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There is no summary of this meeting yet. Summaries are written once the council publishes the minutes, which are its official record of what a meeting decided. They usually appear a few weeks after the meeting.
Executive Members (with Portfolios): Councillors: Anthony Hunt – Leader & Executive Member for Strategic Leadership Richard Clark – Deputy Leader & Executive Member for Education David Daniels – Executive Member for Adult Services & Housing Joanne Gauden – Executive Member for Economy, Skills & Regeneration Peter Jones – Executive Member for Corporate Governance & Performance Sue Morgan – Executive Member for Resources Mandy Owen – Executive Member for Environment Officers: Nigel Aurelius – Assistant Chief Executive, Resources Justine Cass – Deputy Monitoring Officer Niall Flack – Apprentice, Democratic Services Rachel Jowitt – Chief Officer Neighbourhoods, Planning and Public Protection Dave Leech – Chief Officer, Communities, Customer Service & Digital Matt Lewis – Chief Operating Officer SRS Jason O’Brien – Acting Chief Officer for Social Care and Housing Dominique Redman – Deputy Team Leader, Democratic and Member Services Lisa Snook – County Archivist John Tushingham – Deputy Chief Officer, Education Rob Wellington – Head of European Policy and External Funding Kate Williams – Equalities, Cohesion and Community Safety Manager
2.1 Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Fiona Cross
3.1 There were no interests declared.
4.1 The minutes of the meeting held on the 14 June 2022 were confirmed as an accurate record of the meeting.
5.1 The action sheet was noted.
6.1 Councillor Joanne Gauden, Executive Member, Economy, Skills & Regeneration introduced the report and commented as follows: · On 13 April 2022 UK Government published the much awaited SPF guidance and indicative allocations. · Focus of SPF was on place and communities and how to ensure equality across the UK of opportunity, prosperity and wellbeing. · SPF was broad and wide-ranging and therefore not without it’s challenges. · Torfaen had received a higher allocation than neighbouring authorities such as Monmouthshire as it was considered a Level 1 place that is one of the most deprived in the UK. · In total the SPF allocation was just over £20m, however, this did not stand in isolation. It is part of the South East Wales regional allocation that is £230m · UK Government had instructed in the guidance that a regional plan is to be produced which should align with the three priorities, firstly community and place, supporting business, and people and skills, secondly deliver against some or all of the 11 missions, and thirdly identify impact against a range of 53 interventions. Councillor Gauden thanked officers for going above and beyond to progress project plans. She explained that over the summer, work would be undertaken to produce a final and solid action plan detailing the projects to be supported locally, and this would be reported back to Cabinet. 6.2 The Chief Officer Neighbourhoods, Planning & Public Protection (CONP&PP) highlighted the key areas of the report which: · submitted to Cabinet the proposed strategic framework for Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) at both a local and regional level. · Identified the range and breadth of activity that SPF covered and proposed a process for final plan determination. · Sought agreement for Rhondda Cynon Taff Council to be “lead authority” for the Plan’s submission, receipt and management of the fund overall (including monitoring, evaluation etc.). · Sought delegation to officers in consultation with the Leader and Executive Member, Economy, Skills & Regeneration for completion of governance documentation recognising that the timescales of 1st August were challenging when aligning to each LA Cabinet process. 6.3 The Leader referred to the uncertainty around UK Government at the moment and asked if officers anticipated this having an impact on timings. The CONP&PP explained that there had been no indications from UK Government civil servants that anything is to change, however, she would pick this up with Welsh Local Government Association. 6.4 The Leader thanked the CONP&PP and her team for their hard work and efforts. 6.5 Cabinet agreed to: · Approve the framework for creating the Regional Investment Plan and gives delegation to the Chief Officer, Neighbourhoods and/ or Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader to approve the Regional Investment Plan; · Give delegated authority to the Executive Member to agree the annual allocations between strategic priorities; · Approve that a further report to be brought forward in due course on the local suite of projects to support the Regional Plan; · Approve that Rhondda Cynon Taff County Borough Council assume the role of Lead Authority for SE Wales for Shared Prosperity Fund; · Agree the principle that the local plan needs to be cognisant of existing EU funding commitments for skills and NEETs to ensure service continuity; and · Give delegated authority to the Chief Officer, Neighbourhoods in consultation with the Head of Legal Services, S151 Officer and the Cabinet Member for Economy, Regeneration and Skills to agree the legal agreements associated with the UKSPF with the Lead Local Authority namely Rhondda Cynon Taff County Borough Council on behalf of Torfaen County Borough Council.
7.1 The Leader introduced the report thanking Welsh Government for their allocation of just over £855k to Torfaen Council to provide discretionary support to assist residents with rising costs. 7.2 The Chief Officer, Communities, Customer Service & Digital (COCCS&D) highlighted the key areas of the report which requested that Cabinet approves the allocation of the balance of cost of living support scheme discretionary funds. 7.3 In summary, the Leader commented as follows: · He had attended a Welsh Government Cost of Living Summit alongside Welsh Government Ministers and other organisations involved in efforts to alleviate poverty and to build up community resilience, and the approach being taken by Torfaen was welcomed. · The council had chosen to focus on vulnerable groups rather than extending the scheme to up the bands. This ensured that those most in need were targeted within the funding envelope available to Torfaen. · He welcomed the assistance provided by Welsh Government and also the announcement earlier this year by UK Government around assistance to be provided. · He referred to the rise in energy costs and felt that more assistance would be needed during the months of autumn and winter, particularly due to the rise in the energy price cap due in October. · He referred to the substantial increase in household bills resulting in those not usually in need of support being pulled into poverty. · He thanked staff in revenues and benefits for their hard work and efforts in processing payments on top of the work they had done to process payments due to Covid. 7.4 In response to questions asked by the Leader, the COCCS&D explained that the free school meal payments approved in June’s Cabinet report were likely to start being made within the next 2 weeks. Likewise, within the next couple of weeks, the transfer of the funds for financial inclusion and income maximisation would be transferred over to third party partners on the community resilience group who could ensure that capacity was boosted as soon as possible in advance of the winter period. 7.5 The Assistant Chief Executive Resources explained that the first payment file of nearly £2,400 which would total £359k, had been processed and should be in bank accounts this week or early part of next week. 7.6 The Leader was pleased to hear of the progress being made. He thanked partners on resilience groups, including Torfaen Citizen’s Advice Bureau, who had worked with the council and assisted people in Torfaen with these issues. 7.7 Councillor Daniels commented around the energy price rise resulting in more people falling into the vulnerable category who sometimes wouldn’t necessarily meet the means testing allocation. He referred to the Welsh Church Fund which was administered by the financial inclusion team, and he asked if any underspend in these projects could be used to bolster the Welsh Church Fund which had a flexibility to help people who were not on benefits or who were self-employed and didn’t meet the criteria for payments. 7.8 The COCCS&D explained that this could be explored in terms of an underspend, however, alignment between the grant terms and conditions of the various funds would need to be considered. He also explained that the Welsh Church Fund had certain criteria around allocation, therefore, consideration would need to be given around whether this had any bearing on exclusions. 7.9 Cabinet agreed to: · Approve the allocation of the further £222,134 discretionary support 4.1 and 4.2 of this report subject to confirmation from Welsh Government that the proposals are allowable under the scheme. · Delegate authority to the Executive Member for Children & Communities to allocate any future underspend in accordance with the terms of the grant
8.1 The Leader welcomed Lisa Snook who had worked to build positive momentum with the five local authorities across the Gwent Archive service. 8.2 The Deputy Leader welcomed Lisa to the meeting and commended her for the work she had undertaken in transforming the service under her enthusiasm and leadership. He explained that the Agreement regarding the provision of the Archive Service and Joint Archives Committee dated back to 2010 and therefore, the suggested changes would improve the Agreement ensuring it was fit for purpose and relevant for the current time. 8.3 Lisa Snook, County Archivist, outlined the report which: · Explained suggested changes to the Agreement Regarding the Provision of Archive Services and the Appointment of a Joint Archives Committee · Sought approval for the changes from each of the Constituent Authorities. 8.4 Cabinet agreed to the amendments made to the Agreement Regarding the Provision of Archive Services and the Appointment of a Joint Archives Committee as contained in the Appendix attached to the report.
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