Venue: Council Chamber - Neuadd Maldwyn, Welshpool, Powys. View directions
Contact: Shane Thomas tel. 01597 826430 e-mail. shanet@powys.gov.uk
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Apologies To receive apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies for absence were accepted from Councillors M.C. Alexander, D. Bailey, L.V. Corfield, A. Holloway, R.I. George, P. Harris, G.M. Jones, E.A. Jones, J.G. Shearer, and W.B. Thomas. |
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Minutes of Previous Meeting PDF 97 KB To receive the Minutes of the previous meeting held on Wednesday 8th June 2016. Minutes: The Chairman was authorised to sign the minutes of the previous meeting of the Committee held on Wednesday 8th June 2016 as a correct record.
In the light of Councillor Joy Jones being unable to accept the position on the Community Health Council due to other commitments it was RESOLVED that the clerk should e-mail members with regard to seeking nominations for someone from outside of the County Council to sit on the CHC as a Montgomeryshire representative. The clerk would inform the CHC.
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Declarations of Interest To receive declarations of interest in relation to matters to be discussed on the agenda. Minutes: There were no declarations of interest made in relation to items on the agenda.
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Chairman's Announcements To receive announcements from the Chairman. Minutes: The Chairman reported on:
a. Birthday Celebrations – the Chair would recognise birthdays as advised by members b. Councillor Shearer – the Chair would send a get well card on behalf of the committee c. Citizenships – having officiated at ceremonies when required. At a recent ceremony the Chair had granted citizenship to a longstanding personal friend from Canada who had met all requirements d. Christmas Service – the Chairman would arrange for a Christmas service to be held in St. Michael’s Church, Kerry on 11th December in the light of there being no December shire meeting and Christmas service
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Windfarm Developments - Traffic Movements (10.15 - 10.45) To receive an update in relation to traffic movements in respect of windfarm developments at Tirgwynt and Garreg Llwyd Hill – there will be representation from both developments at the meeting Minutes:
Members welcomed Mike Davis – Project Manager (Tirgwynt Wind Farm), Chris Jackson – Development Manager (Garreg Lwyd Hill Wind Farm) and Samantha Mayes -Community Relations Manager, England and Wales (RES) to the meeting to provide an update in relation to traffic movements for two windfarm developments. During discussion particular reference was made to:
a. Tirgwynt Wind Farm
i. Requirements – in order to be approved for development a significant number of Welsh Government and County Council requirements need to be complied with. All requirements would be satisfied ii. Transport – unlike in England all Welsh convoys would require police escorts. There had been some issues with regard to the transfer between escorts from neighbouring police forces which had delayed convoys. On occasion the police had prioritised dealing with other matters above that of escorting convoys. Developers are powerless in such circumstances, the police have overall authority. The commitment during transit had been to restrict delays for normal route traffic by a maximum of 10 minutes iii. Loads – 96 loads would be needed to provide all the equipment to the site, to date there were 19 loads left for delivery. The delivery programme would overrun by a week and finish on 19th September after which deliveries would begin on the Garreg lwyd Hill site near Dolfor iv. Turbines – to date 7 of the 12 turbines had been erected v. Convoy Movements – residents are able to receive/view ‘live’ data on the website and via. text/twitter feeds vi. Local Engagement – engagement with communities is viewed by the developers as very important. There had been efforts to link with communities and schools. School children had been invited to name the turbines and the winners would be invited to a naming ceremony where plaques would be unveiled on site vii. Police Escorts – there had been some concern raised by residents and others with regard to police motorbike riders showboating during transport times and whilst escorting. The concerns had been reported to the police viii. Community Benefit Schemes – communities had been encouraged to apply for funding to support local schemes. A member felt that the communities that span the route should be eligible to apply. It was confirmed that all applications would be considered and that where there had been an impact community groups should be encouraged to apply. Requirements to operate schemes had been built into development agreements (section 106 agreements). The developer would confirm arrangements for considering benefit applications from organisations from Welshpool Town given that the Town Council had opted not to support the windfarm development. The local member for Welshpool Castle (Councillor Phil Pritchard) would raise the matter with the town clerk later this afternoon ix. Access Roads / Passing Places – modifications made to areas to allow for transport movements i.e. access roads/passing places would remain during the period of turbine operation in order to allow for use if needs be during the life of the site. Access roads would be ... view the full minutes text for item MS46-2016 |
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Future Fit (10.45 - 10.50) PDF 1024 KB To receive a presentation regarding the status of the programme as at July 2016 – Future Fit will not be in attendance at the meeting, the presentation contains the key information for updating members. Minutes: Members welcomed receipt of an update presentation regarding progress made in relation to the Future Fit Programme which would deliver the emergency and urgent care estate for the Shropshire and Telford area. Those running the programme had been engaging with communities in the Montgomeryshire area given that they access the provision. Members were invited to raise any issues through the clerk.
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Business Services / Cashless System for Schools (10.50 - 11.30) Minutes: Members welcomed Mark Evans, Head of Business Services and Nicola Williams, Cashless Schools Project Manager to the meeting to update on matters. Members had agreed to bi-annual updates. During discussion particular reference was made to the below matters.
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Business Services To receive an update in relation to the operation of Business Services. Minutes: 7.1 Business Service Functions
a. Budget Reductions – Business Services functions (income and awards, business support, employment services, customer services and Powys pensions) had been subject to significant budget reductions. Vacancy management, process/service improvements, redesign and moving to a commercial approach are ways in which the service had, and would continue to, meet its saving requirements b. Statutory Requirements – activities support statutory requirements i.e. to bill and recover business rates/council tax and operate a payroll system. The focus across all business services must be to protect the Council in delivering such functions c. Project Management/Spend to Save – in order to drive improvement/change funding had been secured against a business case to recruit to project management positions d. Payments for Goods/Services – billing and payment arrangements use significant resource. There’s scope to improve systems that would deliver savings and make best use of resource i.e. by working with suppliers we could reduce the number of invoices that need to be processed or could introduce purchase cards that would remove costly paper/electronic processes e. Income and Awards (Council Tax) – in response to demand and customer preference the unit had focused on resolving issues at the point of contact. The length of individual contacts would be longer, however, the outcome would, overall, be better for the Council and customer in terms of resolving issues without lengthy repeat contacts/exchanges f. Customer Services – the function had not been within Business Services for long, however, there would be a review of functions to ensure that contacts to the Authority are responded to in the best way for the resident g. Commercial Approach – DBS checks have been very successful and the way in which Powys approaches them has been held in very high regard. Seven local authorities have bought into Powys for processing its checks and there’s potential for Powys to provide a service across Wales. Links are being made with the Welsh Government. There are also options to provide fraud and payroll services to others that could generate income for the Council
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Cashless System for Schools To receive an update in relation to the roll out of the Cashless Systems for Schools Project. Minutes: 7.1 Cashless Systems for Schools Project
a. Roll Out – members will be aware from previous updates that a contract had been awarded in two parts to introduce cashless systems into schools b. Biometric/Photo Identification – in secondary schools systems would be biometric via. use of thumb prints, in the primary sector photo recognition would be used c. Pilot – a 73 school day pilot had been undertaken in the south of the County (Crickhowell High School and its feeder primary schools) and had been very positive. The positives included greater take up of school meals (88 more meals had been provided at the high school), reduced queuing time due to the speedy nature of payments in comparison to cash handling and there had been an increase in take up of Free School Meals, however, there would need to be further work undertaken to review whether the increase in FSM had been as a direct result of the cashless system. There were similar successes for the primary schools but to a lesser extent given there being fewer learners on roll d. Roll Out – due to the success of the pilot and in particular in relation to the benefits for the secondary sector it had been agreed to roll out to high schools first then to primary schools (it is hoped that roll out to high schools would be completed before the Christmas break 2016.. The provider had been working to develop a bi-lingual system for roll out to Llanfyllin High School, Caereinion High School and Bro Hyddgen. Due to the need to develop the system roll out to those high schools would be later in the programme. The Welsh Government had been informed and had accepted the position and confirm that it would satisfy requirements under the Welsh measure e. Power Failures – systems are backed up and power failures should not cause any issues
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Reports from and Questions to Cabinet Portfolio Holders (11.30 - 11.45) To receive reports from, and to put questions to, Cabinet Portfolio Holders. Minutes: Members welcomed the opportunity to receive reports from, and to put questions to, Cabinet Portfolio Holders.
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Councillor John Brunt - Cabinet Portfolio Holder: Highways and Transport Minutes: 8.1 Councillor John Brunt – Cabinet Portfolio Holder: Highways and Transport
a. Highways, Transport and Recycling Service – the service operates from 12 main bases and there are 500 full time equivalent employees. At the current time most work is undertaken by operatives employed by Powys b. Services – the service provides highway maintenance street lighting, grass cutting, cleansing and street cleaning (there is also a sign shop) c. Street Lighting – the annual energy bill alone (including illuminated sigs) is in the region of £330k per annum. An LED bulb replacement project which had recently been approved would reduce the energy bill over the longer term. A programme of bulb replacement would commence in November d. Highways Technical Services – the service undertakes design work, traffic/highway development control, road safety, manages the highway network, supports utility companies, oversees car parking services, manages public transport and oversees flood risk management and alleviation schemes amongst other services e. Highway Asset/Condition– the Powys Highway Asset has been valued to be in the region of £4.4 billion. Due to the number of C roads and their condition the condition of the highway network had been ranked as poor overall, however, the condition of A and B routes is very good and they are well maintained f. Car Parks/Enforcement – the Council operates 75 car parks, of which 35 are pay and display, there are plans to introduce charges at a further 10 parks and possibly others in due course g. Fleet Management – the Authority operates its own vehicle fleet which comprises of 536 vehicles which are maintained using three workshop sites. The annual fuel bill is in the region of £1.4 million. There are proposals to work with the Fire Authority to operate a workshop that will maintain vehicles for both organisations to reduce costs, provide a better facility and make best use of combined resource h. Public/School Transport – the service provides home to school transport under contract to the education service at a cost of in the region of £42k per day. Members were asked to encourage older residents that would qualify for free bus passes to apply because the Welsh Government use that information to provide some funding to Councils. Members were reminded that young people are able to use public transport and to travel anywhere in Powys for £1 per trip as part of a local scheme to encourage use of public transport i. Commissioning of Services – most services would be considered for the commissioning approach and it is likely that works would be undertaken by firms working under contract with Powys to provide services j. Rail Links – a member reported that he had concerns regarding the reliability of rail links and quoted having attempted to board a number of trains when services had been cancelled. The member was encouraged to raise the issues with the Transport and Traffic Manager (Tony Caine) k. Verge Maintenance/Grass Cutting – the Authority had entered into a contract with ... view the full minutes text for item MS52-2016 |
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Reports from and Questions to Members Serving on Outside Bodies To receive reports from, and put questions to, members serving on outside bodies. |
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SACRE Annual Report 2014/2015 PDF 293 KB To receive, for information, the annual report for SACRE 2014/15 – Councillor Michael Williams. Minutes: Members welcomed the opportunity to receive reports from, and to put questions to, members serving on outside bodies.
9.1 SACRE Annual Report 2014/2015
Members received, for information, the SACRE Annual Report 2014/15. The report provides information in relation to church school inspection reports.
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Road Safety and Traffic Management Schemes (11.45 - 12 noon) Minutes: Members welcomed Chris Lloyd, Area Traffic Officer to the meeting for this item of business.
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Welshpool - Loading and Waiting Restrictions PDF 79 KB To consider a Welshpool Loading and Waiting Restrictions report. Additional documents: Minutes: 10.1 Welshpool – Loading and Waiting Restrictions
It was RESOLVED that the Area Traffic Officer, in consultation with the local member(s) and Chair, should review the report and subject there being only minor alterations determine the outcome for the shire. The outcome would be reported to the next meeting.
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Shire Review To consider a response in relation to the shire review pilot. Minutes: Members were reminded that the pilot arrangement which had been agreed by Council to move to a bi-monthly arrangement for shire meetings was due for review by the Council in July 2017. Given the need to report to Democratic Services in November members had been asked to complete an individual questionnaire with regard to their views on shire meetings and functions. To date 18 returns had been received from Council.
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Correspondence To receive items of correspondence. Minutes: The Chairman reported receipt of a letter from Ken Skates, Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure in response to a letter she had written to him to request that representatives from the Welsh Government attend meetings to update on arrangements for traffic movements for windfarm developments. The Cabinet Secretary had advised that he would not permit officials to attend shire meetings, however, he would respond to all written contacts regarding matters. The Cabinet Secretary confirmed that he was satisfied that the developers would comply with their transport management plans as agreed with the Welsh Government.
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Date of Next Meeting To note the date of the next meeting – 9th November 2016. Minutes: The next meeting would be held on Wednesday 9th November 2016.
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Annual Garden Awards Presentations - 12.30 p.m. Minutes: Members were invited to attend the annual garden award presentation after the meeting. Year on year the standards reached are very high.
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