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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 and Executive Member for Strategic Leadership Richard Clark – Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Children, Families and Education Peter Jones – Executive Member for Corporate Governance and Performance Sue Morgan – Executive Member for Resources David Daniels – Executive Member for Adult Services and Housing Joanne Gauden – Executive Member for Economy, Skills and Regeneration Fiona Cross – Executive Member for Communities Officers: Nigel Aurelius - Deputy Chief Executive (DCO) Chris Corten - Complaints & FOI Team Leader (C&FOITL) Niall Flack - Apprentice Democratic Services Officer Delyth Harries - Monitoring Officer and Assistant Chief Legal Officer Rebecca Hartley - Team Leader Strategic Place Projects (TLSPP) Rachel Jowitt - Strategic Director, Economy & Environment Dave Leech - Strategic Director, Adults and Communities Jason Lewis - Director, Corporate Services Matt Lewis - Chief Operating Officer, SRS (COO) Dave Lilly - Director, Financial Services (DFS) Beth McPherson - Head of Communities and Renewal Jason O’Brien - Strategic Director, Children and Family Services Alice Rees - Canal Co-ordinator Tom Roberts - Business and Democratic Support Services Manager Mark Sharwood - Public Service Development Manager Chris Slade - Assistant Democratic & Member Services Team Leader Kate Williams - Public Services Support Unit Group Manager (PSSUGM) Other: There was a member of the Press and the Head of Public Services Support Unit in the Public Gallery.
2.1 Apologies were received from Councillor Mandy Owen.
3.1 Councillor Hunt declared a personal, non-prejudicial interest in agenda item 8 as he had previously volunteered for the Bridge 46 to Two Locks Canal Group. 3.2 Councillor Jones declared a personal, non-prejudicial interest in agenda item 8 as a Member of Cwmbran Community Council. 3.3 Councillor Morgan declared a personal, non-prejudicial interest in agenda item 8 as a Member of Cwmbran Community Council and had also volunteered for the Bridge 46 to Two Locks Canal Group. 3.4 Councillor Clark declared a personal, non-prejudicial interest in agenda item 9 as a Council appointed member of the SRS Board who also acted as Chair.
4.1 The minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 10 October 2023 were agreed as a true and accurate record.
5.1 There were no actions arising from the previous meeting.
6.1 The Executive Member for Resources introduced the report and drew Members’ attention to the opportunity taken to do more work in clarifying the position in relation to long term empty properties and the potential for council tax related levers to be used to bring more properties back into use, but more on this would be provided in in due course. 6.2 The DCEO presented the report, highlighting that the Band D tax base which was set in readiness for council tax had gone up by 210 properties. They were continuing to apply the same discounts and to keep collection rates the same. He referred to ongoing work with regards to bringing long term empty properties back into use and that this would be reported to Cabinet in due course. 6.3 There were no questions or comments. 6.4 Cabinet agreed that: i. the Tax Base for 2024/25 as detailed in the report be approved. ii. for properties in Prescribed Classes A and B i.e. Second Homes, the Council continues to apply a nil discount; iii. for properties in Prescribed Class C i.e., Empty Properties, the Council continues to apply a nil discount; iv. A further report on premiums will be brought forward at the appropriate time; v. the formal statutory financial information will be issued with the Council Tax demand notices.
7.1 The Executive Member for Resources introduced the item by reporting that all Members were aware of the huge challenges with unprecedented barriers such as the conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, cost of living crisis and inflation. She said that Welsh local authorities (LAs) had been relatively protected, but that councils still had difficult choices to make. The Welsh Government (WG) itself was dealing with in-year challenges with inflation and rising demand on services. She commented that Torfaen’s in-year position was favourable , which was thanks to strong financial discipline, and she thanked Officers for their leadership and prudence. Councillor Morgan reported that the in-year position provided the LA with a small but helpful buffer to the pressures that it was facing for the next and future years, but that pressures would be considerable. The LA had a healthy degree of savings identified in readiness for the next year via the Corporate Efficiency Programme (Project Apollo), which would need to be built upon. The estimates were built on a steady state and didn’t reflect any new expansion of services, but did include pay assumptions. Based on the settlement the LA was expecting, there would be a funding gap which would need to be met through savings and an increase in revenue. The LA had been able to hold its council tax increases as one of the lowest in Wales for a number of years, but the report was based on assumptions that it would be raised by 4.95%. She stated that if they were to continue to offer excellent services to residents, it required the right resources to do so. She was reassured by the thorough and detailed work of staff across the organisation and thanked the DCE, the DFS and his team for their excellent work and because of that confidence, she was able to state with some assurance that the report was based on a prudent and balanced position. 7.2 The DCEO presented the report by highlighting the current monitoring position and that the LA was reporting a favourable variance. Decisions made by the LA to fully fund the pay award was baring fruit as this had been achieved without destabilising services. They had all but achieved the mitigations in 4.3. 5.2 of the report brought out the out key assumptions in terms of the budget. . There were two further key points; the estimate was built on a steady state and so they hadn’t built in service growth and they had assumed the same level of grants would continue into 2024/25; appendix three highlighted just over £75m in assumed grants. 5.4 highlighted schools and the early decision taken in relation to the funding of pay assumptions, which would see the ISB uplifted by circa 4%, which left them with a gap of £1.4m to address. This had been discussed with headteachers quite early on and they welcomed the fact that they had been engaged at an early point but that challenges still remained. The budget position had been considered by the Cross Cutting Resource and Business Overview and Scrutiny Committee and it was noted that no recommendations had been made. In relation to Project Apollo they had acted upon the MTFP and had started to work up savings in advance of the first draft estimates. The outcome of this was reflected in 6.1 of the report in terms of efficiencies built into the estimates. With regards to the risks in section 7, the Autumn Statement was due to be given the day after the meeting and then the WG budget on 20 December. The budget had been built on the assumed forward increase of 3%. In terms of the next steps they would continue to work on the estimates to try to get into a balanced position and there were a range of items that would go to Members outlined in 8.2. The DCEO concluded by saying that they were in a reasonably good position but addressing the gap wouldn’t be easy, they had to await the WG announcement. He further recognised the corporate approach that continues to be a strength. 7.3 The Leader responded that he welcomed the DCEO’s approach and applauded Officers’ efforts in reaching a stable in-year position and financial discipline in the approach taken which had given the Council the best chance of dealing with the pressures that all LAs were facing. He referred to the difficulties LAs were facing, particularly in England where they were reaching the limits of viability going forward. He also commented on the national position within Wales where the estimated funding gap was likely to be around £821m this year, which was three times more than usual. This was due to inflation and rising costs in areas like children placements and schools, and rising demands on services. In respect of Torfaen he commented that the Authority was in a good place because it had invested in early intervention and prevention services and they had looked to manage demand across all areas. He further emphasised that LAs had the advantage in Wales of working closely with the WG. Lastly, the Leader welcomed the scrutiny committees’ participation and thanked the Executive Member, the DCEO and staff for their work. 7.4 There were no questions or comments. 7.5 Cabinet agreed to note the: a) Current financial forecast for 2023/24. b) Current 2024/25 estimate position and the proposed next steps, and c) Timetable for the remainder of the 2024/25 budget cycle.
8.1 The Executive Member for Economy, Skills and Regeneration introduced the item. They were looking at the maintenance of the canal following the Cleaner Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s recommendation to appoint a Canal Co-ordinator. She reported that the canal was a treasured attraction for the public in Torfaen and that it generated an incredible response from the public during their early consultation. There were a lot of responses around navigation etc. and they were taking these forward in their response. The canal was built over 200 years ago and required a constant flow of water, which had brought about some challenges. 8.2 The TLSPP reported that the canal was a popular community asset and was unique in that it had two owners. In terms of the strategy and action plan they faced a lot of challenges, and they were looking to harness opportunities and promote partnership working. They had received over 1200 survey responses to early consultation which informed the development of the strategy which will cover the next 10 years, through to 2034. Through the strategy they were supporting the local economy and it would seek to establish a well maintained waterway. To achieve this, they had split delivery into three phases which were detailed within the report. Key to the first phase was to establish water supply to the canal and the development and delivery of phases 2 and 3 are dependent on this outcome. They would continue to work with partners, review the strategy and action plan annually, and report as appropriate. There were many social and environmental benefits which could be achieved with full delivery, but resource was key. There had been extensive work carried out both internally and externally in ensuring the strategy aligned to the County Plan. 85% of responses agreed with this vision and 88% agreed it would improve the canal. An annual delivery plan would be developed. 8.3 In response to questions asked, the TLSPP gave the following replies: · A governance structure was attached to the strategy which sought to embed community representatives, who were listed within the strategy. There were thematic working groups breaking down the objectives of the strategy. There would also be a Torfaen Strategic Canal Partnership which would feed into the overall Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal Regeneration Partnership Group, so hopefully the governance structure would bring it all together to move it forward. · Water supply was the biggest challenge to unlocking restoration and navigation but they were working through the issues with the Canal and Rivers Trust and colleagues in Economy and Environment. They were looking at how they could scope out the issues in order to overcome them. The issues with water were outlined within the report but were largely down to requiring abstraction licences, which would require a large piece of work and the rest of the strategy was dependent on those outcomes. Funding and external funding would also be a major challenge. It was made clear in the strategy that capital and revenue funding would be needed for all three phases, so they would continue to work with funders. The strategy and action plan would be reviewed annually which Members could be involved in, especially those Members who had the canal in their ward. There were engagement opportunities for an annual public forum so people could learn of the challenges being faced. The Director Adults and Communities commented that due to significant reductions in CRT’s funding at a UK level, it would be imperative to work with the Canal and Rivers Trust and others to look at the canal as a whole, to enable them to put funding bids in. · The phases and strategy areas had been broken down in order for them to scope what was needed and where, when funding became available. The strategic areas had community projects and activities aligned to them. The bigger project around navigation would need to be broken down and scoped out in detail. This work would run in tandem with that on water supply, which was an issue as this could impact on any bids and would most certainly inform the phases going forward. 8.4 Cabinet approved the Torfaen Canal Strategy and Action Plan 2024 – 2034.
9.1 The Executive Member for Corporate Governance and Performance introduced the item and commented that they were seeking approval on behalf of the four LAs and the Gwent Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner. He confirmed that all partners agreed with the approach. 9.2 The COO reported the reason this was being considered by Torfaen’s Cabinet was because Torfaen provided support services to the SRS. He explained that it was important to note that the recommendation came from Chief Executives of all LAs and from the Chief Constable. The report highlighted the volumes and costs involved, which equated to £4.8m spend on all devices. They had worked through a mini competition process in terms of the tender. 9.3 In response to questions asked, the COO gave the following replies: · It was hard to bring out the benefits of a partnership approach but if individual tenders took place for each it would equate to more cost. They were reporting costs which represented less than market price. · They were allowing safe use of own devices and this was the key reason why they didn’t want to commit to numbers. It was clear that people liked to use their own devices and the environment allowed for it. 9.4 Cabinet agreed that the contract for the provision of end user devices is awarded to provider C following the outcome of a tender process using FRAMEWORK RM6068 TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS AND ASSOCIATED SERVICES (LOT 2).
10.1 The Executive Member for Corporate Governance and Performance introduced the item by saying that they had undertaken a review to ensure they were strengthening the complaints process. They had also been notified of 110 compliments. Complaints that escalated to the Ombudsmen were low in numbers, but they would continue an open dialogue with them in order to engage with learning and training opportunities. He said that it was important that the LA learned from any complaints and that the report had been considered by the Governance and Audit Committee, who were content with it. 10.2 The C&FOITL reported that they reviewed and categorised complaints to ensure transparency and accuracy in the recording of them. They had received 160 complaints the last year, 92 the previous year and 110 compliments. He stated 4.3 detailed the outcomes of the complaints in comparison to the previous year, with 84 being upheld which was a significant increase on the 2021/22 figures. He reported that all LAs worked to the same staging and worked with colleagues in order to ensure anyone who contacts their LA received the same level of service. Regular briefings took place with the various service areas which helped them understand processes and what they needed to do to deal with complaints. They received free training from the Ombudsmen’s Office and they would look to continue to do it and make it more available. They were looking to arrange a training package for Governance and Audit. The C&FOITL said that he was grateful to all who helped them and contributed as they weren’t able to do this in isolation. 10.3 The Leader thanked the C&FOITL and his team for their efforts, and noted that due to their efforts in resolving complaints and ensuring the LA was learning from them, Torfaen had the lowest percentage per 1000 residents in Wales. 10.4 There were no questions or comments. 10.5 Cabinet agreed to note the information presented in the report and to continue to support the central Complaints and FOI Team. Cabinet also agreed to note the annual letter from the Public Services Ombudsman.
11.1 Cabinet agreed to the exclusion of the press and public.
Councillors must say when they have a personal link to something being discussed, such as a job, a property or a family member. A prejudicial interest is one strong enough that the councillor usually leaves the room and takes no part.
Declarations are read from the minutes once they are published.
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