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.
Minutes:
Before Commencement with questions, the Leader made the following announcements to Council:
Tata announcement
At the end of last week, Tata made its shattering announcement of massive job losses in its steel businesses in the UK, mainly in Port Talbot whose employees include Newport residents.
Its statement also talked about potential redundancies in Llanwern steelworks here in the city.
The council understands that up to 300 jobs could be lost at Llanwern steelworks over the next few years while 2,500 people are to lose their jobs in Port Talbot. This is another terrible blow for an industry that was once so important to the economy of Newport and South Wales.
I am sure we are all thinking of those workers, and their families, who now face yet another period of uncertainty while waiting to find out how the announcement will affect them.
Our work and skills team will be available to offer advice and support to our residents who are facing redundancy, at either Llanwern or Port Talbot, when they need it.
Warm Spaces
I am pleased to update colleagues that we have again been able to support the provision of warm spaces in Newport this winter.
To date, 16 grants have been awarded to community groups across the city offering a safe, welcoming, and comfortable environment to residents who may be struggling to heat homes or who are at risk of isolation.
In partnership with GAVO, more than £35,000 has already been given using funding from the UK government’s Shared Prosperity Fund.
It follows the success of a similar scheme last year when grants were given to 21 groups who delivered 448 sessions, attended by more than 6,300 people.
This is just one of the ways that we are supporting organisations and residents during the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
There is an incredible amount of excellent work across the city with support being provided by our staff and partners. This has included providing shopping vouchers, Newport Live memberships and pantomime tickets for carers, and financial assistance to food banks.
Another of those initiatives was a wide range of free activities for families and children that were held across the city during the recent school Christmas holidays. And as an added benefit, we were also able to partner with Newport Bus to offer free transport for those sessions.
Christmas tree collections
We also kicked-off the new year with another positive scheme – the collection of real Christmas trees.
Residents were able to book a free doorstep collection – over 2,000 bookings were made, and every tree has made its way to our in-house composting facility to be chipped and composted.
Earlier this month I was honoured to join the Heddlu Bach students from Malpas Court Primary, the Mayor and Mayoress and Cabinet colleagues to mark the completion of the new and improved Darwin Drive play area in Malpas.
The play area has benefitted from a complete replacement of the play equipment and flooring, as well as a repainting of the fence.
New play equipment installed on site includes multi-play areas for toddlers and juniors, a seesaw, new swings, and a wheelchair accessible roundabout.
It is the latest play area to be upgraded as part of the council's programme of investment in improving play areas across Newport.
Every play area included in the programme will be upgraded following consultation with local residents, so that their needs and preferences are considered at all stages of the work.
Consultations are now open for play areas in Shaftesbury and St Julians, so please make sure to visit our website and have your say.
Crackdown on illegal tobacco and vapes
Last week our trading standards team once again took part in a multi-agency operation as part of an ongoing crackdown on illegal tobacco and vapes.
Officers have been extremely successful in uncovering these operations, seizing the illegal products, getting the premises closed and obtaining prosecutions.
I cannot say much more as these latest raids are subject to ongoing investigations, but it shows our determination to root out these businesses which are often used to fund criminal activities.
I would like to thank the dedicated officers involved in this work and our partners.
Half-term activities
I have already mentioned the successful family activities held over the Christmas period - over the February half-term school holiday, council teams, including our youth and play workers, will once again be running free events for children. These will include inclusive activities for all the family, quiet and sensory sessions.
Information about what is happening in the next half-term break will be publicised as soon as all the details are available, and I would encourage members to spread the word locally. The events take place in different venues and are open to children from across the city.
Finally, on behalf of Newport City Council liked to say a huge thank you to Newport County on their One-Nil victory over Wrexham over Rodney Parade at the weekend. As well as good luck to manager and players for FA game at Newport against Manchester United.
Leader’s Questions
Councillor Evans:
Because of the 15 Minute limit, opposition members felt that they did not have the opportunity to ask questions, therefore Councillor Evans declined the opportunity to raise a question.
Councillor Morris:
When would the Leader get a grip of the council budget, cut out the waste and start providing value for money for services and provide realistic rate increases that would not hurt the people that were represented.
Response:
The Leader pointed out to colleagues that this was not the budget debate but was the regular questions to the Leader and was therefore unable to comment upon as the results of the consultation which had not been completed as yet.
The Leader however made some general points on the budget and on finances for all members. Last month, on 12 December, there was a training session made available to all members on the finance and the budget. A similar training session took place the previous December. These were two opportunities for members develop an understanding of local authority finance. Whilst training was in place, there was a difference between revenue, capital, and reserves in relation to budget. The Head of Finance could provide a more detailed note to members to help them understand the difference between reserves and ear marked reserves.
The Leader also made a point on budget underspend, the progress was regularly reported to Cabinet and Council on progress against the Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP). As we know, in any given year, there may be a fluctuation in expenditure. As an example, for this year, and at this point in time, it had been reported back on the increased cost of social care, the increased pressure with homelessness and how it impacted spending. Report had been presented on numerous occasions that there was an overspend at the point in time in those areas. At the moment in time of the meeting, the forecast remained an overspend due to the pressures on service provision. It was important to understand that whilst the financial year ended on 31 March, Cabinet was not able to consider reconciled accounts until in June or July and this was where an overspend or underspend would be gleaned. If the Council was still at an overspend at this point, then provision must be made, which was Finance must be regarded as something that is flexible and not consistent at any one point in time and when considering spending patterns, particularly around the revenue budget, related to forecast of expenditure. The Leader once again proposed that ahead of the finance debate, the Head of Finance would circulate a briefing note to elected members setting out the basics in relation to finance, to give them confidence in their contribution to discussing the budget.
Councillor Drewett:
Could the Leader provide an update on the Newport City events calendar and demonstrate the positive impact of these events across the city.
Response:
The Leader was pleased to recommend that councillors look at the Newport Events webpage. This is open to all groups and different businesses and voluntary sectors to load their events to the page. This means that there is a contemporary calendar of events happening across the city. The Leader is proud of this development which brought everything together for citizens and visitors.
In terms of evidence, it is difficult to capture but the Leader is pleased to advise that according to data from the official counting software, footfall in the city centre for the period to the end of October 2023 was 5.3% ahead of the first 10 months of 2019. This was the last trading year before Covid. We were therefore starting to see a recovery and the software used helped to highlight the difference that the impact events made. The Leader was proud of the statistics and across Wales the footfall for the same period was down by 13% and in the UK as a whole was down by almost 14%. Most of these events were free of charge and provided opportunities for citizens to attend events, it also helped to put Newport on the map. According to the Business Improvement District (BID) the countdown to Christmas event attracted almost 9,000 visitors, this made a difference to business and visitors to shop in the city centre during this time.
There was a number of notable events in 2023, such as the Welsh National Armed Forces Day, seeing families and young people engage in activities and the free concert in the evening was incredible. Other events that took place was the Big Splash, Pride in the ‘Port, Food Festival and Newport Rising and the wonderful torch lit parade. Newport, as a City Council was getting behind groups and individuals to make our city a destination for everybody. Businesses were starting to develop across the city because of events and as councillors, we should not lose site of the benefits the event calendar can bring. The Leader was looking forward to seeing colleagues going to events during 202, particularly, the 80th Year Anniversary of D Day.