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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
Resolved: The report was noted
Resolved: The Standards Committee Annual Report 2025/2026 was noted.
Resolved: That Council note and endorse the Democratic Services Committee Annual Report 2025/26 attached at Appendix 1.
Resolved: That Council: a) Approve the recruitment to the post of Head of Engineering Transport. This post will report to the Director of Environment and Regeneration; b) Authorise the Director of Environment & Regeneration and the Head of People and Organisational Development to advertise this post on a national basis with recruitment and selection to be overseen by the Special Appointments Committee c) Approve the salary to apply in line with the NPT Head of Service Pay Grade that ranges from £ 89,565 - per annum to £98,298 per annum and delegate authority to the Special Appointments Committee to determine the starting salary to be offered to the successful candidate within the parameters of the pay grade.
Resolved: That Council: (a) Approves apportionment of seats to the political groups as set out in Appendix 1 (a) Approves the appointment of members to the Council’s various committees and member meetings as set out in Appendix 2.
The Mayor formally congratulated Mrs Karen Jones, former Chief Executive on being awarded an MBE for Public Service in His Majesty the King’s Birthday Honours List. The Mayor highlighted Mrs Jones’ 20 years of service and her recent role as Independent Chair of the Pride in Place Neighbourhood Board and her continued involvement in community investment projects.
The Leader of Council reiterated his personal congratulations to Mrs Karen Jones on her MBE. He went on to provide a comprehensive update on the recent fire in TATA Steelworks, the unaffected status of the electric arc furnace project, ongoing transition funding, business support initiatives and the impact of Lanzatach’s withdrawal from the sustainable aviation fuel project with assurances of continued investment and regeneration efforts. The Leader confirmed that he would send full details of the Lazatech withdrawal from the sustainable aviation fuel project to all members of Council.
No declarations of interest were received.
The minutes of the previous meeting on 5th March 2026 were approved as an accurate record.
The Mayor welcomed Mrs Cheryl Webb to the meeting. Mrs Webb asked the question: “Given the ongoing financial constraints facing the Authority could the Cabinet member please provide the specific evidence base, including accident statistics and a breakdown of the 'infrastructure damage' cited, that justified the recent substantial expenditure of Welsh government road safety funding on chevrons and illuminated signage at roundabouts across the borough.” The Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning, Transport and Connectivity gave the following response: “The Welsh Government Road Safety Capital funding is available to Council’s to make road safety improvements on the highway. The Council has to prepare an application including the evidence base to justify the need for the road safety improvements. The decision to fund the schemes rests with the Welsh Government. Over the past three years, the A4241 and A4107 routes in Neath Port-Talbot have seen 2 fatal, 3 serious, and 17 slight personal injury collisions, with the majority occurring at roundabouts. High-risk groups such as motorcyclists, cyclists, and elderly drivers have been particularly affected. Data shows that vehicles often approach roundabouts at excessive speeds, leading to harsh braking, loss of control, and frequent collisions with street furniture like chevron boards, lighting columns, and road signs. This has resulted in ongoing infrastructure damage and significant maintenance costs for the Authority. The interventions, including vehicle-activated signs and high-visibility passively safe chevron boards, are targeted at the roundabouts with the highest collision rates. These measures are designed to alert drivers earlier, encourage safer speeds, and reduce both accidents and the need for costly repairs. The scheme is projected to save over three collisions and casualties per year, delivering long-term value for money and improved safety for all road users, especially the most vulnerable. Community engagement and police support further reinforce the need for these improvements. In summary, the investment is evidence-led, targeted at locations with a clear record of collisions and infrastructure damage, and funded through a Welsh Government road safety grant rather than the Council’s core budget. It is intended to reduce future casualties, protect vulnerable road users, and limit ongoing repair costs, thereby providing both safety and financial benefits for the Authority. Mrs Webb asked the follow up question: “Why is this funding being prioritized for these visual markers when long standing community led safety requests such as 34 year old proposal for a one way system on Sunnycroft Baglan remains unaddressed due to lack of funds? I approached Malcom Harris 34 years ago and I have approached different Councillor since and this road is being used constantly by all of the housing above which is now increasing again. It has a locality of a school where children walk up the street and this hasn’t been addressed at all regarding road safety.” The Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning, Transport and Connectivity gave the following response: “This appears to be a long standing complaint so unfortunately I do not have the figures in front of me now, so I will go back and speak to officers and write to you to give you the information you require if it is available.”
Decision as recorded
Resolved: The report was noted
Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance and Social Justice Councillor Simon Knoyle introduced the report. Members welcomed the report and said it showed progress over recent years in both complying with the standards and promoting Welsh within the Council and across the county borough. Particular emphasis was placed on the Urdd Eisteddfod and the involvement of many children and young people and the boost this had given to the profile of the Welsh language in Neath Port Talbot. Members stressed the need for honesty about areas still requiring attention, particularly consistency across frontline services, embedding Welsh fully in digital and customer contact channels, and maintaining clear accountability where standards were not met. Resolved: The report was noted
Decision as recorded
Resolved: The Standards Committee Annual Report 2025/2026 was noted.
Chair of the Standards Committee Louise Fleet introduced the annual report for 2025/26. Resolved: The Standards Committee Annual Report 2025/2026 was noted.
Decision as recorded
Resolved: That Council note and endorse the Democratic Services Committee Annual Report 2025/26 attached at Appendix 1.
Chair of the Democratic Services Committee, Councillor Saifur Rahaman introduced the report. Resolved: That Council note and endorse the Democratic Services Committee Annual Report 2025/26 attached at Appendix 1.
Decision as recorded
Resolved: That Council: a) Approve the recruitment to the post of Head of Engineering Transport. This post will report to the Director of Environment and Regeneration; b) Authorise the Director of Environment & Regeneration and the Head of People and Organisational Development to advertise this post on a national basis with recruitment and selection to be overseen by the Special Appointments Committee c) Approve the salary to apply in line with the NPT Head of Service Pay Grade that ranges from £ 89,565 - per annum to £98,298 per annum and delegate authority to the Special Appointments Committee to determine the starting salary to be offered to the successful candidate within the parameters of the pay grade.
Strategic Director of Environment and Regeneration, Nicola Pearce introduced the report. Resolved: That Council: a) Approve the recruitment to the post of Head of Engineering Transport. This post will report to the Director of Environment and Regeneration; b) Authorise the Director of Environment & Regeneration and the Head of People and Organisational Development to advertise this post on a national basis with recruitment and selection to be overseen by the Special Appointments Committee c) Approve the salary to apply in line with the NPT Head of Service Pay Grade that ranges from £ 89,565 - per annum to £98,298 per annum and delegate authority to the Special Appointments Committee to determine the starting salary to be offered to the successful candidate within the parameters of the pay grade.
Decision as recorded
Resolved: That Council: (a) Approves apportionment of seats to the political groups as set out in Appendix 1 (a) Approves the appointment of members to the Council’s various committees and member meetings as set out in Appendix 2.
The Chief Legal Officer Craig Griffiths introduced the supplementary report. Resolved: That Council: (a) Approves apportionment of seats to the political groups as set out in Appendix 1 (a) Approves the appointment of members to the Council’s various committees and member meetings as set out in Appendix 2.
There were none.
Councillor Josh Tuck asked the question: "Given the recent inspection of Neath Port Talbot's Youth Justice Service, which highlighted both strong performance in delivering positive outcomes for children, but also raised multiple concerns regarding access to full-time education and partnership engagement, can the cabinet member outline the key actions being taken to address the inspection's recommendations and ensure sustained service improvement?" Cabinet Member for Children and Family Services Councillor Harris responded: "The recent His Majesty's Inspectorate for Probation Section rated NPT Youth Justice Service as requires improvement. They recognize the practitioners and leaders are passionate, committed, reflective and focused on achieving positive outcomes for children. Inspectors also identified strengths in assessment, planning and delivery, particularly engaging children and adapting work to meet speech, language, and communication needs. However, the inspection was clear that improvements are needed in casework consistency, management oversight, victim work, education access, and partnership governance. The recommendations specifically require stronger assessment and planning, more effective management oversight, board-led workstreams, improved leadership capacity, stronger victim work, consistent education representation, and a cross-partnership approach to statutory education entitlement. In response, the Youth Justice Management Board has agreed a revised board-led improvement model, with the board retaining overall responsibility for strategy, performance, risk and assurance, and acting as the main forum for monitoring and challenging progress against the inspection recommendations. Three focus workstreams have been established to drive delivery. Casework quality assessment and professional practice will oversee themed audits, review practice themes, monitor management oversight, embed learning into workforce development, and provide assurance to the board on whether improvements are being delivered and sustained. The second workstream, victim and restorative practice. This will improve oversight of victim engagement, recording, outcomes, capacity, resourcing, and partnership working with police, probation, and victim services. The third workstream, workforce development and capability, will ensure that improvement is not limited to Youth Justice Service staff alone. It will focus on the whole partnership workforce, ensuring agencies have the skills, confidence, shared understanding, and capacity needed to improve outcomes for children and victims. Each workstream has been set up with initial meetings, either having already taken place or due to take place this month, with a focus on finalizing the terms of reference for the workstream and reporting requirements into the board. The improvement plan also includes a specific action to formally raise the education recommendation with the chief executive, seek an agreement for a corporate cross-partnership response to barriers preventing Youth Justice Service children from accessing their statutory education entitlement. To address leadership capacity, the service is separating strategic and operational responsibilities. Strategic leadership will sit with a strategic lead for adolescents, while the operational Youth Justice Service manager will focus on day-to-day service delivery, case work quality, supervision, and responses to risk. This is intended to reduce duplication, clarify accountability, and create more manageable spans of control. Overall, the response to the inspection report is designed to ensure that improvement is board-owned, partnership led, and evidence-based with clear governance, named leads, quarterly assurance reporting, regular review, and escalation of risks where required. To summarize, we are building on the strengths recognized by inspectors while taking a structured and accountable approach to the areas requiring improvement, particularly education access, partnership engagement, victim work, leadership capacity, and consistent high-quality practice. Social services, housing and community safety scrutiny committee are meeting on the 23rd of July where members will have the opportunity to ask more detailed questions on the report that will be delivered on that scrutiny committee. Does that answer your questions, Councillor Tuck?" Councillor Tuck asked the supplementary question: "Thank you so much, Councillor Harris. I really appreciate the thorough response and I also appreciate what sounds like some very positive changes coming out of the report. I did just have one other question. I just wanted to know if you could confirm what steps are being taken to protect and sustain the already high-performing elements of the Youth Justice Service identified in the inspection, including those positive outcomes achieved for children already." The Cabinet Member responded: "The three chairs of the work streams will be Maria Selby, Ruth Griffiths, and Carys Marshall-Elson, which are two of our principal officers and a victim support team leader. So they have experience in all the things that have been going right. Like Ruth Griffiths, who's the principal officer for the Youth Justice Service, will be monitoring and making sure that everything that has been recognized as going well will continue to go well, and that will be brought into the board, and the board will be taking more responsibility for questioning those things and making sure that they're all done. Is that okay?" Councillor Laura Williams asked the question: "What is the council doing to ensure our older residents are confident in accessing digital services?" Cabinet Member for Adult Social Services and Health Councillor Hale responded: "Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good afternoon, everybody. I'm the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Services and Health. Thank you for your question. We know that some older residents can find digital services unfamiliar or difficult. As a council, we want everyone to feel supported and not left behind. Our approach has two parts. Firstly, digital enablement in people's homes, which is delivered through our social services technology-enabled care service, where solutions are tailored to each individual's needs using simple, accessible, off-the-shelf technology such as smart light switches, smart plugs, doorbells, or voice-activated assistants to support independence, safety, and staying connected with support being given to use it confidently. Second, digital inclusion in our communities, which are delivered through adult learning, working with libraries, community hubs, and partner organizations to provide accessible face-to-face opportunities for people to build their skills and confidence at their own pace, including drop-in sessions where people can get one-on-one help with everyday digital tasks such as keeping in touch with family, paying bills or accessing services easily and safely. This includes practical community-based support, which I can honestly say we've used in our community. And Neil, one of the teams, came along and so many of the older people were delighted to be able to be shown how to, Didn't even know what WhatsApp was. Now they can access WhatsApp to get in touch with families and it's a really good service. From a social services perspective, this supports our focus on prevention and early intervention, helping people remain independent and connected. We also recognize that digital is not right for everyone and appreciate that alternative ways to access services remain important. Our aim is to ensure that older people feel confident and able to access services in a way that works for them. I don't know if anybody's aware, but our digital solution suite is located within Cimla Health and Social Care Centre, where visitors can explore mainstream smart technology, receive expert advice, undertake digital needs assessments, and benefit from ongoing support. You can book a free guided tour. We also offer an online 360 interactive video tour, which allows people to view the suite virtually by clicking on each piece of technology to learn how it works. The digital enablement team have filmed over 25 videos showing a variety of smart technologies, smart plugs, smart bulbs, Amazon Echo devices, Ring doorbells, smart Hoovers, electric door locks, Wi-Fi kettles, even a TV remote finder. And I think everybody needs one of them because we all tend to lose our TV remotes. I would also like to add that we were one of the first council to have a digital suite, so I think that says it all, really. Thank you." Councillor Laura Williams asked the supplementary question: "Thank you. Speaking of the digital inclusion officers, you have explained in your answer, we currently have two full-time digital inclusion officers who go out in the community, as you stated, to outreach groups and libraries. This service has already reduced in the last year from four officers to two and will potentially be at further risk from September, where we could see the two current officers drop to part-time hours. These roles are extremely important in helping our residents to access the vital day-to-day services we rely on, including the council's own services and other online services, such as banking. These roles are essential in supporting older residents to use their digital devices safely and confidently, while minimizing the risk of falling victim to scams. Will the cabinet member therefore commit to exploring funding to make sure we do not cut the service any further and, crucially, make sure our older residents are fully supported and not left behind?" The Cabinet Member responded: "Yes, I will, but I can ask Sarah Waite to come in, who could most probably answer that and give it a little bit more detail, if that's okay." Councillor Sarah Grimshaw asked the question: “Recommendation three of the recent inspection report into Neath Port Talbot's Youth Justice Service highlighted that the management board was not taking sufficient ownership of the strategic direction of the service and should, in fact, be driving forward key areas of partnership working. Can the cabinet member please outline what actions have been taken in response to this recommendation to strengthen the role and the effectiveness of the management board?" Cabinet Member for Children and Family Services Councillor Sian Harris responded: "Hi. Afternoon. Thank you for the question, Councillor Grimshaw. Recommendation three was clear that the Youth Justice Management Board must take ownership of driving partnership working, rather than this sitting primarily with the Youth Justice Service leadership team. The board has now established a revised governance structure with clear board-level leadership and accountability for improvements, supported by three core work streams." Councillor Harris continued that the workstreams were the same as those referred to in the earlier response to Councillor Tuck. Councillor Grimshaw indicated that they did not need to be read out again. Councillor Harris then continued: "Each work stream has a named strategic leadership and board accountability, clearly defined terms of reference and membership across partners, regular monthly meetings, and formal reporting into the management board quarterly. This ensures that key areas of partnership working are now board-owned, scrutinized, and driven at a strategic level rather than operationally led by Youth Justice Service. The board is held to account through quarterly assurance reports from each work stream, covering progress, risks, and impact; routine reporting of performance, quality assurance, and audit findings, providing evidence of improvement over time; regulated tracking of inspection recommendations and actions with clear ownership and timescales; ongoing scrutiny and challenge within the management board, including escalation of risks and barriers requiring partner action. In addition, there is a formal review with six and 12 months to test whether governance, leadership, and work streams are effective and delivering sustained improvement. The council retains oversight through its broader governance arrangements, ensuring that the board is held accountable for delivery against the inspection improvement plan. Again, in summary, the board now has a clear ownership of partnership delivery through defined work streams, structured reporting, and strengthened scrutiny, ensuring that improvement is strategically led, accountable, and sustained. And again, this report will be coming to Social Services, Housing and Community Safety Scrutiny on 23rd of July, where you would be able to ask more detailed questions of the officers. That okay?"
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