Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor B. Davies, R. Evans and R. Sparks.

There were no declarations of prohibited party whips.

The Chair advised that no public questions had been received.

(NOTE: Councillor H. Shepardson, having earlier declared an interest in this item, remained in the meeting during its consideration)

The Committee considered a report on the Council’s Revenue Budget Strategy 2024/25 to 2026/27, as endorsed by the Executive Board for consultation purposes at its meeting held on the 15^th January 2024.  The report provided Members with the current view of the Revenue Budget for 2024/2025 together with indicative figures for the 2025/2026 and 2026/2027 financial years based on officers’ projections of spending requirements and took account of the provisional settlement issued by Welsh Government on the 20^th December 2023.

The Committee was informed that the announced provisional settlement represented an average increase of 3.1% across Wales on the 2023/24 settlement, with Carmarthenshire’s increase being 3.3% (£11.0m) thereby taking the Aggregate External Finance to £349,441m for 2024/25. While the settlement was marginally above the Council’s planning figure of a 3.0% increase and provided £0.9m more than the Council’s original assumption, and was to be welcomed, the inflationary, pay awards and other service pressure increases far exceeded the funding provided. In context, the additional budgets required in 2024/25 to meet the costs of pay awards alone totalled £15m,

Whilst the budget proposals assumed the full delivery of all savings proposals, it was noted further work would be required to develop the cost reductions for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 financial years to be able to maintain the current Budget Strategy and level of Council tax. 

It was noted that given the current risks around the Budget Strategy and the ongoing inflationary backdrop, together with other budgetary pressures, the proposed Council Tax increase for 2024/25 had been set at 6.5% to mitigate reductions to critical services. However, the strategy contained a shortfall of £801k which would need to be addressed in order for the Council to set a balanced budget.  In years 2 and 3, the financial picture remained uncertain and, as such, modelled indicative Council Tax rises of 4% and 3% had been made purely for planning purposes and sought to strike a balance with budget reductions. Those proposals would be considered by the Council in setting the Council Tax level for 2024/25 at its meeting on the 28^th February, 2024. Additionally, as the Welsh Government final settlement figure was not due to be announced until the 27^th February, 2024 any amendments required to be considered to the budget strategy as a result of that announcement would need to be considered by Council on the 28^th February.

It was further noted that following the UK Government’s decision to provide additional funding to English Local Authorities, it was hoped the Welsh Government would receive an additional £28m through the Barnett Formula and representations were being made for that additional funding to be provided to Welsh Local Authorities.

The Committee thereupon considered the following detailed budget information appended to the Strategy relevant to its remit:

·       Appendix A(i) – Efficiency summary for the Regeneration, Leisure, Place and Sustainability and Non  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Committee considered the 2023/24 Revenue and Capital Budget Monitoring reports for the Housing, Regeneration and Property, Place and Sustainability and Leisure and Recreation Services for the period up to the 31^st October, 2023. It was noted that the revenue budget was forecasting a £142k overspend, the capital budget a £29,731k underspend, whilst the Housing Revenue Account was forecasting a £286k overspend.

The following questions/issues were raised on the report:

·     In response to a query on the savings proposals, it was confirmed that where savings were undeliverable, they were revalidated into departmental budgets

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the Revenue and Capital Budget Monitoring Report be received.

The Committee considered a report, as part of the pre-decision process on policy development on whether the Council should introduce an incentive scheme for its tenants and to what form those incentives should take. The report detailed a range of incentive options for consideration and included:

·       Encouraging tenants to downsize to a smaller property.

·       Encouraging departing tenants to leave their property in a good condition and with no rent arrears.

·       Encouraging the take up of direct debits.

·       Recognising when tenants help improve our services.

·       Encourage or reward tenants who keep to their Contract Conditions (tenancy).

The following questions/issues were raised on the report:

·       Whilst the principle of operating a tenant incentive scheme could be considered as a bit of a paradox, it was noted that research undertaken by the Housing Quality Network and the Tenant Participation Advisory Service (Wales) suggested that the offering of incentives achieved savings for landlords in the long term and could be considered as being a ‘spend to save initiative’. For example, council tenants who maintained their properties could save the Council money in repair and void costs.

·       Reference was made to the principle of the scheme to incentivise individual tenants to maintain their properties and be good tenants. A suggestion was made that the proposal, if endorsed, could also consider the introduction of a collective community reward for communities who kept their estate areas tidy. It was agreed the principle could be examined as part of the scheme.

·       It was noted that should the committee endorse the principle of the scheme, further work would need to be undertaken on its mechanics and eligibility criteria etc for example, incentives would only be paid to tenants not in arrears. Discussions would also be undertaken with other local authorities and registered social landlords on the operation of their incentive schemes. Thereafter, a report would be re-submitted to a future meeting of the committee for its consideration on whether the Council should introduce a pilot scheme to assess its benefit to both the tenant and the Council.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the Committee endorse the introduction of a Council tenant incentive scheme.

(NOTE: Councillor K. Broom having earlier declared an iterest in this item remained in the meeting during its consideration)

The Committee considered a report seeking authorisation for further consultations to be undertaken for a six week period on the Integrated Sustainability Assessment (including 1^st addendum) and the Habitat Regulations Assessment (including 1^st and 2^nd Addendums) as supporting documents to the Revised Carmarthenshire Local Development Plan 2018-2033. It was noted that the report followed the Council’s resolution on the 9th March, 2022 to prepare a second Deposit version of the Revised Local Development Plan (LDP) and the Plans subsequent publication for public consultation between the 17th February to 14th April 2023. It sought to reflect the ongoing challenges procedurally in meeting the requirements in relation to the habitat regulations arising from Natural Resources Wales’ guidance on phosphate levels in protected riverine Special Areas of Conservation and water quality and the need to ensure the Plan’s preparation and the consideration of its scope and content was procedurally compliant in legislative and regulatory terms.

The following questions/issues were raised on the report:

·       In response to a question on the impact the further consultations could have on the Plan’s adoption, it was noted that while initially it had hoped the adoption would be completed by the end of 2024, the timescale would now slip to potentially between March and July 2025. Discussions were now being held with the Welsh Government on a revised timeline for its adoption

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the undertaking of further consultations on the Integrated Sustainability Assessment (including 1^st addendum and the Habitat Regulations Assessment (including 1^st and 2^nd Addendums) as supporting documents to the Revised Carmarthenshire Local Development Plan 2018-2033 be approved.

The Committee received an explanation for the non-submission of the following scrutiny report:-

·         Alternative Town Centre Usage

 RESOLVED that the explanation for the non-submission be noted.

The Committee received a list of forthcoming items to be considered at its next meeting to be held on the 7^th March, 2024

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the list of forthcoming items to be considered at the next scheduled meeting on the 7^th March, 2024 be approved.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 13 December, 2023 be signed as a correct record.