Cllr John Spanswick declared a prejudicial interest on page 17 of the report in relation to care at home for older people as his wife works in this service area.  Cllr Spanswick withdrew from the meeting while this was discussed.

To receive for approval the minutes of 26/06/2019

RESOLVED: The minutes of the meeting from 26 June 2019 were approved as a true and accurate record of the meeting

All Cabinet & CMB

The Head of Finance and Deputy Section 151 Officer presented the report to Members with an update on the Councils financial position as at 30 September 2019.  She explained that on the 20 February 2019, Council approved a net revenue budget of £270.809million for 2019-20. 

The following concerns were raised by Members:

• Why was Home to School Transport not achieving savings?

The Corporate Director Education and Family Support and the Leader confirmed that the situation was complex and costs were rising in this area, however a list of reductions had been secured. They advised that members would receive feedback on a review of Home to School Transport early next year. The Chairperson reiterated that the Committee remained concerned about the overspend in this area

• Clarification was sought on the further savings of £60,000 that were unlikely to be achieved in the library and cultural facilities.

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing confirmed that this was down to management fees and mobile library facilities still under consultation

• Underspend in relation to parking fees was questioned by members.  There was potential for a lot of income generation and therefore we should be investing to save.  Residents parking permits would increase the use of town centre car parks and keep residents happy so should be a priority.  It was also raised that the payment machines in the Rhiw car park are often not working and that staff attending to fix these should be a priority as there is a high potential income lost in this area for every day it is not working.

The Leader confirmed he would consider the above point and explore if the issues with the payment machines can be addressed as a priority.

• Was the income generated from the Salt Lake Car Park being reinvested directly back into the common for Porthcawl as there was an understanding that this should be the case

The Chief Executive stated that this arrangement was not currently formalised but could be explored.  He agreed he would confirm arrangements and get back to members.

• What was the delay in approval for the permitting scheme for road works?

The Chief Executive confirmed that the Authority were not allowed to progress with the scheme without WG permission and that there was a possibility of a national scheme being introduced so it would be delayed until the outcome of the national scheme is known.

• How does the staffing vacancies in the CEX Directorate affect performance?

The Chief Executive confirmed that 88% of the CEX budget was made up of staff.  He added that at a time when so many cuts were being made there was a fear if a post was recruited to that in a years’ time the directorate could be faced with making posts redundant and incurring costs associated with redundancy.  He added that this inevitably has an effect on resilience and capacity across the Directorate.

• Concerns were raised on the underspend of the homecare budget which was primarily due to staffing vacancies and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 144.

The Scrutiny Officer presented the feedback to members from the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee of the 25 September on the items of Digital Transformation and Budget Monitoring Q1 Revenue Forecast.

Members thanked officers for the feedback and agreed to mark the actions as amber.  The actions would then be followed up on in 6 months’ time.

The Scrutiny Officer presented the report to Members and sought confirmation of the information required for the subsequent meetings on the 13 January 2020 and 13 February 2020

Following discussion Members agreed to schedule the following:

24 January 2020 –   MTFS

13 February 2020 – Budget Monitoring 2019/20 Q3 Forecast

                                 Commissioning plan for Social Care in Bridgend CBC

23 March 2020 -      Shared Regulatory Service

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.

None