Loading
The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
Resolved: to exercise the powers set out in Section 35 of the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 being the designated Overview and Scrutiny Committee for this purpose as approved by Council May 2015.
The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.
There were no declarations of interest received.
The minutes of the meeting held on 4 June 2026 were approved as a true and accurate record.
Members considered the items selected from the Cabinet Forward Work Programme.
Members considered the report as circulated within the agenda pack. Members asked how the Anti-Racism Strategy would support the Council objective on living standards, in particular the aim to work and reduce poverty and support independent living. Officers advised that the strategy supports delivery of the Wales for Future Equality Plan objectives by tackling barriers and inequalities experienced by ethnic minority communities. Officers linked this directly to living standards through fair access to employment, improved career progression, addressing workforce disparities and supporting economic inclusion. Officers drew attention to specific actions within the action plan, namely action 9 to advertise career opportunities more widely through outreach initiatives and spotlight role models, action 10 to consider positive action in recruitment activity, action 12 to ensure all hiring managers receive training to recognise and address bias in recruitment, action 13 to identify and analyse retention issues among colleagues from ethnic minority communities, and action 20 to engage with local community organisations so that the views of ethnic minority groups inform service design and delivery. Members asked whether there were plans for a seminar for Council Members and town and community councillors on the Anti-Racism Strategy. Officers advised that a seminar for Members was being looked at for the early autumn to highlight internal work to implement the strategy. Officers also agreed to take away the suggestion of including town and community councillors and to liaise with clerks. A member referred to the definition of anti-racism on page 26 of the agenda pack and objected to the wording that placed emphasis on white people educating themselves about racism. The member considered the wording was divisive and said that all groups have responsibility to educate themselves. Officers advised that the wording had been taken from the Welsh Government Anti-Racism Action Plan. Officers distinguished between being racist and being anti-racist and said there is a responsibility to call out racism when it is seen. Officers added that the Council could review the context of the Welsh Government wording and return to Members. A member added that the intended emphasis was that people at the receiving end of racism should not be expected to educate others, and that everyone has a responsibility to take a proactive stance and show allyship. A member welcomed the production of the strategy and referred to leadership, trade union partnership and the recognition that becoming an anti-racist organisation requires continuing action rather than a one-off commitment. That member then asked how anti-racism training would be evaluated to determine whether behaviour changed, rather than simply recording attendance. Officers advised that annual employee engagement surveys ask staff whether people from different backgrounds are readily accepted and whether staff can bring their authentic selves to work, and that this would be one way to measure culture change and positive progress under the strategy. That member then asked how local ethnic minority communities would be involved in reviewing progress, rather than only being consulted at the outset. Officers advised that the Council has strong links with to links with the NPT BME Community Association and the Ethnic Employee Network and would continue this two-way engagement throughout the process rather than only at the start. An officer added further detail on the evaluation of training. Questionnaires are issued after every training event to assess immediate impact. Follow-up questionnaires are also being considered 8 weeks to 12 weeks after training so that longer-term impact can be measured. The officer added that the employee engagement survey and the ethnic employee forum would both provide important feedback on the difference this work is making across the Council. Some members expressed their concern about changing the wording set out in the strategy. They considered the sentence had to be read in the context of the wider paragraph and of anti-racism being defined through differential outcomes for ethnic minority groups. It was said that, in that context, white people form the majority ethnic group and that this was why the wording was framed as it was. Members said they would be concerned about undermining that wording, particularly as the evidence base in the UK shows that the majority of racist incidents are committed by white people against ethnic minority groups. They remained content with the wording as drafted unless evidence suggested discrimination against other groups needed to be reflected in policy. The strategy is asking people to listen, learn and reflect on how they can contribute to a fairer and more inclusive society. Members referred to page 34, paragraph 6, and asked whether the creation and recruitment of anti-racism support officer positions would be additional duties for existing staff or involve the employment of new staff with financial implications. Officers advised that the Council already has a good internal framework of support officers. The intention is to recruit support officers from across the Council in addition to their substantive roles, with enough people involved to avoid overloading workloads. Officers referred to the existing networks of conflict resolution officers and sexual harassment support officers and said that these arrangements were working well and would be replicated in this case. A member then asked whether the Thinqi platform, through which employees would access anti-racism policies, was available on home computers given that many workers do not have access to a computer during work time. Officers advised that they did not have that information to hand and would find out and report back. Following scrutiny, the recommendation was supported to Cabinet.
Members considered the report as circulated within the agenda pack. There were no questions on this item. Members noted the report.
There were no items to consider from the scrutiny committee Forward Work Programme.
Members considered the performance monitoring items.
Members considered the report as circulated within the agenda pack. The Chair introduced the report and gave a brief overview of the work of the Performance and Resource Scrutiny Committee during 2025/2026. Areas considered during the year included budget monitoring, heads of service business plans, risk register monitoring, national residents survey, the corporate self-assessment and third sector grant schemes. Nearly 46 items had been considered in total. Most were duly noted. The full list of items was contained on pages 152 and 153 of the agenda pack. The Chair thanked officers for their constant support to the group, thanked the Vice Chair for attending meetings, thanked Members for raising questions, and thanked officers for providing answers to Members’ questions and queries. There were no questions on this item. Following scrutiny, the recommendation was supported.
Decision as recorded
Resolved: to exercise the powers set out in Section 35 of the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 being the designated Overview and Scrutiny Committee for this purpose as approved by Council May 2015.
Resolved: to exercise the powers set out in Section 35 of the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 being the designated Overview and Scrutiny Committee for this purpose as approved by Council May 2015.
Members considered the report as circulated within the agenda pack. The Leader introduced the report as Chair of the Neath Port Talbot Public Services Board. The Annual Report covers the statutory duty of the Public Services Board to produce a report every July showing progress against the Wellbeing Plan. Members were advised that this is the third annual report for the current Wellbeing Plan running from 2023 to 2028. It provided information on all 6 workstreams supporting the wellbeing objectives, including work undertaken during 2025 to 2026 and the focus of future work. Two case studies within the report were highlighted to the committee. One concerned the voice of the child in Neath Port Talbot and how partners were working together to ensure children’s voices are heard and how this can influence planning and decision-making. The second concerned the climate change risk assessment undertaken to develop understanding of the impact of climate change on wellbeing across Neath Port Talbot. The assessment takes account of residents’ views and their experience of climate change in everyday life. Its findings will inform the upcoming wellbeing assessment and help the Public Services Board develop a more practical response to climate risk in the next planning phase. A question was raised in relation to page 183 and the cost of living report, specifically how residents would be engaged and whether Members could also be involved. Officers advised that an officer had been responsible for the previous cost of living report and had written to officers during the autumn of the previous year to gather updates on work undertaken in 2024 to 2025. The same process would be repeated for 2025 to 2026. Officers added that it was a good suggestion to involve Members more directly, and proposed writing to Members to ask what had been happening in their communities so that this could also feed into the report alongside the officer input. Following scrutiny, the report was noted.
The Forward Work Programme was noted.
There were no urgent items.
Councillors must say when they have a personal link to something being discussed, such as a job, a property or a family member. A prejudicial interest is one strong enough that the councillor usually leaves the room and takes no part.
Declarations are read from the minutes once they are published.
Lists the council's current councillors only. Co-opted members, officers and former councillors aren't shown.