Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors N S Bradley, J E Burtonshaw, R A Clay, U C Clay, W J F Davies, A S Lewis, P Lloyd, P M Meara, I M Richard, C Richards, N M Ronconi-Woollard, M Theaker, D W W Thomas and L G 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)       Councillor J C Bayliss declared a Personal interest in Minute 61 “Public Questions”;

2)       Councillor H M Morris declared a Personal interest in Minute 65 “Tackling Poverty Strategy”;

3)       Councillor V M Evans declared a Personal interest in   Minute 67 “The First Two Years”;

4)       Councillors J C Bayliss, P M Black, M C Child, D W Cole, A C S Colburn, S E Crouch, J P Curtice, N J Davies, P Downing, C R Doyle, V M Evans, W Evans, E W Fitzgerald, R Francis-Davies, J A Hale, J E C Harris, T J Hennegan, B Hopkins, P R Hood-Williams, L James, A J Jones, M H Jones, J W Jones, S M Jones, C E Lloyd, K E Marsh, P M Matthews, B G Owen, G Owens, D Phillips, J A Raynor, T H Rees, P B Smith, R V Smith, R J Stanton, R C Stewart, D G Sullivan, C Thomas, M Thomas, C M R W D Thomas, L J Tyler-Lloyd,  G D Walker, L V Walton and T M White declared a Personal Interest in Minute 70 “Local Development Plan Preferred Strategy and Candidate Site Update”;

5)       Councillors A M Day and C L Philpott declared a Personal and Prejudicial Interest in Minute 70 “Local Development Plan Preferred Strategy and Candidate Site Update” and withdrew from the meeting prior to its consideration;

6)       Councillors D H Hopkins and J Newbury declared a Personal interest in Minute 71 “Amendments to the Council Constitution and to the Councillors Handbook”.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the Ordinary meeting of Council held on 15 July 2014.

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

1)       Ordinary Meeting of Council held on 15 July 2014.

1)         Condolences

a)         Former Councillor Audrey R A Clement

The Deputy Presiding Member referred with sadness to the recent death of former Councillor Audrey R A Clement.  Former Councillor Clement had represented the Llangyfelach and Mynyddbach Electoral Divisions and had served as the Chair of Council.

He stated that former Councillor Clement’s funeral will be held on Wednesday 13 August 2014.  1.30 p.m. at Llangyfelach Church and then Morriston Crematorium at 3.00 p.m.

All present stood as a mark of respect and sympathy.

2)         Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games

The Deputy Presiding Member stated that he was delighted to congratulate Team Wales on winning 36 medals at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.  The haul included 5 Gold, 11 Silver and 20 Bronze Medals.

He singled out Swansea athlete, Jazz Carlin for winning a Gold Medal in the 800m Freestyle Swimming and a Silver Medal in the 400m Freestyle Swimming.

1)       European Touch (Rugby) Championships 2014

The Leader of the Council stated that Swansea had hosted the recent European Touch Championships 2014.  The tournament welcomed 16 nations, 52 teams, and 72 international referees.  The Championships were played at the University of Swansea fields between 6 and 10 August 2014, with play commencing on 7 August.

Teams from all over Europe converged at Swansea to battle out in Mixed, Women's, Men's, Over 30, Senior Mixed, Women's 27, Over 35 and Over 40 categories.

Wales were the finalists in the Men’s Open, Women’s Open, Mixed Open, Senior Mixed and Men’s Over 40 categories but sadly only becoming European Champions in the Men’s Over 40 category.

Further information is available at www.WalesTouch.co.uk

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

A number of questions were asked by members of the public.  The relevant Cabinet Member responded accordingly.  No questions required a further written response.

No Public Presentations were received.

The Finance and Resources Cabinet Member submitted a report which reported on the Wales Audit Office (WAO) Annual Improvement Report 2014 on the City and County of Swansea.

Steve Barry, Wales Audit Office presented the report detailing the City and County of Swansea Annual Improvement Report 2014 from the Auditor General Wales.

The Finance and Resources Cabinet Member thanked Steve Barry for attending and for answering the questions asked.

RESOLVED that:

1)       The Wales Audit Office Annual Improvement Report 2014 be received and noted;

2)       The action already taken and planned to address the areas for improvement as part of the Council’s performance improvement process be noted.

The Leader of the Council (Councillor David Phillips) and the Director of People (Chris Sivers) gave a presentation to Council on Anti-Poverty.

They stated that the purpose of the presentation was to advise Council of the principles that underlie Swansea’s approach to tackling anti-poverty which informs the targeting of resources and to provide the framework for poverty reduction through partnership working.

The Director of Place, Leader of the Council (Anti-Poverty Cabinet Member) and the Target Areas Cabinet Member jointly submitted a report which provided Council with a Tackling Poverty Strategy addressing the key priority for the Council.

RESOLVED that:

1)       The draft strategy for consultation, returning with a final strategy to November Council be approved;

2)       The consultation process outlined in the report be noted.

The Meeting stood adjourned for 10 minutes.

The Leader of the Council stated that an amended report had been circulated.

The Leader of the Council submitted a report which sought to demonstrate the achievements of the current Administration in delivering the Council’s Policy Commitments during its first two years.

RESOLVED that the achievements in the report be noted.

The Citizen, Community Engagement and Democracy Cabinet Member submitted a report which sought Council’s approval for nominations / amendments to Council Bodies and informed Councillors of amendments that the Leader of the Council may have made in relation to Outside Bodies.

The Leader of the Council stated that he had added the “Cambrian Educational Foundation for Deaf Children” to the Authority’s list of Outside Bodies and that he had appointed Councillor J P Curtice as the representative.

He also referred to the report stating that he had made the following amendments to Outside Bodies:

1)       South Wales Police and Crime Panel

Remove Councillor P Sangha.

Add Councillor P B Smith.

The Finance and Resources Cabinet Member submitted a report which sought to update the Council’s “Sustainable Swansea - Fit for the Future” strategy and to propose a Delivery Programme.  The report also provided an update on the financial forecast for the medium term and proposals for the next stage of engagement on Sustainable Swansea.

RESOLVED that:

1)       The restatement of the objectives of “Sustainable Swansea - Fit for the Future” and the Strategic Framework set out in the Appendix to the report be noted;

2)       The revised Financial Forecast and the future presentation of the financial challenge that the Council faces (£70m over the next 3 years) be noted;

3)       The outline programme for Sustainable Swansea set out in Section 4 of the Appendix to the report be noted;

4)       The proposals for the next stage of engagement on Sustainable Swansea, “Continuing the Conversation” set out in Section 7 of the Appendix to the report be noted.

The Place Cabinet Member submitted a report which sought approval of the Local Development Plan (LDP) Preferred Strategy following public consultation, providing a progress update on the Candidate Site Assessment process and outlining the next stages of LDP preparation.

RESOLVED that:

1)       The responses to the public consultation exercise on the Draft Preferred Strategy be noted and the proposed amendments arising be agreed as the final version of the Preferred Strategy;

2)       A skeleton version of the Deposit Plan be prepared for public consultation as an additional stage to the LDP preparation process, to include publicity of new and amended Candidate Sites.

Note: Councillor J Newbury referred to Appendix A of the report and asked that all Councillors be provided with clear identification as to the exact parts of the sites that had been withdrawn.

The Leader of the Council stated that he would arrange for the Place Cabinet Member to provide that information.

The Presiding Member, Monitoring Officer and Head of Democratic Services jointly submitted a report which sought to make amendments in order to simplify, improve and / or add to the Council Constitution / Councillors Handbook in relation to the following areas:

a)       Family Absence for Councillors;

b)       Remote Attendance at Meetings;

c)       Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor Protocol.

RESOLVED that:

1)       The recommendations listed in each of the appendices be approved and adopted:

i)        Appendix A – Family Absence for Councillors;

ii)        Appendix B – Remote Attendance and Meetings;

iii)       Appendix C – Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor Protocol.

2)       Bernardine Jennings, daughter of the Deputy Lord Mayor, Councillor John Newbury be appointed Deputy Lady Mayoress;

3)       If required, a formal inauguration of the Deputy Lady Mayoress take place at a future Council Meeting.

The Presiding Member, Monitoring Officer and Head of Democratic Services jointly submitted a report which sought to make amendments in order to simplify, improve and / or add to the Council Constitution in relation to the following area(s):

1)       Part 3 “Responsibility for Functions” - Terms of Reference of the Swansea Student Liaison Forum.

RESOLVED that the changes to the Council Constitution as outlined in Paragraph 3 of the report be adopted.

The Head of Democratic Services submitted a report which sought to remind Councillors of their rights regarding the Delivery of Agendas and to seek their opinions on the current system and future provision.

He stated that the Democratic Services Committee had considered the matter on 16 July 2014 and it recommended Option 2 to Council.  Option 2 being:

“The Authority establishes a Voluntary Opt Out System whereby Councillors are encouraged to opt out of the Courier Service; however it is clearly their choice.  These Councillors will then have their agendas distributed to them electronically; however their hard copy will remain in their pigeon hole until they chose to collect it.”

RESOLVED that Option 2 as outlined in the report be approved.

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.

No supplementary questions required a written response.

2)       Part B ‘Questions not requiring Supplementary Questions’

No Part B ‘Questions not requiring Supplementary Questions’ were submitted.

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

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.