Agenda, decisions and minutes

None received.

None received.

Minutes from 14 June 2023 were accepted as a true record.

The Leader introduced the first report on the agenda, which explained the Council’s outturn for the 2022/23 revenue budget and the key issues arising.

Against a net budget of £343million, the 2022/23 revenue outturn produced a net underspend, after planned transfers to and from reserves, of £5.1m, which represented a 1.5% variance against budget.

This final position represented an improvement on the position previously reported to Cabinet, mainly due to late, unexpected grant funding, additional income, and a slight reduction in demand in certain areas.

The Leader explained that in 2022/23 the underspend of £5.1m, was due to the following:

(i)                Underspends against non-service budgets, specifically the general and covid contingency budget. The contingency budgets were temporarily increased for 2022/23 following Covid, and were not required to balance the budget in this year.

(ii)               Overachievement of interest receivable due to interest rates rising, higher than anticipated investment balances and increased savings on interest payable due to the delayed need to undertake borrowing, caused by slippage in the capital programme. Additionally, there was underspend on the Council Tax reduction scheme.

(iii)              These underspends were, however, offset by overspending in service areas due to increased demand and rising costs resulting from high inflationary pressures. Emergency placements within Children’s Services and demand for temporary accommodation within Housing and Communities were the two most significant areas of additional demand. The higher than anticipated pay award for National Joint Council (NJC) staff across the council also significantly contributed to this position.

Detailed explanations of the over and underspending against budgets can be found in section 2 of the report.

Whilst the outturn overall was positive for the Council’s finances; there were specific issues which had the potential to impact on the forthcoming year. A number of these issues were addressed as part of the 2023/24 budget setting process, although some remain that could impact during the year. These risks were explained in detail within section 4 of the report and continued to be monitored by the Executive Team.

As school variances were managed via individual school’s balances, the overall underspend of £5.1m did not include the schools’ position. For 2022/23, schools collectively overspent by £1.3m which saw school balances reduce from £15.7m to £14.4m as at 31 March 2023.

In light of the significant level of savings that schools needed to make during the 2023/24 financial year, officers continued to closely monitor school balances over the medium term as part of the Council’s deficit avoidance and prevention strategy.

As part of this meeting, Cabinet, were being asked to approve the use of this underspend.

Before moving onto the considerations, the Leader invited colleagues to give their general comments on the report.

Comments of Cabinet Members:

§  Councillor Davies thanked schools for their hard work setting the balanced budget during these incredibly challenging times.  Councillor Davies reflected that school staff work very closely with officers in finance to ensure that balanced budgets were set and were determined to spend their budgets wisely and carefully.

§  Councillor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The next report presented by the Leader was the Capital Programme Outturn report for 2022/23. This was the final report of the year on capital activity which provided an overview of the final amount of capital expenditure incurred in the year, compared with the allocated budget. As part of this, the report outlined the level of slippage and underspend incurred and provided an update on the level of available capital headroom.

In addition to this, the report outlined the additions to the programme that were identified and requested authorisation for their inclusion from Cabinet.

o   The first section outlined the movement in the capital budget since the last report was presented to Cabinet, in February.

o   The total value of additions and amendments was £51m, however more than half of that was formally approved as part of agreeing the Capital Strategy for 2023/24. Therefore, the value of additions that required approval, the majority of which were externally grant funded, stood at £18.5m. These additions took the total budget for the year to £91.8m.

o   A further breakdown of these additions was given in Appendix A.

Against the revised budget, total expenditure of £61.2m was incurred, resulting in a variance of £30.6m.

This variance comprised a net underspend of £47,000 and more significantly, slippage totalling £30.553m. It was necessary for this slippage to be carried forward into future years in order for ongoing and previously approved schemes to be completed.

The overall value of slippage had increased by £3m since the last report. Relatively speaking, this was a small increase compared to that seen in previous years. This was mainly due to the fact that a number of large schemes were now underway but also because of reprofiling undertaken in previous months.

It was noted, however, that the overall level of slippage was still significant and was something that needed to be managed robustly in future years.

In addition, a further review of the 2023/24 capital budget was required, to ensure that it reflected a realistic profile. Currently, the budget stood at nearly £95m and would be a challenge to deliver. It was, therefore, necessary to reprofile this across the remainder of the programme to increase the chances of delivering against the budget and minimising the level of slippage reported in future years.

The report also detailed the level of capital headroom currently available, which could be used to support new schemes.

This now stood at £9.774m, after allowing for two pre-commitments against this funding.

The majority of the balance was held within the capital expenditure reserve, following Cabinet’s decision in February to transfer the full value of the residual 2021/22 revenue underspend (£7.9m) to that reserve. 

Whilst the headroom recently had a significant boost, there remained a need to tightly control its use, so that it was available for only the most critical issues, as and when they emerged.

In addition, any opportunity to further increase in the headroom would need to be taken, so that it was possible to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Leader was pleased to present the annual report which detailed the Council’s progress in complying with the Welsh Language Standards as part of the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011.

The report provided an overview of the Council’s progress in meeting the Standards, included information required to be published on an annual basis, a summary of key achievements during the year, and priority areas for future work.

Whilst this was a Newport City Council report, engagement, development, and co-production was at the heart of all activities and events. Da iawn pawb.

Members noted the key highlights from the year, including:

o   The significant increase in delivery of Welsh Language Awareness sessions for the council’s workforce with 99 members of staff being trained.

o   The adoption of the Welsh in Education Strategic Plan (WESP) 2022-2032 Council and approval by Welsh Government.

o   The launch of the Council’s Welsh Language Skills Policy demonstrating the Council’s commitment to the Welsh language through recruitment and training.

The report also identified the key priorities for 2023-24, including:

o   Building on the creative partnership arrangements developed outside the public and voluntary sector to better raise the profile of the Welsh language across Newport with opportunities at Dragons rugby and Newport County AFC.

o   Delivering a cohesive approach to Welsh language skills development across our OneNewport partners through the Right Skills Board.

o   An even greater focus on recruitment, retention, and development of Welsh speakers across all services areas within the council, and

o   Facilitating and supporting events throughout the year and looking at the cross-cutting themes around equality, diversity, and inclusion.

The Leader invited the Cabinet Member for Organisational Transformation and lead for Equalities and Welsh Language to comment. If happy with this, officers will update the Cabinet Member with the below words.

Councillor Batrouni thanked the Leader and remarked that as the Cabinet Member lead for Welsh language, I welcome this Annual Welsh Language Monitoring Report which reflected on our achievements, performance, and compliance with our statutory duties.

This year has again demonstrated the council’s commitment to the Welsh language whilst we have readjusted to the relaxation of restrictions of the global pandemic and the ongoing financial budgetary demands to make unequivocal progress against our commitments towards the Welsh language in the city.  The Cabinet Member for Organisational Transformation added that the Council could not do this alone and needed the support of the community and the Welsh speakers within the city with community groups coming together, which they could not during the pandemic.  Councillor Batrouni remarked that going forward, along with the partnership worked it was hoped to see this progress accelerated.

The Leader thanked Councillor Batrouni and also took the opportunity to thank Councillor John Harris for supporting the work in his role as Welsh Language Champion.  Diolch yn fawr iawn’.

Comments of Cabinet Members:

§  Councillor Hughes addressed his Cabinet Colleagues in Welsh and English.

Mwy nag ugain mlynedd yn ôl pan gyrhaeddais i Gasnewydd, roedd bron iawn bopeth  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Leader provided an update of the Council’s Corporate Risk Register for the end of Quarter 4 (1 January 2023 to 31 March 2023).

Cabinet Members were asked to consider the contents of this report and the monitoring of these risks in the Corporate Risk Register.

The Council’s Risk Management Policy and Corporate Risk Register enabled the administration and officers to effectively identify, manage and monitor risks which could prevent the Council from achieving strategic priorities and undertake statutory duties as a local authority.

The Quarter 4 risk report would also be presented to the Council’s Governance and Audit Committee later this month to review the Council’s risk management process and governance arrangements.

At the end of Quarter 4 Newport City Council had 45 risks recorded across the Council’s eleven service areas.

Those risks deemed to pose the most significant risk in the delivery of the Council’s Corporate Plan and services were escalated to the Council’s Corporate Risk Register for monitoring. 

At the end of Quarter 3, 14 risks were recorded in the Corporate Risk Register.

·        8 Severe Risks (15 to 25).

·        6 Major Risks (7 to 14).

In comparison to Quarter 3, there was one risk, Eliminate Profit from Social Care which was escalated from Children Services:

o    The Council was commencing a significant programme of work to support the Welsh Government’s policy to eliminate profit from Children’s social care. 

o    In response, the Council saw providers withdrawing from the market which meant the Council was having to make placements with practices ‘operating without registration’ which was a criminal offence under the Social Services Act. 

o    The Council was fully aware of the risk and agreed this was a corporate risk.  The Council was working very hard with providers, Care Inspectorate Wales, and other partners to ensure children were being looked after with the best providers for their needs. 

One risk, Ash Dieback disease was also de-escalated from the Corporate Risk Register to the Environment and Public Protection risk register at the end of Quarter 4.

o    Following the identification and assessment of Ash Dieback disease across Newport, the Council took immediate action to remove trees with Ash Dieback from high-risk areas.

o    Funding allocated by the Council was also used to replace the trees removed, ensuring its ecological commitment was met to protect and enhance Newport’s environment.

o    The service area would continue to monitor and report against this risk and the work to remove infected trees and its replacement programme.

The Risk Report also showed two risks in relation to the stability of social services providers and pressure on adult services improving since Quarter 3. 

o    Both risk scores decreased from 25 to 20 at the end of Quarter 4.

o    The Stability of Social Services providers with adult services saw improvements to the flow of brokered packages of care. 

o    Provider services however remained in a precarious position and the Council continued to monitor the situation closely in 2023/24.

o    The pressure on adult services also  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The final report on the agenda presented by the Leader was the monthly report providing members with an update on the main external pressures facing the council, businesses, residents, and communities.

The cost-of-living crisis remained one of the main areas of concern for residents, businesses, and services.  For the second month, the UK’s inflation rate in May was 8.7% with prices for food and non-alcoholic drinks rising between April and May.

Within the report there was a link to a Citizens Advice survey finding as many as one million people had their broadband cut off in the last year as the cost-of-living crisis left them unable to afford internet access. The impact as a result of this was quite significant in terms of accessing the support that families needed.

The Leader of the Council and Chair of OneNewport, continued to advocate for partnership working as being vital in supporting residents and businesses and the Leader urged residents experiencing difficulties, to contact the council for information and signposting on the advice and support available, either in person, by phone or by visiting the support and advice pages on the website.

The report provided information on how officers from across the council and its partnership agencies continued to work together to coordinate and provide residents with support, advice, and guidance.

Cost of Living events were taking place across the city to provide opportunities for residents to access free help, support, and advice on managing debt and maximising income.

From September 2023, Newport schools would have implemented the Welsh Government’s Universal Primary Free School Meals across Key Stage 2, meaning that all primary aged pupils would be able to benefit from this initiative.

As part of the Council’s commitment to the Ukrainian communities, with the planned closure of the super sponsor scheme, officers were focused on developing housing initiatives to meet demand.  Cabinet colleagues were encouraged to promote the opportunity for residents across Newport to come forward as ‘hosts’.

Comments of Cabinet Members:

§  Councillor Harvey agreed that the cost-of-living crisis was horrendous, and was concerned that people were turning to credit cards and pay day loans when there is other help available. Councillor Harvey encouraged people to touch base with their local councillor as well as highlighting the community events put on by the Council to help families.  Families could also ask for a food parcels for the extra support. Councillor Harvey urged residents not to fall into the trap of extra debt but to contact the council who would provide advice regarding support available.

§  Councillor Marshall mentioned that it was positive to see a number of events taking place within Newport from support for carers to an event at Tesco, Cardiff Road.  Councillor Marshall also mentioned that there was also a community connectors café at the Riverfront, where carers could receive help and advice, and this went a long way to help people become independent.

§  Councillor Davies focussed on Newport education’s priority of tackling all aspects of poverty. There  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

This was the regular monthly report on the work programme.

Decision:

Cabinet agreed the Work Programme.