Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors W J F Davies, C R Doyle, P M Matthews, J A Raynor, I M Richard and C Thomas.

The Head of Legal, Democratic Services and Procurement 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:

Councillors:

1)       Councillors J C Bayliss, N S Bradley and C Richards declared a Personal Interest in Minute 42 “Public Questions”;

2)       Councillors J C Bayliss, N S Bradley, J E Burtonshaw, M C Child, U C Clay, R A Clay, D W Cole, J P Curtice, A M Cook, A C S Colburn, S E Crouch, P Downing, V M Evans, W Evans, E W Fitzgerald, R Francis-Davies, F M Gordon, J E C Harris, J A Hale, T J Hennegan, CA Holley, P R Hood-Williams, B Hopkins, D H Hopkins, L James, A J Jones,  M H Jones, J W Jones, S M Jones, E T Kirchner, A S Lewis, D J Lewis, R D Lewis, C E Lloyd, P Lloyd, K E Marsh, P M Meara, H M Morris, J Newbury, B G Owen,  G Owens, C L Philpott, D Phillips, T H Rees, C Richards, R V Smith, P B Smith,  R C Stewart, R J Stanton, D G Sullivan, G Tanner, C W R W D Thomas, D W W Thomas, L G Thomas, M Thomas, L J Tyler-Lloyd, G D Walker, L V Walton & T M White declared a Personal Interests in Minute 49 “Councillors Allowances & Expenses 2013-2014”;

3)       Councillors M C Child, J A Hale, T J Hennegan & D Phillips declared a Personal  & Prejudicial Interest in Minute 47 “Home to School Transport - Public Consultation on a new Proposed Policy”.  They did not have to withdraw from the meeting prior to its consideration as the item was deferred prior to its consideration;

4)       Councillors A M Day, N J Davies, R Francis-Davies, L James, M H Jones, J W Jones, S M Jones, E T Kirchner, R D Lewis, P M Meara, H M Morris, J Newbury, G Owens, R V Smith, D G Sullivan, declared a Personal Interest in Minute 47 “Home to School Transport - Public Consultation on a new Proposed Policy”;

Officers:

5)       The Chief Executive, Jack Straw declared a Personal Interest in Minute 47 “Home to School Transport - Public Consultation on a new Proposed Policy”.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Council held on 17 June 2014.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the:

1)       Ordinary Meeting of Council held on 17 June 2014 be approved and signed as a correct record.

1)       Congratulations to Blaen y Maes and Hafod Primary School

The Presiding Member congratulated:

i)        Blaen y Maes Primary School for winning the Princess Diana Award for services to the community and work to tackle bullying.

ii)       Hafod Primary School for being publically praised by Estyn for the amazing work the children are doing there to combat bullying.

He stated that both Primary Schools were UNICEF Rights Respecting Schools and were doing a great job.

2)       Spark Blaen y Maes Youth Project

The Presiding Member stated that Cerys Rosser and Lisa Cullen from the Spark Blaen y Maes Youth Project had recently taken part in a National Anti Smoking video competition run by The Filter, Ash Wales youth project.

He stated that he was pleased to announce that their video which was one of 30 entered, won first prize for Wales.

3)       Amendment to Council Diary 2014-2015

The Presiding Member asked Councillors to note that the following meetings of Council had been rescheduled:

i)        Ordinary Meeting of Council scheduled for 7 October 2014 will now be held on 30^th September 2014.

ii)       Ceremonial Meeting of Council scheduled for 22 May 2015 will now be held at 2.00 p.m. on Friday, 15 May 2015

The Head of Democratic Services will send amended meeting requests out to all Councillors shortly.

1)       Former Councillor Audrey R A Clement

The Leader of the Council stated that former Councillor A R A Clement was currently in hospital.  On behalf of the Council he wished her a speedy recovery.

2)       Ysgol Pen y Bryn – Investors in Families

The Leader of the Council congratulated Ysgol Pen y Bryn for becoming the first School in Swansea to achieve the Investors in Families award.  He also paid tribute to the Head Teacher of the School.

Investors in Families (IiF) aims to help schools or any setting where young people learn to become family friendly in the context of:

i)        The evidence (Charles Desforges and others) that children’s attainment will rise more dramatically when their learning at school is reinforced at home in the family context through informal activities;

ii)       The desire for families to become partners with schools, in their children’s learning

iii)       Closing the gap between social disadvantage and achievement.

Investors in Families is an award that schools can gain every three years upon submission of a portfolio of evidence and a visit from an assessor.

A number of questions were asked by members of the public.  The relevant Cabinet Member responded accordingly.  Those questions requiring a written response are listed below:

1)       Tony Beddow asked the Finance and Resources Cabinet Member a question in relation to Minute 49 “Written Responses to Questions asked at the Last Ordinary Meeting of Council”.

“Is the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources satisfied with the implications of the reply to my previous question and would he understand why I had expected the answer to be ‘£48,000’?

Would he accept that this expectation is justified by:

a)       Paragraph 7 of the Cabinet paper (25 May 2006) agenda item 9 C (1);

b)       Paragraph 5 of the 28 January 2011 PWC report to Council which says ‘the stadium is leased to SSMC under a 50 year lease.  The rent payable is effectively 30% of any distribution of profits from SSMC.  The lease can be terminated for non payment of rent, breach of covenant by Swansea Stadium Management Company (SSMC), or the insolvency of SSMC’.

c)       Section 10.2 of the April 2005 Joint Venture Agreement which repeats the basis of the derivation of the rent (30% of profit).

How can the alleged discretionary powers of the directors be squared with the absolute requirements of the 2005 agreement to pay rent or risk voiding the agreement?

However, if both the Joint Venture Agreement and PWC's February 2011 description of the rental deal no longer apply when did the change occur and where is this publicly reported?

Finally, as SSMC is at last profitable and debt free, will he seek a means of recouping over four / five years rent outstanding since 2006 -say £480,000 - in recognition of Council's patience and to allow much needed funding to flow into hard pressed budget areas such as adult social care?”

The Finance and Resources Cabinet Member stated that a written response would be provided.

Alison Williams, Head Teacher, Jamie Taylor, Year 5/6 Class Teacher / Enterprise Coordinator together with the following pupils Ethan Aue, Mia Harris, Jacob Humphreys, Simon Islam, Kyle Lewis and Rhiannon Mcfenton all of Craigfelen Primary School gave a presentation to Council on how to “Embed Entrepreneurial Thinking in the Primary School Curriculum”.

Further information about Craigfelen School may be found at https://swansea-edunet.gov.uk/en/schools/Craigfelen/Pages/Default.aspx

The Leader of the Council (Councillor D Phillips) and the Learning and Skills Cabinet Member (Councillor W Evans) thanked them for the presentation.

The Meeting stood adjourned for 10 minutes.

The Leader of the Council submitted a report which presented the One Swansea Plan 2014 and Delivery Statement.

RESOLVED that the One Swansea Plan 2014 and Delivery Statement be adopted.

The Citizen, Community Engagement and Democracy Cabinet Member submitted a report which outlined nominations / amendments to Council Bodies.

She stated that the Leader of the Council had removed the Religious Education Movement (Wales) from the Authority’s Outside Bodies list.

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

1)       Area 1 Development Control Committee

Remove Councillor P Sangha.

Add Councillor N M Ronconi-Woollard.

RESOLVED that the item be deferred to a future meeting of Council.

1)       Part A ‘Supplementary Questions’

Four (4) Part A ‘Supplementary Questions’ were submitted.  The relevant Cabinet Member(s) responded by way of written answers contained in the Council Summons.

The following question(s) required a written response:

a)       Question 1.  Councillor J W Jones asked the following supplementary questions:

“i)       What criteria was used for the District Regeneration Area Grant?

ii)       Numbers 15 and 16 of the response list the business names as ‘Locksmiths’ and ‘Photography’.  Can you please provide Council with the actual names of the businesses.”

The Regeneration Cabinet Member stated that a written response would be provided.

b)       Question 3.  Councillor A M Day asked the following supplementary questions:

“i)       What level of savings are being made by allowing parts of the parks to be become meadow land, i.e. not cut.”

The Place Cabinet Member stated that a written response would be provided.

2)       Part B ‘Questions not requiring Supplementary Questions’

Three (3) Part B ‘Questions not requiring Supplementary Questions’ were submitted.

The Head of Democratic Services submitted an information report detailing the amounts paid to Councillors by way of Allowances and Expenses during 2013-2014.

The Head of Legal, Democratic Services and Procurement submitted an information report setting out the written responses to questions asked at the last Ordinary Meeting of Council.

The Chair of the Scrutiny Programme Committee submitted an information report which provided Council with a progress report on various scrutiny activities.

Swansea Council recognises that rough sleeping is a problem that needs considerable resources to resolve. However the Council would strongly condemn the use of anti-homeless measures (like metallic spikes or studs) to physically prohibit members of the homeless community from sleeping as inhumane.

Swansea Council would ask the Welsh Government to prohibit their use in open public spaces (as a means of deterring rough sleeping) and instead focus it’s considerable resources toward achieving a long term solution to the causes of homelessness in Wales.

Councillors ask officers to work the sentiment of this motion into supplementary planning guidance to ensure new developments do not feature such medieval devices.

The following motion was proposed by Councillor M C Child and seconded by Councillor D Phillips.

“Swansea Council recognises that rough sleeping is a problem that needs considerable resources to resolve.  However the Council would strongly condemn the use of anti-homeless measures (like metallic spikes or studs) to physically prohibit members of the homeless community from sleeping as inhumane.

Swansea Council would ask the Welsh Government to prohibit their use in open public spaces (as a means of deterring rough sleeping) and instead focus its considerable resources toward achieving a long term solution to the causes of homelessness in Wales.

Councillors ask officers to work the sentiment of this motion into supplementary planning guidance to ensure new developments do not feature such medieval devices”.

RESOLVED that the Notice of Motion as shown above be approved.