Agenda item

To present the report of the Head of Profession (HR) and Transformation.

The report of the Head of Profession (HR) and Transformation incorporating the Annual Delivery Document for 2024/25 was presented for the Committee’s consideration.

The report was presented by Councillor Carwyn Jones, Portfolio Member for Corporate Business and Customer Experience as setting out the Council’s key work streams for 2024/25 which will contribute towards achieving the strategic objectives of the Council Plan 2023-2028.

In considering the contents of the Annual Delivery Document, the following were points of discussion by the Committee –

·      The ways in which the proposed Delivery Document aligns with the Council Plan.

·      The rationale for setting a target of immersing 96 pupils with little or no Welsh skills through language centres.

·      Given the extension of voting rights to 16-year-olds in Senedd and local elections in Wales and the Council’s commitment to ensuring that there are opportunities for children and young people’s voices to be heard, the ways in which the Council proposes to better engage young people in local democracy and use their vote, and whether schools should be educating young people about the different forms, tiers, and evolution of democracy.

·      The risks and challenges in seeking to achieve the priorities set for 2024/25.

·      Whether the commitment to develop thirty new homes is sufficiently ambitious.

·      How the Council proposes to reach and influence communities with regard to its climate change ambitions.

·      The publicity given to the Anglesey Local Development Plan Delivery Agreement document and the extent of its distribution/circulation for public awareness.

·      In light of the magnitude and strategic importance of nuclear development to the Island’s economy and wider afield, it was suggested and supported by Committee that a specific and separate line of reference to Wylfa be included under the Delivery Document’s economic commitments. Likewise it was suggested and supported by Committee that a specific reference to the Council’s commitment to engaging with the business sector be also included in the same section of the Document.

Officers responded to the points raised as follows –

·      That the Delivery Document has been crafted to align with the strategic priorities of the Council Plan and sets out the activities which the Council will undertake in 2024/25 and how those reflect what the Council has committed to achieve by 2028 in the Council Plan. The Council’s performance will be reviewed at the end of 2024/25 to assess the extent to which it has achieved its objectives for the year and how those have contributed towards realising the priorities of the Council Plan.

·      That the Director of the Education, Skills, and Young People would be asked to clarify the basis of the target for immersing 96 pupils with little or no Welsh skills through language centres and the information circulated to the Committee’s members.

·      That there is within the Council an officer post whose responsibilities include promoting and highlighting the importance of voting among 16-year-olds and a work programme has been developed to support those endeavours chiefly through current networks and through collaboration with the colleges and school sixth form classes. With regard to teaching about democracy in schools, the Assistant Chief Executive advised that the Children and Young People’ Forum has been re-established and that he would convey the message to the Learning Service.

·      That many of the work streams set out in the Delivery Document are dependent for their achievement on external grant funding which in some instances is as yet unconfirmed. This is a risk and will be subject to continued monitoring throughout the year and may necessitate some adaptation of the document in line with circumstances.

·      That the target of developing thirty new homes is achievable from the perspective of the Council’s capacity, land availability and resources but is unlikely to be enough in terms of meeting local housing needs and homelessness. It is essential that the Council and others continue to develop new homes otherwise the gap between demand and provision will widen and the Council will face increasing homelessness pressures.

·      That the Local Development Plan Delivery Agreement is currently the subject of a six-week consultation and will inform the process of preparing a new Local Development Plan for Anglesey. The consultation has been undertaken in the same way as all other Council consultations and has been scrutinised by the Consultation and Engagement Board. The Chief Executive recommended that the question be referred to the Planning Policy Committee so that Members can consider whether the public is sufficiently aware of planning policy and its significance and how they can have a say in its development and whether a plan is required within communities. It was further confirmed that copies of the Anglesey Local Development Plan Delivery Agreement have been distributed to Anglesey libraries and other public locations although information about the exact number of copies made available was not immediately to hand. It is not Council policy to print and circulate paper copies unless requested.

·      That the Council has committed to becoming a net zero organisation by 2030 and has established challenging targets to reduce its carbon emissions. In terms of what is happening at community level the Council is progressing household waste recycling rates, flood mitigation work, active travel routes as well as preparing to implement a programme to install EV charging points across the Island. Responding to the climate change crisis with limited resources is a significant challenge and while the immediate focus is on the Council itself, as much support as possible is being given to safeguarding communities via Council projects, processes, and systems.

Having scrutinised the documentation, the Corporate Scrutiny Committee resolved to endorse the Annual Delivery Document 2024/25 to the Executive with the recommendation that the document include specific and separate reference to Wylfa under the economic commitments section as well as a reference to the Council’s commitment to engaging with the business sector.

Additional actions –

·      To ask the Director of the Education, Skills, and Young People to clarify the basis of the target for immersing 96 pupils with little or no Welsh skills through language centres and circulate the response to the Committee’s members.

·      That the publicity afforded the Anglesey Local Development Plan Delivery Agreement document and public awareness of the document be referred to the Planning Policy Committee for consideration. The Chief Executive to confirm the number of copies produced and distributed.