Loading
There is no summary of this meeting yet. One is written once the council publishes the minutes. The agenda and papers are below.
In accordance with the Code of Conduct adopted by both Authorities, no interests declared.
Resolved that the Minutes of the West Glamorgan Archives Committee meeting held on 12 December 2025 be approved as a correct record.
Andrew Dulley presented the report of the Director of Place which gave details of the Joint Archive Service Revenue Budget for 2026/2027 and the reserves held by the Joint Archive Service, which was submitted for information only. He indicated that it was again a virtual standstill budget, other than for an adjustment for the pay award for 2026. The table in the report showed the estimated position of both the collections and archive training reserves as at 31 March 2026. Members of the Committee noted the report.
The County Archivist presented a report which outlined the work of the Joint Archive Service during the period December 2025 – February 2026. Use of the Service He reported on the figures relating the use of the service via its various platforms both in person and online. He referred to the continuing steady increase in numbers across the board compared to the previous year. Opening the Service in Y Storfa He reported that Y Storfa opened at 9am on Monday 1 December 2025 and the Archive Service opened at the same time, having still been open the previous Friday in the Civic Centre. He outlined that for the first half of the reporting quarter, the documents were still held in the Civic Centre and preparations for moving continued. During this period, staff did what they could to assist visitors and in some cases documents in the Civic Centre were digitised and sent to them, in others documents were transferred to Y Storfa for them to view. The visitor information on the Archive Service website was also changed to reflect this, encouraging researchers to plan ahead and email to explore the available options. He indicated that the staff had been divided loosely into two teams, one of which provided the service in Y Storfa while the other stayed in the Civic Centre working on the collections, both on behalf of members of the public and in preparation for the move. While it would have been more convenient to close during this period to enable more time to be given to last-minute moving preparations, it was decided that it would be better to maintain a public service and to take advantage of publicity surrounding the opening of Y Storfa and to continue to provide a service to both regular and new users. Preparing the New Strongroom and Moving the Collections He outlined that the construction of strongroom shelving began on 3 December and continued throughout the month. There were logistical difficulties connected with unloading and shifting such a large volume of shelving to the top floor, but the majority had been completed shortly before Christmas. The bays of shelving had then been checked, and a new strongroom plan was drawn up and the bays were numbered. Whereas the old strongroom accommodation in the Civic Centre was in a number of strongrooms of varying sizes, the new strongroom is a large single space with 548 bays. For convenience it was decided to divide this up into six colour-coded zones, each consisting of up to 100 numbered bays, to facilitate navigation and document retrieval. The shelves were then labelled accordingly. He detailed that the firm chosen to carry out the move was Pickfords, who had also moved the library book stock to Y Storfa. They also undertook the move for Carmarthenshire Archives seven years ago and came recommended. The move was scheduled to begin on Monday 12 January and it was estimated that it would take 18-19 days, but four full weeks were put aside to cover contingencies, making 6 February the projected last moving day. Archive staff were divided into two teams as outlined above, with one allocated to keep the public service running, the other to move the collections. By the time of the move, everything but the twelve very longest maps were boxed and barcoded, and so were protected ready for the move. He indicated that the strategy had been to move the standard-sized archive boxes first, then to move the volumes in order of size (smallest to largest), resetting the shelves in preparation each time, ending with the very largest volumes. Finally came the long boxed plans, Ordnance Survey maps and the outsized flat items. Archive staff took a hands-on approach to the packing and unpacking of boxes, in order to maintain order and minimise disruption. Careful planning particularly at the packing end has meant that the majority of our holdings are located exactly where they need to stay. At the end of each day, the barcodes of the boxes that had been shelved that day were carefully scanned to record their new locations. He explained that progress had been steady throughout the move and the team worked hard to keep to the moving schedule. Pickfords delivered three consignments a day, a total of 75 cages, each holding three shelves-worth of boxes. In total, a little over 22,000 boxes were moved, along with five large map drawer units and 14 hanging cabinets for Ordnance Survey maps. The final consignment was delivered to Y Storfa on the morning of Thursday 5 February, right on schedule. Since the formal end of the move, work has continued unabated. The location of certain of the ASD pipes in the ceiling had caused problems with shelving construction before Christmas and as a result some of the runs of shelves were not finished by the time the move was due to begin. The remaining bays were constructed in the weeks immediately after the completion of the move and shelving was now complete and satisfactory. Care was taken to provide and position the necessary strongroom furniture – tables, ladders, kick-stools, trolleys and other necessaries – to make document production as efficient as possible. He outlined that further work planned includes the rationalising of certain aspects of the storage, especially among the largest volumes and large flat items, and positioning some of the most frequently-requested collections on the shelving units nearest to the door, which were constructed after the move was complete. One of the store rooms adjoining the staff office has been transformed into a combination of preservation equipment store, document cleaning area and reprographics room. He also outlined that he and his staff believe that the move to new premises had been successful, brought about by careful preparation, thoughtful planning, constructive collaboration and hard work. Moreover, it had been achieved without the need to close the public service, which had been an excellent achievement. Staff He outlined that Josiah Ritchie, from Swansea, had recently been appointed and taken up his post as Archives Trainee. His contract was for six months to the end of August. This post would be an important one to allow the service to return to full capacity as soon as possible after a very challenging move, and would provide excellent experience of the profession in preparation for a place on a postgraduate archive training course. He also outlined that approval was needed to support the continued funding of the Archive Trainee position. Agreed that the use of the training reserve to fund an Archives Trainee for 2026/27 be approved Talks and Seminars He reported that two schools have received sessions during the period since the last meeting. The service has run a session for university students and has also given talks to two groups during the quarter. Professional Meetings and Training He listed the various professional groups, meetings and training undertaken by staff had attended during the quarter. Accessions of Archive Collections He detailed the various archives received by the Service during the quarter. The Chair on behalf of the Committee, expressed her congratulations to the County Archivist and his team for an extremely smooth and successful move to the new location at Y Storfa.
Part of an issue followed across 4 meetings
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.