Agenda and minutes

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Items
No. Item

1.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 300 KB

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

 

  26th September, 2017

  30th October, 2017 (Extraordinary)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the following meeting were confirmed as correct :-

 

·         26 September, 2017, subject to an amendment at Page 5 of the minutes that Councillor Aled M Jones said ‘…. that the current policy allows the Portfolio Holder (Highways, Property and Waste) and Officers to sell any smallholdings’.

 

An amendment also needs to be included to the minutes that Councillor Aled M Jones had said that he did not have an objection to sell smallholdings up to 20 acres but anything above 20 acres needs to be referred to the full Council.

 

·         30 October, 2017 (Extraordinary)

 

 

2.

Declaration of Interest

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

Additional documents:

Minutes:

None received.

3.

To receive any announcements from the Chairperson, Leader of the Council or the Chief Executive.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair made the following announcements :-

 

·           Congratulations to competitors who had enjoyed success at the Winter Fair at Mona Showground last month and also at Builth Wells recently;

·           Congratulations to Anglesey’s Young Farmers who had competed at the National Young Farmers Eisteddfod at Llandudno;

·           He thanked the staff and service users of Blaen y Coed and Gerddi Haulfre for decorating the County Council’s Christmas Tree at the Cyswllt Môn reception area;

·           He wished to congratulate Mr. Fôn Williams on his recent appointment as Head of Children and Families and wished him well in his post.  He wished to thank Mr Llyr Bryn Roberts for his work as Acting Head of Children and Families over the recent months;

·           He wished to congratulate Ms Shan Williams, Head of Housing Services on her appointment as Chief Executive of Grŵp Cynefin and wished her well in her new post;

·           He wished to thank all the staff of the County Council for their work during the recent flooding incident on the Island and he expressed his sympathy to those residents and local businesses who have been affected.

 

 

*          *          *          *          *

 

Condolences were extended to the family of the late Mr Carl Sargeant AC.

 

Councillor J Arwel Roberts, as Leader of the Labour Group, paid tribute to Mr Sargeant AC.

 

Condolences were extended to any Member of the Council or staff who had suffered bereavement.

 

Members and Officers stood in silent tribute as a mark of their respect and sympathy.

4.

Questions received pursuant to rule 4.1.12.4 of the Constitution

·           To submit the following question on notice by Councillor Peter S Rogers to the Leader of the Council :-

 

“Like all of us you will be fully aware of the resentment and concern that is being shown by Anglesey ratepayers following your decision to increase the Executive Membership of this Authority to 9 members.

 

In these exceptional austere times how on earth can you justify this extravagance?”

 

·           To submit the following question on notice by Councillors A M Jones and Bryan Owen to the Leader of the Council :-

 

“Following the decision to stop the tendering process for home care, what and how much were the costs to the Council?”

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

·         Submitted - the following question on notice by Councillor Peter S Rogers to the Leader of the Council :-

 

“Like all of us you will be fully aware of the resentment and concern that is being shown by Anglesey ratepayers following your decision to increase the Executive membership of this Authority to 9 members.

 

In these exceptional austere times how on earth can you justify this

extravagance?”

 

The Leader of the Council responded that Welsh Government has

acknowledged the need for the increase in the membership of this Authority’s Executive. She wished to reiterate that the increase to the membership of the Executive will have no financial burden to the authority only the increase in capacity of the Executive.

 

Councillor Rogers said that the Deputy Leader does not claim his allowance but he questioned if this situation was to change it could have a financial burden on the Authority. The Leader of the Council said that she would respond to the issue if the matter was to arise. Councillor Rogers further asked that since the Energy Island and other energy development are important to the Authority why was the County Council not represented at the Energy Targets for Wales Stakeholders Workshophosted by Welsh Government held in Cardiff in July.

 

The Leader of the Council responded by noting that capacity was one of the reasons for not attending the Stakeholders Workshop in Cardiff which is an example why the increase in membership of the Executive was required.

 

·         Submitted the following question on notice by Councillors A M Jones and Bryan Owen to the Leader of the Council :-

 

“Following the decision to stop the tendering process for home care, what and how much were the costs to the Council?”

 

The Leader of the Council responded that the decision to go out to tender as regard to the home care service was taken by the previous administration of the Council. She wished to thank the members of the Opposition Groups for attending the sessions to assess the respective tenders. A decision was undertaken to stop the tendering process and to revisit the matter with the Health Authority. The costs associated to both the Authority and the Health Authority as regard to this process has been staff time only.

 

Councillor Bryan Owen questioned as to why it had taken to the last minute to stop the tendering process when it had taken three days to interview the companies who had tendered for the home care services. He questioned as to the costs incurred by these companies to prepare a tender and attending the interview at the Council and that the Authority could face compensation from the companies involved. He said that the Leader had separated the Portfolio of Housing and Social Service to provide better support for both services and questioned whether she will go back to the Independent Remuneration Panel to

ask for another Portfolio Member on the Executive?

 

The Leader of the Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Notice of Motion Pursuant to Rule 4.1.13.1 of the Constitution

To submit the following Notices of Motion by:-

 

  Councillor Shaun J Redmond

 

“Following the recent announcement to move to a policy of Welsh first language working environment with its associated financial burden and inbuilt discrimination, I move, as the Council has no mandate or sought the consensus of the electorate to change the policy from the Bilingual policy, members resolve to:

 

(a)  Retain the Bilingual working environment and policy until a mandate and consensus are realised by a referendum of the electorate.

(b)  Accept the policy of employing the best qualified candidates for all positions within the Council irrespective of their chosen first or preferred language of Welsh or English.

(c)  Accept the policy of employing young persons and other Anglesey residents whose chosen first or preferred language is Welsh or English.”

 

·      Councillor Aled Morris Jones

 

“I request that the County Council fly the flag of the United Kingdom outside the County Council offices in Llangefni on a daily basis, not just on certain days alongside the Ddraig Goch and the Council flag.”

 

·      Councillor Bryan Owen

 

“In view of the devastating impact on individuals following the recent floods on the Island, would the Council agree to establishing an emergency support fund to assist those affected and prioritising improvement to flood defences as part of the 2018/19 budget.”

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Submitted – the following Notices of Motion by :-

 

·           Councillor Shaun Redmond

 

“Following the recent announcement to move to a policy of Welsh first language working environment with its associated financial burden and inbuilt discrimination, I move, as the Council has no mandate or sought the consensus of the electorate to change the policy from the Bilingual policy, members resolved to :

 

(a)      Retain the Bilingual working environment and policy until a mandate and consensus are realised by a referendum of the electorate;

(b)      Accept the policy of employing the best qualified candidates for all positions within the Council irrespective of their chosen first or preferred language of Welsh or English;

(c)       Accept the policy of employing young persons and other Anglesey residents whose chosen first or preferred language is Welsh or English:

 

Councillor Peter S Rogers seconded the motion.

 

Councillor Redmond said that as an Elected Member he has been approached by the electorate with comments querying need for such a policy of Welsh first language as the working environment of the Council. This announcement to move to this policy has raised many questions and anxiousness within communities of Anglesey and that is why Council policies need to be open and publicly debated. He stressed that his notice of motion is not an attack on the Welsh language but since we do live in a diverse society with two prime languages, which he doubted that will ever change if Anglesey wishes to prosper.   Why has a bilingual policy which has been successful in increasing the numbers who can speak Welsh or choose to use Welsh as their first language has to be replaced by a policy that demands the fluency of employees in writing and speaking Welsh to do their job? Staff who are fluent Welsh speaker carry out their duty in Welsh, which is rightly so, as it is their choice and nobody should deny them that freedom of choice.  He was sure that staff have the utmost respect for those whose first language is different and it is their freedom of choice to use that language.  Councillor Redmond further said that the change in policy will have a detrimental effect on the employment of staff.  He said that there is already a problem in recruiting for highly qualified positions; this could complicate the recruitment process.  He asked the Council to reject the policy of Welsh as the first language of administration of the Council.

 

The Portfolio Holder for the Welsh Language outlined the Welsh language policy adopted by the full Council in May 2016 and thereafter the Welsh Language Standards. He referred that in adopting the Welsh Language Policy the Council also resolved to adopt the following amendment at paragraph 3.2.4 of the policy which states ‘… That the Council’s aim is to ensure that Welsh will be the Council’s main language for both oral and written internal communication.’  In order to achieve this, the Council monitors progress annually by the issuing of a report to Scrutiny  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Presentation of Petitions

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

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Nicola Roberts presented a petition of over 800 signatures to the Chair of the Council from the residents of the Talwrn area who are opposed to the closing of their local school which is part of the modernisation of schools in the Llangefni area.

 

The Chair accepted the petition and said that he would forward it to the relative Committee for discussion. 

7.

To appoint a Co-opted Independent Member to the Standards Committee pdf icon PDF 22 KB

To submit a report by the Chair of the Standards Committee Selection Panel.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Submitted – a report by the Chair of the Standards Committee Section Panel in relation to the appointment of a co-opted Independent Member to the Standards Committee.

 

Councillor R Meirion Jones, a Member of the Standards Committee Selection Panel addressed the meeting and said that the Standards Committee currently has a casual vacancy from the Independent Members on the Committee.  He noted that there has been a recruitment process recently as noted within the report and at the Standards Committee Selection Panel held on 27th November, 2017 the Panel agreed to nominate Mr John Robert Jones to the role of independent member of the Standards Committee, subject to satisfactory reference which have since been received and assessed by the Chair of the Standards Committee Selection Panel. 

 

Councillor A M Jones said that he would abstain from voting as regard to this matter as there is no member from the Opposition Group on the Standards Committee.  He said that there had been a political balance from both the Opposition and Ruling Groups during the previous administration of this Council.

 

Councillors Aled M Jones, Eric W Jones, Bryan Owen, Peter S Rogers and Shaun Redmond abstained from voting.

 

It was RESOLVED :-

 

·      To appoint Mr John Robert Jones as co-opted independent member of the Standards Committee from immediate effect;

·      In the event that a further casual vacancy for an independent member of the Standards Committee arises during the next twelve months, to automatically appoint Ms Sarah Laing Gibbens to this role without the need for a further recruitment process, provided always that this candidate remains eligible for the role, and subject to satisfactory references being received prior to the appointment.

8.

To appoint Two Community Councillors to the Standards Committee pdf icon PDF 22 KB

To submit a report by the Head of Function (Council Business)/Monitoring Officer.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The report of the Head of Function (Council Business)/Monitoring Officer in relation to the nomination of Community Councils’ Representatives to the Standards Committee.

 

Councillor Dafydd R Thomas addressed the meeting that the Standards Committee includes two Community Councillors, who participate in the general business of the Committee, but deal with referrals from the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, and applications for dispensations, only when those matters relate to Community Councillors.  There is a requirement for the Community Council Members to be collectively nominated by all the Community Councils after every local government election.

 

Councillor A M Jones said that he would abstain from voting as regard to this matter as there is no member from the Opposition Group on the Standards Committee and considered that the Group had been disenfranchised from the process.

 

Councillor Nicola Roberts asked the Monitoring Officer to explain the selection process to the Committee.

 

The Monitoring Officer explained that each Town/Community Councils are given the opportunity to submit nominations for no more than 1 Member of their council on the Standards Committee.  Seven nominations had been received and a postal ballot was issued to all the Town/Community Councils requesting that each select a maximum of two candidates.  Following the process, which was verified by the Chair of the Council and the Chair of the Standards Committee, the Monitoring Officer informed all the Town/Community Councils the outcome of the ballot and confirming the two successful candidates.

 

Councillors Aled M Jones, Eric W Jones, Bryan Owen, Peter S Rogers and Shaun Redmond abstained from voting.

 

It was RESOLVED to ratify the collective nominations of the Community Councils by appointing the following Community Councillors as co-opted members of the Standards Committee with immediate effect :-

 

Councillor Iorwerth Roberts of Bryngwran Community Council and

 

Councillor Keith Roberts of Trearddur Community Council

 

Until the next local government elections, or until such time as the appointees are no longer Community Council members, whichever shall occur first.

 

9.

2018/19 Council Tax Reduction Scheme pdf icon PDF 284 KB

To submit a report by the Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer as presented to the Executive on the 27th November, 2017.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The report of the Head of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer with regard to the requirement to adopt a Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2018/19 was presented for the Council’s consideration. The Council Tax Reduction which have been in force since the 2014/15 financial year apart from the change recommended that the Council uses its discretion under the relevant legislation so that the Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2018/19 onwards.

 

It was RESOLVED :-

 

·      That its current local Council Tax Reduction Scheme should not be revised or replaced with another scheme, apart from the Full Council using its discretion under Section 13A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 that the Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2018/19 onwards disregards all payments made under the Wales Infected Blood Support Scheme (WIBSS);

·      That it formally adopts the current Council Tax Reduction Scheme (with the change as recommended above) for the financial year 208/19;

·      That it authorises the Head of Function (Resources/Section 151 Officer to make administrative arrangements so that all annual changes for uprating of financial figures or technical revisions in any amending regulation or regulations are reflected in the Council’s Council Tax Reduction Scheme and for each subsequent year as well as taking into account the necessary amendments to the council tax reduction regulations when using the additional disregard of payments made under WIBSS.

 

10.

Delegations required for the Council's participation in the examination of the Wylfa Newydd and North Wales Connection Project application under the Planning Act 2008 pdf icon PDF 511 KB

To submit a joint report by the Assistant Chief Executive – Partnerships, Community and Service Improvement and the Head of Regulation and Economic Development as presented to the Executive on 27th November, 2017.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Submitted – a joint report by the Assistant Chief Executive (Partnerships, Community & Service Improvement) and the Head of Regulation and Economic Development as presented to the Executive on 27th November, 2017.

 

The Portfolio Holder (Major Projects & Economic Development) gave a background report on the delegation required for the Council’s participation in the examination of the Wylfa Newydd and North Wales Connection Project which will require a Development Consent Order (DCO) from the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on the recommendation of the Planning Inspectorate.

 

The following questions were raised by Members :-

 

·           Councillor Nicola Roberts questioned whether there where examples of statutory and non-statutory requirements of this project.  The Head of Regulation and Economic Development responded that Officers had collaborated closely with individuals involved with the consenting processes for the Hinkley Point C development in Somerset to take advantage of their experiences and knowledge. He noted that once the Examination process commences, issues will move swiftly with Officers having only days to response to matters raised at the Inquiry.  He further said that Officers (on behalf of the County Council) may also wish to respond to questions submitted by other organisations.  He also noted that a draft DCO and Section 106 legal agreement will be discussed with the full Council thereafter.

 

·           Councillor Aled M Jones expressed that he would have expected more specific examples within the report as regard to documentation that will be addressed within the DCO process.  Whilst accepting that matters within the Enquiry will need to be addressed and responded to urgently; he questioned as to whether Officers or Elected Members were given delegated authority to deal with documentation during the Hinkley Point C development.  The Portfolio Holder (Major Projects & Economic Development) responded that such a scheme of delegation needs to be established within this Council which is similar to the experiences of the Hinkey Point C development.  He noted that this Council was fortunate that the Staff within the Regulation & Economic Development Service are experienced but the Elected Members will continue to have the decision making powers. Councillor Aled M Jones gave an example as regard to the possible scenario that the National Grid may offer i.e. to underground the power line in one area and not in others; therefore would the authorisation to make such a decision be for an Officer to decide. Councillor Jones considered that this was unfair and unacceptable and should be a political decision. 

 

The Monitoring Officer referred to the Local Government Act 1972, Section 101, Paragraph 1 (a)(b) which is relevant to the delegation of authority to Officers as regard to this matter ‘ …..  local authority may arrange for the discharge of any of their functions by an Officer of the Local Authority or by a Committee or Sub-Committee.’  She said that delegated power may not be discharged to one Elected Member although it could be delegated to a Committee or Sub-Committee but this would not overcome the issue of urgency/timing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

11.

2018 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies pdf icon PDF 281 KB

The Chief Executive to report on the above.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Submitted – the report of the Head of Democratic Services in respect of the review of the parliamentary constituencies and revised proposals 2018.

 

As the Boundary Commission will not accept observations after the 11th December, 2017 and in view of the fact that the County Council is meeting on the 12th December a response has been prepared in consultation with Group Leaders reiterating this Councils opposition to the revised proposal.  A copy of the correspondence was distributed at the meeting and will also be published on the Councils website.

 

It was RESOLVED to reaffirm the County Councils opposition to proposals to change the Parliamentary constituency of Ynys Môn.