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Contact: Eirian Roberts 01286 679018
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CHAIRMAN To elect a
Chairman for 2016/17. Additional documents: Minutes: RESOLVED to elect
Councillor Jason Humphreys as Chair of this committee for 2016/17. |
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VICE-CHAIRMAN To elect a
Vice-chairman for 2016/17. Additional documents: Minutes: RESOLVED to elect
Councillor W. Roy Owen as Vice-chair of this committee for 2016/17. |
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APOLOGIES To receive any apologies for
absence. Additional documents: Minutes: Councillors Anwen Davies,
Lesley Day, Elwyn Edwards, Gweno Glyn, Linda Morgan, Angela Russell, Glyn
Thomas and Hefin Underwood. |
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive
any declaration of personal interest. Additional documents: 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. Additional documents: Minutes: None. |
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The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee held on 14th April, 2016 be signed as a true
record (attached). Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting
of this committee that took place on 14 April, 2016, as a true record. |
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CABINET RESPONSE TO RECOMMENDATIONS PRESENTED BY THE CORPORATE SCRUTINY COMMITTEE PDF 240 KB To submit
the report of the Chairman and the Democratic Services Manager (attached). Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted - a report by the former chair, Councillor
Dyfrig Jones, reporting back on the Cabinet's response to the recommendations
of this committee in relation to the following matters:- ·
Gwynedd Council Procurement
Strategy: Category Management and Keeping the Benefit Local; ·
Draft Information
Technology Strategy; ·
The benefits to Gwynedd
from Retaining the Business Rates. It was noted that no detailed
discussion had been held on the recommendations of the scrutinisers in relation
to the Draft Information Technology Strategy as the Cabinet was moving on to
discuss the strategy during its meeting that day, however, the observations of
the scrutinisers had been considered as part of that discussion. The
Cabinet Member for Resources added that the Cabinet had now adopted the
Information Technology Strategy and that the department had received additional
resources for its implementation. RESOLVED to accept the
report. |
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REPORT OF THE HOLIDAY HOMES AND TAXES INVESTIGATION PDF 2 MB To submit the
draft report of the Holiday Homes and Taxes Investigation (attached). Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted - the report of the Holiday Homes and Taxes
Investigation. The Chair set out the context and invited Councillor
Eirwyn Williams, Chair of the Investigation, to formally submit the report to
the committee and to the Cabinet Member for Resources. Upon submitting the report, Councillor Eirwyn Williams
thanked the members of the investigation and the officers for their work and
also thanked the professional officers outside the Council who had given their
time to speak with the members as part of the investigation. During the discussion:- ·
It was noted that a
continuous increase had been seen in the number of houses that transferred from
the Council Tax system to the Non-domestic Rate system and that there was a
need to continue pressing for a change in the legislation. ·
It was suggested that the
Cabinet Member should contact other councils to ensure that they also fully
understood the situation. ·
It
was noted that these transfers were a threat to the Council Tax base. ·
It
was asked whether or not it could be argued that Gwynedd was a special case in
light of the high number of houses in multiple occupation within the county and
that this was reflected by the Government in its annual grant settlement. ·
Disappointment was
expressed that members of the scrutiny committee had not been aware at the
meeting before the Council on 3 March that a forewarning of one year needed to
be given before charging a premium on second homes and that the investigation
had expressed that as a reason for not making a decision by that date regarding
issuing a notice for implementing that from the 2017/18 financial year onwards.
·
It was noted the Council
needed to decide by December this year whether or not it would charge a premium
on second homes from 2018/19 onwards and it was suggested that the
investigation should be extended to consider the options (and risks) associated
with that, and also look at other matters such as the possibility of charging a
5% tourist tax in order to fund community-based facilities. It was agreed to
discuss that further at the end of the meeting during the Committee's
Preparatory Meeting. ·
It was noted, although the
vows of the different political parties to reduce the business rates of small
businesses was welcomed, that the owners of self-catering units that had
transferred to the Non-domestic Rates system would benefit from that as well,
and that Assembly Members should be lobbied to see whether or not something
could be done about the situation. The Cabinet Member thanked the scrutinisers for their thorough work that had led to a better understanding of the situation and he noted that he accepted the three recommendations of the investigation in the fields of taxation, valuation and planning. He added that he believed that the answer to the problem was to be found within the planning system. He also suggested that the scrutiny committee should look at the options (and risks) associated with charging a premium on ... view the full minutes text for item 8. |
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GWYNEDD CHALLENGE ENGAGEMENT PDF 254 KB To submit a
report by Councillors J.W.Williams and R.H.Wyn Williams, representatives of the Corporate Scrutiny
Committee who undertook the work
(attached). Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted - a report from Councillor John Wyn Williams
and R. H. Wyn Williams who had represented this committee at a meeting of the
Gwynedd Engagement Group on 5 April that took stock of the Gwynedd Challenge
exercise to see which lessons could be learnt regarding the Council's
engagement arrangements in the future. It was noted that one of the group's main conclusions
was that one of the potential weaknesses of the Gwynedd Challenge was that some
of the content provided by the services was difficult to understand and that it
used complex language and too much "Council terminology" that the
public could not understand (in Welsh or English) and that the inability to
communicate clear and simple messages was a weakness that needed to be addressed.
It was suggested that there could be some scope here for a Scrutiny
Investigation or Task Group to look at how this could be improved. It was noted that this exercise was a new and
different exercise in terms of scrutiny and members were asked to attempt to
assess whether there were strengths and/or weaknesses in these arrangements so
as to conclude whether or not this type of scrutiny exercise could be used in
future, and that in different fields. During the discussion:- ·
It was concluded that the
exercise in terms of scrutiny had been a successful exercise, and that efforts
could be made to undertake similar work in other fields in the future. ·
It was noted that this type
of exercise avoided duplicating work. ·
It was suggested that
officers did not need to accompany scrutinisers in such meetings and that the
members should draw up their own record / report regarding the conclusions of
the discussion. The Deputy Leader noted that including the
scrutinisers in the group had been very valuable and he provided details on
further work that was to be done in the context of the Gwynedd Challenge
exercise. |
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FURTHER SCRUTINY WORK - CLEAR LANGUAGE (IN ENGAGEMENT WORK) PDF 592 KB To submit
the scope for a scrutiny investigation
(attached). Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted
- scope for the scrutiny investigation following the conclusion of the Gwynedd
Engagement Group that one of the potential weaknesses of the Gwynedd Challenge
was that some of the content provided by the services was difficult for the
public to understand and that they used complex language and too much
"Council terminology" that the public could not understand (in Welsh
or English) and that there was room, possibly, for work by a Scrutiny
Investigation or Task Group to look at how this could be improved. RESOLVED to establish a
Clear Language (in Engagement Work) Scrutiny Investigation and that Councillors
John Wyn Williams and R. H. Wyn Williams are members of it. |
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SAVINGS IN THE REGULATORY DEPARTMENT PDF 214 KB Part 1 –
Further Savings To submit
the report of the (Acting) Head of Regulatory Department (attached). Part 2 –
Further Savings – Pest Control To submit
the report of the Senior Corporate Property Manager (attached). Additional documents:
Minutes: Members
of the Communities Scrutiny Committee were welcomed to the meeting to
joint-scrutinise this item with members of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee. (A) Part 1 - Further Savings Submitted – the report of the Acting Head of Regulatory
Department asking the scrutiny committee to scrutinise the savings plans
referred by the Cabinet for further work by the scrutinisers, namely two plans
relating to reducing the Public Protection budgets and a plan relating to
reducing the budget for advertising planning applications. The Chair of the Communities Scrutiny Committee was
invited to say a few words before the Acting Head of Regulatory Department
outlined the content of the report. The members were given the opportunity to question the
Cabinet Member and officers and submit observations. During the discussion:- ·
Support was expressed to
supporting the Council's staff and empowering them. ·
Disappointment was
expressed in terms of looking at the savings from the perspective of the people
of Gwynedd rather than from the Council's perspective. ·
It was noted that
collaboration could possibly be easier from now on. ·
The members noted a risk in
relation to charging fees as details did not currently exist. ·
It was noted that it had
been beneficial to scrutinise the report jointly between both committees. The Chair of the Communities Scrutiny Committee was
invited to summarise before the Chair of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee
closed the discussion. RESOLVED (a) To accept the information in the report, including what had been
achieved regarding the savings to date. (b) To recommend to the Cabinet that the Department proceeds to meet a
saving of £278,440 by implementing an alternative scheme that will focus on
raising income, changing structure and reducing the risks that prevent approved
savings from being realised. (c) That the department reports to the Corporate Scrutiny Committee on
the progress of all savings and cuts along with robust figures to commit to
them in terms of the alternative scheme in 9 months' time. (B) Part 2 - Further Savings
- Pest Control Submitted - the report of the Senior Corporate
Property Manager updating members on possible options for the provision of the Pest
Control and Dog Warden Service in the future and asking them to scrutinise the
options proposed to close the current financial deficit. The Chair of the Communities Scrutiny Committee was
invited to say a few words before the Senior Corporate Property Manager
outlined the content of the report. The members were given the opportunity to question the
Cabinet Member and officers and submit observations. During the discussion:- ·
Support was expressed to
the alternative way of delivering the savings / cuts and for the innovation
shown. ·
The development to run the
service as a self-sufficient business was welcomed. ·
Emphasis was placed on the
need for the marketing work to be done as soon as possible to increase the
service's level of use (particularly in Arfon). · The risk of increasing the cost excessively (risk that people would take their business elsewhere) was noted; however, a level of 10% below ... view the full minutes text for item 11. |