Venue: Multi-Location Meeting - Gloucester Room, Guildhall / MS Teams. View directions
Contact: Democratic Services - Tel (01792) 636923
No. | Item |
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Disclosures of Personal & Prejudicial Interest. Decision: None. Minutes: In accordance with the Code
of Conduct adopted by the City and County of Swansea, no interests were
declared. |
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Prohibition of Whipped Votes and Declaration of Party Whips. Decision: None. Minutes: In accordance with the Local
Government (Wales) Measure 2011, no declarations of Whipped Votes or Party
Whips were declared. |
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To approve and sign the
Minutes of the previous meeting(s) as a correct record. Decision: Approved. Minutes: Resolved that the
Minutes of the Scrutiny Programme Committee held on 18 April, 2023 be approved
and signed as a correct record. |
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Public Question Time. Questions can be submitted in writing to Democratic Services democracy@swansea.gov.uk up until
noon on the working day prior to the meeting. Written questions take
precedence. Public may attend and ask questions in person if time allows. Questions must relate to items on the open
part of the agenda and will be dealt within a 10 minute period. Decision: None. Minutes: No questions were received. |
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Urgent Item - Cabinet agenda item 10: Financial Procedural Rule 7 Additional projects to be included within the Capital Budget & Programme 2022/23 -2027/28 - Economic Recovery Fund (ERF) Approved Schemes (exceeding one million pounds). Decision: Noted. Minutes: ·
Financial
Procedural Rule 7 Additional projects to be included within the Capital Budget
& Programme 2022/23 -2027/28 – Economic Recovery Fund (ERF) Approved
Schemes (exceeding one million pounds) (18 May Cabinet agenda item 10) ·
Financial
Procedural Rule 5 Additional Revenue Provision for Residual Economic Recovery
Fund 2023/24 (18 May Cabinet agenda item 14) Reason for Urgency: To enable
pre-decision scrutiny on those reports ahead of Cabinet decision. Both urgent reports were presented in conjunction with one another. Minute 113 below reflects the discussions that took place for both reports. |
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Urgent Item - Cabinet agenda item 14: Financial Procedural Rule 5 Additional Revenue Provision for Residual Economic Recovery Fund 2023/24. Decision: Noted. Minutes: The Cabinet Member for Economy, Finance & Strategy
(Leader), the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services & Performance, the
Director of Finance and the Head of Property Services were all present for
Scrutiny of the 2 urgent items, which were presented together. Recent budget history and principles around the creation of
the Economic Recovery Fund, and rationale for additional spending was
highlighted to the Committee. Cabinet was being asked to approve an additional capital
allocation of £4,595,000 to the Capital Budget and Programme, with £4.550,000 via the Economic Recovery Fund, together with existing
funds of £45,000 held under Capital for Street Sports: - additional allocation of £2,050,000 re. Play Sufficiency - additional
allocation of £1,045,000 re. Skate Facilities, together with existing funds of
£45,000 held for Street Sports - additional allocation of £1,500,000 re. Domiciliary Care
Travel Cabinet was also being asked to approve schemes associated
with residual Economic Recovery Find to be undertaken in the 2023/24 financial
year, with £4,530,000 available to release now as a final one-off sum for new
priorities, adding to the 2023/24 Council revenue budget spending plans. The
Committee noted that the ability to add items to the 2023/24 budget was due to
the residual ERF and estimated unallocated balances on the central inflation
provision as the energy spend would be lower than the assumed up to £15 million
and consequently there would be a further use of reserves available to Cabinet
in year. The schemes listed within Appendix A of the report (Cabinet Item 14)
were already approved and would continue, however the schemes listed within
Appendix B were additional items. The largest of these being: £1m for Levelling
Up to target and support areas of multiple deprivation; Free Buses (£600k);
Play Areas (£500k); Car Parking Offers / New Charges (£500k); Patch Team
(£450k); Local Bus Support (£400k); and Enhanced Drainage Cleaning (£350k). It
was clarified that in relation to the 17 additional priorities set out in the
report, the summary showed full Revenue Costs. In response to questions, it was made clear to the Committee
that: • these were ‘one-off’ allocations
for 2023/24 (i.e., this year) to spend available ERF monies, and did not create
any long-term pressure on the Council budget. • subject to Cabinet approval of the
reports, the ERF would then be fully committed. • should there be any underspend then it would be a matter for
the Director of Finance and Cabinet to consider whether any ‘carry-over’ is
appropriate, taking into account other priorities that may emerge and subject
to future funding. The Committee also asked questions on various items to try to
get into some of detail, in particular on Skate Facilities, and Domiciliary
Care Travel with the following answers: • The Capital allocation for Skate Facilities would include
upgrade to existing facilities as well as creation of two new facilities like
the new facility on Mumbles Road, to meet demand. • The Capital allocation for Domiciliary Care Travel related
to a requirement from the Welsh Government for all Welsh Councils to commit
funds to encourage recruitment of Domiciliary Care Workers, and it was felt the
best way to do this would be to enhance the offer to staff with investment towards
vehicles that would help with worker mobility particularly for work in more
rural / remote locations. The Committee Cabinet queried how the £1.5m will be
managed and would ask the relevant Scrutiny Panel to monitor this, as this
investment will give rise to ongoing revenue costs that the Social Services
Directorate will need to manage. The Committee felt that a number of the new items of
expenditure will generate interest from Councillors across the city and county
to see how schemes can benefit their local areas, for example CCTV Cameras,
Disabled Parking Bays, Dropped Kerbs, Youth Engagement, and Cabinet would need
to discuss the best way these funds can be used. As well as the input Cabinet
will seek from relevant officers, Committee members felt there should be
Councillor engagement with a mechanism developed that will ensure an equitable
distribution of investment across local areas, with clear process for
prioritisation given limited resources to deliver improvements. It was
suggested that Councillors should be encouraged by Cabinet to identify priorities
that can be considered as part of the process. Given the time and effort it
takes to produce proposals the Committee advised that would help to have
greater clarity about criteria that will improve the success rate when
Councillors do submit plans. The Committee felt it was a very helpful session which enabled
the Committee to understand the variance to agreed budget and financial
implications. Overall the Committee had
no issues with the recommendations in the reports and proposed Cabinet
decision, and broadly welcomed the additional investment that would benefit
residents across the city and county. The Chair thanked all Members, Officers and Board Members. Resolved that the Chair of the Scrutiny Programme Committee write to
the Cabinet Member for Economy, Finance & Strategy, reflecting the
discussion and sharing the views of the Committee. The Chair stated that Councillor Holley would attend the Cabinet meeting scheduled for 18 May, on his behalf, to provide verbal feedback on both reports. |
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Additional documents: Decision: Noted. Minutes: Councillor H Lawson
provided a report summarising the work of the Climate Change & Nature
Scrutiny Performance Panel over the past year, and key issues which the Panel
had focussed on. Resolved that the Scrutiny Performance Panel Progress report in respect of Climate Change & Nature Scrutiny Performance Panel be noted. |
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Membership of Scrutiny Panels and Working Groups. PDF 230 KB Decision: None. Minutes: No revisions were reported. |
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Additional documents:
Decision: For information. Minutes: The Chair presented a report on ‘Scrutiny Letters’ for
information. |
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End of Year Review 2022/23. PDF 353 KB Additional documents:
Decision: Noted. Minutes: The Chair presented a report on the End of Year Review
2022/23 and invited Committee members to reflect on their
experience and provide their views, for example: ·
Had
things worked well within the Committee over the past year? ·
Had the
Committee’s work and overall work programme focused on the right things? ·
What,
if anything, could be done better? The following comments were made: ·
The
Annual Work Planning Conference is a good way to get all Councillors involved
in identifying Scrutiny priorities for the year ahead. ·
Recent
Inquiry Panels have worked very well. ·
The
timing of Scrutiny activity should be considered to ensure topics are being
discussed at the right time when it will enable meaningful discussion and
maximum impact and value. This will help encourage councillor engagement in
Scrutiny. ·
The
timeliness of financial monitoring information to support effective Scrutiny
and better co-ordination with Cabinet reporting, needs to be considered. ·
Tourism
will be an important topic for the Development & Regeneration Scrutiny
Performance Panel to monitor given its importance to the local economy. ·
Overall,
the work of Scrutiny should be mindful of pressure not only on officers
providing information but on Councillors participating in Scrutiny. It would
help if Councillors were clear about the demands of any Scrutiny activity to
help them consider their involvement and ensure they can give their time to it,
balancing other demands whether within Scrutiny or elsewhere. ·
Whether
there is scope to provide Councillors with more time to review agendas /
information to help them to prepare for meetings. ·
The
Committee will need to consider the impact of any reduction in resources on the
Work Programme and capacity, as the proposed deletion of a Scrutiny Officer
post within budget savings for 2023/24 was only deferred for 1 year. The
Committee will need to consider quality vs quantity, ensuring effective
scrutiny but also good coverage of scrutiny across all important areas of the
Council. ·
All
paid thanks to the Scrutiny Team for all their continued hard work and support
over the year. The Chair stated that all Scrutiny Performance Panels had
also been invited to reflect on their work and observations that might inform
future Scrutiny and improve the effectiveness of the Panel. A Councillor Scrutiny Survey had also been circulated in
recent weeks to gather feedback from all Councillors, and survey results, once
analysed, would be included in the Scrutiny Annual Report. In addition to self-evaluation, the Chair stated that
post-meeting feedback is now being collected from Cabinet Member and officers
attending Scrutiny meetings. The Committee was advised that this feedback has
been very positive. He shared two improvement suggestions arising from this: ·
With hybrid meetings it is useful when the Chair
says who is in the physical room, as it is unclear from the cameras to those
participating online. ·
Being careful not to stray into personal / ward
specific issues during Scrutiny In terms of next steps, the Chair informed the Committee
that: ·
The Council AGM on 18 May will re-appoint the
Scrutiny Programme Committee as a Council body and the Committee will elect its
Chair and Vice-Chair for 2023/24. · A Scrutiny Work Planning Conference is being planned for 4 pm on 13 June 2023, which will be an ‘in-person’ event at the Lord Mayor’s Reception Room, Guildhall. Councillors will have the opportunity to contribute ideas at the Conference, but should they wish to raise anything ahead of that they can email suggestions to the Chair or Scrutiny Team Leader. Taking into account Conference feedback the Committee will meet in July to agree the Scrutiny Work Programme for 2023/24. Pre-decision Scrutiny on an upcoming Cabinet report: ‘FPR7 Redevelopment of 277-278 Oxford Street - Community Hub Project’ will take place. Should the report proceed to a Cabinet meeting on 15 June, as currently planned, a Special Scrutiny Programme Committee meeting will be held at 3pm on 13 June, i.e., immediately before the Work Planning Conference. |
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Date and Time of Upcoming Panel / Working Group Meetings. PDF 225 KB Decision: For information. Minutes: The Chair referred to the date and time of upcoming Scrutiny
Panel/Working Group Meetings, for information. |
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