Council's Annual Report 2024-2025

Core Business Enablers

In addition to the identified thematic and service priorities, there are a range of core business enablers which underpin the Council’s daily functions and our delivery of services. Several are detailed within this section; however, ICT, Marketing and Media, Finance, People Management, Policy and Performance, Estates and Asset Management and Business Support have been interwoven within the content in Well-being Objectives 1 to 4 above.

Legal

In Summary

• We have ensured legality and probity in the Council’s decision-making.
• We work within a statutory framework governing such things as the way meetings are run, the way decisions are taken and the legislation behind each decision which needs to be taken.
• 1,936 files were opened in 2024/25.
• We handle as much of the legal work needed by the Council in-house as we can, although there will be some occasions when we need to send work to external lawyers.
• The range of legal work undertaken includes not just court and tribunal cases, but also advising Council committees, drafting legal documentation, and giving legal advice.
• The Transformation Team has been working closely with the service. A Project Management group has been established to provide effective oversight and governance of the Legal Services improvement delivery plan. This group is responsible for prioritising initiatives, monitoring their implementation, identifying barriers, and measuring success post-implementation.
• Several efficiency measures have already been identified, including:
  o    Creating a dedicated communication area on the intranet to provide essential information about legal services
  o    Introducing a new e-form for service users to complete when seeking external legal advice
  o    Implementing Magic Notes to assist in the completion of statements
• The work of the group will continue to ensure that these initiatives are designed to streamline processes, improve accessibility, and support ongoing service enhancement for the Legal Services team.

Planning

In Summary

• 91.6% (1,224 / 1,336) of planning applications were determined on time during 2024/25. This is a very good improvement on 87.5% last year and is just above the Welsh average of 90.5%.
• Of the 32 planning appeals received during 2024/25, 25 were dismissed (78.1%). This is an improvement on the previous year (70.4%) and exceeds the Welsh Government Performance Framework for 'Good' of 66%.
• 19 out of the 22 major planning applications determined in the year were completed within the time required to give a result of 86.4%. This is a good improvement on last year (69.7%).
• The average number of days taken to take positive planning enforcement action during 2024/25 continues to be high at 360 days (306 days the previous year). A significant number of cases are taken through to prosecution. Figures represent the length of time to prosecute a case, which has significant delay, and we have no control. A review of the delivery of the enforcement function is ongoing.
• 81.6% of planning enforcement cases were investigated within 84 days. This is a slight reduction from the previous year at 84.3 but continue to be high compared to historically.
• An Assurance Rating of ‘Reasonable’ was received during Internal Audit inspections to ensure that robust systems and procedures were in place for planning applications – Extension of Time and for the administration of ‘Section 106 – Affordable Homes’. 

Procurement

In Summary

• We spent more than £443 million per annum on goods, works, and services in 2024/25. This has a significant impact on the quality of life for the community. It is vital we have a strategic approach to procurement to ensure that goods, works, and services are procured as efficiently and effectively as possible.
• 42% of our spend with suppliers was within Carmarthenshire, higher than the all-Wales rate of 30%.
• The Corporate Procurement Unit (CPU) led on the delivery of 47 tenders with an approximate value of £1.2bn.
• The new Procurement Act 2023 and the Procurement (Wales) Regulations 2024 came into effect in February 2025 (postponed from the original date of October 2024). This marks a major reform of public procurement law in Wales and the wider UK, replacing previous EU-derived rules post-Brexit.
• To meet our legal obligations under the Act, we are required to publish a pipeline of planned tenders over £2m which will be published in the following 18 months by the end of May 2025. The CPU has engaged with departments to accurately capture all tenders over this value and are on target to publish the notices by the deadline.
• A new Health Services (Provider Selection Regime) (Wales) Regulations 2025 (PSR) is also now in effect. This is a new, separate regime designed specifically for the procurement of health care services by the NHS and related public bodies in Wales.
• We are awaiting the Welsh Government to implement the procurement provisions of the Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act 2023 via secondary legislation (commencement orders), but a specific date has not yet been announced. The Contract Procedure Rules were updated in March 2025 to align with the new Act.
• A variety of supplier engagement initiatives and events were held in 2024/25 to accommodate our programme of tender exercises. One example of this was an event held in June 2024 for the South West Wales Regional Contractors Framework (SWWRCF), with approximate total value of £800 million. Procurement, alongside colleagues in Property Design, adopted a variety of supplier engagement initiatives to attract local contractors to tender, to promote the tender requirements, and to enhance tender submissions by offering support. Following a Getting Tender Ready webinar held last financial year, we held a Briefing Session for this tender at Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli in April 2024 with 186 contractors attending the event. 

Internal Audit

In Summary

• Internal Audit is an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve the organisation’s operations.
• Internal Audit is committed to working to the highest professional standards, and to delivering quality services that add value to the Authority. A Quality Assurance and Improvement Programme (QAIP) is in place, designed to achieve high professional performance operating in accordance with the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards (PSIAS) and the Code of Ethics.
• 85% of reviews in the 2024/25 Audit Plan were completed by the end of March 2025, which was slightly lower than 89% the previous year. All audit assignments on the plan had been initiated and were underway at the end of the financial year.
• Internal Audit reports to the Council’s Governance and Audit Committee, providing regular progress updates. Every Internal Audit Report is provided to the Chair and Vice Chair of the Committee.

Democratic Services

In Summary

• Democratic Services manages the Council’s decision-making process. The Council Constitution sets out how the Council operates, how decisions are made, and the procedures which are followed to ensure that these are efficient, transparent, and accountable to local people. Some of these processes are required by law, while others are a matter for the Council to choose.
• The number of Councillor Enquiries has increased slightly to 2,780 for 2024/25, with 72.05% responded to within 7 working days. 1,208 service requests were processed by the unit through the Member portal rather than Councillors directly. The portal provides a platform for members to log and monitor Councillor Service requests and enquiries.
• The service continues to administer joint working arrangements for Wales Pension Partnership Joint Governance Committee, the Dyfed Powys Police and Crime Panel, and Y Partneriaeth (Partneriaeth was disbanded on the 31st of March 2025 with its functions transferred to a collaboration agreement on the 1st of April 2025). The service also has responsibility for administering the Llesiant Delta Wellbeing Governance Group, the CWM Shareholders Board, and administers the appeals process in respect of Education Admissions and Exclusions.

Electoral Services and Civil Registration

In Summary

• Electoral services are underpinned by a legal framework which establishes how elections are delivered. It sets out who is allowed to vote and the various ways they can cast their vote to have their say. The service has a strong Election Project Team that helps support the main team in delivering safe, transparent, and open elections.
• The service administers all types of elections (scheduled or unscheduled), and, with the introduction of the Modern Democracy app, it ensures accuracy of the ballot paper accounts. During 2024/2025, one County By-election, 15 Town and Community By-elections (five of which were called but uncontested), and a Business Improvement District (BID) ballot were held.
• We continue to work with data matching of our records against Council Tax, Housing Benefits, Payroll, and Education records to ensure the Electoral Register is up to date. We will be one of few Welsh authorities that will take part in an Automatic Registration Pilot with data matching taking place in summer 2025.
• The Council’s Civil Registration Service has the statutory function of providing a statutory service to the public for the registration of births, stillbirths, deaths, and subsequent certificates; notices of marriage and civil partnership and consequent ceremonies and certificates; production of legal documentation and the approval of premises for marriages and civil partnerships; and is also responsible for conducting citizenship ceremonies on behalf of HM Government.
• The service offers a range of celebrant non-statutory ceremonies, including bereavement-related ceremonies such as funerals and celebration of life memorials. The ‘Tell Us Once’ service is delivered on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). There is an increasing demand for celebration events such as affirmations of marriage vows.
• We are also excited in our new joint venture with Carmarthenshire Libraries to offer parents registering their baby to also register the child for a Carmarthenshire Library card. This will hopefully encourage lifelong readers.
• 21 citizenship ceremonies were conducted during 2024/25, all completed within 60 days of the Home Office invitation. These covered 90 adults and eight children, compared to 76 adults and nine children during 2023/24.
• There were 2,334 birth registrations recorded during 2024/25, a slight reduction on 2,461 during 2023/24. However, there was an increase in death registrations with 2,627 during 2024/25 compared to 2,447 in 2023/24.
• The number of marriages and civil partnerships reduced further during 2024/25 to 638 from 706 in 2023/24 and 800 in 2022/23.

Risk Management

In Summary

• In 2024/25, 94% of response to letters of claim were completed within six working days of receipt at the Risk Management Section. This covered issuing acknowledgement letter to the claimant or claimant’s legal representative, and referral of the claim to the appropriate insurer.
• During the year, the Risk Management Steering Group invested over £260,000 in areas to reduce the risk of claims or expensive litigation. Successful bids included driver training, CCTV for home to school and college transport, delivery of training for managing sexual harassment in the workplace, and safeguarding/security fencing in some of our schools.
• The Corporate Risk Register is reported to the Governance and Audit Committee on a six-monthly basis following quarterly review and critical assessment of the risks by the Corporate Management Team.