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.

Councillor HM Williams declared a prejudicial interest in Agenda item 8, as it was proposed in the report that he was appointed as a Local Authority Governor to Abercerdin Primary School. Councillor Williams left the meeting whilst this item was being discussed.

To receive for approval the Minutes of 27/03/18

RESOLVED:            That the Minutes of a meeting of Cabinet dated 27 March 2018, were approved a true and accurate record.

The Corporate Director – Communities submitted a report, the purpose of which was to seek approval in principle of the financial case of the Outline Business Case (OBC) for the Bridgend Town Heat Network (Civic Centre) Project (Appendix 1); to recommend to Council the inclusion of £794,000 of borrowing in the Capital Programme, outlining the revenue implications of borrowing and confirming they will be covered by the scheme once all funding sources have been approved, and finally, give permission for the Corporate Director – Communities to submit a grant funding bid to the HNIP capital fund in Autumn 2018 and subject to the approval of the Section 151 Officer accept the funding if successful.

He advised that BCBC had for the last 5 or 6 years, undertaken a considerable amount of work, in order to explore opportunities within the County Borough for alternative and more cost effective energy projects as part of a scheduled programme. The programme offered some significant benefits and opportunities for the Authority and these were detailed in paragraph 3.2 of the report.

The Corporate Director – Communities then advised that three options for a Phase 1 development of a Heat Network Project within the town of Bridgend were recommended following the carrying out of a Feasibility Study and these were shown in table format in paragraph 4.1 of the report, where Option B was decided upon, as this was considered more deliverable than the other two.

Following the completion of the Feasibility Study, the next step was the creation of an Outline Business Case (OBC), which was attached at Appendix 1 to the report, for the project, based upon the UK Treasury Five Case Model.

The Project was not yet finalised as this was awaiting the conclusion of the undertaking of a Business Case, though the Corporate Director – Communities added that this could be delivered through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) created by BCBC. Subject to successful Cabinet approvals, the timeline for the project (to be carried out in phases), were as was proposed in Table 2 at paragraph 4.8 of the report.

The Corporate Director – Communities referred to the report’s financial implications and including some risks that came with the project, and confirmed that the funding for the project would come from a number of different sources, as was reflected in paragraphs 7 of the report. It was considered however he concluded, that the benefits of the project would ultimately outweigh these risks.

The Cabinet Member – Communities commended both the work that had been undertaken and the potential of the project, which was a complex yet prestigious programme. He was conscious that the Business Case attached to the project would take 12 months to complete, but he was confident that the benefits of the project would be considerable, and he felt that we owed it to partners involved in the project to take this forward.

Other Cabinet Members also commended the project, whilst the Leader likened it to the Caerau Minewater project,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 190.

The Corporate Director – Communities submitted a report that sought approval of Cabinet for the BCBC Ecosystems Resilience Forward Plan 2018-2022, and the implementation of resulting actions.

By way of background information, he advised that the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 places a new duty on public authorities, including local Councils to: enhance biodiversity; increase resilience of ecosystems; move from reactive approaches to preserve biodiversity towards proactive intervention to enhance biodiversity; and to publish and review a Biodiversity Plan which is to be reviewed every three years.

The approach required by the legislation is for public bodies to approach this plan using a set of core principles, called sustainable management of natural resources (SMNR).

The Corporate Director – Communities referred to paragraphs 3.3 and 3.4 of the report, which confirmed of the work to date that had been committed towards the Plan.

He then advised that under the Act of 2016, public authorities are required to maintain and enhance biodiversity so far as is consistent with the proper exercise of their functions, and in doing so, promote the resilience of ecosystems.

Paragraph 4.2 of the report then outlined what the BCBC would be tasked to do in order to comply with its duty as expressed above, whilst Appendix 1 to the report included a Biodiversity and Ecosystems Resilience Forward Plan 2018-2022, which accomplished this.

The Corporate Director – Communities added that part of the wider delivery system includes the Local Biodiversity Action Plan (2014) produced in conjunction with Bridgend Biodiversity Partnership and Environment Systems Ltd. This provided a detailed overview and assessment of Bridgend’s biodiversity and ecosystems services.

He then referred to paragraph 4.5 of the report which outlined the work progressed so far in respect of the development of the Plan.

Paragraph 4.6 of the report then outlined in bullet point format, what the development of the Biodiversity and Ecosystems Resilience Forward Plan 2018-2022 had involved, while paragraph 4.7 contained a range of actions which sought to deliver an enhanced approach to BER in the categories confirmed in this section of the report.

The Corporate Director – Communities then referred to paragraph 4.8 of the report which stated the framework that would support the Plan.

In terms of the report’s financial implications, the Corporate Director – Communities stated that in the main, the Plan would be supported by core funding and external funding, as was set out in it within the Appendix to the report.

The Cabinet Member – Education and Regeneration advised that the main focus of the Plan was on the five Nature Reserves the Council own or manage, together with a considerable number of other ‘pockets’ of areas of ecological and biodiversity areas in the County Borough. A major asset he added was the Kenfig Nature Reserve, where there would be in the future a change in management arrangements, and this would be the subject of a further report to Cabinet, together with an update on the ecology of the dunes. He added that school children were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 191.

The Corporate Director Communities submitted a report, the purpose of which, was is to seek approval to take forward the development of the Enterprise Hub Development Programme which in total would cover the refurbishment and creation of new business premises in response to identified need at three key locations in the County Borough at Bridgend Science Park, Village Farm Industrial Estate and Brocastle.

The report updates on work undertaken since a previous Cabinet report on 31 January 2017 that related to the development of the Enterprise Hubs Development Project (Bridgend Science Park and Village Farm Industrial Estate) and seeks authorisation to move to the final stage of negotiations with the Welsh European Funding Office (WEFO) in relation to a funding package.

The Corporate Director Communities explained that there was very tangible evidence that if the aims of the report were achieved, then this would support the corporate priority of ‘Supporting a successful local economy.’

The report gave some background information, and emphasised of the importance of there being small enterprises in the County Borough, where BCBC were making as good progress realising this ambition, as any County Borough in Wales, when the opportunity arose, though finding adequate space and premises for such small businesses was sometimes problematic.

As stated above, he reminded Members that on 31 January 2017, Cabinet approved a report entitled European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Regional Scheme for Enterprise Hub Development.  The report highlighted that in 2016 an Operation Logic Table (OLT) was prepared and submitted to WEFO by Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council in relation to the development of a regional Enterprise Hub Development Project as an ‘expression of interest’.  This set out the initial principles and objectives for the Project, but it did not commit the Authorities to Project delivery at that stage.  Following initial consideration, WEFO then invited a full business plan for the Project. He added that though initially Blaenau Gwent had initially led on this, Bridgend were now the lead Investor.

The report progressed by confirming that in parallel to works ongoing in respect of the above, Welsh Government had secured ERDF agreement to take forward developments of site infrastructure and enablement works at three of their key strategic sites, namely, Ty Du (Caerphilly), Cross Hands (Carmarthen), and Brocastle (Bridgend).

The Corporate Director Communities advised that there were no ‘start up’ units currently available from BCBC or Business in Focus, and both had waiting lists. The Sony Incubation units at Pencoed were all occupied and there was also a waiting list there.

It was considered that the current market climate made speculative private sector development in response to this unlikely, therefore an injection of public pump prime funding was needed  he added.

He continued by advising that the Enterprise Hub Development Programme proposed to support the refurbishment and creation of business premises at Bridgend Science Park, Village Farm Industrial Estate and Brocastle, and as a programme to deliver that which was detailed in bullet point format in paragraph 4.3 of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 192.

The Interim Corporate Director – Education and Family Support submitted a report, the purpose of which was to provide detailed feedback to Cabinet on the feasibility analysis of the concepts described in the report of the Post-16 Operational Board and subsequent submission by the Strategic Review Board (SRB) to Cabinet on 31 October 2017. In addition, the report sought Cabinet approval to go to public consultation on the six concepts set out at paragraph 3.6. Finally, it confirmed of the further work undertaken that has been presented in a report to the Post-16 Education (Phase Two) Board. The key objectives for this phase of work are set out at paragraph 3 of the report.

After briefly giving a resume of the report, the Interim Corporate Director – Education and Family Support then handed over to the Specialist Officer Post-16 Education and Training to expand upon more of the detail of the report.

He advised that after the report had been presented to the above meeting of Cabinet, work was undertaken to define the Phase 2 programme, with the key objectives for the Phase 2 Post-16 work stream defined in paragraph 3.1 of the report.

The Specialist Officer Post-16 Education and Training stated that with the other strategic work streams now concluded, it was agreed to merge the Post-16 Operational Board with the Strategic Review Board (SRB) into a single Post-16 Phase Two Board.  The collective membership was agreed along with a Terms of Reference which was detailed at Appendix 2 to the report.

In setting out to review the provision of post-16 education across Bridgend County Borough Council (BCBC), the Post-16 Operational Board established a set of key ambitions upon which any new system would need to deliver. To this end, a number of these were proposed by learners in our schools, and they were detailed in Appendix 3 (of the report).

Paragraph 3.4 of the report outlined, that in order to make the assessment programme more manageable, the Post-16 Operational Board identified the 16 most critical ambitions, and each of the concepts was assessed against its ability to deliver on these as contained in this part of the report.

The Specialist Officer Post 16 Education and Training, then referred Cabinet to paragraph 3.5 of the report that summarised the original list of concepts under consideration (ie Concepts 1 – 6) and these were explained in turn, in paragraph 3.7 of the report. Appendix 5 of the report outlined the key issues associated with each of these concepts.

In addition, the SRB proposed three other elements to be considered, and these were shown in paragraph 3.9 of the report, while the Specialist Officer Post-16 Education and Training also confirmed, that since the SRB report was presented to Cabinet last October, additional detailed work had been undertaken in order to gain further insights into Post-16 provision, and details of these along with a number of other recent significant updates were shown in paragraphs 3.10 and 3.11 of the report.

The Specialist  ...  view the full minutes text for item 193.

The Interim Corporate Director – Education and Family Support submitted a report, the purpose of which was to seek approval from Cabinet for the appointment of local authority governors to the school governing bodies listed at paragraphs 4.1 and 4.2 of the report.

Paragraph 4.1 of the report showed that appointments had been made to the governing bodies of the schools detailed therein, as these candidates were considered suitable for the role and there were no competition for any of the vacancies.

Paragraph 4.2 of the report highlighted that there had been competition for one vacancy at three schools, namely Brackla Primary, Litchard Primary and Pen y Fai Church Church in Wales Primary, and details of the successful candidates were also detailed in this section of the report.

Subject to the approval of these appointments, the Interim Corporate Director – Education and Family Support advised that there were still 16 vacancies that needed to be filled in 13 schools, as was confirmed in Appendix A to the report.

RESOLVED:                 That Cabinet approved the appointments listed at paragraphs 4.1 and 4.2 of the report.

The Interim Corporate Director – Education and Family Support submitted a report, in order to inform Cabinet of the outcome of the consultation on the proposals to establish a learning resource centre (LRC) for a maximum of eight pupils with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) at Pencoed Primary School.

He advised that the report was part of further work being undertaken to continue the support of individuals with ALN across the County Borough.

He added that the Council supported the principle, that, when possible, children should be educated within a mainstream school environment, and as near to their home as possible. The proposal to open an ASD LRC at Pencoed Primary School, would afford those children with ASD living in the east locality of the Bridgend County Borough to be educated locally.

The Interim Corporate Director – Education and Family Support further added, that in order to look to progress the above, a consultation exercise had been carried out during February/March with staff, governors’, parents and pupils of the school, as well as the wider community, in accordance with the Statutory School Organisation Code.

The Interim Corporate Director - Education and Family Support then advised of the next process to be followed as detailed in paragraphs 4.3 to 4.6 of the report, following which he confirmed that as part of the MTFS budget setting process for 2017-18, a total of £263k was allocated under budget pressures to establish additional LRCs for pupils with ASD in two welsh medium schools and two English medium schools. These allocations would be used to fund the LRC at Pencoed Primary School, if the proposal goes ahead.

The Cabinet Member – Education and Regeneration advised that the above was an extremely important provision.

The Leader concluded debate on this item, by advising that Subject Overview and Scrutiny Committee 1 were fully in support of this proposal, and personally, he felt that it was very important that education for autistic pupils was wherever possible available in mainstream schools, with any additional support being given to their specialist needs, as and when required.

RESOLVED:                     That Cabinet:-

                                          (1) Noted the outcome of the consultation with interested parties as detailed in the Consultation Report attached to the covering report at Appendix 1.

                                          (2) Approved the Consultation Report for publication, and

                                          (3) Authorised the publication of a Statutory Public Notice on the proposal. 

The Interim Corporate Director – Education and Family Support submitted a report, seeking approval for the continuation of the service level agreement between Bridgend County Borough Council (BCBC) and GS4 Care and Justice Service (UK) Limited (G4S) Invisible Walls Wales Service.

He confirmed that the local authority had worked in partnership with G4S and the Invisible Walls Wales (IWW) service since 2012, at a time when the project was funded via a significant Big Lottery grant for 5 years. This grant was secured to work with offenders and their families around three core aims, details of which were contained in paragraph 3.1 of the report.

The Interim Corporate Director – Education and Family Support added that an evaluation of the service was carried out during the above period, and highlighted positive outcomes linked to the work undertaken by IWW, examples of which were given in paragraph 3.3 of the report.

He proceeded by stating that due to the success of the IWW service during the five-year Big Lottery funding, G4S has secured additional monies to ensure the service continues. This included the ongoing employment of the IWW Social Worker within the service. The service level agreement attached to the report at Appendix 1 set out the ongoing partnership arrangements that had predominately been in existence since 2012.

Referring to the financial implications of the report, the extension of the service level agreement (SLA) until December 2018 may result in increased redundancy liabilities for the Council, if and when the SLA comes to an end. These potential costs will need to be met by the Education and Family Support Directorate budget in the event that the SLA is discontinued, however, all redeployment opportunities would be explored at this point in time.

The Cabinet Member – Wellbeing and Future Generations sought clarification that the service level agreement proposed would be the same (with regard to its terms) as the one that currently existed.

The Interim Corporate Director – Education and Family Support confirmed that this was the case.

The Leader concluded debate on the item, by advising that the Council were looking to continue pioneering an award winning project, and the service level agreement underpinned this.

RESOLVED:                    That Cabinet agreed the ongoing partnership as referred to in the report, and authorised the Interim Corporate Director Education and Family Support, in consultation with the Corporate Director Operational and Partnership Services/Solicitor to the Council and Monitoring Officer, to enter into the SLA as referenced in Appendix 1 to the report.

The Group Manager – Legal submitted a report, the purpose of which, was to inform Cabinet of the provisions under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which is due to be enforced on 25 May 2018, and the Data Protection Bill which was announced in the Queen’s speech in June 2017.

She advised Members, that GDPR would require all data controllers and processors that handle the personal information of EU to residents to implement appropriate and technical and organisational measures to ensure the ongoing confidentiality of that data. The GDPR introduces also, stricter requirements than now, i.e. under the current Data Protection Act 1998.

The Data Protection Bill updates data protection laws in the UK, supplementing the GDPR as well as extending data protection laws to areas which are not covered by the GDPR.

The Group Manager – Legal, advised that the bulk of the report expanded upon the new obligations of the GDPR when compared to the Data Protection Act provisions, including for schools, and training that was required for staff, though she highlighted paragraph 4.6.2 to Members, namely that it was incumbent upon the Council under the GDPR to appoint a Data Protection Officer (DPO) and the previous post of Information Officer in the Legal Department had recently been appointed to this new post.

In terms of the next steps, she added that in readiness for GDPR an Implementation Group had been established with appropriate representation from each Directorate.

Finally, the Group Manager – Legal referred Members to the report’s appendices, i.e. Appendix 1 – Code of Practice for Data Breaches and Appendix 2 – the Data Protection Policy.

The Cabinet Member – Wellbeing and Future Generations wished to place on record her thanks to Officers who had contributed a lot of hard work in readiness for the transition to GDPR some of which was fairly difficult and complex. She added that there would also be mandatory training for Members under GDPR.

The Leader concluded the debate by stating that he was pleased that schools were also receiving support for GDPR.

RESOLVED:                  That Cabinet:

                                     (1)     Noted the report and the enforcement of the GDPR and Data Protection Bill.

                                     (2)     Approved the updated Data Protection Policy attached at Appendix 2 to the report, to take effect from 25 May 2018.

                                     (3)       Noted the updated Code of Practice for data breaches attached as Appendix 1 to the report, to take effect from 25 May 2018.

The Monitoring Officer presented a report, the purpose of which was to seek approval for a series of amendments which have been made to the Scheme of Delegation of Functions.

The Group Manager – Legal advised that the reason for the amendments, was due to the fact that currently there were no short term tenancy agreements in place for service users staying in the Glyn Cynffig accommodation and rehabilitation facility which provides support to individuals over the age of 18 with mental health issues, mild to moderate learning disabilities vulnerable individuals who are at risk or experiencing self-neglect, homelessness and significant exploitation; and individuals who have experienced alcohol and substance misuse, and require support with rehabilitation.

There were therefore, currently no short term tenancy agreements in place for service users staying in the provision for up to 2 years. It was recommended due to this, that the Corporate Director – Social Services and Wellbeing be given the delegations under Scheme B2, i.e. reference numbers 5.14 and 5.15, in order to satisfy the requirements of the report.

RESOLVED:                  That Cabinet approved the amendment to the Scheme of Delegations as set out in paragraph 4.2 of the report.

The Corporate Director – Operational and Partnership Services submitted a report, the purpose of which, was to:

           a.          seek approval for the schedule of meetings of Cabinet, Cabinet Committee           Corporate Parenting and the Cabinet Committee  Equalities for the period May 2018 – April 2019;

b.         propose Children’s and Equalities Champions who will chair the Cabinet     Committee Corporate Parenting and the Cabinet Committee Equalities;

c.         confirm the process for nomination of Champions from each of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees to the Corporate Parenting  Cabinet Committee;

a.             seek approval of the invitees to attend meetings of the Cabinet Committee Equalities as nominated by each of the political groups represented on Council

The Group Manager – Legal gave a resume of the report, the provisions of which were supported by the Cabinet Member – Wellbeing and Future Generations.

RESOLVED:              That Cabinet:

(1)          Approved the schedule of meeting dates for Cabinet, Cabinet Committee Corporate Parenting and the Cabinet Committee Equalities meetings for the period May 2018 – April 2019 as outlined in Paragraphs 4.1.2, 4.2.1 and 4.3.1 of the report.

(2)          That the Cabinet Member for Social Services and Early Help be appointed as Lead Member for Children and Young People, Children and Young People Champion and Chairperson of the Cabinet Committee Corporate Parenting.

(3)          That the process for determining the invitees for the Cabinet Committee Corporate Parenting as outlined in paragraph 4.2.3 be approved.

(4)          That the Cabinet Member Wellbeing and Future Generations was appointed as the Equalities Champion and as Chairperson of the Cabinet Committee Equalities.

(5)        That Cabinet approved nominations of the invitees to the Cabinet Committee Equalities on the basis of 4 Labour Group Members, 2 Conservative Group Members, 2 Independent Alliance Group Members and 1 each from the Llynfi Independents and Plaid Cymru Groups, as outlined in paragraph 4.3.3 of the report.

To consider any items of business that by reason of special circumstances the chairperson is of the opinion should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency in accordance with paragraph 2.4 (e) of the Cabinet Procedure Rules within the Constitution.

None.