Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor S Thomas.

Members are reminded of their personal responsibility to declare any personal and prejudicial interest in respect of matters contained in this agenda in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government and Finance Act 1992 relating to Council Tax, the Local Government Act 2000, the Council’s Constitution and the Members Code of Conduct

Note:

(a)  Members are reminded that they must identify the item number and subject matter that their interest relates to and signify the nature of the personal interest and

(b)  Where Members withdraw from a Meeting as a consequence of the disclosure of a prejudicial interest they must notify the Chair when they leave

No Declarations of Interest were received.

To consider report of the Deputy Chief Executive

The Deputy Chief Executive introduced the item to the committee and outlined the salient points within the report.

The following questions were raised by the committee and responded to in detail by the officers in attendance.

·         Confirmation was sought on whether the funding was dependant on the current Government still being in power after a Parliamentary Election in 2024

·         This was introduced on 1^st October and the report was published on 6^th November - Can you confirm how much officer time has been spent on this project so far

·         Three priority areas for the spending have been highlighted, how well do you fell they fit with the current priorities

·         Confirmation was sought on whether the funding had to be spent in the town centre as defined by the current boundary

·         If this funding is made available, could other funding streams that had been earmarked for the town centre be spent elsewhere in the County Borough

·         The report highlights the Town Board – is there any further information available in relation to the how recruitment and appointments will carried out

·         Who will be responsible for evaluating the Town Board, this will be very difficult if Central Government and the Senedd are overseeing the project

·         There is mention of a UK Task Force and a Regional Partnership Board, can you confirm how you think this will work

·         Page 7, 4.2 states that ‘Once Board structure is in place, capacity funding will be made available for Spring 2024 for Boards to build their vision and priorities to write their Town Plan. However, until more detail is available nobody has any idea how to set up the Board

·         Clarity was sought on the where the current town centre boundary sits

·         Can the Board determine a new boundary or make changes to our existing boundary

·         The Report states that there is a vast number of representatives who can sit on this new Board, however until we have clarity about the number of seats on the Board no decisions can be made to move forward

·         When do we expect to get further guidance on setting up the Board

·         Have we requested further information in relation to setting up of the Board

·         Clarity was sought on whether a report would be put to Full Council and whether that would come once further guidance had been received

It was confirmed by the Deputy Chief Executive that a briefing paper will be sent to all Councillors confirming to the current situation in relation to the Long Term Plan for Towns programme.

The Chair stated that CRF and SPF funding have all been severely delayed and thought that it is unlikely that further guidance would be received before Christmas.

·         The report stipulates that the Town Board is run by a Businessperson or a Community Leader (which is not a Councillor) then Local Authorities to bring together local partners to form part of the Board. From our understanding it looks as though the Local Authority will not have a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 451.

To consider the attached report

It was confirmed that a Councillor workshop will be organised in relation to public transport and the Hoovers Site due to their sensitive nature.

The Chair confirmed that a request had been made to remove the empty property report in January due to long term sickness within the Environment Health Department.

Concerns were raised by the Committee as this is a vitally important report due to the current homelessness issue and the number of empty properties within the County Borough.

The Chair requested an update from Council Tax as to whether any houses had been brought back into use since the introduction of the 100% increase in Council Tax had been imposed.

The Committee agreed that this report should be brought back to the committee as the earliest opportunity, and it was requested that the Cabinet member provide all Councillors with an update in relation to the capacity within the Environmental Health Department as they stated they were unaware of the current situation.

To consider any referrals made to Scrutiny for inclusion in the Forward Work Programme

Cllr D Sammon raised of Fly Tipping / Littering that was raised at the Neighbourhood Services Scrutiny Meeting and confirmed that he would be emailing all Councillors in relation to the Task and Finish group that had been set up.

The committee agreed that the current situation with Fly Tipping / Littering being split between two Directorates isn’t working and it needs to be looked at. The Chair of Neighbourhood Services will be raising this with the Directors and a Joint Workshop will be set up between Neighbourhood Services and Regeneration Scrutiny.

The committee raise the importance of being kept up to date in relation to the current public transport issue as they will be discussing budget setting in the near future and public transport may need to be factored into that process if things don’t work out with the funding from Welsh Government.

Did we address the recommendations in each report and how have we added value?

The Chair and the Committee considered the recommendations in the report and agreed that they had been addressed.

Any outstanding actions?  Feedback from workshops / task and finish groups / enquiry days, etc.

The Chair raised the Task and Finish Group set up by Cllr D Sammon and the feedback report on South Wales Police HQ and Public Service Centre Site Visit.

To consider the attached report

No questions were raised in relation to this item.

No other business was deemed urgent by the Chair, he thanked everyone for their attendance and closed the meeting.