Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any declarations of interests from Members.

Councillor D. Butler declared a person interest in agenda item number 6 – Flintshire County Council’s response to the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) Review as his wife was employed by Betsi Cadwaladr.

            Councillors C.M. Jones and H.J. McGuill also declared personal interests in agenda item number 6 - Flintshire County Council’s response to the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) Review as they were both members of the CHC. 

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 11 and 25 September, 2012.

 11 September, 2012

That subject to the amendment listed above, the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

25 September, 2012

That subject to the amendments listed above, the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

11 September, 2012

            Councillor M.J. Peers commented on his proposed amendments outlined at minute number 55 and asked that the third bullet point be amended to reflect that all Town and Community Councils would be notified of the name of the proposed candidate and that comments on the proposed candidate would be sought.  Any comments received should be presented to County Council together with the name of the proposed candidate.

RESOLVED:

That subject to the amendment listed above, the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

25 September, 2012

            Councillor R.C. Bithell said that his initial shown on page 13 of the minutes should be corrected.    

Councillor H.T. Isherwood commented on minute number 71 and asked that her request that future Statement of Accounts be in plain English to enable members of the public to easily understand the information be included in the minutes.

Councillor C.S. Carver also commented on minute number 71 and reported that he had received additional information on the breakdown of transactions with Anglesey County Council.  He said that he had also received further details on the officer who had been placed in the remuneration band £160,000 - £164,000 and commented that the information differed from the response given by the Head of Finance at the meeting.

The Chair suggested that Councillor Carver take up this matter with the Head of Finance following the meeting.

RESOLVED:

That subject to the amendments listed above, the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

The following Notice of Motion has been received from Councillor R.C. Bithell:-

“Given the continuing problem being experienced by Flintshire residents with dog fouling and litter, this Council calls upon Officers to consider the employment of an enforcement company to enforce our regulations regarding these issues”.

Given the continuing problem being experienced by Flintshire residents with dog fouling and litter, this Council calls upon Officers to consider the employment of an enforcement company to enforce our regulations regarding these issues.

The following Notice of motion had been received from Councillor R.C. Bithell:-

“Given the continuing problem being experienced by Flintshire residents with dog fouling and litter, this Council calls upon Officers to consider the employment of an enforcement company to enforce our regulations regarding these issues”.

            In speaking to his motion, Councillor Bithell said that all Members received frequent complaints of dog fouling and litter across Flintshire and said that despite the improvements made to reduce dog fouling and littering further improvements were needed.  He acknowledged that tackling dog fouling and littering was a difficult task and said that his notice of motion would enable officers to make enquiries on employing an enforcement company to enforce the Council’s regulations and present a report on their findings to the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee in due course. 

            Councillor J.B. Attridge, Cabinet Member for Environment in responding to the notice of motion reported that the Council had looked at the operation of the company recently highlighted on a TV programme and in the process had contacted a number of authorities who had used them and had had informal discussions with the company itself.  The majority of their work was focused around the issue of Fixed Penalty Notices for littering which they had been doing very successfully in a number of urban areas.  They had recently had enquiries on the enforcement of dog fouling, but recognised the difficulty of issuing tickets in this respect.

In Blaenau Gwent they had two contracts – one for litter which was based on a percentage of the income derived from issuing a Fixed Penalty Notice and one on an hourly rate for enforcing against dog fouling.  They would not consider entering into a contract for dog fouling based on a percentage of the Fixed Penalty Notice income, due to the difficulty involved in issuing Fixed Penalty Notices.  The company would consider a contract for dog fouling enforcement but only on an hourly rate basis.

The company were shortly starting work on a 12 month pilot contract with Denbighshire and Conwy which would cover both dog fouling and litter.  The Councils intended to review all the comments before proceeding further with our Enforcement Team and would closely monitor how this pilot progressed before making recommendations to Members on whether it was right for the Council to adopt such an approach in the future.

            Councillor N.R. Steele-Mortimer spoke in support of the motion and said that the matter had been a concern for Members for a number of years.  He questioned why this matter had been brought to the County Council by a Cabinet Member as this could have been considered by the Cabinet.  He gave notice that he would be requesting a recorded vote.  In responding to his comments, Councillor A.P. Shotton, Leader of the Council supported the notice of motion being submitted to County Council as the matter affected all residents of Flintshire. 

            Councillor H.D. Hutchinson spoke in support of the motion and reported that during his  ...  view the full minutes text for item 78.

To note the answers to any questions submitted in accordance with County Council Standing Order No. 9.4(A).

The following question had been submitted by Councillor N.M. Steele-Mortimer:-

“I understand that a Flintshire Special Needs child is being fostered in Conwy but is being brought by taxi to school in Flint daily and singly.

How much does this cost and which Council is paying for it”.

            Councillor R.C. Bithell responded that the child concerned had severe learning disabilities and the carers, although residing in Conwy, were Flintshire Carers.  An alternative school was considered but in fact the most appropriate alternative school was further away in terms of travel time than the school in Flint.  Had they accessed a placement in the Conwy area, Flintshire would be charged for the placement plus any transport costs and this would, no doubt, have been higher than the current arrangements.

            Councillor Steele-Mortimer was given the opportunity to ask a supplementary question.  He said that he had not been given an answer on how much the transport costs were and asked how many Flintshire carers were residing in other Counties across North Wales.

            The Head of Legal and Democratic Services said that a written response would be provided to Councillor Steele-Mortimer following the meeting.   

(a)       That Appendix 1 be adopted as the formal response from Flintshire County Council to the BCUHB consultation and that the Council clearly state its position on the proposals for Community Hospitals and Local Health Services as follows:-

• That the Council was unconvinced by the case for change for Flint CommunityHospital. In the absence of any specific proposals for the retention of accessible local services within the town of Flint the Council rejects the proposal to close Flintshire CommunityHospital and its minor injuries unit;
• That the minor injuries and x-ray services at Mold Community Hospital be retained on the grounds that Mold services a large and expanding population with established public transport;
• That the Minor Injuries Clinic at Deeside Hospital facility be commissioned and opened as proposed, to provide an accessible service to the communities of Deeside; and
• That the retention of local minor injuries services across the county, and the opening of the facility at Deeside, would prevent minor injuries self-referrals to District General Hospitals which would make further demands on already stretched Accident and Emergency services.

(b)       That Flintshire County Council urge the BCUHB to withdraw the current proposals with immediate effect;

(c)        That delegated authority be given to the Chief Executive and Director of Community Services following consultation with the Leader of the Council, Cabinet Member for Social Services and Chair of the Social and Health Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee to make amendments to the formal response taking into account Members views and suggestions;

(d)       That subject to the response from the BCUHB, the Leader of the Council meet with the Minister of Health and Social Services to outline the concerns of Flintshire County Council;

(e)       That copies of the formal response be circulated to all Members.

The Director of Community Services introduced a suggested formal response to the consultation on proposed health service changes in North Wales with a clear focus on how it would affect Flintshire residents.  The suggested formal response was shown at Appendix 1 of the report which had been circulated to all Members before the meeting.  The deadline for responses on the consultation document was the 28 October, 2012 and it had been suggested in the report that delegated authority be given to the Chief Executive, Leader of the Council, himself, Cabinet Member for Social Services and the Chair of the Social and Health Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee to make any necessary amendment following the meeting.

            He commented on the formal response to specific proposals for change in different service areas as detailed in Appendix 1, explaining that Members comments made during the special Social and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 19 September, 2012 had been taken on board when formulating the response.  He said that these were welcome aspects of the proposals, but that significant concerns about the proposals remained and the draft response detailed these concerns.

            Councillor A.P. Shotton, Leader of the Council thanked all Members for their contribution which formed part of the formal response.  He said that there had not been sufficient detailed planning on the provision of robust service modelling for the Council to be reassured that the proposals were sustainable and in the best interest of Flintshire residents.  He proposed that Appendix 1 be adopted as the formal response from Flintshire County Council to the BCUHB consultation and in moving the response proposed that the Council clearly state its position on the proposals for Community Hospitals and Local Health Services as follows:-

• That the Council was unconvinced by the case for change for Flint CommunityHospital.  In the absence of any specific proposals for the retention of accessible local services within the town of Flint the Council rejects the proposal to close Flintshire CommunityHospital and its minor injuries unit;
• That the minor injuries and x-ray services at Mold Community Hospital be retained on the grounds that Mold services a large and expanding population with established public transport;
• That the Minor Injuries Clinic at Deeside Hospital facility be commissioned and opened as proposed, to provide an accessible service to the communities of Deeside; and
• That the retention of local minor injuries services across the county, and the opening of the facility at Deeside, would prevent minor injuries self-referrals to District General Hospitals which would make further demands on already stretched Accident and Emergency services.

It was for these reasons that Flintshire County Council would urge the BCUHB to withdraw the current proposals with immediate effect.

In seconding the proposals, Councillor C.M. Jones, Cabinet Member for Social Services spoke in support of the formal response which reflected the concerns of Members, officers and residents of Flintshire.

            Members raised a number of concerns around the proposals for the Neonatal Intensive Care Service, the proposals  ...  view the full minutes text for item 80.

That the County Council adopt the Improvement Plan 2012 – 2017, noting the addition of the three additional Improvement Priorities in line with the Leadership’s Programme for Change.

The Chief Executive introduced the Improvement Plan 2012 – 2017 and draft Annual Performance Report 2011/12.

            The Improvement Plan built upon the ten Council Priorities and the supporting Directorate priorities presenting them in a single document.  The current set of ten Council Improvement Priorities were extensive and were supported by a more detailed set of secondary Improvement priorities as detailed within the Improvement Plan 2012 – 2017.  The length of timeframe for the Plan had been adjusted to a longer period of five years to reflect the period of office of the new Council.   

            The Annual Performance Report for 2011/12 reviewed the Council’s progress again the Improvement Priorities.  The report would be available as a web-based document which would be accessed via the Council’s website and the supporting documents which provided the more detailed information would be available as ‘signposted’ documents.

            Councillor W. Mullin thanked the Chief Executive, the Policy Performance and Partnerships Manager and her team for their hard work in preparing the reports and proposed that the County Council adopt the Improvement Plan 2012 – 2017, noting the addition of the three additional Improvement Priorities in line with the Leadership’s Programme for Change and also endorsed the 2011/12 draft Annual Performance Report for publication.

            Councillor S. Jones raised concern on the reporting mechanism of regional partnerships and asked how this could be improved.  Councillor R.C. Bithell also shared similar concerns and commented that there was some confusion over some partnership arrangements.

            The Chief Executive commented on the complexities of regional partnerships and reported that update reports on performance were submitted to relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committees and Cabinet.  He said that information on regional partnerships was readily available if Members wished to receive an update.  The Council had adopted a three stage reporting protocol for regional collaborative projects.

            Councillor P.G. Heesom commented on the complete TAITH work programme and raised concerns that Flintshire had missed out on large investments which had been given to Conwy and asked that this matter be examined further.  Councillor M.G. Wright commented on the development of the Deeside Growth Zone and outlined the opportunities available to Flintshire. 

            Councillor A.P. Shotton, Leader of the Council in response to the concerns on regional partnership said that there was a need for the Community Profile and Partnerships Overview and Scrutiny to play an important role in scrutinising regional partnerships.  On the Deeside Growth Zone he shared Members concerns and said that the Council would lobby for effective representation.  He thanked the Policy Performance and Partnerships Manager and he team for the report and provided further details on each of the additional Improvement Priorities and said that further details on these would be reported back to Cabinet before the end of the calendar year.

            Councillor R.B. Jones commented on the Lifelong Learning Directorate priorities as shown in the report and said that the priority to safeguard vulnerable communities had been removed from the report.  He also commented on the importance of the Directorate Plan and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 81.

That the County Council agree that Members cannot use any Flintshire IT software to produce Councillor Newsletters.

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services introduced a protocol on Councillor Newsletters which had been approved by the Standards Committee. 

            Councillor W. Mullin welcomed the report and proposed that the County Council adopt the protocol as shown at Appendix 2 of the report.

            Councillor M.J. Peers suggested that section 3 of the protocol, be amended to read as follows:-

·        Members are free to use the computers and other electronic devices provided by the Council available in Members Services and in the group rooms for the purposes of designing and setting up newsletters to their constituents.

In response to concerns raised, the Head of Legal and Democratic Services explained that there had been no indication that current facilities in Members Services had been used for Councillor Newsletters.

 Councillor R.B. Jones proposed that an amendment that the County Council agree that Members cannot use any Flintshire IT software to produce Councillor Newsletters.  This was seconded by Councillor C.J. Dolphin.  

RESOLVED:

That the County Council agree that Members cannot use any Flintshire IT software to produce Councillor Newsletters.

            The meeting commenced at 2.00 p.m. and ended at 4.33 p.m.

There were three members of the press and three members of the public present.