Agenda, decisions and minutes

British Hallmarking Council Touchstone Award 2014 - Flintshire Trading Standards Highly Commended for its innovative approach to hallmarking covering three important areas: enforcement, education and information

Health, Social Services and Social Care Welsh Language Awards 2014 - Special Recognition Award acknowledging significant improvements to Welsh Language Services for older people at Llys Jasmine Extra Care Scheme Mold.

Employer and Community Student Awards 2014 hosted by Coleg Cambria

Steve Featherstone awarded Flintshire County Council Learner of the Year

Anne Trevor awarded CIM Learner of the Year and Professional Learner of the Year

The Chief Executive welcomed representatives from Flintshire Trading Standards, Jack Yates, Gareth Jones and Lise Mitchell, and explained that the service had been highly commended for its innovative approach to hallmarking covering three important areas: enforcement, education and information.   They had gained national recognition by receiving the British Hallmarking Council Touchstone Award 2014.  Councillor Kevin Jones, Cabinet Member for Public Protection, Waste & Recycling commended the work undertaken by the team, the majority of which went unseen.

                        The second presentation was for the significant improvements to Welsh Language Services for older people at Llys Jasmine Extra Care Scheme in Mold.  The Chief Executive welcomed employees Christy Jones and Chris Morris and also Bronwen Ramsey, who was a resident at Llys Jasmine.  He said that the Special Recognition Award at the Health, Social Services and Social Care Welsh Language Awards 2014 had been made by Gwenda Thomas with Mark Drakeford, the Minister for Healthcommending the colleagues and residents.  Councillor Christine Jones, Cabinet Member for Social Services, thanked the recipients for their hard work on a service that was a benefit to the residents. 

The Chief Executive welcomed Steve Featherstone and Anne Trevor to the meeting.  He explained that Steve had been awarded, by Coleg Cambria, the Flintshire County Council Learner of the Year award for his achievements in the Level 5 Management Development Programme where he had gained ILM Level 5 and NVQ level 5 in Management.  Anne had been awarded the CIM Learner of the Year and Coleg Cambria Professional Learner of the Year for the CIM Marketing Course she had undertaken which she had funded herself for which the Chief Executive praised her drive and determination.  Councillor Aaron Shotton, the Leader of the Council, welcomed the achievements and said that he took pleasure in being in attendance when the awards were presented.  It was a privilege to see successful entrants in the partnership with Coleg Cambria and the evening was made more special when Anne and Steve were presented with their awards.  He congratulated them on their successes.    

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 24 June 2014.

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

The draft minutes of the meeting held on 24 June 2014 had been circulated to Members with the agenda.

Councillor Tony Sharps indicated that he had been in attendance but this had not been recorded in the minutes. 

RESOLVED:

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

There were no declarations of interest. 

A copy of the Chair’s communications had been circulated to all Members before the meeting.             

            Councillor Carolyn Thomas praised the Chair, Councillor Glenys Diskin, for undertaking her recent zipwire challenge for which she had raised £1400.  She said that it was wonderful to see her at events, despite her ill health, and thanked the Vice-Chair, Councillor Ray Hughes for his flexibility to step in as Chair when needed. 

            Councillor Aaron Shotton added his congratulations to Councillor Diskin.  He also noted that the Vice-Chair had recently attended the funeral of the wife of Councillor Matt Wright and expressed the heartfelt thoughts of Members for Councillor Wright.       

Councillor Mike Reece, on behalf of Councillor Joe Johnson, submitted a petition from residents which requested a proposal to have a ‘walk around’ area in the new Holywell High School plans.

The Chief Officer (Governance) confirmed that none had been received. 

The Chief Officer (Governance) confirmed that none had been received. 

The Minute Books, Edition 2 2014/15 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 Democracy and Governance Manager prior to the close of business on 3 September 2014.

The Chief Officer (Governance) confirmed that none had been received. 

The Chief Officer (Governance) confirmed that none had been received. 

            That the County Council approve option 1 to reflect the change in the Council’s political balance.             

The Chief Officer (Governance) introduced a report to review the Council’s Political Balance calculations following the by-election resulting in the election of Councillor David Roney. 

                        He detailed which Political Groups needed to lose places on which Committees and explained that there were various options to achieve this and three were detailed in the appendices to the report. 

                        Councillor Aaron Shotton proposed option 1, which was duly seconded by Councillor Bernie Attridge. 

                        Councillor Clive Carver queried the threshold for rounding up or down to achieve the total number of Committee places each group was entitled.  He queried why the Conservative Group needed to lose a place from the Planning Committee, which he felt was unfair, as the overall number in the Group had not changed since the election in 2012.  He proposed that option 2 be accepted, which was duly seconded by Councillor Nigel Steele-Mortimer.  The Chief Officer (Governance) provided a detailed response on the calculation of committee places which ensured fairness, in particular that the figures were not rounded up or down. 

                        Councillor Robin Guest said that option 2 would mean that the Political Group representation would be different on the Constitution Committee and Democratic Services Committee, which he disagreed with.  Councillor Nigel Steele-Mortimer explained that there were already different Members on the Constitution Committee and Democratic Services Committee. 

Councillor Mike Peers commented that, on option 1, the New Independents would gain a third place on the Planning Committee however they had previously been unable to allocate Members to two seats. 

                        Councillor Aaron Shotton commented on the question by Councillor Carver and said that political balance calculations were not subject to political interference. 

                        On being put to the vote, the amendment to support option 2 was lost. 

                        The Chief Officer (Governance) advised that Members could now either speak on the original motion from Councillor Aaron Shotton or vote.  A closure motion was then proposed and on being put to the vote, option 1 was approved. 

            RESOLVED:

            That the County Council approve option 1 to reflect the change in the Council’s political balance.             

            In the interests of the provision of local government services within our County, this Council seeks an urgent meeting with both the Welsh Government Minister for Local Government and the Minister for Finance to discuss the availability of transitional finance, support and a long term funding strategy in order to assist the Council in its quest to protect Local Government services for our residents now and into the future in return for an early adoption merger of Flintshire County Council and Wrexham County Borough Council. 

The Chief Executive introduced the report to review the current consultation papers of Welsh Government on the reform of local government and the public services and to agree a formal Council response. 

He provided a detailed presentation on the Reform of Local Government and the Public Services, the main features of which were:-

·         Background

·         Current Situation

·         Welsh Government Proposals

·         Specific Challenges

·         The Benefits

·         Risks of Transition

·         What happens next

The Chief Executive gave a critique of the three papers and specifically the White Paper Reforming Local Government.  The White Paper built on the recommendation of the Public Services Commission which, in itself, had not presented a compelling and reassuring vision for the future role and value of local government and local governance. The White Paper did not answer the fundamental questions on the benefits of a local government reorganisation, the funding of transitional costs, the aspirations for localism, or a sustainable funding plan for local government for the future.  He commented on previous local government reorganisations which had not been well managed and had not always achieved their assumed benefits. Restrictions on mergers included not being able to break up existing councils and new councils not crossing health board boundaries.  The draft legislation proposed two routes for merger – voluntary and enforced.  The uncertainty caused by the White Paper was holding back ambition across councils for cost-saving collaborations. 

The Government’s emphasis was on councils choosing to merge and to manage the transition themselves.  The legislative process was complex and the timescales, including that for a boundary review, were ambitious and possibly unachievable.  Benefits might include the opportunity to make services more resilient and to save costs, and the possibility of negotiating a longer-term and more stable funding settlement with Welsh Government (WG) instead of the current annualised funding.  However, there were also risks of transition which included the costs, risks to service continuity and performance and distraction from service management.  A particular concern for Flintshire County Council would be how to plan to protect the services for local communities away from the major urban conurbations.

  The consultation period on the White Paper would end on 1 October 2014 and it was expected that the prospectus to guide potential ‘early adopters’ would be issued by Welsh Government in the next two weeks.  Expressions of interest would be invited by November with the full business case submitted by January 2015.

  The report also covered the Welsh Local Government Association’s (WLGA) parallel consultation paper on Combined Authorities with a commentary on its limitations. . 

A motion by Councillor Aaron Shotton was then circulated to Members and was formally seconded by Councillor Bernie Attridge.  The motion read as follows:-

“In the interests of the provision of local government services within our County, this Council seeks an urgent meeting with both the Welsh Government Minister for Local Government and the Minister for Finance to discuss the availability of transitional finance, support and a long term funding strategy in order to assist the Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

            There was 1 member of the public and 2 members of the press in attendance.