To receive apologies for absence (to include reasons, where appropriate) from Members/Officers.

Apologies for absence were received from the following Members/Officers for the reasons so stated:

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.

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The Chief Executive presented a report, the purpose of which, was to present to Members of the Authorities reviewed Corporate Plan 2013-17 (attached at Appendix A to the report) for Council to consider and approve.

           He confirmed that the Corporate Plan was annually reviewed and looked at delivering certain agreed commitments for 2015-16, and the latest review has concluded that the six improvement priorities outlined originally, were still relevant. These were shown in bullet point format in paragraph 4.2 of the report.

           The Chief Executive added that the desired outcomes against priorities were the same as last year, however, the actions in order to deliver these had changed and reduced in number in order to ensure a clear focus on the areas that matter the most to County Borough citizens.

            He added that the Council’s Community Safety and Governance Overview and Scrutiny Committee scrutinised the reviewed improvement priorities, actions to deliver those priorities, and the commitments for 2015-16. The Committee invited all Scrutiny Chairpersons to this meeting, to ensure a corporate response to the consultation.

           Of the comments and suggestions recommended by this Committee, all had been incorporated into the Plan added the Chief Executive, with the exception of one, which is, that the Committee suggested under the heading ‘What do we want to achieve by 31 March 2017’, it should state “we aim to” rather than “we will”. The reason for not adopting this suggestion though, was due to the fact that the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009 and the statutory guidance, require that improvement objectives “both describe the overall purpose and the scope of action to deliver it”. The term ‘Aim to’, was deemed too broad to meet this requirement.

           The Chief Executive advised that there were financial implications relating to the Corporate Plan despite this not being referenced to in the report, in that it was directly linked to the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS).

            A Member advised that a recent survey had been undertaken with members of the public in respect of local authority services, asking them if they were satisfied with what was being provided and the level of standard of such services. He added that only 50% of the public had confirmed they were happy with the services being provided by BCBC. He asked the Cabinet and Officers what was being done to address this issue through the Corporate Plan.

           The Chief Executive confirmed that this survey had only recently been undertaken, after the Corporate Plan had been prepared and put together and shared with Overview and Scrutiny and considered by the Cabinet. Therefore, the provisions of the document would not include anything that responds to the survey so referred to, though the results of this survey would be examined by appropriate Officers.

            A Member referred to pages 42, 43 and 46 of the Corporate Plan and Performance Indicators. He felt that in terms of increases and reductions shown in the target columns for the various Indicators so listed, there should be specific figures  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

The Leader gave his report as follows in respect to the next item on the agenda, ie the Medium Term Financial Strategy 2015-16 to 2018-19:-

           “Colleagues will be fully aware of the events that have led us here today as we gather to consider the updated Medium Term Financial Strategy, or MTFS.

  As you know, local government is facing a very challenging financial outlook.

Putting this strategy together has been an extremely demanding process, but it lays out how we intend to continue with our efforts to deliver high-quality services and achieve our targets and budget reductions for 2015-16.

The MTFS has once again been designed to reflect the priorities of our Corporate Plan – that is, to develop our local economy, raise aspirations and educational achievement, support children and their families, help people to live healthier lives, make better use of resources, and help vulnerable and older people to live independently for as long as possible.

We have already delivered huge reductions via the MTFS, internal efficiencies, collaborative projects, contract renegotiations and the potential transfer of specific services to partner organisations.

Nevertheless, we currently estimate that the authority still needs to identify budget reduction proposals of up to £49m over the next four years.

           Faced with cuts of this magnitude, we all need to prepare for the fact that the council will not be in a position to provide the current level and range of services or jobs in future years, and that some particularly difficult decisions are still ahead of us.

           While none of us like being in the position of being asked to endorse something that restricts spending or has an impact on council services, we do need to keep in mind the reality of the situation facing local government across Wales, and also the legal requirement for all councils to deliver balanced budgets for the year ahead.

            Against this backdrop, I believe that the MTFS for 2015-16 is robust, fit-for-purpose and above all extremely realistic about the challenges that we face.

           The 2015-16 revenue budget has been crafted to help us achieve our budget reduction target for the year, protect essential front-line services as far as possible and drive forward improvement in areas that local people feel are most important.

           Incorporating a net budget of £252 million, a capital programme of £33 million and budget reductions of £11 million, it ensures that the council can meet all of its statutory responsibilities and reflects the priorities of the Welsh Government as well as UK economic and public expenditure plans.

            As laid out in last year’s discussions, a council tax increase of 4.8 per cent is reluctantly included in the proposals.

           This is the equivalent of an extra £1.10 a week for a Band D property, and is necessary to ensure that the authority can continue to meet the needs of local residents.

            Funding for highways and transportation repairs, housing renewal schemes, disabled facilities grants, regeneration initiatives and a range of community projects have all been prioritised in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Section 151 Officer submitted a report to present Council with the Medium Term Financial Strategy for the above period, to include a financial forecast for 2015-19, a detailed revenue budget for 2015-16 and a Capital Programme for 2015-16 to 20124-25.              

            She explained that the Corporate Plan and Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) identify the Council’s service and resource priorities for the next four financial years.

            The Section 151 Officer advised that the Council’s MTFS was set within the context of UK economic and public expenditure plans, Welsh Government priorities and legislative programme. The MTFS articulated how the Council planned to use its resources to support the achievement of its corporate priorities and statutory duties, including the management of financial pressures and risks over the next 4 years.

           Paragraph 3.3 of the report then advised what the MTFS comprised of and the Section 151 Officer expanded upon this.

            In terms of financial context, the Section 151 Officer advised that austerity was set to continue, and that in relation to the Welsh Government Final Local Government Settlement, after considering the additional funding of £10 million for social care in the settlement that has replaced funding previously provided in the form of a specific grant, the settlement equated to a -3.6% settlement on last year. This was a reduction of £134k on the Provisional Settlement..

           The Section 151 Officer added that the settlement included extra funding to protect schools, which amounted to a 0.6% cash increase or £508k for BCBC.

           With regard to Grant Transfers into the 2015-16 Revenue Settlement, there had been a number of transfers into and out of the final settlement for 2015-16, amounting to £298k for the Authority as shown in paragraph 3.9 of the report.

           The next section of the report, gave details regarding the Regional Collaboration Fund (RCF)/Intermediate Care Fund (ICF), which confirmed that for 2015-16 £5m funding had been allocated by Welsh Government under the RCF to cover ongoing projects. This was a significant reduction in the £10m that had been estimated. Projects receiving funding have been asked to consider how they will reconfigure these to manage within revised reduced funding for 2015-16. There was no future funding in the Final Budget for the ICF which was £50m in 2014-15. However, Welsh Government had recently announced £20m of additional funding for the Health Service for 2015-16 to take forward projects funded by the Intermediate Care Fund in 2014-15

            The Section 151 Officer then referred Members to paragraph 3.14 of the report and the in-year financial position of the Council as at 31 December 2014, and Table 1 reflected that there was a projected underspend of £297k. This was mainly due to the significant underspend in Legal and Regulatory Services, but the overall figure did mask a number of in-year budget pressures in Safeguarding and Family Support and Adult Social Care. The outturn assumed full implementation of the current year budget reduction requirements across the Council’s budget which amounted to £11.274m. Where proposals to meet this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Head of Finance and ICT presented a report, the purpose of which, was to provide Council with details of the Council Tax requirements of the Police and Crime Commissioner for South Wales and Community/Town Councils.

           He advised that the Table shown in Paragraph 4.1 gave details of the approved Budget for 2015-16 Budget, while paragraph 4.2 showed the average County Borough Council Tax, including for Council Tax Base Band D equivalents.

           The Head of Finance and ICT, advised that the Police & Crime Commissioner for South Wales had notified the Council that their precept for the financial year ending 31 March 2016 will rise to £10,207,008 which equates to a Council Tax of £199.86 on a Band D property, a 5% increase. The 2015-16 precept was confirmed by the South Wales Police and Crime Panel on 30 January 2015.

           He confirmed that the Council, as the billing Authority, was required to formally approve the Council Tax for its area. This required to be set to meet the net budget requirement of the Council and its precepting authorities and was set out in the Table in paragraph 4.4 of the report.

           The Head of Finance and ICT added that the Council was also required to approve the following Council Tax charges for Band D properties for the chargeable financial year beginning 1 April for each of the community areas which were shown in the Table in paragraph 4.5 of the report. All calculations shown were for a Band D equivalent property.

           The resulting charges for each Band were reproduced in Appendix A to the report.

            RESOLVED:            That Council:

i)            Approved the Council Tax for Bridgend County Borough Council of £1,249.07 for 2015-16, and the Council Tax for the area outlined in Paragraph 4.4.

                                              ii)         Approved the Council Tax charges for Band D properties for 2015-16 for each of the community areas as outlined in  Paragraph 4.5.

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 if of the opinion should by reason of special circumstances be transacted at the meeting as a matter of urgency.

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