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)     Question from Councillor Kevin Morris Jones

 

“After all the problems with the parking situation in Llanberis over Easter, I would be grateful to know what this Council intends to do to improve the situation, bearing in mind that a balance must be struck between promoting tourism and health and safety in the area?"

 

Response from the Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor Gareth Griffith

 

"It is clear that the Department had a busy time over Easter - it was very hot, and the Member has reported on what we saw in the area, when so many tourists visited her over Easter.  In terms of what the Department intends to do, it endeavours to carry out work throughout the entire county.  There are parking restrictions, there are signs, and fines have been imposed and the situation will be monitored over these periods to improve arrangements, not only for tourists but also for the residents of Gwynedd.  It is, therefore, difficult work, and since Easter was later this year, there were more people and the weather was extremely hot and brought people to the area.  The situation will be monitored and the Department is taking the opportunity to talk to anyone who has problems in their ward."

 

Ancillary question from Councillor Kevin Morris Jones

 

"Is it time, perhaps, to bring out the tow vans and show tourists that we are open and safe for visitors and locals to visit us?"

 

Response from the Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor Gareth Griffith

 

"The Department is prepared to talk to any Councillor from any ward.  The Department has been issuing fines.  I accept the point the member is making and we will have a further discussion and will see how things go over the summer."

 

(2)     Question from Councillor Paul Rowlinson

 

“At the previous meeting, when discussing the budget, the plans to prevent holiday homes from transferring to Business Tax in order to avoid the holiday home premium were outlined.  Could the Leader update us on any lobbying that has taken place to try to tackle this?"

 

Response by the Leader, Councillor Dyfrig Siencyn

 

"Our intention was to prepare evidence, for which work I would like to thank the Chief Executive and the Finance Department, and to gather information from the Counties that are members of the Rural Forum, of which there are nine county members.  At our meeting of the 10 April we presented a paper to the Rural Forum highlighting the actual cost, not only to individual councils but to the whole of Wales in revenue, of losing this Domestic Tax from our budgets.  I am pleased to announce that the Rural Forum unanimously agreed to support our request to the Local Government Association to undertake the work of submitting our case to Welsh Government on behalf of the Rural Forum.  I think that having nine Councils in gives us greater power than if we stood alone on this issue, and we expect a progress report from the Local Government Association on the work it has done.  It is worthwhile noting at this point that the message has been driven home and that the civil servant from the Welsh Government's office has arranged to visit us on 13 May in order to hear our evidence and to gain a greater understanding of the problem that has arisen following the introduction of the right to charge a premium for holiday homes."

 

A supplementary question by Councillor Paul Rowlinson

 

"Could you provide details on the amount the premium has charged, or does charge, and how many have transferred to Business Rates and what impact this has on the Council's budget and on the plans to secure suitable homes for the people of Gwynedd?"

 

Response by the Leader, Councillor Dyfrig Siencyn

 

"The latest I have are the figures provided in the report.  In Gwynedd, 1,250 domestic houses have transferred from Council Tax to Non-domestic Tax since April 2014.  On a Domestic Tax level, that translates to an annual loss of almost £2m to Gwynedd from Council Tax.  From what we have gathered from other Councils (and this, it has to be acknowledged, is fairly superficial work; yet, at least six councils have responded), we estimate conservatively, that the loss to the Wales-wide coffers is approximately £4.5m.  That is, the income for Wales has fallen by £4.5m over this period which, of course, means that every Council in Wales is missing out.  We have detailed examples of this.  It even affects Cardiff and Wrexham and places that don't have any issues with holiday homes.  I shall ask the Head of Finance Department to demonstrate how much premium we have received and how much we anticipated we would have received."

 

Further response from the Head of Finance Department:

 

"The numbers transferring from the Council Tax list to the Business Rates list is accelerating.  In this last year, approximately 460 properties transferred from the Domestic List to the Business List, an increase of 60% on the 280 which transferred in the previous year.  There is a need to intervene to ensure greater integrity, and that work is on-going.  In terms of how much Tax Premium we collect, we had estimated that we would generate £2.9m last year, with £200,000 of this being earmarked for policing the procedure and initiatives in the field of housing, with the remainder earmarked to implement the Housing Strategy that will soon be presented to us.  Whilst we will get in the region of between £2.7m and £2.9m, unfortunately, when a property transfers, the Valuer back-dates some of it.  The loss from back-dating is a specific cash problem for us, whilst the transfer means a loss to all councils in moving forward, as there is an adjustment in the grant allocation for it.”

 

Further response by the Leader, Councillor Dyfrig Siencyn.

 

"I believe we had estimated that we could generate approximately £5m a year, therefore, we lose out on £2m-£3m a year from the premium alone, never mind the loss from the standard Tax.  The solution, of course, is clear and we have proposed it and will convey it to Welsh Government. It is that the Housing Act for Wales needs to be modified: if a house is a dwelling, it will be taxed as a dwelling.  That is, it may not be a business unless it has received planning permission to convert it into a different type of business.  Therefore, this is straightforward and easy to explain.  In fact, the Chief Executive and I had an initial meeting with the Local Government Minister and we raised the point with her, and she is interested.  She has previous experience of this type of situation, and she really should be interested, because the Legislation means that we are not only losing money to the country's purse in general, but are unable to achieve what the holiday home premium is meant to achieve, which is more houses for our local people and encourage people and make it easier for local people to get houses.  We are currently putting money in the pockets of those who can afford holiday homes, and we are simultaneously unable to obtain the expenditure that should be due to us to carry out mitigation work and provide houses for our own people."

 

A member noted that this matter had been raised at the previous meeting, and in line with the Constitution of the Council it was not permitted to discuss the matter again within six months.  In response, the Monitoring Officer noted that responding to a question submitted by a member did not contravene the six month rule.

 

(3)     A question by Councillor Owain Williams

 

“Following the fact that a by-election will no longer be held in the Morfa Nefyn Ward, exactly how many Gwynedd Council Councillors have now walked into these seats without facing an election, and how do these figures compare with neighbouring counties, i.e. Anglesey, Conwy and Denbighshire?"

 

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

 

"As you are aware, the last Local Government elections were held in May 2017.  At that time, 21 of the 75 seats on Gwynedd Council were uncontested. 

 

The situation varied across Wales, with a total of 92 uncontested seats in Wales in 2017 (7%), which was slightly lower than in 2012, when there were 99 uncontested seats (8%). Interestingly, three rural areas, namely Gwynedd, Powys and Pembrokeshire accounted for over 50 of these seats in 2017.  However, it should also be noted that half of Welsh Councils had at least one uncontested seat in 2017. 

 

The situation in the neighbouring counties was as follows:

Conwy - six uncontested seats (of 59 seats)

Denbighshire - five uncontested seats (of 47 seats)

Anglesey - no uncontested seats (out of 30 seats)

 

We are aware that people stand as Councillors for many reasons.  However, research also highlights some of the obstacles facing people who are interested in standing.  The Council also invests time and resources before every election to encourage a broader range of people to stand, and this must be remembered.  Addressing this is a constant challenge for every organisation involved with Local Government in Wales and for us as councillors."

 

A supplementary question by Councillor Owain Williams

 

"Those figures, therefore, show that 7% of seats throughout Wales have been taken without election, but in Gwynedd it is 30%, four times greater than the Wales-wide average.  How are we going to address this and what was the closing date for the last by-election?

 

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

 

"I am confident that the Council has addressed all the statutory requirements relating to the election. In fact, it has gone beyond those requirements by posting information on the website, and also by posting information to people who do not use e-mail.  It is a great shame that people have not stood for election in Morfa Nefyn.  We as Plaid Cymru see this as an important subject and we welcome a discussion about policies.  Next Saturday, I will attend an event in Pen Llŷn arranged by Councillor Wager to try to attract more women to stand for election.  This is a subject in which I am deeply interested, and I read the Local Government report about diversity in the Local Government field which also looked at barriers that deter people from standing.  There was a whole chapter about bullying, discrimination and harassment, and I was astonished to read that only a third of councillors have not suffered.  As we are talking specifically about Morfa Nefyn in this question, I would like to take this opportunity to extend my deepest thanks to former councillor Siân Hughes for her years of service to the Council and her ward; and finally, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to Councillor Gareth Jones, and congratulate him."

 

(4)     Question from Councillor Sion Jones

 

"The recent Council Tax increase has hit many families financially.  The Council must be thanked for raising awareness of the Tax Relief Programme available. However, would it be possible for the Cabinet Member to explain the definition of 'low income' and how many people in Gwynedd get Council Tax relief?"

 

Response by the Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Ioan Thomas

 

"The definition of 'low income' is complex and technical.

 

The term 'low income' is used nationally by many agencies, despite not having a clear definition of what is meant by 'low income'.

 

The level of income that would make a household eligible for support through the Council Tax Relief Scheme varies depending on a range of circumstances.

 

Members will remember that the Full Council at its meeting in December of last year, as it does every December, decided on its Council Tax Relief Scheme. However, it is noted that the bulk of the scheme is defined by Welsh Government regulations.

 

The regulations define the 'relevant sum' for different circumstances.

 

When assessing the right to Council Tax relief, consideration is given to the earnings of the household, and this sum is compared with the 'relevant sum'.

 

As 'relevant sum' varies depending on the situation and circumstances of the application, the Council has a calculator on its website, to which members have been given a link, and it is possible for residents to visit this and see the situation.  This enables the people of Gwynedd to find out whether they are eligible for Council tax relief by inputting details of their personal circumstances.  It is then possible for people to decide to go ahead and submit an application for a formal assessment or to discuss the situation with staff.  I am aware that officers of the department do very good work on behalf of the people who contact them.

 

Currently, 9,301 households in Gwynedd get Council Tax relief, which is a commitment of £9.6m of the Council's resources.  Approximately 58,000 households receive a Council Tax bill, therefore 9,301 is close to 16% of the total receiving a full or partial relief.  I ask that Members convey this information to any constituents applying for this."

 

A Supplementary Question by Councillor Sion Jones

 

"Is the Cabinet Member willing to review the way the process works and to look at simplifying the process in order to help the people of Gwynedd?"

 

Response by the Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Ioan Thomas

 

"Your original question was about the relief, I have responded to this and this will go through the Council in December.  You mentioned single people, etc.  This defines something known as 'discounted', and it is not a relief.  I believe that around 18,000 people get a discounted Council Tax bill.  I am very happy for anyone to contact me or the department to obtain accurate details about the information.  It is not straightforward, as I explained with the relief, but you mention relief and we also offer a discount.  I, therefore, acknowledge that it is not easy to understand, but I will look into the situation and am willing to receive any correspondence."