COUNTY COUNCIL
11TH JANUARY 2012
PRESENT: |
Councillor I.J. Jackson (Chair) | ||
Councillors: |
|||
S.M. Allen |
E. Dole |
Ms. E.A. Jones |
D.W.H. Richards |
Ms. M.P. Binney |
J.G. Edwards |
G.O. Jones |
H.C. Scourfield |
M.J.P. Burns |
Mrs H.A.L. Evans |
I.G. Jones |
A.D.T. Speake |
S.M. Caiach |
L.D. Evans |
J.E. Jones |
Mrs. L.M. Stephens |
J.M. Charles |
W.J.W. Evans |
Mrs P.E.M. Jones |
T. Theophilus |
A.P. Cooper |
W.T. Evans |
T.J. Jones |
D. Thomas |
A. Davies |
Mrs. M. Gravell |
W.J. Lemon |
G. Thomas |
D.B. Davies |
W.G. Hopkins |
P.H. Lewis |
Mrs S.E. Thomas |
D.J. Davies |
F. Hughes |
D.J.R. Llewellyn |
W. David Thomas |
D.M. Davies |
M.B. Hughes |
D.A. Lloyd |
W. Dorrien Thomas |
D.R. Davies |
P. Hughes Griffiths |
S.J. Lloyd-Janes |
Mrs. J. Tremlett |
J.J.J. Davies |
S.R. James |
K. Madge |
J.E. Williams |
M.L. Davies |
D.M. Jenkins |
D.H. Morgan |
J.S. Williams |
T. Davies |
J.P. Jenkins |
Mrs. P.A. Palmer |
P.M. Williams |
W.R.A. Davies |
A.W. Jones |
R.T. Price |
G.H. Wooldridge |
T. Devichand |
C.M. Jones |
K.D. Rees |
|
Also Present: | |||
Mr. M. James - Chief Executive | |||
Mr. D Gilbert - Director of Regeneration & Leisure | |||
Mr. R. Jones – Director of Resources | |||
Mr. B McLernon - Director of Social care Health & Housing | |||
Mr. R. Workman - Director of Technical Services | |||
Mr. R. Sully - Director of Education and Children’s Services | |||
Mr. C. Burns – Assistant Chief Executive (Customer Focus and Policy) | |||
Mr. R. Edgecombe – Acting Legal Services Manager | |||
Mr K. Thomas – Democratic Services Manager | |||
(Council Chamber, County Hall, Carmarthen – 10.00 a.m. – 12:32 p.m.) | |||
At the commencement of the meeting a short prayer was offered by the Chair, Councillor I.J. Jackson.
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors J.D.G. Crossley, W.K. Davies, M.H. Evans, P.M. Hughes, A.G. Morgan. H.B. Shepardson and Mrs H.E. Wyn.
There were no declarations of personal interests
The Chair referred in sympathetic terms to the death of Councillor D. T Enoch and, on behalf of Council, offered his condolences to his family. All present stood in silent tribute to his memory.
The Chief Executive advised that he had received a letter from Councillor Enoch’s family expressing their appreciation to the Council’s Members and Officers for the support offered to them both prior to, and after the funeral service.
The Chair also extended his condolences to Councillor Kevin Madge and his family on the death of his father-in-law.
The Chair offered his best wishes to Councillor J.D.G Crossley who had recently suffered a period of ill health and to Councillor P.M. Hughes, who had recently been admitted to hospital.
The Chair extended his congratulations to :-
● Mr Mark James, the Chief Executive, on being awarded the C.B.E in the new Years Honours List
● Mr Christopher John Reed, Scout Leader of the Llanelli 1st Scouts , on being awarded an M.B.E for services to the Scouts and Community in Llanelli
● Mr Malcolm Thomas of Llangynog, on being awarded an M.B.E for services to agriculture in Wales
● Councillor D.B. Davies, who had recently been honoured by the Llansteffan and Llanybri Community Council with a dinner and certificate for services rendered as a Community Councillor for 25 years.
The Chair extended his appreciation to all who had sponsored his participation in the Walrus Dip on New Year’s Day and advised that, to-date, he had raised nearly £2,000 which would be distributed between McMillan Cancer Support, Alzheimers Society and Plant Dewi.
RESOLVED, that the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on the 7th December, 2011 be signed as a correct record.
The Chair welcomed to the meeting Mr Ian Arundale, Chief Constable of the Dyfed Powys Police Force, who had been invited to make a presentation to the Council on the Force’s budget and finances.
Mr Arundale outlined to the Council the funding difficulties being faced by the Force arising from a 20% cut in government grant over a 4 year period. That loss of grant, coupled with other factors, required him to identify savings of £14m from the force’s £100m budget. To address that reduction, and to maintain the budget at the 20% cut limit, he would be requesting the Police Authority to approve a 5% increase in the police precept for 2012/13, which would equate to a £9.45 increase for a Band D property within Carmarthenshire. He stated that recent polls confirmed that most of the public were prepared to pay extra for police coverage with some 64% supporting an increase of 30 pence per week and 78% supporting a 5% increase of 18 pence per week.
Mr Arundale proceeded to outline the impact of the reduced budget on policing within the County and to how the force had responded thereto, together with future efficiency savings, its impact on policing levels within the County and the force’s ability to respond to incidents, whilst still providing a high performing service that was currently the best in Wales. Those measures included the closure of some police stations and the provision of an alternative presence, use of shared facilities, joint collaboration with the County Council on the provision of I.T and Financial Services, redundancy of non police personnel, compulsory retirement of police officers after 30 years service, merging of support departments etc. Future national proposals that impacted on the budget included the possible loss of the helicopter support service and its replacement by regional air support services, the disbandment of Police Authorities and their replacement with Police Commissioners and Panels, the introduction of the National Crime Agency, potential for force attendance at further civil unrest within the U.K and attendance at major events such as the Olympics and Paralymics.
Members of the Council were afforded the opportunity of asking questions on the presentation. A consensus was reached that the current cuts in government grant would impact upon policing within the County and that the Council should accordingly write to the Home Secretary, in the strongest possible terms, expressing its concern at those cuts
UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED, that the Council write, in the strongest possible terms to the Home Secretary expressing its deep concern at the cuts in government grant to the Dyfed Powys Police Force and the impact that was having on policing within the County.
The Chair thanked the Chief Constable for attending the meeting.
Council was informed that the Executive Board, at its meeting held on the 12th December 2011 (Minute 5 refers) had considered a report on updating the Council’s Band A priority Programme of Projects within the Council’s Modernising Education Programme, (originally approved by Council on the 8th December 2010) which had been submitted to the Welsh Government, by the 18th November 2011 closing date, in order to qualify for support under the 21st Century Schools Programme. The Executive Board having approved the updated Band A Priority Programme of Projects, had also resolved to refer the report to Council for retrospective approval on the basis it had not been possible to place the report before it prior to the submission date, due to the short period of time allowed by the Welsh Government for the making of the submission.
Various questions were asked in relation to the progress of specific schools within the programme which were responded to by the Chief Executive and the Director of Education and Children’s Services. The Chief Executive also advised that the Council’s three year capital programme 2012/13 – 2014/15, including the Modernising Education Programme, would be submitted to Council in February 2012 for consideration
RESOLVED
7.1. that the updated Band A priority Programme of Projects included in the Modernising Education Programme (MEP) and the Strategic Outline Programme (SOP) previously approved and submitted to the 21st Century Schools Programme in December 2010 be approved.
7.2. That the Executive Board’s Recommendation to retrospectively approve the submission of the updated Band A Programme of Projects to the Welsh Government as the Council’s priority bid for support under the national programme by the 18th November 2011 closing date be approved, on the basis that it was not possible for a report thereon to be placed before the Council prior to the submission date, due to the short period of time allowed by the Welsh Government for the making of the submission.
Reference was made to Minute 4 regarding the decision to approve, for consultation, the Council’s draft three year Revenue Budget Strategy 2012/13 – 2014/15, and to a subsequent Council press release where the leaders of the ruling Administration had announced they would not be supporting 4 proposed efficiency savings within the draft budget and, accordingly, they would be removed from the list of possible savings. Clarification was sought on whether the decision to exclude the four items without formal committee consideration was appropriate, if use of the Council’s press office in releasing the information, which also criticised the Council’s opposition group, was also appropriate, the integrity of the draft budget and any impact the decision may have on the consultation process, the potential impact the £500k cost of the decisions could have on the initial 4% council tax levy, and the Executive Board’s desire for that to be limited to 2%.
The Chief Executive in response outlined the role of the Administration in proposing the draft budget and advised that its decision to not support the four items in question was, procedurally, perfectly in order. With regard to the use of the Council’s Press Office that, again, was procedurally appropriate provided it was made clear any press release was being made by the Administration. With regard to the draft budget, the council’s officers had provided the Executive Board with a list of potential efficiency savings. The Administration’s subsequent announcement that it would not be supporting the four items had provided clarity and, accordingly, the draft budget would be revisited to identify potential alternative efficiency savings prior to the final budget being submitted to the Executive Board for consideration and to Council for a formal decision.
The Director of Resources confirmed the administration’s decision had not affected the integrity of the draft revenue budget or, the consultation process, and that he was currently drafting a report on a revised budget based on a 2% council tax increase, as instructed by the Executive Board, which would take account of all consultations received.
RESOLVED, that the report of the above meeting be received.
RESOLVED, that the report of the above meeting be received.
Reference was made to an article in a recent press publication where it was suggested that elected members should personally accept a reduction in their remuneration. A question was asked as to how much could be saved by the Authority if Special Responsibility Allowance (SRA) was not paid to Vice-Chairs of Committees and if it was to adopt sharing Directors and Chief Executives with other local authorities, as being proposed by the Welsh Government.
The Chief Executive advised that, generally, Vice Chairs of the Council’s Committees did not receive a SRA, so as such, little would be saved. With regard to elected members receiving reduced remuneration, the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales had recently published its final report suggesting that members receive a 5% reduction in their basic allowance, with that increasing to 10% for Special Responsibility Allowance. If adopted, it was estimated that could achieve potential savings of £50k, in addition to other savings already introduced.
In relation to the sharing of Senior Officers, he advised that the Council was already pursuing that option and currently shared senior posts with both the Local Health Board and the Dyfed Powys Police Force. However, it was difficult to quantify the level of savings being achieved. In addition, the Authority actively reviewed its staffing requirement and when a Head of Service or other senior officer retired or left, an evaluation was undertaken on whether that post was to be retained or removed from the establishment. Where it was retained and filled internally, the successful officer’s previous post was often deleted from the establishment. To date, the Authority had reduced the numbers of its Heads of Service from 39 to 20 and third tier officers from 130 to under 90.
UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED, that the report of the above meeting be received.
Reference was made to minute 3 – Draft Welsh Language Strategic Plan for Carmarthenshire 2012-2015 and to the discussion undertaken on the Athrawon Bro. Clarification was sought on the future role of that service and to whether its future direction would be to concentrate on working with English schools to assist them with moving along the linguistic continuum.
The Director of Education and Children’s Services advised that the service had been developed a number of years earlier and that there was a need to review/retarget its operation to promote bilingualism. It was also encouraging to note that a number of English schools had requested support from Athrawon Bro to promote bilingualism.
UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED, that the report of the above meeting be received.
UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED, that the report of the above meeting be received.
UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED, that the report of the above meeting be received.
UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED, that the report of the above meeting be received.
UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED, that the report of the above meeting be received.
The Council’s attention was drawn to the recommendation within Minute 5 for the Authority to make representations to the Care and Social Services Inspectorate (CSSIW) regarding an alleged inaccurate statement on telephone assessments. It was reported that the CSSIW had accepted the Council’s representation and had amended its report accordingly, which it would be formally presenting to a future meeting of the Council
UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED, that the report of the above meeting be received.
UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED, that the report of the above meeting be received.
UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED, that the report of the above meeting be received.
UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED, that the report of the above meeting be received.
Reference was made to the debate in minute 3 on the proposed Brechfa West Wind Farm. The Council was advised that subsequent to the above meeting of the Planning Committee the planning application for the wind farm had been submitted to, and accepted by, the Infrastructure Planning Commission. A view was expressed that given the long term impact of such developments it was important people’s views and concerns were expressed to the Commission. Concern was also expressed at the scale of the proposed development in the County and the fact the County Council had no control over its approval.
UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED, that the report of the above meeting be received.
UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED, that the report of the above meeting be received.
UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED, that the report of the above meeting be received.
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CHAIR DATE