Agenda and minutes

www.swansea.gov.uk/disclosuresofinterests

The Chief Legal Officer gave advice regarding the potential personal and prejudicial interests that Councillors and / Officers may have on the agenda.

 

The Head of Democratic Services reminded Councillors and Officers that the “Disclosures of Personal and Prejudicial Interests” sheet should only be completed if the Councillor / Officer actually had an interest to declare. Nil returns were not required. Councillors and Officers were also informed that any declarable interest must be made orally and in writing on the sheet.

 

In accordance with the provisions of the Code of Conduct adopted by the City and County of Swansea the following interests were declared:

 

1)              Councillors H M Morris and B J Rowlands declared a Personal & Prejudicial Interest in Minute 117 “Adoption of the Council Tax Reduction Scheme”.

To approve & sign the Minutes of the previous meeting(s) as a correct record.

Resolved that the following Minutes be approved and signed as a correct record:

 

1)        Ordinary Meeting of Council held on 27 November 2019.

The Chief Legal Officer submitted an information report setting out the written responses to questions asked at the last Ordinary Meeting of Council.

1)              Condolences

 

i)               Councillor Sybil Crouch

 

The Presiding Member referred with sadness to the recent death of Councillor Sybil Crouch.  Councillor Crouch served the Castle Electoral Ward for nearly eight years.  Councillor Crouch was Lady Mayoress when her husband, Councillor David Phillips, was Lord Mayor in 2018-2019.  She was also a former cabinet Member and Committee Chair.  Councillor Crouch served the:

 

Ø    City & County of Swansea 3 May 2012 to 5 January 2020.

 

Councillor Crouch was widely-known across Wales for her role as a former chair of the Arts Council for Wales as well as for her work at Swansea University's Taliesin Centre, which has become a major performance centre for music, theatre and dance.

 

In 2008 she was nominated a finalist in the Western Mail's Welsh Woman of the Year competition, for women who have made an outstanding contribution to the promotion of democracy.

 

ii)              Former Councillor Derek James

 

The Presiding Member referred with sadness to the recent death of former Councillor Derek James.  Former Councillor James served the Uplands Electoral Ward for 5 years and was the father of Julie James AM.  Former Councillor James served the:

 

Ø    City & County of Swansea 6 May 1999 to 10 June 2004.

 

iii)            Former Councillor Ioan Stock

 

The Presiding Member referred with sadness to the recent death of former West Glamorgan County Councillor Ioan Stock.  Former Councillor Stock served Gower and is the father in law of Councillor Mark Thomas.

 

iv)            Former Councillor Tom Hilton

 

The Presiding Member referred with sadness to the recent death of former Swansea City Councillor Tom Hilton.  Former Councillor Hilton served Castle and Landore

 

v)              Ann Evans, Sister of Councillor Chris Holley

 

The Presiding Member referred with sadness to the recent death of Ann Evans, sister of Councillor Chris Holley.  Ann Evans was also an Officer of the Council within Social Services.

 

vi)            Hazel Morgan, Wife of Former Councillor Keith Morgan

 

The Presiding Member referred with sadness to the recent death of Hazel Morgan, wife of former Councillor Keith Morgan.

 

vii)      Former Councillor John Bushell

 

The Presiding Member referred with sadness to the recent death of former Swansea City Councillor and former City & County of Swansea Councillor John Bushell.  Former Councillor Bushell served the Fairwood Electoral Ward.

 

viii)     Margaret Hill, Mother of Sarah Lackenby

 

The Presiding Member referred with sadness to the recent death of Margaret Hill, Sarah Lackenby’s mother.

 

All present stood as a mark of sympathy and respect.

 

2)              Social Services Client Finance Team

 

The Presiding Member stated that he was delighted to state that the audit from the Office of the Public Guardian described the Social Services Client Finance Team as “Impressive; the service provided was excellent; they put the best interests of their clients first and they had great systems and caseworkers”.

 

This is truly a superb audit of the Authority’s handling of Guardianship responsibilities for people in Swansea who are unable to exercise decisions for themselves.

 

3)              Green Flag Heroes

 

The Presiding Member stated that the Green Flag Award scheme is delivered in Wales by Keep Wales Tidy with support from Welsh Government.  The Award is about connecting people with the very best parks and green spaces.  It’s the benchmark for parks and green spaces in the UK and beyond.  Wherever you see a Green Flag, you know you’re visiting an exceptional place with the highest standards.  A good quality environment can have a big impact on our communities, health and well-being, and economy.

 

He was delighted to announce that Jeff Walton of the Friends of Mayhill Washing Lake & (Hillside) Community Food Garden was one of two finalists for Volunteer of the Year.

 

4)              50^th Anniversary as a City – Gideons International Bibles

 

The Presiding Member thanked Jeff Bowen of the Gideons International for providing each Councillor and others at the Council Meeting with a commemorative 50^th Anniversary as a City, copy of the New Testament and Psalms.

 

5)        Santes Dwynwen

 

The Presiding Member stated that its Santes Dwynwen day on Saturday (25-01-2019).  Santes Dwynwen is the Welsh and Celtic Patron saint of friendship and love.  The popularity and celebration of St Dwynwen's day has increased considerably in recent years.  Remember to tell your partner that you love them.

 

6)        New Year’s Honours

 

Citizens of Swansea who received awards in the New Year Honours.

 

a)        Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)

 

i)                Andrew James Falvey.  Commercial Director, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. For services to Transport (West Glamorgan).

 

b)        British Empire Medal (BEM)

 

i)                Susan Ann Croall.  For services to Music in Swansea.

 

c)        Queen’s Police Medal (QPM)

 

i)                Richard John Lewis.  Deputy Chief Constable, South Wales Police.

 

ii)              Constable Bharat Kumar Narbad.  South Wales Police.

 

7)              Corrections / Amendments to the Council Summons

 

The Presiding Member stated that an amended report had been circulated in respect of Minute 118 “Membership of Committees” and that Appendix A outlined on Pages 35 to 61 of the Council Summons referred to Question 2 of the Councillors Questions.

i)               Condolences

 

The Leader of the Council referred with sadness to the recent death of Councillor Sybil Crouch and paid tribute to her work as a Councillor.

 

He also echoed the sentiments previously shared by the Presiding Member in relation to all condolences received at Council.

 

ii)              Parliamentary Election – 12 December 2019

 

The Leader of the Council congratulated the Tonia Antoniazzi (Gower Constituency), Carolyn Harris (Swansea East Constituency) and Geraint Davies (Swansea West Constituency) for being returned as Members of Parliament following the Parliamentary Election on 12 December 2019.

 

iii)            Swansea Bay City Region

 

The Leader of the Council stated that the Swansea Bay City Region Programme Director had been appointed.  He also stated that the first £18 million had been received.

 

iv)            Men Shed Initiative

 

The Leader of the Council referred to his announcement at Council on 27 November 2019 in relation to the Men Shed Initiative and the fact that a £25,000 fund had been established aimed at supporting the initiative.

 

He stated that an application had been received from the Penderry Electoral Ward and it was hoped that they would be the first to benefit from a grant from the fund.

Questions must relate to matters on the open part of the Agenda of the meeting and will be dealt with in a 10 minute period.

David Davies asked a question in relation to Minute 119 “Councillors’ Questions” – Question 5:

 

i)                “Would a Swansea wide competition be appropriate where all Schools could nominate their Reader of the Year, a Boy and Girl; and appear before a Panel organised by the Council who would judge the winners and present a Cup to them and the School.  Perhaps our Education Minister could choose a particular book for the contestants and then assess their critical appraisal of it and their imagination.

 

Wales is the land of Poets and Bards and this competition might inspire potential writers of the future.  Cardiff has its Singer of the World, let Swansea have its Readers of the Year.”

 

The Education Improvement, Learning and Skills Cabinet Member welcomed the suggestion and stated that a written response would be provided.

No presentations were received.

 

The Section 151 Officer submitted a report, which explained the requirement to annually consider whether to revise or replace the Council’s existing Council Tax Reduction Scheme and the requirement to either adopt a new scheme or re-adopt the existing scheme by 31 January 2019.

 

Resolved that:

 

1)              The Council Tax Reduction Schemes and Prescribed Requirements (Wales) Regulations 2013 (“the Prescribed Requirements Regulations”) by the National Assembly for Wales (NAfW) on 26 November 2013, as amended be noted;

 

2)              The amendments to “the Prescribed Requirements Regulations” contained in the Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements and Default Scheme) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2018, considered and approved by NAfW on 7 January 2020 be noted;

 

3)              The outcome of the consultation exercise undertaken by the Council in November 2018 on the discretionary areas of the current scheme be noted;

 

4)              The current scheme (2019/2020) in relation to the discretionary areas (as set out in section 3 of the report) remain unchanged from 2020/2021;

 

5)              The scheme as set out in section 3 of the report be adopted and any amendments to the regulations made by NAfW be reflected in the scheme.

The Delivery & Performance Cabinet Member submitted a report which sought Council approval to the nominations / amendments to the membership of Council Bodies.  He stated that an updated report had been circulated.

 

He stated that the Leader of the Council had made the following changes to the Authority’s Outside Bodies:

 

i)               Outside Bodies - Gower Commoners Association

 

The Leader of the Council stated that the Council were no longer entitled to a representative on the Gower Commoners Association.  Councillor A H Stevens was therefore removed and the Association deleted from the Outside Bodies list.

 

Resolved that the membership of the Council Bodies listed below be amended as follows:

 

1)              Poverty Reduction Policy Development Committee

Remove Councillor H M Morris.

Add Councillor L V Walton.

 

2)              Admissions Panel

Reduce the Panel size from 5 to 3 Members.

New memership to be Councillor J P Curtice, A M Day and R V Smith.

1)        Part A ‘Supplementary Questions’

 

Ten (10) Part A ‘Supplementary Questions’ were submitted.  The relevant Cabinet Member(s) responded by way of written answers contained in the Council Summons.

 

Those supplementary question(s) required a written response are listed below:

 

Question 2

Councillor A M Day asked the relevant Cabinet Member:

 

“There are 574 Organisations shown in Appendix relating to this question.

 

i)                Do these Organisations within the Council Advertising Network (CAN) share the information collected?

 

ii)              £6,243.93 will be collected from CAN for 2019-2020.  Does the Cabinet Member believe this to be good value and does he believe that the Council is receiving its fair share?”

 

The Delivery and Performance Cabinet Member stated that a written response would be provided.

 

Question 10

The Homes & Energy Cabinet Member stated that she would be bringing a future report on engagement with rough sleepers and the impact of Housing First.

 

2)        Part B ‘Questions not requiring Supplementary Questions’

 

One (1) Part B ‘Questions not requiring Supplementary Questions’ were submitted.