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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chambers - Civic Centre. View directions

Contact: Anne Jenkins  Governance Team Leader

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

Preliminaries

      i.        To receive any apologies for absence.

     ii.        To receive any declarations of interest.

    iii.        To receive any announcements by the Mayor.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

      i.        To receive any apologies for absence

 

The Monitoring Officer reported apologies for absence (noted above)

 

    ii.        To receive any declarations of interest

 

There were no declarations of interest at this stage.

 

   iii.        To receive any announcements by the Mayor

 

There were no announcements made by the Mayor.

 

2.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 139 KB

To confirm and sign the minutes of the last meeting.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Minutes of the Council meeting held on 28 January 2020.

 

Resolved: That the Minutes of 28 January 2020 be approved and adopted.

3.

Appointments pdf icon PDF 73 KB

To consider any proposed appointments.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

To consider the proposed appointments set out in the report

 

Councillor Harvey moved the appointments set out in the Report, as agreed by the Business managers, subject to the additional appointments set out below.

 

Resolved: That the following appointments be agreed.

 

Internal Appointments

 

Champions

 

Older Persons Champion - Cllr Trevor Watkins

Disabled, Vulnerable Persons & Mental Health Champion - Cllr Kate Thomas

Carers Champion - Cllr Graham Berry

Anti-Poverty Champion - Cllr Phil Hourahine

Armed Forces Champion - Cllr Mark Spencer

Homelessness - Cllr Yvonne Forsey

Biodiversity Champion - Cllr Laura Lacey

B.A.M.E Champion - Cllr Majid Rahman

L.G.B.T. Champion - Cllr Laura Lacey

Welsh Champion - Cllr Jason Hughes

 

Appointments to External Organisations

 

Organisation    No. of Vacancies / Replacements      Nominations Received

WLGA 3          Leader, Deputy Leader and Cllr M Spencer

WLGA Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure       1 New appointment     Councillor D Harvey

Cardiff Capital Region City Deal Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee   1 Reserve       Councillor J Hughes

 

Governing Body Appointments

 

Governing Body          No. of Vacancies / Re-appointments  Nominations Received

Ysgol Gymraeg Casnewydd  1 Continuation of appointment           Alan Speight

St Patricks RC Primary School          1 Continuation of appointment           Allan Morris

St Patricks RC Primary School          1 Continuation of appointment           John Richards

St Josephs RC Primary School          1 Continuation of appointment           Ceri Gibbons

St Mary’s RC Primary School 1 Continuation of appointment           Charles Ferris

Tredegar Park Primary School           1 LEA Governor          Mr Savage

4.

Police Issues

30 minutes is allocated for questions to the Gwent Police representative.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Superintendent M Richards gave the Council an update on current police matters before inviting questions from councillors

 

         Councillor Truman referred to a spate of serious antisocial incidents in Alway, Ringland and Lliswerry.  A meeting was held by residents, who raised their concern that there was lack of communication and visibility from the Police.  Residents understood and sympathised with the Police cuts and the Councillor thanked the Police for attending.  Councillor reiterated that it was an easy thing to fix; communication and visibility.  Supt M Richard, thanked Councillors Truman, Guy and Jeavons and had recognised the massive support from councillors and was aware that police needed to do more and with this in mind, was committed to acting on issues raised at the resident’s meeting and was working more closely with the elected members. 

 

         Councillor Linton was at the above mentioned meeting and echoed the sentiment of Councillor Truman and asked what was to be done by the police in addition to the above mentioned for Ringland.  Supt M Richard was stressed that it was important to get visibility right.  Community Safety Officers presence was taken out of Alway and Ringland and placed with primary school children for extra security.  Improvements however was expected in the key areas.

 

         Councillor Harvey thanked the police on swift their swift reaction in relation to the above wards and thanked Insp Cawley, who was a good inspector that cared about residents.  Police were faced with cuts and residents did not understand this until they attended the meeting.  The Superintendent was committed to working together with residents and councillors.

 

         Councillor Guy referred to scams targeting older people and asked was there any help from organisations to prevent this occurring.  Supt M Richards advised that preventative work was published online but was aware that there was probably a lot of senior citizens that did not go online.  With this in mind, he would meet with Councillor Guy to discuss an alternatives way to raise awareness.

 

         Councillor Rahman mentioned the drug issues around Morris Street which was discussed at the last council in January.  Councillor Rahman was litter picking recently with John Griffiths AM and Jessica Morden MP.  Drugs were found hidden on the weekend in places such as drains.  Two PCSOs were seen in the area but with Summer approaching and a lack of police presence, this problem would increase. The Superintendent advised that he would contact Insp Cawley to look into this matter.

 

         Councillor Marshall referred to the recent space of burglaries in Gaer, and advised that it was difficult for victims to obtain communication from the police, could the Superintendent therefore take into consideration the deep concern from residents.  Supt M Richards stressed that he was aware of the crimes and would focus on tacking the issue as a matter of priority.

 

         Councillor Jeavons asked if there was any update on speeding cars outside Tesco in Spytty.  The Superintendent advised that there was nothing to update at present but  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Budget and Medium Term Financial Plan pdf icon PDF 140 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Leader presented the report, explaining the key details around the administration’s 2020/21 budget and highlighting the Council Tax increase underpinning that budget, at 6.95%.

 

The budget proposals were for the administration to decide; this was done at Cabinet in February.  Whilst the budget agreed required a 6.95% Council Tax increase to fund it, full Council would review this and agree the Council Tax rate. 

 

The background as to how on the budget and Council Tax position was that the draft budget in December was based on an a number of assumptions.  The key one being the Revenue Support Grant Settlement, and other things such as provision for pay and contract price increases and investment to support increasing demand for essential services.  A budget gap of almost £6m was anticipated in 2020/21 at that stage; however, these assumptions were updated once the draft settlement was received from Welsh Government on the 16 December.

 

At Cabinet in February, the better Revenue Support Grant gave around £7.3m more funding than assumed.  Savings of around £5.2m had already been identified in the December position and a further two proposals totalling £300k were identified.  Furthermore, further cost pressures were considered and approved in response to external influences, for example, an increase in the national minimum wage and an increase in the South Wales Fire Levy and the opportunity to remove the reliance on reserves in order to balance the budget.  A ‘balance in hand’ of £3.9m allowed the administration to consider and respond to the public consultation feedback and to make decisions in terms of how to utilise the additional money available for the greater good of the City.  Some of the investment decisions included investment in schools, youth services, bringing empty homes back in to use and making savings elsewhere in the council as outlined within the report, and reducing the draft proposed council tax increase down to 6.95%.

 

The final settlement was received two days ago, with no change to the Council’s Revenue Support Grant to that included in the provisional settlement and assumed in the budget papers.

 

The Council’s recommended net budget would increase from its current £281m to about £300m, an increase of nearly £19m.  The increase was funded from increased Revenue Support Grant of nearly £14m, proposed increased Council Tax income of just over £4m and an increase in the number of new homes paying Council Tax at nearly £1m. 

 

It was well known that Newport’s Council Tax is low compared to nearly all other Welsh Councils and indeed, across the UK. This had consequences on the Council’s finances, in terms of ranking in Wales on its budget position against the ‘standard spending assessment’ – it is 19th worst funded currently but had the second lowest level of Council Tax in Wales.

 

The Council made significant savings over many years to balance the Council’s budget as well as increasing Council Tax.

 

The report detailed the Council’s medium term financial projections and the future uncertainties that were faced such as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Capital Strategy and Treasury Management Strategy pdf icon PDF 4 MB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

1.         Capital Strategy and Treasury Management Strategy

 

This ‘Capital Strategy 2019/20 to 2028/29’ was an update of the Council’s capital strategy following the requirement placed on Local Authorities by the ‘Prudential Code for capital finance in Local Authorities (2017)’ to determine a capital strategy. Council was required to approve the strategy and the prudential indicators within it on at least an annual basis to be kept under review, updated and brought to Council as necessary.

The key areas contained were included in the report, such as the five year capital programme to 2022/23 and the longer term projection for capital financing costs.

 

The programme above was increasing the capital financing costs, included in the Council’s MTFP, which was challenging in the current financial climate.  Costs would continue to increase into the medium to long term.  Compared to comparative authorities, the percentage of the capital financing costs as a proportion to the Council’s total net revenue budget was high.  Further work was planned to inform this issue.

 

The Council is involved in two types of treasury activity, borrowing long-term for capital purposes and short term for temporary cash flow and investment of surplus cash. 

 

These activities were controlled by the Council’s Treasury Management Strategy and various measures and limits were set by its Prudential Indicators to regulate/control the implementation of that strategy.

 

In terms of our borrowing strategy the Council had significant long term borrowing requirements but in recent years the strategy was able to fund its capital expenditure from reducing investments rather than undertaking more expensive additional borrowing, using ‘surplus cash’, known as ‘internal borrowing’. 

 

The capacity for being internally borrowed was fully used and new borrowing requirements would need to come from new external loans.  In addition, as the Council reduced its reserves, it would need to replace this lower headroom for internal borrowing created, with new external borrowing too.  This was an important and significant issue and again, as the capital strategy recommended, the council needed to maintain a sustainable level of capital spending in order to control new levels of borrowing, this would create and the revenue costs associated with that. 

 

Given the very low returns from short-term unsecured bank investments, the Authority aims to diversify into higher yielding asset classes during 2020/21.  This is especially the case for the estimated £10 million that is available for longer-term investment and which we are required to have invested in order to maintain our regulatory position.  All of the Authority’s surplus cash is currently invested in short-term unsecured bank deposits and local authorities.  This diversification will represent a change in strategy over the coming year.

 

The strategies are very comprehensive and the report provided a useful summary of the key messages.

 

Given the increasing risk and very low returns from short-term unsecured bank investments, the Authority aimed to diversify into higher yielding asset classes during 2020/21. 

 

The report was seconded by Councillor Jeavons.

 

Councillor C Evans advised that the Council should lead by example if there were any  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

National Non Domestic Rates: Discretionary Relief - High Street Relief Scheme 2020/21 pdf icon PDF 132 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Leader presented the report, in which the Welsh Government had again made available grant funding for billing authorities to deliver in 2020-21, the High Street Rate Relief Scheme to reduce the rate burden on qualifying high street retail properties. The Welsh Government agreed to reimburse the Council in full for any awards made under the scheme and it was envisaged that around 400 businesses would again benefit from reduced rates by way of this relief.

 

The scheme was identical to the retail rate relief schemes that operated in previous years, and would deliver reduced rates to qualifying properties which were broadly retail in nature. As well as rate relief of up to £2,500 for each qualifying property.

 

The report was seconded by Councillor Jeavons.

 

The vote was unanimous.

 

Resolved

The Council resolved to adopt the Welsh Government's Wales High Street and Retail Relief Scheme for 2020-21 by making the appropriate determination and decision, as required by Sections 47(1)(a) and 47(3) respectively of the Local Government Finance Act 1988, and set out in the Appendix to this report.

8.

Questions to the Leader of the Council

To provide an opportunity for Councillors to ask questions to the Leader of the Council in accordance with the Council’s Standing Orders.

 

Process:

 

No more than 15 minutes will be allocated at the Council meeting for questions to the Leader of the Council.

 

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

Additional documents:

Minutes:

         The Leader gave the following announcements, before proceeding with questions:

 

The launch of the Western Gateway Website and prospectus went live on Wednesday this was an exciting collaboration of which the Council was a key member.

 

This was launched by Cabinet Ministers in November last year, and was the UK’s third powerhouse after the Northern Powerhouse and the Midlands Engine.

 

The Western Gateway went one step further than the regional powerhouses formed to date - stretching across south Wales and western England.

 

All partners focussed on inclusive and clean economic growth on a large scale.

 

The new prospectus outlined the emerging vision and the key ambitions for the economic partnership, developed through discussions between the partnership’s local authorities, businesses, LEPs and city regions.  It set out the scale of the Western Gateway’s ambitions and identified the emerging strategic priorities of connectivity, innovation and a co-ordinated international approach to trade and investment.

 

It came ahead of a full vision document for the partnership, following the completion of an Independent Economic Review later this year that would provide an evidence base across the countries, area and regions of the partnership.  (www.western-gateway.co.uk)

 

         It gave the Leader great pleasure to confirm that work to restore the historical Market Arcade was now underway.  The Council worked very hard to secure funding from the Heritage Fund, Cadw and Welsh Government for the project. It had been a complex scheme and fortunately restoration work began last week.  This would make a huge difference to the city centre, benefiting not only the businesses in the arcade but also those in the surrounding area.  The arcade would remain open and was due to completed next year.  It included the restoration of the shopfronts and refurbishment of the glazed canopy.  Importantly, the council would be helping to protect an important part of the city's heritage.

 

         The ambitious Solar panel project was progressing well, making a considerable contribution to the Council’s aim to become a carbon-neutral organisation.  Working in partnership with Egni Co-op, roof-mounted solar panels were being installed on council buildings across Newport.

 

Following a detailed feasibility study, with support from the Welsh Government Energy Services, Sustainable Communities Wales and the Wales Co-operative Centre a plan was drawn up to install 6,000 solar panels across 21 sites at zero cost to the council.  Once installed, the solar panels would generate more than 1.9 million units of clean renewable electricity per year.

 

Work had recently been completed at Parklands and Blaen-Y-Pant Residential Care Homes, where 129 solar panels were installed across both sites.  Most of the electricity generated would be used on site reducing the council’s carbon emissions by 348 tonnes per year.  Some electricity would also be exported onto the grid for use in the city.

 

The council was determined to take a lead on tackling the climate crisis and by working with Engi Co-op we would achieve a 20 fold increase in the amount of renewable energy installed on our buildings.

 

         The Leader acknowledged the considerable efforts made  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

Questions to the Cabinet Members

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 must submit their proposed questions in writing in advance 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:

 

      i.        Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Assets and Member Development

     ii.        Cabinet Member for Education and Skills

    iii.        Cabinet Member for Social Services

   iv.        Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Housing

    v.        Cabinet Member for Community and Resources

   vi.        Cabinet Member for Streetscene

  vii.        Cabinet Member for Licensing and Regulation

 viii.        Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure

 

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.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

i.          Deputy Leader/Cabinet Member for City Services

 

Councillor Mogford asked the following question that had been submitted:

 

‘Will the Cabinet member give an update on how the City has coped with recent flooding throughout Newport and importantly what initiatives and preventive measures should be taken so going forward we are less adversely impacted by storms of these magnitudes.’

 

The Deputy Leader/Cabinet Member for City Services responded:

 

City Services staff worked on a shift rotation from Friday afternoon until the Monday morning carrying out preventative action and responding to requests for support. Over 120 separate incidents where dealt with, mainly consisting of:

 

         Sandbag requests (over 1,000 residents were supplied with sandbags)

         Blocked gullies

         Traffic signal failing (due to water ingress)

         Falling Trees

 

Three roads were closed for a short period of time: A48 Penhow, Coast Road Marshfield and Cardiff Road near Pont Ebbw.

 

Flood defences were deployed where required including the closing of Gwastad Gate at Malpas Brook. Following the event, river bridges and critical culverts have been inspected and there are no immediate structural concerns, but officers are also working with NRW to address any debris accumulating at river bridges.

 

To address flooding at the Redrow site, the developer plans plan to install additional, temporary flood defences to protect the development; a meeting with Council officers is being arranged to explore permanent solutions.

 

Welsh Government has also set up a number of funds for financial assistance:

 

         Support for councils – through the Emergency Financial Assistance Scheme

         Support for households – support for those affected by flooding is to be provided via Emergency Assistance Payments.

         Support for businesses – Business Wales are offering advice and support companies affected and they will refer them to the Development Bank for Wales if they need loans.

 

Significant flood defence works have already been carried out in Shaftesbury, and officers are currently working with NRW to develop plans for further flood mitigation works at Stephenson Street.  The Council is committed to working in partnership with NRW and WG to review and improve flood defences and through its role as a sustainable drainage approval body, NCC will also ensure that new developments over 100 square meters will comply with the new regulations.

 

Supplementary question:

Councillor Mogford expressed his thanks to everyone involved.

 

ii.          Cabinet Member for Education and Skills

 

Councillor J Watkins asked the following question that had been submitted:

 

‘Primary Head Teachers recently wrote to you outlining their serious concerns on matters including the state of school buildings and the funding of schools, what has been your response to their letter?’

 

The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills responded:

 

The Newport Association of Primary Head Teachers wrote to Cabinet expressing their views on the budget consultations for 2020/21. The views of Head Teachers are always considered within the wider context of budget consultation. This year more than three and a half thousand responses were received from citizens and organisations across the city regarding a range of service issues. As a Cabinet we listened carefully to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

10.

Questions to the Chairs of Committees

To provide an opportunity to pose questions to the Chairs of the Committees in line with Standing Orders.

 

Process:

 

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

 

Members must submit their proposed questions in writing in advance 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 Committee Chairs in the following order:

 

      i.        Scrutiny Committees

a.    Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee

b.    Performance Scrutiny Committee – People

c.    Performance Scrutiny Committee – Place and Corporate

d.    Performance Scrutiny Committee – Partnerships

     ii.        Planning Committee

    iii.        Licensing Committee

   iv.        Democratic Services Committee

 

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.

 

Additional documents:

11.

Democratic Services Committee Minutes pdf icon PDF 101 KB

To note the minutes of the latest meeting of the Democratic Services Committee held on 24 October 2019 and 20 February 2020.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Minutes of the above Committee from 24 October 2019 and 20 February 2020 were noted, along with the following recommendations, which was presented by Councillor M Evans in the absence of the Chair of Democratic Services Committee.

 

The Chair advised that a composite agreement be made on the first three points put forward from the two previous meetings.

 

The Minutes were seconded by Councillor R Mogford and unanimously carried.

 

Resolved:

 

         24 October 2019

Chair of Council

That the Council should not appoint a Chair of Council/Presiding Member.

         20 February 2020

Review of the Constitution Revised Officer Scheme of Delegation

That the Council agreed to the proposed amendments to the Scheme of Delegation to Officers and recommended that it be adopted as Part 3 Appendix 3 of the Constitution at Council.

         Support for Councillors in their Ward Work

That the Council agreed that the current arrangements in relation to ward meetings should continue.

         Scheme of Allowances

That the Council noted and agreed the new Scheme of Allowances.

 

At the meeting of the Democratic Services Committee on 20 February 2020, it was recommended that after very careful discussion and consideration the Committee recommended that Council, should submit a response to the Boundary Commission to the effect that the draft proposals were broadly accepted but that Bettws and Beechwood should continue to be three member wards because of the particular social and economic issues in those areas and the amount of work generated for their ward Councillors.

 

The Boundary Commission was debated separately and the following comments were made:

 

         Councillor Clarke supported the additional ward members for Beechwood and Bettws.

         Councillor M Evans did not support the extra Ward member for Beechwood.

 

Resolved:

20 February 2020

Boundary Commission Review of Electoral Arrangements – Draft Proposals

That the Council agreed to the above recommendation made by Democratic Services Committee.