To receive declarations of personal and prejudicial interest from Members/Officers in

accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct adopted by Council from 1 September 2008. 

The following Declarations of Interest were made:

Councillor PJ White declared a personal interest in agenda item 7 – Redevelopment of Maesteg Town Hall as a Member of Maesteg Town Hall.  Councillor White declared a prejudicial interest in agenda item 10 – Council Tax Reduction Scheme as a family member is in receipt of Council Tax reduction.  Councillor White withdrew from the meeting during consideration of this item.

Councillor DBF White declared a prejudicial interest in agenda item 10 – Council Tax Reduction Scheme as a family member is in receipt of Council Tax reduction and withdrew from the meeting during consideration of this item.

Councillor JM McCarthy declared a personal interest in agenda item 6 – School Modernisation Programme Band B as the Chair of the Governing Body of Pencoed Primary School.  Councillor McCarthy also declared a personal interest in agenda item 7 – Maesteg Town Hall as a Member of Awen Trust.

Councillor MC Voisey declared a personal interest in agenda item 8 – Departure Planning Application as he owns a property and runs a business elsewhere on Bridgend Industrial Estate.  His business is not in any trading relationship with the applicant. 

Councillor JC Spanswick declared a prejudicial interest in agenda item 10 – Council Tax Reduction Scheme as a family member is in receipt of Council Tax reduction and withdrew from the meeting during consideration of this item.

Councillor SB Smith declared a prejudicial interest in agenda item 10 – Council Tax Reduction Scheme as a family member is in receipt of Council Tax reduction and withdrew from the meeting during consideration of this item.

Councillor P Davies declared a personal interest in agenda item 7 – Redevelopment of Maesteg Town Hall as a Member of Maesteg Town Hall.  Councillor Davies declared a prejudicial interest in agenda item 10 – Council Tax Reduction Scheme as a family member is in receipt of Council Tax reduction.  Councillor Davies withdrew from the meeting during consideration of this item.

Councillor RJ Collins declared a personal interest in agenda item 7 – Redevelopment of Maesteg Town Hall as a Member of Maesteg Town Hall.

Councillor McCarthy also declared a personal interest in agenda item 7 – Maesteg Town Hall as a Member of Awen Trust.

Councillor RM James declared a prejudicial interest in agenda item 10 – Council Tax Reduction Scheme as a family member is in receipt of Council Tax reduction and withdrew from the meeting during consideration of this item.

Councillor TH Beedle declared a personal interest in agenda item 6 – School Modernisation Programme Band B as a member of the Strategic Review and Overarching Board.  Councillor Beedle declared a prejudicial interest in agenda item 10 – Council Tax Reduction Scheme as a family member is in receipt of Council Tax reduction.  Councillor Beedle withdrew from the meeting during consideration of this item.   

To receive for approval the minutes of 20/12/2017

RESOLVED:            That the minutes of the meeting of Council of 20 December 2017 be approved as a true and accurate record.   

 (i) Mayor (or person presiding)

(ii) Members of the Cabinet

(iii) Chief Executive

The Mayor

The Mayor announced that she had attended several carol services over Christmas, one of which the staff concert in the Council Chamber.  She thanked the all the staff involved in organising this very entertaining event and her Chaplain for attending to give a blessing.

The Mayor attended on New Year’s Day attended a “Man Hunt” in Pyle which is an annual event with the Three Counties Bloodhounds and was attended.

The Mayor also attended a performance of the Cinderella Pantomine in the Porthcawl Pavilion which was very enjoyable and along with the Town Mayor for Porthcawl Lorri Desmond Williams were presented with a cheque to be shared between their Charities.

The Mayor was honoured to represent the authority and light the candle at the Holocaust Memorial ceremony in Bridgend Sony Theatre.  This was a most moving and thought provoking event which included poetry read by pupils of our local comprehensive schools and an address by Eric Muranghwa Eugene MBE a survivor of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, who lost 35 of his family members during the atrocity.  She stated that it was it was very interesting to listen to his account of his life since coming to this country 20 years ago.  The Mayor also attended a second Holocaust Event in Cardiff City Hall and which was also very moving.

The Mayor also announced that she had attended a production of Phantom of the Opera in the Pavilion by Porthcawl Comprehensive school which was a delight and very professional.   She stated that an added surprise was that several of the pupils belong to the Bridgend Youth Theatre which is one of her chosen charities and she hoped that they would follow their dreams and go on to act and sing in Musical Theatre.  The Mayor and Consort were privileged to meet the cast, teachers and parents after the performance.  She thanked the cast and teachers and background staff for all of their hard work.

The Mayor announced that she had attended the Awards Ceremony for the Lord Lieutenant held in Pontypridd South Wales Conference Centre.  She also attended the MPCT Awards in the Cardiff City Stadium which included demonstrations, marching and giving out certificates.  The Mayor and Consort both enjoyed the Ceremony very much and she is very proud of the young men and women taking part, some of which have been accepted into the Armed Forces. 

The Mayor announced with sadness that former Councillor, Mrs Margaret Bertorelli passed away on Sunday morning.  She informed Council that Mrs Bertorelli both a Borough Councillor and a long serving Bridgend Town Councillor and former Deputy Town Mayor.  She stated that Mrs Bertorelli worked hard in her public life and serving as a Councillor was a very important part of her life.  The Council sends its condolences to her family at this sad time. 

All present stood in silence as mark of respect. 

The Mayor asked Councillor G Thomas to announce that Harry Morgan an 18 year old  ...  view the full minutes text for item 115.

The Leader announced that the new Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services Alun Davies AM has in recent weeks spoken publicly about his ambitions for major local government reform.  He said that he would like larger and much stronger local authorities in Wales and has expressed the view that no one in local government believes that 22 local authorities are sustainable and that local government re-organisation is back on the agenda.

The Leader informed Council that he had spoken to the Cabinet Secretary in recent weeks and sought re-assurance that the current regional collaborations and partnerships like the City Deal, education consortium and the shared services into this Council has invested so much time and energy will not be dismantled or rebuilt if re-organisation is taken forward by Welsh Government.  The Leader also expressed the view that any extra and prolonged uncertainty around the future is unhelpful as the Council continues to explore and develop different ways of working and asked that any decisions are made carefully of course, but quickly.  He stated that the Cabinet Secretary is clear that he would like councils to lead and shape this agenda.  There are no plans or proposals or maps but more was expected to be heard in the spring.  The Leader stated that whatever the latest plans are from Cardiff Bay the Council would continue to focus on working with all its partners, balancing the budget and modernising services and investing in the future.

The Leader also announced that earlier this month, the Minister for Housing and Regeneration Rebecca Evans AM visited the town centre to officially open the landmark Rhiw gateway development, which incorporates a modern multi-storey car park, 28 apartments with dedicated parking, and also a soon to be open health club on the ground floor.  He stated that the £10m project has been funded with around £5.7m from the Welsh Government’s Vibrant and Viable Places programme, along with contributions from Coastal Housing Group, Bridgend County Borough Council and a Social Housing Grant.  The investment has provided the Council with not only a chance to replace the old car park, also a new community living at the heart of the town centre.  There was now a waiting list for the smart, well designed and very energy efficient apartments that have beautiful views of the valleys and hills in the north of the borough.  The tenants, the couple, that he and the Cabinet Education and Regeneration had met, were thrilled with their new home.

He congratulated all who had played a part in delivering this major project. Efforts were continuing to revitalise the town and he looked forward to seeing the new building offering commercial opportunities and new homes on Nolton Street and to seeing the restored historic Davies Building on the corner of Queen and Caroline Street.

He also announced that Members will have noted the extensive media coverage of the Caerau Minewater project, which was launched recently by Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 116.

The Interim Corporate Director Education and Family Support sought endorsement of the financial commitment required for Band B of the School Modernisation Programme. 

He reported that a Schools Task Group was established in 2014 to ensure the Council planned for a high-quality education system and it became evident that the work of the individual work streams established under the Schools Task Group could not be undertaken in isolation, as there were dependencies relating to each work stream and there needed to be a coherent strategy for Bridgend.  Cabinet approval was sought in September 2015 to build on the work of the Schools Task Group and approval was given for officers to undertake a strategic review into the development and rationalisation of the curriculum and estate provision of primary, secondary and post-16 education.  In May 2016, a Strategic Review Overarching Board was established, and four operational boards were identified, one of which was specifically related to consideration of Band B investment priorities.  It was considered that Band B priorities identified within the 2010 SOP may no longer be of primary importance and the issues facing the Council and schools need to be reviewed to establish a strategic approach for investment, establishing a priority list of schemes for delivery within the Band B timescale (i.e. 2019-2024).

The Interim Corporate Director Education and Family Support reported that the Welsh Government in 2017requested that local authorities submit a new SOP, updated to reflect revised priorities.  In October 2017, Cabinet was presented with a report detailing the outcome of the work of the school modernisation work stream and the revised SOP submission and gave approval to discontinue the original Band B schemes identified in the November 2010 Cabinet report, and approved the revised Band B schemes detailed below:

·         Bridgend North East (2 form entry (FE)) - capital grant

·         Bridgend South East (2.5FE) - capital grant

·         Bridgend Special School (270 places) – Mutual Investment Model

·         Bridgend West – Welsh-medium (2FE) - capital grant

·         Bridgend West – English-medium (2FE) - capital grant

He also reported that  the Welsh Government on 6 December 2017, gave ‘approval in principle’ for Bridgend’s second wave of investment, which at this stage has an estimated programme envelope cost of £68.2m of which approximately £43.2m is anticipated to be capital funded, the balance proposed to be funded through the Welsh Government Mutual Investment Model (MIM).  In order to receive this funding, the Council will need to submit detailed business cases for each project including details of how the match funding (circa £22.8m) required from the Council will be provided.  It was proposed that this be met from general capital funding in the first instance (subject to Local Government settlements from Welsh Government), with the balance to be met from s106 funding, receipts from the sale of school and other sites, earmarked reserves and unsupported borrowing.  He stated that the capital programme will be updated with individual scheme costs and revised funding as each business case is approved, and reported through  ...  view the full minutes text for item 117.

The Corporate Director – Communities reported on an update on the Maesteg Town Hall Project and sought approval for a revision to the capital programme for 2017-18 to 2016-27.

He reported that following the transfer of management of the Town Hall to Awen Cultural Trust in 2015, feasibility work was commissioned for the restoration and renovation of the building and creation of a modern multi-purpose culture and arts venue.  The scheme proposal had been prioritised by WG for Buildings for the Future Funding and a full business case for the project was now required.

The Corporate Director – Communities informed Council that Mace Group was commissioned in August 2017 to develop the design concept, carry out additional feasibility and provide more accurate cost estimates for the project. The detailed feasibility work was scheduled for completion by March. It was anticipated that the cost of the scheme based on the original ambition would be £5-£6 million, an increase over the initial preliminary estimate of £4-£5 million which reflected the more detailed design work and engineering analysis and will be further refined by the ongoing work.  He stated that until tenders had been received, the cost estimate would remain indicative, albeit informed by design and feasibility work carried out to date. The renovation of historic buildings was complex and until feasibility was complete and all pertinent issues identified a true capital estimate was difficult to predict accurately.   He informed Council that a further report will be presented to Cabinet when the feasibility work and cost plan had been completed.    

The Corporate Director Communities also reported on the complexity of the capital project and it included a number of potential funding sources.  A bid for funding would be submitted to the Welsh Government by March / April 2018 who had confirmed that the maximum available grant would be £2.86m.    

He reported that the Council had previously agreed to allocate £500,000 from the capital programme and Cabinet had previously resolved to ring fence £800,000 of the anticipated receipt from the sale of land at Ewenny Road for regeneration in the Llynfi Valley.   He stated that in order to provide the provide the required funding assurances to Welsh Government and Heritage Lottery at bidding stage, this commitment would need to be made specific to the Maesteg Town Hall project.  Additionally, it would be necessary for the Council to underwrite the receipt to meet programme milestones.  He informed Council that the land at Ewenny Road was originally bought with a grant from the Welsh Government, who had confirmed that they would not wish to clawback the original grant value.  He stated that £206,000 of fees had been incurred to date, covered by a combination of secured corporate feasibility funding and Special Regeneration Fund revenue allocations.  Further fees would be necessary to complete the final detailed design stage, a full suite of additional survey and investigative work would be necessary to satisfy planning and enable tenders to be invited, which was estimated to cost £175,000, which had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 118.

The Development Planning Manager reported that the Development Control Committee at its meeting on 21 December 2017 considered planning application P/17/373/FUL as a departure from the Local Development Plan.  She stated that the Committee resolved not to refuse planning permission and the application referred to Council requesting that it approve the application subject to conditions.

The Development Planning Manager reported that the application seeks retrospective consent for a change of use from a retail unit (Class A1) to a

Members Only Swimming Pool (Class D2), as defined by the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987, at Unit 12d Kingsway Buildings, Kingsway, Bridgend Industrial Estate.  The application site is located within Bridgend Industrial Estate which is allocated and protected for employment uses falling within uses B1, B2 and B8 employment uses by policies REG1(2) and REG2 of the adopted Bridgend Local Development Plan (LDP). 

The Development Planning Manager reported that the application is a resubmission of a previous application for the “Change of use from camping and leisure sales outlet to private swim school and formation of swimming pool within the space” under planning reference P/16/488/FUL.  She stated that the resubmitted application, as considered by the Development Control Committee, included a planning statement to address local and national policy.  It acknowledges that the business has commenced without permission but is seeking retrospective permission again on the basis of a number of changes to the business.  The statement also confirms that Water Wings is a private members pool that only provides swimming lessons to members of Water Wings Swim School.  Membership is included within the cost of purchasing a block of lessons and the school has also reduced the hours of opening for the Water Wings facility.

RESOLVED:             That Council is minded not to refuse the development and the Corporate Director Communities be given plenary powers to issue a decision notice in respect of this proposal subject to the conditions contained in the report of the Corporate Director Communities. 

The Chief Executive introduced Sarah-Jane Byrne, Local Government Manager and Samantha Clements of the Wales Audit Office who would be presenting the Annual Improvement Report of the Auditor General to Council.

The Local Government Manager of the WAO informed Council that the Auditor General is required to undertake an annual improvement assessment and publish an annual improvement report for each improvement authority in Wales.  She stated that overall, the Council is meeting its statutory requirements in relation to continuous improvement and based on the work carried out by the WAO and relevant regulators, the Council is likely to comply with the requirements of the Local Government Measure. 

The Local Government Manager provided Council with an overview of the headline findings of the following projects it had undertaken:

• Good Governance when Determining Service Changes
• Annual Audit Letter 2015-16
• Savings Planning
• Corporate Assessment Follow Up
• Annual Improvement Plan Audit
• Annual Assessment of Performance Audit

The Auditor General did not make any formal recommendations or proposals for improvement.  In relation to the Good Governance when Determining Service Changes project, the Council had responded positively to the issues raised by the WAO and has taken action to address each area that requires improvement.   The WAO has found that the Council has clear priorities that shape its decisions on significant service change and it seeks to learn and improve arrangements, but there is scope to improve the accessibility of some information.  It also found, that the Council benefits from generally clear governance and accountability arrangements and positive working relationships between officers and members.  The Council typically considers a range of options for significant service changes that are supported by clear information, but they are not generally accompanied by a formal options appraisal.  The Council has generally effective consultation arrangements when considering significant service changes and it continues to develop them, though the accessibility of information could be improved.  The Council monitors financial savings and the impact of some significant services changes, though this could be strengthened by clearly setting out how impact will be monitored at the point of decision.  The Council is learning from its experience to improve its arrangements for determining and delivering service changes.

The Leader thanked the representatives of the WAO for their engagement on the Annual Improvement Report which he believed to be a fair reflection of the Council’s position but also indicated there was always room for improvement.

RESOLVED:             That Council noted the Annual Improvement Report and the Good Governance when Determining Significant Service Changes report produced by the WAO.   

The Interim Head of Finance and S151 Officer presented a report, the purpose of which was to provide Council with information regarding the implementation of the 20118-19 Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTR) (to be adopted by 31 January 2018), together with the funding implications.

She confirmed that on 11 January 2017, the Council adopted the CTR for 2017-18 in accordance with the Council Tax Reduction Schemes and Prescribed Requirements (Wales) Regulations 2013, which will end on 31 March 2018.  There were currently 13,892 households receiving CTR, 8,517 of these were of working age and 5,375 were of pensionable age.  Of the 13,892 households receiving CTR, 10,615 were entitled to a full CTR reduction. 

The Interim Head of Finance and Section 151 Officer reported that the Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements and Default Scheme) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 had now been laid and made amendments to:

·         Mirror changes made to the benefit system with respect to Employment Support Allowance.

·         Make changes to reflect new service provision arrangements following the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016.

·         Make changes to address an anomaly within the wording of the amending provisions included within the Council Tax Reduction Scheme (Prescribed Requirements and Default Scheme) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2017 with respect to changes of circumstances provisions.

·         Make a number of changes with respect to payments which are disregarded for the purposes of calculating ‘income’ and/or ‘capital’. These include the new bereavement support payments among others.

The Interim Head of Finance and S151 Officer stated that the new regulations did not contain any significant changes from the claimants’ perspective to the current scheme, and the maximum level of support that eligible claimants could receive remained at 100%.  She explained the limited discretion given to the Council, to apply discretionary elements that were more generous than the national scheme.  It was proposed that the discretionary elements be as follows:-

·         The extended payment period is maintained at the minimum standard of 4 weeks.

·         War Disablement Pensions and War Widows Pensions are fully disregarded when calculating entitlement to CTR. The estimated cost of this proposal is £15,300.

·         Backdating was maintained at the minimum standard of 3 months.

The Interim Head of Finance and S151 Officer explained that the total estimated cost to the Council for these proposals is £15,300 for 2018-19.

The Interim Head of Finance and S151 Officer informed Council that it must consider whether to replace or revise its CTR scheme and is obliged to make a scheme under the requirements of the Prescribed Requirements Regulations.  The obligation is a statutory duty and applies even if the Council chose not to apply any of the discretions available to it.  She stated that the Council's recommended approach to the available discretions is to apply the recommendations in Table 4, paragraph 4.23 of the report.  There are no additional monies available from the Welsh Government to fund the discretionary elements and the scheme must be administered by local authorities within a fixed budget.

RESOLVED:                          That  ...  view the full minutes text for item 121.

Question to the Cabinet Member Communities from Councillor Tim Thomas

Over the duration of the next medium term financial plan, what will this Council do to ensure that people living with disabilities are fully able to access roads, streets and highways that they use on a day to day basis within their community?

Question to the Cabinet Member Social Services and Early Help from Councillor Altaf Hussain

According to the Royal College of Emergency Medicine Wales, Accident and Emergency Departments in Welsh Hospitals are like battlefields. Welsh Government blames flu outbreak, increase in calls over the Christmas and New Year Norovirus. Dr Robin Roop, Vice President of RCEM Wales said for the staff an emergency department feels like a battlefield, patient safety is compromised, this is unsafe, undignified and distressing for patients and their relatives. Several Health Boards across Wales have had to postpone operations because of the winter pressures. ABMU cancelled most routine planned surgeries. Health Secretary Wales has apologised to the patients whose surgeries are being cancelled.

This means that more patients especially elderly will be admitted through Accident and Emergency with Flu, Respiratory problems, falls etc. Some of these patients will be discharged soon.

Are we well equipped with regards to the Social Care for these discharged patients at Council Level and will the Cabinet member assure the chamber that there will be no bed block syndrome in our hospitals because of delays in social care?

Question to the Cabinet Member Communities from Councillor Tim Thomas

Over the duration of the next medium term financial plan, what will this Council do to ensure that people living with disabilities are fully able to access roads, streets and highways that they use on a day to day basis within their community?

Response:

All carriageways and footways are regularly inspected, in accordance with the code of practice “well maintained Highways” defects in excess of nationally agreed criteria are repaired in accordance with appropriate response times.  This ensures as far as reasonably practical the highway is safe for the use by all members of the public.

Where requests are received for dropped kerbs to be introduced at junctions currently such improvements are installed in conjunction with highway maintenance work carried out to reconstruct a footway, when its condition has deteriorated to such an extent that it is considered to be dangerous. The highway maintenance budget is limited and we would advise that it has not been possible to fund the installation of pedestrian aids in isolation in the past. When individual requests have been received they are entered on to the Works Register and considered when funding is available, there are currently over 100 locations on the register.  However, town and community councils have previously funded individual improvements within their areas and these have been installed in-line with current guidance.

Requests are made yearly for capital funding to undertake some of the streets recorded on the works register, and funding was granted this year to target those locations where requests have been received.  £50,000 of orders had been issued to the term maintenance contractor to undertake these types of works this financial year.  The streets on the work register have been prioritised based on the categorisation of the footway, which is based on the code of practice. Streets with a higher categorisation have a greater footfall, and are hence targeted first.  As these locations are at junctions of carriageways, the categorisation of the higher of the two streets that are joined is used to assess the priority.

Any new highway works adhere to the appropriate acts and ensure that they are DDA compliant.

If there are issues with access from private properties onto the highway, that is a matter for the private properties to address within their boundaries.

Councillor Thomas asked a supplementary question as to whether the £50,000 funding would tackle the backlog of requests.  The Cabinet Member Communities confirmed that the funding of £50,000 would not cover the backlog which is a county wide issue. 

Councillor Webster highlighted the difficulties experienced by residents of the Newcastle ward with people parking in streets in order to access the town centre and questioned whether further residents parking schemes could be implemented in order to alleviate the problem.  The Cabinet Member Communities asked Councillor Webster and Councillor T Thomas to provide him with details of the streets affected within their ward so that he can ask officers to look at the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 122.

Notice of Motion proposed by Councillor T Beedle

Council Tax Exemption For Care Leavers 

Cuts to working age benefits, proliferation of zero hours contracts and the increase in sub-standard rented housing mean our vulnerable young people are not given the same life chances previous generations were at the same age.

The Children's Commissioner for Wales, Sally Holland, said in her Hidden Ambitions report that young people leaving care should be given priority in work by the Welsh Government to see what can be done to make council tax fairer, the Children’s Commissioner for Wales also reported that many care leavers have to survive on as little as £8 a day, with council tax their biggest outgoing cost after rent.

This Council notes:

·      how young people have been unjustly targeted through the Government’s welfare reforms such as the Government’s “Youth Obligation”, aimed at those aged 18-21 denying them automatic access to Housing Benefit from April 2017. This has inevitably resulted in increased demand for council services,

·      that it has the power to introduce exemptions for council tax for certain groups under Section 13A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992

·      that last year (2016/17) 1 young person left the care of Bridgend County Borough Council and began the difficult transition out of care and into adulthood.

 This Council believes that:

·      there is more that can be done, at relatively little cost to the council taxpayer, to support care leavers to manage their money during this transition

·      to ensure that the transition from care to adult life is as smooth as possible, and to mitigate the chances of care leavers falling into debt as they begin to manage their own finances, they should be exempt from paying council tax until they are 25.

This Council, resolves:

·      To use the council’s powers to exempt all care leavers in the County Borough of  Bridgend from council tax up to the age of 25.

·      That the Leader write to the Welsh Minister for Children and Social Care, urging him to introduce a national exemption for care leavers from council tax up to the age of 25.

This item was withdrawn and will be deferred to a future meeting of Council. 

To consider any item(s) of business in respect of which notice has been given in

accordance with Part 4 (paragraph 4) of the Council Procedure Rules and which the person presiding at the meeting is of the opinion should by reason of special circumstances be transacted at the meeting as a matter of urgency. 

There were no urgent items. 

The following item is not for publication as it contains exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 14 and 16 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 and 16  of Part 4 and Paragraph 21 of Part 5 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

Following the application of the public interest test it was resolved that pursuant to the Act referred to above to consider the following item in private, with the public excluded from the meeting, as it was considered that in all the circumstances relating to the item, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.