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RESOLVED that, subject to the above, the minutes of the Council meetings held on 4 July and 20 July 2023 be confirmed as a correct record.
RESOLVED that (i) members reviewed the paper and supporting information being presented particularly the feedback from the public consultation and advise how they would like officers to proceed. Officers proposals are set out in 3.2 to 3.4. Officers have recommended a measured response to any increase to allow a learn and evaluate approach. While Welsh government have given powers for an increase of up to 300% we are proposing the following: (ii) there is parity between the standard second home and long term empty premium, to minimise avoidance by taxpayers (who may apply to switch to the more favourable category) and so ensure the administrative burden is not increased significantly, except for properties that fall within recommendation 3.4. (iii) second home and long term empty premium charge will remain at 50% for April 2023 then increases to 100% from April 2024, then 150% from April 2025. (iv) properties that have been unoccupied and unfurnished for 5 years or more pay a higher premium at 50% more than the standard premium. This would make the total premium 150% above the standard charge from 1st April 2024, and 200%above the standard charge from 2025. (v) It is important to note that:- a) Properties that meet the Welsh Government criteria to be classed as a business (holiday lets) do not pay Council Tax and would not be impacted by the proposals (please see Appendix B section 1.2) b) There are several exemptions available which help those with, for example, properties marketed for sale, properties marketed to let, properties where occupancy is restricted by a planning condition to non-residential, seasonal or holiday let use only (please see Appendix A page 1) c) There is a process in place for DCC to consider a discretionary discount where for example there is significant financial hardship to the business or individual or an exceptional circumstance has occurred and it would be reasonable to support by way of reducing the Council Tax. (vi) the extra funding generated by this proposal is allocated for local communities, amenities and to tackle homelessness.
RESOLVED that Council having considered the Annual Report of the Scrutiny Committee for 2022/23, approve its publication.
RESOLVED that members note the contents of the report.
RESOLVED that members agree to the Notice of Motion
RESOLVED that members agree to the Notice of Motion.
RESOLVED that members agree to the amended Notice of Motion.
RESOLVED that the Council’s Forward Work Programme be noted.
Councillor Eryl Williams declared a personal interest in Item 5 as he owns a self-catering holiday cottage. Councillor Huw Williams declared a personal interest in Item 9 as he is a grazier on Moel Famau.
No urgent items Question put forward by councillor Chris Evans – Many residents in my ward, as well as myself, have concerns that following the first minister, Mark Drakeford comments, in Wales there will be no more roads projects and Welsh Government have put a stop to over 50 new projects in Wales. Where does that leave the issue with the Llannerch bridge as we are over three years from when the bridge was taken in the storms. I am aware that it is written in the Corporate Plan but what commitment have Welsh Government to get this project moving in the right direction to link the villages of Tremierchion and Trefnant. Democratically this bridge was in much need by the majority of the residents that I represent with the cost of living of living at all the time high and the price of fuel still high in many fuel forecourts in the area this link is really much needed. Response by Councillor Barry Mellor, Lead Member for Environment and Transport – Councillor Mellor thanked Councillor Evans for his question. Replacing the bridge was an aspiration in the Corporate Plan. Talks have taken place with senior officials in the transport division of the Welsh Government. It is not a case there are to be no more road projects in Wales, Welsh Government have stated they will continue to invest in road infrastructure in cases where it is compatible with the sustainable transport hierarchy and the tests set out in the roads review. The roads review does not impact on this project because was focused on the development of new road structures. Llanerch Bridge is an existing highway asset and it is my understanding that maintenance of an existing structure is not affected by the roads review. In terms of Welsh Government commitment to the project, we have recently received a grant of £380k which enables us to go to the next phase of this project. We can now go to the detailed design stage and that would take us to the point where we have a business case for a replacement bridge. This next phase will span 2 financial years and we will, therefore, submit a further bid for funding to complete that phase in 2024/25. Welsh Government have confirmed this is a multi year scheme and that further funding to complete the next phase is part of their planning assumptions of the 2024/25 financial year subject to formal ministerial approval. Welsh Government are not going to confirm financial support for reconstruction of the bridge which is likely to cost in excess of £8million before full business case is available but there is a commitment to support the development of the full business case Supplementary question from Councillor Chris Evans - I know the aspiration is there but where is the demand? With costs of the bridge going into millions why has WG had £155million which was not spent. It was in the bank account. Why was it not spent? The Monitoring Officer confirmed a written response will be provided to the supplementary question. Question put forward by member of the public, Carol Smith – Agenda item 5, Cabinet Meeting of 19th July 2023, considered a report on legislation introduced by Welsh Government (WG) to increase the maximum level of council tax premiums for second homes and long-term empty properties. “The reasoning for the proposals was to increase housing stock in the county and provide more housing for local people” (as stated in the Minutes). How can the Council justify raising the level of premium for private owners when: a) Denbighshire County Council has 99 long term empty homes on its books, some 15.5% of all long term empty homes in the County (response to Freedom of Information Review 1394_1290), but appears not to be renovating these to provide homes for local people on its waiting list; b) Denbighshire County Council has more than 44 vacant office buildings “actively being advertised”, in one case for as long as 20 years, despite there being “no market for office accommodation” (response to Freedom of Information Review 1394_1290), yet has not considered converting any of these to residential use to provide homes for local people on its waiting list; c) “A second home is a dwelling (a domestic property designed to be lived in) that is a substantially furnished property and not a person’s sole or main residence” (response to Freedom of Information Review 1394_1290). This includes self-catering properties that do not achieve the threshold 182 days occupancy and therefore have reverted, or will revert, to the Council Tax list and be subject to a premium. Nantclwyd y Dre is a dwelling designed to be lived in, is substantially furnished, is not a person’s sole or main residence, and is open for 79 days during 2023; it is on the Business Rates list at a lower rateable value than other similar partially-occupied properties. Is it acceptable for Denbighshire County Council to escape the same financial burden on its own ‘second home’ that it is intent on imposing on privately-owned ‘second homes’? Response by Councillor Gwyneth Ellis, Lead Member for Finance, Performance and Strategic Assets – Councillor Ellis thanked Carol Smith for her question. Number of empty residential properties we have fluctuates a lot. Currently 90 empty residential properties. 60 are deliberately empty as they are being prepared for redevelopment of the site. The actual number of empty properties is 30 and of those most being prepared for new tenants. It could take a while for these properties to be refurbished. Some properties not suitable for council use any more and a few of those which are scheduled to be disposed of. There are 9 of those properties at the moment. The office properties 44 vacant office buildings. It is not 44 office buildings but 44 offices or commercial properties, one you mentioned is one small office suite in a building of 9 suites, part of a bigger building. The commercial properties are rarely suitable to be converted to residential use. Nantclwyd y Dre ceased to be used as a residential property in the 1980s and since 2007 it has been listed in the non-domestic rating and has been listed as a museum with a rateable value of £1000. Plas Newydd in Llangollen is another example listed under non-domestic rating since 2010 and that is listed as an historic house with a rateable value of £1500. It is the Valuation Office Agency which is the organization responsible for the valuation of properties in the council tax and non-domestic lists and deciding which list they go in to. If there are properties being used as rental accommodation or businesses the planning permission can be sought to define the type of use of the property and if it meets the Valuation Office Agency criteria then it could be requested to move it on to the business rates list rather than domestic rates. Supplementary question from Carol Smith – My property which was, until the end of last month, a self catering property is also on the rating list at the moment because it was self catering. It is similar in a way to Nant Clwyd y Dre, very old and also I have been unable really this year because of all the situations with the cost of living crisis, people going abroad again and various reasons like that, to get up to 182 days. Unfortunately what is a perfectly normal business is now unviable because of increase in taxes. I am now expected to provide affordable housing for someone with my property. That’s exactly what the wording of the Welsh Government legislation and also the minutes of the Cabinet meeting, to increase housing stock in the county. Why am I spending my money to provide Denbighshire County Council with affordable homes for people on their waiting lists. I am not the only one, there will be lots of other ones who are going to lose the funding we have put in to those properties, have them taken off us and we are expected then to either sell them cheaply as affordable housing, rent them out as affordable housing. Why should we be the ones filling in that gap that DCC is not providing. Councillor Gwyneth Ellis responded that a detailed written answer will be provided. Question put forward by Anthony Rose – The issue concerns the raising of the premium on council tax to 100% for second homes/empty houses. Mr Rose is interested from the perspective of a self-catering Cottage business that fails to achieve 182 days occupancy in a 12 month period. The question concerns Welsh Government Guidance of March 9th 2023 for Local Authorities regarding Council Tax Premiums on second homes and empty properties, and has several parts : - 1. Does, or will, this council have a policy for exemptions from the premium ? 2. If so, what is it? 3. If not, why not, given that the Welsh Government in its March 2023 Guidance for Local Authorities regarding council tax premiums advocates having a clear policy on whether and how their powers should be used “in the interest of fairness and transparency”? 4. Will this council consider using its powers to reduce premiums on outbuildings or barns converted to holiday lets as part of farm diversification and annexes or garage conversions that form part of an owner’s primary residence? Response by Councillor Gwyneth Ellis, Lead Member for Finance, Performance and Strategic Assets Councillor Ellis thanked Anthony Rose for his question. We don’t have policy for exemptions, the reason being a specific policy is not required as exemptions from the premium charges are contained in the legislation, the legislation being in the Council tax exemptions for higher amounts Wales regulations. Under these powers the premium may not be charged on dwellings that fall within 7 classes. Properties that have been created or adapted to residential use would be charged unless they fall under one of the 7 classes. This includes planning conditions which restrict the use of the property to non-residential seasonal holiday lets, ancillary accommodation to the owners main residence or, as mentioned, Section 13A, there are specific exemptions due to emergency conditions or hardship. Lots of farm buildings which had been converted would have planning restrictions that they could not be used as primary residence. SUPPLEMENTARY QUESTION put forward by Anthony Rose following response by Lead Member, Councillor Gwyneth Ellis. 12 or 13 years ago, and the Planning Department will help you on this, permissions were given to farmers without restrictions it was just conversion into residential. These days, more recently, as I understand it, again your Planning Department will help you on this, they have been imposing conditions. There are a lot of farmers who have done this conversion work a long time ago and they’re going to be subject to this particular hike in premium. You make point about statutory exemptions, there’s no argument about that, we are talking about discretionary ones and I think the Welsh Government has recognised that there are situations where what is classed as a second home which was a conversion from an agricultural building, for example, does not really play in to the narrative that Wales is trying to make a lot more housing available for people to live in as homes. Are you intending to have a policy looking at exemptions or perhaps a better way of looking at it is a reduction in the council tax payable in certain situations? The guidance is very clear and gives specific examples of the types of property where Local Authorities are encouraged to consider, doesn’t mean they have to do it. I’m asking, therefore, you will at some stage, set out a policy so people like me, and farmers, can see what is expected and what will happen if we fail to achieve 182 days in the given year. The Chair, Councillor Pete Prendergast confirmed that a response in writing would be provided. At this juncture, Councillor Gill German gave a statement regarding RAAC in Denbighshire. We have been aware that vulnerabilities exist in this material as there is a limited life span. A safety alert issued by Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) who advised that all Local Authorities look at their buildings. This was around 2019/20. In Denbighshire County Council, our buildings were looked at in 2021 and surveyed for evidence of RAAC and surveys came up negative. We are happy to review those results in light of recent news and we know now that Welsh Government will be asking us to do that on a formal basis. Yesterday there was a statement from the Welsh Government that new evidence had been provided to them and it is important to know that this evidence was received from the UK Government yesterday. Some people may have seen the schools which had been closed on Anglesey, that has been based on the new evidence which was provided yesterday. DCC are going to look at our buildings again, and we are confident that a good job was done the first time round but we need to ensure our pupils are safe and indeed other public buildings. In last 10 years made significant investment in school buildings. There has been a 23% rise in capital spending in school buildings and £90million has been spent in Denbighshire building new schools as part of the 21st Programme and also have new projects lined up through sustainable communities for schools. Our buildings have been regularly surveyed over the last decade, not only for RAAC but for asbestos, leaking rooves, suitability of buildings for a modern age. It is regretful that has not been replicated in England. There has been a 50% fall in spending over the last decade in England on their schools. Councillor German reassured members buildings had been assessed regularly over the previous 10 years and don’t anticipate the widespread issues as seen in England. Proud of what has been done in Denbighshire. Members requested an update on the commitment to the assessment of buildings. Councillor German confirmed members would be kept informed.
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RESOLVED that, subject to the above, the minutes of the Council meetings held on 4 July and 20 July 2023 be confirmed as a correct record.
The minutes of Full Council held on 4 July and 20 July 2023 were submitted. 4 July 2023 Accuracy – Councillor Julie Matthews asked for her attendance to be noted. Councillor Bobby Feeley requested that feedback from all Notices of Motions put forward to Full Council could be provided on an annual basis. It was agreed this could be provided. Matters Arising – Councillor Mark Young referred to the Blue Flag status. Planning applications coming in for pieces of land where there are capacity issues in the sewage system. There was a recent application for which there were no objections from NRW or Welsh Water, but correspondence had recently been received stating that no objection but unlikely to be sufficient capacity in the sewage system. I understand land is allocated but I would like a meeting with the relevant officers, Lead Members about how this is approached from a Planning Committee perspective. The Chief Executive was requested to facilitate the meeting to which he agreed. RESOLVED that, subject to the above, the minutes of the Council meetings held on 4 July and 20 July 2023 be confirmed as a correct record.
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RESOLVED that (i) members reviewed the paper and supporting information being presented particularly the feedback from the public consultation and advise how they would like officers to proceed. Officers proposals are set out in 3.2 to 3.4. Officers have recommended a measured response to any increase to allow a learn and evaluate approach. While Welsh government have given powers for an increase of up to 300% we are proposing the following: (ii) there is parity between the standard second home and long term empty premium, to minimise avoidance by taxpayers (who may apply to switch to the more favourable category) and so ensure the administrative burden is not increased significantly, except for properties that fall within recommendation 3.4. (iii) second home and long term empty premium charge will remain at 50% for April 2023 then increases to 100% from April 2024, then 150% from April 2025. (iv) properties that have been unoccupied and unfurnished for 5 years or more pay a higher premium at 50% more than the standard premium. This would make the total premium 150% above the standard charge from 1st April 2024, and 200%above the standard charge from 2025. (v) It is important to note that:- a) Properties that meet the Welsh Government criteria to be classed as a business (holiday lets) do not pay Council Tax and would not be impacted by the proposals (please see Appendix B section 1.2) b) There are several exemptions available which help those with, for example, properties marketed for sale, properties marketed to let, properties where occupancy is restricted by a planning condition to non-residential, seasonal or holiday let use only (please see Appendix A page 1) c) There is a process in place for DCC to consider a discretionary discount where for example there is significant financial hardship to the business or individual or an exceptional circumstance has occurred and it would be reasonable to support by way of reducing the Council Tax. (vi) the extra funding generated by this proposal is allocated for local communities, amenities and to tackle homelessness.
Councillor Eryl Williams declared a personal interest as he owns a self-catering holiday cottage. Councillor Gwyneth Ellis, Lead Member for Finance, Performance and Strategic Assets introduced the report to seek a decision from members on an increase to the current Premium rates on these properties in Denbighshire. The proposal was presented at Cabinet Briefing on 3 July and to Cabinet on 8th July 2023, who supported the recommendations which had resulted in this report to full council for a decision. The Authority had worked proactively to raise awareness of the consultation resulting in 2,142 page views (37 Welsh) on the Council’s page that promoted the consultation to the general public, with 898 visits directly to the consultation survey. 175 customers completed and submitted a response. 71 responses out of 175 were received from the second home owners or long term empty home owner group, and 17 from second home owners that live or work in Denbighshire. On legal advice, a communication exercise had undertaken to make over 1,000 second home and long term empty home owners aware of the consultation. The council were conscious that proactively engaging this group could have had a disproportionate impact on the results of the consultation, and so noted the importance of identifying these groups of customers. The recommendations made by officers had tried to strike a balance to consider how to effectively administer the scheme, whilst considering the regional context and wider legislative factors. During discussions, the following points were raised – (a) What measures could be put in place to show the success or not of the Policy? It was confirmed that the numbers were within the report showing how the Policy would illustrate success. Businesses run with higher occupancy rates were a good thing for the area as they brought in tourists by utilising less houses. (b) Within the report there had been numbers of long term empty and second homes. There were no numbers showing how many holiday lets may fall foul of the 182 day limit. Could more information be available? The Valuation Office would need to take the decisions as to whether a building was able to go on to business rates. (c) The Wellbeing Impact Assessment (WBIA), had not shown information on specifically impacted groups. There seemed to be particular groups who felt dissatisfied by the Policy and would be useful to receive more information regarding those, following which the impact as a whole, could be assessed. It was confirmed the information requested could be included. (d) The over-arching aim was to increase affordable housing, and reduce homelessness which was rising in the area. It would be difficult to separate the number of second homes directly. There was a management pack which was monitored monthly showing the figures but would be difficult to translate the information for homelessness, and affordable housing but it was part of the Corporate Plan which would contain performance indicators. It was confirmed that a report could be put together to review the figures and show the impact of the Policy which would be presented in 2024. (e) The validity of the consultation or survey was questioned. 175 responses had been received - 88 of which were against the new tax and 87 were in favour. The question was put forward how few responses had been received out of the 96,000 residents which made it difficult to accept the conclusion that Denbighshire residents thought there was a need to increase the Council Tax by 150%. Also it was raised that the recommendation revolved around empty homes rather than holiday homes. The Lead Member and Officers agreed it would be advantageous if more residents responded to the consultation and survey but, unfortunately that had not been the case. There were methodologies behind the responses and therefore no reason not to go ahead with the Policy. Following taking legal advice the council had written out to over 1000 customers who would be impacted directly by this Policy. A full comms strategy was undertaken around the consultation, which included press releases, websites, internal communication to staff to increase awareness, and notices placed in libraries to ensure people in the communities were aware. (f) There would be an impact on the current revenues and benefits staff resources to implement this Policy. The only additional cost would be a new post which would be funded by the council for the first year but could be funded from funding going forward. The new post would be to support communities by making sure they maximised what they were entitled to. This was a good way of using some of the finances raised to support the communities in a proactive way. (g) The money raised by the Policy would be utilised to support homelessness within the county. The Head of Finance confirmed that Council Tax could not be ringfenced. Over the last 2 years over £3million had been invested in the homelessness service. Homelessness was a key part of the corporate priorities within the Corporate Plan. Much more money was being spent in this area than the Policy would raise. (h) Ruthin had not been included within the data in the report due to Ruthin not being in the top 5 parishes most impacted, but that information could be provided by each parish for members’ attention. (i) Long term empty homes figures had increased in the past 5 years. There was one Empty Homes Officers whose role was to bring empty homes back in to use. An annual survey was carried out for homes which were empty for 6 months or longer. Figures of the amount of empty homes brought back into use were provided and confirmed work was taking place with the owners of the empty properties to assist in bringing them back to use. A summary of the work involved with empty homes was relayed to members. (j) It was queried why empty homes and second homes had been linked together within the report and questioned whether these should be 2 separate entities. Councillor Terry Mendies PROPOSED that the item be deferred. There being no seconder, the proposal was not taken forward to a vote. Councillor Merfyn Parry PROPOSED an amendment to the report to include an additional recommendation that if this proposal is agreed that the extra funding generated by this proposal is allocated for local communities, amenities and to tackle homelessness. SECONDED by Councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts. The Monitoring Officer explained that a vote would take place on the amendment to the recommendation and if the vote was defeated it would go back to the original recommendation but if the vote was approved then that becomes the substantive motion for which any subsequent vote would be taken unless there were any further amendments. A vote on the amendment took place and the results were as follows – For the amendment – 35 Abstain – 2 Against the amendment – 3 The amendment was carried and therefore became the substantive motion. At this juncture Councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts asked for clarification regarding putting the second homes and empty homes together as, in his opinion, it would be beneficial to separate them. Councillor Hilditch-Roberts was informed by the Chair that the debate had concluded and everyone had had an opportunity to speak during the main debate. The substantive motion was moved by Councillor Gwyneth Ellis and seconded by the Leader, Councillor Jason McLellan. The Monitoring Officer confirmed that the vote would take place for the recommendation in the report together with the additional paragraph agreed as the amendment. VOTE – For – 35 Abstain – 2 Against – 3 RESOLVED that (i) members reviewed the paper and supporting information being presented particularly the feedback from the public consultation and advise how they would like officers to proceed. Officers proposals are set out in 3.2 to 3.4. Officers have recommended a measured response to any increase to allow a learn and evaluate approach. While Welsh government have given powers for an increase of up to 300% we are proposing the following: (ii) there is parity between the standard second home and long term empty premium, to minimise avoidance by taxpayers (who may apply to switch to the more favourable category) and so ensure the administrative burden is not increased significantly, except for properties that fall within recommendation 3.4. (iii) second home and long term empty premium charge will remain at 50% for April 2023 then increases to 100% from April 2024, then 150% from April 2025. (iv) properties that have been unoccupied and unfurnished for 5 years or more pay a higher premium at 50% more than the standard premium. This would make the total premium 150% above the standard charge from 1st April 2024, and 200%above the standard charge from 2025. (v) It is important to note that:- a) Properties that meet the Welsh Government criteria to be classed as a business (holiday lets) do not pay Council Tax and would not be impacted by the proposals (please see Appendix B section 1.2) b) There are several exemptions available which help those with, for example, properties marketed for sale, properties marketed to let, properties where occupancy is restricted by a planning condition to non-residential, seasonal or holiday let use only (please see Appendix A page 1) c) There is a process in place for DCC to consider a discretionary discount where for example there is significant financial hardship to the business or individual or an exceptional circumstance has occurred and it would be reasonable to support by way of reducing the Council Tax. (vi) the extra funding generated by this proposal is allocated for local communities, amenities and to tackle homelessness.
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RESOLVED that Council having considered the Annual Report of the Scrutiny Committee for 2022/23, approve its publication.
Councillor Hugh Irving introduced the report outlining the activities during 2022/23. The report was presented to County Council to comply with Section 7.4.4 of the Council’s Constitution which stipulated that the Authority’s scrutiny committees must report annually to full Council on their work and make recommendations for future work programmes and amended working methods if appropriate. It had been reported that 2021/22 had been very much a year of adapting to the ‘new normal’ following the pandemic. 2022/23 on the other hand had been a year of transition. Transition out of the Covid recovery measures with service delivery practices having more of familiar feel about them, although the majority of services had adapted to a greater or lesser extent and adopted new ways of working. In 2022, 48 councillors were elected to serve on Denbighshire County Council, 23 of whom were elected for the first time. During the year Scrutiny continued the practice of engaging with both public and private partner organisations with a view to effectively working together to improve services and outcomes for residents. Councillor Emrys Wynne requested that information be placed in all libraries/One Stop Shops to encourage public engagement. It was confirmed that all information was available online but paper copies of the proposal forms could be made available in libraries to aid public participation. The Chief Executive agreed public participation was very important and also should encourage schools to become involved with the scrutiny process for items of particular interest to them. The Chief Executive also stated that rather than putting Notices of Motions forward to Full Council, perhaps consider whether it would more appropriate for the item to be put to a Scrutiny Committee who could then make recommendations back to Full Council or Cabinet. The following training events were to take place which were open for anyone to attend. The training events were facilitated by the WLGA. Scrutinising Education – 18 September 2023 Scrutiny Chairing Skills - 11 October 2023 Scrutiny Questioning Skills – 3 November 2023 Councillor Huw Williams as Chair of the Communities Scrutiny Committee offered his thanks I would like to thank all staff who work behind the scenes and to Rhian Evans and Karen Evans the Scrutiny Co-ordinators. Councillor Gareth Sandilands offered his thanks to all staff in Democratic Services who do a wonderful job and especially Rhian Evans and Karen Evans. It was proposed and seconded that the report be approved. Following a vote by a show of hands, it was unanimously agreed to approve the report. RESOLVED that Council having considered the Annual Report of the Scrutiny Committee for 2022/23, approve its publication.
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RESOLVED that members note the contents of the report.
Julia Hughes, Chair of Standards Committee, introduced the Annual Report of Standards Committee. The Annual Report of Standards Committee covered the calendar year January to December 2022. It was agreed that the Chair would present the report to the Full Council, in order to keep Members informed of trends; issues in respect of compliance with the Members’ Code of Conduct generally across the County and the work of the Committee in driving up standards of behaviour at County level, but also at Town, City and Community levels. Standards Committee main role was to monitor adherence to the Members Code of Conduct. All members were aware that their Code was founded (and should be read in conjunction with) the 7 Nolan Principles of Public Life. In Wales there were ten principles namely Selflessness, Honesty, Integrity and Propriety, Duty to uphold the law, Stewardship, Objectivity in decision making, Equality and Respect, Openness, Accountability and Leadership. By way of reminder, Standards Committee consists of the following Member types – 2 County Councillors,4 Independent (co-opted) Members, and 1 Community Council Member (who is not also a twin hatted Member). The majority of the Members were therefore not elected, but recruited from members of the public as per the requirements of legislation in Wales. Following the May 2022 elections a new chair and vice chair were in place for the Council term and a new lay member recruited. During 2022 the Committee met on 4 occasions. Training events in respect of Ethics and the Code of Conduct have been taking place in consultation with Standards Committee who fully support and encourage attendance by all elected members – via online and face to face sessions for County Councillors and Town City and Community Council Members. During the year in question the established ‘North and Mid Wales Standards Forum’ has been formally replaced by an All Wales ‘National Standards Committee Forum’. The National Standards Committee Forum met for the first time on the 8th December 2022 in order to agree Terms of Reference and appoint a Chair and Vice Chair. During 2022 there had been no Standards Committee Determinations (hearings) as to whether there had been a breach of the Code of Conduct. All members approved the Annual Report of Standards Committee and thanked the Chair, Julia Hughes for all her work. RESOLVED that members note the contents of the report.
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RESOLVED that members agree to the Notice of Motion
Councillor Jon Harland put forward the following Notice of Motion on behalf of the Green Party – This Council: ● Is concerned about the number of cases reported to the RSPCA each year, regarding pets given as prizes via fairgrounds, social media, and other channels ● Is concerned for the welfare of those animals that are being given as prizes ● Recognises that many cases of pets being as prizes may go unreported each year ● Supports a move to ban the giving of live animals as prizes, in any form, on Denbighshire land The Council agrees to: ● Ban outright the giving of live animals as prizes, in any form, on Denbighshire land. ● Write to the UK Government, urging an outright ban on the giving of live animals as prizes on both public and private land. A vote took place by a show of hand and members were unanimously in agreement to the Notice of Motion RESOLVED that members agree to the Notice of Motion
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RESOLVED that members agree to the Notice of Motion.
Councillor Huw Williams put forward a Notice of Motion – ‘That all dogs are kept on leads on Denbighshire owned and managed Common grazing land excluding sheep dogs owned by grazers’ The Notice of Motion was proposed and seconded. A vote took place by a show of hands and was unanimously approved. RESOLVED that members agree to the Notice of Motion.
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RESOLVED that members agree to the amended Notice of Motion.
Councillor Hugh Irving put forward the following Notice of Motion – ‘Denbighshire County Council continues to consult with members and the general public on the implementation of the 20 mph default speed limit proposals and officers prepare a report for members on the methodology as to how the decision to only nominate five roads throughout Denbighshire for exemption was made. In particular how the general public were made aware that applications for exemption could be made. The Council confirm that they will closely monitor and keep members informed of the impact the proposals are having on Police and emergency service response times, retained fire fighter call out times and general traffic flows. That the Council confirm that they will engage with Members on these concerns through the Member Area Groups and the Scrutiny process and that requests for further exemptions or consideration of any other issues regarding the new limits are promptly dealt with.’ Councillor Martyn Hogg proposed an amendment that if the Notice of Motion were to be passed that the wording of the second paragraph be amended as follows – The Council confirm that they will closely monitor and keep members informed of any impact of the proposals both negative and positive. The amendment was proposed and seconded. A vote took place for the amendment of the Notice of Motion by a show of hands. The majority were in favour and 1 member voted against. The amended Notice of Motion now became the substantive Motion and a vote took place by a show of hands. The majority were in favour and 1 member voted against. RESOLVED that members agree to the amended Notice of Motion.
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RESOLVED that the Council’s Forward Work Programme be noted.
The Monitoring Officer introduced the Council’s Forward Work Programme. RESOLVED that the Council’s Forward Work Programme be noted.
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.
Dyw'r cyngor ddim wedi cofnodi presenoldeb ar gyfer y cyfarfod hwn.
Yn rhestru cynghorwyr presennol y cyngor yn unig. Nid yw aelodau cyfetholedig, swyddogion a chyn-gynghorwyr yn cael eu dangos.