Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors Kim Jones, Arwyn Herald Roberts and Rob Triggs.

To receive any declaration of personal interest

There were no declarations of personal interest.

To note any items that are a matter of urgency in the view of the Chairman for consideration.

None to note.

The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the meeting of this Committee, held on 05 October 2023 be signed as a true record. 

The Chair signed the minutes of the previous committee meeting held on 05 October 2023 as a true record.

Update on progress made since adoption of the Climate and Nature Emergency Plan in March 2022.

1.    To accept the report and to recommend:

(i)      That information about 'Active Travel' should be added under Section 3 of the Report: 'Section 6, Environment (Wales) Act 2016'.

(ii)     Consideration should be given to adapting the format of how information is displayed under the 'What did we promise to do in 2022/23?' and 'What we did' titles in Sections 5-11 of the Report for clarity to the reader.

2.    Recommend to the Cabinet that the staffing resource should be considered to achieve the vision of the Climate and Nature Emergency Plan.

The report was submitted by the Chief Executive. ⁠Attention was drawn briefly to the following main points: 

Members were reminded that the Climate and Nature Emergency Plan was one of the priorities within the Council Plan, with a Board established to support it.

Attention was drawn to the fact that the plan included two steps. It was detailed that the first phase was to implement the Council's projects to reduce the use of energy and reduce the Council's carbon emissions and the second phase would be to look at the wider impact on the county, considering how the Council could help communities and how the county could respond to the impact of climate change.

It was explained that dealing with the climate and nature was part of the Council's work since 2005/06 and it was noted that a huge success could be seen by now. ⁠It was detailed that there were 51% less carbon emissions in the Construction field between 2005/06 and 2019 and 23% carbon emissions in the Fleet field within the same period. It was reported that the Council had managed to reduce the Council's carbon emissions by 43% within this period.

It was noted that the Council saw financial benefits when tackling the climate and nature emergency, saving around £15 million since 2010. It was emphasised that this meant that more cuts would have needed to be made as a result of the Council's current financial situation if the work on the climate change and nature emergency had not been delivered. It was recognised that new considerations needed to be considered by now, such as challenges in the scrutiny field and the fact that more of the council's workforce worked from home.

Concern was expressed regarding the method of calculating carbon emissions deriving from procurement nationally. It was explained that buying local goods was calculated in the same way as buying goods from the continent, even though there were major differences in the actual carbon emissions. It was noted that this could impact the local economy in areas as there was no encouragement to buy locally. It was explained that procurement had been refined over the past two years leading to a reduction in the Council's carbon emissions. It was noted that the consistent message conveyed to the Welsh Government was that the method of calculating in the procurement field wasn't an accurate reflection of the real situation. There was concern that it would not be possible to reach targets to become carbon neutral by 2030 if this method of calculation was not amended.

It was confirmed that the Council was ready to look at step two of the Plan, which was to look at plans for the future. It was mentioned that the first step of the plan was to reduce carbon emissions, and therefore long-term plans needed to be secured for these emission figures to remain low. It was explained that these developments were being implemented within the following main themes:

·       Construction and Energy  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Council is required to draw up a Local Flood Strategy by October 2023. The work has been allocated as inland and coastal flood risks.

1.    To accept the report and to recommend:

(i)             that information about the risk in terms of roads flooding, as well as the risk to property, should be included in the Local Flood Strategy;

(ii)            that awareness should be raised amongst all residents of how to prepare for flooding.

2.    That the Committee scrutinises the Local Flood Strategy following the public consultation at its meeting on 22 February 2024.

The report was submitted by the Cabinet Member for Highways and Municipal and Gwynedd Consultancy. ⁠Attention was drawn briefly to the following main points: 

It was explained that the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy was one of the requirements of the Flood and Water Management Act 2021 and that it needed to be consistent with the National Strategy published last year. It was reported that there was a need to amend the Strategy to correspond with the statutory requirements by spring 2024.

It was confirmed that the 5 main Objectives of this amended Strategy were:

1.    Aim to reduce the level of risk of flooding and coastal erosion for Gwynedd residents.

2.    Developing further understanding of flood risk to Gwynedd and the impacts of climate change.

3.    Continue to work with all relevant bodies to ensure appropriate and sustainable development in Gwynedd.

4.    Raising awareness of local flood and coastal erosion risk

5.    ⁠Work collaboratively with all other Risk Management Authorities and relevant groups/bodies to ensure a coordinated response to flooding and coastal erosion incidents.

It was explained that currently the entire Strategy had not been drafted but that the Report and the Appendices displayed the types of information that the plan will include. It was confirmed that the Objectives had been formulated in response to the challenges seen in Gwynedd. A request was made for the Committee to consider scrutinising the full Strategy following a period of statutory consultation.

A Member noted his support to consult with communities in areas where the risks of flooding was high but that there was also a need to include communities in areas with a secondary flooding risk. It was acknowledged that there was a need for all residents to be aware of the Strategy and how to respond when flooding occurred as some areas become isolated as flooding closes roads, leading to medical care difficulties, access to shops and several other problems. It was emphasised that there was an invitation for everyone to participate in the statutory consultation to ensure that as much information as possible was fed into the final document, and that systems were in place to share information and keep Gwynedd residents safe.

In response to an enquiry on the use of soft terminology such as 'aiming' within the report documentation, it was confirmed that the language was used due to restrictions on the Council. It was confirmed that some elements within the field were the responsibility of bodies beyond the Council, and under the Government’s control and therefore it was difficult to currently use robust wording without an understanding of the Government's aspirations.

It was acknowledged that specifying responsibilities amongst partners had been challenging in the past, but an understanding had been reached as the relationship between them developed. It was emphasised that the full strategy would highlight the responsibilities of all partners in the future. It was explained that the partners go beyond their responsibilities in emergency situations.

In response to a question by a member, it  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To adopt an amended work programme.

To adopt the amended work programme for 2023/24.

The report was presented by the Scrutiny Adviser noting the following main points:

Members were reminded that the Communities Committee's amended Forward Programme for 2023/24 had been adopted at the Committee's meeting on 5 October 2023.

It was explained that the forward programme needed to be revised further for 2023/24.  Attention was drawn to the 'Governance Structure and Delivery Arrangements of the Gwynedd and Anglesey Public Services Board' item that had been scheduled for this meeting, but it wasn't timely to be considered. It was noted that confirmation was received by the Gwynedd and Anglesey Public Services Board Programme Manager that it would be timely to present this item to the Committee meeting on 18 April 2024. Reassurance was provided that this would meet the need to scrutinise the work of the Board twice within the Council year.

It was reported that the 'Waste Collection and Recycling Service' item had been programmed for the meeting on 18 April 2024 during the annual workshop this year. An update was given at a meeting between the Chair and Vice-chair of the Committee, Cabinet Member for Environment, and the Head of the Environment Department that it would not be timely to scrutinise this item during this meeting. It was considered that scrutinising the item later in the year would allow work streams in this field to develop further. It was suggested that re-scheduling the item and consider prioritising it at the 2024/24 Annual Workshop for the first meeting of 2024/25 would allow the Committee to add value by scrutinising it in a timely manner.

Members were reminded that the Committee, in the previous item, had resolved to scrutinise the 'Local Flood Strategy' at its meeting on 22 February 2024.

It was noted that confirmation was received following the publication of the meeting agenda, that it would not be possible to submit the 'Article 4 Direction - Public Consultation' report to the Committee meeting on 22 February 2024.  ⁠It was explained that this was due to significant work that needed to be done following receiving 3,900 responses to the public consultation.

It was anticipated that it would be possible to report to the Committee at its meeting on 18 April 2024. It was suggested to facilitate this, that it would be an option to remove the 'Public Protection Service' item from the forward programme for 2023/24 as there was no specific concern regarding performance in this field. It was added that consideration could be given to prioritising the item for 2024/25 at the Annual Workshop.

Support was noted for the intention to prioritise the items in accordance with the above.

RESOLVED

To adopt the amended work programme for 2023/24.