Agenda and minutes

No apologies were received.

Councillors Euros Davies, Gareth Davies, Gwyn Wigley Evans and Gareth Lloyd declared a personal interest in relation to Item 5.

a)  Councillor Ifan Davies extended condolences to the family of Mr Dai Lloyd Evans, a former Leader of Ceredigion Council and Councillor for many decades. This was reiterated by Councillor Bryan Davies and Councillor Keith Evans who paid tribute to Mr Dai Lloyd Evans;

The Council observed a minutes’ silence.

b)  Councillor Paul Hinge thanked Vernon Jones, Clerk to the Community Council who will be standing down after 52 years of public service;

c)  Councillor Carol Worrall congratulated Daphne Muriel Day on celebrating her 100th birthday

d) Councillor Keith Evans extended condolences to the family of Emlyn Watkin, a former Head of Finances at Ceredigion County Council;

e) Councillor Keith Evans congratulated Ella Davies, Llandysul on celebrating her 100^th birthday.

f)  Councillor Ann Bowen Morgan congratulated Merched y Wawr Lampeter on celebrating 50 years;

g) Councillor Ann Bowen Morgan congratulated Lampeter Town council and the University at Lampeter for establishing a Hag Harris Memorial Prize;

h)  Councillor Maldwyn Lewis congratulated Rhydlewis Bowling Club on their success in reaching the top of the league, and representing both Ceredigion and Wales;

i) Councillor Rhodri Evans congratulated Ann Jones on being appointed Deputy Lieutenant for Ceredigion

j) Councillor Rhodri Evans congratulated Sion Davies, a pupil at Ysgol Henry Richard who will representing the Wales Darts Team in Gibraltar;

k)  Councillor Catrin M S Davies congratulated Gwyneth Keyworth on winning WhatsOnStage for Best Supportive Performer in a Play for her role in To Kill a Mockingbird;

l)   Councillor Catrin M S Davies thanked all those that assisted in making sure that the Young Farmers’ Club Half Hour Entertainment was a huge success; 

m) Councillor Catrin M S Davies congratulated Beca Williams on winning Best Actress at the Young Farmers’ Club Half Hour Entertainment;

n)  Councillor Catrin M S Davies congratulated Dafydd Williams on winning Best Actor in the under 16 category at the Young Farmers’ Club Half Hour Entertainment;

o)  Councillor Catrin M S Davies congratulated Elen Pencwm on winning Best Producer at the Young Farmers’ Club Half Hour Entertainment;

p)  Councillor Eryl Evans congratulated Bro Dderi Young Farmers’ Club on their success at the Young Farmers’ Club Half Hour Entertainment;

q)  Councillor Eryl Evans congratulated Elliw Dafydd on winning Best Producer at the Young Farmers’ Club Half Hour Entertainment;

r)  Councillor Eryl Evans congratulated Betrys Davies on winning Best Actress under 16 category at the Young Farmers’ Club Half Hour Entertainment;

s)  Councillor Eryl Evans congratulated Martha Thomas on winning third prize in the Best Actress under 16 category at the Young Farmers’ Club Half Hour Entertainment;

t)   Councillor Eryl Evans congratulated Ifan Meredith and Gruffydd Davies on winning joint third prize in the Best Actor under 16 category at the Young Farmers’ Club Half Hour Entertainment;

u)  Councillor Eryl Evans congratulated Lowri Elen on winning Best Actress over 16 at the Young Farmers’ Club Half Hour Entertainment;

v)   Councillor Eryl Evans congratulated Ebenezer Chapel, Llangybi on celebrating 250 years;

w) Councillor Keith Henson congratulated Ronald H Thomas on 48 years of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

It was RESOLVED to confirm as a true record the Minutes of the Council meeting held on 26 January 2023.

Councillor Bryan Davies, Leader of the Council presented the report noting that the information had been considered by the Cabinet and all Overview and Scrutiny Committees, and that a proposal put forward by Scrutiny not to introduce parking charges in Tregaron and Llandysul was agreed by Cabinet and included in the report.

Councillor Bryan Davies thanked the Officers, noting that Cabinet had set them a challenge to balance the budget without affecting jobs or frontline services as far as possible.  He noted that inflation, cost pressures such as energy, fuel, pay awards and increasing demands of the Social Care budget, and cost of living costs meant a budget shortfall of £22m and that the Welsh Government Settlement increase of 8.1% for 2023/24 meant that £12m savings would need to be made or met from income sources.  A 7.3% increase to Council Tax was proposed by Cabinet, which includes 6% to meet the Council’s increased cost pressures and a non-negotiable increase to the Mid and West Wales Fire Authority levy from their 13% budget, which equates to an additional 1.3% on the Council Tax.

Councillor Gareth Davies, Cabinet Member for Finance and Procurement noted that they could not guarantee that there wouldn’t be any job cuts, and that continuing uncertainty regarding pay negotiations could impact Council reserves, and potentially exceed the amount set aside.  He thanked the Overview and Scrutiny Committees for their open and mature discussions, noting that had Members wished to propose alternative solutions, that these would need to be presented during Scrutiny in order that the Section 151 Officer to be able to cost the proposals and give an assurance on the robustness of any such plans.

Eifion Evans, Chief Executive acknowledged the background work carried out by all Officers to identify savings and ensure that jobs and services are protected as much as possible.  He noted that it is recognised by external regulators that Ceredigion County Council continues to deliver high quality services despite the challenges. However it is anticipated that the budget for the following year will be even more challenging.

The Corporate Lead Officer :Finance & Procurement confirmed his opinion on the Budget as Section 151 officer, which included providing an update on the WG Final Settlement and the recent tabling of Pay Offers for general staff for 2023/24.

Councillor Gareth Lloyd, Leader of the Independent Group noted that the Fire Authority Levy had historically been very low, and that there is only one full-time manned Fire Station across Ceredigion and Powys. This has had an impact on staffing, and that they are looking to attract new people by reviewing contracts of employment, which is part of the reason for the significant increase to the Levy.  He thanked everyone for their work, and thanked Cabinet for listening to the recommendations by Scrutiny.  In advance of next year’s budget, he noted that the Council would need to commence work immediately by reviewing income such as parking and rents, as well as savings from agency staff and purchasing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

3.1   To note that at its meeting on 6 December 2022 the following amounts were approved by the Council’s Cabinet for the year 2023/24 in accordance with regulations made under Section 33(5) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992:

(a)     32,767.99 being the amount calculated by the Council, in accordance with the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) (Wales) Regulations 1995, as amended by the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) and Council Tax (Prescribed Classes of Dwellings) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2004, as its Council Tax Base for the area.

(b)    PART OF THE COUNCIL’S AREA

COUNCIL TAX BASE 32,767.99

being the amounts calculated by the Council, in accordance with Regulation 6 of the 1995 Regulations (as amended by the 2004 Regulations), as the amounts of its Council Tax Base for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which one or more special items relate;

3.2   To approve the amounts calculated by the Council for the year 2023/24 in accordance with Sections 32 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 as set out below:-

(a) £269,760,426 being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 32(2)(a) to (e) of the Act.  This includes £190,000 in respect of National Non-Domestic Rates Relief.

(b) £88,284,000 being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 32(3)(a) to (c) of the Act.

(c) £181,476,426 being the amount by which the aggregate at (a) above exceeds the aggregate at (b) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 32(4) of the Act, as its budget requirement for the year.

(d) £129,192,414 being the aggregate of the sums which the Council estimates will be payable for the year into its Council Fund in respect of redistributed non-domestic rates and its revenue support grant.

(e) £1,595.58 being the amount at (c) above, less the amount at (d) above divided by the Council Tax Base, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 33(1) of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year.

(f) £1,375,663 being  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Councillor Gareth Davies, Cabinet Member for Finance and Procurement Services presented the report to Council noting that the Cabinet decided during its meeting on 14 February 2023 to approve the Treasury Management Policy Statement, the Treasury Management Strategy and Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) Policy for 2023/24. It was noted that any decision relating to delegation of duties in section 4 would be reported back to Cabinet if any matters arose.

Following a vote, it was RESOLVED:

a) to note the report (items 2(i) to 2(iv) and approve the recommendation of Cabinet;

b) to approve the Treasury Management Strategy for lending and investment 2023/24; and

c) to approve the Minimum Revenue Provision Strategy for 2023/24.

Councillor Bryan Davies, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Democratic Services, Policy, Performance and People and Organisation presented the report to Council noting that following a recent recruitment campaign, the role of Corporate Lead Officer: Porth Cynnal, and Statutory Director of Social Services remains vacant. He noted that the current maximum salary for the role is significantly lower than that of corresponding roles in neighbouring authorities as well as of those of similar population to Ceredigion.

It was therefore proposed that a Market Forces Supplement of up to £10,385 is introduced to increase the advertised salary which will result in a maximum advertised salary and supplement equivalent to £97,500, to remain in place for as long as the market rate remains higher than the job evaluated salary level.

Members asked whether the proposed increase would be sufficient, noting that it is unsustainable to rely on agency staff. 

Eifion Evans, Chief Executive noted that salaries in Ceredigion have lagged behind those of neighbouring authorities of comparable duties and responsibilities, however increased remuneration would lead to a lesser differential with roles higher up the salary structure.  The Council needs to consider what is affordable and if a recommendation was put forward outside of what is proposed the Council may need to consider a general review of the Council’s pay structure.

Following a vote, it was RESOLVED to approve to introduction of a market forces supplement for the post of Statutory Director Social Services and Corporate Lead Officer – Porth Cynnal.

Matthew Vaux, Cabinet Member for Partnerships Housing, Lega and Governance and Public Protection gave an outline of the Charity Commission Scheme in relation to the charity known as the Evan Morgan Prizes noting that there is a requirement for three Trustees under the Scheme. 

The first Trustee is named as the Director of Education of Dyfed County Council whose statutory functions are now held by the Corporate Lead Officer – Schools as Chief Education Officer. The remaining two Trustees are to be nominated by the Council as Local Education Authority and may be, but need not be, a member of the Council.

In order to revitalise the scheme and be in a position to make new awards, it is proposed that the Council appoint the Chair and Vice-chair for the Ceredigion County Council Overview and Scrutiny Learning Communities Committee to be the remaining two Trustees.

Following a vote, it was RESOLVED to approve the appointment of the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Ceredigion County Council Overview and Scrutiny Learning Communities Committee as the two nominative Trustees to the charity known as the Evan Morgan Prizes.

Eifion Evans, Chief Executive presented the report to Council noting that it is a statutory requirement for the Election Officer to review boundaries on a regular basis and that the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales has been appointed to carry out a review of communities and electoral arrangements on behalf of Ceredigion County Council.

As part of the review, the Commission will have regard to

·       the creation, abolition or merging of communities and community wards

·       the name of the community and, where warded, the name of community wards

·       Where changes have been made to the boundaries of communities or community wards the number of councillors representing the community and, where warded, the number of councillors per ward.

As part of the review process, the Council is required to set up a cross party group of Councillors to support the review, to decide on Council Size Policy, which will be presented to Council prior to commencing the first consultation meeting with Town and Community councils, and to be the main group for the local authority.  It is recommended that the Cross-Party Group has 7 Members, and that Group Leaders have nominated Members for this group.

Councillor Bryan Davies, Leader of the Council noted that some Town and Community Councils are facing challenges with regards to attracting individuals to stand as Members, as well as costs associated with the administration of Committees.

Following a vote, it was RESOLVED to:

a)        note that the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales has been commissioned to undertake the Community Review on behalf of the Council;

b)        approve the number of Members on the Communities and Electoral Review Cross-Party Group be 7;

c)         confirm the membership of the Communities and Electoral Review Cross-Party Group as follows:

·       Clive Davies

·       Elizabeth Evans

·       Eryl Evans

·       Gwyn Wigley Evans

·       Rhodri Evans

·       Paul Hinge

·       Alun Williams.

Councillor Matthew Vaux, Cabinet Member for Partnerships, Housing, Legal and Governance and Public Protection presented the report to Council noting that following the resignation of the Vice-Chair of Governance and Audit Committee, Mr Andrew Blackmore was appointed and approved by Council on 15 December 2022.

During a meeting of the Governance and Audit Committee held 17 January 2023, consideration was given to the Deputy Chair arrangements, and it was agreed to appoint Mr Andrew Blackmore as Deputy Vice with immediate effect from 17 January 2023 for the remainder of a two-year period up to May 2024

Following a vote, it was RESOLVED to confirm the appointment of Andrew Blackmore as Vice Chair of the Governance and Audit Committee up to May 2024.

*For the term of office, the Independent Group and the Liberal Democrats will share the Chair/Vice Chair roles – alternating every two years.

Council RESOLVED to note Membership of the Development Group as follows:

*For the term of office, the Independent Group and the Liberal Democrats will share the Chair/Vice Chair roles – alternating every two years

Councillor Bryan Davies, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Democratic Services, Policy, Performance and People and Organisation presented the report to Council noting that Councillor Gareth Lloyd had decided to stand down from this role. 

Councillor Bryan Davies nominated Councillor Wyn Thomas as the Employer Representative to the Dyfed Pension Scheme.

Following a vote it was RESOLVED to appoint Councillor Wyn Thomas as the Employer Representative to the Dyfed Pension Scheme.

It was RESOLVED to confirm the Membership of the Council’s Committees as presented at the meeting.