To receive apologies for absence from Members/Officers for the reasons so stated.

Apologies for absence were received from the following Members / Officer for the reasons so stated:

Councillor S Aspey – Work commitments

Councillor PA Davies – Unwell

Councillor AD Owen – Work commitments

Councillor DG Owen - Work commitments

Councillor JH Tildesley – In hospital

Councillor E Venables – Unwell

Councillor KJ Watts – Unwell

Mark Shephard – Corporate Director Communities – Hospital appointment. 

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. 

The following declarations of interest were made:

Councillor DBF White declared a prejudicial interest in agenda item 6 – Council Tax Reduction Scheme as he a close relative in receipt of the scheme and he withdrew from the meeting during consideration of this item.

Councillor CL Jones declared a prejudicial interest in agenda item 6 – Council Tax Reduction Scheme as his grandmother and mother in law are in receipt of the scheme and he withdrew from the meeting during consideration of this item. 

Councillor HJ Townsend declared a prejudicial interest in agenda item 6 – Council Tax Reduction Scheme as her sister is in receipt of the scheme and she withdrew from the meeting during consideration of this item.

Councillor PJ White declared a prejudicial interest in agenda item 6 – Council Tax Reduction Scheme as his mother and mother in law are in receipt of the scheme and he withdrew from the meeting during consideration of this item.

Councillor RM James declared a prejudicial interest in agenda item 6 – Council Tax Reduction Scheme as his sister is in receipt of the scheme and he withdrew from the meeting during consideration of this item.

To receive and confirm the minutes of a meeting of Council dated 16 December 2015

RESOLVED:     That the minutes of the meeting of Council of 16 December 2015 be approved as a true and accurate record subject to the following amendments:-

to Minute No. 558 – That the initials in the Declaration of Interest made by Councillor CL Jones be amended to be “CLP”.

to Minute No. 560 – the word “ass” being replaced with the word “is” in the first line of the second paragraph of the announcement made by the Cabinet Member Resources.           

 (i) Mayor (or person presiding)

(ii) Members of the Cabinet

(iii) Chief Executive

Mayor

The Mayor announced his first engagement as Mayor for 2016 was a particularly enjoyable one as he had the pleasure of officially opening the Bridgend Branch of Baby Sensory.  This is an award winning national baby development initiative being run locally from the Coity Higher Community Centre.  It offers activities designed to support a baby’s sensory development and classes include baby signing, music, light shows, bubbles and puppets.  He stated that the aim of the classes is for them to be both educational and fun and it was a joy to meet all the parents and babies, and was a positive start to January.

The Mayor had also attended a presentation evening at the Kenfig Hill Girl Guides where he was honoured to present two Guides with the Baden Powell Challenge Award.  This is the highest award that a Guide can achieve and takes two years of dedication to complete.  The evening also turned out to be an emotional one as Sarah Madden, the group’s long serving Brown Owl, was saying a last farewell before heading to Australia to start a new and exciting chapter in her life.

The Mayor stated that on a more sober note, after the Paris terror attacks of 13 November he had written to the French Ambassador in his capacity as Mayor to express on behalf of everyone across the County Borough of Bridgend, the collective and sincere sympathy on the dreadful events.  He had received a letter of reply which thanked the citizens of Bridgend warmly for their expression of solidarity and appreciation of the County Borough’s continued support.  The Mayor stated that he would arrange for a copy of the reply to be placed in the Members’ room for anyone who wished to read the full response.

The Mayor also informed Members of the sad passing of Cheryl Bridgman, who was a longstanding member of Mental Health Matters Wales, which is one of his chosen charities.  He stated that Mrs Bridgman served as chair of this organisation for many years and was latterly employed as a senior officer.  She had worked for over 20 years to raise awareness of mental health issues and he was honoured to have known and worked alongside her and she would be sorely missed.

The Mayor reminded Members that the closing date for the Mayor’s Citizenship Awards is Friday 29 January 2016.  He stated that that is a wonderful chance to inform the rest of the County Borough about the amazing things that local people do and he urged Members to submit nominations, or encourage others within their communities to do so.  He stated that nominations can be for an individual, a group or a local business and there is downloadable form and further details on the BCBC website or alternatively via the Mayoral office.

Deputy Leader

The Deputy Leader was pleased to start announce that five local schools have been removed from the list of those requiring monitoring by Estyn.  Inspectors have judged that good progress  ...  view the full minutes text for item 572.

The Leader announced that Members will have seen the terrible news earlier this week concerning job losses at Tata Steel in Neath Port Talbot. This move is going to have a serious impact on communities up and down the coast, with the impact on Bridgend County Borough likely to be substantial.  He stated Tata had confirmed in November that there were 596 employees working in their Port Talbot plant whose home addresses had Bridgend County Borough post code areas.

The Leader informed Members that the Council has been in touch with local government colleagues in preparation for a task force meeting that the Economy Minister Edwina Hart has called today.  Whilst progress that the task force can make is awaited, the Council has pledged whatever practical support it can offer to workers who have been affected by this decision.

The Leader stated that there is also a wider issue to consider, and as such he had written to the Prime Minister David Cameron calling on urgent interaction from the UK Government.

He informed Members that the fact of the matter is that Tata Steel is one of Wales’ most significant employers, and has a total economic impact of £3.2 billion.  More than 10,000 full time equivalent jobs are supported off-site in the Tata supply chain, and it attracts inter-regional export revenues of more than £2 billion for Wales.  Any disruption in the manufacturing of steel will have a major effect on small-to-medium sized businesses with supply links into Port Talbot.  Urgent action was called for to ensure that the UK steel industry is not unfairly disadvantaged on the international markets.

The Leader stated that when the banking sector collapsed in 2008, the UK Government stepped in with decisive action and while some of those actions divided opinion, it was true to say that the City of London was thriving again within five years.  He informed Members that the steel industry deserves no less than the banking industry.

The Leader informed Members that he would be making a media statement to this effect later today, and will also be writing to the Prime Minister to urge him to consider this and impress upon his Ministers and Government colleagues just how important this situation really is.

The Leader reminded Members that the consultation on changes that need to be made as to how Bridgend County Borough Council collects refuse and recycling in the future will close on 8^th February.  He stated that the changes are necessary as the current kerbside collection system needs to be upgraded so it can recycle more waste and avoid financial penalties for not meeting the Welsh Government’s new statutory recycling targets.  The current target is 58%, but this will increase to 64% in 2019-20, then 70% in 2024-25.  If the target of 64% is missed even by just 1%, the Council will be issued with a penalty of around £100,000.

The Leader stated that it for this reason the system has to change, and why  ...  view the full minutes text for item 573.

The Head of Finance and ICT submitted a report to implement the 2016-17 Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTR), the requirement to adopt a CTR scheme by 31 January 2016, together with the funding implications. 

He reported that the CTR provides assistance for those on low incomes who have a liability to pay Council Tax.  He stated that the Welfare Reform Bill detailed the intention to localise the allocation and administration of Council Tax Benefit (CTB) from 2013-14.  The UK Government devolved to the Welsh Government the establishment of localised schemes in Wales and stated its intention to reduce expenditure on CTB by the equivalent of 10%.  As a result, the Welsh Government decided to develop a single nationally defined scheme, set out in the regulations, for the provision of Council Tax Support in Wales, which would also provide for a small number of discretionary elements individual Councils could choose to adopt, with any additional associated costs funded locally.

The Head of Finance and ICT reported that the Council adopted the Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2015-16 in accordance with the Council Tax Reduction Schemes and Prescribed Requirements (Wales) Regulations 2013 which would end on 31 March 2016.  He informed Council that there were currently 14,628 households in the Borough receiving CTR, 8,733 are of working age and 5,895 of pensionable age and out of 14,628 households in receipt of CTR, 11,092 are entitled to a full CTR reduction. 

The Head of Finance and Performance reported that the Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements and Default Scheme) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2016 have now been laid which make amendments to:

·       Reflect the new arrangements in relation to care and support needs which have been introduced in Wales by the Social Services and Wellbeing Act 2014;

·       Take into account terminology changes used in legislation as a  consequence to the national Insurance Contributions Act 2015 and new arrangements and terminology introduced via the Pension Act 2014. 

The Head of Finance and ICT explained that within the Prescribed Requirements Regulations, there is limited discretion given to the Council to apply discretionary elements that are more generous than the national scheme.  These are:

·         The ability to increase the standard extended reduction period of four weeks given to persons after they return to work where they have previously been receiving CTR that is to end as a result of their return to work;

·         Discretion to increase the amount of War Disablement Pensions and War Widows Pensions which is to be disregarded when calculating income of the claimant; and

·         The ability to backdate the application of CTR with regard to late claims prior to the new standard period of three months before the claim.

The Head of Finance and ICT reported that the Council is obliged to adopt a scheme by the 31 January 2016 regardless of whether it chooses to apply any of the discretionary elements.  The Council can only apply discretion if it makes its own scheme under the Prescribed Requirements Regulations.

The Head of Finance  ...  view the full minutes text for item 574.

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. 

There were no urgent items.