Agenda and minutes

        i.           To receive any apologies for absence.

      ii.           To receive any declarations of interest.

     iii.           To receive any announcements by the Presiding Member.

1.i Apologies

Councillor K Thomas

 1.ii Declarations of Interest

Item 3 - Councillor M Howells declared an interest in relation to the LEA Governor Appointment, K Howells is Councillor M Howells brother.

Item 7 - Councillor Horton declared an interest as owner of Horton’s Cafe.

1.iii Presiding Member’s Announcements

The Presiding Member reminded colleagues to complete and return the party related declarations forms by 8 April.

To confirm and sign the minutes of the last meeting.

The Minutes of the last meeting held on 21 January 2025 were agreed as a true and accurate record.

To consider any proposed appointments.

To consider the proposed appointments set out in the report.

Councillor Clarke moved the appointments set out in the report and verbally proposed a further three additional appointments to an outside body, and a resignation from a governing body that arose since the report was written, as agreed by the Business Managers.

Councillor Reeks seconded the proposal including the verbal additions.

Resolved: That the following appointments be agreed.

Governing Body Appointments

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

The Presiding Member introduced Superintendent J White of Gwent Police, who provided Council Members with an update on police issues within East, West and Central Newport.

When the Superintendent had addressed the Council, the Presiding Member invited the Leader, Councillor Batrouni, to address Superintendent White.

The Leader  asked for the Superintendent’s perspective on crime rates in Newport. Supt White responded that solved crimes had increased and overall crime rates had declined month on month, particularly in key areas such as burglaries. There was an increase in weapons offenses, but pro-active stop and searches were in place due to officers on patrol.

Questions to the Police raised by Councillors:

§  Councillor Evans referred to the use of drones by police and asked about the controls in place concerning privacy. Supt White confirmed that planned activities using drones only took place once a full assessment had been completed and authorised, including privacy considerations.

§  Councillor D Harvey referred to a recent news article stating that Newport was the most dangerous place in Wales, which she felt was not the case. Councillor D Harvey also thanked local police on behalf of residents following their successful raids within the Alway ward.  Supt White agreed that  newly recruited officers had bolstered resource, adding that there needed to be more coverage of these good news stories in the press.

§  Councillor Reeks expressed his thanks for the quick action of the Police in relation to his last query at Council regarding speeding cars along High Cross Road, Rogerstone and asked could this be a regular event. Supt White agreed to pass this on to the team.

§  Councillor Routley referred to the public perception of gangs in Newport, during daytime, particularly in city centre and asked if anything was preventing  police from arresting people. Supt White advised that there was nothing stopping the police.  Supt White stated that the team under the new local officer, Inspector Bull, had done a lot of work, including collaborative work with ward members and was happy to provide further details on this directly to Councillor Routley.

§  Councillor Horton passed on praise to officers responding to an incident in Victoria ward within five minutes of being contacted.  Supt White advised that Gwent Police was in the top three services in Wales when responding to 999 calls, reaching 95-100% of their targets.

§  Councillor Corten referred to increased footfall in the city centre alongside reduced crime rates and thanked the Superintendent and police.  Supt White hoped that this would continue with support from the Home Office and central government through continued investment.

§  Councillor Clarke thanked Inspector Ball for the visit they jointly carried out together to speak with business owners on the High Street to discuss any concerns and future plans.  Supt White agreed to  pass this on to Inspector Ball.

§  Councillor Fouweather referred to a dog-on-dog attack in his ward, and queried how the concerned resident could take the matter forward. Supt White was aware of the incident,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Presiding Member invited the Leader of the Council to present the report to Council.  No alternative budget proposals had been put forward following Cabinet’s recommendation earlier this month,  therefore this was the final and only budget for consideration.

Extensive public consultation had taken place, the views of which were reflected in the budget, such as reversing the proposed savings regarding libraries and community centres. Almost 3000 responses from the public had been received.

The Leader outlined the key aspects to Council colleagues:

§  Newport had received the highest revenue budget grant from Welsh Government at about £25 million.

§  The Council Tax rate was increased by 6.7%.

§  School funding was increased by over £11 million; this was an increase of 8%.

§  The budget proposed an additional £1.8 million to help with the issue of homeless families and individuals.

§  The Council proposed to invest nearly £2 million in children’s social care services towards developing residential provision in or close to the city and nearly £1 million in developing local education provision for pupils with additional learning needs (ALN).

Other proposals could be found in the accompanying appendices within the final budget report.

Councillor D Davies seconded the report and requested a recorded vote. This was supported and moved.

Councillors debated the budget proposal.  The Leader closed with responses to comments before the recorded vote was taken.

To access a full recording of the debate and comments made please refer to the Council’s YouTube channel. Democratic Meetings / Cyfarfodydd Democrataidd

Resolved:

Council resolved to:–

Revenue budget and Council Tax 2025/26 (section 2 - 6)

1         Note the Cabinet’s final budget proposals for 2025/26 (Appendices 7 and 8), resulting Council Tax levels and the formal  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Presiding Member invited Councillor Batrouni, Leader of the Council to present the Capital Strategy and Treasury Management Strategy for 2025/26.

This report included both the Capital and Treasury Management Strategies which, at their core, (i) confirmed the Capital Programme, as part of the Capital Strategy and (ii) the borrowing limits and other indicators which governed the management of the Council’s borrowing and investing activities, as part of the Treasury Management Strategy.

The Capital Strategy also set out the long-term context (10 years) in which capital decisions were made.

Councillor D Davies seconded the report.

Resolved:

Council unanimously -

§  Approved the Capital Strategy (Appendix 2), including the proposed Capital Programme within it (shown separately in Appendix 1), and the borrowing requirements/limits needed to deliver the proposed programme.

§  Approved the Treasury Management Strategy and Treasury Management Indicators, the Investment Strategy and the Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) policy for 2024/25. (Appendix 3)

As part of the above, Council -

§  Noted the increasing debt, and corresponding revenue cost of this, in delivering the rolling Capital Programme, and the implications of this over both the short and medium-long term with regard to affordability, prudence and sustainability.

§  Noted the feedback provided by the Governance and Audit Committee on 30th January 2025.

To access a full recording of the agenda item please refer to the Council’s YouTube channel. Democratic Meetings / Cyfarfodydd Democrataidd

The Presiding Member invited the Leader of the Council to present the report.

The Welsh Government agreed to reimburse the Council in full for any awards made under the above scheme and it was envisaged that up to 1,200 businesses would benefit from reduced rates by way of this relief.

The scheme would deliver 40% rate relief in 2025-26 for qualifying properties which were broadly used for retail, leisure or hospitality.

Details of the Welsh Government scheme are contained in Part A of the report.

In addition to the Welsh Government scheme, Part B of the report set out a proposed extension to the Newport City Centre Rate Relief scheme that Council introduced in 2022-23.

This was seconded by Councillor Clarke.

Members debated the report. To access a full recording of the debate and comments made please refer to the Council’s YouTube channel. Democratic Meetings / Cyfarfodydd Democrataidd

Resolved:

Council unanimously agreed to –

§  Adopt the Welsh Government’s Retail, Leisure and Hospitality Rate Relief Scheme 2025-26 as set out in this report and in Appendix 1.

§  Extend the Newport City Centre Local Rate Relief Scheme so that the scheme, as described in this report and in Appendix 2, operates during the 2025-26 financial year; and

§  Delegate to the Head of Finance the authority to take such decisions as may became necessary to enable the operation of both schemes, including but not limited to:

i.                  the setting-up and operation of an appropriate application procedure.

ii.                 the power to determine whether or not an individual application is within the scope of the scheme; and

iii.               the power to revoke a grant of relief in circumstances where an applicant no longer qualifies for such relief according to the scheme.

The Presiding Member invited Councillor Routley, Chair of the Democratic Services Committee to present the report.

This report proposed amendments to the Contract Standing Orders, which were reviewed in accordance with the existing three-year review period. This took into account the national and local developments, around UK and Welsh Procurement legislation changes.  This proposal was considered by the Democratic Services Committee in November 2024.

Councillor Hourahine seconded the report.

Members debated the report – to access a full recording of the debate and comments made please refer to the Council’s YouTube channel. Democratic meetings / Cyfarfodydd democrataidd.

Resolved:

§  Council unanimously approved the proposed update to the Council’s Contract Standing Orders.

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 20 minutes will be allocated at the Council meeting for questions to the Leader of the Council.

Questions to the Leader must be submitted in advance, in writing, by 4pm on the day 5 working days before the meeting;

Questions will be printed on the agenda for the meeting and are to be read out verbatim by the member asking the question;

Members will be allowed an oral supplementary question, which must relate to the subject matter of the original question or the answer given (the supplementary question does not need to be submitted in advance); and

Questions which are not answered at the meeting due to lack of time will receive a written response prior to the next meeting.

The question must be addressed through the Presiding Member at the meeting and not directly to the person being questioned.

Once the Leader had presented his announcements, Councillors put their questions to the Leader in line with the new Standing Orders arrangements.

To view Leader’s Announcements please refer to the Council’s YouTube channel. Democratic Meetings / Cyfarfodydd Democrataidd.

Questions to the Leader

Councillor Evans asked:

Homelessness remains a significant issue in Wales, with thousands still housed in temporary accommodation and little progress made in reducing the number of people sleeping rough.

Behind these numbers there is a very real human cost that cannot be ignored, with the number of individuals rough sleeping unchanged and the number of people in temporary accommodation remaining persistently high.

A Newport Council housing officer told the BBC back in November: "We do our very best to help everybody, but we're restricted by budget, lack of housing, lack of provision and lack of other services."

So can the Leader of the Council tell us, what is the estimated number of individuals sleeping rough in the city, how many adults and children are currently in Bed and Breakfast accommodation, what this costs, and what you intend to do to address the understandable concerns?

Leader responded:

At the end of December there were 11 people assessed as sleeping rough in the city. For the past 4 months, the Council has been running a Somewhere Safe to Stay pilot providing a safe, warm and dry place for people sleeping rough to stay. 

At the end of January 2025 there were 82 households with dependent children and 335 single people in B&B accommodation. This figure is based on the month end snapshot. Since the start of the financial year there has been a sustained reduction in families in temporary accommodation (TA) with 94 fewer children in TA compared to the start of the financial year.

The Council has a housing transformation programme in place which is focused on preventing homelessness wherever possible as well as acquiring new properties from Registered Social Landlords and the Private Rented Sector to provide an alternative to current temporary accommodation provision. Prince William recently paid a visit and backed the Homewards Programme. 

In terms of how to address this, the Leader had proposed to invest £1.8 million in the Housing Team as part of the Council Budget.

Supplementary:

Councillor Evans referred to the 82 households with children in Bed and Breakfast accommodation and added that the Council had previously stated it would not put a child in this situation. Councillor Evans felt that these statistics were shocking in terms of their impact for children and families but were also expensive.

Leader responded:

The Leader agreed and added that was the reason that £1.8 million would be invested in transformation of housing services and tackling homelessness to address this.

Councillor M Howells asked:

The leader will be aware of the recent press coverage around crime and anti-social behaviour in Newport, particularly the city centre. As well as Newport being 'dubbed' the most dangerous place in Wales to visit.

What are your plans to bring  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

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 Presiding Member 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 / Cabinet Member for Education & Early Years

      ii.           Cabinet Member for Communities & Poverty Reduction

     iii.           Cabinet Member for Housing & Planning

    iv.           Cabinet Member for Social Services

      v.           Cabinet Member for Regeneration & Democratic Services

    vi.           Cabinet Member for Climate Change & Biodiversity

   vii.           Cabinet Member for Infrastructure & Assets

  viii.           Cabinet Member for Communications & Culture

Question 1: Question to the Cabinet Member for Assets and Infrastructure

Councillor M Howells:

Could you provide an update on the recent School Street trial near St Andrew’s School in Newport? Specifically, what measures were in place to assess its impact, what key findings have emerged from the trial, and what potential next steps are being considered based on the outcomes?

Response:

We are working with our colleagues in Sustrans and they, along with myself and some ward councillors, were in attendance at the trial assessing traffic movements and issues of displaced vehicles.

Having attended in person (and I know the Leader also attended one at Gaer Primary the previous week), the benefits of some of the street closures were immediately evident to me. The air the children were breathing as they walked in was less polluted, crossing the roads to get into the school gates felt safer, and the environment in general was pleasant.

In terms of evidence gathering, feedback surveys have been published online and communicated to local residents and parents and guardians, the results of which are in the process of being collated and so it’s too early to publish findings. Officers of both Sustrans and the Council who were in attendance that morning also patrolled and observed the surrounding streets to get a sense of what the traffic seemed to be doing when it couldn’t get into the streets which were closed.

In relation to next steps, the trials were funded by Welsh Government Safe Routes in Communities grant and we have submitted an application for further funding in 25/26. Should we be successful with this then we will potentially run further trials at both this school and others, and we may trial different combinations of surrounding street closures based on feedback results to date. The long-term aim would be to make permanent school street closures where the trials prove to be beneficial.

Question 2: Question to the Cabinet Member for Assets and Infrastructure

Councillor Mogford:

With the recent announcement of more money for road repairs and resurfacing in the 2025/6 budget could the Cabinet Member describe their role in the prioritisation of where the money needs to be spent within the City.

Where there are clear examples of long-standing lack of maintenance of country lanes in the city will the Cabinet member look into why this is the case and ensure that such examples do not continue to be overlooked.

Could the Cabinet member ensure that the repair and resurfacing workplan, as a whole when agreed will be available for the public to be aware on a ward-by-ward basis?

Response:

Last week I presented the Council’s Highway Asset Management Plan (HAMP) to Scrutiny. The value of our highway asset is £1.3 Billion, and the maintenance backlog exceeds £118M.

However, we need to recognise that, along with most other local authorities, funding for maintenance of the highway asset has not been at a level where even “steady state” condition could be achieved. This has been due  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.