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 NA Burnett – Agenda item 9 – Notice of Motion, prejudicial interest as she owns a rental property which is rented to tourists.  Councillor Burnett withdrew from the meeting during consideration of the item.

Councillor B Jones – Agenda item 8 (a) – Question from Councillor S Dendy to the Deputy Leader, personal interest as his brother owns a property which is empty.

Councillor RME Stirman – Agenda item 9 – Notice of Motion, personal interest as a Bridgend Tourism Ambassador.

Councillor HJ Watts – Agenda item 9 – Notice of Motion, prejudicial interest as a close family member is involved in tourism within Porthcawl.  Councillor Watts withdrew from the meeting during consideration of the item.  

Councillor HM Williams - Agenda item 9 – Notice of Motion, prejudicial interest as he had recently submitted a planning application to convert a property into a holiday cottage.  Councillor Williams withdrew from the meeting during consideration of the item.       

To receive the minutes of a meeting of Council dated 4 October 2017.

RESOLVED:           That the Minutes of the meeting of Council of 4 October 2017 be approved as a true and accurate record.   

 (i)   Mayor (or person presiding)

 (ii)  Members of the Cabinet

(iii)  Chief Executive

The Mayor

The Mayor announced that she had now begun to visit the winners of the Bridgend Business Forum Awards 2017.  She stated that it had been a pleasure to pay a personal visit to the winners to congratulate them on their success and gain a better understanding of the types of businesses that operate in the county borough.  She informed Council that she had met with some excellent, interesting and diverse people over the last few weeks that in different ways bring so much to the communities of the County Borough.

The Mayor also announced that she had the pleasure of attending the Wyndham Boys and Girls Club presentation evening last Friday.  This wonderful charity has been providing facilities and activities for young people for over 80 years.  She stated that it had been a joy to listen to the achievements of the young people and meet the volunteers who give so much of their time to this invaluable local organisation.

The Mayor informed Council that she was also very impressed by the facilities that are provided at STEER – the Enterprise Academy, when she had visited for their launch last week.  She informed Council that currently within their 37 acre site they have a community café, workshops, residential bunkhouse, volunteer hub, sensory garden, Men’s SHED, community allotments and woodlands for all to use.  This is such a positive initiative and a great celebration of community spirit.

Finally, the Mayor announced that she had attended the Diwali festival in Cardiff last weekend and experienced at first-hand one of the many diverse cultures that are celebrated in Wales.  Diwali is known as the Festival of Lights and it marks the beginning of the Hindu New Year.  The festival represents the victory of good over evil, light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance.  She informed Council that the children who took part in the music and dancing were a delight and their costumes were truly amazing.  She stated that it had been a great privilege to have participated in this community celebration and share this experience with others.    

Deputy Leader

The Deputy Leader informed Council of some new recycling information through which would be of interest to Members.  In quarter one ‘waste flow’ statistics had highlighted an increased 63.81% recycling rate compared to 75.33% last year, while in quarter two, the recycling rate has increased from 57.08% last year to 73.45%.  He stated that quarter two is the first complete quarter since the implementation of the two-bag rule, and this demonstrated that the County Borough should be comfortably ahead of the statutory 64% target and very well positioned indeed for the future 70% target.

The Deputy Leader drew Members’ attention to a forthcoming training and development session which had been arranged to provide more information on the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act.  The session will take place on 27 November 2017 at 4.00pm.  He stated that details of other training topics and a schedule of pre-Council briefings could be found in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 78.

The Leader informed Members that they may have seen the recent joint statement issued by Professor Mark Drakeford, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government, and Vaughn Gething, Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport, about potential health board boundary changes.  He stated that this confirmed that a formal 12-week consultation would soon be launched to gauge public opinions and thoughts on the principle of a boundary change.  The consultation will include consideration of regulations made under the Social Services and Wellbeing Wales Act 2014 to ensure that regional partnership boards and safeguarding boards reflect the proposed health board boundary change. 

He stated that the proposals were originally revealed in July when a Welsh Government White Paper set out proposals to secure resilience and renewal in local government in Wales.  This included specific proposals on partnership arrangements for Bridgend in order to retain the advantages of close partnership working between local government and health boards.

He informed members that Bridgend is in a unique position in Wales in that it works in partnership across two overlapping footprints.  The Welsh Government proposal is that in future, health services within Bridgend’s area should be delivered by Cwm Taf University Health Board instead of Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board.  This was to ensure clarity and consistency, and so that these arrangements are coherent within the broader local government reform programme.

The Leader also informed Council that the Welsh Government update emphasised that the proposed change would align Bridgend more firmly with its strategic partnership arrangements across many other local authority functions, including participation in the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal.  In their joint announcement, the cabinet secretaries acknowledged the valuable work undertaken by this council, ABMU and Cwm Taf University Health Boards in relation to the development of the proposal, and had recognised this Council’s belief that clarity and understanding over the issue is necessary and in the best interests of the people it serves.

He stated that the Cabinet Secretaries recognise the significant work that has been undertaken as part of the South Wales Programme to determine the effective provision of certain emergency and hospital-based services across health boards in South Wales.  The outcome of the South Wales Programme was a decision to retain Accident and Emergency Services at the Princess of Wales Hospital.  He stated that the statement is clear and explicit that any health board boundary change as a result of this consultation will not re-open those decisions.  He informed Council that details about when the consultation will begin have not yet been released, but were likely to be very soon this autumn and he would bring further details as soon as more information is received.

The Leader announced that he had previously given a commitment to keep Members informed of progress of the Valleys Taskforce, the draft statement ‘Our Valleys.Our Future’ was published at the beginning of the summer.  He stated that very detailed evidence had been submitted for the inclusion of a ‘North Bridgend Strategic Investment Hub’  ...  view the full minutes text for item 79.

The Group Manager Legal presented a report which sought to strengthen arrangements for democratic accountability and scrutiny of the school improvement function in the Central South Consortium. 

She reported that the Consortium is accountable to its constituent local authorities through a Joint Committee comprising the relevant Cabinet Member from each Local Authority.  Its performance is scrutinised on an annual basis by the relevant Scrutiny Committee in each Local Authority who examine the detail of the latest school performance results and business plan.  She stated that Consortium officers have met regularly with the five Scrutiny Committee Chairs in the Central South Consortium, as a group, officers representing/working for the five local authorities had also attended. 

The Group Manager Legal reported that part of the discussion had been around developing a ‘regional’ element to scrutiny work in addition to the current individual local authority scrutiny programmes.  She stated that the group’s discussion included consideration of the findings from a Cardiff Business School study on coordinated Scrutiny as well as the Erw model of coordinated scrutiny (which serves the west of Wales and Powys).  The Erw model consists of the Chairs of Education Scrutiny in each of the Local Authorities (or a nominated person other than the Chair) and has been identified as an example of good practice by the Wales Audit Office.  It was proposed to establish a formal working group to consider regional performance and share best practice and information.  The working group would offer an element of coordinated scrutiny with a specific focus on regional working. 

Members of the Council considered that the Working Group should consist of more than one elected Member from each local authority and that a request is made accordingly to the Central South Consortium.

RESOLVED:           That the proposal to establish a Scrutiny working group to consider regional performance of the Central South Consortium and share best practice and information be approved; with the exception that a request be made to the Central South Consortium Joint Committee that the Working Group should consist of more than one elected Member from each local authority.      

The Head of Finance and Section 151 Officer presented a report, the purpose of which was to comply with the requirement of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s (CIPFA) Treasury Management in the Public Services: Code of Practice 2011 Edition (the Code) to report as part of a mid-year review an overview of treasury activities and also reported on the projected Treasury Management and Prudential Indicators for 2017-18. 

The Head of Finance and Section 151 Officer reported on the treasury position for 1 April to 30 September 2017 that the interest rate views incorporated in the Council’s Treasury Management Strategy for 2017-18, were based upon officers’ views supported by a selection of City forecasts provided by Arlingclose.  He informed Council that its primary objective for the management of its debt is to ensure its long term affordability and that the majority of its loans had been borrowed from the PWLB at long term fixed rates of interest.  He informed Council that with short-term interest rates lower than long term rates, it was likely to be more cost effective in the short term to either borrow short term loans or use internal resources.  He stated that short term and variable rate loans expose the Council to the risk of short term interest rate rises and are therefore subject to the limit on the net exposure to variable interest rates as shown in the Treasury Management indicators.  It was predicted that long term rates would rise in the coming years and any such short term savings would need to be balanced against the potential longer-term costs.  He also informed Council that the last time the Council took long term borrowing was £5m from the PWLB in March 2012 and it was not expected that there would be a requirement for any new long term borrowing in 2017-18, however for cash-flow purposes £2 million short term borrowing was taken on 24 May 2017 and repaid on 5 June 2017. 

The Head of Finance and Section 151 Officer also reported on the Investment Strategy and Outturn for 1 April to 30 September 2017.  He stated that the Council’s objective when investing money is to strike an appropriate balance between risk and return, balancing the risk of incurring losses from defaults against receiving unsuitably low investment income.  He also stated that favourable cash flows have provided positive cash balances for investments with the balance for investments at 30 September 2017, being £44.00m.  He also summarised the £44.00m investments by credit ratings and the percentage outstanding.    

RESOLVED:                     That Council:

(1)  Approved the Council’s treasury management activities for the period 1 April 2017 to 30 September 2017.

Approved the projected Treasury Management and Prudential Indicators for 2017-18.   

(a)  Question from Councillor Sorrel Dendy to the Deputy Leader

“From the 1 April 2017, local authorities have been able to charge a premium of up to 100% of the standard rate of Council Tax on long-term empty homes and second homes in their areas. Could the Deputy Leader please tell me if it has been considered by Cabinet at any point during their term/terms of office at the Authority?”

(b)  Question from Councillor Altaf Hussain to the Cabinet Member Social Services and Early Help

“Last year the ABMU Health Board said it was “doing everything possible” to deal with the increasing demand for its services during the winter period. This included opening more beds, holding more clinics and working closely with Social Services. Will the Cabinet Member inform Council what plans this Authority has in place to support the ABMU Health Board with managing and minimising the demand for its services, and in turn, reducing the implications for the residents of the County Borough which are likely to occur this winter.”

Question from Councillor S Dendy to the Deputy Leader 

From the 1 April 2017, local authorities have been able to charge a premium of up to 100% of the standard rate of Council Tax on long-term empty homes and second homes in their areas. Could the Deputy Leader please tell me if it has been considered by Cabinet at any point during their term/terms of office at the Authority?”

Response from the Deputy Leader

The Deputy Leader wished to reassure Councillor Dendy that he and his Cabinet colleagues are giving this issue much thought and consideration.

He reminded Members that they would be aware that Labour councillors stood for election on a manifesto commitment to “Bring long term empty homes back into domestic use”.

He stated that increasing council tax levied against empty homes could be one of many levers the Council could consider using.

He informed Council that Cabinet members together with Scrutiny Chairs recently received a housing solutions presentation by the Housing team which highlighted the many challenges to be overcome.  The Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing have set up a taskforce of key officers from across the Authority, to consider additional actions to tackle these issues.  To enable a one Council solution to this complex issue, a proposal to create a dedicated empty properties officer is being considered, to build on the good work we are undertaking and develop a fresh approach, which will be a combination of reward and enforcement.

Councillor Dendy asked a supplementary question whether there is a timescale for the task force to look at empty properties and the proposal to create a post to look at empty properties and whether it would also look at empty commercial properties and land banking.  The Deputy Leader informed Council that the working group will be led by the Leader and would consider empty commercial sites.  The Leader confirmed that the working group will consider commercial sites which would be looked at as part of the Medium Term Financial Strategy.  He stated that there was a need to ensure that empty properties are brought back into use and he referred to the grants that are available for property owners to bring properties back into use.  The Cabinet Member Wellbeing and Future Generations referred to the properties which had been brought back into use in Nantymoel and Pontycymmer. 

Councillor Baldwin asked whether a holistic approach would be adopted to tackle the problem of empty properties.  The Leader confirmed that a holistic approach would be taken which was the reason why officers from all Departments of the Council would be represented on the working group and key partners would be engaged. 

Councillor Walters questioned whether one officer would be sufficient to tackle the extent of empty properties that exist.  The Leader stated that the impact of the role on the Department would be considered.  He also stated that the role of the empty properties officer would also consider the support available to property owners and that legal  ...  view the full minutes text for item 82.

‘That Bridgend County Borough Council:-

Welcomes the measures which Welsh Government has taken to date in promoting tourism across Wales and the positive affect this has had on the County Borough’s tourism industry.

Regrets the inclusion of a ‘Tourism Tax’ in the list of ideas being considered as the first tax Welsh Government will introduce under its new powers.

Believes a tax on tourist accommodation could work against this council’s tourism destination investment strategy targeted at increasing the volume and length of visitor stays across the County Borough.

Believes the proposals could undermine the business sector sustainability, investment and employment opportunities in the hospitality industry in tourism within the County Borough.

Believes there are other more viable and cost effective ways of supporting public funding challenges in the future as per attached analysis.

Makes representation to the Welsh Government that Bridgend County Borough Council strongly opposes the idea of a tax on Tourism for the reasons mentioned.’

Councillor N Clarke proposed the following Notice of Motion and informed Council of the supporting information which had been circulated to all Members in relation to Wales specific taxation. 

“That Bridgend County Borough Council:-

Welcomes the measures which Welsh Government has taken to date in promoting tourism across Wales and the positive affect this has had on the County Borough’s tourism industry.

Regrets the inclusion of a ‘Tourism Tax’ in the list of ideas being considered as the first tax Welsh Government will introduce under its new powers.

Believes a tax on tourist accommodation could work against this council’s tourism destination investment strategy targeted at increasing the volume and length of visitor stays across the County Borough.

Believes the proposals could undermine the business sector sustainability, investment and employment opportunities in the hospitality industry in tourism within the County Borough.

Believes there are other more viable and cost effective ways of supporting public funding challenges in the future as per attached analysis.

Makes representation to the Welsh Government that Bridgend County Borough Council strongly opposes the idea of a tax on Tourism for the reasons mentioned”.

Councillor M Jones proposed the following amendment to the Notice of Motion which was duly seconded by Councillor JP Blundell.

“That representations be made to the Welsh Government that the Council be consulted fully on the proposals for a tax on tourism in order that it can have a better understanding on the implications it would have on the authority.  Once the authority has been consulted it would have a better idea of whether to support the proposed tax on tourism”.

Members of the Council debated the merits of both the Notice of Motion and amended Notice of Motion and then conducted an electronic vote to determine whether the amended Notice of Motion should be taken forward.

The result of the electronic vote was as follows:

For                    Against                Abstention 

23                     16                        1

Following debate by Members, a further electronic vote was conducted to confirm consensus on the amended Notice of Motion.      

For                    Against                Abstention 

25                     6                          9

RESOLVED:                    That Council accepted the amended Notice of Motion as proposed by Councillor M Jones “That representations be made to the Welsh Government that the Council be consulted fully on the proposals for a tax on tourism in order that it can have a better understanding on the implications it would have on the authority.  Once the authority has been consulted it would have a better idea of whether to support the proposed tax on tourism”. 

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.