Agenda and minutes

No declarations of ineterst were made at this stage – please see item X Below

The Mayor

The Deputy Mayor stated that all members were aware that the Mayor was currently unable to attend the Council meeting. The Deputy Mayor reported that the Mayor was however undertaking a fair number of his duties and all members wished to pass on their best wishes to the Mayor for a speedy return to good health

Mrs Jane Morris

The Deputy Mayor informed members of the sad news of the death of Jane Morris, the wife of Councillor Allan Morris and a former Mayoress of the City. All members and officers wished to record their condolences to Councillor Morris and his family. Members and officers stood in silence as a mark of our respect.

The minutes of the meeting held on 27 September 2016 were confirmed as a true record by the Council and signed by the Deputy mayor

The following appointments were agreed or endorsed:

Appointment Panel for a Corporate Director (Place): The Leader of the Council and Councillors Gail Giles, Herbie Thomas and David Williams

Appointment Panel for a Head of People and Business Change: The Leader of the Council and Councillors Gail Giles, Herbie Thomas and Charles Ferris

Appointments made by the Panels were confirmed as:

Corporate Director (Place): Ms Beverly Owen

Head of People and Business Change: Mr Rhys Cornwall.

The Cabinet Member for Community Services, Work and Skills was appointed to the Strategic Board of the Shared Resource Service

Mr Andrew Mitchell and Mr Kerry Watkins had been appointed to serve as lay members on the Standards Committee

Governing Bodies:

The following appointments were made:

Re-appointments

·         Alway Primary – Cllr Debbie Harvey

·         Lliswerry Primary – Cllr Allan Morris

·         Malpas Park Primary – Hazel Allen

·         St Michael’s RC Primary – Michael Allen

·         Fairoak Nursery – Cllr Carmel Townsend

New Appointments

·         Caerleon Lodge Hill Primary – Kayleigh Pritchard-Parton

·         High Cross Primary – Kath McCarthy

·         Llanmartin Primary – Jonathan Barry

·         Malpas CIW Junior – Iain Riley

·         Malpas Park – James Clarke

·         Milton Infant School – Laura Lacey

·         Milton Junior School- Laura Lacey

·         Newport High School – Michael Brunnock

·         Ringland Primary – Rehmaan Hayat

·         Ysgol Gyfun Gwent Is Coed – Cllr Ibrahim Hayat

·         Ysgol Gymraeg Ifor Hael – Joseph Lewis

This month the regular session with the Local Commander is replaced by a 30 Minute session with Mr Jeff Cuthbert the Police and Crime Commissioner

The Deputy Mayor welcomed to the meeting Mr Jeff Cuthbert, Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent and Mrs Sian Curley, Chief of Staff.

The Police and Crime Commissioner made a presentation to the Council setting out the main aspects of his role and the role of his office.

The Commissioner then pointed out his key considerations as

·         Improving further partnership working

·         Building and maintaining cohesion and communication with all communities within Gwent

·         Examining police visibility and accessibility with the Chief Constable

·         Getting the balance right between provision and reassurance, which includes having well located Police Stations

·         Building a strong and positive relationship with the Welsh Government and partners in the community

His main priorities were crime prevention; support for victims; community cohesion; dealing with antisocial behaviour; and effective service delivery

Members asked questions and made points to the Commissioner about

·         The lack of parking enforcement throughout the city and particularly in the city centre and the fact that any decriminalisation process would take over two years with the need to address issues now.

·         The need to review the business cases in relation to the closure of specific police stations

·         The need to improve information to assist the Licensing Committee on applicants

·         Reported low detection rates in specific areas of the city

·         The need to improve the 101 service to allow easy access by the public

·         The need to improve access to data on road traffic accidents to partners to help in road design

·         The need to provide information on the intended use of the recently recruited 100 new police officers, where it was explained that the net increase would be in the region of 60 to 70.

·         The need for a strategic approach to tackling drug dealing

·         The continuing problem of antisocial behaviour

·         The need for continued action to address hate crimes in the region

·         The potential grey areas between operational and strategic decision making

The Chief Executive reported that on 15^th March 2016, each of the ten constituent council leaders in South East Wales, the First Minister, the Welsh Government Minister for Finance and Government Business, the Secretary of State for Wales and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury signed the Cardiff Capital Region (‘CCR’) City Deal Heads of Terms Agreement.

The City Deal is therefore an agreement between the UK Government, Welsh Government and the ten leaders of the CCR. It includes:

·         A £1.2 billion investment in the CCR’s infrastructure through a 20-year Investment Fund;

·         The creation of a non-statutory Regional Transport Authority to co-ordinate transport planning and investment, in partnership with the Welsh Government;

·         The creation of a CCR Skills and Employment Board;

·         The CCR and the Welsh Government will work with the Department of Work and Pensions to co-design the future employment support from 2017 for people with a health condition or disability and/or long term unemployed;

·         A CCR Business Organisation will be established to ensure that there is a single voice for business to work with local authority leaders; and

·         The Welsh Government and the CCR commitment to a new partnership approach to housing development and regeneration. This will ensure the delivery of sustainable communities, through the use and re-use of property and sites.

To ensure the right investments are made to achieve significant economic growth the CCR City Deal has set a small number of key targets, which are: the creation of 25,000 new jobs by 2036; and leveraging £4 billion of private sector investment as a result of the £1.2bn public sector investment.

The Chief Executive informed the Council that the stage had been reached where further consideration had been given to the principles outlined and the Council is now required to consider taking the next steps to commit to the terms of the city deal.

The full Joint Working Agreement was circulated to all members.

The Leader of the Council moved acceptance of the proposals saying that the Friars Walk development had transformed both the physical view and the ‘feel good factor’ in the city. The Leader mentioned the coming of the Convention Centre and positive impact on the city that would have. She said that location was ta the heart of Newport’s renaissance, connecting economies and providing an economic heart to the Cardiff City Region as well as providing access to markets across the UK.

The Leader stated that despite budgetary constraints, the Council continues to invest in the people of Newport and that opportunity was at the heart of what the Council does.

The Leader said that the City deal offered a unique opportunity to Newport and its partners and that one of the key elements was the devolution of decision making to a local level. There would be increased investment through improvements in infrastructure and skills development. The Leader stated that the City Deal would be a catalyst for working more effectively, bringing more and better opportunities to communities of the city and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Leader of the Council introduced a report which referred to the range of things that will need to be considered by the Council and the Health Board.

Council was informed that under the Social Services and Wellbeing Act (2014) there is a statutory duty on local authorities and health boards to prepare a regional population needs assessment (PNA) in relation to people requiring care and support. The PNA would be signed off by full council in each Local Authority and by each Health Board

Council was informed that a draft population needs assessment has been jointly developed across the region (Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen) by Aneurin Bevan University Health Board and Gwent Transformation Team. 

Details of the content of the draft were set out in the report. Members were informed that it was based on national research/reports and on the views of citizens, providers and the third Sector

The Council was informed that the PNA was the first of its kind and would set the direction of travel for health and social care services. It would act as the ‘shop window’ in terms of priorities and next steps

The Cabinet had previously considered the report and had recommended the  draft assessment to Council so that in accordance with statutory requirements, the final PNA can be approved before March 31^st.This will take place during Council on March 2^nd and then the PNA will subsequently be published on the Newport City Council website.

Resolved

To adopt the draft PNA report, priorities and suggested actions so that in accordance with statutory requirements, the final PNA can be approved before March 31^st.This will take place during Council on March 2^nd and then the PNA will subsequently be published on the Newport City Council website.

The Leader of the Council introduced a report informing the Council that the Improvement Plan helps the authority to show that we have met our duty to continuously improve in line with the Local Government Measure 2009. 

In order to clearly demonstrate that the council is fulfilling this duty, eight priority areas were identified in which measurable improvement should be demonstrated.

The current Improvement Plan covers a 2 year period and contains eight objectives which were agreed by Cabinet in April 2016.The Leader stated that as it is a 2 year plan, a review at this point would ensure that the content of the objectives set at the start of 2016 is updated to remain relevant and meaningful for the second year. Extensive consultation had been undertaken before the eight priorities were set last year.

The Council was informed that the overall objectives remain the same and a few updates had been made to the content of the objectives.

Performance measures are included in the Improvement Plan to help monitor the success of activities some of the measures used here are also reported nationally.  The National Strategic indicators (NSI) were revoked in July 2016, however many have now been included in the Public Accountability Measures (PAM) data set which is collected by the Data Unit Wales.  Changes to measures and targets were reflected in the updated objectives.

The programme of Local Government Reform and the introduction of the Well Being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, mean that local authority performance frameworks are changing to allow local authorities to focus on working more effectively to deliver the wellbeing goals, the content of the plan is now more closely aligned with the Wellbeingagenda.

The Leader stated that the updated plan will allow us to demonstrate continuous improvement in the eight areas that are focused on and to contribute to the Wellbeing goals.

Resolved

To adopt the updated Improvement Plan 2016-2018

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources introduced a report stating that the Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2017/18 updates the scheme that was introduced on 1st April 2014.

The Council is not required to consult on the proposals of the new scheme as the amendments made are in consequence of amendments made to the Prescribed Requirements Regulations. The local discretions that are available to the Council will remain unchanged. This report provides information on the proposed Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

The Cabinet Member recommended no change in the use of discretions as in previous years and to disregard the whole amount of War Disablement Pensions and War Widows Pensions when calculating income of the claimant

Resolved

That Council approves the Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2017/18 in accordance with the Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements and Default Schemes) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 ("the Prescribed Requirements Regulations") exercising its local discretions as indicated above.

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources introduced a report stating that the report provided an update on the half year position of the Treasury Management activities of the Council to 30^th September 2016. 

The cabinet member stated that the report was taken to audit committee on 1^st December 2016, who noted the report and agreed with proposals within.

The cabinet member stated that overall, the treasury management activities for the year to date have followed that agreed in the Treasury Management Strategy approved earlier in the year, meaning that the Council continues to be a short term investor in cash to cover day to day cash-flow activities, and has only undertaken new temporary borrowing (that under 12 months), as required to fund normal trading activities and to fund borrowing in relation to the Friars Walk Development.

Treasury Management activities had stayed within the borrowing limits as set in the strategy, however there is the need to increase the percentage limit of total borrowing with a maturity date within 12 months to 80%.  The reason for this was that there was a wish to keep borrowing in relation to Friars Walk short- term. This increase in percentage was at very minimal risk to the Council, as it was over the short term and the spread of borrowing over long term is still prudent.

Resolved

To note the report on treasury management activities for the period to 30 September 2016 and approve the requirement to increase the percentage limit of total borrowing with a maturity date within 12 months to 80%.

The proposed diary / schedule of meetings for the coming municipal year was adopted as a guide, recognising that individual Committees would agree their start times and that amendments to the schedule could be agreed as necessary

Councillor Fouweather declared an interest in this item and did not vote

The Leader of the Council moved that the Council nominates Councillor David Fouweather to serve as Mayor of the City for the coming municipal year. The Leader of the Opposition seconded the motion and it was unanimously resolved

To nominate Councillor David Fouweather to serve as Mayor of the City for the coming municipal year

To provide an opportunity for councillors to ask questions to the Chair of the Cabinet in accordance with the Council’s Standing Orders.

Process: No more than 30 minutes will be allocated at the Council meeting for oral questions to the Leader

If members are unable to ask their question orally within the allocated time, remaining questions will be answered in writing. The question and response will be appended to the minutes.

The question must be addressed through the Mayor or the person presiding at the meeting and not directly to the person being questioned

No questions were submitted on this occasion

To provide an opportunity to pose Questions to Cabinet Members in line with Standing Orders

Process: No more than 10 minutes will be allocated at the Council meeting for questions to each Cabinet Member.

Members will have needed to submit their proposed questions in writing in accordance with Standing Orders. If members are unable to ask their question orally within the allocated time, remaining questions will be answered in writing. The question and response will be appended to the minutes.

The question must be addressed through the Mayor or the person presiding at the meeting and not directly to the person being questioned.

Questions will be posed to cabinet members in the following order:

· Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment Sustainability and Transport

· Cabinet Member for Education & Young People

· Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources

· CM for Community Services, Work and Skills

· Cabinet Member for Regulatory Functions

· Cabinet Member for Regeneration & Investment

· Cabinet Member for Adult Social Services & Housing

· Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Sport

For Information: A digest of recent decision schedules issued by Cabinet, Cabinet Members and Minutes of recent meetings of Committees has been circulated electronically to all Members of the Council.

No questions were submitted on this occasion

To provide the opportunity to pose questions to the Chairs of the Committees in the following order:

I.              Scrutiny Committees

· Community Planning and Development

· Learning, Caring and Leisure

· Street Scene, Regeneration and Safety

II. Planning Committee

III. Licensing Committee

IV. Democratic Services Committee

Process: No more than 10 minutes will be allocated at the Council meeting for questions to each Chair.

Members will have needed to submit their proposed questions in writing in accordance with Standing Orders. If members are unable to ask their question orally within the allocated time, remaining questions will be answered in writing. The question and response will be appended to the minutes.

The question must be addressed through the Mayor or the person presiding at the meeting and not directly to the person being questioned.

No questions were submitted on this occasion