Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence

Councillors Menna Baines, Aeron M. Jones, Dafydd Owen, W.Roy Owen and Hefin Underwood.

The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Council held on 1^st October, 2020 be signed as a true record. (attached)

The Chairman signed the minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Council held on 1 October, 2020 as a true record.

To receive any declaration of personal interest.

Members had received a briefing note from the Monitoring Officer in advance regarding item 8 - Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2020/21, and Item 9 - Council Tax: Discretionary Powers to Allow Discounts and / or Raise a Premium 2021/22.

(1) Councillor Stephen Churchman declared a personal interest in item 8 on the agenda - Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2020/21 - as he claimed a Council Tax Reduction on his home, and therefore benefited from the scheme.

The member was not of the opinion that it was a prejudicial interest, and he did not withdraw from the meeting during the discussion on the item.

(2)  The following members declared a personal interest in item 9 on the agenda - Council Tax: Discretionary Powers to Allow Discounts and / or Raise a Premium 2021/22:-

·         Councillor Peredur Jenkins - because he rented out two properties.

·         Councillor Aled Wyn Jones because a close relative had a second home in Gwynedd.

·         Councillor Linda Morgan because she had family who own second homes.

·         Councillor Dewi Wyn Roberts because he had a connection to someone who would be impacted by the Premium.

·         Councillor Angela Russell - because she owned a second home and worked for people who owned holiday homes.

·         Councillor Dyfrig Siencyn as he had a close connection to a person who paid the Premium.

The members were of the opinion that they were prejudicial interests, and they withdrew from the meeting during the discussion on the item.

To receive any Chairman’s announcements.

Condolences were expressed to the following:-

·         Councillor Gareth Thomas as his mother had recently passed away.

·         The family of former Councillor Morgan Vaughan. Councillor Anne Lloyd Jones gave a tribute.

·         The family of Councillor Charles Wyn Jones. Councillor Selwyn Griffiths gave a tribute.

It was also noted that the Council wished to express condolences to everyone within the county’s communities who had recently lost loved ones.

The Council stood in silence as a mark of respect and remembrance.

Best wishes were extended to the following:-

·         Mr Dewi Pritchard Jones on his retirement as a Coroner at the end of November, and he was thanked for his work over the years.

·         Elfyn Evans from Dolgellau, fromerly from Dinas Mawddwy, in the final round of the World Rally Championship.

The following were congratulated:-

·         The Energy Team of the Housing and Property Department on being awarded a British award (Energy Management Award - Public Sector Team of the Year) - a very deserved award, bearing in mind not only their success in reducing carbon emissions, but also their excellent work in the energy procurement field.  

·         Liz Saville Roberts, Plaid Cymru Leader at Westminister, on the Member of Parliament of the Year Award from the Patchwork Fundation, a diversity and inclusion charity. It was noted that the Member of Parliament for Dwyfor Meirionnydd had been recognised for her regional work promoting the rights of young women, and had been awarded 'Other Party MP of the Year.'

To receive any correspondence, communications or other business brought forward at the request of the Chairman.

None to note.

To note any items which are urgent business in the opinion of the Chairman so they may be considered.

None to note.

To consider any questions the appropriate notice for which have been given under Section 4.19 of the Constitution.

No questions were received.

To submit the report of the Cabinet Member for Finance  (attached).

1.1         To continue the Council's Local Scheme for the year commencing 1 April 2021 as it was in 2020/21. Therefore, the following conditions (a - c below) regarding the continuation of the discretionary elements would apply:

a)    To apply a 100% disregard for war disablement pensions, war widows’ pensions and war widowers’ pensions, for both pensioners and working age claimants.

b)   Not to increase the extended reduction periods for pensioners and working age claimants from the standard four weeks in the Prescribed Scheme.

c)    Not to increase the backdate period for pensioners and working age claimants from the standard three months contained within the Prescribed Scheme.

1.2         Where appropriate, to delegate powers to the Head of Finance Department, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance, to make minor amendments to the scheme for 2021/22, provided that it will not change the substance of the scheme.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Ioan Thomas, submitted a report asking the Council to confirm the continuation of the current Local Scheme to provide assistance towards paying Council Tax for the year commencing 1 April 2021.

RESOLVED

(a)   To continue the Council's Local Scheme for the year commencing 1 April 2021, as it was during 2020/21.  Therefore the following conditions (i - iii below) regarding the continuation of the discretionary elements would apply:

(i) To implement a 100% disregard for war disablement pensions, and war widow pensions for both pensioners and working age claimants.

(ii) Not to increase the extended reduction periods for pensioners and working age claimants from the standard four weeks in the Prescribed Scheme.

(iii) Not to increase the backdate period for pensioners and working age claimants from the standard three months contained within the Prescribed Scheme.

(b)    Where appropriate, to delegate powers to the Head of Finance Department, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance, to make minor amendments to the scheme for 2021/22, provided that it will not change the substance of the scheme.

To submit the report of the Cabinet Member for Finance  (attached).

That the Council defers the decision with regards to permitting discounts and charging a premium, asking the Cabinet to consider the propriety of increasing the level by up to 100%. The Cabinet is requested to hold a consultation process on this basis, to consider the relevant factors, and to submit a further recommendation to the Council in March 2021 in accordance with Section 12, 12B and 12A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Ioan Thomas, presented a report asking the Council for formal confirmation for 2021/22, of the previous decisions not to give discounts to second homes and to disallow discounts on empty properties, and to raise a premium of 50% on such relevant properties.

In specific reference to second homes, the Cabinet Member noted:- 

·         That the provision and density of holiday homes had grown over recent years, together with the associated effect socially, economically and environmentally.

·         That the popularity of Gwynedd as a holiday destination and the use of holiday accommodation as a financial investment were factors, and a significant growth had been seen recently across the whole county in the number of residential units used as holiday accommodation.

·         That it was proposed to submit a research paper on managing the use of dwellings as holiday homes to the Communities Scrutiny Committee on 10 December, with specific recommendations to be discussed in the Cabinet on 15 December.

·         Although it was recognised that it would not be possible to implement those recommendations immediately, due to the need for legislation by the Welsh Government, the rate of the Premium on property was a matter that the full Council could act upon. 

·         There had been regular correspondence as well as formal and informal meetings between Gwynedd Council, ministers and officers from the Welsh Government, to discuss our concerns regarding the ability of second home owners to use Section 66 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 to transfer their property from domestic property, paying Council Tax, to self-catering units, that are subject to non-domestic rates.

The Deputy Leader noted:-

·         That the recommendation proposed to continue with the existing situation to raise a premium of 50% on second homes and empty homes, however, it had become evident from discussions with members, proposals in the Council and public demands in our communities, that it was necessary to reconsider the Premium, with the intention to increase it.   

·         The situation in the county was critical, with housing stock being lost to second homes with local people unable to afford buying homes in their communities.

·         The Cabinet and the members had been pressing the Government to change the act and to give us powers to control second homes.   The Government had stated that we had no evidence to justify this, however, the evidence had not been published and would be discussed soon. 

·         In addition to discussing the research paper on managing the use of dwellings as holiday homes, the Cabinet on 15 December would discuss the Housing Action Plan, an ambitious and exciting plan that would invest approximately £77m in providing housing for young people in the county.  

·         Being aware of the strong feelings regarding this matter, he wished to make an amendment to delete the words "and raises a premium of 50% on class B second homes " in the second bullet point of the recommendation, by inserting the words " but deferring the decision regarding setting the Premium and to request that the  Cabinet  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

To submit the report of the Council Leader  (attached).

(a)   To approve the Overarching Business Plan as the document that sets out the arrangements for delivering the North Wales Growth Deal as the basis for completing the Final Agreement and acceptance of the Grant Funding Letter with the UK and Welsh Governments.

(b)  To approve the provisions in Governance Agreement 2, which involve the non-executive functions, and specifically adopt the arrangements for Scrutiny that have been noted in "Governance Agreement 2: Appendix 3" as the basis for completing the Final Agreement and acceptance of the Grant Funding Letter with the UK and Welsh Governments. 

(c)  Subject to completing Governance Agreement 2, that Gwynedd Council agrees to act as the Host Authority and the Accountable Body and signs the letter of the Grant Funding Proposal on behalf of the Partners through the Chief Finance Officer.

(ch) To approve the method used to calculate the cost of borrowing, which is required in principle to facilitate the negative cash flow for the Growth Deal, and to include a provision within the Council Budget to pay this contribution and the established core and supplementary contributions as set out in GA2 (and in paragraphs 5.5 - 5.7 of the report).

(d) To delegate authority to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader, the Monitoring Officer and the Section 151 Officer, to agree minor changes to the documents with the Partners as necessary to complete the agreement.

The Leader submitted a report presenting the package of key documents required to reach Final Agreement for the North Wales Growth Deal with the UK Government and Welsh Government.
He noted that:-

·         The adoption of the recommendations would allow the signing of the Final Agreement with both Governments on 17 December. 

·         In terms of the Growth Deal itself, it had been a long three year journey, however, the North Wales Economic Ambition Board had been established nearly eight years ago, when the local authorities in north Wales, universities, colleges and the private sector came together to address economic development matters at a regional level.  

·         In working together, the partnership was widely recognised as a strong partnership and an example of good practice.

·         The six authorities that are partners on the Board are of several different political hues with very different economic backgrounds, however, the six Leaders were in agreement that the welfare of the people of north Wales was what was important.

·         He wished to thank partnership members, including the universities and colleges and the private sector, who had been a major part of the discussion and of developing the plans.

·         In addition, he also wanted to thank the team of officers under the lead of Alwen Williams, Portfolio Director, and he noted that the fact there was such a good team of officers in the north operating in the economic development field gave him confidence that it would be possible to address the major problems that will face us in the future. 

·         That as statutory officers of the host authority, Dafydd Edwards, Head of Finance and Iwan Evans, Monitoring Officer were instrumental in leading teams of officers across the north in undertaking the financial and legal and governance work, and he wished to thank them also for their outstanding contribution to the work of the Board.

·         The situation of the economy in the north had changed since the plan's projects had been originally developed. Covid had had a very detrimental impact, and the economy had an uncertain future as a result of whatever would emanate from Brexit.   

·         That the Ambition Board was more than the Growth Deal, and it was proposed to look at other streams of financial investments from several directions.    

·         Although it was disappointing that the Westminster Government had provided less money than the total requested at the start, however, signing the Final Agreement before Christmas would release a stream from the £240m, with £16m received every year for the next fifteen years to implement Growth Deal projects over the next 5-6 years. 

Alwen Williams (Portfolio Director) and Sioned Williams (Head of Economy and Community) were welcomed to the meeting, and the Portfolio Director was invited to give a slide presentation.  During the presentation, the following were highlighted:-

·         Growth Deal Portfolio - details were given on the aim, the size of investment for the plan as a whole and the expenditure objectives.

·         Overview of the programmes

·         A List of Growth Deal Projects.

·         Regional benefits

The Head  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

To submit the report of the Chair of the Standards Committee  (attached).

Dr Einir Young, Chair of the Standards Committee, was welcomed to the meeting to present the committee's annual report for 2019/20.

In presenting the report, specific attention was drawn to the fact that the committee had reported for several years that no cases had been brought before them, and therefore came to the conclusion that Gwynedd standards were very high.  However, annually at the meeting of the full Council members noted that cases were being sent to the Ombudsman, but it was a long-winded process and the threshold for an investigation was high, as he determined more often than not that there was no case to answer.  This was a disappointment to persons who thought that they had a valid complaint.

It was explained that the Standards Committee received the details of the cases that went before the Ombudsman, as if there was a case to answer, it would be sent back to the committee, and knowing the details of the case beforehand would prejudice the committee. However, she wished to assure the Members and residents that maintaining standards was of the greatest importance, and everyone had to take responsibility for their own conduct.

Dr Einir Young thanked the Monitoring Officer and the Senior Corporate Solicitor for their legal guidance and their support throughout the year.

Members were then given an opportunity to make observations and ask questions.  Individual members submitted the following observations:-

·         It was noticed that the Ombudsman had not dealt with any case again this year, and concern was expressed that people now felt that there was no point in taking their complaint to the Ombudsman.   It was not possible for anybody, except for the chair or clerk of a community council, to turn to Unllais for support and it was asked where people should go to get fair play.

·         Reference was made to a case where councillors had resigned as a result of the Ombudsman's decision not to investigate their complaint that they were being bullied.

·         It was noted that it was easy to accuse councillors of bullying, and once a finger had been pointed, those individuals had to work very hard to defend themselves. An accusation of bullying did not necessarily mean that bullying was occuring.

In response to the above observations, it was noted that it was necessary to work within the existing system. There were over 700 community and town council members in Wales with approximately 63 councils, and there was a lack of capacity within those councils to deal themselves with matters that did not reach the threshold, especially smaller councils.  There was no simple answer to the problem, unless there was a pot of additional resources available to facilitate a different process. 

Dr Einir Young was thanked for her presentation.

In accordance with the Notice of Motion received under Section 4.20 of the Constitution, Councillor Paul Rowlinson will propose as follows:-

“This Council resolves:

(a)     To write to the Welsh Government urging them to utilise any levers at their disposal to mitigate any negative impacts on animals and vulnerable people of the hosting of fireworks displays.

(b)     To write to the UK Government urging them to introduce legislation to limit the maximum noise level of fireworks to 90dB for those sold to the public for private displays.

(c)     To request the Communities Scrutiny Committee to give consideration within its work programme to reviewing what steps the Council can take to promote or encourage:

• that all public firework displays within the local authority boundaries should be advertised in advance of the event, allowing residents to take precautions for their animals and vulnerable people.
• a public awareness campaign about the impact of fireworks on animal welfare and vulnerable people – including precautions that can be taken to mitigate risks.
• Local suppliers of fireworks to stock ‘quieter’ fireworks for public display.
• People to restrict the use of fireworks to a period close to specific dates.”

(a)  To write to the Welsh Government urging them to utilise any levers at their disposal to mitigate any detrimental impact on animals and vulnerable people of the hosting of fireworks displays.

(b)   To write to the UK Government urging them to introduce legislation to limit the maximum noise level of fireworks to 90dB for those sold to the public for private displays.

(c)     To request the Communities Scrutiny Committee to give consideration within its work programme to review what steps the Council can take to promote or encourage:

o   that all public firework displays within the local authority boundaries should be advertised in advance of the event, allowing residents to take precautions for their animals and vulnerable people.

o   a public awareness campaign about the impact of fireworks on animal welfare and vulnerable people – including precautions that can be taken to mitigate risks.

o   local suppliers of fireworks to stock ‘quieter’ fireworks for public displays.

o   people to limit the use of fireworks to a period close to specific dates.

Submitted - the following notice of motion by Councillor Paul Rowlinson, in accordance with Section 4.20 of the Constitution and it was seconded:-

"The Council resolves:

(a)      To write to the Welsh Government urging them to utilise any levers at their disposal to mitigate any detrimental impact on animals and vulnerable people of the hosting of fireworks displays.

(b)      To write to the UK Government urging them to introduce legislation to limit the maximum noise level of fireworks to 90dB for those sold to the public for private displays.

(c)      To request the Communities Scrutiny Committee to give consideration within its work programme to review what steps the Council can take to promote or encourage:

·         That all public firework displays within the local authority boundaries should be advertised in advance of the event, allowing residents to take precautions for their animals and vulnerable people.

·         A public awareness campaign about the impact of fireworks on animal welfare and vulnerable people – including precautions that can be taken to mitigate
risks.

·         Local suppliers of fireworks to stock ‘quieter’ fireworks for public displays.

·         People to limit the use of fireworks to a period close to specific dates."

Many members expressed their support for the motion, however, it was noted that it should also be borne in mind that fireworks were an inevitable part of religious celebrations, such as Diwali, Festival of Light.

RESOLVED to adopt the motion, namely:-

(a)      To write to the Welsh Government urging them to utilise any levers at their disposal to mitigate any detrimental impact on animals and vulnerable people of the hosting of fireworks displays.

(b)     To write to the UK Government urging them to introduce legislation to limit the maximum noise level of fireworks to 90dB for those sold to the public for private displays.

(c)      To request the Communities Scrutiny Committee to give consideration within its work programme to review what steps the Council can take to promote or encourage:

·         That all public firework displays within the local authority boundaries should be advertised in advance of the event, allowing residents to take precautions for their animals and vulnerable people.

·         A public awareness campaign about the impact of fireworks on animal welfare and vulnerable people – including precautions that can be taken to mitigaterisks.

·         Local suppliers of fireworks to stock ‘quieter’ fireworks for public displays.

·         People to limit the use of fireworks to a period close to specific dates.