The Chief Executive announced that the Authority, in partnership with Halo Leisure, was pleased to support the local Athlete Development Foundation, which provides free access to training facilities, financial support and also a schedule of workshops for prospective athletes to learn from high performing athletes and their coaches.  This is the second year of the Foundation in Bridgend and some well-known people were now giving their support to further develop the Foundation, including Rob Howley as Patron, and Commonwealth Games athletes Helen Jenkins and Aled Sion Davies as ambassadors and this year 95 athletes have received support.  The Awards recognised the volume of talent that exists across a range of sports in Bridgend County Borough and the strength of our school sport structures, community clubs and the volunteers who make it all happen.

The Chief Executive announced the appointment of Hannah Woodhouse as Managing Director of the South Central Consortium, following a selection process which included interviews with relevant elected Members, Head Teachers, the Director of Education and a senior Welsh Government official.  She was formally appointed to the post at yesterday’s meeting of the Joint Committee.  He explained that in recent months, in her role as Interim Managing Director, Hannah had launched the work of the Consortium to develop a self-improving school system through the engagement of

Professor Mel Ainscow.  She had also developed a business plan for the Consortium for the year ahead and led the recent reorganisation that would help to deliver future ambitions.  Hannah’s appointment means that the Authority is now ideally placed to work with schools to build on these important developments.

The Chief Executive reported that the Authority had recently been inspected by the Office of Surveillance Commissioners, which is part of the Home Office, to examine our approach to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 in respect of directed surveillance and covert human intelligence sources.  He advised that the Assistant Chief Executive - Legal and Regulatory Services is the Responsible Officer under the legislation, with the focus of the inspection activity mainly conducted within the Legal and Regulatory Services Directorate, as well as the Benefits Team.  He advised that the Authority had received a glowing report from the Home Office, summarised by “you have good systems and processes in place to use the legislation effectively” and the Home Office also specifically singled out Laura Griffiths one of the senior Solicitors, who coordinates the activity in this area.  The Chief Executive gave thanks and congratulations to the Assistant Chief Executive and his team.

The Chief Executive reported that the work to create a new office layout on level two of the Civic Offices, as well as an e-post room in the basement area, was underway.  He explained that unfortunately, the work would result in considerable noise, dust and disruption over several months.  As the building works cannot be stopped for meetings, it has been arranged that all formal meetings due to be held in the Committee Rooms would also be booked into the Council Chamber, so that in the event of a meeting being disturbed by noise, the meeting could, at the discretion of the Chairperson, be moved to the Council Chamber where it would be less affected by the noise.  He advised that the noise levels would be kept under review; however should this consistently disrupt meetings, then alternative venues may be sought for future meetings. 

He asked Members to take extra care when accessing the basement car park, which would be temporarily accessed via the exit only whilst the work is being carried out.  He asked Members to note that only the parking spaces marked in red would remain available for Members to use; however the six Members who are Blue Badge holders would be allocated suitable car parking spaces as necessary, when they are visiting the Civic Offices, and all other Members are requested to use the Rhiw Car Park.  He advised that all efforts would be made to minimise the inconvenience that would inevitably occur as a result of the remodelling of the Civic Offices