Cabinet

4.1 The minutes of the meeting held on the 23rd November were confirmed as an accurate record of the meeting.

5.1 The action sheet was noted.

6.1 The Executive Member for Resources presented the report commenting on the following: · The financial forecast for 2021/22 had improved significantly and was showing a favourable position of £2.2million, consideration would need to be given on the best way to use the resource, such as towards delivering members priorities, bolstering the Covid Recovery Fund or be put towards strengthening the Council’s financial resilience. · The Council had received a positive provisional settlement for 2022/23 which was as a result of Local Authorities constructive relationship with Welsh Government, which showed that Welsh Government recognised and valued the importance of Councils in delivering services and supporting residents. · The Council were originally looking at a budget shortfall of £1.5 million and the Cross-Cutting Resources and Business Overview & Scrutiny Committee looked at the estimates and provided comments and recommendations which she was grateful for. However, the provisional settlement gave the Council an uplift of 9.3% which was higher than expected and put the Council in a positive position of just over £8million for 2022/23. It was important to remember there was still a lot to work through and consideration needed to be given to the introduction of the real living wage in the care sector, pay negations and there were no plans for the continuation of the hardship fund into 2022/23. It was also noted from forward indications that settlements were likely to be tighter in the years ahead. · The Executive Member gave thanks to the Finance Officers for their continued prudent approach and to all Officers across departments for their continued work on the budget. 6.2 The Assistant Chief Executive for Resources highlighted the key messages which included: · The position for 2021/22 was looking positive and was an improved position. · The provisional settlement was very positive and was evidence of the work that Local Government had done with Welsh Government over the period of the pandemic and showed that Welsh Government wanted to support and see Local Government’s financial resilience improve. · In response to the recommendations and comments received from scrutiny, reference was made to the view of the Section 151 Officer to emphasise that reserves should not be used to underpin recurring spend and were to be used for one off spends when necessary. · The settlement did point out to Local Authorities that with the uplift received that they should be able to meet the demands of the real living wage within the care sector, and it was likely that the pay assumptions in the initial estimates would need to be upped and there would be no hardship funding in 2022/23. · There could still be implications stemming from Covid in 2022/23 and the Council would need to manage those pressures. · It was an exceptionally good settlement and forward indications had been provided for the following two years, although not as good as 2022/23 it was better than the Medium Term Financial Plan assumptions predicted and it was important to use the money wistfully for 2022/23 and beyond. 6.3 The Leader welcomed the investment that Welsh Government had made in local services and the recognition that lies behind that investment about the importance of local services and partnership working. He stated that Local Authorities were also grateful of the multi-year aspect of the settlement. He noted that the in-year position was partly thanks to the approach taken to the hardship fund and the way that Welsh Government had worked with Council’s to overcome the inevitable turbulence that the pandemic and the pressures it caused. The settlement was very much welcomed but there were still a number of challenges that remained and had to be considered. He welcomed discussions on how the Covid Recovery Fund could be used and enhanced going forward to help ease the way out of the impact of the pandemic. It was important to bear in mind that there were services that were still struggling from both the pandemic and also the austerity of the past decade. The Leader welcomed some of the policy aims which would have financial implications such as living wage in social care and the need to keep council tax as low as possible in recognition of the rising costs that many households were facing with energy bills going up. It was important to use the positive settlement to think long term and not just short term and to invest in preventative and early intervention services. If the settlement was used right the Council could make real progress. The Leader concluded by giving thanks to all Members and Officers for their hard work on the budget. He gave a special thanks to Mark Drakeford, First Minister, Rebecca Evans, Minister for Finance and Local Government and also Julie James, the outgoing Minster for Local Government for their work with Council’s. Local Government in Wales had a real benefit of working alongside the Welsh Government that valued local services and wanted to work with Local Authorities to secure the future of those services. 6.4 The Executive Member for Adult Services & Housing added that the Adult Services underspend was not a good thing and was as a result of not being able to commission care packages for people due to a chronic problem with finding staff, which was a problem being faced across the UK. The crisis was at the forefront of the service areas thinking in order to try and resolve the issue. 6.5 Cabinet agreed to: i. Note the current year forecasts; ii. Note the Provisional Settlement announcement as it effects Torfaen County Borough Council; iii. Endorse the measures proposed to address the forecasted 2022/23 position; and iv. Note the timetable for the remainder of the 2022/23 budget cycle.

7.1 The Executive Member for Adult Services and Housing presented the report and highlighted the following: · Welsh Government wrote out to Local Authorities stating that they were removing means testing for small and medium Disabled Facilities Grants which Local Authorities used to pay for different types of housing adaptions. This was great news and prevented people having to worry about the costs of adaptions required to their property. · The cost of works were increasing and the £5,000 threshold was not fit for purpose and the report sought approval to increase the non means test value from £5,000 to £8,000 retrospectively to 1st June 2021. · This change would enable people to live safely and happily in their own home. 7.2 The Group Manager, Change Management, Sustainability & System Support highlighted the key areas commenting on the following: • In March 2021, Welsh Government introduced the Housing Adaptations Service Standards which aimed to expedite adaptations recommended to overcome limitations as swiftly as possible, taking away means testing for anyone who required either a small or medium sized adaptation. Torfaen County Borough Council were already ahead of this with its own scheme which had been in place for some years, with a boundary of £5,000 set with means testing being applied for any works over this sum. • To comply with Welsh Government Service Standards, the Council had to disregard the £5,000 threshold and only apply a means test for major works. It is recognised that it could not be done in one go and it was proposed to achieve this in a stepped approach with an immediate amendment from the £5,000 non means tested limit to £8,000. • With the rise in costs some adaptions were exceeding the threshold and some adaptions were being declined which was not want the Council wanted. It was important that people were kept safe in their own homes. • As the policy was being amended retrospectively all cases received in the 6 months prior but refused due to a financial assessment would be reconsidered. 7.3 The Leader commented that it was great news and thanked Officers for their work on it. 7.4 Cabinet gave approval to amend the Torfaen’s Housing Adaptations (DFG’s) policy to increase the non means test value from £5,000 to £8,000 with effect from 1st June 2021.

8.1 The Executive Member for Resources presented the report which sought approval to grant a community group, Friends of the Fishpond Park Panteg a 25-year legal agreement to allow them to take ownership of the park. The Community Group had worked extremely hard to improve the park and it was a real benefit to the local community. 8.2 The Corporate Asset Manager added: • Friends of the Fishpond Park Panteg were a well organised and energic group who had been managing the park for around 6 – 7 years. • The Community Asset Transfer to the Friends Group would enable them to be able to apply for funding to continue to make improvements. • The public would still have access to use the park. • The Council would still retain some responsibilities of the park and there would be a fair balance between what the Friends Group were responsible for and what duties the Council would undertake. 8.3 The Leader commented that the Friends of Fishpond Park were formed in 2015 when the park was a shadow of its former self. The Group have carried out great work in making the park what it was today. He also thanked Officers for their work on establishing the agreement. 8.4 Cabinet agreed: i. To approve the implementation of the proposed Community Asset Transfer of Fishpond Park in Panteg to the Charitable Incorporated Organisation known as Friends of Fishpond Park Panteg on a 25-year agreement based on the terms outlined in the report and any additional ones that may be deemed appropriate by the Chief Legal Officer. ii. That specific delegation be granted to the Assistant Chief Executive Resources to determine any further matters pertaining to the Community Asset Transfer that may arise and require formal decision.

9.1 The Head of PSSU presented the report which sought approval of policy IGO13, Records Management. The new policy would part of the suite of policies which made up the Councils Information Management Framework, which ensured data and information held by the Council was used, stored, shared and deleted as appropriate. 9.2 The Executive Member for Corporate Governance & Performance thanked the Team for their hard work in developing the policy and ensuring that the Council complied with the required legislation for the care, preservation and management of Council records. 9.3 Cabinet agreed to approve the implementation of IGO13 - Records Management Policy.

10.1 Cabinet agreed to the exclusion of the press and public as the report was not for publication because in accordance with paragraph 14 of Schedule 12a of the Local Government Act 1972 (As Amended By The Access To Information Variation Wales Order 2007) it contains information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) and the public interest in maintaining the exemptions outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.