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Cardiff Council met on 26 September 2024 and opened with tributes to the Lord Mayor, Jane Henshaw. Members approved the Annual Well-being Report 2023/24, noted treasury management activity, and agreed changes to committee seats, councillors' pay, school governors and an independent member of the Standards and Ethics Committee. They also agreed to settle a long-running landfill tax dispute with HMRC and rejected a call for an independent enquiry into it.
A minutes silence was held in the Chamber for the Lord Mayor, The Right Hon. The Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Jane Henshaw who passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on the 21st October 2024. Councillor Huw Thomas, Leader of the Labour Group and her Ward colleague, began the tributes followed by Councillor Stubbs also a Ward colleague and Cllrs Berman, Lancaster, Gibson and Littlechild the opposition Group Leaders. Councillor McEvoy also paid his own tribute. It was hoped that their tributes would bring some comfort to the family. Since the Lord Mayors passing messages of condolence had poured into the Protocol Office and had been posted online, one of which, from His Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant Morfudd Meredith was recited by the Deputy Lord Mayor. She concluded the tributes by saying that it had been an honour to work with the Lord Mayor, who would be sadly missed by all.
Apologies were received from Councillors Hopkins and Joyce.
The following declarations of interest were received in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct. Name Agenda item Nature of interest Reason for interest Cllr Reid-Jones 14 Personal Family member in receipt of care provided by the council Cllr Bradbury 16 Personal and prejudicial Wife is a Chair of Governors at one of the schools mentioned, and has children at that school Cllr McEvoy Personal Children’s services and housing disrepair
The minutes of the 18th July meeting were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair. (Subject to noting that the Deputy Lord Mayor chaired the meeting following the first Notice of Motion).
There were two public questions. 1. Maria Aguirregomozcorta to Cllr Julie Sangani, Cabinet Member for Adult Services and Public Health & Equality Plant-based diets result in 75% less greenhouse gas emissions and land use than diets with 100g of meat daily. They cut wildlife destruction by 66% and water use by 54%, and analysis by the Office of Health Economics shows that plant-based diets would save the NHS £6.7bn yearly, with 2.1m fewer cases of disease. Research consistently shows that local government are trusted more than national politicians, making the council well positioned to introduce plant-based initiatives and deliver public education. Can Cardiff reach out to Edinburgh council to learn about their experiences of endorsing the Plant Based Treaty and do an impact assessment like they did? Reply – Cllr Sangani Council officers are currently in the process of engaging with Edinburgh City Council. As you may be aware, the Council passed a motion in July to ensure access to healthy, sustainable produce for all. The motion guides our approach to health, procurement, farming and reducing ultra-processed food. The council has long been an advocate of promoting individual choice to enable a shift towards a more whole food diet rich in fruit, vegetables and pulses. In 2017, we became one of the first UK cities to sign a pledge to increase the consumption of vegetables, such as offering two portions of vegetables with every school meal. And in 2021, Cardiff became the first place in Wales to achieve the Sustainable Food Places silver award, and work is ongoing to achieve the gold award. In light of the motion and the work described above, the council has no plans to endorse the Plant Based Treaty at this time. Supplementary – Maria Aguirregomozcorta Thank you very much, it’s great to know about all the initiatives to improve the quality of Cardiff residents’ diets. I would like to ask if you would be able to update us on how you get on in your conversations with Edinburgh council, and if you would be able to meet with the Plant Based Treaty team to watch a presentation from us? Reply – Cllr Sangani We understand that the officers at Sustainable Food Places have a network that is currently working with Edinburgh council, and we are working with them. At the same time, there is no funding for co-ordinating with the local partnership at Edinburgh council. The actions Edinburgh City Council undertakes as a signatory to the Plant Based Treaty are similar to the work we already do in Cardiff – for example, there is a provision of veggie and vegan options daily and meat-free Mondays in schools – and are not really fulfilling the ambitions of the treaty. Officers are in the process of contacting officers at Edinburgh City Council to see what learning we can share. 2. Tamlyn Rabey to Cllr Julie Sangani, Cabinet Member for Adult Services and Public Health & Equality Thank you for the opportunity to ask a second question about the Plant Based Treaty, which is going to be vital if we’re to meet the Paris Accord targets on global warming. Cardiff Council declared a climate emergency in 2019, but its strategic response, One Planet Cardiff, the current Corporate Plan and the Stronger Fairer Greener programme each only make a single reference to so-called ‘low carbon food’ and none at all to a shift to plant-based food. The Cardiff Food Strategy was similarly silent on making a shift to plant-based diets, just referring to including more vegetables, which feels woefully unambitious. I feel Cardiff could do better, be clearer and take bolder, faster action. Edinburgh and some far-sighted councils in England have already endorsed the Plant Based Treaty, but no council in Wales has yet done so. I’m asking Cardiff Council and you, as individual councillors, to take the opportunity to lead the way in Wales, endorse the Plant Based Treaty and rapidly expand access to plant-based food information and education in all settings across Cardiff. The Plant Based Treaty movement puts food systems at the heart of combatting the climate crisis, promoting a shift to a more healthy, nutritious, delicious, sustainable, cruelty-free plant-based diet, and to actively reversing the damage that is done by animal agriculture. Please will Cardiff endorse the Plant Based Treaty. Reply – Cllr Sangani Thank you. I just wanted to start my answer by saying that I myself am a vegetarian, so I should first declare that interest. Now, while the Plant Based Treaty is worldwide, only five UK councils have endorsed it, and the terms of full commitment are still unclear. The council supports many elements of the treaty but has concern about certain aspects, particularly the proposal for a meat tax, which could impact Welsh farming. The Plant Based Treaty advocated moving away from the animal-based diet and towards a plant-based diet, but does not define what a plant-based diet consists of in any detail. Our focus is on promoting natural whole food plant-based diets rather than relying on processed meat substitutes. We advocate for the ‘less but better quality meat’ approach while reducing our carbon emissions, enhanced dietary health and supporting sustainable farming. In addition, the council prefers to encourage informed individual choices rather than dictating residents’ diets. We aim to promote a shift towards healthy eating by encouraging people to have meat-free days and more fruit and vegetables in their diet. The council has currently no plans to endorse the Plant Based Treaty, but I’m more than happy to meet and explore the way in the future. Supplementary – Tamlyn Rabey You’re right that each council takes a different approach when it does endorse the treaty, because it can be tailored to each council’s needs. The meat tax wouldn’t be an issue because that wouldn’t have to be included, and anyway that’s a national government matter. I agree that we should be promoting healthy whole food plant-based diets, but in terms of sustainability there isn’t really any such thing as less harmful meat. In fact, some of the better quality meat is actually less environmentally sustainable than factory farmed meat. But I think we share a lot of the same goals, so I’m grateful for the offer of a meeting.
Three petitions were presented to Council Presented by Number of relevant signatures Nature of petition Jane Foulner 153 Calling on the Council to halt construction of the planned access road on the north side of Roath Recreation and Ground and any associated works and to undertake a full and effective consultation on the updated constructions plans. Cllr Ashley Wood 60 Calling on the council to address persistent water pooling during wet weather on North Road between Gabalfa Clinic and Caerleon Road. Cllr Rhys Taylor 26 Calling on the council to address ongoing traffic and safety concerns caused by school drop off and pickup on Heathfield Road.
The Deputy Lord Mayor advised that there would not be any mayoral engagements until after the funeral of the Lord Mayor.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: Council AGREED: 1. to approve the Annual Well-being Report 2023/24.
Council was advised that the report sought to provide an assessment of the progress made in the delivery of the administration’s priorities as set out within the Corporate Plan 2023-26. The report also enabled the Council to discharge a number of statutory obligations, including a self-assessment of performance as required by the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 and the publication of a statutory Annual Well-Being Report, as required by the Well-Being of Future Generations Act (Wales) 2015. The report was proposed by Cllr Thomas and seconded by Cllr Merry. The Deputy Lord Mayor invited debate on the report, before moving to a vote on the recommendations. FOR (61) Councillors Abdul-Sattar, Ali Ahmed, Saleh Ahmed, Ali, Ash-Edwards, Berman, Bowen-Thomson, Bradbury, Bridgeman, Burke, Carr, Carter, Chowdhury, Cunnah, De’Ath, Derbyshire, Ebrahim, Elsmore, Ferguson-Thorne, Goodway, Green, Gunter, Hinchey, Humphreys, Hunt, Jenkins, Jackie Jones, Keith Jones, Owen Jones, Kaaba, Latif, Lay, Lent, Lewis, Lister, Littlechild, Mackie, McGarry, Merry, Michael, Molik, Moultrie, Naughton, Palmer, Parry, Proctor, Reid-Jones, Robinson, Sangani, Simmons, Singh, Stubbs, Taylor, Thomas, Thomson, Thorne, Waldron, Weaver, Wild, Wong and Wood AGAINST (1) Councillor McEvoy ABSTAIN (11) Councillors Brown-Reckless, Cowan, Davies, Driscoll, Gibson, Lancaster, Livesy, Melbourne, Owen, Robson and Williams RESOLVED: Council AGREED: 1. to approve the Annual Well-being Report 2023/24.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: Council AGREED: 1. to note the Treasury Management Annual Report 2023/24.
Council was advised that the report sought to inform Members of the Council’s treasury management activities between 1st April 2023 and 31st March 2024. The report was proposed by Cllr Weaver and seconded by Cllr Thomas. The Deputy Lord Mayor invited debate on the report, before moving to a vote on the recommendations. FOR (68) Councillors Abdul-Sattar, Ali Ahmed, Saleh Ahmed, Ali, Ash-Edwards, Boes, Bowen-Thomson, Bradbury, Bridgeman, Brown-Reckless, Burke, Carr, Carter, Chowdhury, Cowan, Cunnah, Davies, De’Ath, Derbyshire, Driscoll, Ebrahim, Elsmore, Ferguson-Thorne, Gibson, Goodway, Green, Gunter, Hinchey, Humphreys, Hunt, Jenkins, Jackie Jones, Keith Jones, Owen Jones, Kaaba, Lancaster, Lay, Lent, Lewis, Lister, Littlechild, Livesy, Mackie, McGarry, Melbourne, Merry, Michael, Moultrie, Naughton, Owen, Palmer, Proctor, Reid-Jones, Robinson, Robson, Sangani, Simmons, Singh, Stubbs, Taylor, Thomas, Thomson, Thorne, Weaver, Wild, Williams, Wong and Wood AGAINST (4) Councillors Berman, Latif, McEvoy and Molik ABSTAIN (2) Councillors Shimmin and Waldron RESOLVED: Council AGREED: 1. to note the Treasury Management Annual Report 2023/24.
Theitem was deferred to the next meeting of Council.
Part of an issue followed across 5 meetings
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: Council AGREED: a. to approve the revised allocation of seats on Committees as set out in Appendix A; b. to receive nominations for the revised allocation of seats to committees; c. to appoint the revised membership of committees as shown at Appendix B; d. to approve the change to the membership on the Local Government Association outside body as outlined in paragraph 12.
Council was advised that the report sought approval for the revised allocation of seats and appointments to committees, in accordance with the political balance rules. The report was proposed by Cllr Ferguson-Thorne and seconded by Cllr Shimmin. The Deputy Lord Mayor invited debate on the report, before moving to a vote on the recommendations. FOR (75) Councillors Abdul-Sattar, Ali Ahmed, Saleh Ahmed, Ali, Ash-Edwards, Berman, Boes, Bowen-Thomson, Bradbury, Bridgeman, Brown-Reckless, Burke, Carr, Carter, Chowdhury, Cowan, Cunnah, Davies, De’Ath, Derbyshire, Driscoll, Ebrahim, Elsmore, Ferguson-Thorne, Gibson, Goodway, Green, Gunter, Hinchey, Humphreys, Hunt, Jenkins, Jackie Jones, Keith Jones, Owen Jones, Kaaba, Lancaster, Latif, Lay, Lent, Lewis, Lister, Littlechild, Livesy, Mackie, McEvoy, McGarry, Melbourne, Merry, Michael, Molik, Moultrie, Naughton, Owen, Palmer, Parry, Proctor, Reid-Jones, Robinson, Robson, Sangani, Shimmin, Simmons, Singh, Stubbs, Taylor, Thomas, Thomson, Thorne, Waldron, Weaver, Wild, Williams, Wong and Wood There were no votes against or abstentions. RESOLVED: Council AGREED: a. to approve the revised allocation of seats on Committees as set out in Appendix A; b. to receive nominations for the revised allocation of seats to committees; c. to appoint the revised membership of committees as shown at Appendix B; d. to approve the change to the membership on the Local Government Association outside body as outlined in paragraph 12.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: Council AGREED: a. to approve the amendment of the Members’ Schedule of Remuneration 2024–2025 with effect from 1st October 2024, as attached at Appendix A; b. to authorise the Monitoring Officer to update the Members’ Schedule of Remuneration in the Constitution; c. to delegate authority to the Head of Democratic Services to make any necessary amendments to the 2024-2025 Schedule from time to time during the municipal year in order to reflect any changes in membership of the Council, Cabinet or Committees or as a result of any Supplementary Reports issued by the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales.
Council was advised that the report sought approval for amendments to the Members’ Schedule of Remuneration 2024-2025, following further consideration in relation to the introduction of an hourly rate of remuneration for Statutory Co-opted Members as outlined in Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales (IRPW) Annual Report for 2024-2025 and associated changes to the claims process related to the hourly rate of remuneration. The report was proposed by Cllr Ferguson-Thorne and seconded by Cllr Shimmin. The Deputy Lord Mayor invited debate on the report, before moving to a vote on the recommendations. FOR (73) Councillors Abdul-Sattar, Ali Ahmed, Saleh Ahmed, Ali, Ash-Edwards, Berman, Bowen-Thomson, Bradbury, Bridgeman, Brown-Reckless, Burke, Carr, Chowdhury, Cowan, Cunnah, Davies, De’Ath, Derbyshire, Driscoll, Ebrahim, Elsmore, Ferguson-Thorne, Gibson, Goodway, Green, Gunter, Hinchey, Humphreys, Hunt, Jenkins, Jackie Jones, Keith Jones, Owen Jones, Kaaba, Lancaster, Latif, Lay, Lent, Lewis, Lister, Littlechild, Livesy, Mackie, McEvoy, McGarry, Melbourne, Merry, Michael, Molik, Moultrie, Naughton, Owen, Palmer, Parry, Proctor, Reid-Jones, Robinson, Robson, Sangani, Shimmin, Simmons, Singh, Stubbs, Taylor, Thomas, Thomson, Thorne, Waldron, Weaver, Wild, Williams, Wong and Wood There were no votes against or abstentions. RESOLVED: Council AGREED: a. to approve the amendment of the Members’ Schedule of Remuneration 2024–2025 with effect from 1st October 2024, as attached at Appendix A; b. to authorise the Monitoring Officer to update the Members’ Schedule of Remuneration in the Constitution; c. to delegate authority to the Head of Democratic Services to make any necessary amendments to the 2024-2025 Schedule from time to time during the municipal year in order to reflect any changes in membership of the Council, Cabinet or Committees or as a result of any Supplementary Reports issued by the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales.
Leader’s Statement Cllr Thomas responded to questions in relation to: - the Fairwater Community Campus - the Shared Prosperity Fund - the Tafwyl festival Culture, Sport & Parks Statement Cllr Burke responded to questions in relation to: - the reopening date of St David’s Hall - the tennis courts in Rumney Hill Gardens - her visit to the twin city of Nantes - the park rangers programme Finance, Modernisation & Performance Statement Cllr Weaver responded to questions in relation to: - residents’ experiences of Connect 2 Cardiff - booking Household Recycling Centres Housing & Communities Statement Cllrs Thorne and Bridgeman responded to questions in relation to: - the Adamsdown & Splott Task Group - Community Hubs and warm spaces over the winter Investment & Development Statement Cllr Goodway responded to questions in relation to: - the Cardiff Parkway development - Park House Adult Services and Public Health & Equality Statement Cllrs Thomson and Sangani responded to questions in relation to: - Falls Prevention Week - Neurodivergent Friendly Cardiff - “Test and Post” STI Test Kits Climate Change, Strategic Planning & Transport Statement Cllr De’Ath responded to questions in relation to: - the Cardiff Bus Interchange - Cardiff CrossRail Deputy Leader and Education Statement Cllr Merry responded to questions in relation to: - the Fairwater Community Campus - comparison of GCSE results with other cities Children’s Services, Tackling Poverty & Supporting Young People Statement Cllrs Lister and Bradbury responded to questions in relation to: - the Growing Greener capital grant scheme Waste, Street Scene & Environmental Services Statement Cllr Mackie responded to questions in relation to: - the rollout of segregated recycling - the gritting of main roads
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: Council AGREED: i. to note the agreement reached in principle and ratify the decision to complete the formal settlement agreement with HMRC; ii. that conclusion of the final terms of an Agreement be delegated to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Section 151 Officer, Monitoring Officer, Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Finance, Modernisation and Performance; iii. to note the Capitalisation Direction agreed and now available to support the financial strategy to fund the liability subject to Council agreement; iv. to amend the 2024/25 budget in accordance with budget policy framework to align with the agreed financial strategy in relation to this issue; v. to the inclusion within the Council’s Capital Strategy and program this expenditure in for 2024/25; vi. the necessary changes to the Revenue Budget for the Medium Term reflecting the impact on Capital financing for future years in accordance with the Capital Direction (to be reflected as appropriate in future Budget Monitoring reports for 2024/25); vii. to incorporate all medium-term Capital and Revenue implications within the amended Medium Term Financial Plan and Capital Strategy as part of the next annual Budget update through Council in February / March 2025; viii. to note that the Council will pursue all options available to pursue the Landfill tax debt outstanding.
Council was advised that this report recommended the finalisation of a longstanding landfill tax dispute with HM Revenues & Customs (HMRC). The Deputy Lord Mayor advised Council that Annexes A, B and D to the report were exempt information under Paragraph 14 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, and that should any Member indicate that they wish to discuss any of the information contained in those documents, the public would have to be excluded for that discussion and the recording stopped. The report was proposed by Cllr Weaver and seconded by Cllr Thomas. The Deputy Lord Mayor noted that an amendment to the report had been received, proposed by Cllr Berman and seconded by Cllr Waldron. The amendment was as follows: In the Section headed ‘RECOMMENDATIONS’, add at end: “Council further resolves: a) Given the enormity of the liability involved to Cardiff’s tax payers, to establish an independently-chaired and suitably open enquiry into how the issues in this report came about in order to ensure that all pertinent lessons can be learned b) In the interests of openness and transparency, and once a decision has been taken on the way forward for the authority to settle the dispute with HMRC, to place confidential appendices A and B attached to this report into the public domain.” Cllr Weaver confirmed that the amendment was not accepted. The Deputy Lord Mayor called for a vote on the amendment as proposed by Cllr Berman and seconded by Cllr Waldron. FOR (23) Councillors Berman, Brown-Reckless, Carter, Cowan, Davies, Driscoll, Gibson, Lancaster, Latif, Littlechild, Livesy, McEvoy, Melbourne, Molik, Naughton, Owen, Reid-Jones, Robson, Shimmin, Taylor, Waldron, Williams and Wood AGAINST (49) Councillors Abdul-Sattar, Ali Ahmed, Saleh Ahmed, Ali, Ash-Edwards, Bowen-Thomson, Bradbury, Bridgeman, Burke, Carr, Chowdhury, Cunnah, De’Ath, Derbyshire, Ebrahim, Elsmore, Ferguson-Thorne, Goodway, Green, Gunter, Hinchey, Humphreys, Hunt, Jenkins, Keith Jones, Owen Jones, Kaaba, Lay, Lent, Lewis, Lister, Mackie, McGarry, Merry, Michael, Moultrie, Palmer, Proctor, Robinson, Sangani, Simmons, Singh, Stubbs, Thomas, Thomson, Thorne, Weaver, Wild and Wong There were no abstentions. As a vote on the amendment was not carried the Deputy Lord Mayor called for a vote on the recommendations as outlined in the report. FOR (50) Councillors Abdul-Sattar, Ali Ahmed, Saleh Ahmed, Ali, Ash-Edwards, Bowen-Thomson, Bradbury, Bridgeman, Burke, Carr, Chowdhury, Cunnah, De’Ath, Derbyshire, Ebrahim, Elsmore, Ferguson-Thorne, Goodway, Green, Gunter, Hinchey, Humphreys, Hunt, Jenkins, Keith Jones, Owen Jones, Kaaba, Lay, Lent, Lewis, Lister, Mackie, McGarry, Merry, Michael, Moultrie, Palmer, Parry, Proctor, Robinson, Sangani, Simmons, Singh, Stubbs, Thomas, Thomson, Thorne, Weaver, Wild and Wong AGAINST (1) Councillor McEvoy ABSTAIN (22) Councillors Berman, Brown-Reckless, Carter, Cowan, Davies, Driscoll, Gibson, Lancaster, Latif, Littlechild, Livesy, Melbourne, Molik, Naughton, Owen, Reid-Jones, Robson, Shimmin, Taylor, Waldron, Williams and Wood RESOLVED: Council AGREED: i. to note the agreement reached in principle and ratify the decision to complete the formal settlement agreement with HMRC; ii. that conclusion of the final terms of an Agreement be delegated to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Section 151 Officer, Monitoring Officer, Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Finance, Modernisation and Performance; iii. to note the Capitalisation Direction agreed and now available to support the financial strategy to fund the liability subject to Council agreement; iv. to amend the 2024/25 budget in accordance with budget policy framework to align with the agreed financial strategy in relation to this issue; v. to the inclusion within the Council’s Capital Strategy and program this expenditure in for 2024/25; vi. the necessary changes to the Revenue Budget for the Medium Term reflecting the impact on Capital financing for future years in accordance with the Capital Direction (to be reflected as appropriate in future Budget Monitoring reports for 2024/25); vii. to incorporate all medium-term Capital and Revenue implications within the amended Medium Term Financial Plan and Capital Strategy as part of the next annual Budget update through Council in February / March 2025; viii. to note that the Council will pursue all options available to pursue the Landfill tax debt outstanding.
There were 22 oral questions. 1. Cllr Berman to Cllr Weaver, Cabinet Member for Finance, Modernisation & Performance Since May 2012, please detail all contracts awarded by this Council to the following companies, and outline what the value of the contract was in each case: - Resources Management U.K. Limited - Neal Remediation Ltd - Wentloog Land Limited - Atlantic Organics (Wales) Ltd - Atlantic Organics (UK) Ltd - Dauson Holdings UK Limited - Dauson Environmental Group Limited - Atlantic Power Limited - Neal Recycling Limited - Atlantic Ecopark Limited - Action Recycling Limited - Atlantic Composting Limited - Atlantic Waste Management Limited - Atlantic Recycling Limited - Bluefield Land Ltd - Dauson Holdings Limited - Remtech Remediation & Ground Engineering Limited - Acorn Environmental Limited - Cardiff Demolition Company Limited - DEG Workshop Ltd - Neal Soil Suppliers Ltd Reply – Cllr Weaver I can confirm that the Council currently only has one active contract with Neal Soil Suppliers Ltd., which is to the value of £1.3m. This contract commenced in May 2023 and is due to end in December next year, but could be extended to May 2027. This relates to the reprocessing of household waste recycling materials and was awarded under officer delegations. I will provide you with the detailed information in relation to the full list of contracts that have been awarded since 2012 following this meeting. It’s being checked currently and I want to make sure you get a thorough and full response. It’s important to point out that these are local companies, a number of which have been involved with the Council over the last two decades. Between 2007 and 2012, for example, the Council paid £1.4 million to Atlantic Recycling; and between 2009 and 2011 the Council paid £350k to Cardiff Demolition. Supplementary – Cllr Berman All of those companies are of course companies which David Neal is a director or secretary of, as listed on Companies House. We do know that David Neal’s companies have been involved in donating money to Vaughan Gething and to the Labour Party. In fact, if you check the website of the Electoral Commission, you can see that dating back to 2018, his companies between them have donated £282,000 to either Vaughan Gething or to the Labour Party. So, can I be assured you have checked that in terms of awarding contracts to any companies of this individual, that you have put in full safeguards to ensure that all impropriety can be avoided? Reply – Cllr Weaver Yes, that is the case with all contracts, and as I said, the contract that is currently active is one that was awarded under officer delegation. I’m happy to supply that answer in writing to you and I think for the importance of transparency as well, we may also look at the longer term deal, and just to show that if there were businesses which have had interaction with the Council, that has been continuing for the period that the business has been operating in Cardiff. I believe there were dealings in the 2000s, when you were Leader, with this company as well. 2. Cllr Davies to Cllr De’Ath, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Strategic Planning & Transport Now that TomTom has published analysis that daily average congestion in London had increased from 37% in 2019, when the Mayor launched ULEZ, to 45% last year – according to experts, caused by 20mph and poor traffic management, and leading to increased emissions – will Cardiff Council’s Cabinet reconsider or, at least, make clear its plans for a congestion charge in the city? Reply – Cllr De’Ath I’d say a few things about that. Firstly, ULEZ isn’t a pedestrian charge, it’s designed to cut congestion from high emissions vehicles, and 90% of Londoners don’t pay it. I think the process you’re describing is London returning to normal after the pandemic, I don’t think that’s been caused by LTNs or 20mph or whatever it is. I think that when the TomTom piece was covered in the Daily Mail, a newspaper you’re no doubt quite intimate with, they said that public programs to tackle rising traffic emissions, including London’s ULEZ, are essential to supporting the UK’s ambition to reach net zero by 2050. And when TomTom were asked about London’s really high congestion, their VP said in terms of a solution that the best examples are Amsterdam or Copenhagen, who’ve moved from road demand to bikes and pedestrian traffic. This modal shift is something that must happen for the good of our cities. Reducing congestion isn’t about building more roads or rebuilding road networks for cars, it’s about the heart of the city and giving space back to other modes of transport. These are policy positions we very much support in this administration. Supplementary – Cllr Davies Just for the record, I read the Times, not the Daily Mail, thank you. I think the point of what I was reading in the article was whether there’s something a bit morally questionable about supporting the imposition of that national default speed limit while we’re in the process of coming up with a congestion charge, and we still don’t know whether the objective of the charge is to lower congestion, lower emissions, or raise revenue. So I was wondering, after all the months we’ve been waiting to hear more details, whether there’s any more clarity in this context now, with that law in place for a good year, and whether we know what the objectives of the congestion charge are going to be. Reply – Cllr De’Ath I think that’s a fair question, in terms of the objectives it’s all of those things. We’re working through the outline business case, which is a very long process and a very complicated thing to do. It’s something I absolutely believe is essential for the future of Cardiff, if you want to have the kind of transport system we all want to see, there needs to be something to pay for it. You yourself asked me tonight how we’re going to pay for CrossRail, and we can’t just wait for the government to give us the money, if they ever do. We need to kick-start the transport revolution our residents deserve. We’re still working on it, it’ll be about a year to 18 months, and then we’ll take a decision on whether to proceed, and if so what kind of scheme works best for Cardiff. 3. Cllr Littlechild to Cllr Weaver, Cabinet Member for Finance, Modernisation & Performance Could the cabinet member share their insights on potential improvements to the user experience for citizens reporting issues via the app? Reply – Cllr Weaver The app team includes roles that focus on accessibility and user experience across the product. Each process or service added to the app is planned out with a business analyst and content designers who focus on designing the process in a customer centred way. The team follows best practice in terms of usability, language and accessible design. In addition, the team responds to customer feedback submitted via the app, website and app stores. Ongoing work by the team to improve the user experience is informed by this customer feedback. User testing and feedback sessions are planned after the current work on upgrading the platform is complete. These are just some of the elements that contribute to customer or user experience. We are keen to increase the visibility of the outcome of reports made via the platform, but this will be dependent on a number of factors, such as introducing a user account and ensuring better links through to delivery teams to close reports out in the field. Supplementary – Cllr Littlechild I think you’ve picked up on it, really. The complaints I’m getting are ‘I’ve filled in my information on the app, it goes to the great yonder of the internet world and I don’t get a response so I don’t know when the job’s been done’. If there could be something put in that allows citizens to follow the progress, and then the job gets closed when it’s done, that would be greatly appreciated. Reply – Cllr Weaver As I said, I do agree, and I’ve heard that feedback too and know the team have as well. It can be more complex than I wish it was. Some of the things that have to be put in place to make that work can be challenging and time consuming, but I do agree that would be a better customer experience. If it’s possible, I’d love to see it done. What I’d like to reassure people who don’t have that feedback loop yet is that the reports are monitored, it does lead to action. I would just encourage people to know that, we can see what they’re reporting and we do act on it. If we can get that feedback loop then all the better. 4. Cllr Livesy to Cllr De’Ath, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Strategic Planning & Transport When will the residents of Creigiau, Gwaelod y Garth and Pentyrch see an end to quarrying in the area? Reply – Cllr De’Ath Councillor your ward has a long history of quarrying due to high deposits of good quality limestone and significant mineral reserves. At present the planning permissions allow quarrying at Creigiau quarry to continue to 2047, and at Taffs Well quarry up to 2035. There is also a current planning application to extend the life of the smaller Ton Mawr quarry to 2042. These planning permissions are subject to numerous planning conditions to mitigate any potential impacts of quarrying on residents, including potential impacts from traffic, noise, dust, and quarry blasting. In addition, regular quarry liaison meetings are held to provide an opportunity for residents to discuss any issues directly with the relevant quarry companies. Supplementary – Cllr Livesy There are many questions that I could follow up with but the most pressing currently is about the distinct trend of blasting getting much stronger than it’s ever been, and this is from residents who have had experience of it for years as you said. I just wondered how it can be allowed that quarry operators are able to arrange their own monitoring with their own equipment? Reply – Cllr De’Ath If you have a particular concern around noise I’m happy to meet you and your residents and see what we might be able to do. 5. Cllr Saleh Ahmed to Cllr Merry, Cabinet Member for Education Could the Cabinet Member provide a statement on the Fairwater Campus following the news that the contractors have gone into administration? Reply – Cllr Merry The Council was informed that ISG Construction Ltd, the main contractor for the Fairwater Community Campus project, filed for administration late on Thursday 19th September. The Council had been monitoring the situation closely following heightened rumours and media coverage of ISG’s financial position over recent weeks. Contractually, the Council was unable to take any formal action until receiving formal notification of administration, but we have worked with others to secure the site without delay. The Council has also opened up lines of communication with the supply chain, remaining ISG employees and the appointed administrators to determine the best way forward. Our priority is to minimise any disruption to the project. The Council is currently considering options to support the supply chain in the short-term and to secure the site to protect the value of assets, as well as considering options to progress the project in the long-term. It will be important for the Council to make decisions swiftly. Despite extremely challenging times, I want to thank all supply chain members and key stakeholders for their ongoing support and their professionalism over recent days, and I have to say that my sympathy goes out to the people we met on-site at the topping up ceremony. 6. Cllr Molik to Cllr Bradbury, Cabinet Member for Childrens Services, Tackling Poverty & Supporting Young People With an ageing population in Cardiff and our ambitions around becoming ‘Age Friendly City’, do we know what the impact of the withdrawal of the winter fuel allowance will have on our residents? Reply – Cllr Bradbury Our Money Advice team liaises closely with the Age Friendly Cardiff and Independent Living Service teams who work with many organisations that help our older residents; including Care & Repair and Alzheimer’s Society Cymru. Working together, we will seek to identify and help as many of the estimated 4,300 people in Cardiff that do not claim Pension Credit even though they are entitled to it. This could be worth up to £3,900 a year. Help is also available across 26 different community locations in the city, including Hubs, Foodbanks, the University Hospital of Wales and Cardiff Market. Home visits are also available for those that need it, either through our own teams or through our partners. The Council’s Money Advice Team provides one-to-one money health checks to ensure that pensioners are receiving all benefits, grants and discounts they are entitled to. The team is also able to issue Emergency Fuel Vouchers if pensioners are eligible for these. A wide-ranging publicity campaign will soon be launched, and the Money Advice team will be commencing ‘Warm & Well’ surgeries across the city, providing dedicated support to people of pension age. These surgeries will be in addition to the re-introduction of our Warm & Welcome Spaces across our Hubs and Libraries and will be supported by our dedicated staff and volunteers who are on hand to provide practical advice and hot refreshments to visitors. I would urge anyone, regardless of political stripes, who has a constituent who is struggling or thinks a neighbour, friend or relative might be, to contact our expert advisors on our Advice Line (029 20 871 071); pop into one of our Hubs, or visit the Money Advice website (www.cardiffmoneyadvice.co.uk) for details of drop-in sessions that are held throughout the city. Supplementary – Cllr Molik So, for a party that campaigned to address the chaotic Conservative party, it didn’t take long for Labour to become chaotic, as Labour conference actually voted down this proposal by the administration. Thank you for responding. Making work pay was Labour’s ethos, and yet here we have an attack on pensioners who may have contributed for the majority of their life to the welfare system in some way, and at their moment of need, that support is being withdrawn by the Labour party. Do you think this policy from the Labour administration is right for the pensioners? Reply – Cllr Bradbury Those who are clapping and those who asked this question need to understand that I’ve done my research on every policy position that any of you have ever taken as a party, and I’m in favour, 100%, of universalism. I’m in favour of universalism whether it be child tax credits, which you cut, working family tax credits, which you cut. On the decision on the winter fuel allowance that the Labour government have taken, in my world I would be in favour of keeping that. The Liberal Democrats, though, do not believe in universalism, and they don’t believe in keeping the winter fuel allowance as it is. I’m in favour of the winter fuel allowance staying as it is. You haven’t mentioned pensions in any policy statement ever. In 2015 and 2017, in your manifesto, and this would affect hundreds of Cyncoed residents because of the number of well-off pensioners that live there, the Lib Dems stated that they were committed to means testing winter fuel payments for pensioners who paid tax at the higher rate. So with political opportunism now, you’re in favour of universalism, having voted to cut working family tax credits and having stated in two manifestos that you would means test winter fuel payments. 7. Cllr Williams to Cllr De’Ath, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Strategic Planning & Transport Councils have been told by the Welsh Government to listen to residents' wishes for roads to be excluded from 20mph default speed limits. There are a number of key strategic routes throughout Cardiff where residents and Councillors have requested these roads return to 30mph speed limits. Can the Cabinet Member confirm that Cardiff Council will listen to the legitimate concerns and views of residents and councillors and return these roads to 30mph speed limits? Reply – Cllr De’Ath The first thing to say is that the Welsh Government’s 20mph policy is working. If you look at the data, it clearly shows that deaths on the road, accidents and serious injuries on the road are down. The evidence clearly shows that it had almost paid for itself in the first quarter and is now saving our health service money. You should know this, you talk about it all the time. We absolutely will listen to people, but don’t forget that in Cardiff we’ve been bringing in 20mph zones for almost a decade by consent, in areas like Canton, Riverside and Roath. What people say to me is that not that they don’t want them, but that they want them to be enforced more aggressively. So we will listen to people, but not just what motorists want, but what people want from their communities. Supplementary – Cllr Williams You just don’t get it, the Labour party do not get it. 470,000 people in Wales signed a petition against default 20mph. It is absolutely insane that we have 20mph speed limits along Newport Road, along Cyncoed Road, along Ocean Way, outside Cardiff Metropolitan University on Western Avenue, absolutely insane. So, will you revisit the situation, will you commit to reversing it, and will you listen to the people of Cardiff and make those changes? Reply – Cllr De’Ath To be frank with you, Councillor, I think you’ve got some brass neck raising 20mph again in this chamber after the emergency meeting you called. Because during that meeting, you got your arse handed to you by Cllr Bradbury, because that letter he produced he exposed the selfishness and the hypocrisy at the heart of your politics. You stand up here, you wave your arms about and say that people should be able to drive 30mph wherever they want. In that debate people were talking about wanting the community to be safe, Cllr Proctor spoke really movingly about having a young family and wanting the roads to be safe. So let me tell you, calling for people to drive wherever they want, apart from where you live. It’s in the letter, you’re begging for Old St Mellons to be a 20mph zone, so the hypocrisy is absolutely outrageous. You also said that we should spend £32m turning the 20mph roads back to 30mph, rather than changing them back incrementally, which is one of the most absurd things that has ever been said in this Council chamber. 8. Cllr Littlechild to Cllr Bradbury, Cabinet Member for Childrens Services, Tackling Poverty & Supporting Young People With the Labour government in Westminster abolishing the winter fuel payment for the majority of older people, how many Cardiff residents will be affected and potentially pushed into fuel poverty? Reply – Cllr Bradbury Information provided by social policy analysts, Policy in Practice, estimates that approximately 4,300 pensioners in Cardiff do not claim Pension Credits even though they are entitled to it. Pension Credits can be worth up to £3,900 a year for pensioners. Being in receipt of Pension Credit also means that a range of other grants and discounts, without further means testing, can be accessed, including the Winter Fuel Payment. It is therefore crucial that our advice services promote and provide help to pensioners to assist them in accessing this credit. A wide-reaching publicity campaign will be launching shortly to raise awareness of the support that is available. This will include promotion in GP surgeries, hospitals, public transport, local radio, community centres, Hubs, libraries, newsletters, specific events and linking with partners who are already working with older people. Home visits can also be made to those residents that are housebound. For those who are not entitled to Pension Credits, there are other schemes available that they may qualify for, and our Money Advice Team can help them to access these. 9. Cllr Livesy to Cllr De’Ath, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Strategic Planning & Transport What assessment does the Council make on the environmental impact of removing and replacing so much soil from large developments such as those on Llantrisant Road? Reply – Cllr De’Ath Thank you for your question, Councillor. The Soils and Development Technical Guidance Note, which is contained within the approved Supplementary Planning Guidance on Green Infrastructure, requires developers to prepare and submit a Soil Resource Survey and Soil Resource Plan before site clearance, preparation or development that may result in damage to in-situ soils through compaction, contamination, excavations and vegetation removal. These requirements ensure that soils are retained for re-use in the development and any soil stripping and storage does not cause an irremediable loss of functionality. Supplementary – Cllr Livesy The guidance has taken a deeper meaning, no pun intended, in recent years. I think it’s alarming that so much of our established ground is removed for development. Residents at the Junction 33 development, for example, are telling me that topsoil deposited back at the site before they moved in has brought in a leatherjacket or crane fly larvae infestation, causing havoc when trying to grow anything improving grass lawns. So how can residents be confident that they’re not living with contaminated soil of any kind? Reply – Cllr De’Ath We would certainly expect any company to abide by the regulations set out in our guidance, and I know there is an enforcement inspection that takes place, but I’d be happy to take up this particular point in our meeting about quarrying at the same time. 10. Cllr Elsmore to Cllr Thorne, Cabinet Member for Housing & Communities Buffer zones will come into force around abortion services in England and Wales from the 31st October. Thus, it will be illegal to hand out anti-abortion leaflets within the buffer zone or obstruct anyone using or working at an abortion service. The protection zones will extend to a 150-metre radius around the service location. Cllr Thorne will be familiar with past concerns expressed around such protests within the city centre. Given the right to access abortion services is a fundamental right for women in this country, and no-one should feel unsafe when seeking to exercise their legal right to healthcare, can Cllr Thorne inform the chamber what preparatory conversations have taken place with police and others in terms of forthcoming arrangements for community safety? Reply – Cllr Thorne Councillor Elsmore I know from our previous discussions that on this issue we both speak with one voice in welcoming the implementation of Safe Access Zones around abortion services, which is long overdue. And I’m pleased that the UK government has now confirmed that these buffer zones will come into force from the end of next month. This follows the previous consultation undertaken by the Home Office, which closed in January of this year, on draft non-statutory guidance for Safe Access Zones that will support their introduction and provide a clear and consistent understanding in relation to enforcement of these zones. For too long, abortion services have been without these vital protections, leaving women and healthcare professionals subject to intimidation by anti-choice groups. Everyone has the right to access healthcare services without judgement or fear of harassment, and access to safe abortion is no exception. Determining the appropriate balance of competing interests will not always be straightforward, so new guidance is critical to ensuring that police forces can act with clarity. We expect the final guidance to be published in due course. The Cardiff Community Safety Partnership will also be discussing the introduction of a Safe Access Zone in Cardiff at its meeting next week. Supplementary – Cllr Elsmore Would you provide an update in terms of the working of the buffer zones once arrangements are firmly established? Reply – Cllr Thorne Absolutely. 11. Cllr Shimmin to Cllr De’Ath, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Strategic Planning & Transport Please could the Cabinet Member confirm how much money was spent installing and removing the inappropriate lights along the new cycling and walking route through Roath Rec, and how much the new lights will cost? Reply – Cllr De’Ath We’re receptive to public feedback on this, the opportunity came up to reuse the lights potentially on another project. In terms of the labour costs of installing them, our contractors have been given a contract for the entire project that isn’t broken down item by item. I couldn’t provide you with a monetised figure about their installation, but the lighting columns will be reused. In terms of new lights we’ve not taken a decision about whether to put new lights in, but when we do we’ll be able to provide you with a figure. Supplementary – Cllr Shimmin This is just the latest in a long line of embarrassments and controversies regarding the upgrade or installation of this cycle and walking route through Roath Rec. With bad consultations, change of plans after consultation, local ward members not being informed of changes and finding out from the public when things have changed, saying that you were going to do something with the path without new consultation on that, and then backtracking, there’s been a lot of toing and froing and it’s been quite an embarrassment. Will the Cabinet Member take this opportunity to apologise to the people of Cardiff and the members of this Council for the mess that this has become? Reply – Cllr De’Ath No, it’s a good scheme which will address the flooding by Penylan Library. It’s improving the path which was a quagmire for many years, and it’s giving a valuable active travel route through part of our network. 12. Cllr Driscoll to Cllr Bradbury, Cabinet Member for Childrens Services, Tackling Poverty & Supporting Young People First of all, I need to apologise – some Members will be shocked to know that I have to declare an interest in this question, only just. What help can the Council give to support the pensioners that are not on pension credits, some of which fall outside the scheme and are struggling with higher bills, that are cruelly having their Winter Fuel Payments removed by the UK Labour Government. Reply – Cllr Bradbury The Council will be providing a range of support to help pensioners that may not qualify for Pension Credits; however, I would encourage pensioners to contact our Money Advice Team to check their eligibility as they may find that they do qualify, even though they think that they might not. For those that don’t qualify, the Money Advice Team will be able to help identify any other grants, discounts or benefits that they may be entitled to which do not rely on being in receipt of Pension Credits. There are also schemes available to better insulate homes that pensioners may qualify for, and the team can also help them to switch utility providers and potentially reduce their costs. In an emergency situation, the team can also access and issue Emergency Fuel Vouchers. The Advice Service is working with Wales & West Utilities to provide ‘Warm Packs’ to vulnerable citizens and those who are struggling with heating costs. These packs will shortly be available in Hubs across the city. I would urge anyone who is struggling to contact our expert advisors on our Advice Line (029 20 871 071); pop into one of our Hubs, or visit the Money Advice website (www.cardiffmoneyadvice.co.uk) for details of drop-in sessions that are held throughout the city. We are providing a life support, for all the political hand gesturing we’ve seen, it is a serious issue and for years and years I’ve been concerned about people not being able to collect benefits that they’re entitled to, because of complex DWP systems. Pension credits are one of the most bureaucratic systems, which I think are designed to stop older people from applying for benefits they’re entitled to. And I am determined, winter fuel payment going or not, to make sure that those 4,300 people that we think here in Cardiff have an opportunity to get up to £3,900, plus it’s a gateway benefit to apply for other benefits they’re entitled to, and our team will do as much as we can to ensure that pensioners do not go cold or hungry or become victims of fuel poverty, whether we agree with the policy or not that’s just been brought it. Supplementary – Cllr Driscoll Do you agree with the leader of your Unite union, Sharon Graham, who said that the winter fuel payment was put in place for a reason, so that older people could put on the heating, and the worst thing that could happen is that pensioners could end up in A&E or worse, lose their lives, and that this is a wrong decision and Labour need to back away?. Not my words, Sharon Graham’s. Do you agree that the withdrawal of the universal winter fuel payments should perhaps have been done over a phased period of time, to ensure that everyone who was eligible for pension credits could be registered for it before it is removed? But, if everyone who is entitled to pension credit claims, there would be no saving for the Treasury, and again, I’m willing to accept the response he gave to Cllr Molik in her supplementary as well. Reply – Cllr Bradbury I don’t know how much clearer I can be about my personal decision on this, I have always consistently been in favour of universalism, because for what you get when millionaires claim a benefit they may not need, actually benefits people at the lower end because it is very bureaucratic to apply for some of these benefits like Universal Credit or pension credits. That’s my personal opinion and I make no apology for differing from the national line on this. However, that’s not the only universal benefit I support, I didn’t think nurses’ bursaries should have been cut, or working family tax credits, or that the child benefit cap should have been brought in. The 2017 Tory manifesto stated that they were going to means test the winter fuel payment and get rid of the free TV licence for pensioners who qualified. I’m consistent and I’m willing to call my own side out when I think it’s right, I just wish all these other parties who are raising this with me like it’s my fault, weren’t also inconsistent. s 13. Cllr Reid-Jones to Cllr Thomson, Cabinet Member for Adult Services and Public Health & Equality Over 50% of Cardiff respondents to the Age Cymru “What matters to you” survey found it difficult or very difficult to access the social care support needed. From personal experience, as a family, we too found finding the right people to speak to a challenge, but now being in the system we cannot fault the service. I would personally like to thank the Council’s team for the support they have given in helping my relative to remain at home. Could the cabinet member please outline the plans in place to ensure accessing social care support is made as easy as possible for older people? Reply – Cllr Thomson First of all, thank you so much Councillor Reid-Jones for your positive comments about the support received by your family member, I know that will be appreciated by our team. Our Independent Living Service operates the First Point of Contact for adult social care, so I think things will hopefully be improving on that front. A team of specialist contact officers provide information and advice over the telephone and direct citizens to the appropriate support for them – this may be from a wellbeing visiting officer, an occupational therapist or a social worker, depending on the level and type of need, but it’s done from that first point of contact now. The focus of the team is to support people to stay independent at home wherever possible. You’re absolutely right that promoting the service is very important if the right help is to be provided at the right time. The Independent Living Service has provided information sessions at a variety of locations in the city, including Hubs, GP practices pharmacies and many other venues. Their leaflets are distributed at events and are sent electronically to partners. Our Age Friendly and Care’Diff newsletters also include information on the support available to older people and unpaid carers. These are made available widely in both electronic and paper copies. However, we do recognise that more can be done to improve awareness of the service. The relevant pages of the Council’s website are currently being reviewed, both in terms of accessibility through search engines and in terms of their content. We would also welcome any additional suggestions for improvement from Members or their constituents. Supplementary – Cllr Reid-Jones Age Cymru have published a subsequent report in September entitled ‘Why are we still waiting?’, which highlighted current issues with accessing the right care. I attended a briefing on this earlier this week. The report noted improvements in the service provided by local authorities but highlighted that there’s still a long way to go, so it reflects exactly what you’re saying. On accessing services, respite provision was a really important highlight as it prevents services from ensuring long-term sustainable funding. The thing that surprised me was that local authorities responded to the Age Cymru report as well, and they highlighted the burden on frontline staff to provide data as prescribed by the Welsh government, which obviously takes them away from their face-to-face role for a significant time during their working week. I just wondered if you’ve been discussing this with colleagues at the Senedd, because obviously it impacts our local authority as well as the other 22 in Wales. Reply – Cllr Thomson Thank you so much for flagging that, it’s great that you went to that briefing earlier in the week. I have to say that I haven’t been talking specifically about that data collection issue with the Welsh government but there are several things that we are building up to discussing with them. There does seem to be an awful lot of different data collection but there does also seem to be lots of authorities that do things in different ways, so that doesn’t help either. I will look into that and see what our officers say, thank you for bringing that up and let’s continue the conversation. 14. Cllr Green to Cllr De’Ath, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Strategic Planning & Transport Inconsiderate and illegal parking on Caegwyn Road in Whitchurch is creating misery for local residents and making the street inaccessible for those who need dropped curbs to cross. Will the cabinet member work with me to address these issues, including reviewing the traffic orders, lines and signs? Reply – Cllr De’Ath Officers are aware of complaints in this area of Whitchurch and are currently investigating the potential funding opportunities to be able to review the traffic orders, lines and signs at this location. I would be happy to work with both you and your ward colleagues to look at how parking can be improved or restricted further, and I will ask officers to provide you with an update once all funding opportunities have been fully explored. Supplementary – Cllr Green It’s one of those things, the area by our church has a really active community centre, the parking is in a cul-de-sac and they’ve become a victim of their own success because it can get really jammed in there. A bus backed up onto someone’s drive to turn around, residents are talking about having a turning point there for example. Would it be possible to get a site visit from officers so they can hear residents’ concerns and see what’s possible? Reply – Cllr De’Ath I’m sure we can. 15. Cllr McEvoy to Cllr Burke, Cabinet Member for Culture, Sport & Parks How many tree surgeons are employed by Cardiff Council? Reply – Cllr Burke Eight. Supplementary – Cllr McEvoy Are you aware of the amount of maintenance which needs carrying out which is leading to damage to properties and public nuisance? And do you think that a new budget line needs to be created for this budget to avoid more costs, because if people go to small claims court I think there’s a real possibility that this council could have to find substantially more money than they may otherwise do if you budget for it now. Reply – Cllr Burke We have 8 tree surgeons working within Cardiff Council: that consists of 1 working supervisor, 6 arborists and 1 apprentice arborist. We’re responsible for over 500,000 trees across the estate – that covers streets, highways, schools and high footfall parks. For the 8 members of staff that’s roughly 63,000 trees each, so I understand they are stretched. The budget for tree maintenance is city-wide rather than ward-based and the team are doing what they can. Everything within my portfolio is entirely discretionary, and I make the point in our meetings that I continue to do what I can, but it’s against the backdrop of a very difficult budget setting. 16. Cllr Berman to Cllr De’Ath, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Strategic Planning & Transport Now that the council has abandoned the plan it previously consulted on to re-route the footpath on the Ty-Draw Road side of Roath Rec further into the park as part of the wider Roath Rec scheme, will it still undertake to upgrade the path in its existing location? Reply – Cllr De’Ath The Council has put on hold the upgrading of the existing path that runs parallel to Ty Draw Road. When we are in a position to revisit the upgrading of the footpath, it will be in collaboration with the Council’s Parks department, Natural Resources Wales and Cadw. Supplementary – Cllr Berman The reason I ask about this path is because although it was never in as bad a state as the one on the Ninian Road side of the Rec, it nonetheless does flood in places, and part of the reason is that some of the parked vehicles that use it are wider than the path itself, so they churn up the grass next to it, and that leads to some of the flooding problems. So there is a need to fix that, so could you please undertake to look at what could be done? I know that residents are keen for the path not to be located further into the park, but could you see if there’s something that could be done to fix those problems while keeping the path where it is? Reply – Cllr De’Ath I’m sure Parks will be able to update you at the relevant time. 17. Cllr Melbourne to Cllr Thorne, Cabinet Member for Housing & Communities Reports of longer stays in temporary accommodation have been published in a number of councils. How much has it cost Cardiff Council to have people in temporary accommodation this year, and what is the projected cost over the next year? Reply – Cllr Thorne Cardiff, like many other cities in the UK, is experiencing exceptional pressures on Local Authority housing and homelessness services, and Members will recall that we declared a housing emergency back in December last year. Council officers have responded quickly to the emergency and have rapidly established the provision of additional temporary and supported accommodation to meet the high level of need in the city. In 2023/24, the Council’s total expenditure on temporary and emergency supported accommodation was £32.4m. However, after taking into account rental income, grants and considerable financial support from the Welsh Government to help tackle the housing pressures, the actual net cost to the Council was only £1.34m. Whilst the costs for the current financial year are not yet known, it is anticipated that they will increase slightly compared to last year due to the ongoing high level of need in Cardiff. Supplementary – Cllr Melbourne We’ve seen that the number has risen by 19% in 2023/24, and like you said, the cost of £1.3m net to the council. What processes are you planning on putting in place to ensure that this percentage does not continue to rise in the future? Reply – Cllr Thorne It’s very difficult, isn’t it, to prevent, but I have to say that I’m very proud of the prevention service. About 80% of all prevention cases are successful, but with the pressures that we’re expecting in terms of prison leavers and speeded-up asylum decisions, I think it is very difficult for us to do that. Providing permanent accommodation is the solution, which we’re trying to do, but that is not a speedy process. I’d love to say that we could do it quicker, not just because the cost of it all is massive, but also because the cost to individuals and families who are going through this process is much greater because of the trauma they’re facing. Unfortunately I can’t give you an answer to that and say how we can address it, if we had the answer we would have done it by now. 18. Cllr Ali to Cllr De’Ath, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Strategic Planning & Transport Can the Cabinet Member provide an update on the different types of e-bikes on the public road? Reply – Cllr De’Ath To be classed as an ‘electrically assisted pedal cycle’ an electric bike must: • have pedals; • have a maximum power output of 250 watts; • not be capable of going at more than 15.5mph; and • display either the power output or the manufacturer of the motor. Everything else is classed as a moped or a motorcycle. 19. Cllr Taylor to Cllr Burke, Cabinet Member for Culture, Sport & Parks Will the Cabinet Member provide an update on the council's work with Fields in Trust? Reply – Cllr Burke As you will be aware, on 23rd May, the Cabinet agreed in principle to enter into Deeds of Dedication with Fields In Trust to ensure the future protection of 11 parks and green spaces across the city that are owned by the Council. This decision was subject to the outcome of a consultation exercise, the outcome of which was to be reported back to a future Cabinet meeting. Unfortunately, the resulting consultation exercise was delayed due to the UK General Election, which was announced on 22nd May and held on 4th July. As a result, it took place during the summer from 8th July until 9th September and I am pleased with the level of response to the consultation, with 906 responses having been received. I anticipate that the Cabinet will consider the outcome of the consultation exercise and determine the way forward at its meeting in November. Supplementary – Cllr Taylor It’s good to hear about the level of engagement with that survey, and about protecting open space for public use. One of the provisions within the Fields In Trust arrangement is that there is a deed of dedication and a clause that would allow the council to swap public open space, as it’s currently the proposal to do in Maindy. I’m just looking for reassurance whether there is active consideration that this provision will be removed. My calculation is that 100,000 square metres of public open space has been removed in recent years, as well as 450 tennis courts. I think that ensuring that we increase access to public open space rather than reducing it is a really important thing that we do, so the removal of that deed of trust would be very welcome by many communities across Cardiff. Reply – Cllr Burke I’m not wholly sure I understood the question but I’d be happy to work it through with officers to see the implications and what the outcome would be, pending the results of the consultation exercise we’ve just been through. 20. Cllr Robson to Cllr Goodway, Cabinet Member for Investment & Development What plans does the Cabinet Member have for attracting more cruise companies to dock their ships in Cardiff? Reply – Cllr Goodway The Council continues to promote Cardiff as a visitor destination, which includes all markets and sectors, including cruise ships. Councillors will be aware that the Port of Cardiff, which is operated by ABP, is limited in its ability to accommodate large cruise ships due to the size of the main dock gate. This has meant that Cardiff is not promoted by the major cruise operators as it requires tenders to transport passengers between ships and the Port. Nonetheless, Cardiff does attract smaller vessels and also some larger vessels that do choose to anchor offshore. When cruise ships do choose to call at Cardiff, the Council works in partnership with Visit Wales and Southern Wales Tourism to develop and promote itineraries that include key Cardiff attractions such as Cardiff Castle. The Council has, in the past, explored with Welsh Government and ABP the potential to develop the infrastructure required to allow larger cruise vessels to choose Cardiff. However, this would require a new dock entrance to be developed, with the existing one being maintained so as not to disrupt existing freight movements. The costs are also extremely prohibitive. In addition, the Port is well used by commercial trade and, therefore, there is little room available to provide the facilities required to host large cruise ships. Supplementary – Cllr Robson That was an interesting response. I was aware that large cruise ships couldn’t dock in Cardiff, but while searching on the internet for general information about cruises I came across the image of a large ship docked down the Bay with inches to spare on either side. The timetables that seem to be out there show very little interest in Cardiff amongst the various cruise companies. Therefore, I would just urge that where we can, more is done to promote Cardiff as a destination. I appreciate we can’t attract the large ships, but certainly medium ones can fit in Cardiff docks, and we should do more to help our tourist industry and encourage them to come here. Reply – Cllr Goodway I’m grateful to the councillor for giving us the benefit of his research, and I shall certainly refer that to my officials to see what more we can do, in conjunction with other tourism bodies, to attract more cruise visitors to Cardiff. 21. Cllr Proctor to Cllr Thorne, Cabinet Member for Housing & Communities Two million women are estimated to be victims of violence perpetrated by men each year in an epidemic so serious it amounts to a “national emergency”. What is the council doing to help tackle this? Reply – Cllr Thorne I am pleased to say that strong links exist between the Council, South Wales Police and other key partners involved in safeguarding those affected by violence and abuse. We take these issues very seriously and we have an existing regional strategy – the Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Strategy – which drives action to tackle violence against women and girls. This has been developed in partnership with statutory and third sector partners in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, and is a requirement of pioneering legislation that was introduced here in Wales nearly a decade ago. Partner organisations meet on a quarterly basis as an Executive Board to review progress in delivering the implementation plan that supports the strategy. The Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) also originated in Cardiff and is now a nationally recognised approach. It continues to provide a targeted approach to individual cases of abuse that considers the best support for victims and their children, whilst also seeking to address the behaviour of the perpetrators. Supplementary – Cllr Proctor It feels like every day when I look at the news there’s a new case of a woman being killed by a man, and the stats show that the number of recorded offences of violence against women and girls has grown by 37% in the last five years, and the perpetrators are getting younger. It is reassuring that we’re working in a multi-agency unit to try and tackle the issue, but we know that this issue is getting worse, so is there anything we’re doing internally to work across Cabinet departments (housing, education, social services) to get to the root of the problem, things like training for staff. Are we promoting gender equality wherever we can, are we engaging with men and boys to become allies, for example? Reply – Cllr Thorne I’ve got a whole list of things that I could say, and none of them properly address the issues that you raise. But I will promise to look at those issues and will go through some of these. The council commissions a multi-agency service to deliver a wide range of support to survivors of domestic abuse, including advice, refuge, accommodation and community support. In recognition that men can also be victims of abuse, we also commissioned male refuge support services, however it’s clear that we need more tools to target perpetrators and address the root causes of abuse and violence. This starts with tougher enforcement and protection, and we welcome the renewed focus on the elimination of violence against women and girls by the new UK government. We also need a renewed effort to educate our children and young people to help combat disturbing and hateful messages of misogyny and violence that seem to be prevalent online and on social media. In March, you’ll remember that this council passed a motion to be a city for CEDAW, which included several commitments related to violence against women and girls. These included continuing to place accountability for abuse on those who cause harm, by challenging and changing the culture of sexism and misogyny through activities and interventions that address harmful behaviours, and promote the elimination of discrimination against women and to people of all genders. In addition, it committed the council to ensuring that there are more safe spaces throughout Cardiff, and involving women and girls in their creation. The community safety partnership has delivered a series of works at improving the security of women, girls and vulnerable individuals in the city centre and the night-time economy by increasing CCTV surveillance and improving lighting in underpasses. We’ve also strengthened the safety bus project, supported the rollout of licensing security initiatives, and ensured the effective co-ordination of partnership teams such as the council’s city centre wardens and for Cardiff’s night marshals. And we’ll also note the issues raised in your supplementary with officers. 22. Cllr Ferguson-Thorne to Cllr Merry, Cabinet Member for Education Could the Cabinet Member explain the process the Governor Panel uses for appointment of Local Authority Governors? Reply – Cllr Merry The Local Authority Governor Panel uses the Council’s published selection criteria to appoint Local Authority Governors to school governing bodies in Cardiff. New applications for current and future school governor vacancies are submitted to the Panel for consideration. The applications are coordinated by the Governor Services Team within the Education Directorate, and the team seeks to match applications to the needs of the individual school. It is recommended that school governing bodies also undertake skills audits to assist with this process. When making appointments, the Panel uses the details contained in each candidate’s application form to provide them with information about whether the applicant meets the criteria. Where positions are contested and there is more than one application, the Panel will use the selection criteria to determine which application is the strongest and that candidate is recommended for appointment. All recommendations for appointment are subject to ratification by Council. 23. Cllr Jenkins to Cllr De’Ath, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Strategic Planning & Transport With Cardiff Council's strong commitment to active travel, can the Cabinet Member tell me what plans the Council have for instating a pedestrian crossing by Llandaff Bridge? Reply – Cllr De’Ath Bridge Road in Llandaff was part of two future walking and cycling routes, as identified on the Active Travel network map, so it would make sense to maybe locate the crossing there. There is also S106 money from the Cardiff North West Strategic Housing Development for a bus lane and a range of things. So, depending on when that S106 money is released, you may certainly see a crossing in that location. I have however asked officers to see if there is any opportunity to find money sooner for that work, and as soon as they get back to me I will let you know what they say. Reply – Cllr Jenkins I’ll make the supplementary a simple yes or no, then, and this is related to the petition coming to Council next month. Recently the speed limit has been rightly lowered on Bridge Road to 20mph which did improve the safety of that road. Putting a much-needed pedestrian crossing would be the final step, and a golden opportunity talking about prioritisation. Given the community support, can I get the Cabinet Member’s assurance that when the petition comes before Council next month, that they will give it full consideration and treat it as a priority for my residents, young and old? Reply – Cllr De’Ath Yes, absolutely.
Part of an issue followed across 11 meetings
There was no urgent business.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: Council AGREED: 1. To approve the new appointments of Local Authority governors to the school governing bodies as set out in Appendix 1, each for a term of 4 years from the date of the appointment, in accordance with the recommendations of the Local Authority Governor Panel.
Council was asked to appoint Local Authority School Governors to fill vacancies. RESOLVED: Council AGREED: 1. To approve the new appointments of Local Authority governors to the school governing bodies as set out in Appendix 1, each for a term of 4 years from the date of the appointment, in accordance with the recommendations of the Local Authority Governor Panel.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: Council AGREED: 1. To approve the appointment of Louise Evans as the new independent member, subject to and in accordance with the recommendation of the Appointments Panel, as outlined on the Amendment Sheet, subject to the receipt of satisfactory references, as approved by the Chair of the Standards and Ethics Committee and in consultation with the Monitoring Officer, for a term of 6 years.
Council was asked to approve for the appointment of an independent member of the Standards and Ethics Committee to fill a vacancy that had arisen. RESOLVED: Council AGREED: 1. To approve the appointment of Louise Evans as the new independent member, subject to and in accordance with the recommendation of the Appointments Panel, as outlined on the Amendment Sheet, subject to the receipt of satisfactory references, as approved by the Chair of the Standards and Ethics Committee and in consultation with the Monitoring Officer, for a term of 6 years.
Part of an issue followed across 4 meetings
In accordance with Council procedure Rule 17 (f) the Written Questions received for consideration and their responses are attached to the minutes.
Part of an issue followed across 11 meetings
Councillors must say when they have a personal link to something being discussed, such as a job, a property or a family member. A prejudicial interest is one strong enough that the councillor usually leaves the room and takes no part.
Reid-Jones: Personal interest on Oral Questions
A family member receives care provided by the council.
Bradbury: Personal and prejudicial interest on Appointment of Local Authority Governors to School Governing Bodies
His wife is a Chair of Governors at one of the schools mentioned, and their children attend that school.
McEvoy: Personal interest
Children's services and housing disrepair.
Lists the council's current councillors only. Co-opted members, officers and former councillors aren't shown.