To receive apologies for absence from Members.

To receive declarations of personal and prejudicial interest from Members/Officers in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct adopted by Council from 1 September 2008. 

Cllr Elaine Winstanley declared a personal interest in the “Capital Programme Update Quarter 1 2023-24” report and the “Corporate Plan Delivery Plan 2023-24 and Performance Framework” as she was employed by Awen Cultural Trust who managed the Grand Pavilion, Bryngarw House and Maesteg Town Hall.

Cllr Heidi Bennett declared a prejudicial interest in “Proposals for the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Arrangements following the transition to a single Public Services Board (PSB) for Cwm Taf Morgannwg” as she was a Member of PSB on behalf of her employer BAVO.

In relation to agenda item 11, “To receive the following Questions”:

Cllr Richard Williams declared a personal interest as he was a member of Coity Walia Board of Conservators and a Pencoed TC Member.

Cllr Elaine Winstanley declared a prejudicial interest as she was the responsible person for two BCBC buildings which were managed by Awen Cultural Trust.

Cllr Paula Ford declared a prejudicial interest as she was on the Coity Wallia Board of Conservators.

To receive for approval the minutes of 21/06/23

RESOLVED:   That the minutes of the 21/06/2023 be approved as a true and accurate record.

(i) Mayor (or person presiding)

(ii) Members of the Cabinet

(iii) Chief Executive

Mayor

The Mayor welcomed the Youth Mayor, Ellie O’Connell, who was in attendance to observe the meeting.

The Mayor referred to events he had recently attended including:

·         the opening of the Armed Forces Day Parade by the Lord Lieutenant of Mid Glamorgan,

·         the Awen Cultural Trust event, 

·         Cefn Cribwr Open Gardens 

·         Archbishop McGrath School “First Give” where he was part of the deciding panel to determine the winning team to receive the First Give grant of £1000.

·         Porthcawl 10k Run where he started the Future Challenges and the Family Run categories.

·         A CCYD Achievement Evening where the excellent achievements of the learners were celebrated.

·         Brynteg School production of Grease at the Grand Pavilion Porthcawl,

·         The Interfaith Peace March, a unique opportunity to visit a Church, Synagogue and a Mosque all in one day. This was organised by the charity Remembering Srebrenica and sponsored by Race Equality.

·         Bridgend's Big show where he joined the Prevention and Wellbeing Service to celebrate the achievements of the fantastic young leaders and ambassadors.

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member – Social Services and Health

The Deputy Leader also attended the “Big Show”, an event developed to celebrate the volunteering efforts and leadership skills of young people from across the County Borough. The Deputy Leader made a special presentation in recognition of work that young carer ambassadors had been undertaking to raise awareness about the challenges that young carers faced.

The Deputy Leader explained the identity card scheme which was recognised by schools, GP surgeries, pharmacists and supermarkets. More than 300 young carer cards were now in use, and their potential was being further expanded to provide discounted access and other benefits with local businesses. Together with the Council and 3rd sector partners they had developed events such as “We are valued” days which were activity opportunities with their schools that they would not otherwise get. Young carer ambassadors also helped develop the Young Carer's Network where young people could make their voices heard while offering insights and opinions on a wide range of issues that affected them.

Cabinet Member – Finance, Resources and Legal

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources and Legal updated Council, following the significant disruption earlier in the week when the ICT systems went down and restricted access to computer systems, the corporate website, the telephone system and a number of interactive services. He explained that the ICT team worked tirelessly to identify and remedy the problem, and as the scope of the issue became apparent, the business continuity plan was instigated. Messages and updates were issued via social media and all telephone contact switched over to a back-up system. Staff worked around the clock to ensure that all systems were restored as quickly as possible. A review would now be carried out and in the meantime, he thanked the ICT team, and acknowledged their efforts and expertise in addressing the matter.

The Cabinet Member was delighted to advise Members that the Council had been presented with silver level status in the Employer  ...  view the full minutes text for item 154.

The Leader provided Members with a brief update on the situation with Zimmer Biomet. The company’s decision to close down the Bridgend premises came as a complete surprise, and he had written to senior managers to express extreme disappointment that there was no forewarning or opportunity to discuss the matter beforehand. He urged them to reconsider their decision, and to commit towards the development and consideration of alternative options. If the plant closed, the impact of this decision would be felt not only by the 540-strong workforce, but upon businesses within the supply chain and others who had come to depend upon trade associated with Zimmer Biomet and its staff. Help and support was being offered to all those who had been affected by the news. They were also promoting BCBC as an excellent place to invest in, with advice on funding and start-up support, strong networking opportunities, excellent communication links and a highly skilled local workforce and more. Talks with Zimmer Biomet were continuing, and they were firmly focused upon generating future growth and prosperity and encouraging other businesses to come and see what the area had to offer.

On a brighter note, one of the county borough’s longest standing employers, the WEPA Group, celebrated its 75th anniversary. WEPA was among the three largest European hygiene paper manufacturers and led the market in its use of recycled fibre. In June 2020, the Council approved the company’s plans for a £100m expansion which doubled production at the plant and created 54 new jobs and safeguarded more than 270 existing positions.

The Leader advised Members that highly pathogenic Avian Influenza, or ‘bird flu’, had been confirmed at a number of locations and within several wild bird colonies located within Wales. He advised that members of the public should not pick up or handle a dead bird carcass or attempt to pick up a bird that was sick and in distress. If dead wild waterfowl or birds were discovered, they should report them using online guidance available at Gov DOT UK, or call the Defra helpline on 034 59 33 55 77. If a sick or injured wild bird was found, they should contact the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999.

The Leader congratulated Penybont FC for fighting back against FC Santa Coloma of Andorra to draw 1-1. The first leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League Qualifier was also the first European fixture to ever take place in Bridgend County Borough, and the Dunraven Brewery field quickly sold out for the event. The second leg was taking place shortly in Andorra. Along with all Members, he wished them the very best of luck.

The Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change presented the Capital Programme Update Quarter 1 2023-24 which included an update of the capital budgets and expenditure as at 30 June 2023, the revised

capital programme for 2023-24 to 2032-33 and the projected Prudential and Other Indicators for 2023-24. Appendix A showed the budgets and spend to 30 June 2023 for the individual schemes in 2023-24. Appendix B provided details of the revised capital programme for 2023-24 to 2032-33 and appendix C provided details of the projected Prudential and Other Indicators for 2023-24.

The Chief Officer explained that since March, the capital programme had changed, and it currently totalled £96.9 million. Most of the increase in that programme was the result of slippage from the last financial year into this year's programme. Table one of the report detailed how the capital programme was split between the different directorates. The detail of the funding of the programme was shown in table two of the report. The key changes were reported at paragraph 3.15 of the report. She confirmed that Council was operating in line with the approved indicators.

The Cabinet Member for Finances, Resources and Legal apologised for the budget briefing not going ahead as planned and he encouraged all members to try to attend the rescheduled briefing because of the challenges they were currently facing. He welcomed the additional money from Welsh Government but acknowledged revenue pressures and added that officers would be looking into this further. 

A Member asked how much of the capital programme was allocated to risk.

The Chief Officer replied that the capital programme was allocated on the basis of priorities and many of those priorities would be about risk for the Council. Risk was not identified within the capital programme however many of the individual schemes were about either upgrading, replacing or enhancing the assets that they had to make sure that they were fit for purpose.

The Member replied that he was referring to contingency and asked how much was build cost and how much was being held for contingency? 

The Chief Executive explained that within each project, there was a contingency element within the contract, usually an estimate of what might cover an unexpected cost during the course of any particular project. Within the capital programme, they would rarely max out the whole of the available balance on schemes and therefore there was some contingency available within the programme. Not all items in the capital programme would be taking place at the same time, so if things early in the capital programme required additional funding, there would be an impact on things that had been identified later in the programme. They had to manage that risk in that way as opposed to just identifying one sum for risk. They were very aware of risk at the moment as they were also facing unprecedented increases in capital spend. Their focus on the capital programme was greater than it had ever been, and they were proposing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 156.

The Chief Executive introduced a report proposing a one-year Corporate Plan Delivery Plan (CPDP) to support the Council’s new Corporate Plan and an updated Corporate Performance Framework to help the Council measure progress on it. He explained that the report was based on a lot of engagement, consultation and feedback from a variety of sources over the last few months, including from Members in terms of member briefing session. It reflected some of the suggestions and recommendations from Members and some of the recommendations from Audit Wales about how the authority managed performance going forward.

The Policy and Performance Manager explained that they had moved to an annual delivery plan approach. Since the recent all Member briefing session they had spent time with the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee to continue to make improvements as in the plan before them. The new Corporate Plan Delivery Plan represented a much better set of information to inform decision making and should give a comprehensive view of progress against the Corporate Plan. The Policy and Performance Manager outlined the main improvements and added that the Graduates in her team had started the background work and there would be an update later in the year. She hoped that this was a useful document that clarified some things that had been unclear in the past and helpfully outlined the roles and responsibilities for officers and Members and the relationships and interdependencies between them.

The Chair of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee thanked the Chief Executive, the Policy and Performance Manager and her team for the engagement with the Committee and for all the work they had put in on the Delivery Plan and Performance Framework. This was a major step in the right direction in addressing some of the weaknesses relating to performance management, which were raised by Audit Wales. He was conscious that this was the start of the process and that the documents would evolve, be flexible and agile as the Delivery Plan and Framework moved to the next stage. He added that rather than monitoring service areas within their own individual silos, they needed to adopt a more holistic approach and closely align scrutiny work to become more performance focused. The Scrutiny Team were working on a proposed model for this, and the options would be presented in due course.

A Member thanked the officers for the honest assessment of where the authority was and where it was heading. He touched on the how they had specifically used the feedback provided by Audit Wales to better clarify what success looks like to be shared as a Council, as residents and stakeholders.

The Policy and Performance Manager explained how the Corporate Plan Development Plan would address some of the criticisms and she provided several examples.

The Chief Executive added that that there were some elements that they were still in dialogue with Audit Wales on, where they did not wholly agree. There were very good examples within the Council of the use  ...  view the full minutes text for item 157.

The Chief Officer – Legal & Regulatory Services, HR & Corporate Policy presented a report on the proposed scrutiny arrangements for the

Cwm Taf Morgannwg Public Services Board, following the transition to a single Public Services Board (PSB) for Cwm Taf Morgannwg. She explained that in order to reduce duplication and enable more effective joint working, the two PSBs currently in place within the footprint had taken forward a merger to create a new PSB for the Cwm Taf Morgannwg area. This merger would enable the PSB to align with the health board footprint going forward.

The Chief Officer – Legal & Regulatory Services, HR & Corporate Policy explained that in order to ensure democratic accountability of the PSB, there was a statutory requirement set out in legislation and guidance for a designated Local Government Scrutiny Committee of the relevant authority to scrutinise the work of the PSB.

The Chief Officer – Legal & Regulatory Services, HR & Corporate Policy outlined the proposed membership and arrangements for the Cwm Taf Morgannwg Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee and referred Members to the Draft Terms of Reference, which once agreed, would be reviewed periodically to ensure they were fit for purpose. It was suggested that the appointment of the Chairperson be taken forward on an annual basis, but for greater consistency it was proposed that there was no requirement for an annual rotation of appointment between authorities and that a current chair could be reappointed. It was proposed that this arrangement was taken forward for a two-year period before a review of the arrangement was undertaken.

A Member referred to point 3.12 in the report regarding the appointment of the Chair and Vice Chair and suggested that it was important for constituent authorities to have a share of ownership in this new body and that rotation should be brought in, at least every 3 years to help to give the body additional maturity. He accepted the argument that expertise would be gained but there was a counter argument, and he suggested an amendment.

The Chief Officer – Legal & Regulatory Services, HR & Corporate Policy explained that Council were being asked to endorse the Draft Terms of Reference and to make any further comments as felt appropriate so an amendment was not required at this stage as any comments would be picked up by the PSB and scrutiny. It would be reviewed periodically to make sure it was fit for purpose. 

A Member asked what support elected members could expect to receive to ensure they could properly scrutinise the work of the PSB. The Chief Officer – Legal & Regulatory Services, HR & Corporate Policy replied that they would be arranging training as set out in the Terms of Reference and they would link in with the Wellbeing Commissioner to see what was available.

The Cabinet Member for Housing, Planning and Regeneration replied that he and the Leader had a very productive meeting with the new Future Generations Commissioner a few weeks previously where they discussed the support offered both to local  ...  view the full minutes text for item 158.

The Monitoring Officer presented a report advising Members that there were vacancies for Independent Members on the Council’s Standards Committee and that appointments were required to fill these vacancies. Also following feedback from a Standards Committee meeting, it was recommended

that a report be brought to Members to confirm the remit of the Committee and the legislative background.

The Monitoring Officer outlined the role and functions of the Committee as set out in the report. Council previously approved the membership of the Committee be increased to 8 members, which added an additional independent Member to the composition. They had recently been notified of the sad passing of Mr Jeff Baker, who was an independent member and more recently, they had received resignations of Mrs Judith Keeley and Mr Cliff Jones, both independent members. The Committee, therefore, had 4 vacancies for independent members.

The Monitoring Officer explained that following a rigorous interview process, the panel recommended the following appointments be approved by Council: Mr Peter Baker, Miss Sue Maughan, Mr Roy Lynch and Mr Shawn Cullen. Cllr Graham Walters sat on the interview panel and he confirmed that these were suitable candidates.

A Member asked if it was correct that only one woman was being appointed and she asked what steps were being taken to attract more women when vacancies arose in future.

The Monitoring Officer replied that initially there had been 3 or 4 applicants but only 1 remained to interview stage as the others had withdrawn from the process. 

The Deputy Leader explained that she was quite concerned that this Committee would be looking at standards across the County Borough for all genders and there was only one female. These appointments were for four years and they needed to encourage a better representation of the residents.

The Monitoring Officer replied that there were regulations they needed to follow when they advertised, and these stated who was eligible and they then placed the appropriate adverts and circulated to other local authorities. They did not get a great response for the four vacancies however she felt that the candidates were more diverse in terms of their age profile, the demographics, their careers and where they lived so there was a better balance now.

A Member concurred with the Deputy Leader and pointed out that in terms of political appointments, that was within the gift of Group Leaders. He added that his group did not have representation on that Committee.

A Member noted that there may be a lack of diversity across the panel makeup and suggested that in future when looking at promoting these opportunities, they also approach organisations such as the Women's Equality Network Wales, Stonewall and the Race Council Cymru to get more diversity.

A member asked Members of the Standards Committee if the people appointed were the best people in their opinion to conduct the role that they were asked to, gender aside. Councillor Walter confirmed that that was the case. There were four candidates that met the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 159.

The Chief Officer, Legal and Regulatory Services, HR and Corporate Policy informed Council of an information report for noting, that had been published since the last scheduled meeting. The information report was the Annual Report of the Standards Committee.

The Leader placed on record the Council’s thanks to the outgoing Chair,

Mr Jones OBE and to Mrs J Keily for their contribution to the work of the Standards Committee.

RESOLVED:       Council acknowledged the publication of the report referred to in paragraph 3.1 of the report.

Cllr Freya Bletsoe to the Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources and Legal

Reports over the weekend in The Times newspaper have highlighted that still, years later public building such as schools, offices, libraries etc have significant levels of asbestos in the fabric of those buildings.  The report highlights that despite knowing of these issues authorities are doing little or nothing to remove the asbestos and to therefore mitigate the risk to human health.

As legally a register of asbestos should be kept on a room by room basis of each premises affected, and I have no doubt that a significant number of premises that BCBC manage or maintain will have asbestos in them, can I ask what this authority is doing to mitigate the workplace harm of teachers, librarians and office staff from the long term effects of asbestos and what is this authority doing to safeguard children who are being educated in rooms that have asbestos in them – as per our statutory obligations under the WFG Act?

Could I also ask as an elected member and Chair of Scrutiny to see the up-to-date risk register and associated reports for asbestos that is contained in the premises we oversee.

Cllr Ian Williams to the Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources and Legal

With footfall in Bridgend Town Centre struggling to hit pre pandemic levels can I ask the Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources and Legal what measures are being taken to work with bus companies to safeguard existing bus routes (See attached) and mitigate any further cuts to ever decreasing services?

Is the Cabinet Member prepared to make a commitment to this council that it will ensure that subsidies will not be cut and the lifeline for many residents that is local bus services will see no further cuts for the term of this current council.

Cllr Martin Williams to the Leader

Coity Walia Common is a unique landscape that covers over 1,000 hectare of our county borough stretching from Pencoed to Sarn, Coity to Bryncethin and beyond. The common is a diverse habit and a feature that we should be rightly proud of. However, it a largely forgotten corner of our county left to be maintained by volunteers on a meagre budget. Could the Leader please tell me how BCBC currently supports Coity Walia and what plans this authority has to protect this vital habitat for future generations.

Cllr Tim Thomas to the Cabinet Member for Climate Change and the Environment

Will the Cabinet Member make a statement on the quality of water from our rivers and seas within the County Borough?

Cllr Freya Bletsoe to the Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources and Legal

Reports over the weekend in The Times newspaper have highlighted that still, years later public building such as schools, offices, libraries etc have significant levels of asbestos in the fabric of those buildings.  The report highlights that despite knowing of these issues authorities are doing little or nothing to remove the asbestos and to therefore mitigate the risk to human health.

As legally a register of asbestos should be kept on a room by room basis of each premises affected, and I have no doubt that a significant number of premises that BCBC manage or maintain will have asbestos in them, can I ask what this authority is doing to mitigate the workplace harm of teachers, librarians and office staff from the long term effects of asbestos and what is this authority doing to safeguard children who are being educated in rooms that have asbestos in them – as per our statutory obligations under the WFG Act?

Could I also ask as an elected member and Chair of Scrutiny to see the up-to-date risk register and associated reports for asbestos that is contained in the premises we oversee.

Response

In response to the question, we would advise that the authority’s approach and policy on asbestos management is to actively manage the asbestos in-situ, to ensure that asbestos products remain in a good and safe condition thus meeting our statutory obligations under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 the legal frameworks which underpins the management of asbestos in non-domestic premises.

This approach reflects the Health & Safety Executive’s guidance on asbestos management which advises that the presence of asbestos is not a health hazard when safely managed and contained and is only hazardous when disturbed. We do not undertake the systematic removal of asbestos within buildings, as unnecessarily asbestos removal can be more dangerous than leaving it in place and managing. We do however take steps to remove asbestos containing materials where this is recommended as part of the management approach, and this is always undertaken through specialist contractors in accordance with approved methodologies. This approach has seen a spend of approximately £190,000 on asbestos surveys and monitoring and a further investment of over £1,000,000 on asbestos remediation and removal, from the opening financial year 2020/2021 to the close of financial year 2022/2023. This expenditure does not include asbestos related works that form part of planned maintenance or building projects and therefore the total expenditure on asbestos related works will be higher.

The presence of asbestos within our managed property portfolio has been identified through asbestos management surveys which have been undertaken for all BCBC managed buildings. These reports have been used to create a risk register for all Asbestos Containing Materials within our buildings which contains over 5000 entries within approximately 170 sites. All items are re-inspected on an annual basis through a rolling program of annual asbestos re-inspection surveys, which monitors and records the condition of all known  ...  view the full minutes text for item 161.

To consider any item(s) of business in respect of which notice has been given in accordance with Part 4 (paragraph 4) of the Council Procedure Rules and which the person presiding at the meeting is of the opinion should by reason of special circumstances be transacted at the meeting as a matter of urgency. 

None