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:
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 by council staff in response to Storm Dennis. Whilst Newport was lucky enough not to be hit as badly as other parts of Wales and the UK, we still received more than 100 requests for assistance over that weekend.
Preparations had been made for the forecast conditions and staff worked around the clock from Friday to Monday morning. Almost unprecedented levels of rain fell on ground that was already saturated and into rivers already swollen because of Storm Ciara. Despite the significant call on resources, the council teams dealt with every call and reported incident at some stage during the weekend.
Most of the requests were for sandbags, but crews also dealt with highway flooding, road closures and fallen trees. The Leader thanked all those who were out in such horrendous conditions to help residents and ensure safety on our roads and within council facilities.
Finally, the Leader mentioned two events recently attended, one was the LBGTQ+ event for younger people. The other was the first meeting of the black and minority staff network at the Civic Centre both were an honour and a privilege.
Leader’s Questions
Councillor M Evans understood that the Leader was attending a conference in Cannes, France in March, called Mippin and what did the Leader hope to achieve, who was paying for it and what promotional work was being undertaken prior to attending.
Yes, the leader was attending as part of the Cardiff Capital region in March and made it clear that it was funded by the Capital Regen and not the Council. Part of this was speaking at the event and attending 10 Downing Street. Representing the Capital regen on several events. The purpose was to stand proud and speak open and honestly about the improvements being made in the city. Newport deserved to sit round the table with investors.
Supplementary:
Councillor M Evans supported the Leader attending but referred to the city region being Cardiff ‘centric but there was nothing on social media about Newport being promoted at the event. Could the Leader give an update on her return on what was achieved.
The Leader answered and advised that Cardiff CC was promoting itself. An investment prospectus was being developed for Newport similar to Cardiff and the Leader would talk to key sites and provide a full report to Council on her return.
Councillor K asked was the Leader in a position to improve the aesthetics of the Malpas Road and Shaftesbury M4 roundabout entrance to Newport, in particular, near the old Sainsbury’s site.
The Leader referred to the economic growth strategy and master plan, a lot was being done in the background as part of this. There was also work planned to within the area. The old Sainsbury’s site was in private ownership and the Leader would speak with key stakeholders on improving the site. The site had the potential to provide 230,000 Sq Ft office accommodation, homes and other public facilities. The local was key and had benefits with links to public transport and M4. Anticipating that planning permission would be granted later this year and development would commence in the autumn. It did take time for projects to get underway but the benefits would be positive.
Supplementary:
Councillor Whitehead asked was talks with the Fear family invested in the old Sainsbury’s site ongoing.
Leader advised that it was ongoing.
Councillor C Townsend mentioned that recent figures had shown that Newport had the second largest rough sleepers in Wales and asked that with the recent clean up operation, could the Leader commit to updates on a quarterly updates be provided on homeless provision as well as additional efforts to provide accommodation for those living on the streets.
The Leader advised that she was able to provide an update from today, after a meeting with Julie James AM. The Council had employed a rough sleeper outreach worker and was most successful element of the project was working with third sector and humanitarian groups. The officer was engaging with rough sleepers on a daily basis which made monitoring of the situation more effective. Also mapping exercise to see where individuals and groups were located and could speak with them more regularly. Re-housing has been identified through working with the housing association and partners such as Housing First and Pobl. This was a time consuming process because of the vulnerability and would share with colleagues some case studies:
One person was rehoused and mental and physical health improved on a daily basis and was now volunteering with housing charities.
A second person who engaged regularly with co-ordinators and seeking voluntary support work with mental health sector. In terms of housing first, numbers were low but level of work was quite progressive.
Newport City Council was therefore working really hard with partnerships to help tackle homelessness.