Agenda and minutes

S Mlewa

The Minutes of the meeting held on 20 September 2018 were submitted.

Agreed:

That the minutes were recorded as a true record.    

Matters Arising

Boundary Commission

This will take place in January or February of 2019. All Town Councils were invited to attend. The Boundary Commission will come in and do a presentation to the Community Councils to take place in the Civic Centre approximately at 5pm in the evening to meet with Councils to be consulted

The IRPW Representative explained that the IRPW was responsible for determining the allowances payable to elected members of principal Councils, National Park Authorities, Fire and Rescue Authorities and Community and Town Councils in Wales.

It was explained that there were regular meetings with principal Councils and with National Parks and Rescue Authorities. Due to there being 735 Community Councils it was difficult to meet with them all.

Therefore, it was the aim that there was a better interaction between One Voice Wales and Community Councils, now that there was more of an opportunity to meet with Community Councils. This was the fourth meeting that has commenced and it was a chance for the IRPW to explain to Community Councils what they do and to hear feedback and current views.

The IRPW Representative explained that the IRPW published an annual report and that this was a requirement even if nothing changed from the previous year. The IRPW listened to responses from Community Councils to ascertain if any changes were to be made which were then published at the end of January.

The consultation phase was completed. Next week, responses to date will be looked at and checked to see if amendments needed to be made. The IRPW Representative stated that there had been changes introduced over the last few years due to the vast diversity in Town Councils. Some Community Councils were very large and had significant expenditure and individual powers. Other Councils were quite small, some with only 8-9 members. Therefore, there were some issues in getting people to stand for Council. There was a need to adapt due to the significant variation in Wales comprising of 7,500 Councillors so this was a very big task to meet with all clerks and Community Councils.

The IRPW Representative ran through the proposals they had along with changes in the draft paper.

Introductions from each Town Council representative were then made as agreed by the Chair.

The IRPW Representative May explained that the IRPW produced an annual report. Each clerk in the 735 Town Councils should have received a copy of the draft. A draft was produced in February and then feedback was taken to reflect on what was in the draft.

There was huge differentiation between Community Councils which recognised that there was a huge variation of budgets between Councils ranging from £1million to £10,000 and a one size fits all grouping was not sufficient. Feedback provided last year did not propose any changes and there was not much changing in the coming year.

Councillor Payments

The IRPW Representative explained that Community and Town Councils in Groups A and B must make a £150 payment to the Member and the Member can take the decision themselves not to accept that payment. The change was made to make the payment mandated for groups A & B that earn above £30,000 and this change was made in the final report.

It was reported by some Community Councils that they were disappointed that this had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

The Chair confirmed that it was requested that expenditure be put on the agenda even though a final decision was already taken on the matter by Cabinet. However, the Chair was happy to discuss the implications at the meeting.

The Nash Representative then stated that their Town Council was looking at cuts as a result of the expenditure cut and a reduction in business rates. Their community hall has never been let out for profit. The Representative stated that this would now have to be expanded and they would need to get a further £3000 as there was a need to fill the hole in the budget and this was a concern. The Representative stated that the community halls should be exempt. It was discussed as to whether Newport City Council would hit the Community Councils with charges on community halls if they let it out for profit?

The Chair explained that Newport City Council did not set the business rates and there were exemptions for non-profit making councils. The Chair stated that an enquiry would be made with the Head of Finance to confirm what the rates of business are?

Councillor Mogford confirmed that he was recently appointed for Llanvaches Community Council and now that the concurrent expenditure had been removed, around £130,000 would need to be saved. The Representative asked that if a service like grass cutting was stopped then will the Council take on this service? The Chair confirmed that the Community Councils can stop a service if they wish, that a service like grass cutting was completely discretionary.

Councillor White stated that this created disparity between Community Councils and other areas in the city area. Councillor White stated further that a grant was provided by the council to Duffryn who receives £6,000 in grants from Newport City council which was nothing compared to what can be provided to support the village hall.  The Chair confirmed that they could not comment on this as this issue was decided on by Cabinet member.

The Graig representative asked whether Newport City Council could inform the Community Councils how the £130,000 will be spent? It was also queried as to whether this was part of the £9 million Council saving that had to be made. The Chair explained that this money was put into the overall pot to bridge the gap. The Graig Representative expressed that they were not satisfied with this answer.

Another Representative queried as to whether residents were going to be paying twice for grass to be cut? It was stated that some Community Councils cannot afford for some areas to be cut.

The Chair stated that all the parks were available to everyone and the Chair requested that the issue was not to be reopened again. 

A Representative asked a procedural question as to whether it was usual for the Council Member to make a decision without consulting other colleagues within the council first? The Chair confirmed that the Council Member needed to consult other members  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

One of the representatives stated that the Shared Charter had no relevance anymore. The Chair stated that the relationship between Newport City Council and Community Councils should not just depend on this. It was stated that there had been previous problems with Officers and when the Charter was mentioned the Officers did not know which Charter they were referring to. The Chair confirmed that the Charter had been circulated to all the Heads of Service and that they had been made aware of it.

It was asked whether the Charter would be reviewed and the Chair confirmed that it would be reviewed as the format is Welsh Government recommended.

Action Points:

1.In relation to how the Charter was implemented there were high level principles on how we work together. It was recommended that the consultations were discussed more thoroughly, page by page.

2. It was noted that Community Councils felt they were not consulted previously and that some Community Councils wanted to opt out of the Charter. The Chair stated that the Charter works both ways and that no one was forcing Community Councils to work with Newport City Council.

3. All Community Councils were unhappy with the way it was dealt with previously.

4. All Community Councils wish to appeal concurrent expenditure. The Chair confirmed again that they cannot advise on this issue but Community Councils can go to the High Court for a judicial review.

5. It was mentioned by one of the Representatives that perhaps the Chair could have a word with the Cabinet Member and the Chair confirmed that the Member was aware of the situation at present.

6. It was also asked by Councillor Mogford would the clerks be able to speak to Officers directly in relation to specific issues e.g. potholes etc? The Chair confirmed that the Democratic Services team were the single point of contact for Governance issues but specific issues such as potholes were to be reported to the Newport City Council Contact Centre in the usual way.

To agree the Meetings for 2019:

21st March 2019

20th June 2019

19th September 2019

11th December 2019

21st March 2019

20th June 2019

19th September 2019

11th December 2019