Councillor T Thomas to the Cabinet Member – Wellbeing and Future Generations

Will the Cabinet Member outline the key recommendations on the recent HM Inspectorate of Probation report on youth justice services in Western Bay?

 

Councillor R Stirman to the Cabinet Member – Social Services and Early Help

Could the relevant Cabinet member  please advise  the extra cost to BCBC of supplying care and support to members of the secure estate since the grant from WG was shared across all 22 Local Authorities rather than by direct grant to those LA’s who had a prison  within their boundaries?

 

Councillor A Hussain to the Deputy Leader

To what extent has the Deputy Leader engaged with businesses in Bridgend County Borough to tell them that Discretionary Rate Relief may be available to them, as only a third of those eligible for this relief are getting it?

 

Councillor M Voisey to the Deputy Leader

Would the Deputy Leader please advise council, of what sanctions if any, have been imposed on Kier, in regards the waste contract, since appointment?

 

 

 

 

Question from Councillor T Thomas to the Cabinet Member Wellbeing and Future Generations

 

Will the Cabinet Member outline the key recommendations on the recent HM Inspectorate of Probation report on youth justice services in Western Bay?

 

Response of the Cabinet Member

 

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation’s recommendations can be found on page 7 of the full inspection report.

 

There were 14 recommendations made in relation to a number of partners they are detailed below:

 

Western Bay Youth Justice and Early Intervention Service Management Board should:

 

1.          Review and clarify its role and function, include all statutory partners and work in an effective way to make sure that the service operates to a sufficient standard.

 

2.          Make sure that partnership agencies provide appropriate support and services.

 

3.          Develop effective oversight of the service’s work and effective challenge to partners.

 

4.          Develop a clear plan to manage disaggregation of individual youth offending teams from the service to limit any detrimental effect on the remaining parts of Western Bay Youth Justice and Early Intervention Service.

 

5.          Provide the resources and support to the management team to manage the service effectively.

 

6.          Review the role and function of the prevention service.

 

The Western Bay Youth Justice and Early Intervention Service Manager should:

 

7.          Make sure that all staff have appropriate supervision and management oversight.

 

8.          Review the management structure and lines of accountability.

 

The directors of children’s services should:

 

9.          Monitor and review all cases where there are safety and wellbeing issues, making sure that appropriate referrals are made and joint work takes place as needed.

 

10.        Improve the quality (and awareness from staff) of the referral systems so that children and young people receive the services they need.

 

The local authority education services should:

 

11.        Review the effectiveness of information-sharing protocols to ensure that all schools and workers involved have the information they need to provide support tailored to children and young people’s individual needs.

 

12.        Develop effective strategies to encourage children and young people who speak Welsh to access services in their preferred language, and to use, develop and recognise the value of the language as an employment skill

 

13.        Develop a literacy and numeracy strategy to support children and young people to develop these skills.

 

Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board should:

 

14.        Provide relevant and timely physical, sexual, emotional and mental health services to meet the needs of children and young people to reduce further harm and promote wellbeing.

 

Councillor Thomas asked what plans the Cabinet Member has to implement the recommendations of the Probation Inspectorate.  The Cabinet Member Wellbeing and Future Generations that a post inspection action plan had been reported to Cabinet in April 2019.  The post inspection action plan is monitored by partners, with the Youth Justice Board being satisfied with the good progress made to date.  The Corporate Director Education and Family Support informed Council that extensive work is being undertaken with staff and partners, with the post inspection plan being monitored by the Youth Justice Board on a fortnightly basis.  He also informed Members that the structure of the service had been reviewed.  Reviews of statutory cases being completed, prior to non-statutory reviews commencing. 

 

Councillor J-P Blundell asked what means the Inspectors used to assess the service.  The Corporate Director Education and Family Support stated that the Inspectors undertook the inspection over a 2 week period.  As part of the inspection, interviews took place with 12 Case Managers, Directors and Chief Executives and 31 cases were examined.  A Member commented that he was reassured having attended a recent meeting of the Public Service Board that all agencies are working together.

 

Question from Councillor R Stirman to the Cabinet Member – Social Services and Early Help

 

Could the relevant Cabinet member please advise the extra cost to BCBC of supplying care and support to members of the secure estate since the grant from WG was shared across all 22 Local Authorities rather than by direct grant to those LA’s who had a prison  within their boundaries?

 

Response of the Cabinet Member

 

The Secure Estate Grant 2017/18 from Welsh Government was £217,500; this was transferred into the RSG for 2018/19; the allocation was split across all 22 authorities and is difficult to quantify the exact sum as it is based on various formulas.  It is estimated that the council receives approx. £18,000 within the RSG for the secure estate.  Therefore approx. £200k shortfall of funding and the estimated additional cost to Bridgend CBC, based on the budget for 2017/18.  This budget was set three years ago and the actual costs are kept subject to annual review.

 

The Council has made representations to Welsh Government and the Distribution Sub Group (DSG) about this change in allocation. The DSG discussed the matter following representations but no change was made to the distribution methodology. 

 

Councillor Stirman asked whether prisoners following their release would be entitled to receive benefits from this authority?  The Cabinet Member Social Services and Early Help stated that prisoners following release would only be entitled to receive benefits from this authority only if they are residents of the County Borough. 

 

A Member questioned whether this authority was treated adversely due to it having a prison.  The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing stated that the situation is different to other local authorities which have prisons, in that Parc Prison is the only private one in Wales.  It also has longer term prisoners compared to Cardiff and Swansea prisons which are remand prisons, whilst Usk is an open prison and Wrexham prison is larger than Parc.  Parc Prison has a lot of older prisoners serving long sentences, with many having mental health and learning disability problems and suffering from dementia.  She stated that the requirements to support the secure estate was more difficult to meet compared to other prisons.

 

Question from Councillor A Hussain to the Deputy Leader 

 

To what extent has the Deputy Leader engaged with businesses in Bridgend County Borough to tell them that Discretionary Rate Relief may be available to them, as only a third of those eligible for this relief are getting it?

 

Response of the Deputy Leader 

 

The Council has taken a very proactive approach to the various rate relief schemes as set out below. Application forms for the most recent scheme were sent out soon after the Cabinet decision to adopt the scheme and a press release is due to be released this week.

 

The application form is now available on line and reminders will be sent at the end of June.

 

There are currently 3 types of rates relief schemes in place for business rates payers:

Small Business Rates Relief (SBBR)

This was introduced in 2007.  Automatically applied.

 

Transitional Relief

Following the 2017 non-domestic rates revaluation by the Valuation Office Agency, transitional relief was implemented to support ratepayers whose eligibility for Small Business Rate Relief (SBBR) would be affected as a result of the revaluation.

It is a 3 year scheme, finishing in 2019/20, where the ratepayer pays 25% of the increase in the 1st year, 50% in the 2nd year and 75% in the 3rd year. The increase must have been over £100. The relief is automatically awarded via our Business Rates system.

 

High Street and Retail Rates Relief (HSRR) The Welsh Government has provided guidance to local authorities on the administration of the High Street Relief scheme for each of the 5 years that it has been in operation 2014/15, 2015/16, 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20. There was no scheme in 2016/17.The guidance also states  that it is for each local authority to determine how they wish to administer the scheme in order to maximise take up and minimise the administrative burden for the ratepayers and the local authority staff.

 

There have, in fact, been 3 different High Street Relief schemes in operation for the years 2014/15 and 2015/16, 2017/18 and 2018/19 and the current scheme for 2019/20. Each scheme has had different criteria based on the rateable value and the businesses’ entitlement to Small Business Rates Relief and or Transitional Relief.

 

Each year a report has been presented to Cabinet by the Deputy Leader, for the scheme to be adopted before any relief can be awarded. Each year the report has been approved for the relief to be awarded on an application basis only.  Applications for this relief can be made up to and including the 31 March of the year the relief relates to.

 

2017/18

 

·        the report went to Cabinet for approval on 27/06/17

·        on 25/07/17 and 04/08/17, 97 and 309 bespoke letters and forms    were sent to each eligible business

·        on 21/2/18 115 second letters and forms were sent to remind businesses to apply before the end of financial year

·        for the year 2017/18, 289 applications were received and relief awarded.

 

2018/19

 

  *   the report went to Cabinet for approval on 19/06/18

  *   on 27/06/18 and 12/07/18, 80 and 298 bespoke letters and application forms were sent to each eligible business

  *   on 12/11/18 second letters and forms were sent to remind businesses to apply before the end of financial year

  *   for the year 2018/19, 275 applications were received and relief awarded.

 

2019/20

 

For the current year the WG announced in the December budget, that a scheme would be running this year. The guidance for the scheme was received at the end of January 2019. The WG require us to provide a signed letter of acceptance for this funding by 03/05/19 which has been completed.

 

The report for the Rate Relief Scheme for 2019/20 was taken to Cabinet on 16/04/19.

 

Once the scheme had been approved, the data relating to eligible ratepayers was rechecked to confirm the businesses were still eligible, and bespoke pre-populated letters and application forms were then sent to eligible ratepayers on 02/05/19. A bespoke letter and application form is sent to assist the correct ratepayer to apply for the eligible relief. Also, as the account number is on the enclosed application form when it is returned to the digital office it can be scanned and indexed to the correct account so the eligible ratepayer will receive their relief quicker.

 

To date, as at 5/6/2019, 706 bespoke letters and application forms have been sent out and 373 have been returned to us of which 340 accounts have already been awarded with the relief. The remaining forms will be processed by the end of June at which point a further letter and application form will sent to those businesses that have not returned the original form. As a result of this relief, instalments have been recalculated if there is still an outstanding balance and if the account has gone into credit a refund has been issued. In relation to the current year a second letter and application form will be sent to those that have not returned their forms by the end of June.

 

Bridgend has always chosen to award this relief on an application basis. This is to ensure that the information we hold is correct in so far as that the property is still occupied and occupied by the business held on our system. When comparing how many businesses qualified last year compared to the forms sent this year, even if those businesses that qualified last year were awarded the relief automatically there would still have been a need to send out 428 bespoke letters and application forms.

 

This year, the scheme was adopted by the Council much earlier than in previous years and the application forms sent out shortly after. Also the maximum relief that can be awarded is the highest amount so far. Priority has been given to the applications received which are currently being worked on and the applicable relief awarded to the accounts. This will result in revised bills being issued and any overpayments being refunded.

 

At the time the application forms were issued, information regarding the relief was made available on the BCBC website. Online applications forms were also be available from 07/06/19. These application forms will automatically be directed to the Taxation Section to be worked on.

 

If, the Welsh Government decide to continue the High Street Relief scheme in future years then we will continue to review options on the administration of the scheme. This will enable us to determine the optimum approach in order to maximise take up and minimise the administrative burden for the ratepayers and the local authority staff. Currently this information is being gathered from all Welsh authorities.        

 

Councillor Hussain questioned why other Councils were a lot more proactive and quicker in administering this process, whilst we were very slow, which means businesses missed out (and financial hardship caused as a result) and has the Leader had any discussion with the Minister about it and if so, would the Leader please share it with us?  The Deputy Leader informed Council there are 3 schemes available to businesses.  Small businesses are able to receive high street relief and will receive a letter to sign and return to the Council.  He believed the process in place to be efficient and it ensured that funding was going to the right place, with 300 businesses having returned the forms, with 200 businesses allocated funding.  A reminder letter will be sent to businesses requesting that they complete and return the form.  The Deputy Leader was aware that some authorities offer different schemes to support business rate payers. 

 

The Interim Head of Finance informed Council that all authorities in Wales administer the scheme differently.  She confirmed that letters were sent out to businesses in May, some Councils had not done so yet.  Larger businesses would not be eligible to receive support and some businesses if supported, would breach state aid.  The Interim Head of Finance stated that businesses had not lost out, with forms being applied immediately.  The relevant forms are available online. 

 

The Leader urged businesses that are eligible to receive funding to get in touch with the Council.

 

Question from Councillor M Voisey to the Deputy Leader 

 

Would the deputy leader please advise council, of what sanctions if any, have been imposed on Kier, in regards the waste contract, since appointment?

 

Response of the Deputy Leader

 

Since the appointment of Kier as the Council’s waste contractor for a seven year period starting in April 2017, the Council has issued 482,814 contractual default points and £87,500 in financial penalties (to the end of April 2019).  The majority of these relate to the early months of the contract and the well-publicised issues at that time, although the default figures are a little meaningless without a detailed understanding of the contract.  The Council continues to monitor and manage the contract diligently and issues defaults on a monthly basis, but in the main the contract is now operated efficiently and effectively and has ensured that the Council has delivered the second highest recycling figures in Wales at just under 69%, well over the current Welsh Government statutory target of 64%.

 

A Member requested information on the nature of the defaults and sought assurances that penalties are enforced.  The Deputy Leader stated that many of the penalties were incurred early into the contract and their value was low in comparison to the value of the overall contract.  He also stated that demand for recycling equipment, particularly the kitchen caddies had been under estimated.  In the event of defaults, Kier does not pay the Council, the Council would withhold payment to Kier.  The Chief Executive informed Council that defaults are applied to every element of the contract, most defaults were applied to the first 3 months of the contract.

 

A Member asked what contingencies are there in place in the contract.  The Chief Executive stated that the contract contains a significant Bond.  He stated that Kier had indicated that they would not apply for waste contracts again and there was no indication they would not honour their contract with the Council.