(i) Mayor (or person presiding)
(ii) Members of the Cabinet
(iii) Chief Executive
Minutes:
MAYORAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Mayor welcomed Members to his first meeting of Council since his inauguration. He informed Members that he had a busy time during the past few weeks and he thanked Ruth Ronan and Merete Bang and everybody in the Democratic Services team for the excellent support he had received. The Mayor hoped to be able to announce the names of the charities that he would be supporting shortly, and he had been putting forward a number of suggestions for new types of event that will help raise funds for these good causes, which he would inform Members of in due course.
The Mayor informed Council that he was delighted to open an information market for carers at the Princess of Wales Hospital recently as part of this year’s Carers Week activities. The event was extremely well attended and brought home to the sheer number of local people who provide unpaid care for sick, elderly or disabled relatives, neighbours and friends within the County Borough which numbered almost 18,000 people, from all ages and backgrounds. He stated that the information market was just one of several events designed to raise awareness about the wide range of support that is available for carers, and as part of this he was really impressed to see the development of new E-Training modules for Council staff and the launch of a new private Facebook support group for employees who also act as carers. A wealth of information about available support could be found online and at the Bridgend Carers Centre website which would be useful for local constituents, and the Mayor urged Members to take a closer look and find out more.
The Mayor informed Members of news that the Council has 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 everyone on making the event a success.
The Mayor reminded Members that raising the flag for Armed Forces Day would be taking place at 10.15am on Monday 22 June outside the Civic Offices. The event will mark the beginning of Armed Forces Week which will culminate with a parade at 11.30am led by the South Wales Police Band and a short service in front of the war memorial in Dunraven Place. He stated that these events are always well supported within the County Borough, and all are very welcome to come and show your support.
The Mayor also congratulated to Rhydian Jenkins on coming first in the both the Cerdd Dant Solo and the Boy’s Solo in last week’s Urdd Eisteddfod and also congratulated Aelwyd Porthcawl on coming third in the folk choirs competition.
CABINET MEMBERS’ ANNOUNCEMENTS
Deputy Leader
The Deputy Leader announced the inaugural ‘Art Challenge Wales’ event was held in Porthcawl recently which was a huge success, and he congratulated 15-year-old Porthcawl Comprehensive pupil Alice Webber on winning the junior competition with a watercolour painting of Newton Beach. Almost 70 artists took part in the event with some travelling from Bristol and Pembrokeshire. Their work could be seen at the Art Challenge Wales website and is also previewed in the current edition of Bridge Members. The organisers were now seeking to double the numbers for Art Challenge Wales 2016 and artists from Saint Sebastien Sur Loire, Porthcawl’s twin town in France, were also considering taking part. The non-profit event was supported by Bridgend County Borough Council with funding from the Welsh Government’s Town Centre Partnership, with it becoming a much anticipated local fixture.
The Deputy Leader informed Council that Ysgol Cynwyd Sant had been identied as a best practice case study in Estyn’s latest thematic report, Best Practice In Teaching And Learning In The Creative Arts At Key Stage Two, which looks at standards and provision in art and design, music, dance and drama within schools. YsgolCynwyd Sant had been featured in a short film which illustrated best practice strategies for teaching and learning across the creative arts in primary schools, and another local school, Llangewydd Juniors was also featured in the Estyn report.
The Deputy Leader announced that Cefn Glas Infants have achieved Investors in Families award. This is an award scheme that enables schools to demonstrate their commitment to engaging families and is based on evidence that children’s’ attainment at school improves when their learning is supported and reinforced at home. To gain the award, the school submitted a portfolio detailing activities undertaken to involve families in their child’s learning and the wider school environment.
The Deputy Leader also announced that Richard Bailey that Ysgol Bryn Castell has now officially moved to the redeveloped former Ogmore Comprehensive site, which has been renamed the Bryncethin Campus, and that Richard Bailey has been appointed Head Teacher of Bryncethin Primary and Helen Jones, appointed the Deputy Head Teacher at Maesteg Comprehensive School.
Cabinet Member Communities
The Cabinet Member Communities that the repair works at the A473 inner bypass bridge in Bridgend town centre are progressing well, work moved above deck at the start of June and a series of contra-flow arrangements have been introduced. The above-deck works are being carried out in two six-week phases, the first of which is currently underway and focuses on the northbound carriageway heading towards Maesteg. He stated that this is a big project and while some inconvenience was unavoidable, he was pleased at the way in which it is being carried out with an absolute minimum of disruption. The project is expected to be completed in early September and Members may want to advise their constituents that a useful series of FAQs are available on the Council’s website.
The Cabinet Member Communities announced that next Sunday marks the start of Recycle Week 2015, so it was appropriate to note that Bridgend County Borough is in the top ten per cent of UK areas who have reduced carbon emissions by recycling 57 per cent of all weekly waste. He stated that landfill sites generate methane gas, and cutting down on the amount of rubbish that is disposed of in this way makes perfect sense. He thanked all residents as it is their recycling efforts that have led to this achievement. Recycle Week 2015 was being marked by continuing to encourage householders to recycle items from every room in the house, whether it was shampoo and shower gel bottles from the bathroom or magazines and old newspapers from the living room. Details of ‘Full House’ campaign and recycling in general could be found by visiting the corporate website.
Cabinet Member Adult Social Care & Wellbeing
The Deputy Leader announced on behalf of the Cabinet Member Adult Social Care & Wellbeing that a new competition was attracting a lot of attention, called ‘Hash Tag My Green Space’, it aimed to find Bridgend County Borough’s most popular outdoor area and is encouraging people to get out and about and live healthier lifestyles. He stated the competition will run over the summer and a top ten list will be compiled which people will then be able to vote upon to find the number one spot. The scheme is encouraging local residents to enjoy the great outdoors, highlight what it means to them, and suggest ideas for making local beauty spots more accessible. More details were available on the Council’s website, and people can submit their favourite places by using Twitter or emailing biodiversity@bridgend.gov.uk.
The Deputy Leader also announced this year’s Love2Walk Festival starts on Saturday and will invite walkers of all ages and abilities to enjoy some historic tales as they clock up the miles. Many of this year’s walks centre on the Bridgend Nature Keepers, a series of interactive sculptures that can be found in some of the county borough’s best-loved parks and beauty spots. Other festival highlights include a four-mile history walk around Coity Castle, an evening bat walk at Bryngarw Country Park and a Gruffalo story walk for children on Saturday 27 June and further details can be found by visiting www.love2walk.co.uk.
The Deputy Leader announced that an awards event will take place next Thursday which will celebrate the achievements of young people from schools and communities who have helped develop active and healthy lifestyles. He stated that the leadership pathway that Bridgend County Borough Council is operating through the Active Young People Department showcases the leadership qualities that local young people are developing in building better lives within their communities.
Supported by organisations including the Welsh Government, Sport Wales and Disability Sport Wales, it had been described as being ‘sector leading’ by Estyn inspectors. He stated that the awards have been planned by the young people themselves and will focus on issues such as youth leadership, innovation and creativity,disability and disadvantage. The event will showcase many of the good things that are taking place and highlight how the investments that we are making into the young people of today will help create the community leaders of the future.
Cabinet Member Children’s Social Services and Equalities
The Cabinet Member Children’s Social Services and Equalities advised Members that the Welsh Government’s Flying Start programme is expanding further and that a newly-built centre has been opened in Lewistown. Based on Blackmill Road, the centre is offering local eligible families access to services such as free childcare for two to three-year-olds, parenting support, an enhanced health visitor service, help with early language development and more. The new centre meant that more than a quarter of pre-school children across the county borough are now able to access Flying Start services, and the Lewistown centre joins similar facilities that have already been established in Cornelly, Wildmill, Brackla, Cefn Glas, Maesteg, Sarn, Bettws and Blackmill. The Lewistown centre will be staging an open day on Thursday 25 June to demonstrate how it can help local families, more information is available from the Flying Start team.
Cabinet Member Resources
The Cabinet Member Children’s Social Services and Equalities announced on behalf of the Cabinet Member Resources Member Development details of which were to be found in today’s edition of Bridge Members. She announced that all annual reports will need to be submitted by the first week of August so that they can be published at the corporate website by the end of the month. The Democratic Services team have emailed Members a report template incorporating links to committee attendance data which may be useful when compiling the reports. The reports can be submitted to the Member’s BCBC email address where they will be checked and formatted prior to publication. Secondly, Members have an opportunity to undertake personal development reviews, or PDRs, which are completed as part of a peer review process with both the appraiser and appraise allocated and co-ordinated by political groups. Completed PDRs can be copied to the Head of Democratic Services so that training needs can be assessed and included in the member development programme. It was hoped that all PDRs will be completed by 1st September.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE MONITORING OFFICER
The Monitoring Officer announced changes to the meetings of the Partnerships & Governance Overview and Scrutiny Committee from 9 September 2015 to 16 September 2015 the Corporate Resources & Improvement Overview and Scrutiny Committee from 21 January 2016 to 11 January 2016 in order to better align the meetings to the timescales of the budget process.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE
The Chief Executive made a presentation on the review of his personal objectives and performance which had been undertaken by a panel comprising of Members. The panel had reviewed his progress against targets set in the previous year and had been positive about his achievements, namely, the delivery of the corporate plan to budget, the response to the Williams Commission; the establishment of a new management team; the change programme and the response to the Estyn inspection.
The Chief Executive informed Council that his priorities set by the Panel for this year are:
· To work with the Cabinet and the Corporate Management Board to refocus the Council’s priorities, corporate plan and Medium Term Financial Strategy to take account of significant anticipated reductions in funding in excess of 30% over the next 3-4 years.
· To lead the Council’s response to anticipated legislation affecting the organisation and roles of local government.
The Chief Executive informed Council that the Panel had requested that he have a personal involvement in:
· refocusing and refining of Council business support services;
· the development of the Cardiff Capital City Region and relationships with the other member authorities;
· the strategic review and rationalisation of the curriculum and estate provision of Bridgend schools;
· the integration and development of unified adult and children’s social care concentrating on specific threats to the authority (looked after children and child sexual exploitation).
The Chief Executive informed Council that corporately there would be a strategic approach with a continued focus on sickness resulting in a reduction in sickness absence. Efforts would also be concentrated on the successful implementation of the Bridgend permanency and placement strategy and intervention strategy for older people.