Cabinet

4.1 The minutes of the meeting held on the 8th February were confirmed as an accurate record of the meeting.

5.1 The action sheet was noted.

6.1 The Executive Member for Education introduced the report which sought approval of a three-year overarching regional Business Plan. The five Cabinet Members and Directors of Education in the regional had all been consulted on the Business Plan and it has also been presented to scrutiny committees within each authority. It was hopeful that the priorities outlined in the plan would be met, as for the past two year the focus of the EAS has been on educating pupils throughout the pandemic. 6.2 The Assistant Director, EAS highlighted the key areas of the report and made the following points: · The three-year business plan would be updated on an annal basis. The plan included individual Local Authority priorities along with the priorities for the region as a whole. · The plan considers how schools and educational settings continue to face the challenges of the pandemic. · The EAS would build upon what had worked well during the pandemic. Schools and the EAS have seized opportunities to explore innovative ways of working and delivering meaningful learning experiences through a creative blended learning approach. · The EAS understands the need to communicate with clarity to provide reassurance regarding advice, guidance, support and expectations. As a result, the EAS would work with Torfaen Council to ensure they were able to focus on their important priorities and their support for learners. · The final version of the business plan incorporates feedback from all consultees including specific feedback from the Torfaen Education Overview and Scrutiny Committee. · Bespoke support would be available for schools who required more intensive support. · The delegation rate to schools increased to 95.5% in 2021/22, whilst the EAS staff profile has reduced by 53.1% since 2012. Torfaen Council’s indicative core contribution for 2022/23 would be £503,498 compared with £506,028 in 2021/22. There was uncertainty with regards to the regional grant funding from Welsh Government for 2022/2023. As a result of the pandemic, it was likely that there would continue to be reductions in the regional grant profile. When the grant position had been confirmed the EAS detailed delivery plan would be updated accordingly. 6.3 The Leader requested that the EAS provide ongoing feedback, consultation and communication with Members on school improvement. The Assistant Director from the EAS commented that they would work on a workshop offer to keep Members updated. 6.4 Cabinet agreed to approve the EAS Business Plan 2022-2025.

7.1 The Executive Member for Economy, Skills & Regeneration presented the report and commented on the following: · The Council were aware of the challenges town centres were facing due to the pandemic and also the rise in online shopping. · Torfaen had great businesses, and it was time to rethink the role of the town and prioritise the regeneration. · Officers had put together a suite of projects for development and have estimated costs for the projects for a submission to the Levelling Up Fund. · Cabinet were being asked to access funds from corporate reserves prior to submitting a bid to the Levelling up Fund. If the Council’s bid is successful, the Council funding would then be capitalised as part of any Council capital match funding allocation to prepare the projects for further investment through the Levelling up Fund. However, the Levelling up Fund was competitive, and funding was not guaranteed if the application was not successful, Officers would seek to submit the proposals to other funders. 7.2 The Chief Officer, Communities, Customer Service & Digital highlighted the key areas commenting on the following: • Since the Summer Officers had been working on proposals for the development of the town centres to embed pride and drive footfall. A bid for funding from the Levelling Up Fund was one part of the strategic plan. • The Council had already secured some funding, however more was required to carry out the projects. • A programme of projects had been developed and included four projects being developed collaboratively with private sector property owners, and three projects being developed that related to Council-owned assets. • Cabinet were being asked to approve the allocation of £490,000 from corporate reserves to develop the projects to the point where they were suitable for submission to the Levelling Up Fund. Should the Levelling Up Fund not be successful, the initial development work would enable the projects to be submitted to other funding sources. • There was a risk that the estimated costs could be lower than tendered rates leading to a shortfall in funding. However, should this happen Officers would take the design work as far as possible within the available budget and would make the submission on the basis of that information. • Engagement had been undertaken and stakeholders would continue to be engaged throughout the development of the projects. 7.3 The Leader welcomed the progress towards submitting an effective bid. 7.4 Cabinet agreed to approve the allocation of £490,000 from the corporate reserve to develop projects to a sufficient stage for a submission to the Levelling Up Fund as set out in the report.

8.1 The Executive Member for the Resources presented the report which proposed a revised approach to delivering procurement leadership and capacity within Torfaen. The current approach was not sustainable and a partnership approach with Cardiff City Council was proposed. Cardiff Council already provided procurement support to the Cardiff Capital City Region and Monmouthshire County Council under a similar arrangement, it was a proved partnership that worked well, and it was felt that it was a positive way forward. 8.2 The Assistant Chief Executive Resources highlighted the following points: • Torfaen only had a very small corporate resource dedicated to procurement and there was a need to make a step change in approach if the Council were to achieve their ambitions in terms of the national and local policy agendas. • It was proposed that a partnership through a mutually beneficial delegation arrangement with Cardiff Council was the best way forward. Cardiff Council already provided this support to other public sectors and were a highly respected procurement service with scale. • Cardiff Council were aware of Torfaen’s priorities and wanted to engage purposefully with all service areas and tailor the approach to what would work for Torfaen. It was important to approach the partnership in an open and transparent way and seek to establish best practice and improve the Council’s approach. • The Council’s existing Procurement Officer and budget would be seconded and the existing budget for a vacant post would also be transferred to allow Cardiff Council to recruit an additional procurement officer. • An additional charge of £80,225 per year for Cardiff to provide the service would need to be funded and would be allocated from the Workplace Transformation budget. It was felt that the costs represent good value for money and was broadly equivalent to the cost of a Head of Service. 8.3 The Leader thanked Officers for their work on this which did not just represent value for money, it represented a good partnership approach and a good way of looking at outcomes and getting results. Policy demand did make procurement more complicated and required strategic oversight to look beyond lowest cost and consider concerns with regards to the environment, local economy, employment standards, fair tax and working with business and people who chose to do the right thing. 8.4 Cabinet agreed: i. To the proposals within the report ii. That Torfaen enters into a Delegation Agreement with Cardiff Council for a minimum of three years and iii. To Cabinet delegate final approval of the Delegation Agreement to the Assistant Chief Executive Resources.

9.1 The Executive Member for Children, Families & Communities presented the report which provided the outcomes and findings of a full-service review of the Family Placement Team and highlighted the following: · Torfaen’s current fees and allowances to foster carers were not competitive with other Local Authorities in the region and there had been no uplift to the remuneration to Torfaen foster carers since 2009/10. Torfaen were in need of more foster carers, and it was felt that they should be given a competitive remuneration and it was proposed to offer foster carers an enhanced allowance. · Where possible, the service tried to find a suitable placement for Looked after Children within their wider family, however where this was not possible, the service tried to find a foster home that would meet the needs of the child within the local communities with ‘in house’ carers. In the absence of a suitable ‘in house’ carer, an Independent Fostering Agency placement search would be carried out. However, placing children with an Independent Fostering Agency was costly and during 2020/21, the average ‘in house’ placement cost the authority £295 per week compared with an average Independent Fostering Agency costing £776 per week. The review aims to increase the in-house capacity. · Prior to 2015, Torfaen foster carers received a birthday allowance for each child placed in their care. In 2015, a decision was made to cease the birthday allowance as a result of budget pressures. The review proposes that the birthday allowance is re-instated. · Torfaen’s Social Workers have more cases than they should, and the Council were in need of more social workers, recruiting more social workers would also allow mainstream fostering assessments to be brought back in house. · The Fostering Network runs an innovative programme to improve foster care and outcomes for children and young people in foster care. The Mockingbird Family Model centres on one foster home acting as a hub, offering planned and emergency sleepovers and short breaks, advice, training and support. The review recommends that the Council consider implementing the Mockingbird Family Model as a means of creating capacity to offer respite to foster carers. · In order to strengthen relationships with foster carers, the Council would also be considering developing a foster charter in partnership with foster carers, setting out each party’s roles and responsibilities. · The Family Placement Team and Torfaen foster carers had been consulted throughout the full-service review. · The only concern raised related to the national difficulties in recruiting Social Workers. 9.2 The Head of Children’s Services added: • Local demand had increased significantly across Children and Family Services in Torfaen but there had been no wholescale review of the Family Placement Team. • There had been no uplift to the remuneration to Torfaen foster carers since 2009/2010 and Torfaen fees were not competitive with other Local Authorities in the region. • Caseloads in the Family Placement Team were not in keeping with best practice standards which affected the level of support provided to Torfaen foster carers. • If the Service chose to do nothing, it was likely that the proportion of Children Looked After placed with Independent Fostering Agency and residential providers would increase and would create a significant budget pressure for the service. • The recommendations within the full business case look to take preventative action to ensure that the service has sufficient accommodation for the looked after population both now and in the future. 9.3 The Leader thanked the team for their work on this which was an encouraging and overarching package which would help improve outcomes for the young people and get more and better stable solutions for them. He welcomed the move to more in house assessments to get a more holistic solution as to oppose to outsourcing them. 9.4 Cabinet agreed to: i. Approve the Full Business Case for consideration as part of its medium-term service and financial plan going forward. ii. Approve the Foster Carer Expenses and Allowances Policy attached at appendix 2.

10.1 The Executive Member for Executive Member for Adult Services & Housing presented the report commenting on the following: • The Housing Support Grant brings together three funding streams, Supporting People, Homelessness Prevention and Rent Smart Wales to provide a blend of Housing Related Support Services and practical homelessness prevention solutions for vulnerable people in the community. • Welsh Government provided a significant increase to the baseline budget for Housing Support Grant across Wales in 2021/22 which was very welcome. • Following consultation with stakeholders, a number of strategic priorities for the Housing Support Programme had been identified. • The Executive Member thanked Officers for their hard work on this. 10.2 The Chief Officer for Social Care and Housing commented that it was an important programme, and the significant financial uplift was very much welcomed and would enable the service to strengthen, enhance and invest in projects to help the community. 10.3 The Leader thanked Officers for their work on this and commented that housing was at the centre of keeping people safe and well. 10.4 Cabinet agreed to approve the 2022-26 HSP Strategy and 2022-25 HSP Delivery Plan.

11.1 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.