Agenda and minutes
Venue: Siambr Hywel Dda, Council Offices, Caernarfon, Gwynedd, LL55 1SH
Contact: Eirian Roberts 01286 679018
Media
No. | Item | ||||||||||||
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APOLOGIES To receive
any apologies for absence. Additional documents: Minutes: Councillors Keith Jones, Dewi Owen and Paul
Rowlinson (Vice-chair); Anest Gray Frazer (Church in Wales) and
David Healey (ATL); Councillors Craig ab Iago (Cabinet Member
for Housing, Leisure and Culture) and Gareth Thomas (Education). |
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive
any declarations of personal interest. Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor Selwyn Griffiths declared
a personal interest in item 7 - Role
of the Area Regeneration Officers in future,
as his son worked in the Economy Unit and there was a possibility that he might be responsible
for the Community Regeneration Unit in the future. Councillor Aled Evans declared
a personal interest in Item 7 - Role
of the Area Regeneration Officers in Future,
as a relation of his worked
in the Community Regeneration Unit. The members were of the opinion that they were
prejudicial interests, and they withdrew
from the meeting during the discussion on the item. |
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URGENT BUSINESS 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 meetings of this committee held
on the following dates be signed as true records:- (a) 20th September, 2018 (attached) (b) 15th October, 2018 –
Extraordinary Meeting (attached). Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair signed the minutes of previous meetings of this committee held on the 20 September and 15 October (Special Meeting), 2018 as true records. |
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REVIEW OF HAFAN PWLLHELI AND HARBOUR PDF 121 KB Cabinet Member – Councillor Ioan Thomas To receive
a presentation and to consider a report on the above (attached). *10.30am
– 11.15am Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted - the report of the Cabinet Member
for Economic Development together with a slide presentation by the Senior
Economy and Regeneration Manager tracing the history of Pwllheli Hafan and
Harbour since the early 1990s, outlining the relevant considerations and
detailing the work undertaken thus far in terms of developing options on the
site, as a result of a downward trend in the income generated at the Hafan
since 2008/09. The scrutiny committee
was invited to consider this work and members were asked if they agreed:- ·
With
the core aims proposed for evaluating the current situation and alternative
options for the future. ·
There
was a case for change. ·
With
the recommendations to further develop four options. The Cabinet Member, the Head of Service and
the Senior Manager elaborated on the contents of the report, and also responded
to questions / observations from members. The Chair summarised the main
conclusions of the discussion as follows:- ·
The committee was of the opinion that there was a case for change
as the existing situation, with the downward trend in income and use of the
Hafan and Harbour, led to a risk of being unable to deliver the core aim of the
Hafan to be an economic driver, especially for the Pwllheli area, and was
therefore unsustainable. ·
That the committee were in agreement with the options to undertake
further work and there were key messages for the service to consider when
delivering this work, specifically in terms of looking how further investment could
be made to make the Hafan and Harbour viable and to seek a solution for the
situation with dredging and sediment disposal in both the short and long
term. It should also be considered if
there were any lessons to be learnt from other authorities in terms of sediment
disposal. ·
Regarding the option to retain the net income of £400k, it was
anticipated that the Hafan would return this year, that the committee was of
the view that they had to be open, on one hand to what impact this would have
on the rest of the Council's services, and on the other hand, to what the
impact would be of not doing so on the Pwllheli area economy, and the risk of
losing the marina in the end. ·
There was also a message in terms of the need to understand the
customer's requirements in order to be able to respond to them and the options
should look at how to market and keep the site viable etc. ·
That a further report should be presented to this committee in due
course, following developing the various options in greater detail. |
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SUPPORTING GWYNEDD BUSINESSES (IN RELATION TO BREXIT) PDF 56 KB Cabinet Member – Councillor Ioan Thomas To consider
a report on the above (attached). *11.15am
– 12.00pm Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted - report by the Cabinet Member for
Economic Development detailing on how the Council and other organisations
support local business generally and in response to Brexit. The Cabinet Member, the Head of Service and
the Manager elaborated on the contents of the report, and also responded to
questions / observations from members. The Chair summarised the main
conclusions of the discussion as follows:- ·
The observations reflected the fact that it remained a confusing
and uncertain period. It was recognised
that it was very difficult to support business in the current climate due to
the lack of information etc, however, it was welcomed that high risk businesses
were being targeted in order to try and see if there was anything else the
Council could do to assist them. It was
also recognised that timing the discussion was difficult and they had to avoid
causing confusion in order not to mislead.
·
That Committee members desired the Department to further consider
how to support the smallest businesses in Gwynedd, and perhaps give information
or expand the use of social media to maximise the information available and
what people know about the support that already exists, or perhaps trial talks
in smaller communities. ·
Committee members also wanted the Department to consider if there
was capacity to give an update to community councils in order that they are
also aware of what is available in terms of support from the Council. ·
That the Service will be requested to inform members of any
developments in this field , e.g. via Rhaeadr, rather than wait from one
scrutiny committee to the next. |
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ROLE OF THE AREA REGENERATION OFFICERS IN FUTURE PDF 252 KB Cabinet Member – Councillor Craig ag Iago To consider
a report on the above (attached). *12.00pm
– 12.45pm *LUNCH
BREAK – 12.45pm – 1.30pm Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted - the report of the Cabinet Member
for Housing, Leisure and Culture inviting the committee's views on two options
to make the best possible use of the skills and resources of the Area
Regeneration Team Officers in the future, namely:- ·
Option
1 - merge the role of the Community Regeneration Team with other teams within
the Economic Development Programmes Service. ·
Option
2 - retain a small team to keep the emphasis on supporting communities to
achieve. The observations of the committee on the
following recommendations were also
requested:- ·
Re-define
the role of the Community Regeneration Officers as Community Support Officers
that would incorporate the role of Community Council and Third Sector liaison. ·
That
a liaison officer be identified for individual communities, but that officers
operate more as a county team in order to benefit from the specific strengths
and skills of different team members. ·
That
the team strengthens the link with libraries in order to promote community
access to sources of information and assistance in future. Copies of the Community Regeneration
Service's Work Programme were distributed to members at the meeting. The Head of Service elaborated on the
contents of the report, and also responded to questions / observations from
members. The Chair summarised the main
conclusions of the discussion as follows:- ·
There was general support for option 2, on the grounds that this
would create a resource that would enable the Council to maintain a relationship with the communities
across a wider range of programmes; they would not be restricted to programmes
that contribute to regeneration and economic development only. ·
There was also support to pilot the scheme with libraries as a
centre for information sources. |
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Cabinet Member – Councillor Gareth Thomas To consider
a report on the above (attached). *1.30pm
– 2.00pm *estimated
times A Workshop
on Cuts to the Education Improvement Grant will be held at 2.00pm, followed by
an informal session for members at the close of the workshop. Additional documents:
Minutes: Submitted – the report of the Cabinet Member
for Education at the Chair's request detailing on the position with school
dinner debts, the processes that have been operational to respond to the debts,
together with the further steps the Department has, and intends to implement to
respond appropriately to the situation, reducing school dinner debts over time.
The Head of Service and the Senior Officer
elaborated on the contents of the report, and also responded to questions /
observations from members. Attention was drawn to the fact that there
was an error in the English version of the column 'Value of invoices raised in the year' in Table B under paragraph
4.1 of the report (page 29 of the programme) and that the correct figures were
as follows:-
The Chair summarised the main
conclusions of the discussion as follows:- ·
That the committee supported what was currently happening in terms
of targeting assistance to those schools with the largest debts to ensure that
they follow the procedure and that the Heads take responsibility and understand
what should occur regarding the arrangements.
·
There was also support to look at bringing the Authority to be
part of the process as soon as possible, this included regular monitoring of
the situation, looking if there was a central role for the Authority, rather
than for this to happen per school. ·
There was also support for the Department's intention to look if
it was possible to prepare a package to assist those families who have
difficulty paying. ·
That the Department is asked to consider if it is possible to
undertake further work to see what, if at all is the link between the increase
in school dinners and the levels of debts. ·
That there was strong support to get to grips with the situation
as soon as possible, as the Department had already begun, in order that fewer
families get into debt. |