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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Civic Offices Angel Street Bridgend CF31 4WB. View directions

Contact: Mark Anthony Galvin  Senior Democratic Services Officer - Committees

Items
No. Item

265.

Declarations of Interest

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. 

 

 

Minutes:

The following declarations of prejudicial interest were made, and when these items were considered, the undermentioned Members left the meeting:-

 

Councillor E Venables – Agenda item 6. –

Councillor D White – Agenda item 8. – Due to a close relative being in receipt of Council Tax reduction.

Councillor JC Spanswick – Agenda item 6. – As he owned a property that was currently empty and up for sale on the open market. Agenda item 8. – As a close family member may be in receipt of the Scheme.

Councillor L Walters – Agenda item 6. – Due to her currently in the process of selling a property subject to Probate.

266.

Approval of Minutes pdf icon PDF 177 KB

To receive for approval the minutes of 19/12/18

 

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED:                        That the Minutes of a meeting of Council dated 19 December 2018 be approved, subject to the following amendment, being inserted as paragraph immediately before the decision on the item.

 

‘Finally, in relation to the overall increase in capital budget costs, the Cabinet Member – Social Services and Early Help, advised that the additional capital funding required for some schemes detailed within the programme (that amounted to a total of £800k), was not considered overall to be unreasonable.’

267.

To receive announcements from:

 (i) Mayor (or person presiding)

(ii) Members of the Cabinet

(iii) Interim Chief Executive

(iv) Monitoring Officer

 

 

Minutes:

Mayor

 

The Mayor reminded Members that Friday was the deadline within which to nominate people for the Mayor’s Annual Citizenship Awards. The awards are open to people who live in the county borough, as well as groups and businesses based locally. More information can be found on the BCBC website and a nomination form can be downloaded. The winners will be honoured at an event in March.

 

Since the last Council meeting, the Mayor and his Consort have carried out 9 official engagements, which had been varied, different and enjoyable. He mentioned especially:-

 

The 100th Birthday of Lily Kennett. Lily told them about her dressmaking, how she had been a keen gardener and admirably how she sat her O levels at the age of 60. 

 

They were also delighted to join the residents of Bryn-y-Cae care home for their Christmas party. Everyone had a great time and especially enjoyed the entertainment from a local Elvis Presley impersonator.

 

On a more serious note, the Mayor was honoured to represent the authority and light the candle at the Holocaust Memorial ceremony in Bridgend Sony Theatre, this morning. This was a most moving and thought provoking event. He would be also representing the authority at the Holocaust Commemoration in Cardiff on Friday coming.

 

The Mayor was saddened to hear of the passing away of former Bridgend County Borough Councillor Terry Hacking over the Christmas period.  Terry was previously a very well respected member of the Council and he extended condolences to his family and particularly to his wife Pat, who was also previously a local member.  As a mark of respect he asked all those present to observe a minute’s silence.

 

The Mayor concluded his submission, by advising of the following further events his Consort and he had recently attended:-

 

Porthcawl School Concert, Pantomime (Mayors) Sleeping Beauty Porthcawl, Rotary Club Breakfast (Speaking), Craft coffee morning (Sarn), Lord Lieutenant awards and Flag raising (LGBT) at the Civic offices.

 

Deputy Leader

 

The Deputy Leader announced that a great deal of work has been done recently by the Council and Keep Wales Tidy to encourage more people to act as litter champions.

 

He was sure that Members would wish to join him in thanking those who have come forward to help look after their local community.

 

Between October 2015 and September 2018, volunteers invested the equivalent of almost £63,000 and 8,780 hours into working on 126 local habitat and biodiversity projects.

 

Training was provided to 2,200 volunteers, and 2,100 people were engaged with. Volunteers undertook 450 clean-ups, adopted 99 green spaces, supported 34 community groups and created 28 litter champions.

 

This was a fantastic effort and he congratulated all those involved.

 

On a related note, Members may be interested to hear about a new initiative in the Porthcawl area which is bringing all five primary schools together.

 

Called ‘Love it – Don’t Trash it’, the initiative aims to teach children to take pride in their community as they grow up, and to recycle and dispose  ...  view the full minutes text for item 267.

268.

To receive the report of the Leader

Minutes:

The Leader reported that he was deeply moved to attend Holocaust Memorial Day, which was marked earlier today with a free public event organised in partnership with Bridgend College.

 

Based around the theme of ‘torn from home’, this year’s event encouraged people to reflect on how the enforced loss of a safe place to call home is part of the trauma faced by anyone experiencing persecution and genocide.

 

He said he would never forget hearing the guest speaker Jean-Paul Samputu, who survived the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

 

Jean-Paul lost his parents and three siblings during the genocide, and as a cultural ambassador for Rwanda, he has dedicated himself to preaching a message of hope, forgiveness, reconciliation and love.

 

He was an inspirational and deeply moving speaker, and the Leader was grateful that he was able to come and share his experiences with us.

 

The Leader thanked everyone who helped organise this important event, including the Bridgend College students who compered and performed at the ceremony.

 

He was sure that Members will have seen recent news reports describing how Bridgend Ford, our biggest private sector employer, is meeting with trade unions to discuss potential job losses.

 

Bridgend County Borough Council is taking action to support the organisation and its employees, and the Leader had contacted senior managers at the plant to offer any help and assistance it could.

 

We were doing all that we can to support Bridgend Ford and hopefully avoid job losses, but it makes sense to plan ahead a precautionary measure in the meantime.

 

With this in mind, the Council had also contacted officials at Welsh Government with proposals for assembling a specialist response team. This will be mobilised into service in the event that significant redundancies become unavoidable.

 

The Council will be working closely with partner organisations such as Business Wales, Careers Wales, the Department of Work and Pensions and Jobcentre Plus.

 

While the talks are still at an early stage, the hope is that Welsh Government and the UK Government will do all they can to support Bridgend Ford.

 

He added that we all needed to work together in order to protect the jobs and livelihoods of the staff, and he would keep Members updated as this situation develops.

 

Finally, the Leader reported that a report had been published on Social Media that Sony UK is moving its UK headquarters to avoid Brexit disruption. We believe it refers to the Sony headquarters at Weybridge, Surrey.

269.

Council Tax: Council Tax Discretionary Discount on Empty Properties and Second Homes pdf icon PDF 83 KB

Minutes:

The Head of Finance and S151 Officer submitted a report, the purpose of which, was to propose that Council amends the level of discount available on Council Tax empty properties (and second homes) with effect from 1 April 2019.

 

As set out in the background under paragraph 3 of the report, the Local Government Act 2003 gave local authorities the power to reduce or remove the 50% council tax discount on unoccupied and substantially unfurnished council tax chargeable properties, after the initial 6 month full exemption period had ended. These are known as Class C properties.

 

Up until now, Bridgend County Borough Council has awarded a 50% discount on such properties, but there are only around 10 local authorities who continue to do so.

 

There were currently around 1,244 council tax payers across the County Borough who are benefitting from this discount. If the discount is removed these council tax payers will then pay the full 100% rate after the 6 month period has ended.

 

The Group Manager – Financial Planning and Budget Management, explained that with regard to unoccupied, but furnished second homes, the Council had not actually awarded any discount on these since April 2000, and did not propose to do so.

 

She explained that the Council currently awards a 50% discount to council tax payers with properties that fell into the categories outlined in paragraph 4.1 of the report.

 

The proposal was to remove this 50% discount and charge 100% of the council tax requirement from April 2019.

 

Linking in with the Council’s Empty Property Strategy, it was hoped that this will discourage council tax payers from leaving properties empty and in a state of disrepair.

 

In terms of the report’s financial implications, the Group Manager – Financial Planning and Budget Management confirmed that paragraph 8.2 of the report, indicated the maximum additional funding that the Council could generate from the change in policy, though she stressed that this is using general assumptions around banding and collection. It assumed 100% collection, which was not realistic, especially around empty properties which are notoriously difficult to collect. She concluded by adding, that this could be exacerbated by the removal of the sanction of imprisonment for failure to pay council tax, from April 2019.

 

A Member whilst taking into consideration the provisions made in paragraph 4.1 of the report, whereby BCBC awards a 50% discount to Council Tax properties which remain empty due to the reasons contained within this section of the report, felt that consideration should be given for such discount to remain for properties subject to probate, after a 6 month period.

 

Following discussions that ensued on this issue, Members by way of ascent

 

RESOLVED:                              That the report be deferred to the next scheduled meeting of Council, in order to seek technical advice and further clarity on Council Tax Exemption and Discount classifications, in respect of empty properties subject to Probate.

270.

Amendment to 2019-20 Council Tax Base for Cefn Cribwr, Garw Valley, Llangynwyd Lower and St Brides Minor Community Councils pdf icon PDF 73 KB

Minutes:

The Interim Head of Finance and S151 Officer submitted a report, in order to provide Council with amended Council Tax base figures for 2019-20 for four Community Councils for re-approval.

 

The Group Manager – Financial Planning and Budget Management, advised that Members may recall that a report was brought to Council on 21st November 2018, to set and approve the Council tax base for 2019-20 for the Council as a whole and individual Community Councils.

 

Since then it has come to light, that whilst the overall Council tax base was correct on a gross basis and on a net basis, when taken individually, the individual Community Council tax bases did not equate to the total figure due to rounding mechanisms. As a result the Council have had to amend the Council tax bases of the four Community Councils outlined in the report.

The amendments are by one decimal point each and it was important to note, that this does not affect the amount of precept they collect.

 

The table contained within paragraph 4.1 of the report, showed the revised net tax bases for these four Community Councils, whilst Appendix A to the report provided the whole revised picture for all Town and Community Councils.

 

RESOLVED:                            That Council approved Appendix A of the covering report, which included the amended Council Tax bases for Cefn Cribwr, Garw Valley, Llangynwyd Lower and St. Brides Minor Community Councils.

271.

Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2019-20 pdf icon PDF 90 KB

Minutes:

The Interim Head of Finance submitted a report, in order to provide Council with information regarding the implementation of the 2019-20 Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTR), the requirement to adopt a CTR scheme by 31 January 2019 together with the funding implications.

 

The report outlined certain background information, then confirmed that the CTR Scheme in Wales is set by regulations made under Schedule 1B of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (as inserted by the Local Government Finance Act 2012).

 

The Benefits and Financial Assessments Manager advised, that on 27 November 2013, the Assembly laid regulations that implemented the arrangements to support those who will pay council tax. The regulations (Council Tax Reduction Schemes and Prescribed Requirements (Wales) Regulations 2013 and Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Default Scheme) (Wales) Regulations 2013) prescribe the main features of the scheme to be adopted by all councils in Wales. Minor amendments to these regulations have since been made each financial year.

 

The Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements and Default Scheme) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2019 have now been laid. These regulations uprate the financial figures used in the CTR schemes and makes amendments to:

 

·      Mirror changes made to the benefit system with respect to Employment Support Allowance. The 2013 Regulations will continue to make reference to the Work-Related Activity Component which will continue to be payable to some applicants.

·      Make changes to reflect new service provision arrangements following the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016.

·      Make changes to address an anomaly within the wording of the amending provisions included within the Council Tax Reduction Scheme (Prescribed Requirements and Default Scheme) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2017 with respect to changes of circumstances provisions.

·      Make a number of changes with respect to payments which are disregarded for the purposes of calculating ‘income’ and/or ‘capital’. These include the new bereavement support payments amongst others.

 

The new regulations do not contain any significant changes, from the claimants’ perspectives, to the current scheme and the maximum level of support that eligible claimants can receive remains at 100%.

 

Paragraph 4.6 of the report stated that within the Prescribed Requirements Regulations, there was limited discretion given to the Council to apply discretionary elements that were more generous than the national scheme, and this section of the report gave examples of this.

 

The Benefits and Financial Assessments Manager added the relevant regulations required that the Council adopts a CTR Scheme by 31 January 2019.

 

Paragraph 4.14 of the report outlined certain Main Issues for consideration, confirming that the Council must consider whether to replace or revise its CTR Scheme and was obliged to make a scheme under the requirements of the above Regulations. The obligation was a statutory duty and applied even if the Council chose not to apply any of the discretions available to it.

 

The Benefits and Financial Assessments Manager added that the Council’s recommended approach to the available discretions, was to apply the recommendations in Table 4, paragraph 4.23 of the report.

 

A  ...  view the full minutes text for item 271.

272.

To receive the following Questions from:

1.            Question from Councillor MC Voisey to the Cabinet Member Education and Regeneration

 

In the last budget round, funds were allocated for a Festival of Learning, and to replace the School uniform grant that was withdrawn by the Labour WAG.  I understand the festival of learning was a success and self-funding and that the Assembly did a U turn on the school uniform grant"

 

Therefore the money taken from Council tax payers in Bridgend was not used as intended.  Please confirm what the money was used for, or where it is now?

 

2.            Question from Councillor T Thomas to the Cabinet Member Communities  

 

Since a motion calling for the County Borough to go 'plastic free' in July 2018, will the Cabinet Member clarify what progress this authority has made in reducing its non-recyclable plastic use 6 months on from the original motion? 

 

3.            Question from Councillor A Hussain to the Cabinet Member Social Services and Early Help

 

Traditionally, local authorities should have a budget to purchase assistive equipment if it supports someone to live independently and fully.  We would want to see this continue.  In many authorities we are hearing of a kind of informal means-testing where the person assessing tries to ascertain if someone could pay for the equipment themselves.  This is fraught with difficulty and I hope BCBC doesn’t try it.

 

Will the Cabinet Member let the Council know as how is the Telecare Service being provided to the residents in the County and how much will be the estimated saving to the Council?

 

 

 

 

Minutes:

Question from Councillor MC Voisey to the Cabinet Member - Education and Regeneration

In the last budget round, funds were allocated for a Festival of Learning, and to replace the School uniform grant that was withdrawn by the Labour WAG.  I understand the festival of learning was a success and self-funding and that the Assembly did a U turn on the school uniform grant"

Therefore the money taken from Council tax payers in Bridgend was not used as intended.  Please confirm what the money was used for, or where it is now?

 

Response

The total cost to Bridgend County Borough Council of the Festival of Learning 2018 is expected to be in the region of £12k. This is funded from the additional £65k which was approved by Council for the Festival of Learning 2018 on 28 February 2018 as a one-off pressure as part of the Council’s Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) 2018-2019 to 2021-2022.

 

The £53k underspend was returned to the Corporate Budget in Period 9. For 2018-2019, this will be used to establish any earmarked reserves required at year end for unforeseen one-off pressures in 2019-2020. For 2019-2020, it will supplement the corporate pressures budget to meet any unavoidable pressures in that year.

 

Regarding the funding allocated to replace the Welsh Government Uniform Grant, it has also been clawed back corporately and will also be used to establish earmarked reserves at year end. For 2019-2020, this has been included in the draft MTFS as a proposed budget reduction.”

 

Supplementary question from Councillor MC Voisey (to the Cabinet Member – Communities)

Would Cabinet consider using the unspent money outlined above, to keep open certain public convenience facilities situate within the County Borough, that either have been closed or are subject to closure.

 

Response

This is not possible as this allocation of resources has been committed to the Education and Family Support Directorate, in order to negate an over spend within that Directorate during the current financial year. The Interim Chief Executive added that any under spend that may occur in any Directorate in one financial year is normally committed to the Council’s Corporate budget for the following financial year, as opposed to being re-allocated to the Directorate where the under spend originated from (that current year).

 

Question from Councillor T Thomas to the Cabinet Member – Communities

Since a motion calling for the County Borough to go 'plastic free' in July 2018, will the Cabinet Member clarify what progress this authority has made in reducing its non-recyclable plastic use 6 months on from the original motion?” 

 

Response

The plastics free motion referred to was made in April 2018, but was not approved at the time, however the issue was referred to considered further by Subject Overview and Scrutiny 3 O&S Committee in July 2018.

 

We have since taken positive steps to encourage plastic’s and other packaging waste to be minimised, specifically we are rolling out in conjunction with Keep Wales Tidy and  Porthcawl Town Council (and to follow hopefully  ...  view the full minutes text for item 272.

273.

Urgent Items

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. 

 

 

Minutes:

There were no urgent items.

274.

Exclusion of the Public

The Minutes relating to the following item are not for publication as they contain exempt information as defined in Paragraph 12 of Part 4, and Paragraph 21 of Part 5 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007.

 

If following the application of the public interest test the Committee resolves pursuant to the Act to consider this item in private, the public will be excluded from the meeting during such consideration.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED:                  That under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business as it contains exempt information as defined in Paragraph 12 of Part 4 and Paragraph 21 of Part 5 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007.

 

                                       Following the application of the public interest test in consideration of this item, it was resolved that pursuant to the Act referred to above, it be considered in private, with the public being excluded from the meeting as it would involve the disclosure of exempt information of the nature as stated above.

275.

Approval of Exempt Minutes

To receive for approval the exempt minutes of 19/12/18

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED:                        That the exempt Minutes of a meeting of Council dated 19 December 2019, be approved as a true and accurate record.

 

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