Agenda and minutes

County Councillor S. Jones declared a personal, non-prejudicial interest pursuant to the Members’ Code of Conduct, in respect of agenda item 6 – Strategic Risk Assessment 2016, concerning the apprenticeship levy and rate revaluation.

There were no members of the public present.

The minutes of the Economy and Development Select Committee dated 24^th November 2016 were confirmed and signed by the Chairman.

Context:

To outline the proposed capital budget for 2017/18 and the indicative capital budgets for the three years 2018/19 to 2020/21.

Key Issues:

Capital Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) issues:

·         The four year capital programme is reviewed annually and updated to take account of any new information that is relevant.

·         The major component of the capital MTFP for the next few years is the Future schools programme. The Council has recently approved further funding for this programme at its meeting held on the 20^th October 2016.

·         There are a number of other areas where there is a commitment to invest, however the schemes currently sit outside the programme as work progresses to identify the funding requirements.  These are:

-       Monmouth Pool – commitment to re-provide the pool in Monmouth as a consequence of the Future Schools Programme.

-       Abergavenny Hub – commitment to re-provide the library with the One Stop Shop in Abergavenny to conclude the creation of a Hub in each of the towns.

-       Disabled Facilities Grants – the demand for grants is currently outstripping the budget, work is being undertaken to assess the level of investment required to maximize the impact and benefit for recipients.

-       City Deal - 10 Authorities in the Cardiff City region are looking at a potential £1.2 billion City Deal. Agreement to commit to this programme is being sought across the region in January 2017 and so would impact on the capital MTFP. The potential impact on individual authority budgets is currently being modelled in advance of decisions on specific projects and profiles in order for authorities to start reflecting the commitment in their MTFPs.

-       J and E Block – the office rationalization programme is being considered to see if there is a solution that would enable the Magor and Usk sites to be consolidated, releasing funding to pay for the necessary investment to bring the blocks into use.

·      A strategy that enables the core programme, Future Schools and the above schemes to be accommodated is being developed. Notwithstanding this there will still remain a considerable number of pressures that sit outside of any potential to fund them within the Capital MTFP and this has significant risk associated with it.  Cabinet has previously accepted this risk. 

·      The current policy is that further new schemes can only be added to the programme if the business case demonstrates that they are self- financing or the scheme is deemed a higher priority than current schemes in the programme and therefore displaces it.

·      In summary, the following other issues and pressures have been identified:

-       Long list of back log pressures – infrastructure, property, DDA work and public rights of way.  None of these pressures are included in the current capital MTFP, but this carries with it a considerable risk.

-       Capital investment required to deliver revenue savings – this is principally in the area of office accommodation and looking at alternative delivery models for leisure and culture, and social care, property  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Context:

To scrutinise detailed draft proposals on the budget savings required to meet the gap between available resources and need to spend in 2017/18. Also, to consider the 2017/18 budget within the context of the 4 year Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) and the emergence of priorities to guide forward activities through Future Monmouthshire.

Key Issues:

The Select Committee scrutinised the Enterprise budget proposals, as outlined in Appendix 3c of the report, which related to the following departments within the Enterprise Directorate:

·         Tourism, Leisure and Culture.

·         Planning.

·         Housing.

·         Economic Development.

Member Scrutiny:

·         In response to a Select Committee Member’s question regarding the mandate for markets being undeliverable, it was noted that an opportunity has arisen to re-set the Budget.  Therefore, this year, the opportunity was taken to redress and re-balance the pressure points within the Budget and lessen the impact on services.  The markets budget falls into the issue of being able to re-set the budget.  It is recognised within markets that there was an issue with a recurrent overspend as a result of a shortfall in income.  An ambitious mandate had been brought through to generate further incomes.  The opportunity has been taken this year to not over extend this service whilst bringing down the over spend.  This allows for the markets and its budget to be taken forward in a sustainable way.

·         Apprenticeship Levy – It was noted that with regard to money coming in, this matter is being worked through.  Whitehall is looking to pass money across to Welsh Government with regard to monies being collected through the Apprenticeship Levy.  We will see how this money gets re-patriated back into the business community and to local authorities. This is actively being discussed in the City Deal discussions.

·         Rate Revaluations – It was noted that increases across the board in Monmouthshire have been higher for businesses than in other authorities in Wales.  Within Monmouthshire there is an 11% increase.  Across Wales there has mainly been a decrease in rate revaluations.  There are areas in Monmouthshire that are being hit hard, namely, in hospitality and retailing industries.  The Welsh Government has brought forward a fund of £10,000,000 to help alleviate these pressures.  However, this is only a one off grant to be spread across Wales and does not address the long term problem of rates.  Details of how the grant is to be allocated is not yet available.  The Select Committee will receive an update regarding the allocation of the £10,000,000 grant.

·         Superannuation 21.1% employer’s rate - It was noted that other authorities pay less than the 21.1% paid by Monmouthshire.  It was noted that the Local Government Pension Scheme is a national scheme so it was not within Monmouthshire County Council’s gift to unilaterally change the national scheme.  It was considered that this matter should be referred to the Audit Committee to investigate why Monmouthshire County Council is having to carry a higher superannuation rate compared to other local authorities.

·         The Enterprise Directorate’s income generation proposals equate to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Context:

To receive an overview of the current strategic risks facing the Authority as outlined in appendix 1 of the report.

Key Issues:

The existing risks on the Strategic Risk Assessment have been updated based on evidence available in 2016.   Changes to the Council’s risk management policy were approved by Cabinet in March 2015 and continue to be applied to the strategic risk register.  These are:

·                Including pre-mitigation and post-mitigation risk scores. This was also a key recommendation from scrutiny of the 2014 risk assessment.

·                Ensuring greater clarity to the phrasing of risk so that each statement includes an event, cause and effect.

The risk assessment only covers high and medium level risks.  Lower level operational risks are not registered unless they are projected to escalate within the three years covered.  These need to be managed and monitored through teams’ service plans.

Following presentation to the select committees and Audit Committee, the risk assessment will be presented to Cabinet for sign off. The risk assessment is a living document and will evolve over the course of the year as new information comes to light.

Member Scrutiny:

·         It was noted that prior to being presented to Cabinet  in February 2017, a further two risks are being considered to be added onto the Register, namely, the potential risk around database breeches and access to the Council’s network externally and also around business rate revaluations.

·         In response to a question raised regarding housing need in Monmouthshire becoming a strategic risk, it was noted that this was an important issue and was being addressed via the Local Development Plan.  However, if these trends continued then the matter could be identified as a potential risk.

·         In response to a Select Committee Member’s question regarding broadband rollout being provided by housing developers, it was noted that this was not a matter for developers to provide.  The Authority needed to continue to press the Welsh Government to undertake this matter throughout Monmouthshire.  However, it was noted that there was opportunity with regard to the trunking of new properties being fibre enabled going into these new premises which will significantly increase the broadband speed.

·         It was noted that the Welsh Government has opened a consultation process to inform the next round of funding regarding broadband infrastructure.  An update from Welsh Government to the Select Committee in June 2017 will be required to explain to the Committee the latest position regarding this matter and when the work is likely to be completed. This matter to be put onto the Select Committee’s work programme.

·         In response to a question raised regarding financial risk to the Authority, it was noted that this matter and potential uncertainty around this matter was covered in the risk register.

·         Appendix 1 ref. 2, some services may become financially unsustainable in the short to medium term as a result of reducing budgets and increasing demand – it was noted that in terms of mitigating action that has been put in place, projections are that if these  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

We resolved to receive and note the list of actions arising from the Economy and Development Select Committee meeting held on 24^th November 2016.

We scrutinised the Economy and Development Select Committee Forward Work Programme. In doing so, the following points were noted:

·         Tourism Workshop – 12^th January 2017 at 10.00am.

·         Joint Select Committee Meeting regarding the Budget – 31^st January 2017 at 2.00pm.

·         Economy and Development Select Committee Meeting – 9^th February 2017 at 10.00am.

·         Special Economy and Development Select Committee regarding Affordable Housing - 14^th February 2017 at 2.00pm.

·         Special Economy and Development Select Committee regarding the Alternative Delivery Model – 27^th February 2017 at 2.00pm.

·         A monthly email to all Members outlining upcoming meetings and seminars would be helpful.

·         A report regarding the return on investment in respect of the velothon that is pertinent to Monmouthshire to be added to the work programme for consideration at an future select committee meeting.

We resolved to receive the work programme and noted its content.

We scrutinised the Council and Cabinet Business Forward Plan.  In doing so, it was noted that the Asset Investment Strategy would be presented to Cabinet shortly.

We resolved to receive the report and noted its content.

We resolved to adjourn the meeting with a view to recommencing at 2.00pm.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor P. Fox, Chief Officer, Economy and Enterprise and Head of Economy and Enterprise were in attendance to provide a presentation on Cardiff Capital Region City Deal.

On introduction, the Chair congratulated the Leader on receiving an OBE.

We were advised that the presentation was an updated version to that published in the agenda, and it was agreed that the published version be updated to reflect the presentation received at the meeting.

Some areas highlighted in the presentation included the investment fund and areas to be invested in; the importance of governance and the strength of commitment; steps to move forward, and finance and funding contributions.

Following the presentation Members were invited to comment.

• An upcoming Council meeting to discuss City Deal further would provide an opportunity to think about the opportunities Monmouthshire wants to gain from the City Deal.

• The Leader advised that he had attended a Select Committee at Bridgend which had provided positive feedback.  The report and recommendations to be presented to full Council should be easy to digest and support.

• A Member asked why the GVA in Gloucestershire is 50% greater than that in Monmouthshire.  He also referred to the digital economy, and added that this could create digital isolation, and referred to concerns surrounding the Metro.  In response, the Leader recognised the concerns regarding Metro, adding that improvements would be seen at Severn Tunnel, and in time, at Abergavenny.  Metro is multi-modal and alternatives would be looked at.  It was important that people are able to access opportunities wherever they are based, and we noted the importance of the Monmouthshire Strategic Transport Group to ensure our voices are heard in the bigger debate around transport. The Chief Officer explained that in terms of GVA, our GVA is higher than the region as a whole, and since the figures were published had grown by another 4%.  There were reasons why we were not at the same level as Gloucestershire, being that our economy is about tourism, recreation, food and agriculture which were not considered high value jobs, but we do have potential to expand around growth areas. The Head of Economy and Enterprise addressed the question regarding digital exclusion.  Officers were looking closely at opportunities for the region as a SMART region, working closely with a company called Kinetic.  Connectivity rates were not satisfactory but this was being addressed.  A ‘White Space’ pilot was due to start which uses old analogue television signals to broadcast broadband.  A recent activity of mapping the digital maturity of our companies had been undertaken, which had found that those having one on one mentoring had shown a significant increase in online activity.
• A Member expressed the importance of retaining the young people of Monmouthshire, and stated that we should be offering the right education to our young people.  Education should be more tailored rather than a ‘one model fits all’ approach.  It was recognised that we were at an advantage in terms of geographical location,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.