Agenda and minutes

www.swansea.gov.uk/disclosuresofinterests

The Interim 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)           Councillors C Anderson, J P Curtice, J A Hale, C A Holley, S M Jones, E J King, A S Lewis, R D Lewis and R C Stewart declared a Personal Interest in Minute 160 “Pay Policy 2017-2018”;

2)           Councillors J E Burtonshaw, C A Holley, A J Jones, K E Marsh, C Thomas, M Thomas and T M White declared a Personal Interest in Minute 160 “Pay Policy 2017-2018.” and stated that they had dispensation from the Standards Committee;

3)           Councillors P Downing, S M Jones, K E Marsh, P N May, R D Lewis and C L Philpott declared a Personal Interest in Minute 163 “Admission Arrangements 2018-2019”;

4)        Councillors M C Child, J P Curtice, J E Harris, P R Hood-Williams, L James, J W Jones, M H Jones, R D Lewis and K E Marsh declared a Personal and Prejudicial Interest in Minute 165 “Approval of the Gower Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Management Plan”;

5)            Councillor C R Doyle declared a Personal and Prejudicial Interest in Minute 166 “Western Bay Population Assessment”;

6)           Councillors J W Jones, M H Jones, S M Jones, C L Philpott, J A Raynor and C Richards declared a Personal and Prejudicial Interest in Minute 169 “Councillors Questions.”

Officers

1)            G Borsden, H Evans, M Hawes, T Meredith, P Roberts and D Smith declared a Personal and Prejudicial Interest in Minute 160 “Pay Policy 2017-2018.” and withdrew from the meeting prior to its consideration.

2)            T Meredith declared a Personal and Prejudicial Interest in Minute 161 “Senior Management Restructure - Resources Directorate.” and withdrew from the meeting prior to its consideration.

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)        Extraordinary Meeting of Council held on 16 February 2017;

2)        Ordinary Meeting of Council held on 23 February 2017.

There were no written responses.

1)            Westminster Attack, London

The Presiding Member referred with sadness to the terrorist attack at Westminster, London on 22 March 2017.  To date, the attack left 4 people dead and 40 people injured, 7 of which remain in hospital in a critical condition.  Those who died were Aysha Frade, Kurt Cochran, PC Keith Palmer and the attacker.

Flags outside the Council’s Civic buildings were flown at half-mast and staff held a minute’s silence at 09.33 as a mark of respect following the attack in Westminster.  Similar silences were held across the UK at the same time to mark the start of the Parliamentary session in London.

All present stood as a mark of sympathy and respect.

2)            National Government Opportunities (GO) Awards 2017-2018

The Presiding Member announce that the City and County of Swansea was a winner at the National Government Opportunities (GO) Excellence in Public Procurement Awards 2017-2018 held in Manchester on 21 March 2017.  The ceremony was the glittering climax to the North of England’s Festival of Procurement and saw nearly 600 delegates from the UK’s public procurement community go head to head to win a coveted GO Award.

The Authority’s “Beyond Bricks and Mortar” Team won the Epson sponsored “GO Best Employment Initiative Award” for its excellent work and its community benefits policy.  On behalf of the Authority he congratulated and thanked all involved.

Helen Beddow and Lee Wyndham were present from the Beyond Bricks and Mortar Team to receive the award.

1)            Swansea Bay City Region Deal

The Leader of the Council stated that the Swansea Bay City Region Deal had been signed on 20 March 2017.  The deal is the biggest ever investment into the area; potentially bringing 10,000 jobs to the region and a £1.3 billion boost to the economy.  He paid tribute to the Team of people that all helped make this a reality.

2)            Liberty Stadium

The Leader of the Council provided an update with regard to the negotiations for a revised lease agreement for the Liberty Stadium.

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.  Those questions requiring a written response are listed below:

1)        David Davies asked questions in relation to Minute 165 “Approval of the Gower Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Management Plan”.

a)            “Page 199.  Paragraph 3.38.  Losing European Funding for Transport as a result of Brexit creates financial problems for this Authority, especially at a time when the Welsh Government is planning an integrated transport system nationwide.

i)             Is the Gower Sunday Explorer likely to be affected?

ii)            Will the Council and DANSA Partnership serving Gowerton to Llanrhidian receive ongoing funding and does the Council have any plans to expand the community transport services, an amenity introduced by this Labour Council which is proving a success story?”

The Environment and Transportation Cabinet Member stated that a written response would be provided.

No Public Presentations were received.

The Chief Executive submitted a report which sought Council approval of the Pay Policy 2017-2018.

RESOLVED that:

1)            The Pay Policy 2017-2018 be approved for adoption.

The Chief Executive submitted a report which proposed a Senior Management Structure following the retirement of the Corporate Director (Resources) at the end of May 2017.  He made one amendment to Appendix 1 of the report by stating that “Elections and Electoral Registration” aka “Electoral Services” should be shown as being under Democratic Services.

RESOLVED that:

1)            The structure, subject to the consultation as detailed in the report be approved;

2)            The Chief Executive be authorised to consult all affected staff;

3)            The Chief Executive be authorised to implement the structure subject to resolution 2) above not identifying significant changes.

The Chief Executive submitted a report which sought approval to the in principle responses to the recently issued Welsh Government White Paper “Reforming Local Government: Resilient and Renewed” in order that a detailed response can be prepared for submission by the deadline by the 11 April 2017.

RESOLVED that:

1)            Council considers the White Paper issued by Welsh Government  Reforming Local Government: Resilient and Renewed and authorises the Chief Executive to construct a response in consultation with the Leader of the Council in line with the suggested responses shown highlighted in black within this report.

The Education Cabinet Member submitted a report which sought to determine the admission arrangements for maintained schools for the academic year 2018-2019.

RESOLVED that:

1)            The proposed admission arrangements for 2018-2019 for Nursery as set out in Appendix A of the report be approved;

2)            The proposed admission arrangements for 2018-2019 for Reception as set out in Appendix B of the report be approved;

3)            The proposed admission arrangements for 2018-2019 for Year 7 as set out in Appendix B of the report be approved;

4)            The proposed admission arrangements for 2018-2019 for in-year transfers as set out in Appendix B of the report be approved;

5)            The proposed admission arrangements/criteria for entry for 2018-2019 for sixth forms as set out in Appendix C of the report be approved;

6)            The Schedule of Events as set out in Appendix D of the report be approved;

7)            The admission numbers for primary and secondary schools as set out in Appendix E of the report be noted.

The Transformation and Performance Cabinet Member submitted a report which set out the well-being objectives and well-being statement 2017-2018 for the Council as required by the Well-Being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.

RESOLVED that:

1)            The Council’s 5 key priorities expressed in its current Corporate Plan 2016-2017 be carried forward into 2017-2018 as the Council’s Well-Being Objectives;

2)            The Council’s ‘Well-Being Statement’ for 2017-2018 be approved;

3)            The work currently underway to review the Council’s Well-Being Objectives continues after the local government elections with the newly elected Administration into 2017-2018 with a new Corporate Plan published as soon as practicably possible.

The Enterprise, Development and Regeneration Cabinet Member submitted a report which sought to approve and adopt the Gower Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Management Plan as Council Policy and as Supplementary Planning Guidance.

RESOLVED that:

1)            The Gower Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Management Plan be approved and adopted as Council Policy and as Supplementary Planning Guidance to the Unitary Development Plan (UDP) and emerging Local Development Plan (LDP).

Note: Councillor E W Fitzgerald asked the following question:

“Page 192, Paragraph 3.9.  Second Sentence.  Can the Cabinet Member clarify what plant is being referred to?”

The Enterprise, Development and Regeneration Cabinet Member stated that a written response would be provided.

The Adults and Vulnerable People Cabinet Member submitted a report which sought to approve the Western Bay Population Assessment; to authorise the Chief Social Services Officer to publish a link to the Population Assessment on the Council’s website and to authorise the Director of People to submit the Population Assessment to Welsh Ministers on behalf of the three Local Authorities and the Health Board in the Western Bay Region.

The Chief Social Services Officer (Dave Howes) and Western Bay Regional Programme Director (Sara Harvey) gave a presentation on the Western Bay Population Assessment.

RESOLVED that:

1)            The Western Bay Population Assessment be approved;

2)            The Chief Social Services Officer be authorised to publish a link to the Population Assessment on the Council’s website;

3)            The Director of People be authorised to submit the Population Assessment to Welsh Ministers on behalf of the three Local Authorities and the Health Board in the Western Bay Region.

The Presiding Member, Monitoring Officer and Head of Democratic Services submitted a report which outlined the draft Council Diary 2017-2018.

RESOLVED that:

1)            The Council Diary 2017-2018 be approved;

2)            The Council Diary 2017-2018 be resubmitted to the Annual Meeting of Council on 25 May 2017 for further consideration following the Local Government Elections on 4 May 2017;

3)            The Timing of Council Meetings Survey be conducted in Autumn / Winter 2017.

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

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.

No supplementary questions required a written response.

2)        Part B ‘Questions not requiring Supplementary Questions’

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