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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Siambr Dafydd Orwig, Council Offices, Caernarfon, Gwynedd, LL55 1SH

Contact: Eirian Roberts  01286 679018

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Items
No. Item

1.

APOLOGIES

To receive any apologies for absence

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillors Anwen Davies, Louise Hughes, Linda Morgan, Jason Parry, Gareth A. Roberts, W. Gareth Roberts, Hefin Underwood and Gareth Williams.

 

2.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 257 KB

The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the previous meeting of the Council held on 5th October, 2017 be signed as a true record. (attached)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of the Council held on 5 October, 2017 as a true record, subject to noting that Councillors Alwyn Gruffydd, Edgar Owen and Cemlyn Williams were present and amending the name of the Llais Annibynnol Gwynedd Group in the political balance table in item 12 to read “Annibynnol Unedig Gwynedd / United Independent Group for Gwynedd”.

 

3.

DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST

To receive any declaration of personal interest.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members had received a briefing note from the Monitoring Officer in advance regarding item 8 - Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2018/19.

 

Members were reminded to return their declaration of interest forms.

 

The following members declared a personal interest in item 8 on the agenda - Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2018/19 for the reasons noted:-

 

·         Councillor Eirwyn Williams - because his wife was disabled and received a tax reduction as a result.

·         Councillor Dafydd Owen - because he received a housing allowance.

·         Councillor Nia Jeffreys - because a close member of her family was affected by the scheme.

·         Councillor Sian Wyn Hughes - because a close member of family received a single person allowance.

·         Councillor Gruffydd Williams - because he received a single person discount.

·         Councillor Sion Jones – because he received a single person discount.

·         Councillor Mair Rowlands – because she received a single person discount.

·         Councillor Stephen Churchman – because he was of the opinion that his household was in receipt of council tax reduction (income based).

 

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.

 

4.

THE CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS

To receive any Chairman’s announcements.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Condolences were expressed to everyone from Gwynedd who had suffered a bereavement recently.

 

The following were congratulated:-

 

·         The Vice-chair, Councillor Annwen Hughes, on becoming a Grandmother.

·         Haf Thomas, Corporate Support Department, on winning the Community Champion Award in the Scottish Power Community Awards.

·         Robin Williams, Brighter Foods, Tywyn, on winning the Entrepreneur of the Year in the SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) Awards recently.

·         Iwan Roberts from Blaenau Ffestiniog on his success on becoming the Cycling World Triathlon Champion.

·         Elfyn Evans from Dolgellau on winning the British Car Rally and finishing fifth in the world over the year. 

·         St. David's Leisure Ltd on their recent success on winning the Tourism Business of the Year award in the Daily Post Business Success Awards 2017. 

 

Members were invited to nominate individuals or a team within the Council's workforce for the People's Award, as part of the Annual Council at its Best Awards Ceremony.  

 

Attention was drawn to the note received from Councillor Dilwyn Morgan, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, encouraging all members to attend the Corporate Parenting Training in Siambr Dafydd Orwig on the morning of 10 January, 2018.

 

Councillor Owain Williams paid tribute to the late John Albert Jones.

 

5.

CORRESPONDENCE, COMMUNICATIONS OR OTHER BUSINESS

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

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

None.

6.

URGENT ITEMS

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

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

None.

7.

QUESTIONS

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

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

(The Cabinet Members' written response to the questions had been distributed to the members in advance).

 

(1) Question by Councillor Catrin Wager

 

“Following the recent attention to inappropriate behaviour in politics, what procedures does the Council have in place for reporting and dealing with matters of harassment amongst officers and Members?" 

 

Response - The Deputy Leader, Councillor Mair Rowlands

 

“The emphasis within the Council is on seeking to ensure a working environment that avoids situations of harassment and the number of cases dealt with is low across the Council.

 

The Council has an individual Code of Conduct for Members and for Officers, as well as a Protocol on contact between Members and Officers. Respect and courtesy are essential foundations in order to protect the Council, its members and its employees. 

 

The 'Gwynedd Standard' for Members explains the standards expected of us and it includes a procedure for dealing with allegations that Members have been in breach of that protocol.  The culmination of that procedure is to submit a case to a meeting of the Standards Committee but there are steps to be taken prior to that in order to try to identify a solution to the allegations made informally.

 

Similarly, the Code of Conduct for officers notes the need for them to deal with others in a sympathetic, efficient and impartial way. Furthermore, the Council's Local Conditions of Employment include policies and guidelines on Dignity at Work, Whistle-blowing, the Complaints Procedure and the Disciplinary Procedure.

 

Attempts are made to try to resolve some of the allegations made informally but the seriousness of some allegations leads to dealing with matters formally and, in extreme situations, to suspending an individual from work while an investigation is conducted.

 

Arrangements are made in all of these situations for support to be offered to individuals making the allegation as well as for those about whom the allegation is made.  This is done by offering independent counselling services, occupational health and also, when both sides are in agreement, seeking to resolve the situation through mediation."

 

A supplementary question by Councillor Catrin Wager

 

"Outside the procedures you have discussed, does the Council have any protocol to attempt to encourage people to feel that they are safe to bring complaints of sexual harassment, in particular, forward?"

 

Response - The Deputy Leader, Councillor Mair Rowlands

 

"One procedure I referred to in the response was the whistleblowing procedure and I am glad to report that the awareness and the trust in this procedure has increased substantially over the past years. This allows one to make an anonymous complaint and I can declare that this is based on the results of an annual survey undertaken by the Internal Audit Unit.  This happened as a result of concerns that had been voiced a few years ago regarding the lack of awareness of this process and there were cards that every member of staff received noting the details on whistleblowing. They are included in the appointment packs for new staff and we can  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

COUNCIL TAX REDUCTION SCHEME 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 220 KB

To consider the report of the Finance Cabinet Member (attached).

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Cabinet Member for Finance submitted a report asking the Council to confirm the continuation of the current Local Scheme to provide assistance towards paying the Council Tax for the year commencing 1 April 2018.

 

The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People drew attention to work being carried out in the Corporate Parenting Panel in terms of introducing a Council Tax exemption to young people who were leaving care. The exemption did not fall within this scheme, however, an item would be presented before the Cabinet, and the Cabinet Member for Finance was thanked for his assistance with the work.

 

The Cabinet Member for Finance explained that it would be possible to present a Council Tax exemption for young people who were leaving care to the Cabinet for a subsequent decision after work was carried out to cost an appropriate impact assessment and after it had been considered at the Corporate Parenting Panel.  As it was not expected for the relevant cost to be prohibitive, the Finance Department would be happy to act regardless of the panel's recommendation to the Cabinet. 

 

RESOLVED

(a)  To continue to implement the Council's Local Scheme for the year commencing 1 April 2018 as it was in 2017/18.  Therefore the following conditions (i - iii below) regarding the continuation of the discretionary elements will 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, that the Council delegates powers to the Head of Finance Department, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance, to make minor amendments to the scheme for 2018/19, on condition that it will not change the substance of the scheme.

 

9.

AMENDING THE CONSTITUTION pdf icon PDF 254 KB

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

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair of the Audit and Governance Committee submitted a report asking the Council to adopt the amendments to the Constitution.

 

Reference was made to the need to make two minor amendments to Paragraph 4.20.4 in the Appendix, namely:-

 

·         Sub-paragraph (i) - Change the word ' improper’ to ‘inappropriate' in the English version.

·         Sub paragraph (ii) - Correct the first words to read "Er gwaethaf (i)  ni osodir ....”

 

In reference to Paragraph 4.20.4, which discussed checking notices of motion for propriety, some members questioned the need for the word 'amhriodol (inappropriate)' in Sub-paragraph (i) on the grounds that it undermines the rights of members and that the words 'anghyfreithlon (illegal)' and ‘allan o drefn (irregular)' encompassed everything.  In response, the Monitoring Officer explained that 'amhriodol (inappropriate)' in this context referred to a notice of motion which discussed the personal details of someone or libellous matters of a proposal that was factually incorrect. He would be concerned about removing this as the Constitution stated clearly what the subject of a proper notice of motion could be and that every proposal needed to be filtered against this in order to ensure that the Council did not make an illegal decision.  He also noted that the work that was taking place with members in an attempt to improve the wording of their proposals was positive intervention as it was a way of removing any impropriety in order to allow those proposals to be taken forward.

 

RESOLVED to amend the Constitution in line with the report, with the minor amendments to Paragraph 4.20.4 as noted and subject that the amendment to Paragraph 9.12.3 becomes operational following the Council's annual meeting in 2018.

 

10.

URGENT CABINET DECISION pdf icon PDF 214 KB

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

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Deputy Leader submitted a report, for information, regarding an urgent Cabinet decision on 24 October, 2017 to approve an application to amend the lease of the Welsh Highland Railway Station, Caernarfon, to approve the sale of food and retail and waiving the requirement for a resulting increased premium in the document.  It was explained that it had been a requirement to make an urgent decision in accordance with Section 7.25.2 of the Constitution to exempt the matter from the procedure of calling in to scrutiny to ensure that the Council could provide a decision to the company within the grant timetable.

 

RESOLVED to accept and note the report

 

11.

NOTICES OF MOTION

Additional documents:

12.

Notice of Motion by Councillor Owain Williams

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

 

“That Gwynedd Council calls for arrangements to be made for Welsh history to be given priority in history lessons in all schools in Wales.  The current situation of basic failings in teaching our own history and identity is unacceptable.

 

We therefore call upon Welsh Government to take the necessary steps to correct this failing without delay.”

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

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

 

"That Gwynedd Council calls for arrangements to be made for Welsh history to be given priority in history lessons in all schools in Wales.  The current situation of basic failings in teaching our own history and identity is unacceptable.

 

We therefore call upon Welsh Government to take the necessary steps to correct this failing without delay."

 

The Cabinet Member for Education referred to the development of the new national curriculum, A Successful Future, that would likely lead to a broader choice for teachers in terms of what they would teach.  However, the resources were not currently available to teach Welsh history, and he proposed an amendment to the proposal as follows:-

 

·         To add  "The development of the Successful Future curriculum was an opportunity to rectify this step and there will be a need to develop bilingual essential resources to enable teachers to teach Welsh history to the children" as a second paragraph.

·         To include the words  "including developing bilingual resources" after the word essential in the final paragraphs.

 

The amendment was seconded.

 

Many members expressed their support to the amendment by noting:-

 

·         That the timetable in terms of obtaining Welsh resources for the new curriculum was a general complaint across all subjects.

·         That there was a generation of teachers who had not received this education about Welsh history themselves and that there was a need to raise this awareness as well as train teachers in the field.

·         Advantage should be taken of the resources and expertise of the Welsh History Department, Bangor University, to help develop the curriculum.

·         That Welsh Government provided Welsh textbooks for schools, but that no Welsh textbooks had reached Gwynedd secondary schools.   Those members who were school governors were called upon to demand that their schools used the provision that was already available in order to teach through the medium of Welsh. 

 

The proposer of the original motion agreed to amend the motion along the lines mentioned with the permission of the Council and the seconder.

 

A vote was taken on the amended motion, and it was carried.

 

RESOLVED that Gwynedd Council calls for arrangements to be made for Welsh history to be given priority in history lessons in all schools in Wales.   The current situation of basic failings in teaching our own history and identity is unacceptable.

 

The development of the Successful Future curriculum is an opportunity to rectify this step and there will be a need to develop bilingual essential resources to enable teachers to teach Welsh history to the children.

 

We therefore call upon Welsh Government to take the necessary steps, including developing bilingual resources, to correct this failing without delay."

 

 

13.

Notice of Motion by Councillor Craig ab Iago

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

 

“The Council notes:

 

That the Universal Credit, which is a responsibility of the Tory Westminster Government, is deficient and causes hardship for the most needy families and individuals in our society. It is feared that a substantial increase in payments in arrears will lead to more people becoming homeless and more pressure on our services.

 

The Welsh Labour Government in Cardiff has not placed enough political pressure on Westminster to devolve the welfare system to Wales. We strongly believe that the benefits system should be devolved entirely to Wales; but, in the meantime, the administration of the welfare system could be devolved to Wales, as is the case in Scotland, in order to provide flexibility to mitigate the effects of this unjust tax.”

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

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

 

"The Council notes:

 

That the Universal Credit, which is a responsibility of the Tory Westminster Government, is deficient and causes hardship for the most needy families and individuals in our society. It is feared that a substantial increase in payments in arrears will lead to more people becoming homeless and more pressure on our services.

 

The Welsh Labour Government in Cardiff has not placed enough political pressure on Westminster to devolve the welfare system to Wales.  We strongly believe that the benefits system should be devolved entirely to Wales; but, in the meantime, the administration of the welfare system could be devolved to Wales, as is the case in Scotland, in order to provide flexibility to mitigate the effects of this unjust tax."

 

Many members expressed their support to the motion by noting:-

 

·         That the effort made to simplify the procedure was to be applauded, but that the reality was very different to the concept.

·         That the responses of many charities to universal credit and the statistics of the food bank charities outlined the impact of the changes on the most vulnerable and poor within society.

·         That anyone who is concerned about the less fortunate, or who has any kind of social conscience, or who were concerned about the long-term impact on the Council and its staff, should support this motion.

·         That there was a need to devolve the system, not just in terms of administration, but that we should be given the right to create our own benefits system so that an answer that would work for the people of Wales was found.

·         That the new arrangements affected landlords as well and created uncertainty for everyone.

 

RESOLVED to adopt the motion.

 

 

14.

Notice of Motion by Councillor Dyfrig Siencyn

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

 

"The Council expresses its considerable concern at the way the Spanish Government has imprisoned 10 elected members of the Catalonian Government. Such persecution is an attack on full democratic processes and undermines the European Union's governance principles. Since there are a number of Catalonians living in Gwynedd, we call upon the Welsh Government to clearly state its objection to this miscarriage of justice and to send a message to the Spanish Government noting that its behaviour is incompatible with human rights principles."

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

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

 

"The Council expresses its considerable concern at the way the Spanish Government has imprisoned 10 elected members of the Catalonian Government. Such persecution is an attack on full democratic processes and undermines the European Union's governance principles.  Since there are a number of Catalonians living in Gwynedd, we call upon the Westminster Government to follow the example set by the National Assembly for Wales by clearly stating its objection to this miscarriage of justice and to send a message to the Spanish Government noting that its behaviour is incompatible with human rights principles."

 

The member explained that the original wording of his proposal called on Welsh Government to express its objection to the situation and send a message to the Spanish Government, but as the motion had been issued before the Assembly had taken a vote on the matter, he wished to amend the proposal and call on the Westminster Government to follow the example of the National Assembly for Wales by acting along those lines.   

 

The Council allowed the proposer to amend his motion.

 

Many members expressed their support to the amended motion by noting:-

 

·         That the Spanish police had used serious violence to prevent people from expressing their views and that the basic principle that every nation had the right to make a decision on its own fate should be supported. 

·         That the motion was an opportunity to acknowledge the awful way that peaceful Catalonians were treated for exercising their democratic rights to vote.

·         That such persecution was an attack on democratic processes and undermined the European Union's governance arrangements.

 

It was noted that a Rally to support Catalonia was to be held at 6:30pm that evening on Castle Square, Caernarfon.

 

A vote was taken on the amended motion, and it was carried.

 

RESOLVED that the Council expresses its considerable concern at the way the Spanish Government has imprisoned 10 elected members of the Catalonian Government. Such persecution is an attack on full democratic processes and undermines the European Union's governance principles.  Since there are a number of Catalonians living in Gwynedd, we call upon the Westminster Government to follow the example set by the National Assembly for Wales by clearly stating its objection to this miscarriage of justice and to send a message to the Spanish Government noting that its behaviour is incompatible with human rights principles.