(i) Mayor (or person presiding)

(ii) Members of the Cabinet

(iii) Chief Executive

 

Mayor

 

The past month has been a relatively busy one so I will not update you on all that has taken place, but I will mention a few highlights.

 

The Charity Fundraising event my wife and I organised at the Heronston Hotel at the end of November was a great night out with over £1,000 raised and plenty of fun was had by all who attended. I would like to say a big thank you to all who bought tickets and for those who donated raffle prizes or made donations due to being unable to attend. Such events are not easy to organise without any support, but I am pleased to say that it was a success.

 

I attended the official opening of Y Nyth Education and Wellbeing centre at Bryngarw Park which is a wonderful facility for children of all ages to learn about our environment and outdoor spaces. There were a number of children present who were quite interested in the mayoral chain and I just about got away without it being broken! Partly my own fault though for starting to make plasticine imprints of the mayoral crest.

 

My first visit to the Ogmore valley took place with an invite to the Ogmore Valley Local Heritage and History Society annual book launch at the Mem in Nantymoel. There were performances by Ogmore Valley Male Voice Choir and also the Ogmore Valley Silver Band with a number of Christmas carols. I hope to return again soon to formally open the new miners memorial that has been placed along side where the Berwyn Centre once stood.

 

Finally, please note that the Citizenship Awards are open for nominations but will close on Friday 7 January 2022. My plea to you all is for each Councillor to nominate at least one individual or group from your area. With no awards being possible last year, let’s make this year one of the biggest number of nominations ever, to thank those in our communities who go above and beyond day after day to help others and make a difference.

 

Deputy Leader

 

Details on Christmas and New Year recycling and waste collection arrangements have been confirmed.

 

With the pandemic still in effect, we are once again asking households where someone is showing coronavirus symptoms to make sure that all tissue waste, such as kitchen roll, toilet paper or wet wipes, is double-bagged and set aside for 72 hours.

 

After this, the bag can be placed out inside the household rubbish bag. To help keep collectors safe, on no account should such waste be included with paper recycling.

 

Collections this year will be carried out as normal up to and including on Christmas Eve, but not on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day.

 

From Monday 27 to Thursday 30 December, collections will take place one day later than the normal collection date.

 

Waste that is due to be collected on New Year’s Eve will be picked up on Sunday, 2 January, and collections will return to normal from Monday 3 January 2022.

 

Residents will be able to put out one extra rubbish bag for the first scheduled refuse collection after Christmas. There will also be an additional vehicle collecting cardboard, so please note that this may be collected separately to other household recycling.

 

Members may want to remind residents that there is no limit on how much recycling can be put out for collection, and that the vast majority of materials can be recycled. The main items that cannot be recycled are cards that have glitter on them, wrapping paper, black plastic, cellophane wrap, bubble wrap and polystyrene.

 

Real Christmas trees can be disposed of at local community recycling centres based at Brynmenyn, Tythegston and Maesteg, or can be dropped off at the Waterton Depot from Tuesday 4 January onwards.

 

Finally, I’d like to extend my thanks to Gill Lewis, Interim Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change in this her last meeting of Council before she leaves the Authority at the end of this week. Her services to the Authority in her role since she arrived with the Council have been immeasurable and she has been a fantastic asset. This has particularly proven to be the case since the pandemic, where she has kept the Authority’s finances safe in the most turbulent of times. It has been a pleasure working alongside Gill, who I have the utmost respect for as an Officer.

 

I also extend a warm welcome to Gill’s replacement, Carys Lord.

 

The Leader added his personal thanks and gratitude to Gill Lewis, on behalf of Council. He added that Gill had been the consummate professional since she joined the Council which initially was planned for just a few months even though she ended up staying for 4 years. The reason for that though he added, was because she set the bar so high not just as a Section 151 Officer, but also as the Officer in charge of Housing, Customer Care and ICT.

 

In terms of the latter, Gill had to support overnight through the provision of essential equipment, in the region of 2,000 – 3,000 Officers so that they could continue providing Council services through working at home, as well as providing temporary accommodation for over 200 people who were homeless and we indeed still provide support to these vulnerable people, as well as others in society. Despite this commitment, Gill had also kept an iron like grip on the Council’s purse and its finances.

 

The Leader added that he was extremely grateful for the excellent service she had provided during the last 4 years and he warmly welcomed her replacement as Interim Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change, Carys Lord, who was sure would provide similar excellent support in the above service areas of the Council.

 

These sentiments were echoed by both the Mayor and fellow Members.

 

The Interim Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change thanked Members for these warm comments of appreciation.

 

Cabinet Member - Communities

 

Together with the Mayor, Leader and Cabinet colleagues, I was delighted to attend the opening of a new education and wellbeing centre recently at Bryngarw Country Park alongside Dawn Bowden, the Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport.

 

Called ‘Y Nyth’, the new centre is just one of several new improvements delivered in partnership with Awen Cultural Trust following a £750,000 investment from the Valleys Regional Park programme.

 

The programme has set up twelve ‘discovery gateways’ designed to recognise and maximise natural and cultural assets to generate social, economic and environmental benefits.

 

Y Nyth features a purpose-built classroom and kitchen, while the park’s visitor centre has been redeveloped to offer year-round activities for families and visitors.

 

New outdoor natural play equipment has been installed which is designed to support children’s physical and mental health, develop their creativity, imagination and critical thinking, and encourage their social interaction.

 

A new bike shelter has been installed with a ‘green’ roof to increase biodiversity, and solar panels have been fitted to the visitor centre, café, B-Leaf building and stable offices.

 

The park has also benefitted from new boardwalks and path upgrades, refurbished public conveniences and a new sculpture trail leading through five of the natural habitats to be found within Bryngarw.

 

Bryngarw Country Park truly is one of the gems within the county borough’s crown, and I hope that members will visit the park and see for themselves how these improvements are delivering an enhanced visitor experience.

 

Finally, I would like to thank Councillor Lyn Walters for all her hard work recently, by assisting in Ravenscourt with the administering of the Covid jab booster in order to help protect individuals from the disease and particularly the new Omnicron strain.

 

Cabinet Member – Social Services and Early Help

 

Members may recall that it was in December 2020 when Councillor Burnett first advised Council of the extreme pressures facing our domiciliary care service, and of how this was being reflected throughout the social care sector across Wales.

 

One year on, I would like to pick this up by providing you with a brief overview of the current situation, and what we have been doing to mitigate it over the last twelve months.

 

While the situation remains difficult and our services continue to face severe challenges, we are meeting the overwhelming majority of local needs in a timely and effective way.

 

A comparison with pre-pandemic figures reveals an eight per cent rise in the number of care hours delivered since 2017-18, and current trends indicate that we can expect to see increasing need in order to support people to remain as healthy and independent as possible in their own homes.

 

I would like to start this statement by paying tribute to our frontline social care workforce who have worked tirelessly for the last two years and are caring for more people, with higher level of needs, than ever before.

 

I need to advise Council, however, that currently, the number of people waiting to have their assessed needs for care and support needs met is rising.

 

A great deal of work has taken place over the last twelve months, on both a local and a national level.

 

Cabinet yesterday approved new commissioning arrangements for care and support at home which will enable all providers to pay their workforce the real living wage.

 

We have significantly supported the sector through the social care recovery fund to ensure providers are in a position to pay their staff at that level in advance of the new contracts coming into effect in 2022 – 23.

 

As you know, we set up a project group with the aim of developing an action plan capable of meeting needs in a different way. We are looking at ways of supporting staff in the social care sector and have been supporting providers through the social care recovery fund.

 

If people are waiting for care and support at home, risks to their well-being are being managed by the proactive review and assessment of each individual’s circumstances. We are directly involving people themselves, their families and informal carers with this.

 

Where continued waiting is not an option, alternative provision such as day opportunities, residential care, residential reablement and respite short breaks are being explored and offered.

 

We are also using fast-track direct payments and the carer’s grant to meet people’s assessed needs and are liaising closely with families on how much support they may be able to offer.

 

The situation remains difficult and has not been helped by the fact that three independent providers have given notice on some packages of care, meaning it has created additional demand around 39 people and more than 400 service hours.

 

In terms of our domiciliary action plan, the project group is aiming to increase capacity by 20 additional members of staff by 1 April next year, while a Reablement Service has been reintroduced at Bryn y Cae to support people with reablement needs.

 

Various marketing strategies have been introduced to publicise job vacancies as widely as possible, and we have both participated in and benefitted from the national ‘We Care’ recruitment programme, including taking part in recruitment roadshows.

 

We are currently recruiting casual staff to build capacity for our internal services, while Human Resources are reviewing long-term absence cases and are supporting staff to return to work as soon as is practicable.

 

In terms of actions that are currently being prepared, community recruitment roadshows have taken place in Porthcawl and Ogmore Vale are being planned for Maesteg and Bridgend, and we are actively promoting career pathways to market options available within the social care sector.

 

A concerted publicity campaign is being planned which will include a series of adverts on Bridge FM starring existing carers talking about their roles, and staff have also been offered the opportunity to increase their contracted hours.

 

Plans are in development for the best deployment for staff who are non-drivers, and an alternative transport proposal is currently at the options appraisal stage.

 

If successful, this could see the launch of all-new pool cars, electric bikes, scooters and more as a way of ensuring staff who do not have access to a car can still make their rounds.

 

We are also developing an early warning system which will recognise signs that the independent sector is struggling to deliver packages of care and are working closely with the Social Care Development Workforce Programme to create an induction program which supports independent providers who are struggling to retain staff.

 

Finally, a pilot scheme to utilise health care support workers has been agreed and is in the process of being implemented, and a review of day services is underway.

 

This is exploring a wide range of options for extending opening times, adjusting care timeframe schedules, analysing staffing and transportation issues, and much more.

 

So, in summary, we are doing more than ever before. With both short, medium and longer term plans in place, terms and conditions are being addressed through recovery funds and recommissioning. We are working to ensure that we meet our responsibilities under the Social Services and Wellbeing Act, and that needs can be met in alternative ways where necessary.

 

I would also like to add that all parts of Wales and indeed the UK are in the same position and are facing the same types of challenge.

 

Cabinet Member – Future Generations and Wellbeing

 

Members may want to advise their constituents that people who rent privately but who have fallen behind due to Covid-19 can apply for a Tenancy Hardship Grant, an initiative introduced by Welsh Government.

 

To be eligible, they must have at least eight weeks of unpaid rent built up between 1 March 2020 and 30 June 2021, and tenants must not have received housing benefit whilst the unpaid rent was building up.

 

The grant is specifically designed for private rent sector tenants who may have been furloughed, experienced a drastic reduction in hours, or even lost their jobs due to the pandemic.

 

It is paid directly to the landlord or agent to reduce the likelihood of losing the tenancy and it does not have to be paid back.

 

More information on how to apply is available at both the council and Welsh Government websites.

 

Cabinet Member – Education and Regeneration

 

Following on from last month’s similar good news with Plasnewydd Primary School, Maesteg, Ogmore Vale Primary School has now also received an early Christmas present with the same news, ie that it has been moved out of special measures. So there are presently no BCB schools in special measures.

 

Inspectors from Estyn have confirmed that they are satisfied the school has made sufficient progress on a series of recommendations.

 

This is excellent news for the school. I know that Council Officers and colleagues from the Central South Consortium have been working closely with the teachers and headteacher at the school in order to achieve the necessary progress that has now been made and I would like to congratulate them all for their efforts.

 

Chris Elmore MP has introduced a Xmas Card this year, with some lovely designs on them put together by some school children from the County Borough. I would therefore like to thank Dylan Simmonds, Bettws Primary, Layla Roll-Jones, Ysgol Cynwyd Sant Primary, and Lucy Evans, Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Primary Schools, for their flair and imagination here with the card design.

 

Finally, the Porthcawl Community Orchestra will be playing Xmas Carols in John Street, Porthcawl, this coming Saturday, between 11am – 1pm, so any donations from the public for charity here, would be greatly welcomed.

 

Chief Executive

 

Members may have seen media coverage or posts on social media concerning temporary restrictions that we have been forced to impose over the use of drop-off zones at three local schools.

 

For the sake of clarity, I’d like to briefly confirm why we have been forced to put these restrictions in place.

 

The affected drop-off zones are located at Brynmenyn Primary, Pencoed Primary and Coleg Cymunedol y Dderwen where, if used correctly, they offer a safe, convenient facility.

 

Unfortunately, parents and carers at the schools were advised that an assessment of the drop-off zones had revealed some quite serious concerns over their misuse which, if it continued, could result in their withdrawal.

 

Despite this, multiple incidents continued to be observed of vehicles making dangerous manoeuvres, travelling at speed, blocking or not using the drop-off bays correctly, ignoring instructions from officers on site and more, and included several near-miss incidents.

 

Clearly, we cannot compromise where pupil safety is concerned. A decision was made to make the drop-off zones available only to staff working at the school, parents and carers who are Blue Badge holders, and home-to-school transport vehicles provided by the local authority.

 

As you might expect, this has not proven to be popular with a number of parents and carers, but I hope that members will appreciate how the urgency of the closure reflects just how seriously the authority and the schools are taking the issue.

 

Officers are already looking at options that could provide a safe alternative that prioritises the safety of pupils and pedestrians attending or visiting these schools, but until then, the temporary restrictions must remain in place.

 

I hope this brief clarification serves to explain some of the background surrounding the decision.

 

In other news, as Members have already confirmed, today marks the last time that our Head of Finance, Gill Lewis, will be attending Council.

 

You normally earn time off for good behaviour, but Members may recall that Gill originally signed up for six months and ended up staying for more than four years!

 

This was largely because we tried many times to recruit someone of her calibre, but failed to do so.

 

Gill’s tenure coincided with some of the harshest financial circumstances this Council has ever had to face, and on top of that, we have had the Coronavirus pandemic to contend with, too.

 

Throughout all of this, Gill’s grasp of the issues at hand has been second to none, and she has demonstrated invaluable wisdom and strong leadership.

 

She has done an outstanding job in steering the Council’s finances through some very difficult and uncertain times, initially during austerity and then latterly through the pandemic and all of the challenges that has brought in, not just for finance and the delivery of multiple grants, but also in areas such as homelessness, ICT, digital transformation, customer care and more.

 

It is no secret that acting as a Council Section 151 officer will never help anyone to win a popularity contest. This is the post where you often find yourself having to say ‘no’ as you manage issues of affordability and compliance with numerous accounting codes, the principles of our Medium Term Financial Plan and more.

 

The good news is that Gill has played this role of ‘pantomime villain’ really well. Our financial management is regarded extremely well by regulators and auditors alike, and Gill’s experience and expertise continues to be held in the highest regard by the likes of the Audit Committee, her CMB colleagues and members in general.

 

While Gill intends to spend more time playing golf and travelling when pandemic conditions allow, I understand that she intends to carry on working initially with colleagues in health, and that she has also picked up some work in Jersey and no doubt, that will make it easier for accessing all her offshore accounts!

 

I and her CMB colleagues also suspect that Gill will be pestering her butler, who doubles as her husband, for more cups of tea.

 

I thank Gill on behalf of Council, for everything she has done while she has been at the Authority and wish her all the very best for the future.