(i)            Mayor (or person presiding)

(ii)           Cabinet Members

(iii)          Chief Executive

(iv)         Monitoring Officer

MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENT

 

Former Mayor Councillor C J James on behalf of himself and Councillor P James extended his thanks to all Members and Officers for their encouraging words of support during the time of his illness.

 

MAYORAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

The Mayor announced that as this was the first Council meeting of 2015, he began by wishing Members a very Happy New Year. He hoped that they all enjoyed a peaceful and merry Christmas, and made the most of the festive season, which was particularly busy for himself and the Deputy Mayor as between us they had attended 58 events.

 

Just before Christmas, it was announced that the Community Chest grants scheme has invested more than one million pounds into grassroots sport in Bridgend County Borough since it began 15 years ago. A Sports Wales initiative which is run locally by the council’s Active Young People team, and in that time the scheme has helped hundreds of local clubs, organisations and businesses to create opportunities for people to get active and live healthier lifestyles. The most recent beneficiary was Maesteg Golf Club, which received £1,500 to expand their junior section, purchase equipment and train volunteers.

 

That investment has already paid off with the news that the young players have won the Welsh Inter Club County Championships and the Glamorgan County Championships for the first time in the club’s history. I recently met with the young players to discuss their success, and found out that the club works hard with local primary schools to make the sport as accessible as possible. To pass the one million pound funding mark was a significant achievement for the Community Chest scheme. He stated though that he would urge more clubs, organisations and businesses to find out more about it, and Members may also want to bring it to the attention of their constituents, too. Further details can be found at the Sport Wales website or by contacting our Active Young People team.

 

Nominations for this year’s Mayor’s Citizenship Awards are set to close on Friday 30 January. He asked those present, that if they knew of an individual, group or business within your local community who deserve to be recognised for going the extra mile to help others, please consider putting them forward for one of the awards. Members could find out more by visiting the mayor’s page at the corporate website, and winners will be announced and honoured at a mayoral event here at the Civic Offices in March.

 

Congratulations were also extended to the following who have been awarded New Year Honours:-

 

MVO was awarded to Mary Squire, Clerk to the Lord Lieutenant for Mid Glamorgan.

 

MBE’s were awarded to Mrs Jennifer Ann Morgan from Penyfai for services to Special Education and the community in Cardiff, and also to Mrs Shirley Rose Davies-Fox Chair of ISA Training in Bridgend for services to the Hairdressing Industry.

 

Finally, the British Empire medal was awarded to Mrs Karyl Carter from Stroke Association, Bridgend for services to Stroke Survivors.

 

CABINET MEMBERS’ ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

(1)Cabinet Member - Communities

 

The Cabinet Member – Communities advised that, Members may recall recent incidents where people have reported becoming temporarily stuck in soft sand and mud while walking or exercising their dogs at Newton Beach in Porthcawl.

 

This is of course a common coastline feature, but due to the number of reports and media stories, the council has arranged for new signage to be erected alerting people to the issue and advising them to be aware. The signage which reads ‘Caution: soft sand and mud’ has been purchased by the authority and erected at the entrance to Newton Beach in partnership with the Porthcawl Powerboat and Ski Club using a metal post owned by the club. Newton Beach is a beautiful corner of the county borough, and the signage will hopefully help people avoid further difficulties.

 

Members may also want to remind their older constituents that people aged over 60 are entitled to a free concessionary bus pass. The council is currently publicising the scheme in an effort to boost take-up as relatively few eligible residents have applied to date.

 

We are fortunate in Wales to have such a scheme as it enables older people to travel for free at any time of the day. Applications for free concessionary bus passes can be made up to three weeks prior to a residents’ 60th birthday. They have to be made in person here at the Civic Offices or at libraries and life centres in Aberkenfig, Maesteg, Ogmore Vale, Pencoed, Pontycymer, Porthcawl and Pyle.

 

Application forms can be downloaded from the council website and completed in advance, but you will need to bring along ID such as a birth certificate, passport, driving licence or pension book as well as a bank statement or utility bill as proof of address.

 

People with certain disabilities are also entitled to a free bus pass or a companion pass for when they require assistance to travel. Your constituents can find out more by contacting the Council directly on 643643.

 

He confirmed that Cyd Cymru was a Wales wide collective energy switching project led by Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan Councils. BCBC signed up to the scheme last year and promoted the financial benefits of the scheme, namely reduced energy bills, to County Borough residents. Many of the constituents accessed the scheme and were now enjoying typical savings of £185 per year on their energy bills. For every person that switches their energy tariff through the Cyd Cymru scheme, money is paid into a Community Fund which was then distributed to local authorities within Wales, based upon the percentage of people from each local authority that have switched with the scheme. Last year BCBC was awarded £670.74 from the fund which will be donated to the Mayor’s Charity.

 

(2)Cabinet Member - Children and Young People

 

The Cabinet Member – Children and Young People advised that this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day will commemorate both the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau and the 20th anniversary of the Bosnian genocide, and the Council would be marking the event with the theme of ‘keeping the memory alive’. On 23 January, a HMD ceremony will take place here in the Council Chamber. Students from Bridgend College will deliver a piece of performance art and there will be screenings of videos featuring survivors of the Bosnian genocide. A second, more schools-based event is also being planned which will feature the participation of Holocaust survivor Eva Clarke. Eva will be giving a talk about her experiences and take part in a Q&A session with pupils from Brynteg Comprehensive. The pupils will also read a poem that they have written especially for the occasion and the event will climax with the planting of a tree and unveiling of a plaque, around which ‘remembrance stones’ will be set in place. These are sure to be very moving events and I am sure that Members will give them their full support he added.

 

Pupils at Trelales Primary are to be congratulated for picking up their third Green Flag award from Keep Wales Tidy. The flag has been presented to the school in recognition of its ongoing commitment towards saving electricity, encouraging recycling and being as ‘green’ as possible. Among the eco-ouches that can be found throughout the school include a greenhouse made from plastic bottles, composting facilities, bug hotels and a nature area. Achieving a Green Flag is the culmination of a lot of hard work and commitment to being as ‘green’ as possible, so well done to them all - special thanks are due to the school’s eco committee, ‘Bike it’ crew and eco co-ordinator, Janet Fullstone.

 

He advised Members that the BBC has carried out some filming at Oldcastle Primary as part of a programme they are making about efforts to boost pupil numeracy levels across Wales. Oldcastle had experienced a lot of success with the ‘Numbers Count’ initiative and the BBC have decided to use the school as a case study, and this would be on BBC Wales news broadcasts throughout Wednesday 28 January.

He also had a hat-trick of good news about our Flying Start programme. First of all, he was very pleased that funding had been confirmed for the scheme to be expanded with a brand new setting at Garth Primary School in Maesteg. He also extended his to congratulations to Victoria Owens, a Flying Start worker from Porthcawl who picked up the top prize in The Welsh Government’s inaugural ‘Stars In Their Lives’ awards earlier this week. The awards recognise the valuable contribution hard-working Flying Start professionals make to people’s lives and children’s development, and Victoria was announced as the overall national winner, as well as the Cardiff and South East Wales regional winner.

 

Victoria was nominated by a new-mum for the invaluable support and advice she was given by Victoria to help get her new-born baby daughter to breastfeed successfully.

 

Finally, the Cabinet Member – Children and Young People congratulated the Flying Start health visitors, who had been praised by UNICEF UK for the excellent support they are providing to new mums and babies. The Flying Start team were part of the ABMU health visiting service, and have been accredited with the ‘Baby Friendly Initiative Award’ from UNICEF in recognition of the way they help parents to bond with their babies, and make informed decisions on how best to feed them. Flying Start was making a really positive impact on the health, wellbeing and parenting skills of families living in a number of our communities, and we are delighted that it is among the local health services to receive this international recognition.

 

Efforts to help narrow the gap between child poverty and educational achievement at Pencoed Comprehensive have been singled out for praise by the Wales Centre for Equity in Education.

 

The school has been put forward as a model of good practice and its One Thousand Club held up as a leading example of how to boost attendance and engagement with pupils.

 

Each child receives 500 points at the start of term and is encouraged to earn more by hitting targets, participating with classes, joining school clubs, undergoing regular assessments and more.

 

The scheme is sponsored by local businesses and there is a draw where pupils can win bikes, scooters, tablets, vouchers and other popular prizes.

 

Poverty can often be an obstacle towards doing well at school, but Pencoed Comprehensive has demonstrated ways in which this can be overcome and I would like to congratulate pupils, teachers, staff and governors for their hard work in achieving this.

(3)     Cabinet Member - Wellbeing

 

The Cabinet Member – Wellbeing advised that pre- 2010, the Meals at Home vehicle base moved from Bryncethin depot to Pyle Life Centre, which was more secure and generated savings through a reduction in mileage and reduced travel time

 

In February 2010 a quality assurance audit was undertaken on the meals at Home service. The subsequent report identified that the service was not achieving:

 

-                                             Value for money

-                                             Flexibility

-                                             Appropriate nutrition standards

-                                             Variety of meal to suit all needs and wishes

-                                             Services were not available seven days a week across  the Borough

-                                             Efficient payment processes

 

In February 2011, a Cabinet briefing was produced by Wellbeing proposing to introduce an invoicing system, extend the meal delivery to 7 days a week in all areas of the Borough, explore the option to transfer to catering services, and reduce the numbers of drivers on a van from two to one

 

The Cabinet Member – Wellbeing went on to state that in September 2011, the Meals at Home service was transferred to Catering services, as it was deemed to be better placed because of the catering expertise in preparing nutritious meals

 

Catering Services implemented a choice menu for the clients, and implemented the one driver per van initiative. At this time, Wellbeing only delivered to two areas of the Borough on weekends

 

From August 2012 the service was extended to all areas of the Borough on weekends and bank holidays

 

In April 2013, when Catering Services took over the service, there were 8 vans on the road daily. In April 2013, this was reduced to 7 vans on week days, 5 vans on weekends and 5/6 vans on bank holidays (dependant on uptake)

 

By way of summary, he confirmed that since transferring the Meals at Home service to BCBC’s Catering Services, the following had taken place:

 

•                                             A 7-day- a-week service is now delivered across the whole of the county

•                                             Service users now have a greater menu choice

•                                             There have been improvements in nutritional standards

•                                             Price increases to service users are kept to a minimum (3.4% average annual increase)

•                                             An effective and efficient payment process is now in place

 

                                               Service users and meal costs

 

Date                                       Service Users   Cost per meal (£)

 

2010/11                                  325        £3.45

2011/12                                  318        £3.53 (+2.3%)

2012/13                                  275        £3.68 (+4.2%)

2013/14                                  260        £3.82 (+3.8%)

2014/15                                  246        £3.94 (+3.1%)

 

In terms of the current situation and existing service users, the Cabinet Member – Wellbeing explained that the table below provides a breakdown of service users (in October 2014), by age and eligibility:

 

b.                                            An evolving service – a strength-based approach

 

•                                             Since January 2014, the Directorate has been developing a strengths based approach to assessment and review assessment

 

•                                             In the last year, all 246 service users receiving Meals at Home have been individually reviewed. Alternative meal provision and local alternative solutions were explored with individuals, as well as the implications of any potential increase in cost

 

•                                             We reviewed how we support people to regain their confidence and independence at home in our Community Resource Team, Enabling and Re-ablement services. The enabling programme teaches people how to heat and prepare frozen meals safely, and enables them to have choice and control over their meal, keeping them independent and more resilient

 

•                                             Rather than refer people immediately for meals at home, the referral management centre has been engaging with people in strength-based conversations, discussing alternative ways of supporting people with food preparation by advising about accredited frozen meal providers and local community solutions.

 

c.                                            Quality of service

 

In September 2014, a short ‘service quality’ survey was undertaken with existing service users. 185 questionnaires were sent out, to which there were 142 responses (77% response rate):

 

•                                             86% enjoy the current menu choice

•                                             90% are happy with the current delivery time

•                                             91% are happy with the temperature of their meal

 

He added that below are some additional comments made by service users when completing the survey:

 

“I am fully satisfied with the service provided – thank you”

 

“Thank you all for the kindness shown to me by your ladies, I could not manage without their help”

 

“Keep up the good work and thank you”       

 

“No complaints, fully satisfied with the service”

 

“I have found the meals a big help – all ready and hot. The servers are always cheerful, helpful and appearance is immaculate – I look forward to their visit and also look forward to seeing what's on the menu – always a varied choice. Thank you”

 

d.Benchmarking

 

The Cabinet Member – Wellbeing proceeded by advising that in September 2013, all authorities in Wales were invited to participate in a benchmarking exercise:

 

•                                             10 of the 13 participating authorities provide a community meal service

 

•                                             The service models for those who provide a service are very diverse, from full in- house provision (7 LAs) to a fully commissioned service from an independent provider (Apetito)

 

•                                             Of the 3 authorities who do not provide a community meal service, all have arrangements in place to signpost to alternative arrangements i.e. Third Sector, Lunch Clubs or re-ablement

 

Vale                                       - Provide a traditional, in-house service

 

            - Charge service users £4.10 a meal (2014/15)

            - No plans to review the community meals service in the near future

 

NPT                                       - Purchase meals and hire vans from Apetito – NPT staff deliver the meals

            - Charge service users £4.00 a meal – plan to increase this to £4.50-£5.00 from  April (TBC)

            - Under review – BCBC meeting with NPT in Jan 2015 to scope potential for joint working

 

CCS                                       - Do not provide a community meals service – sign-post to alternative arrangements

 

3.                                            Moving forward

 

There are some immediate short-term solutions that will deliver savings against the MTFS in 2015/16, although there will be a shortfall which will be made up from elsewhere in the service:

 

Solution                                  Benefits/savings           Risks/costs

 

Service efficiencies and potential small increase in charges

 

-                                             Catering services continue to provide Meals at Home

-                                             Review budgets & charges

-                                             Reduce unit cost through service efficiencies

-                                             Increase income via levy on tea-time service - No redundancy costs

-                                             Little impact on service users

-                                             Little impact on staff

-                                             Additional tea-time service

-                                             7-day service continued

-                                             Full control of quality/nutrition

-                                             Savings achieved in 2015/16                                      - Increased meal costs                                              

-                                             Chilled meal on 1 day

-                                             Up-front costs of £15,250 through identified corporate resources to adapt existing  vans

 

A breakdown of the savings that could be achieved in 2015/16 was detailed below:

 

2015/16 MTFS Target           £82,000

 

Description                            Savings (£)

 

Service Efficiencies

 

•                                             Reduce to 5 vans

•                                             Deliver 6 days a week – deliver one chilled meal to fulfil 7 days service

•                                             Provide an additional tea-time (sandwiches and cake) service

•                                             Reset base budget to reflect actual demand (54,000 meals per annum) & costs

•                                             Net effect is gross cost per meal reducing to £5.32 from £6.96, which would be the gross cost in 2015/16, based on existing costs & services     £47,480

 Potential options for increases in charges

Increase amount paid by service users for a meal:

•                                             Increase meal cost by £0.30 (up 7.62%) rising to £4.24 per meal

•                                             Increase meal cost by £0.40 (up 10.16%) rising to £4.34 per meal

•                                             Increase meal cost by £0.50 (up 12.69%) rising to £4.44 per meal   

 

£16,200

£21,600

£27,000

 

He concluded by stating that longer term decisions will need to be made in the future, in respect of alternative remodelling solutions to deliver the Meals at Home service.

 

The Cabinet Member – Wellbeing announced that he was pleased to confirm that following the appointment of a catering company, Bryngarw House will re-open its doors in spring 2015 as a venue for functions, conferencing, exclusive use weddings and other special occasions.

 

Members will be aware that the house will no longer operate as a restaurant and hotel, but is instead focusing its efforts on the special events market.

 

Leading South Wales caterer Five Star Chef, who already cater for venues such as Dyffryn Gardens, Caerphilly Castle and Penarth Pier Pavilion, have been awarded the contract to provide catering for events at the house. As part of the agreement, they will also be investing significantly in the venue as well as the wider works programme for the park over the next five years.

 

Refurbishment work to the function rooms is due to be completed by mid-February and the first public event will be a wedding fayre held at the end of that month.

More events are planned for both the park and the house, so look out for further details on this very soon.

 

(4) Cabinet Member – Resources

 

The Cabinet Member – Resources advised that Show Racism the Red Card is an educational charity that aims to combat racism through enabling role models, who are predominantly but not exclusively footballers.

 

It offers school workshops which are though provoking and covers such issues as racism against Muslims, Gypsy Travellers and Asylum Seekers.  Show Racism the Red Card stresses the importance of peer respect through fun interactive activities.

On 11^th February Show Racism the Red Card will facilitate an interactive workshop with elected members who sit on the Cabinet Committee – Equalities together with students from local schools. This workshop will serve as a pilot for consideration of arranging further workshops in Bridgend County Borough.

 

The Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales was holding a series of meetings across Wales to gather the views of elected members and officers. The Chair of the Democratic Services Committee and the Head of Democratic Services will therefore be attending a meeting on the 4th March to provide feedback on behalf of BCBC.

 

The Panel are particularly keen to receive views on members’ access to ICT support, and the distribution of allowances within the cap.  They have also asked for considerations on the Care allowance, for example any barriers that would prevent members claiming this element.

 

All representations on these or any other concerns should therefore be made to either Councillor Jeff Tildesley or Gary Jones prior to the meeting.

 

(5) Cabinet Member - Strategic Change

 

The Cabinet Member – Strategic Change stated that he was sure that Members will share his delight at the news that funding has become available which will help more people learn about Kenfig National Nature Reserve and preserve it for future generations.

 

The Council has been offered a grant from Natural Resources Wales which we will match from our rural development programme so that visitor information and interpretation at the reserve can be improved.

 

Kenfig offers one of the most fascinating sand dune and wetland habitats in Europe, and is popular with walkers, bird watchers, horse riders, photographers, dog walkers, orchid enthusiasts, surfers, runners, anglers, astronomers, holiday makers and more. We are also mindful of the need to strike a sensitive balance between attracting visitors and conserving the reserve’s ecology (refer to video on Internet), so a key message will be to encourage responsible behaviour.

 

He hoped that these improvements will enhance people’s visits to Kenfig National Nature Reserve, and help ensure that they can continue to enjoy this fantastic landscape.

 

He was also very impressed with the recent drop-in workshops organised by the Library and Information Service to help make elected members aware of the wide range of resources that are now available at local libraries. Staff were on hand to demonstrate how members of this very modern library service can benefit from ICT facilities and music, film and audio book resources. What was particularly impressive was the wide range of electronic information and materials that can be downloaded directly to your own mobile phone, tablet or other device, and anything from e-magazines and e-books to e-periodicals or e-audiobooks. Not only that, but he had been reliably informed that our libraries offer normal books, too!

 

The Cabinet Member – Strategic Change extended his thanks to the service for helping us to keep up to date with these latest developments in library services, and if any Member hasn’t already done so, he strongly recommended giving them a go.

Finally, he wanted to share with Members information regarding new funding that has been announced for three exciting community projects.

 

Lesley Griffiths, The Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty, has revealed that the charity Emmaus will receive £500k to provide high quality accommodation and support for homeless people in their first ever ‘Emmaus Community’ in Bridgend.

The funding will help to transform lives and I know that the news will be particularly welcomed by Councillors David White and Jeff Tildesley, who are both closely involved with the charity.

 

The Minister also announced that the Porthcawl Harbourside Community Interest Company will receive around £300k for their project to further develop the town’s harbour quarter. This is excellent news as the Council has provided the project with ‘seedcorn’ investment counted in officer time and tens of thousands of pounds which has helped the group to attract this funding. The proposed new water sports activities and education facilities for visitors and young people would be another positive step in the regeneration of Porthcawl, and I sincerely hope that the project will ultimately result in the successful delivery of a multi-million pound project for the area.

 

He was also pleased to pass on some excellent news about St John’s House in Newcastle Hill, Bridgend. The historic grade two listed building has received a £60k development grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund which will help towards making it a local heritage hub.

 

 

CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S ANNOUNCEMENT

 

The Chief Executive updated Members on the outcome of the recent Estyn inspection of our Children’s Services.

 

As Members may recall, he mentioned in the December meeting of Council that we had received good informal feedback from Estyn, particularly with regards to improvements in educational performance.

 

Since then we have been provided with more specific details, and while he stressed that the report was still in draft form, he was pleased to be able to inform Council that the feedback we have received is highly positive.

 

The recommendations proposed to improve outcomes for learners, especially at Key Stages 2 and 3, had been addressed, by setting more robust targets and by strengthening the rigour and consistency in our challenge to schools.

 

He felt that the local authority had made great strides in tackling attendance rates in primary and secondary schools by continuing to develop joint working between education welfare and family engagement officers.

 

Estyn also found that we have improved the quality of information we provide to elected members so they can challenge the performance of our services and schools more robustly.

 

And we were also continuing to reduce the number of young people not in education, employment or training, by implementing key components of the Youth Engagement and Progression Framework, and working closely with our partners at Careers Wales and Job Centre Plus.

 

Again, the Chief Executive stressed that the report is still in draft form, and we would soon be hearing about it formally, but overall I think that we can be very proud about how far our Children’s Services have come in the last two years.

 

Thanks were due to the Councillors, Cabinet Members, head teachers, governors, Council Officers and others who met with the Estyn inspectors as part of this process. Once we receive formal notification, the information will be cascaded more broadly and the findings would be publicised.