Issue - meetings

To submit the report of the Council Leader.

To approve and adopt Cyngor Gwynedd's Annual Performance Report and Self-Assessment 2022-23.

Submitted - the report of the Leader, Councillor Dyfrig Siencyn, asking the Council to approve and adopt the Annual Performance Report and Self-assessment 2022/23.

The Leader thanked the Council's Supporting Business Service Manager and the Team for their work in preparing the report. He then referred to the very difficult financial situation facing the Council, noting:-

·         It did not bode well for the councils’ settlement across Wales for the coming year, and although Cyngor Gwynedd was in a strong financial situation, and that we had taken pride over the years in the fact that we were effective in dealing with Council money, this Council would also have to make some very difficult decisions this time.

·         That most of the Council's money was spent on education, adults and children, namely those fields that nurtured the future of our children and care for the most vulnerable in our society, and if they wished to protect those services, where would the additional cuts come from?

All of the members were encouraged to attend one of the three savings workshops arranged for October.

The Leader then referred to some specific matters, noting:-

·         The reduction of 4,500 in Gwynedd's population, with 1,400 fewer households in the County (according to the figures of the last Census) was a cause for concern for him as this was having a direct impact on the £1.6m settlement. More-so, there were very significant economic considerations to a lower population, which placed greater importance on our work in seeking to develop the economy, attracting high quality jobs to the area and attracting young people back to Gwynedd.

·         The education system in Gwynedd was innovative and set the standard across the whole of Wales, e.g. the new immersion system, and he did not agree with the public criticism there had been of Gwynedd's education system.

·         The Article 4 Direction was one of the interventions the Council had in housing to seek to gain control of the influx of second homes and short-term lets that were damaging our communities and contributing to the depopulation seen in the Census.  Nevertheless, it was not believed that Article 4 would have as much of an impact as people believed, neither was it believed that it would be that effective in gaining control of second homes. It is acknowledged there is concern regarding Article 4, and the Council would look very carefully at those concerns when analysing the responses to the public consultation, seeking additional legal advice, if required, to ensure that we were going in the right direction. The work of analysing the outcomes of the consultation would take place from now to the end of the year, with a report submitted to the Community Scrutiny Committee early in the New Year.

·         There was a significant problem in terms of the intensive care provision across the county, and that the development in Penrhos was one of the excellent innovative schemes the Council had, jointly with the Health Board and the Clwyd Alyn Housing Association, to address  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7