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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED To accept option 2 as set out in section 9.1 of the report and 1. not implement a visitor levy at this stage; 2. agree to a period of engagement with residents, businesses and tourism stakeholders to gather evidence and views on this decision; 3. that a further report be brought back to Council following the engagement exercise.
RESOLVED to approve the recommendations of the Democratic Services Committee on amendments to Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 11 of the Constitution.
RESOLVED 1. To formally thank Mr Hays for his service. 2. That the arrangements to make an appointment to the Standards Committee be approved as set out in Appendix 1 to the report and commence the recruitment process.
RESOLVED that County Councillor Gareth D Jones be appointed to the Powys Community Foundation Grants Panel. Elan Valley Trust It was agreed to defer this to the next meeting. Council adjourned at 12.30 and reconvened at 1.20 pm. PRESENT County Councillor WD Powell (Chair) County Councillors B Baynham, D Bebb, B Breeze, G Breeze, J Berriman, L Brighouse, J Brignell-Thorp, J Charlton, R Church, T Colbert, S Cox, A W Davies, A Davies, B Davies, B Davies, R Devlin, M J Dorrance, D Edwards, A Evans, F Frantz-Morgans, L George, J Gibson-Watt, C Hall, I Harrison, K Healy, P James, A Jones, E A Jones, E Jones, G D Jones, G E Jones, J R Jones, C Kenyon-Wade, P Lewington, K Lewis, P E Lewis, W Lloyd, C Masefield, I McIntosh, DW Meredith, C Johnson-Wood, G Mitchell, G Preston, G Pugh, G W Ratcliffe, L Rijnenberg, L Roberts, P Roberts, C Robinson, E Roderick, D Selby, D A Thomas, R G Thomas, E Vaughan, C Walsh, J Wilkinson, A Williams, D H Williams and S L Williams
RESOLVED 1. To recognise the risk to our communities and to our council if we allow misinformation, and the fear, suspicion, intolerance and discrimination that it generates, to persist unchallenged. 2. To correct misinformation on asylum and migration wherever it occurs. 3. To work with partners to ensure the safety and wellbeing of everyone in our communities, regardless of race, religion or sexual orientation or other protected characteristics. 4. To reaffirm our intention to be a county of sanctuary. 5. To ensure, as an anti-racist council, that racism is confronted wherever it occurs, in the school, in the workplace and on the street, with particular consideration to protecting the wellbeing of our own staff, tenants and clients. 6. To reaffirm our role as councillors in tackling misinformation and building stronger, cohesive communities. County Councillors Ian Harrison and Arwel Jones left at 2.13 pm.
RESOLVED to call on Welsh Government to work with Network Rail and Powys Council to identify and undertake measures to alleviate the situation and to prioritise action on the A470. County Councillor Bryn Davies left at 2.25 pm.
RESOLVED that Powys calls on the Welsh Government to pause its open invitation to submit any more DNS applications for major on-shore wind farms in Powys until: 1. the Government clearly sets out how it will ensure that cumulative impact (including the associated infrastructure) across all outstanding DNS applications is to be properly managed and considered. The existing case by case basis cannot keep pace with the rate at which competing applications are emerging, leaving communities unconvinced that the declared “presumption in favour” of large-scale projects will adequately protect their interests which is undermining confidence in the impartiality of the planning system. 2. the Government sets out a clear and coherent plan for upgrading the power transmission and distribution network, confirming their commitment to undergrounding new lines of 132kva and above, and demonstrates how electricity generated can be accessed and used by local residents. 3. the Government demonstrates how it intends to align the two consenting regimes for wind farms and transmission lines and not permit more energy parks to be granted planning consent unless and until there is demonstrable evidence that they can be implemented and connected up to the grid.
RESOLVED 1. To express in strong terms this Council’s view that it does not wish to be associated with companies complicit in in war crimes. 2. To write to the Powys Pension Fund and the Welsh Pension Partnership to make these views clear and to ask them to review their investments and consider whether any holdings should be divested, within the context of their fiduciary responsibilities, Environmental, Social and Governance risk and their Responsible Investment Strategies. 3. To ask the Powys Pension Fund and Wales Pension Partnership to review their ethical/responsible investment policies to ensure there are strong checks prior to investment of whether any companies are complicit in war crimes 4. To ask the Powys Pension Fund and Welsh Pension Partnership to regularly review and report divestment progress. Where the funds favour a policy of stewardship over divestment, to provide detailed and specific evidence of the impact and efficacy of this approach, and to report back to Full Council on the above by the end of this financial year.
Apologies for absence were received from County Councillors S C Davies who was on other Council business and from County Councillors A Jenner, A Kennerley, S McNicholas and J Yeomans. Technical problems prevented County Councillor J Pugh from attending on line.
The Chair was authorised to sign the minutes of the meetings held on 4th July and 10th July 2025 as correct records.
County Councillors Danny Bebb, Tom Colbert, Angela Davies, Bryn Davies, Raiff Devlin, Peter James, Arwel Jones, Gareth E Jones, Geoff Morgan, David Thomas, Gwynfor Thomas and Jonathan Wilkinson declared personal and prejudicial interests in Item 7 Visitor Accommodation Levy. County Councillor Karl Lewis declared a personal interest. County Councillor Jonathan Wilkinson declared a personal interest in item 14 Notice of Motion on Wind Energy in Powys. Standards Committee had granted a dispensation to members to speak and vote on matters connected with renewable energy. County Councillors Beverley Baynham, Danny Bebb, Graham Breeze, Jeremy Brignell-Thorp, Jackie Charlton, Tom Colbert, Aled Davies, Angela Davies, Bryan Davies, Bryn Davies, Matthew Dorrancem Deb Edwards, Alwyn Evans, Fleur Franz-Morgans, James Gibson-Watt, Claire Hall, Ian Harrison, Kelly Healy, Peter James, Claire Johnson-Wood, Arwel Jones, Ed Jones, Gareth D Jones, Gareth E Jones, Joy Jones, Corrina Kenyon-Wade, Karl Lewis, Peter Lewis, Chloe Masefield, David Meredith, Gary Mitchell, Geoff Morgan, William Powell, Glyn Preston, Gareth Pugh, Gareth Ratcliffe, Lucy Roberts, Pete Roberts, Elwyn Vaughan, Chris Walsh, Ange Williams, Huw Williams and Sarah Williams declared personal interests in Item 15 Notice of Motion Pensions Divestment as members of the Local Government Pension Scheme. County Councillors Corinna Kenyon-Wade, Peter Lewis and Huw Williams also declared personal interests as members of the Pensions and Investment Committee. The Head of Legal and Monitoring Officer reminded Councillors that there was a general dispensation for Councillors to speak and vote in connection with items about the Pension Fund.
The Chair gave details of his engagements since the last meeting. He congratulated Martin Draper from Talgarth who had received the BBC Wales Make a Difference award for his work in creating wildflower habitats by leaving verges unmown. He welcomed pupils, parents and friends of Llandinam CP School who he had met before the start of the meeting.
The Leader noted that applications were being invited for grants from the Welsh Government Transforming Towns Programme. There was £4 million available to help revitalise town centres in Powys and Ceredigion and the Leader encouraged Councillors to engage with potential applicants and the Regeneration team. He noted that the Let’s Talk: Living in Powys survey had been launched and would run until the end of November. The survey would help inform the Council’s locality based planning.
Affordable homes are non-existent, and council properties are old and in my opinion neglected. Ystradgynlais falls within the South West Powys sub-market area with a zero percent contribution to affordable housing. So, no affordable housing needs to be provided by proposed housing developments. And that is in line with the Powys Local Development Plan Policy. However, The Homes in Powys – Housing Business Plan, puts in place the money needed to make homes more energy efficient for our tenants – tackling fuel poverty and ensuring council homes are doing their bit to tackle climate change. So, my question is this: How much Welsh Government funded money has been put aside to bring our properties in Ystradgynlais up to standard, especially those properties housing the elderly and disabled? If no energy efficient affordable housing is going to be built, what exactly are PCC plans over the next few years to bring the pre-existing pre-1960s bungalows in Ystradgynlais up to a decent affordable standard? Are they going to inject extra money into these older properties, so our homes are properly energy efficient (e.g. insulating the roofs and floors, triple glazing, solar panels, and/or changing expensive fossil fuel heating systems to heat pumps), and on par with other PCC properties that are less old, or will the bare minimum remain as standard? Climate change has had a noticeable effect, especially on damp and mould, yet PCC seem extremely slow to act. Will this change? Response The Council receives a Major Repairs Allowance from the Welsh Government, currently £3.73m per annum, as a contribution towards maintaining the Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS) across all homes owned by the Council. No specific funding is made available by the Welsh Government for Ystradgynlais. Properties in Ystradgynlais are considered alongside all properties owned by the Council when works programmes are being developed. The decisions take into account condition and the requirements of the WHQS. Investment in existing properties to improve energy efficiency takes place as part of the Council’s wider investment programme in its housing portfolio. Further details can be found in ‘At Home in Powys’, of which I see from your note you have a copy. The design of works to existing properties takes into account the way such properties were designed, as older properties were intended to work with heating systems that may not necessarily be used today (for example solid fuel fires) and the construction methods used (for example walls, roofs and materials). This means that the approach for each property type is bespoke. However, the design and construction of properties does impact on what is and is not feasible for improvement works. For example, it is important to make sure that properties designed around the through-flow ventilation that occurs through the use of solid fuel space heating maintain adequate and similar ventilation. It is not always the case that new systems provide tangible improvements over existing tried and tested approaches. For example, air source heat pumps can prove, in use, to be neither less consuming of energy or less costly to operate than systems using gas or oil. There was no supplementary question.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED To accept option 2 as set out in section 9.1 of the report and 1. not implement a visitor levy at this stage; 2. agree to a period of engagement with residents, businesses and tourism stakeholders to gather evidence and views on this decision; 3. that a further report be brought back to Council following the engagement exercise.
County Councillors Danny Bebb, Tom Colbert, Angela Davies, Bryn Davies, Raiff Devlin, Peter James, Arwel Jones, Gareth E Jones, Geoff Morgan, David Thomas, Gwynfor Thomas and Jonathan Wilkinson declared personal and prejudicial interests in this item. County Councillor Karl Lewis declared a personal interest. Council considered a report on the discretionary Visitor Levy in Wales enabled by the Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill and whether or not there should be a period of stakeholder engagement before a final decision was made. The report set out a number of options with the preferred option that the Council was not minded to implement the levy, but undertake an engagement exercise with the residents, businesses and tourism stakeholders of Powys to gather evidence and views on this decision. A number of members spoke in support of Option 1, not to implement the levy. Several questioned spending money on an engagement exercise if the Council was minded not to implement the levy, whilst others felt that it was important to engage with the tourism sector and the public and gather evidence to inform the decision. Council was advised that social media would be used so costs would be minimal. It was proposed by County Councillor Glyn Preston and seconded by County Councillor Matthew Dorrance and by 29 votes to 19 with 1 abstention it was RESOLVED To accept option 2 as set out in section 9.1 of the report and 1. not implement a visitor levy at this stage; 2. agree to a period of engagement with residents, businesses and tourism stakeholders to gather evidence and views on this decision; 3. that a further report be brought back to Council following the engagement exercise.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED to approve the recommendations of the Democratic Services Committee on amendments to Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 11 of the Constitution.
Council considered recommendations from the Democratic Services Committee on amendments to Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 11 of the Constitution. The Head of Legal and Democratic Services advised that the requirement for agendas to be published five clear days before the meeting would be implemented from 1st November. He advised Council that the change would also require an amendment to Section 4.3.1 of the Constitution. It was moved by County Councillor Pete Lewington and seconded by County Councillor Karl Lewis and by 60 votes to 0 it was RESOLVED to approve the recommendations of the Democratic Services Committee on amendments to Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 11 of the Constitution.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED 1. To formally thank Mr Hays for his service. 2. That the arrangements to make an appointment to the Standards Committee be approved as set out in Appendix 1 to the report and commence the recruitment process.
The term of office of the Independent Chair of the Standards Committee, Mr Stephan Hays ceases on 26 January 2026. It was moved by County Councillor Liz Rijnenberg and seconded by County Councillor Iain McIntosh and by 58 votes to 0 it was RESOLVED 1. To formally thank Mr Hays for his service. 2. That the arrangements to make an appointment to the Standards Committee be approved as set out in Appendix 1 to the report and commence the recruitment process.
Council noted the appointments made by the Leader to the Cabinet. The Leader placed on record his thanks to County Councillor Sian Cox for her work as Cabinet Member for a Caring Powys since her appointment.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED that County Councillor Gareth D Jones be appointed to the Powys Community Foundation Grants Panel. Elan Valley Trust It was agreed to defer this to the next meeting. Council adjourned at 12.30 and reconvened at 1.20 pm. PRESENT County Councillor WD Powell (Chair) County Councillors B Baynham, D Bebb, B Breeze, G Breeze, J Berriman, L Brighouse, J Brignell-Thorp, J Charlton, R Church, T Colbert, S Cox, A W Davies, A Davies, B Davies, B Davies, R Devlin, M J Dorrance, D Edwards, A Evans, F Frantz-Morgans, L George, J Gibson-Watt, C Hall, I Harrison, K Healy, P James, A Jones, E A Jones, E Jones, G D Jones, G E Jones, J R Jones, C Kenyon-Wade, P Lewington, K Lewis, P E Lewis, W Lloyd, C Masefield, I McIntosh, DW Meredith, C Johnson-Wood, G Mitchell, G Preston, G Pugh, G W Ratcliffe, L Rijnenberg, L Roberts, P Roberts, C Robinson, E Roderick, D Selby, D A Thomas, R G Thomas, E Vaughan, C Walsh, J Wilkinson, A Williams, D H Williams and S L Williams
Powys Community Foundation Grants Panel County Councillors Alwyn Evans and Gareth D Jones were nominated. Following a ballot it was RESOLVED that County Councillor Gareth D Jones be appointed to the Powys Community Foundation Grants Panel. Elan Valley Trust It was agreed to defer this to the next meeting. Council adjourned at 12.30 and reconvened at 1.20 pm. PRESENT County Councillor WD Powell (Chair) County Councillors B Baynham, D Bebb, B Breeze, G Breeze, J Berriman, L Brighouse, J Brignell-Thorp, J Charlton, R Church, T Colbert, S Cox, A W Davies, A Davies, B Davies, B Davies, R Devlin, M J Dorrance, D Edwards, A Evans, F Frantz-Morgans, L George, J Gibson-Watt, C Hall, I Harrison, K Healy, P James, A Jones, E A Jones, E Jones, G D Jones, G E Jones, J R Jones, C Kenyon-Wade, P Lewington, K Lewis, P E Lewis, W Lloyd, C Masefield, I McIntosh, DW Meredith, C Johnson-Wood, G Mitchell, G Preston, G Pugh, G W Ratcliffe, L Rijnenberg, L Roberts, P Roberts, C Robinson, E Roderick, D Selby, D A Thomas, R G Thomas, E Vaughan, C Walsh, J Wilkinson, A Williams, D H Williams and S L Williams
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED 1. To recognise the risk to our communities and to our council if we allow misinformation, and the fear, suspicion, intolerance and discrimination that it generates, to persist unchallenged. 2. To correct misinformation on asylum and migration wherever it occurs. 3. To work with partners to ensure the safety and wellbeing of everyone in our communities, regardless of race, religion or sexual orientation or other protected characteristics. 4. To reaffirm our intention to be a county of sanctuary. 5. To ensure, as an anti-racist council, that racism is confronted wherever it occurs, in the school, in the workplace and on the street, with particular consideration to protecting the wellbeing of our own staff, tenants and clients. 6. To reaffirm our role as councillors in tackling misinformation and building stronger, cohesive communities. County Councillors Ian Harrison and Arwel Jones left at 2.13 pm.
Council debated the following motion proposed by County Councillor Richard Church and seconded by County Councillor Matthew Dorrance: This Council resolves: • To recognise the risk to our communities and to our council if we allow misinformation, and the fear, suspicion, intolerance and discrimination that it generates, to persist unchallenged. • To correct misinformation on asylum and migration wherever it occurs. • To work with partners to ensure the safety and wellbeing of everyone in our communities, regardless of race, religion or sexual orientation or other protected characteristics. • To reaffirm our intention to be a county of sanctuary. • To ensure, as an anti-racist council, that racism is confronted wherever it occurs, in the school, in the workplace and on the street, with particular consideration to protecting the wellbeing of our own staff. • To reaffirm our role as councillors in tackling misinformation and building stronger, cohesive communities. The proposer and seconder indicated that they were prepared to accept the addition of the words “tenants and clients” to the end of 5. By 38 votes to 6 with 9 amendments it was RESOLVED 1. To recognise the risk to our communities and to our council if we allow misinformation, and the fear, suspicion, intolerance and discrimination that it generates, to persist unchallenged. 2. To correct misinformation on asylum and migration wherever it occurs. 3. To work with partners to ensure the safety and wellbeing of everyone in our communities, regardless of race, religion or sexual orientation or other protected characteristics. 4. To reaffirm our intention to be a county of sanctuary. 5. To ensure, as an anti-racist council, that racism is confronted wherever it occurs, in the school, in the workplace and on the street, with particular consideration to protecting the wellbeing of our own staff, tenants and clients. 6. To reaffirm our role as councillors in tackling misinformation and building stronger, cohesive communities. County Councillors Ian Harrison and Arwel Jones left at 2.13 pm.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED to call on Welsh Government to work with Network Rail and Powys Council to identify and undertake measures to alleviate the situation and to prioritise action on the A470. County Councillor Bryn Davies left at 2.25 pm.
Council debated the following motion proposed by County Councillor Elwyn Vaughan and seconded by County Councillor Bryn Davies. The A470 is a key road tying Wales together. It is a essential link for our economic prosperity. We have seen investment and upgrades on sections of the road over the years yet there are certain parts in Powys that continue to cause problems. This is highlighted when we have accidents or road blockages creating huge diversions and problems for locals and visitors alike. One such accident hotspot is at Pontdolgoch with vehicles regularly hitting or being unable to pass the Cambrian Line railway bridge resulting in not only the A470 being closed but also the main railway line that links Shrewsbury and Aberystwyth. In view of the need for a modern efficient integrated transport system in Wales - Council calls on Welsh Government to work with Network Rail and Powys Council to identify and undertake measures to alleviate the situation and to prioritise action on the A470. By 52 votes to 0 with 1 abstention it was RESOLVED to call on Welsh Government to work with Network Rail and Powys Council to identify and undertake measures to alleviate the situation and to prioritise action on the A470. County Councillor Bryn Davies left at 2.25 pm.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED that Powys calls on the Welsh Government to pause its open invitation to submit any more DNS applications for major on-shore wind farms in Powys until: 1. the Government clearly sets out how it will ensure that cumulative impact (including the associated infrastructure) across all outstanding DNS applications is to be properly managed and considered. The existing case by case basis cannot keep pace with the rate at which competing applications are emerging, leaving communities unconvinced that the declared “presumption in favour” of large-scale projects will adequately protect their interests which is undermining confidence in the impartiality of the planning system. 2. the Government sets out a clear and coherent plan for upgrading the power transmission and distribution network, confirming their commitment to undergrounding new lines of 132kva and above, and demonstrates how electricity generated can be accessed and used by local residents. 3. the Government demonstrates how it intends to align the two consenting regimes for wind farms and transmission lines and not permit more energy parks to be granted planning consent unless and until there is demonstrable evidence that they can be implemented and connected up to the grid.
County Councillor Jonathan Wilkinson declared a personal but not a prejudicial interest in item 14 Notice of Motion on Wind Energy in Powys as the Standards Committee had granted a dispensation to members to speak and vote on matters connected with renewable energy. Council considered the following motion proposed by County Councillor Glyn Preston and seconded by County Councillor Jonathan Wilkinson Powys calls on the Welsh Government to pause its open invitation to submit any more DNS applications for major on-shore wind farms in Powys until: • the Government clearly sets out how it will ensure that cumulative impact (including the associated infrastructure) across all outstanding DNS applications is to be properly managed and considered. The existing case by case basis cannot keep pace with the rate at which competing applications are emerging, leaving communities unconvinced that the declared “presumption in favour” of large-scale projects will adequately protect their interests which is undermining confidence in the impartiality of the planning system. • the Government sets out a clear and coherent plan for upgrading the power transmission and distribution network, confirming their commitment to undergrounding new lines of 132kva and above, and demonstrates how electricity generated can be accessed and used by local residents. • the Government demonstrates how it intends to align the two consenting regimes for wind farms and transmission lines and not permit more energy parks to be granted planning consent unless and until there is demonstrable evidence that they can be implemented and connected up to the grid. Speakers referred to the cumulative effect on communities of so many on-shore wind-farms. By 51 votes to 0 it was RESOLVED that Powys calls on the Welsh Government to pause its open invitation to submit any more DNS applications for major on-shore wind farms in Powys until: 1. the Government clearly sets out how it will ensure that cumulative impact (including the associated infrastructure) across all outstanding DNS applications is to be properly managed and considered. The existing case by case basis cannot keep pace with the rate at which competing applications are emerging, leaving communities unconvinced that the declared “presumption in favour” of large-scale projects will adequately protect their interests which is undermining confidence in the impartiality of the planning system. 2. the Government sets out a clear and coherent plan for upgrading the power transmission and distribution network, confirming their commitment to undergrounding new lines of 132kva and above, and demonstrates how electricity generated can be accessed and used by local residents. 3. the Government demonstrates how it intends to align the two consenting regimes for wind farms and transmission lines and not permit more energy parks to be granted planning consent unless and until there is demonstrable evidence that they can be implemented and connected up to the grid.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED 1. To express in strong terms this Council’s view that it does not wish to be associated with companies complicit in in war crimes. 2. To write to the Powys Pension Fund and the Welsh Pension Partnership to make these views clear and to ask them to review their investments and consider whether any holdings should be divested, within the context of their fiduciary responsibilities, Environmental, Social and Governance risk and their Responsible Investment Strategies. 3. To ask the Powys Pension Fund and Wales Pension Partnership to review their ethical/responsible investment policies to ensure there are strong checks prior to investment of whether any companies are complicit in war crimes 4. To ask the Powys Pension Fund and Welsh Pension Partnership to regularly review and report divestment progress. Where the funds favour a policy of stewardship over divestment, to provide detailed and specific evidence of the impact and efficacy of this approach, and to report back to Full Council on the above by the end of this financial year.
County Councillors Beverley Baynham, Danny Bebb, Graham Breeze, Jeremy Brignell-Thorp, Jackie Charlton, Tom Colbert, Aled Davies, Angela Davies, Bryan Davies, Bryn Davies, Matthew Dorrancem Deb Edwards, Alwyn Evans, Fleur Franz-Morgans, James Gibson-Watt, Claire Hall, Ian Harrison, Kelly Healy, Peter James, Claire Johnson-Wood, Arwel Jones, Ed Jones, Gareth D Jones, Gareth E Jones, Joy Jones, Corrina Kenyon-Wade, Karl Lewis, Peter Lewis, Chloe Masefield, David Meredith, Gary Mitchell, Geoff Morgan, William Powell, Glyn Preston, Gareth Pugh, Gareth Ratcliffe, Lucy Roberts, Pete Roberts, Elwyn Vaughan, Chris Walsh, Ange Williams, Huw Williams and Sarah Williams declared personal interests in Item 15 Notice of Motion Pensions Divestment as members of the Local Government Pension Scheme. County Councillors Corinna Kenyon-Wade, Peter Lewis and Huw Williams also declared personal interests as members of the Pensions and Investment Committee. The Head of Legal and Monitoring Officer reminded Councillors that there was a general dispensation for Councillors to speak and vote in connection with items about the Pension Fund. Council debated the following motion proposed by County Councillor Chloe Masefield and seconded by County Councillor Sian Cox: This council resolves: To express in strong terms this Council’s view that it does not wish to be associated with companies potentially complicit in in war crimes. • To write to the Powys Pension Fund and the Welsh Pension Partnership to make these views clear and to ask them to review their investments and consider whether any holdings should be divested, within the context of their fiduciary responsibilities, Environmental, Social and Governance risk and their Responsible Investment Strategies. • To ask the Powys Pension Fund and Wales Pension Partnership to review their ethical/responsible investment policies to ensure there are strong checks prior to investment of whether any companies are potentially complicit in war crimes • To ask the Powys Pension Fund and Welsh Pension Partnership to regularly review and report divestment progress. Where the funds favour a policy of stewardship over divestment, to provide detailed and specific evidence of the impact and efficacy of this approach, and to report back to Full Council on the above. An amendment to remove the word “potentially” from the motion was proposed and accepted by the proposer and seconder. By 35 votes to 5 with 4 abstentions the amendment was passed. An amendment to add the words “by the end of the financial year” to the final paragraph of the motion was proposed and accepted by the proposer and seconder. By 32 votes to 7 with 7 the amendment was passed. The substantive motion was put to the vote and by 32 votes to 9 with 3 abstentions it was RESOLVED 1. To express in strong terms this Council’s view that it does not wish to be associated with companies complicit in in war crimes. 2. To write to the Powys Pension Fund and the Welsh Pension Partnership to make these views clear and to ask them to review their investments and consider whether any holdings should be divested, within the context of their fiduciary responsibilities, Environmental, Social and Governance risk and their Responsible Investment Strategies. 3. To ask the Powys Pension Fund and Wales Pension Partnership to review their ethical/responsible investment policies to ensure there are strong checks prior to investment of whether any companies are complicit in war crimes 4. To ask the Powys Pension Fund and Welsh Pension Partnership to regularly review and report divestment progress. Where the funds favour a policy of stewardship over divestment, to provide detailed and specific evidence of the impact and efficacy of this approach, and to report back to Full Council on the above by the end of this financial year.
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.
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