Agenda and minutes

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on the 28^th November, 2022 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 Cabinet was informed that the report on the Engagement survey undertaken on the operation of the Carmarthenshire County Council (Dog Control) Public Spaces Protection Order 2016 had been withdrawn from the agenda for the meeting to enable further work to be undertaken.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the withdrawal of the report be noted

(NOTE: Cllr A. Davies having earlier declared an interest in this item re-declared that interest and left the meeting during its consideration)

The Cabinet considered a report on a review undertaken of the Council’s current admissions policy for full time education for four year olds (Rising 4’s), as recommended by the 2018/19 Education and Children Scrutiny Committee’s Task and Finish Group.

The Cabinet noted that the report outlined the review undertaken into the admissions arrangements which considered the following aspects:

·         Background to the current primary school arrangements, and the ‘rising 4s’ policy in particular.

·         Detail on the current full time and part time admission arrangements for primary schools.

·         Provides a research-based comparison of full time and part time admission arrangements with all other Local Authorities in Wales

·         Information on the importance of Admission Numbers and how they affect admission arrangements.

·         Outlines the current challenges being faced in relation to accommodation and school capacity, inconsistency with other Authorities, nursery and early years provision, funding and the admissions process itself.

The Report also considered potential implications of any changes to the current arrangements in terms of parental perception, equality of provision, redistribution of funding and consultation arrangements.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the, Council as the Admissions Authority, for Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools:

The Cabinet considered a report on a Joint Protocol signed off by both the WLGA Executive Board and the NJC Trade Unions on increasing the rate of re-imbursement of mileage rates for local government employees in recognition of the impact of the cost of living crisis on the workforce and the immediate pressures presented as a consequence of unprecedented increases in fuel costs. The report detailed the various elements of the protocol, together with the agreed sum for re-imbursement which, if adopted by the Council, would represent an 11% increase or, £12.5k on the average monthly spend of £114k.

The Cabinet was advised that, in order for the joint protocol to be implemented, it would need to be adopted locally and the arrangements regarding its administration determined by each local authority in accordance with their local policies and procedures.

It further noted that the agreed threshold at which the additional payment would be triggered for implementation was when the price of fuel attained £1.50 or 15.2 pence per mile as determined by the HMRC Advisory Fuel Rate Assessment. If the cost of fuel fell below that threshold, the additional payment would be removed. 

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the council adopts the interim Joint Protocol on mileage rates signed off by the WLGA Executive Board and the NJC Trade Unions

The Cabinet considered the Council Tax Base 2023-24 report.  Cabinet Members were reminded that the Council was required to determine, on an annual basis, its Council Tax Base and the Council Tax Base of each community within its area, for the purpose of calculating the level of Council Tax for the forthcoming financial year and, under the provisions of Section 84 of the Local Government Act 2003 and the Local Authorities Executive Arrangements (Functions and Responsibilities) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2004, the annual calculation had been delegated to the Cabinet.

The calculation of the Tax Base for the County Council for 2023-24 was detailed in Table 1a and summarised in Table 1b, which were appended to the report.  The calculation for individual Town and Community Council areas for 2023-24 was summarised in Table 2 and detailed in Appendix A, which were also appended to the report.

Cabinet Members noted that the Tax Base report provided calculations which were Authority-wide as well as broken down into all community and town council areas for their precept purposes and that the Council Tax Base for the financial year 2023-2024 had been calculated at £75,071.95.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that

7.1    the Council Tax Base calculations for the financial year 2023-24 as detailed within Appendix A of the report be approved;

7.2.   a Council Tax Base of £75,071.95 as detailed within tables 1a and 1b of the report, be confirmed in respect of the County Council area;

7.3.   the relevant tax bases for the individual community and town council areas, as listed in table 2 and detailed in Appendix A of the report be confirmed.

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