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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Civic Centre

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:

2.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 618 KB

To confirm and sign the minutes of the last meeting.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Minutes from 20 July 2021 were submitted for approval.

 

Councillor Routley referred to Item 7, Question four on page 16 of the Minutes, Councillor Matthew Evans’ question to the Cabinet Member for Leisure and Culture.  Councillor Routley tried to raise a point of accuracy with Councillor Harvey but was overruled. He requested that this be noted in the Minutes.

 

Agreed:

That the minutes were approved as a true record, subject to this addition.

 

3.

Appointments pdf icon PDF 231 KB

To consider any proposed appointments.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

To consider the proposed appointments set out in the report

 

The Appointment Sub-Committee recently  appointed new Strategic Directors as outlined below.  Councillor Harvey congratulated Sally-Ann Jenkins and Rhys Cornwall on their successful appointments.

 

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.

 

As Chair of Newport Transport Board Councillor Harvey declared an interest for the next appointment and invited the Leader to propose that Robert Greene, Assistant Head of Finance replace Owen James as a member of the Newport Transport Board.  Councillor Fouweather seconded the proposal.

 

Governing Body Appointments

Governing Body

No of Vacancies / Re-appointments

Nominations Received

Bassaleg School

1

David Williams

Bassaleg School

1

Richard White

Lliswerry High School

1

Roger Jeavons

St Julians Primary School

1

Mark Jenkins

Glan Llyn Primary School

1

Alison Harries

Caerleon Comprehensive School

1

William Routley

Caerleon Comprehensive School

1

Paul Warren

Clytha Primary School

1

Peter Bray

St Gabriel’s RC Primary School

1

Clare Heath

 

Council Strategic Director Role

Strategic Director – Social Services – Sally-Ann Jenkins

Strategic Director – Transformation and Corporate Centre – Rhys Cornwall

 

Internal Appointments

Bridge Achievement Centre – Councillor D Mayer

 

Outside Bodies

Compound Semi-Conductor (CSC) Foundry Scheme – Councillor D Harvey

Newport Transport Board – Robert Green

 

4.

Police Issues

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

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Superintendent Mike Richards provided an update on current local policing priorities, before inviting questions from Members.

 

The Mayor took the opportunity to thank the police officers involved in a recent sponsored bicycle ride from Newport to Brecon, starting at Newport Central Police Station to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

 

The Mayor also attended Shaftesbury Youth Club to present award to the youth group and also wanted that those officers in attendance for their support in the community and hard work.

 

The Mayor invited the Leader to say a few words.

 

The Leader gave feedback on the positive policing activities held across the city.  The Leader was delighted to attend the Newport Yemeni Community Association Funday, held in Pill and the Maindee Festival in Jubilee Park, it was nice to see a police presence and the Police Crime Commissioner presence at these events and these representatives were all engaged with the community and getting stuck into the activities.  It was a positive reflection of the hard work involved with police participation, well done to everyone involved.

 

The Leader raised two issues, the first was in relation to the arson attempts in Malpas ward and in particular, there was concern at number of arson attempts in the field by St David’s Hospice.  What ongoing work was being undertaken by the Police and the South Wales Fire and Safety to prevent this.

 

The Leader referred to the anti-social use of off-road bikes within the Malpas and Bettws wards, how was this being addressed by both Police and Newport City Homes.  The Leader recognised that it was not just the police but wanted to know what was being done and wanted assurance that there was ongoing work to combat this.

 

Supt M Richards assured the Leader that he would look into the arson attempt at St David’s Hospice.  Through the joint working with the Fire Service, Local Authority and social landlords, including the three sectors across Newport through task meetings, an update would be provided to the Leader regarding the arson attempts and progress to date.

 

The situation regarding the off-road bikes was being looked at with partners as mentioned above.  The issues around off-road bikes were being very closely looked at in a partnership approach.

 

Questions from Councillors:

 

§  Councillor Marshall referred to residents complaining about the speed racers, noise pollution at on the SDR and Tesco, Cardiff Road who might have moved on from Tesco, Spytty.  There  were also concerns about the Maesglas shops re drug use and antisocial behaviour.  And with reference to the Police Twitter post regarding the rogue traders, Councillor Marshall asked whether the Police could also inform ward members so that they could also notify residents of any Police issues.  The Superintendent would discuss these issues with the local team and also was aware that the Maesglas shops were an issue. The Superintendent had not seen the Twitter post regarding rogue traders but would make sure that elected members saw similar tweets first.

 

§  Councillor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Notice of Motion: Edinburgh Declaration of Biodiversity

We Newport City Council call upon Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity to:

 

1.      Take strong and bold actions to bring about transformative change, as outlined in the IPBES global assessment report, in order to halt biodiversity loss. 

2.      Recognise the vital role of subnational governments, cities and local authorities, in delivering the 2050 vision of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, and the 2030 mission as set out in the Zero Draft document; and to explicitly place that recognition throughout the framework text, including the monitoring framework for the goals and targets.

3.      Support the adoption at COP15,  of a new dedicated Decision for the greater inclusion of subnational governments, cities and local authorities within the post-2020 global biodiversity framework;  that builds upon and renews the Plan of Action on Subnational Governments, Cities and Other Local Authorities for Biodiversity (2011-2020) as endorsed under Decision X/22and that significantly raises ambition for subnational, city and local implementation of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework throughout the next decade. 

4.      Establish a multi-stakeholder platform that ensures representation of subnational governments, cities and local authorities to support the implementation of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.

 

We, Newport City Council stand ready to meet the challenge of delivering, alongside Parties, the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, and play a stronger role in the implementation of the framework through a renewed and significantly stepped-up Plan of Action for subnational governments, cities and local authorities for the coming decade, and

 

That this Council resolves to support the Edinburgh declaration on biodiversity and authorises the Leader to sign the declaration on behalf of the Council.

 

Motion to be moved by Councillor Mudd and seconded by Councillor Hughes.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Leader Presented the following Motion to colleagues and reserved her right to speak later in the debate:

 

We Newport City Council call upon Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity to:

 

1.        Take strong and bold actions to bring about transformative change, as outlined in the IPBES global assessment report, in order to halt biodiversity loss. 

2.        Recognise the vital role of subnational governments, cities and local authorities, in delivering the 2050 vision of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, and the 2030 mission as set out in the Zero Draft document; and to explicitly place that recognition throughout the framework text, including the monitoring framework for the goals and targets.

3.        Support the adoption at COP15,  of a new dedicated Decision for the greater inclusion of subnational governments, cities and local authorities within the post-2020 global biodiversity framework;  that builds upon and renews the Plan of Action on Subnational Governments, Cities and Other Local Authorities for Biodiversity (2011-2020) as endorsed under Decision X/22and that significantly raises ambition for subnational, city and local implementation of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework throughout the next decade. 

4.        Establish a multi-stakeholder platform that ensures representation of subnational governments, cities and local authorities to support the implementation of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.

 

We, Newport City Council stand ready to meet the challenge of delivering, alongside Parties, the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, and play a stronger role in the implementation of the framework through a renewed and significantly stepped-up Plan of Action for subnational governments, cities and local authorities for the coming decade, and

 

That this Council resolves to support the Edinburgh declaration on biodiversity and authorises the Leader to sign the declaration on behalf of the Council.

 

 The motion was seconded by Councillor Hughes, who also reserved his right to speak.

 

No amendments were proposed.

 

Comments on the motion from Councillors:

 

§  Councillor Lacey informed colleagues that as the cities biodiversity champion it would be remiss of her not to speak in support of this motion today.

 

Newport was rich in both marine and terrestrial ecosystems and as elected members of this city it was their duty to do all they could to protect them.  

 

Whilst the work carried out to make Newport a bee friendly city was vast and very successful it was not enough on its own.

 

The Council needed to work collaboratively with others to protect and enhance biodiversity, sharing best practice across these regions and taking forward bold and innovative action which would result in mutually beneficial outcomes for generations to come.

 

§  Councillor Truman supported the motion to improve and preserve the environment.

 

§  Councillor Whitehead supported the motion and agreed that biodiversity was very important and mentioned the increased reporting of Himalayan balsam that strangled the brook in Bettws and hoped that this would be addressed as part of this motion. 

 

§  Councillor M Evans informed colleagues that the Conservative group would support this motion, as well as supporting previous council initiatives such as the Bee  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Scrutiny Annual Report 2020-21 pdf icon PDF 266 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Lacey was pleased to present the 2019/20 Scrutiny Annual Report to Council.

 

Scrutiny is a function of Councils in England and Wales and was introduced by the Local Government Act 2000, creating separate Cabinet and Scrutiny functions in Local Authorities. The role of scrutiny was strengthened with the passing of the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011. This Act requires the Committee to report annually to the Council on the work that it has carried out in the past 12 months and its future work programme. Since the introduction of the Wellbeing of Future Generation Act, Scrutiny also has a statutory role to scrutinise the work of the Public Service Boards.

 

The underlying principle of Scrutiny arrangements is to ensure that the decision-making process is open, accountable and transparent.

 

The scrutiny function at Newport City Council is performed by four scrutiny committees. These committees are made up of Elected Members who are not part of the Council’s Cabinet, along with co-opted representatives. These are Performance Scrutiny Committee for Place and Corporate, Performance Scrutiny Committee for People, Performance Scrutiny Committee for Partnerships and Overview and Management Scrutiny.

 

The purpose of this report is to apprise Council and other interested parties of the role of the scrutiny committees, and their work during the 2019/20 municipal year.

 

The annual report covers the period from May 2019 to April 2020.  The Report highlights the important work carried out by Scrutiny during this period, despite the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 lock-down restrictions.  The reporting period was challenging, with fewer meetings held in the first six months than usual, due to resource being focussed on the Council’s response to Covid-19.

 

Despite this unprecedented event, the Performance Scrutiny Committees for Place and Corporate, and People have scrutinised performance including how the Council have adapted and responded to the challenges faced by services and communities due to the pandemic.

 

Both Committees have also received reports on the Cabinet’s responses to the Recommendations the Committees previously made to the Draft Budget proposals, as part of Scrutiny’s remit of measuring and assessing the Authorities impact and value.

 

Other reports considered include reports on Active Travel, the Youth Justice Service and Enforcement of COVID Business Restrictions.

 

The Performance Scrutiny Committee for Partnerships considered the Wellbeing Plan Annual Report presented by the Public Services Board and submitted their comments to be shared with the PSB.

 

Similarly, the Committee also scrutinised the performance against the Wellbeing Plan 2020-21 and submitted their comments to the Public Services Board for consideration. Health Board and Education Service partners presented a proposal for the transformation of Mental Health Services, and their Business Plan 2021-22 respectively, to the Committee for consideration and comment.

 

Actions planned for the reporting period were impacted by the pandemic, however Councillor Lacey was pleased to report that training for scrutiny members on the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act was carried out to understanding and consideration of the Act when undertaking scrutiny activity.

 

Councillor Lacey looked forward to Chairing the Overview and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

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:

Leader’s announcements

 

·        Fflecsi bus service

Over the summer we were delighted to see the expansion of the Fflecsi bus scheme across the city.

 

Following the success of the first fflecsi pilot in Wales which launched in Rogerstone and St Julian’s, a partnership between the council, Transport for Wales and Newport Bus meant a fleet of nine brand new buses were now serving the whole of Newport.

 

The fflecsi buses were improving access to public transport and enable residents to make a much wider range of journeys from early morning until late in the evening. Another step forward in our commitment to be a greener city.

 

·        Face to face services

Following a very challenging year for delivering key services, the Leader was very pleased that a number of face-to-face services had now resumed.

 

Newport City Council's contact centre staff were now working from a temporary home at the Riverfront with appointments for residents with queries relating to housing, housing benefits, council tax and appointees available.

 

However, in line with Welsh Government guidance, council staff would continue to work from home wherever possible and we urge the use on our online and telephone services for the majority of queries.

 

Our longer-term plan was for these services to move to Central Library and Museum, right in the heart of our city centre.

 

·        Freedom Parade

At the last council meeting, we were proud to award the Freedom of the City to the Royal British Legion in recognition of the role it played for the armed forces community for 100 years.

 

On Thursday 28th October we would formally mark this with as Freedom Parade through the city. The Leader wanted as many people as possible to get involved to help show our appreciation of this amazing organization.  The Leader asked those present to add the date in in their diary and look out for further details close to the time.

 

·        HMS Severn

And continuing the military theme, we were also honoured to have HMS Severn, formerly re-affiliated with the city.

 

The ship last berthed at Alexandra Docks and exercised its Freedom of the City in late 2017 prior to its planned decommission.

 

However, due to Brexit, the Royal Navy did not sell HMS Severn, but decided to keep and re-commission her – she’s even had a new coat of paint!

 

She would be returning to the city in November and representatives would be joining us for the Remembrance Parade and service. We look forward to welcoming the ship, her Captain and crew back to the city.

 

·        Leisure centre planning

The Leader also reminded those present that the planning application for the proposed city centre leisure centre was now open for consultation and can be viewed on our online planning portal.

 

There had been an excellent and positive response to the original consultation – and the comments of our residents and partners are so important in this process.

 

It was expected to go before a full planning committee later this year when a decision would be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

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 City Services

     ii.        Cabinet Member for Education and Skills

    iii.        Cabinet Member for Assets

   iv.        Cabinet Member for Sustainable Development

     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

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were four written question to the Cabinet Members:

 

Question 1 – Cabinet Member: Social Services

 

Councillor J Watkins:

Could the Cabinet Member please explain the Policy and the rationale behind it covering applications for a disabled parking bay for those suffering disability and needing the support of this facility.

 

Does the Cabinet Member consider it fair and meeting the needs of those needing to apply and what would be his/her views in terms of the Policy being discriminatory.

 

Response:

The provision of a Disabled Parking Bay followed a clear pathway with the policy and process available to all.

 

The policy and process to support the provision of a disabled parking bay had previously gone through a democratic process, which included a review of how the provision could be managed that would target those most in need within a set budget and allow for the services involved to schedule and manage the work required.

 

The applications for a parking bay have historically and under the current system consistently been oversubscribed and had not always been provided fairly. We recognised that the current system may not meet specific requirements from all individuals but there was no one system that would be able to meet all eventualities and the current process addresses fairness and ensured all requests were met using the established and agreed criteria.

 

The current policy and process allowed for a single yearly cohort, which included a three-month window of opportunity for those who presented as meeting an initial threshold to make an application for consideration. The reason for this system was to ensure the process was open fairly to all rather than being a ‘first come first serve’ service every year.

 

The streamlined approach that was now applied enabled us to review applications fairly and equitably so those most in need are considered for a heavily oversubscribed service. An ability to apply on an ad hoc basis or outside of the agreed criteria throughout the year would undermine an equitable approach. There were inevitably on occasion cases where urgency posed a challenge but in trying to ensure a fair and reasonable distribution of resources this was the most judicious use of resources and process.  

 

The streamlined process allowed for City Services to manage the legal requirements which were costly and took time to implement. An ad hoc approach would be very difficult to manage against the background of the legal requirements and would increase overall costs plus potentially increase the time frame for a bay to be provided.

 

A single cohort application framework enabled an optimum use of a set budget and thus allowed for the provision of more bays.  Processing a single bay at a time would significantly increase costs and therefore reduce the number of bays that could be provided overall.

 

Using this process we could coordinate more effectively removal requests against applications.

The provision of a bay was not a simply process of marking lines on the road, there were strict legal requirements involved with a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.