Venue: Siambr Dafydd Orwig, Council Offices, Caernarfon, Gwynedd, LL55 1SH
Contact: Eirian Roberts 01286 679018
No. | Item |
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APOLOGIES To receive any apologies for absence Additional documents: Minutes: Councillors Craig
ab Iago, Anwen Davies, Gareth Griffith, Louise Hughes, R. Medwyn Hughes, Aeron
M. Jones, Charles Wyn Jones, Huw Wyn Jones, Linda A. W. Jones, Linda Morgan,
Nigel Pickavance, W. Gareth Roberts, Mike Stevens, Gareth Thomas, Elfed
Williams and Gethin Glyn Williams. |
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The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the previous meeting of the Council held on 3rd October, 2019 be signed as a true record. (attached) Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair signed
the minutes of the previous meeting of the Council held on 3 October 2019 as a
true record. |
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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
2020/21, and Item 9 - Council Tax: Discretionary powers to allow discounts and
/ or raise a premium 2020/21. (1) Councillor Stephen Churchman declared a
personal interest in item 8 on the agenda - Council Tax Reduction Scheme
2020/21 - because his home benefited from the scheme due to the family income. 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 2020/21: ·
Councillor Menna Baines – as she was a joint owner of
an empty property. ·
Councillor Alwyn Gruffydd – as he owned an empty
property. ·
Councillor Peredur Jenkins – because he rented out two
properties. ·
Councillor Aled Wyn Jones – because a close relative
had a second home in Caernarfon. ·
Councillor Dewi Wyn Roberts – as he had a close
connection with a second home owner in Gwynedd. ·
Councillor Angela Russell – because she worked for
people who owned second homes. The members were
of the opinion that they were prejudicial interests, and they withdrew from the
meeting during the discussion on the item. (3) Rhun ap Gareth (Senior Solicitor / Deputy
Monitoring Officer) declared a personal interest in item 9 on the agenda -
Council Tax: Discretionary Powers To Allow Discounts and / or Raise a Premium
2020/21, because his sister owned a second home in Gwynedd and paid a premium. The staff member
was of the opinion that it was a prejudicial interest, and he withdrew from the
meeting during the discussion on the item. |
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THE CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS To receive any Chairman’s
announcements. Additional documents: Minutes: The following were
congratulated: Emma Quaeck and the DementiaGO
team for being recognised in the Dementia Friendly Awards in London in
November. Although they did not win the main award, it was an amazing achievement
for them to reach the finals out of over 400 nominations. Congratulations were also extended to our Members
of Parliament for being re-elected in the recent general election. Best wishes were extended Dafydd Edwards, Head of
Finance Department, following his recent ill-health. |
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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 to note. |
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URGENT ITEMS To note any items which are urgent business in the opinion of the Chairman
so they may be considered. Additional documents: Minutes: Absence
of a member of the Council This item was not
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 as the
six-month succession period from the member's previous attendance date at a
meeting of the authority would end on 15 January 2020, and there was no
certainty that he could attend any meetings of the authority before then. The
Monitoring Officer explained that: ·
Section 85 of the Local Government Act
1972 noted that if a member of the local authority was unable to attend any
meeting of the authority for a successive six-month period from the date of
his/her last attendance, the member would cease being a member of the
authority. ·
That the only exception to this was that
the authority approved the absence. ·
Councillor Nigel Pickavance had intended
to attend this meeting of the Council; however, as he had been taken ill and
had received medical advice not to come into contact with people, he was unable
to attend. ·
As the six-month succession period from
the member's previous attendance date at a meeting of the authority would end
on 15 January 2020, and as there was no certainty that he could attend any
meetings of the authority before then, this meeting of the Council would have to
deal with the situation. ·
That he recommended that the Council
approved an extension, due to the member's ill-health, until 31 March 2020
only. RESOLVED
to approve the absence of Councillor Nigel Pickavance from meetings of the
Council due to ill-health, until 31 March 2020, in accordance with Section 85
of the Local Government Act 1972, enabling him to continue to be a member of
Gwynedd Council. |
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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 responses to the questions had been distributed to the members in
advance). (1) Question
from Councillor Elin Walker Jones "Gwynedd Consultancy often deals with
high profile matters, and the work in Fairbourne is no exception. Fairbourne
has received a great deal of attention in the press over the past months. As
you are aware, the village is facing a threat because of matters relating to
floods and climate change, which has led to a rise in sea levels. However,
coastal defence work is only one element of the Consultancy's work. I wonder
whether the Cabinet Member, Councillor Catrin Wager, could give us a taste of
the work of the Consultancy?" Response from the
Cabinet Member for Highways and Municipal, Councillor Catrin Wager. "Thank
you very much to Councillor Elin Walker Jones for drawing attention to the work
of the Consultancy, which is extremely important work. Very simply, I would say that there are two
elements to the work of the Consultancy. The commercial work that the
Consultancy undertakes is one element, which is the engineering work, where
they work on contracts for external clients, including other councils, as well
as carrying out work for Gwynedd Council.
However, the other element of the work is to undertake our statutory
flood duties within the Council, and I believe that you are specifically
referring to this in your question. This is clearly an extremely important
field, and I am glad to report that the Consultancy is undertaking quite
pioneering work in the field. E.g. they have been working on projects of
examining floods, not as an event in the location where it happens, but looking
at the whole catchment area, and looking at how water flows and how we prevent
the flow to ensure that our communities remain safe. There are two projects
currently in the pipeline which relates to this type of work, in Gwyrfai and
Ogwen. We are also obviously examining floods from the sea, and Gwynedd has a
very long coastline, therefore this work is important as a large number of
residents in our communities live along this coastline. The challenges we face
in terms of climate change means that, even if we went down to zero carbon
tomorrow, the sea levels will continue to rise. Therefore, it is very important
that we begin to plan now for this rise in sea levels. And this is the work
that the Consultancy does. They have
been identifying communities that will face challenges, attempting to contact
them and plan for the future of these communities. Therefore, very briefly, the
work of the Consultancy is extremely important and we are attempting to look
into the future and ensure that the residents of Gwynedd face at little risk as
possible for the future." Supplementary
Question from Councillor Elin Walker Jones "Can you give us an update on what exactly is
going on in Bangor?" Response from the
Cabinet Member for Highways and Municipal, Councillor Catrin Wager. "Bangor is a community ... view the full minutes text for item 7. |
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COUNCIL TAX REDUCTION SCHEME 2020/21 PDF 88 KB To submit the report of the Cabinet Member for Finance (attached). Additional documents: Minutes: 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 the Council Tax
for the year commencing 1 April 2020. RESOLVED (a)
To continue the Council's Local Scheme
for the year commencing 1 April 2020 as it was in 2019/20. 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, 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 2020/21, provided that it
will not change the substance of the scheme. |
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COUNCIL TAX: DISCRETIONARY POWERS TO ALLOW DISCOUNTS AND / OR RAISE A PREMIUM 2020/21 PDF 135 KB To submit the report of the Cabinet Member for Finance (attached). Additional documents: Minutes: The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Ioan
Thomas, presented a report asking the Council for formal confirmation for
2020/21, of the previous decisions not to give discounts to second homes and
not to give discounts on empty properties, and to raise a premium of 50% on such
relevant properties. During the discussion, the following observations were submitted by
individual members: ·
That a gap in the
legislation meant that the owner of an empty property could state that the
property was for sale in order to avoid paying the premium. ·
That people were suffering, because it could take a
year or longer to restore an old house, and it was asked whether the Council
had looked into each case and allowed exceptions in special circumstances. To
this end, an amendment was proposed and seconded to add a clause to the
recommendation in the report, namely to request that the Cabinet looked at
flexibility to consider a policy for a financial discount or aid for the owners
of empty properties when the work of restoring them took longer than six
months. As the Cabinet Member agreed to accept the amendment, he changed his
proposal to this end, and the Council, without any discussion, showed its
satisfaction with this tail to the proposal. ·
That there was a need for a
system that rewarded, and not penalised, landlords who invested in their
properties. ·
That there were three companies in Abersoch that
advised people to convert houses into AirBnbs, without any type of planning
control, and that the transfer of those houses from the Council Tax list to the
Non-domestic Rates register meant that the Council was losing more money. ·
That the members should
receive updates on the number of houses that transferred to the Non-domestic
Rates register. In response to some of the above observations, and to questions asked, it
was noted: ·
That the regulations stated
that an empty property that was for sale for a reasonable price was exempt from
paying the premium for a year from the date it was placed on the market. ·
That individual
circumstances, where substantial work was required on a house, could be dealt
with through another part of the legislation, and the Cabinet could look at
suitable policies, in accordance with what was proposed as an amendment. ·
That members and officers
were still corresponding regularly with Welsh Government ministers and officers
to press for change in the system which allowed properties used as
self-serviced holiday units to be taxed through the Non-domiciliary Tax system,
rather than the Council Tax system. There were many complexities with the
planning system and the Council Tax system; however, with the support of the
Welsh Local Government Association, the councils were attempting to negotiate a
way forward. Therefore, it was suggested
that the members let the officers continue to follow this route for the time
being, and in due course to report back on the progress with the work. · Although the Council was losing money with each house that transferred to the ... view the full minutes text for item 9. |
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To submit the report of the Council Leader (attached). Additional documents:
Minutes: The Leader, Councillor Dyfrig Siencyn, submitted a
report that had been considered by the Cabinet at its meeting on 17 December
2019, seeking approval to the draft response which had been prepared on behalf of
the Council to the Consultation on the Local Government and Elections (Wales)
Bill - November 2019. It was noted that the Cabinet had approved the
draft response to be submitted to the Full Council for approval. During the discussion the following matters were raised by individual
members: ·
There was agreement with the
observation that another tier of government was unnecessary, and that voluntary
collaboration was the way forward. ·
It was noted that the second bullet point in the box
"PART 1 - ELECTIONS" in paragraph 11 of the response was vague, as it
firstly referred to supporting the concept of using a single transferable
voting system, however it then stated that this Council preferred one-member
wards. To this end, it was suggested
that this paragraph be amended to note that the Council supported the concept
of using a single transferable voting system; however, if the first past the
post system was kept, that the Council supported one-member wards as this
provided the strongest connection with the community. In response, it was noted
that the message transferred to the Boundary Commission was that this Council
preferred one-member wards. Should the
voting method continue as it was, this is what the Council would support, and
the response could be amended to reflect this. ·
It was noted that the Council was still awaiting to
hear back from the Boundary Commission after submitting the response to its
proposals, and there remained a lack of clarity in relation to the Bangor wards
and some areas of the Llŷn Peninsula.
In response, it was noted that the matter was still in the hands of the
Minister. It was also explained that if
the Bill was legislated upon before the next County Council elections, and
consequently the number of voters increased to include young people aged 16 and
17, this could change, regardless of the considerations of the Boundary
Commission. It was further noted that
the Bill provided for one-member wards, and should this be legislated upon, it
was likely that the proposals of the Commission would need to be revisited, as
they included two-member wards and were therefore not in-keeping with the
Act. On this basis, it was not believed
that any benefit would come from requesting an early decision from the Minister
on the response to the Commission's proposals, because the new legislation, in
due course, could overturn some of the issues that the Council did not agree
with in the proposals of the Boundary Commission. It was further noted that it was technically
possible to have a single transferable voting system in one-member wards as
well, although this would not fulfil the aim of the system, namely to reflect
the percentage of people who voted for each party. · It was noted that a single transferable voting system in ... view the full minutes text for item 10. |
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CLIMATE CHANGE EMERGENCY PLAN PDF 185 KB To consider the
report of the Council Leader (attached). Additional documents: Minutes: The Leader, Councillor Dyfrig Siencyn, submitted a
report which noted the steps taken by the Council thus far in response to the
proposal considered in the meeting of the Council on 7 March 2018, with regard
to climate change. During the discussion, the following observations were submitted by
individual members: ·
That the Council could do small things to help the
situation, such as ensure that resources were available to charge electric cars
in the Council's car parks, and progress with Active Travel in order to enable
people to cycle to work safely. ·
Members of all political
groups should be part of the taskforce set up by the Cabinet to consider what
further work needed to be done in order to achieve the aim of ensuring a zero-carbon
county. ·
A cycle track should be
created alongside each new road constructed.
Solar panels should be placed on all new houses that were constructed,
as well as a system to reuse rainwater. ·
That Greta Thunberg, the young girl from Sweden, had brought
all of this to a worldwide platform and, although the population of Wales was
only 3 million and the world population was approximately 7 billion, there were
small things that could be done here in Wales and in Gwynedd, e.g. plant more
trees and install more solar panels, where it would not impact the landscape. ·
That this was a very good plan and that the Council
needed to be very ambitious in this field, as climate change would impact the
future of our young people. In response to some of the above observations, and to questions asked, it
was noted: ·
That the Council intended to
invest £465,000 in installing 84 vehicle charging points across the county, but
that there were some difficulties with the grid. Discussions were already ongoing with regard
to this, and it was important that the discussions continued. It was also good
to hear that the Government had allocated funding in its draft budget for
climate change matters and, although the investment was possibly not
sufficient, it was at least a step in the right direction. ·
That the taskforce set up by
the Cabinet would consult in full with every member of the Council on their
action plan so that everyone could take part in the discussion and put
proposals forward. Everyone who had already proposed ideas were thanked. ·
That there was reference to
statutory matters such as the need for new houses to meet the highest possible
energy efficiency standards in the template in Appendix 1 of the report. The
requirements of the existing building regulations were quite high, however they
should be revisited to examine whether they went far enough. However, it was
important to bear in mind that there was an additional cost associated with
these matters. ·
It was hoped that it would
be possible to work with the private sector across all aspects of the work,
bearing in mind that the private sector was ahead of the public sector with
regard to this. · That ... view the full minutes text for item 11. |
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A REVIEW OF SCRUTINY ARRANGEMENTS PDF 76 KB To consider the
report of the Chair of the Audit and Governance Committee (attached). Additional documents:
Minutes: The Chair of the Audit and Governance Committee, Councillor John Brynmor
Hughes, submitted a report asking the Council to: ·
Pay attention to the content
of the report on a review of scrutiny arrangements submitted to the Audit and
Governance Committee on 28 November in order to understand the reasons for
reviewing our existing scrutiny arrangements, the considerations when
reviewing, the original options by the working group that carried out the
review, the thorough consultation that had taken place and the final options
considered. ·
Accept the recommendation of
the Audit and Governance Committee to continue with the current arrangements,
namely Option 1, three scrutiny committees, with Housing and Property
Department matters to be scrutinised by the Care Scrutiny Committee. In response to an enquiry by a member, it was confirmed that by choosing
Option 1, the number of members on the individual scrutiny committees would
remain at 18. It was noted that the three existing scrutiny committees made very
important decisions that affected the lives of the people of Gwynedd; however,
they often did not have enough time to scrutinise these matters thoroughly. On
the other hand, the task groups provided the opportunity to fully scrutinise
matters, to understand all relevant aspects properly and scrutinise thoroughly,
and to come to meaningful conclusions. On this basis, an amendment was proposed
and seconded to choose Option 2, namely One Principal Committee, that would
manage all Council scrutiny work, with a vast proportion of the scrutiny work
being completed through investigations or task and finish groups, and reviewing
the process after a period of time. A vote was taken on the amendment (Option 2) and it fell. A vote was taken on the original proposal (Option 1) and it was carried. RESOLVED (a) To continue with the current
arrangements - Option 1, namely three scrutiny committees, with Housing and
Property Department matters to be scrutinised by the Care Scrutiny Committee in
accordance with the recommendation of the Audit and Governance Committee. (b) To adopt minor amendments to the
Constitution as noted in Appendix 1 of the report at the recommendation of the
Monitoring Officer. |
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RE-APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT MEMBERS TO THE STANDARDS COMMITTEE PDF 49 KB To consider the
report of the Monitoring Officer
(attached). Additional documents: Minutes: The Monitoring Officer submitted a report noting that the membership term
of two independent members on the Standards Committee, namely Einir Young and
Margaret E. Jones, had ended, and recommended that the Council re-appointed
them for one further successive period of no more than four years, as
authorised by the Standards Committees (Wales) Regulations 2001. Both members were thanked for their work on the committee. RESOLVED to
re-appoint Einir Young and Margaret E. Jones as independent members of the
Standards Committee to serve for a further four-year term. |
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NOTICES OF MOTION Additional documents: |
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Notice of Motion by Councillor Gruffydd Williams In accordance with the Notice of Motion received
under Section 4.20 of the Constitution, Councillor Gruffydd Williams will
propose as follows:- “The Council notes: - That the annexation of territories by
the occupying power is strictly forbidden under international law, and so would
constitute a war crime. - That annexing the Palestinian
Territories would derail any future chances for a peaceful 'Two State Solution'
by permanently encircling the remaining territories in the West Bank. - That the Palestinian right to self determination in their own country has been asserted
by numerous UN resolutions that have been ignored by Israel. - That the State of Israel must end its
occupation of the Palestinian Territories, in-line with UN resolutions, and
allow for the creation of a Palestinian state in order to avoid creating a 21st century
apartheid. This council; - Acknowledges that continuing to occupy Palestinian Territories is unlawful. The Council calls upon: - The Westminster and Welsh Assembly governments to
fully recognise the right of the Palestinians to have their own state. - The International community to put diplomatic pressure on
the State of Israel to end its illegal occupation and not to annex further
territory.” Additional documents: Minutes: (a) Submitted
- the following notice of motion by Councillor Gruffydd Williams, in accordance
with Section 4.20 of the Constitution, and it was seconded:- “This Council notes: - That the annexation of territories by the occupying power is strictly
forbidden under international law, and so would constitute a war crime. - That annexing the Palestinian Territories would derail any future
chances for a peaceful 'Two State Solution' by permanently encircling the
remaining territories in the West Bank. - That the Palestinian right to self-determination in their own country
has been asserted by numerous UN resolutions that have been ignored by Israel. -
That the State of Israel must end its occupation of the Palestinian
Territories, in-line with UN resolutions, and allow for the creation of a
Palestinian state in order to avoid creating a 21st century apartheid. The Council: - Acknowledges that continuing to occupy Palestinian Territories is
unlawful. This Council calls on: - The Westminster and Welsh Assembly Governments to fully recognise the
right of the Palestinians to have their own state. - The International community to put diplomatic pressure on the State
of Israel to end its illegal occupation and not to annex further territory.” RESOLVED to adopt
the motion. |
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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 the Council urges our schools to teach pupils the national anthem
in its entirety. Additionally, that we
urge our Senedd to contact all other county councils
so that they comply with this motion.” Additional documents: Minutes: (B) 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
urges our schools to teach pupils the national anthem in its entirety.
Additionally, that we urge our Senedd to contact all other county councils so
that they comply with this motion.” RESOLVED to adopt
the motion. |