Agenda, decisions and minutes

To submit for confirmation, the draft minutes of the meetings of the County Council held on the following dates: -

•   3 December 2024

•   12 December 2024 (Extraordinary)

The minutes of the following meetings of the Isle of Anglesey County Council were confirmed as correct :-

·         3 December, 2024;

·         12 December, 2024 (Extraordinary).

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

The Chief Officers declared a significant personal interest in Item 12– Pay Policy Statement 2025 and left the meeting during discussion and voting thereon.

The Chair made the following announcements:-

·     Congratulations were extended to Mr Mike Doran and Mr Mark Wade who have recently received official approval from the lifeboat charity (RNLI) for their efforts in rescuing a climber who had fallen into the sea at North Stack. Both were presented with certificates at Holyhead Lifeboat Station recognising their efforts.

·     Congratulations were extended to Mrs Ann Harries Jones from the Farmers Union of Wales for winning the Welsh Language Champion Gold Award at an awards ceremony in Cardiff recently. Mrs Harries Jones has provided insurance services in Welsh on the Island for over 30 years.

·     Congratulations were also extended to MônActif on recently winning the ‘School Swimming and Water Safety Impact’ award. The award was presented by Swim Wales, the National Governing Body for Aquatics, at their annual awards in Cardiff.  MônActif was recognised for its success in organising a series of 'Swim Safe' events across the Island.

·     Congratulations was extended to Mr Twm Tudor from Anglesey who recently achieved success on the “Y Llais” programme.

·      Congratulations were extended to Miss Gwen Edwards who came third in the Can i Gymru 2025 competition.

·     Congratulations were extended to Mr Gorwel Owen of Llanfaelog on being presented with a Special Contribution Award at the Selar Welsh Music Awards this month. The award is given to artists who have made a significant contribution to Welsh music over several years.

·     Congratulations were extended to Mr Will Young from Holyhead who is a member of Mencap Môn and currently on a theatre tour playing the role of Lennie in "Of Mice and Men". This is the second time he has played Lennie, following another successful theatre tour in 2017.

·     Congratulations were also extended to Ms Gwenllian Howe of Brynteg. A former member of Beaumaris Youth Band and now a student at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Gwenllian has been chosen to be part of the European Youth Brass Band and will playing alongside young musicians from 14 other countries when they get together in Stavanger, Norway in May.

·     Best wishes were extended to Mr Kevin Williams (Kev Bach) who left Capital Radio after 27 years on radio 103 with Champion, Heart and Capital. Kevin is one of the Island's most recognisable voices and has provided a platform for the Welsh language over the years as well as supporting several local events.

·     Congratulations were extended to Côr Ieuenctid Môn who won the Barnardo’s Senior National Choir of the Year at Birmingham Symphony Hall recently.

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Condolences was extended to the family of Ms Marged Esli who passed away recently. She was a well-know actress and writer and raised in Gwalchmai.

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Condolences were extended to the family of the former County Councillor and Welsh Senedd Member, Mr Peter Rogers who passed away recently.

Councillors Jeff Evans and Aled Morris Jones paid tribute to the late Mr Peter Rogers for his work as a County Councillor and a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

To receive any petition in accordance with Paragraph 4.1.11 of the Constitution.

No petitions received.

To receive the following Notice of Motion by Councillor Geraint Bebb: -

‘In 2014, the Crown Estate designated an area of the seabed off the coast of Holy Island for tidal energy. The aim for the Morlais project is to play a part in tackling climate change while ensuring economic and social benefit for the communities of Anglesey but in order to do so an annual lease must be paid to the Crown Estate.

It is estimated that the Crown Estate owns 65% of the foreshores and riverbeds nationally and over 50,000 acres of land. The value of the Crown Estate holdings in Wales has risen from £96 million in 2020 to over £853 million in 2023. 

A YouGov opinion poll held in 2023 showed that 58% of Wales’ voters were in favour of taking control of the estate’s assets in Wales rather than them staying in the hands of the UK Treasury. 

This would make Wales equal to Scotland who have received the right since 2017. The Crown Estate is worth over £100 million a year. A sum which can make a difference.

I am therefore asking to add the name of our Authority to this campaign as it could change lives and improve all of our communities. Wales as a nation should have full control of its own assets so that the profits can benefit our communities and country as I noted in the Morlais project example.

I am asking my fellow Councillors for their support to ask the Leader of our Council to write to Welsh Government and the UK Government and make a public statement calling for devolving the Crown Estate to Wales as a matter of urgency.’ 

Submitted – a Notice of Motion by Councillor Geraint Bebb:-

‘In 2014, the Crown Estate designated an area of the seabed off the coast of Holy Island for tidal energy. The aim for the Morlais project is to play a part in tackling climate change while ensuring economic and social benefit for the communities of Anglesey but in order to do so an annual lease must be paid to the Crown Estate.

It is estimated that the Crown Estate owns 65% of the foreshores and riverbeds nationally and over 50,000 acres of land. The value of the Crown Estate holdings in Wales has risen from £96 million in 2020 to over £853 million in 2023. 

A YouGov opinion poll held in 2023 showed that 58% of Wales’ voters were in favour of taking control of the estate’s assets in Wales rather than them staying in the hands of the UK Treasury. 

This would make Wales equal to Scotland who have received the right since 2017. The Crown Estate is worth over £100 million a year. A sum which can make a difference.

I am therefore asking to add the name of our Authority to this campaign as it could change lives and improve all of our communities. Wales as a nation should have full control of its own assets so that the profits can benefit our communities and country as I noted in the Morlais project example.

I am asking my fellow Councillors for their support to ask the Leader of our Council to write to Welsh Government and the UK Government and make a public statement calling for devolving the Crown Estate to Wales as a matter of urgency.’ 

Councillor Arfon Wyn seconded the Motion. 

Councillor Pip O’Neill said that there is a need to manage expectations as regards to the income that could be generated from devolving the Crown Estate to Wales as Scotland has a considerable larger foreshore.  He stated that as a Labour Group on the Council they supported the motion but were disappointed that the Labour Government in Westminster had voted against calls for control over the Crown Estate to be given to ministers in Wales.

In response to a reference made by Councillor Douglas M Fowlie who said that it seems that letters sent on different topic to Welsh Government and UK Government are not responded upon the Chief Executive said that the importance of sending letters to both Governments is to raise the profile and put on record important concerns raised by this Council.  As the correspondence are political issues they are sent to the Senior Ministers of both Welsh Government and UK Government.  He assured that he will pursue the matter and to make sure that a response is received to the issues raised by this Council.

Following a unanimous vote:-

The Motion was carried.

To submit the report of the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer, as presented to the Executive on 18 February 2025.

The report of the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer as presented to the Executive on 18 February, 2025 was presented for the Council’s acceptance.

It was unanimously RESOLVED to accept the Treasury Management Mid-year Review Report for 2024/2025.

To submit the report of the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer, as presented to the Executive on 27 February 2025.

The report of the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer as presented to the Executive on 27 February, 2025 was presented for the Council’s acceptance.  

It was unanimously RESOLVED to accept the Capital Strategy 2025-20230.

To submit the report of the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer, as presented to the Executive on 27 February 2025.

The report of the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer as presented to the Executive on 27 February, 2025 was presented for the Council’s acceptance.

It was unanimously RESOLVED to approve the Treasury Management Strategy Statement for 2025/2026.

 (a)    Revenue Budget 2025/2026 

       To submit a report by the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151

       Officer, as presented to the Executive on 27 February 2025.

   (b)    Capital Budget 2025/2026     

       To submit a report by the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151

       Officer, as presented to the Executive on 27 February 2025.

 (c)    Council Tax Resolution 2025/2026

       To submit a report by the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151

       Officer.                 

The report of the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer as presented to the Executive on 29 February, 2024 was presented for the Council’s acceptance.

The Deputy Leader and Portfolio Member for Finance and Housing Services said that this has been a challenging budget to put forward.  He noted that the final Welsh Local Government Settlement included a floor, which raised the minimum increase for local authorities to 3.8%.  As Anglesey’s provisional settlement was an increase of 3.6%, Anglesey’s final settlement increased by £277k, to £135.881m.  If the Council was to seek to make up the budget shortfall through Council Tax alone it would mean raising Council Tax by 20.6%.   In addition, the final settlement noted that a further grant of £30m be afforded across Wales, which would provide help to meet the costs faced by local authorities to meet adult service social care costs .   This additional £30m will provide this Council with approximately £750k in additional grant funding. It has enabled the Council to increase the reserves to be used from £2m to £2.459m to balance the budget.  He said that in light of these additional funding and taking into account the responses from the public consultation the Executive proposed to amend its initial budget proposals by not implementing the proposal to introduce service charges for industrial and business units, not implementing the proposal to reduce the number of days the Council’s recycling centres are open and by allocating £217k to meet future costs of replacing IT equipment in schools. He clarified that as the Executive had already made provision for Adult Services in the initial budget proposal, the grant funding can be applied elsewhere and can be utilised to help bring down the rise in Council Tax to 8.5% ( 7.85% for Council services and 0.65% to meet the increase in the Fire Service levy) making Anglesey’s increase the second lowest of the North Wales councils.  The Band D charge will result for a charge of £1,705.95, an increase of £133.65 (£2.57 per week).

The Deputy Leader and Portfolio Member for Finance and Housing Services referred to the Capital Budget of £44.294m for 2025/2026.  The capital budget position has long been challenging and although the General Capital Funding from Welsh Government for 2025/26 is £401k higher than the 2024/25 allocation this is the first significant increase that the Council has received for a number of years, however it does not make up for the erosion in the value of the funding that has taken place due to inflation and as building materials have increased over 100% over recent years.

The Deputy Leader and Portfolio Member for Finance and Housing Services further said that both UK Government and Welsh Government needs to fund local authorities appropriately and there is need in Wales to look upon the formula used to distribute resources to local authorities. 

The Deputy Leader and Portfolio Member for Finance and Housing Services proposed the recommendations to the full Council as seen in (a), (b) and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

To submit the report of the Director of Function (Council Business)/Monitoring Officer, as presented to the Executive on 18 February 2025.

The report of the Director of Function (Council Business)/Monitoring Officer as presented to the Executive on 18 February, 2025 was presented for the Council’s approval.

The Portfolio Member for Education and the Welsh Language said that the Council’s current Welsh language policy was adopted in 2016 when statutory Welsh language standards came into force, since then, the understanding of the standards have matured, and the Authority’s practices in relation to the language have developed significantly.  The use of the Welsh language has been strengthened within the administration of the Council.  He noted that correspondence has been received recently suggesting that the Authority’s commitment to the Welsh language has been weakened.  He said that this is misleading as the Welsh language is one of the 6 objectives within the Council’s Plan.

Councillor Pip O’Neill wished to record his appreciation to the Council for the opportunities to learn the Welsh Language. 

It was unanimously RESOLVED to approve the revised Welsh Language Policy.

To submit the report of the Director of Function (Council Business)/Monitoring Officer.

The report of the Director of Function (Council Business)/Monitoring Officer was presented for the Councils acceptance.

The Portfolio Member for Corporate and Customer Experience said that the report highlights the scrutiny arrangements for the Corporate Joint Committees.  It is anticipated that the Corporate Joint Committee will be responsible for delivering the North Wales Growth Bid in April, 2025 following the transfer of the responsibilities from the North Wales Economic Ambition Board.  He highlighted the administration arrangements in the creation of a Regional Committee.

It was RESOLVED:-

·          to the establishment of the North Wales Corporate Joint Committee Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee with the Terms of Reference as set out in Appendix 1;

·         that the powers of local scrutiny committees provided for under The Corporate Joint Committees (General) (No. 2) (Wales) Regulations 2022 shall be retained;

·         the political balance of Isle of Anglesey County Council’s nominees to the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JOSC) will reflect the membership of Isle of Anglesey County Council rather than the membership of the Constituent Councils in aggregate;

·         that the secretariat for the JOSC will be provided by the CJC in accordance with the Terms of Reference.

(Councillor Kenneth P Hughes abstained from voting)

To submit a report by the Head of Profession (Human Resources) and Transformation.

The report of the Head of Human Resources and Transformation was presented for the Councils acceptance.

It was RESOLVED to endorse the Council’s Pay Policy Statement for 2024/2025.