To receive apologies for absence from Members.

Apologies for absence were received from the following Members:

Councillor D Pugh

Councillor C Westwood

Councillor RM James

Councillor S Aspey

Councillor K Watts

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. 

None

To receive for approval the public minutes of a meeting of Council dated 17 February 2016

RESOLVED:   That the minutes of a meeting of Council of 17 February 2016 were approved as a true and accurate record of the meeting

 (i) Mayor (or person presiding)

(ii) Members of the Cabinet

(iii) Chief Executive

Mayor

The Mayor welcomed all to the meeting and advised that the meeting would be the first full Council meeting to be webcast which marked a significant milestone in the Council’s efforts to improve democratic access, transparency and accountability. 

The Mayor announced that he was pleasantly surprised to be asked to take part in BBC Radio One’s “The Mayor of Where?” recently.  This was a feature on the Greg James radio show where Greg and newsreader Chris Smith took turns to ask questions with the aim of working out which area he represented.  He stated that his accent helped narrow it down a bit and it wasn’t long before they guessed his “mayor-abouts”!

Last year the Mayor was fortunate to be invited to Cardiff Synagogue to witness a moving service of remembrance.  He extended an invitation for Rabbi Rose and members of his congregation to visit Bridgend County Borough, and they travelled down to join himself and  his Consort last week.  He added that it was a very productive and enjoyable visit and he wasn’t just saying that because they brought kosher welsh cakes with them!

The Mayor marked this years’ St David’s Day by attending a service organised by the Lord Mayor of Cardiff earlier this month, and also visited Oldcastle Primary where pupils held a week-long appreciation of welsh Culture.  He was delighted to talk to the children about his role as Mayor and see some of the projects that they had produced.

The Mayor announced that School visits to the Civic Offices were continuing and Brynteg Comprehensive recently joined the Mayor to ask questions on various topics.  He stated that the events were hugely informative and were a great way to engage with the younger members of the community and to help broaden their knowledge of local democracy. 

Finally, the Mayor thanked the choir and pupils of Heronsbridge and Llangewydd Junior School who supported his charity fundraising with an event called “an Evening of Entertainment and Enjoyment”.  He added that he and his Consort were delighted with the professionalism of the children and they both had a lovely evening.

Deputy Leader

The Deputy Leader announced that he was delighted to report that the percentage of pupils in Bridgend County Borough who were persistently absent from school had fallen below the Welsh average for the second year in a row.  Persistently absent pupils were those children who missed at least a fifth of the half-day sessions that they should attend during a school year.

The latest stats showed that 1.1% of local primary school pupils were persistently absent during 2014/15, compared to the Welsh average of 1.4%
In secondary schools, 3.5% of local pupils were persistently absent which was well below the Welsh average of 4.5% .  The Deputy Leader stated that the results meant that persistent absenteeism at primary schools in Bridgend County Borough had fallen by 1.6% during the last three years, while the secondary school figure had fallen by 3.7% over the same period.

When  ...  view the full minutes text for item 594.

The Leader announced that preparations were in full swing for the Royal Porthcawl Golf Club to host the Senior Open Championship again next year with the news that BCBC would be contributing £50,000 towards the running of the event.

He stated that the funding would cover the costs associated with highways services, local marketing, school roadshows in partnership with Golf Development Wales, and providing an open top bus to link the town centre with the golf course.  He added that the open top bus proved to be an extremely useful service to ferry fans between the town and the course, so BCBC were particularly happy to fund that once again.

He advised Members that whether they were golf fans or not, this was an event that the whole community should get behind as it helped to put Bridgend County Borough on the map and brings significant economic benefits to the local economy.

He informed Members that in 2014, a total of 43,000 spectators lined the fairways over four days to watch the championship, which generated an estimated £2.16m for the local economy.  That included approximately £1.1m being spent on accommodation, £785,000 spent in shops and cafes, and £275,000 spent by event organisers on local services. Comprehensive TV coverage was also calculated as being worth £5.2 million.

 In 2014, local volunteers, residents and businesses showed fantastic support and BCBC looked forward to welcoming everyone back to Bridgend’s corner of the golfing world again next year.

The Leader stated that he was sure that Members did not need reminding that the latest Medium Term Financial Strategy and Corporate Plan that the Authority have set was amid a backdrop of ever-diminishing resources for local government. He added that putting them together had been another extremely demanding process, but they both lay out how the Authority intended to continue with their efforts to deliver high-quality services and achieve our targets and budget reductions.

The Leader advised that both the MTFS and the Corporate Plan had been designed to protect essential frontline services as much as possible, and he was particularly pleased to note that by looking at things like internal efficiencies, collaborative arrangements and contract renegotiations, the Authority had to date, been able to find half of all the savings made from within the Council itself.

For 2016-17 the Leader stated that the Council has proposed a net budget of £255 million and a capital programme of £44 million. In order to set a balanced budget while managing inescapable pressures and promoting essential services, the Authority had also proposed budget reductions of £7.5 million and a council tax increase of 3.9 per cent.

The Leader added that this was the equivalent of an extra 94p a week for a Band D property, and had been reluctantly proposed because it was necessary for ensuring that the authority can continue to meet the needs of local residents.

Whilst the Authority expect to have to find £35.5 million of recurrent revenue budget reductions over the next four  ...  view the full minutes text for item 595.

The Chief Executive presented to Council for approval the Corporate Plan which set out the Council’s priorities for 2016-2020. 

At its meeting on 17 June 2015, Council approved the revised priorities for consultation which were:

1.         Supporting a successful economy – taking steps to make the county a good place to do business and ensure that our schools are focused on raising the skills, qualifications and ambitions of all people in the county.

2.         Helping people to be more self-reliant – taking early steps to reduce or prevent people from becoming vulnerable or dependent on the Council and its services.

3.         Smarter use of resources –  ensuring that all its resources (financial, physical, human and technological) are used as effectively and efficiently as possible; and supporting the development of resources throughout the community that can help deliver its vision.

He advised Members that a public consultation on the Council’s corporate priorities and proposed budget reductions to 2019-2020 was undertaken over an eight week period from 28 September 2015 and 22 November 2015. The consultation received 1,819 responses from a combination of the consultation survey, 15 engagement events held across the county borough, social media interactions and by using the authority’s Citizens’ Panel. The response rate (13 per 1000) was considered in statistical terms to be a valid sample size. 

The Chief Executive added that the Authority recognised the financial constraints and it was continually looking at ways to become more sustainable and continued to support the local communities and the third sector.  He added that as Local Government re-organisation was also on the horizon, the Authority was looking at ways to transform and work as one Council. 

A Member referred to page 39 of the report and asked for an idea of what opportunities the Council were looking at to generate income in the Commercialisation Programme.  The Corporate Director Resources stated that whilst the Budget identified a lot of reductions it was also looking at ways it could generate income.  She added that the Authority were looking at increasing income from the Commercial estate through increasing rent and identifying new commercial property to generate new income streams. She advised that the Authority were also looking at opportunities in corporate services for selling services onto other public bodies. She added that the Commercialisation Programme would also look at fees and charges in the coming months across the whole of the Authority, as a way of securing increased income. The Corporate Director Resources further added that the Authority would be looking at how other Authorities in England and Wales use legislation in areas such Adult Social Services and Children’s Services to generate income.

A Member referred to the Welsh Language training that would be on offer to staff and asked if it was basic, advanced or refresher training and if there was an opportunity within the Authority for staff that already had Welsh Language skills to share their knowledge with their colleagues. The Corporate Director Resources advised that there would be an  ...  view the full minutes text for item 596.

The Section 151 Officer presented the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for 2016-17 to 2019-20, which included a financial forecast for 2016-20, a detailed draft revenue budget for 2016-17 and a Capital Programme for 2016-17 to 2025-26. She added that the the Corporate Plan and Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) identified the

Council’s service and resource priorities for the next four financial years, with particular focus on 2016-17.

The Section 151 Officer reported that the Council reviews its Corporate Plan each year to ensure it continues to reflect the Council’s corporate improvement priorities, commitments and performance

indicators.  Continuing austerity and demands on public services would require the Council to operate differently in the coming years and against that background three new corporate priorities have been developed for 2016-2020. 

The Section 151 Officer reported that in his 2015 Autumn Statement, the Chancellor of the Exchequer reported a £27 billion improvement in the UK’s public finances, and set out spending plans designed to move the UK government’s expected borrowing from £73.5 billion in 2015-16 to a forecast £10.1 billion surplus by 2019-20. She added however that his subsequent

speech on 7 January 2016 in Wales sounded a much more cautious note –

highlighting the risks and headwinds of global instability, volatile commodity prices and referencing the “stop-start recoveries” experienced by other economies in the western world in recent years.  She stated that against that background the UK Government Settlement to the Welsh Government

for 2016-17 is a cash increase of 0.85%. There was no settlement at this point for future years.

The Section 151 Officer reported to Council that in the provisional Local Government Settlement, Councils across Wales received an

average -1.4% reduction in Aggregate External Finance (AEF) for 2016-17 (after allowing for transfers into and out of the Settlement). Bridgend’s reduction was -1.2% (£2.301 million), but that figure included a requirement to protect school budgets equivalent to 1% above the change in the Welsh Government’s Revenue Budget (£1.578 million or 1.85%) as well as notional additional funding for social services pressures.   On 11 February 2016, officers received an updated provisional settlement figure

(based on latest data) which provided only an additional £7,000 for 2016-17

(revised reduction £2.294 million). The Final Local Government Settlement was published on 2 March 2016, and was voted upon on 9 March 2016. There were no changes that needed to be reported to Council verbally as a result of this final settlement.

The Section 151 Officer advised Council that the Minister has given no indication of the future allocations for 2017-18 onwards, but in view of current economic and fiscal projections and in the absence of other information the MTFS set out a most likely scenario predicated on an assumption that AEF would reduce by -3.2% for 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20. Based on those assumptions the total recurrent reductions required from 2016-17 to 2019-20 amount to £35.531 million.

The Section 151 Officer stated that the full picture on specific grants was not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 597.

The Head of Finance and ICT submitted a report to Members that provided details of the Council Tax requirements for the County Borough Council together with the requirements of the Police and Crime Commissioner for South Wales and Community/ Town Councils.    He stated that the Police and Crime Commissioner for South Wales had notified the Council that their precept for the financial year ending 31 March 2017 would rise to£10,790,863 which equated to a Council Tax of £207.85 on a band D property, a 4% increase.  The 2016-17 precept was confirmed by Couth Wales Police Crime Panel on 1 February 2016, and was subsequently issued to Bridgend County Borough Council on the 9 February 2016. 

The Head of Finance and ICT informed Members that the Council, as the billing Authority, was required to formally approve the Council Tax for its area.  He added that this must be set to meet the net budget requirement of the Council and its pre-cepting authorities and was set out in the report.   He added that the Council was also required to approve the Council tax charges for Band D properties for the chargeable financial year beginning 1 April for each of the community areas.  He advised that all calculations in the report were for a Band D property. 

RESOLVED:       That Council:

1. Approved the Council Tax for Bridgend County Borough Council of £1,297.78 for 2016-17, and the Council Tax for the area outlined in Paragraph 4.4 of the report.

Approved the Council Tax charges for Band D properties for 2016-17 for each of the community areas as outlined in paragraph 4.5 of the report

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

The minutes report relating to the following item are not for publication as they contain exempt information as defined in Paragraph 12 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.

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

RESOLVED:                      The report relating to the following item was not for publication as it contains exempt information as defined in Paragraph 12 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, Council resolved pursuant to the Act to consider this item in private, and excluded from the meeting the press and public during such consideration.

To receive for approval the exempt minutes of the meeting of Council of 17 February 2016.

RESOLVED:          That the exempt minutes of a meeting of Council of 17 February 2016 were approved as a true and accurate record of the meeting.