(i) Mayor (or person presiding)

(ii) Members of the Cabinet

(iii) Chief Executive

Mayor

The Mayor announced that he and his consort had had a very busy first few weeks and wished to share some of the events that they had already attended.  He announced that on Monday 20 June he had the privilege of raising the Armed Forces Flag.  He explained that the flag was raised every year in honour of the armed forces and in doing so the Authority joins hundreds of people and Councils throughout Britain.  The flying of the flag served to remind everyone of the sacrifices that were made by so many servicemen and women in order that we could all live in a safer and fairer world.  He thanked everyone who attended on the day to show their support and gave particular thanks to Callum MacLauchlin who was a student with the MPCT and future Welsh Guard and raised the flag on his behalf. 

Staying with the military theme, the Mayor and his consort were delighted to be invited to attend a National Service of Commemoration of the Somme in Llandaff Cathedral.  He stated that this was a wonderfully moving service and marked the start of an overnight military vigil which concluded with an early morning Service of Remembrance at the National War Museum.  Closer to home the Mayor and his Consort also attended an equally moving service of commemoration in St David’s Church in Pontycymer.

The Mayor announced that earlier in the week he met with the Headteachers of the Borough who were retiring at the end of the academic year.  He informed Members that it was a lovely opportunity to pass on the thanks of the Council for all their hard work and dedication throughout their time with the Authority.  He wished them all the best for a long and happy retirement. 

The Mayor congratulated Ms Kathleen Mary Evans and Mrs Aileen Christine Jones, and informed Members that these two remarkable ladies were recently recognised for their good works in the Queen’s 90^th Birthday Honours.  Ms Evans was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to nursing in Bridgend and Mrs Jones received an MBE in recognition of her years of bravery with the RNLI Porthcawl. 

And finally the Mayor was very pleased to announce that his charities for next year had been finalised and were: Kidney Wales Cymru Foundation, Crossroads Care, Bridgend and Heronsbridge School – “Summer School”.  He hoped that over the coming year members would join the fundraising efforts for the well deserving organisations. 

Deputy Leader

The Deputy Leader was pleased to inform Members that a recent Estyn “Best Practice” report on raising the attainment, achievement and aspiration levels of looked after children had singled out Brynteg Comprehensive as a case study, specifically the way the school uses a tracking system that enabled teachers to identify and support pupils who require additional help.  He added that the report highlighted a number of types of support available at the school, such as the “Helping Hands” initiative which uses peer mentors to help children adjust, form tutor mentoring, infinity mentoring for year eleven pupils, a cluster learning support officer who works with vulnerable groups, dedicated learning coaches and more.  He added that all of this had delivered a number of positive results for looked after children at the school, including strong performance in key stages three and four, at least three essential skill qualifications each for pupils at level two, an overall attendance rate of 95 percent and a rate of 88 per cent for pupils who achieved their projected progress targets or did better than expected.  He added that it was great to see that one of the Authority’s local schools was delivering such positive changes for local children and was sure that Members would agree that Brynteg deserved to be congratulated for being singled out by Estyn as an example of best practice.

The Deputy Leader advised that plans to provide a brand new school building for pupils at Brynmenyn Primary had taken a major step forward following the appointment of BAM Construction Ltd to undertake the initial design work.  The proposal is to relocate the school less than a mile away next to Coleg Cymunedol Y Dderwen in Ynysawdre.  He added that the Authority were submitting a full business case to Welsh Government and if the plans were approved, construction work could begin by January 2017 with a proposed school opening one year later.  He advised that public meetings where discussions of the plans had already been held with members of the public and parents.  The Deputy Leader announced that he was delighted that this milestone had been reached and hoped that the Authority would soon be able to deliver a bigger school with more modern facilities less, one which would help cope with a rising demand for school places in the Valleys Gateway area for years to come.

The Deputy Leader advised Members that students at Pencoed Comprehensive School recently heard the testimony of Holocaust survivor Janine Webber during a visit organised by the Holocaust Educational Trust.  He advised that Janine had spoken to pupils about her experiences in the Second World War during the Nazi regime’s infamous persecution of Jews across Europe, and encouraged the students to ask her questions.  He added that educating children and young people about events such as the Holocaust ensures that the experiences and words of its victims and survivors alike can continue to inform their lives and become a meaningful part of their future. 

The Deputy Leader informed Members that parents had gone back to school at Pencoed Primary to help pass on their unique talents to pupils as part of a Community Skills Day – the first to held at the school.  Thirty parents hosted masterclasses on subjects that ranged from balloon artistry to making jewellery, mosaics and weaving.  More than 250 pupils enjoyed the experience and explored new skills at the event, which received fantastic support from parents and the community in general.

Cabinet Member Adult Social Care and Health and Wellbeing

The Cabinet Member Adult Social Care and Health and Wellbeing advised Members that a landmark new website service had been launched to help people find the information and advice they need to improve their well-being and access local support services in Wales.  The Dewis Cymru website was an important first for Wales.  It offers a single, clear and reliable point of access that could be used by members of the public as well as care service professionals to help support people achieve their wellbeing goals.  He added that the new website formed part of the ongoing delivery of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act which highlighted how the provision of high quality information plays a central role in helping people remain independent, manage their wellbeing and shape the care services they receive.  More than 800 organisations have been involved in the development of the website, and with over 30,000 hots per month it was already making a difference.  The Cabinet Member Adult Social Care and Health and Wellbeing added that further work was ongoing so that the Dewis Cymru website could evolve further, but that this was a great development not only for the constant improvement of care, but for helping future service delivery to be based directly on public needs and levels of demand as well.  He concluded that the Social Services conference at Llandudno last week saw the launch of Dewis Cymru website

Cabinet Member Childrens Social Services and Equalities

The Cabinet Member Childrens Social Services and Equalities announced that she was shocked and saddened at some of the post-referendum incidents that had been covered by national news recently.  She added that it seemed the result had been viewed by some as justification for behaviour which she believed was truly sickening.  Thankfully, she added that the worst of the incidents had taken place in areas other than Bridgend County Borough, however added that she had been informed of an incident whereby a pupil was verbally attacked whilst on his way to school in the Bridgend area. She advised that she had already spoken with several other Members who felt the same way as she did so she wished to state to all Members that there was no place for hate crime, racism, homophobia, religious intolerance or any other kind of discrimination in Bridgend County Borough and stated that Bridgend County Borough Council would not tolerate such behaviour.  She added that together with their partners, the Authority embraces tolerance and understanding as a progressive community and would fight against hate crime in all of its many forms.  She added that the Council had a strong track record of promoting acceptance and combating hate crime through events such as “Show Racism the Red Card” and “Stop the Hate” campaign. 

The Cabinet Member Childrens Social Services and Equalities stated to Members that Holocaust survivor Janine Webber met with pupils at Pencoed Comprehensive School recently to discuss her wartime experiences and the subsequent life that she made here in the UK, and the Council joined with other organisations at this years’ annual Holocaust memorial event to vow that we “will not stand by”.  She added that this was as true now as it was before the recent referendum, and was sure that member would agree when she stated that the Authority would not stand by or turn a blind eye to hate crime and discrimination, but the Authority would take whatever action was required to fight it.  She advised that she had left hate crime reporting leaflets for all Members.

Cabinet Member Resources

The Cabinet Member Resources advised that Members would have received their annual report template for the municipal year 2015-16 as well as a link to the website where they were able to access their attendance figures for formal meetings.  He advised that it was the intention to publish Members’ annual reports on the Council website by 2 September 2016, Democratic Services would be grateful if Members could return their reports as soon as possible as it would have to be sent away for translation. 

The Cabinet Member Resources advised that the Elected Members ICT Forum is due to meet on 13 July 2016.  He asked if any Members had experienced issues with their ICT provision or who have positive feedback on the services provided by the ICT team to provide feedback to their group representative as soon as possible.  He asked Members to include the service desk ticket number along with their views to help identify specific examples.

The Cabinet Member Resources stated that Members may have noticed the recent introduction of “Q-R codes” on agendas.  He advised Members that the Democratic Services team had included these so that Members who used smart phones could use them to link to public reports and minutes. 

Finally the Cabinet Member Resources advised that the Member Development programme was currently being revised, and that a full update would be provided at the next meeting of Council.

Cabinet Member Regeneration and Economic Development

The Cabinet Member Regeneration and Economic Development was pleased to announce that the Authority had agreed to support a forthcoming event on 29 July organised by Bridgend Business Forum called “Bridgend County Businesses – fit for Local and Global futures.  He stated that it was designed to ensure that local businesses are prepared and can meet the demands of future markets.  He also stated to Members that a skilled workforce, strong supply chains and market opportunities were important at both a local and global level, and the 3,500 enterprises registered in the county borough grew at a rate of 10 per cent between 2010 and 2015.  He informed Members that research had been carried out with local businesses to identify future challenges and opportunities, and the event would enable them to discuss and agree future actions. He added that during such uncertain times, it was important for the business community to come together and form a united front in order to help safeguard the future of the county borough, and this event would also reaffirm the Council’s commitment towards the business community.  He informed Members that more information on the event would be available shortly. 

Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing (on behalf of Chief Executive)

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing announced that the Chief Executive was unable to attend today’s Council meeting as he was speaking to the Local Government Association about how the Authority’s work on Health and Social Care integration was progressing at a pace and how English councils and health bodies might learn from Western Bay and other parts of Wales.  She advised that this followed a recent visit to Bridgend by Welsh Government officials who saw some of the work that the Authority was doing with ABMU.  As a result of his attendance at the Local Government Conference the Chief Executive had asked her to provide Members with an update on City Deal.

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing advised that the City Deal was still working towards creating an investment fund of £1.2 billion.  The Authority is working towards a deadline of 31 March 2017 to get the deal finalised and to ensure that the investment was directed towards projects and schemes that make a lasting and long term difference to our economy.  She added that one significant element of the deal was its relationship with the Metro scheme.  The bulk of the Welsh Government’s contribution was being directed towards the project, but there had also been uncertainty expressed about the current EU contribution to the scheme and whether this would still be forthcoming now that the referendum result had decided that the UK was to leave the EU.  She added that it was uncertain at this point in time, but the Welsh Government was continuing to press ahead with the national rail procurement exercise so the City Deal was continuing to work alongside them to seek to influence this. 

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing stated to Members that the Commission would analyse and evaluate the expert argument that would be devised by both Cardiff University and the Centre for Cities, and then make its independent recommendations for the future economic strategy for the region.  She advised Members that they would be visiting Bridgend County Borough as part of their work, and we would be ensuring that our evidence and information and that of the local business community is heard.  She added that City Deal had now appointed a full time programme manager and project officer to take a lot of the work forward between now and the end of March.  The posts had been established using the joint fund supported by all ten councils and was being hosted by Bridgend Council and that it had been established in the Civic Offices.  A further report on the City Deal was tabled at Cabinet yesterday, and there would be further updates to Members as the deal continued to develop.