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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
Agreed that the decision be implemented before the process of challenge and call-in had been completed in accordance with paragraph 5.15.9 of the Constitution because the decision was required urgently for the reasons set out in paragraph 4.5 of the report
Executive Members (with Portfolios): Councillors: Anthony Hunt – Leader & Executive Member for Strategic Leadership Richard Clark – Deputy Leader & Executive Member for Education Fiona Cross – Executive Member for Children, Families & Communities David Daniels – Executive Member for Adult Services & Housing Joanne Gauden – Executive Member for Economy, Skills & Regeneration Peter Jones – Executive Member for Corporate Governance & Performance Sue Morgan – Executive Member for Resources Officers: Nigel Aurelius – Assistant Chief Executive, Resources Rachel Beale – Personal Assistant to the Leader and Deputy Leader Niall Flack – Apprentice, Democratic Services Delyth Harries – Monitoring Officer Neil Jones - Head of Communications, Engagement and Civil Contingencies Rachel Jowitt – Chief Officer Neighbourhoods, Planning and Public Protection Jason Lewis - Head of Strategic HR, Pensions and Asset Management Dermot McChrystal – Chief Officer for Education & Lead Director for Children and Young People Jason O’Brien – Acting Chief Officer for Social Care and Housing Stephen Vickers – Chief Executive
2.1 Apologies were received from Councillor Mandy Owen, Executive Member for Environment.
3.1 The following interests were interests declared: · Councillor David Daniels declared a personal interest in agenda item 9 as a Council appointed governor at Maendy Primary School. · Councillor Anthony Hunt declared a personal interest in agenda item 10 as a Council appointed Trustee of Torfaen Leisure Trust.
4.1 The minutes of the meeting held on the 12th July were confirmed as an accurate record of the meeting.
5.1 The action sheet was noted.
6.1 The Executive Member for Resources introduced the report commenting on the following: · The report outlined the initial 2022/23 budget forecast at quarter one, which anticipated a potential underspend of £0.5 million against the Council’s net budget of £209 million. · The Council was demonstrating sound forecasting, prudent budgeting and the clear calm financial management was a tribute to the way resources were managed in the authority. · Despite rampant inflation and pay awards being higher than anticipated the Council’s approach had ensured that the pay awards were deliverable without having an impact on existing services. 6.2 The Executive Member felt that the Council was courageous in terms of the use of its resources, it did not sit on excessive levels of reserves and was prepared to take well managed risks. The Assistant Chief Executive, Resources highlighted the key areas of the report and made the following points: · The report outlined the forecast at quarter one. There were particular pressures within Neighbourhood Services which had been hit the hardest by inflation costs, in terms of catering costs and the recovery from the pandemic in terms of income levels. · Since the report was originally due to go to cabinet in September, the figures for month five had been produced which showed a further improved position. · The Council had an approach to managing the pay awards which was largely down to the decisions Cabinet recommended to Council as part of the March budget. · The budget process was outlined for 2023/24 and going forward things were going to get tougher, as the forward indications were lower than they had been, and the rate of inflation was very high. It was vital that going in to 2023/24 that the Council maintained financial discipline and took a calm approach whilst having to make some difficult choices. · The significant increases in inflation in capital was concerning and was putting pressure on capital schemes. · In overall terms the Council was in a good position for 2022/23 which was significantly helped by the decisions Cabinet put forward to Council in March. 6.3 The Leader commented that it was good to hear the positive impact of the decisions made by Cabinet. There was a dilemma facing the services that had been vital during the pandemic due to cost increases and it was vital that the right decisions were made at a UK Government level to support those services going forward otherwise they would continue to suffer and would impact both the people who worked in those services and for those that depended on those services. It was however good to see that on a local level the Council had a prudent, calm and careful approach that was enabling a positive report to be delivered today. 6.4 In response to a question asked regarding whether the Welsh Government provisional settlement was going to be delayed due to the possibility of austerity returning, the Assistant Chief Executive, Resources stated the latest update he had received from Welsh Government Officials was that no delay was anticipated. Welsh Government were fairly confident that they would be able to proceed with delivering their provisional settlement in December as planned. The Leader added that Local Government were appealing to Welsh Government to work together to try and face up to the uncertainties to give the best possible chance of setting a positive budget for next year. 6.5 Cabinet agreed to: · Note the initial financial forecast for 2022/23 · Approve a funding proposal to address the potential impact of the National Employers final pay offer, and Note the proposed timetable for the construction / consideration of the initial 2023/24 estimates and revised MTFP.
7.1 The Chief Officer, Neighbourhoods, Planning and Public Protection highlighted the key areas commenting on the following: · The report was to note the decision made in August to continue with the improvements to the recycling and waste service. · In December last year the Council supported through investment the purchasing of temporary vehicles and additional staff to help improve the dry recycling services, which included paper, plastic and cans. This investment enabled the stabilisation of the service whilst the Council awaited the delivery of new fleet. · The new fleet in time would collect the dry recycling plus food waste and card. Currently food and card were collected separately on different vehicles. Officers had hoped that the food waste and card vehicles would last until the new fleet arrived next year, however this had proved impossible and the vehicles were at their end of life and were causing considerable strain on the service and impacting the public. · In August a report was presented to the Executive Members for Environment and Resources which requested approval to suspend garden waste for two weeks to allow the crew and fleet to prioritise food and card collections and allow them to catch up on missed collections, the hiring of 8 additional vehicles, the recruitment of additional staff and to extend garden waste collections as a gesture of good will to residents. · The report outlined the financial implications associated with the implementation of this strategy with an investment required of £351,000 for this year, £324,000 in 2023/24 and £54,000 in 2024/25. The costs would be met through using in year budget and then supported through corporate reserves. · To ensure the service could act quickly and guarantee the vehicles the decision was implemented before the process of challenge and call-in had been completed which was permitted in accordance with paragraph 11.5.1 of the Constitution. Six of the vehicles had now arrived, along with all the additional staff and as a result of the changes implemented performance had improved and the service should have stability for the future whilst the Council awaits the new dry recycling vehicles which were expected in March 2023. 7.2 The Leader welcomed the updates and recognised the challenges the service faced with trying to provide an efficient service for residents whilst also meeting the recycling targets. He thanked residents for bearing with the Council during the suspension period of garden waste. 7.3 Cabinet agreed to note: · The strategy for stabilising services including suspension of garden waste for one collection per household, hire of vehicles as outlined and recruitment of staff; · The financial strategy and the use of the service budget and corporate reserves as outlined in section 6 of the report; · That the decision was implemented before the process of challenge and call-in had been completed because implementation was required urgently to ensure the strategy could be implemented in line with the timescales proposed; · Cabinet agreed that garden waste collections are extended for a further month until 2nd December 2022 as a gesture of goodwill to make up for this 2-week disruption.
8.1 The Chief Officer, Neighbourhoods, Planning and Public Protection presented the report and made the following points: · The report seeks approval for the mid-life update to the Highway Asset Management Plan (HAMP). · The HAMP describes how the Council reacts to and records reports of highway safety issues, assesses the condition of any given part of the highway network and uses data to evidence the allocation of funding. The HAMP ensures that the Council act appropriately, using resources effectively and residents are given a fair and consistent service. · The HAMP was approved in 2019 following a strategic review but it was important that the documents were kept live and under constant review to take account of emerging changes in practice guidance or legislation. · The report provided the data on the condition of the A, B and C roads in the borough against the amount of resources invested into the network. The data shows an improvement which evidences that the criteria in the HAMP was working, and resources were being applied appropriately. · The mid-life update proposed amendments in four areas including change to the mode of street inspections, a change to the ability of the highway inspectorate to request an increased inspection frequency where a road or section of road has reached the end of its functional life, inclusion of traffic flow data and early warning of the proposed 20mph which could have consequential impact on some scheduled inspection frequencies. A new HAMP would be reviewed over the next 3 years with a new version being presented in good time for adoption by the service in 2025. 8.2 The Leader commented: • That Councils were advised to prioritise and use resources on the highest speed and highest volume of traffic roads which were the A, B and C for safety reasons and it was inevitable that the back roads, residential roads and unclassified roads then suffered. • However if the Council were to spend the resources on the back roads, residential roads and unclassified roads there would likely be more accidents on the A, B and C roads due to potholes etc. • It was important to communicate to the public that with the limited resources available the Council had to use resources where safety dictates and reassure the public that the Council were always looking for different solutions and opportunities for those roads which were not prioritised. He would have discussions with neighbouring councils to see if there were any other models that provided more value for money for road resurfacing. 8.3 In response to questions and comments made by the Leader, the Chief Officer for Neighbourhoods, Planning and Public Protection gave the following responses: • The HAMP prioritised road improvements based on traffic data, safety and key risks. Over the next few years, the HAMP could be reviewed but if Members were to change the prioritisation you would see a decline in the condition of the main routes and therefore exposing the Council to a level of risk. Before the HAMP the authority had quite a high rate of insurance claims because it did not have a regime in place. • In terms of road conditions elsewhere, Torfaen were comparable with other Welsh local authority areas. • Officers always looked at the different procurement options and over time due to austerity the Council has had to move to a more contracted model with an inhouse reactive small workforce. However for the major reconstructive routes it was not cost effective for the Council to invest in the level of kit required to carry out the works which was the reason for moving to a more contracted way of working. • Welsh Government funding for highway improvements was not consistent and there was no long-term view on grants. The Council had not received any funding this year and were not anticipating anything to come forward for next year either. Funding was very much lobby based. Local Authorities sometimes received end of year funding because it was an area that funding could be spent quickly as there were always schemes in the pipeline. If the Council had consistency from Welsh Government that would greatly help package bigger contracts or use different delivery models. 8.4 Cabinet agreed to approve the mid-life update HAMP for the adopted highway 2019- 2025 as Council policy.
9.1 The Executive Member for Education presented the report highlighting the following: · This was the contractual phase for the construction of the Maendy site. · It would be the Council’s first Passivhaus designed School which achieved Net Zero Carbon which aligned with the Council’s Climate Emergency Declaration. · The report should have been reported to Cabinet a few weeks ago but with the demise of her Majesty the Queen, Cabinet was cancelled. The report was time critical and the Chief Executive in consultation with Cabinet Members made the decision and Members were being asked to note and affirm the decision of the Chief Executive. · There were some slight cost increases from when this was originally presented due to project abnormals with there being difficult site conditions and highly inflated market conditions which was being experienced throughout the Construction Industry. 9.2 The Leader welcomed the construction of a new net zero primary school, which would provide first class educational facilities to young people and the building would be sustainable and fit for the future. 9.3 Cabinet agreed to note and endorse the decision that was made by the Chief Executive on 20th September for the award of contract.
Decision as recorded
Agreed that the decision be implemented before the process of challenge and call-in had been completed in accordance with paragraph 5.15.9 of the Constitution because the decision was required urgently for the reasons set out in paragraph 4.5 of the report
10.1 The Chief Officer Neighbourhoods, Planning and Public Protection presented the report commenting on the following: · The report was to note as the decision to progress with the project needed to be made urgently during the official mourning period of her Majesty the Queen when all council business was suspended. The decision had to be taken as the prices quoted were only for a certain period of time, the Chief Executive took the decision in consultation with Cabinet Members. · The project originally came to Cabinet earlier in the year but due to significant volatility in the market and also changes to the project parameters it was being resubmitted. · The project looked to upgrade significant infrastructure of the Torfaen Leisure Trust estate, much of the infrastructure due to be upgraded remained the Council’s responsibility for the capital upgrade and would provide benefits for both the Council and Torfaen Leisure Trust. · The project covered works at five of the Torfaen Leisure Trust sites with a value of just over £1 million, when it was originally presented to Cabinet the costs were around £700,000. · Torfaen Leisure Trust could not access Salix funding, as it was only for public bodies, the Council would enter into the Salix agreement on their behalf and would work with the Leisure Trust to agree the terms and conditions and to agree that the Leisure Trust would pay back the loan with the savings generated by the project. · Due to the market prices the payback period was forecast at 4.5 years whereas previously it was a 7-year payback period. · Works should be completed by the end of 2023. 10.2 The Leader commented that he welcomed the works which would see cost reduction and also a reduction in CO2 emissions. 10.3 Cabinet agreed to note and endorse that the Chief Executive: · Approved the proposed energy improvement project; · Approved Torfaen County Borough Council secure the Salix loan on behalf of Torfaen Leisure Trust to enable the project to progress subject to Torfaen County Borough Council entering into an agreement with Torfaen Leisure Trust for the repayment of the loan, such terms to be agreed in conjunction with the Leisure Partnership Board and the Council legal team · Agreed that the decision be implemented before the process of challenge and call-in had been completed in accordance with paragraph 5.15.9 of the Constitution because the decision was required urgently for the reasons set out in paragraph 4.5 of the report
Councillors must say when they have a personal link to something being discussed, such as a job, a property or a family member. A prejudicial interest is one strong enough that the councillor usually leaves the room and takes no part.
Declarations are read from the minutes once they are published.
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