Agenda, decisions and minutes

In recognition of the Council’s recent successes in the Constructing Excellence Awards 2017:

·         Client of the Year – nominated by Wates Residential in recognition of our partnership working on the Strategic Housing and Regeneration Programme (SHARP)

·         Sustainability Award – awarded to Galliford Try, the contractor appointed by the Council to build the Holywell Learning Campus

In recognition of the Council’s recent successes in the Constructing Excellence Wales Awards 2017:

·         Client of the Year – nominated by Wates Residential in recognition of the partnership working on the Strategic Housing and Regeneration Programme (SHARP); and

·         Sustainability Award – awarded to Galliford Try, the contractor appointed by the Council to build the Holywell Learning Campus.

The Chairman welcomed both the SHARP team and the School Modernisation Team to the meeting.  The Chief Executive explained that the Council had been successful at the Constructing Excellence Wales (CEW) Awards Ceremony held at the Celtic Manor on Friday 14^th July, picking up two awards.  The SHARP team was awarded with the ‘Constructing Excellence in Wales Award 2017 – Client of the Year – Overall Winner’.  Galliford Try had been awarded in the Sustainability category for the Holywell Learning Campus.

Councillor Bernie Attridge said that he was honoured to have been in attendance at the awards ceremony and outlined the excellent projects which had been placed in the same category.  He thanked the whole team and Whaites for an excellent partnership with the Council.

Councillor David Healey congratulated Galliford Try for their award.  He said that when the Education & Youth Overview & Scrutiny Committee had visited the Holywell Learning Campus he had been overawed, he considered the school to be a remarkable achievement and paid tribute to all those involved in its creation.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 20^th June 2017.

That, subject to the amendment on minute number 23 of 20^th June 2017, the minutes be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 20^th June 2017 were submitted.

On a point of accuracy, Councillor Heesom asked that the wording ‘that there is concern that the private sector does not appear be meeting the level of supply of housing that was needed’ included with his comments on minute number 23.

RESOLVED:

That, subject to the amendment on minute number 23 of 20^th June 2017, the minutes be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

To receive any Declarations and advise Members accordingly.

The Monitoring Officer advised that a personal interest would be recorded on behalf of all Members present who were members of the Clwyd Pension Fund.  He took the opportunity to remind Members of the need to keep their Register of Interest Forms up to date should any changes have occurred since their election.  This could be done by completing ‘Form C’ and submitting to Democratic Services.

The Monitoring Officer advised that a personal interest would be recorded on behalf of all Members present who were members of the Clwyd Pension Fund.  He took the opportunity to remind Members of the need to keep their Register of Interest Forms up to date should any changes have occurred since their election.  This could be done by completing ‘Form C’ and submitting to Democratic Services.

The Leader of the Council led the tributes to the late Councillor Ron Hampson.  He commented on the dedication, commitment and love he displayed for his family; for Rita, Michelle and Stephen and the active part he played in the life of the Council since its inception.  He spoke of his appetite for political discussion, his dedication to the Labour Party and how he was a dedicated and ever-present campaigner.  He was passionate about helping people and representing people’s needs and was happiest when speaking to residents within his ward.  He said that he was thankful for the opportunity to have served alongside Councillor Hampson and that the Council would be poorer for his sad passing.     

                        Councillors Martin White, Ron Davies, Neville Phillips, Mike Peers, Clive Carver, Brian Lloyd, Dennis Hutchinson, Patrick Heesom, Tony Sharps, Rita Johnson and Carol Ellis also paid tribute to Councillor Hampson, commenting particularly on his kindness, popularity, helpfulness, his dedication to the residents of Buckley and how much he would be missed. 

To receive the communications as circulated.

A copy of the Chairman’s Communications had been circulated to all Members prior to the meeting.

The Chairman particularly commented on the Queens Baton Relay for the Commonwealth Games and thanked Theatr Clwyd for their hospitality.  He commented on the Earl of Wessex visit at Theatr Clwyd which had been successful and Councillor Ron Hampson’s funeral and the high number of people in attendance. 

To receive any Petitions.

None were received.

None were received.

To receive any Public Questions.

None were received.

None were received.

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

None were received.

None were received.

The Minute Books, Edition [   ] has been circulated to Members.  Members are now entitled to ask questions on these minutes, subject to certain limitations, and answers will be provided at the meeting.  Members are requested to bring to the meeting their copy of the Minute Book.  Any questions must have been received by the Democratic Services Manager prior to the close of business on [  ]

The Chief Officer (Governance) explained that a question had been received from Councillor Heesom on the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee minutes from the meeting held on 16 May, 2017. 

Councillor Patrick Heesom referred to the minutes of the Environment Overview & Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 16 May, 2017.  He raised concern that the matter of the Welsh Government consultation on the A494/A55 improvements had not been considered by the full Council or discussion/debate.  He also raised concern around the recommendation of the Welsh Government which he felt did not benefit the area of Flintshire which he represented. 

Councillor Heesom invited the Leader of the Council to answer the questions.  On a point of procedure, the Chief Officer (Governance) explained that it was his understanding that notice had been given to ask the question of the Chair of Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  Had it been explained that the question was to the Leader of the Council, the question would not have been accepted as it did not meet the required notice period which was 10 working days for such a question.

            The question was, therefore, dismissed.

The Chief Officer (Governance) explained that a question had been received from Councillor Heesom on the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee minutes from the meeting held on 16 May, 2017. 

Councillor Patrick Heesom referred to the minutes of the Environment Overview & Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 16 May, 2017.  He raised concern that the matter of the Welsh Government consultation on the A494/A55 improvements had not been considered by the full Council or discussion/debate.  He also raised concern around the recommendation of the Welsh Government which he felt did not benefit the area of Flintshire which he represented. 

Councillor Heesom invited the Leader of the Council to answer the questions.  On a point of procedure, the Chief Officer (Governance) explained that it was his understanding that notice had been given to ask the question of the Chair of Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  Had it been explained that the question was to the Leader of the Council, the question would not have been accepted as it did not meet the required notice period which was 10 working days for such a question.

            The question was, therefore, dismissed.

To consider the Notices of Motion received.

(a)          That the Notice of Motion from Councillor Attridge and Kevin Hughes be supported as follows: “The disaster at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield on 15^th April 1989 led to the deaths of 96 innocent people who had left their homes that morning to watch a football match.  Due to crowd control mismanagement, those fans, whose ages ranged from 10 to 67 years old, lost their lives.  This disaster directly affected families in Flintshire.  It is saddening to compare the behaviour of those who were in positions of responsibility and public trust with the dignity and courage displayed by the families of the 96, who have continued since 1989 to fight for justice whilst coping with the loss of their loved ones.  The council cannot overlook the hurt and distress caused by the lies and smears printed in The Sun at that time – especially to the families of the 96.  Neither can we overlook The Sun’s stubborn refusal to apologise properly for the hurt it caused unit it became clear to the newspaper that public opinion demanded such an apology.  On April 26^th 2016 a jury returned verdicts of unlawful killing in relation to each victim.  It is this Council’s hope that in due course the conclusions reached by the Hillsborough inquest will come to finally result in justice for the victims of this tragedy.  We express our support for those affected by the disaster and commend the continuing efforts of relatives and friends of the victims in their search for justice.  We condemn the behaviour of The Sun newspaper and we as a Council will support any Flintshire retailer or newspaper vendor that choose not to sell The Sun newspaper.  We lend our support to the campaign “Total Eclipse of The Sun” in solidarity with fellow councils in the North West of the United Kingdom.”; and

(b)       That the amendment to the Notice of Motion from Councillor Carver as put forward from Councillor Aaron Shotton, including the successful amendment by Councillor Peers, be supported as follows: ‘“That this Council calls upon both UK and Welsh Government (WG) to ensure that adequate funding is forthcoming to address local GP capacity, due to the requirement by the WG to further promote the building of more houses whilst at the same time not ensuring that NHS Wales has sufficient GP doctor’s surgeries or the capacity to cope with the existing population, let alone the increase in population that these houses will bring”.

Two Notices of Motion had been received:

(i)         Councillors Bernie Attridge and Kevin Hughes:

“The disaster at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield on 15^th April 1989 led to the deaths of 96 innocent people who had left their homes that morning to watch a football match

Due to crowd control mismanagement, those fans, whose ages ranged from 10 to 67 years old, lost their lives.  This disaster directly affected families in Flintshire.

It is saddening to compare the behaviour of those who were in positions of responsibility and public trust with the dignity and courage displayed by the families of the 96, who have continued since 1989 to fight for justice whilst coping with the loss of their loved ones.  The council cannot overlook the hurt and distress caused by the lies and smears printed in The Sun at that time – especially to the families of the 96.

Neither can we overlook The Sun’s stubborn refusal to apologise properly for the hurt it caused unit it became clear to the newspaper that public opinion demanded such an apology.

On April 26^th 2016 a jury returned verdicts of unlawful killing in relation to each victim.  It is this Council’s hope that in due course the conclusions reached by the Hillsborough inquest will come to finally result in justice for the victims of this tragedy.

We express our support for those affected by the disaster and commend the continuing efforts of relatives and friends of the victims in their search for justice.  We condemn the behaviour of The Sun newspaper and we as a Council will support any Flintshire retailer or newspaper vendor that choose not to sell The Sun newspaper.  We lend our support to the campaign “Total Eclipse of The Sun” in solidarity with fellow councils in the North West of the United Kingdom.”

                        This was seconded by Councillor Kevin Hughes.

In support of their joint Motion, Councillor Attridge spoke about the terrible events at Hillsborough which had led to the deaths of 96 innocent football fans due to crowd mismanagement and how the disaster had affected the lives of residents in Flintshire.  Councillor Attridge said that it was saddening to compare the behaviour of those in a position of responsibility and trust to those families that had been fighting for justice while coping with the loss of their loved ones.  He said that the Council could not overlook the lies printed in the Sun Newspaper at that time or its stubbornness to print an apology to the families, and that the Council express support to those affected by the disaster and commend the continuing effort of relatives and friends in their search for justice.  He concluded that the Council would support any newspaper vendor who chose not to sell the Sun Newspaper.

Councillor Kevin Hughes in formally seconding the Motion clarified that the reason for submitting the Notice of Motion was that in July 2016 the inquest into the tragedy at Hillsborough found that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.

That the Council Plan 2017-23 be adopted by County Council for final publication by the end of September.

The Chief Executive introduced the report on the Council Plan 2017-23.  The Plan had been reviewed and updated to reflect the key priorities of the Council for the 5 year term under the newly elected administration.

The Plan had six priorities with sub-priorities, with the six priorities taking a long term view of the aims for the next five years.  The Plan had been presented to all six Overview & Scrutiny Committee’s, four of which supported with no comments and two supported the Plan but with specific comments which were presented to Cabinet.  A copy of the amendments to the Plan, recommended by Cabinet had been circulated to all Members prior to the start of the meeting. 

Councillor Aaron Shotton thanked all Members who had contributed to the Plan, including the views that had been made at the Overview and Scrutiny Committees.  Constructive comments from those Committees had been accepted by the Cabinet earlier in the day and were now recommended to Council.  He said the six key priorities were the key priorities based on social issues which were high up on the agenda of the administration.  At a time of financial austerity it was important to focus on the priorities.

Councillor Richard Jones commented on the first amendment around ‘Ambitious Council’ and said that during the meeting of Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny he did not mention any particular town and had requested that “especially for residential use” be removed which had been supported by the Overview & Scrutiny Committee.  He felt developers would use this high level document to fragment town centres to provide residential areas and asked that this wording be removed.

Councillor Jones also commented on the development of regional and local transport strategies and sought to ensure equitable spend across towns and not just Deeside.  He wanted a plan that forwarded the economic development of all towns and queried why the recommendations around this which had been put forward from the Overview & Scrutiny Committee had not been put forward.  The Chief Executive said the wording had been improved, on the first point, to de-emphasise housing; in the spirit of the Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee the wording suggested multi-use development of town centres to support their vitality.  On the second point, there was a discussion on equitable allocation of resources across town centres, and as advised during the Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee, it was not possible parity as much of the funding received often came from Government sources and were targeted to areas with specific characteristics such as deprivation. 

Councillor Attridge clarified that the priority to develop a renewed approach to supporting town centres and the specific wording around ‘residential use’ related to improvements to properties above shops in town centres.  The Chief Executive added that planning policy and the Local Development Plan would provide the safeguards against housing over-development.

Councillor Peers commented on page 34 on developing the Council housing growth needs and queried how the figure of 50 homes had been derived at  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

(a)       That the final version of the Statement of Accounts 2016/17 be approved;

(b)       That the Letter of Representation – Flintshire County Council; and the Letter of Representation – Clwyd Pension Fund, be approved; and

(c)       That the Supplementary Financial Information to the Statement of Accounts 2016/17 be noted.

The Chief Executive introduced the report on the Statement of Accounts 2016/17 and the Supplementary Financial Information to the Statement of Accounts 2016/17.

The Corporate Finance Manager explained that the report sought formal approval of the Statement of Accounts 2016/17 and the Annual Governance Statement, a copy of which had been included within the report and had been considered by the Audit Committee in June, 2017.  Also detailed within the report was the supplementary information to the accounts on the full time equivalent pay, as requested by Members at a previous meeting as a Notice of Motion to Council.

Matthew Edwards, Wales Audit Office, said that he was pleased to report that the reports were positive and following approval of the Statement of Accounts 2016/17, the Auditor General intended to offer an unqualified opinion on the financial statements which would confirm that the accounts offer a true and fair view in all material respects    and that they were prepared in accordance with CIPFA Code of Practice.  He also commented on the high quality of the statements as presented.

On the Pension Fund Accounts, they were not up to the high standard that had been shown previously but assurance had been given that arrangements have been put in place to address this in future.

Councillor Clive Carver said in September 2012 he queried payments made to consultants and senior officers. Since the Notice of Motion to Council this information had been included as a supplementary document.  This year it did not include the same amount of information and was now contained in the main report.  The Chief Executive explained that all of the information could be contained within one report and it was all presented.  The Corporate Finance Manager clarified that the information did not form part of the formal accounts but was provided for information to Members.

Councillor Mike Peers asked why the Landlord Services had an overspend of £66,000 and why the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) projects had a budget of 0 but £111,000 had been spent.  He also asked why there had been an increased spend to cover expenditure and asked what the monthly repayments were on the borrowing level which stood at £251m.  He commented on the appeared decrease on reserves and asked for further information on this and also asked how bad debts were being dealt with.  The Chief Executive suggested that as the questions did not affect the validity of the accounts that written responses could be provided if that was acceptable, to which Councillor Peers said it was.  It was confirmed that a copy of the response would be provided to all Members.   

Councillor Richard Jones commented on the outstanding loan of £860,000 from Welsh Government (WG) for regeneration initiatives in Deeside and asked how long the repayment terms was on this loan.  He also asked for further information on the net worth of the Council which had decreased £168M to £43M.  The Finance Manager, Strategy and Technical, responded that the repayment term on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

That the Annual Treasury Management Report for 2016/17 be approved.

The Corporate Finance Manager introduced the Treasury Management Annual Report 2016/17.  The Annual Report had been received by Audit Committee on 19^th July 2017 and Cabinet on 26^th September 2017.

            RESOLVED:

            That the Annual Treasury Management Report for 2016/17 be approved.

That the proposed response to the consultation paper be made.

The Chief Executive introduced the report on the Welsh Government Consultation Paper Electoral Reform in Local Government in Wales.

                        He commented on the areas covered in the consultation paper on:

·         The voting franchise;

·         Registration;

·         The voting system;

·         The voting process;

·         Standing for election; and

·         Returning Officers

Councillor Hilary McGuill commented on the proposal to remove the address of candidates.  The Chief Executive said Members could disclose what ward they live in as opposed to their address if the proposal was enacted, and that he would suggest that this was applied to the statutory imprint for published materials if the candidate were self-promoting themselves without a separate promoter.

Councillor Mike Peers asked for clarification on page 344, Single Transferable Vote, and it being a preferential electoral system and asked if this could be substantiated.  The Chief Officer (Governance) said that this meant first and second preference was to be indicated. The Council was being advised to object to the devolution of choice on the voting system to individual councils, and not the principle of the voting system.

            On being put to the vote, the recommendation was carried.  The Chief Executive confirmed that once the response had been finalised a copy would be made available.

            RESOLVED:

            That the proposed response to the consultation paper be made.

That this item be deferred to the next meeting scheduled for 24 October, 2017.

RESOLVED:

That this item be deferred to the next meeting scheduled for 24 October, 2017.

That this item be deferred to the next meeting scheduled for 24 October, 2017.

RESOLVED:

That this item be deferred to the next meeting scheduled for 24 October, 2017.

That this item be deferred to the next meeting scheduled for 24 October, 2017.

RESOLVED:

That this item be deferred to the next meeting scheduled for 24 October, 2017.

There was one member of the press in attendance.