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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

338.

Apologies for absence

To receive apologies for absence from Members.

 

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from the following Members/Officer:-

 

Councillor DK Edwards

Councillor S Vidal

Councillor RM James

Councillor E Venables

Councillor AJ Williams

Councillor D Owen

Councillor SG Smith

Councillor HM Williams

Councillor JC Spanswick

Corporate Director – Education and Family Support

 

339.

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:

Councillor N Burnett declared a prejudicial interest in Agenda item 7 (page 85), as Chairperson of the Evergreen Hall Management Committee.

Councillor MC Voisey declared a prejudicial interest in Agenda item 7 (page 85), as a Member of the Evergreen Hall Management Committee.

Both Members left the meeting whilst this item was being discussed.

340.

Approval of Minutes pdf icon PDF 111 KB

To receive for approval the minutes of 19/06/19

 

 

Minutes:

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

341.

To receive announcements from:

 (i) Mayor (or person presiding)

(ii) Members of the Cabinet

(iii) Chief Executive

 

Minutes:

Mayor

 

The Mayor announced that he has had a busy month and a lot of events had been held outdoors.

 

Earlier in the month he attended the South Wales Police headquarters and was honoured to be presented to His Royal Highness Prince Charles.   Prince Charles was in attendance to unveil a plaque marking the 50th Anniversary of the formation of the South Wales Police. The force came into being on 1st June 1969 and has grown to become one of the best performing forces in the country.

 

Porthcawl recently hosted its inaugural 10k run. More than 3,000 runners attended and Welsh sprint legend Iwan Thomas warmed up the competitors. Hundreds of spectators came out in force to support the event, which he attended along with the Mayor of Porthcawl.  There was even a surprise fly-past by the Red Arrows marking what it is hoped to be the beginning of distance running in the town.

 

July seemed to be the month of agricultural shows and he was pleased to attend the Bridgend County Show in Pencoed and on a larger scale the Royal Welsh Show.  The Bridgend County Show started in 1946 as a welcome home to those who had been serving this country in WW2.  It remained a great demonstration of community cohesion as well as a place to celebrate our agricultural heritage he added.

 

The Mayor advised that he had also had the pleasure of officially opening the Bryncethin Centre following a Community Asset Transfer agreement taking place. This involved attendance by local school children singing, with Bryncethin RFC representatives also being present.

 

Last weekend he was pleased to be asked to attend the Classic Car Show in Bridgend Town Centre which is presented by the Glamorgan Classic Car Club. This yearly event also included music, food and entertainment and it was great to see the event so well received.

 

The Mayor congratulated Councillor Bridie Sedgebeer and Chris Elmore MP who had got married last weekend. He wished them a very happy future together.

 

Lastly, the Mayor thanked those that contributed to the food bank collection at last month’s Council and in respect of this, he confirmed that the food bank on Nolton Street were very grateful for such a collection.

 

Cabinet Member – Communities

 

The Cabinet Member – Communities advised that Members may recall, that back in 2015, there were fears for the future of Kenfig National Nature Reserve’s super-rare Fen Orchid after its numbers dropped to around 200. As the Fen Orchid only grows at Kenfig, the site hosts the entire UK population of this small, pretty flower.

 

He was pleased to inform Members that thanks to a special landscape management scheme which involves cutting back grass and scraping the surface of dune slacks to encourage and stimulate growth, the Fen Orchids have now increased to more than 1,000.

 

In fact, a recent Council check on these and other orchids at the 1,300 acre reserve, had to stop when wardens and volunteers found there were too many  ...  view the full minutes text for item 341.

342.

To receive the report of the Leader

Minutes:

The Leader confirmed that he recently attended the House of Commons to address the Welsh Affairs Select Committee, about the unprecedented impact that closing the Ford Engine Plant will have on our County Borough.

 

The Ford engine plant has generated directly £1.3 billion for the Welsh economy in recent years. It is an anchor company not just for Bridgend; not just for Wales, but for the UK. Together with the plant’s trade union representatives we urged Ford to stay in Bridgend and to stay in Wales to at least keep some of the 1700 highly skilled jobs here. 

 

Ford have announced a £1 million fund for the community. If Ford, which has received over £140 million in government support over recent years, are closing the plant then they their legacy to the wider community and workers, that has built millions of cars for Ford for over 40 years, has to be much, more than just £1 million.  We will be meeting with the Director of Ford UK next month and making that case.

 

The scale of the loss of jobs is unprecedented, and therefore, an unprecedented response is needed from both UK Government and Welsh Government. He stressed that we will lose £250m a year from the economy, and that urgent investment and rapid action is essential.

 

The Leader cited to the committee, some of the infrastructure projects that could be brought forward to generate new jobs and give some confidence to the businesses, communities, families and residents.

 

The Council had written to both Minister for Economy and Transport at the Welsh Government and the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy at the UK Government, outlining the proposals. We are also making the case at Taskforce meetings and with officials.

 

Cardiff Capital City Deal office is of course prioritising Bridgend for potential investment.

 

Colleagues will recall that he announced at the last Council meeting, that we were re-launching our Special Regeneration Fund and extending our Kick Start fund to support small and new businesses in Bridgend County Borough. This afternoon we are proposing that we set aside in the capital programme a £2 million Investing in Communities Fund that we can use flexibly potentially to match fund investment opportunities in Bridgend in the next year. We are also proposing in the capital programme to improve the junction of Heol Mostyn on the A48 at Pyle. This has become vital as it will enable us to further develop the Village Farm Industrial Estate where we have a shortage of accommodation for small and medium size businesses. These are just some of the steps we are taking to respond to the proposed closure.

 

The Leader advised, that last weekend saw the opening of Bryncethin’s new Community Centre.

 

The old sports pavilion has been converted into a new two-storey building which overlooks the rugby pitch.

 

It features modern changing rooms, kitchens, an IT suite, a meeting room, a large hall area, a patio area and balcony, and as a dedicated car  ...  view the full minutes text for item 342.

343.

Social Services Annual Report 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 95 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Corporate Director – Social Services and Wellbeing submitted a report on the Director of Social Services’ Annual Report for 2018/18 for approval, and requesting that Members note the judgements reached locally about social care services in Bridgend. The report gave some background information, following which it explained, that the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, places a strong emphasis on promoting the wellbeing of people who need care and support, as well as carers who also need the same.

 

She explained that the main aim and objective of the report (and accompanying presentation), was to provide Council and people living in Bridgend County Borough, with an overview of social care. It also aimed to highlight progress that had been made during the year, as well as to identify priorities for 2019/20.

 

Paragraph 4 of the report referred to the guidance, which set out the various sections that related to the six national quality standards for wellbeing, detailed in bullet point format in this section of the report.

 

The report and supporting information, demonstrated that services were generally effective when gauged against meeting the needs of individuals who require social care support. Whilst information in the report and presentation confirmed that services provided are improving overall, they also identified areas where improvement was needed and these were shown in the priorities for 2019/20.

 

The draft Report was attached at Appendix 1 to the covering report, whilst a letter from Care Inspectorate Wales outlining a review of the local authority’s performance in this area, was attached at Appendix 2.

 

Paragraph 4.11 of the report gave some key aims and actions being implemented/proposed, with regards to whole service priorities and also some added priorities for Adult Social Care and Children’s Social Care per se.

 

The presentation then gave details of the Annual Report 2018/19, as follows:-

 

Adults – Key facts and figures                                             2017/18   2018/19

 

Total number of referrals and re-referrals for                           7604          7469

adult social care

 

Number of adults supported in the community                         5177          5198

 

Number of people who received a Telecare package              3162          3451

 

Number of referrals to Assisted Recovery in the Community   1010          1043

(ARC)

 

Number of people diverted from mainstream services to help   116           122

Them remain independent for as long as possible                     857           1162

                                                                                                 (in ARC)   (in ARC)

 

Number of people supported in residential/nursing care            676           700

 

Rate of delayed transfers of care for social care reasons          1.52          4.79

per 1,000 population aged 75 and over

 

Children’s – Key facts and figures

 

Number of contacts during the year                                          6677         7945

 

Number of children looked after as at 31 March                         384          381

 

The percentage of all care leavers who are in education,           61%         64%

training or employment 12 months after leaving care

 

The percentage of children aged 7-17 years who are satisfied   84%        86%

with the care and support they received

 

Number of care leavers receiving support from the local           116         153

Authority and its partners at 31 March

 

The percentage of assessments completed for children            86%        72%  ...  view the full minutes text for item 343.

344.

Capital Programme Update - Quarter 1 2019 - 20 pdf icon PDF 140 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Interim 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) Prudential Code for Capital Finance 2018

 

            Provide an update of the Capital Programme from 1 April to 30 June 2019 (Appendix A)

 

            Seek approval for a revised capital programme for 2019-20 to 2028-29 (Appendix B)

 

            Note the projected Prudential and Other Indicators for 2019-20     (Appendix C)

 

            approve a revenue budget virement of £2,349,797 from school delegated budgets to council wide budgets, following the receipt of grant funding from Welsh Government to that same value, to contribute towards capital expenditure as outlined in paragraph 4.7.

 

 By way of background, she advised that in December 2017, CIPFA published a new edition of the Prudential Code for Capital Finance in local authorities. The revised Code placed a new requirement on local authorities to determine a Capital Strategy, to be approved by Council, demonstrating that the authority takes capital expenditure and investment decisions in line with service objectives and properly takes account of stewardship, value for money, prudence, sustainability and affordability. The Interim Head of Finance and Section 151 Officer, added that local authorities were required to have in place a Capital Strategy that sets out the long-term context in which capital expenditure and investment decisions are made and gives due consideration to both risk and reward, and impact on the achievement of priority outcomes.

 

In terms of the monitoring of the Capital Programme 2019-20, the Interim Head of Finance and Section 151 Officer confirmed that the revised programme for the above period, currently totalled £54.471m, of which £36.665m was met from BCBC resources, including capital receipts and revenue contributions from earmarked reserves, with the remaining £17.806m coming from external resources. A breakdown of this was given in Table 1 in this section of the report on a Directorate by Directorate basis.

 

Table 2 in the report, then summarised the current funding assumptions for the capital programme for 2019-20. The capital resources are managed to ensure that maximum financial benefit for the Council is achieved. This may include the realignment of funding, to maximise government grants.

 

Appendix A to the report provided details of the individual schemes within the capital programme, showing the budget available in 2019-20 (as well as some commentary associated with the programme), compared to the projected spend. £8.286m of funding was slipped forward into 2019-20 for schemes not completed in 2018-19, as outlined in the report to Cabinet on Financial Performance 2018-19, which included the schemes shown in paragraph 4.3 of the report.

 

The report then referred to a scheme that slipped into 2020-21 as detailed in paragraph 4.4 of the report, as well as a re-profiling of the Maesteg Town Hall scheme.

 

The next section of the report, outlined a number of new externally funded schemes approved, which had also been incorporated into the Council’s Capital Programme.

 

Paragraph 4.7 of the report  ...  view the full minutes text for item 344.

345.

To receive the following Questions from:

Councillor A Hussain to the Cabinet Member Education and Regeneration

 

Could the Cabinet Member in charge of tourism let the Council know about his plans to support skills in the tourism sector in addition to let us know about the gaps in provision and data, and to identify what could be done by the Council to make our seaside destinations popular?

 

Councillor M Voisey to the Leader

 

As a result of the Labour First Minister not approving the M4 relief road around Newport, how will the City Deal project recover from this disastrous decision for the economy of South Wales, and should this council have a second vote as to whether we wish to remain party to the City Deal, now the facts have changed so dramatically?

 

Councillor T Thomas to the Cabinet Member Communities

 

Will the Cabinet Member outline any plans on how this council will reduce carbon emissions with a view to ensuring the Council’s activities are net-zero carbon by 2030?

 

Minutes:

Councillor A Hussain to the Cabinet Member Education and Regeneration:

 

Could the Cabinet Member in charge of tourism let the Council know about his plans to support skills in the tourism sector in addition to let us know about the gaps in provision and data, and to identify what could be done by the Council to make our seaside destinations popular?

 

Response

 

The Destination Management Plan (DMP), 2018-2022, approved by cabinet in March 2018, sets the framework for managing the tourism vision to 2022.  The Destination Management Plan is supported by the Destination Action Plan (DAP) that details specific activities. The actions contained within the DAP focus on key strategic opportunities for development, maximise external funding opportunities and where possible deliver in partnership. The DMP proposes the following vision:

 

To develop a thriving visitor economy in Bridgend County Borough which celebrates the strengths of the place, supports jobs, generates business opportunities and improves the range of amenities available for visitors and local people.

 

The DAP supports the delivery of this vision by focusing action against the following priorities:

 

(a) Support the development of the tourism product

(b) Support the development of tourism infrastructure

(c) Raise the profile and attract more visitors to Bridgend County Borough

 

The DMP specifically identifies developing tourism human resources as a priority. More specifically, the DAP has the following priorities;

 

2.5.1 Encourage the take-up of customer service and product knowledge training:

Businesses will be encouraged to take up training and development opportunities as and when they become available, especially through the delivery of already piloted approaches.

 

2.5.2 Raise awareness of tourism management training opportunities:

We will work with stakeholders to help identify local training needs, in conjunction with economic development initiatives, alongside an awareness campaign to encourage operators to undertake management development and staff training.

 

2.5.3 Encourage new business start-ups in tourism:

Support and advice will be provided to help people start up new tourism businesses through the mechanisms available to BCBC and where required signposting will occur to Business Wales.

 

In 2018 the Council undertook a consultation regarding future lines of communication and representation for the visitor economy in the destination, following the decision by Bridgend Tourism Association to cease its activities. It was recommended that the Bridgend Business Forum is ideally placed as a communications, networking, advocacy and consultation mechanism for the tourism sector. The Bridgend Business Forum membership is made up of established and new start businesses within a wide variety of business sectors. Sole traders, micro, small and medium sized businesses as well as large international companies are all present within the membership. It provides local business people with an opportunity to meet new customers and suppliers, learn new skills, share best practice, and keep up to date with factors that could affect their business. Importantly the forum also provides an opportunity for business people to voice their views. The BBF delivers business skills workshops in subjects like marketing, social media, raising finance and human resource management. People are encouraged to network  ...  view the full minutes text for item 345.

346.

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:

None.

 

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