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 Elin Hywel

 

"What steps does this Council take to ensure equality for young people in education as they prepare and complete work outside learning hours, during times of their choice, whatever the ability of their families or guardians to be able to afford the increasing cost of energy to power their necessary information technology equipment, such as laptops?"

 

Response from the Cabinet Member for Education, Councillor Beca Brown

 

"This is a very important question as it draws attention to the myriad of challenges faced by families and young people due to the cost of living crisis we face, and the Education Department has put several things in place to address the range of challenges facing us all.  However, one thing I am particularly proud of is our Digital Strategy, namely that it is possible for any pupil to get access to a digital device, and that said device - and this is the important part - goes home with the child in the secondary sector in order to address the inequality problems noted in the question.  This is Gwynedd's strategy and it is progressive.  However, on the issue of energy and charging and the associated cost, devices selected are those that make reasonable use of electricity on reasonable cost, and there will be an opportunity for pupils to charge their devices at the school, and in clubs before and after school clubs and also in libraries.  Workshops have also been arranged in schools to discuss charging and the matter raised by the member will also be addressed there."

 

Supplementary Question from Councillor Elin Hywel

 

"To protect our communities from the Westminster Government's torturous politics and policies, and to support Gwynedd residents and learners through the climate, energy and cost of living crisis, what are the Council's plans to ensure an investment in the infrastructure of our schools and education centres and public buildings beyond, such as libraries, in order to enable supply and energy price assurances in the long-term?"

 

Response from the Cabinet Member for Education, Councillor Beca Brown

 

"This is also, of course, a matter for the Property Department but of course the Education Department feels strongly that there is a need to address these sorts of things.  There are two projects in the pipeline by the Energy Unit and Commercial Services, namely the solar panel project that will be installed on various Council sites, and hopefully this will include a few schools, and a LED lighting project in order to install better controls in schools, to ensure things such as lights being switched off at the end of the day.  But clearly, I would support any movement towards reducing our reliance on the grid in this field in the context noted."

 

(2)     Question from Councillor Gruffydd Williams

 

"Following the Welsh Government's announcement in June 2022, that they will introduce changes to the Planning act by introducing:

(i) 3 new categories of use class

(ii) Article 4 that will enable Welsh Local Authorities to set thresholds for the number of holiday homes / holiday units in specified areas 

(iii) Specific Land Tax on second homes 

 

That are all operational from October 2022 onwards.

What preparation work, staff recruitment and identifying data collection methods etc., has the Council undertaken in order to implement these innovative measures as soon as possible?"

 

Response from the Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor Dafydd Meurig

 

"I greatly welcome the announcement from the Government, which has been made after considerable pressures from this Council over the years along with other organisations - Hawl i Fyw Adra, Cymdeithas yr Iaith, and others, of course.  The written response that was circulated is a fairly lengthy response to a fairly brief question and the reason being is that planning legislation is necessarily complicated and cumbersome.  The response is there, as it is.  What is important to note is that the change that will come into force in a few weeks is the change to use classes.  This Council, and I believe that the Cabinet will make the decision, will have to submit an Article 4 instruction, which allows us to control the move between one class use and another.  What is disappointing is that we were only recently informed that we would be required to wait 12 months after submitting the application before being able to take action as it is possible that we will have to pay damages as a result of making decisions.  This is frustrating but I can assure you that the work of gathering evidence is continuing.  The Council has already undertaken major work in 2020 to gather evidence.  That work will need to be updated and that work is underway."

 

Supplementary question from Councillor Gruffydd Williams

 

"Therefore, is it not premature for the Council to consider charging more Tax Premium by holding a public consultation without firstly allowing an opportunity to see whether the legislative changes introduced by the Welsh Government will have a positive impact on controlling the holiday home / holiday units market and, in turn, protect houses in our communities for homes?"

 

Response from the Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor Dafydd Meurig

 

"It seems that both of these tools can be used and they stand alone to a large extent.  The decision regarding the Premium is a question for the Full Council at its next meeting, if that will be the Cabinet's recommendation.  We cannot take action on the change of use until 12 months after submitting Article 4, therefore, considerable time will have gone by before we see the impact of this."

 

(3)     Question from Councillor Gwynfor Owen

 

"With so much talk of Tourism Tax, what benefits can the Finance / Economy Department see for the county in introducing such a tax, i.e. where do you think the income should be spent if it came from introducing this tax?"

 

Response by the Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Ioan Thomas

 

"The Welsh Government is currently consulting on establishing a Tourism Levy for Wales.  This would mean that visitors staying overnight would pay a levy to this Local Authority here in Gwynedd.

 

Following the consultation, the Welsh Government will consider legislation and this will take time, a very long time to grant powers to Local Authorities to decide whether they will charge a Levy within a national framework of guidelines and procedures.

 

As this Council has no power to charge a Levy at present and as this is the beginning of the consultation process, it would not be appropriate for this Council to state how this income should be spent at this point.

 

For information, it is important to note that the Council is currently developing a Sustainable Visitor Economy Plan in partnership with the Snowdonia National Park Authority, and the Council will respond to the consultation in due course, and by the closing date of 13 December 2022.  Can I urge you all to participate in this consultation and it is possible to complete it on-line."

 

A supplementary question by Councillor Gwynfor Owen

 

"I must state my disappointment with this response unfortunately.   In my opinion, this Council has a clear role to lead and help to educate Gwynedd residents about different matters and a clear response to this question would have assisted those people who question the advantages of introducing this tax.  Therefore, can I ask for assurance that the Council will make a clear statement about the advantages once it has responded to the consultation?"

 

Response by the Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Ioan Thomas

 

"I acknowledge the member's frustration, whilst noting again that this is the Welsh Government's consultation, and it would be inappropriate at present for the Council to state how this income should be spent, and certainly I commit to ensure a statement about the advantages when the Council has responded to the consultation."

 

(4)     Question from Councillor Rhys Tudur

 

"In theory, the wording of Category 3, as this is defined in the Welsh Government's secondary schools categorisation guidance, allows a large proportion (up to 40%) of children in a particular school to avoid Welsh-medium education fully, or to a large extent. What measures are in place to ensure that such a situation does not exist in any Category 3 school in Gwynedd?"

 

Response from the Cabinet Member for Education, Councillor Beca Brown

 

"I will start by detailing what exactly is meant by Category 3.  A Category 3 secondary school is when Welsh is the main internal communication language, there is a strong Welsh ethos in all social contexts within and outside the school, every child can speak, read, write and listen in Welsh and English and in accordance with their age and ability, and that a wide range of the areas of learning and experience are offered through the medium of Welsh and at least 60% of learners complete at least 70% of their activities through the medium of Welsh.  Therefore, it is difficult for any child to avoid the Welsh language in a Category 3 school as you can see from this definition.  I accept the point, and this is what matters, that Gwynedd's situation is unique, of course, in terms of the fact that we have our own language policy, which is common to all schools in the county so that nobody is left behind.  As a result, schools are expected to plan linguistically for all types of learners in our county, from the most fluent to the least fluent, and everyone in the middle, which means that bilingual provision is extremely complicated in Gwynedd.  However, this complexity of course does not draw away from the need to seriously address this and make a real difference and endeavour to obtain the right, detailed and recent picture of provision in each school at present so that we can then proceed to put detailed schemes in place, so that we can increase provision in each school in accordance with all of our wishes hopefully."

 

A supplementary question by Councillor Rhys Tudur

 

"Given that the category provides that at least 60% of children receive Welsh-medium education, does the Cabinet Member agree that policy action needs to be taken to improve the baseline and Welsh-medium provision that is currently available for Gwynedd?"

 

Response from the Cabinet Member for Education, Councillor Beca Brown

 

"I think that a large number of Gwynedd schools are already doing better than the baseline of the category.  However, of course, from knowing the exact situation in each school, we can then improve on the baseline, and I am completely open to different ideas on how to do this.  Some ideas have already been put forward and I would be more than happy to hear all kinds of ideas about this and to receive support.  There is a responsibility on governors.  Many of us are on governing bodies, but latest data is needed, action plans are needed, scrutiny is needed, support is needed for it, and I can assure you, as one who has campaigned for Welsh-medium education in the past, I have not taken on the portfolio to see things slipping back in Gwynedd."

 

(5)     Question from Councillor Menna Baines 

 

"Given that: 

(A) There is a slippage in the number of pupils receiving Welsh-medium education as they move from Primary to Secondary education; 

(B) WESP (Welsh in Education Strategic Plan) 2016 has failed with the aim of getting 74.9% of children to study 5 GCSE subjects though the medium of Welsh by 2020; 

(C) the number of pupils studying 5 GCSE subjects though the medium of Welsh has reduced rather than increased from 2016 to 2022 

Which policy steps are you taking to ensure an increase rather than a slippage in the above indicators over the coming years?"

 

Response from the Cabinet Member for Education, Councillor Beca Brown

 

"This is another important question on the issue of Welsh in education, and although it is important to celebrate the position of the Welsh language in Gwynedd, which is totally unique, of course, this position can slip if we do not keep a close eye on things.  There has been some slippage, as the question notes, and this of course, does not reflect our aspiration for the children and young people of Gwynedd.  However, we are now in a new period and all of us are looking forward to this new WESP, and arrangements are in place to establish the Education Language Forum, in order to monitor progress against WESP targets.  Officers and elected members, including the Chair of the Language Committee, will be part of the Forum, and members of the Education and Economy Scrutiny Committee can also be elected to be on the forum, if people wish to do so, in order to report back.  A report will be submitted to the Language Committee on an annual basis and the Department will collaborate with schools to encourage and support progress.  However, this is team work of course and I mention governors again, because all of us are here together, and there is a role and responsibility in terms of the provision in our individual schools, and we would encourage every elected member who is on a governing board to work with the Department and the Council in order to reach what we would like to see, namely that Gwynedd children receive all of the potential benefits of the Welsh language, and that entails team work."

 

A supplementary question by Councillor Menna Baines

 

"As it is important to understand why the slippage has occurred, will research work be carried out on this?"

 

Response from the Cabinet Member for Education, Councillor Beca Brown

 

"Slippage in the primary / secondary bridging period is a national pattern of course, and it is something that should cause us concern, and it is important that we address it and discover why that happens.  Of course, in terms of language choice, the parents choose, and there is work to be done to win hearts and minds in terms of the Welsh language.  Work is undertaken in Ysgol Friars and Our Lady's School that places development officers to work there in terms of the Welsh language, and I believe that the Immersion Scheme will greatly contribute to this.  We are talking about Bangor again, as there is a loss there between the primary and secondary, and I believe that this middle period will be addressed to a large extent with the new Immersion Scheme in Bangor.  It is very important that we try to understand what happens and why parents choose to change the medium of education in this stage, and I would encourage everyone to speak to parents and to be ambassadors for the Welsh language in that regard."

 

(6)     Question from Councillor Angela Russell

 

"I would like to ask a question about a former bus service that ended during the Covid pandemic.  The bus services in question are those that left Pwllheli at 10pm on a Saturday night, and travelled through a number of villages, including Llanbedrog, across Pen Llŷn.  Also, the service to Edern via Nefyn and Boduan.

 

These services were very important and busy as a number of people relied on these services to enable them to socialise in several ways, i.e. to visit friends and family, to go to restaurants and public houses and many other events in the areas.  We all know here today how important socialising is in our lives, it reduces loneliness, cheers us up and helps with mental health.  In rural areas, residents and visitors rely on local buses - not everyone has a car.  In addition, many people will be eager to go out during the evenings to somewhere warm, a friend/family's house etc. instead of staying at home and failing to put on the heating as a result of today's serious costs.  There is considerable poverty in rural areas as we know.  Therefore, I would like to know what is the intention to re-establish these bus services?

 

Response from the Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor Dafydd Meurig

 

"A very timely question and I sympathise greatly with those who cannot receive a bus service, and it is essentially important that public transport is available for people without cars, especially when we are trying to deal with the impacts on the environment.  Although it is a specific question about one area and one bus route, this is a problem that affects us all - it certainly affects the area where I live.  There have been problems between Dyffryn Ogwen and Bangor recently, and I am sure that this is something that has affected the majority of us as members.  As mentioned in the response, the problem here, which is similar in several areas, is the shortage of bus drivers, and because the bus companies cannot tender for these routes.  I recently heard about a local bus company with a shortage of 6-7 drivers that could not tender.  This is a problem and I believe that the route in question is an evening route, and obtaining drivers for evening work is even more difficult.  Therefore, that is where we are.  The Transport Unit is undertaking reviews in different areas of the county in collaboration with Transport for Wales, therefore, I really hope that we can resolve many of the problems in the coming months through to 2023."

 

A supplementary question by Councillor Angela Russell

 

"What are the substantial changes in the pipeline because this bus is very important for people in the Pen Llŷn area?"

 

Response from the Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor Dafydd Meurig

 

"That is the exact work that is going on.  I do not know if the member is aware of the work being undertaken in the Llanberis area where Sherpa'r Wyddfa has been redesigned specifically to meet local needs as well as the needs of tourists?  Therefore, we must think slightly different by thinking which buses are the important ones and how we provide, and a bus may not be the answer, but some sort of different transport and that we discuss with local companies and taxi companies.  That is, a 50 seater bus that travels everywhere is not the answer any more, but there is a need to think about these creative solutions.  This is taking place, but it will take time to go through the county reviewing each area."

 

(7)     Question from Councillor Elwyn Edwards

 

"I would like to thank the Cabinet for agreeing to fund a St David's Day holiday for the Council's workforce last year.

 

Whilst very disappointed with an insulting, but not unexpected, response from the Westminster Government, the response across Wales was very positive.  A statement of support was made by the Welsh Government and county councils, which highlights the aspiration for our nation to be treated with respect by celebrating our patron saint in a deserving manner.

 

Will the Leader provide an update of the situation this year and on any steps to realise our aspiration as a nation?"

 

Response by the Leader, Councillor Dyfrig Siencyn

 

"Thank you to the member for the question, and particularly about the motion he submitted to this Council, which was passed unanimously almost a year ago now.  Yes, we did receive an insulting response from some junior minister who has now, I am sure, disappeared over the political horizon, as they all will soon hopefully.  However, things have progressed.

 

Local government employers' representatives in Wales, England and Northern Ireland have offered a final salary increase for local government employees for 2022/23, which includes adding one day to each employee's annual leave allowance from 1 April, 2023.

 

This proposal is receiving attention from the three unions with projections that they will formally respond to it around the middle of this month having consulted with their members.

 

In the meantime, a discussion has been held with the unions' representatives locally and there is room to believe that they would support this additional day of leave to be earmarked for celebrating St David's Day in future.

 

Should it be possible to realise this agreement, there would be no additional cost to the Council, above what would have to be provided as part of the proposed national agreement.

 

It would be possible for us to move that discussion forward with unions only in Gwynedd but I am opening a discussion with some of my fellow leaders across other authorities in Wales proposing that there is an opportunity here for us to act on a national level, i.e. that each county designates this additional day of leave for St David's Day.

 

It would be required to ensure the consent of labour unions of course, before transferring the issue to individual authorities to operate locally.

 

If that consensus is not reached, it would be intended to proceed to try to ensure a formal agreement locally and then earmark 1 March (or the nearest working day to that date) to celebrate St David's Day within Cyngor Gwynedd in future.

 

An astounding response was received to the fact that this Council had designated a day of leave for St David's Day, and amazing support was received across the other parties, with the exception of one and, indeed, there were supportive statements everywhere.  A statement was made by the Leader of the Welsh Conservative Party at their conference saying that they now supported a bank holiday on St David's Day and I will write to that Leader asking him to pass on the message to whoever they have now in Westminster reminding them that us here in Wales deserve to be recognised as a nation, and that we deserve to have a day to celebrate our patron saint and identity, and I will do that next week."

 

A supplementary question by Councillor Elwyn Edwards

 

"What is the timescale in terms of discussing with unions?"

 

Response by the Leader, Councillor Dyfrig Siencyn

 

"I referred to the timescale.  Should the unions agree to the new conditions, then these would be enforced in April 2023.  Therefore, we have the next six months to open the discussion with our fellow leaders across Wales.  In terms of writing to leaders of the English Conservative Party in Wales, I will do so during the next week."