Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Barry Rees, Corporate Director; Sian Howys, Corporate Lead Officer: Porth Cynnal and Rhodri Llwyd, Corporate Lead Officer: Highways and Environmental Services.  

i)     Condolences were extended to the family of Selwyn Jones, who passed away recently and the Leader paid tribute to his vast contribution to the community of Pontrhydfendigaid.

ii)       Congratulations were extended to Robat and Enid Gruffudd (Y Lolfa), who will lead the annual St David’s Day Parade at Aberystwyth on 5 March 2022.

iii)     Congratulation were extended to Ysgol Dyffryn Cledlyn on their recent success in winning a competition for creating a film promoting internet safety.

iv)     Condolences were extended to the family of Amy Jones, a former employee of the Council, who passed away recently.

There were no disclosures of personal and/or prejudicial interests.

The Leader provided an update on the Covid-19 situation. 46 cases were reported today, bringing the total to 11,440 since the beginning of the pandemic which equates to 319.1 per 100,000, compared to 449.8 recorded in the 7 days previously which indicates a reduction in rates. The rate in Wales is 233.5 per 100,000 therefore Ceredigion continues to be above average. The positivity rate in the county is currently 29.1%.

The majority of cases are amongst 20-29 years olds and from MSOA data, it appeared Aberystwyth had the highest rates in the county but there was an indication the cases were largely confined to the Aberystwyth University Campus. There is no indication the Omicron variant continues to spread much in the community and hopefully, this will reduce further given the schools were currently on a half-term break.  

The Leader thanked Rhodri Llwyd, Phil Jones and Gerwyn Jones and all members of staff who were involved with the work during the recent storms, with Storm Franklin leading to floods in the east and fallen trees throughout the county. 

The response to a message to staff members requesting volunteers to help with the emergency rest centres in the County had been very positive with over 50 staff members offering to volunteer, should the need arise.

It was noted there had been some damage to rooves of many buildings in Aberystwyth including Ceredigion Museum. Although some streets had re-opened, others remain closed for safety reasons until any necessary work had been carried out, including removing large roof tiles from gutters for the safety of the public. This work will be carried out today hopefully and any nearby council buildings would be able to open from tomorrow onwards. There will be another inspection in Aberystwyth at 11.15am today to assess the safety around the town.

Members re-iterated the Leader’s words and thanked all involved for their hard work with the recent storm.

To confirm as a true record the Minutes of the previous Meeting of the Cabinet held on 1 February 2022.

Matters arising: There were no matters arising from the minutes.

None.

None.

None.

DECISION:

1.    To approve the Fees & Charges to be effective from 01/04/2022 (with the exception of School Meals, Car Parking Fees at Llandysul and Tregaron and Twin Hull Vessels x2), as outlined in:

a)    Appendix 1

b)    Appendix 2

c)    Appendix 3

d)    Appendix 4

2.    To approve the School Meals Fees & Charges change as outlined in Appendix 2 to be effective from 01/09/2022.

3.    To delegate authority to the CLO Porth Cymorth Cynnar, in consultation with the Cabinet portfolio Member with responsibility for the Wellbeing Centres, to vary the Fees & Charges for the Wellbeing Centres for 2022/23, to run short term / time limited promotional offers.

4.    To agree there would be no car parking fees at Llandysul and Tregaron for 2022-23 as outlined in Appendix 3.

5.    To remove the reference to *Twin Hull Vessels x 2* in the footer of Appendix 3, page 38.

6.    To note the feedback from each Budget Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Reason for the decision:

·         To consider Fees and Charges as part of the Council’s budget setting process.

·         To incentivise more people to participate in regular physical activity and lead healthier lifestyles.

·         To allow for further consideration. 

This report was superseded by the Addendum Report (item 190).

DECISION:

a.    To note the Feedback from each Budget Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

b.    To recommend to Full Council that the draft 2022/23 Base Budget total is £165.843m and that the level of increased Council Tax proposed for 2022/23 is 2.5% representing a Band D amount of £1,447.90.

Reason for the decision:

To enable budget preparation for 2022/23.

DECISION:

a)    To approve the Treasury Management Strategy outlined in the report for Borrowing and Investments;

b)    To approve the Investment Schedule as set out in Appendix B;

c)    To approve the Minimum Revenue Provision Policy for 2022/23 as set out in Appendix C;

d)    To delegate authority to the Section 151 officer, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance, Procurement and Public Protection, to amend the Treasury Management Strategy, and Investment Schedule, during the course of the year;

e)    To recommend to Full Council the approval of the Treasury Management Strategy for Borrowing and Investments for 2022/23; and

f)     To recommend to Full Council the approval of the Minimum Revenue Provision Policy for 2022/23.

Reason for the decision:

To set a Treasury Management Strategy and Minimum Revenue Policy for 2022/23.

DECISION:

i)     To agree to adopt the content of the Welsh in Education Strategic Plan for 2022-2032 and to implement it from 1 September 2022 and for the following decade.

ii)    That any comments made by the Welsh Government are included as amendments to the Plan and submitted to the Learning Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Cabinet for information.

iii)   That an annual Action Plan is prepared and monitored through the Language Forum and the Bilingual Futures committee.

iv)   That an annual report on progress against the Welsh Education Strategic Plan is submitted to the Language Forum, Bilingual Futures committee, Learning Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Cabinet.

v)    To note the feedback from the Learning Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Reason for the decision:

To comply with Section 84 of the School Standards and Organisation (Wales) Act 2013 and the Welsh Government Welsh in Education Strategic Plans (Wales) Regulations 2019.

DECISION:

To recommend to Council:

1.    The Council decision 24/3/16 Minute 12) Report of the Deputy Chief Executive upon the Council Tax Premiums for long-term empty homes and second homes, point 4 be amended as follows:

“4.a) The level of Council Tax Second Homes Premium charged to be set at 25% (with effect from 1 April 2017); and,

b) that all monies raised from the 25% Council Tax Second Homes Premium (net of the Council Tax refunds), be ring -fenced and used to support the Community Housing Scheme.”

2.    That all monies raised from the 25% Council Tax Second Homes Premium between the period 1/4/17 to 31/3/22 (net of Council Tax refunds), to be ring-fenced and used to support the Community Housing Scheme.

3.    That all monies raised from the 25% Council Tax Second Homes Premium from 1/4/22 (net of the Council Tax refunds), to be ring-fenced and used to support the Community Housing Scheme.

4.    That from 1/4/22, all monies raised from the 25% Council Tax Empty Homes Premium (net of the Council Tax refunds), be ring-fenced and used to support the Community Housing Scheme.

5.    That Council decision 16/3/17 minute 8.b) Council Tax Premiums on Second Homes, be revoked.

6.    That details of a shared equity element of the scheme are prepared and agreed within 12 months of the Council decision and that work continues on the other options.

7.    The possibility of establishing a Community Benefit Scheme be deferred for one year.

8.    To note the feedback from the Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Reason for the decision:

1.    In order to prepare and implement a Community Housing Scheme that acts on the vision set out by the Independent Group.

2.    To implement a scheme that supports people within the County to access housing that meets their needs.

DECISION:

To approve the Adoption of Bryn Hafod through Section 228, Highways Act 1980 process and maintain thereafter.

Reason for the decision:

To enable the highway to be maintained at public expense.

DECISION:

1)    To note the change in the National Transfer Scheme for Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children from a voluntary scheme to a mandatory scheme.

2)    To approve support for Option 4 in discussions as to how the scheme will operate in Wales- Regional rota be established where referrals under the National Transfer Scheme are transferred to the regions of the 4 longstanding dispersal areas.

3)    To note that if no agreement is reached on a Wales wide basis, the default position imposed by the Home Office will be Option 2 which will mean that each local authority will be required to meet their individual allocation.

4)    To authorise officers to collaborate with 4Cs - Children’ Commissioning Consortium Cymru - which is the Commissioning for placements for looked after children and the other Local Authorities in the region and across Wales in order to ensure the mandated and necessary compliance.

5)    To agree the principle of the need for adequate funding for the scheme to operate effectively.

Reason for the decision:

To ensure mandated compliance with statutory requirements.

DECISION:

To approve the provision of financial contribution to establish the administration of a centralised Section 117 Register under the Mental Health Act with the agreed regional funding formula being applied.

Reason for the decision:

To meet statutory duties and support the effective coordination of services.

DECISION:

(i)    To approve the proposed changes to the Private Sector Housing Grants and Loans Financial Policy for Ceredigion.

(ii)  To note the feedback from the Healthier Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Reason for the decision:

To ensure the effective implementation of the Private Sector Housing Grants and Loans Financial Policy for Ceredigion.

Cabinet noted the report.

Cabinet noted the report.

Cabinet noted the report.

None.