Agenda and minutes

Venue: Chamber - County Hall, Carmarthen. SA31 1JP. View directions

Contact: Martin S. Davies  01267 224059

Items
No. Item

1.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

An apology for absence was received from Councillor D. Nicholas.

2.

DECLARATIONS OF PERSONAL INTEREST

Minutes:

There were no declarations of personal interest.

3.

DECLARATION OF PROHIBITED PARTY WHIPS

Minutes:

There were no declarations of prohibited party whips.

4.

PUBLIC QUESTIONS

Minutes:

No public questions had been received.

 

5.

TREASURY MANAGEMENT POLICY AND STRATEGY 2018-19 pdf icon PDF 153 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the proposed Treasury Management Policy and Strategy 2018/19 [which had also been considered by the Executive Board at its meeting held on the 5th February, 2018] and was reminded that, as part of the requirements of the revised CIPFA Code of Practice on Treasury Management, the Council was required to maintain a Treasury Management Policy detailing the policies and objectives of its treasury management activities, and to approve a Treasury Management Strategy annually prior to the commencement of the financial year to which it related. Additionally, under the provisions of the Local Government Act 2003, the Council was required to approve its Treasury Management Prudential Indicators for the coming year.

Amongst the issues raised during consideration of the report were the following:

·         The Director of Corporate Services, in response to a question, confirmed that as part of the £1.3 billion City Deal£240m funding had already been secured from the UK and Welsh Governments towards the 11 projectsin Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Carmarthenshire [the Lead Authority] and Pembrokeshire over the next 15 years. Discussions between the four local authorities were still ongoing but it was anticipated that a joint working agreement would be signed shortly. It was not anticipated that BREXIT would affect the City Deal;

·         It was noted that infrastructure would be a critical part of any package for a City Deal project;

·         The Director of Corporate Services agreed to circulate a profile of loans borrowed;

·         The Director of Corporate Services confirmed that the engagement of Treasury Management Advisers was tendered for;

·         It was noted that 5 external service providers were currently used to support the Authority’s treasury management activities. 

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the Treasury Management Policy and Strategy for 2018/19 and associated appendices be endorsed.

 

 

6.

QUARTERLY TREASURY MANAGEMENT AND PRUDENTIAL INDICATOR REPORT 1ST APRIL 2017 TO 31ST DECEMBER 2017 pdf icon PDF 152 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the Quarterly Treasury Management and Prudential Indicator report for the period 1st April 2017 – 31st December 2017 to ensure that the activities undertaken were consistent with the requirements of the Treasury Management Policy and Strategy for 2017-2018 adopted by Council on the 22nd February, 2017.

 

Amongst the issues raised during consideration of the report were the following:

·         The Director of Corporate Services, in response to a query, confirmed that with regard to claims submitted to the Administrators acting in connection with the former Icelandic bank Kaupthing Singer & Freidlander the Authority was a non-preferential creditor. He added that it was not possible to determine the level of dividend that might eventually be received;

·         The Director of Corporate Services agreed to ascertain progress on the conversion of traditional street lighting to LED under the interest free ‘Invest-2-Save’ funding.

 

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the monitoring report be noted.

 

7.

TRANSFORM, INNOVATE & CHANGE (TIC) PROGRAMME ANNUAL REPORT 2016/17 & BUSINESS PLAN 2017/18 pdf icon PDF 107 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee had been circulated with a copy of the ‘Transform, Innovate & Change (TIC) Programme Annual Report 2016/17 & Business Plan 2017/18’ and received a presentation which included a case study on a current TIC project. It was considered that the benefits of the TIC approach were being realised as many of the projects had started to deliver significant improvements in terms of service quality, customer experience and financial efficiencies.  To date the TIC approach had assisted in identifying or was helping to deliver approximately £11.5 of efficiency savings.

 

Amongst the issues raised following the presentation were the following:

·         Members were assured that there was a robust mechanism in place to ensure that service improvements following TIC reviews continued. It was noted that the TIC Programme Board met on a bi-monthly basis and monitored progress;

·         It was noted that no compulsory redundancies had arisen directly from the TIC Programme although a number of staff had taken the opportunity to leave voluntarily;

·         The TIC Programme Manager agreed to provide examples of projects which had been undertaken which had not delivered efficiency savings;

·         It was suggested that the tables in the report indicating savings achieved should also include any costs incurred to achieve those savings;

·         The involvement of elected members in reviews was emphasised and it was noted that  the Back Office Review had been instigated at their request;

·         It was considered that more needed to be done to develop uniformity of data bases with organisations the Authority collaborated with such as Health Boards;

·         It was confirmed that some older projects were occasionally revisited to ensure that they were adhering to the TIC principles.

 

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the TIC Annual Report for 2016/17 & Business Plan 2017/18 be received.

 

 

8.

CARMARTHENSHIRE WELL-BEING PLAN: THE CARMARTHENSHIRE WE WANT pdf icon PDF 174 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Further to minute 9 of the meeting held on the 6th December 2017 the Committee 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 i being published by May 2018, in accordance with the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.

 

The PSB, at its meeting on 18th January 2018, had considered feedback from the consultation together with further development work undertaken during the consultation period and had agreed amendments to the Plan accordingly. The key amendments to the Plan were included on pages 14-18 where further information had been included against each of the actions in order to identify ‘How we will do this…’ and ‘Who will do this…’. This would form the basis for a series of Delivery Groups which the PSB would now look to establish to make progress against the identified objectives and actions. The PSB was therefore presenting its final Plan for consideration and approval by the four statutory members of the Board and it would then be adopted by the PSB for delivery from May 2018 onwards.

 

The following issues were raised during consideration of the Plan:

 

·         The Corporate Policy and Partnership Manager commented that the Board was happy with the input of all four statutory members in spite of concerns expressed by elected members over the apparent low number of well-being objectives set of by the Hywel Dda University Health Board;

·         It was acknowledged that mental health would be central to most of the actions going forward;

·         It was acknowledged that the PSB needed to consider ways of interacting with local communities.

 

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the ‘Carmarthenshire Well-being Plan – The Carmarthenshire we want – 2018-2023’ be endorsed.

 

 

9.

CARMARTHENSHIRE PUBLIC SERVICES BOARD (PSB) MINUTES NOVEMBER 2017 pdf icon PDF 152 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the minutes of the meeting of the Carmarthenshire Public Services Board held on the 16th November 2017.The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 required that a designated local government scrutiny committee was appointed to scrutinise the work of the PSB. In Carmarthenshire, the Council’s Policy & Resources Scrutiny Committee had been designated as the relevant scrutiny committee.

 

The Chair advised that the Board meeting scheduled for 8th March 2018 at 2.00 p.m. had been moved to the Caer Suite, MAWWFRS HQ, Carmarthen, in order that all members of the Scrutiny Committee could attend as observers if possible.

 

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the minutes of the PSB meeting held on the 16th November 2017 be received.

 

10.

FORTHCOMING ITEMS pdf icon PDF 88 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the list of forthcoming items to be considered at the next scheduled meeting to be held on the 21st March 2018 be noted.

 

11.

EXPLANATION FOR NON-SUBMISSION OF SCRUTINY REPORT pdf icon PDF 60 KB

Minutes:

The Committee received the Non-Submission report.

 

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the report be noted.

 

12.

MINUTES - 12TH JANUARY 2017 pdf icon PDF 168 KB

Minutes:

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on the 12th January 2016 be signed as a correct record

 

Council & Democracy

The Council

Councillors, AMs and MPs

Council departments

Have your say

Committees & Meetings

Strategies and plans