
Upper Lower
Limit Limit
Under 12 months 20% 0%
12 months and within 24 months 20% 0%
24 months and within 5 years 30% 0%
5 years and within 10 years 40% 0%
10 years and above 100% 0%
• T H A T the Prudential Indicators set out in Appendix 1 to the report
to Cabinet on 27th February, 2023, be approved.
• T H A T the Treasury Management Policy Statement set out in
Appendix 2 to the report to Cabinet on 27th February, 2023, be
approved.
Reasons for decisions
(1) To agree the basis of the Minimum Revenue Provision calculation for
2023/24.
(2) The Treasury Management and Annual Investment Strategy is prepared
as required by the Local Government Act 2003.
FINAL BUDGET 2023/24 AND MEDIUM TERM FINANCIAL PLAN (MTFP) 2023/24 TO 2028/29 (REF)
The Council was facing significant demographic and inflationary pressures in
2023/24 and into the medium term. Cabinet had approved the Financial
Strategy and update of the Medium Term Financial Plan in October, at which
time there was a funding gap of £28m in 2023/24 and £50m across the Medium
Term.
Officers reviewed those pressures and funding assumptions in light of the
Chancellor’s Budget in November and the Welsh Government Settlement
announcement on Tuesday, 13th December, 2022. Pressures had been
managed downwards with few of the investment proposals from October 2022
taken forwards which then stood at £1.010m, but managing the inflationary
pressures down was more challenging and it was determined appropriate to
support the utility based pressures through the temporary use of reserves in the
expectation that prices did reduce over the longer term.
There was better than expected news in the Settlement. £227m was made
available across Wales over and above the 3.5% commitment in last year’s
settlement.
Consequently, the Council faced a reduced funding gap of £9.255m and
following the approval of Cabinet on 19th January, 2023 consulted on a savings
package of £6.055m after the one off use of reserves of £3.2m.
Pressures and funding had continued to be reviewed alongside comments from
the Scrutiny Committees and public and wider consultation. There had been
further grants received to support Homelessness alongside a recognition of the
need to make greater provision for pay awards.
There was a proposed increase in Council Tax of 4.9%. For a Band D property
this was the equivalent of £1.32 per week and maintained Council Tax at the
mean of Welsh Authorities.
There was a £7.378m savings and efficiencies programme for which Equality
Impact Assessments had been undertaken, tracking and management
arrangements had already been put in place to ensure delivery.
As part of the budget deliberations there had been a fundamental review of the
Council’s reserves. The reserves had been realigned with the Council’s overall
objectives and risks and had been streamlined to provide greater transparency
and ease of management.
The comments from the public consultation and scrutiny review of the January
Budget for consultation had been considered in formulating the final proposals.
The Section 151 Officer had assessed the robustness of estimates and
adequacy of reserves and was satisfied with both.
A supplementary report was presented to Council following the receipt of the
Final Settlement from Welsh Government published on 28th February, 2023.
The Vale of Glamorgan’s Final Settlement was £202.797, this was an increase
of £16.782m in the Aggregate External Finance (AEF), providing an additional
£0.178m compared to the Provisional Settlement announced on 14th December,
2022.
The overall impact was on the funding side of the budget only with a £0.178m
increase in the AEF and a £0.178m reduction in Council Tax through a revision
downwards of the income assumed from the premiums on Council Tax for long
term empty properties.
The Leader reminded Members that the Council was legally required to agree a
balanced budget and how that was achieved depended upon the outcome of the
debate on the budget. She reminded Members of the challenges detailed in the
report previously considered by the Cabinet and Scrutiny Committees and
reiterated that it had been a particularly difficult budget round, there had been a
huge amount of uncertainty given the challenging economic climate and it made
it difficult to financially plan especially, when taking into consideration the last
Autumn and setting a financial strategy during the chaos caused by the mini
fiscal event by the U.K. government. In all the Council was facing a £28m
funding gap. The Leader also reminded Members, that as reported in January,
the provisional settlement in December 2022 was much better than expected,
but there still remained a sizeable gap. It had been necessary to manage a
number of priorities to bring forward a balanced budget. This included notional
funding for social care and schools which were uplifted by 5.1% and 7.0%
respectively by Welsh Government. The Council was being totally transparent
with the level of pressures faced in these services and referred to, for example,
in relation to social care there was an additional £8m within the budget,
significantly over the Government uplift to ensure that the Council could
commission to necessary domiciliary care with the needs of the residential care
sector that was experiencing similar inflationary pressures to the Council. In
regard to schools an extra £10.4m, a rise of in excess of 9% had been included
in the budget recognising all of the inflationary costs being faced, but accepted
that there would still need to be some efficiencies. She also felt that it was also
important to have regard to the fact that the Council’s Council Tax level was
below the average for Wales and the 4.9% proposed increase would see that
position maintained, particularly given that some Welsh authorities were setting
increases of 2 or 3 points higher. There had also been a difficult choice to be
made in identifying a savings package of £4.6m, but the Council was taking the
right action. Fees and charges had to go up in line with rising costs and it was
therefore essential that the Council covered its own costs.
The Leader’s attention then turned to the question of the use of Council
reserves and highlighted that there had been a fundamental review of the
Council’s reserves. She felt it was important to note that these had been
reduced as a result of inflation impacting on the Council’s investments.
Pressures remained and therefore it was likely that reserves may have to be
used over the next financial year.
In concluding, she referred to the various appendices attached to the report,
Appendix D related to reserves, Appendix E included an appraisal of the Section
151 Officer of estimates and reserves, Appendix F referred to the budget
consultation outcome and Appendix G related to the Equality Impact
Assessment. She thanked all those Members who had contributed to the
budget consultation exercise and in particular thanked the Council’s finance
officers for preparing the reports.
The Leader moved the following Motion:
(1) That the Final Budget be updated in recognition that the Final Aggregate
External Finance figure had increased to £202.797m which was an increase of
£16.782m and an improvement on the £6.604m Provisional Settlement figure
contained in the report published on 28th February, 2023 as set out in the
Supplementary Report circulated prior to the meeting.
(2) That a Council Tax increase of 4.9% be approved.
(3) That the Budget for 2023/24 be approved.
This was duly seconded by the Deputy Leader.
Councillor Carroll indicated that the setting of the budget was the single most
important decision that the Authority would take in each year. Therefore, he
considered it outrageous that the meeting was being held remotely when the
meeting should be held in person discussing the matter in the Council Chamber.
He considered it a failure of leadership on the part of the Administration that he
was unable to do so. He did not consider the failure in leadership to be
contained to this matter. When looking at the budget there were a number of
other examples. He found it unacceptable that the Administration was
proposing an increase in Council Tax by 4.9%, but at the same time cutting
services. He cited examples such as black bag collections moving to a three
weekly cycle, fees to be introduced for garden waste collection service and
other examples of fees and charges increasing. He was particularly concerned
regarding the levels of reserves that the Council held referring to the Council’s
General Reserve being at £11m. Acknowledging that the Council required
reserves he was disputing the level of those reserves held when taking account
of levels of reserves held by neighbouring Authorities.
In the context of reserves held by the Council he considered that the proposed
Council Tax rise was not necessary and the Council could freeze Council Tax
for the forthcoming financial year with the cost being borne by the Council from
its General Reserves.
Councillor Carroll moved the following amendment:
That £4.239m be taken out of the Council’s General Reserve to freeze Council
Tax for 2023/24.
This was duly seconded by Councillor Charles.
Councillor Dr. Johnson responding to the amendment felt that it was fair that
nobody would take the Conservatives seriously on financial matters they put
forward. He was concerned that the proposed amendment had been costed
only in the sense that there was some money available, but did not inform
Members what would happen in the future and consequently not a particularly
sensible way of discussing the matter. He considered the amendment nothing
more than grandstanding. It was his view that the Conservatives were
particularly problematic given the fiscal event which crashed the economy in the
Autumn 2022 and beyond that the slow strangulation of public services which
had taken place over the last decade. Having been a Councillor elected to the
Council for 11 years he had seen in that time the hollowing out of public services
through underfunding as part of austerity, the uncertainty brought about by the
economic disaster or Brexit, all of which had fed into the current cost of living
crisis. Whilst the Conservative Party had been in power at Westminster, the
Labour Party had also been responsible, in his opinion, having spent two thirds
of his life with a Tory Government that Wales did not elect and a Labour Party
that propped up the Conservative Government by wedding themselves to the
constitutional system of unionism, this meant that the Conservative Party were
in charge more often than not. This had led to budgets being decreased and
underfunding leading to substandard services for ordinary people in Wales at
the same time the cost of local services had been transferred from central
Government to tax payers and this had resulted in above inflation Council Tax
increase over the past decade and were paying more for fewer services. The
proposed Council Tax rise was low within the context of inflation and in the
middle across Wales, but it was clear that most households would get less
services than in previous years. He was also concerned about proposals to
introduce charges for garden waste, Council house rents that had risen on
average by £300 and the intention to move to a three week black bag collection
service. He signalled that he could not support the amendment proposed by the
Conservatives as it was unfunded and unexplained.
Councillor John considered that the Conservative Group had been asleep since
last Autumn Budget which had left the U.K. in a mess. He thanked the Chief
Executive and officers for their efforts to reduce the likely impact of the
economic challenges faced by the Council as without their intervention the
Council could have been facing an increase similar to that of Conwy of 9.9%.
He also reminded Members that the Council was currently 15th out of 22
Authorities that would be setting its Council Tax at 4.9% and considered the
amendment to be disrespectful to the Council’s Management Team who had
brought the budget together with the Members on the Cabinet during a very
worrying time. He accepted that nobody liked to pay Council Tax, but it was the
only solution to allow the Council to set a balanced budget and he indicated that
he would not be supporting the amendment.
Councillor Haines referring to the previous comments felt that some Members
had not noticed how the Vale of Glamorgan had deteriorated in previous years
and felt that the Labour Administration had hit residents doubly by increasing
Council Tax but at the same time cutting services. He did not see any reason
why the Council held excessive reserves to a greater extent than similar
Authorities in Wales. The Council could reduce its reserves and protect the
residents particularly those worst off and this should be something the Council’s
Administration and its officers should consider. He was particularly concerned
with the proposals to extend black bag waste collections and the impact this
would have on residents with clinical health issues as they would have to store
waste products longer. He indicated that he would be supporting the
amendment.
Councillor Wilson expressed concern in regard to the proposed amendment
taking account of the challenges faced by the Council with it just emerging from
the Covid pandemic and now dealing with the implications of the Ukrainian war
and the ongoing implications of Brexit. He considered the Council’s approach to
reserves held as prudent and did not consider these to be huge amounts held in
its General Reserve given the challenges faced by the Council in its recent past
and present. He reminded all Members that reserves could only be spent once.
Councillor R. Thomas viewed the proposals as giving residents of the Vale a
double whammy in that Council Tax would be hiked and services cut. He
echoed the comments of his Group Leader in regard to proposed fees to be
introduced for garden waste collections and other fee increases, this at the
same time that the Council held £11m in its General Reserves which was not an
insignificant amount of money proportionately when compared to other
Authorities like Cardiff. He felt that reserves should be used to much better use
by bolstering services and keeping other charges as low as possible.
Councillor Ewan Goodjohn referred to the previous comments made by
Councillor Dr. Johnson in regard to the Conservatives being taken seriously on
matters such as finances and he considered that to be true. He considered that
the amendment put forward by the Leader of the Conservative Group as
remarkable. By their own figures put forward, the Council would have utilised its
reserves to fund similar cost pressures in three years. He could only conclude
that the Conservatives would either be proposing an alternative for the next year
which they had not yet set out or that they were proposing on top of the Council
Tax increase that would be needed next year whatever that may be, an extra
4.9% on that year which would mean that residents would face even higher
Council Tax bills over coming years. He considered the amendment to be
extremely irresponsible.
Councillor Brooks considered that the comments made by the Conservative
Members as reckless given the situation that the Council was facing. Alluding to
12 years of cuts from a Conservative U.K. Government which to a certain extent
in Wales, Councils had been protected by the Welsh Government, but when
looking over the border at the budgets set in England it was notable that some
Councils were facing bankruptcy. The Conservative Group demonstrated a lack
of understanding regarding the Council’s reserves and their use. A significant
amount of work had gone into planning to obtain a balanced budget and to
protect the most vulnerable residents within the Vale of Glamorgan. Statutory
services had to be at the forefront and she indicated that she would not be
supporting the amendment.
Councillor Charles considered that the proposed increase in Council Tax would
hit the most vulnerable residents. At the same time they were also facing other
financial challenges and she felt that during these difficult times the objective
was to save money on the unnecessary and referred to the appointment of
additional Directors to the Council. She was also concerned about the
proposals to introduce charges for garden waste collections and this would have
the biggest impact on people on low income and the most vulnerable and the
elderly who did not have vehicles to take their recycling to waste centres. She
was concerned that would see an increase in fly tipping. She also indicated that
she did not support the proposed increase of 67% in allotment rentals. She
indicated that she would be supporting the amendment.
Councillor Perry described the Council Tax as not being particularly fair and
acknowledged that the Council was in a difficult position, pointing out that
Councils in England were facing potential bankruptcy or financial difficulties,
some more challenging than the Council’s. He felt that the policies of the U.K.
Government over the last 13 years had contributed to the situation that the
Council was facing. If the Council did not increase Council Tax it was likely that
it would have implications elsewhere for example, the loss of jobs and
acknowledged that reserves could only be spent once. He had no doubt if the
Council agreed to freeze the Council Tax for the next financial year it was
almost certain that it would have to increase it by a larger amount in the
subsequent financial year. He considered that the proposed amendment was
short sighted and that the political groups should stop playing politics and
collaborate more for the benefit of the Vale’s communities.
Councillor Hennessy echoed the previous comments of Councillors Carroll and
Charles in regard to the appointment of additional Directors and the proposed
increase of 4.9% when the most vulnerable would find it difficult to find the funds
to pay for green waste collections. He indicated that he would be supporting the
amendment.
Councillor Fisher referred to the comments made by Councillor Dr. Johnson in
regard to the state of the economy at the current time and the impact upon
residents which he agreed with, but felt this was the reason why Members
needed to consider approving the amendment as it would help residents of the
Vale and he indicated that he would be supporting the amendment.
Councillor Perkes echoed the comments of Councillor Brooks in regard to the
implications of using further reserves and to the impact the previous 12 years of
austerity had on local authorities in Wales. She felt that the Conservative U.K.
Government had mismanaged the U.K. budget and economy and felt that the
Conservative Group were in no position to criticise the proposals and indicated
that she would not be supporting the amendment.
Councillor Penn considered that if the Conservatives were in charge they would
play fast and loose with the Council finances and he was pleased that they were
not. Referring to the proposed amendment he enquired as to how this would be
funded, which services would be cut and how Council Tax would increase in
future years to come. He considered the amendment short sighted with no view
to the future, a headline today and financially irresponsible. He indicated that he
would not be supporting the amendment.
Councillor Driscoll felt that it had been easy to criticise the Conservative Party
over the previous 12 years and acknowledged that they had not done
themselves any favours. However, he felt that those criticising the
Conservatives should look more closer at some of the mistakes that had been
made by the Welsh Government and referred to the £155m wasted on the M4
Relief Road. In real terms he considered that residents of the Vale of
Glamorgan were paying the third highest Council Tax in Wales. He indicated
that he would be supporting the amendment.
The Leader in summing up, referred to the amendment which had clearly not
been based upon any financial projections or any of the financial information
contained in the reports discussed over the previous six months. She drew
Members’ attention to Appendix E of the report and the Head of Finance/Section
151 Officer’s report on the robustness of estimates and the sufficiency of the
Council’s reserves. She also reminded Members that the Council’s policy on
General Reserves was to hold a minimum prudent level which was currently set
at £10m, the projected level of General Fund balance would be 3.91% of net
revenue budget at the beginning of 2023/24 dropping to 3.74% and it was
considered that this remained an appropriate level. She reminded the
Conservative Group that it was not a game and alluded to the fact that the
Group had imploded in 2019 due to the types of suggestions that the
amendment was proposing now. She also highlighted that the budget had gone
through Scrutiny Committees and not a single suggestion on the budget had
come forward that could be looked at. She signalled that she would be voting
against the amendment.
A Vote took place on Councillor Carroll’s amendment (as seconded by Councillor
Charles) to freeze Council Tax for 2023/24 and to take a further £4.239m out of
general reserves to support the budget.
The Amendment was not carried.
Councillor Dr. Johnson alluding to the earlier debate in relation to the
Conservative Group’s proposed amendment and their comments regarding the
impact of an increase in Council Tax and considered the comments made by
both the Conservative Group and Labour Group had not recognised the impact
the increase in Council house rents of roughly £300 would have on Council
tenants. The proposals to increase Council Tax was actually less than the
impact of rent rises on Council tenants. He indicated unlike the Conservative
Group he would set out how an increase of around 2% in Council Tax could be
achieved through the use of a smoothing motion of around £2m. He explained
that this was clearly affordable as the Council consistently over collected the
anticipated amount of Council Tax by circa £1.5m to £2m each year. Alluding to
a recent Revenue Monitoring report in relation to the current financial year this
reported that it was anticipated to over collect Council Tax by an amount
approximately £1.5m. In the previous financial year the Council had over
collected Council Tax by £2m. Whilst he could see the benefit for the Council of
having extra money he did not believe that it was right that the Council
deliberately each year over collected. He considered it unfair to take this bonus,
but then not include it in the Council’s normal financial systems. He also
touched upon the introduction of the Garden Waste collection service and the
intention for it to be a fee paying subscription. He did not necessarily support
the proposal as a service change. He had been concerned that there had been
no discussion in relation to biodiversity in the context of the Council’s Nature
Emergency Declaration and that a charge for the service could lead to large
amounts of uncollected garden waste. He also thought that the proposal, in his
view, also underestimated the amounts that would be collected from the service
and thought the uptake of the subscription service would be higher than the
estimated 20% as reported. If it was the case, that subscriptions would be
higher and the Council would benefit from increased income.
In concluding, he drew attention to the amount of investment income that the
Council was likely to receive alluding to some £150k of investment income in the
most recent forecast for the next financial year. Referring to the supplementary
report circulated to Members he made reference to the additional funding in the
amount of £178k received from the Welsh Government as part of the Council’s
final budget settlement. He had no doubt that this additional funding could also
be used to lower the proposed Council Tax increase.
Councillor Dr. Johnson moved the following Amendment:
That the Council Tax increase for 2023/24 be set at 2%. The amendment was
duly seconded by Councillor Hooper.
Councillor Dr. Johnson also requested that a Recorded Vote on the matter and
the requisite number of Members signalled their support for it.
Councillor Franks referring to the technical report put forward by officers in
consultation with the Cabinet considered the proposals being deliberated
ignored reality and alluded to his earlier comments made in reference to the
failures of the Cabinet and previous Administrations. He referred to the
proposed cuts to the education service of £2m and considered the Leader’s
earlier response to his question in terms of the implications of cuts to schools as
nebulous. The comments of the Leader were also at odds with other statements
made that they wished to protect statutory services. He considered that the
Vale of Glamorgan was in decline and that the Cabinet was failing to respond to
poor standards and whilst he agreed with the Leader’s comments that all
Members had a responsibility for finance he did not need to be lectured on it and
he had no faith in the proposed budget.
Councillor Ewan Goodjohn acknowledged that the proposed amendment was an
attempt to find the middle ground between the Cabinet’s proposed budget and
the Conservative’s failed amendment. Referring to Councillor Dr. Johnson’s
explanation in support of his amendment and in particular to the proposed
charge for garden waste collection, there was no guarantee that the uptake in
subscriptions would be greater than that reported to the Scrutiny Committee and
reminded Members that the Council required to be prudent and that there was
no guarantee that the Council would collect a greater amount of Council Tax in
future years. He further reminded Members that the proposals were already
using a smoothing mechanism by the use of reserves of approximately £4.5m,
any further use of reserves would be irresponsible and only a temporary solution
with it likely that Council Tax levels would need to be increased further in
subsequent years and he indicated that he would not be supporting the
amendment.
Both Councillors Carroll and Haines signalled that they would be supporting the
amendment as they would sooner see a rise of 2% rather than the proposed
increase of 4.9%.
Councillor Wilson referred to the budget process and the preparation of the
same which had been undertaken over a period of months and difficult decisions
had to be made particularly in regard to introducing charges for providing
Council services. In all reality, Members and the Council as a whole were facing
a £9m budget deficit. He considered this in part due to the fact that the
Westminster Government had reduced the Welsh Government’s budget which
had then impacted on local authorities in Wales and therefore the Council had
no luxury as it had to balance its budget. Failure to do so could lead to the
Council being surcharged and the U.K. Government Autumn Budget had not
helped. He also flagged the Section 151 Officer’s comments in regard to the
sustainability of Council reserves and also echoed the previous comments of
Councillor Ewan Goodjohn in regard to collecting Council Tax to the levels the
Council had previously done and an uptake in the garden waste subscription.
He considered that the proposed amendment relied on optimism, therefore, he
indicated that he would not be supporting the amendment.
Councillor Perry referring to the level of reserves that the Council had built up
over time. It appeared to him that the problem was that the Council sometimes
did not spend funding on delivering things that residents would like to see and
referred to the condition of road surfaces throughout the county which required
repair.
Councillor Hodges alluding to the fact that the budget reporting process had
been to various Committees it was clear to him that inflation had had a
significant impact on the Council and whilst the Council had reserves the value
of that was slowly decreasing. Whilst he acknowledged that these would only
spend it once, he felt that it was better to spend some of it. He considered that
the proposed amendment was prudent and suggested that it was time the
Council radically looked at how it operated services rather than adjusting the
budget every year. He felt that it was time that the Council decided how it
wanted to operate its services not only the services that were provided but how
these were paid for. He indicated that he would be supporting the amendment.
The Leader, in summing up referred to the comments regarding the use of
reserves as a smoothing mechanism and reminded Members that the proposed
budget was in fact using reserves to reduce the Council Tax increase by utilising
£2.8m of the General Reserve and also reminded Members that Council funding
had already been used to off-set existing budget pressures referring to
homelessness issues and energy price increases and therefore it was clear that
the Council was already taking action to assist and protect its services. She
acknowledged that there were earmarked reserves however, these would be
reduced in coming years as projects were delivered. She also reminded
Members that when Cabinet was undertaking the budget process it did look at
the possibility of using additional reserves as they were mindful of the pressures
residents within the Vale of Glamorgan were facing. However, those same
pressures were also impacting on the Council and the proposals put forward by
the Cabinet would see an increase in Council Tax less than half the rate of
inflation. She signalled that she would not be supporting the amendment.
A Recorded Vote took place on Councillor Dr. Johnson’s amendment Motion (as
seconded by Councillor Hooper) to increase Council Tax by 2% for 2023/24.
Members For Against Abstain
Anne Asbrey √
Julie Aviet √
Gareth Ball √
Rhiannon Birch √
Bronwen Brooks √
Gillian Bruce √
Ian Buckley √
Lis Burnett √
Samantha Campbell √
George Carroll √
Christine Cave √
Charles Champion √
Janice Charles √
Millie Collins √
Marianne Cowpe √
Pamela Drake √
Vincent Driscoll √
Anthony Ernest √
Robert Fisher √
Christopher Franks √
Wendy Gilligan √
Emma Goodjohn √
Ewan Goodjohn √
Stephen Haines √
Howard Hamilton √
Sally Hanks √
William Hennessy √
Nic Hodges √
Mark Hooper √
Catherine Iannucci √
Gwyn John √
Dr. Ian Johnson √
Susan Lloyd-Selby √
Belinda Loveluck-Edwards √
Julie Lynch-Wilson √
Kevin Mahoney √
Naomi Marshallsea √
Michael Morgan √
Jayne Norman √
Helen Payne √
Elliot Penn √
Sandra Perkes √
Ian Perry √
Joanna Protheroe √
Ruba Sivagnanam √
Carys Stallard √
Neil Thomas √
Rhys Thomas √
Steffan Wiliam √
Eddie Williams √
Mark Wilson √
Nicholas Wood √
TOTAL 22 30
The Amendment was not carried.
Councillor Hooper was disappointed that the amendment had not been
supported. He hoped that the wider budget process could be improved next
year as he believed that the process contained flaws when taking account of the
Council’s Corporate Plan and its associated priorities. It was his view that the
full cost recovery of Council services should be dealt with under the Corporate
Plan mechanism and the proposed increases contained in the proposed budget
should have been done over a longer period of time. The budget for next year
from his perspective would be largely set as a cost plus basis on the year’s
expected outturn and he considered this to be inefficient, maintained bottlenecks
and discouraged departmental innovation. He was also pleased to hear that
some moves had been made to budget from a zero base according to needs
and plans, but there was still insufficient resources available to undertake a full
zero based budget exercise across the Council which had been a point he had
made previously at Scrutiny Committees and at the Governance and Audit
Committees, but acknowledged that the Leader had responded to him on the
matter previously.
Councillor Ewan Goodjohn quoted inflation increases since 1997 based on
statistics in Wales and from the Office of National Statistics. Whilst he
acknowledged that certain Members wished to see the increase in Council Tax
to be lower, the fact of the matter was that Council Tax was an unfair tax as it
did not distinguish between those who rented a home or those who owned or
had a mortgage. The Council was in a difficult position as the Council Tax could
not be decreased if Welsh Government did not receive adequate funding from
the U.K. Government that did not reflect the increase in the Council’s costs. It
was his view that the proposed increase was one of the lowest in the Council’s
history, but to go lower would be irresponsible unless it could be properly
funded. The Council had to retain a realistic level of reserves to address future
challenges.
Councillor Cowpe was concerned that the Council was not listening to the
responses to the budget consultation nor to the responses of the Scrutiny
Committees and therefore nothing had changed with the budget remaining as
proposed. She asked that in future online consultations should provide for an
option for a response to be provided via email. She was also disappointed that
the Council had decided to go ahead and increase the cost of black storage
caddies which were used largely for nappies, hygiene waste. She was
concerned that there would be a reluctance to buy the hygiene caddies which
would lead to these type of waste products being disposed of in black bags and
this should be seen as unacceptable in a modern day Wales and likely to have
the biggest impact on vulnerable families and particularly single parent families
who were headed by a female. The proposals to charge would also
disproportionately impact on females as they were likely to be the main users
due to various health and wellbeing issues. She felt the proposed charge was
totally unacceptable and a tax on women and she sought clarification on what
equality impact assessment had been undertaken on the matter. She was also
concerned regarding the communication by the Council regarding the use of
purple bags and this needed to be addressed. She had been made aware that
residents were being discouraged to apply for additional purple bags which
meant that they were less inclined to recycle. She hoped that the Council would
address this by encouraging residents to register and apply for a purple bag so
that each household could be properly assessed based on their needs. She
was aware that officers did visit and advise households and she expressed her
thanks for this being done. However, she would like to see visits extended to
include existing households who were potentially abusing the system by placing
multiple purple bags out for kerbside collection.
Councillor Wilson in response to Councillor Cowpe' comments indicated that it
was the intention to encourage residents to recycle more and this was part of
the Council’s Strategy and not simply about raising funds, but more about
saving money by increasing participation and recycling rates. He acknowledged
that there were larger family units that required additional assistance who found
it difficult to recycle their waste. In terms of the Council’s purple bag service, a
balance had to be achieved in terms of encouraging residents to access the
service, but also not wishing it to be abused.
Councillor Dr. Johnson suggested that his amendment had not been taken on
board as Members had misinterpreted his rationale for a 2% increase as he had
provided an explanation how the Council could fund a 2% increase in Council
Tax. He reminded Members that the settlement received from Welsh
Government had seen an increase of approximately 9% which was the third
highest in Wales and approximately £10m more than anticipated. However, the
discussions in regard to the budget had not moved on from when it was
originally thought the Council was facing dire consequences and potential
massive cuts in services. The fact was the Council was not in great financial
difficulties and at the end of last financial year it held £128m in usable reserves.
He was also disappointed with the consultation on the budget and felt that
Councillors and the Scrutiny process had been disrespected. Some 773
responses by residents to the consultation in his view had been dismissed in
minutes when the Cabinet considered the final budget at its meeting in February
which he had attended.
Referring to changes in fees and charges, with the Council keen on full cost
recovery, it was important that the public needed to see that the Council was
using the additional income wisely. He was also concerned there had been a
lost opportunity to revisit many of the proposed small cuts to services given the
additional funding received in the final settlement and referred to the Warm
Space Libraries and cuts to provision of sand bags for residents who were
threatened by flooding. Instead, the decision had been made to bank the
money rather than use it for the benefit of residents or reduce the proposed
Council Tax rise. It was notable that 33 Equality Impact Assessments were still
awaited on proposed charges and increased charges for Council services,
reiterating the concern expressed by Councillor Cowpe in relation to the hygiene
caddies and the particular impact that increase would have on women and those
on low incomes. He hoped that the Cabinet and officers would revisit these
issues taking account of the Equality Impact Assessments once available and
reconsider proposed charges. He signalled that he would be voting against the
proposed budget.
Councillor Mahoney referred to the continual blame culture between the U.K.
Government and the Welsh Government in relation to provision of funding to
local government in Wales. As far as he was concerned both were as equally to
blame for the financial circumstances affecting the Council. He considered that
both the U.K. Conservative Government and Labour Welsh Government were
equally culpable of wasting public money when at the same time the residents
were unable to heat their own homes adequately. He also expressed concern
regarding the Council’s recycling targets. As he understood it, if the agreed
tonnage target in relation to black bag waste was not met the Council would be
penalised financially. He also did not believe in the creation of the new
Directors roles when at the same time the Council was making the case that it
had insufficient funding. He indicated that he would not be supporting the
budget.
Councillor Sivagnanam indicated that it was a simple choice for the Council in
that its budget intended to protect the most vulnerable residents and at the
same time to maintain statutory services. She acknowledged that the budget
was about a political choice and it was a choice that the Cabinet and the
Administration were prepared to make. She accepted the points made by
Councillor Cowpe in regard to the hygiene caddies and the purple bag waste
service. She gave Councillor Cowpe an assurance that this was something that
the Cabinet would be monitoring and hoped that would signal the Cabinet was
responsive particularly when it came to equality issues.
In summing up, Leader acknowledged that up to a point the Council could do
more, but she believed the next step moving forward would be to see greater
constructive discussion when the budget was being discussed at the Council’s
Scrutiny Committees in the future. There was very little at present. In regard to
Councillor Cowpe’s comment in relation to charging for hygiene caddies she
indicated that the Cabinet did look at the issue in some depth, but it was a
reasonable stance taken by the Council in an effort to cover its costs. She was
also mindful that households with lower incomes could potentially pay more and
she was open to a discussion about how residents could be supported further.
She acknowledged that it may be something that needed looking at in the future.
In terms of departmental innovation raised by Councillor Hooper, it was clear
that the Council was addressing this issue and referred to the Big Fresh
Catering Company. She hoped to see similar initiatives particularly under the
guise of the Reshaping Services agenda. She reiterated her previous points
relating to Council reserves.
Turning to Councillor Mahoney’s comment regarding Welsh Government
funding, there was evidence that local government in England was not being
afforded the same level of protection that was being provided in Wales to
Councils by the Welsh Government. She would not want to be in their position
and was very happy to be in Wales.
A Recorded Vote took place on the recommendations as contained within the
report and supplementary report, having been moved by the Leader and
seconded by Councillor Brooks.
Members For Against Abstain
Anne Asbrey √
Julie Aviet √
Gareth Ball √
Rhiannon Birch √
Bronwen Brooks √
Gillian Bruce √
Ian Buckley √
Lis Burnett √
Samantha Campbell √
George Carroll √
Christine Cave √
Charles Champion √
Janice Charles √
Millie Collins √
Marianne Cowpe √
Pamela Drake √
Vincent Driscoll √
Anthony Ernest √
Robert Fisher √
Christopher Franks √
Wendy Gilligan √
Emma Goodjohn √
Ewan Goodjohn √
Stephen Haines √
Howard Hamilton √
Sally Hanks √
William Hennessy √
Nic Hodges √
Mark Hooper √
Catherine Iannucci √
Gwyn John √
Dr. Ian Johnson √
Susan Lloyd-Selby √
Belinda Loveluck-Edwards √
Julie Lynch-Wilson √
Kevin Mahoney √
Naomi Marshallsea √
Michael Morgan √
Jayne Norman √
Helen Payne √
Elliot Penn √
Sandra Perkes √
Ian Perry √
Joanna Protheroe √
Ruba Sivagnanam √
Carys Stallard √
Neil Thomas √
Rhys Thomas √
Steffan Wiliam √
Eddie Williams √
Mark Wilson √
Nicholas Wood √
TOTAL 30 22
The Motion was carried with it subsequently being
RESOLVED –
(1) T H A T approval be given to update the Final Budget in recognition that
the final Aggregate External Finance figure had increased to £202.797m which
was an increase of £16.782m, and an improvement on the £16.604m
Provisional Settlement figure contained in the report published on 28th February,
2023 as detailed in the Supplementary Report circulated prior to the meeting.
(2) T H A T a Council Tax increase of 4.9% be approved.
(3) T H A T the Budget for 2023/24 be approved.
Reasons for decisions
(1) To update the Budget following the receipt of the Final Settlement from
Welsh Government published on 28th February, 2023.
(2) Setting the annual rate of Council Tax was a key policy decision for
Council.
(3) Setting a balanced budget was a statutory responsibility and decision for
Council.
PAY POLICY 2023/2024 (REF)
The Council had a statutory requirement under the Localism Act 2011 to
prepare a pay policy statement for the new financial year 2023/24. The
statement needed to be approved and published by 31st March, 2023. The
document provided a framework for ensuring that employees were rewarded
fairly and objectively, in accordance with the service needs of the Council and
that there was openness and transparency in relation to the process.
The Pay Policy had been incrementally developed since 2012 to incorporate the
following:
• Guidance from Welsh Government as contained in the document “Pay
Accountabilities in Local Government in Wales” as updated November
2021;
• Changes as prescribed by the Local Authorities Standing Orders (Wales)
(Amendment) Regulations 2014 which took effect from 1st July, 2014;
• Changes as prescribed by the Local Government (Wales) Act 2015 to
ensure that any proposed changes to the salary of Chief Officers (as
defined in the Localism Act 2011) were made following consultation with
the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales;
• Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 had been taken into
account as part of the annual Pay Policy Statement;
• Necessary refinements as a result of changes to the Council’s senior
management structure over recent years;
• The effects of national and locally negotiated pay and associated benefit
awards along with the provisions of the National Living Wage.
The Leader referred to Section 12 of Appendix A which was attached to the
original report to Cabinet and drew Members’ attention to the differentials in pay
between the top and bottom grades of the organisation which was quite flat and
should be seen as a positive. She also drew Members’ attention to the progress
made in regard to the gender pay gap.
RESOLVED – T H A T the Council’s Pay Policy as attached at Appendix A to
the report to Cabinet on 2nd February, 2023 (Minute No C213) be approved.
Reason for decision
To respond to the legal requirement under the Localism Act 2011 and to provide
openness and accountability in relation to how the Council rewards its staff.
(N.B. Councillors Aviet, Bruce, Champion and Ernest declared an interest
in the above matter and withdrew from the meeting during consideration
of the item.)
CHIEF OFFICER APPRAISAL SCHEME – PROPOSED MODIFICATIONS (REF)
The Corporate Performance and Resources Scrutiny Committee had considered
the report at its meeting on 15th February, 2023 where there had been a detailed
discussion of the matter where some had supported more regular appraisals
and there had been discussion concerning peer reviews.
Cabinet at its meeting on 16th February, 2023 had endorsed the report and
referred it to Council for approval in order to introduce the new scheme from 1st
April, 2023.
The Leader reminded Members that the matter before Council had been initially
referred from the Corporate Performance and Resources Scrutiny Committee to
the Cabinet and was now being reported to Council for approval. Referring to
the proposed modifications she indicated that these were minor adjustments
and had been initially considered by the Council’s Strategic Leadership Team,
the relevant recognised Trade Unions and diversity networks who were briefed
in November 2022 in addition to Chief Officer Heads of Service who were
briefed on the proposed changed in January 2023. She indicated that the
modified scheme contained SMART objectives and targets reflected a
competency profile which included coaching discussions linked to strength
based improvements encompassing a rounded view of performance through
peer reviews and 360 degree feedback which she considered was a much more
constructive way of undertaking appraisals. She hoped that the proposed
modifications would be seen in a positive and constructive way. The objective
was to introduce the revised scheme by 1st April, 2023.
Councillor Haines supported the principles behind the modifications but
suggested the Council needed to have a clearer understanding of the definition
of productivity and the appropriate techniques to increase the same within the
work place. At present, as he understood it, productivity of an individual was
only measured on an annual review. However, the issue of productivity was an
ongoing matter and was the easiest way to save money and increase the
performance of officers and suggested that this should have been included as
part of the modifications to the existing scheme.
RESOLVED – T H A T the proposed modifications for Chief Officer Appraisals
as reported to Cabinet on 16th February, 2023 (Minute No C223) be approved in
order to introduce the new scheme from 1st April, 2023.
Reason for decision
Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting.
(N.B. All Chief Officers withdrew from the meeting during consideration of
the Pay Policy 2023/2024 and Chief Officer Appraisal Scheme – Proposed
Modifications items with the exception of the Head of Human Resources
and Organisational Development who remained to provide advice and then
withdrew from the meeting prior to a final decision being made on these
items.)
RESOLVED –
(1) T H A T the report be noted and the final interviews be undertaken under
Part II of the agenda.
(2) T H A T following the interviews residual appointment details, as
appropriate, be delegated to the Director of Social Services, in consultation with
the Chief Executive and Leader, should a suitable applicant be confirmed by
Members.
Reasons for decisions
(1) To ensure an appointment to the post is conducted in accordance with the
Council’s Constitution.
(2) To ensure that all Council functions are met within this area.
Minutes - KB
No.
RESOLVED –
(1) T H A T the report be noted and the final interview be undertaken under
Part II of the agenda.
(2) T H A T following the interview residual appointment details, as appropriate,
be delegated to the Director of Social Services, in consultation with the Chief
Executive and Leader, should the applicant be considered suitable applicant by
Members.
Reasons for decisions
(1) To ensure an appointment to the post is conducted in accordance with the
Council’s Constitution.
(2) To ensure that all Council functions are met within this area.
RESOLVED –
(1) T H A T I.M. be appointed to the post of Head of Resource Management
and Safeguarding.
(2) T H A T residual appointment details, as appropriate, be delegated to the
Director of Social Services, in consultation with the Chief Executive and Leader of
the Council.
Reasons for decisions
(1) Following the interview of the candidate.
(2) To ensure that all Council functions are met within this area.
Minutes - KB
RESOLVED –
(1) T H A T J.B. be appointed to the post of Head of Adult Services and Vale
Alliance.
(2) T H A T residual appointment details, as appropriate, be delegated to the
Director of Social Services, in consultation with the Chief Executive and Leader of
the Council.
Reasons for decisions
(1) Following the interviews of the two candidates.
(2) To ensure that all Council functions are met within this area.
RESOLVED – T H A T the use of the Urgent Decision Procedure (Cabinet Minute
No. C63, 8th September, 2022 (as set out in Section 15.14.2(ii) of the Council’s
Constitution) be noted.
Reason for decision
The reporting of the use of the Urgent Decision Procedure is a requirement of the
Council’s Constitution.
AMENDED SCHOOL AND COLLEGE TRANSPORT POLICY (REF)
RESOLVED – T H A T the use of the Urgent Decision Procedure (Cabinet Minute
No. C76, 29th September, 2022 (as set out in Section 15.14.2(ii) of the Council’s
Constitution) be noted.
Reason for decision
The reporting of the use of the Urgent Decision Procedure is a requirement of the
Council’s Constitution.
PROPOSAL TO ADD ST RICHARD GWYN TO THE CAPITAL PROGRAMME (REF)
RESOLVED – T H A T the use of the Urgent Decision Procedure (Cabinet Minute
No. C77, 29th September, 2022 (as set out in Section 15.14.2(ii) of the Council’s
Constitution) be noted.
No.
Reason for decision
The reporting of the use of the Urgent Decision Procedure is a requirement of the
Council’s Constitution.
CAPITAL MONITORING FOR THE PERIOD 1ST APRIL TO 31ST AUGUST 2022 (REF)
RESOLVED – T H A T the use of the Urgent Decision Procedure (Cabinet Minute
No. C90, 6th October, 2022 (as set out in Section 15.14.2(ii) of the Council’s
Constitution) be noted.
Reason for decision
The reporting of the use of the Urgent Decision Procedure is a requirement of the
Council’s Constitution.
DWR CYMRU WELSH WATER CONSULTATION ON THE DRAINAGE AND WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT PLAN (DWMP) (REF)
RESOLVED – T H A T the use of the Urgent Decision Procedure (Cabinet Minute
No. C95, 6th October, 2022 (as set out in Section 15.14.2(ii) of the Council’s
Constitution) be noted.
Reason for decision
The reporting of the use of the Urgent Decision Procedure is a requirement of the
Council’s Constitution.
FINAL DRAFT VALE OF GLAMORGAN COUNCIL ANNUAL SELF
ASSESSMENT REPORT 2021/22 (REF) –
RESOLVED – T H A T the use of the Urgent Decision Procedure (Cabinet Minute
No. C104, 20th October, 2022 (as set out in Section 15.14.2(ii) of the Council’s
Constitution) be noted.
Reason for decision
The reporting of the use of the Urgent Decision Procedure is a requirement of the
Council’s Constitution.
No.
CAPITAL MONITORING FOR THE PERIOD 1ST APRIL TO 30TH SEPTEMBER, 2022 (REF)
RESOLVED – T H A T the use of the Urgent Decision Procedure (Cabinet Minute
No. C119, 3rd November, 2022 (as set out in Section 15.14.2(ii) of the Council’s
Constitution) be noted.
Reason for decision
The reporting of the use of the Urgent Decision Procedure is a requirement of the
Council’s Constitution.
CONSULTATION OF PROPOSALS FOR PRIMARY LEGISLATION IN RELATION TO CHILDREN’S SOCIAL CARE, CONTINUING HEALTH CARE, MANDATORY REPORTING AND REGULATION AND INSPECTION (REF)
RESOLVED – T H A T the use of the Urgent Decision Procedure (Cabinet Minute
No. C123, 3rd November, 2022 (as set out in Section 15.14.2(ii) of the Council’s
Constitution) be noted.
Reason for decision
The reporting of the use of the Urgent Decision Procedure is a requirement of the
Council’s Constitution.
COUNCIL TAX REDUCTION SCHEME (REF)
RESOLVED – T H A T the use of the Urgent Decision Procedure (Cabinet Minute
No. C159, 1st December, 2022 (as set out in Section 15.14.2(ii) of the Council’s
Constitution) be noted.
Reason for decision
The reporting of the use of the Urgent Decision Procedure is a requirement of the
Council’s Constitution.
RESOLVED – T H A T the contents of the report be noted, with the request that
should the backlog of Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) assessment rise, a
report be brought to the Governance and Audit Committee in a timely fashion to
allow the Committee to consider the matter and the remedial action proposed or
undertaken.
Reason for decision
Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting.
RESOLVED – T H A T the recruitment and selection arrangements for the vacant
post of Head of Resources Management and Safeguarding, Directorate of Social
Services, as detailed within the report be approved.
Reason for decision
To ensure that the appointment, recruitment and selection arrangements for the
position of Head of Resources Management and Safeguarding are progressed in
accordance with the approval of the Committee and in accordance with the
requirements of the Council’s Constitution.
RESOLVED –
(1) T H A T the recruitment and selection arrangements for the post of Head of
Adult Services / Vale Alliance, Directorate of Social Services, as detailed in the
report, be approved.
(2) T H A T a representative from the Health Board be invited to be present at
the Senior Management Committee meeting when interview/s for the position take
place.
Reason for decisions
(1&2) To ensure that the appointment, recruitment and selection arrangements for
the position of Head of Adult Services / Vale Alliance are progressed in
accordance with the approval of the Committee, in accordance with the
requirements of the Council’s Constitution and in light of the position being a joint
post with the Health Board..
RESOLVED –
(1) T H A T dispensations as set out in the schedule below be granted up to
the date of the next Local Government Elections:
Member Requesting Paragraph(s) of the Decision
Dispensation Standards
Committee (Grant of
Dispensations)
(Wales) Regulations
2001 Under Which
Dispensation is
Granted and as
applied for
Councillor J. Aviet (a), (e) and (f) Dispensation granted to
speak and vote on matters at
Vale of Glamorgan Council
meetings relating to the
review of Council
employment, employee terms
and conditions, in view of a
family member being
employed by the authority.
Councillor R.M. Birch (d), (f) and (g) Dispensation granted to
speak and vote on topics
connected with the Vale of
Glamorgan Council’s re-
shaping services programme
when being discussed at both
Vale of Glamorgan and
Penarth Town Council
meetings as appropriate.
Councillor R.M. Birch (c), (d), (f) and (g) Dispensation granted to
speak and vote when matters
relating to Ysgol y Deri
School, Penarth are being
discussed at Vale of
Glamorgan Council meetings.
Minutes - KB
Community Councillor (d), (e), (f) and (h) Dispensation granted to
K. Hatton speak only at Dinas Powys
Community Council meetings,
on issues relating to the
management of allotments as
a member of the Commons
and Open Spaces Sub
Committee.
Community Councillor (d), (e), (f) and (h) Dispensation granted to
K. Hatton speak only at Dinas Powys
Community Council meetings,
on issues relating to the
Dinas Powys Library and
Activity Centre.
Community Councillor (e), (f) and (h) Dispensation granted to
K. Hatton speak only at Dinas Powys
Community Council meetings,
on issues affecting Seel Park.
Community Councillor (h) Dispensation granted to
K. Hatton speak only at Dinas Powys
Community Council meetings
on issues affecting Dinas
Powys Voluntary Concern.
Community Councillor (a) Dispensation granted to
P. King speak only at Llandough
Community Council meetings
on matters concerning
Llandough and Leckwith War
Memorial Institute Committee
as a principal trustee
Councillor B. Loveluck- (d), (f) and (g) Dispensation granted to
Edwards speak and vote at Vale of
Glamorgan Council meetings
on general matters relating to
the review of Council
employment, employee terms
and conditions or to respond
to allegations relating to child
protection or safeguarding
matters, in view of being
employed as a full time
regional caseworker for
NASUWT.
Where specific cases are
referred to to speak only on
such matters as outlined
above.
Councillor B. Loveluck- (c), (d) (f) and (g) Dispensation granted to
Edwards speak and vote when matters
Minutes - KB
relating to St. Richard Gwyn
High School are being
discussed at Vale of
Glamorgan Council meetings.
Community Councillor (d), (e), (f) and (h) Dispensation granted to
K. Shaw speak only at Dinas Powys
Community Council meetings,
on issues affecting Seel Park.
Councillor M.R. Wilson (c), (d), (f) and (g) Dispensation granted to
speak and vote when matters
relating to Ysgol y Deri
School, Penarth are being
discussed at Vale of
Glamorgan Council meetings.
(2) T H A T the following late applications for dispensation as set out in the
schedule below be granted up to the date of the next Local Government Elections:
Member Requesting Paragraph(s) of the Decision
Dispensation Standards
Committee (Grant of
Dispensations)
(Wales) Regulations
2001 Under Which
Dispensation is
Granted and as
applied for
Councillor J. Aviet (d), (e), (f) and (i) Dispensation granted to
speak and vote when matters
relating to St. Helens R/C
Primary and Nursery School
are being discussed at Vale of
Glamorgan Council meetings.
Councillor J. Protheroe (e) Dispensation granted to
speak and vote when matters
relating to Cowbridge
Comprehensive School are
being discussed at Vale of
Glamorgan Council meetings.
Reason for decisions
(1&2) To comply with the regulations and obligations for the grant of
dispensations to speak and vote.
Minutes - KB
RESOLVED – THAT the comments of the Environment and Regeneration
Scrutiny Committee and subsequent comments from Councillor Morgan be noted
and considered further by the next Administration as part of an authority-wide
traffic management and road safety policy that linked with both the 20mph default
speed limit and plans for greater active travel opportunities .
Question:
Can you please confirm that the current Cabinet has brought forward this
resolution and that the proposed authority-wide traffic management and road
safety policy will now be addressed as a matter of priority?
Reply from the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Sustainable Places
Welsh Government announced on 12th June, 2022, a decision to introduce a
default speed limit of 20mph in Wales. At this current time our officers are working
hard to plan and deliver this project in time for the current introduction date of
September 2023. This means there are limited resources to undertake any further
large scale traffic policy work, but in addition it would be inappropriate to
undertake this work prior to the implementation of the ongoing 20mph default
project, as this involves the review of various guidance associated with the setting
of speed limits which would be an essential part of any such policy.
There is a detailed plan of Active Travel proposals for the Vale of Glamorgan and
this can be found on the Council’s website which she would encourage people to
look at. The work to develop an authority-wide traffic management and road
safety policy will commence following the implementation of the 20mph default
speed limit.
If there are any specific issues – whether these are around a specific issue or
locality that Councillor Morgan has concerns about, I would be more than happy to
explore those matters further through discussion with all Members as well if they
asked.
Minutes - JR
No.
Supplemental
Councillor Morgan, referring to his disappointment that nothing had been
progressed, sought a meeting with the Cabinet Member to discuss the matter
further.
The Cabinet Member indicated that she was happy to do so.
(iii) Question from Councillor Dr. I.J. Johnson
How many people are currently waiting for social services support, and what is the
Council doing to reduce that number?
Reply from the Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health
People approach Social Services for a variety of reasons. The question is very
broad and so I have endeavoured to give some broad details firstly for Adults and
then secondly for Children and Young People. If there is anything specific that
Councillor Dr. Johnson has concerns about, I can maybe deal with that as a
supplementary or through further discussion.
Adult Assessment:
In Adult Services there are currently 99 people in the community waiting for a
Social Services assessment. There are an additional 6 people waiting in hospital
for an assessment by a Social Worker
There are no urgent cases waiting assessment, but there are 24 awaiting
allocation and 75 cases awaiting input from an Occupational Therapist (these are
lower priority) the standard we seek to achieve is for assessment to be made
within 12 weeks.
Adults Waiting for a Service:
There are 5 people waiting for a care home placement (3 permanent, 1 temp,
1 respite).
There are 120 people waiting for domiciliary care however, just over 20 of those
are temporarily receiving that care from the Vale Community Resource Service
which specialises in providing reablement and rehabilitation.
For Children and Young People
The picture here is different and the detail I will provide relates to the numbers
waiting to be assessed. This is the position as at the 11/7/22:
• 10 children (in 9 families) awaiting assessment by the Child Health and
Disability Team. It is expected a number of these children will be allocated
for assessment within a week.
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No.
• 39 children (in 28 families) awaiting assessment by the Intake Team.
The list of children waiting is kept under regular review and allocated according to
need.
Supplemental
Thanking the Cabinet Member for his response, Councillor Dr. Johnson sought
clarification in respect of the market fragility and service capacity, noting that these
were high on the Council’s risk register and enquired if staffing issues were
affecting the Council’s ability to deliver support.
The Cabinet Member confirmed that there were seven individuals waiting
assessment and confirmed that in regard to Adult Services there were less than
100 people waiting for care at home and this was where the Authority was finding
it particularly difficult to meet those individuals’ needs. As a result the service was
conducting risk assessments for those individuals to ensure that they were
prioritised. Domiciliary care was particularly difficult to resource in rural areas as a
result specific initiatives were in place to develop additional capacity in the
Western Vale. The supply and demand of domiciliary care was carefully
monitored and over the previous three months a growing number of packages had
been put in place each month. In April, this was 108 packages and in June 136.
There was however a gap in capacity and Social Services had put several
measures in place to mitigate the situation. He agreed to forward details of these
measures to Councillor Dr. Johnson and Members of the Council.
(iv) Question from Councillor Dr. I.J. Johnson
How many Council houses have been built by the Vale of Glamorgan Council in
the last decade?
Reply from the Cabinet Member for Public Sector Housing and Tenant
Engagement
Given the housing crisis in this country, let alone in the Vale of Glamorgan, the
straightforward answer is – not enough!
But, the good news is that the Council re-commenced its house building
programme in September 2017, and since this date Council has completed 76
properties in the following areas:
• Francis Road, Barry – 3 no. units
• Llys Llechwedd Jenner, Barry – 28 no. units
• Clos Holm View, Barry Phase 1 – 11 no. units
• Court Road, Barry – 11 no. units
• Lon y Felin Wynt, Hayes Road, Barry – 23 no. units
67 properties are currently under construction and these are:
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No.
• St Cyres Road, Penarth – 14 no. units
• Hayeswood Road, Barry – 53 no. units
We are ‘in contract’ for 32 properties and awaiting construction start dates at:
• Coldbrook Road East, Barry – 20 no. units
• Colcot Clinic, Barry – 12 no. units
Awaiting Planning Decision, but due to start on site 2022/23, on a further 49
properties at the following locations:
• Clos Holm View, Barry (Phase 2) – 31 no. units
• Maes y Ffynnon, Bonvilston – 8 no. units
• Olive Lodge, Barry (acquisition pending) – 10 no. units
In addition we currently have 346 units for schemes at Feasibility and Pre-
development stage from 2023.
Supplemental
Councillor Dr. Johnson, being pleased to hear that the projects were under
delivery, enquired of the Cabinet Member as to what consideration she had given
in the context of the number of units quoted in her response, the impact of inflation
and supply chain issues affecting the construction industry would have on the
delivery of the programme over the coming years.
The Cabinet Member acknowledged that there had been difficulties with costings
of materials and prices from contractors and the Council was working hard to
mitigate these pressures and she indicated that she would provide Councillor
Dr. Johnson with a written reply.
(v) Question from Councillor Dr. I.J. Johnson
What is the current situation regarding the Model Farm development?
Reply from the Cabinet Member for Community Engagement, Equalities and
Regulatory Services
Planning permission was quashed in October 2021 when the Court Order by
HHJ Jarman QC confirmed the application for permission for judicial review was
granted. The planning application is now back with the Council for determination.
A new public consultation regarding the planning application was undertaken
earlier in the year and additional viability information has also been presented by
the applicant which the public could comment on. This information is currently
being considered by relevant experts on behalf of the Council.
The application remains under assessment and will be reported back to Planning
Committee for consideration once this process (including the assessment of the
viability information) is complete. However, it should be noted that the application
Minutes - JR
No.
is also currently subject to a holding direction from Welsh Government and once
the Planning Committee considers the application, it will have to be passed back
to Welsh Government for an actual decision.
The application will not be on the agenda for next Planning Committee on 27th July
and is likely to come back for consideration in the Autumn.
Supplemental
Councillor Dr. Johnson sought clarification on the process and decision-making in
terms of who would make the final decision regarding the granting of planning
permission.
Referring to the holding direction received from Welsh Government the Cabinet
Member confirmed that the matter would come back to the Council’s Planning
Committee in the near future to consider officers’ recommendations. Once the
Planning Committee had considered the matter the application would be passed
back to Welsh Government for the final decision.
(vi) Question from Councillor Dr. I.J. Johnson
What is the timetable for a new-build Welsh medium school in Cowbridge?
Reply from the Cabinet Member for Education, Arts and the Welsh Language
Thank you for your question. The new build Welsh Medium School in Cowbridge
proposal will need to be subject to a statutory consultation process. This is
provisionally planned for September 2022 and a final determination on the
education proposal likely in March 2023. This consultation is required to determine
what form of Welsh Medium primary school would be most appropriate based on
the statutory considerations outlined in the School Organisation Code.
It is anticipated that the funding for the project will form part of the extended
Sustainable Communities for Learning Band B programme. This will depend on
Welsh Government approval to extend the programme. Projects within the Band B
programme must be approved before 2024 and completed by 2026.
Based on the current estimated timeframe it is expected that the relevant business
case, planning and SAB approvals would be in place by September 2023 to allow
construction to begin. The new school would be anticipated to open in January
2025 subject to no delays in achieving the relevant approvals.
The Council’s draft Welsh in Education Strategic Plan covering the years 2022 to
2032 requires the new school to be delivered by 2027. Under the current
programme the Council aims to deliver the new school by 2025. However, this is
subject to the necessary funding being in place and the outcome of the relevant
stages of the decision making process.
Minutes - JR
No.
Supplemental
Councillor Dr. Johnson enquired if any lessons had been learned from the Barry
Waterfront development.
The Cabinet Member confirmed that there had been and she would be happy to
discuss these with Councillor Dr. Johnson further.
(vii) Question from Councillor M.J. Hooper
Given the upcoming changes at Westminster, and especially cognisant of Boris
Johnson's personal agenda, have the Council identified any new risks to the
levelling up funding bid, and what are they doing to mitigate said risks?
Reply from the Executive Leader and Cabinet Member for Performance and
Resources
The scope of the Levelling Up Round 2 remains unchanged and changes within
Westminster have not impacted on bid development. The Portal for submission of
bids had opened and the Council bid would be submitted shortly. The Council has
identified this as a risk in terms of delivery timescales for capital works should the
bid be approved. It is hoped that the end dates for delivery or the appraisal
window will be amended by UK Government to mitigate against this delay at the
start of the process.
Supplemental
Councillor Hooper, referring to the current Prime Minister leadership contest and
to the pledges relating to taxation made by the candidates which economic
commentators believed could result in implications for future levelling up funding
and shared prosperity funding, asked the Leader if she would consider a review of
the risks.
Referring to scenario planning by the Project Team, the Leader indicated that they
were well ahead in terms of working out the potential implications, but until clarity
was achieved within the Conservative party, it was a case of waiting and seeing
and then act accordingly.
(viii) Question from Councillor C.A. Cave
Could the Cabinet Member please explain the criteria for cutting highway verges?
Reply from the Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood and Building Services
There are set criteria for the various designated areas of the Highways Verge
network and the detail of this is as follows:
Minutes - JR
No.
There are 150km of carriageway designated as Strategic Routes within the
adopted highway, these are cut during May, July and September throughout the
growing season to an average width of 3 metres.
There are 655km of carriageway designated as Non-Strategic Routes within the
adopted highway, these are cut on one occasion at an average width of 1.2
metres after the 3rd Monday in July to aid users of the carriageway but also to aid /
assist the ecological interest of these verges.
There are several recognised Vision Splays within the highway network that
require cutting at the beginning of the growing season to ensure appropriate vison
at these junctions, this would usually take place in May, however within our
contract we also have the ability to call upon a second vison splay cut if verge
growth requires it.
Supplemental
Councillor Cave sought an explanation from the Cabinet Member as to why
contractors were being allowed to choose when and where they would cut grass
verges. She had particular concern that vehicle vision splays were not being
appropriately managed.
The Cabinet Member indicated that he was not aware of any particular issues in
regard to the maintenance of highway verges but gave an assurance that he
would investigate the matter.
(ix) Question from Councillor C.A. Cave
Will the Cabinet Member please give his support to a Rural Roads Policy?
Reply from the Cabinet Member for Sustainable Places
Thank you for your question and I would advise that I am aware that this matter
has already been responded to and addressed via Council questions by the
previous Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood Services and Transport. I would
concur with his statements and position stated at that time, however, for the
avoidance of doubt I would clarify as below for new Members.
The Council’s local road network comprises a mixture of road classes and
unclassified roads within the rural Vale incorporating country lanes. It is the case
with a significant number of both urban and rural roads throughout the Vale that
these were not designed or constructed to accommodate the current mix and
volume of traffic, pedestrian, cyclist and equestrian users. However, all roads
including rural roads and country lanes, must carry a certain composition of traffic
to serve the needs of the local population both from a business, work and leisure
perspective and motorists who use these roads should do so with appropriate care
and consideration for others. It is also accepted that there is a general increase in
the use of all roads for various purposes, but this is Vale wide and affects all
classes or road both rural and urban.
Minutes - JR
No.
Where specific safety or conflict issues arise along rural roads or country lanes
this is already investigated and managed based on specific investigation and
evidence obtained in the same was as urban roads to ensure the Council comply
with its statutory duty to manage its overall highway network in accordance with
the appropriate legislation. There are no requirements for the Council to manage
country lanes or rural roads separately or in a different manner to its other local
road network and there is no evidence that country lanes are generally unsafe,
albeit there is a recognition of a slightly different mix of traffic and infrastructure
conditions in managing various elements and classes of road within the Vale’s
local road network. Where issues on any country roads are brought to the
Council’s attention then these will be fully investigated based on the evidence and
risk approach in the same way that all other roads are assessed and managed.
As a consequence, and based on the above position, I do not consider that there
is a need to have a separate Rural Roads Policy as safety and traffic conditions
are already considered specific to each circumstance and section of road based
on investigation and evidence whether this is a rural country lane or busy urban
road. In summary, the Council’s highways teams review and considers specific
concerns on its rural network in the same manner as any other road within the
Vale’s local highway network and this is considered adequate, reasonable and a
proportionate way to deal with safety issues which may be raised or occur at any
time.
Finally, and as referenced in one of my previous responses, at a meeting of the
Cabinet on 28th February 2022 consideration was given to a reference from the
Environment and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee concerning a suggested Rural
Roads Policy in the Vale. Cabinet at the time resolved to note the comments of
the Environment and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee and subsequent
comments from Councillor Morgan and considered further by the next
Administration as part of an authority-wide traffic management and road safety
policy that linked with both the 20mph default speed limit which she supported.
I agree with the previous Cabinet Member’s position on this matter and as I have
stated, work to develop an authority-wide traffic management and road safety
policy will commence following the implementation of the 20mph default speed
limit.
Supplemental
Thanking Councillor Morgan for his support and campaigning for such a policy,
Councillor Cave asked the Cabinet Member if she would accept an invitation to
visit her ward to look at issues that had not been addressed by her Cabinet
predecessor.
The Cabinet Member indicated that she would be happy to visit Councillor Cave’s
ward.
Minutes - JR
No.
(x) Question from Councillor G.D.D. Carroll
What action is the Council taking in response to the impacts of inflation on the
Authority’s budgets?
Reply from the Executive Leader and Cabinet Member for Performance and
Resources
The inflationary pressures are impacting on all of the Council’s finances both
revenue and capital.
For revenue the Council has been largely protected on rising utility costs having
purchased its gas and electric in advance but is seeing pressure coming through
on changes to standing charges. Negotiations are ongoing on the 2022/23 pay
award and it is looking likely that the 3% set aside will be insufficient. Services are
managing their budgets tightly to ensure the Council’s finances are as robust as
possible. Regular sessions are held to discuss budget pressures across all
Directorates. You will also be aware that regular revenue (and capital) monitoring
reports are brought before Cabinet (and all Scrutiny Committees) so that the
budgets can be monitored and where necessary, action taken to address
emerging issues.
Pressures are also coming through in Capital and again the finance team are
working with service managers to understand the impact of rising prices at a
scheme level. As part of this work we are ascertaining progress on schemes,
whether work is under way, contracts agreed or work still out to tender. Managers
are having to value engineer schemes to keep to agreed cost envelopes. In
particular cases, such as with key projects that are funded via Welsh Government
(21stC schools being a key example), discussions are held to establish whether
inflationary pressures can be factored into any awards.
Finally, all be aware that the Council does hold specific reserves (both revenue
and capital) which are available to be used as a consequence of cost pressures,
including inflationary increases.
Supplemental
Councillor Carroll enquired if the Leader anticipated a draw down from reserves
and what this amount would be.
The Leader pointed out to Councillor Carroll that this had been set out in recent
reports to the Corporate Performance and Resources Scrutiny Committee and the
Governance and Audit Committee. Those reports referred to reserves that could
be used and would be used if deemed necessary and it was just as well the
Council had these.
Minutes - JR
No.
(xi) Question from Councillor G.D.D. Carroll
Will the Cabinet Member please provide an update on action the Council is taking
to improve highway infrastructure on Llandough Hill?
Reply from the Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood and Building Services
Thank you for your question, however, it is unclear exactly what information you
are looking for regarding the highway infrastructure on Llandough. I can confirm
that Llandough Hill is recorded as adopted highway and the Council as local
highway authority has a duty to maintain it at public expense under Section 41 of
the Highways Act 1980. I am unaware of any other infrastructure on Llandough
Hill that you may be referring too. Perhaps if you could elaborate, I would be
happy to respond further.
Supplemental
Councillor Carroll asked the Cabinet Member if he would support the resurfacing
of the road.
The Council’s three year plan which provided a method whereby individual roads
were identified and prioritised for resurfacing through consideration of several
specific criteria, which included but was not limited to road classification, ongoing
maintenance costs, customer complaints and third party claims. The process
enabled the Council to implement an annual programme of resurfacing works on a
priority basis so as to manage its highway asset in the most cost effective and
beneficial manner subject to the funding available annually for such works. The
three year plan had recently been updated and was presented to Cabinet on
7th July, 2022 and the Environment and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee on
12th July, 2022. The agendas and minutes of these meeting were available, as he
pointed out to Councillor Carroll, via the Council’s website.
That Cabinet report identified that Llandough Hill was identified as scoring 195
points on the three year Resurfacing Plan and it was anticipated, based on current
funding available in the current financial year, that resurfacing works would be
undertaken to roads scoring a total of 210 points or above. Therefore it was
unlikely that the road would be resurfaced in the current financial year, although
the position would be reviewed again in 2023.
(xii) Question from Councillor R.R. Thomas
Will the Leader confirm how many potholes have been reported to the Council
within the town of Penarth in the last 12 months?
Reply from the Executive Leader and Cabinet Member for Performance and
Resources
I am informed that 126 carriageway defects have been reported to the Council
from July 2021 to June 2022. All of these reported defects have been inspected
Minutes - JR
No.
to ensure they meet the intervention criteria set by the Council. The criteria is
available on the Council’s website and the Environment and Regeneration
Scrutiny Committee had also discussed this recently.
In addition, the Council’s Highway Inspectors have raised some 242 actionable
carriageway defects in Penarth from July 2021 to June 2022. Some of these
defects will be in the 126 reported defects identified above.
Whilst we regularly inspect all our highways, as has been detailed, defects will
appear in between these inspections. We therefore encourage all residents to use
the ‘report it’ feature on our website if they are concerned about a pothole, or
alternatively to telephone our contact centre with this information.
Supplemental
Councillor R. Thomas, referring to the Council’s report which only identified one
road which required resurfacing which he was disappointed with, asked the
Leader why residents of Penarth were low on the Council’s priority list and invited
her to visit the ward with him to walk and speak to residents on the issue.
The Leader indicated that she regularly walked and cycled around the Plymouth
ward for a number of reasons and that at a recent visit to the ward she only
identified three potholes which had already been assessed for repair and since
that time the work had been undertaken. She reminded Councillor Thomas that
she regularly reported potholes for repair and recounted from emails she had
retained for her records that she had reported a number of defects to road across
Penarth in 2017 and 2018. In 2019 she had reported 132 defects and one road
where she had reported potholes had since been resurfaced. In 2020 she had
reported 5 defects and in 2021 she had reported a further 47 defects across
various locations in Penarth. She also pointed out to Councillor Thomas that she
also took the time to report street bins that required emptying, street lights that
were not working and graffiti. She was not only a voice for the community in the
Council but an effective Councillor. She also reminded Councillor Thomas of the
reporting feature on the Council’s website and suggested that he walked his ward
and reported any potholes which she had no doubt would be repaired if they met
the Council’s repairs criteria.
(xiii) Question from Councillor G. Bruce
Why has the Council not taken action to ensure adequate school transport
provision is put in place for pupils travelling from Rhoose Primary to Cowbridge
Comprehensive following catchment area changes to protect the education
continuity of pupils attending Cowbridge?
Reply from the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Sustainable Places
Free home to school transport is provided to secondary aged pupils who live three
or more miles from their catchment school.
Minutes - JR
No.
Transport is provided for any pupil who qualifies either on distance grounds or
because they do not have an available walking route to school, if they attend their
catchment area school.
This is and has been the Authority’s position and is part of the school and college
transport policy which can be found on the Council’s website.
Pupils moving up from Rhoose Primary to Cowbridge Comprehensive in
September 2022 will be allocated free school transport, as long as they live in
catchment. Parents are able to apply to any school they wish, but as outlined in
the Policy if it is non-catchment parents/carers will be responsible for transport
provision.
The change of catchment for Cowbridge Comprehensive, that included Rhoose
moving into catchment was, as other changes in school catchments have been, a
phased approach.
The change came in for Year 7 in September 2021 and will be for both Year 7 and
Year 8 in September 2022.
The Council does not change the catchment for all year groups at the same time.
If that was to happen, in this particular case, then all pupils who attended Llantwit
Major Comprehensive and live in Rhoose would all be out of catchment and not
qualify for free school transport. That would affect close to 230 pupils who live in
the Rhoose area and who knowingly choose to attend at that time their catchment
school, Llantwit Comprehensive.
The Council has fulfilled its statutory duty and continues to provide transport for
pupil who attend their catchment school.
I am aware of issues raised with regards costs for the private bus that runs from
Rhoose to Cowbridge Comprehensive which is in part due to a lack of pupils not
needing to purchase seats on this bus as they now travel for free on a Council
contracted school bus. However, I will refer to another private bus that ran from
the Ely area of Cardiff to Cowbridge Comprehensive that another operator
decided to cancel at the beginning of this year. This was not due to lack of
passengers, it was a decision made by the operator for business reasons. The
Council has no control over the running of private services and as such operators
can make decisions on fares, whether or not they run a service or the route the
bus may take without consultation
(xiv) Question from Councillor C.P. Franks
Will the Cabinet Member indicate the additional tax burden falling on the Vale of
Glamorgan Council in respect of the proposed increase in National Insurance
contributions imposed by the UK Government?
Minutes - JR
No.
Reply from the Executive Leader and Cabinet Member for Performance and
Resources
The direct impact of the NI increase in 2022/23 was calculated as part of the
Budget proposals to be £1.034m – this figure includes all schools.
In terms of the indirect impact on for instance social care providers – we haven’t
been able to put a figure on this as we do not have sufficient detail on our
suppliers pay and the increases to Social Care Providers for 2022/23 would reflect
the RLW increase and other inflationary impacts such as energy costs.
Supplemental
Councillor Franks sought an assurance from the Leader that all front line services
would be protected in the face of increased National Insurance contributions.
The Leader referred to the fact that the increase had been budgeted for as part of
the Council’s budget setting process and alluded to approximately £1m of
additional costs that had been accounted for. The budget setting process for the
previous financial year identified £24m shortfall and that the Council had received
a good budget settlement from the Welsh Government. However, she did not
know what the settlement would be for the future financial year, but it was unlikely
that it would be at the same level. Alluding to the forthcoming budget setting
process that the Council would be undertaking, this would need to take account of
a number of additional financial challenges and she specifically referred to energy
prices and inflationary pressures. She would do all that was humanly possible to
protect services starting with the most vulnerable.
(xv) Question from Councillor C.P. Franks
The Cabinet Member will be aware of increasing concerns in Dinas Powys
regarding road safety. Will you indicate what measures are being implemented to
make our streets safer?
Reply from the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Sustainable Places
Thank you for your question, however, I note that you do not provide any specific
details relating to your road safety concerns and it is therefore difficult for me to
respond specifically.
The Council receives numerous concerns regarding a variety of aspects relating to
road safety throughout the Vale and investigates those concerns as appropriate
and as far as reasonably practicable given the current resource available and its
current powers and responsibilities.
I would firstly clarify that the Council as local highway authority has a statutory
duty under Section 39 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 to undertake studies into road
traffic collisions, and to take steps both to reduce and prevent them as far as
reasonably practicable and appropriate. To carry out this duty, the Council
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reviews collision data provided by the Welsh Government on a six monthly basis
relating to injury collisions which have occurred within the Vale’s local highway
network and considers the evidence and potential contributary factors associated
with those collisions. Where necessary based on this analysis and the potential
cause of any collision, the Council will consider schemes to improve road safety
subject to available funding. This includes Dinas Powys, however, I am unaware
of any serious injury collision within the village which require any specific and
immediate consideration at this time.
There is quite often some confusion over responsibilities with regard to highway
safety matters and speed related issues.
Although, the Council sets speed limits, the primary responsibility for speed
enforcement rests with the Police and the Council has no powers to deal with
speeding offences. For this reason, we recommend that contacting South Wales
Police should always be the first line of approach taken by members of the public
who are concerned about speeding issues in their local area. Alternatively,
residents can make a request for speed camera enforcement direct with GoSafe,
the Wales Casualty Reduction Partnership, whose primary function is to make
Welsh roads safer by reducing road casualties. However, the Council, Police and
GoSafe will generally recommend residents consider the setting up of a
community speed watch scheme which has proven to helpful deterring speeding in
local areas throughout Wales and of which there are many example throughout
the Vale. Details can be found on the GoSafe website.
In exceptional circumstances, where there is a significant history of personal injury
collisions, and where police and/or GoSafe action has failed to reduce speeding
offences and improve road safety, the Council will consider introducing further
measures to assist with speed enforcement such as traffic calming. Such
measures are expensive to introduce and where further measures are considered
necessary then those schemes compete for limited Welsh Government grant
funding, where in most, if not all cases, the most severe locations are awarded
funding. The Council has currently accumulated a significant number of schemes
that are awaiting future funding.
Finally, you will also be aware of the Welsh Government proposal for 20mph
speeding limits in Wales following the issue of advice on 12th July, 2022 by the
Head of Neighbourhood Services and Transport. The Senedd also voted on and
approved the proposal to reduce the default speed limit from 30mph to 20 mph on
restricted roads and residential streets on 12th July, 2022. Council officers are
currently working through the requirements of the legislation to understand the
implications within the Vale and which roads will be impacted after having
successfully taken part in one of eight Welsh Government pilots for the 20mph
default speed in St. Brides Major. The default speed limit is due to be implemented
in September 2023 and this measure would hopefully address ongoing road safety
concerns relating to speed not only in Dinas Powys but throughout the Vale where
the limit is to be implemented. I anticipate that the Council will be able to provide
further details on the implications for individual areas in Autumn 2022.
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Supplemental
Referring to the necessary investment, policing, enforcement and the lack of
safety schemes including the provision of a camera safe scheme in Dinas Powys
which volunteers were happy to support if provided the equipment, Councillor
Franks asked the Cabinet Member what she was going to do about it.
The Cabinet Member referred to her initial response and reminded Councillor
Franks that these measures would help address the issues he raised. The
Council was taking serious steps to address road safety and reminded Councillor
Franks that the Police also had an important role to play in the issue.
(vxi) Question from Councillor C.P. Franks
In the event of serious flooding of residential and commercial properties what
plans exist to safe guard vulnerable people?
Reply from the Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood and Building Services
The Council’s Civil Protection Unit (CPU) operate a 24/7 365 duty officer system to
respond to emergencies. The CPU works with other service areas to respond and
if necessary will open an emergency control room, usually based at the Alps in
Wenvoe. In the event of a flooding emergency, officers will contact the Social
Services Emergency Duty Team to ascertain if there are any known vulnerable
residents within the area, but it should be noted these would only be if they are
social services clients.
Welsh Government are working on a system called JIGSO which is a web service
that allows the user to be able to search a specific area of a map and identify the
properties within which are vulnerable citizens who may require assistance during
an emergency such as flooding/snowfall or perhaps an area being affected by
smoke. For example, the user can draw a circle/polygon around an area and
within a matter of minutes, be able to identify which households require
assistance. This will allow vulnerable citizens to receive priority assistance to
prepare for an emerging incident, receive additional support as a result of an
event e.g. water bottles, or evacuate if required.
In the case of Storm Bella in 2020, to obtain data on which properties required
assistance took some time, with JIGSO this information can obtained in a couple
of minutes. The maps can also be changed i.e. a black and white map just
showing outlines or perhaps a satellite map (similar to Google Earth but in more
detail) can be selected.
The system, which is unique to the UK, now means that data is now available
within minutes detailing the most vulnerable citizens in our communities so they
can be supported when an incident occurs.
In addition the CPU has produced a new Community Flood Plan and Extreme
Weather Guidance, that explains how to prepare a Community Flood Plan. This
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plan can be completed by households and as a community or flood group. This
can help communities develop local level plans that will assist local communities
and groups to identify and prepare plans for any vulnerable residents within their
local community who may need extra assistance, guidance can be found on the
Council’s website where you will also find further information and guidance, for
residents and businesses, on what to do before, during and after a flooding event.
Supplemental
Referring to the recent flooding events in Dinas Powys Councillor Franks asked
the Cabinet Member if he would reconsider the level of support from the Council in
future to vulnerable residents.
Disagreeing with Councillor Franks’ assessment of the support provided by the
Council during the recent flooding events having seen related reports, it was his
view officers had worked hard to support affected residents.
(xvii) Question from Councillor J.E. Charles
Will the Cabinet Member please outline the Council’s waste recycling targets and
confirm if these are being met.
Reply from the Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood and Building Services
The last measured recycling and the minimum Local Authority recovery (recycling,
preparation for re-use and composting) target was 64% (2019 / 2020).
The Council had to achieve a recycling rate of 64% within this target year and
thereafter up until 2023 / 2024. During the target year of 2019 / 2020, the Council
recorded a recycling rate of 70.3% exceeding the statutory target.
The next measured target will be 70% by 2024 / 2025. At present, the Council
continues to exceed the statutory targets and it is currently the second highest
performing Council in Wales and on target to achieve and exceed the 2024 / 2025
target.
Supplemental
Referring to the current emergencies, Councillor Charles enquired if the Council
would make more savings from increasing recycling and reuse rates.
The Cabinet Member indicated that the Council had plans to do this and referred
to the new waste transfer station at Cowbridge with a further facility to be provided
at the Atlantic Trading Estate, Barry.
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(xviii) Question from Councillor C.E.A. Champion
Will the Cabinet Member consider increasing the number of separated recycling
waste bins in the public spaces across the Vale?
Reply from the Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood and Building Services
There are no immediate plans to provide separated recycling bins for town and
rural litter as previous trials affected recycling quality and increased contamination
levels due to poor compliance by users with the various separate recycling
compartments.
However, when the Council’s new recycling plant opens next year there will be
greater service flexibility for further trials and hopefully improved compliance due
to there being a greater awareness now amongst residents and visitors of the
need to effectively recycle all waste. We will therefore plan to undertake further
work in this area during 2023.
Supplemental
Councillor Champion enquired why the Council did not have separated recycle
bins when other Councils did.
In response the Cabinet Member referred Councillor Champion to his original reply
for the reasons.
RESOLVED -
(1) T H A T the Governance and Audit Committee receive updates on
Corporate Safeguarding activities on a 12 monthly basis.
(2) T H A T future update reports contain a Glossary of Terms and illustrate the
levels of safeguarding responsibility at local, regional and national levels.
Reasons for decisions
(1) To ensure that the Governance and Audit Committee was undertaking its
responsibilities to monitor safeguarding arrangements.
(2) To ensure that future update reports are more accessible and contain more
information regarding safeguarding arrangements at a local, regional and national
levels
RESOLVED -
(1) T H A T the contents of the covering report and the performance of the
Legacy Leisure Contract for Year 9, as set out in Appendix A to the report, be
noted.
(2) T H A T a Year 10 performance report for the Leisure Management contract
be presented to the Committee in the autumn of 2022 (September).
(3) T H A T the actions being taken in response to the Audit Wales Report be
noted and the approach proposed for the remainder of the contract period be
endorsed.
(4) T H A T the report be referred to Cabinet for consideration in relation to the
issues raised by Audit Wales.
Reasons for decisions
(1) Having regard to the contents of the covering and appended report in
relation to the performance of the contractor during the Year 9 period.
(2) To keep the Committee informed of progress on the Leisure Management
Contract.
(3&4) To ensure that the Leisure Management Contract reflected the findings of
the Audit Wales Report, and that necessary action was taken to provide
assurance that the issues identified by Audit Wales were being progressed.