Agenda item

The Committee considered the Council’s draft Annual Report for 2018/19 together with the relevant Well-Being Objective [WBO] detailed reports falling within the remit of the committee namely:

·      WBO5 - Tackling poverty;

·      WBO14 - Promoting Welsh language and culture;

·     WBO15 - Building a Better Council and Making Better Use of Resources.

It was noted that it was a requirement of the Local Government (Wales) Measure the Authority must publish an Annual Report on past performance by the end of October each year.

The following issues were raised on the report:-

·         In response to a concern that there had been a significant increase in the percentage of measures that had declined it was acknowledged that reduced budgets undoubtedly impacted on service delivery and in some instances it was considered that more achievable targets needed to be set accordingly;

WBO5

·         Members were assured that the authority was doing all it could to minimise the impact of Universal Credit on benefit claimants;

·         The Head of ICT & Corporate Policy agreed to ascertain the current position with regard to the proposed Carmarthen Hwb;

·         It was noted that the authority was liaising with third sector providers to avoid duplication of service provision;

·         Whilst the success of the Christmas Food Hamper Appeal was welcome it was considered that the scheme should be extended to the summer holidays when children were off school for a longer period and some families still required support. Reference was made to the School Holiday Enrichment Programme (SHEP), funded by the Welsh Government and local authorities, which provide free meals, education and physical activities for children across Wales and the Corporate Policy and Partnership Officer agreed to ascertain whether there was any means of expanding the scheme within Carmarthenshire;

WBO14

·         In response to a query as to why the percentage of Foundation Phase pupils who received a teacher assessment in Welsh had declined it was commented that the actual number of pupils may have increased though this would need to be ascertained;

·         Members were advised that an accurate indication of whether the number of Welsh Speakers in the County was increasing or declining would not be available until the results of the next census in 2020 were published; 

·         The Head of ICT & Corporate Policy agreed to ask the Head of Leisure to ascertain the number of visitors to the County’s museums and arts/theatre venues in 2018/19 compared with 2017/18;

WBO15

·         The Head of ICT & Corporate Policy agreed to ascertain from the Organisational Development Team the training offered via the Continuous Improvement network;

·         The Head of ICT & Corporate Policy agreed to ascertain from the Head of Property the current situation regarding the sale of Nant y Ci and 5-7 Spilman Street, Carmarthen as the ‘For Sale’ signs appeared to have been removed;

·         The Head of ICT & Corporate Policy agreed to convey concerns regarding waste collection and fly-tipping in the Llanelli area to the Head of Waste & Environmental Services. Particular reference was made to bags which were labelled by refuse collectors and not collected only to be ripped open by foxes, seagulls etc.;

·         The Head of ICT & Corporate Policy agreed to ascertain from the Electoral Services Division the latest position regarding the Parliamentary Boundary Review;  

·         The FOIA section was commended on the number of requests which had been responded to;

·         Following on from concerns expressed at the last meeting with regard to work-life balance and the sending of e-mails outside of normal working hours the Committee was assured that the issue was being addressed. The Head of ICT & Corporate Policy agreed to ask the Assistant Chief Executive to extend an invitation to all members to visit the Occupational Health Unit;

·         Members were advised of the positive feedback in regard to Choice Based Lettings [Canfod Cartref] Home Finder;

·         In response to concerns regarding post-Brexit funding the Head of Financial Services commented that a new earmarked reserves fund of £200k had been established for generic risks. He also agreed to convey concerns regarding the possible acquisition of agricultural land by post-Brexit speculators to the internal Brexit group.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED to recommend to the Executive Board that the draft Annual Report 2018/19 be endorsed.