Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Councillors Alan Jones Evans, Alwyn Gruffydd, Sian Wyn Hughes, Edgar Wyn Owen, Elfed P. Roberts, Gareth A.Roberts, Mike Stevens, Hefin Underwood and Cemlyn Williams.

The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the annual meeting of the Council held on 18^th May, 2016 be signed as a true record. (attached)

The Chair signed the minutes of the Council's Annual Meeting held on 18 May, 2017 as a true record.

To receive any declaration of personal interest.

With reference to item 9 on the agenda - Review of Gwynedd Electoral Boundaries, the Monitoring Officer explained that he was not of the opinion that the report represented an interest as it was a consultation on a matter what would not come into force for five years and that any effect was subject to a number of other factors being present.

Councillor Peter Read declared a personal interest in item 19(A) on the agenda – a Notice of Motion by him regarding the distribution of wheelchairs in north Wales as he was a service user.

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.

The following members declared a personal interest in item 19(C) on the agenda – Notice of Motion from Councillor Glyn Daniels regarding the new Blaenau Ffestiniog hospital, for the reasons noted:-

·         Councillor Linda Ann Jones as she was a member of the Blaenau Ffestiniog Hospital Defence Committee, representing people with learning disabilities in the Blaenau area.

·         Councillor Glyn Daniels as he was a member of the Defence Committee.

·         Councillor Gareth Thomas as his company had undertaken work for the Health Board at the beginning of the consultation process.

·         Councillor Elin Walker Jones as she was employed by the Health Service.

The members were not of the opinion that they were prejudicial interests, and they did not withdraw from the meeting during the discussion on the item.

To receive any Chairman’s announcements.

(1)     Condolences

Condolences were expressed to Councillor Alwyn Gruffydd on the recent loss of his father.  It was noted that Mr E.H.Griffiths had been a very active member of Gwynedd and Dwyfor Councils in his day and Councillor Owain Williams paid tribute to him.

Condolences were also expressed to the family of Irfon Williams of Bangor, a cancer campaigner and founder of the Hawl i Fyw/Fighting Chance campaign.

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

The Council stood as a mark of respect

(2)     Congratulations

Everyone from Gwynedd who had been successful at this year's Urdd Eisteddfod recently was congratulated.

(3)     Note

It was noted that the Introduction to the Library Service Pack had been left in the members' pigeon holes and everyone was asked to collect them before leaving at the end of the meeting.

It was explained that, though not every Council member had a library in his/her ward, the service was preparing an on-line digital offer, which was available to Gwynedd residents who had internet access. It was also noted that the service's mobile library visited a great number of rural wards and the Home Service was available to those who were house-bound.

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

None.

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

MEMBERSHIP OF THE POLICE AND CRIME PANEL

This item had not been included on the agenda; however, the Chair agreed that it could be discussed as an urgent item under Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972 because a seat on the Panel had become vacant and that a member of the panel needed to be appointed as soon as possible. 

The Chair noted:-

·         As reported at the last full Council meeting, that the Council was required to identify one member of the Plaid Cymru Group and one member of the Independent Group to represent the Council on the Police and Crime Panel.

·         Further to Councillor Dilwyn Morgan's nomination as a member of the panel, he had resigned from the appointment due to work pressures and, therefore, the Plaid Cymru Group seat on the panel had become vacant.

RESOLVED to nominate Councillor Peter Read (Plaid Cymru) as a member of the Police and Crime Panel for the period until the next local government elections.

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

(1)     Question by Councillor Aeron Jones

"What does the Council propose to do about the caravans and vans which park overnight on the beaches at Dinas Dinlle, on land at y Foryd, where 'No Overnight Parking' signs have been erected, but are being ignored by visitors?"

Response by the Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Councillor Ioan Thomas (and also on behalf of the Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor Dafydd Meurig).

(The Cabinet Member's written response to the original question had been distributed to the members in advance).

"We do not encourage visitors to use these sites for overnight parking.  Practically, it is difficult for the Council to take immediate enforcement action to remove vehicles, due to the timescales involved in serving notices, and then presenting an application for a possession order in the local county court.

Supplementary question by Councillor Aeron Jones.

"How much assurance can the Cabinet Member give that the owners of these vans do not pour their chemical toilet waste and waste water in these spots and that they will be penalised for overnight parking in future?"

Response by the Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Councillor Ioan Thomas.

"I will discuss with the Cabinet Member for the Environment and the relevant officers to provide a full answer in due course, but I understand your concerns."

(2)     Question from Councillor Sion Jones

"How will the Leader ensure equality and opportunities to work for Gwynedd Council, particularly for women?"

Response by the Leader, Councillor Dyfrig Siencyn.

(The Leader's written response to the original question had been distributed to the members in advance).

"Clearly, everyone is in agreement here that we want to promote equality across either sex or any boundaries or race, etc., and our policies reflect this. The Council is currently undertaking work to seek to identify opportunities to promote the role of women within the Council and, therefore, we are very aware that things need to be improved, as in several fields. The Deputy Leader, who is responsible for equality and human resources, will be involved with this work and will report on progress and the developments with the questionnaires, etc., that we have developed recently. She has also drawn my attention to the cross-party local government commission which looks at the role of women in local government and she will be very eager to contribute to that discussion and to learn from any recommendations it may have."

A supplementary question by Councillor Sion Jones.

"Of the 10 Cabinet Members, how many are men and how many are women?"

Response by the Leader, Councillor Dyfrig Siencyn.

"There is one woman, namely the Deputy Leader, and nine men. I am very pleased of my party's record where women are in question. I have a Deputy Leader who is a woman; we have a female Chair of the Council and a female Vice-chair of the Council. We have a female Assembly Member in Arfon.  We have a female Member of Parliament in Dwyfor / Meirionnydd,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To submit the report of the Head of Corporate Support  (attached).

The Leader, Councillor Dyfrig Siencyn, submitted a report which recommended that the Council approved the document as a balanced, fair and accurate reflection of the Council’s performance in 2016/17, and to adopt the report.

The Leader thanked the officers that had been involved with the work.

The Leader and relevant officers responded to questions / observations from the members in relation to:-

·         The percentage of the Council's procurement expenditure that goes to companies with headquarters in Gwynedd.

·         The format and implementation of the Gwynedd Citizens' Panel and focus groups.

·         The variances from year to year in the average number of calendar days taken to provide the Disabled Facilities Grant. It was explained that this was an indicator which could be difficult to manage as the work tended to be substantial work which would take time to plan and that delays could also occur. The Leader agreed to scrutinise the situation if the performance was not as good as it had been.

·         Concern that work pressures had led to an increase in staff sickness absences. It was noted that, though this Council remained in the highest quartile, this was something to keep an eye on and it was suggested that there was room for a scrutiny committee to look at this also.

·         The substantial increase in the investment to the county via projects and the concern that it would not be possible to sustain this level of investment in the future as a result of losing European funding.

RESOLVED to approve the report as a balanced, fair and accurate reflection of the Council’s performance in 2016/17, and to adopt the report.

To submit the report of the Senior Manager (Corporate Support)  (attached).

The Chair of the Audit and Governance Committee, Councillor R.Medwyn Hughes, submitted a report inviting the Council to submit observations to the Boundary Commission on its review of Gwynedd Council's electoral boundaries.

He also referred to the content of the additional paper distributed to the members which updated the Council on proposals for the Bangor City area and proposals for the Pen Llŷn area following local discussions.

An amendment was proposed and seconded that more consideration should be given to the Pen Llŷn Area and the Bangor Area due to the unique circumstances in those areas, namely the number of taxpayers who lived in some of the areas in Pen Llŷn, many who paid full tax and more; Bangor wards, which had a high number of students which again were not considered in this paper and the Marchog ward, which was a Communities First area, and therefore unique again.

The Chief Executive explained that the timetable did not allow for more consideration of the specific proposals as the Council's response needed to reach the Boundary Commission by the following morning.

In response to an observation that the community councils had not given much response to the review, the Senior Manager - Corporate Support explained that this had been because of the difficulties with the timetable, which bridged the electoral period for those councils, as with this Council.  He noted that every community council had received a letter from the Commission and that this Council had contacted community councils in the areas which were specifically affected by the proposals.

In response to the amendment, the Senior Manager - Corporate Support noted that he could include the points regarding the unique situation of the Pen Llŷn and Bangor areas in the letter to the Commission.

It was noted that the Independent Group had submitted some additional observations to its assistant at the group meeting that morning and it was agreed that the Senior Manager - Corporate Support would contact the officer to obtain those observations.

With the Council's agreement, the proposer withdrew his amendment as the substance of the amendment would be incorporated in the Council's response to the review.

RESOLVED

(a)     To approve the Audit and Governance Committee's recommendation that no change should be proposed to the following constituencies:-

·         Arfon – Arllechwedd, Bethel, Deiniolen, Dewi (Bangor), Gerlan, Glyder (Bangor), Groeslon, Llanberis, Llanrug, Ogwen, Pentir, Penygroes, Tregarth and Mynydd Llandygai, Waunfawr, Felinheli.

·         Dwyfor – Abererch, Cricieth, Dolbenmaen, Efail Newydd / Buan, Llanystumdwy, Nefyn, Porthmadog (East), Porthmadog (West), Porthmadog (Tremadog), Pwllheli (South), Pwllheli (North).

·         Meirionnydd – Aberdyfi, Barmouth, Brithdir and Llanfachreth / Ganllwyd / Llanelltyd, Bowydd and Rhiw, Corris and Mawddwy, Dolgellau (South), Dolgellau (North), Penrhyndeudraeth, Bala.

(b)     To approve the specific proposals recommended by the Audit and Governance Committee (and highlighted in full in the report - paragraphs 9.1 - 9.9)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

To submit the report of the Statutory Director of Social Services  (attached).

The Statutory Director of Social Services submitted her annual report for 2016/17.

In her presentation, the Director provided an overview of how social services had been provided over the past year and the main priorities for 2017/18. She noted that the report was an attempt to provide an assessment of the effectiveness of social services for adults, children and families in Gwynedd.

She took advantage of the opportunity to thank all staff for their tireless and committed work once again this year. She particularly thanked Marian Parry Hughes (Head of Children and Families Department), Aled Davies (Head of Adults, Health and Well-being Department) and Llinos Edwards (Senior Executive Officer) who had worked closely with her in creating the annual report. She also thanked the members of the Services Scrutiny Committee for their work and constructive observations and the Cabinet Members in the care field, Councillors W.Gareth Roberts and Mair Rowlands for their support over the year. She also noted that she looked forward to working with Councillor Dilwyn Morgan, who had taken over as portfolio member for children and young people.

The Deputy Leader, Councillor Mair Rowlands, thanked the Director for all her support during her time as Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, and she also thanked all the staff of social services, who carried out very difficult work. She also thanked the foster parents and wished her successor, Councillor Dilwyn Morgan, well as he took over the portfolio.

Following the presentation, the Director responded to questions / observations from members in relation to:-

·         The need to create more specific measures for children with autism.

·         The importance of early intervention.

·         The increase in the number of children coming into care.

·         The difficulties in accessing Derwen services.

·         The risks which faced the service and the effect of the cuts.

·         The importance of respite care.

The Director and her staff were thanked for all their work over the course of the year.

To submit the Scrutiny Annual Report 2016-17  (attached).

The Chair of the Scrutiny Forum, Councillor Angela Russell, submitted the Scrutiny annual report for 2016/17. She thanked Councillor Beth Lawton, Chair of the Services Scrutiny Committee and the other scrutiny chairs for their work and noted that it was important that the new committees built on the good work achieved, while doing more advance scrutiny. She also thanked all members of the scrutiny committees over the past five years and Arwel Ellis Jones (Senior Manager - Corporate Support), Vera Jones (Democracy Manager), Gareth James (Member Support and Scrutiny Manager) and the rest of the Member Support Team for all their assistance.

To submit the report of the Monitoring Officer  (attached).

The Deputy Leader, Councillor Mair Rowlands, submitted a report on the process of appointing Elected Members and Community Committee Members to the Standards Committee, and invited the Council to accept the recommendation of the Business Group to appoint Councillor Dewi Roberts, Abersoch, as an Elected Member of the Committee.  She also noted that two vacancies remained on the committee for elected members.

She also referred to the content of the additional paper distributed to the members which reported on the discussions of the Standards Committee Panel, which had met on 12 June, to interview candidates for the post of Community Committee Member of the Standards Committee. She noted:-

·         That interviews had been held by a panel of three Independent Members including the Chair of the Standards Committee.

·         That seven Community Councillors, who had been nominated by their councils, had been interviewed.

·         Following careful and thorough consideration of all applications, the Panel had decided to recommend appointing Mr Richard Parry Hughes, who had been nominated by Llannor Community Council, to the post.

RESOLVED

(a)     To appoint Councillor Dewi Roberts, Abersoch, to act as Elected Member of the Standards Committee for the Council term.

(b)     To appoint Mr Richard Parry Hughes as a Community Member of the Standards Committee for the term of the Community Council.

To submit the report of the Head of Finance and the Monitoring Officer  (attached).

The Chair of the Audit and Governance Committee, Councillor R.Medwyn Hughes, submitted a report on the process of appointing a Lay Member to the Audit and Governance Committee. 

He also referred to the content of the additional paper distributed to the members which reported on the discussions of the Panel, which had met on 13 June, to interview candidates for the post.  He noted:-

·         That interviews had been held by a panel which included the Chair of the Council, the Chair of the Audit and Governance Committee and the Cabinet Member for Finance, advised by the Statutory Finance Officer and the Monitoring Officer.

·         That three candidates had been interviewed for the role of Lay Member on the Audit and Governance Committee and following careful and thorough consideration of the applications, the Panel had decided to recommend appointing Mrs Sharon Warnes to the post.

In response to an enquiry regarding the role of the lay member on the committee, the Monitoring Officer explained that there was a statutory requirement that at least one lay member served on the Audit Committee and that the objective of the legislation was to bring an independent voice to the committee's discussions.

RESOLVED to appoint Mrs Sharon Warnes as a Lay Member of the Audit and Governance Committee for a period of four years.

To submit the report of the Head of Legal Services / Monitoring Officer  (attached).

The Monitoring Officer submitted a report formally stating that the Constitution had been amended as a result of the appointment of the new Cabinet and the reshuffling of Portfolios.

RESOLVED to accept the report.

To submit the report of the Head of Democratic Services  (attached).

The Head of Corporate Support Department submitted his annual report on behalf of the Democratic Services Committee in relation to the support that had been developed, and was being developed, for members.

The Head thanked the chairs of the committee over the previous Council term, former Councillors T.G.Ellis and Lesley Day and Councillor Dewi Owen and also Councillor Anne Lloyd Jones who had been Vice-chair for three years.

To appoint a Chairman of the Democratic Services Committee.

[In accordance with the requirements of Section 14 of the Local Government Bill (Wales) 2011, the Chairperson of the Democratic Services Committee shall be appointed by the Full Council and it cannot appoint a member of a political group which is represented on the executive.]

The Council was invited to appoint a chair for the Democratic Services Committee for 2017/18.

RESOLVED to elect Councillor Dewi Roberts as Chair of the Democratic Services Committee for 2017/18.

To submit the report of the Head of Democratic Services  (attached).

The Deputy Leader, Councillor Mair Rowlands, submitted a report inviting the Council to adopt a series of ‘descriptions of roles’ for the roles noted below:-

·         Cabinet Member

·         Council Leader and Deputy

·         A member of Gwynedd Council (applicable to all members)

·         A member of the Audit Committee

·         Chair of the Audit Committee

·         A member of a Scrutiny Committee

·         Chair of a Scrutiny Committee

·         A member of the Democratic Services Committee

·         Chair of the Democratic Services Committee

·         A member of the Standards Committee

·         Chair of the Standards Committee

·         A member of the Licensing Committee

·         Chair of the Licensing Committee

·         A member of the Planning Committee

·         Chair of the Planning Committee

·         Chair of the Council

·         Opposition Leader and Deputy

RESOLVED to adopt the 'description of roles' for the roles listed above.

To submit the report of the Head of Democratic Services  (attached).

The Leader, Councillor Dyfrig Siencyn, submitted a report on the need to identify which groups were to appoint Chairs to which committees and recommending orally that the chairmanships were to be distributed as follows:-

·         Care Scrutiny Committee – Chair – Independent; Vice-chair – Independent

·         Communities Scrutiny Committee – Chair – Plaid Cymru; Vice-chair – Independent

·         Education and Economy Scrutiny Committee – Chair – Independent; Vice-chair – Plaid Cymru

RESOLVED to adopt the above allocation of chairmanships.

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

“In my opinion, there is a need to review the system of distributing wheelchairs in North Wales in light of several cases where these chairs are not suitable for the individuals.  Though this work is not a direct responsibility of the Council, we do have a responsibility to listen to the concerns of the County’s vulnerable citizens.

Proposal

That the Council refers the question of the suitability of the arrangements for providing wheelchairs for Gwynedd residents for consideration for the scrutiny programme.”

(1)     Submitted - the following notice of motion by Councillor Peter Read, in accordance with Section 4.20 of the Constitution and it was seconded:-

"There is a need to review the system of distributing wheelchairs in north Wales in light of several cases where these chairs are not suitable for the individual.  Though this work is not a direct responsibility of the Council, we do have a responsibility to listen to the concerns of the County's vulnerable citizens.

Proposal

That the Council refers the question of the suitability of arrangements to provide wheelchairs to the residents of Gwynedd for consideration on the scrutiny programme."

RESOLVED to adopt the motion.

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

“That the Council asks the Cabinet Member for Education to consider encouraging the County’s schools to display our national flag – namely the red dragon, on school grounds of buildings.  This practice is already undertaken by several of our schools – but not all of them by far.”

(2)     Submitted - the following notice of motion by Councillor Owain Williams, in accordance with Section 4.20 of the Constitution and it was seconded:-

"That the Council encourages the County’s schools to display our national flag - namely the Red Dragon, on school grounds or buildings. This practice is already undertaken by several of our schools - but not all of them by far."

The Monitoring Officer explained that the wording of the proposal was a little different to the written notice received from the member, which read as follows:-

"That the Council asks the Cabinet Member for Education to consider encouraging the County's schools to display our national flag - namely the Red Dragon, on school grounds or buildings. This practice is already undertaken by several of our schools - but not all of them by far."

The Council consented for the proposer to amend the wording of his original proposal by omitting the words "asks the Cabinet Member for Education to consider”.

Support was expressed to the proposal by several members, but it was also stressed that it was the work which happened on the classroom floor which contributed most to promoting the awareness of a Welsh identity.

RESOLVED to adopt the amended motion.

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

“I propose that Gwynedd Council supports the Hospital Defence Committee and the residents of Blaenau Ffestiniog to press on the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and relevant authorities to ensure that appropriate and necessary facilities are provided in the new hospital being built in the town.

With this I mean facilities that are usually found in local hospitals, such as a x-ray unit, minor injuries unit and a sufficient number of beds for inpatients.  Given that Blaenau Ffestiniog is the third largest town in Gwynedd and also that the response of the vast majority of residents in a recent referendum insisted that the town deserved to be treated better, I believe that there is no reason why the Council should not support this proposal.”

(3)     Submitted - the following notice of motion by Councillor Glyn Daniels, in accordance with Section 4.20 of the Constitution and it was seconded:-

"I propose that Gwynedd Council supports the Hospital Defence Committee and the residents of Blaenau Ffestiniog to press on the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and relevant authorities to ensure that appropriate and necessary facilities are provided in the new hospital being built in the town. 

With this I mean facilities that are usually found in local hospitals, such as a x-ray unit, minor injuries unit and a sufficient number of beds for inpatients.  Given that Blaenau Ffestiniog is the third largest town in Gwynedd and also that the response of the vast majority of residents in a recent referendum insisted that the town deserved to be treated in a better way, I believe that there is no reason why the Council should not support this proposal." 

The Monitoring Officer referred to a court case last year which had gone to a Judicial Review hearing as a result of a motion submitted to the Council and noted that decisions on notices of motion were significant decision, and that they were no different to other decisions taken by the Council in terms of status or significance.  He explained that the Council must make its decisions based on evidence and facts, but that he was not of the opinion that the evidence necessary for the Council to reach a conclusion on the nature of the health provision in Blaenau Ffestiniog had been presented in this case.

In light of the aforementioned guidance, it was suggested that the matter should be referred to the Care Scrutiny Committee, and to invite representatives of the Health Board and the Defence Committee to attend the committee to present evidence.

An amendment was proposed and seconded that the matter should be referred immediately to the Care Scrutiny Committee to be discussed as soon as possible.

Several members expressed their support for the amendment, despite concerns being stated also regarding the workload of the Care Scrutiny Committee.

It was noted that time was of the essence for the Council, if it was to put pressure on the Health Board and the Chair of the Care Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Eryl Jones-Williams, expressed his willingness to convene an extraordinary meeting of the committee to address this matter urgently.

RESOLVED to refer the matter immediately to the Care Scrutiny Committee and to discuss it as soon as possible.