Venue: Council Chamber - County Hall, Llandrindod Wells
Contact: Stephen Boyd 01597 826374
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Apologies To receive apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from County Councillors GJ Bowker, P Harris, MC Mackenzie, DJ Mayor, S McNicholas, and TG Turner.
The Chair read out a note from Councillor Susan McNicholas thanking members for their messages of support while she recuperated from her accident.
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To authorise the Chair to sign the minutes of the last meeting as a correct record. Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair was authorised to sign the minutes of the last meeting held on 9th March 2016 as a correct record.
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Declarations of Interest To receive any declarations of interest from Members relating to items to be considered on the agenda. Minutes: There were no declarations of interest reported.
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Chair's Announcements To receive any announcement’s from the Chair of Council. Minutes: The Chair referred to the death of Mr Fred Barker, a member of the Council from 1995 to 2012 and a past member of the City and County of Chester Council and Radnorshire District Council. Members and officers stood as a mark of respect.
The Chair advised that amongst the events he had attended was the inauguration of the new High Sheriff Ann Tudor and the final of the National Crimebeat Awards where pupils from Crickhowell High School had come 1st for their presentation and 3rd overall.
County Councillor Van-Rees proposed a telegram of loyal congratulations to Her Majesty The Queen on the occasion of her 90th birthday which was supported by the Council.
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Leader's Announcements To receive any announcements from the Leader. Minutes: The Leader advised Council that the last of the consultation meetings on secondary school modernisation in Mid and South Powys would take place at Gwernyfed that evening. He reported the announcement by Freedom Leisure of a £2m investment in the leisure centres at Brecon, Rhayader and Welshpool. He also reported a 99.69% rent collection rate in the last quarter, the highest ever achieved. He also noted receipt of a £2m grant from Welsh Government to develop social housing in Crickhowell and Newtown and £800,000 Welsh Government funding for transport and road safety schemes. The Leader also reported that Welsh Government approval had been received for the business case to develop new English and Welsh medium primary schools in Welshpool and that the contract to build 5 new primary schools in the Gwernyfed catchment had been awarded.
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Chief Executive's Briefing To receive a briefing from the Chief Executive. Minutes: The Chief Executive reported that the Joint Partnership Board had met for the first time under its new remit to oversee integration with Powys Teaching Health Board and that Councillor Stephen Hayes had been appointed Chair. He also reported that interviews for the post of Director of Transformation had been held the previous week and an appointment made. He advised Council that the Cabinet had approved a new set of staff values which had received positive feedback from staff. He also noted two new pieces of legislation which had come into force, the Social Services and Wellbeing Act which introduced new regional arrangements for social care with Powys being a region in its own right, and the Future Generations and Wellbeing Act which would introduce Public Service Boards in place of Local Service Boards.
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To consider virements requiring Council approval. Minutes: Council received details of two capital virements in excess of £500,000 requiring Council approval. It was noted that the figures in the schedule should be shown as thousands. The Portfolio Holder for Finance moved the recommendations, seconded by the Leader.
The recommendation was passed by 64 votes to 0. http://powys.moderngov.co.uk/mgA.aspx?M=2864
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To consider the report of the Solicitor to the Council.
Additional documents:
Minutes: Council considered the report of the Solicitor to the Council on amendments to the following sections of the Constitution:
The Solicitor to the Council explained that the electronic voting system meant that votes would be automatically be recorded and included in the minutes. The right to request a recorded vote would remain. County Councillor Stephen Hayes asked for clarification as to whether a recorded vote under draft Rule 4.66.2 could be requested after a vote had been taken.
RESOLVED to reword draft Rule 4.66.2 of Section 4 to make it clear that a request to have a vote recorded must be made before the vote is taken.
County Councillor MJ Dorrance proposed an amendment to Paragraph 5.26 of Section 5, seconded by County Councillor AW Davies, that the requirement to submit questions in writing to the Cabinet at least 24 hours before the start of the meeting be struck out.
The amendment was passed by 34 votes to 26 with 3 abstentions. http://powys.moderngov.co.uk/mgA.aspx?M=2864
RESOLVED that the requirement in draft Rule 5.26 to submit questions in writing to the Cabinet at least 24 hours before the start of the meeting be struck out.
A request for the Planning department to acknowledge requests by local members to refer applications to the Planning, Taxi Licensing and Rights of Way Committee did not require a change to the Constitution but would be raised with the relevant officers.
County Councillor SC Davies, Chair of the Democratic Services Committee moved the recommendations, as amended above, seconded by County Councillor JM Williams.
The recommendations were passed by 61 votes to 2. http://powys.moderngov.co.uk/mgA.aspx?M=2864
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Composition of Committees PDF 83 KB To consider the report of the Solicitor to the Council.
Minutes: Council considered the report of the Solicitor to the Council on the composition of committees.
County Councillor DR Price proposed an amendment, seconded by County Councillor KF Tampin, that the size of the Planning, Taxi Licensing and Rights of Way Committee remain at 21 members.
The amendment was passed by 44 votes to 20 with 2 abstentions. http://powys.moderngov.co.uk/mgA.aspx?M=2864
RESOLVED that the size of the Planning, Taxi Licensing and Rights of Way Committee remain at 21 members.
County Councillor DW Meredith proposed an amendment, seconded by County Councillor MJ Dorrance, that the size of the People Scrutiny Committee, Place Scrutiny Committee and Audit Committee remain unchanged.
The amendment was lost by 30 votes to 31 with 3 abstentions. http://powys.moderngov.co.uk/mgA.aspx?M=2864
County Councillor AG Thomas proposed an amendment, seconded by County Councillor GP Vaughan, that the membership of the Pensions and Investment Committee be increased to include the Portfolio Holder for Finance.
The amendment was passed by 41 votes to 20. http://powys.moderngov.co.uk/mgA.aspx?M=2864
RESOLVED that the membership of the Pensions and Investment Committee be increased to include the Portfolio Holder for Finance.
County Councillor SC Davies, Chair of the Democratic Services Committee moved the recommendations, seconded by County Councillor GR Banks, as amended above.
The recommendations were passed by 51 votes to 12. http://powys.moderngov.co.uk/mgA.aspx?M=2864
Council adjourned from 12.15 p.m. to 12.30 p.m. County Councillor PE Lewis left the meeting.
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Scrutiny Committee Chairs PDF 70 KB To consider the report of the Solicitor to the Council. Additional documents: Minutes: Council considered the report of the Solicitor to the Council on the allocation of Scrutiny Chairs following the move of a member from one political group to another. Due to the equality of numbers in both the Welsh Conservatives and Welsh Liberal Democrats Groups, an agreement had been reached by the two groups resulting in the entitlement to the Place Scrutiny Committee chair falling to the Welsh Liberal Democrats Group. The Welsh Liberal Democrats had appointed County Councillor Kelvyn Curry to the position. County Councillor KS Silk proposed the recommendation, seconded by County Councillor JG Morris.
The recommendation was passed by 51 votes to 4 with 2 abstentions. http://powys.moderngov.co.uk/mgA.aspx?M=2864
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Notice of Motion - County Councillor Myfanwy Alexander and County Councillor Gareth Ratcliffe This Council is called upon to make many decisions but few will have the far-reaching and dramatic consequences which spring from major changes to the Authority’s High Schools. These decisions need to be reached in an open manner, following the widest possible debate, and to this end, it is proposed that all substantial changes to Powys High Schools should be discussed by Full Council. Substantial changes shall be defined as changes in admission age (including abolition of post 16 provision and the creation of All Through schools), changes in linguistic or faith status, (except when that status shall have been changed organically by gradual extension of curriculum provision), merger or joint management or closure. Such a debate should be give adequate time for full discussion and, if possible, should be webcast to allow members of the community to follow the arguments. Following the debate, a motion should be passed which would give an opportunity for the democratic will of the Council to be expressed. Proposed by County Councillor Myfanwy Alexander Seconded by County Councillor Gareth Ratcliffe
Minutes: Council debated the following notice of motion proposed by County Councillor MC Alexander and seconded by County Councillor GW Ratcliffe: This Council is called upon to make many decisions but few will have the far-reaching and dramatic consequences which spring from major changes to the Authority’s High Schools. These decisions need to be reached in an open manner, following the widest possible debate, and to this end, it is proposed that all substantial changes to Powys High Schools should be discussed by Full Council. Substantial changes shall be defined as changes in admission age (including abolition of post 16 provision and the creation of All Through schools), changes in linguistic or faith status, (except when that status shall have been changed organically by gradual extension of curriculum provision), merger or joint management or closure. Such a debate should be give adequate time for full discussion and, if possible, should be webcast to allow members of the community to follow the arguments. Following the debate, a motion should be passed which would give an opportunity for the democratic will of the Council to be expressed. In moving the motion Councillor Alexander explained that it related only to secondary schools and to major changes. Councillor Alexander argued that there was a perceived lack of democracy and that allowing an open debate in Council would make decisions more acceptable to communities. Councillor Ratcliffe referred to a decision by Pembrokeshire County Council to have decisions on major school reorganisation matters taken by the Council rather than the Cabinet.
County Councillor EA Jones, the Portfolio Holder for Education, moved an amendment, seconded by County Councillor DR Jones
The proposer and seconder of the original motion confirmed that they were content for consideration to be deferred until the Monitoring Officer had time to look into the information provided by Councillor Ratcliffe regarding responsibility for decisions on education in other authorities. Members were advised that the date of the extraordinary meeting was likely to be 16th May.
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Questions in Accordance with the Constitution PDF 536 KB Minutes: 12.1Question to the Portfolio Holder with Responsibility for School Dinners from County Councillor Matthew Dorrance
What is the Council doing to ensure that locally grown food is used in School Dinners?
Wherever possible we like to try and use Welsh and local suppliers for the provision of school meals. Currently we use a number of Powys based suppliers, all of our sausages come from Langford’s (The Welsh Sausage Company) based in Welshpool. All of our bottled water and fruit juice for our high schools is supplied by Radnor Hills based in Knighton. We have a few suppliers for fruit and vegetables these are based in Hereford and Forden (Welshpool).
Powys County Council has a number of requirements suppliers need to meet: · Sufficient volume i.e. be able to supply to all sites within geographical areas of Powys. Schools are supplied a number of times per week with fresh produce; the frequency depends on the size of the school and the storage facilities available. Delivery frequency needs to be 2-3 deliveries per week to all establishments. · Good quality produce, suppliers need to meet certain criteria as part of a HACCP set up by PCC. Suppliers need to be STS audited by an external auditor to ensure food safety of produce from farm to fork, in line with recommendations from the Pennington report 2005. · Reasonable price/ mark up (on-costs).
We are in the process of waiting for the NPS (National Procurement Service) Wales to issue invitations to tender to provide local authorities with new food contracts, this is likely to be August 2016. The catering service works with the commercial services team to ensure any new food contracts provide value for money while maintaining quality.
In response to Councillor Dorrance’s supplementary question on whether the Cabinet would undertake a review of school catering to promote local businesses and producers, the Portfolio Holder for Education confirmed that contracts were being looked at.
12.2 Question to the Portfolio Holder with responsibility for Housing from County Councillor Matthew Dorrance
The Welsh Labour Government’s ‘Welsh Housing quality Standard’ has transformed a tired stock into more energy efficient and fit for purpose homes that residents can have pride in. However, our housing estates need the Council to deal with a backlog of work - like resurfacing pathways and cul-de-sacs; fixing fences and cutting hedges; and clearing up graffiti and fly-tipping.
What is the Council’s plan for tackling these issues?
As Councillor Dorrance will be aware the council is investing considerable sums in achieving the Welsh Housing Quality Standard across the county. In the last financial year £14.1 million was spent on improving the homes of tenants and in the current financial year we plan to spend £15.2 million in 2016-17. These funds are predominantly spent on the primary elements of our homes (new kitchens, bathrooms, re-roofing, the installation of external wall insulation, rewiring, new heating systems). Whilst we have a small capital fund (£1 million in 2016-17) to improve secondary elements (works to the immediate environment of ... view the full minutes text for item CC48- 2016 |
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What is the Council doing to ensure that locally grown food is used in School Dinners? |
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The Welsh Labour Government’s ‘Welsh Housing Quality Standard’ has transformed a tired stock into more energy efficient and fit for purpose homes that residents can have pride in. However, our housing estates need the Council to deal with a backlog of work - like resurfacing pathways and cul-de-sacs; fixing fences and cutting hedges; and clearing up graffiti and fly-tipping.
What is the Council’s plan for tackling these issues?
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Question to the Portfolio Holder for Education from County Councillor Gareth Ratcliffe PDF 61 KB As you aware Estyn monitors progress in all schools and this ranges from special measures for schools in difficulty, to a light touch regime for the best schools with the majority being in a middle group that are inspected on specific issues. On the 16 March Estyn announced that Gwernyfed High School would no longer be in that middle group but because of the progress made and instead will join High Schools such as Newtown and Crickhowell that do not need any additional monitoring (not special monitoring as had been reported). Can I invite the Cabinet to offer its congratulations to Gwernyfed High School on this achievement? |