Loading
The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED: Council AGREED: 1. To confirm that the decision to agree the Pay Policy Statement constitutes agreement to implement the cost of living pay increases determined by the relevant negotiating body effective from 1st April 2025, as accounted for in the Budget set and agreed by Council on 6th March 2025; 2. To determine that any additional financial implications arising from the national pay agreements determined after this date that cannot be met within the Council’s Revenue Budget will be referred to Council for consideration and decision; 3. To approve the attached Pay Policy Statement (2025/26) at Appendix 1.
RESOLVED: Council AGREED: 1. To approve the Statement of Principles for Gambling (or ‘Gambling Licensing Policy’) 2025-2028, set out in Appendix B, for publication on 1 April 2025 and subsequently adopted for use from 12 May 2025; 2. To authorise the Head of Shared Regulatory Services to make minor administrative amendments to the approved Statement from time to time, should the need arise.
RESOLVED that Cllr Adrian Robson was the Lord Mayor Elect for the municipal year 2025/26. The Lord Mayor invited Cllr Lancaster, Leader of the Conservative Group, to propose the appointment for the Deputy Lord Mayor Elect. The Lord Mayor invited Cllr Gibson, Leader of the Plaid Cymru, Green Party, Common Ground Group, to second the appointment. It was RESOLVED that Cllr Michael Michael was the Deputy Lord Mayor Elect for the municipal year 2025/26.
RESOLVED: Council AGREED: a. To approve the amendment of the Members’ Schedule of Remuneration 2024 – 2025 with effect from 1st March 2025 as attached at Appendix A; b. To authorise the Monitoring Officer to update the Members’ Schedule of Remuneration in the Constitution.
RESOLVED: Council AGREED: 1. Receive a nomination and appoint to the vacancy on the Committee, in accordance with the Party Group wishes, as set out in Table A in the report.
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.
Apologies were received from Cllrs Ali Ahmed, Cunnah, Goodway, Green, Joyce, Latif, Owen and Robinson.
The following declarations of interest were received in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct: Councillor Agenda item Nature of interest Reason for interest Daniel Waldron 11 Personal Advises UK government on offshore wind Calum Davies 12 Personal Works for a developer Daniel Naughton 12 Personal Family member on Cardiff Bus Pension Scheme Mike Ash-Edwards, Calum Davies, Helen Gunter, Garry Hunt, Rhys Taylor 12 Personal Non-executive directors of Cardiff Bus Rodney Berman, John Lancaster 15 Personal Independent Remuneration Panel Neil McEvoy Personal Children’s services and housing disrepair The Lord Mayor noted that all officers affected by the proposed decision in item 7 (Pay Policy Statement 2025/26) would declare a prejudicial interest and leave the room during that item.
The minutes of the Budget Meeting held on 6th March were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.
There was one public question. 1. Richard Coombe to Cllr Mackie, Cabinet Member for Waste, Street Scene & Environmental Services The question I bring, I do so with the deepest concern for many people living in Cardiff and the surrounding areas, and it’s regarding the level of street lighting in the city and other areas. Since the introduction of low energy LED streetlights last year, before the clocks went back. Why has this been allowed, because the streets are now in semi-darkness? Reply – Cllr Mackie Thank you for your question, Mr Coombe. All of Cardiff’s streetlights operate using an onboard photocell that are set to switch on at 35 lux and switch off at 18 lux. Lux is used to measure the level of light on a surface. This on-off switching regime was in place before the introduction of LED lighting, and remains the standard practice used by the majority of local authorities across the UK, due to its effectiveness in balancing energy efficiency and public safety. It is worth noting that the newer LED streetlights are controlled using digital switching, which is more precise than the analogue systems previously used using the non-LED lighting. As a result, LED lights may switch on for a few minutes later at dusk compared to the older technology. This improved accuracy contributes to the council’s overall energy savings and aligns with Cardiff’s Net Zero ambitions by reducing unnecessary energy consumption and carbon emissions. If you have a more specific concern about the new LED street lighting or any particular streetlights, then I would be happy to ask our Street Lighting teams to investigate further. Just to add, a pilot project is taking place in Ely and Caerau to see if increased lighting reduces or deters antisocial behaviour, and also improves perceptions of safety within the local community. Throughout 2025, the lighting levels of the LED streetlights in a limited number of streets will be increased by 25%. These streets have been identified through engagement with residents and professionals. As this is a pilot project, the increase in lighting levels will be restricted to these special streets. The results of the project will be evaluated following its completion. Supplementary question – Richard Coombe I’ve taken in all the information that Cllr Mackie has kindly supplied, most of which I would question considerably. When the LED lights were put in on my street, I asked the engineer why they were being replaced, and he said it was in order to save energy, and that they were being controlled from a central control unit, not by things on the top of the clamp standards, so that’s one point. And the LED lighting: the emissions of LED lights is seven times less than the energy used by ordinary standard lamps, and the output is about 75 to 110 lumens greater than a standard lamp, so I don’t know why they’re talking about saving energy here. But the important thing is the level of street lighting, which is now so low that driving, cycling and walking in the streets is a serious issue. I myself have been a Street Pastor for seven years, and the dangers of the streets at night, you can well imagine, I can’t stress enough. How can we raise the standard of street lighting, then, if you want it to put it that way? It needs to be raised, it’s not good enough. People are in serious danger. Reply – Cllr Mackie Thank you for this supplementary. The question’s a little bit technical for me, because unfortunately I’m not qualified to discuss the level of emissions and whether it’s greater on the top or whether it’s affected in that way. So, I think I can ask officers and get back to you on that one. It is the levels that are presumed to be safe throughout the country now, and that’s where we get them from. Again, we can look at that and we can see what happens in the projects that we’ve got running, and see if it makes any difference in the area where we’re doing the pilot. Really, I don’t believe there’s any evidence to say that there is more electricity used in the way we’re using them now. Like I said, I’ll go back to officers with your questions and get back to you with a response from them.
One petition was received. Presented by Number of relevant signatures Nature of petition Cllr Irene Humphreys 28 Requesting the boundary fence to be reinstated around Ely Sports Field and St Margaret’s Park Cllr Joe Carter Second part of petition calling to protect the slide at Pentwyn Leisure Centre
A list of mayoral engagements since the last Council meeting had been circulated on the amendment sheet. In addition to this, the Lord Mayor sent condolences to the families of former Heath councillor and Cabinet Member Jim James; and David Hugh Thomas, who had been involved with the South Wales Police Authority and both the Standards & Ethics and Governance & Audit committees. Finally, she expressed her appreciation for Richard Jones’ fifty years of service as the Lord Mayor’s driver, and thanked him for the invaluable guidance he had provided to her and her predecessors.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: Council AGREED: 1. To confirm that the decision to agree the Pay Policy Statement constitutes agreement to implement the cost of living pay increases determined by the relevant negotiating body effective from 1st April 2025, as accounted for in the Budget set and agreed by Council on 6th March 2025; 2. To determine that any additional financial implications arising from the national pay agreements determined after this date that cannot be met within the Council’s Revenue Budget will be referred to Council for consideration and decision; 3. To approve the attached Pay Policy Statement (2025/26) at Appendix 1.
Council was asked to review and approve the Pay Policy Statement for 2025/26, in accordance with the requirements of the Localism Act 2011. Chief Officers affected by the proposed decision left the Council Chamber for the duration of the item. The report was proposed by Cllr Weaver, Cabinet Member for Finance, Modernisation & Performance, and seconded by Cllr Thomas. The Lord Mayor invited debate on the report, before moving to the vote. FOR (53) Cllrs Abdul-Sattar, Saleh Ahmed, Ali, Anderson, Ash-Edwards, Berman, Boes, Bradbury, Bridgeman, Carr, Carter, Chowdhury, De’Ath, Derbyshire, Elsmore, Ferguson-Thorne, Gibson, Gunter, Hinchey, Hopkins, Humphreys, Hunt, Jenkins, Keith Jones, Kaaba, Lent, Lister, Littlechild, Livesy, Mackie, McGarry, Merry, Michael, Molik, Moultrie, Naughton, Palmer, Parry, Proctor, Reid-Jones, Sangani, Shimmin, Simmons, Singh, Stubbs, Taylor, Thomas, Thomson, Thorne, Weaver, Wild, Wong and Wood AGAINST (1) Cllr McEvoy ABSTAIN (9) Cllrs Brown-Reckless, Cowan, Davies, Driscoll, Jackie Jones, Lancaster, Melbourne, Robson and Williams RESOLVED: Council AGREED: 1. To confirm that the decision to agree the Pay Policy Statement constitutes agreement to implement the cost of living pay increases determined by the relevant negotiating body effective from 1st April 2025, as accounted for in the Budget set and agreed by Council on 6th March 2025; 2. To determine that any additional financial implications arising from the national pay agreements determined after this date that cannot be met within the Council’s Revenue Budget will be referred to Council for consideration and decision; 3. To approve the attached Pay Policy Statement (2025/26) at Appendix 1.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: Council AGREED: 1. To approve the Statement of Principles for Gambling (or ‘Gambling Licensing Policy’) 2025-2028, set out in Appendix B, for publication on 1 April 2025 and subsequently adopted for use from 12 May 2025; 2. To authorise the Head of Shared Regulatory Services to make minor administrative amendments to the approved Statement from time to time, should the need arise.
Council was asked to formally approve the Council’s Statement of Principles for Gambling (the Statement) following a triennial review. The report was proposed by Cllr Michael, Chair of Licensing, and seconded by Cllr Mackie. The Lord Mayor invited debate on the report, before moving to the vote. FOR (65) Cllrs Abdul-Sattar, Saleh Ahmed, Ali, Anderson, Ash-Edwards, Berman, Bowen-Thomson, Bradbury, Bridgeman, Carr, Carter, Chowdhury, Cowan, Davies, De’Ath, Derbyshire, Driscoll, Elsmore, Ferguson-Thorne, Gibson, Gunter, Hinchey, Hopkins, Humphreys, Hunt, Jenkins, Jackie Jones, Keith Jones, Kaaba, Lancaster, Lay, Lent, Lewis, Lister, Littlechild, Livesy, Mackie, McEvoy, McGarry, Melbourne, Merry, Michael, Molik, Moultrie, Naughton, Palmer, Parry, Proctor, Reid-Jones, Robson, Sangani, Shimmin, Simmons, Singh, Stubbs, Taylor, Thomas, Thomson, Thorne, Waldron, Weaver, Wild, Williams, Wong and Wood AGAINST (0) ABSTAIN (0) RESOLVED: Council AGREED: 1. To approve the Statement of Principles for Gambling (or ‘Gambling Licensing Policy’) 2025-2028, set out in Appendix B, for publication on 1 April 2025 and subsequently adopted for use from 12 May 2025; 2. To authorise the Head of Shared Regulatory Services to make minor administrative amendments to the approved Statement from time to time, should the need arise.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED that Cllr Adrian Robson was the Lord Mayor Elect for the municipal year 2025/26. The Lord Mayor invited Cllr Lancaster, Leader of the Conservative Group, to propose the appointment for the Deputy Lord Mayor Elect. The Lord Mayor invited Cllr Gibson, Leader of the Plaid Cymru, Green Party, Common Ground Group, to second the appointment. It was RESOLVED that Cllr Michael Michael was the Deputy Lord Mayor Elect for the municipal year 2025/26.
Council was asked to receive nominations for the positions of Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor for the 2025-2026 civic year. The Lord Mayor invited Cllr Thomas, Leader of the Council, to propose the appointment for the Lord Mayor Elect. The Lord Mayor invited Cllr Berman, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, to second the appointment. It was RESOLVED that Cllr Adrian Robson was the Lord Mayor Elect for the municipal year 2025/26. The Lord Mayor invited Cllr Lancaster, Leader of the Conservative Group, to propose the appointment for the Deputy Lord Mayor Elect. The Lord Mayor invited Cllr Gibson, Leader of the Plaid Cymru, Green Party, Common Ground Group, to second the appointment. It was RESOLVED that Cllr Michael Michael was the Deputy Lord Mayor Elect for the municipal year 2025/26.
Leader’s Statement Cllr Thomas responded to questions in relation to: - possible Welsh National Opera strike action; - the Severn Estuary Commission; - the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day. Climate Change, Strategic Planning & Transport Statement Cllr De’Ath responded to questions in relation to: - secure cycling shelters outside of the city centre; - the 20mph limit review. Deputy Leader and Education Statement Cllr Merry responded to questions in relation to: - incorporating play opportunities into the Passport to the City app; - the Welsh Language Book Sharing scheme. Childrens Services, Tackling Poverty & Supporting Young People Statement Cllrs Lister and Bradbury responded to questions in relation to: - increased funding for the Flying Start team; - the wellbeing event at St Teilo’s High School; - the impact of cuts on the Money Advice Team; - youth service provision. Waste, Street Scene & Environmental Services Statement Cllr Mackie responded to questions in relation to: - support for students moving out; - figures for reduced contamination from segregated recycling; - the possibility of future charges for garden waste collection; - litter on residential streets. Culture, Sport & Parks Statement There were no questions on Cllr Burke’s statement. Finance, Modernisation & Performance Statement Cllr Weaver responded to questions in relation to: - the lack of a specific email address for council tax; - the 5% increase in council tax. Housing & Communities Statement Cllrs Thorne and Bridgeman responded to questions in relation to: - engagement with faith groups on homelessness; - the fire at Dyfrig House and the timeframe for the site reopening; - Pentwyn skatepark. Investment & Development Statement In the absence of Cllr Goodway, Cllr Thomas responded to questions in relation to: - increasing footfall from residents in the city centre; - safe cycle access to County Hall; - the announcement of 300 new jobs at Cardiff Gate; - support for small businesses to manage increased NIC contributions; - the projected completion date for Cardiff Parkway; - employment opportunities for disabled people. Adult Services and Public Health & Equality Statement Cllrs Thomson and Sangani responded to questions in relation to: - older people’s concerns about public transport and accessibility; - support for unpaid carers and the Carers Wales Carers Assembly; - helping Cardiff become a neurodivergent friendly city.
The Lord Mayor noted that a Notice of Motion proposed by Cllr Livesy and seconded by Cllr Gibson had been received for consideration. The Lord Mayor invited Cllr Livesy to propose the Motion as follows: Motion to support the devolution of the Crown Estate to Wales The Council notes: As of 11th March 2025, 16 of Wales’ 22 local authorities have backed the devolution of the Crown Estate to Wales. The Crown Estate controls vast areas of Welsh land and sea, including 65% of the foreshore and riverbed and over 50,000 acres of land. While it profits from offshore wind and other developments in Wales, up to 75% of its revenue goes directly to the UK Treasury, with a further 25% allocated to the monarchy – leaving Wales with no say over how its own resources are used. The value of Crown Estate holdings in Wales has risen from £96m in 2020 to over £853m in 2023. Scotland secured control of its Crown Estate in 2016. A YouGov poll taken in spring 2023 showed that 75% of Welsh voters were in favour of Wales taking control of the management and assets of the Welsh Crown Estate rather than it remaining in the hands of the UK Treasury. With local authorities facing severe financial pressure the money flowing out of Wales to the Crown Estate has become more of an urgent matter. For 2024, as of 16th December 2024, Cardiff Council’s payments to the Crown Estate totalled £17,190 on items such as: Pedestrian footways/footbridges and cycleways over or near rivers - £8,599 Boat hoisting fees on our rivers - £6,753 Water Taxi charges and slipway leases - £1,576 Other councils see much larger sums, especially when large infrastructure projects such as off-shore windfarms and new port facilities are completed or under construction. The Council: Agrees that our leader writes to Welsh and UK Governments outlining support for the management of the Crown Estate and its assets in Wales be devolved to the Welsh Government and that the funds raised be used to benefit and support the needs of communities in Wales. Calls on our Chief Executive to consider opening discussions with the Crown Estate, urging the estate not to charge fees or rent on the council until the Council’s financial position has improved. The Motion was formally seconded by Cllr Gibson. An Amendment to the Motion had been received from the Labour group. The Lord Mayor called upon Cllr Jenkins to move the Amendment as follows: Motion to support the devolution of the Crown Estate to Wales The Council notes: As of 11th March 2025, 16 of Wales’ 22 local authorities have backed the devolution of the Crown Estate to Wales. The Crown Estate controls vast areas of Welsh land and sea, including 65% of the foreshore and riverbed and over 50,000 acres of land. While it profits from offshore wind and other developments in Wales, up to 75% of its revenue goes directly to the UK Treasury, with a further 25% allocated to the monarchy – leaving Wales with no say over how its own resources are used. The value of Crown Estate holdings in Wales has risen from £96m in 2020 to over £853m in 2023. Scotland secured control of its Crown Estate in 2016 Insert and the Scottish government block grant was consequently reduced. A YouGov poll taken in spring 2023 showed that 75% of Welsh voters were in favour of Wales taking control of the management and assets of the Welsh Crown Estate rather than it remaining in the hands of the UK Treasury. With local authorities facing severe financial pressure the money flowing out of Wales to the Crown Estate has become more of an urgent matter. For 2024, as of 16th December 2024, Cardiff Council’s payments to the Crown Estate totalled £17,190 on items such as: Pedestrian footways/footbridges and cycleways over or near rivers - £8,599 Boat hoisting fees on our rivers - £6,753 Water Taxi charges and slipway leases - £1,576 Other councils see much larger sums, especially when large infrastructure projects such as off-shore windfarms and new port facilities are completed or under construction. Insert The Council further notes: Insert That the Crown Estate have been actively supporting a programme, initiated by Cardiff Council, in partnership with others, to explore Tidal Power opportunities in the Severn Estuary Insert That there is the potential to secure over 5,000 new jobs and £1.4 billion worth of investment into Wales through floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea, through the utilisation of Crown Estate assets. The Council: Insert Restates its endorsement of the Principle of Subsidiarity, with decision-making and control held at the closest possible level to citizens. Insert Believes the Subsidiarity Principle applies in the case of the Crown Estates, including in relation to land in the Estate’s ownership within the City and County of Cardiff, and thus devolution of Crown Estates assets to Wales should include substantial devolution of onshore assets to Local Government. Insert Wishes to understand more fully the implications of Devolution of the Crown Estate on the Welsh Block Grant, and the investment timelines associated with offshore winds. Delete Agrees that our leader writes to Welsh and UK Governments outlining support for the management of the Crown Estate and its assets in Wales be devolved to the Welsh Government and that the funds raised be used to benefit and support the needs of communities in Wales. Delete Calls on our Chief Executive to consider opening discussions with the Crown Estate, urging the estate not to charge fees or rent on the council until the Council’s financial position has improved. Insert Therefore, this Council resolves: Insert To ask the Leader to write to the Secretary of State for Wales setting out our belief in the principles above and seeking clarity in relation to the possible implications for the Welsh Block Grant and investment. The amended motion would read as follows: Motion to support the devolution of the Crown Estate to Wales The Council notes: As of 11th March 2025, 16 of Wales’ 22 local authorities have backed the devolution of the Crown Estate to Wales. The Crown Estate controls vast areas of Welsh land and sea, including 65% of the foreshore and riverbed and over 50,000 acres of land. While it profits from offshore wind and other developments in Wales, up to 75% of its revenue goes directly to the UK Treasury, with a further 25% allocated to the monarchy – leaving Wales with no say over how its own resources are used. The value of Crown Estate holdings in Wales has risen from £96m in 2020 to over £853m in 2023. Scotland secured control of its Crown Estate in 2016 and the Scottish government block grant was consequently reduced. A YouGov poll taken in spring 2023 showed that 75% of Welsh voters were in favour of Wales taking control of the management and assets of the Welsh Crown Estate rather than it remaining in the hands of the UK Treasury. With local authorities facing severe financial pressure the money flowing out of Wales to the Crown Estate has become more of an urgent matter. For 2024, as of 16th December 2024, Cardiff Council’s payments to the Crown Estate totalled £17,190 on items such as: Pedestrian footways/footbridges and cycleways over or near rivers - £8,599 Boat hoisting fees on our rivers - £6,753 Water Taxi charges and slipway leases - £1,576 Other councils see much larger sums, especially when large infrastructure projects such as off-shore windfarms and new port facilities are completed or under construction. The Council further notes: That the Crown Estate have been actively supporting a programme, initiated by Cardiff Council, in partnership with others, to explore Tidal Power opportunities in the Severn Estuary That there is the potential to secure over 5,000 new jobs and £1.4 billion worth of investment into Wales through floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea, through the utilisation of Crown Estate assets. The Council: Restates its endorsement of the Principle of Subsidiarity, with decision-making and control held at the closest possible level to citizens. Believes the Subsidiarity Principle applies in the case of the Crown Estates, including in relation to land in the Estate’s ownership within the City and County of Cardiff, and thus devolution of Crown Estates assets to Wales should include substantial devolution of onshore assets to Local Government. Wishes to understand more fully the implications of Devolution of the Crown Estate on the Welsh Block Grant, and the investment timelines associated with offshore winds. Therefore, this Council resolves: To ask the Leader to write to the Secretary of State for Wales setting out our belief in the principles above and seeking clarity in relation to the possible implications for the Welsh Block Grant and investment. The Amendment was formally seconded by Cllr Humphreys. The Lord Mayor invited debate on the Motion and Amendment. The Lord Mayor invited Cllr Livesy to respond to the issues raised during the debate. He confirmed that the Amendment was not accepted. The Amendment having not been accepted, the Lord Mayor moved to the vote on the Amendment as proposed by Cllr Jenkins and seconded by Cllr Humphreys. FOR (46) Cllrs Abdul-Sattar, Ali, Anderson, Ash-Edwards, Boes, Bowen-Thomson, Bradbury, Bridgeman, Burke, Carr, De’Ath, Derbyshire, Ebrahim, Elsmore, Ferguson-Thorne, Gunter, Hinchey, Humphreys, Hunt, Jenkins, Jackie Jones, Keith Jones, Kaaba, Lay, Lent, Lewis, Lister, Littlechild, Mackie, McGarry, Merry, Michael, Moultrie, Palmer, Parry, Proctor, Reid-Jones, Sangani, Simmons, Singh, Stubbs, Thomas, Thomson, Thorne, Weaver and Wild AGAINST (19) Cllrs Berman, Brown-Reckless, Carter, Cowan, Davies, Driscoll, Gibson, Hopkins, Lancaster, Livesy, McEvoy, Melbourne, Molik, Naughton, Robson, Shimmin, Taylor, Williams and Wood ABSTAIN (0) The Amendment was CARRIED. The Lord Mayor moved to the vote on the Substantive Motion as amended by Cllr Jenkins and seconded by Cllr Humphreys, which was CARRIED. FOR (55) Cllrs Abdul-Sattar, Ali, Anderson, Ash-Edwards, Berman, Boes, Bowen-Thomson, Bradbury, Bridgeman, Burke, Carr, Carter, De’Ath, Derbyshire, Ebrahim, Elsmore, Ferguson-Thorne, Gunter, Hinchey, Hopkins, Humphreys, Hunt, Jenkins, Jackie Kones, Keith Jones, Kaaba, Lay, Lent, Lewis, Lister, Littlechild, Mackie, McEvoy, McGarry, Merry, Michael, Molik, Moultrie, Naughton, Palmer, Parry, Proctor, Reid-Jones, Sangani, Shimmin, Simmons, Singh, Stubbs, Taylor, Thomas, Thomson, Thorne, Weaver, Wild and Wood AGAINST (10) Cllrs Brown-Reckless, Cowan, Davies, Driscoll, Gibson, Lancaster, Livesy, Melbourne, Robson and Williams ABSTAIN (0)
The Lord Mayor noted that a Notice of Motion proposed by Cllr Waldron and seconded by Cllr Berman had been received for consideration. The Lord Mayor invited Cllr Waldron to propose the Motion as follows: This Council notes that: a) The Cardiff Bus Interchange which opened in 2024 after years of delay does not enable passengers to catch direct buses to a significant proportion of the city, including services to the east of the city, and there are no plans in place to address this. It is not therefore a proper replacement for the old central bus station. b) The council previously indicated it had plans to also create bus interchanges at Waungron Road and the University Hospital of Wales but there is little sign that these plans have been advanced. c) Over a period of years, the number of bus routes serving the city has significantly reduced with many streets and estates no longer being directly served by bus services. For many people, such those who are elderly or disabled, this has put regular bus services out of their reach if they are not able to walk to the nearest alternative provision. d) The majority of bus routes run from different Cardiff suburbs to the city centre and back, meaning to travel from many suburbs to other suburbs by bus requires passengers to travel to the city centre first and then change buses. This can make many journeys longer than could otherwise be the case. e) The Welsh Government has been proposing legislation for many years to enable a switch to a franchised model of bus service provision, recognising that the current deregulated model brought in by the Thatcher Government in 1985 has not served our local communities well. However, despite having gained the power to legislate for a franchised model since 2011, repeated delays to taking this forward mean these plans are still not yet in place. The Welsh Government has indicated the switch to a franchised model will not now start being rolled out across Wales until at least 2027 with this not reaching the wider Cardiff area until at least 2029. f) Thanks to the budget deal agreed with Welsh Liberal Democrat MS Jane Dodds the Welsh Government has committed £15 million in 2025-26 to fund a pilot scheme for young people aged 21 and under to pay only £1 for a single bus fare in Wales. g) Whilst measures to support more people traveling by active means are welcome and should continue to be promoted, it also needs to be recognised that not everyone is able to utilise active travel and that more needs to be done to support those who need to rely on public transport provision including bus services. This council therefore calls on the Cabinet to: a) Update its transport strategy to take account of the above points and revise it accordingly in order to address the need for more bus service provision to be put in place to serve all of Cardiff’s communities. b) Write to the Welsh Government urging it to accelerate the planned roll-out of a franchised model of bus service provision to southeast Wales. The Motion was formally seconded by Cllr Berman. An Amendment to the Motion had been received from the Labour group. The Lord Mayor called upon Cllr Hunt to move the Amendment as follows: This Council notes that: a) Insert The previous Lib Dem/Plaid administration ripped down the former Central Bus Station Terminus building without viable plans for a new Bus Station. The new Cardiff Bus Interchange was opened in 2024 with 14 stands and a phased introduction of bus services across Cardiff, in collaboration with Transport for Wales and local bus companies. Delete The Cardiff Bus Interchange which opened in 2024 after years of delay does not enable passengers to catch direct buses to a significant proportion of the city, including services to the east of the city, and there are no plans in place to address this. It is not therefore a proper replacement for the old central bus station. b) Insert The council is also going ahead with creating additional bus interchanges at Waungron Road and the University Hospital of Wales. Delete The council previously indicated it had plans to also create bus interchanges at Waungron Road and the University Hospital of Wales but there is little sign that these plans have been advanced. Insert The Western Ave crossover has been completed for Waungron Road, and enabling works, including the construction of the haul road have commenced on site, to facilitate 6 bus services per hour (2-way), plus an additional 8 per hour passing the site west-east. The Bus interchange at UHW is now under detailed discussions with the health board as part of the redesigning of the site to include an additional hospital wing. c) Delete Over a period of years, the number of bus routes serving the city has significantly reduced with many streets and estates no longer being directly served by bus services. For many people, such those who are elderly or disabled, this has put regular bus services out of their reach if they are not able to walk to the nearest alternative provision. Insert Bus services in Cardiff and Wales are operated commercially by bus companies. Bus operators have taken commercial decisions to re-route buses to concentrate on key corridors, as a result of falling passenger numbers caused by the pandemic. Without the Welsh Labour Government’s Bus Transition Fund of over £240M to support companies through the pandemic, the sector would have collapsed. d) Delete The majority of bus routes run from different Cardiff suburbs to the city centre and back, meaning to travel from many suburbs to other suburbs by bus requires passengers to travel to the city centre first and then change buses. This can make many journeys longer than could otherwise be the case. Insert Due to the geography of Cardiff, the majority of bus routes run from different Cardiff suburbs to the city centre and back. Cardiff Council launched its plans to improve six key bus routes in 2024, designed to boost passenger numbers and deliver quicker journey times. The Bus Infrastructure Plan, produced in consultation with Transport for Wales, Cardiff Bus and other operators, sets out a series of on-street interventions aimed at improving key bus corridors into Cardiff, to help bus services recover from the pandemic. Insert A number of Bus Improvement schemes include: · Bus Priority Measures and Bus Stops in Station Terrace, Churchill Way and Bute Terrace area (2023-24) · Bus Priority Lane Canton Bridge (2023) · Bus Priority Measures and Bus Stops on Westgate Street and Wood St areas (2023) · Created a Bus Priority Strategy, passed through Cabinet and out to consultation (2024-25) · Applied to Welsh Government for funding via dedicated bus priority bid to the Local Transport Fund (2023-4) · Worked on design and feasibility for key routes, including Newport Road, North Road, Cowbridge Road East and A4119 (2021 to now) · Currently developing the Northern bus corridor through Whitchurch, Whitchurch Village, A469N, A469S, A470N and A470 S corridors WelTAG appraisal and design. · Currently commissioning an expansion of the Smart corridor work (as part of Northern bus corridor) for bus priority and bus journey time technology trials · Made improvements to Clare Road / Pendyris St (Tramshed) to address road safety issues and improve bus journey times in Grangetown. This aligns with Western bus corridor work. · We have also been working with TfW in respect of BRT which aligns with the EBC (Newport Road and A48) WelTAG and development work being carried out. e) The Welsh Government has Insert also been proposing legislation for many years to enable a switch to a franchised model of bus service provision, recognising that the current deregulated model brought in by the Thatcher Government in 1985 has not served our local communities well. However, Delete despite having gained the power to legislate for a franchised model since 2011, repeated delays to taking this forward mean these plans are still not yet in place. The Welsh Government has indicated the switch to a franchised model will not now start being rolled out across Wales until at least 2027 with this not reaching the wider Cardiff area until at least 2029. Insert However Council officers continue to engage regularly with TfW feeding into the publication of the draft Bus Bill and Regulatory Impact Assessment. f) Delete Thanks to the budget deal agreed with Welsh Liberal Democrat MS Jane Dodds Insert In its most recent budget the Welsh Government has committed £15 million in 2025-26 to fund a pilot scheme for young people aged 21 and under to pay only £1 for a single bus fare in Wales. g) Whilst measures to support more people traveling by active means are welcome and should continue to be promoted, it also needs to be recognised that Delete not everyone is able to utilise active travel and that more needs to be done to support those who need to rely on public transport provision including bus services. Insert bus and train services are a key part of a sustainable transport strategy for the Cardiff and the wider City Region. This council therefore: Delete calls on the Cabinet to: a) Insert Recognise that the Council’s transport strategy takes account of the above points and its Bus Priority Plan for Cardiff seeks to meet Delete Update its transport strategy to take account of the above points and revise it accordingly in order to address the need for more bus service provision to be put in place to serve all of Cardiff’s communities. b) Insert Calls on the Cabinet to write to the Welsh Government urging it to accelerate the planned roll-out of a franchised model of bus service provision to southeast Wales Insert and to ensure that municipal bus companies are offered some form of security in the process of bidding for franchised contracts. Delete Calls on Cardiff Council to work closely with its neighbouring Local Authorities to develop a regional bus strategy through the City Deal. The amended motion would read as follows: This Council notes that: a) The previous Lib Dem/Plaid administration ripped down the former Central Bus Station Terminus building without viable plans for a new Bus Station. The new Cardiff Bus Interchange was opened in 2024 with 14 stands and a phased introduction of bus services across Cardiff, in collaboration with Transport for Wales and local bus companies. b) The council is also going ahead with creating additional bus interchanges at Waungron Road and the University Hospital of Wales. The Western Ave crossover has been completed for Waungron Road, and enabling works, including the construction of the haul road have commenced on site, to facilitate 6 bus services per hour (2-way), plus an additional 8 per hour passing the site west-east. The Bus interchange at UHW is now under detailed discussions with the health board as part of the redesigning of the site to include an additional hospital wing. c) Bus services in Cardiff and Wales are operated commercially by bus companies. Bus operators have taken commercial decisions to re-route buses to concentrate on key corridors, as a result of falling passenger numbers caused by the pandemic. Without the Welsh Labour Government’s Bus Transition Fund of over £240M to support companies through the pandemic, the sector would have collapsed. d) Due to the geography of Cardiff, the majority of bus routes run from different Cardiff suburbs to the city centre and back. Cardiff Council launched its plans to improve six key bus routes in 2024, designed to boost passenger numbers and deliver quicker journey times. The Bus Infrastructure Plan, produced in consultation with Transport for Wales, Cardiff Bus and other operators, sets out a series of on-street interventions aimed at improving key bus corridors into Cardiff, to help bus services recover from the pandemic. A number of Bus Improvement schemes include: · Bus Priority Measures and Bus Stops in Station Terrace, Churchill Way and Bute Terrace area (2023-24) · Bus Priority Lane Canton Bridge (2023) · Bus Priority Measures and Bus Stops on Westgate Street and Wood St areas (2023) · Created a Bus Priority Strategy, passed through Cabinet and out to consultation (2024-25) · Applied to Welsh Government for funding via dedicated bus priority bid to the Local Transport Fund (2023-4) · Worked on design and feasibility for key routes, including Newport Road, North Road, Cowbridge Road East and A4119 (2021 to now) · Currently developing the Northern bus corridor through Whitchurch, Whitchurch Village, A469N, A469S, A470N and A470 S corridors WelTAG appraisal and design. · Currently commissioning an expansion of the Smart corridor work (as part of Northern bus corridor) for bus priority and bus journey time technology trials · Made improvements to Clare Road / Pendyris St (Tramshed) to address road safety issues and improve bus journey times in Grangetown. This aligns with Western bus corridor work. · We have also been working with TfW in respect of BRT which aligns with the EBC (Newport Road and A48) WelTAG and development work being carried out. e) The Welsh Government has also been proposing legislation for many years to enable a switch to a franchised model of bus service provision, recognising that the current deregulated model brought in by the Thatcher Government in 1985 has not served our local communities well. However, the Welsh Government has indicated the switch to a franchised model will not now start being rolled out across Wales until at least 2027 with this not reaching the wider Cardiff area until at least 2029. However Council officers continue to engage regularly with TfW feeding into the publication of the draft Bus Bill and Regulatory Impact Assessment. f) In its most recent budget the Welsh Government has committed £15 million in 2025-26 to fund a pilot scheme for young people aged 21 and under to pay only £1 for a single bus fare in Wales. g) Whilst measures to support more people traveling by active means are welcome and should continue to be promoted, it also needs to be recognised that bus and train services are a key part of a sustainable transport strategy for the Cardiff and the wider City Region. This council therefore: a) Recognise that the Council’s transport strategy takes account of the above points and its Bus Priority Plan for Cardiff seeks to meet the need for more bus service provision to be put in place to serve all of Cardiff’s communities. b) Calls on the Cabinet to write to the Welsh Government urging it to accelerate the planned roll-out of a franchised model of bus service provision to southeast Wales and to ensure that municipal bus companies are offered some form of security in the process of bidding for franchised contracts. The Amendment was seconded by Cllr De’Ath. The Lord Mayor invited debate on the Motion and Amendment. The Lord Mayor invited Cllr Waldron to respond to the issues raised during the debate. He confirmed that the Amendment was not accepted. The Amendment having not been accepted, the Lord Mayor moved to the vote on the Amendment as proposed by Cllr Hunt and seconded by Cllr De’Ath. FOR (45) Cllrs Abdul-Sattar, Saleh Ahmed, Ali, Anderson, Ash-Edwards, Boes, Bowen-Thomson, Bradbury, Bridgeman, Burke, Carr, Chowdhury, De’Ath, Derbyshire, Ebrahim, Elsmore, Ferguson-Thorne, Gunter, Hinchey, Humphreys, Hunt, Jenkins, Jackie Jones, Keith Jones, Kaaba, Lay, Lewis, Lister, Littlechild, Mackie, McGarry, Merry, Moultrie, Palmer, Parry, Proctor, Reid-Jones, Sangani, Simmons, Singh, Stubbs, Thomas, Thomson, Thorne and Weaver AGAINST (12) Cllrs Berman, Carter, Gibson, Hopkins, Livesy, McEvoy, Molik, Naughton, Shimmin, Taylor, Waldron and Wood ABSTAIN (8) Cllrs Brown-Reckless, Cowan, Davies, Driscoll, Lancaster, Melbourne, Robson and Williams The Amendment was CARRIED. The Lord Mayor moved to the vote on the Substantive Motion as amended by Cllr Hunt and seconded by Cllr De’Ath, which was CARRIED. FOR (44) Cllrs Abdul-Sattar, Saleh Ahmed, Ali, Anderson, Ash-Edwards, Boes, Bowen-Thomson, Bradbury, Bridgeman, Burke, Carr, De’Ath, Derbyshire, Elsmore, Ferguson-Thorne, Gunter, Hinchey, Humphreys, Hunt, Jenkins, Jackie Jones, Keith Jones, Kaaba, Lay, Lewis, Lister, Littlechild, Mackie, McGarry, Merry, Michael, Moultrie, Palmer, Parry, Proctor, Reid-Jones, Sangani, Simmons, Singh, Stubbs, Thomas, Thomson, Thorne and Weaver AGAINST (2) Cllrs Chowdhury and Ebrahim ABSTAIN (19) Cllrs Berman, Brown-Reckless, Carter, Cowan, Davies, Driscoll, Gibson, Hopkins, Lancaster, Livesy, McEvoy, Melbourne, Molik, Robson, Shimmin, Taylor, Waldron, Williams and Wood
There were 24 oral questions. 1. Cllr Hopkins to Cllr Merry, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Education What estimate has been made of the number of primary and secondary schools that will need to set a deficit budget in the next financial year? Reply – Cllr Merry Following confirmation of delegated school budgets and grant allocations, schools are currently developing governor-approved budgets with assistance from council officers. Current timelines state that having made every effort to achieve a balanced budget, if the governing body believes it needs to make an application to set a deficit budget to the council, then this must be done by Friday 2nd May. A full picture of the school governor-approved budgets will be available after Friday 16th May. Supplementary – Cllr Hopkins Thank you for that response. I’m sure, though, nevertheless, there are views being formed at this fairly early stage, still, given that schools will be discussing their position with LFMS officers. But in any event, as revealed in scrutiny, despite the uplift, the settlement for schools this year will essentially be a no growth budget, with the uplift swallowed up largely by pay settlements and National Insurance increases. The headteacher professional associations have recently written to councillors and officers to express significant concerns about the number of Cardiff schools reporting likely deficits by April 2026. The Additional Learning Needs element of the former is still frozen at the number of pupils identified by schools in 2022, and so doesn’t take sufficient account of changes in individual schools since that time. So, with schools dealing with mounting ALN pressures, can Cllr Merry give a reassurance that no school, either mainstream or special school, will be required to shed staff that would compromise the quality of education, especially that affecting our most vulnerable ALN learners, and more generally the wellbeing of all Cardiff’s pupils? Reply – Cllr Merry I can’t, of course, give a guarantee that no school may need to reduce staff, that’s never been a position that any local authority could have maintained. We have put an additional £23m into school budgets, and while accepting that is reflecting the increase in costs, there is no requirement for an efficiency from our schools within that calculation. Now, obviously the settlement for individual schools may vary. I believe it’s about 70% of the funding that is allocated by pupil numbers, and actually that will influence the final settlement for any school, as will grant payments that come direct from the Welsh government. Question 2 was withdrawn. 3. Cllr Littlechild to Cllr Mackie, Cabinet Member for Waste, Street Scene & Environmental Services Prior to the rollout of the new segregated waste system, what container options were considered, and how did you come up with the decision to use the current sacks? Reply – Cllr Mackie A full options appraisal was undertaken previously. The container options considered as part of the appraisal were reusable sacks in a range of sizes (90 litre sacks were used for the pilot scheme), a premium reusable sack, 55 litre rigid plastic boxes, kerbside caddies (which were 35 litres upwards) and Trolibocs, which are threeboxes on a stackable trolley. The appraisal looked at the benefits, costs and risks, including manual handling for loaders, associated with each option. This identified the 90 litre reusable sacks and a kerbside caddy as the best options. Supplementary – Cllr Littlechild Although officers work tirelessly to collect the waste and roll out the new, more physically demanding mixed recycling system, I’ve received a huge amount of complaints from ward members noticing the significant increase in waste, fly tipping in public bins, larger scale fly tipping in lanes and litter on pavements, roads and hedgerows, not to mention some of our main arterial roads. Will you commit to reviewing the containers used? Reply – Cllr Mackie I don’t know from our figures that we have a massive increase in fly tipping, we had before, we might do in your area but not everywhere. In fact, some areas have said how much better the new system is. As we said before, we’re having a different system of cleansing and supervision of what happens when these sacks are being used, and I think it’s fairly unlikely that we will be looking at using those sacks in the near future. Question 4 was withdrawn. 5. Cllr Jenkins to Cllr Weaver, Cabinet Member for Finance, Modernisation & Performance AI, in terms of resources, has proven to be very expensive, and corporations are now looking to offload the cost of their experiment in solving writing onto the individual users, regardless of whether they want it or not. Can the Cabinet Member tell me whether Cardiff Council has given Microsoft any additional money for the Copilot version of Office, or spent money on any AI subscriptions? Reply – Cllr Weaver For the council, Microsoft Copilot is included at no additional cost with Windows 11. This is currently being deployed across the organisation, so people will see it on their updated computers. No separate payments have been made to Microsoft for this functionality. The council does have a very limited number of Copilot premium licences for a series of pilots, which offer enhanced capabilities beyond the standard Copilot version. These paid licenses are not intended for a wider rollout. They are being used for specific roles in specific teams where we are piloting the potential use of AI, that’s why we pay these very limited number of licences. At present, the council does not subscribe to any paid AI services, although we are actively piloting a number of AI-enabled tools such as Magic Notes to support some of our key functions. Supplementary – Cllr Jenkins Can the Cabinet Member commit, then, that if an organisation like Microsoft did try to shoehorn in an additional amount of money, that the council would do a full cost-benefit analysis before agreeing to pay that, what I would call not productive, amount of money? Reply – Cllr Weaver The cost-effectiveness of any use of technology is a really important point and I’m glad you raised it. It is why we’re piloting certain schemes as well. We may well turn out not to be able to use that in an effective, cost-effective way, in which case we will no longer need those licences. If we do find that there is a cost-effective use for having certain things that relate to artificial intelligences, we may well pay licences, but we absolutely will make sure it is always a cost-effective decision. 6. Cllr Taylor to Cllr Merry, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Education What support is the council providing to growing schools to ensure their success from September? Reply – Cllr Merry The council provides sufficient places city-wide to meet statutory duties and does not favour growing schools over others. We have a responsibility for treating schools consistently. The council also meets the demand for school places through catchment schools, and always encourages parents to apply on time to their preferred schools through the admissions process. However, when a change occurs in a local area, and when there is a capital implication, additional support could be required to avoid negative impacts on the school. The council does support schools on a case-by-case basis by carefully planning any moves and capital projects, providing backfill to release leadership to plan, limited revenue transition funding where required, and also support through central services such as our finance, human resources and school organisation teams, as well as the Central South Consortium. Supplementary – Cllr Taylor I’m sure, like me, you’re excited to see children in Gabalfa and at the north end of Cathays settle into their new schools in September, with the reorganisation of primary schools in the area. My question is particularly about Ysgol Mynydd Bychan, which has finally been expanded to accommodate the demand in the area, but the school is doing that, understandably given the questions this evening, under very difficult circumstances. For the first time in many, many years, at least in the time I’ve been a governor for nine years, if not more, the school is having to attract new pupils to fill those additional spaces, and is doing so facing the first deficit it’s faced in over 15 years. I’m sure, like everybody, we all want to make a success of that reorganisation, and to ensure as well that we meet the ambitions behind that expansion of Mynydd Bychan, to ensure that more pupils and more young people can enjoy Welsh medium education. My question is, what more could be done to help schools in that position, and could you give reassurance that ongoing efforts to provide the school with all the support needed to ensure that September is a success for the school and for pupils, that that support will be provided? Reply – Cllr Merry I went out to visit Mynydd Bychan earlier this year and I spoke to the headteacher, and she was both excited and a little nervous about the move, as you can expect. With regard to the additional support funding to Mynydd Bychan and the Cathays Primary reorganisation, I can confirm that the formula runs on expected pupil numbers and expected costs of the school impacted by the Cathays Primary reorganisation, so support so far has included transitional funding to make it from one form entry to two form entry in Mynydd Bychan, and support to fund leadership backfill in each school. Financial support of around £100k has been confirmed, with further discussions to take place between education and finance officers to continue to discuss any potential cost implications of the reorganisation, and this will fund any appropriate additional costs. To facilitate the change there has been additional spend on the capital program for each site, and any in-year support will be made available where appropriate to facilitate implementing the reorganisation. And of course, I will expect my officers to provide all our schools with the appropriate support in the forthcoming academic year. 7. Cllr Driscoll to Cllr De’Ath, Cabinet Member for Climate, Strategic Planning & Transport The removal of the two hour free parking in Llandaff and in other wards across the city will have a negative impact on business. However, in Llandaff, it will also negatively impact patients needing to visit the surgery and the pharmacy. Do you think it is right that patients should pay to park when visiting the surgery or picking up a prescription at the pharmacy, and do you agree this discriminates against the elderly, the temporary infirm and temporary disabled people? Reply – Cllr De’Ath I don’t agree that these proposals discriminate against people, and we’ve obviously carried out an impact assessment before proposing them. As we’ve been through before quite a few times, these places aren’t free, there is a cost to the local authority, and at the moment we’re subsidising private car use, and I think asking people to pay 50p for an hour is a very, very modest charge. We do appreciate that people have legitimate concerns about this, we’re looking to see what additional free on-street parking we can put in near the surgery. But look, we’ve received a large number of responses to our TRO consultation from people who are ill, disabled, elderly or infirm, and we take them really seriously. I know people are quite cynical and think this is just a tick-box exercise, it’s not. We reflect very carefully on what those people have said, and that will inform our final decision. Supplementary – Cllr Driscoll 2,000 people have responded to the consultation, so it’s clearly an important subject. Now, I know you sometimes listen to residents, like Helen Gunter said last month about her residents who were asking for changes in the budget proposals. So, you know that businesses oppose these measures, residents in nearby streets oppose these measures, the surgery, the pharmacy and patients in Llandaff oppose these measures. Some of your councillors in Whitchurch, Canton and Riverside, I’m told, speaking privately, oppose these measures. So, when will you announce you are dropping these anti-business and anti-growth policies? Reply – Cllr De’Ath We’ve obviously received very strong representations from yourself, Cllr Jenkins, Cllr Elsmore colleagues in Whitchurch and others. But more importantly members of the public, as I said, have contacted us, and we’re listening really seriously to what they’ve said. Because these things are serious, I mean, our choices around 20mph we’ve made, there’s a gravity to their choices and we’ll certainly reflect. I’ll be engaging with officers and that will inform and be taken into consideration when we form our final proposals. 8. Cllr Littlechild to Cllr Goodway, Cabinet Member for Investment & Development With artwork belonging to Cardiff Council worth £42.4 million, what percentage is on public display, compared to archived or in storage? Reply – Cllr Thomas (on behalf of Cllr Goodway) Thank you, Cllr Littlechild, I know you’re a big fan of the arts, as is Cllr Goodway, so I can of course refer you to the answer he gave to your colleague, Cllr Reid-Jones, on this topic back in our January meeting. It’s good to see that the entire Independent Tory group are fans of the arts. The valuation of £42.379 million, I think it’s important to state, includes not only artwork but also historic artefacts displayed at Cardiff Castle and other civic regalia. One of the most valuable pieces in the collection is the chains of the Lord Mayor’s Consort, which are obviously not worn currently as we have a female Lord Mayor, but we can look forward to those being on display in the near future. Whilst most artwork remains on display, I would caveat that at the moment because much of it is in City Hall. City Hall is closed for refurbishment, as you’ll be aware, so that’s the main reason why at the moment, about 60% of artwork is in safe storage. Supplementary – Cllr Littlechild With the ongoing work in City Hall and the upcoming work to County Hall, would the council be willing to offer the artwork to museums and galleries to share out artwork and culture with other areas of Wales and the UK? Reply – Cllr Thomas I guess it would depend on how much they were willing to pay us for them, because they are valuable pieces of art, but I’m always open to that conversation. 9. Cllr Livesy to Cllr Mackie, Cabinet Member for Waste, Street Scene & Environmental Services Residents on our rural round for separated waste recycling collections have had regularly missed collections over the last few weeks and months, but they are being told the status is marked as collected when they call in or report it online, and then they have to wait or hope for the next week’s collection. It’s becoming so consistently missed that it’s causing deep anger in our villages. Is this problem in hand, and what are the actual reasons for mis-filing these collections as collected? Reply – Cllr Mackie I want to apologise for any inconvenience caused by the missed collections on our rural round. The implementation of segregated recycling has received access difficulties with our new fleet of vehicles, which we are currently seeking to address. To resolve this issue, we have acquired an additional smaller 12 tonne vehicle to service these properties. An issue was also detected with some of the new collection operatives closing incomplete jobs within our digital system. This issue has now been resolved, and missed collections are now being logged correctly. Missed collections cannot be recorded by residents during delay, and so residents are asked to check their updated collection calendar for the rescheduled collection date. We will continue to review all concerns raised and to improve our collection services to prevent any future disruption. Supplementary – Cllr Livesy The words that come up are lying and accountability, that’s coming up often. They just feel they’re being lied to, so I was going to go down that route, but is there anything that can be done regarding accountability for ticking those off as collected? Reply – Cllr Mackie As I’ve mentioned before, we’re putting more supervisors on, looking at what collection staff are doing, and that accountability issue is being addressed. 10. Cllr Jenkins to Cllr De’Ath, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Strategic Planning & Transport Can the Cabinet Member confirm the average cost to install a pedestrian crossing in Cardiff? Reply – Cllr De’Ath I need to really heavily caveat my answer as there’s no average cost, it can depend on a variety of factors, like the distance to the nearest electricity supply and the state of the environment, etc. However, it’s estimated that costs range between £50,000 for a basic zebra crossing to £130,000 for a basic puffin crossing. This excludes the costs of things such as ramps, resurfacing, drainage, service diversions, and associated design and project management fees. 11. Cllr Berman to Cllr Merry, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Education Can the Cabinet Member please update the council on its plans to review the city’s school funding formula, including with reference to the element of the formula covering provision for pupils with additional learning needs? Reply – Cllr Merry The school delegated formula in 25/26 included a number of changes to the formula, and we will seek to continue to refine the allocation method to schools in order to realign funding to reflect need and pressures across the school system. Any changes will continue to be undertaken in a consultative manner across the school system, and I’d quickly like to thank our school leaders, who play a crucial role on the Budget Forum and are central to those discussions. Within the recent iteration of the school delegated formula, the distribution of funding for ALN pupils within a mainstream setting has, in order to provide a fair funding formula for ALN, changed to a delegated budget that enables schools to plan and deliver support quickly and flexibly in response to learner needs. Following statistical analysis across all pupils in a mainstream setting as of January 2024, the formula has been amended to reflect deprivation links, with particular ALN needs and children known to Children’s Services and our ALN team. A formula was based on pupil weighting associated with characteristics and their links to ALN, as per the analysis. The change to the ALN mainstream funding is an interim measure, recognising the ALN review has not been fully completed and implemented, and will be refined on an ongoing basis. Supplementary – Cllr Berman Can I ask you to urgently look at this aspect of the funding formula, and also particularly to look at the formula as it’s being applied to Marlborough Primary School in my ward? I don’t know if it’s typical of other schools which have a reasonable number of ALN pupils and also has a Specialist Resource Base, but I just want to explain the situation they’re in. For the current financial year, they were running a licensed deficit of £93,000, and they were looking as though they were going to be finishing the year with a deficit of about £55,000 thanks to the hard work of the school staff in getting that down. But they’re absolutely dismayed at the indications of where the budget may be going for the coming year, and it looks as if (including the amount carried forward) their deficit is going to more than triple, up to about £287,000. And that’s despite the fact that they have only a very small number of surplus places. Something has gone quite wrong with the formula in their regard, and they’re quite distraught. It seems to be that it may be the element to do with ALN that’s causing the problem, I don’t know, but if you could please look at it, because we understand that there is a problem with schools getting into deficit situations where they have sizeable surpluses in terms of places, but this is not the case in Marlborough, and the staff just don’t know how on earth they’re expected to get out of this situation, when they’re doing everything to try and deal with it but the situation is getting financially worse year after year. Reply – Cllr Merry Obviously in the middle of the Council meeting I can’t actually give you an explanation for that, but if you could write to me, and I will make sure we will look at the way it plays out. As I said, the formula has been amended to reflect deprivation links and the needs of particular groups of pupils, btu obviously that can impact on other schools negatively. And that is exactly the kind of issue we want to unpick at Budget Forum, and as I said, this particular allocation is an interim measure while the ALN review is going on, but obviously there if is an issue we want to understand the causes behind it. 12. Cllr Davies to Cllr Merry, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Education Would the Cabinet Member outline her strategy to deal with school deficits? Reply – Cllr Merry I do need to remind you that the balancing of the budgets is down to the governing body and the senior leadership team, but following the release of delegated school budgets and confirmation of current grant allocations, school leaders and governors will be currently developing and appraising options on how to deliver their services in the next financial year. As a result, the budget position and any requests for deficits for the start of the next financial year have not yet been established. Council officers support schools with this process, but will also meet with schools to discuss their current financial position prior to the deficit application deadlines in order to gain fuller understanding and ensure any mitigations can take place in a timely manner. This will include ensuring the correct funding assumptions are made, but to also flag any early concerns to the council so we can prioritise further support. For those schools in deficit, local authority support will be intensified, with senior officers from both education and finance aiding schools on budget management, resource requirements and opportunities for schools to work to secure efficiencies. This support package will also include peer-to-peer support, with school leaders providing targeted support for schools causing financial concern. The school budget formula is also under review to enable improved prioritisation of funding, and it is the responsibility of school governing bodies and leadership teams to manage their budget. Supplementary – Cllr Davies Thank you for that answer, but I’m afraid when I asked a similar question at committee, I wasn’t convinced then and neither am I convinced now. Listening to that, it was a bit boilerplate, and this is actually what you said to Cllr Hopkins earlier, it was a bit standard. I mean, all the things you outlined there are things I should expect the council to be doing right now, and actually aren’t doing those things already. I remember asking a written question last year that found the number of schools in a financial deficit was 46, and now it’s up 12 in just six months. And that number is rising, and it’s rising fast, and you’ll be aware of correspondence from the National Association of Headteachers. These school deficits are symptoms of underfunding from three layers of Labour government, and headteachers are actually managing those deficits on your behalf. So, my question is, are you content to have dozens of schools in financial deficits, how many schools will be in deficit by this time next year, and who’s wrong: Labour or the unions, who’ve told you there’s going to be lots more? Reply – Cllr Merry Well, I would never say I was happy to see a school in deficit, would I, Cllr Davies, as I expect everyone in this room would feel? What I would say is, we did put an additional £23m into school budgets. That, I admit, reflects the growth in budgets, but there was no efficiency demand. And can I just say that if we had been drawing up that budget on the basis of the budget set by your Chancellor, we would have been facing an additional £40m that we would have had to find as a local authority. I’m not quite sure where you think that would have come from. But because of that additional funding, we didn’t demand a single efficiency from our schools. Now, that doesn’t mean that all schools feel well-funded. There are very well-established reasons for the pressures on our schools, and they are many: from falling numbers in some schools, pressure from additional learning needs, which we have actually discussed, but that is causing issues for us as a local authority as well, and demanding a vast increase in our budgets. So, I think the answer to you would be of course not, as you would expect me to say. In terms of the letter from the unions, I was very disappointed that they didn’t actually write to us first, I will be preparing a substantive response because I believe that they have made some fundamental misunderstandings, and I will be sharing that with Members. 13. Cllr Reid-Jones to Cllr Thorne, Cabinet Member for Housing & Communities Could the Cabinet Member please confirm that Cardiff Council adopts the whole system approach when supporting women and families fleeing domestic violence? Reply – Cllr Thorne Our commissioned services in Cardiff have been designed to offer a fully integrated service delivery model. This means that women and families fleeing domestic violence have access to all the support they need, when they need it, and without having to be referred to alternative services. This ensures that those in need can access a wide range of interventions, including refuge, advocacy support, aftercare, and recovery services, all within a trauma-informed framework. This whole system approach is essential for offering continuous and holistic support without the need for individuals to transfer between different services. The Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) also ensures a coordinated approach, with multiple agencies working together to support high-risk victims of domestic abuse. While your question focuses on women, there are also refuge and community support services available for men experiencing domestic abuse. All our partners delivering these services are experts in their fields, and as a city we will continue to take a coordinated community approach to reduce all forms of violence against women, now and in the future. 14. Cllr Livesy to Cllr Mackie, Cabinet Member for Waste, Street Scene & Environmental Services Since my written question on our category C and D coal tips in Gwaelod y Garth, the Welsh government has announced that £110,000 of the £34 million Coal Tip Safety Grant scheme has been allocated to Cardiff’s tips, for addressing their safety. Please can you confirm what the £110,000 will cover? Reply – Cllr Mackie The council submitted an application for Welsh government funding in the current financial year for the management of coal tips in Cardiff. This funding was to cover both revenue and capital costs of coal tip management. Of the £110,000 in grant funding awarded to Cardiff in 2024-25, I can confirm that £50,000 was allocated for capital works to the Lan Colliery Category D coal tip and will be utilised for further ecological surveys; a woodland management strategy; and a high level investigation into the ecological and environmental benefit of coal tips, utilising Lan Colliery as a study case. In addition, £60,000 was allocated for staff and related costs of coal tip management across the city. As advised in my reply to one of your written questions, the proposed intrusive ground investigation works at the Lan Colliery coal tip did not take place due to the number of protected species on the coal tip. Therefore, some of the funding has had to be returned to the Welsh government. In total, £19,500 was used for ecological surveys at the Lan Colliery coal tip and £40,500 covered staff costs for general coal tip management across the city. 15. Cllr Humphreys to Cllr Burke, Cabinet Member for Culture, Sport & Parks We are a UNICEF Child Friendly City. When children’s play areas are upgraded, can consideration be given to including disabled-friendly equipment, and can consideration also be given to identifying any 106 funds for new developments of the same? Reply – Cllr Burke When developing playground designs, including site refurbishments and the replacement of individual playground assets, consideration is given to the installation of equipment compliant with equality legislation for the provision for inclusive play. Consultation with local stakeholders is conducted to understand their preferences and needs, which informs the site design and selection of equipment. In addition, manufacturers’ research into inclusive equipment is considered to ensure optimal opportunities are provided. The use of Section 106 monies is the first funding consideration when reviewing the replacement or upgrading of playground assets, prior to reviewing any other funding options, which may include capital funding allocations. 16. Cllr McEvoy to Cllr Thomas, Leader of the Council Could the Leader of the Council give an update on city centre management? Reply – Cllr Thomas We certainly, as a council, recognise the challenges that city centres and town centres across the UK have faced post-Covid, and so we have put in place targeted support in through our City Centre Management Team, who do an excellent job helping ensure visitors into Cardiff and residents are supported in their experience of the city centre. For example, through our City Centre Management Team we’ve got a team of wardens in place, delivering a range of services from basic signposting through to supporting the police in tackling antisocial behaviour. The warden patrols have received numerous compliments by members of the public and businesses, which I’ve passed on to the council, and I’m delighted that, with support from the Home Office and the Police & Crime Commissioner’s office, we’ve been able to extend those patrols into the evening with that fresh funding. In addition, you would be aware from the budget that this council passed earlier this month that we are now putting additional resources into supporting a cleaner city centre, investing in further cleansing and waste arrangements in the next financial year, which will also include targeting challenging areas in and around the city centre. Alongside that, you have FOR Cardiff, who also undertake additional cleansing and street washing to help clean up graffiti and chewing gum within the Business Improvement District. So, a number of initiatives, I could mention others, that seek to support residents and visitors to the city centre, and as I was saying to Cllr Robson earlier, what we are seeing then is good returns of footfall compared to other cities in the UK, and likewise, impressive spend figures compared to other parts of the UK. Supplementary – Cllr McEvoy Thanks for the comprehensive answer. In terms of the supplementary I’m not sure where to start, I mean do I start with asking about jet washing on Queen Street? Do I ask about the aggressive begging, which is effective robbery in some cases? Do I ask about the open drug dealing? I’ll tell you what I’ll do, Lord Mayor, the flags. City centre management, why on earth, on St David’s Day, did we not have flags up? Come on, it’s one of the best things I ever did. St Mary’s Street, the High Street, the Welsh flag, that was me, that was my idea. I got them up there, come on. Next St David’s Day, will you make sure the flags are up please? Reply – Cllr Thomas Let’s all recognise that the city centre is a busy environment, it’s the economic hub of the whole country, of course there are going to be challenging behaviours there as there are in any city. But if you look at what the wardens are doing in tandem with the police, they’re getting to grips with the kind of behaviour you’re describing. A number of antisocial behaviours issued already this year, 47 mechanically propelled vehicles seized last year, these are scooters and bikes and whatnot. I’ll give you all a fact, whenever we put on Facebook that we’re doing those patrols on Queen Street, that is both our most liked and most not-liked comment, because cyclists think we shouldn’t be penalising cyclists, and lots of people think that we should be penalising cyclists. You’re not allowed to cycle on Queen Street, there’s a perfectly good segregated cycle lane you should use instead. But it just shows an example of the kind of intervention that these guys carry out. For all the challenges that exist in a city centre like ours, the data is really clear that the city centre is flourishing. 96% vacancy rate in St David’s Centre, the Morgan Quarter, 98.5% occupancy rate. These are really impressive figures that speak to a really successful city centre. On flags and St David’s Day, t’s a real shame you couldn’t join us for the civic service at St John’s Church, it was a wonderful occasion. I may have said this to you before but you really ought to come to that, it’s a celebration of what St David’s Day and St David were really about. I passed the castle later that day, it was plastered in Welsh flags. St Mary’s, I’m interested that that was one of the best things you did, it was certainly a good thing that you did, and we will seek to put them back there for next year, rest assured. 17. Cllr Shimmin to Cllr Merry, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Education Acknowledging the higher staff to student ratios essential for the educational and safety needs of ALN students, and considering that most school absences are short term, one to three days, why does the local authority mandate a six-day waiting period for cover funding in ALN schools? This contrasts sharply with the Special Resource Bases within mainstream schools, which receive cover funding from day one. Can the Cabinet Member explain this disparity in support? Reply – Cllr Merry The requirement of maintaining staffing ratios in specialist placements necessitates the Mutual Supply Fund to operate differently for special schools and Specialist Resource Bases compared to mainstream settings. Following a reduction of Mutual Supply Fund sickness cover from 11 days to 6 days for special schools in the last financial year, this will be maintained for another year and, in conjunction with special school headteachers, is reviewed annually to understand cost and service implications. SRBs are allocated one-day cover, and this differs to special schools as there is less staffing compared to special schools, and therefore the scope to maintain adequate staffing ratios is significantly reduced in an SRB compared to a special school. This is reflected in sickness coverage of the Mutual Supply Fund between the two settings. Supplementary – Cllr Shimmin So, basically, you’re saying that the cover in ALN schools is not as important as in SRBs. That is how your answer came across, Cllr Merry, I’m just saying, that is what it came across as. But you didn’t answer why there is this disparity between the two of them, where they are offering the same ratios in class. Yes, a school will have more staff because it’s not just one class, as an SRB is, so why is there this disparity when they’re doing just as important work as each other? Reply – Cllr Merry There’s no sense in that answer that I am weighing one provision up as more important than the other, and in a way you’ve actually answered it within your own question. The difference is because SRBs are smaller and therefore they have fewer staff, therefore if staffers are off then their need is more pressing. But also, I need to remind you that this is a Mutual Supply Fund, so if there are alterations in the provision, there will be costs upon that fund as well. I spoke to Cllr Hunt previously who raised this issue, and I’m more than happy to give a substantive answer to him and to look into it further. 18. Cllr Brown-Reckless to Cllr Mackie, Cabinet Member for Waste, Street Scene & Environmental Services I think the new recycling bags are not fit for purpose as they are not weatherproof against wind and rain, and the rats and seagulls can get into them, and the bags become filthy. Would you agree with giving residents the option of at least being able to buy approved hard caddies or wheelie bins from the council, in red or blue so they’re colour-coded for recycling, giving residents an alternative to the recycling bags? Reply – Cllr Mackie A comprehensive options appraisal has been carried out, as I mentioned earlier, which considered the use of caddies, boxes and reusable sacks. This exercise assessed the benefits, costs, and risks, including manual handling by loaders, before identifying the 90-litre reusable sacks and kerbside caddies for glass as the best options. The use of large caddies and boxes were dismissed as options due to their limited capacity, storage space requirements, and related manual handling concerns. Hence they are not widely used across Wales by other local authorities either for dry mixed recycling. Reusable sacks are effective if residents use them correctly and ensure that food waste is not included to prevent contamination and the attraction of pests. Supplementary – Cllr Brown-Reckless Your answer is not in line with the feedback I’m receiving directly from residents, and whilst you say you carried out a consultation, I’m receiving widespread feedback that these bags just aren’t working for people, and many people prefer to have a hard caddy. Would the Cabinet Member not agree with giving people choice, so that those who prefer the bags and find them easier to store have that option, but those who prefer hard caddies also would have that option? I’ve put it in cost-neutral terms, and so it’s really a question of choice that I’m putting to the Cabinet Member. Reply – Cllr Mackie As I said in my answer, we looked at the options and we are going with what is the safest and best option, and in the main we are getting quite positive feedback. There are people who are still getting used to it, and when they do, they generally like it. Like I said, without putting food into those caddies, they don’t get contaminated and you don’t get pests. So, I think it may be that we need a little extra bit of education so people get that, but in the main I think it’s very unlikely we’re going to change it. 19. Cllr Lewis to Cllr Sangani, Cabinet Member for Adult Services, Public Health & Equality It was good to read about the “Are you PrEPped?” campaign. Can the Cabinet Member outline what other measures the council is taking in support of our Fast Track City ambitions? Reply – Cllr Sangani Cardiff Council is proactively a partner of Fast Track Cardiff and Vale, which is working towards zero new HIV infections by 2030, eliminating stigmas and improving the quality of life of people living with HIV. Regular STI testing is key to achieving zero new infections, and removing barriers to testing is vital. Our hubs act as collection points for STI tests. This initiative supports those who prefer not to visit healthcare settings, lack digital access, or have no fixed address. Free condoms are also available. The council is fully involved in all Fast Track campaigns including HIV Testing Week, which promotes the benefits of regular testing, Stop HIV Stigma, which challenges prejudice and misinformation and ‘Are you PrEPped?’, which raises awareness of medication that can prevent HIV transmissions. In addition, Living With It is a community peer support group established by Cardiff Council that helps people living with HIV deal with stigma and self-stigma. 20. Cllr Carter to Cllr Burke, Cabinet Member for Culture, Sport & Parks What is the council doing to complete the adoption of Wyncliffe Gardens playground in Pentwyn, so that it can be restored for the enjoyment of local families? Reply – Cllr Burke I am aware of the poor condition of the play area and I completely empathise with the strong feeling of the local community. I believe that officers reached out to you last week or so. The council is working with Persimmon Homes to take ownership of the open space, however we cannot complete the process until we are satisfied with the matters of condition. We’ve informed Persimmon that it will need to undertake repairs to the play area, and the council will also need to be paid an adequate commuted sum for the ongoing maintenance. A detailed breakdown setting out the financial requirements has been provided to them. I’m hopeful that officers will keep you updated on the progress. Supplementary – Cllr Carter Officers have been very helpful at keeping us updated, but there is a sense of powerlessness from residents living there, and indeed from us as councillors, and after almost 20 years since these houses were built, it does seem incredible that this playground cannot be adopted. My question is, is this sort of thing normal across the city, for another major builder to just leave stuff unadopted for decades, or is this an isolated issue in my ward? Reply – Cllr Burke To answer the first part of your question, it’s not that the council isn’t, it’s in the process of going through the adoption. Part of the reason why, I guess, this is a longer process than you might have anticipated, is that the council had to make sure that it doesn’t inherit any liabilities, and significant financial pressures are ongoing. In terms of whether or not this is an isolated issue, I’ll be honest, this is the first instance I’ve had in my time as Cabinet Member where this has come across my portfolio. However, anecdotally, I’m aware that these types of issues have occurred across the UK. I’m not sure, I don’t have figures to hand about how often that would happen, but it certainly seems that it’s not, unfortunately, isolated to you, but I wouldn’t be able to speak to other cases that have happened. 21. Cllr Lancaster to Cllr Burke, Cabinet Member for Culture, Sport & Parks Could you please outline the process by which Blackweir Fields were chosen as the site for the series of concerts to be hosted by Depot this summer? Reply – Cllr Burke Blackweir Fields is an existing event site that has been established for a number of years. In the first instance, Depot Live approached the council to book the site for the proposed concerts through the usual booking system. All relevant policy and legislation related to the delivery of this concert series and to deliver it safely and responsibly are being thoroughly considered and adhered to. Supplementary – Cllr Lancaster I’ve been contacted by a number of residents concerned over this. There’s been no consultation with residents, nor with the Friends of Bute Park nor the cricket club. The first they knew of this was when tickets were issued for sale. Further ecological concerns included the felling of 33 seemingly healthy trees, funded by the promoter, for the sole purpose of facilitating these gigs. These frustrations are magnified due to there being perfectly good sites for gigs elsewhere. Will you commit to meeting residents and Friends groups to further understand their concerns and work with them? Reply – Cllr Burke I am engaged with a number of groups, and Friends of Bute Park have been engaged throughout the process, meeting with officers on a regular basis. There are other meetings ongoing in terms of other stakeholders such as Cricket Wales that are coming up in the coming weeks, and officers have been trying to engage with various different sports clubs but haven’t been successful, there are ongoing conversations. I appreciate that there are a vocal minority who are frustrated about the concerts going ahead. The balance for us as a local authority is that we are an events city, we don’t at the moment have a medium-sized venue. You’ve either got the Principality Stadium, which is incredibly significant in terms of its capacity, but the next location you would be looking at is the Utilita, and until we have the delivery of the Live Arena behind us we’ve got nowhere to sort of bridge that gap. We have a reputation for being a city that delivers live events very successfully, and people are coming to us, I think that’s a tremendous benefit. If people are put out, I would say that it is minimal disruption for the scale of the event, but also on balance, we are a major capital city in Europe. If you want to live in an un-disrupted utopia, that’s not going to happen in a capital city, and there has to be a balance between attracting major events, building a thriving economy and with the needs of residents. The money that’s coming in for the Blackweir Live event is being reinvested into our grassroots music venues, into our Cardiff music event program, and into parks as well. And obviously, we talk about it a lot in these sessions, I don’t think anyone is in a position to turn down the money, that is a hard-faced financial decision, but we’re balancing that with being able to reinvest it into the services that we deliver. 22. Cllr Proctor to Cllr Mackie, Cabinet Member for Waste, Street Scene & Environmental Services Can you please let me know the council prioritises road resurfacing? Reply – Cllr Mackie Schemes are prioritised based on an evaluation of condition, use and need, with information coming from network surveys both machine-based & visual, site inspections, safety inspector feedback and requests and complaints from councillors and road users. The data is collated and reviewed to form a draft priority list, and checks are then made by engineers at each location to determine the area that should be considered for treatment. The priority list is then finalised and apportioned, with consideration given to the budget available and each treatment programme. Supplementary – Cllr Proctor Station Road in Llanishen is in a state of disrepair, and it’s not helped by the large trucks and vehicles that use it on a daily basis. I get complaints about it all the time, so just wondered if it could be inspected and considered for resurfacing? Reply – Cllr Mackie I would imagine it has been inspected, but I can look to see what’s been said about it and where it is on the list. I’ll look into it and get back to you. 23. Cllr Jackie Jones to Cllr Mackie, Cabinet Member for Waste, Street Scene & Environmental Services Potholes, aren’t they the bane of our lives? They definitely are, they cause quite serious accidents, especially for cyclists, about 15% of accidents are attributed to potholes and some of them are really serious. They are also attributed to many costly repairs to cars, vans, lorries and buses of course. The Welsh government and the UK government have provided over £25m to repairing roads and potholes across Wales. I’d just like to ask you what we’re doing in Cardiff Council to utilise some of this money? Reply – Cllr Mackie I very much welcome the additional government funding. As I have set out in my council statement, the council’s 2025/26 budget agreed on 6th March assumed an initial £5.046m of capital funding for road resurfacing priorities in this year as part of the Highways Management Grant Local Government Borrowing Initiative. This will be increased as appropriate depending on the final quantum allocated in 2025/26 and 2026/27, when final confirmation is received from the Welsh government. The council’s own capital funding allocation for its annual programme of highways improvements continues to be retained, and subject to priorities based on highway condition inspections, as I was just saying, and delivery of the works, can be drawn down earlier from the indicative £6.7m allocation in our capital programme for carriageway investment through 2026/27 if required. Our annual highways works programme is based on various considerations, such as asset condition and related prioritisation, and these will be aligned to the available budgets. 24. Cllr Jackie Jones to Cllr Bradbury, Cabinet Member for Childrens Services, Tackling Poverty & Supporting Young People Youth services are a vital part of what we do as a council. Recently, Whitchurch youth services have started services on a Monday night. Would you agree that, despite having the lowest rate of council tax in Wales, Cardiff Council is stepping up to help young people and providing a positive future for them? Reply – Cllr Bradbury Yes, I would agree with you in what you’re saying about the youth service and about being a low council tax city. In support of Cardiff’s status as a Child Friendly City, the council is committed to securing the best possible outcomes for all young people. Following a recent restructure of the Youth Service, youth workers have engaged with young people and wider community stakeholders to identify opportunities to extend and develop youth provision in communities across Cardiff. Alongside the excellent development you referred to in Whitchurch, we have also extended provision to the communities of Caerau, Radyr and Trowbridge, as well as through the medium of Welsh. In addition, we are further developing our street-based youth work offer to ensure that we can support communities and promote activities. We will continue to work with young people and the wider community to extend our reach and develop creative and innovative provision right across the city that meets the needs of young people throughout Cardiff. Supplementary – Cllr Jackie Jones Would you agree with me that it would be a fantastic opportunity for the provision of youth services and the nights that they are open to provide information on rights across the city, for example on CEDAW, for example on UNICEF, and all of the things that we want to do as a Labour government here in Cardiff? Reply – Cllr Bradbury Yeah, I totally agree with that, shockingly enough. I think it is important that youth services aren’t looked at in isolation, but that they also are looked at with all the other stuff like the Cardiff Commitment, when you look at the UNICEF child friendly city stuff, and the stuff you referred to in your supplementary question. I think one of the key things for me as well is to extend provision in areas where we need it. The priority for me is working with schools on a 21st century schools provision to ensure that we’re mixing in there, and also that we’re working with the Cardiff Commitment team and other teams to ensure we’re providing a fantastic offer, not just from the youth service but a young person’s offer all the way from zero, all the way up to eighteen. I’m working with Cabinet colleagues: Cllr Merry, Cllr Lister and Cllr Burke, in order to do that right across portfolios, and I thank you for your question, it was a good one.
Part of an issue followed across 11 meetings
There was no urgent business.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: Council AGREED: a. To approve the amendment of the Members’ Schedule of Remuneration 2024 – 2025 with effect from 1st March 2025 as attached at Appendix A; b. To authorise the Monitoring Officer to update the Members’ Schedule of Remuneration in the Constitution.
Council was asked to approve amendments to the Members’ Schedule of Remuneration 2024-2025 following additional advice received from the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales (IRPW) relating to payments to the Leaders of Opposition groups. RESOLVED: Council AGREED: a. To approve the amendment of the Members’ Schedule of Remuneration 2024 – 2025 with effect from 1st March 2025 as attached at Appendix A; b. To authorise the Monitoring Officer to update the Members’ Schedule of Remuneration in the Constitution.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: Council AGREED: 1. Receive a nomination and appoint to the vacancy on the Committee, in accordance with the Party Group wishes, as set out in Table A in the report.
The Council was requested to receive nominations and make appointments to current committee vacancies, as set out in the report and in accordance with the approved allocation of seats and political group wishes. RESOLVED: Council AGREED: 1. Receive a nomination and appoint to the vacancy on the Committee, in accordance with the Party Group wishes, as set out in Table A in the report.
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.
In accordance with Council procedure Rule 17 (f) the Written Questions received for consideration and their responses are attached to the minutes.
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.
Declarations are read from the minutes once they are published.
Lists the council's current councillors only. Co-opted members, officers and former councillors aren't shown.