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No. | Item |
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APOLOGIES To receive
any apologies for absence. Additional documents: Minutes: Apologies
were received from Councillors Dilwyn Morgan, Linda Morgan, Angela Russell,
Glyn Thomas and Dafydd Meurig, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regulatory (in
relation to item 8). |
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive any declaration of personal interest Additional documents: Minutes: No
declarations of personal interest were received from any members present. |
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URGENT ITEMS To note any
items that are a matter of urgency in the view of the Chairman for
consideration. Additional documents: Minutes: None to
note |
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The
Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the meeting of this Committee, held
on 17 November 2015 be signed as a true record.
Additional documents: Minutes: The minutes
of the previous meeting of this committee, held on 17 November 2015, were
accepted as a true record of the meeting. |
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CABINET RESPONSE TO SCRUTINY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS PDF 243 KB To report
back to the Scrutiny Committee on the Cabinet’s response to the Scrutiny
Committee’s recommendations Additional documents: Minutes: a) Submitted
- the report of the Chair of the Communities Scrutiny Committee and the Senior
Manager - Democracy and Delivery regarding an established procedure to improve
the contact and dialogue between individual scrutiny committees and the Cabinet
to identify a follow up for scrutiny work. As part of an experiment to
introduce a new arrangement, the Chair of the Communities Scrutiny Committee
submitted a report noting recommendations from a recent meeting of the
Communities Scrutiny Committee to the Cabinet, and it was noted that public,
open and honest discussions had been held. Three items
were referred to the Cabinet's attention - The
Welsh Language and the Planning Procedure - the Cabinet Member welcomed Members'
feedback on the process of creating the new Planning Policy Guidelines within
the Local Development Plan - Section
106 Agreements - again, the Cabinet Member welcomed the recommendation for a
small working group to discuss possible options for the future. - Post-16
Education Transport - a positive response was received from the Cabinet Member
and it was noted that it would be re-submitted to the Scrutiny Committee to
confirm the recommendations that had been realised to be implemented from September
2016. It was noted that the experiment had ensured
the Cabinet Members' public commitment to take action, and the next step would
be feeding the action steps and the timetable to the Scrutiny Committee's work
programme to receive assurance that action had occurred. b) During the discussion, the following
observations were made: - In
the context of Planning and the Welsh Language, a suggestion was made to
consider starting to implement Technical Advice Note 20 and for the Council to
update its policies. It was suggested to highlight the concerns about improved
local guidelines to the Planning Department. - In
the context of Post-16 Education Transport, a concern was highlighted that the
response had dragged on, and that it was necessary to push for early
implementation of the recommendations to ensure that the new arrangements would
be in place by September 2016. It was suggested to write to the Cabinet Member
to emphasise this, drawing attention to the fact that the recommendations had
been submitted 02.02.2014. RESOLVED a)
To accept the report and agree to
continue with the procedure of submitting the recommendations of the
Communities Scrutiny Committee to improve the contact and dialogue. b)
To write to the Cabinet Member for
Education to emphasise the need for early implementation on the recommendations
to improve the post-16 education transport service. |
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GWYNEDD COUNCIL'S RESPONSE TO THE SYRIAN REFUGEE CRISIS PDF 265 KB To consider
a paper to inform members of preparations Additional documents: Minutes: a) At
the request of members of the Communities Scrutiny Committee, a report was
submitted to the Cabinet Member for Housing, outlining the Council's
arrangements to respond to the Syrian Refugee crisis. It was briefly noted that
Gwynedd was required to accept up to 40 people over a period of 4 and a half
years with the intention of accepting 10 in the first instance to learn from
the process. It was highlighted that Gwynedd had received support
from the beginning and was by now a part of Wedd2. With high numbers of people
on waiting lists for social housing, the refugees would receive properties
within the private sector and would receive full humanitarian protection for 5
years with the right to employment and benefits. Confirmation had been received
from the Home Office that a financial package was available to extend support
and to facilitate integration in the community, and that this financial
commitment (from the Westminster Government) would last for a period of five
years. In terms of timetable, it was reported that six
authorities were considering the possibility of agreeing on one date to receive
the refugees and were in the process of submitting an outline of the available
accommodation to the Home Office. In the
meantime, the Home Office would process the applications and would undertake
thorough assessments to respond to what was available. A tribute was paid to the residents and
voluntary organisations of Gwynedd for their special campaigns to support
refugees and it was noted that there was an intention to hold discussions with
voluntary organisations in order to collaborate and to ensure the best use of
resources and expertise. There would also be a proposal to contact with four
other authorities from Wales who had already received refugees in order to
learn and understand some practical elements. b) In
response to a question regarding the 'five year period' of support, it was
noted that integrating the refugees in society was the main objective and that
the individuals had the right to return or stay after the period. A financial
resource would be available for five years, but the hope was that the
individuals would have made a full contribution to society by then. It was noted
that it was likely that these would mostly be families. c) In
response to a question regarding the type of resource which was offered by the
Government, it was noted that health and child education were being addressed
and that benefits were prioritised above this. It would be necessary to be
careful and watchful of the need to work within the financial package and the
priority at present was suitable accommodation. It was added that initial
discussions had been held with Health. It was noted that discussions with
colleges and communication provisions had occurred. d) In further response to a question regarding considering sharing the refugees across Gwynedd rather then locating the refugees in the north of the County, it was noted that the first 10 refugees would ... view the full minutes text for item 6. |
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WASTE STRATEGY: CHANGE TO RESIDUAL WASTE COLLECTION PDF 411 KB To consider
a report on the main findings [to date] from implementing the arrangement in
the Meirionnydd Area. Additional documents: Minutes: a) Submitted
- the report of the Cabinet Member for the Environment reporting on the main
findings of implementing a new system of collecting residual waste in the
Meirionnydd Area. It was highlighted that the main objective was to increase
recycling to avoid paying fines. The recycling target of 58% had to be reached
by March 2016 and therefore the arrangements needed to be supported. It was
explained that the targets, which were being set out by the Central Government,
would continue up to 2025, whereby a recycling target of 70% would be required.
It was highlighted that this was the situation facing every Council. The changes in Meirionnydd had been introduced
in June 2015 and in line with the arrangements of the Dwyfor
Area, two teams had been established to be responsible for introducing the
change - the Executive Team and the Engagement Team. In general, it was noted
that the arrangement had been successful and that the figures appeared
encouraging. One different element in Meirionnydd was the number of community
points, but it was now reported that 30 of those 140 points continued to
receive residual collections every two weeks. The Cabinet Member thanked Meirionnydd
residents for their cooperation and also Dwyfor residents
for maintaining their performance. It was reported at the end of November that
Gwynedd's performance figures (in terms of the National and Statutory measure
for recycling) was 58.52% and that these changes were targeted to achieve
annual programmed savings of £350k for the Council, which was in addition to
not having to pay fines. b) During the discussion, the following
observations were made: • Thanks
were expressed for the reports and it was accepted that the arrangements moved
the service in the right direction. • The
workforce was thanked for their service during the severe weather • Concerns
were highlighted about community areas • Was
there an increase in fly tipping? • Needed
to continue to improve tidiness after collecting waste • The
Assembly needed to be reminded again of the need to reduce packaging materials • It
was frustrating that some residents refused to collaborate • What
was a 'wash and squash' campaign? • Needed
to focus on areas containing many houses • Needed
to respond to areas where there was a lack of bin storage space • A
suggestion for the Planning Department to consider 'adequate provision' of bin
storage for every relevant application • When
considering street bin recycling - emphasis on simple and clear messages • People
needed to be educated to learn that recycling contributed to their own benefit
for the future • Emphasis
on engaging with communities with a request for the executive groups used in Dwyfor and Meirionnydd to collaborate with specific areas
to improve sites c) In response to the above observations, the Head of the Highways and Municipal Service noted that he was very pleased with the work of the workforce and what they had achieved within difficult terms and conditions over the period of severe ... view the full minutes text for item 7. |
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PEST CONTROL SERVICES PDF 371 KB To scrutinise the possible options for the future pest control service provision Additional documents:
Minutes: a) Submitted
- the report of the Cabinet Member for Planning and Regulatory for the
Committee to consider possible options for the provision of the pest control
service. An explanation was provided on the nature of the service and it was
highlighted that the service was within the Regulatory Department's efficiency
savings programme for 2015-2018 - a saving of £67,000. By now, it was confirmed
that one officer had left and that by now, the figure to achieve the saving
should the unit be abolished was £28,440. It was added that a lack of income remained
within the service, but that the Head of the Regulatory Department was eager to
consider possible options; • Abolish
the pest control service • Review
and increase the number of management and pest control contracts by improving marketing • Raise
pest control fees to be self-sufficient • Raise
pest control fees to meet the saving of abolishing the service (It was suggested that raising the fees would
be too much inflation and therefore the service could become too expensive) The Committee was requested to provide the
department with 6 months to identify improvements, a new fees structure and
realistic income targets to seek a self-sufficient service. The Senior Service
Manager noted that there were possible opportunities, such as increasing the
numbers of stable contracts and looking at increasing the number of contracts
in the Arfon area. b) During the discussion, the following
observations were made: • Welcome
the opportunity to maintain a self-sufficient service - the service was
necessary for the public • Preferred
a neutral cost rather than abolishing • Abolishing
the service would be likely to lead to an increase in the costs of private
companies and therefore it was important to keep the service within the Council
to safeguard prices for the public • Important
service although it was not statutory • Welcome
the need to market and to look at the fees of competitors / private companies • The
health and safety implications also needed to be considered and not only
financial matters • The
posts within the service were responsible and specialist • Encouraged
collaboration with the recycling department • Several
internal services depended on the service - if the service was abolished, where
and what would the cost of external / private companies come from and be? c) In
response to the above observations the Head of Service noted that he appreciated
Members' support and that he was confident that it was possible to address the
deficit. In response to a question regarding using
external / private companies, as the Council's pest control service was not a
statutory one, it was noted that it was difficult to find the fees of private
companies to note a comparison. The need for fair and consistent fees levels
was highlighted and the opportunity to further research the possible
opportunities was appreciated. It was confirmed that efficiency savings were in question and that the service was not on the Council's cuts list. ... view the full minutes text for item 8. |