Wrthi'n llwytho
Y penderfyniadau fel y mae cofnodion y cyngor yn eu cofnodi. Bydd crynodeb mewn iaith glir yn dilyn pan fydd wedi'i ysgrifennu.
RESOLVED that: 6.1 An application be made for the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (DERS) at Silver Award Level. 6.2 Work be progressed towards the implementation of the Guaranteed Interview Scheme.
RESOLVED to note that the Plaid Cymru Group has nominated Councillor Llinos Davies to replace Councillor Hefin Jones on the Corporate Parenting and Safeguarding Panel.
There were no apologies for absence.
There were no declarations of personal interests.
UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on the 27 March, 2023 be signed as a correct record.
The Chair advised that no questions on notice had been submitted by members.
The Chair advised that four public questions had been received.
The Chair informed the Cabinet that the questioner, Mr Conor MacDonald was unable to attend the meeting to ask his question. Accordingly, the Leader of the Council read the question on his behalf, as follows: “In its manifesto, the incumbent party committed to the principle of 20-minute neighbourhoods and promoting active travel. The manifesto specifically cites that “[Local Authorities] Creating incentives to encourage the take-up of e-bikes and encourage the use of bike hire schemes, and [to] explore the potential for e-cargo bikes to replace vans and cut HGV traffic” is important for this. (Plaid Cymru 2022; Local Government Manifesto; pg. 24) Since being elected in 2022, how has the council furthered the aims of these commitments, particularly the one regarding e- bikes and bike hire schemes?” Response by Councillor. Darren Price, Leader of the Council:- “The text that is quoted in the question refers to the national manifesto that Plaid Cymru published prior to the Local Government elections last year. Clearly members and members of the public will be aware that, in Carmarthenshire Plaid Cymru developed its own local manifesto and that was the basis in which we engaged with residents prior to the election last year, so whilst there are some elements of the national manifesto which have been copied to the local manifesto, not all of the text has been, and this is one such example. Having said that, clearly as a Cabinet we set out our ambitions in terms of active travel across the county within our Cabinet vision statement last July, and there is clear reference to the need to develop this area within the corporate strategy and within the business plans that have been agreed by Council and which are in the process of being developed as we speak. Therefore, just to provide some context in terms of what we are doing in terms of this agenda: · We have provided supporting infrastructure for Actif’s e-bike hire schemes currently being delivered by the Council’s Sports Development Team. The Actif Leisure colleagues are piloting the first ‘live’ hiring facility through the Actif app at Llandovery Leisure Centre during the eisteddfod week. If it runs well, it will be rolled out at Ammanford Carmarthen and Llanelli Leisure Centre sites. All sites now have charging stations and bikes, and we assisted by installing secure cycle storage at the four sites. · We are also providing free of charge e-bike charging at eight locations across the county which will be further promoted in the following financial year once all signage is installed. This number is continuing to expand. Current locations include Pembrey Country Park, The Beacon, The Eastgate, Amman Valley Leisure Centre, Carmarthen Leisure Centre, Llandovery Leisure Centre, St Catherine's Walk, Y Caban in Pendine, and soon to be introducing a further location at Cwmamman Cycle Hub in Garnant. · We have purchased twelve e-cargo bikes and are trialling their use through the Llanelli BID - we have been engaging with Town Centre groups and Regeneration colleagues in order to expand this roll out in 2023/24. · As part of the Council’s commitment to promote active travel, bike hire stations have been installed at Carmarthen Bus Station, Burry Port interchange, and Llanelli Railway Station. People are able to reserve a bike online or by text and collect it from a dock from as little as £3.50 a day. The bikes, which are managed by Brompton Bike Hire, are foldable and can be taken on public transport. They currently house standard folding Brompton bikes but will be upgraded to house EBromptons in the future. · Bike hire for community use will soon be available at leisure centres throughout the county, along with bike parking bays and electric bike charging points. · We have also, as members will be aware, made progress in terms of the Tywi Llandeilo cycle path and we look forward to that opening in a few years’ time. We have similarly made bids for grant funding to both Welsh Government and UK Government in terms of further progressing the active travel agenda across the county. Members will be aware, of course, that we submitted a bid for an active travel between the Pentre Awel scheme and Llanelli town centre under the Levelling up round last summer. It was disappointing of course that that bid wasn’t supported by the UK Conservative Government. It was disappointing on a number of fronts of course, we had invested heavily as a Council, a lot of officer time had gone into that bid, and we were confident that the bid stacked up in terms of its objectives and financially; but of course we later found out that actually we had no hope of succeeding in that second round because of the fact that we had succeeded in the first round of levelling up funding with the Carmarthen HWB. So it was very disappointing as a Council that we found that out after the event, but of course we weren’t alone in that and there were a number of Local Authorities across Wales and the rest of the UK who found themselves in similar positions and I understand that legal challenge may be underway on that basis. So we are doing a lot of work on this agenda. Clearly we can do more. One of the funding avenues open to us over the last few years was EU funding. Clearly as a result of us leaving the EU, there was a commitment given by the UK Conservative Government that Wales would not lose a penny of funding in terms of structural funds; clearly that hasn’t come to pass. The latest estimates independently verified is that Wales is going to lose £1bn of investment during the course of this structural fund round. And when we speak of these sums, sometimes they can seem remote and distanced. But in Carmarthenshire’s context, generally we tend to receive about 6% of any all-Wales funding so when you think of £1bn that is missing from the coffers, in Carmarthenshire that would have given us £60m extra had the UK Conservative government stuck to their promise and ensured parity as a continuation of the funding. £60m would go a very long way in Carmarthenshire to deliver improvements in terms of active travel and a whole host of other regeneration projects, but that’s where we are. I hope that provides some context as to where we are on this agenda”.
“News that our last bank (Barclays) is to close in Llandeilo in June is a blow for local access to services, but as the fourth to close in recent years, this will also have significant impact on the character of the town. The former HSBC and Lloyds bank buildings, which closed respectively in 2014 and 2018, remain vacant and in a state of decline, despite at least one being listed for its historic and architectural significance. What is the Council doing to protect and enhance Llandeilo's historic high street - and how can residents get involved?” Response by Councillor. Ann Davies, Cabinet Member for Rural Affairs and Planning Policy:- “I’m going to apologise at the beginning for this long and comprehensive answer but I feel that I need to note some of the investments which have benefited Llandeilo since we’ve led the Council which was in 2015. With regards to the banks, 3 of the 4 high street banks have closed: HSBC was sold and bought by a developer; it has planning permission granted for conversion to a wine bar, but no work has been completed for 3 years. Lloyds Bank and Nat West have been bought by the owner of the Cawdors and I’m sure we’ll see plans coming forward in due course, bearing in mind how well run the Cawdors is, I have no concerns about these buildings. But can I concentrate on what the Plaid-led coalition has provided for Llandeilo as we cannot change any commercial decisions by Barclays, even though they returned a £5 billion profit last year. It is unfortunate that these multi-national banks are closing branches across the UK and have been for a number of years. It’s also disappointing that the UK Conservative Government are not taking action to try and prevent the closure of these branches in the first place. I believe that local branches have a key role in terms of supporting our rural communities, yet the UK Conservative Government have done nothing, or next to nothing in the past 10 years to prevent this situation from developing. There is a clear need for more regulation of the banking sector and for greater protection of rural branches, but the UK Conservative Government seem more intent on supporting their friends in the city, than in supporting rural communities such as Llandeilo. Llandeilo is one of our 10 market towns and has had a significant injection of funds through regeneration over the past few years. As you know this administration has just completed the refurbishment of the Grade II listed Llandeilo Market Hall which will create and accommodate 45 jobs and up to 17 SMEs in the heart of the town centre. This investment of just over £4.1m will act as a catalyst for further regeneration in the town. And over £2.4 m has been Council contribution and the remainder from Welsh Government. Llandeilo has also had a conservation Area Appraisal over the past year. This has produced ideas and opportunities for its improvement as an historic town centre. The recent appraisal puts historic and architectural heritage at its heart and will need to be considered by any regeneration projects proposed for the area. This will be placed on the website as soon as it is approved by Cabinet and it’s working its way through the democratic process, which has been through scrutiny and will come to Cabinet very shortly. Following on from this work on Conservation Areas the Built Heritage Team has applied to the Sustainable Communities Shared Prosperity Fund to directly support the regeneration of the historic town centres in 7 of the rural towns across Carmarthenshire, and Llandeilo is one of those 7 selected. The project, if successfully funded, will deliver training and education activities to local residents in energy efficiency and appropriate care for old buildings and offer a small 3rd party grant programme to renovate and repair historic commercial buildings. Carmarthenshire County Council is unique in the whole of Wales, and possibly the whole of the UK in having a historic buildings information and training centre in Llandilo, and that is of course the Tywi Centre and this is within the Council’s jurisdiction. Based in Llandeilo, the Built Heritage Team at the Tywi Centre in Dinefwr Home Farm, is available for free pre-Listed Building application advice and information on appropriate repair and maintenance of all traditional buildings, as well as providing an extensive programme of training. As I mentioned at the beginning, apologies for the long reply, but the work that this Plaid led administration has accomplished in Llandeilo has been immense. It’s also worth noting that the 10 towns initiative is bringing a pump track into the town for leisure use. And I’m looking at Edward here hoping that he will be the first on the bike around the pump track! This will probably be used by the younger residents of Llandeilo, but in preparing this initiative, it provides activities, shopping and leisure for all, resulting in a vibrant economy which benefits residents and tourists alike”. Supplementary question by Ms Tara-Jane Sutcliffe:- “Conservation area appraisal. I know that in one of the sub committees before Easter it was mentioned that the conservation area in Llandeilo is set to be split into two, one area to cover the town and one area to cover Dinefwr - which I understand is based on expert recommendations provided by Donald Insall Associations. Are you in a position to say anything further on intentions to accept those recommendations and further can you commit to protecting conservation areas in Llandeilo? You mentioned that the process was ongoing so is it perhaps a little early to say at this point though? Thank you”. Response by Councillor. Ann Davies, Cabinet Member for Rural Affairs and Planning Policy to the supplementary question:- “The recommendation is for the two different areas to be split and its quite simply because the two areas are very different. The town is a market town – it has heritage of its own - but of course the Dinefwr Park is a very different building, a different area, much more rural and that is the reason for splitting the two areas. As I said, it’s going through the democratic process, it’s gone through Scrutiny and will come back to Cabinet in due course and the decision will then be made by Cabinet. Diolch”.
“Will Carmarthenshire County Council support a campaign for a Dyffryn Towy AONB; The suggested boundaries of this would be based on the area identified as “Outstanding Landscape” on Natural Resources Wales’ LANDMAP assessment.” Response by Councillor. Ann Davies, Cabinet Member for Rural Affairs and Planning Policy:- “Thank you for your question. As you know the designation of an Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) falls within the remit of NRW and Welsh Government Ministers, and although Carmarthenshire will have a consultation role, we are not the decision makers. Also, may I remind you Havard that a National Park or Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty does not stop pylons from being built on these sites, such as Eryri and Bannau Brycheiniog, and also an SLA didn’t stop Wind Turbines being built on the top of Mynydd y Betws. The Cambrian Mountains AONB group have been working on their application for around 2 years and asked from the Council’s support as the northern end of the County falls within the area. They have submitted their application and have been told by Welsh ministers that the application will not be assessed until 2025/26 at the earliest, and then only if it went into the new Government’s forward works programme. Therefore, they have been working on this since 2021 and may have a response by 2026. Bearing in mind that Bute and Green Gen hope to submit a DNS application by 2024 – the timescale is not on our side in this matter, and as you know a DNS application is again decided by Welsh Government and not this County Council. Going back to the question of AONB, before submitting a response to the Cambrian Mountains, I consulted with all three Community Councils which fall within the boundary of this application. All three Community Councils came back with a negative response. One of which is within the Usk/Tywi Valley route. Their main concerns were planning applications, as it is perceived that obtaining planning for a second Rural Enterprise Home or for additional sheds for lambing and calving would be much more difficult in an area designated as an AONB. The FUW and NFU Cymru are against additional AONBs, as are National Parks for this reason. Can I assure you Havard, that I am determined to do all that I can to protect our special landscapes across the county whilst also ensuring that local farms and enterprises are able to develop and support jobs within our rural areas and to provide a vibrant economy for all our residents. Therefore, before making a definitive decision on this matter, I feel that it is vitally important that consultation takes place with affected residents and businesses. It is vital that anybody proposing an AONB in the Tywi Valley consults with those who live in the area, those who run businesses in the area, elected representatives of the local community councils, elected representatives of this County Council, and organisations such as the farming unions and other interested parties. Diolch”. Supplementary question by Mr Havard Hughes:- “At the last meeting you mentioned that the special landscape areas will be replaced by guidance on how Carmarthenshire County Council will, in future, assess its landscape areas. This will provide a presentation on the consultation and advice based on the LDP. This has left uncertainty and concern amongst residents. When will this be published? And what are you going to do with it following the consultation? Response by Councillor. Ann Davies, Cabinet Member for Rural Affairs and Planning Policy to the supplementary question:- “Thank you for your question Havard. I just want to make a quick note before I answer your second question, and I note in your press release immediately after your last visit here to the Chamber, that you made reference that the “SLA designation saved the Abergwili stretch from having pylons and resulted in undergrounding”. May I suggest that you check your facts before submitting to ‘Wales Online’ in future as Legal Opinion does not mention SLAs in its concluding decision. There are many other reasons, but not the designation of a Special Landscape Area, which is why we need a stronger more robust policy. And if you note in the LDP consultation, the new framework that we are proposing – the landscape character assessments – are mentioned within that document and I suggest you go back to look at that before we have a further conversation”.
"Hywel Dda University Health Board is currently consulting on its New Hospital Site with respect to a new planned and urgent care hospital. This will see a severe downgrading of services in Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen, which residents are strongly opposed to. Assuming Carmarthenshire County Council has made representations to Hywel Dda University Health Board on the consultation, which of the three proposed sites- St Clears, Whitland Spring Gardens or Whitland Ty Newydd- is the Council's preferred option?" Response by Councillor. Darren Price, Leader of the Council:- ‘’Thank you for the question. First of all you’ll be aware of statements that have been made over a number of years by members of this Council in terms of the importance of Glangwili to Carmarthenshire, and our position has not changed in that sense - we see Glangwili as having a central role in delivering healthcare to the people of Carmarthenshire going forward. I do, however question the rationale behind your question, it seems rather pointless, in the sense that as you’re fully aware, the Health Board is the decision making body on this so I do wonder why you’re asking the County Council for their opinion on the sites that are being put forward. I feel the question is shallow and lacks depth because frankly there are far greater challenges facing health and social care in this part of the world, as indeed the rest of the United Kingdom. There is no mention in the question in terms of the importance of the transfer of care from acute to community settings – that is absolutely fundamental and it is something that as a Council we have been pressing the Health Board on for a number of years and we think it’s absolutely central to any vision of health and social care moving forward. It doesn’t touch on the importance of public health and the preventative agenda which is absolutely important, again as we look to develop the system in future years. And it mentions nothing around the recruitment and retention which is the major issue facing the Hywel Dda Health Board, as it is for other Health Boards around the UK. As you’re aware, the UK Conservative Government has presided over 10 years of cuts to public services which means that a number of our health services are on the brink of collapse. There has been a spectacular failure to invest in both assets and people in the health service, as has been the case across the rest of the public sector over that decade. The impact on the health services is that we have people dying across the UK, avoidable deaths; people dying on trolleys in A&E, or worse still stuck at home because an ambulance has failed to get to them. That is the record of ten years of austerity, - and we wonder why the health service is in such a mess?. If we want to increase and improve services in any walk of life, we have to be prepared to invest in them. That hasn’t happened over the past decade and quite frankly a question asking us, as the Council, whether we think a proposed potential hospital is better sited 5 miles to the East or West – St Clears or Whiltand - quite frankly misses the point spectacularly. I would add it grates on me a little that we have local Conservative party members here presenting themselves as defenders of the health services and defenders of public services per se, when your party’s record over the last 10 years shows that you are nothing of the sort. To refer to your question in terms of the siting, this Council has not made representations to the Health Board formally in terms of the 3 options, but elected members will have an opportunity on the 4th May 2023 to have a direct conversation and to make any representations to the Health Board in a specially arranged session. This isn’t the first one, we’ve had discussions with the Health Board over a number of years as these plans have developed, and in those sessions we’ve had elected members of this Council make very clear representations, and express concerns in terms of the travel distances and the times they fear will increase – particularly for those members to the east of the county in the areas such as Llandovery, the upper end of the Towy Valley, members of the Amman Valley and similarly for members in the south east corner of the county in Llanelli; and I would expect those discussions to continue when we speak to the Health Board on 4th May. But clearly for those members in the west of the county, they may be more content with the proposals in terms of the potential sites in St Clears and Whitland. But as I mentioned, these are discussions for elected members to have with the Health Board over the next few weeks and I expect members to fully engage with that process. I do want to say at this juncture that I am a little concerned with regards what we’ve seen this morning, and similarly in the last Cabinet meeting, which essentially is the hijacking and misuse, frankly, of the public question slot for party political purposes. As somebody who was one of the members pushing for greater political accountability and greater engagement with the public some 10 years ago now, the drivers for these two slots in terms of items 4 and 5 that we have before us today – member and public questions – was around greater engagement and accountability. Let me make it clear, I absolutely expect to be held to account politically by members of this Council because that is their job, they have been elected to do it and I welcome it because it leads to better decision making in the long term. I also welcome questions from ordinary, genuine members of the public who want to raise a concern with the Authority, because it is through talking and hearing directly from genuine residents that we often identify gaps and blind spots in our thinking. What I do not welcome, however, is the misuse and hijacking of public question time by a political party to seemingly try and create a platform for themselves. That is not the purpose of this slot, and it saddens me that we’ve had 3 questions this morning from Conservative party members, all of whom have tried and failed to get elected to this place. Presenting themselves, as I mentioned earlier, as defenders of the people, defenders of public services – when they are nothing of the sort. There was an election in May 2022, less than 1 year ago, and Conservative candidates put themselves forward for election across the county - you were universally rejected. Not a single conservative party candidate managed to get elected to this place. I therefore find it insulting, that having failed to convince people at the ballot box, that you try and create yourself a platform by misusing and hijacking the public questions section. We’ve got a raft of pointless questions. Pointless, shallow, party-political questions which waste my time, waste my Cabinet’s time and waste’s officer time. I would respectfully suggest that it takes us no further forward and if members of the local tory party want to make any contribution to improvements in public services in Carmarthenshire, I would ask you to take the fight with your own party colleagues both here in South West Wales and at UK Government level to ensure that they start to put right the wrongs of the last 10 years and the under-funding of public services which has led to the brink of collapse. That is the only answer, and that is the only way out in terms of delivering proper public services in this part of the world. It is shameful, absolutely shameful, that you try and hijack this public question slot for party political purposes. If you want political debate, I am more than happy to engage in it, but the best way of doing that is to convince the electorate in Carmarthenshire that you are the best people to represent them. That hasn’t been your experience up to now, and I suggest that the people of Carmarthenshire can see what you’re up to, they’re not stupid. Your job is to convince your party colleagues that we get enough funding in Carmarthenshire to deliver services as we wish. Thank you”. Supplementary question by Charlie Evans:- “I’ve asked my question today as a member of the public, and I’ve asked it very politely and I, unfortunately, don’t think I’ve been afforded the respect due back to me as a member of the public. I pay council tax as a resident of Carmarthenshire, and you Councillor Price are my county councillor so I’m rather concerned that you have not afforded myself, as a resident of the public today, with the same level of respect that I am affording you by engaging in the democratic process. I’m also greatly concerned that you seem to be opening the door to restricting members of the public from asking questions based on party-political affiliation – you would not do that of others so I’m rather concerned. I also take issue with your framing of the question I asked around it being ‘pointless’, ‘shallow’, ‘lacks depth’ – it did seem to be an exercise in avoiding the question. As you will know, any plan for a new hospital requires the close collaboration between the Health Board and the County Council, for example with planning, links to social care and bus service routes, therefore - what level of formal input has Carmarthenshire County Council, given those interdependencies, have you had in constructing the programme business case from Hywel Dda Health Board”? Response by Councillor. Darren Price, Leader of the Council to the supplementary question:- “Clearly the Council engages with the Health Board on a whole range of matters, through a whole range of forums. The Health Board are members of the Public Services Board in Carmarthenshire, there is close integration through the Regional Partnership Board and officers work with Health Board partners through a whole myriad of programmes, so that engagement is constant and it will continue. My comment in terms of it being ‘pointless’ and ‘shallow’ was around the focus on whether it is 5 miles east or west – whether this new hospital end up in St Clears or in Whitland will absolutely make no difference to the wider issues that the Health Service makes – that was the point I was making. There are far more fundamental issues that we need to attack – not just in the medium-term, but in the very short-term in terms of staff recruitment, pay and conditions - which you’re fully aware of. The UK Government have absolutely failed to deal with that. We wonder why we are short staffed - there are thousands of gaps in our workforce in health and social care and we wonder why? They feel undervalued, they feel underpaid and that needs to be sorted – it hasn’t been sorted so far – and that was the reference that I mentioned in terms of your party colleagues in London. In terms of the misuse of the public question slot, I absolutely welcome contributions from genuine members of the public – we had one in Council only last week. It is where they have direct experience, lived experience, where something affects them or their community and they want to see something done. What we see today is 3 Conservative party members locally putting in questions en bloc. It is absolutely clear for anybody to see that is not a coincidence - it is a coordinated decision taken by the Conservative party to try and create a platform because they have failed, spectacularly, to gain electoral support from the people of Carmarthenshire. I can see it, the Cabinet can see it, I’ve spoken to many members of this Council of all parties, and they can all see it and the people of Carmarthenshire can see it. If you genuinely wanted to know what Carmarthenshire’s position was on the new hospital, you could have emailed me, you could have asked me ‘have you made representations?’ and I could have told you ‘no’ – but that isn’t what you wanted. You wanted to come here, you wanted your 5 minutes of glory and you wanted to make a show. If you wanted a genuine answer you could have emailed me, but that isn’t the intention and that’s what grates on me. This isn’t a chance for party-political debate. Mr Hughes, as Ann Davies mentioned, you made those political points in the press following the last Cabinet contribution and that’s why I think we are very unhappy with how that went – because what you quoted in the press was not what was presented here in the Cabinet”.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED that: 6.1 An application be made for the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (DERS) at Silver Award Level. 6.2 Work be progressed towards the implementation of the Guaranteed Interview Scheme.
In accordance with the Cabinet’s approval on 25 October 2021 for the Council to re-sign the Armed Forces Covenant [minute 6.1 thereof refers], consideration was given to a report which detailed the progress made by the Council towards achieving the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme silver award. Cabinet Members reviewed the essential criteria for the silver award against the Council’s current status in relation to each requirement which demonstrated that all requirements had been met, however it was recognised that adoption of the Guaranteed Interview Scheme could further enhance the Council’s approach and commitment to the armed forces covenant. UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that: 6.1 An application be made for the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (DERS) at Silver Award Level. 6.2 Work be progressed towards the implementation of the Guaranteed Interview Scheme.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED to note that the Plaid Cymru Group has nominated Councillor Llinos Davies to replace Councillor Hefin Jones on the Corporate Parenting and Safeguarding Panel.
UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED to note that the Plaid Cymru Group has nominated Councillor Llinos Davies to replace Councillor Hefin Jones on the Corporate Parenting and Safeguarding Panel.
The Chair advised that there were no items of urgent business.
Rhaid i gynghorwyr ddweud pan fydd ganddyn nhw gysylltiad personol â rhywbeth sy'n cael ei drafod, fel swydd, eiddo neu aelod o'r teulu. Mae buddiant sy'n rhagfarnu yn ddigon cryf i'r cynghorydd adael yr ystafell fel arfer a pheidio â chymryd rhan.
Caiff datganiadau eu darllen o'r cofnodion unwaith y byddan nhw wedi'u cyhoeddi.
Yn rhestru cynghorwyr presennol y cyngor yn unig. Nid yw aelodau cyfetholedig, swyddogion a chyn-gynghorwyr yn cael eu dangos.