Transcript

Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining today's live public joint cabinet and cabinet resources panel meeting. I need to advise you that today's meeting will be broadcast live via the council's internet site and that members of the press and public may record and take photographs except where there are confidential items. Agenda item 1. Apologies for absence. Derek. Apology received from Councillor Jasbir Jaspel chair. Agreed to receive. Yeah. And gender item 2. Decorations of interest. Is there any councillor who wishes to declare a disclosable procuring interest or a disclosable non-procuring interest in relation to today's matter in relation to any item on today's agenda? No. I should move on to agenda item 3. May the previous meeting. Do we all agree the minutes of the previous meeting held on the 22nd of May, page five of your agenda? All those in favour say aye. Aye. All those in say no. Is that seconded rather of a shooting. Is that seconded? That's seconded. Do we all agree on a true record? Okay. Thank you for that. Decision items. We shall move on to agenda item 4. Reserves and Provisions 2003-4. I call on Councillor Moles to move the report in her name. Thank you chair. I move the report. This is the first of the out term papers on the agenda this afternoon. The out turns for the end of the financial year 2023-2024. The paper seeks approval from cabinet for the final set of transfers from reserves and provisions. It also provides a summary of the use of reserves and provisions for 2023-2024. The key points are that as we are already aware, cabinet in February 2024 increased the general fund balance or reserve to £17 million as that is in line with best practice at 5% of the council's net budget over the medium term. The HRA reserve remains at £7.3 million and is ring fenced to the use of the housing revenue account. Paragraphs 2.7, 2.8 and 2.9 of the report set out the use of earmarked reserves. These are reserves that have been set aside to fund future planned expenditure. So earmarked reserves are there to be used as they are earmarked for specific projects and contingencies. However, it's also clear from the report that due to the financial pressures facing councils nationally, the council is also more reliant on the use of reserves. The current 2024-2025 budget has been balanced by the use of earmarked reserves. And as we all know, once reserves have been spent, they are gone. So I'm just again drawing to colleagues' attention the kind of national pressures faced by councils with regard to national funding. It is a fine balancing act, but Wolverhampton's finances and the use of reserves remains well managed. Finally, the provision for bad debt. Again, bad debts are always subject to rigorous scrutiny before any writing off of debts and it's against an established set of criteria. I so move. Thank you, Chair. I shall second that. I just want to echo the precarious situation that this country faces with regards to local government finance. It is at breaking points. All the key sector indicators tell us that. All the professionals in local government tell us that. We're no different to any other council other than the fact we manage our money. If we hadn't got the reserves and we've had calls for reserves to be used to reduce council tax, we wouldn't have the position. These reserves are there for a reason. So we can still maintain a full delivery of services at the front door that our citizens need. And that's vitally important that we do recognise that work that's been done and pay tribute to Councillor Mars and former cabinet members for finance for putting us in that good financial position. That's not our words. That's the independent auditors who signed the audit report of the year on year. And we're looking forward to that challenge moving on. So it's there before you. Is any other member want to speak? No. It's been proposed and seconded. All those in favour say aye. All those against say no. That's carried. We should move on to agenda item five. I then call on Councillor Louise Miles to move the report to performance would you attend 2023 to 24 Councillor Miles. Thank you, chair. I again formally move the report. This is the second of the out term reports for the budget 2023 2024. And again, Camelot is asked to note this time that the overall revenue position for 2023 24 is an overspend of one point one million pounds. That reflects naught point three six percent of the overall budget. Of course, that is a small percentage of the council's overall budget, but it again reflects national pressures. This is the first time for some years that there has been an overspend. And until recently, we have recorded underspends. The overspend has been funded from a combination of one off grants and additional use of capital receipts. So once again, Wolverhampton Council is able to manage this and is in a position to draw on funding and reserves that have accumulated due to careful management over the past years. The reasons for the overspend again reflect national pressures. So cost pressures that have been discussed again before cabinet in recent times relating to adult social care, children's services, homelessness, resident services, as are all outlined in more detail in the report. Again, just to update colleagues and inform them that we've already begun work on next year's budget and are working hard with regard to measures that relate to that. The H.R.A. revenue out turn for the year was in a balanced position at the end of the year. The capital program out term position, both for the general fund and the H.R.A. are also outlined in the report. Finally, at the back, one of the appendices again refers to the debt write offs, which again have been done against stringent criteria. I so move. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Michael Smalls. Is that seconded? Seconded, Chair. Any member wish to speak? Councillor Bader. Thanks, Chair. I just wanted to point, refer to paragraph three point seven one of the report, which shows that Wolverhampton has continued to improve on full fibre coverage across the city. We're now at eighty one point nine percent, which is well above the national average of sixty six point one percent. And the council have taken a proactive approach, working with all three digital infrastructure providers to facilitate the rollout of full fibre broadband in the city and removed any barriers to the rollout. This proactive approach has taken Wolverhampton from the lowest proportion of full fibre in the West Midlands Combined Authority area in twenty twenty to the second highest in twenty twenty three. Thank you, Councillor Bader for Bader Ahmed. Any other members wish to speak? No. The papers before you. All those in favour say aye. Aye. All those against say no. We should move on to agenda item six procurement of ward and contracts. I call on Councillor Louise Miles to move the report. Thank you, Chair. I formally remove the report that is in my name. Is that seconded? Seconded, Chair. And can I say, am I right to speak now? Yes. In this report, I'm pleased to bring forward a number of IT related procurements from my portfolio that demonstrate this council's commitment to driven by digital. These include bin sensors and greater efficiencies in printing. Initiatives such as these provide an opportunity for us to increase efficiency, value for money and service delivery. They also support our climate change commitment, reducing our emissions as a council. And I recommend these to you. Thank you. Is there any other members to speak? Councillor Gecko. Thank you, Chair. Yeah, I just want to highlight something related to my portfolio. The the fleet services, the if you look on page one, eight one three point two city will have some council required nine winter maintenance vehicles for a twenty nine week period. Obviously, it's a seasonal event. It's a seasonal thing. This for me is a really good bit of business. Why should we be really going out there and buying vehicles when we're leaving for the one particular part of the season? It does save us a lot of money. So fully back this. Thank you, leader. Any other members to speak? The papers before it in proposed and second. All those in favour, say aye. Aye. All those against say no. That's carried. We shall move on to agenda item seven and I shall call on Councillor Paul Bookville to move the updated covert investigations, policy and procedures. Paula. Thank you, leader. This paper provides an update to the council's covert investigations, policy and procedures following routine reviews by the investigatory powers commissioner's office and our own internal audit team. The council does not use justice of the peace authorized surveillance very often. In fact, we last used it in twenty twenty one. However, we have to make sure our policy is fit for use and we are ready to act when it is in the public's interest. The council was judged to be in a strong position already, so the changes are largely administrative. I therefore ask cabinet to approve the updated covert investigations, policy and procedures as detailed in the operational documents appended to the report. I am happy to answer any questions. Is that seconded? I second this policy and procedure chair. Any member wish to speak? I think it's vitally important we use as many powers as we can to protect as many citizens and also to protect the environment of our city as well. So this is a good use of this piece of legislation. I welcome that to protect as much as we can within the city. So it's been proposed and seconded. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those against say no. That's carried. We should move on to agenda item nine. Food services, really? Eight. I know I'm ahead of the game, but I'm thinking that football starting. So sorry about that. It's Friday, isn't it? Agenda item eight. Proposed city center, public space protection order. Call on Councillor Beattarama to move the report. Thanks, chair. He's a bit of a mouthful. So this paper is seeking approval for the public space protection order or PSPO to prevent antisocial behavior in the city center post COVID. The city center has seen an increase in calls for service from West Midlands police, and this PSPO will help ensure that people remain safe and protected and can continue to use the city center at any time of the day, which we all know is key to our city's economy and the health and wellbeing of our residents. Some details of the PSPO then to any groups of three or more people causing or likely to cause any antisocial behavior will be asked to leave or be removed on the PSPO boundary immediately and not be allowed to return for a period of 24 hours. Boundaries currently at the inner city center ring road area. Um, and it also prevents individuals from wearing face coverings without reasonable reasons such as medical reason or religious beliefs. And if they are, they can be instructed to remove their face covering. Um, there will be a staged enforcement approach as outlined in 6.13 of the agenda. Um, and before the PSPO was put in, was proposed, there was a consultation period of over 12 weeks, which involved an online survey and face-to-face meetings with people who it was thought might be disproportionately affected by the PSPO. And that included groups of young people and Muslim women. And of those that were consulted 83% felt there was an issue with ASB in the city center, which required addressing. And 73% of those surveyed felt the PSPO would assist in tackling antisocial behavior and agreed with the overall approach. There will be a clear communication plan, including signs put up in the city centers prior to the PSPO commencing to raise awareness of the requirements. And there will be a six week standstill period for any, anyone to challenge and allow for approval through the climate change, housing and community scrutiny. And once the PSPO is in place, it will be reviewed every six months and any learning will be implemented to ensure that it remains fit for purpose. Is that seconded? Councillor Burdin. Seconded, Chair, if I may. Um, I think it's a really important piece of work. If we want to talk about the future of the economy in our city, it's something clearly to have a consultation that our residents report support so clearly is really important. It's important that we take that on and we take on their views and we implement it the way they see fit. We've worked with all the bollies and we're actually comparing best practice with London councils and actually with comparable boroughs such as Leicester, which I think is really important. This fits in to our strategy to be a vibrant city that our residents visit, that our residents have a nighttime economy they can feel proud of, but crucially safe in, but also for our visitor city as well. So I think this is really important for not just our residents who are hugely important, our main priority, but also the visitors that we get in to make sure that they feel safe. They want to stay in Wolverhampton and crucially for our residents and our visitors, they want to return as well. So thank you Councillor Ahmed. Okay. It's all been proposed and seconded. Any other members wish to speak? All those in favour say aye. Aye. All those against say no. That's carried. We shall move on to agenda item nine. I'll call on Councillor Papinda Gacko to move the report food service plan 2024. Thank you chair. Yeah, this is a 23rd statutory food service plan for Wolverhampton. It's legal requirements to produce an annual statutory food service plan. Food inspections are essential to ensuring that businesses comply with food safety law and prevent food borne illnesses. The plan also includes, the service plan also sets out the general aims and objectives of the service, the scope and levels of service and the means by which they are delivered. It details the achievements for 2023-24. It also also the plan details the numbers, types and priority ratings of the city's food premises and the frequency of interventions at these premises. The plan highlights the service. The service is key achievements for 23-24 and these, you can actually find these on page 323 or 3.1. The plan is before you. Happy to answer any questions. Chair. Thank you for Councillor Gacko. Is that seconded? I'm seconded leader and can I just add that I think we should place on record our sincere thanks to the Environmental Health team. You know, it is an important service because literally hundreds of thousands of people do visit food premises within the city centre and across Wolverhampton as a whole and we're looking at food standards and hygiene and of course we all put our trust within the businesses that provide all the foods that we like to join in and eat because we do. You know, we are a nation that goes out and eats, we are a nation that goes out and buys takeaways. So it's a very critical role and I'm really pleased at how many businesses have been visited and I know that the team work well with businesses because yes it is about inspection but it's about education and raising awareness as you've said. So there is that critical partnership link because there's no businesses out there that want to get it wrong because they're relying on customers to come back and without the helpful advice and education from the team they don't always get it right. There's a lot of things that change, there's a lot of new things that come in and I know there's been hundreds of businesses across this city that have been visited and I'm very confident that we're in a good place and I know it's the 23rd statutory plan and as ever it's consistent and it's thorough and I'd like to place on record our sincere thanks for all the work that's done by everyone in the team. Thank you. Any other members wish to speak? Can I just say that the last three items there's a theme of protecting our residents and it's vitally important that we do protect them. If we want our city to thrive we need to make people as safe and as healthy as possible and that's what's important for us to moving forward especially when we've got a policy of late night entertainment and a destination city and you know we need our offices to be fair ended but to be firm when enforcement takes place and I think that this plan does it in leaps and bounds and it's really important that we do protect as many people and as many visitors that come to this city you're quite right. So if there's no further questions the paper has been proposed and seconded. All those in favour say aye. Aye. All those against say no. That's carried. So we'll move now on to agenda item 10. I move that in accordance with the section 100A4 of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the remaining items of business as it involves a local disclosure of exempt information on the grounds indicated on the agenda. Is that seconded? That's seconded leader. All those in favour say aye. Aye. All those against say no. That's carried. Thank everybody who's watched and took part. Thank you very much. Bye. [BLANK_AUDIO]