Agenda item

To consider the report of the Chief Officer Resources.

The report of the Chief Officer Resources was submitted for consideration.

 

At the invitation of the Chair, the Chief Officer Resources spoke in detail to the report which had been presented to Members to consider options to allocate £9.9m of capital funding to the capital programme for the period to 2025/26 based on a review of current available resources and an assumption of capital funding from Wales Government for 2024/25 and 2025/26.

 

Councillor J. P. Morgan joined the meeting at this juncture.

 

As a significant amount of capital projects had been identified (27 in total) for this period, a prioritisation mechanism (using the two staged approach outlined in paragraph 2.8 of the report) had been used as a means of ensuring that the highest priority projects could proceed.   Appendix 3 attached to the report provide a summary of all the potential projects together with their associated scores and rank based on this two stage process.

 

The Chief Officer Resources continued by pointing out that allocating all of the identified funding to the Capital Programme came with significant risks and should alternative higher priority projects be identified in the future or agreed schemes exceeded the approved budget, the Council would need to identify alternative funding sources e.g. use of reserves, revenue funding, reprioritising projects.  Therefore, to mitigate this risk it was proposed that a contingency be retained and not all of the available resources be allocated at this point in time.

 

The three options were, thereupon, outlined and the officer highlighted that Option 3 was the preferred option which included a combination of paring down the schemes in period 1 (2019/20 to 2023/24 which was the most oversubscribed) by 20% to allow the funding to meet the requirements of an optimum number of schemes and allocating to the highest scoring projects in periods 2 and 3, leaving funding remaining in each period for allocation at a future date.

 

 

It was noted that Welsh Government had recently announced a number of enhanced capital grants for 2019 to 2021.  The Council would receive £410,000 in 2019/2020 for the Public Highways Refurbishment Grant and a capital grant totalling £444,465 to support Economic Stimulus within local authorities.

 

The Chief Officer Resources concluded by advising that through the maximisation of these and other capital grants, there was the potential to further review the re-allocation of capital resources in this timeframe.

 

Members were then given the opportunity to raise questions/comment on the report.

 

Household Waste Recycling Centre – Roseheyworth Industrial Estate – The Leader of the Labour Group referred to this particular capital project and pointed out that in 2016 a number of Members had requested that a Working Group be established to test the veracity of this approach and had undertaken a piece of work in relation to this proposal.

 

He noted that a bid had been submitted to Welsh Government in the sum of £2.5 million for 2019/2020 and enquired as to the status of that bid i.e. had the Council been notified whether or not it had been successful.

 

The Leader of the Council confirmed that a bid had been submitted and he, the Managing Director and Service Manager had met the Deputy Minister and Senior Civil Servants prior to the August Recess.  He had felt that this had been a very positive meeting and the questions that had been posed by Welsh Government gave some degree of optimism.  He concluded by stating that he was mindful that any funding would be required to be spent within the current financial year and it was, therefore, anticipated that a response in respect of the bid would be received during October 2019. 

 

The Leader of the Labour Group continued by pointing out, however, that the funding had yet to be awarded at this stage and the concerning detail in the report was that the Authority would also be expected to contribute an element of its own funding to the scheme.   In addition, should the bid be approved, Welsh Government would be looking at the authority to ensure its recycling rates were increasing.

 

However, he was dumbfounded that the report had indicated that one HWRC Site would be open 3 days per week and the other would be open 4 days per week and said that he was unable to comprehend how this approach could increase recycling rates.  The following report Item No. 28 Assessment of Performance 2018/19 had highlighted that the previous year the Authority had exceeded the Welsh Government’s recycling target.

 

The Leader of the Labour Group concluded by stating as there was no evidence contained within the document that the funding bid would be successful and the recycling rate would increase (especially based on the 3 and 4 day approach) he was unable to support this capital project.

 

The Leader of the Council advised the project had been prioritised as part of the Council process and should the capital bid be successful, further reports would be submitted to Council to test the best options for utilisation of the new plant and current plant and this report would include and detail the operational arrangements.

 

The Leader of the Labour Group referred to the prioritisation mechanism that had been used as a means of ensuring that the highest priority capital projects could proceed and said that this scheme had surely been prioritised politically as he doubted officers would have brought forward a project that would retain the status quo in terms of operational days and could potentially result in a decrease in the recycling rate.

 

Proposed Amendment:

The Leader of the Labour Group said that he would support the project based on the following amendment i.e. if the bid for Welsh Government funding was approved and a report was produced that delineated the Council’s approach going forward.  He added that if a service was provided to the public then it should be wholly available and not only on specific days. 

 

The Leader of the Council advised that the action (as outlined by the Leader of the Labour Group) would take place when and if the bid was successful.  It was noted that the Service Manager had presented a very strong and powerful argument which had been supported by the Managing Director to the Deputy Minister and Senior Civil Services as to how essential a second Household Waste Recycling Centre was for Blaenau Gwent.  He pointed out that whilst the report referenced the current recycling target rate of 64% this would be increasing to 70% in the near future and therefore, there was a need for other methods to be used to achieve this rate.  If the ambition of Welsh Government was 0% waste in the future the likes of a second site HWRC would be absolutely essential to fulfil this requirement.  The Leader of the Council concluded by pointing out that the project had been given political priority based on the views and comments received from the public, however, the report had been produced by the professionals.

 

The Leader of the Labour Group said that the recycling rate for Blaenau Gwent was currently increasing and Members wanted absolute proof to the highest degree that the rate would continue to increase.

 

A Member reported that a number of years ago she had taken the lead to re-open the recycling facility in the Ebbw Fach Valley and had asked the former Leadership to establish a Working Group in order to progress the scheme.  The Member said that whilst she did not necessarily agree with the proposed location (she had suggested an alternative site) this was a much needed facility as there was a tremendous amount of fly tipping and hot spots within this area.

 

However, she expressed her concern regarding the proposed operational arrangements for the site and said that the second recycling facility should be open 7 days a week.  Residents had also commented that this facility would be required 7 days per week – it was noted that previously when the former site was closed rubbish was fly-tipped outside the site.

 

Point of Order - The Leader of the Council at this juncture raised a point of order.  He said that the report was not requesting Members to vote on the operational arrangements (i.e. hours/days) it was validating the justification for the second Household Recycling Waste Centre.  If the bid was successful and this would only be successful if the Minister felt that this facility was essential for Blaenau Gwent to continue its upward trajectory to achieve the recycling target, a report would be submitted to Council in respect of the actual minutiae of the proposal.

 

The Leader of the Labour Group stated that the information that the Member had alluded to did form part of the document and, therefore, this point of order should be ruled out.

 

The Member said that the Leader should not have raised a point of order when the information raised was valid as the report clearly indicated that one HRWC would be open 3 days and the other HWRC 4 days per week.  Therefore, Members would be voting on the information contained within the report.

 

Revenue Implication - Another Member said that he felt that the 3 and 4 day opening arrangements would cause some confusion and enquired with regard to the revenue implications for this scheme if it progressed.

 

The Leader of the Council advised that the revenue implications would be mapped out if the bid was successful and this information would then be presented to Council for consideration.  He continued by pointing out that work in respect of the proposal had commenced in 2016 under the previous Leadership who he acknowledged had been good enough to include him and the now Deputy Leader as part of the discussions.  However, if work on this scheme had commenced in 2016 and a potential bid submitted it would have been incumbent on relevant officers including officers within the Environment and Resources Directorate to plan for any revenue implications that would occur going forward.

 

Review of Play Provision – a Member referred to the possibility to bid for funding under the New Play Initiative being launched by the Welsh Government. He advised that a considerable amount of anti-social behaviour was being experienced in the one small play area in the Sirhowy Ward and this had been exacerbated by a recent new development on the former Rhoslan School site.  

 

He continued by stating that Members were aware from the press regarding the growing issue of obesity in young children and said that there was a need to improve play provision to allow children to become more active. The Member, thereupon, formally requested that a feasibility study be undertaken in the Sirhowy area with a view to improving the play facilities currently available. 

 

CCTV Review – a Member (who was also an appointed representative on Gwent Police and Crime Panel) advised that she had been approached at the last Panel meeting regarding the current position for Blaenau Gwent regarding CCTV.  She pointed out that other authorities had their CCTV hosted at Police Headquarters and a response was now required from Blaenau Gwent.

 

The Leader of the Council pointed out that the Council was debating the capital programme as opposed to CCTV and operational issues.

 

The Managing Director clarified that the PCC had not offered funding to enable Blaenau Gwent to use the system referred to.  Officers from Gwent Police were working on a business case to bring this forward but this information had yet to be received.

 

In reply to a request to contact the PCC due to conflicting information being received, the Chair advised that officers would purse this matter.

 

Cemeteries Investment Programme – a Member welcomed the capital investment of £360,000 for cemeteries as this was much needed to improve the areas across Blaenau Gwent.  However, he pointed out that as £360,000 would not be sufficient to deal with all the required maintenance within cemeteries he requested that any further windfall monies received from Gwent Crematorium also be utilised as part of the cemeteries investment programme.

 

The Leader of the Council said that this project had also received political input as cemeteries within the scoring matrix had not ranked within the top 12 projects.  He acknowledged that further work was required to address the poor condition of the cemeteries.  However, with regard to any future reimbursement from Gwent Crematorium a policy had been agreed by Council that any windfall monies would be vired into the general reserves in the first instance.

 

The Leader continued by stating that he had sympathy with the Member and clarified that there was a political commitment to restore cemeteries to dignified areas. 

 

Proposed Amendment – The Leader of the Labour Group said unfortunately he did not believe that recycling rates would improve with the plants only operating 3 and 4 daysand proposed that Option 3 be endorsed with the following amendment i.e. that there be no reduction in operating days at the planned Household Waste Recycling Centre at Roseheyworth Industrial Estate or current at New Vale site and that a robust business case be presented to Council.

 

This amendment was seconded.

 

The Leader of the Council proposed Option 3 be endorsed as outlined in the report and gave an assurance that if the HWRC bid was successful any issues around revenue and operating practices would come back to Council for the fullest discussion.

 

A recorded vote was required and, thereupon, taken in respect of:-

 

In Favour of the Amendment (HWRC at Roseheyworth Industrial Estate that there be no reduction in operating days at the planned or current site and that a robust business case be presented to Council):-

 

Councillors D. Bevan, M. Cross, K. Hayden, H. McCarthy, J. C. Morgan, T. Sharrem, T. Smith, S. Thomas, H. Trollope, D. Wilkshire, B. Willis, L. Winnett.

 

In Favour of Option 3 (Preferred Option) – Councillors G. Collier, J. Collins, M. Cook, N. Daniels, D. Davies, M. Day, P. Edwards, S. Healy, J. Hill, J. Mason , C. Meredith, M. Moore, J. P. Morgan, L. Parsons, G. Paulsen, K. Rowson, B. Summers, B. Thomas, J. Wilkins.

 

The proposed amendment was, therefore, not carried.

 

Councillor J. Millard abstained from voting.

 

RESOLVED, subject to the foregoing, that the report be accepted and Option 3 be endorsed, namely:-

 

A combination of paring down the schemes in period 1 (2019/22 to 2023/24) which was the most oversubscribed) by 20% to allow the funding to meet the requirements of an optimum number of schemes and allocating to the highest scoring projects in periods 2 and 3, leaving funding remaining in each period for allocation at a future date.

 

The following exceptions to the 20% paring down were proposed:-

 

·        Community Equipment Project – there was an SLA in place for a contracted amount.

 

·        HWRC – the bid represented 20% of the estimated cost and assumed 80% Welsh Government Capital Grant Funding.

 

·        Cemeteries Project - £210,000 proposed by Executive over 3 years.

 

·        Disabled Facility Grants – pared down by £150,000 based on current demand levels.

 

The revised Capital Programme to 2025/2026 be approved.