The Leader announced that he was was saddened to learn of the recent passing of former Councillor Megan Inglesant.  He stated that former

Councillor Inlgesant was born in Kenfig and represented the Pyle ward for many years.  She also had a distinguished musical career, having worked at both Bryntirion and Cynffig comprehensive schools and also serving as the official organist for Margam Abbey amongst other things.  Former Councillor Inglesant was recognised for her service in 2010 with an honorary fellowship

of the Guild of Church Musicians.  The Funeral Requiem is at Margam Abbey on Thursday 9 June at 12 noon and will be followed by cremation at Margam Crematorium at 1.30pm.   

All present stood in holding a minute’s silence in her memory. 

To receive apologies for absence from Members.

Apologies for absence were received from the following Members:

Councillor G Davies

Councillor PA Davies

Councillor N Farr

Councillor CA Green

Councillor RM James

Councillor CL Jones

Councillor AD Owen

Councillor DA Owen

Councillor D Sage

Councillor JH Tildesley MBE

Councillor KJ Watts.  

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 HM Williams declared a personal interest in agenda item 6 – Local Housing Strategy 2016-2018 as a Board Member of Valleys 2 Coast.

Councillor HJ Townsend declared a personal interest in agenda item 6 – Local Housing Strategy 2016-2018 as a Board Member of Valleys 2 Coast.

Councillor D Patel declared a prejudicial interest in agenda item 6 – Local Housing Strategy 2016-2018 as a Board Member of Valleys 2 Coast and withdrew from the meeting during consideration of this item. 

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing, Corporate Director Communities, Corporate Director Education and Family Support and Head of Finance and Section 151 Officer declared an interest in agenda item 7 – Pay Policy Statement – Update 2016-17 and withdrew from the meeting during consideration of this item.  

To receive for approval the minutes of a meeting of Annual Council dated 18 May 2016

RESOLVED:            That the minutes of the Annual Meeting of Council of 18 May 2016 be approved as a true and accurate record. 

(i) Mayor (or person presiding)

(ii) Members of the Cabinet

(iii) Chief Executive

Mayor

The Mayor welcomed all Members and officers to the first meeting of Council since his inauguration.  He informed Council that he has had a very busy first few weeks since taking office and he thanked Ruth Ronan and Merete Bang and the Democratic Services Team for their support.  He hoped to be able to announce the names of the charities that he will be supporting shortly.  He had been putting forward a number of suggestions for new types of events which will help raise funds for these good causes and he asked Members to look out for more information very soon. 

He announced that one of his goals as Mayor is to visit every Ward and to that end he would be grateful if Members could let the Mayoral office know of any local events that are taking place within their areas or even make arrangements for a tour of the Ward. 

The Mayor also announced that he had yesterday attended the 5^th official opening of the Senedd which was a very moving occasion and one that he was proud to have represented the Council at the ceremony. 

The Mayor announced that this morning he and his Consort had attended the Active Wales Annual Conference in Porthcawl and welcomed members of the Wales OAP Association to the Grand Pavilion.  He informed Members that it was wonderful to see so many of older citizens enjoying lively debate and looking to the future.   

The Mayor also announced that the Council had marked this year’s Foster Care Fortnight with a drive to encourage applications from people in the county borough.  Called ‘Get Connected’, the event was the most successful one yet and drew a great deal of publicity, including almost 64,000 people who saw it on Facebook alone, which resulted in enquiries from 35 potential new foster carers. He congratulated all who had been involved for helping make it a success.

The Mayor reminded Members that the Armed Forces flag would be raised at 10.30am on Monday 20 June outside the Civic Offices.  The event will mark the beginning of Armed Forces Week and the flag will be flown throughout the week.  All Members are very welcome to come and observe the flag raising thereby showing support to Armed Forces colleagues both past and present.

Deputy Leader

The Deputy Leader informed Members that four local girls who have received training as part of the Girls’ Network set up by the Active Young People department have travelled to London to pitch the project to IT services firm CGI.  CGI are a well-known sponsor of the Commonwealth Games and the Girls network is seeking funding that will enable it to develop its services, which aim to encourage more young girls to take up sports and physical activity and boost their confidence, skills and self-esteem.  He congratulated Rebecca Green from Porthcawl Comprehensive and Maesteg Comprehensive pupils Gerianne Svenson, Angharad Stokes and Megan Curling for acting as ambassadors for this very important scheme. 

The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 633.

The Leader announced that entries were now being invited for the 2016 Bridgend Business Forum Awards.  The awards feature a range of categories and there are opportunities for a wide variety of local businesses and entrepreneurs to gain some well-deserved recognition.  The Leader stated that he had attended the awards for the past three years, and had never failed to be impressed by the nominations and calibre of the businesses that enter.  He informed Members of the vital role that small and medium-sized businesses in Bridgend County Borough play in driving the local economy could not be under estimated, and the awards provide a perfect platform for acknowledging and celebrating these companies.  The awards are open to all businesses based in Bridgend County Borough, and the deadline for submissions is Friday 8 July.  Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony in September, and application forms and further details are available at www.bridgendbusinessforum.co.uk.

The Leader also announced that the Wallich Homeless Charity recently became the 700^th member organisation of the Bridgend Business Forum.  He stated that this was excellent news and a significant milestone for the forum.  He also informed Members that Bridgend is fortunate to have such an active local forum, and this latest news continues to demonstrate the vibrancy and innovation offered by the many businesses and organisations that are based within Bridgend County Borough.

The Leader announced that Porthcawl Marina has joined Rest Bay and Trecco Bay in receiving prestigious Blue Flag status from Keep Wales Tidy.  He stated that Blue Flags are only awarded to beaches and marinas that boast the highest water quality, environmental education and management, safety and services, which was is a real coup for Porthcawl and the wider county borough, and welcome news for the summer season. 

The Corporate Director Operational and Partnership Services reported on the outcome of formal consultation on the draft Local Housing Strategy 2016-18 and recommended the Strategy for approval. 

The Corporate Director Operational and Partnership Services informed Cabinet that the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 requires local authorities have a strategic role to play in the functioning of the local housing market.  He stated that the principal way this can be delivered is through a Local Housing Strategy which sets out the locally agreed, long term vision for housing and it provides a statement of local strategic housing-related priorities and outcomes, set against a framework of national legislation, plans and strategies.  The current Local Housing Strategy has been in place since 2009 and requires revision in order to take account of new legislation introduced by the Housing (Wales) Act 2014.    

The Corporate Director Operational and Partnership Services reported that the draft Local Housing Strategy has been the subject of consultation which ran from December 2015 until the end of March 2016, with both online and written submissions encouraged.  At the close of the consultation, 30 responses had been received, 25 via the online consultation process and 5 written responses from stakeholders.  He stated that reasoned responses, decisions and actions were given to the representations received, which had resulted in an amended Strategy. 

The Corporate Director Operational and Partnership Services outlined the detail of the Strategy which sets out five key housing priorities, which will contribute to improving the quality of life for people within the County Borough.  He stated that the priorities will underpin the work of the Council and that of its partners and he outlined what each priority will focus on.

A Member referred to the pie chart included in the Strategy which showed 16% of the dwelling stock to be privately rented and questioned whether there are landlords in the private rented sector that had yet to register in accordance with legislation due to concerns in relation to the condition of some properties.  The Corporate Director Operational and Partnership Services informed Council that landlords are encouraged to licence their properties but it was always able to enforce registration.  He stated that the Council needed to work in partnership with private sector landlords to encourage them to improve their standards.  He also stated that the Council was able to enforce through legislation but where legislation did not exist through persuasion. 

A Member of Council referred to the requirement in the Bridgend Local Development Plan for the construction of approximately 10,000 new dwellings in the County Borough up to the year 2012 to meet anticipated growth and questioned the pressures this would bring on schools, health care and on the highway network and how the Council would work with partners to mitigate against this.  The Corporate Director Operational and Partnership Services informed Council that the strain on services and infrastructure would be considered as part of the planning process in order to facilitate development.  The Corporate Director Education and Family Support  ...  view the full minutes text for item 635.

The Corporate Director Operational and Partnership Services reported that the Localism Act 2011 requires English and Welsh local authorities to produce and publish a Pay Policy Statement beginning 2012/13 and for each financial year thereafter. 

He reported that an updated Pay Policy Statement had been produced for 2016/17 for the Council’s consideration which is fully compliant with the Localism Act 2011. 

RESOLVED:               That Council approved the updated Pay Policy Statement.         

The Monitoring Officer reported that a vacancy had arisen on the Standards Committee and an appointment was therefore necessary to fill this vacancy. 

He reported that there was one vacancy for an Independent Member and in accordance with the delegated authority previously given to him had overseen a recruitment process and to report to Council the outcome of the appointment.  He stated that following interviews by the Standards Committee of candidates it was recommended that Mr Philip Clarke be appointed to the vacancy. 

He also reported on the appointment of Mr Clifford Jones as Chairperson of the Committee by the Standards Committee on 24 March 2016.       

RESOLVED:               That Council:

1.    Appointed Mr Philip Clarke as an Independent Member of the Standards Committee with immediate effect until a term to be determined;

Noted the appointment of Mr Clifford Jones as Chairperson of the Standards Committee with immediate effect until a term to be determined.   

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. 

The report relating to the following item is not for publication, 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.

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

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 contained 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 it was resolved that pursuant to the Act referred to above, to consider the under-mentioned item in private with the public being excluded from the meeting as it would involve the disclosure of exempt information as stated above.