Agenda and minutes

www.swansea.gov.uk/disclosuresofinterests

In accordance with the Code of Conduct adopted by the City and County of Swansea, the following interests were declared:

1)              Councillor R V Smith declared a Personal & Prejudicial Interest in Minute 99 “Local Authority Governor Appointments” and stated that he had dispensation from the Standards Committee to Stay, Speak but Not Vote on matters relating to the Appointment of Local Authority Governors.

To approve & sign the Minutes of the previous meeting(s) as a correct record.

Resolved that the Minutes of the meeting(s) listed below be approved and signed as a correct record:

1)              Cabinet held on 17 November 2022.

1)              Welsh Government Settlement

The Leader of Council stated that the Council had received the Welsh Government settlement. Whilst the settlement was welcomed in that, it adds to the money that we believed was a consequential from UK Government. However, the settlement remains significantly short of the pressures that are faced by Councils and services across Wales. The energy pressures in Wales, just in Local Government, remain at over £200,000,000.

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.

No questions were asked.

No questions were asked.

The Local Authority Governors Appointment Group submitted a report, which sought approval of the nominations submitted to fill Local Authority (LA) Governor vacancies on School Governing Bodies.

Resolved that:

1)              The following nominations recommended by the Director of Education in conjunction with the Cabinet Member for Education & Learning be approved:

The Cabinet Member for Economy, Finance & Strategy submitted a report that outlined the financial monitoring of the 2022/2023 revenue and capital budgets, including the delivery of budget savings.

Resolved that:

1)              The comments and variations, including the material uncertainties, set out in the report and the actions in hand to seek to address these be noted.

2)              The virements set out in Paragraph 2.7 of the report and the use of the Contingency fund as set out in 3.2 of the report be approved subject to any further advice from the Section 151 Officer during the year.

3)              The need for all Directors to continue to minimise service spending in year, recognising that the budget overall is currently balanced only by relying on future likely (but far from wholly assured) reimbursement from Welsh Government, centrally held contingency budgets and reserves be reinforced.

4)              Cabinet recognise that cost overspends can now only reasonably be sought to be minimised, rather than eliminated, in current year by some targeted recovery action with a clear expectation of ‘tough’ rebasing choices to achieve a balanced budget for the 2023-24 budget round.

5)              The indicative overspend in 4.1 of the report with further action to be confirmed in subsequent quarters once it is clearer as to level of residual Covid reimbursement, the likely final cost of the local government pay award which will be paid in third quarter and the ongoing uncertainty over the teachers’ pay award.

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Service & Performance submitted a report that outlined the corporate performance for quarter 2 2022-2023.

Resolved that:

1)              The Council’s performance in respect of managing the pandemic and its aftermath and achieving the Council’s wellbeing objectives for quarter 2 of 2022-23 be noted.

2)              The use of this information to inform executive decisions on resource allocation and, where relevant, corrective actions to manage and improve performance and efficiency in delivering national and local priorities be endorsed.

The Cabinet Member for Service Transformation submitted a report that sought approval for a Swansea Council Net Zero 2030 delivery plan. The report also acknowledged the work on Nature Recovery and Swansea Net Zero 2050 programmes.

Resolved that:

1)              The proposed Swansea Council Net Zero 2030 delivery plan, attached as Appendix 1 of the report be approved.

2)              The continuing work on Nature Recovery and Swansea Net Zero 2050 programmes which will require separate reports to Cabinet at a future date be acknowledged.

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Service & Performance submitted a report that sought approval for the Council’s Environment (Wales) Act Biodiversity Duty Section 6 Monitoring Report for the period January 2020 – December 2022 prior to submission to Welsh Government.

Resolved that:

1)              The report be approved and published on the Council’s website and forwarded to Welsh Government.

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Service & Performance submitted a report that provided an update on progress following adoption of the Statutory Compliance Strategy for buildings under the control of Swansea Council.

Resolved that:

1)              The progress and actions be noted.

The Cabinet Member for Education & Learning submitted a report that sought to comply with Financial Procedure Rule 7 “Capital Programming and Appraisals” to commit and authorise a second capital grant award in the sum of £2,526,996 for the upgrade of school meal infrastructure, in the Capital programme.

Resolved that:

1)              The second capital grant award for the upgrade of school meal infrastructure in the sum of £2,526,996, resulting in a total commitment of £4,331,993 be approved and included in the capital programme for 2022-2023.

The Cabinet Member for Education & Learning submitted a report that sought to comply with Financial Procedure Rule 7 “Capital Programming and Appraisals” to commit and authorise schemes in the Capital programme.

Resolved that:

1)              The capital scheme in the sum of £1,443,998 to support learners with additional learning needs be approved and included in the capital programme for 2022-2023.

The Cabinet Member for Environment & Infrastructure submitted a report that confirmed the Additional Capital Allocation to the Highways Work Programme 2022-2023 and to comply with Financial Procedure Rule 7 to commit and authorise schemes.

Resolved that:

1)              The additional allocation of £1m for Highways Maintenance be included in the Capital Programme for 2022-2023.

2)              The additional allocation of £2m for Highways Maintenance be included in the Capital Programme for 2023-2024.

3)              The additional allocation of £2m for Highways Maintenance be included in the Capital Programme for 2024-2025.

4)              Authority be delegated to the Head of Service for Highways and Transportation with the agreement of the Cabinet Member for Environment and Infrastructure to prioritise, finalise and allocate funding to the appropriate schemes in line with the prioritisation approach detailed in this report.