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Apologies To receive apologies for absence. Additional documents: Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from the Director of Education and the Director of Social Services. |
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To authorise the Chair to sign the minutes of the last meeting held as a correct record. Additional documents: Minutes: The Leader was authorised to sign the minutes of the last meeting held on 20th December 2022 as a correct record.
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Declarations of Interest To receive any declarations of interest from Members relating to items to be considered on the agenda. Additional documents: Minutes: County Councillor Jackie Charlton advised that although she did not have a personal or prejudicial interest in item 4 Crickhowell Area Review, she was predetermined on the matter and would therefore abstain from voting.
County Councillor Matt Beecham advised that he had an interest in the Crickhowell Area Review report as the parent of a pupil at Llanbedr CiW school. The Monitoring Officer advised that the Standards Committee had granted a general dispensation to allow Councillors to speak in these circumstances.
County Councillor Matthew Dorrance declared a personal interest in item 6 Housing Revenue Account and Related Charges 2023-24 as his mother was a Council tenant. |
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To consider a report by County Councillor David Thomas, Cabinet Member for Finance and CorporateTransformation. Additional documents:
Minutes: Cabinet considered the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for 2023-28, including the Financial Resource Model (FRM) for 2023-28, the draft revenue budget for 2023-24 and a draft capital programme for 2023-24 to 2027-28.
The MTFS captured the financial, regulatory and policy drivers affecting the Council and identified the Council’s service and resource priorities for the next five financial years. It delivered a balanced budget for 2023/24, and indicative budgets for the following 4 years to March 2028. The financial strategy was the link between the organisation’s long term service objectives and its financial capacity and would be aligned with the new Corporate Plan to ensure that the Council’s strategic objectives could be achieved within the confines of the financial resources available.
The provisional settlement had increased by 8.7% after adjusting for transfers, equating to an additional £18.298 million for 2023-24. The Council also funded its expenditure by generating income from grants, fees and charges and Council Tax. Details of proposed rises in fees and charges were set out in appendices to the report. The balancing of the Council’s 2023-24 budget was dependent upon a 5% increase in the Council Tax in 2023-24, generating £4.6 Million, and £1.8 Million delivered through changes to the council tax base. 3.8% of this increase would support Council Services with a further 1.2% to support the £1.1 million increase in the Fire Levy. Cabinet noted that the increase in the Fire Levy at 17.4% was far in excess of recent rises but the Council had no say in this.
The budget proposal included additional funding of £4.5 million directly into schools delegated budgets, which together with a further £1.1 million for the Education Service, passported all of the additional education funding included in the settlement from Welsh Government to schools. The Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Transformation recognised that this would not meet all of the additional costs faced by schools and that Governing Bodies, like other council services, would need to consider how they managed these pressures, including utilising reserves.
The level of increase across the Council’s services could not be fully supported by Welsh Government funding and increases in Council Tax and in order to bridge the gap the budget plan included proposals to remove £16.4 million from the revenue budget next year. These reductions had focused on limiting the impact of delivering services.
The Section 151 Officer gave her ... view the full minutes text for item 4. |
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Crickhowell Area Review PDF 143 KB To consider a report by County Councillor Pete Roberts, Cabinet Member for a Learning Powys. Additional documents:
Minutes: Cabinet considered a report on the findings of the Crickhowell Area Review. The Cabinet Member for a Learning Powys reminded colleagues that the Cabinet had asked for a catchment review to be carried out in the Crickhowell area so that a decision on Llanbedr C.i.W school was not taken in isolation. An engagement exercise had been carried out to understand the views of stakeholders in the Crickhowell catchment about the current educational provision in the area and the way forward for the delivery of education in the catchment. 228 responses were received to an online questionnaire, as well as 5 separate written responses.
Based on the findings of the options appraisal document and the engagement exercise carried out, the advice of officers was that the preferred way forward for the Crickhowell catchment was to retain primary provision in Crickhowell C.P. School, Llangynidr C.P School and Llangattock C.i.W Primary School, and to retain secondary provision in Crickhowell High School.
Mr John Meredith, Director of Education for the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon, was invited to speak by the Leader. He said that he did not believe all options had been explored in detail and he asked for a decision to be delayed until the Cabinet had the opportunity to assess a proposal he had sent to them the previous day for the establishment of a school of religious character for 3 – 18 year olds on multiple sites as had been done in Pembrokeshire. He urged the Cabinet to focus on growth not closure.
Cabinet was reminded that the overwhelming response from the engagement exercise was that the community did not want a super school. The schools in the catchment did not want to be reorganised but for further collaboration and this was reflected in the recommendation before Cabinet. At the moment there was not a strong enough case for an all age school.
County Councillor Matt Beecham spoke as the local Member. He and County Councillor Sarah-Jane Beecham had looked at ways of retaining schools in local communities and he urged the Cabinet to look further at the proposal made by the Diocese. He thanked the community, parents and governors of Llanbedr for their support.
County Councillor Aled Davies spoke as the leader of the opposition arguing that nothing had changed and that resources had been wasted by delaying the closure of the school. The Leader reminded him that the decision had to be delayed because of the judicial review.
County Councillor Gwynfor Thomas spoke as Chair of the Learning and Skills Scrutiny Committee saying that the Committee had been clear in supporting the closure of Llanbedr CiW school and for the need for transformation to continue at pace.
County Councillor Sian Cox advised that she would be speaking as a local member and abstaining from voting. She said she was persuaded by the all-age model being proposed by the Diocese and Councillors Matt Beecham and Sarah-Jane Beecham and that she would like to see the proposal costed.
County Councillor ... view the full minutes text for item 5. |
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Housing Revenue Account Rent and Related Charges Changes for 2023-24 PDF 436 KB To consider a report by County Councillor James Gibson-Watt, Leader of Powys County Council. Additional documents: Minutes: County Councillor Matthew Dorrance left the meeting while this item was being considered having declared an interest.
Cabinet considered changes to Council Housing Rents, Garage Rents and all property and tenancy related Service Charges, for the financial year 2023-24 to ensure the HRA Business Plan remained both sustainable and viable.
The recommendations took into account compliance with the Welsh Government’s Policy for Social Housing Rents (Rent Policy). The Council’s Tenant Scrutiny Panel had been consulted on the proposed changes and had commented that they understood that the increase must be financially viable for the service to continue. The Head of Service also reported that there had been a reduction of a third in the time taken to repair voids but that recruitment and retention of skilled craftspeople remained an issue.
RESOLVED
1. That with effect from April 3rd 2023 the average rent in Powys will increase by 5.36% (the average rent being £101.44 per week) for all 5,500 Council owned homes, excluding service charges.
2. That service charges charged to HRA tenants are amended with effect from April 3rd 2023 (included in Table Two above) to allow the Council to recover the cost incurred in providing these services.
3. That the weekly cost effect from April 3rd, 2023 for Careline in 2022-2023 is £1.21 per week.
4. That HRA garage rents in Powys with effect from April 3rd 2023 for 2023-2024 are increased by 6.5% to £13.73 per week.
5. That garage plot charges effect from April 3rd 2023 for 2023-2024 increase by £10.66per annum.
6. That the weekly occupation charge from April 3rd 2023 charges for Gypsy and Traveller pitches in 2023-2024 will be increased by 5.36% the average rent being £114.42.
7. That the charge for temporary accommodation increases, with effect from April 3rd 2023, for the year 2023-2024, by 5.36%
8. That all other rental, not detailed above, effective from April 3rd 2023 will increase by 5.36%. Service charges continue to be recovered on an actual basis.
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Delegated Decisions Taken Since the Last Meeting PDF 40 KB To note the delegated decisions taken since the last meeting. Additional documents: Minutes: Cabinet noted the delegated decisions taken by Cabinet members since the last meeting. |
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Forward Work Programme PDF 412 KB To consider the Cabinet forward work programme. Additional documents: Minutes: The leader of the opposition criticised the lack of detail in the forward work programme and the Cabinet Manager undertook to follow this up with Heads of Service. |