To submit
the report of the Head of Corporate Support
(attached).
Minutes:
The Deputy
Leader presented a report recommending that the Council adopted a specific
Strategic Plan for the coming year.
During the
discussion the following matters were raised:-
·
Referring to the Digital Gwynedd Project, a request
was made to examine whether the broadband in the county’s rural schools could
be extended to nearby buildings and residents, so that the wider community
could take advantage of the provision.
The Chairman noted that this matter could be examined further. Assurance
was requested that the Council would pressurise BT Openreach
to ensure that fast broadband would reach all rural areas. The Chairman noted
that this matter would receive attention.
·
Referring to the Conducting an Equality Impact
Assessment template in Appendix 2, a member noted that she had recently
received a complaint that the marriage pack for single sex couples included the
words 'bride' and 'groom', crossed out with 'partner 1' and 'partner 2' noted
in their place, and also contained the words 'him' and 'her'. She was also
under the impression that there was no opportunity to walk the partners down
the aisle. She added that this excluded people and requested that the issue be
discussed at a scrutiny committee. In response, the Chairman noted that these
matters were outside the remit of the Strategic Plan, but were matters that
required attention, and that the message would be relayed to the relevant
department.
·
The Cabinet and officers were congratulated on the
Strategic Plan. It was noted that
there was a very clear focus in the document and it was agreed that these were
the main strategic areas that the Council should concentrate upon during the
forthcoming extremely challenging period.
·
Officers were requested to do everything within their
means to ensure that Gwynedd benefitted from a fair share of the £9m Rural
Development Programme funding that had been earmarked by the Welsh Government
for rural areas and communities. The Chairman noted that this observation would
be forwarded to the Cabinet. The Deputy Leader added that the Council needed to
ensure that it attracted the maximum amount of funding from European Funds.
Gwynedd Council’s record in this field was extremely good, and this work should
certainly continue in order to attract the maximum benefit possible to the
county's rural economy.
·
It was noted that the Council itself must take steps
to strengthen the local economy, but the planning system militated against
economic developments, and it was emphasised that the Council should be able to
support small businesses in their own localities, rather than sending them to
urban industrial estates. The Deputy Leader agreed with the observation, noting
that a scrutiny committee working party was examining the situation to look at
how to establish a positive planning system that encouraged, rather than
impeded, the economy.
·
It was noted that the opening of the new school in Y Groeslon had meant the closure of Carmel school, with over
60 pupils, and had led to a rift in the village as many of Carmel’s children
now went to Penygroes.
·
The report was welcomed, but it was noted that it gave
rise to more questions than it answered.
The fact that the Council had targets to aim for was welcomed, but how
realistic and practical they were was questioned, e.g. the intention to
establish the new school for the Y Gader catchment
area as a Welsh medium school. It was noted that the document did not refer
either to what would happen in Y Bala. Also, the statement that Gwynedd was a great
distance from the major areas was not accepted in the Poverty, Deprivation,
Economy, or Housing departments.
Although Gwynedd was on the periphery of the United Kingdom, it was not
far from the populated areas such as Liverpool and Manchester, and it appeared
that there was no political will to take advantage of Gwynedd's proximity to
these markets. This part of the plan also mentioned that 1,993 people had
registered on social housing waiting lists. Assuming that this figure referred
to families rather than individuals, and assuming that on average there were 3
people in a family, it appeared that there were approximately 6-7,000 people in
need of social housing in Gwynedd. There
was also reference in the plan to a significant increase in the number of the
county's businesses that had been awarded contracts from the Council, but what
did 'significant' mean? Reference was made to the fact that a school
in Gwynedd served beef from Botswana, and that foreign workers were employed on
a project to improve home energy efficiency in the Deiniolen
area, and previously in Carmel, and the Council's priority in terms of
employing local people was questioned. The fact that there was a specific
section on the Welsh language in the plan was welcomed, but it was emphasised
that this should be incorporated into all other sections as it was an integral
part of the entire plan, and should not stand alone. It had been understood
that the Council had lost £500,000 in housing benefit income, but the members
had not received any information about this. The Chairman asked the member who
raised these points to summarise the questions and ask the Cabinet Member for
answers.
·
It was noted that the Strategic Plan tried to identify
areas where the Council had influence, and where it could make a difference
with the resources and powers to hand.
The days when the public sector and the local council bore the burden
for everything had long gone, and the councillors needed to undertake their
role as local members in trying to harness the remaining resources.
·
It was emphasised that the Council had no powers to
prevent foreign workers from entering, and that this was a matter covered by
European laws.
·
It was noted that the Strategic Plan, as it stood,
could not deal with the constant pattern and trend of rural poverty that had
become embedded for far too long, but that the plan should be commended as it
was a move in the right direction.
In conclusion,
the Deputy Leader noted that he appreciated the observations on the Strategic
Plan, which was a live plan, and he confirmed that consideration would be given
to incorporating those observations, or to implement them on a daily basis.
RESOLVED to adopt the Strategic Plan.
Supporting documents: