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Cabinet news releases - September 2016
Published: 19/09/2016
A Growth Vision and Strategy for the Economy of North Wales
The North Wales region has been invited by the UK Government to make a Bid to
deliver accelerated economic growth through investment in infrastructure, and
skills and through the creation of new freedoms and flexibilities for the
region, providing more local control. This means the region is being
recognised in its own right.
The Vision, which gives a clear direction for future economic planning is being
presented to all six councils in North Wales for adoption and is supported by
the leaders and chief executives of all six unitary authorities within the
region, the North Wales Business Council, Bangor University, Glyndwr
University, Coleg Cambria, Grwp Llandrillo 鈥� Menai (College) and the North
Wales Economic Ambition Board. It has been made possible by collaboration and
partnership working with a strong private sector involvement.
It sets out the aims and ambitions for 鈥渁 confident, cohesive region with
sustainable economic growth, capitalising on the success of high value economic
sectors and its connection to the economies of the Northern Powerhouse and
Ireland.鈥�
The region views a Growth Bid as one of the vehicles to secure investment to
achieve the aims and aspirations of the Vision from now until 2035.
Alongside the Growth Vision and Strategy, the North Wales and Mersey Dee rail
task force has established to co-ordinate action and reduce institutional
complexity in this unique cross border area. It provides a single approach to
delivery in an area of five Enterprise Zones, eight Local Authorities, two
national governments and a vibrant and varied private sector. Partners are
aligned to recognise one economic area and one unified transport network to
serve it. Investment in rail improvement has the potential to transform the
economy and allow our workforce to better access opportunities both inside and
outside the region. The prospectus has been submitted to the UK and Welsh
Government and work is underway to take forward the development of early
priorities.
The Leader of 天涯社区, Councillor Aaron Shotton, said:
鈥淣orth Wales is a united region with a strong sense of identity and the Vision
sets out a clear ambition for the region for infrastructure development, skills
and
employment, and business growth which, if successful, could see the value of
the North Wales economy increase from 拢12.8 billion in 2015 to 拢20 billion by
2035 and generate an additional 120,000 new employment opportunities.
鈥溙煅纳缜� will also ensure that any Growth Bid is closely
connected with the immediate North West of England as this Vision is made
possible by strong private sector involvement and builds on the work of the
North Wales Economic Ambition Board and, cross-border, with the Mersey Dee
Alliance and the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership.鈥�
天涯社区鈥檚 Cabinet will be asked to approve the 鈥淕rowth Vision
for the Economy of North Wales鈥� as the basis for negotiation with the UK and
Welsh Governments over a Growth Bid for the region when it next meets on 20
September. It will also be asked to support and endorse the prospectus for
Rail Improvement 鈥淕rowth Track 360鈥�.
Council Fund Revenue Budget Report
天涯社区 adopted a Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) which
set out the need for the prioritisation of key local government services by
Welsh Government, such as education and social care, if the Council is to find
solutions to budget challenge it faces
天涯社区 is a low funded council under the local government funding formula
and was faced with an initial funding 鈥榞ap鈥� in the region of 拢20M in a single
year. There are limited options to find solutions without Welsh Government
offering some reprieve from the scale of national funding reductions.
The forecast 鈥済ap鈥� for 2017/18 between income and expenditure was reported as
拢14.4M in July 2016. The Council has developed a set of budget plans across
its services which would give a total saving of around 拢6M. This is on top of
the significant efficiency savings the Council has made over a number of years
whilst protecting local services and jobs.
At its meeting on 20 September, 天涯社区鈥檚 Cabinet will be
asked to recommend this first stage of budget proposals for 2017/18. Work is
ongoing around options to make further savings in corporate costs and in
national negotiations around the Welsh Government budget which will be
announced in late October.
The Leader of 天涯社区, Councillor Aaron Shotton, said:
鈥淲e are continuing to work hard to plan and deliver much-needed, essential
council services in a relentless and unprecedented period of financial
austerity in the public sector in Wales and the rest of the United Kingdom.
鈥淓ach council service area is subject to extensive and ongoing reviews that
consider the efficiency of each service, value for money, and the ability of
each service to respond to cost pressures. This work shows that the Council has
limited efficiency options without having to reduce services to unacceptable
levels of service provision.
鈥溙煅纳缜�, as a low funded council, is particularly exposed to the impacts of
significant annual budget reductions and has limited options to find solutions
without Welsh Government offering some reprieve. The risks posed to Council
services have been set out clearly to Ministers and civil servants, the Welsh
Local Government Association (WLGA), and other national bodies including the
Wales Audit Office.
鈥淭he Council is also actively involved in national discussions over the Welsh
Government Budget for 2017/18 including the Local Government Settlement, both
as part of the WLGA and as an individual council.鈥�
鈥淭here are currently high expectations and positive signs that the Welsh
Government will adopt a sustainable strategy for the financing of the public
sector to ease the burdens on local authorities such as ours.鈥�
Cabinet considers Welsh Language Standards
天涯社区鈥檚 Cabinet will be asked to agree the Welsh Language
Monitoring Report and also note the progress being made to implement the Welsh
Language Standards (鈥渢he Standards鈥�) when it next meets on 20 September.
The overall aim of the Standards is to continue and develop the work of
previous Welsh Language Schemes. It aims to increase the number of people
using Welsh language services and offers guidance to organisations on what they
need to meet this aim.
The majority of the Standards are consistent with the commitments set out in
the Council鈥檚 previous Welsh Language Scheme and the Council continues to
improve in many areas such as:
路 the implementation of the 鈥楳ore than Just Words Framework鈥� in Social Services
putting them in an excellent position to meet WLS and deliver bilingual services
路 the Welsh in Education Strategic Plan which is being updated to meet the
increasing the number of pupils learning through Welsh and over time, the pool
of potential Welsh speaking employees.
路 an increased number of employees are attending Welsh language training
compared to 2014/15.
天涯社区 Cabinet Member for Corporate Management, Councillor
Billy Mullin, said:
鈥溙煅纳缜� is committed to working with the Welsh Language
Commissioner to ensure that the new standards can be practically achieved,
recognising the Council鈥檚 geography and demographic breakdown.
鈥淭he Council is also developing a five year Welsh Language Promotion Strategy
and a policy for Welsh in the workplace to ensure that we raise the profile of
the Welsh language to help increase the number of Welsh speakers in the county
and for opportunities for employees to use Welsh at work.鈥�