Agenda, decisions and minutes

To appoint a Chair for 2024/25.

To appoint Councillor Beca Roberts as Chair for 2024/25.

Two names were proposed and seconded for the chairpersonship, namely Councillor Beca Roberts and Councillor Beth Lawton.

RESOLVED to appoint Councillor Beca Roberts as Chair for 2024/25.

Councillor Beca Roberts read and signed the declaration accepting the post of Chair of Cyngor Gwynedd for 2024/25, in the presence of the Chief Executive.

To appoint a Vice-chair for 2024/25.

To appoint Councillor Ioan Thomas as Vice-chair for 2024/25.

Two names were proposed and seconded for the vice-chairpersonship, namely Councillor Ioan Thomas and Councillor Elfed P. Roberts.

          RESOLVED to appoint Councillor Ioan Thomas as Vice-chair for 2024/25.

Councillor Ioan Thomas read and signed the declaration accepting the post of Vice-chair of Cyngor Gwynedd for 2024/25, in the presence of the Chief Executive.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors Louise Hughes, Kim Jones, John Pughe and Rob Triggs.

The Chair shall propose that the minutes of the previous meeting of the Council held on 7^th March, 2024 be signed as a true record.

The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of the Council held on 7 March 2024 as a true record.

To receive any declaration of personal interest.

No declarations of personal interest were received.

To receive any Chair’s announcements.

Condolences were expressed to the family of the former councillor and Chair of this Council during 1998-99, John E. James, who had passed away recently, and Councillor Elwyn Edwards paid tribute to him.

It was also noted that the Council wished to sympathise with everyone in the county’s communities who had recently lost loved ones.

The Council stood in silence as a mark of respect and remembrance.

It was noted that several Council members had been ill recently, and they were all wished a full and speedy recovery.

Councillor Kim Jones was congratulated on the birth of her son, Caio Gwyn.

The children and youth of Gwynedd who would be competing in the Eisteddfod yr Urdd at the end of the month were wished well.

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

None to note.

To consider any questions the appropriate notice for which have been given under Section 4.18 of the Constitution.

(The Cabinet Members' written responses to the questions had been published in advance.)

(1)       Question by Councillor Eryl Jones-Williams

Will Cyngor Gwynedd be making strong representations to get Transport for Wales to change their minds about withdrawing four trains, two each way between Machynlleth and Pwllheli when their new Cambrian Coast Railway Line Tables are introduced in December 2024?

This will have a serious effect on locals travelling to and from work locally, and on long
distance rail travel for locals and visitors.

Did the decision makers take into account that the Cambrian Coast Railway line had been
closed for three months in the past three years for work to be undertaken on Barmouth Viaduct with no trains running and the replacement bus service being unreliable?

Response – Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor Dafydd Meurig

Thank you for the question.  Obviously, I understand the concern locally regarding this, and as you can see from the response provided, the Council Leader received correspondence from James Price, Chief Executive of Transport for Wales on 10 April 2024 regarding these changes and I responded on 25 April asking for confirmation of the status and highlighting the concerns locally. To date, there has been no reply to that, but I greatly hope that there will be a change, and that these train journeys will be restructured.

Supplementary Question by Councillor Eryl Jones-Williams

Will the Cabinet Member contact the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport, Ken Skates, MS, to point out that the 32 days that are available to respond to the public consultation on the new timetable is not enough?

Response – Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor Dafydd Meurig

I am very happy to do this and to make the point, certainly.

(2)     Question by Councillor Llio Elenid Owen

What is the latest on the Canolfan Lleu project, the health and well-being hub in Penygroes? When will there be any development and information for the public?

Response – Cabinet Member for Adults, Councillor Dilwyn Morgan

I wish to thank the Councillor for the question. It is extremely important to have a local member who raises matters that are relevant to our communities – in this case, Dyffryn Nantlle and the residents of Gwynedd more widely.  As the written response notes, Grŵp Cynefin are the ones leading on this pioneering scheme, therefore I felt it was appropriate for us to contact Grŵp Cynefin. The written response includes the information that was received back from the Group, directly from the Chief Executive, Melville Evans – and I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate him on the job and note that we are looking forward to working with him. Therefore, his comments are attached in the written response and there are many facts there, and I think it would be fair for me to read out the written response in full.

"Canolfan Lleu is a project that brings partners together to develop a health and well-being hub in Penygroes.  The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To submit the report of the Head of Democracy Services.

1.    To adopt the list of committees and sub-committees to be established for the 2024/25 municipal year, as noted below, and to adopt the allocation of seats and senior salaries as noted.

APPENDIX A - ALLOCATION OF SEATS ON COMMITTEES

Senior Salaries

The following senior salaries will be paid:-

• Leader

•Deputy Leader

• 8 other Members of the Cabinet

• Leader of the main opposition Group

• Committee Chairs

 - Scrutiny Committees (x3)

 - Planning Committee

 - Licensing Committee (Central and General to be included as one Committee)

 - Pensions Committee

• Civic Head (Chair of the Council)

• Deputy Civic Head (Vice-chair of the Council

2.    To delegate the authority to the Head of Democracy Services to make appointments to the committees on the basis of political balance, and in accordance with the wishes of the political groups.

3.    Allocate the chairpersonships of scrutiny committees on the basis of political balance as follows:-

Education and Economy Scrutiny Committee - Plaid Cymru Group

Communities Scrutiny Committee – Plaid Cymru Group

Care Scrutiny Committee - Independent Group

The Head of Democracy Services presented a report on the annual review of the Council’s political balance.

The Leader of the Independent Group expressed her concern that losing one of the scrutiny chairpersonships weakened the Scrutiny Forum as all the members of the forum, bar one, would be members of the same party. She also questioned why the lay chair of the Governance and Audit Committee could not be a member of the Scrutiny Forum.

RESOLVED

1. To adopt the list of committees and sub-committees to be established for the 2024/25 municipal year, as noted below, and to adopt the allocation of seats and senior salaries as noted.

Senior Salaries

the following senior salaries will be paid:

• Leader

• Deputy Leader

• 8 other Cabinet members

• The Leader of the largest Opposition party

• Committee Chairs

- Scrutiny Committee (x3)

- Planning Committee

- Licensing Committee (Central and General counts as one Committee)

- Pensions Committee

• Civic head (Chair of the Council)

▪ Deputy civic head (Vice-chair of the Council)

2. To delegate the authority to the Head of Democracy Services to make appointments to the committees on the basis of political balance, and in accordance with the wishes of the political groups.
3. To allocate the chairpersonships of scrutiny committees on the basis of political balance as follows:-

Education and Economy Scrutiny Committee – Plaid Cymru Group

Communities Scrutiny Committee – Plaid Cymru Group

Care Scrutiny Committee – Independent Group

To appoint a Chair of the Democratic Services Committee for 2024/25.

[In accordance with the requirements of Section 14 of the Local Government Bill (Wales) 2011, the Chair 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.]

To appoint Councillor Anne Lloyd Jones as Chair of the Democracy Services Committee for 2024/25.

The Council was invited to appoint a chair for the Democracy Services Committee for 2024/25.

RESOLVED to appoint Councillor Anne Lloyd Jones as Chair of the Democracy Services Committee for 2024/25.

To submit the report of the Cabinet Member for Environment.

To adopt the Draft Statement of Licensing Policy, and delegate the right to the Head of Environment Department to make editorial changes for accuracy as needed.

Submitted – the report of the Cabinet Member for the Environment stating that in accordance with Section 5 of the Licensing Act 2003, all licensing authorities are required to publish a Statement of Licensing Policy every five years, and inviting the Council to approve the Draft Statement of Licensing Policy included as an appendix to the report, and delegate the right to the Head of Environment Department to make editorial changes for accuracy as needed.

The Department's staff were thanked for their hard work.

RESOLVED to adopt the Draft Statement of Licensing Policy, and delegate the right to the Head of Environment Department to make editorial changes for accuracy as needed.

In accordance with the Notice of Motion received under Section 4.19 of the Constitution, Councillor Gwynfor Owen will propose as follows:-

The Cambrian Coast Railway is of immense importance to the economy of Gwynedd, with thousands of visitors using it, but more importantly, the people of Gwynedd themselves use this Railway on a daily basis to go to school, work, to shop or for leisure purposes.

Transport for Wales have recently stated that they want to cut the number of trains running along the line.

The way to improve train use is by increasing the number of trains and definitely not cutting them.

This Council makes it clear to Transport for Wales and to the Welsh Government, who are the owners of Transport for Wales, that any cut in the number of trains on the Cambrian Railway is not acceptable, and instead they should look at how to increase the number of trains throughout the year.

The Cambrian Coast Railway is of immense importance to the economy of Gwynedd, with thousands of visitors using it, but more importantly, the people of Gwynedd themselves use this Railway on a daily basis to go to school, work, to shop or for leisure purposes.

Transport for Wales have recently stated that they want to cut the number of trains running along the line.

The way to improve train use is by increasing the number of trains and definitely not cutting them.

This Council makes it clear to Transport for Wales and to the Welsh Government, who are the owners of Transport for Wales, that any cut in the number of trains on the Cambrian Railway is not acceptable, and instead they should look at how to increase the number of trains throughout the year.

(A)      Submitted – the following notice of motion by Councillor Gwynfor Owen under Section 4.19 of the Constitution, and it was seconded:-

The Cambrian Coast Railway is of immense importance to the economy of Gwynedd, with thousands of visitors using it, but more importantly, the people of Gwynedd themselves use this Railway daily to go to school, work, to shop or for leisure purposes.

Transport for Wales have recently stated that they want to cut the number of trains running along the line.

The way to improve train use is by increasing the number of trains and certainly not cutting them.

This Council makes it clear to Transport for Wales and to the Welsh Government, who are the owners of Transport for Wales, that any cut in the number of trains on the Cambrian Railway is not acceptable, and instead they should look at how to increase the number of trains throughout the year.

The member set out the context to his motion, and noted:-

·         That the Council once again found itself discussing how rural Gwynedd was being treated by the organisations that made decisions on our behalf, slowly bleeding us of our existence and turning us into nothing more than a Leisure Park for Visitors.

·         As one who represented the village of Llanbedr on the Council, he was tired of hearing the message that his constituents had to stop using their car and use public transport instead.  This was easy to say if you lived on the M4 corridor or maybe the A55, but impossible for those living on the western coast of Gwynedd.

·         Transport for Wales planned to remove four trains a day, with the last train of the day to leave Pwllheli at 17:42 between December and March and 19:30 in the summer, and the last train of the day to leave Machynlleth at 19:04 in the winter and 20:55 in the summer.

·         He had a meeting scheduled soon with the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport, Ken Skates, MS, to discuss the Llanbedr Bypass, and he would also be raising the point regarding trains, as he had been given to understand that the Cabinet Secretary had already approved the changes.

·         He wished to thank the MS, Mabon ap Gwynfor, and MP Liz Saville Roberts, and also the Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor Dafydd Meurig, for clearly stating their complete objection to these plans.

·         When the Cambrian Coast Railway Committee had last met on 22 March, Transport for Wales mentioned nothing about potentially cutting the number of trains, and the Chair of the Committee had agreed to his request for an urgent meeting of the Committee to discuss the situation.

·         Transport for Wales were subject to the Welsh Language Standards. Had an assessment of the Welsh language been made when implementing these changes?  It appeared that the Welsh Government, through Transport for Wales, were once again turning their backs on our Welsh language strongholds

·         If Wales were an independent country, we could look at what  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

In accordance with the Notice of Motion received under Section 4.19 of the Constitution, Councillor Elfed Wyn ap Elwyn will propose as follows:-

Cyngor Gwynedd believes that no house should be anything but a home until everyone has a warm home which is fit for purpose.  This is the objective of this Council.  We call on the Welsh Government to enable this Council to act in order to put the people of Gwynedd first by creating a Property Act which will offer a statutory and local framework to support communities, housing providers and local authorities to respond to the current crisis.

Cyngor Gwynedd believes that no house should be anything but a home until everyone who has a local need has a warm home which is fit for purpose. This is the objective of this Council.  We call on the Welsh Government to enable this Council to act for the sake of the people of Gwynedd first by implementing a Property Act which will propose a statutory and local framework to support communities, housing providers and local authorities to respond to the current emergency.

(A)      Submitted – the following notice of motion by Councillor Elfed Wyn ap Elwyn in accordance with Section 4.19 of the Constitution, and it was seconded:-

Cyngor Gwynedd believes that no house should be anything but a home until everyone has a warm home which is fit for purpose.  This is the objective of this Council.  We call on the Welsh Government to enable this Council to act in order to put the people of Gwynedd first by creating a Property Act which will offer a statutory and local framework to support communities, housing providers and local authorities to respond to the current crisis.

The member set out the context to his motion, and noted:-

·         Thinking about the major depopulation that had happened in the countryside over the past century caused him concern and a sense of grief – this depopulation was continuing.

·         Cyngor Gwynedd had been at the forefront with regard to the housing crisis, and had taken firm steps in an attempt to solve the huge problem faced by our communities.

·         A Property Act was the natural next step in order to solve the housing crisis, since such an act would contain policies that would put communities first, regulate the housing market and ensure that local people have a fair chance of living in their communities.

·         A Property Act would also place an emphasis on investing locally and create an opportunity for communities to have support to buy assets in the community, as was happening in Scotland.

·         The Senedd would be discussing housing related matters over the next few months, and it was essential that a Property Act was accepted as part of the Government's objectives.

Members expressed their keen support to the motion.  The following points were noted:-

·         This was along the same lines as the previous motion, namely, how we can ensure healthy and prosperous communities in rural Wales.

·         A Property Act was absolutely fundamental. Without people, there could be no communities; without housing, we cannot get people to live in those communities, and without communities we would not have a rural economy.

An amendment was proposed and seconded to amend the first sentence of the motion as follows, to make the proposal more specific geographically:-

Cyngor Gwynedd believes that no house should be anything but a home until everyone with a local housing need has a warm home which is fit for purpose. 

Support was expressed for the amendment on the grounds that we needed to look after our own people.

A member expressed his objection to the amendment as it did not define 'local people' while the original motion included everyone.  In response, the Monitoring Officer explained that he did not believe that the wording of the amendment was inappropriate since '⁠local need' was a recognised term, and that it was essentially a request for legislation.

A vote was taken on the amendment and it carried. 

In his closing comments, the proposer noted that his concern about the housing situation had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13a

In accordance with the Notice of Motion received under Section 4.19 of the Constitution, Councillor Llio Elenid Owen will propose as follows:-

The decision by the Welsh National Health Service Joint Commissioning Committee and health boards to close and centralise the Welsh Air Ambulance centres of Caernarfon (Dinas Dinlle) and Welshpool is a devastating blow to the whole of Gwynedd and another example of how Wales's central services ignore the aspirations and demands of rural Wales. I ask the Council to oppose the decision, and to ask for full intervention and investigation into the decision by the Welsh Government.

The decision by the Welsh National Health Service Joint Commissioning Committee and health boards to close and centralise the Welsh Air Ambulance centres of Caernarfon (Dinas Dinlle) and Welshpool is a devastating blow to the whole of Gwynedd and another example of how Wales' central services ignore the aspirations and demands of rural Wales. This Council opposes the decision and asks for full intervention and investigation into the decision by the Welsh Government.

(A)      Submitted – the following notice of motion by Councillor Llio Elenid Owen under Section 4.19 of the Constitution, and it was seconded:-

The decision by the National Health Service Wales Joint Commissioning Committee and the health boards to close and centralise the Wales Air Ambulance centres of Caernarfon (Dinas Dinlle) and Welshpool is a devastating blow to the whole of Gwynedd and another example of how Wales's central services ignore the aspirations and demands of rural Wales. I ask the Council to oppose the decision, and to ask for full intervention and an investigation into the decision by the Welsh Government.

The member set out the context to her motion, noting that:

·         A year and a half ago, the Council had voted unanimously in favour of her motion that called on the relevant bodies to retain the Air Ambulance centres at Dinas Dinlle and Welshpool, and build on the services in their current bases, but the recent decision to close those centres was disappointing and heartbreaking and was a huge blow to the whole of Gwynedd.

·         The NHS Wales Joint Commissioning Committee, which included four Lay Members and the seven Chief Executives of the Welsh Health Board, had come to a majority decision at the end of April to accept the recommendations in the Service Review of the Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service (EMRTS), to merge the Air Ambulance Centres of Caernarfon and Welshpool on a new base in central north Wales, with the exact location to be determined.

·         Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board and Powys Health Board – the two health regions that would be specifically affected by the decisions – were against the decision, but the public's needs and views on the matter in those two areas had not been listened to at all.  As such, the Welsh Government would now need to intervene and conduct a full investigation into the decision.

·         The recommendations noted that this decision would enable more people to benefit from the clinical expertise provided by the teams of this critical care service and that it would also include the provision of an additional bespoke road-based service for rural communities. However, as the Members of Parliament for Gwynedd had noted, there were essential questions that had not yet been answered, especially around the additional bespoke road-based provision, and it was all still very vague.

·         It was not believed that there was any sense in moving the bases from Dinas Dinlle and Welshpool, on the outskirts of some of the most remote and rural areas of Wales, and relocating them in a populated area by the A55 in north-east Wales.

·         ⁠We must highlight our support and gratitude, as local people and as elected members, to the Wales Air Ambulance charity and the clinical teams of the Wales NHS Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service (EMRTS).  The excellent work and service they delivered in order to provide emergency care in our communities was utterly invaluable, and the Wales Air Ambulance was one of the charities  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13b

Letter from the Welsh Government in response to Councillors Gruffydd Williams and Dewi Jones’ notices of motion to the 7^th March, 2024 Council meeting regarding support for farmers.

Submitted, for information – a letter from the Welsh Government in response to Councillors Gruffydd Williams and Dewi Jones's notices of motion to the Council meeting of 7 March, 2024, regarding support for farmers.