Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors R A Clay, U C Clay, S E Crouch, J E C Harris, M H Jones, C E Lloyd, J Newbury, D Phillips, C L Philpott, R J Stanton and L G Thomas.

The Deputy Head of Legal and Democratic Services 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 A Hale declared a Personal Interest in Minute 207 “Public Presentation - St. Thomas School Pupils”;

 

2)              Councillor C A Holley declared a Personal Interest in Minute 209 “Strategic Equality Plan 2016-2020” and stated that he had dispensation from the Standards Committee to stay and speak and vote on any item relating to social services matters, general staff employment, budget matters and other Social Services matters other than matters that directly affect his daughter by specific reference to her post;

 

3)              Councillor M Thomas declared a Personal Interest in Minute 209 “Strategic Equality Plan 2016-2020” and stated that he had dispensation from the Standards Committee to stay and speak but not vote on any item relating to general staff employment, on budget matters other than matters that directly affect his wife by specific reference to her post;

 

4)              Councillors M C Child, V M Evans, R Francis-Davies, A J Jones, E T Kirchner, A S Lewis, P M Meara, C Richards, R V Smith and R C Stewart declared a Personal Interest in Minute 211 “Leisure Partnerships Annual Report 2014/15”.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the previous meetings.

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

 

1)       Ordinary Meeting of Council held on 25 February 2016;

 

2)       Extraordinary Meeting of Council held on 10 March 2016;

 

3)       Ceremonial Meeting of Council held on 12 March 2016 subject to Councillor T H Rees being shown as having been present;

 

4)       Extraordinary Meeting of Council held on 7 April 2016.

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

1)       Changes / Amendments to the Council Summons

 

a)       Item 9 “Membership of Committees.

 

An amended report has been circulated.

 

2)       Gold Corporate Health Standard Award

 

The Presiding Member stated that on 11 March 2016 the Corporate Health, Safety & Wellbeing Service was formally presented with the Welsh Government, Gold Corporate Health Standard Award on behalf of the Authority.  The award follows a two day assessment by Healthy Working Wales, who in their report praised the Authority’s culture, standards of support, delivery and investment in employee wellbeing.

 

This was due to the commitment and dedication of the service, the wellbeing working group, volunteers, employees and trade unions involved in proactively promoting and improving safety and wellbeing across the organisation.  Particular recognition was paid to the Standards of Stress Management support, Occupational Health, H&S Training and the Helping Hands Service delivery.  The assessors felt that the Authority had made significant improvements in engagement, commitment from top down and culture with regards embedding wellbeing as part of the way we do business.

 

Craig Gimblett, Gary Davies, Ray Mitchell, Helen Lewis, Liz Thomas-Evans, Caroline Ford, Sarah Owens, Katja Davies, Alison Cosker and Jackie Griffiths (GMB Trade Union) were present to receive the award.

 

3)       Tanya Nash, Sustainable Development Team - Leading Wales Awards

 

The Presiding Member congratulated Tanya Nash, Sustainable Development Team, for making a shortlist of three in the Next Generation Leader category of the Leading Wales Awards 2016.  Tanya has helped the Council achieve significant success, recognised last year as the award winner for Most Sustainable Public Sector Organisation in the UK.

 

4)       Legal Services - Lexcel

 

The Presiding Member congratulated Staff in Legal Services who have recently undergone another successful annual Law Society Lexcel assessment.  This is the third consecutive assessment that has established no non-compliances, an accomplishment that is to be congratulated.

 

5)       Jazz Carlin

 

The Presiding Member congratulated Jazz Carlin on achieved the 400m freestyle Rio qualification time by winning in 4:04:33 in Glasgow to complete a British Championships golden hat-trick.  She also won the 200 & 400m titles.

 

6)       Tŷ Hafan Rainbow Run

 

The Presiding Member congratulated all that took part in the Tŷ Hafan Rainbow Run, Swansea beach on 23 April 2016.  Over 2,000 participants helped raise vital funds for life-limited children and young people in Wales.

 

The event encourages participants to wear white and whilst they run the 5km (3.1 mile) course they get covered in different coloured powder paint.  He stated that he’d heard that it was a fun event and hoped that many of the Councillors would take part next year.

 

7)       London Marathon

 

The Presiding Member congratulated all Council staff and the people of Swansea that took part in the London Marathon on 24 April 2016

 

8)       2016 National Running Awards

 

The Presiding Member congratulated the Council’s Admiral Swansea Bay 10K race which came 2^nd in the 2016 National Running Awards - BEST 10K Race category.  The Awards ceremony took place in London on 22 April 2016.  Nigel Jones, Special Events Team collected the award on behalf of the Authority.

 

This is a great achievement as the BEST 10K race category was the largest category of all the Award categories and therefore the most hotly contended.

 

He also congratulated the JCP Swansea Half Marathon which came 2^nd in the Half Marathon category, making Swansea the only City or Town with two top placed finalists.  He stated that this was great news for our City of Sport ambitions.

 

9)       Show Racism the Red Card Competition 2016

 

The Presiding Member stated that the Show Racism the Red Card is an anti-racist educational charity aiming to combat racism through enabling role models, who are predominately but not exclusively footballers, to present an anti-racist message to young people and others.

 

The Show Racism the Red Card competition in Wales was an accessible and engaging way to encourage pupils to think about issues surrounding racism.

 

He stated that he was delighted to announce that St. Helens Primary School, Terrace Road Primary School and Ffynone House School all won awards at last night’s ceremony in Cardiff.

 

10)     Dean Taylor - Director of Corporate Services

 

The Presiding Member extended the Council’s thanks to Dean Taylor, Director of Corporate Services for his dedication and professionalism in transforming and modernising aspects of the Authority under the Swansea - Fit for the Future programme.

 

He stated that Dean Taylor was now on leave at the end of which his employment with the Authority ends.  He wished him well in his new ventures.

 

11)     Non Stanford, Rio Olympics

 

The Presiding Member congratulated Non Stannford, Triathlete for her recent success in Cape Town and her inclusion in the GB Triathlon Team for the Rio Olympics.

1)       Dean Taylor

 

The Leader of the Council echoed the words of the Presiding Member in thanking Dean Taylor for his hard work and professionalism whilst working for the Authority.

 

2)       Hillsborough

 

The Leader of the Council paid tribute to the 96 Liverpool fans that died at Hillsborough 27 years ago.  As a mark of respect theBrangwyn Arches will shine in the red colours of Liverpool Football Club this evening and will continue to do so until Monday.  Flags at Council venues will also be flown at half-mast.

 

He stated that what happened at Hillsborough 27 years ago will never be forgotten.  The campaign for justice by the families and the city of Liverpool as a whole cannot change what happened. But the campaign and the final verdicts we heard from the inquest this week has changed history.

 

Liverpool fans will be in Swansea this weekend for Sunday’s game and we want them to know that, as our guests, we stand side-by-side with them at what is a time for remembrance as well as acknowledgement that justice has finally been done.

 

No-one can fail to have been moved this week by the continuing dignity demonstrated by the family, friends and supporters of the 96.

 

The Leader of the Council thanked the Lord Mayor for agreeing to write to the people of Liverpool showing the support of the Authority.

 

The Presiding Member asked all present to stand for a minutes silence as a mark of sympathy and respect.

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.

 

A)       Those question areas not requiring a written response are listed below:

 

a)       Item 12 “Leisure Partnerships Annual Report 2014-2015”;

 

b)       Item 11 “Estyn Inspection of Local Authority Education Services for Children and Young People 2013 - Update”.

 

B)       There were no questions requiring a written response.

Mrs Blyth, Mr Dwyer (Head Teacher of St Thomas Primary School), Katie Spendiff, Helen Dale (Funky Dragon) and Lewi Cook, Tegan Tweed, Syeda Ahmed, Jackson Williams (pupils from St Thomas Primary School) and Chloe-Marie Richards and Ffion Morgan (pupils from Cefn Hengoed Comprehensive School) gave a presentation on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).  The UNCRC is a human rights treaty which sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children.

 

Councillor C Richards (Services for Children and Young People Cabinet Member) gave thanks for the presentation.

The Transformation and Performance Cabinet Member submitted a report which sought approval of the nominations / amendment to the membership of Council Bodies.  He also outlined any additional amendments that had been submitted.

 

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

 

1)       Bay Leisure

Remove Councillor A S Lewis.

Add Councillor A J Jones.

 

2)       Community Health Council (CHC) - Abertawe Bro Morgannwg Board

Add Councillor J E C Harris, E J King and H M Morris.

 

3)       Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) Council

Add Leader of the Council, Deputy Leader of the Council and Councillors J P Curtice, C E Lloyd and M Thomas.

 

4)       Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) Co-ordinating Committee

Add Leader of the Council or any of the nominated representatives from Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) Council.

 

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

 

1)       Chief Officers Disciplinary Committee

Remove Councillors J E Burtonshaw, J P Curtice and D W W Thomas.

Add Councillors A M Cook, Y V Jardine, A J Jones and E J King.

 

2)       Chief Officers Disciplinary Appeals Committee

Remove Councillors J A Hale and D G Sullivan.

Add Councillors D J Lewis and D G Walker.

 

3)       Communities Cabinet Advisory Committee

Remove Councillors J P Curtice and B Hopkins.

Add Councillors J E Burtonshaw and U C Clay.

 

4)       Development Cabinet Advisory Committee

Remove Councillor J C Bayliss.

Add Councillor C R Doyle.

 

5)       Prevention and Social Care Reform Cabinet Advisory Committee

Remove Councillor P Lloyd.

Add Councillor J A Hale.

 

6)       Scrutiny Programme Committee

Remove Councillors A M Cook, J P Curtice and R V Smith.

Add Councillors C Anderson, C R Evans and E J King.

The Transformation and Performance Cabinet Member submitted a report which detailed the Strategic Equality Plan 2016-2020.

 

RESOLVED that:

 

1)       The Strategic Equality Plan 2016-2020 be approved.

The Education Cabinet Member submitted a report which provided an update on the progress in meeting the five recommendations in the Estyn Inspection Report.

 

RESOLVED that:

 

1)       The progress update in meeting the five recommendations in the Estyn Inspection Report be noted.

The Wellbeing and Healthy City & Enterprise, Development and Regeneration Cabinet Members jointly submitted a report which advised on the partnership operations of key facilities within the Cultural Services portfolio.

 

RESOLVED that:

 

1)       The report be noted.

The Chair of the Scrutiny Programme Committee submitted an information report setting out the Scrutiny Dispatches - Quarterly Impact Report.

1)       Part A ‘Supplementary Questions’

 

Seven (7) Part A ‘Supplementary Questions’ were submitted.  The relevant Cabinet Member(s) responded by way of written answers contained in the Council Summons.

 

The following supplementary question(s) required a written response.

 

a)       Question 2.  Councillor P M Meara:

 

“How many of these Trade Employees had previously been under the care of the Authority?”

 

The Next Generation Services Cabinet Member indicted that a written response would be provided.

 

2)       Part B ‘Questions not requiring Supplementary Questions’

 

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