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 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 no interests were declared.

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 7 July 2022 subject to the following amendments:

 

i)                 Minute 32 “Membership of Committees”. Resolution 3 being amended to read “Add Councillor S A Joy”.

 

ii)               Minute 33 “Councillors’ Questions – Question 7” being amended slightly to reflect that Councillor L R Jones asked for wood skips to be placed at Gorseinon as well as Clyne. The Minute should read:

 

“Councillor L R Jones asked if wood skips could be placed at Clyne Civic Amenity Site and Gorseinon Civic Amenity Site prior to be taken to the Bailing Plant, Llansamlet. This approach would reduce the need for vehicles to travel to Llansamlet thereby reducing greenhouses gases.

 

The Cabinet Members for Community stated that a written response would be provided.”

 

2)              Ceremonial Meeting of Council held on 22 July 2022.

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

a)              Condolences

 

i)                Anna Holland, Daughter of Councillor Victoria Holland

 

The Presiding Member referred with sadness to the recent unexpected death of Anna Holland, daughter of Councillor Victoria Holland.

 

ii)              Honorary Alderman, Former Councillor & Former Lord Mayor June Stanton

 

The Presiding Member referred with sadness to the recent death of Honorary Alderman, Former Councillor & Former Lord Mayor June Stanton. June represented the Sketty Ward for approximately 29 years serving:

 

Ø    Swansea City Council – 5 May 1988 to 31 March 1996.

Ø    West Glamorgan County Council – 4 May 1989 – 31 March 1996.

Ø    City & County of Swansea - 4 May 1995 to 4 May 2017.

 

June was Lord Mayor 2013-2014 and became an Honorary Alderman on 24 August 2017.

 

iii)             Former Councillor Ron Thomas

 

The Presiding Member referred with sadness to the recent death of Former Councillor Ron Thomas. Ron represented the Gowerton Ward for approximately 13 years serving:

 

Ø    City & County of Swansea - 4 May 1995 to 1 May 2008.

 

iv)             Former Chief Executive of Swansea City Council, Andrew Boatswain

 

The Presiding Member referred with sadness to the recent death of Former Chief Executive of Swansea City Council, Andrew Boatswain.

 

All present sat in silence as a mark of sympathy and respect.

 

b)              Green Flag Community Awards

 

The Presiding Member stated that the Friends of Mayhill Washing Lake and Community Food Garden had yet again received the Green Flag Community Award. This is the fourth year in a row that they have won it.

 

She also paid tribute to and thanked all volunteers involved with the 14 Parks / Green smaller community-based gardens and green spaces in Swansea. Those areas being:

 

i)                Cadle Heath Local Nature Reserve.

ii)               Clydach Community Garden.

iii)             Coed Bach Park, Pontarddulais.

iv)             Crwys Community Woodland.

v)              GRAFT: A Soil Based Syllabus.

vi)             Llys Nini.

vii)           Mayhill Washing Lake & Community Food Garden.

viii)          Pennard Garden Society Wellness Garden.

ix)             Polly's Park.

x)              Rosehill Quarry Park.

xi)             St Madoc Centre.

xii)           Swansea Canal.

xiii)          Swansea Community Farm Swansea.

xiv)          Swansea Vale Nature Reserve.

 

The work by these volunteers is invaluable to Swansea and its citizens.

 

c)              Corrections / Amendments to the Council Summons.

 

i)                Minute 47 “Notice of Motion – Funding Formulas”

 

The Presiding Member stated that Councillors J P Curtice, M B Lewis, W G Lewis, N L Matthews, K M Roberts & L V Walton should be added to the list of those submitting the Notice of Motion.

a)              Cabinet Portfolios – Minor Amendments

 

The Leader of the Council stated that he had made some minor amendments to the Cabinet Portfolios to clarify some responsibilities. He asked the Head of Democratic Services to update the Council Constitution and to send a link to all Councillors.

 

b)              Shortlisted for Council of the Year in the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) Annual Service Awards 2022

 

The Leader of the Council stated that Swansea Council has been shortlisted for Council of the Year in the APSE Annual Service Awards 2022. The Award recognises the best and most innovative Local Authority in the UK. APSE say that focusing on their delivery of frontline services, the Award seeks to celebrate those councils who are achieving excellent results in a wide range of different service areas.

 

The Council had also been shortlisted for awards in the following areas:

 

Ø    Best Workforce Initiative.

Ø    Best Housing, Regeneration or New Build Initiative.

Ø    Best Commercialisation and Entrepreneurship Initiative.

·                 Swansea Council – One person’s rubbish is another’s treasure.

·                 Swansea Council – Swansea Market: At the heart of the city centre and the local economy.

Ø    Best Service Team: Housing, Construction and Building Service.

Ø    Best Service Team: Street Cleansing and Streetscene Service (Public Realm).

Ø    Best Service Team: Cemetery and Crematorium Service.

 

The awards will be held in the Swansea Arena where the winner of the prestigious APSE Overall Council of the Year Award 2022 will be announced at a Charity Dinner on Thursday 15 September 2022.

 

c)              Shortlisted for City of the Year in the Estates Gazette (EG) Awards 2022

 

The Leader of the Council stated that Swansea Council had been shortlisted for City of the Year in the Estates Gazette Awards 2022. The Award seeks to celebrate the UK’s cities and the work they are doing to create liveable, successful places.

 

The awards ceremony will be held on 2 November 2022.

 

d)              Volvo 2022 World Triathlon Para Series Event – 6 August 2022 & Ironman 70.3 Swansea – 7 August 2022

 

The Leader of the Council stated that the Volvo 2022 World Triathlon Para Series event and Ironman 70.3 Swansea held recently attracted thousands of athletes and spectators. The events significantly boosted the local economy. He congratulations and thanked all involved.

 

e)              Dragon Energy Island Tidal Lagoon

 

The Leader of Council provided an update.

Questions can be submitted in writing to Democratic Services democracy@swansea.gov.uk up until noon on the working day prior to the meeting. Written questions take precedence. Public may attend and ask questions in person if time allows. Questions must relate to items on the open part of the agenda and will be dealt within a 10 minute period.

There were no public questions.

The report was deferred to the next Ordinary Meeting of Council.

The Head of Democratic Services submitted the Democratic Services Committee Annual Report 2021-2022 for information.

The Chair of the Scrutiny Programme Committee submitted the Scrutiny Annual Report 2021-2022 for information.

1)       Part A ‘Supplementary Questions’

 

Twelve (12) Part A ‘Supplementary Questions’ were submitted.  The relevant Cabinet Member(s) responded by way of written answers contained in the Council Summons.

 

Those supplementary questions required a written response are listed below.

 

Question 1

 

Councillor J W Jones stated that previously independent consultation on cleanliness had been carried out. He asked that such consultations be recommenced.

 

The Cabinet Members for Community stated a written response would be provided.

 

2)       Part B ‘Questions not requiring Supplementary Questions’

 

Eleven (11) Part B ‘Questions not requiring Supplementary Questions’ were submitted.

Proposed by Councillor R C Stewart and Seconded by Councillor A S Lewis.

 

“This council deplores the statement by the ex-chancellor Rishi Sunak that he has deliberately changed funding formulas to remove funding from deprived urban areas like Swansea and diverted them to leafy Tory held constituencies like Tunbridge Wells.

 

His public admission that he has redirected funding away from deprived communities should be condemned.

 

We are already aware that funding formula changes have already been made to funding which previously came via the EU and now comes via the shared prosperity fund.

 

The formula has been changed, despite opposition from Swansea council and the WLGA to exclude ‘need’ from the calculation.

 

The new formula has resulted in a reduction of £35 per head for every person in the South West Wales region. The money has been diverted to communities in mid Wales.

 

This will mean communities in Swansea and the South West Wales region will lose £4.2m this year and £21m over the next 5 years.

 

We believe this to be unfair, unethical and contrary to the levelling up commitments made by U.K. government. It also mean local communities in South West Wales will be worse off as a result of the post Brexit funding arrangements despite many assurances to the contrary.

 

We call upon the Leader to write to the new Prime Minister to ask them to reverse the formula changes, and to commission an independent investigation into the claims made by Mr Sunak.”

 

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 30 “Voting” a recorded vote was requested. The voting on the amendment was recorded as follows:

 

For (57 Councillors)
Councillor(s)	Councillor(s)	Councillor(s)
C Anderson	T J Hennegan	P Lloyd
S Bennett	V A Holland	M W Locke
P N Bentu	C A Holley	N L Matthews
P M Black	B Hopkins	P M Matthews
J P Curtice	D H Hopkins	J D McGettrick
A Davis	L James	H M Morris
P Downing	Y V Jardine	D Phillips
C R Doyle	A J Jeffery	C L Philpott
M Durke	D H Jenkins	J E Pritchard
C R Evans	J W Jones	S Pritchard
C M J Evans	M H Jones	A Pugh
V M Evans	S M Jones	S J Rice
R A Fogarty	S A Joy	R V Smith
R Francis-Davies	E J King	R C Stewart
N Furlong	E T Kirchner	M S Tribe
L S Gibbard	H Lawson	G D Walker
F M Gordon	A S Lewis	L V Walton
K M Griffiths	M B Lewis	T M White
H J Gwilliam	W G Lewis	R Andrew Williams

 

Against (0 Councillor(s))
Councillor(s)	Councillor(s)	Councillor(s)
-	-	-

 

Abstain (5 Councillors)
Councillor(s)	Councillor(s)	Councillor(s)
M Bailey	F D O’Brien	B J Rowlands
L R Jones	A J O’Connor	-

 

Withdrawn from meeting due to declarable interest (0 Councillors)
Councillor	Councillor	Councillor
-	-	-

 

Resolved that the Notice of Motion outlined above be adopted.