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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 1st July 2025 be approved as a correct record.
AGREED – T H A T Inspector Childs be thanked for their time and verbal update.
AGREED – T H A T Group Manager O’Keefe be thanked for their time and verbal update.
These were received from Councillors R.R. Thomas, G. Thomas (Llantwit Major Town Council), M. Cuddy (Penarth Town Council), B. Morris (Colwinston Community Council), A. Phillips (Peterston Super Ely Community Council), A. Parry (St. Brides Major Community Council), T. Partridge (St. Donats Community Council) and R. Sexton (Wenvoe Community Council).
Decision as recorded
AGREED – T H A T the minutes of the meeting held on 1st July 2025 be approved as a correct record.
AGREED – T H A T the minutes of the meeting held on 1st July 2025 be approved as a correct record.
No declarations of interest were received.
Decision as recorded
AGREED – T H A T Inspector Childs be thanked for their time and verbal update.
Inspector Childs apprised the Committee on the following community initiatives and policing matters for the Vale of Glamorgan area since their last update provided to the Committee in April 2025 as follows: • Burglaries: A team of three individuals was apprehended for a series of coastal burglaries and vehicle thefts. • Fraudulent Activity: Arrests made in connection with counterfeit currency incidents in Boverton and wider Southwest UK. • Shoplifting: High-value theft involving distraction tactics in Llantwit Major; suspects arrested. • Rural Crime: Operation Wax launched to tackle illegal hare coursing and lamping. Vehicles were seized and arrests made. • Community Engagement: Plans for Farm Watch and increased patrols discussed. • Local Concerns: Issues raised by councillors regarding crime in St. Athan and Denys Powys. Inspector Childs committed to follow-up and meetings. Following the Inspector’s update, the Committee raised the following comments and/or questions as follows: Comment/Question Inspector’s Response Councillor Phillips Officers were extremely busy at the time Dinas Powys Community Council and efforts to attend a council meeting would be made in due course. The An invitation to attend a Dinas Powys Inspector would be happy to consult Community Council meeting has been with Councillor Asbrey in relation to extended to the service but has not yet upcoming meeting dates to assess their been taken up. availability to attend. Councillor Haines 1) There had been an increase in Vale of Glamorgan Member reports of intruders being sighted St. Athan Ward within private gardens in the early hours of the morning and a Were there any updates available on: pattern in reporting seemed to 1) Reports of intruders being sighted suggest that offenders were in gardens within the early hours of making their way across the Vale the morning? or of Glamorgan coastline. 2) Increases in attempted car theft in 2) The Service was aware of a team the St. Athan area? of burglars who were breaking into properties in order to steal vehicle keys. There sadly had been an increase in car thefts throughout the Vale of Glamorgan area and efforts were being made to apprehend the individuals involved. The Inspector was unable to confirm if the property sightings were directly related to the instances of car theft reported. Councillor Summers The Inspector advised that they had Penllyn Community Council stressed the importance of attendance at both Council meetings and Public Would it be possible to establish a rota events to PCSOs operating within the for PCSOs to attend Town and Vale however noted that the total Community Council meetings? As number of PCSOs covering the area advance notice of police officer had decreased. attendance would be very useful to the PCSO surgeries were also advertised council. on South Wales Listens, as ‘Cuppa with a Coppa,’ for Councils to be sighted on and engage with accordingly. The Inspector offered to share the South Wales Listens information with Members following the meeting. With no further comments or queries, the Committee subsequently AGREED – T H A T Inspector Childs be thanked for their time and verbal update.
Decision as recorded
AGREED – T H A T Group Manager O’Keefe be thanked for their time and verbal update.
GROUP MANAGER MARTIN O’KEEFE – The Group Manager then apprised the Committee on the following matters in relation to the Bridgend and Vale of Glamorgan areas since the last update that had been provided to the Committee in October 2024 as follows: • Incidents: 378 incidents attended in Q2; 120 fire-related, 72 deliberate fires, 25 road traffic collisions. • Fire Safety: 9,993 home fire safety visits conducted. • Youth Engagement: Anti-Arson and firework misuse campaigns underway. • Road Safety: Education delivered to over 15,000 students; partnership with police for minor traffic offenses. • Electric Safety: Concerns raised about overnight charging of devices, especially lithium-ion batteries. • Community Alarm Systems: Linked to emergency call centers, not directly to fire services. • Trend Analysis: Slight increase in incidents due to dry summer; deliberate fires linked to antisocial behavior. Following the Group Manager’s update, the Committee raised the following comments and/or questions as follows: Comment/Question Group Manager’s Response Councillor Wilson Yes, the Service had a link to the Vale of Glamorgan Member Council’s Call Centre. If a person in Stanwell Ward, Penarth receipt of a Council alarm system reported a fire or rescue situation the Is the Vale of Glamorgan Council Social staff at the Council’s Contact Centre Services Alarm System connected into would activate a call from the fire the Fire Service? service. Councillor Wilson There were dangers involved in using Vale of Glamorgan Member devices that required long term Stanwell Ward, Penarth electrical charging due to over-heating and faults. Advice would always be to There has been a big growth in electric never leave a device on charge or cars in recent years, what were the charge the device near to an escape concerns for vehicles and other route. electrical devices left overnight? Councillor Phillips The Group Manager advised that they Dinas Powys Community Council would need to look into the matter further with their Governance Team Was there any information available on after the meeting and confirm details via the recent fire at a farm near to St. the Democratic Services Officer Richard Gwyn Secondary School, as following the meeting. the smoke coming from the area was extremely black so there were concerns over what items had caught fire. Councillor Summers Yes, trend information would be Penllyn Community Council compiled for the next Committee update. For future updates, it would be helpful to see the relevant trends when being presented with figures, to help members with understanding the context. Would this be possible please? With no further comments or queries, the Committee subsequently AGREED – T H A T Group Manager O’Keefe be thanked for their time and verbal update.
PRIMARY HEALTH CARE PROVISION – A request for consideration was received from Penarth Town Council in relation to Primary Health Care Provision across the Vale of Glamorgan. Primary Health Care Provision within the Vale of Glamorgan was outside the jurisdiction of the Vale of Glamorgan Council. Therefore, the request was forwarded to the Cardiff & Vale Health Board (CAVUHB “UHB”) directly for a response. As the Representative for Penarth Town Council at the meeting, Councillor Cox provided a brief introduction to the request and provided points of context specific to the Penarth area. The Principal Democratic and Scrutiny Services Officer then noted that the Request for Consideration process for the Committee related to Vale wide matters and therefore within the context of all 26 Town and Community Councils. As such, UHB guests were providing a response to the written Request for Consideration as contained within the meeting papers: “Primary health care in Penarth had been declining for several years, adversely affecting its residents, and the Town Council was aware that the issue was also reflected across the Vale of Glamorgan area as a whole. Therefore, Penarth Town Council sought to support both the local and wider community by requesting the Health Board to outline its plans for primary health care provision from 2025 onwards.” As a result, UHB guests provided a PowerPoint presentation (slides contained with the meeting papers in advance) to the Committee and facilitated a question and answer session on the topic. A summary of the discussion was as follows: Comment(s) /Questions posed UHB Response Individuals being unable to access GP General Practitioners (GPs) must Appointments respond to national appointment targets. No complaints on obtaining Councillor Cox appointments had been lodged with the Penarth Town Council UHB for surgeries in the Vale of Town Councillors had received several Glamorgan but members were complaints from residents in Penarth encouraged to contact the UHB who would often struggle with gaining following the meeting if required to GP appointments. discuss further. Penarth had seen a reduction in practices in recent years and efforts to Individual GPs were able to select how their appointments system operated mitigate the effects of this had not been based on the contract criteria set out in successful. the national standards as set by Welsh Government. University Health Board Councillor Payne colleagues would continue to raise the VoG Member matter of appointment availability on a The experience of accessing a GP national scale and learn from examples appointment at Sully Surgery was of best practice evident across the Vale. brilliant and the quality of care previously received by a relative was Councillors were entitled to contact second to none. Welsh Government in relation to appointment access concerns and UHB Councillor Haines colleagues would welcome simpler VoG Elected Member access guidance. St. Athan Ward It was hard to believe that the national University Health Board guests offered standards made gaining appointments to share the National Access Standards more difficult. with members of the Committee following the meeting via the Democratic Services Officer. All GP practices in the Vale of Glamorgan met the access standards however, the contract criteria was quite vague. It was also noted that ongoing/routine condition appointments were managed through a different system. Councillor Wilson UHB colleagues were in agreement and VoG Elected Member wished to help individuals to navigate Stanwell Ward, Penarth services available as well as increase scope for single point of access across It was important for individuals to know services. the various places where care provision could be accessed, for example pharmacies that were now administering flu jabs. There was more work to be done in relation to advertising the relationship between GP's and pharmacies and sign-posting individuals to alternative care provision settings. Councillor Payne There were some benefits for VoG Elected Member centralising services, but it was Cadoc Ward, Barry recognised that there was historically provision available in broad street, What provision was planned to provide Barry. UHB colleagues did not have the less limited Sexual Health Services for specific information to hand so would individuals living in the Vale of follow up with the committee following Glamorgan under the age of 18? – as it the meeting via the Democratic was quite a long journey for young Services Officer. individuals to travel to the royal infirmary in Cardiff to access provision when the limited provision at Barry Hospital was not available. Still on the topic of young persons, Councillor Payne stated that they were glad to see recognition of the need to focus on children’s mental health and neurodiversity provision being introduced at Barry Hospital within the UHB presentation. Councillor Toker The proposition had been raised with St. Athan Community Council the health board previously and based on demand levels, was not thought On the old RAF St. Athans site was a necessary. There had been discussions fully licensed medical centre currently in around the proposal, and especially in use by the army. At the end of the relation to location and road access, but calendar year the army were the proposal was not being actively transferring to a new unit. Is there any pursued at the current time. Guests on scope for the health board to utilize the the line would take the proposal back to centre for medical provision in the estate colleagues to assess if a viable western vail of Glamorgan? option in the current climate. Councillor Rosenberg This is a suggestion that the UHB need St. Brides Community Council to consider more, especially if there are premises available in areas where there In relation to Community Mental Health is documented demand. In relation to Services, had consideration been given Mental Health Services specifically, to running these from community feedback received from users buildings i.e. for non-clinical based care, suggested that remote access to from village halls, etc. service provision was preferred. Councillor Campbell Anything that the UHB was working on VoG Elected Member would have an associated plan and Rhoose Ward timeline set out. The health board was in the middle of its current planning There were no firm points in the cycle and therefore would be presentation on potential developments formulating timelines in partnership with in the Western Vale. What are they and clinical boards, primary care and what are the potential timescales for partners. UHB guests would be happy delivering please? to provide further detail to members of the committee on request. Councillor Wilson Prior to the national pandemic, some VoG Member cluster work was undertaken and demonstrated that there were a lot of Were any steps being taken to move to contacts with GPs for physio related an alternative request mechanism for issues. Therefore, two million pounds physiotherapy appointments rather than was rolled out to install locality based via the GP, as there was an alarming physio services, but this was via GP amount of self or misdiagnosis taking referral rather than self-referral. The place and known points of best practice UHB was happy to liaise with any other in the area. examples of best practice going forward. Councillor Jefferies Given the location of the hospital on the Llandough Community Council. outskirts of the Cardiff and Vale border, efforts were being prioritised in other There was no mention of developments areas of the Vale that residents were around Llandough hospital within the more willing to travel to and considered presentation. Llandough residents also more accessible for primary care. struggled with gaining GP appointments as well as transport links. Many elderly Transport was always a weighty residents lived within the area and discussion topic for the UHB given the therefore were there any plans to recognised importance. Public transport collaborate with existing services? routes would be considered when installing services and it was recognised that more discussions were required with third sector colleagues to help improve travel provision. Councillor Phillips The University Health Board was in a Peterston Super Ely Community Council difficult financial position and therefore there were no new funds available. It was obvious from the presentation Because of the financial position, there that additional resources were required. was not yet an approved development Were there any financial figures or likely plan in place with Welsh Government. costings available? Councillor Phillips also advised that a transport links group operated out of the Peterston Super Ely community area and that the group would be happy to meet with University Health board colleagues after the meeting. Councillor Haines University Health board colleagues VoG Member confirmed that St. Athan was not St. Athan Ward currently flagged for additional facilities based on the statistical data available. It was odd that the presentation seemed The exact figures were not available at to imply that there was no need for the time off the meeting but could be additional services in the St. Athan area provided on request. considering the significant increase in development in the area over the last 10 years. In conclusion, the Chair thanked the University Health board guests for their presentation and contributions and noted the strong feelings shared by many of the Committee Members. With no further comments or questions, the Committee subsequently RECOMMENDED – (1) T H A T University Health Board guests be thanked for their time and presentation. (2) T H A T the contact details for the University Health Board guests that were present at the meeting be shared with all Town and Community Council Clerks. (3) T H A T further advice be provided to Committee Members, in writing, on the following topics: - Sexual Health Services for persons under 18 years of age in the Vale of Glamorgan Area, and - The National (General Practitioner Appointment) Access Standards. (4) T H A T the recording and minutes of the meeting be forwarded to University Health Board guests following the meeting. Reasons for recommendations (1) In response to the Request for Consideration submitted by Penarth Town Council on future arrangements for Primary Health Care provision across the Vale of Glamorgan area. (2) To facilitate further, localised, discussions between the University Health Board and Town and Community Councils directly. (3) In answer to queries raised by Committee members during the meeting. (4) To ensure that the University Health Boad has a summary record of the comments and queries raised by members of the Committee on behalf of Vale of Glamorgan residents.
On behalf of the Council’s Electoral Registration Officer and Chief Executive, the report was presented by the Council’s Monitoring Officer. The purpose of which was to advise Committee that The Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru etc. Act 2013 required the Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru (“The Commission”) to review the electoral arrangements for each principal area in Wales at least once every 12 years. On the 21st of March 2025, Welsh Government accepted, in full, the Commission’s Final Recommendations for the Vale of Glamorgan (Communities) Order 2025. The electoral arrangements were defined as: • The number of Members of the Council for the principal area, in this case the Vale of Glamorgan. • The number, type, and boundaries of the electoral wards into which the principal area was for the time being divided for the purpose for the election of Members. • The number of Members to be elected for any electoral ward in the principal area; and • The name of any electoral ward. For context, the Monitoring Officer advised that The Commission commenced the Electoral Review for the Vale of Glamorgan on the 5th of June 2025 and would conclude by March 2026. The review follows the completion earlier this year of the Vale of Glamorgan (Communities) Order 2025, which updated community boundaries. The current electoral review was therefore based on those new community areas as they would stand when the Order took effect. The Vale of Glamorgan Council commented in brief on the initial consultation undertaken by the Commission, with reports presented to both the Community Liaison Committee and Council. The Commission published their Initial Proposals on the 2nd of October 2025 and was consulting until the 12th of November 2025. Therefore, it was felt timely to present the report to Committee within the consultation window. The Commission had encouraged the Vale of Glamorgan Council to provide a scheme of effective representations as part of the consultation by the 12th of November. To this end, the report included a set of ten proposed recommendations from the Boundary Commission, at paragraph 2.2 of the covering report, and the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s subsequent responses at paragraphs 2.4 to 2.10, for consideration. In conclusion, the Monitoring Officer advised that individual Town and Community Councils and indeed any individual member from any Town and Community Council could make representations directly to the Boundary Commission in the same way as any Vale of Glamorgan Elected Member before the 12th of November 2025. The consultation email address was included within the appended Draft Proposals Review Report. Following the Monitoring Officer’s presentation, Councillor Cave raised a series of concerns as the long standing ward member for Llandow, as follows: • Five years previously, it was decided that the Llandow Ward was too large and that the areas of Ewenny and Corntown be removed and placed under the Wick area. The current proposals suggest that Llandow remains too large and that Colwinston and Llangan also be removed from the Llandow Ward and placed under Wick. So, it appears that the Llandow Ward is slowly being renamed as Wick, and it was unclear why that would be the case. • The area of Troes is not mentioned at all within the report. • In presenting the report, the Monitoring Officer referred to local community relationships and those being the most important driver for the changes that the Commission were asking for. However, one of the strongest links in the Llandow community exists between the villages of Llysworney and Colwinston. This was a strong connection due to Members of Llandow Community Council being invited to sit as governors on the new school in Colwinston, following previous school closures, and the arrangement still exists. As such, Llandow had very strong links with Colwinston as children from Llandow and Llangan attend the school in Colwinston. The current proposals suggest that the link be severed so that Llandow Community Council Representatives would no longer have a say in the Colwinston School, which was unsatisfactory. • The proposals also suggest that Councillor Cave represents too many people in the Llandow Ward however, Councillor Cave was happy with their current workload and believed it to be value for money, which was what the Vale of Glamorgan Council should be focused on. In fact, Councillor Cave would welcome the areas of Ewenny and Corntown to rejoin Llandow to give greater value for money. • It was unclear how Vale of Glamorgan Taxpayers were supposed to fund five more elected members in the Vale of Glamorgan, especially when the currently elected members were saying that they were happy to continue with representing as is. No one was of the opinion that there was more money available to fund additional elected members. • The statement contained within paragraph 1.3 of the covering report, “In terms of the current Llandow electoral ward, this currently spans an area at the northernmost part of the Vale of Glamorgan in and around Ruthin and St Mary Hill to the rural area to the north of Llantwit Major (in and around Llanmaes)” was grossly and factually incorrect, and should be corrected, for the following reasons: - The areas of Ruthin and St Mary Hill were also considered to be rural areas, - The Llandow Ward was nowhere near Llanmaes and, sitting between Llanmaes and Llandow were other villages. • Paragraph 1.3 goes on to state “In terms of the ratio of population to members, the variance from the county average is 20-50% above. As a consequence, there is potential scope to consider current arrangements with neighbouring wards, not least St Bride’s Major. This would involve the potential community wards of Colwinston (TA0), Llangan (TB0 & TB1) and St Mary Hill (TC0) being amalgamated into the St Bride’s Electoral ward with the scope for increasing the number of members to 3” suggesting that the remaining area of Llandow was not large enough to be represented properly and should be amalgamated but that was nonsensical. • Two area names were missing from the statement contained within paragraph 1.3 as follows: “The remaining Llandow, Llysworney and Llanmihangel and Llanmaes community wards would continue to form an Electoral ward of Llandow with 1 member;” namely St. Hilary and Llampha, therefore the report should be corrected. • The proposals suggests that there were established local links, but these do not exist. Llandow had never had a local link with St. Hilary or Llanmaes therefore, the proposals were a mishmash of nonsensical, imagined, local community connections and there was not one community council that Councillor Cave currently represented that thought the proposals were a good idea. • The proposals, if adopted, would result in losing a vast majority of community councillors, and said community councillors give their time for free and because of the love of their village that they reside in, not outlying villages. • Llandow Community Council was likely to have to pay for Clerk redundancies if the proposal for a new ‘super community council’ was formed as proposed. There would be at least three to five Clerks applying for the one position, and therefore the amalgamated community councils would be asked to pay redundancy, for which, they had no idea how to fund. Councillor Wilson then added that it was important to think about proportionality when talking about electoral wards and that financial implications in relation to the proposals would be a matter for Welsh Government to consider going forward. In response, Councillor Cave stated that the argument for proportionality would be overwhelmed by the argument for local ties, and the proposal report as presented did not give an accurate reflection of current local ties. Councillor Perry then referred to pages 7 and 8 of the appended Draft Proposal Report and advised they were unable to gather from the map images provided what the suggested changes were. If consultees could not understand the changes being proposed, then The Commission’s consultation was flawed. Councillors Summers and Godfrey both expressed how pleased they were to see subsequent changes suggested by The Commission, in response to their previously provided representations on behalf of their respective community councils; Penllyn and Wenvoe. Following comments raised by the committee, the Monitoring Officer offered the following points of advice: • In response to any comments raised as to the necessity of the review, the relevant legislation was set out within the covering report. • In relation to Councillor Cave's comments on the inaccuracies contained within paragraph 1.3 of the covering report, these would be passed to the Electoral Registration Manager for consideration following the meeting and responded to in due course. These references were points which came out of the previous report which was considered by the Committee. • On the matter of Clerk redundancies, if the proposals were introduced, and any impact these would have, would be a matter for The Commission to consider as part of the consultation. • The Monitoring Officer was unable to comment on related costs for the review as the review was a legal requirement in line with the Welsh Government Framework, but the Monitoring Officer reiterated that Members should submit their comments and concerns to the Commission. • In response to Councillor Perry's comments, individual maps were also available on The Commission’s website and members were encouraged to raise any queries directly with The Commission. • It was recognised that Members of the Committee would be experts in their individual ward areas and therefore, they were encouraged to submit representations to The Commission directly before the end of the consultation period on the 12th of November. After which, The Commission would reflect on all submissions received. • The Monitoring Officer reminded Members that the proposals came out of the earlier Community area review which was completed earlier in the year which updated community boundaries. The current electoral review was therefore based on those new community areas as they would stand when the Order took effect. • Once announced by The Commission, final proposals would be put before the Community Liaison Committee for information. With no further comments or questions, the Committee subsequently RECOMMENDED – (1) T H A T the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s response to the Commission’s Initial Proposals, as set out in paragraphs 2.4 to 2.11 of the covering report, be noted. (2) T H A T the report be referred to the Special Full Council meeting on 3rd November 2025, including the comments raised by Committee Members at the meeting as part of the supporting reference. Reasons for recommendations (1) Having regard to the contents of the report on the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s recommended response to the Commission’s Initial Proposals of the review. (2) To update Council and to approve the Council’s response to the Commission’s Initial Proposals, having considered the comments of the Community Liaison Committee in advance.
The report was presented in order to invite a representative of Town and Community Councils (TCCs) to join the Public Services Board (PSB), in line with the statutory guidance for the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, and to continue the involvement of TCCs in the work of the PSB and the effective dialogue that had been established between TCCs. The Principal Democratic and Scrutiny Services Officer advised that the report was deferred from the previous Committee meeting to allow members of the Committee further time to consider relevant nominations and to take the matter to a vote with a higher number of Town and Community Council Representatives in attendance. The Officer also advised that one suggested nomination had been submitted to themselves by the Clerk of Penllyn Community Council: namely Councillor Phil Summers. The nomination was subsequently moved by Chair by acceptance and seconded by Councillor Cave. With no other nominations put forward, or dissent, the Chair announced that Councillor Summers be duly appointed. RECOMMENDED – T H A T Councillor Phil Summers, from Penllyn Community Council, be appointed as the Town and Community Council Representative on the Public Services Board, until the 2027 Local Government Elections. Reason for recommendation To enable a representative from Town and Community Councils to be appointed to the PSB to ensure effective engagement with Town and Community Councils and adhere to the Statutory Guidance for the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act.
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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