Cabinet

The Chief Executive echoed the Leader’s comments in relation to the successful Levelling-Up bid. Thanks were extended to all the staff that had undertaken work in order to submit the bids.

The Leader advised Cabinet that the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 placed a statutory requirement on each Public Services Board (PSB) to produce a Local Well-being Plan for their area. The Local Well-being Plan must set out how the PSB intended to improve the economic, social, environmental and cultural well-being of its area by setting local objectives, which would maximise the contribution made by the Board to achieving the well-being goals in its area. The Well-being Plan must be approved by the Boards of each PSB member organisation, in line with the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. In the case of local authorities, approval must be sought from Council. The Conwy and Denbighshire PSB would meet to approve publication of the Well-being Plan on 23 March 2023. It was noted that the Local Well-being Plan would provide an opportunity to work with the public. RESOLVED- That the Council be recommended to approve the Conwy and Denbighshire Well-being Plan for 2023-2028.

The Leader advised Cabinet that the Shared Prosperity Fund would deliver £2.6bn of investment until March 2025 across the UK. The aim of the programme was “to build pride in place and increase life chances”. UK Government had allocated £126m to North Wales to deliver the programme between 2022/2023 and 2024/2025, with £20.2m allocated to Conwy for the core programme. The Leader sought approval for the establishment of a Conwy UK Shared Prosperity (UKSPF) Local Partnership Panel, which would be used to assess and support applications, with delegated authority sought to allow the Leader to appoint a Third Sector representative to that Panel. The Chief Executive suggested a Private Sector representative should also be included on the Panel. In relation to the recommendation to give delegated authority to the Leader to approve applications supported by the Panel under £500,000, the Leader confirmed that any sensitive or contentious recommendations by the Panel would be brought to Cabinet for a final decision. In order to enable a wider benefit for the SPF, it was suggested that a Key Fund for Community and Place and Supporting Local Business be established, which would allow for projects under £250,000 in value to apply. This would provide an opportunity for smaller organisations, including community and voluntary groups to access the funding. With regard to the £4 million of funding to improve adult numeracy, it was suggested that this fund should be widened to improve adult literacy and digital competency skills. This was currently under review by UK Government, and a response was awaited Members were advised that there was no match-funding requirement from the Council, however, external organisations may be requested to provide some financial support for their applications. It was noted that the delivery of schemes would align with the Council’s Welsh Language and Equality Policies. RESOLVED- (a) That the establishment of the Conwy UK Shared Prosperity (UKSPF) Local Partnership Panel, to assess and support funding applications, be agreed. (b) That delegated authority be given to the Leader (Portfolio Holder for Economic Development) to approve applications for UKSPF, following recommendations by the Conwy UKSPF Local Partnership Panel, such delegation shall be limited to a maximum of £500,000 (for the total value of the project), and any decision above this figure shall be referred to Cabinet (c) That the principle of establishing a Key Fund for both Communities and Place and Supporting Local Businesses, in order to allow smaller projects to be considered, be approved and that the terms of reference and allocated funding pot for the Key Fund be submitted to a future Cabinet, following consultation with the Conwy UKSPF Local Partnership Panel. (d) That delegated authority be given to the Leader (Portfolio Holder for Economic Development) to appoint a representative from the Third Sector and a representative from the Private Sector, to sit on the UKSPF Local Partnership Panel.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Revenue and Benefits presented the indicative budget for 2023/2024, which was outlined in Appendix 1 of the report, following the announcement of the Local Government Provisional Settlement on 14 December 2022. Members were advised that the recommendations arising from the report would form the basis of the draft budget and Council Tax increase for 2023/2024 to be presented to Members in February, which would then lead to Cabinet recommending a balanced budget and Council Tax increase to be approved by Council in March 2023. Table 7 and Table 10 in Appendix 1 of the report outlined the potential increase of a 10%, 12.5% and 15% Council Tax increase. It was noted that residents could opt to pay their Council Tax over a 12 month period, instead of a 10 month period, in order to reduce the monthly cost. Further to the above, it should be made clear to the public that the final Council Tax demand included an element for North Wales Police, Town and Community Councils and the North Wales Fire and Rescue Authority (NWFRA). Members were advised that NWFRA had increased its levy to 9.9% for 2023/2024, which equated to a cash increase of £660k. The provisional settlement included an increase in Conwy’s Aggregate External Finance (AEF) of 7.3%, within an average increase of 7.9% across Wales. The range of increases were between 6.5% and 9.3%. This equated to a cash increase of £13.498m, however, this would only cover the pay awards to staff and teachers. Conwy’s estimated funding shortfall for 2023/2024 was £21.528 million. The report identified options for consideration in determining a strategic direction which would allow the Council to set a balanced budget in March, which were set-out in Table 9 of Appendix 1. There was still a high degree of uncertainty and risk in the financial landscape as a result of the economic landscape, particularly in relation to pay and price inflation, and the indicative budget and Appendix 1 had been framed with this in mind. The Finance and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee considered the report on 23 January 2023 and made the following recommendations to Cabinet:- (a) That the overall shortfall of £21.528m be noted and that it be acknowledged that only essential and unavoidable business cases will be submitted. (b) That the Council Tax increase be kept as low as possible. (c) That further information be provided on how schools will meet the proposed budget reductions and the implications of the reductions. (d) That lines 5 and 6 of the risk table (table 12) within appendix 1 of the report be amended to include risks to schools. (e) That the assumptions relating to pay pressures as outlined in paragraphs 5.7 to 5.15 of the report, which have been adopted in preparing the indicative budget be noted and approved. Discussion ensued in relation to recommendation (c), as the School Budget Forum, which included representation from a broad range of schools, should be the avenue to discuss school budgets. However, further representation was made that all schools should have the opportunity to feed into the budget setting process. The Strategic Director – Finance and Resources advised that the information could be requested from schools in anticipation of the report being presented to Finance and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 20 February 2023. The Chair of the Finance and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee advised that the Committee had taken exception to the increase of levy by NWFRA, especially as it had established an in-house Finance Department, following years of contracting the Council to undertake the work at a lower cost. Further to the above, the Budget Working Groups (BWGs) had provided cost saving proposals, with some difficult decisions being considered. The Cabinet Member advised that the BWGs would continue and would be reviewing the budget for 2024/2025 with the priorities including energy costs, out of county placements and homelessness. Thanks were extended to the Strategic Director – Finance and Resources and her team for producing the reports, together with Heads of Service for undertaking the work to realise further budget savings under increasing financial constraints. RESOLVED- (a) That the overall shortfall of £21.528m be noted and that it be acknowledged that only essential and unavoidable business cases will be submitted. (b) That the Council Tax increase be kept as low as possible. (c) That further information be provided on how schools will meet the proposed budget reductions and the implications of the reductions. (d) That lines 5 and 6 of Table 12 in Appendix 1 of the report be amended to include risks to schools. (e) That the assumptions relating to pay pressures, as outlined in paragraphs 5.7 to 5.15 of the report, which have been adopted in preparing the indicative budget be noted and approved.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Revenue and Benefits presented a report, which requested that Members approve the continued adoption for 2023/2024 of the Council Tax Reduction Schemes and Prescribed Requirements (Wales) Regulations 2013 and continue with the same local discretionary elements. Councils were required by the Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Wales) to formally adopt a Council Tax Reduction scheme by 31 January, each year. Failure to adopt a local scheme by 31 January 2023 would result in the Council Tax Reduction Scheme (Default Scheme) (Wales) Regulation 2013 being imposed upon the Authority without local discretion for 2023/2024. The Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Safeguarding, in her capacity as the Armed Forces Champion, welcomed the report. RESOLVED- That the Council be recommended to adopt the Council Tax Reduction Schemes Regulation 2023 and make no change to the current three discretionary elements in the Regulations, which have been adopted annually by the Council since April, 2013 as follows:- (i) Apply a 100% disregard of War Pensions (including War Widows Pensions) and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme awards attributable to service, when calculating income in a Council Tax Reduction assessment. (ii) Not to increase the standard extended payment period of 4 weeks Council Tax Reduction to applicants after they return to work, when they have been in receipt of a relevant qualifying benefit. (iii) Not to increase the Council Tax Reduction maximum backdate period beyond the standard 3 months.

The Cabinet Member for Education sought approval for the Local Authority School Admissions Policy 2024 - 2025. The Statutory School Admissions Code for Wales required consultation on the Admissions Policy, which was required to be completed by 1 March 2023. An internal review had been undertaken of the Local Authority’s Admissions Policy and minor amendments had been proposed as follows:- · Changes to the relevant dates and year to which the Policy applied. · Changes to the term ‘Looked After Children’ to ‘Children Looked After’. · Changes to section on ‘Medical Needs’. · Clarification on where catchment maps could be viewed. · Clarification of learners with two permanent exclusions. · Changes to the section on ‘how to apply for a school place’. RESOLVED- (a) That the Local Authority School Admissions Policy 2024/2025 be approved for consultation. (b) That delegated authority be given to the Head of Education Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Education, to make any minor amendments to the policy following the consultation and then adopt and publish the policy.

RESOLVED- That the Public and Press be excluded from the meeting under the provisions of Section 100A of the above Act during consideration of the following item as it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 14 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A to the Act and that in all the relevant circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.