Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of personal interest.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Board held on the 26^th February, 2018 be signed as a correct record.

The Chair advised that no questions on notice had been submitted by members.

The Chair advised that no public questions on Notice had been received.

The Executive Board considered the ‘Carmarthenshire Well-being Plan: The Carmarthenshire We Want 2018-2023’ which had been developed by the Public Services Board [PSB] with a view to it being published by May 2018, in accordance with the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. Carmarthenshire County Council was a statutory member of Carmarthenshire PSB (along with Hywel Dda University Health Board, Natural Resources Wales and Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service) and before the Plan could be published it had to be approved by the statutory members of the Board.

The Chair of the PSB, Mr. Barry Liles, and officers were thanked for the work they had undertaken in producing the Plan.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL that the ‘Carmarthenshire Well-being Plan – The Carmarthenshire We Want – 2018-2023’ be endorsed.

The Executive Board considered a report detailing revisions to the Handling Personal Information and Breach Reporting & Response Policies in light of the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which would come into force across the European Union and the UK from 25^th May, 2018, replacing the provisions of the current Data Protection Act 1998.   

Councillor D. Cundy, in accordance with CPR 11.1 enquired as to how the Authority, given that many systems would be changed to take advantage of ‘Cloud’ technology, would ensure that its systems guaranteed security of personal data held in this way yet allowed the relevant departments, across disciplines, adequate access to these records for completeness of operation and enhanced services?

The Executive Board Member - Deputy Leader - advised that no department would be able to migrate systems or data to Cloud technology before first liaising with ICT Services. At that point ICT Services would guide departments and facilitate the scoping, procurement and migration to any Cloud services. Vet providers would ensure all relevant compliance and certification including GDPR and an insistence that data processing agreements with Carmarthenshire were signed. ICT Services would also steer departments to the relevant internal service areas to ensure compliance of Cloud providers on issues such as Welsh language standards and Procurement regulations. For central infrastructure and services which migrate to Cloud services, ICT would again carry out all of the above. Access to Cloud systems and data would be facilitated via secure, encrypted connectivity from centrally managed devices, networks and accounts.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the revised policies be endorsed.

Further to minute 6 of the Executive Board meeting held on the 26^th June 2017 consideration was given to a revised Corporate Enforcement Policy document incorporating amendments to reflect responses received during the consultation exercise. The amendments had been approved through the Corporate Multi-Disciplinary Enforcement Group and, if endorsed by the Executive Board the Policy would come into effect on the 1^st April 2018.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the amended Corporate Enforcement Policy be adopted from the 1^st April 2018.

The Executive Board considered a report which highlighted the results of the Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Needs Assessment (GTAA) for Carmarthenshire (2016) with a view to ensuring that future identified need was addressed with the Gypsy and Traveller community and any plans were appropriate. All local authorities in Wales were required to publish the assessment once it had been approved by Welsh Government and Carmarthenshire’s had been approved on 28^th March 2017.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED

9.1 that the Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Needs Assessment

for Carmarthenshire be published on the Council’s web-site;

9.2 to confirm that the Council will work with the Gypsy and Traveller community in the County to develop plans to meet any identified need in the future.

The Executive Board considered the revenue budget monitoring report which provided an update on the latest budgetary position as at the 31st December, 2017. Overall, the report forecast an end of year underspend of £479k on the Authority’s net revenue budget, with an overspend at departmental level of £1,348k. The Housing Revenue account was predicting a £162k underspend to the year-end.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED:

10.1. that the budget monitoring report be received.

10.2 that Chief Officers and Heads of Service critically review their

budgetary positions and implement appropriate actions

The Executive Board considered a report providing an update on the capital programme spend against the budget for 2017/18 as at the 31^st December, 2017.The in-year slippage of £-4,120k would be incorporated into future years of the programme.

Further to minute 5 of Council held on the 10^th January 2018 the Executive Board considered a report detailing the timeline leading up to the submission of the petition requesting the relocation of the Charity Chooselife to suitable alternative accommodation away from the new infants and junior school, Ysgol Pen Rhos, in Copperworks Road, Llanelli. The report also referred to responses received from Chooselife and Dyfed Powys Police, details of The Learner Travel (Wales) Measure 2008 and the actions the School had in place and the outcome of a Public Meeting held on the 19^th of January 2018.Pupils from the Copperworks and Lakefield sites were due to transfer to the new Ysgol Pen Rhos building following the Easter break i.e. April 9^th, 2018.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED, in order to ensure the safety of children, that the following recommendations detailed in the report be endorsed:

12.1    The Local Authority will assess the nature of the route walked by the children along Copperworks Road. If the route is not safe to walk the local authority will work to make it safe;

12.2 The school will put in place a system to check the school boundary and grounds, on a daily basis, to ensure everything is in order;

12.3    The school will monitor incidences during the Summer term and update the Education Department of any concerns.

The Executive Board considered a Partnership Agreement setting out the terms of pooled fund legal agreements in respect of Adult care home placements. Part 9 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act stipulated a requirement for councils and local health boards to establish and maintain pooled funds – underpinned by legal agreements. The Regional pooled fund agreement for care home placements would take effect on 1^st April 2018 and provided for a ‘virtual’ regional budget for older people’s care home placements (long term) – where - for the initial financial year - money did not transfer between organisations. 

Councillor D. Cundy, in accordance with CPR 11.1 referred to Schedule 2 of the proposed Agreement detailing Partners Indicative ‘Budget Assumptions for Financial Contribution’. He commented that it appeared to show that there was to be ‘an approximate £45 million pound pot of which Ceredigion provides £6,232,000, Pembroke provides £12,141,000, Hywel Dda £13,177,000 and Carmarthenshire the highest contributor at £17,449,000’ and asked why Carmarthenshire was the highest contributor?

The Executive Board Member - Social Care & Health – advised that the figures quoted were accurate and the amounts were ‘out turn’ figures, which meant they reflected what each party expected to pay for relevant care home placements. The figures were higher for Carmarthenshire County Council vis a vis Ceredigion or Pembrokeshire and this was expected given the relative populations and associated number of users. She referred to the fact that Carmarthenshire had a higher amount of spend than the Health Board due to the fact that the types of placement provided differed and therefore the figures were not comparable. The Health Board provided a small number of Continuing Health Care (CHC) placements (at relatively high average cost), and the Funded Nursing Care (FNC) element of nursing placements. In contrast, the Council paid for the residential costs of (a higher volume of) placements, in line with statutory obligations. She added that it had to be recognised that the figures represented each organisation’s spend and that ‘cross-subsidisation’ (Council Tax payers money being used to pay for a service in another county) would not take place.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the legal agreement necessary for the establishment of Regional pooled fund arrangements for Adult care home placements be endorsed.

The Executive Board considered the West Wales Area Plan 2018-2023 which had been prepared in accordance with statutory requirements set out in Section 14A of the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act and accompanying Statutory Guidance. The Plan had been developed in response to the Population Assessment published in March 2017 and a range of regional partners from across sectors had been directly involved in its drafting. It provided a clear public statement of strategic intent by the West Wales Care Partnership regarding the ongoing transformation of care and support in West Wales.

Councillor D. Cundy, in accordance with CPR 11.1 commented that whilst he appreciated that this was a plan, much of the report referred to the Implementation Plan with associated links that were not included and he asked if there was a reason for this and when would these links be available to peruse?

The Head of Regional Collaboration commented that reporting deadlines had prevented the inclusion of all links to other implementation plans in the draft Plan but all available links would be included prior to its publication. He added that where links were not available, for example in instances where detailed implementation plans were still under development, these would be added at a later stage and made available via the on-line data portal.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the West Wales Area Plan for 2018-2023 be endorsed.

The Executive Board considered a proposal to retain the price of a school meal at £2.50 for the 2018/19 financial year. This followed concerns raised by the Executive Board Member of Education and Children’s Services that there was a need to address the drop in take-up of school meals following 4 consecutive price rises which have seen Carmarthenshire school meal prices become amongst the most costly in Wales. It was also suggested that there needed to be a campaign to encourage take-up of school meals.  

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the price of a school meal be retained at £2.50 for the 2018/19 financial year.