To receive declarations of personal and prejudicial interest (if any) from Members/Officers in accordance with the provisions of the members’ Code of Conduct adopted by Council from 1 September 2008.

There were no declarations of interest made.

To receive for approval the Minutes of 23/10/18.

RESOLVED:                  That the Minutes of a meeting of Cabinet dated 23 October 2018 be approved as a true and accurate record.

The Interim Section 151 Officer submitted a report, the purpose of which, was to present Cabinet with the draft Medium Term Financial Strategy 2019-20 to 2011-23, which sets out the spending priorities of the Council, key investment objectives and budget areas targeted for necessary savings. The Strategy also included a financial forecast for 2019-2023, and a detailed draft Revenue Budget for 2019-20.

She introduced her submission, by advising that the MTFS had been guided by the Council’s three priorities as contained in its Corporate Plan.

The next sections of the report contained a budget narrative, which aimed to articulate the continued and significant investment in public services that the Council will make. It also set out how the Council aims to change particular areas of service delivery and the financial consequences of this.

The report then gave a financial overview, following which the Interim Section 151 Officer gave a resume of how much budget is allocated to each of its key service areas of follows:-

·         Education

·         Social Care and Early Help

·         Public Realm

·         Supporting the Economy

·         Other Services

The Interim Section 151 Officer confirmed that the Council’s MTFS was set within the context of UK economic and public expenditure plans, Welsh Government’s priorities and legislative programme.

She explained about the Welsh Government’s draft budget announced by the Finance Secretary on 2 October 2018, and how this affected local authorities in Wales including BCBC. Since then Central Government in its Autumn budget on 29 October, which confirmed that Welsh Government will receive an £550m over the years 2018-19 to 2020-21.

The next section of the report, advised what the above settlements meant for this Authority, which reflected for 2019-20 an overall reduction of £1.616m or -0.84%. Welsh Government also indicated that the settlement contained an additional £20m to ease pressures on Social Services. If this was also taken into account, the real position for Bridgend was a reduction of -1.3% or £2.5m. The settlement also included £2.5m floor funding to ensure that no Authority has to manage with a reduction of greater than 1% to its Revenue Support Grant next year.

Overall the provisional settlement was in line with the -1.5% “most likely” assumption that is contained within the Council’s original MTFS 2019-20, but it did not recognise a number of new pressures that the Council will have to meet.

The next section of the report outlined reasons why there was a need to combat financial pressures the Council have to face in the coming year, by having to consider an increase of 5.4% in Council Tax.

Paragraph 4.11 of the report then showed in Table 1, a comparison of budget against projected outturn at 30 September 2019, that reflected a net underspend of 2,551m.

Table 2 in paragraph 4.17 of the report, showed detail of an MTFS proposal supported by Budget Reductions Contingency Reserve in 2018-19, which was in the sum of £200k for MREC.

The report then gave an outline of the MTFS forecast for the next 4 years  ...  view the full minutes text for item 267.

The Corporate Director – Communities submitted a report, the purpose of which, was to develop a modern Highways Depot at Waterton on a reduced footprint to allow the Parc Afon Ewenni (PAE) regeneration site proposal to progress and future proof future depot requirements for the Council as part of the overall depot rationalisation process . The report further sought approval to present a report to Council proposing a revision to the Capital Programme for a further capital sum of £4,944,000 to be included in the Capital Programme to fully refurbish and develop the depot.

The report gave some background information which confirmed that Cabinet approval was given in November 2016, to as an interim measure, continue operating a reduced footprint Depot at Waterton for the next 4 or 5 years and the report outlined certain options that could be pursued to achieve this.

He referred Members to paragraph 3.5 of the report, where it mentioned that it was considered likely that any future configuration of local government re-organisation will still require a Highways Depot in Bridgend to serve the County Borough. The cost of providing a new Highways Depot at a new location was likely to cost considerably more than the £6.5m - £7.5m estimated back in 2016. It was now estimated that the cost of a new Depot in a new location would be in the region of £9m - £12m, as a result of (probable) changing and more onerous NRW requirements. In recognition of this, the option of operating a largely unchanged depot for 4/5 years as an interim measure and then constructing a new depot at a revised location looks increasingly unaffordable.

Paragraph 3.6 of the report, then gave information with regard to an investigation undertaken to identify the differences between the continued operation of the reduced footprint for 4-5 years, with a new depot constructed at a new location thereafter and the alternative option of the development of a permanent operational depot on a reduced footprint, at Waterton.

The Corporate Director – Communities then referred to the subsequent sections of the report on options suggested, including what the PAE Board had agreed, and that the total current capital budget for the scheme was £4.376m. However, some of this budget has already been committed to works at Bryncethin Depot, as a result of moving some of the parks and built environment operations to this location, leaving a balance of £3.2m.

Turning to the current situation, the Corporate Director – Communities confirmed that the scheme cost of what was now the preferred option, was estimated to be in the region of £8.144m, however, due to other added costs, there was now a deficit between the overall cost of the maintenance/compliance works and the total estimated net land receipt and the existing capital budget. In order to progress this option, a further capital investment of the order of £4.944m was required in addition to the estimated remaining capital of £3.2m, which would come from the estimated total land receipt  ...  view the full minutes text for item 268.

The Corporate Director – Communities submitted a report, the purpose of which, was to seek Cabinet approval for the submission of a full application to the Enabling Natural Resources and Well-Being Grant (ENRaW) and, if successful, to accept the resulting funding offer and enter into any legal and management agreements required to implement the projects funded by the grant.

He advised that the Enabling Natural Resources and Well-Being Grant (ENRaW) is administered by Welsh Government (WG) and supports projects that make improvements in residential areas by delivering benefits for people, businesses and communities.

The above proposal had been shared with the Public Services Board (PSB) he added, and then went on to explain that, Our Green Spaces was a project to manage the green infrastructure of Bridgend County for the benefit of people, businesses and communities. The project was split into four themes that aligned with the PSB Well-being Plan, and through delivery, would identify opportunities to maximise benefits across a range of sites, such as:-

• Enabling the best start in life
• Enabling safe and cohesive communities
• Enabling equality
• Enabling healthy choices in a healthy environment

In respect of the reports financial implications, the Corporate Director – Communities advised that the timeframe was proposed as starting in spring 2019 and ending in spring 2022, subject to WG decision making processes. The project was currently costed at £734,579. A breakdown of the funding package as currently drafted, was shown in paragraph 8.2 of the report. This however, was subject to final discussion with WG and may be subject to change.

The Cabinet Member – Education and Regeneration advised that the report included a considerable amount of funding to support various types of open space programmes, including linking in with schools also so as to encourage pupils to make most of these areas in order to promote their health and wellbeing. There were other programmes, for example the Sustainable Management Scheme and the Single Revenue Programme 18-19, which all contributed to £1.1m worth of investment (into open spaces).

The Leader concluded debate, by reiterating that the bulk of resource came from grant funding, which would also benefit wildlife and ecology as well as individuals themselves.

RESOLVED:                    That Cabinet:-

(1)         Approved the submission of the Our Green Spaces proposal as outlined to the Enabling Natural Resources and Well-Being Grant;

(2)         Delegated authority to the Corporate Director – Communities, to finalise and submit, in consultation with the Section 151 Officer, the full application and accept any resulting funding offer; 

(3)        Delegated authority to the Corporate Director – Communities upon receipt of any resulting funding offer to put in place the required legal and management agreements in consultation with the Head of Legal and Regulatory Services and the Section 151 Officer.

The Corporate Director – Communities submitted a report, the purpose of which, was to provide Cabinet with an update on the Porthcawl Regeneration Scheme, and to seek approval to present a report to Council proposing a revision to the capital programme to invest anticipated capital receipts arising from the sale of land, encompassing Salt Lake Car Park.

The report also sought approval to present a report to Council to secure match funding for coastal defence improvements which will unlock future development phases.

The report outlined certain background information, then confirmed  the various phases of the work comprising the scheme.

The Corporate Director – Communities advised that the scheme required processing in this manner, as prior considerations needed to be considered, for example market analysis, key infrastructure constraints, as well as cash flow considerations. A plan attached to the report set out the proposed phasing strategy of the scheme.

He then gave a resume for the benefit of Cabinet, of Phases 1 to 7 of the scheme inclusive, as was outlined in paragraphs 4.2 to 4.10 of the report.

The next section of the report included a summary of the various phases, which covered the following areas. He added that the plan would extend a period of 4 to 5 years:-

·         Phase 1 – Foodstore Site

·         Phase 2 – Housing

·         Phase 3 – Hillsboro Place Car Park

·         Phase 4 – Eastern Promenade and wider coastal flood defence works

·         Phase 5 & 6 – Housing Sites

·         Phase 7 – Leisure Site

The Corporate Director – Communities then expanded upon the investment of Capital Receipts and gave a summary of Actual Receipts and ways proposed to reinvest these.

This would result in more efficient car parking at Hillsboro Place Car Park; improvements to Salt Lake for it to be run as a public car park in the intervening period, prior to this area being brought forward for development (ie Phases 5 and 6 of the Scheme). He added that there was also proposed accessibility improvements to the Portway, to include crossing points and the potential of on-street parking to improve accessibility to the town centre.

He continued by advising that there was also intended, physical works to the leisure site to enable temporary uses to be brought forward as part of the interim Leisure Strategy, and finally, a series of physical improvements in other key areas, such as the gateway to the site (potentially in partnership with the Town Council), the promenade and pedestrian links to the town centre.

The Corporate Director – Communities then confirmed that the proposals in the report had been assessed against the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, a summary of which was shown in paragraphs 7 of the report.

He then concluded his submission, by advising of the report’s financial implications and requested that £2.64m of project costs associated with the development of Porthcawl Strategic Regeneration Scheme are included in the capital programme.

The Cabinet Member – Education and Regeneration advised that the Council had always wished  ...  view the full minutes text for item 270.

The Head of Legal and Regulatory Services submitted a report on the above matter and introduced from the Shared Regulatory Services (SRS), the Operational Manager – Enterprise and Specialist Services and the Specialist Services Officer to explain the technical issues of the report.

Supported by the evidence outlined in the Technical Note, attached at Appendix 1, the purpose of the report is to seek Cabinet approval for an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) designation order for Park Street, Bridgend. Cabinet is required to approve the designation of the AQMA order prior to a final version being submitted to Welsh Government, and the order made publically available.

The report also requested the approval of a public engagement exercise with impacted residents and businesses prior to the implementation date of 1st January 2019.

The report gave some background information, following which it confirmed that Cabinet at its meeting on 18 September 2018, approved the 2018 Local Air Quality Management Annual Progress Report (APR) for Bridgend, as produced by SRS on behalf of BCBC. This report examined datasets captured during 2017 and noted that Park Street, Bridgend, was an area of particular concern and subsequently an AQMA was required.

It was subsequently noted, that two nitrogen dioxide (N02) monitoring locations situated at residential facades on Park Street, as shown in the report, recorded elevated and exceeding annual average levels of N02 when compared to normal levels.

Under Section 83 of the Environment Act 1995, BCBC is required to legally declare an AQMA for Park Street, Bridgend, and in doing so, raise an AQMA order that defines the detail and locality of the AQMA.

The Officers advised that a draft AQMA order was attached at Appendix 2 of the report, and it was proposed that the order comes into effect on 1 January 2019.

As part of developing an Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP), SRS/BCBC will form a cross-departmental working group, that will examine and assess a number of mitigation measures, designed to improve/reduce N02 levels as reasonably as was practicable.

Finally, Cabinet were advised that as part of the AQAP schedule, a public consultation will be undertaken which will allow for residents to pass comment on envisaged mitigation measures as well as to make their own mitigation suggestions also.

Cabinet commended the report, and awaited a further report on the outcome of the above proposals.

RESOLVED:                   That Cabinet:

(1)         Approved the decision to implement an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) on Park Street based on the evidence provided.

(2)        Approved the detail of the proposed AQMA Order, as attached in Appendix 2 for submission to Welsh Government and to be made publically available.

(3)        Approved the decision to undertake a public engagement exercise with impacted residents and businesses, prior to the implementation of the AQMA Order.

  That a further report be awaited on this matter in due course.

The Head of Legal and Regulatory Services submitted a report, in order to seek approval from Cabinet, for items to be included on the Forward Work Programme (FWP) for the period 1 January to 30 April 2019.

Attached to the report were the FWP’s for Cabinet (Appendix 1 to the report), Council (Appendix 2) and Overview and Scrutiny (Appendix 3).

RESOLVED:                   That Cabinet:

1. Approved the Cabinet Forward Work Programme for the period 1  January to 30 April 2019, as shown at Appendix 1 to the report.

     2.    Noted the Council and Scrutiny Forward Work Programme as shown at Appendix 2 and 3 of the report, respectively.

The Head of Legal and Regulatory Services presented a report, the purpose of which, was to seek Cabinet approval for the appointment of Councillor CA Green to the WLGA Council replacing Councillor N Clarke.

The report outlined certain background information, following which, the Head of Legal and Regulatory Services advised that if Cabinet approved the recommendation of the report, it was proposed that Cllr Green’s appointment reminded in effect until June 2019, at which time Cabinet would be asked to appoint/re-appoint to a number of outside bodies and joint committees as routine.

The appointment was proposed on the basis that the appointee represents Bridgend CBC, and should she cease to be a Member of the Authority, her appointment would be suitably relinquished.

RESOLVED:                    That Cabinet approved the appointment of Councillor CA Green to the WLGA Council, replacing Councillor N Clarke.

The Head of Legal and Regulatory Services submitted a report, in order to inform Cabinet of the Information Reports for Noting published since its last scheduled meeting.

These were outlined in paragraph 4.1 of the report.

The Leader in respect of the report regarding the Estyn Inspection outcomes for Tynyrheol Primary School, noted that Estyn intended monitoring progress on a termly basis due to the findings of such Inspection.

To this end, he asked for a further report to be submitted to Cabinet in due course outlining progress in respect of the Action Plan devised by Estyn to address the recommendations they had made in order to improve performance at the School.

He also wished to congratulate Maes Yr Haul Primary for the excellent report it had received following a similar inspection carried out by Estyn.

RESOLVED:                      That Cabinet acknowledged the publication of the documents listed in the report.

The Corporate Director – Education and Family Support and Interim Head of Finance and S151 Officer submitted a joint report, the purpose of which, was to update Cabinet with regards to the outcome of Welsh Government’s review of the Mutual Investment Model (MIM) Band B funding mechanism, and to also seek Cabinet approval to pursue Option 3, for the financial delivery of Band B of the School Modernisation Programme, prior to submission to Council.

By way of background to the main provisions of the report, the Corporate Director – Education and Family Support advised that the School Modernisation Programme was established to deliver on several objectives including:-

·         developing first-class learning environments;

·         locating the right number of schools, of a viable size, in the best places to serve their communities;

·         making schools an integral part of the life and learning of their  communities;

·          reducing surplus places and achieving best value for money; and

      make schools more efficient and sustainable.

He continued by confirming that at its meeting on 31 January 2018, Council approved in principle the financial commitment required for Band B of the School Modernisation Programme.  The approval would be subject to sufficient resources being identified and allocated to meet the match funding commitment. The overall programme was estimated to be in the region of £68.2m, of which approximately £43.2m was anticipated to be capital funded (circa £23m funded by Bridgend County Borough Council (BCBC)), the balance proposed to be funded through the Welsh Government Mutual Investment Model (MIM).

Since the approval and subsequent introduction of the Strategic Review Overarching Board in May 2016, Welsh Government had reviewed the schemes that have been proposed for its Mutual Investment Model (MIM), and this review assessed:-

1. The feasibility of delivering the individual schools as MIM projects.
2. The practicalities associated with grouping the schools together by region and capital value; and
3. The optimal procurement route

The Corporate Director – Education and Family Support then referred to paragraph 4.6 of the report, which identified certain new builds as ideal facilities for MIM delivery.

He continued by advising that Welsh Government had stated that it was not value for money to include small or very complex schemes through a MIM. Consequently, Bridgend Special School was now deemed unsuitable for delivery under this funding model. This was purely a Welsh Government decision based on a recent review. In light of this decision, the funding approach to BCBC’s Band B schemes needs to be re-considered in order to reach a decision on the way forward.

Projects progressed via the MIM are subject to a number of differences compared to schemes undertaken via the capital grant route, including the procurement process and the intervention rates. A direct comparison of each route was provided in Table 1 of the report.

The report then gave some financial implications, after which the Corporate Director – Education and Family Support stated that Officers had spoken to Welsh Government officials about potential options available following the removal of special school builds from the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 275.

The Corporate Director – Education and Family Support presented a report, the purpose of which, was to seek approval to enter into a revised collaboration agreement with Neath Port Talbot CBC and the City and County of Swansea Council, in relation to the Western Bay Integrated Family Support Service (IFSS).

By way of background information, the report confirmed that that the IFSS focused on families where parents have substance misuse problems that affect the welfare of the children, and was a Welsh Government programme unique to Wales.

He continued by confirming that the Project Board and related parties, had now agreed the terms of a revised collaborative agreement to cover the period April 2017 to March 2019.

Paragraph 3.6 of the report, outlined the purpose of the revised agreement, a provision of which, gave an obligation for parties to co-operate in seeking to ensure the orderly transfer of any relevant staff to their respective authority.

The Cabinet Member – Social Services and Early Help, advised that the service was a very important one that BCBC were not walking away from and one which assisted the Authority in care arrangements.

He further added that given the impending health boundary change , BCBC’s involvement with the Western Bay regional collaboration was expected to come to an end in April 2019, and therefore, the new TUPE provisions would protect BCBC from funding a disproportionate share, or all, of any potential redundancy costs.

RESOLVED:                  That Cabinet approved entering into a revised collaboration agreement with Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council and the City and County of Swansea Council, in relation to the Western Bay IFSS.

The Corporate Director – Education and Family Support advised that Cabinet gave approval for a public consultation on the future development of post-16 education across the Bridgend County Borough (“the County”). This latest report before Members, provided Cabinet with the Post-16 Consultation Paper and set out the proposed approaches for consultation, together with an initial Equalities Impact Assessment and Wellbeing of Future Generations Assessment.

He advised that on 24 April 2018 Cabinet gave approval for a public consultation on six concepts of post-16 educational provision, as were outlined in paragraph 3.2 of the report.

The Corporate Director – Education and Family Support, confirmed that the consultation paper on concepts for post-16 educational provision across the County has now been prepared and was attached at Appendix A to the report.  Included as appendices in the report were also an initial Equalities Impact Assessment and a Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act Assessment.  Of the concepts listed in paragraph 3.2 of the report, Concepts 4 and 5 were the Cabinet’s preferred options after the April 2018 Cabinet report.

Further detail regarding these two Concepts were outlined in the next sections of the report.

The Corporate Director – Education and Family Support then alluded to paragraph 4.5 of the report, which listed a range of contextual information relating to post-16 provision as contained in the consultation paper. The public consultation would run from 26 November 2018 to 22 February 2019.

In terms of the main financial implications of the report, the Corporate Director – Education and Family Support advised that funding for sixth-form provision in BCBC is provided by Welsh Government as a single post-16 grant allocation each year.  There is a core allocation based mainly on learner numbers, with additional allocations to take into account learner deprivation and Welsh-medium education. Total funding for 2018-19 is £5,829,430, of which over 97% is distributed to secondary schools. In the last three financial years the core grant has been reduced by £672,427 as a result of the combined effects of lower learner numbers and reductions by Welsh Government to the central post-16 grant for schools.

The Cabinet Member – Education and Regeneration advised that no firm decisions had been made as of yet in respect of future potential concepts for post-16 provision.

The Cabinet Member – Wellbeing and Future Generations hoped that the consultation was going out far and wide across a whole range of organisations, particularly those associated with young people, such as the Military Preparation College.

The Corporate Director – Education and Family Support confirmed that the consultation would cover a wide range of organisations and sectors etc, particularly local businesses, including all training providers aged years 16 – 18.

The Leader added, that he hoped the consultation would also be in the form of face to face and on-line including for students and higher education providers also, to include colleges and local universities. He also thought it of considerable benefit if the consultation was extended to include the Youth Council.

The Specialist  ...  view the full minutes text for item 277.

To consider any items of business that by reason of special circumstances the Chairperson is of the opinion should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency in accordance with paragraph 2.4 (e) of the Cabinet Procedure Rules within the Constitution.

None.

The following item is not for publication as it contains exempt information as defined in Paragraph 14 of Part 4 and Paragraph 21 of Part 5, Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007.

If following the application of the public interest test Cabinet resolves pursuant to the Act to consider this item in private, the public will be excluded from the meeting during such consideration.

RESOLVED:                That under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business as it contains exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 14 of Part 4 and Paragraph 21 of Part 5 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007.

Following the application of the public interest test in consideration of this item, it was resolved that pursuant to the Act referred to above, it be considered in private, with the public being excluded from the meeting as it would involve the disclosure of exempt information of the nature as stated above.