To receive apologies for absence (to include reasons, where appropriate) from

Members/ Officers.

Apologies for absence were received from the following Members:-

Councillor K Watts

Councillor N Farr

Councillor P Davies

Mr T Cahalane

Reverend Canon Edward J Evans

Mr K Pascoe

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 01 September 2008 (including whipping declarations).

None

The Assistant Chief Executive – Legal and Regulatory Services submitted a report, the purpose of which, was to present the items due to be considered at the Committee meeting to be held on 9 March 2016, and to present a list of further potential items for prioritisation by the Committee.

Paragraph 4.1 of the report, listed the items recommended for the agenda at the next scheduled meeting, whilst paragraph 4.2 of the report gave a list of potential items for consideration at subsequent meetings, as part of the Committee Forward Work Programme.

Following consideration of the report, and the subsequent debate that followed on this item, it was

Resolved:              (1)    That the item scheduled for the next scheduled meeting on the topic of Residential Remodelling be deferred to a future meeting, and that this be replaced with a report regarding Children with Disabilities.

                                (2)    That a further item be added to the Committee’s Forward Work Programme to be considered at a future meeting, providing an update on progress at the Coleg Cymunedol Y Dderwen Comprehensive School.     

Invitees:

Cllr HJ David – Deputy Leader

Cllr HJ Townsend – Cabinet Member, Childrens Social Services and Equalities

Deborah McMillan Corporate Director – Education and Transformation

Susan Cooper Corporate Director, Social Services and Wellbeing

Laura Kinsey, Head of Safeguarding and Family Support

Sue Roberts, Group Manager – School Improvement

Bev Jones, Team Manager, LACE

Joanne Norman - Finance Manager - Education Communities and Transformation

The Chairperson welcomed to the meeting the Invitees, and the meeting progressed immediately with questions from Members.

A Member noted that the previous version of the MTFS assumed a 4.5% increase in Council Tax for 2016-17. However, the 2016-17 draft Revenue Budget shown at Table 7 in the report, assumed a Council tax increase now of 3.9%, largely as a result of the better than predicted financial settlement from Welsh Government. She felt that this increase was disproportionate when compared to the increased settlement and that in light of this the proposed increase should be less than the anticipated 3.9%.

The Deputy Leader explained that setting the Budget of the local authority was a ‘balancing act’, and that one of the main priorities was protecting frontline services. The Council was still required to find a saving that totalled 37m over the next 3 years. Whilst the local authority would prefer either a smaller increase in Council tax or no increase at all, this was not possible as it would result in key services being cut even more than was already being anticipated.

In response to a question from Members regarding significant areas of impact in the MTFS, the Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing confirmed that a number of proposals had been considered in the MTFS relating to Safeguarding, and obviously an important element of this was ways of looking to reduce the number of cases of LAC in the future. Methods to achieve this needed to be closely looked at in order reduce these numbers safely, but it was recognised that this would take time, particularly in order to successfully achieve this goal long term.

Another area for significant savings was Residential Care with further support for increased independence through enablement and progression in Learning Disability Services. In order to secure the necessary savings that were required in these and other service areas, methods of work had to be deployed differently and in a more innovative and modernised manner. The different approaches to delivering services were also required in order to fit in with the new Social Services and Wellbeing Act.   The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing advised that there were complex challenges ahead and these would not necessarily be easy to meet due to the pressure of timescales for remodelling and the need to secure savings. She added that there were no imminent proposals to reduce the compliment of staff, as these were required both to deliver all the changes necessary as part of the Budget Reduction proposals, as well as to continue to manage their respective day-to-day duties.

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing reassured the Committee that all changes would be undertaken in both a safe and planned way to meet the reduction targets.

The Corporate Director Education and Transformation echoed the comments made by the Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing, and in terms of education prospects for young children in the County Borough, she reported that these were currently better and more  ...  view the full minutes text for item 212.

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.

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