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Agenda and minutes

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

Items
No. Item

57.

Declarations of Interest

To receive declarations of personal and prejudicial interest (if any) from Members/Officers in accordance with the provisions of the Members Code of Conduct adopted by Council from 1 September 2008 (including whipping declarations)

 

 

 

Minutes:

The following declarations of interest were made:

 

Councillor S Baldwin declared a personal interest in agenda item 4, Collaboration with Town & Community Councils as he was a member of Bridgend Town Council.

 

Councillor N Clarke declared a personal interest in agenda item 4, Collaboration with Town & Community Councils as she was a member of Porthcawl Town Council.

 

Councillor P Davies declared a personal interest in agenda item 3, Forward Work Programme Update as he had a family member working at Kier, Tondu and agenda item 4, Collaboration with Town & Community Councils as he was a member of Maesteg Town Council and a Director at Caerau Development Trust.

 

Councillor A Hussain declared a personal interest in agenda item 4, Collaboration with Town & Community Councils as he was a Community Councillor for Newcastle Higher.

 

Councillor D Lewis declared a personal interest in agenda item 4, Collaboration with Town & Community Councils as he was a member of St Brides Minor Community Council.

 

Councillor R Shaw declared a personal interest in agenda item 4, Collaboration with Town & Community Councils as he was the Chair of Garw Valley Community Council, a member of the Steering Group Garw Vally Community Sports Hub, Chair of Llangeinor Hub, Chair of Pontycymer Sports Association and Chair of Calon-Y-Cwm Charity.

 

Councillor J Spanswick declared a personal interest in agenda item 4, Collaboration with Town & Community Councils as he was a member of Brackla Community Council.

 

Councillor R Stirman declared a personal interest in agenda item 4, Collaboration with Town & Community Councils as she was a member of Garw Valley Community Council.

 

Councillor R Young declared a personal interest in agenda item 4, Collaboration with Town & Community Councils as he was a member of Coity Higher Community Council.

 

58.

Forward Work Programme Update pdf icon PDF 71 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Scrutiny Officer presented the feedback from previous meetings of the Subject Overview and Scrutiny Committee 3 and the list of responses including those still outstanding.

 

Members approved the feedback following the Highways item considered at the 12th June 2018 meeting and the feedback from the Plastic Free Bridgend County Borough Council item considered at the 23 July 2018 meeting. 

 

Members considered the feedback form the Waste Services item considered at the 17 September 2018 meeting.

  • Members asked when the welcome pack for new tenants of private landlords and registered social landlords would be implemented.
  • Members asked for confirmation that the Leader had written to all local supermarkets and food manufacturers regarding phasing out the use of black plastic and query if any responses had been received.
  • Members asked how many Environmental Protection Act 1990 S46 notices had been issued (not Fixed Penalty Notices as detailed in the response).
  • Members asked that clarification regarding the vehicle types that were permitted into the Community recycling site be provided on the website.

 

Members raised concerns about feedback “slipping through the net” and the same item being considered by different Subject Overview and Scrutiny Committees and the need to ensure that recommendations were actioned. 

A Member suggested that this be taken into account when the new scrutiny structure was reviewed.

 

The Scrutiny Officer reported that the budget would be considered at the December meeting and the CAT process at the January 2019 meeting. Members asked for the CAT report to include an update on the recommendations made by scrutiny, at their meeting 12 months ago. They also requested how many Task and Finish Group meetings had taken place and how many councillors sat on the group.    

 

Empty Properties would be considered in February 2019. Members asked for an update on their recommendations in particular if a dedicated Empty Property Officer had been appointed and if recruitment was through the Shared Regulatory Service.

 

Members asked for an update on Bridge Maps training and suggested that it should be provided for all Members. 

 

Members asked if when notification was sent regarding training sessions, all Members received a full description regarding the training and an invite to attend if applicable, even if the training was specifically for a particular committee.   

 

Members asked if the group looking at Member Referrals had member representation on it.

 

RESOLVED:             The Committee:

 

1.    Approved the feedback from previous meetings of the Subject Overview and Scrutiny Committee and noted the responses still outstanding.

2.    Requested further information in relation to the feedback as detailed above.

3.    Identified additional information they wished to receive when considering items delegated to future meetings.

                          

59.

Collaboration with Town & Community Councils pdf icon PDF 923 KB

Invitees:

 

Darren Mepham, Chief Executive

Mark Shephard, Corporate Director - Communities

Kelly Watson, Head of Legal and Regulatory Services

Guy Smith, Community Asset Transfer Officer

 

Minutes:

The Corporate Director Communities presented a report informing the Committee of the outcome of the review currently being undertaken by Welsh Government in relation to Town and Community Councils and its impact on the Council. The report also outlined how the Council were benefitting from collaborative work and the extent to which other local authorities were working in collaboration with T&CCs.

 

The Chairperson reported that One Voice Wales had been invited to the meeting but no response had been received and no representative was in attendance. Members requested that a letter be sent to One Voice Wales encouraging attendance when the matter was considered at a future meeting.

 

A Member stated that the report recognised the importance of the need to work together and it also touched on the quality of TCC staff and their ability to work with BCBC. BCBC did not always allow enough time for the TCC to respond and it was not appropriate to ask them to work at the same level because they did not have the number of staff or the capacity that BCBC had. There was a massive disparity with capability and appetite and it was imperative that a medium of exchange was found and a suitable way forward. The Committee discussed the differing skills and abilities of town and community councillors and clerks within the Borough. In order to understand all capabilities, Members recommended that a skills audit should be carried out and asked for the topic to be added to the Town and Community Council Forum agenda for discussion.

 

Members raised concerns about the need for a point of contact. The former Head of Democratic Services had been the contact for any issues and having a named individual avoided confusion trying to find the appropriate person to deal with a query. The Head of Legal and Regulatory Services explained that there had been an informal arrangement for the former Head of Democratic Services to deal with liaison with TCC’s and this was currently being looked at. The role of the Community Asset Transfer Officer was discussed in relation to including liaison responsibilities with TCC’s. The Committee voiced their concerns in relation to that role being extended and queried how the possible increased workload would affect his capacity to work effectively.

 

A Member stated that the report did not reflect her experience of working on a TCC. More activities were being devolved to TCCs but there were very few staff, some were unpaid and untrained with mixed capability and no appetite. She believed the main issue was accountability. There was a danger that one person or a small group could dominate the work.

 

A Member said that he would like to have a better understanding of how the TCC Forum and the Clerks meetings operated. The Corporate Director Communities reported that the TCC meetings were not always well attended. The intention was for the Forum to deal with the big strategic issues rather than the parochial issues.  

 

A Member reported that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 59.

60.

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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