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There is no summary of this meeting yet. Summaries are written once the council publishes the minutes, which are its official record of what a meeting decided. They usually appear a few weeks after the meeting.
The Chief Legal Officer gave advice regarding the potential personal and prejudicial interests that Councillors and / Officers may have on the agenda. In accordance with the provisions of the Code of Conduct adopted by the City and County of Swansea the following interests were declared: 1) Councillor T J Hennegan – Personal – Item 8 “Annual Review of Performance” 2) Councillors C Anderson, A Anthony, M Baker, S Bennett, P N Bentu, P M Black, J P Curtice, A Davis, A M Day, P Downing, C R Doyle, M Durke, N Furlong, L S Gibbard, F M Gordon, C A Holley, D H Hopkins, D H Jenkins, L R Jones, M Jones, S M Jones, S A Joy, E J King, E T Kirchner, H Lawson, A S Lewis, M B Lewis, R D Lewis, N L Matthews, P M Matthews, J D McGettrick, F D O’Brien, A J O’Connor, D Phillips, C L Philpott, J E Pritchard, S Pritchard, S J Rice, K M Roberts, R V Smith, A H Stevens, R C Stewart, W G Thomas, M S Tribe, G D Walker, T M White & R A Williams - Personal - Item 9 “Wales Pension Partnership (WPP) Local Government Scheme (LGPS) Fit for the Future Business Case”; 3) Councillors A M Day, J D McGettrick & S J Rice – Personal – Item 10 “Councillor Questions” 4) Officers – J Dong, A Lowe, L Moore, M Nicholls, J Parkhouse & B Smith – Personal Item 9 “Wales Pension Partnership (WPP) Local Government Scheme (LGPS) Fit for the Future Business Case”.
Resolved that the following Minutes be approved and signed as correct records: - 1) Annual Meeting of Council held on 15 May 2025. 2) Ceremonial Meeting of Council held on 16 May 2025.
The Chief Legal Officer submitted an information report setting out the written responses to questions asked at the last Ordinary Meeting of Council.
a) Condolences - Former Councillor Charles Glyndwr White The Presiding Member referred with sadness to the recent death of former Councillor Charles Glyndwr White. Charles served the Mynyddbach Ward on the former Swansea City Council and the City and County of Swansea. He was a Councillor for approximately 5 years serving on: City & County of Swansea 6 May 1999 – 10 June 2004 b) Condolences - Former Councillor Anthony (Tony) Lloyd The Presiding Member referred with sadness to the recent death of former Councillor Tony Lloyd. Tony served the Sketty Ward on the former Swansea City Council and the City and County of Swansea. Tony was the husband of former Councillor Lynda Tyler-Lloyd. He was a Councillor for approximately 11 years serving on: Swansea City Council 11 May 1967 - 6 May 1970 City & County of Swansea 19 October 2000 - 1 May 2008 c) Condolences - Former Councillor Alan Robinson The Presiding Member referred with sadness to the recent death of former Councillor Alan Robinson. Alan served the St Thomas Ward on the City and County of Swansea. He was a Councillor for approximately 8 years serving on: City & County of Swansea 10 June 2004 – 3 May 2012 All present stood as a mark of sympathy and respect. d) King’s Birthday Honours List Citizens of Swansea who received awards in the King’s Birthday Honours list. Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) i) Professor David Vincent Ford, Professor of Informatics, Swansea University, for services to Social Science (Swansea, West Glamorgan). ii) Susan Ann Horne MBE, Lately Head of Space Exploration, UK Space Agency, for services to Space Exploration (Swansea, West Glamorgan). iii) Ian Price, Director - Confederation of British Industry, Wales, for services to Business and to Charity (Swansea, West Glamorgan). iv) Professor Iain Stuart Whitaker, Professor of Plastic Surgery, Swansea University Medical School and the Welsh Centre for Burns and Plastic Surgery, for services to Plastic Surgery (Swansea, West Glamorgan). Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) i) Riazul Hassan, Head of Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan, Welsh Government, for services to Community Relations and the Vision of a Racism-free Wales (Swansea, West Glamorgan). ii) Rob Govier, a member of NRC Wales staff and HMS CAMBRIA (Originally from Swansea and attends the Armed Forces Community Covenant Signatories Panel). Medallists of the Order of the British Empire (BEM) i) Karen Irene Morgan, National Lymphoedema Clinical and Education Lead for Wales, Swansea Bay University Health Board, for services to Lymphoedema Care (Swansea). e) Royal Society of Architects in Wales (RSAW) Royal institute of British Architects (RIBA) Welsh Architecture Awards 2025 The Presiding Member was delighted to announce that the Hafod Morfa Copperworks Distillery & Visitor Centre, Swansea project recently won the RSAW (RIBA) Welsh Architecture Award 2025 and the RSAW (RIBA) Conservation Award 2025. The jury said “Located near the River Tawe in Swansea, Hafod-Morfa Copperworks Distillery and Visitor Centre is the first phase of an ambitious local authority regeneration project. Delightfully integrated with the Victorian structure, it is a mesmerising display of distillation process engineering, exquisitely made.” These two awards add to the incredible haul already achieved by the Hafod Morfa Copperworks Distillery and Visitor Centre project. The awards include: · Gower Society Design Bronze Award 2022 winner. · RICS Awards 2024, Regional Awards winner – Heritage Project. · Insider Property Awards 2024 – Sustainability Award. · Constructing Excellence in Wales Awards 2024 – Regeneration and Retrofit Award, Regional winner and National Constructing Excellence Award (UK) winner. · Selected as a 2025 Civic Trust Awards Regional Finalist. Additionally, the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC), held their 2024 conference in Swansea and the delegates visited the Distillery. The project made front cover of the yearbook. f) Regeneration & Conservation Prize in the Constructing Excellence in Wales (CEW) Awards 2025 The Presiding Member offered her congratulations to the regeneration team behind the revitalisation of the Palace Theatre on winning the regeneration & conservation prize in the Constructing Excellence in Wales (CEW) Awards 2025. The judges recognised the innovative way we were able to save a derelict building on the brink of collapse, and not only restore and shine a light on many of the theatre’s original features but also enable its modern use as grade A offices. g) Eisteddfod yr Urdd Dur a Môr 2025, Margam Park The Presiding Member congratulated everyone who took part in this year’s Urdd Eisteddfod, which was held at Margam Park recently. It was wonderful to see so many of our schools, both Welsh-medium and English-medium, taking part and showcasing the outstanding talent and dedication of our young performers. Special congratulations go to all those who performed on the Maes and to those who achieved first, second, or third place, truly fantastic accomplishments. A huge thank you as well to all our school staff and Council staff who worked so hard in the lead up to and throughout the Eisteddfod week, many of whom gave up their own time during half-term to support the learners. Across the area, 37 schools competed for the very first time this year, and we look forward to building on this success and supporting our schools further as the Eisteddfod continues to travel around Wales. She thanked everyone involved for making this year’s Eisteddfod such a memorable and successful event. h) Wales Airshow 5 & 6 July 2025 The Presiding Member was delighted to announce that the Wales Airshow, one of the highlights of Swansea’s annual event calendar, was taking place on 5 & 6 July 2025. It is the biggest free event in Wales, attracting in the region of 250,000 people over the 2 fun filled days overlooking Swansea Bay.
a) 71/72, the Kingsway The Leader of the Council stated that the 71/72, the Kingsway had been formally opened. The opening was attended by Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales, Dame Nia Griffith MP, Welsh Government Ministers, developers and tenants. He added that Futures First were confirmed as a tenant and it was hoped to announce that an additional tenant would be confirmed shortly. 80 percent of the building was currently under offer or let and the Council was confident of achieving 100 percent occupation very soon. This would have created 600 jobs and contributed over £30m to the local economy. The Leader also thanked the Regeneration team led by Lee Richards and paused to reflect on the contributions of both Huw Mowbray and Gareth Hughes who had sadly passed away. He emphasised that their outstanding contributions to the city would be recognised. b) Local Government Chronicle Awards The Leader announced that he had recently attended the awards. This was the third year the Council had been nominated and were runners up on this occasion, being the only Welsh Council nominated. He highlighted that this reflected the wide range of excellent services being offered by dedicated staff across the Council. c) Performance Panel Assessment (PPA) Feedback The Leader was very pleased to share the very positive initial feedback from the PPA. He specifically noted the references made to exemplary and outstanding services in a number of areas, particularly governance and collaboration. It was also noted that there were exemplary and inclusive political relationships across all groups, exemplary Councillor and officer relationships and an embedded team Swansea culture throughout the Council and its partners. The positive feedback also included the manner in which Service Transformation Committees involved non-executive, cross party Councillors in policy development, which would be recommended to other council’s across Wales. The Leader congratulated the Authority on the feedback and thanked Ness Young, Director of Corporate Services and Jo Jones, Cabinet & Civic Office Manager for their work in preparing for the PPA. d) Mimi Xu – Performance at Wimbledon Tennis Tournament The Leader congratulated Mimi Xu from Sketty on her brave performance against Emma Raducanu, following her wildcard entry to the first round at Wimbledon Tennis Tournament. He added that despite her world ranking, she did Swansea proud against the UK’s number one ranked player. e) Federation of Master Builders Award – Palace Theatre The Leader was very pleased to announce that the Palace Theatre had won the Federation of Master Builders Award – Best Commercial or Public Sector Award for an outstanding public sector project. He added that the project would now compete in the UK awards in September 2025. He thanked the project team for successfully delivering the project. f) Councillor Robert Francis-Davies On behalf of Councillor Robert Francis-Davies who was recovering from an operation, the Leader thanked Councillors for their get-well messages. He added that Councillor Francis-Davies was making a good recovery and wished him well for a speedy return to his duties.
One member of the public asked questions. The questions related to Minute No. 23 ‘Wales Pension Partnership (WPP) Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Fit for the Future Business Case’. Councillor M B Lewis, Chair of the Pension Fund Committee responded.
The Cabinet Member for Corporate Services & Performance presented a report which sought approval of Swansea Council’s Annual Review of Performance for the financial year 2024–25, in accordance with the requirements of Part 6 of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021. The report also demonstrated how the Council was acting in accordance with the sustainable development principle under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. Resolved that the draft Annual Review of Performance 2024-25 be approved for publication.
The Chair of the Pension Fund Committee presented a report which sought approval to progress the implementation of the Wales Pension Partnership (WPP) Fit for the Future Business case, approved by Westminster Government. Jeff Dong, Deputy Chief Finance Officer / Deputy Section 151 Officer also provided a detailed presentation in support of the report. Resolved that: - 1) the WPP Fit for the Future Business Case, previously approved by the Pension Fund Committee (Appendix 3, Appendix 4 and section 4), be noted. 2) the formation of a corporate entity wholly owned by the WPP Administering Authorities (AAs) to be the WPP Investment Management Company (IMCo.) and all other actions necessary to submit an application to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for the authorisation of the IMCo, including but not limited to the selection and recruitment of Senior Management Function (SMF) roles as required by the FCA and the preparation and submission of the application to the FCA (Section 5), be approved. 3) the revised WPP Business Plan & budget 2025/26, which includes design / enabling costs for Project Snowdon (Appendix 5 and Section 6), be approved. 4) authority be delegated to the Deputy Section 151 Officer, in consultation with the Pension Fund Committee Chair, to progress Project Snowdon alongside WPP Administering Authorities (AAs), in line with the Government timetable within the approved budget. 5) the approval of the final formal documentation required for IMCo. to be operational, described as “Go Live Work” as outlined in Section 7, be delegated to the Pension Fund Committee to give effect to the WPP Fit for the Future Business Case.
Part of an issue followed across 5 meetings
1) Part A ‘Supplementary Questions’ 11 Part A ‘Supplementary Questions’ were submitted. The relevant Cabinet Member(s) responded by way of written answers contained in the Council Summons. No supplementary questions required a written response. 2) Part B ‘Questions not requiring Supplementary Questions’ 5 Part B ‘Questions not requiring Supplementary Questions’ were submitted.
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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