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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED to approve the Risk Management Policy and Guidance 2023.
RESOLVED that Cabinet agrees to the Council becoming a member of the City of Sanctuary Local Authority network, and work towards becoming an awarded ‘Council of Sanctuary’ by going through the accreditation process for the reasons outlined within the advice section of this paper. The Cabinet Member for a Greener Powys advised that representatives of groups working with refugees in the county would be present to celebrate their work at the Council meeting on 20 July.
The Leader was authorised to sign the minutes of the last meeting held on 20th June 2023 as a correct record.
There were no declarations of interest reported.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED to approve the Risk Management Policy and Guidance 2023.
Cabinet considered the Risk Management Policy and Guidance 2023 which set out the Council’s approach to managing risk. It provided clear guidance on the how to implement best practice management of risk across the Council. It was designed to provide all the information and supporting templates and would ensure · The Council has a clear approach to Risk Management · The relevant parties understand their roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities for Risk Management · A risk managed approach to decision making and good governance of the Council. RESOLVED to approve the Risk Management Policy and Guidance 2023.
Cabinet considered the outturn position on school reserve movements and balances at 31 March 2023, and the school budget plans for 2023-24 as ratified by Governing Bodies and submitted to the authority on 1 May 2023. The overall position on schools’ carried forward reserves was a surplus of £6.6 million, which was an improvement of £2.5 million against the projections during the financial year. This had been achieved in part due to the distribution of £1.3 million of contingency funding and additional grant funding of £0.7 million delegated to schools at year end and by schools working closely with officers from the Schools Service and Finance to reduce their running costs and limit the expected draw on reserves by £0.5m. This team had developed a good relationship with schools and given them the tools to effectively manage their budgets. County Councillor Gwynfor Thomas, Chair of the Learning and Skills Scrutiny Committee presented the Committee’s recommendations. In response to the Committee’s concerns that virtually every school was in or possibly heading into an overspend position, the Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Transformation said on the evidence of past years, the forecasts were overly pessimistic and that there was a danger of over reacting and putting other services at risk. He noted that schools had used £2.5 million less in reserves than forecast. He rejected comments from the leader of the opposition that there was any complacency on behalf the Cabinet and noted that they were taking prudent action such as putting funds aside for the staff pay award. In response to the Scrutiny Committee’s comments about the pace of transformation, the Cabinet Member for a Learning Powys advised that he would be coming forward with a series of proposals in the autumn.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED that Cabinet agrees to the Council becoming a member of the City of Sanctuary Local Authority network, and work towards becoming an awarded ‘Council of Sanctuary’ by going through the accreditation process for the reasons outlined within the advice section of this paper. The Cabinet Member for a Greener Powys advised that representatives of groups working with refugees in the county would be present to celebrate their work at the Council meeting on 20 July.
Cabinet considered a proposal for the Council to formally join the City of Sanctuary Local Authority Network, and to begin the process of applying to become a ‘Council of Sanctuary’ as part of the City of Sanctuary movement. If the City of Sanctuary movement accept Powys County Council’s membership, the Council would develop an action plan showing how it would meet UK local authority network criteria. The action plan would follow the Welsh Government’s Nation of Sanctuary – Refugee and Asylum Seeker Plan, and following the development of this action plan, Powys County Council would move to become a fully accredited County of Sanctuary. Greg Langridge-Thomas, the Strategic Programme Manager, and his team were thanked for their work with refugees in Powys. RESOLVED that Cabinet agrees to the Council becoming a member of the City of Sanctuary Local Authority network, and work towards becoming an awarded ‘Council of Sanctuary’ by going through the accreditation process for the reasons outlined within the advice section of this paper. The Cabinet Member for a Greener Powys advised that representatives of groups working with refugees in the county would be present to celebrate their work at the Council meeting on 20 July.
The Director of Social Services presented her annual report for 2022/23. The report set out the challenges faced by the service with Adult Social Care and the Commissioning and Partnership service spending a significant proportion of the year under business continuity measures. In presenting her report the Director paid tribute to the staff for their all work throughout the year. Children’s Services had continued to work with families to keep children and young people safe at the heart of their families and communities and had reduced the number of children on the Child Protection Register. The service had developed a range of accommodation options for young people leaving the care of the local authority. The Grow our Own scheme has seen people qualifying and moving into permanent roles within Powys. Despite significant challenges in the domiciliary care market, the service had worked tirelessly to do all they can to keep people at home, safe, whilst the commissioning team have been working with the market to reset and recruit. The Cabinet member for Future Generations, the Cabinet Member for a Caring Powys and the Director of Education and Children’s Services also paid tribute to all of the staff.
Cabinet noted the delegated decisions taken by Cabinet members since the last meeting.
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