Agenda and minutes

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

The SLT together with the Head of Function (Council Business) and the Head of Function (Resources) declared an interest in Item 7 of these minutes (Pay Policy Statement) and were not present at the meeting during any discussion or voting thereon. (Mentioned in the report)

THE CHAIR’S ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Chair congratulated Gwenda Williams (Unit Support Team Leader, Economic Development) for being recognised as the Apprentice of the Year – Overall Best Achievement (Business Administration, Customer Service and Retail) by Coleg Menai.

Their 2014 Apprenticeship Awards Ceremony was held at the Celtic Royal Hotel, Caernarfon (Sponsored by Horizon Nuclear Power).  Apprentices from a breadth of disciplines were recognised for their learning achievements.

Gwenda recently completed the NVQ Business Administrations course, and was recognised for her dedication, hard work, and consistent high standard of work.  The NVQ was achieved in a period of 8 months, whilst still maintaining an effective work life balance, and her usual exceptional standard of professionalism and outputs in the work place.

The Chair also read out the list of those persons who had also been successful at the Awards Ceremony.

Congratulations were also extended to Mr Edmund Seymour Bailey, DL, Fferm Plas y Bryn, Llanbedr, Gwynedd, who had been appointed by the Queen as the Lord Lieutenant for Gwynedd, taking over from His Honour Huw Morgan Daniel, who would be retiring on 16 April 2014 following 8 years in the post.

He was High Sheriff between 2012-13 and we had the pleasure of meeting him at that time in one or two civic occasions held here in Anglesey.

The Council wished Mr Edmund Bailey well in the post and of course wished a happy retirement to Mr Huw Morgan Daniel.

Congratulations also to Mr David Lea-Wilson from the Halen Môn Company, who had been appointed High Sheriff for the forthcoming year.

The Chair sympathised with any member of the Council or staff who had suffered bereavement.  Members and Officers stood as a mark of their respect.

To submit a report by the Head of Function (Resources).

Submitted - A report by the Head of Function (Resources) on the Treasury Management Strategy: Mid Year Review Report for 2013/14.  This report was presented to Council in order to comply with the recommendations of the CIPFA Code of Practice on Treasury Management.

The Council had resolved that the Audit Committee be responsible for scrutiny of treasury management matters and that Committee considered the contents of the report at its meeting on 11 December, 2013 and resolved to accept and note the contents of the report.

RESOLVED to note the contents of the report which has also been scrutinised by the Audit Committee.

To consider adoption of the following:-

“Under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, to exclude the press and public from 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 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 Partnership and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee on 13th March, 2014 had considered the above and had resolved:-

   “To accept the report and the recommendation contained therein”.

•  To report that the Executive on 17th March, 2014, had considered the above and had resolved:-

   “To recommend the County Council that it endorses the recommendations contained within the report”.                      

•  To submit a report by the Head of Environment and Technical.

Submitted - The report of the Head of Environmental and Technical Service on the procurement process for the preferred bidder for the North Wales Residual Waste Treatment Project.

Reported that the Partnership and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee had considered the report on 13^th March, 2014 and had resolved to “accept the report and the recommendations contained therein”.  The Executive on 17^th March, 2014 also considered the report and had resolved “to recommend to the County Council that it endorses the recommendations contained within the report”.

Councillor Ann Griffith raised a question and suggested an alternative strategy but no amendment was put up.

RESOLVED to endorse the recommendations contained within the report.

To consider adoption of the following:-

“Under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, to exclude the press and public from 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 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 submit a report by the Head of Profession (Human Resources).

Reported by the Head of Profession (Human Resources) - That the Localism Act 2011, required English and Welsh Authorities to produce and publish a pay policy statement for each financial year.  The Act required Authorities to develop and make public their pay policy on all aspects of Chief Officer Remuneration.  In the interests of transparency and accountability, the Council had chosen to take a broader approach and produce a policy statement covering all employee groups, with the exception of school teachers as their remuneration was not within local authority control.

The Council published its first pay policy statement in 2012 and minor amendments to reflect current Council Strategy had been incorporated into this year’s report.

Councillor Aled Morris Jones asked the Officer to explain why this report was being received as an exempt item.

The Monitoring Officer explained that the Guidance from the Welsh Government recommended that discussion on this item take place in public.

However, the report had been marked as an exempt item in order to provide Members with appropriate flexibility.  That is to say that once approved the policy will go on the Council website and that Members are being asked to confirm that it is an accurate reflection of the policy in place.  If Members want to limit themselves to that discussion then it would be appropriate to discuss in public.

However, if Members want to discuss individual posts or groups of posts then they will need to do so in a closed session; acknowledging that changes to terms and conditions of employment cannot be made at this meeting but need to go through the appropriate process.

The substance of the policy with regard to Chief Officer pay was discussed by Members in some detail.

The advice of Human Resources stated that the document was one that had been agreed by full Council back in 2011 during the time of the Commissioners and remained in force unless the Council determined otherwise.

RESOLVED to endorse the Pay Policy Statement attached to the report as the Council’s Pay Policy Statement for 2014-15.

To consider adoption of the following:-

“Under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, to exclude the press and public from 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 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 submit a verbal update by the Deputy Chief Executive.

Submitted - A verbal progress report by the Portfolio Holder, confirming that matters were progressing to schedule.

RESOLVED to note the progress report and that where further specific decisions needed to be made, authority be given to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Group Leaders, Portfolio Holder for Human Resources and the Head of Profession (Human Resources).