Agenda and minutes
Venue: Council Chamber, Guildhall, Swansea
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Disclosures of Personal and Prejudicial Interests. Minutes: The Head of Legal, Democratic Services and Business Intelligence 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)
Councillors M C
Child, L S Gibbard, J W Jones, R D Lewis, C L Philpott and R V Smith declared a
Personal Interest in Minute 79 “Statement of Accounts”; 2)
Phil Roberts
(Chief Executive) declared a Personal and Prejudicial Interest in Minute 85 “Electoral
Reform in Local Government in Wales (Questions 38-40) – Consultation Response”. |
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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)
Extraordinary Meeting of Council held on 24
August 2017; 2)
Ordinary Meeting of Council held on 24 August
2017. |
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Written Responses to Questions asked at the Last Ordinary Meeting of Council. PDF 95 KB Additional documents: Minutes: The Head of
Legal, Democratic Services and Business Intelligence submitted
an information report setting out the written responses to questions asked at
the last Ordinary Meeting of Council. |
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Announcements of the Presiding Member. Minutes: 1)
Condolences
- Former Councillor and Honorary Alderman Gordon Dennis The Presiding Member referred with sadness to the
recent death of former Councillor and Honorary Alderman Gordon Dennis. Gordon Dennis represented the Upper Loughor
Electoral Ward on the City and County of Swansea and the former Lliw Valley
Borough Council. He served on the Lliw Valley Borough Council from 6
May 1987 to 31 March 1996 and the City and County of Swansea from 4 May 1995 to
5 May 1999. He was Mayor of Lliw Valley
1994-1995 and was conferred with the title of Honorary Alderman on 30 March
2000. All present stood as a mark of sympathy and respect. 2)
Swansea
- UK City of Culture 2021 Bid The Presiding Member stated that a number of
Councillors and the Political Group Leaders would be slightly late attending
Council this evening as they are at the National Waterfront Museum to show cross party support for the
submission of Swansea’s – UK City of Culture 2021 electronic Bid to the
Department of Digital, Media and Sport in London. He stated that Councillors
could also play a significant role in supporting the campaign and spreading the
message across the City and County by taking a number of vinyl window stickers
and asking local businesses to display them as part of Swansea’s Backing the
Bid campaign. All Council venues
have already been covered such as Libraries, Leisure Centres, Community
Buildings etc. 3)
Association for Public Service
Excellence (APSE) – Annual Service Awards 2017 – Best Service Team of the Year
- Waste Management & Recycling Service The Presiding Member congratulate Chris Howell and
his Team for being awarded the APSE Best Service Team of the Year - Waste
Management & Recycling Service. The
award was for the highly innovative and successful transformation of the
Council’s Recycling Centres. Instead of closures, the Team chose to convert the 3 smaller, poor
performing sites into Recycling and Re-use Centre’s only, and prohibit
recyclable materials from the residual skips at the Llansamlet and Clyne sites. This has seen residual waste destined for landfill
reduced by over 80%, and their combined recycling rate increase from 55% to
nearly 90%. Chris Howell was present to receive the award. 4)
Association for Public Service
Excellence (APSE) – Annual Service Awards 2017 – Best Service Team of the Year
- Highways, Winter Maintenance
and Street Lighting Service The Presiding Member congratulate Stuart Davies and
his Team for being awarded the APSE Best Service Team of the Year - Highways,
Winter Maintenance and Street Lighting Service.
The award was for the Highways
& Transportation Service with a particular focus on the PATCH and Pothole
initiative as well as some of the street lighting improvements. Official statistics
demonstrated Swansea Council had one of the best kept road networks in Wales,
but the reputation on potholes amongst residents was poor, believing that
pothole reports were being ignored and that they were not fixing them fast
enough. Changing public perception about
the Highways Service was all about shifting sentiment, the power of social
media sent a clear message that the public weren’t happy and the goal was to
convert this to positive feedback going forward. The Highways Team’s
solution was to directly tackle the perception to using an easy reporting
mechanism that would guarantee a repair within 48 hours and a response with
photographs for each notification where email provided. The focus was on
information, making contacts easy and giving good responses reacting as a
service for customers rather than as a custodian of a public asset. Since the launch of the
48-hour pothole repair pledge last summer almost 3,000 holes in the road have
been fixed within two days of being reported (with 93% customer
satisfaction). And the commitment to the
pledge has helped see the total number of road repairs over the last 12 months
soar to more than 11,200. Bob Fenwick was present to receive the award. 5) The
Queen’s Awards for Enterprise The Presiding Member stated that the Queen’s Award
for Enterprise was a prestigious UK award and is given to Companies or
Individuals who are outstanding in their field.
The Awards and are split across four categories namely: Innovation,
International Trade, Sustainable Development and Promoting Opportunity through
Social Mobility. Cyfle Building Services is a Multi Award Winner Regional Shared
Apprenticeship Scheme in the construction industry and across South West Wales. The initiative supported by the Construction Industry Training Board
(CITB), the Welsh Government and various stakeholders operates within five
regional Local Authority boundaries of and is supported by, the City &
County of Swansea, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire, and Neath Port
Talbot Councils. He congratulated the Authority’s Corporate Building Services, a founder
member of Cyfle for being recognised for its active and ongoing involvement, at
both grass root and Board levels, with the award of this commemorative bowl. Chris Cutforth was present to receive the award. |
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Announcements of the Leader of the Council. Minutes: 1)
Martin
Nicholls – Corporate Director of Place The
Deputy Leader of the Council congratulated Martin Nicholls on his appointment
earlier that day as Corporate Director of Place. 2)
APSE
& Queen’s Award The
Deputy Leader of the Council echoed the congratulations previously given by the
Presiding Member for the awards received and paid tribute to all Council
Officers for their dedication and support. 3)
Swansea
– UK City of Culture Bid The
Deputy Leader of the Council congratulated all of the Officers involved in
assisting with the preparation of the UK City of Culture Bid for Swansea. It was a Team Swansea approach and very
pleasing to note that it had total cross party support. 4)
Tidal
Bay Lagoon, Swansea The
Deputy Leader of the Council stated that there was still no news from UK
Government regarding the sign off of the Tidal Bay Lagoon, Swansea; however it
was pleasing to note that it had been mentioned positively at the recent Labour
Party Conference and at the recent Liberal Democrats Party Conference. The
Leader of the Conservative Group also pledged his Group’s full support to the
project and indicated that he would be raising it with the Prime Minister on
the weekend. |
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Public Questions. Questions must relate to matters on the open part of the Agenda of the meeting and will be dealt within a 10 minute period. Minutes: No questions
were asked by members of the public. |
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Public Presentation - None. Minutes: No Public Presentations were
received. |
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Minutes: Geraint Norman and David Williams, Wales Audit Office (WAO) presented the “Wales Audit Office, Audit of Financial Statements Report 2016-2017 for the City and County of Swansea”. Geraint Norman
(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. Note: Councillor P M Black referred to page 26 of the Council Summons and asked: “Appendix 4 states that
the Council holds the deeds for a number of assets but these have yet to be
registered with the Land registry. How
much of the Authorities land has not been registered?” The Section 151 Officer stated that a written response would be provided. |
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Minutes: Geraint Norman and David Williams, Wales Audit Office (WAO) presented the “Wales Audit Office, Audit of Financial Statements Report 2016-2017 for the City and County of Swansea Pension Fund”. Geraint Norman
(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. |
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Statement of Accounts 2016/17. PDF 97 KB Additional documents: Minutes: The Section 151 Officer submitted a report which detailed
the timescale involved in the completion and audit of the Council’s Statement
of Accounts for 2016-2017. He advised
that in accordance with the requirements of the Accounts and Audit (Wales) Regulations
2014, the Council had to approve the Statement of Accounts 2016-2017 on or
before 30 September 2017. RESOLVED that the 2016-2017 Statement of Accounts be approved. Note: Councillor P M Black asked the following questions: 1)
“Page
139 of the Statement of Accounts 2016-2017 refers to Care Home Fees. Can the Section 151 Officer explain the issue
and the costs associated with it? 2)
Page 140
of the Statement of Accounts 2016-2017 refers to Bay Leisure Limited (Swansea).
Is the fund amount sufficient to cover
any maintenance budget issues?” The Section 151 Officer stated that a written response would
be provided. |
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Treasury Management Annual Report 2016/17. PDF 284 KB Minutes: The Section 151 Officer submitted an
information report which detailed the Council’s Treasury Management activities
during 2016-2017 and compared actual performance against the strategy laid down
at the start of the year. |
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The First 100 Days and Beyond. PDF 177 KB Minutes: The Leader of the Council Officer submitted a for information
report which recorded the achievements and successes of Swansea Council during
its first 100 days following the election on 4 May 2017 and detailed the
proposals for action in the next few months and beyond. |
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Appointment of Independent Member(s) to the Standards Committee. PDF 99 KB Minutes: The Head of Democratic Services submitted a report which
outlined the recommendation of the Standards Committee Vacancy Panel held on 4
September 2017. The
recommendation being that Michaela Jones and Mike Lewis be appointed as
Independent Members of the Standards Committee as of 1 October 2017. RESOLVED that: 1)
Council notes the recommendation of the
Standards Committee Vacancy Panel of 4 September 2017; 2)
Michaela Jones and Mike Lewis be appointed as Independent
Members of the Standards Committee as of 1 October 2017; 3)
Their 6 year term of office end on 30 September
2023. |
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Membership of Committees. PDF 99 KB Minutes: The Service
Transformation & Business Operations Cabinet Member stated that there was
one additional change to the report. He referred to the report
stating that the Leader of the Council had also made changes to the Authority’s
Outside Bodies as outlined below: 1)
University of Wales Court Remove Councillor R Francis-Davies. He also stated that the
Leader of the Council had previously announced that Councillors J E Burtonshaw and M
Sherwood share the Future Generations Cabinet Member role on a quarterly
basis. Councillor J E Burtonshaw was the
Cabinet Member until and including 31 August 2017 and Councillor M Sherwood has
assumed the role for 3 months commencing on 1 September 2017. Their
terms of office for Cabinet and the External Funding Panel are set out below:
RESOLVED that: 1)
The report be noted; 2)
The membership of the Council Bodies listed
below be amended as follows: i)
Economy &
Infrastructure Policy Development & Delivery Committee Remove Councillor W G
Thomas. Add Councillor M A
Langstone. ii)
Education & Skills
Policy Development & Delivery Committee Add Councillor M H Jones. iii)
Safeguarding Policy
Development & Delivery Committee Remove Councillor M Sykes. Add Councillor M B Lewis. |
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Minutes: The Head of Democratic
Services submitted an amended report which provided a response to questions
1-37 and 41-46 of the Welsh Government consultation on Electoral Reform in
Local Government in Wales by 10 October 2017.
The amended report provided an agreed cross party response to 31 of the
46 questions. RESOLVED that the: 1) Response to the Electoral Reform in Local Government in Wales be made as outlined in Appendix A of the amended report. |
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Electoral Reform in Local Government in Wales (Questions 38-40) – Consultation Response. PDF 115 KB Minutes: The Head of Democratic
Services submitted a report which provided a response to questions 38-40 of the
Welsh Government consultation on Electoral Reform in Local Government in Wales
by 10 October 2017. RESOLVED that the: 1) Response to the Electoral Reform in Local
Government in Wales be made as outlined in Appendix A of the report. |
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Councillors' Questions. PDF 152 KB Minutes: 1) Part A ‘Supplementary
Questions’ Nine
(9) 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. Question 5 a)
Councillor C A Holley asked: i)
“What do the Authority’s
advisors say in relation to enhanced retail and the City Centre?” The Leader of the Council stated
that a written response would be provided. Question 7 b)
Councillor P M Black asked: ii)
“Can the Children,
Education & Lifelong Learning Cabinet Member provide a detailed breakdown
of Year 10 entries for all subjects listed in the question and response?” The Children, Education
& Lifelong Learning Cabinet Member stated that a written response would be
provided. 2) Part B ‘Questions not requiring Supplementary Questions’ Two (2) Part B ‘Questions not requiring Supplementary Questions’ were submitted. |