Agenda and minutes

To receive any declaration of interest from any Member or Officer in respect of any item of business.

None to declare.

The Chair of the Council referred to the sudden and tragic loss on Friday 7^th June of Mr. John Rees Thomas, Head of Service for Leisure and Culture. He had been a member of the Appointments Panel that had appointed John back in 1996 when he transferred from Clwyd County Council to Anglesey. John was a man who was very firm in his opinions and he had helped several communities on the Island over the years. The Chair stated that he had been at a ceremony in Beaumaris a week last Saturday and everybody there was shocked to hear of his death. Certainly he would be sorely missed. The great number who attended the crematorium at Bangor last Saturday was testament to his popularity and the great respect in which he was held.

The Chief Executive stated that it was a very sad occasion to have to pay tribute to a colleague, more so when that colleague had left us so suddenly and at such a young age. Losing John from the Council’s service would be a big blow for the Authority and for the citizens of Anglesey. John had joined the Council back in 1996 and for 17 years he had served very loyally, made his mark and had achieved so much.

He was aware that for some time that John’s health had been fragile. The last time he saw him was on Thursday evening a week before his death, when he came to see him specifically to say that he had some health issues and that he anticipated that he would require treatment. He wanted to give an assurance that he had made firm arrangements to cover the Service during his absence. The Service came first to John and his health came second.

When he failed to turn up for a meeting on the Friday of his death, the Chief Executive knew straight away something was wrong. It was decided to send two of his closest colleagues to his home to see what the situation was and those members of staff had been deeply upset and shocked with what they had found.

John was a very private man, but under that privacy there was also resilience, strength of character and humour as well – a very special brand of humour. We would miss him as a colleague for his satirical humour, which lightened the atmosphere very often at meetings and in the corridors of the Council.

For three years because of his health, he had not been able to drive but he did not miss a single day of work and was never late. There were months and months when he left home at 7:00am in the morning to catch a bus in all weathers to arrive at Parc Mount by 8:30am. That was a testament to his loyalty and the priority he gave to his work.

We will remember John because of his successes and what he had achieved. He was instrumental in the work of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

To report that the Executive at its meeting on 10^th June, 2013 had resolved as follows:-

“To recommend to the County Council that it delegates to each Scrutiny Committee the discretion to appoint non-voting co-optees, for whatever period of time and terms each Scrutiny Committee considers appropriate, without having to obtain Council approval and that authority be given to officers to make any consequential amendments to the Constitution”.

To submit the report of the Monitoring Officer as submitted to the Executive on 10^th June, 2013.

Reported – That the Executive at its meeting on 10^th June, 2013 had resolved as follows:-

“To recommend to the County Council that it delegates to each Scrutiny Committee the discretion to appoint non-voting co-optees, for whatever period of time and terms each Scrutiny Committee considers appropriate, without having to obtain Council approval and that authority be given to officers to make any consequential amendments to the Constitution.”

RESOLVED to endorse the recommendation of the Executive in this respect.

(1)          To submit the report of the Chief Executive.

(2)          To submit a copy of the Consultation Paper.

Reported by the Chief Executive – That the Local Government Boundary Commission for Wales (LGBCW) is required to carry out periodic reviews of the electoral arrangements of principal areas in Wales.

A number of factors were proposed for consideration in the consultation paper including population density and the dispersal of population with a local authority area. It also proposed that authorities be placed in 4 categories based on urbanisation and population density. As far as Ynys Mon was concerned, the Council would be placed in category 4 (more than 50% of the population living outside towns with more than 10,000 population and less than 2 persons per hectare in relation to population density.

This would give a Councillor to population ratio of 2,000 and applying this methodology, the Councillor to population ratio would give a total of 35 Councillors for Ynys Mon. However, the paper noted that any method for determining Council size may be constrained by legislation and Ministerial Direction and an awareness of the impact of any proposed change to the existing size of Councils.

The impact that a significant change may have on the running of a Council if applied as a result of a single electoral review had also been considered by the Commission. A constraint had therefore been applied so that, for each review, the number of Councillors would not vary by more than 10% of current councillor numbers. However, the Commission would consider a request exceeding this variance limit in moving towards the size of council determined by the model. Overall as far as Ynys Mon was concerned and taking into account these restraints, the number of Councillors proposed would increase to 33.

The consultation paper sought views on categorisation parameters, Councillor to population ratio, maximum and minimum council size and a review cap limiting the amount of change of councillor numbers. Views on these proposals were requested by 19^th June, 2013.

The Leader of the Plaid Cymru Group stated that his Group had considered the matter and were of the opinion that the figure should remain at 30 members for the present time.

Councillor Aled Morris Jones stated that the Council had the right according to the consultation document to make the case to increase that figure by 10% and that in his opinion this should be the case in the interests of democracy.

Some of the Members expressed concern as regards the names that had been adopted by the Boundary Commission for some of the new Wards and felt that the matter should be raised further with them.

RESOLVED that authority be given to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader of the Council to take on board the views expressed at this meeting and to respond accordingly to the LGBCW by 19^th June, 2013.

To consider adoption of the following:-

“Under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, to exclude the press and public from the meeting during discussion on the following item on the grounds that it may involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Schedule 12A of the said Act and in the attached Public Interest Test”.

RESOLVED that under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, to exclude the press and public from the meeting during discussion on the following item on the grounds that it may involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Schedule 12A of the said Act and in the attached Public Interest Test.

To report that the Executive at its meeting on 10^th June, 2013 had resolved to recommend to the County Council as follows:-

“That Option 2 purchasing new Resource Recovery Vehicles (RRVs) and using the existing 240 litre residual bins is the preferred option for the start of the second half of the 14 year contract.

To agree that Biffa can proceed immediately to order new Resource Recovery, Waste Collection and Street Cleansing Vehicles to avoid additional costs of Euro 6 chassis.

To agree that the Finance Service discuss the viability of the Council funding the purchase of all new vehicles with Biffa and proceed with this funding, if it is advantageous to the Council and that sufficient guarantees are in place for the vehicles to remain Council property if the contractor were to experience financial difficulties.

That officers continue to review collection options during the second half of the 14 year contract with Biffa and provide the relevant Committees with further information on future systems to be considered and their costs, bearing in mind that a new procurement process will commence in 2019/20 for a new contract commencing in April 2021.

That in view of the circumstances described within this Report and of the need of urgency the Committee pursuant to CPR 4.5.16.10 agree that this decision shall not be subject to the call-in procedure as this will seriously prejudice the Council’s interests”.

(This item is reported to full Council for information because the item was exempt from call-in by reason of urgency).

To submit the report of the Head of Highways and Waste Management as submitted to the Executive on 6^th June, 2013.

Reported - That the Executive at its meeting on 10^th June, 2013 had resolved to recommend to the County Council as follows:-

“That Option 2 purchasing new Resource Recovery Vehicles (RRVs) and using the existing 240 litre residual bins is the preferred option for the start of the second half of the 14 year contract.

To agree that Biffa can proceed immediately to order new Resource Recovery, Waste Collection and Street Cleansing Vehicles to avoid additional costs of Euro 6 chassis.

To agree that the Finance Service discuss the viability of the Council funding the purchase of all new vehicles with Biffa and proceed with this funding, if it is advantageous to the Council and that sufficient guarantees are in place for the vehicles to remain Council property if the contractor were to experience financial difficulties.

That officers continue to review collection options during the second half of the 14 year contract with Biffa and provide the relevant Committees with further information on future systems to be considered and their costs, bearing in mind that a new procurement process will commence in 2019/20 for a new contract commencing in April 2021.

That in view of the circumstances described within this Report and of the need of urgency the Committee pursuant to CPR 4.5.16.10 agree that this decision shall not be subject to the call-in procedure as this will seriously prejudice the Council’s interests”.

(This item was reported to full Council for information because the item was exempt from call-in by reason of urgency).

RESOLVED to endorse the recommendation of the Executive in this respect.