Agenda item

To submit the report of the Council Leader.

To adopt the Cyngor Gwynedd Plan 2023-28.

The Leader, Councillor Dyfrig Siencyn, presented the report, inviting the Council to adopt the Cyngor Gwynedd Plan 2023-28.  He also detailed the political context that was the basis of the whole plan.  He noted:-

·         To deliver the schemes, sufficient resources were required, and that the substantial financial pressures on the Council as a result of inflation and the cost of living crisis were affecting our ability to provide services.

·         He wished to make it perfectly clear that this was mainly the responsibility of the Westminster Government, but there was also a message here for Labour Ministers in Cardiff, who shared the same basic principles as us, apart from the fact that we wished to see our nation in control of our country.

·         The Ministers in London were insulting the Welsh Government, our devolved settlement and our ministers, and treated us with contempt.  The 'Levelling-Up Fund' and the 'Shared Prosperity Fund' were clear examples of this.  We were previously promised that Wales would receive 'not one penny less of European money', but we would receive £1.2bn less over the next three years.  There was nothing in the 'Shared Prosperity Fund' that was more than we deserved - it was our money!

·         Local authorities and the Welsh Government had been preparing for years to make a regional investment for the period after the European funds ended, but the Westminster Government had totally disregarded those plans.  They had no long-term plan to distribute the funding, and it was unclear how they came to a decision on a number of these funds.

·         Cyngor Gwynedd was fortunate to receive funding for the slate areas but it had been unable to receive funding for the Llanbedr bypass, and the Deputy Minister for Climate Change, Lee Waters accused the Council of going behind the devolved system in the application to the fund to get a bypass for Llanbedr.  He would not apologise for this as it was our money!

·         He wished to call on his friends in the Labour Party in Wales, who shared the same basic principles as us in terms of social fairness, to stand up for Wales once and for all, and refuse to go cap in hand to London.

·         He had made a statement in the past few days about bank holidays, and that it was insulting that Wales was the only part of the devolved state without the authority to determine its own bank holidays.

The Leader thanked the Business Support Service Manager and his team for their work in preparing the Council Plan.

Members were given an opportunity to make observations and ask questions.  The following matters were raised by individual members:

·         It was noted that the ambition and vision was seen clearly throughout the whole plan.

·         It was noted that there were praiseworthy aspirations here, but aspirations only, and it was emphasised that the plan should include a strategy, timetable and criteria to measure success.  In response, it was explained that there were projects here and that there would be indicators and feedback on those specific projects. 

·         In response to a question, the Leader noted that he believed that the decision to put the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board into special measures once again would lead to an additional challenge to the Council in terms of realising the dream of a Caring Gwynedd.  He noted that the collaboration between the Council and the Health Board was crucial to deliver the work effectively, and that he hoped that the new Chair of the Health Board, Dyfed Edwards (namely the former Leader of this Council) would deal with this in his own logical and principled manner.  The task facing the new Chair was momentous and changing such a body would take years, but at least there was recognition of the problem, and the problem had to be resolved at the top level of the body before being able to see any change in the provision itself.  He further noted that there was a question on how we provided health and care, and that the Government had commissioned a specialist group to draw up a report and recommendations regarding the steps towards creating a National Care Service, and it was greatly hoped that it would be possible for this Council to contribute to that discussion.  He also noted that he believed that local authorities could take more part when providing primary care.

·         A request was made for assurance that schemes, such as the new nursing home on the Penrhos site in Pwllheli, which relied on collaboration with the Health Board, would proceed.  In response, the Chief Executive noted that he had a meeting today with the Interim Chief Executive of the Health Board to seek this exact assurance.  There were three substantial projects where the Council relied on collaboration with the Health Board, along with six other projects under Caring Gwynedd that would be reliant to different degrees on collaboration with the Health Board.  He also noted that a meeting would be programmed with the Chief Executive and the new Chair of the Health Board, the Leader and himself.

·         The fact that the Chief Executive would meet the Chief Executive of the Health Board to seek assurance regarding the schemes that relied on collaboration between both bodies, was welcomed.  The member also noted that he had attempted to find out how much money the Health Board received to share with councils in north Wales, but he had failed to find the information.  In response, the Leader noted that Penrhos was a very important resource for the residents of Llŷn, Eifionydd and Meirionnydd, and that the Council and the Health Board would make every effort to deliver on a joint basis. He added that front-line staff of the Health Board performed miracles under very difficult circumstances, and he wished to convey the message to the staff that we fully supported them, and greatly hoped that there would be a change in leadership that would ultimately help them.

·         The Community Gang was thanked for their work in Pen Llŷn, but a call was made for more work to open ditches and clean road signs in the area.

·         It was noted that the response to the public consultation on the plan was shameful (only 643 in a county with a population of over 100,000) and it was not believed that the response was sufficient to be able to reach any meaningful conclusions.  The plan stated that we would 'seek' to deliver, but more than this needed to be done.  Reference was made to examples of losing services in the countryside, such as transport, and it was suggested that the Welsh Government's ultimate plan was to get people to leave the countryside for the towns.  In response, the Leader noted that he shared the concerns of the member, and that he was doing his best to be a voice for the Welsh countryside via the Rural Forum of the Welsh Local Government Association and as Chair of Ambition North Wales.

·         The fact that the plan referred to extending opportunities for play and socialising for the county's children and young people, was welcomed. It was noted that it was important to remember that young people had suffered the most during the Covid period, with health problems and many other problems on the increase, and it was looked forward to seeing this social provision being extended over the next five years.

·         A member noted that he could not support the Council's Plan as he could not see the fact that we were tackling poverty going hand in hand with net zero policies by 2030.  A substantial percentage of all Gwynedd residents' electricity bills was now paying for the green levy on the net zero target. Also, if it would aim towards net zero, the Council needed to look for new vehicles for its fleet that did not use batteries, as there was a shortage of metals used to produce batteries.  We had closed our coal mines and steel works as this type of industry did not fit the green agenda, but we were now buying back those resources from countries such as China and India.  If we would go down the net zero route, no fertiliser would be available for farmers, and a shortage of fruit and vegetables had already been seen. Brexit was blamed for all this, but Brexit was not to blame, except the fact that electricity and fertiliser were too expensive.  We were starving our own people and fooling them by producing this type of plans, without considering the science associated with what was going on in the world.

·         Referring to the intention to draw up catchment area plans to help to avoid / respond to current and increasing [flood] threats in future (page 26 of the plan), concern was expressed that the fact that this type of work was undertaken on a joint basis with Natural Resources Wales may be used as an excuse for not doing something in the short-term. Reference was made to examples of bridges where a lack of river dredging, and dredging around the bridges themselves, was creating major problems in terms of the foundation of those bridges, and a desire was expressed to see catchment area plans being implemented rather than being plans on a shelf.  It was also noted that great pressure must be placed on Natural Resources Wales to address these issues in the short-term. In response, the Chief Executive noted that he fully agreed in terms of putting pressure on our partners to take action in this field, and that he was proud of the collaboration between the Council and Natural Resources Wales, within their ability and budgets. It was further noted that the Council did not produce plans to be put on a shelf, referring to a plan that had resolved the flooding problems in Llanberis as an example of this.

·         Hope was expressed that any plans would be equal throughout the whole of Gwynedd. Reference was made to the cycle / walking path network across the county, and it was noted that it was very difficult to obtain funding for South Meirionnydd, e.g. path alongside the A470 between Mallwyd and Dinas Mawddwy, which was extremely dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists at present. Another member noted that the work of creating a cycle path in Llanelltyd was currently underway, and that the path would be completed in approximately nine weeks.

RESOLVED to adopt the Cyngor Gwynedd Plan 2023-28.