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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
AGREED – T H A T the minutes of the meeting held on 14th July 2022 be approved as a correct record. No.
AGREED – T H A T the PowerPoint Presentation / Service Update provided by South Wales Fire and Rescue colleagues be noted and sincere thanks be passed to all Fire Service Officers involved.
AGREED – T H A T Inspector Henderson be thanked for his time and verbal update.
AGREED – (1) T H A T the PowerPoint presentation provided to Committee in response to the Request for Consideration submitted by Llandough Community Council be noted. (2) T H A T confirmation of the statutory consultation timeframe for Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) be shared with all Committee Members and Town and Community Council Clerks after the meeting. Reasons for recommendations (1) Having regard to the contents of the presentation and the Council’s practices to mitigate community concerns over traffic speeds. (2) To ensure Town and Community Councils consider TRO consultation timeframes in relation to the frequency of Town and Community Council meetings being held in order to respond effectively and efficiently to any necessary TROs raised in response to the Welsh Government default 20mph speed limit on restricted roads legislation.
AGREED – T H A T the Vale of Glamorgan Public Services Board Annual Report 2021-22 and appended Corporate Performance and Resources Scrutiny report with subsequent reference be noted. Reason for recommendation Having regard to the contents of both the covering and annual report to ensure all members of the Committee are aware of the work of the Public Services Board and progress being made in the delivery of the current Well-being Plan.
AGREED – T H A T advanced notification on the process for and relevant timescales in relation to the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s Community Review, scheduled in 2023, be noted. No. Reason for recommendation Having regard to the contents of both the covering report and guidance for Principal Councils on the review of communities from the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales.
These were received from Councillors J. Aviet, J. Lynch-Wilson and H.M. Payne (Vale of Glamorgan Council); G. Thomas (Llantwit Major Town Council), M. Cuddy (Penarth Town Council), B. Morris (Colwinston Community Council), G. Marks (Michaelston le Pit and Leckwith Community Council), A. Phillips (Peterston Super Ely Community Council) and S.M. Toker (St. Athan Community Council).
Decision as recorded
AGREED – T H A T the minutes of the meeting held on 14th July 2022 be approved as a correct record. No.
AGREED – T H A T the minutes of the meeting held on 14th July 2022 be approved as a correct record. No.
Councillor S. Campbell declared a personal interest in Agenda Item No 8 – The Vale of Glamorgan Council’s Community Review. The nature of the interest was that Councillor Campbell was a member of the cross-party working group established within the council to set up a point of reference for the community boundary review.
Decision as recorded
AGREED – T H A T the PowerPoint Presentation / Service Update provided by South Wales Fire and Rescue colleagues be noted and sincere thanks be passed to all Fire Service Officers involved.
The Chief Fire Officer and Treasurer of the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service provided an informative PowerPoint presentation on the important and vital work that the Service undertook within Vale of Glamorgan communities. The presentation included key performance, operational statistics, and budgets, for both the region and Vale of Glamorgan area. In terms of Budget Pressures, the Service faced £8.4m cost pressures and budget assumptions had significant risks given the current economic uncertainty. However, all 22/23 overspends were expected to be absorbed by the Service with further review work to be undertaken. It was assumed that grant funding from Welsh Government would continue. Officers were pleased to report that the number of operational incidents for 2021/22, specifically in relation to the Vale of Glamorgan area, had decreased by 9% since the same period in 2020/21. Similarly, the number of fires attended had also decreased by 42%. The number of fatalities from fires over the reporting period was zero however, the number of injuries from fires had significantly increased by 90% which was a concern. The final statistic for the area demonstrated that accidental dwelling fires had decreased by 29%. In conclusion, Officers apprised the committee on future challenges for the Service such as Industrial Action, the Cost-of-Living Crisis, Governance and Funding reform, Welsh Government’s ambition, Climate Change and Aging and population changes. Following the presentation and subsequent questions from the Committee, Officers added the following advice: • The quantity and pressure of water required for each response would vary based on the nature of the incident. The Service shared concerns over water pressure but pumps/equipment available to the Service alongside the ability to pump water from an open water source, mitigated the concerns to a significant degree. • The Service was also offering first response support to the National Health Service (NHS) however, this was not an aspect of service that was chargeable. During the Coronavirus pandemic, the Service was able to access additional resources/funds to support its work with the NHS, but this support had now ceased. If Welsh Government were to fundamentally change the way that funding was received by the Service then the Service No. would be required to ask for change in funding however, the services that were currently chargeable were narrow. In their capacity as Deputy Chair of the Fire Authority, Councillor Drake thanked Officers for their presentation and passed on her sincere thanks to the whole of the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service. With no further comments or questions, the Committee subsequently AGREED – T H A T the PowerPoint Presentation / Service Update provided by South Wales Fire and Rescue colleagues be noted and sincere thanks be passed to all Fire Service Officers involved.
Part of an issue followed across 2 meetings
Decision as recorded
AGREED – T H A T Inspector Henderson be thanked for his time and verbal update.
Inspector Henderson advised of the following Policing activity in Barry and the Vale as follows: • Operation USK – Joint enforcement operation alongside Shared Regulatory Services. • Operation TAXUS – multi-agency disruption team. Various enforcement actions conducted across Cardiff and Vale since September. • Operation PAPAYA – Investigation into the importation and supply of precursor drugs for Crystal Meth and GHB. • 3 operations with BTP targeting county lines, child exploitation and violence against women. • 3 Rogue trader operations with trading standards. • Operation with roads policing looking at road safety. • Anti-Social Behaviour operations in Holton Road / Kings Square and Chickenwood Park as well as Llantwit Major and Cowbridge. • Operation with roads policing specials looking at road safety, working with the Senedd with reference to 20mph locations. • Operation Elstree. Partnership Operation managing the seasonal demand of the coastline of Barry and the Vale. • Joint work with Environmental Health. • Suicide watch – working with Local Authority and Senedd and 20 other agencies. • Operation Waxby – lamping in the Vale. Following the Inspector’s verbal update and subsequent questions raised by the Committee, the Inspector added the following advice: • There was no evidence to suggest that there had been an increase in reckless driving since the national pandemic; no accident or prosecution increases were identified. • Officers were now operational from the police room in Cowbridge fire station and officers were grateful for the positive feedback in relation to instances of anti-social behavior in the Cowbridge area being reduced. No. • There are offences related to excess noise from motor vehicles that are policed via the Roads Policing Unit. The unit is a force resource and therefore utilized local knowledge to inform their operations. • The Go Safe (community traffic speed check) Scheme in rural parts of the Vale of Glamorgan was suspended in July ’22 pending further Health and Safety measures however, efforts were being made to reinstate the scheme as soon as possible. • It was common for members of the public to not report incidents that were classed as non-emergency or to only report a reoccurring incident once. Repeated reporting allowed the Service to build a more accurate picture of the situation at the time and therefore offer the most appropriate response more efficiently. It was acknowledged that not all members of the public had access to sufficient broadband to use some of the electronic reporting methods however, there were several ways to report an incident. • Reporting via the Council’s Community Safety Team, based within Barry Police Station, was also a valuable tool to help both the Police Service and Council Services through the sharing of information. • Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) were trained and expected to function as a first response in relation to live incidents of crime that were reported to them by members of the public. The Service was currently in the process of recruiting four hundred new officers; some of which would be PCSO positions who would rotate around the various areas within the Vale of Glamorgan. • In relation to the more rural areas of the Vale of Glamorgan, some PCSO positions were due to be filled which would improve the resilience of the PCSO service in those areas and reduce the need for rural based PCSOs to be stationed in the Barry area which had a heavier demand. With no further comments or questions, the Committee subsequently AGREED – T H A T Inspector Henderson be thanked for his time and verbal update.
Decision as recorded
AGREED – (1) T H A T the PowerPoint presentation provided to Committee in response to the Request for Consideration submitted by Llandough Community Council be noted. (2) T H A T confirmation of the statutory consultation timeframe for Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) be shared with all Committee Members and Town and Community Council Clerks after the meeting. Reasons for recommendations (1) Having regard to the contents of the presentation and the Council’s practices to mitigate community concerns over traffic speeds. (2) To ensure Town and Community Councils consider TRO consultation timeframes in relation to the frequency of Town and Community Council meetings being held in order to respond effectively and efficiently to any necessary TROs raised in response to the Welsh Government default 20mph speed limit on restricted roads legislation.
On behalf of the Vale of Glamorgan area, a request for consideration was submitted by Llandough Community Council requesting a presentation from the Head of Highways on any actions available to reduce the speed of traffic in local communities. In response, the Operational Manager for Engineering provided a PowerPoint presentation to the Committee on the following factors: • The council had a statutory duty under section 39 of the 1988 Road Traffic Act to ‘take steps both to reduce and prevent accidents’ as far as reasonably practicable. • Whilst the council had powers to set speed limits, the South Wales Police had powers to enforce road traffic laws and sole powers to deal with traffic speed. No. • To fulfill the council’s statutory duty above, the council routinely reviewed collision data collected by the police and validated by the Welsh Government. It was important to understand that not all road collisions were due to speed. • The Council’s response to a concern over traffic speed generally involved assessing the collision history of the road in question over the last 3-year period, to refer the public to report concerns over speeding to the police, to refer the public to request speed enforcement via GoSafe and recommend the establishment of a Community Speed Watch. • Traffic calming measures could be expensive and were only considered subject to budget availability, where there had been significant history of collisions related to speed and where police and/or GoSafe speed enforcement did not address the speed issues. • Traffic calming must be provided in line with current guidance and legislation. Types of traffic calming that could be considered were dependent on budget and specific issues including traffic signs, road markings, gateways, chicanes, traffic islands, surface treatments, road humps, speed cushions or speed tables, a review of the speed limit, and electronic speed feedback signs. • The Welsh Government legislation on the default 20mph speed limit on restricted roads was passed in the Senedd in July 2022. Highway authorities could set exceptions to 20mph default speed limit on A and B class roads. The 20mph default speed limit was due to be implemented on the 17th of September 2023. Following the Officer’s presentation and subsequent questions raised by the Committee, the Officer added the following advice: • Funding had already been received from Welsh Government to implement any 20mph speed changes identified within the Vale of Glamorgan area however, the level of funding was not deemed sufficient and therefore the Council would be applying for additional funding where possible. • It was acknowledged that the implementation deadline was less than a year away and therefore a significant amount of consultation and work was required in the very near future. The Vale of Glamorgan Council’s communications timeline for presenting details of its 20mph default exception mapping to various parties was for briefings to take place with Cabinet, Ward Members and Town and Community Councils through-out November ’22 with publication of Vale 20mph exception mapping on Data map Wales later in 2022 or early in 2023. • The exception mapping and changes to roads within community council boundaries would be presented to Town and Community Councils at the appropriate briefing and Council’s would then be able to respond to the Notices issued in respect of any relevant Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) associated with the 20mph default implementation when published next calendar year. The TRO public consultation period was 21 days from the date of publication of any Notice as per the statutory minimum consultation period. • For areas of the Vale of Glamorgan that had no Community Council (such as Rhoose), specific Elected Ward Members of the Vale of Glamorgan Council could also attend the Community Council briefing, albeit they would have already been presented with the relevant exception mapping information in the Ward Members briefing as well as via the Cabinet reporting process. No. In conclusion, the Chair expressed their concern over the 21-day TRO consultation period as this was not conducive with the frequency of Town and Community Council meetings being called to efficiently consider a TRO if necessary. In response, the Operational Manager for Engineering offered to clarify the statutory period with Committee Members and Town and Community Council Clerks via the Democratic and Scrutiny Services Officer following the meeting. With no further comments or questions, the Committee subsequently AGREED – (1) T H A T the PowerPoint presentation provided to Committee in response to the Request for Consideration submitted by Llandough Community Council be noted. (2) T H A T confirmation of the statutory consultation timeframe for Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) be shared with all Committee Members and Town and Community Council Clerks after the meeting. Reasons for recommendations (1) Having regard to the contents of the presentation and the Council’s practices to mitigate community concerns over traffic speeds. (2) To ensure Town and Community Councils consider TRO consultation timeframes in relation to the frequency of Town and Community Council meetings being held in order to respond effectively and efficiently to any necessary TROs raised in response to the Welsh Government default 20mph speed limit on restricted roads legislation.
Decision as recorded
AGREED – T H A T the Vale of Glamorgan Public Services Board Annual Report 2021-22 and appended Corporate Performance and Resources Scrutiny report with subsequent reference be noted. Reason for recommendation Having regard to the contents of both the covering and annual report to ensure all members of the Committee are aware of the work of the Public Services Board and progress being made in the delivery of the current Well-being Plan.
The Director of Corporate Performance presented the reference from the Corporate Performance and Resources Scrutiny Committee meeting of 12th October 2022. The Director advised that to capture the progress made in the fourth year of the Well-being Plan, the Public Service Board (PSB) had produced an Annual Report that was presented to the Committee on an annual basis. The Annual Report gave an overview of the progress that had been made by partners in implementing the four Well-being Objectives and activities detailed in the Plan and against the PSB’s priority workstreams. The Annual Report was considered by the PSB on the 8th of July 2022 and was appended to the covering report as well as published on the PSB website. The Director added that the Annual Report set out how the PSB had achieved good progress in delivering its Well-being Objectives so far. This was the fourth year that partners had been working together to deliver the Well-being Plan and the examples No. and case studies included give a good overview of work undertaken during challenging times. The PSB continued to evolve to respond to emerging issues such as the cost-of-living crisis and continues to adapt how they work to support the recovery from COVID-19. The PSB continues to plan for the future and to take account of all the learning and experience developed across the partnership, utilising this experience alongside local evidence and the Well-being Assessment to identify the priorities within the new Well-being Plan to be published in 2023. The PSB were confident that by working together and by working differently it would continue to have a positive impact on well-being in the Vale over the final year of the 5 current Well-being Plan and through the development of the new Well-being Plan. In their capacity as the Town and Community Council Representative on the PSB, Councillor Shirley Hodges offered huge appreciation for the work completed to date by the PSB and encouraged all Town and Community Council’s to engage with the PSB as a useful and informative response platform for the current climate and nature emergencies. With no further comments or questions, the Committee subsequently AGREED – T H A T the Vale of Glamorgan Public Services Board Annual Report 2021-22 and appended Corporate Performance and Resources Scrutiny report with subsequent reference be noted. Reason for recommendation Having regard to the contents of both the covering and annual report to ensure all members of the Committee are aware of the work of the Public Services Board and progress being made in the delivery of the current Well-being Plan.
Decision as recorded
AGREED – T H A T advanced notification on the process for and relevant timescales in relation to the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s Community Review, scheduled in 2023, be noted. No. Reason for recommendation Having regard to the contents of both the covering report and guidance for Principal Councils on the review of communities from the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales.
The Chief Executive and Returning Officer for the Council began their presentation of the report by advising that the Council had a duty under the Local Government (Democracy)(Wales) Act 2013 to review its communities every 10 years. The Vale of Glamorgan Council Community Review was due to commence in 2019 however, this was postponed until January 2023 (as resolved at a cabinet meeting on 30th April 2018 and subsequently referred to the Committee on 3rd July 2018) due to the timing of the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales’s (“the Commission”) principal area review for the Vale of Glamorgan and the need to avoid the risk of voter confusion during election years in 2021 and 2022. The purpose of the report before Committee was to provide all Committee members with advance notice of the Community Review expected to commence in January 2023. In terms of carrying out the review, the Officer advised that the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales may undertake the Community Review on behalf of the principal council and the Vale of Glamorgan Council had requested the Commission undertake its review which would last for approximately 12-18 months. No. The review was a ‘Section 25 Community Review’ as set out in the Local Government (Democracy) (Wales) Act 2013 with the following objectives: • A review of community boundaries taking in to account any fundamental developments to the area. • Ensure that communities continue to reflect local identities and facilitate • effective and convenient local government. • Offers the principal council the opportunity to put in place strong, clearly defined boundaries. • Offers the principal council the opportunity to remove any anomalous boundaries that exist. The Officer added that at the conclusion of a Section 25 review, the principal council may recommend “community boundary changes”. This may include changes to the boundary of an existing community, but also the abolition or amalgamation of existing communities or the creation of a new community. Consideration would also be given to whether there was a need for the electoral arrangements of the communities to be reviewed under a Section 31 Community Review. The electoral arrangements of a community refer to the number of members of the community council and any arrangements for the division of the community wards for the purposes of election to the community council. This included the number of electors, boundaries and names of wards and the number of members per ward. The Officer stressed that the review had not yet begun and subsequently apprised the Committee on the four steps for conducting the review as follows: 1) Initial publicity – publicise the review, specifically bringing it to the attention of mandatory consultees, draw attention to any directions given by Welsh Ministers which are relevant to the review 2) Initial investigation and consultation – consult with mandatory consultees, conduct investigations, should last between 6 – 12 weeks 3) Draft proposals including a consultation period – report to be prepared that includes details of the review, set out proposals, consultation to follow lasting 6 – 12 weeks. 4) Final recommendations – review of proposals in light of any representation being made during consultation, recommendations for change/no change. There were prescribed rules which were set out in the Act for the conduct of a community review which included consultation with mandatory consultees on all elements of the process. The role of the Council before handing over proceedings to the Commission was to agree upon a terms of reference between the Commission and the Council which would include an Indicative timetable, Procedures and Process, Explanations of Council Size Policy, and Grouping Communities. A key element of the Terms of Reference included establishing a draft Council Size Policy for each Town and Community Council. The policy would set out the recommended number of electors that a community should include, the minimum (floor) number of councillors that should represent a community, a recommendation that communities should fall into No. one of three categories rural, urban, or mixed and a recommended elector to councillor ratio for each category. In conclusion, the Officer advised that to ensure the review stood the test of time, the Boundary Commission would also have regard to the number of Local Government electors in the Vale of Glamorgan, the current population eligible to vote sourced from the Office for National Statistics mid-year estimates and the 5-year projected number of electors based on planning information. As per a recommendation for collating the Vale of Glamorgan Council Size Policy and Terms of Reference, a cross party working group had recently been established to consider both matters and ensure that all views were heard. At the first meeting of the working group, there was a significant amount of discussion on the ramifications of Town and Community Council Size Policies and the impact of these on the number of Town and Community Councillors. Following the Officer’s presentation and subsequent questions raised by the Committee, the Officer added the following advice: • Both a Westminster Boundaries and Principal Authority Area Boundaries review had already been conducted and therefore the forthcoming Community Review was the third review to follow. Any Community Review would have to give regard to what has gone before and therefore, in terms of the Dinas Powys Community, this would be consulted on before any further recommendations were made under the Community Review. It was also not possible to advise if the Dinas Powys Constituency would move under the Cardiff South and Penarth Constituency, under the Westminster boundaries review, as the final recommendations were still under consultation. • The Community Review was focused on the logic of community boundaries and whether these were still relevant or not taking into consideration on-the- ground developments. • The publishing and administrative costs of the review would be met from the Vale of Glamorgan Council Electoral Registration Services existing budget. The total fees payable to the Boundary Commission would be approximately £30,000 based on a tier 1 advertising and promotion. • Town and Community Councils would not be required to contribute to the costs of the review as the Vale of Glamorgan Council was duty bound to carry any associated costs. • Town and Community Council Size Policies were for guidance only to help inform subsequent decisions as part of the review as would be the existing Town and Community Council Memberships. With no further comments or questions, the Committee subsequently AGREED – T H A T advanced notification on the process for and relevant timescales in relation to the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s Community Review, scheduled in 2023, be noted. No. Reason for recommendation Having regard to the contents of both the covering report and guidance for Principal Councils on the review of communities from the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales.
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.