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
Gruffydd Williams
"Is
it possible for the Council to persuade One Voice Wales to include, not only
the Chair and clerk, but every Member of Town and Community Councils, in the
procedure of legal advice? I am asking as the complaint often involves a
dispute between the Clerk and/or Chair and Members of Town and Community
Councils. Currently, it is not possible
for individual Members to obtain advice from One Voice Wales regarding matters
involved with Community Councils, such as maladministration on behalf of the
Clerk and/or Chair."
Response from the
Cabinet Member for Corporate Support, Councillor Nia Jeffreys
"Each
one of the 64 Town and Community Council in Gwynedd is a corporation that is
accountable and responsible for its own procedures. With the exception of the
Standards Committee regarding Code of Conduct matters, Gwynedd Council has no
formal overview function with regards to the running of these bodies. However,
as key partners in several aspects of our work, we are eager for them to have
the appropriate governance arrangements.
According to their website:
"One Voice Wales is
the principal organisation for community and town councils in Wales, providing
a strong voice representing the councils' interests and a range of high quality
services to support their work".
There
are nearly 740 Town and Community Councils in Wales. However, I understand that One Voice Wales
provides a service for those Town and Community Councils that opt to pay
membership to them. This is done through the usual point of contact, namely the
Clerk or Chair on behalf of the Town or Community Council. Clearly, the range
of services provided and what is offered by One Voice Wales is a business
matter for them.
I do not have figures for the number of Community
Councils that opt to join One Voice Wales. On the other hand, I can presume
that providing advice and support services for approximately 8,000 Town and
Community councillors in Wales involves quite a lot of resources and capacity.
Given the provisions regarding Eligible Community
Councils within the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Bill 2019, it may be
timely to hold the discussion regarding the nature of the support required by
Town and Community Councils in future. However, in my opinion, the appropriate
way of taking this matter forward would be for the Town and Community Councils
and their members to make the case directly to One Voice Wales."
Supplementary
question from Councillor Gruffydd Williams
"Would it not be more powerful if the question
was submitted by Gwynedd Council to the Welsh Local Government Association, on
behalf of the community councils?"
Response from the
Cabinet Member for Corporate Support, Councillor Nia Jeffreys
"I
fully acknowledge the point made by the councillor, and thank you to the town
and community councils for the heroic work many of them undertake in their
communities. As I say, in my opinion,
the appropriate way of taking this matter forward is for the town and community
councils and their members to make the case directly to One Voice Wales.
However, I am happy to follow this up with Councillor Williams outside the
meeting of the full Council to see whether I could do more as Cabinet Member to
facilitate, assist or support this."
(2) Question from Councillor Gareth Tudor Jones
"There has recently been a substantial
increase in the purchase of second homes in Gwynedd, and particularly in Morfa Nefyn / Edern.
It is a 'Crisis' according to local residents, Nefyn
Town Council and Councillor Craig ab Iago (on Pawb a'i Farn). What steps does the Council intend to take to
call on Welsh Government to devolve powers with urgency to the County Council
to mitigate the situation and manage second homes?"
Response from the Cabinet Member for the
Environment, Councillor Gareth Griffith
"This work was commenced last year and
we are in the process of gathering evidence.
The work will be completed by the end of November and we will move
forward with that. The written response
deals with what has happened thus far and how we deal with it in the future,
but this work was commenced last year."
A supplementary
question from Councillor Gareth Tudor Jones
"With
it being a second homes crisis, would you not agree that we should not settle
on waiting a few months again for the research outcomes and that action is
required now, and urgently, and that the Council has a duty to campaign
seriously for powers to be devolved from the Government in Cardiff to the
County Councils to control land tax rates specifically, in order for Gwynedd
Council to be able to introduce emergency measures to monitor and manage the
purchase of second homes?"
Response from the
Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor Gareth Griffith
"As
the response to the original question notes, we are currently undertaking this
work for all communities in Gwynedd, and it deals with house prices and also
how this affects our communities in Gwynedd. It is a process that will take
time. It is not something that will happen overnight unfortunately. Whatever we do in future, what matters is
that we have the evidence to proceed with this. I have spoken to Sian
Gwenllian, AM, and she has shared with her peers in Cardiff that this work is
ongoing and that support will be required in time to persuade them in Cardiff
on the way forward. At the end of the
day, it is up to the Welsh Government, but it is up to us to persuade them to
provide the evidence at hand."