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Resolved: subject to the provision of information and/or links to evaluation reports relating to various funding streams facilitated by the Council and Denbighshire Voluntary Services Council (DVSC) to all councillors, to acknowledge the effectiveness of the support provided to local community and voluntary organisations in a bid to assist them to successfully secure funding to support their long-term sustainability.
Resolved: to recommend that Cabinet during its consideration of the ‘Our Rhyl’ Regeneration Plan – Pride in Place Programme has regard to the Committee’s views, and with the aim of securing the proposed Pride in Place Programme investment to deliver outcomes that meet the local communities’ need that it seeks the ‘Our Rhyl Board’: (i) to remove references within the Strategy document to specific ‘Strategic Projects’ and replace them with a reference to a ‘Strategic Project Fund’ which could be established to invest in large, financially expensive, long-term projects to be approved and managed by the Board following community-wide consultation; (ii) supports the establishment of a ‘Community Regeneration Fund’ as outlined in the Strategy for the purposes of funding smaller community-based projects, some of which could be delivered during the early stages of the Plan’s lifetime fulfilling the needs and aspirations of specific communities whilst supporting the long-term objectives of the Strategy and Plan; (iii) to actively and positively engage with the local community and community organisations in Rhyl post the Strategy and Plan’s submission to the UK Government to seek ideas for projects to be delivered as part of the Plan; and (iv) as part of the preparatory work for delivering the Strategy and Plan to review the Board’s membership and its governance structures to ensure it had the relevant skillsets and appropriate cross-community involvement to achieve the Strategy’s desired long-term objectives for the town and its communities.
Resolved: to confirm its programme of work as set out in Appendix 1 to the report.
Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Merfyn Parry and from Nicola Stubbins, Corporate Director: Social Services and Education. Gary Williams: Corporate Director: Governance and Business was deputising in the role of the Corporate Executive Team’s (CET) support for the Committee at the meeting. Apologies were also received from the Council Leader and Lead Member for Economic Growth & Tackling Deprivation for business item 6, due to a prior commitment.
The Chair, Councillor Joan Butterfield, declared a personal interest in agenda item 6, ‘Our Rhyl’ – Regeneration Project – Pride in Place, in her capacity as a town and county councillor for Rhyl West.
No items of an urgent nature had been drawn to the Chair’s attention prior to the commencement of the meeting.
The minutes of the Partnerships Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 11 September 2025 were submitted. The Committee: Resolved: that the minutes of the Partnerships Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 11 September 2025 be approved as a true and accurate record of the proceedings. No matters were raised in connection to the contents of the minutes.
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Resolved: subject to the provision of information and/or links to evaluation reports relating to various funding streams facilitated by the Council and Denbighshire Voluntary Services Council (DVSC) to all councillors, to acknowledge the effectiveness of the support provided to local community and voluntary organisations in a bid to assist them to successfully secure funding to support their long-term sustainability.
The Lead Member for Housing and Communities introduced the report (previously circulated) on Working with the Third Sector in Denbighshire to members. The report highlighted how the Council worked with partners and the Third Sector within all its services, including the support provided by the Council and Denbighshire Voluntary Services Council (DVSC) to signpost and support voluntary organisations to apply for external funding schemes that supported the delivery of their services. The Chief Officer of DVSC was welcomed to the meeting to participate in the discussion with elected members. The Head of Housing and Communities Service provided further detail on the report. Closer to the Community had been a part of the Councils ambition for many years and how this was implemented had changed over the years. The report provided a strategic oversight of some of the ways in which the Council had been working with the third sector in recent years, operationally across the organisation, including within the newly created Youth and Community Resilience Team. Members acknowledged the positive achievements of the service in the local community. Members questioned if the Council or DVSC had a reference list of all potential projects that could be shared with applicants so that they could link up with similar projects within their areas with a view to delivering better value, long-term sustainable projects that realise maximum benefits for all. The Head of Housing and Communities Service stated all the third sector had their projects evaluated and DVSC and other projects had commissioned evaluation reports to discuss their challenges and successes, and these were widely available. DVSC had been doing work to support organisations to develop their capacity to be able to bid for and successfully deliver projects. The Chief Officer for DVSC added that DVSC had a proven approach to managing grant applications and distributing money. The organisation worked closely with numerous local organisations in a bid to support them to become resilient entities. An Impact Report was produced for each grant programme. An Impact Report for the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in November was currently being completed which listed every organisation which had been funded through DVSC and the Council. Members questioned how organisations accessed the information they needed to start an application for future funding. The Head of Housing and Communities Service explained that evaluation reports for the Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) were published on the Council's website and DVSC and third sector organisations were publishing evaluation reports on their own websites. The Community Resilience Team would signpost organisations to the vast amount of information that was easily accessible online, as would DVSC. Members requested that the links to the evaluation reports were circulated to all County and Town Councillors as this would provide the opportunity for information to be shared more broadly in the community to residents who may not be aware of where to access the information. Members questioned what measures were in place to make sure that the awarding process as well as the utilisation of funding following its award were open and transparent and realised value for money from the use of public funds. The Chief Officer for DVSC stated that there was an open and transparent process that was followed for each application. All grants were marketed equally and openly to members and to people who subscribed to service bulletins. Grant processes were quality assured so that they were clear what criteria organisations were expected to meet, and each application was presented to an Independent Volunteer Grant Panel. The recent Cogog process was an example of how grant applications, determinations, and evaluations could be effectively administered and managed. The Head of Housing and Communities Service further explained that once monies were allocated, there were follow up monitoring roles to ensure the outcomes of the projects were being achieved. Members referred to 4.3.4 of the report which highlighted that there had recently been an appointment of a City, Town, and Community Council (CTCC) Liaison Officer. Members expressed the view that recent liaison with the CTCC Liaison Officer had been very beneficial and had improved greatly following the creation of this post. Members stated that many of the Council’s services had been past onto voluntary services due to financial pressures. It was welcomed that the Council was supporting voluntary services and the people who worked for them. Members referred to Appendix 1 of the report which provided information on the State of the Third Sector in Denbighshire: March 2022 recommendations for DCC. Members questioned if all the recommendations from the report had been implemented. The Head of Housing and Communities Service clarified that not all the recommendations had been implemented however, there was a close collaborative working relationship with the third sector. A further review report was expected, and it was hoped that it would identify the Councils improvements. The Chief Officer for DVSC added it was important to maintain the relationship between DVSC, third sector organisations and the Council by working through a collective approach. Members questioned how the application process for external funding streams could be made simpler, more streamlined and user-friendly for groups and organisations, most of whom were run by volunteers and not financial experts and whether there was an easy-read guide to help these organisations. The Chief Officer for DVSC stated that there was the need to request specific information from grant applicants to ensure that monies were accessed appropriately however, it was recognised that the people who were applying for grants were not professional fund raisers. DVSC strived to make the application for grants process as transparent and simple as possible. Training courses regarding grant applications skills were provided to organisations to help build confidence in applying for funding. Members stated the sharing of information with ward members regarding Community Projects and the funding streams that were available was crucial. The Chair thanked the Chief Officer of DVSC and Council representatives for attending the meeting and answering members’ questions. The Committee: Resolved: subject to the provision of information and/or links to evaluation reports relating to various funding streams facilitated by the Council and Denbighshire Voluntary Services Council (DVSC) to all councillors, to acknowledge the effectiveness of the support provided to local community and voluntary organisations in a bid to assist them to successfully secure funding to support their long-term sustainability.
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Resolved: to recommend that Cabinet during its consideration of the ‘Our Rhyl’ Regeneration Plan – Pride in Place Programme has regard to the Committee’s views, and with the aim of securing the proposed Pride in Place Programme investment to deliver outcomes that meet the local communities’ need that it seeks the ‘Our Rhyl Board’: (i) to remove references within the Strategy document to specific ‘Strategic Projects’ and replace them with a reference to a ‘Strategic Project Fund’ which could be established to invest in large, financially expensive, long-term projects to be approved and managed by the Board following community-wide consultation; (ii) supports the establishment of a ‘Community Regeneration Fund’ as outlined in the Strategy for the purposes of funding smaller community-based projects, some of which could be delivered during the early stages of the Plan’s lifetime fulfilling the needs and aspirations of specific communities whilst supporting the long-term objectives of the Strategy and Plan; (iii) to actively and positively engage with the local community and community organisations in Rhyl post the Strategy and Plan’s submission to the UK Government to seek ideas for projects to be delivered as part of the Plan; and (iv) as part of the preparatory work for delivering the Strategy and Plan to review the Board’s membership and its governance structures to ensure it had the relevant skillsets and appropriate cross-community involvement to achieve the Strategy’s desired long-term objectives for the town and its communities.
The Head of Housing and Communities Services introduced the ‘Our Rhyl’ – Regeneration Plan report (previously circulated) to the Committee. The Leader and Lead Member for Economic Growth & Tackling Deprivation had tendered his apologies due to a clash of meetings. The Pride of Place Programme (formerly the Plan for Neighbourhoods Programme) sought to invest £20m of funding into Rhyl over the period 2026-2036. The initiative was launched by the UK Government and Rhyl was identified as a town which was in the position to be able to draw down a significant amount of funding to support its regeneration. As part of the funding, the Council was identified as the responsible body, however, were instructed to establish a community-led board to develop a 10-year vision and 4-year delivery plan. The ‘Our Rhyl Board’ was independent of the Council, although the Council was represented on the Board by the Leader, Councillor Jason McLellan and Cabinet member Councillor Barry Mellor. The Board had an independent Chair, and the Terms of Reference and current Board membership were attached to the report at Appendix B. Several early principles were established by the Board, one being that the approach to the project should not be seen as a Council-led project but as a sperate entity. The Council’s role was to support the Board. The project process was mandated by UK Government and the Board was tasked with engaging with the community and stakeholders in Rhyl to obtain feedback on the needs and challenges in Rhyl to inform a 10-year strategy and a 4-year delivery plan. The Strategy and Plan needed to be submitted to the UK Government by the end of November 2025. Partnerships Scrutiny were presented with the draft strategy and the Committee were asked to examine the strategy and provide feedback to the Board which would inform the final strategy that would be submitted to UK Government. The Chair thanked the Head of Housing and Communities Service for the report. The Chair expressed her disappointment that there were no representatives in attendance at the meeting from the Board. The Head of Housing and Communities advised that Councillor Mellor who was in attendance was a member of the Board. The Chair sought clarity on why the boundary area for the Neighbourhood Plan was extended from the original boundary. Continuing, an explanation on how the Board envisaged that projects such as the ‘Rhyl Central promenade Highways and Town Centre Public Realm’, ‘Remodelling of the Children’s Village and Central Car Park area’ and ‘Connecting the High Street to the beach’ would lift children and families out of poverty, reduce deprivation and lift communities or areas of Rhyl out of the top 10 areas in the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD), and address the underlying problems in the town. The Head of Housing and Communities Service stated that the original boundary did not include the whole of Rhyl town, a principle of the Board was that they wanted the whole of Rhyl to be included in the boundary to enable the benefits to be inclusive of the whole town. Another principle of the Board was to establish a key fund (The Community Regeneration Fund) which was open to businesses’, organisations and community groups within Rhyl to deliver projects immediately to impact the challenges currently facing Rhyl. The organisations who bid for money to support their projects would need to demonstrate how their projects would help in reducing the deprivation in Rhyl and lift communities out of poverty. The Chair stated that the amount of money spent in Rhyl over the past decade had alienated the town from other Denbighshire towns due to the perception that no tangible benefits had been achieved from that investment – the same, deep-rooted problems linked to deprivation still prevailed. Questions were raised regarding what the plan offered to reassure the Committee that this will not be the case in another 10 years’ time. The Head of Housing and Communities Service explained that the Board were very clear that they wanted the ‘Our Rhyl’ Plan to be different from other funding Rhyl had received in the past. The Board was a Rhyl Board for the people of Rhyl. The Council may need to deliver projects for the Board however, the Plan was and would continue to be Board-led. Members questioned the number of Board meetings that were scheduled before the vision and delivery plan was submitted to UK Government in November. The Rhyl Regeneration Programme Manager confirmed the Board were scheduled to meet on the 7 November to discuss the final draft. Members discussed if the plan that had been presented to them was what was best for Rhyl and questioned if further projects would be requested in the future, could be included in the plan sent to UK Government. The Head of Housing and Communities Service stated that it was the intention of the Board to be transparent and consult widely on the projects residents felt they wanted to include under a smaller Community Regeneration Fund over a short period of time, and a larger strategic project scheme over a longer period. The strategy identified the needs and opportunities that existed in Rhyl that the funding could support. Members questioned the amount of money that was spent on engaging with consultants and publishing the glossy document that had been presented to the Committee. The Head of Housing and Communities Service clarified that the brochure was a PDF document and was not available in a physical format. The Project was not Council-led and therefore external consultants had been used. Money was allocated to the Council to use to support the Board to develop the strategy, and that money had been spent on consultants. The branding of the project was commissioned through the Council’s Print Procurement Framework. While no direct Council funding was allocated, the project had received significant support in the form of dedicated staff time and officer capacity. Members commented on the plan being presented to the Committee at an extremely late stage and questioned how effectively members were expected to provide constructive feedback. The Head of Housing and Communities Service stated that the timescales for submitting the strategy were tight and any recommendations from the Committee would be taken to Cabinet and then the Board to inform the final strategy. Members further reiterated their disappointment in the lack of Board members present at the meeting. Members queried if Rhyl Town Council had been formally consulted on the draft plan. The Head of Housing and Communities Service stated that a Rhyl Town Councillor was a member of the Board, and the expectation was for information and updates to be shared more broadly through Board representatives. Questions were raised regarding if a substantial amount of the funding would be given to the environment enhancement of open spaces in Rhyl and for the health and wellbeing of residents including active travel and biodiversity. The Head of Housing and Communities Services stated that environment enhancement in the community was in the framework of guidance from UK Government and much of the feedback from consultations had been for further improvements in active travel and health and wellbeing. When the list of projects was determined, projects relating to the environment and health and wellbeing would be considered at that stage. Members referred to the report stating that there was the potential for costs and impacts on other services of delivering the plan and questioned how services could effectively prepare to meet the future demand in Rhyl. The Rhyl Regeneration Project Manager explained that no decisions had been taken regarding the funding of any specific services. There was the need to consider the potential impacts on services and to determine their position at that time. Going forward members questioned if the Board’s membership could be widened to include representations from community groups in Rhyl. The Head of Housing and Communities Service explained that members on the Board had accepted the invitation to represent their group and there were currently vacancies on the Board. The Board recognised that they would like a review of the Board membership, regarding how it was constituted and how it went from the strategy development phase to the delivery phase. Once the strategy had been submitted to the UK Government it was the Board’s intention to evaluate itself and review its membership. The Chair stated that the Police and Education Services were stakeholders and where therefore statutory members of the Boad and questioned if statutory Board members were distinguished from Rhyl community group Board members. The Head of Housing and Communities Service stated that the Board was made up of statutory Board members and members from Rhyl Town Council and Community Groups within Rhyl. Some members of the Board had resigned and therefore it was the intention of the Board to review its membership following the submittal of the plan to UK Government. The Committee were firmly of the view that the overall objective of the Plan should be to ensure that families and children in the Rhyl area would be lifted out of poverty, deprivation should be eradicated, and all residents should be supported to live fulfilled lives within a vibrant, sustainable community. For the Strategy and Plan to be effectively and successfully delivered it would be key for the young people of the area to be actively engaged with its development and delivery, as they were the future and would benefit from it most. Following an in-depth discussion, members: Resolved: to recommend that Cabinet during its consideration of the ‘Our Rhyl’ Regeneration Plan – Pride in Place Programme has regard to the Committee’s views, and with the aim of securing the proposed Pride in Place Programme investment to deliver outcomes that meet the local communities’ need that it seeks the ‘Our Rhyl Board’: (i) to remove references within the Strategy document to specific ‘Strategic Projects’ and replace them with a reference to a ‘Strategic Project Fund’ which could be established to invest in large, financially expensive, long-term projects to be approved and managed by the Board following community-wide consultation; (ii) supports the establishment of a ‘Community Regeneration Fund’ as outlined in the Strategy for the purposes of funding smaller community-based projects, some of which could be delivered during the early stages of the Plan’s lifetime fulfilling the needs and aspirations of specific communities whilst supporting the long-term objectives of the Strategy and Plan; (iii) to actively and positively engage with the local community and community organisations in Rhyl post the Strategy and Plan’s submission to the UK Government to seek ideas for projects to be delivered as part of the Plan; and (iv) as part of the preparatory work for delivering the Strategy and Plan to review the Board’s membership and its governance structures to ensure it had the relevant skillsets and appropriate cross-community involvement to achieve the Strategy’s desired long-term objectives for the town and its communities.
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Resolved: to confirm its programme of work as set out in Appendix 1 to the report.
The Scrutiny Coordinator introduced the report and its appendices (previously circulated), which sought the Committee to review its programme of future work. The next meeting of the Partnerships Scrutiny Committee was to be held on the 18 December 2025. There were three business items on the agenda: · North Wales Regional Partnership Board Annual Report 2024-2025 (deferred from the Committee’s September meeting) · Denbigh Health and Social Care and the Rebalancing of Social Care Agenda · Clear-Hold-Build Programme Appendix 2 contained the Member’s Scrutiny Proposal form for members’ use, Appendix 3 contained the Cabinet Forward Work Programme for the Committee’s information and Appendix 4 contained the progress on the Committees resolutions from its previous meetings. The Committee: Resolved: to confirm its programme of work as set out in Appendix 1 to the report.
The Vice-Chair provided a verbal report on the recent Service Challenge meeting for Planning, Public Protection and Countryside Services which he had attended. He informed members that the meeting had been an extremely interesting and constructive one where all in attendance had been able to question the Head of Service on the Services’ current performance and their plans for the future. It was encouraging to learn that the Service was actively attempting to recruit additional planning enforcement staff. Meeting concluded at 12.15pm
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