Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Board held on the 7^th September, 2020 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 had been received.

The Board considered a report detailing the proposal to appoint Mr Paul Bennett as Acting Senior Coroner for the Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire Jurisdiction following the resignation of Mr Mark Layton as of 31^st May, 2020.

It was noted that each respective Council in conjunction with the Chief Coroner and Lord Chancellor/Ministry of Justice, had a legal obligation to ensure that the jurisdiction had in place effective coroner service arrangements that were adequately resourced.

However, with the appointment of an interim solution, under the Coroner and Justice Act 2009, the Chief Coroner and Lord Chancellor’s Department / Ministry of Justice required each respective Council to first consider whether the jurisdiction should be amalgamated with another Coroner area before a permanent Senior Coroner appointment was made.

Consent to appoint a permanent Senior Coroner would not be given until the issue of amalgamation of coroner areas was fully considered, resulting in the need for an interim appointment.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED to:

6.1       Approve the temporary appointment on 1 June 2020 of Mr Paul Bennett as Acting Senior Coroner for the Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire Jurisdiction.

6.2       Authorise the necessary steps required to address the issue of amalgamation of the Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire Coroner Area with another Coroner Area as required and in accordance with the directions of the Chief Coroner, Lord Chancellor/Ministry of Justice.

[Note: Councillor. P. Hughes-Griffiths had earlier declared an interest in this item and did not take part in the consideration and determination thereof].

The Board considered a report detailing the impact of COVID 19 lockdown on air quality in Carmarthenshire.

Lockdown resulted in a drastic reduction of road vehicle moment and an improvement in air quality.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED to:

7.1       Commit to discourage non-essential journeys under the ‘new normal’ arrangements by expanding on current policies relating to home and agile working, when the work can be done effectively either at home or at a closer more convenient office base.

7.2       Encourage staff to consider using non-travel related digital techniques as a preferred first option (where possible) for meetings and training purposes.

The Executive Board considered the revenue budget monitoring report which provided the latest budgetary position as at 30th June 2020, in respect of 2020/2021.  The budget position recognised the substantial additional pressures that had been placed on the Authority in responding to the Covid 19 pandemic.  

Overall, the monitoring report forecasted an end of year overspend of £7,400K on the Authority’s net revenue budget with an overspend at departmental level of £8,000k.

The Executive Board’s attention was drawn to the fact that the forecast did not include any allowance for reduction in Council Tax collection and this was being closely monitored by the Director of Corporate Services.

The report confirmed that the Authority was submitting a monthly hardship claim to Welsh Government for additional Covid-19 expenditure.  The majority of costs were being refunded, though some were deemed ineligible and it was not clear how long the funding mechanism would continue.

In light of the significant forecasted overspends at departmental level, Chief Officers and Heads of Service were asked to critically review options available to them to limit the forecasted overspend of budgets, whilst recognising the pressure Covid-19 had placed on the Authority’s overall budget.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that:

8.1       The Budget Monitoring report be received, and consideration given to the budgetary position and appropriate corrective action.

8.2       Chief Officers and Heads of Service critically review options available to them to limit the forecasted overspend of budgets, whilst recognising the pressure Covid-19 has placed on the Authority’s overall budget.

The Executive Board considered a report which provided an update of the latest budgetary position for the 2020/21 capital programme as at the 30^th June, 20120. 

Departmentally, a net spend of £69,816k was forecasted compared with a working net budget of £114,079K giving a £44,263K variance.

The net budget included original HRA and General Fund programme, approved by Council on 3^rd March, slippage from 2019/20, new projects approved by Executive Board on 29^th June 2020 and budgets relating to Covid-19 Response Field Hospitals.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that:

9.1       The capital programme update report be received.

9.2       The virement detailed in the report be approved.

As part of the requirements of the revised CIPFA Code of Practice on Treasury Management, the Executive Board considered the Council's Annual Treasury Management and Prudential Indicator Report for the 2019-20.

The Council adopted the Treasure Management Policy and Strategy and the five year capital programme for 2019-20 on the 20^th February 2019.  The Annual report listed the activities that took place in 2019-20.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL that the Annual Treasury Management and Prudential Indicator Report for 2019-20 be adopted.

The Chair advised that there were no items of urgent business.

THE REPORTS RELATING TO THE FOLLOWING ITEMS ARE NOT FOR PUBLICATION AS THEY CONTAIN EXEMPT INFORMATION AS DEFINED IN PARAGRAPH 14 OF PART 4 OF SCHEDULE 12A TO THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1972 AS AMENDED BY THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT (ACCESS TO INFORMATION) (VARIATION) (WALES) ORDER 2007. IF, FOLLOWING THE APPLICATION OF THE PUBLIC INTEREST TEST, THE BOARD RESOLVES PURSUANT TO THE ACT TO CONSIDER THESE ITEMS IN PRIVATE, THE PUBLIC WILL BE EXCLUDED FROM THE MEETING DURING SUCH CONSIDERATION.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED, pursuant to the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information)(Variation) (Wales) Order 2007, that the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items as the reports contained exempt information as defined in paragraph 14 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A to the Act.

Following the application of the public interest test it was RESOLVED pursuant to the Act referred to in minute no. 12 above not to publicise the content of the report as it contained exempt information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the Authority holding that information) (Paragraph 14 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A to the Act).

The report contains details about potential academic partners who have not as yet signed memoranda of Understanding with the Authority.  Although the public interest would normally favour transparency and openness, this is outweighed by the public interest in maintaining confidentiality in this case until the MOUs have been signed.

The Executive Board considered a report on Pentre Awel in relation to the submission of the City Deal Business Case, agreements with academic partners and Phase 1 design development.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED RECOMMENT TO COUNCIL that it:

Following the application of the public interest test it was RESOLVED pursuant to the Act referred to in minute no. 12 above not to publicise the content of the report as it contained exempt information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the Authority holding that information) (Paragraph 14 and 16 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A to the Act).

Although the public interest test would normally favour transparency and openness, this is outweighed by the public interest in maintaining confidentiality in this case (i) so as not to damage the commercial interests of the preferred /bidder company; (ii) so as to protect the Authority’s and the other Participants’ interests in connection with the legal advice provided to them in connection with these documents.

The Executive Board considered a report on the Mutual Investment Model 21^st Century Schools Education Partnership – Strategic Partnering Agreement.

The Executive Board was advised that with agreement of the Chairs of the Education & Children Scrutiny and Policy & Resource Scrutiny Committee, under Article 6.7 of the Constitution the call-in period had been waived.  This was to enable the Authority to meet the deadline set by the Welsh Government

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED TO: