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Agenda item

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 Rhys Tudur

 

Given that the Council is buying houses on the market with public money, what system do you have in place to ensure that the Council is not paying too much for the houses?"

 

Response from the Cabinet Member for Housing, Councillor Craig ab Iago

 

"In addition to the written response, I wish to say that I bought my first house around five years ago, and can testify to the fact that buying a house is the third most difficult experience after losing someone close and going through a divorce.  You don't know what the unknowns are, you cannot trust anyone and house prices are increasing every day.  You don't know who is competing against you, and it was a nightmare year for me and my family.

 

One of the 33 schemes we have in the Housing Action Plan is that we, as a Council, buy houses to help house local people in their communities. Of course, the process where the Council buys houses is even more complex.  We must ensure that we don't buy houses that local people are trying to buy.  We must make sure that we don't make mistakes and that it costs too much.  We must make sure that we buy houses where there is need.  It is very complicated and now, of course, unlike 4-5 years ago, we are competing against hedge funds who are now in the home buying market.  Airbnb wasn't as popular, and now people are moving here after the 'Zoom Boom' and Covid and Brexit.  But the difference between us and residents is that we know what the unknowns are.  Our Department has experience of operating in this sector. We have the qualifications.  I'm not sure how many surveyors there are in the Department, or in the Council, but even our Chief Executive is a surveyor, and we know everyone who works in the sector. We have the skills and experience and the knowledge, but more importantly in my opinion, we also have the will.  People tend to think that our staff live in ivory towers or act on the 'computer says no' principle but I can assure you - this is not the case.  I hope that the majority of you here know how I feel about the housing situation and how determined I am to do something about it.  I want you to know that all of the staff in the Housing and Property Department also feel the same as me about the subject.  They follow Ffordd Gwynedd properly and hopefully you will be able to see this soon.  hey are here to house our people in our communities. That is why they come to work every day, and very often, I discuss this with them, and discuss the projects you all will see soon hopefully, and the houses we are buying and so on.  I am in discussions with them, and it is an emotional experience for me to see that they are on board with what we are trying to do as councillors.

 

A supplementary question by Councillor Rhys Tudur

 

"Given that a surveyor's valuation can vary, is there more than one valuation from the Council for every house (i.e. do you get more than one price) from a different surveyor?"

 

Response from the Head of Housing and Property Department

 

"The Council employs several surveyors.  We have a total of six, and two of them are chartered surveyors, and in making valuations it is a statutory requirement that we ensure value for money, and this is crucial to all the decisions we make on purchasing.  Also, of course, they speak to each other about valuations and ensure that we get the best value for our public money."

 

(2)     Question from Councillor John Pughe Roberts

 

"Following the Welsh Government's proposed changes to the holiday unit industry "that every holiday unit must be let for at least 252 days, and let for at least 182 days to be eligible for business rates", is this Council willing to call on Welsh Government to exclude the agricultural industry (which has converted hundreds of old farm buildings into holiday units through the diversification system), of any commitment to this new legislative change?."

 

Response by the Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Ioan Thomas 

 

"Gwynedd Council has been unwavering that the need to provide homes for the people of Gwynedd is the most important matter for Gwynedd Council.  Every part of Gwynedd - not only the seaside villages - see homes being converted to be holiday units.  We cannot overemphasise the impact this loss from the housing stock has on our communities.

 

In response to the Welsh Government consultation, we have noted the need for a taxation system to reflect the damage caused to society by the taxed element.  In the Council's opinion, unregulated self-catering holiday units are having a negative impact on society in general, and they should therefore be subject to local taxation.

 

While self-catering holiday units offer an opportunity to promote the local tourism economy when there is a reasonable supply of them, it appears now that the numbers are not sustainable, and living units are being lost in every part of the county by now with people who are able to afford to buy several properties seeing this as an opportunity to invest, but to the detriment of communities and families that cannot afford a home at all.

 

There is currently no consistency between taxation legislation and planning legislation.  The Council's response to the consultation was if thresholds continue to be in place for transferring property to the non-domestic taxation system, we believed they should be linked to planning permission rather than the number of nights let.

 

The approval procedure should differentiate between units that are developed specifically for holiday purposes and where there is a planning restriction for that purpose, and homes that have been on the Council's Tax Register as a residential dwelling.

 

We have recently notified Welsh Government, in response to the draft order which amends the thresholds, that they should not look at the number of days of let and availability if a property is built on purpose as a self-contained holiday unit and that a condition is included in the planning permission preventing the use of the property as a principal or only home, or if the property owner has received planning permission to convert the use from being a residential house to being a hotel.  We certainly consider agricultural buildings that have been converted into holiday units within this category.  The latest change will affect a number of indigenous businesses, and this is a matter of concern.

 

A broader matter arises should such a property move to a Council Tax band, which is what would happen in terms of the Premium. The implications of the Government’s intention to give local authorities the right to increase the Premium level by as much as 300% are currently under consideration, and this is a matter for the Full Council in the long run."

 

A supplementary question from Councillor John Pughe Roberts

 

"Many of these have received planning permission for short term holiday let. Would Gwynedd Council be prepared to change the permission to allow longer stays rather than short-term, and maybe some of them could become housing for local people?"

 

Response by the Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Ioan Thomas

 

"My understanding is that the Minister is considering exceptions.  I am not aware of what they are, and I think that we might have to wait until these exceptions are made public.  But certainly, I sympathise with a number of businesses that will be affected by this, and certainly, we will convey this message to Welsh Government."

 

(3)    A Question by Councillor Gwynfor Owen

 

"Following the Cabinet's decision on 27 July 2021 to introduce the Public Space Protection Order (PSPO): Dog Control, I would like to know how many owners have been issued a penalty for letting their dogs onto exclusion zones on our beaches in Meirionnydd, and on which beaches in Meirionnydd have these penalties been issued?"

 

Answer from the Cabinet Member for Highways and Municipal and Gwynedd Consultancy, Councillor Berwyn Parry Jones

 

"As you can see from the written response, no penalties have been issued since the order was announced. It is intended to increase the maritime staff as there is a shortage at the moment due to retirement and staff moving to other posts. The Cabinet has also allocated a budget to employ two enforcement wardens, but although these jobs have been advertised more than once, there have been no applicants. This of course is a problem across the Council - trying to fill vacancies, and in the private sector also.  There is a need to emphasise that penalties are the last step to take and the aim is to educate dog owners. Therefore the job descriptions have been amended to place greater emphasis on changing behaviour and raising awareness with the hope that these posts will be filled soon."

 

A supplementary question by Councillor Gwynfor Owen

 

"As this is a major problem on the beaches of Llandanwg and Harlech, would the Cabinet Member do his best to seek to add these beautiful beaches to the locations that receive the feather flags and to prioritise these beaches once the necessary officers are employed?"

 

Answer from the Cabinet Member for Highways and Municipal and Gwynedd Consultancy, Councillor Berwyn Parry Jones

 

"As someone who has participated in several triathlons in Harlech, I can attest, that Harlech beach is not only very beautiful, but is also a very long beach!  I will certainly ask the Department to ensure that feather flags reach the beaches of Harlech and Llandanwg as soon as possible, and further, when the wardens are in place, that the beaches of Llandanwg and Harlech are prioritised as needed."

 

(4)    Question from Councillor Richard Glyn Roberts

 

"The new guidelines on categorising schools according to Welsh language provision introduces new arrangements in September 2022.  What is Gwynedd's progress on this?"

 

Response from the Cabinet Member for Education, Councillor Beca Brown

 

"The situation is that every school must state clearly to parents and the local authority which language they will teach in, and this procedure has been in place since 2007.  The options, of course, are Welsh or English or a combination of both languages.  In the context of the Welsh Government publication - 'Cymraeg 2050: A Million Speakers' Welsh Government wants to review its categorisation policy to enable parents to select their children's education route with greater confidence, but from our perspective in this county, the language policy in Gwynedd in any case is to ensure an inclusive Welsh medium and bilingual education for all learners, irrespective of race, background or identity.  I'm sure that you will agree that this is something for us all to take much pride in, and the success of this policy has been evident in the thousands of natural Welsh-speakers we have produced in our schools in this county.  The new procedure for categorising reflects what is already happening in this county, and it will not lead to many changes for us, i.e. in accordance with the guidelines from Welsh Government and their guidance, the county's primary schools will go to Category 3, which coincides with Gwynedd's language policy, that Welsh is the school's main language of teaching, communicating and also its ethos.  Every secondary school in the county will also move to Category 3, apart from two schools that currently do not quite meet the requirements.  We will, of course, expect the two schools in question to develop their Welsh medium provision, but, for the time being, they will be placed in Category T3 (Transitional) and the Department will work very closely and support those schools to ensure the progress we wish to see.  Therefore, to summarise, Gwynedd schools will be operating the new categorisation procedure from September, and the new procedure will be in full accordance with the successful language policy we already have in this county."

 

Supplementary Question from Councillor Richard Glyn Roberts

 

"A Category 3 secondary school is where a little over half the pupils complete at last 70% of their activities through the medium Welsh.  That is the minimum.  The guidelines encourage extending the provision.  Should we not strive towards placing Gwynedd schools in Category 3P therefore, where the secondary school teaches 100% of the pupils for at least 90% of the time through the medium of Welsh?"

 

Response from the Cabinet Member for Education, Councillor Beca Brown

 

"There are currently only 10 3P schools in Wales, and each of those is down in the South East area, where they must define themselves alongside many English-medium schools.  Of course, the situation is entirely different here in Gwynedd where every learner receives Welsh and bilingual education and they leave our schools as natural Welsh-speakers.  Our policy is therefore fully inclusive.  Of course, we would all wish to see schools increase their provision, and Category 3 enables this in full as 70% of provision is the minimum.  We can improve and we can encourage and work with the schools to increase that provision, and I believe that it is important to do so without creating linguistic segregation and to remain inclusive as we currently area.  Gwynedd's language policy is working, and is inclusive.  Data from the last Census shows that 73% of three-year-old children speak Welsh and by the time they reach 15 years old, the percentage has increased to 92%.  The data also shows that Gwynedd has the highest number of Welsh-speakers from ethnic minority backgrounds outside Cardiff, which attests to the fact that every learner here in our county receives Welsh education in an inclusive way, and I'm sure that you agree that this is very important.

 

On a more personal note, that fact that I’m standing before you today speaking Welsh is thanks to the education I received in the county's schools, as my parents are incomers from England, and I was brought up in English, and I have learnt my Welsh in this county's primary and secondary schools.  It is therefore a policy that works and it is a successful policy."