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Agenda and minutes

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

Contact: Andrew Rees  Senior Democratic Services Officer - Committees

Items
No. Item

602.

Apologies for absence

To receive apologies for absence from Members.

Minutes:

 

Apologies for absence were received from the following Members:-

 

Councillor D Pugh

Councillor E Venables

Councillor N Farr

Councillor PJ White

Councillor D Sage

Councillor M Winter

 

603.

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 Officers declared an interest in Agenda item 6 as they were directly affected by the report’s proposals, and they left the meeting whilst this report was being discussed:-

 

Corporate Director, Social Services and Wellbeing

Corporate Director, Education and Transformation

Head of Regeneration and Development

Assistant Chief Executive, Legal and Regulatory Services 

604.

Approval of Minutes pdf icon PDF 151 KB

To receive the minutes of the Extraordinary meeting of Council of 10 March 2016.  

Minutes:

 

RESOLVED:                  That the Minutes of an Extraordinary meeting of Council dated 10 March 2016, be approved as a true and accurate record.

605.

To receive announcements from:

 (i) Mayor (or person presiding)

(ii) Members of the Cabinet

(iii) Chief Executive

Minutes:

 

Mayor

 

The Mayor confirmed that he had the pleasure of hosting the annual Mayor’s citizenship awards in March where he presented 24 awards to a diverse range of both individuals and groups.  It was heartening to hear about the good work that was happening in our community encompassing all age groups and areas of the Borough. He had already visited two of the winners to witness first hand what they do and was planning to visit as many as possible before the end of his Mayoral term. He thanked all those who had submitted nominations for the awards.

 

On a more sober note, after the tragic events in Belgium on the 22 March, the Mayor confirmed that he had written to the Belgium  Ambassador in his capacity as Mayor, to express on behalf of everyone across the County Borough of Bridgend, our collective and sincere sympathy on the dreadful events that had taken place there. He had received a letter of reply which thanks the citizens of Bridgend warmly for their expression of solidarity and appreciation of our continued support. He would arrange for a copy of this to be placed in the Members’ room for anyone who wishes to read the full response.

 

Continuing with his theme of faith, The Mayor Advised that he and his Consort had attended a Passover interfaith event at Cardiff United Synagogue. It was very interesting to have the opportunity to learn about this important annual Jewish festival, its history, religious significance and its position in the Jewish way of life. He had also been invited to attend a multi-faith event at Tondu Mosque next week, and looked forward to meeting with representatives of the different faiths. 

 

The Mayor announced that he wished to invite those present to his last two big charity events. The Mayor’s Annual Charity Gala would this year take place in the Heronston Best Western Hotel on Saturday 23rd April. Master of Ceremonies is Lee Jukes and there will be entertainment and dancing from the Phil Dando Band. The Charity Golf Tournament at the beginning of May would be hosted at Pyle and Kenfig Golf Club. This was an 18 hole event with team prizes and an evening meal. Tickets and further information for both can be obtained from Mari Major or Councillor Marlene Thomas the Mayor concluded.

 

Deputy Leader

 

The Deputy Leader stated that Members may have seen recent news reports from Scotland where 17 schools built under the Public Finance Initiative had to be evacuated after severe structural defects were detected.

All of the affected schools had been built by the same company. As our own Maesteg Comprehensive is a PFI school, we have checked with our PFI provider, Amber Infrastructure, and he was happy to confirm that they have reassured the Authority that it was not constructed by the same company. He hoped this re-assured Members. Amber Infrastructure would be writing to all local authorities to confirm this very soon.

 

The new home for Ysgol Bryn  ...  view the full minutes text for item 605.

606.

To receive the report of the Leader

Minutes:

 

The Leader informed Members that he had once again written as Leader of Bridgend County Borough Council to Prime Minister David Cameron urging the Government to take swift action over the UK steel crisis.

 

This was the third time he had written to the Prime Minister asking him to ensure the Government acts quickly and decisively in response to the on-going crisis within the UK steel industry.

 

It follows both the recent announcement about how Tata Steel is planning to sell off its UK interests, and the cross-party support expressed here at the Council for a national charter on the production of sustainable British steel.

 

Should we lose this industry, the effects will be felt and borne not just by those who are closest to it now, but by future generations and for decades to come, the Leader added.

 

Research undertaken by the Cardiff Business School shows the total economic impact of Tata Steel in Wales is £3.2bn. Inter-regional export revenues amount to more than £2bn, and more than 10,000 full time equivalent jobs are supported off-site in the Tata supply chain, many of them via small-to-medium sized enterprises. More than 6,500 people are currently employed in the steel industry across Wales, and of the 3,500 who work at the Port Talbot plant, just under 600 were residents of Bridgend County Borough.

 

The Leader emphasised, that unless urgent action was taken on a national scale, communities throughout the UK will be feeling the impact of this crisis for years to come. Therefore, he was sure that Members would agree that this issue must be brought to a speedy and satisfactory conclusion.

 

On a brighter note, the Leader advised that an iconic Porthcawl building had been brought back into use as we have transferred the Old Pilot Lookout Tower over to the National Coastwatch Institution, and they will be starting weekend watches this summer. It will be manned by trained NCI volunteers who will help spot danger on and offshore that amateur sailors and fishermen can stay safe.

 

The project had been made possible with Heritage Lottery Funding and contributions from the Council and Cadw, and the Grade II listed tower had been restored to its former glory through the Porthcawl Townscape Heritage Initiative. The Leader confirmed that he was delighted that the building was enjoying a new lease of life. Its restoration complements the exciting work planned for the nearby Jennings Building and Customs House, and was another important step forward in Porthcawl’s overall regeneration.

 

607.

JNC Officer Structure and Appointment of Section 151 Officer pdf icon PDF 61 KB

Minutes:

 

The Chief Executive presented a report, that sought approval for the following:

 

  • The deletion of the role of the Corporate Director Resources
  • The replacement of the current role of Assistant Chief Executive LARS with a new role of Corporate Director of Operational and Partnership Services (and not Operational Services and Partnerships as was outlined in the report)
  • Re-designation of the Corporate Director Education and Transformation as Corporate Director Education and Family Support
  • The appointment of the Head of Finance and ICT as the Council’s Section 151 Officer

 

He confirmed that as Members were probably aware, the Corporate Director Resources was soon to leave the Authority and this had allowed him together with support from the Corporate Management Board (CMB), to look at the JNC Officer restructure to include the appointment of a Section 151 Officer.

 

The Chief Executive confirmed that the proposals of his report would assist in driving forward the Council’s Corporate Plan 2016-20, by providing increased support to the Plan’s Corporate themes, which were to support a successful economy, help people to be more self-reliant, and in particular, make smarter use of Council resources. The report’s recommendations if adopted, would allow for a planned recurring saving of £127k to be achieved with immediate effect under the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS).

 

He referred to the background to the report, and advised that the resignation of the Corporate Director Resources provided an opportunity to re-allocate the functions of this post between other Directorates and to make adjustments to roles and designations of Corporate Directors, that would include also a re-alignment in terms of the responsibility for certain key service areas.

 

The Chief Executive confirmed that the Corporate Director Education and Transformation had now defined and established the Council’s transformation programme. Therefore, there was a need to re-designate this role to more clearly reflect the current position and status of the transformation programme.

 

He went on to state, that the re-allocation of functions of the Corporate Director Resources could be accommodated amongst the remaining members of CMB, thus allowing this post to be deleted. The Chief Executive added however, that additional duties to be allocated to the current Assistant Chief Executive LARS, meant that the portfolio of this position would increase to a scale and complexity consistent with that of a Corporate Director. This was in light of the fact that this post holder would have increased line management responsibility for Housing and Homelessness, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Human Resources and Organisational Development, Customer Service and Communications and Marketing and Project Management, in addition to his existing responsibilities. It was therefore considered that this post be re-designated Corporate Director Operational and Partnership Services to reflect responsibility of these extra Departments and service areas. This would mean that CMB would decrease in number from 6 to 5 Officers.

 

The Chief Executive continued by advising that there would be no change to the role of the Corporate Directors Social Services and Wellbeing and Communities, but it was proposed that the Director  ...  view the full minutes text for item 607.

608.

Amendments to Legislation and Model Code of Conduct pdf icon PDF 66 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

 

The Monitoring Officer presented a report that advised Council of the undermentioned statutory instruments which came into force on 1 April 2016:

 

  • The Local Authorities (Model Code of Conduct) (Wales) (Amendment) Order 2016
  • The Local Government (Standards Committees, Investigations, Dispensations and Referral) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2016

 

The Monitoring Officer advised that a similar report to this item had been placed before the Standards Committee at its last meeting, where Members asked that he writes to all County Borough Town and Community Councils to invite them to refresher training on the Model Code of Conduct and that he would also make this available to Members. He added that if there was an interest, he would also undertake training for the Clerks of Town/Community Councils of a more general nature, ie an Introduction to Local Government and how it functions.

 

In respect of the Local Authorities (Model Code of Conduct) (Wales) (Amendment) Order 2016, the Order amends the Model Code of Conduct for local government Members, set out in the schedule to the Local Authorities (Model Code of Conduct) (Wales) Order 2008, and details regarding the changes in respect of this totalling four, were shown in paragraph 4.1 of the report.

 

In terms of The Local Government (Standards Committees, Investigations, Dispensations and Referral (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2016, the Regulations amended the three statutory instruments below:-

 

(a)  The Standards Committees (Wales) Regulations 200;1

(b)  The Local Government Investigations (Functions of Monitoring Officers and Standards Committee (Wales) Regulations 2001, and;

(c)  Local Authorities (Grant of Dispensations) (Wales) Regulations 2001

 

Details of the amendments to the afore mentioned statutory instruments were contained in paragraphs 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5 of the report, respectively, and the Monitoring Officer expanded upon all the changes shown in the report in respect of the above, for the benefit of Members.

 

He advised that in accordance with Section 51 of the 2000 Act, all relevant authorities must within six months of the date the Local Authorities (Model of Code Conduct) (Wales) (Amendment) Order 2016 was made, adopt a revised Code of Conduct.

 

The text of the amended Model Code of Conduct was attached as Appendix 1 to the report.

 

RESOLVED:              That Council:

 

(1)       Approved adoption of the revised Model Code of   Conduct attached at Appendix 1 to the report.

 

  Approved amendment of the Constitution to include  the revised Code.

609.

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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