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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - Guildhall, Swansea. View directions

Contact: Democratic Services - 636824 

Items
No. Item

50.

Disclosures of Personal and Prejudicial Interests.

Minutes:

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 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:

 

1)       Councillor R V Smith, declared a Personal Interest in Minute 60 “Report of the Wales Audit Office - Audit of Financial Statements Report - City & County of Swansea”;

 

2)       Councillors J P Curtice, R D Lewis, P Lloyd, G J Tanner, R V Smith, T J Hennegan and T M White declared a Personal Interest in Minute 61 “Statement of Accounts 2018/2019.

51.

Minutes. pdf icon PDF 209 KB

To approve & sign the Minutes of the previous meeting(s) as a correct record.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

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

 

1)              Ceremonial Meeting of Council on 24 July 2019;

 

2)              Ordinary Meeting of Council held on 25 July 2019;

 

3)              Ceremonial Meeting of Council held on 27 July 2019 subject to Councillor D G Sullivan being added to the list of apologies.

52.

Written Responses to Questions asked at the Last Ordinary Meeting of Council. pdf icon PDF 205 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

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

53.

Announcements of the Presiding Member.

Minutes:

1)              Eddie Ramsden – Condolences

 

The Presiding Member referred with sadness to the recent death of Eddie Ramsden, a former Director of Environmental Health with the former Swansea City Council.  As Eddie’s wish was to have his ashes interred in Oystermouth Cemetery, a Remembrance Service will be held in Mumbles with a date to be announced.

 

Please stand as a mark of sympathy and respect.

 

2)              Good news for our young people.

 

Education is a top priority for Swansea Council.  This year’s results in GCSEs, A levels and vocational qualifications show our continued and significant investment in supporting our schools is raising attainment and giving all Swansea pupils the best opportunities for their future careers.

 

Our schools’ GCSE results were well above the average for Wales.

21.2% of City pupils gained A* or A grades in their WJEC exams.  Significantly better than the Wales as a whole figure of 18.4%.

 

Swansea pupil’s results at A level are well above the Welsh and UK averages with an overall pass rate of 97.9%. Compared to the rest of Wales our A* and A grades are better in Swansea than the rest of Wales.

 

Our Year 13 vocational course results including BTecs are extremely good with 64.2% achieving Distinction* and Distinction.

 

Swansea pupils attending Gower College Swansea, Neath Port Talbot College and Coleg Sir Gâr also achieved very good exam results.

 

Congratulations to our pupils and their schools.

 

3)              Waste Management - Shortlisted for Two APSE Awards

 

The Presiding Member was delighted to announce that the Waste Management Service had been shortlisted for two national Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) Awards.  The winners will be announced in Newcastle on 12 September 2019.  The awards being:

 

Best Workforce Initiative.  This relates to the Council’s Waste Management Trainee Partnership which is in its second year.  All ten of the Year 1 Trainees passed the Traineeship with an NVQ Level 2 and were slotted into full time permanent posts.  There are currently a further 13 Year 2 Trainees spending time working in a variety of aspects of Waste Management to gain a wide ranging knowledge of the service to provide a workforce with a broad and deep understanding of their roles.

 

Best Service Team of the Year - Waste Management & Recycling Service.  This relates to the Keep Recyclables out Campaign which encourages increased recycling and diversion from landfill through the prohibition of recyclables from black bags.  The initiative has already reduced black bag waste by 15% and is projected to increase our overall recycling rate by 2%.  Both Year 1 and Year 2 Trainees mentioned in the previous award have been instrumental in promoting this improvement on the ground.

 

4)              Friends of Mayhill Washing Lake & Hillside Community Garden

 

The Presiding Member was delighted to announce that the Friends of Mayhill Washing Lake & Hillside Community Garden have won two awards this year.  In March, they received the Managed Green Space CLAS (Community Land Advisory Service) Award and in July, they received the Keep Wales Tidy Green Flag Community Award.

 

5)              Council, November 2019 - Rescheduled

 

The Council Meeting scheduled for 5.00pm on Thursday, 28 November 2019 has been rescheduled for 5.00pm, on Wednesday, 27 November 2019.  The Council Meeting will be held at the Council Chamber, Guildhall, Swansea.

 

6)              Corrections / Amendments to the Council Summons

 

i)                Item 11 “Application for Designation of Swansea within the World Health Organisation (WHO) European Healthy Cities Network Phase VII”

 

Please amend the recommendation to read:

 

“1)        The application by the Council for the City of Swansea to be designated as a member of the World Health Organisation (WHO) European Healthy Cities Network under Phase VII be endorsed”.

 

ii)              Urgent Notion of Motion - Prorogued Parliament

 

Pursuant to Paragraph 100B (4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1977, the Presiding Member stated that he had accepted an Urgent Notice of Motion in relation to a “Prorogued Parliament” for the reason of urgency outlined on the Motion.

 

iii)            Re-ordering of Agenda

 

The Presiding Member stated that as the Lord Mayor has to attend a Lard Mayoral function, he had agreed to re-order the agenda in order to consider Item 12 “Democratic Services Committee Annual Report 2018-2019” immediately after Item 8.  This will then be followed by the “Urgent Notice of Motion” before returning to the agenda as published.

54.

Announcements of the Leader of the Council.

Minutes:

1)              Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon

 

The Leader of the Council provided an update on the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon.

55.

Public Questions.

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

Minutes:

John Childs asked the following questions relating to Minute 62 “Application for Designation of Swansea within the World Health Organisation (WHO) European Cities Network Phase VII”:

 

1)              “What meaningful strategy do you have to address this problem which is caused mainly by motor vehicles?

 

2)              Is there a strategy to increase public awareness of the health dangers of our current dependence on petrol / diesel vehicles for local transport, particularly the increasingly high numbers private cars leading to high levels of congestion?

 

3)              Do you liaise with the health authority through the PSB and / or in any other manner in order to develop a holistic approach to the challenge of poor air quality, which hits hardest the poor and those why suffer from serious health conditions like heart and lung conditions?”

 

The Environment & Infrastructure Management stated that a written response would be provided.

56.

Presentation - None.

Minutes:

No Public Presentations were received.

57.

Democratic Services Committee Annual Report 2018-2019 (24 May 2018 – 8 May 2019). pdf icon PDF 300 KB

Minutes:

The Chair of Democratic Services presented an information report, which provided the Democratic Services Annual Report for the period 24 May 2018 to 8 May 2019.  The reports outlines the work of the Committee during that period.

58.

Urgent Item

Minutes:

The Presiding Member stated that pursuant to paragraph 100B (4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972, he considered that the “Notice of Motion from Councillors R C Stewart, C A Holley, C E Lloyd, J P Curtice, D W W Thomas, A S Lewis, S Pritchard, M B Lewis, W G Lewis, L V Walton, M C Child, R Francis-Davies, E W Fitzgerald, M H Jones, P M Black, P N May and D G Sullivan in relation to the Prorogation of Parliament should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency.

59.

Notice of Motion - Prorogation of Parliament

Minutes:

Notice of Motion from Councillors R C Stewart, C A Holley, C E Lloyd, J P Curtice, D W W Thomas, A S Lewis, S Pritchard, M B Lewis, W G Lewis, L V Walton, M C Child, R Francis-Davies, E W Fitzgerald, M H Jones, P M Black, P N May and D G Sullivan.

 

Reason for Urgency: In light of the breaking news on 28 August 2019 that there is a possibility of Parliament being prorogued on 10 September 2019, this is the only opportunity for this Council to consider and debate this Motion prior to that date”.

 

Proposed by Councillor R C Stewart and Seconded by Councillor C A Holley.

 

“We call on the Leader of Council to write to the Prime Minster and the Secretary of State for Wales, outlining our total disagreement with any attempt to suspend Parliament thus avoiding a democratic debate on our future relationship with the E.U.

 

The people of the U.K. over many hundreds of years have won the right for our Parliamentary democracy to be a beacon to the World.

 

It is completely undemocratic for any Prime Minister, let alone one who has not won a general election, and does not have a mandate from the British people, to attempt to frustrate our Sovereign Parliament of Elected Members.

 

Evidence provided by the U.K. and Welsh Governments has been consistent in confirming that leaving the E.U. without a deal will cause huge disruption and damage to the economy of Swansea, Wales and the U.K. and we call upon the Prime Minister to ensure the democratically Elected Members of the U.K. Parliament are allowed to discharge their democratic duty.”

 

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

 

For (45 Councillors)

Councillor(s)

Councillor(s)

Councillor(s)

C Anderson

D H Hopkins

C L Philpott

J E Burtonshaw

O G James

A Pugh

J P Curtice

L James

J A Raynor

N J Davies

Y V Jardine

K M Roberts

A M Day

J W Jones

M Sherwood

P Downing

M H Jones

R V Smith

C R Doyle

P K Jones

R C Stewart

M Durke

E J King

M Sykes

C R Evans

A S Lewis

G J Tanner

V M Evans

M B Lewis

D W W Thomas

F M Gordon

W G Lewis

L G Thomas

K M Griffiths

C E Lloyd

M Thomas

T J Hennegan

P Lloyd

G D Walker

C A Holley

I E Mann

L V Walton

B Hopkins

P M Matthews

T M White

 

Against (1 Councillor(s))

Councillor(s)

Councillor(s)

Councillor(s)

P R Hood-Williams

-

-

 

Abstain (0 Councillors)

Councillor(s)

Councillor(s)

Councillor(s)

-

-

-

 

Withdrawn from meeting due to declarable interest (0 Councillors)

Councillor

Councillor

Councillor

-

-

-

 

Resolved that the Notice of Motion outlined above be adopted.

 

Note: Councillor L R Jones (Leader of the Conservative Group) stated that the Notice of Motion was wasting time and that he wanted no part of it.  Following the statement Councillors S J Gallagher, D W Helliwell, L R Jones, M A Langstone, B J Rowlands and W G Thomas all withdrawn from the Meeting.

60.

Report of the Wales Audit Office - Audit of Financial Statements Report - City & County of Swansea. pdf icon PDF 299 KB

Minutes:

Jason Garcia, Wales Audit Office (WAO) presented the “Wales Audit Office, Audit of Financial Statements Report 2018-2019 for the City and County of Swansea”.

 

Jason Garcia (WAO) responded to questions of a technical nature whilst Ben Smith (Section 151 Officer) responded to questions relating to the position of the City and County of Swansea.

 

Resolved that:

 

1)              The Final Letter of Representation be approved and signed;

 

2)              The statement be approved.

61.

Statement of Accounts 2018/19. pdf icon PDF 5 MB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Section 151 Officer submitted a report which sought approval of the 2018-2019 accounts on or before 15 September 2019.

 

Resolved that:

 

1)              The Statement of Accounts 2018-2019 as outlined in Appendix A of the report be approved.

62.

Application for Designation of Swansea Within the World Health Organisation (WHO) European Healthy Cities Network Phase VII. pdf icon PDF 371 KB

Minutes:

The Care, Health & Ageing Well Cabinet Member submitted a report which informed Council about the opportunity to apply for designation within Phase VII of the World Health Organisation (WHO) European Healthy Cities Network, the goals and benefits of the programme and the application requirements.

 

Resolved that the application by the Council for the City of Swansea to be designated as a member of the World Health Organisation (WHO) European Healthy Cities Network under Phase VII be endorsed.

 

Note: Councillor C A Holley asked that the Environment & Infrastructure Management Cabinet Member share the Council’s work with all Councillors relating to the benefits of turning their vehicle’s engine off whilst stopped in traffic for 10 seconds or more.

 

The Environment & Infrastructure Management Cabinet Member stated that he would share that work.

63.

Membership of Committees. pdf icon PDF 113 KB

Minutes:

The Business Transformation & Performance Cabinet Member submitted a report which sought Council approval to the nominations / amendments to the membership of Council Bodies.

 

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

 

1)              Equalities & Future Generations Policy Development Committee

Remove Councillors J E Burtonshaw & M B Lewis.

Add Councillors P K Jones & M Sherwood.

64.

Councillors' Questions. pdf icon PDF 313 KB

Minutes:

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.

 

Those supplementary question(s) required a written response are shown below:

 

Question 3.  Councillor A M Day asked:

“How many expressions of interest were received in relation to Home Farm?”

 

The Business Transformation & Performance Cabinet Member stated that a written response would be provided.

 

2)       Part B ‘Questions not requiring Supplementary Questions’

 

Four (4) Part B ‘Questions not requiring Supplementary Questions’ were submitted.