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Contact: Lowri Haf Evans 01286 679 878 Email: lowrihafevans@gwynedd.llyw.cymru
No. | Item |
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APOLOGIES To receive
any apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies
were received from Councillors Annwen Davies, Louise
Hughes, Linda Morgan, Robert J Wright. |
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive any declaration of personal interest Minutes: No declarations of
personal interest were received from any members present. |
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URGENT ITEMS To note any
items that are a matter of urgency in the view of the Chairman for
consideration. Minutes: None to
note. |
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The
Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the meeting of this Committee, held
on 21.5.2015 be signed as a true record.
Minutes: The minutes of the previous meeting of this
committee, held on 21 May 2015, were accepted as a true record of the meeting. It
was reported that discussions about the attendance of one of Plaid Cymru's representatives on the Fire Authority had been
held. |
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CARTREFI CYMUNEDOL GWYNEDD PDF 691 KB To consider
the Annual Report of Cartrefi Cymunedol
Gwynedd Minutes: (a)
The Annual Report of Cartrefi
Cymunedol Gwynedd (CCG) for 2014-2015 was submitted.
Reference was made to the Transfer Agreement, and it was noted that it was
required for them to note how they had realised the promises made to tenants in
the Offer Document and implemented the obligations under the Transfer
Agreement. Attention was drawn to some specific matters: ·
167 (98.8%) of the promises within the "Your
Home, Your Choice" Offer Document had been successfully delivered since
the end of March 2015. It was noted that CCG continued to prioritise local jobs
ensuring that the expenditure was circulated locally. At the end of March 2015,
257 were employed on the Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS) improvement
programme across all service providers. As WHQS’ work flow and improvement
programme drew to a close, it was noted that Service Provider staffing levels
were decreasing and as a result the number of apprentices and trainees was
reducing. ·
CCG had previously won the Association of
Consultant Architects Innovation and Partnering award (2013), and the
Outstanding Contribution award in the National Procurement Awards (2014). Following
that, it had been praised for the way that local businesses and people had
benefitted from the jobs and apprenticeships created. In 2015, it received an
award from Wales National Procurement. ·
Since CCG's inception and up to March 2015, 180
community projects had benefited from grants (a total of £975,699) through
CCG's Community Investment Fund with additional investment of £5.6M secured
through match funding. ·
CCG’s emphasis was changing. Over the past five
years, the emphasis had been on ensuring that the association's stock complied
with the standard, and this remained a definite commitment. By now, the
business’ direction was changing, and the Corporate Plan 2015/20 had been
formed outlining the strategy and aspirations for the next five years. Welfare
reform would affect tenants, and consideration had to be given to the provision
that would be offered. ·
The business continued to grow in order to ensure
long-term viability - new developments in Maesgeirchen
and Pwllheli together with achieving the target in
the provision of affordable homes and investigating new sources of income. Although
the expenditure would reduce from this year onwards, CCG would continue to
invest and circulate funding within the County. ·
Elements of collaboration with large companies and
sub-contracting arrangements caused some concerns, but CCG continued to work
through this. ·
Continued to consult with tenants to include
customers in everything it did. ·
As a result of the change in emphasis, the
relationship with the Council was changing from a monitoring perspective. (b)
During the discussion, the following observations
were made:
i.
CCG was congratulated on its success in receiving a
Wales National Procurement award and on its positive report. It was thanked for
the success of the community fund and its willingness to improve the mixed
property estates. ii. New developments were approved, but it was necessary to secure more units for older people as well as one-bedroom units. In response, it was noted that CCG was aware of ... view the full minutes text for item 5. |
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ON STREET ENFORCEMENT PDF 218 KB Cabinet Member: Councillor John Wynn Jones a) Present a scoping summary for a
Scrutiny Investigation b) Nomination of members to serve on
the Investigation Minutes: a) An
initial brief was submitted for a Scrutiny Investigation into the use of
on-street enforcement. It was highlighted that Gwynedd Council’s Street Service
was a comparatively small team working within a net budget of £300k. The
service was responsible for raising awareness and teaching the public about
ensuring a clean and safe environment, operating policies on graffiti, needles
and lanterns, monitoring the performance of street hygiene and maintaining and
assisting in a range of relevant campaigns. The scrutiny investigation would
run for a period of six months with the intention of forming clear
recommendations based on evidence to be considered by the Cabinet Member. b)
During the discussion, the following observations
were made: ·
The dog fouling problem was an obvious one for the
man on the street, but it must be remembered that this was not only an
investigation into dog fouling - the brief must be considered in its entirety. ·
It needed to be ensured that every area in the
County was focussed upon and not the busy areas only. ·
The investigation was not seeking to scrutinise the
work of the department, rather to support the department's work and to seek to
expand the scope of the work the department did. ·
Multipurpose bins were being trialled in Tywyn - very successful but awareness needed to be raised. ·
Clear and specific training and publicity were
required ·
Confirmation of service arrangements was required –
who was collecting? Who placed the bins? ·
Needed to consider chewing gum - there was
potential to collaborate with schools on this. c)
RESOLVED to
accept the brief and nominate the following Members to serve on the
investigation. Councillors Dilwyn Morgan, Mike
Stevens, Tudor Owen, Annwen Hughes, Annwen Daniels and Angela Russell to serve on the
investigation. |
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PLANNING AND THE WELSH LANGUAGE PDF 127 KB Consider
the report of the Senior Manager – Democracy and Delivery Minutes: a)
Submitted - the report of the Senior Manager -
Democracy and Delivery responding to two concerns amongst Councillors and
members of the public regarding the Planning and the Welsh Language procedure. The
first concern was the Council’s internal arrangements when dealing with
linguistic impact assessments in planning committees. The second concern was a
broader one regarding the status of the Welsh language in the Planning System. It was
reported that the first matter, following a discussion with officers from the
Planning Service and Councillor Elwyn Edwards, had been solved with a link on
the agenda referring to the relevant plans and background information. b)
In terms of the status of the Welsh Language in the
Planning Procedure (national and local level), it was highlighted that it was
intended to schedule a purposeful item for the next meeting of this Committee
on 17 November to discuss in full. In considering
fields for the discussion, initial observations were submitted with a request
for members to expand on them; ·
Set the statutory context in terms of the Planning
Bill etc. ·
Explain the National Planning Policy (TAN 20) ·
Explain the Current Local Planning Policy (The
Unitary Development Plan and the Supplementary Planning Guidance: Planning and
the Welsh Language) ·
Explain how the Service operates within the current
policy context ·
Provide information regarding the Joint Local
Development Plan (Draft) ·
Explain how, in the context of the requirements of
TAN 20, we would be required to deal with the Welsh language when deciding on
planning applications after the Joint Local Development Plan would be adopted
and how the Service sought to respond to this. c)
In response to the initial observations to hold the
discussion, the Planning officers highlighted; · in the
context of TAN 20, that there were new draft guidelines for linguistic and
community assessments, but that there was no intention to implement them until
the next election - the Planning committee therefore continued with the current
policies · that
appeal inspectors specialised in relevant planning fields and not solely in the
Welsh language · Gwynedd
Council went beyond what was required in the context of guidelines. ch) During the
discussion, the following observations were made: ·
Accepted that the link was a good and effective
idea ·
Needed a definition of the ‘Planning Instruction’
term ·
Needed to ensure that the linguistic assessment was
addressed by appropriate officers - need the inspections to be completed by
officers who understood the linguistic and community situations ·
Carl Sargeant encouraged consideration for the
Welsh language, therefore why was it not possible to consider the Welsh
language before the election RESOLVED to accept that the procedures in terms of the papers of the
Planning Committee had improved adequately and agree to seek a report for the
next meeting of the committee as outlined, but to add the following elements to
it; · Linguistic assessment guidelines and who
conducts them · Address the role of the planning inspectorate · Need a definition of the ‘Planning
Instruction’ term |
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HOMELESSNESS SCRUTINY INVESTIGATION PROPOSALS PDF 3 MB Cabinet Member: Councillor Ioan Thomas Consider
the Scrutiny Investigation Group Report Minutes: a)
Submitted - the report of the Homelessness scrutiny
investigation to the Cabinet Member, Ioan Thomas. Everyone was reminded by the
chair of the investigation, Councillor Eric Jones, of the background of the brief
and a summary of the work undertaken was provided. It was proven that the
investigation had been extremely valuable, an insight into a challenging and
difficult field which dealt with individuals and families across the community.
It was outlined that excellent work was being undertaken, but recommendations
had been identified where there was room for improvement. It was noted that
this was not a criticism of the officers in the field, but rather a matter in
which some adaptations could improve the provision. The members of the
investigation were thanked for their commitment, and to Councillor Stephen
Churchman for attending every hostel visit in order to ensure consistency of
opinion and the officers were thanked for their work, especially Susan Griffith
(Homelessness and Supportive Housing Manager) and Catrin Roberts (Housing
Strategic Development Officer). b) The
Cabinet Member reiterated his thanks to the members for their commitment to the
investigation which had provided a valuable scrutiny role in a challenging
field. It was outlined that due to the financial challenge it was difficult to
accept every recommendation, but the hope was to implement most of them. The
Senior Housing Manager reiterated his appreciation for the work and the
valuable insight provided into the field. He highlighted that some
recommendations had already been realised or prioritised (with financial
limitations to others). Each member was encouraged to visit a Hostel. c)
During the discussion, the following observations
were made: ·
It was important to collaborate to get the best for
the Homelessness service - the service provided was essential ·
Early intervention must be ensured and a focus on
preventative services ·
The report was congratulated and a request was made
for an update in 6-9 months RESOLVED to accept the report, adopt the recommendations in it and that
the Cabinet Member reports back within 6-9 months on what has been achieved as
a result of the recommendations. The meeting commenced at 10.00am and concluded at 12.05pm. |