Venue: Siambr Dafydd Orwig, Council Offices, Caernarfon, Gwynedd, LL55 1SH
Contact: Eirian Roberts 01286 679018
No. | Item |
---|---|
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. |
|
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”. |
|
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. |
|
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. |
|
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. |
|
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. |
|
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. |
|
COUNCIL TAX REDUCTION SCHEME 2018/19 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. |
|
AMENDING THE CONSTITUTION 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. |
|
URGENT CABINET DECISION 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 |
|
NOTICES OF MOTION Additional documents: |
|
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." |
|
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. |
|
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. |