Agenda, decisions and minutes

Awards Recognition:

Family Support Service Multi-Agency Partnership, winners of the Better Outcomes through Working Together category of the 2015 Social Care Accolades.

KIM Inspire Project winner of the 2015 Social Care Accolades Tenth Anniversary Award.

The Chairman welcomed two teams to the meeting, both of which had recently received national recognition in the field of Social Care. 

Gail Bennett from Flintshire County Council, Rachel Roberts from Ysgol Merllyn accompanied by parents Sarah Cullen, Beth Jones and Jo Crane represented the Family Support Service and partnership and were overall winners of the ‘Better Outcomes through Working Together’ category of the 2015 Social Care Accolades.  With an ethos of ‘think family’ the initiative fought off tough competition and the judges were particularly impressed with the strong relationships built between the school, parents and social services. 

Annie Donnovan and Wendy Jones-Booth from The Kim Inspire Project were awarded the special 10^th Anniversary Award at the 2015 Social Care Accolades.  Offering support to people struggling with poor mental health the judges were impressed by the projects client led approach and the evidence of its continuing growth and its positive impact.

                        Councillor Christine Jones, Cabinet Member for Social Services said she was delighted to add her congratulations to both groups in their achievements, both of which attracted many applicants.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 23^rd July 2015.

That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

The minutes of the meeting held on 23 July 2015 had been circulated with the agenda.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

None were received.

A copy of the Chair’s communications had been circulated to all Members prior to the meeting.  The Chair paid tribute to his wife Gwenda and grandson Keiron who had taken part in the Zip Wire Velocity Challenge in Bangor on 6 September 2015.  The challenge had raised in excess of £1,700 for his chosen charities and he thanked everybody for their support and sponsorships.

The Chief Officer (Governance) confirmed that none had been received.

The Chief Officer (Governance) confirmed that none had been received.

The Chief Officer (Governance) confirmed that none had been received.

The Minute Book, Edition 2 has been circulated to Members.  Members are now entitled to ask questions on these minutes, subject to certain limitations, and answers will be provided at the meeting.  Members are requested to bring to the meeting their copy of the Minute Book.  Any questions must have been received by the Democracy and Governance Manager prior to the close of business on 18 September 2015.

The Chief Officer (Governance) confirmed that none had been received.

The Chief Officer (Governance) confirmed that none had been received.

(a)       That the second and concluding part of the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) titled Meeting the Financial Challenge be adopted for consultation and development as the first step towards setting balanced budgets for 2016-17 and 2017-18;

(b)       That specific proposals set out by Cabinet for service reform, corporate financing options, and national support and relief be subject to detailed consultation and development; and

(c)        That there is early engagement with Welsh Government (WG) with the support and involvement of the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) as the representative body, on the case for national support and relief as set out in Meeting the Financial Challenge.

The Chief Executive introduced Part II of the Medium Term Financial Strategy for the three year period 2015-2018.  This was the most significant strategy the Council would be presented with and cross chamber support for early engagement with Welsh Government (WG) for some relief was sought.

A detailed presentation was delivered which covered the following areas:

·         Our journey thus far

·         What do the next three years look like?

·         An efficient and innovative Council

·         Council annual efficiency targets 2008/09-2015/16

·         A low funded Council

·         Our three part strategy

·         Business plan efficiency targets 2015/16-2017/18

·         Corporate finance efficiency proposals 2015/16

·         Funding pressures for support and relief

·         Balancing ambition and risk

·         Recommendations

·         What next?

Part I of the Strategy had been published earlier in the summer and provided a forecast of the resources which were likely to be available to the Council for the three year period, including the pressures on those resources.

Part II set out how the Council could manage a significant reduction in resources in a period of major reductions in national funding for local government, whilst seeking to protect local public services and retaining its position as a well governed and high performing local authority in Wales.  This was titled Meeting the Financial Challenge. 

Meeting the Financial Challenge detailed the £52.8m of budget reductions required over three years and explored how Flintshire was funded and performed compared to the rest of the local government sector in Wales  The funding strategy to meet the unprecedented financial challenge was set out in three parts:

            Funding Strategy Part 1: Service

            Funding Strategy Part 2: Corporate Financial Stewardship

            Funding Strategy Part 3: Working with Welsh Government

The strategy concentrated on how to meet the gap in 2016-17 of £20.8M and again in 2017-18 of £13.7m.

            The Chief Executive explained the importance of Flintshire being able to demonstrate that it was an efficient Council before WG would enter into discussions.  If WG did not provide support with flexibilities and some relief then the Council would have to turn to options for much deeper funding cuts which neither it nor the public would find acceptable.

            The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) had been engaged to provide an independent view on the case for Flintshire.  CIPFA tested the presumption that Flintshire was a ‘low funded council in Wales with less flexibility and capability to find sufficient efficiencies under the current funding system and formula’.  The report of CIPFA concluded that:

• Flintshire was a low spending authority on both Social Care and  Education
• Flintshire achieved a relatively high level of performance on both of these services despite the low level of expenditure
• Flintshire spent at an above average level on highways
• Flintshire achieved the highest level of performance in Wales on the performance measure of roads in poor condition

The analysis demonstrated that Flintshire was a low funded and high performing Council in its two principal service areas and was both a higher spending and a higher performer than the average in highways.  With  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

(a)       That Council is assured by the proposed establishment of an officer working group and the resolution of the Audit Committee to review the findings of that group;

(b)       That Council approves the Statement of Accounts 2014/15 (including the amendments and corrections circulated by the Section 151 Officer) and delegates authority to the Section 151 Officer (in consultation with the Chair of the Council) to make any minor changes to the statement prior to signature;

(c)        That Council approves the Letter of Representation – Flintshire County Council, and the Letter of Representation – Clwyd Pension Fund;

            (d)       That Council approves the Reserves and Balances Protocol; and

(e)       That Council approves the Annual Governance Statement included within the Statement of Accounts

The Chief Executive invited Councillor Newhouse, as Chair of Audit Committee, to introduce the Statement of Accounts.

                        Councillor Newhouse moved approval of the Statement of Accounts which was seconded by Councillor Attridge.  He explained that the Statement of Accounts had been reported to the Audit Committee that morning with the three recommendations in the Audit Committee report being supported by the Wales Audit Office (WAO).  Following consideration of the item, an additional two recommendations were approved by the Audit Committee, copies of which had been distributed prior to the meeting along with a revised set of recommendations for County Council.

                        The Corporate Finance Manager explained that an additional briefing note had been provided prior to the County Council meeting which had also been emailed to Members the previous day.  The briefing note included information on changes to the accounts since publication of the agenda and additional background information to any significant changes.  As the Corporate Finance Manager and Section 151 Officer it was his unqualified opinion that nothing had been omitted from the report.

                        Mr John Herniman of WAO acknowledged the complex work involved in the production of the accounts.  All of the issues that had been raised had been addressed however there were two minor areas outstanding and it was anticipated they would be resolved by 30 September 2015.  On that basis he would be able to offer an unqualified opinion by that date.

                        He commented on the bank reconciliation which had not been prepared correctly but added that this could be easily rectified.  Also, the Council had not complied with the Code in respect of a change in accounting policy on foundation schools as it had applied the change from 31 March 2014 rather than 1 April 2013.  This was not material to the accounts.

                        Some weaknesses had been identified in the strength of the Council’s internal controls relating to the processing of payroll but he was confident these too could be easily resolved.  Regular updates would be reported to the Audit Committee.

                        The Chief Executive explained that the same issues would not be faced the following year as they were due to transitional arrangements.  In addition, an officer working group would be established to look at the accounting processes as recommended to the Audit Committee.

                        Councillor Halford said he had voted against the Statement of Accounts at Audit Committee.  She did not agree with officers and expressed her disappointment that at the Audit Committee on 15 July 2015 when the draft Statement of Accounts was considered there was nobody present from the Wales Audit Office who was known to the Committee.  She commented on the absence of three Labour Members of the Committee at the meeting that morning, all of which had substitutes in their place.  She felt there were issues contained in the Statement of Accounts that had not been reconciled and said she wanted to ensure that the authority did not get into further financial difficulty. 

                        The Corporate Finance Manager said the final piece of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

That the report be noted.

The Corporate Finance Manager introduced the supplementary financial information which accompanied the Statement of Accounts 2014/15. 

            Councillor Peers asked for clarification on the figure of £139,150 in the appendix to the report which related to the post of Principal Accountant (Waste).  The Chief Executive explained that the employee had transferred into the authority and under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) Regulations they were subject to different rights.  Payment could have been higher had the request to meet the contractual agreement been made.

            Councillor Attridge moved approval of the report which was duly seconded.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

That the Annual Treasury Management Report for 2014/15 be approved.

The Corporate Finance Manager presented the Annual Treasury Management Report for 2014/15.

                        Councillor Mullin moved approval of the report and thanked the Corporate Finance Manager and his team for the work undertaken.  This was duly seconded.

RESOLVED:

            That the Annual Treasury Management Report for 2014/15 be approved.

That delegated authority be given to the Chief Executive and Leader to respond to the consultation paper.

The Chief Executive introduced the report which sought approval of a Council response to the Welsh Government (WG) consultation on electoral arrangements for merged authorities.

                        The report provided information on key issues including the total number of Councillors for each merged authority and benchmark Councillor:elector ratios.  The closing date for responses was 9 November 2015. 

The consultation questions were attached as appendix 1 to the report and attached at appendix 2 were initial guiding comments provided by the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA).  The Chief Executive suggested that the Council base its response on the resolutions it had passed on similar consultations and Boundary Commission led boundary reviews in the past.

Councillor Phillips asked for clarification as to how elections were funded and the Chief Executive explained that this was via national government for all elections except local elections.  The latter were funded by the principal and town and community councils. 

RESOLVED:

            That delegated authority be given to the Chief Executive and Leader to respond to the consultation paper.

To receive a verbal report from the Chief Executive.

That the verbal update be received.

The Chief Executive provided a verbal update and explained that a summit meeting had taken place the previous Thursday which was chaired by the First Minister Carwyn Jones. 

                        At that meeting a commitment had been given from across Wales that resources would be shared for up to five years to provide relief to the refugees who were on a temporary licence. 

                        Wales would be due to receive approximately 8% of dispersed refugees.  Local planning was underway on housing and support services in readiness.  

                        Councillor McGuill said Welsh Government (WG) should make more speedy progress as people’s lives were at risk.

                        Councillor Aaron Shotton said it was a humanitarian crisis and Flintshire was one of the first local authorities to respond.  It was important to also provide help to local groups who were helping to support to the refugees.

RESOLVED:

            That the verbal update be received.

There were two members of the press present.