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 Leader had mentioned that she was privileged to recently attend the third South Wales Argus Schools Education Awards and wanted to highlight the tremendous work being carried out in schools and colleges across Newport. Wales was undergoing the most significant transformation in over 40 years and pupil wellbeing was essential to everything we do. Our Schools provide a safe and nurturing environment, with breakfast and afterschool clubs a whole host of services so that children can enjoy all aspects of school life to ensure that they are thriving and not surviving.
The Leader was delighted to receive school visitors at the Civic Centre from all over Newport, along with the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills and senior officers, to mark the Welsh Network of health school scheme’s highly regarded National Quality Awards. The Schools receiving this award was Glasllwch, Gaer, Mount Pleasant, St Andrews, Maindee, Eveswell, Clytha, Langstone, Malpas Court, Liwswerry Primary Schools, Ysgol Cymraeg Casnewydd and Fairoak Nursery, all of whom were to be congratulated. Seven themes were achieved to gain this award, including food and fitness emotional development and wellbeing. What stood out was the length of time for a school to get this award and accreditation; it could take up to nine years, huge commitment for schools and we should all be very proud.
The Leader also attended the 2020 Holocaust Memorial Day service at the Cathedral, moving service led by pupils. The Leader thanked, in particular, Caerleon Comprehensive who sang, Gwent Music Service and Langstone Primary School for the candle procession as well as the teachers for instilling values for pupils into their adult lives.
The Leader had mentioned that one of her focuses for Newport was sustainable development; social, cultural and economic. There would be an addition of 17 extra electric vehicle charging points in Newport following a feasibility study, which was excellent news. These would be available for residents and visitors.
The Leader also congratulated Newport Now which was part of the Business Improvement District for successfully renewing their bid for the next five years and was looking forward mutual aim to help businesses thrive within the community. The Leader and the Chief Executive met with them recently to discuss their future plans.
The Regeneration Programme continued to move at pace with the development of Chartist Tower. The £1.3M investment managed by Newport Now was vital to success of the City Centre over the next five years.
Finally, the Leader notified colleagues of recent meetings and events that she had recently attended including Public Service Board, the G10 Summit, Cardiff City Region and Western Gateway, important partnerships with how the council worked going forward. The Leader highlighted work discussed at the G10 Summit and Public Service Board which involved the work that Public Health Wales was undertaking. As part of this, there was also a Building a Better Gwent report and an all member seminar was planned for 4 March, where Dr Sarah Aitken would be presenting her findings.
Leader’s Questions
Councillor M Evans had recently visited Toulouse, which was a larger city than Newport and observed that he had come across only one homeless person and there was no begging. Sadly, this could not be said about Newport. Homeless people deserved all the support they could get and the problem had reached epidemic proportions. Multiple organisations and support was in place but no one could provide appropriate accommodation for these homeless people. Residents and business contacted Councillor Evans, concerned about used needles, excrement, rubbish and the intimidation felt by residents in relation to aggressive begging. Something needed to be done to address this once and for all, did the Leader agree with this.
The Leader advised that Newport had adopted a homeless strategy, covering Newport and Gwent region and was working in partnership to offer advice and support and focus on early intervention and ensure that person centred homelessness advice was provided. It was necessary to consider the issue on a macro scale, in line with the social structure and the cultural differences to the social structure and approach in France. The approach was to consider the social structure on a personal basis and recognised the challenges raised. A round table was held with Welsh Government, third sector, Public Health Wales and Aneurin Bevan University Health Board last November to discuss how to address issue as a city. Newport was also working closely with Welsh Government Colleagues in Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham to try and address the issue of rough sleeping to put together an action plan and resource allocation to enable the Council to do this. The Council therefore did have matter in hand.
Supplementary:
Councillor M Evans informed the Leader that the brutal answer was that people were tired of excuses, and whilst there was a risk register in place, the people’s perception of coming to Newport was crucial, especially with the development of the Chartist Tower. Two business had recently left the City Centre because of this issue. Councillor Evans also referred to the last Cabinet meeting where empty properties were discussed, the figures equated to 18 properties per year, there was also concern regarding this. Urgent action was needed, therefore what was to be done as a result.
The Leader had provided a response and the answer to the question remained the same however Councillor Evans could be provided with further detail in writing.
Councillor K Whitehead asked if management consultants had been appointed to look at budget cuts and if so, was it at a cost of £30K.
The Leader was not aware of this but would provide a written response for Councillor Whitehead from the Chief Executive.
Supplementary:
Councillor Whitehead asked, if there was extra money, could this be better spent on litter and cleaning the clock tower.
The Leader reiterated that she was not aware that this took place. In additional, the clock tower, was a listed building, which needed specialist cleaning by hand, this would not take priority over service delivery.
Councillor C Townsend referred to the homelessness issue mentioned earlier under Police Issues and asked was the Leader happy that police dismantled rough sleepers.
The Leader clarified that the area was cleansed, by the request of homeless support groups, businesses and members of the public due to the concerns to public health. The encampment referred to was also subject of a recent fire. The Leader emphasised that it was not moving homeless people out, but a cleansing of the area. The Police and Community Support Officers helped move the rough sleepers, only because there was a risk of contamination from sharp objects. The Leader thanked the operatives for their hard work, as they were faced with challenges and risk to their health. There were no evictions of rough sleepers and the only items that were removed were those beyond repair.
Supplementary:
Councillor Townsend asked where were the people since the cleaning operation.
The Leader advised that the location in question was still an encampment and homeless people were being assessed, with one person being successfully housed. Some people were not engaging with the support group therefore it was difficult to give a detailed account on where all the rough sleepers were.