Agenda item

To consider any questions the appropriate notice for which have been given under Section 4.19 of the Constitution.

 

 

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

 

(1) A question by Councillor Sion Jones

 

"Welsh Government has confirmed financial support in order to develop cycle paths, including a cycle path from Bethel to Caernarfon. Construction work on the Bontnewydd and Caernarfon bypass has already commenced. Is it possible to ensure that the Bethel to Caernarfon cycle path plan will be realised, and if more money is required from Government, can the discussions be commenced as soon as possible?"   

 

Response from the Leader, Councillor Dyfrig Siencyn, in the absence of the Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor Dafydd Meurig

 

"The written response from the service highlights its efforts to ensure that the cycle path runs concurrently with, or is part of, the new by-pass plan, and also the numerous grant applications they have submitted to secure this cycle path and other cycle paths across the county."

 

A Supplementary Question by Councillor Sion Jones

 

"If we need more funding in order to realise the cycle path schemes, could the Leader contact me to attempt to contact the Minister, in order to proceed on behalf of Bethel and Caernarfon, and on behalf of the county?"

 

Response from the Leader, Councillor Dyfrig Siencyn, in the absence of the Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor Dafydd Meurig

 

"Certainly, if we need any assistance at all to take the message back to the right places, then we will contact the member and we will be very glad of his assistance."

 

(2)     A question from Councillor Elwyn Jones

 

"One year on from starting the re-modelling of the Youth Service, and in accordance with the vision in Option 3, can the Cabinet Member, who is responsible for the Service, confirm that 19 full-time youth workers - 14 in addition to the 5 who retained their posts - and 21 part-time workers, have now been appointed to move the Service forward?"

 

Response - Cabinet Member for Housing, Leisure and Culture, Councillor Craig ab Iago

 

"As you can see from the short written response, we have a full house with the full-time workers, but not quite there with the part-time workers."

 

A supplementary question by Councillor Elwyn Jones

 

"Has the £50,000 earmarked last year for voluntary and social clubs and voluntary organisations, etc. been claimed?"

 

Response - Cabinet Member for Housing, Leisure and Culture, Councillor Craig ab Iago

 

"The new service is going from strength to strength and I only hear positive things about it.  We work very hard with community clubs to ensure that young people, wherever they are, get what they need.  If you would like specific figures on the exact amount of money spent from this pot, we can find out for you, no problem."

 

(3)     A question from Councillor Aeron Jones

 

"The Council's Whistleblowing policy is in place to safeguard Council staff and users. This is something that I personally have been pushing the Council to implement since 2008 and, more importantly, to safeguard individuals who decide to follow this route. Could the Cabinet Member tell me how many individuals within this Council have used the 'Whistleblowing' procedure to report managers who have breached this Council's rules since 2015?"

 

Response from the Cabinet Member for Corporate Support, Councillor Nia Jeffreys

 

"The Council's Whistleblowing policy has been set up in order to encourage employees who are concerned about malpractice to feel confident enough to come forward and share their concerns.  The policy states that employees should use this policy if they reasonably suspect that wrongdoing has taken place, is to take place or might occur. It is acknowledged that the Member has been supportive of raising awareness amongst the workforce regarding the existence and the content of this Policy over the years.  One of the ways of raising awareness was to distribute a contact card to all staff members as well as to include the cards in the appointment pack when a new staff member commenced in a post with the Council.

 

Since 2015, the 'Whistleblowing' policy has been used by staff members on three occasions; in one case a manager was reported, and in another a manager and colleagues were reported.

 

It is important to note, however, that other staff members have chosen not to follow the Whistleblowing Policy, and have attempted to seek a resolution to situations through the Complaints Procedure and the Disciplinary Procedure."

 

Supplementary question by Councillor Aeron Jones

 

"When will Gwynedd Council protect individuals who are genuinely whistleblowing?"

 

Response from the Cabinet Member for Corporate Support, Councillor Nia Jeffreys

 

"The Whistleblowing policy is very important to me and, even more important than the policy, is that staff are able to trust the policy.  If the staff do not trust that the policy will be implemented properly, there is no value in it, and this is a point that I take extremely seriously. There is some evidence on this that gives me confidence that the policy works in Gwynedd. E.g. the Internal Audit Service has undertaken two exercises over the past four years to assess the level of staff awareness and confidence in this exact policy.  Therefore, 81% of the staff who answered the questionnaire in 2014/15 stated that they were aware of the policy and, by 2017/18, 87% stated this. Staff note that they have learnt about the policy through a combination of an on-line policy centre, induction sessions, through their managers, from colleagues, from Human Resources, the contact card, through the unions, and there are also posters around the Council.  As part of the exercise, staff were asked to give a score of between 1-5 on their confidence in the implementation of the policy.  The average score was 3.1 in 2014/15, and this had increased to 3.4 by 2017/18. Having said this, I understand very well that taking the step of blowing the whistle on your manager or your colleagues is very difficult, and places great strain on any person, especially if you suspect that they have carried out an illegal, fraudulent or corrupt act. Therefore, all Council officers and senior officers must play their part in giving staff confidence that matters such as these will be dealt with properly.  I know that the Internal Audit Service will be undertaking a similar exercise again during the next financial year, and the outcomes of this work will be of great interest to me.  It will be something that I will use in performance challenge meetings and it will also give me guidance as to how we can raise more awareness and increase confidence even further. I am very grateful to the Councillor for raising this matter and for giving me an opportunity to speak about this extremely important policy, and it may have helped to raise some awareness about the subject in the Full Council. I have a stack of the Whistleblowing contact cards, and I will ensure that they are placed in the pigeon holes of all Councillors as well."