To consider any
questions the appropriate notice for which have been given under Section 4.19
of the Constitution.
Minutes:
(The Cabinet Members'
written responses to the questions had been distributed to the members in
advance).
(1) Question
from Councillor Elin Walker Jones
"Gwynedd Consultancy often deals with
high profile matters, and the work in Fairbourne is no exception. Fairbourne
has received a great deal of attention in the press over the past months. As
you are aware, the village is facing a threat because of matters relating to
floods and climate change, which has led to a rise in sea levels. However,
coastal defence work is only one element of the Consultancy's work. I wonder
whether the Cabinet Member, Councillor Catrin Wager, could give us a taste of
the work of the Consultancy?"
Response from the
Cabinet Member for Highways and Municipal, Councillor Catrin Wager.
"Thank
you very much to Councillor Elin Walker Jones for drawing attention to the work
of the Consultancy, which is extremely important work. Very simply, I would say that there are two
elements to the work of the Consultancy. The commercial work that the
Consultancy undertakes is one element, which is the engineering work, where
they work on contracts for external clients, including other councils, as well
as carrying out work for Gwynedd Council.
However, the other element of the work is to undertake our statutory
flood duties within the Council, and I believe that you are specifically
referring to this in your question. This is clearly an extremely important
field, and I am glad to report that the Consultancy is undertaking quite
pioneering work in the field. E.g. they have been working on projects of
examining floods, not as an event in the location where it happens, but looking
at the whole catchment area, and looking at how water flows and how we prevent
the flow to ensure that our communities remain safe. There are two projects
currently in the pipeline which relates to this type of work, in Gwyrfai and
Ogwen. We are also obviously examining floods from the sea, and Gwynedd has a
very long coastline, therefore this work is important as a large number of
residents in our communities live along this coastline. The challenges we face
in terms of climate change means that, even if we went down to zero carbon
tomorrow, the sea levels will continue to rise. Therefore, it is very important
that we begin to plan now for this rise in sea levels. And this is the work
that the Consultancy does. They have
been identifying communities that will face challenges, attempting to contact
them and plan for the future of these communities. Therefore, very briefly, the
work of the Consultancy is extremely important and we are attempting to look
into the future and ensure that the residents of Gwynedd face at little risk as
possible for the future."
Supplementary
Question from Councillor Elin Walker Jones
"Can you give us an update on what exactly is
going on in Bangor?"
Response from the
Cabinet Member for Highways and Municipal, Councillor Catrin Wager.
"Bangor is a community where the Consultancy
has been working on a defences project in Hirael. They have already drawn up a
long list of potential solutions for Bangor in future. This has gone out to
public consultation, and we have now reached the point where we will be drawing
up a short-list, where there will be a consultation on it once it is ready.
Therefore, I hope that you will be part of this discussion."
(2) Question from Councillor Aeron Maldwyn Jones
In the absence of Councillor Aeron Maldwyn Jones,
due to ill-health, the question was asked by Councillor Alwyn Gruffydd, who
also took the opportunity to wish the member a full and speedy recovery.
"With
the current mess within the Betsi Cadwaladr Board with regard to a shortage of
doctors, nurses and general practitioners, may I ask the Portfolio Leader for
Social Services what impact this will have on the most vulnerable residents in
Gwynedd?"
Response from the
Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Well-being, Councillor Dafydd Meurig:
"I
would also like to express my best wishes to Councillor Aeron Maldwyn
Jones. Yes, it is a timely question with
regard to the fact that Betsi Cadwaladr is in special measures. And, in
reality, as you can see from the written response, this is the situation. Betsi
Cadwaladr is not accountable to the Council and, currently, as it is in special
measures, it is reporting directly to the Minister in Welsh Government. Therefore, we as a Council do not come across
their measures or results, and we do not know exactly what is going on.
However, I can assure you, on a Betsi Cadwaladr Western divisional level that
we as Gwynedd and Anglesey Councils are working very closely with them to
provide services of the highest quality in the region but in terms of Betsi
Cadwaladr as a whole, I cannot respond on its behalf."
Councillor Alwyn Gruffydd noted his desire to ask a
supplementary question on behalf of Councillor Aeron Maldwyn Jones, however the
Monitoring Officer explained that there was no provision for a supplementary
question unless the member himself was present.