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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 meetings held on 18th April, 2024 and 21st May, 2024 be approved as a correct record, subject to it being noted that Councillor H.M. Payne had tendered apologies for both meetings.
AGREED - T H A T Inspector Childs be thanked for their time and verbal update.
AGREED - T H A T Group Manager Treherne be thanked for their time and verbal update.
AGREED – (1) T H A T the update report be noted. (2) T H A T an invitation to attend a future meeting of the Committee be extended to all Bus Operators across the Vale of Glamorgan area collectively; Cardiff Bus, First Cymru and Adventure Travel. Reasons for decisions (1) Having regard to the contents of the update report on the past, present and future aspects of local bus services in the Vale of Glamorgan. (2) To provide the Committee with the opportunity to have further input on Bus routes and services available across the Vale of Glamorgan
AGREED – (1) T H A T both the reference and appended report from the Corporate Performance and Resources Scrutiny Committee be noted. (2) T H A T an Executive Summary of the Vale of Glamorgan Public Services Board Annual Report 2023/24 be produced and disseminated amongst members of the Community Liaison Committee as well as all Town and Community Council Clerks. Reasons for decisions (1) Having regard to the contents of both the reference and appended report on the progress made in the delivery of the Wellbeing Objectives and steps set by the Vale Public Service Board in its Well-being Plan 2023-28. (2) To support Town and Community Councils’ understanding of the relevance of the report at a local level and to more easily digest the information contained within the Annual Report.
AGREED - T H A T both the Cabinet reference and appended report be commended. Reason for decision Having regard to the contents of both the reference and appended report on the findings and recommendations produced by the programme of engagement with Cwmpas and oversight of the development of the body of work. Minutes - AR No.
AGREED - T H A T both the verbal reference and appended Cabinet report be noted. Reason for decision Having regard to the contents of both the verbal reference and appended report to provide Committee with the opportunity to consider the draft Corporate Plan and provide feedback as part of the programme of consultation prior to Cabinet considering a final draft in due course.
AGREED – (1) T H A T a request be sent to the Public Service Board, that two representatives of Town and Community Councils be appointed to the Board, one representative for Town Councils and one representative for Community Councils. (2) T H A T Councillor S. Hodges (Barry Town Council) continues to represent Town and Community Councils on the Public Service Board until such time that Minutes - AR No. the Community Liaison Committee request, as per Recommendation 1 above, be responded to. Reason for recommendation (1) To increase the number of representative seats available to promote continued rotation of Town and Community Councils who take up a representative seat and subsequently promote better understanding of the Public Service Board and its working links with Town and Community Councils in the Vale of Glamorgan. (2) To provide Town and Community Councils with additional time to consider the Town and Community Council representative role(s) on the Public Service Board ahead of a vote at a future Community Liaison Committee meeting. Minutes - AR
These were received from Councillors W. Gilligan and S.D. Perkes and Councillors J. Andrew (Cowbridge with Llanblethian Town Council), M. Cuddy (Penarth Town Council), K. Hatton (Dinas Powys Community Council), J. Radcliffe (Ewenny Community Council), S. Jefferies (Llandough Community Council), S. Howells (Penllyn Community Council), A. Parry (St. Brides Community Council and N. Bosworth (Welsh St. Donats Community Council). Minutes - AR No.
Decision as recorded
AGREED – T H A T the minutes of the meetings held on 18th April, 2024 and 21st May, 2024 be approved as a correct record, subject to it being noted that Councillor H.M. Payne had tendered apologies for both meetings.
AGREED – T H A T the minutes of the meetings held on 18th April, 2024 and 21st May, 2024 be approved as a correct record, subject to it being noted that Councillor H.M. Payne had tendered apologies for both meetings.
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 2024 as follows: • The annual summer partnership operation in collaboration with other emergency service colleagues and the Vale of Glamorgan Council, called Operation Elstree, had been a huge success over the 2024 summer period. Despite indifferent weather experienced over the summer months, a number of public events had been held without incident and/or police intervention. • The Vale of Glamorgan coastline continued to attract families to the area and family centred events had been incident free with no major disorder or public order incidents with a visible police presence. • There had been one or two incidents in terms of car parks and vehicles turning up, but these were considered minor incidents that the Police Service would look in to for the next annual Elstree operation. • Inspector Childs had now adopted responsibility for the whole of the Vale of Glamorgan area from Penarth right through to Ogmore-by-sea. Historically, the Penarth area had been considered in conjunction with the Cardiff Bay area for policing but, the Penarth area now sat with Inspector Childs. • There had not been any major crime sprees or patterns identified within the Vale of Glamorgan area, but the Police service was paying attention to certain matters. • In response to instances of shoplifting in the Penarth Town Centre area, Police Officers had been out to visit local stores to provide crime prevention advice and measures that could be put in place, if not already. Officers were working towards identifying regular offenders and means of bringing them into custody prior to the busier Christmas shopping period in the hope of reducing related crime numbers / figures. Related numbers were not significant, but officers were aware of the effect upon the local business community. • Farmers in the Vale had recently experienced some issues in relation to persons trespassing on their land late at night. This was unfortunately a trend at the current time of year when crops were typically harvested. Trespassing could also be associated with the travelling community and them using dogs to kill hares. A number of lamping crimes had been Minutes - AR No. reported to the police and therefore the number of patrols had increased as well as CCTV investigations undertaken to identify associated vehicles and the registered owners who had been approached. Officers Elson and Williamson, who had worked with the Vale of Glamorgan farming community for a number of years, would be heading up an operation in the future to increase patrols and support the farming community. • The Vale crime rate remained low and drug dealing, domestic violence and knife culture remained priorities for the service, however each of said priorities did not feature much within the Vale of Glamorgan area. • Officers were excited to report that conversations were currently being held with a local international boxer in relation to establishing an intervention initiative for young persons who were on a negative path and/or had the potential to enter a life of criminality. The initiative had been successful in the Bristol area so officers were hopeful that referrals to the initiative could be made from local schools once a suitable venue in the Vale of Glamorgan area could be identified. Following the Inspector’s presentation, Councillor Asbrey questioned the plans for PCSO deployment in the Dinas Powys area, to which Inspector Childs advised that the area was covered by two PCSOs at the current time and that they had a team of PCSOs to cover the whole of the Vale of Glamorgan area. The PCSOs currently covering the Dinas Powys area were Luke and Dawn and the officer in charge of the area was Sergeant Chris Thomas. Still on the topic of PCSO attendance, Councillor Toker queried PCSO attendance at Community Council meetings. Councillor Toker represented the St. Athan Community Council and advised that the Community Council received Police reports that included statistics, but no in-person attendance had been undertaken recently. In response, Inspector Childs advised that the PCSO for the area was routinely on leave on Tuesdays which was typically the day of the Community Council meetings, however, he would take the matter back to the relevant officer to provide an alternative PCSO to attend the Community Council meetings. Councillor Hawkins for Wick Community Council expressed concerns that PCSO teams were seemingly reducing and felt less available to Community Councils and therefore queried whether rural team PCSOs were still being utilised elsewhere, out of area. Inspector Childs was pleased to inform Committee that the Penarth area now fell under his remit and therefore he supervised five more PCSOs out of the Penarth area and those, combined with PCSOs from the Llantwit Major area, all lived in the areas that they served and were invested in their local communities. There had been officer extractions over the recent summer period due to external events such as the protests witnessed in England and therefore the Vale of Glamorgan Police resources were being used to assist elsewhere when required. This was a pattern that was common across the whole of the U.K. Inspector Childs then offered the Committee reassurance that they were working with their senior command to make sure PCSOs in the Vale stayed in the Vale area that they belonged to and that the Police Service was committed to that premise and to manage demand as effectively as possible. Minutes - AR No. Councillor Campbell then sought clarification in relation to byelaws in place for fishing at Rhoose Point, as it had come to their attention that PCSOs had been on site, however, had not moved people on from the area. In response, Inspector Childs advised that PCSOs did patrol the relevant Rhoose area and Police policy was to engage and advise of byelaws in place and to give an assertive message for individuals caught fishing in the area to move on. Enforcement on the matter was under the responsibilities of the Vale of Glamorgan Council and it was Police discretion as to whether the matter was reported to the Vale of Glamorgan Council. Individuals would be asked to leave the area if seen, however, in the case of any persistent offenders, Police Officers would work with the Vale of Glamorgan Council to take action. In addition, Councillor Wilson, in their capacity as Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood and Building Services for the Vale of Glamorgan Council, advised that enforcement was one of the areas within their portfolio and offered reassurance that they were keen to work with the Police Force and Councillor Campbell directly to help resolve the matter and kindly asked that Councillor Campbell send them an email following the meeting. Councillor Phillips, as the Dinas Powys Community Council representative on the Committee, echoed the comments raised by Councillor Asbrey and advised that the Community Council would be pleased to meet Luke and Dawn as the new PCSOs for the area and queried when said officers had taken on the area. Inspector Childs advised that the PCSOs had already made extensive contact with various persons within the local area and had been seen visibly on patrols within the area to date. The Inspector advised that he would ask the PCSOs to contact the Community Council following the meeting and requested that the Community Council provide the Inspector with future dates of meetings of the Community Council in order to ensure PCSO attendance. Councillor Thomas was pleased to hear the Inspector’s comments in relation to a focus on shoplifting in the Penarth area and asked if the Inspector could expand upon relevant Police response times. Inspector Childs advised that Police response was controlled out of the Headquarters Control Room and therefore out of his direct jurisdiction, however, it was important to note that there were higher risk items which would naturally involve faster response times. The Inspector then provided reassurance to the Committee that all of his teams had been given a direction in terms of making arrests where possible and that there would be some plain clothed exercises for stores in the Penarth area in the near future as well as initiatives to support homeless individuals who were visiting the area. Still on the topic of shoplifting concerns, Councillor Phillips, as the Dinas Powys Community Council representative, advised that the Dinas Powys area also had a number of shoplifting individuals over the previous Christmas period within the village stores and therefore kindly requested if the Inspector could keep this in mind for the upcoming Christmas period, to which, the Inspector advised that they were continually advised on crime figures for the whole of the Vale of Glamorgan area and offered reassurance that there were no major data trends obvious at the current time. However, the concerns in relation to the Dinas Powys area would be discussed with the relevant PCSOs. Minutes - AR No. In conclusion, the Chair thanked Inspector Childs for his time and verbal update and stated that it was good to see that the Police Service were aware of local concerns. With no further comments or questions, 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 Treherne be thanked for their time and verbal update.
Mr. Treherne, Group Manager, apprised the Committee on the following matters in relation to the Bridgend and Vale of Glamorgan areas since their last update had been provided to the Committee in April 2024 as follows: • The wet weather that had been experienced thus far through the calendar year had resulted in a massive reduction of wildfires for the area, which in turn had had a positive impact on some of the calls and the nature of the calls the service were attending. • In terms of statistics for the same period last year, the service had attended a total of 190 fires which was a decrease of 24% compared to the same period in the previous year. • Of the 178 fires that were categorised as a dwelling house fire, 54% were classed as deliberate, 44% accidental, and 2% were classified as not known or the cause origin had not been determined. • Calls had also been attended in relation to fires involving outdoor equipment and machinery, such as agriculture machinery and this corresponded with some of the matters raised by Inspector Childs earlier on the agenda. • Road vehicle calls made up 12% of all service calls, dwelling fires 14%, grassland and/or woodland crops 12%, non-residential buildings and small shops 10% and outdoor structures 2%. However, the majority of actual fires dealt with related to refuse and refuse containers such as wheelie bins and small disposable barbeques. • There had been 226 special service calls attended by the service in total to date and specific to the Vale of Glamorgan area, 49 related to road traffic collisions which was unfortunately a 16% increase, 9 flooding calls which was also an increase, and 3 water rescues which had stayed the same between year comparisons. • So far, for the current year, the service had responded to 365 calls in relation to automatic fire alarms and this was an increase of 6%. • In terms of pro-active community safety activities being taken by the service: - 74 different schools and educational premises had been visited by officers to deliver educational programmes across key stages 1 – 4, reaching 3,421 pupils to date and the advice given was tailored based on the age of the pupils. - 452 Vale of Glamorgan homes had been visited during the current quarter with smoke, heat and carbon monoxide detectors being Minutes - AR No. fitted. 79 of the home addresses visited were referrals from domestic violence or hate crime partner agencies and therefore crime prevention advice was also provided in addition to the standardised home safety check. • Exercise Aqua Park was a multi-agency exercise involving the RNLI, Coast Guard and South Wales Police based on a multi-casualty and boat fire scenario in an inflatable aqua park. The exercise was designed to raise awareness of water safety and the dangers of being in and around water. This was felt pertinent as there had been some issues with individuals tombstoning around the Barry area. • As of 6th January 2025, the service was changing its response to automatic fire alarms at commercial premises slightly. Between the hours of 18:00 and 07:59 the service would attend as normal however, in daytime hours, the service would only attend if the responsible person confirmed that there was a fire or signs of a fire at the premises. Following the Group Manager’s presentation, Councillor Cave referred to the statistic as presented by the Group Manager in relation to a 16% increase in road traffic accidents and asked if the officer could kindly provide further information in relation to this. In response, Group Manager Treherne advised that there had been 42 road accidents in the previous recorded quarter which had sadly increased to 49 which was a percentage increase of 16%. It was believed that this increase was in the main due to the increase and longevity of the wet weather for the area. Councillor Wilson then raised two queries of the officer. Councillor Wilson stated that he was pleased to see that the Fire Service continued to provide safety presentations to young people however, queried what efforts were also being made to inform the older generation. Secondly, in relation to domestic fires, Councillor Wilson queried how many domestic fires were related to electrical issues. In response, Group Manager Treherne advised that the majority of home fire safety checks that were undertaken by the service were done so following referrals from other external agencies working with older persons. As part of a home fire safety check, the residents were provided with survival guidance. In relation to Councillor Wilson’s second question, there had been a spate of electrical push bike fires being responded to and therefore advice was currently being rolled out in order to advise individuals on how to safely charge electrical push bikes overnight and to avoid leaving them on charge overnight. As a supplementary question, Councillor Wilson queried what advice would be provided to individuals in the case of a domestic fire, to which Group Manager Treherne advised that individuals would always be told to leave the property as quickly as possible with all other persons present in the property. Individuals were advised to take the time to run practice drills on how to safely and quickly exit the property whilst closing all doors behind themselves and to use a neighbour’s phone in order to call the fire service for response. Councillor Phillips, as the representative for Dinas Powys Community Council, then kindly asked if the officer could recap the changes in the response times to fire alarms raised at commercial premises. Group Manager Treherne advised that Minutes - AR No. from 6th January, 2025 the service would not mobilise during daytime hours for a call raised at a commercial premises until such time that contact with the responsible person at the relevant venue was sought to confirm that a fire was present. However, the auto-response would remain the same in relation to nighttime hours. As a supplementary point, Councillor Phillips also referred to the fact that there had been three water rescue incidents for the Vale of Glamorgan area and that one had taken place in the Dinas Powys area which took two hours to extricate an individual. Sadly, once the Fire Service had got the individual to safety, there was no ambulance available in order to take the individual to hospital. This was surprising to hear at the time and therefore Councillor Phillips queried whether this was standard. Group Manager Treherne advised that ambulance colleagues were feeling a significant amount of pressure, however, offered reassurance that there were other ambulance resources available that could be deployed to respond. Councillor Toker, as the representative for the St. Athan Community Council, extended the Community Council’s thanks to the ambulance service for attending the recent St. Athan Community Fair. In conclusion, the Chair thanked Group Manager Treherne for his time and presentation and stated that it was extremely useful for the Committee to have a point of contact and information. With no further comments or questions, the Committee subsequently AGREED - T H A T Group Manager Treherne be thanked for their time and verbal update.
Decision as recorded
AGREED – (1) T H A T the update report be noted. (2) T H A T an invitation to attend a future meeting of the Committee be extended to all Bus Operators across the Vale of Glamorgan area collectively; Cardiff Bus, First Cymru and Adventure Travel. Reasons for decisions (1) Having regard to the contents of the update report on the past, present and future aspects of local bus services in the Vale of Glamorgan. (2) To provide the Committee with the opportunity to have further input on Bus routes and services available across the Vale of Glamorgan
The Operational Manager for Transport Services presented the update report, the purpose of which was to provide an overview of the past, present, and future aspects of local bus services in the Vale of Glamorgan. Following a report presented to the Committee on 18th April, 2024, it was requested that a further update report on bus services in the Vale of Glamorgan be presented to Committee in six months’ time. Therefore, the report presented updated the Committee on any changes that had been made to the bus network since April 2024. The Commercial and Operations Director of Cardiff Bus was also in attendance at the meeting as per a request raised by the Committee when the original response report was considered back in April 2024. The Officer apprised the Committee on a number of changes to the bus network in the Vale of Glamorgan since April 2024 that were listed by operator in paragraphs 2.7 – 2.23 of the report. Efforts to promote bus services were also set out in the report at paragraphs 2.24 – 2.27. Minutes - AR No. Following the Officer’s presentation, Members of the Committee raised the following concerns that were subsequently answered by officers present: Member Comments Officer Response Councillor Thomas Vale officers were aware of a reduction Llantwit Major Town Council in service, following timetable changes which were implemented to improve Bus service 321 – Llantwit Major to reliability. However, the timetable Port Talbot – Importantly, the bus presented to officers did not show a service from Llantwit Major to 50% loss of services. Officers would Cowbridge. investigate this with First Cymru and clarify. The service has been halved and a massive loss in service had been witnessed with irregular timings. This was not acceptable when local GP surgeries were split between the Llantwit and Cowbridge areas making facilities inaccessible to residents. Is this reduced service going to remain as the normal timetable now? Councillor Cave A co-ordinator for the Green Links Llandow Ward Service had not been in post for several months however, the post had The Councillor raised concerns about now been filled in recent months as the Green Links Bus Service that was well as a number of voluntary drivers utilised by many residents in the more recruited. rural areas of the Vale of Glamorgan The Council were working towards where commercial bus services are reintroducing the G1 service in the not available. next couple of months that allowed Over the previous 6 month period, concessionary bus pass users to Councillor cave had received a travel. number of complaints in relation to the The Operational Manager for Green Links Bus Service not operating Transport Services kindly requested properly, the booking process being that any concerns in relation to the tortuous, enquiries not being answered Green Links Service be forwarded to or responded to in a timely manner, them so that investigations could take driver/vehicle confirmation not being place with the relevant department. received until the day of bookings, The Democratic Services Officer costly annual requests for payment advised that the Green Links service being sent to low income individuals, fell under the remit of the Environment as well as the chaotic state of the and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee department within the Council which for which Councillor Cave was able to handled the service. raise an Elected Member Scrutiny None of the causes for concern were Request for Consideration Form. helpful to the service users and left them worried that they were going to Minutes - AR No. be stranded and not be able to get to their destination. Councillor Cave acknowledged the difficulties that that been experienced in recruiting voluntary drivers, but it was not helpful if it was stated by the Council that a service was available when in fact it was not. In conclusion, Councillor Cave asked which of the Council’s Scrutiny Committees would be best placed to receive regular updates on the Green Links Bus Service. Councillor Wilson The Commercial and Operations Stanwell Ward, Penarth. Director for Cardiff Bus advised that all services that could fit into The Many people from Penarth would Interchange were being serviced from catch a bus into The Cardiff the facility. Consideration would need Interchange, which was a wonderful to be given to the impacts of further and comfortable facility however, many diversions through The Interchange buses did not pass through the such as vehicle movements around interchange which was mainly a Cardiff City more widely as well as concern for buses that serviced the time penalties getting in and out of The Heath Hospital in Cardiff and bus Interchange facility and the capacity of users had to cross a busy road to get nearby road junctions. the bus from Wyndham Crescent. In terms of the Heath Hospital, Cardiff Were there any plans to try and get Bus had already undertaken some more buses to serve The Interchange work in partnership with the Cardiff that go to the heath hospital? and Vale Health Board to put in place As a supplementary point, Councillor more information within the concourse Wilson stated that it was not always for the Hospital to help service users to easy to know which bus stop to use to navigate to their nearest bus stop. travel to various locations whilst at the Cardiff Bus would be happy to work Heath Hospital and it would be useful with the Health Board further in this to look at improving this. regard. Councillor Wilson commended the The Cardiff Bus App had been in convenience of using the Cardiff Bus operation for over 10 years, providing App as well as the fact that the Vale of service users with instant journey Glamorgan Council would be using live information so that they could make an information displays in certain bus informed choice on their travel. shelters. Councillor Hawkins An update on the 303 Fair Scheme Wick Community Council Trial had not yet been shared with the Vale of Glamorgan Council by the The Council queried whether there Operator, First Cymru. However, such was a definition of “timetable information could be shared with the compliant” as, in relation to the 303 Councillor once received. It was service, buses would leave at 54 hoped that the Operator was making minutes past the hour but often these records of every passenger who used were late which meant that service the service because significant Minutes - AR No. users were late to catch subsequent passenger numbers had been trains resulting in a further waiting provided historically. times. In terms of timing compliance, It was good to hear about the success information had come through from the of the 303 trial during the summer operator that stated between an 80 – months, but it was not evident to users 85% compliance for buses arriving on during that time how drivers were time, which was a significant recording passenger numbers/use. improvement. Officer’s understanding Would there be any form of of compliance meant that the bus was assessment on how successful the arriving at the relevant stop at the trail was? expected time, but this would need to As a final question, Councillor Hawkins be verified with First Cymru and fed queried how long the Council’s back to the Councillor after the proposed real time information project meeting. would take to implement? It was anticipated that the real time information project would be implemented in early 2025. Councillor Haines The Welsh Government directive was St. Athan Ward to tender bus timetables as they currently stood however, the 304 In relation to the 304 bus route, from service was a commercial route and St. Athan to Llantwit Major, the bus there were now not many commercial arrived 4 minutes after the train had routes left in the Vale of Glamorgan. left and 12 minutes if getting the train Officers were willing and able to from Rhoose. Therefore, any young assess the related route which was a person who needed to use public through service and therefore a very transport for work in Cardiff City long route. The matter would be taken Centre could only leave for work at back to the relevant Council team and 7am and arrive in the city at 8:47am as First Cymru and feedback offered to later trains would not correlate with the the Councillor after the meeting. bus timetable. Could this timetable be looked at? With no train station available within St. Athan, bus services were crucial to local residents without access to a private vehicle. Councillor Cox The Commercial and Operations Penarth Town Council Director for Cardiff Bus advised that Cardiff Bus wished to do as much as Councillor Cox made their statements possible to encourage as many within the context of the Socio- customers as possible to travel by bus economic duty and stated that there and that decisions were taken with was a requirement for bus and train care and consideration in relation to services in the Vale of Glamorgan to routes and bus stops available. A city be the travel methods of choice rather centre environment was not an easy than automatically using private environment to align services but the vehicles. operator was always willing to receive Buses could be taking the load off feedback and hold discussions with parking pressures that were evident in Town and Community Councils. This both the Penarth and Cardiff area, but has also worked in turn with Cardiff Minutes - AR No. this was not the case due to a lack of Bus approaching Councils to support public consultation on the matter. and accommodate local public events. The number 7 route had been re- Any service changes were required to instated however, following a lack of be registered with the office of the community consultation, was changed Traffic Commissioner with six weeks’ to a completely different route through notice. Therefore, publication of the Penarth Town and a different bus changes referred to by Councillor Cox diverted to balance the effect. were published towards the end of July Bus operators relied on customer use and a timetable guide widely to generate revenue however, there communicated as soon as available would be low demand for services if from the printers. such services did not meet the needs The 93 route was a route that drivers of the customer. would take infrequently but it was Councillor Cox echoed Councillor acknowledged that more could be Wilson’s comments in relation to done to communicate changes routes servicing the Heath Hospital amongst the 450 drivers of Cardiff and noted the fact that may individuals Bus. who were required to visit the Hospital were unable to drive or had mobility In addition, the Operational Manager issues and therefore relied heavily on for Transport Services advised that the buses available. A more Vale of Glamorgan Officers also permanent solution was required to welcomed feedback from Town and ensure that buses that travelled Community Councils in relation to bus through Cardiff to the bus station services and would work in partnership interchange could also stop at a stop with operators to establish what was which was served by an alternative possible to make improvements. service. It was important for service operators to think about what the service users wanted and not just where routes could be installed. Changes had recently been made to services 7 and 93 from the first of September however, publicising said changes during the month of August was not very effective time. Bus drivers were also using the old routes in place prior to the changes being made and therefore there seemed to be an internal communication issue. In conclusion, Councillor Phillips, as the representative for Dinas Powys Community Council, thanked both presenting officers for their support shown towards the Transport Liaison Group established in Dinas Powys. The Group worked closely with the Commercial and Operations Director for Cardiff Bus, who monitored services in the area and was pleased with the recent extension of the 95 bus service that had been well received by local residents. The Chair thanked both officers for their attendance and noted how useful the Committee discussion had been for providing a point of contact to the Minutes - AR No. representatives on the Committee. In response to a supplementary suggestion raised by the Chair, the Commercial and Operations Director for Cardiff Bus agreed to attend future, quarterly, meetings of the Committee alongside other bus operators active in the Vale of Glamorgan and that an invitation be extended accordingly. With no further comments or questions, the Committee subsequently AGREED – (1) T H A T the update report be noted. (2) T H A T an invitation to attend a future meeting of the Committee be extended to all Bus Operators across the Vale of Glamorgan area collectively; Cardiff Bus, First Cymru and Adventure Travel. Reasons for decisions (1) Having regard to the contents of the update report on the past, present and future aspects of local bus services in the Vale of Glamorgan. (2) To provide the Committee with the opportunity to have further input on Bus routes and services available across the Vale of Glamorgan
Decision as recorded
AGREED – (1) T H A T both the reference and appended report from the Corporate Performance and Resources Scrutiny Committee be noted. (2) T H A T an Executive Summary of the Vale of Glamorgan Public Services Board Annual Report 2023/24 be produced and disseminated amongst members of the Community Liaison Committee as well as all Town and Community Council Clerks. Reasons for decisions (1) Having regard to the contents of both the reference and appended report on the progress made in the delivery of the Wellbeing Objectives and steps set by the Vale Public Service Board in its Well-being Plan 2023-28. (2) To support Town and Community Councils’ understanding of the relevance of the report at a local level and to more easily digest the information contained within the Annual Report.
The reference from the Corporate Performance and Resources Scrutiny Committee on 18th September, 2024 was presented by the Director of Corporate Resources. The Director advised that the Public Services Board (PSB) had launched its first Well-being Plan in 2018 which concluded in 2023, whereby the PSB agreed its second and current Well-being Plan (2023-28) in May 2023. All partners had been working to progress the PSB’s Well-being Objectives and Priority Workstreams and the steps set out to take forward the work. To capture the progress made in the first year of the Well-being Plan, the PSB had produced an Annual Report in the form of an online report using Microsoft Sway (appended to the reference). The Annual Report gave an overview of the progress that had been made by partners in implementing the three Well-being Objectives, the 19 steps and against the PSB’s priority workstreams. It was further noted that this was the first year that partners had been working together to deliver the Wellbeing Plan 2023- 28 and the examples included provided a good overview of the work undertaken within the challenging context of pressures placed on partners such as the Cost- of-Living Crisis and the particular budgetary pressures. Minutes - AR No. Over the past year, the PSB had submitted progress reports to various Scrutiny Committees as part of the rolling programme of providing updates on its work and the Annual Report had been considered by the PSB on 3 rd July, 2024 and had also been published on its website. Following the Director’s presentation, Councillor Cave noted the considerable length of the report and proposed that, as a result, Town and Community Councils may be struggling to understand the relevance to them. In response, the Director of Corporate Resources advised that the relevance to Town and Community Councils sat within their duties under the Act and also in relation to financial turnover amounts, in particular for Town Councils. The report provided Town and Community Councils with the opportunity to comment on the work at a very local level and the purpose of the PSB and Town and Community Council Exchange meetings were to discuss and translate the work of the PSB at a more local level. However, Councillor Cave’s point in relation to understanding relevance at a local level would be taken back and officers were happy to produce an Executive Summary that could be made available to all Town and Community Councils following the meeting. The Director’s comments were echoed by Councillor S. Hodges as the Barry Town Council representative and noted that the report was set at a high corporate level, however, it remained important to get all organisations together and therefore Town and Community Councils were really encouraged to get involved in any meetings of the Public Services Board that they could. In response to the Director’s comments, Councillor Cave was pleased that their point had been taken onboard and noted that Town and Community Councillors were volunteers in their role and, as a result of the Boundary Commission Community Review which stated that the number of Town and Community Councillors be reduced, the duties of said Councillors would become more onerous on the individuals who had taken up positions. Therefore, any materials provided to Town and Community Councils needed to be relevant, understandable and easy to read. Councillor Cave’s comments in relation to the size of documents and the subsequent required reading time were echoed by Councillor Perry. With the Committee’s permission, the Leader of the Council, Councillor Burnett, stated that it was encouraging to see the amount of work that had taken place around the PSB and that the Board was a forum where a wide range of bodies were able to come together for the benefit of Vale of Glamorgan residents. There was a significant amount of cross community working taking place and individuals could add their own unique insight. The Council was always willing to look at the accessibility of information available and it was important that any efforts did not restrict Members access to information. With no further comments or questions, the Committee subsequently Minutes - AR No. AGREED – (1) T H A T both the reference and appended report from the Corporate Performance and Resources Scrutiny Committee be noted. (2) T H A T an Executive Summary of the Vale of Glamorgan Public Services Board Annual Report 2023/24 be produced and disseminated amongst members of the Community Liaison Committee as well as all Town and Community Council Clerks. Reasons for decisions (1) Having regard to the contents of both the reference and appended report on the progress made in the delivery of the Wellbeing Objectives and steps set by the Vale Public Service Board in its Well-being Plan 2023-28. (2) To support Town and Community Councils’ understanding of the relevance of the report at a local level and to more easily digest the information contained within the Annual Report.
Decision as recorded
AGREED - T H A T both the Cabinet reference and appended report be commended. Reason for decision Having regard to the contents of both the reference and appended report on the findings and recommendations produced by the programme of engagement with Cwmpas and oversight of the development of the body of work. Minutes - AR No.
The reference from Cabinet on 19th September, 2024 was presented by the Operational Manager for Corporate Strategy and Insight and set out the key findings and recommendations contained in reports produced by Cwmpas following a programme of engagement undertaken on behalf of the Vale of Glamorgan Council, in response to four Audit Wales Reports, focusing on tackling poverty and working with the third sector. The Officer advised that engagement focused on the recommendations outlined in the Audit Wales reports and looked at the Council’s current work on tackling poverty as well as working relationships with Third Sector Organisations, Social Enterprises and Town and Community Councils to explore opportunities for development. The report also considered the conclusions and recommendations resulting from the engagement and the Council’s proposals to address them as part of the development of a new Corporate Plan and the Reshaping Programme of transformation. Following the Officer’s presentation, the Chair thanked officers for the comprehensive report and stated the importance of Town and Community Councils knowing what was going on. Councillor Hodges, as the representative for Barry Town Council, then stated that communication between the Vale of Glamorgan Council and Town and Community Councils was very poor. As an example, the Vale of Glamorgan Minutes - AR No. Council contacted Barry Town Council to advise that funding was no longer available to provide a Christmas Tree on King Square. In response, Barry Town Council raised the necessary funds in order to provide the Christmas Tree but were then advised by the Vale of Glamorgan Council whilst ordering said tree that the Vale of Glamorgan Council would in fact be ordering the item, but the Town Council was required to pay. Furthermore, if the Town Council was unable to pay for the tree it would not be installed for the Christmas period. Councillor Hodges stressed that Barry Town Council was not complaining about the cost of the tree, it was more the way that the process was undertaken and the lack of communication which was not felt to be right. In referring to Councillor Hodges’ comments, Councillor Cave noted that the comments highlighted discrepancies between how Town and Community Councils operated, as Community Councils had always paid for their own Christmas trees. Councillor Cave then referred to the documents presented and noted how the Audit Office were quite scathing in their remarks in relation to how the Vale of Glamorgan Council had attempted to engage with the voluntary sector and how previous engagement was too narrow, restrictive, and needed to be opened up Therefore it would be nice to see something different happening in the future to address the fact picked up by the Audit Office. Councillor Perry added that there needed to be a culture change put in place within the Vale of Glamorgan Council in order to mitigate obvious inequalities. Town and Community Councils had little say on how Section 106 monies were being spent in their relevant areas and in fact, Rhoose had no Town and Community Council at all. In conclusion, the Operational Manager for Corporate Strategy and Insight advised that the Council was aware from Third Sector conversations of the examples of strong working relationships and therefore officers welcomed any feedback from Third Sector parties and that efforts to nurture Voluntary Sector relationships was a matter picked up within the new Corporate Plan. With no further comments or questions, the Committee subsequently AGREED - T H A T both the Cabinet reference and appended report be commended. Reason for decision Having regard to the contents of both the reference and appended report on the findings and recommendations produced by the programme of engagement with Cwmpas and oversight of the development of the body of work. Minutes - AR No.
Decision as recorded
AGREED - T H A T both the verbal reference and appended Cabinet report be noted. Reason for decision Having regard to the contents of both the verbal reference and appended report to provide Committee with the opportunity to consider the draft Corporate Plan and provide feedback as part of the programme of consultation prior to Cabinet considering a final draft in due course.
The report presented a draft of an ambitious new Corporate Plan for the Council from 2025-2030. It set out how the draft Corporate Plan had been developed, the proposed consultation and the timetable for the Plan. The Director of Corporate Resources advised that the Corporate Plan set out five proposed new Well-being Objectives which were a requirement under the Well- being of Future Generations Act and framed how the Council would contribute to the national Well-being goals and deliver its vision for Strong Communities with a Bright Future. The Plan detailed the activities that would be undertaken to deliver those objectives and the outcomes they would deliver. The Plan included a statement about what organisations could expect from the Council when working together as a clear commitment to partnership working. It also included a range of actions that would contribute to the work to tackle and prevent poverty, responding to the climate and nature emergencies and reducing inequalities. The commitments within the Corporate Plan would be reflected in annual plans together with a suite of performance measures which would detail how different Council services would contribute to the delivery of the five Well-being Objectives. Following the Director’s presentation, the Chair stated that it was good to see that the Vale of Glamorgan Council were engaging with as many people as possible. Councillor Haines then referred to Section 3: titled ‘Developing a New Plan’ and stated that levels of Planning Department engagement around place making had not been successful to date and that engaging later with place making efforts did not help, as Planners needed to discuss with the local communities much earlier. Councillor Haines’ comments were raised in the context of the Churchfields development that would be starting in the near future. Councillor Cave then raised her concerns over a very long report and that considering the report quite late into the evening at the meeting was not conducive to meaningful consultation with Town and Community Councils. Town and Community Councils wished to have face to face engagement, on an individual basis, whereby officers visited each of the Town and Community Councils. Only offering four engagement events was not showing that the Vale of Glamorgan Council wanted meaningful engagement. As a supplementary point, Councillor Cave queried what the reference to 80,000 voices actually meant in practical terms. With the Committee’s permission, the Leader of the Council advised that they were delighted to take the report to Cabinet earlier the same day and that Cabinet wished to bring the report before the Community Liaison Committee, in particular in relation to Section 4 for resetting relationships with communities. The Council recognised that it had previously not been very good at saying the pressures that it was under and therefore the implications of what that meant for Council Minutes - AR No. services. Therefore, the report set out what were the basic and guiding principles of how the Council would work going forward and therefore was hugely important. It was therefore hoped that as many people as possible would engage during the consultation period. Councillor Perry then advised that he had read the five proposed objectives within the report, however, was struggling to understand their meaning. Town and Community Councils no longer believed the Vale of Glamorgan Council and it was disappointing to see that some of the proposed objectives were matters or approaches that were obvious. In response to a question posed by Councillor Summers, representing Penllyn Community Council, in relation to when the draft Corporate Plan would be publicised and to what timescale, the Director of Corporate Resources advised that the draft Plan would be provided to all Town and Community Councils on Monday, 14th October 2024 and the consultation period would remain open for a period of 8 weeks. Therefore, Town and Community Councils had a period of 8 weeks to consider and provide feedback using the related survey that would also be available to use from 14th October, 2024. The Director added that officers were aware of the draft Plan being 40 pages long, however, noted that the Plan needed to achieve quite a lot over a 5 year period. To support readers, an Executive Summary and public survey had been designed and the Director thanked all Members for their views on the matter. In conclusion, the Chair encouraged all Members of the Committee to ensure that their relevant Clerk had been cited on the draft Corporate Plan so that it may be shared widely and responded to by all Town and Community Councils. The Chair also noted that an Executive Summary was provided at the front of the draft Plan. With no further comments or questions, the Committee subsequently AGREED - T H A T both the verbal reference and appended Cabinet report be noted. Reason for decision Having regard to the contents of both the verbal reference and appended report to provide Committee with the opportunity to consider the draft Corporate Plan and provide feedback as part of the programme of consultation prior to Cabinet considering a final draft in due course.
Decision as recorded
AGREED – (1) T H A T a request be sent to the Public Service Board, that two representatives of Town and Community Councils be appointed to the Board, one representative for Town Councils and one representative for Community Councils. (2) T H A T Councillor S. Hodges (Barry Town Council) continues to represent Town and Community Councils on the Public Service Board until such time that Minutes - AR No. the Community Liaison Committee request, as per Recommendation 1 above, be responded to. Reason for recommendation (1) To increase the number of representative seats available to promote continued rotation of Town and Community Councils who take up a representative seat and subsequently promote better understanding of the Public Service Board and its working links with Town and Community Councils in the Vale of Glamorgan. (2) To provide Town and Community Councils with additional time to consider the Town and Community Council representative role(s) on the Public Service Board ahead of a vote at a future Community Liaison Committee meeting. Minutes - AR
The report was considered in conjunction with the Public Service Board (PSB) Annual Report item earlier on the agenda and invited nominations for a representative of Town and Community Councils (TCCs) to join the PSB in line with the statutory guidance for the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act Minutes - AR No. 2015 and to continue the involvement of TCCs in the work of the PSB and the effective dialogue that had been established between Town and Community Councils. Three nominations were received, and seconded, however these were not taken to a vote in light of comments received from Councillors Cave, Hawkins, Toker, Perry and Wilson as follows: • It would be beneficial for the role to be taken up by an individual who had not performed the role previously. • Rotating the individuals nominated to the position on a more regular basis would help to disseminate information in relation to the PSB more locally which would enhance the understanding of the purpose of the PSB amongst Town and Community Councils. • It would be beneficial to have individuals with a seat from both rural as well as Town Councils. • If meetings of the PSB were to take place during working hours, then it would exclude certain representatives who also worked full time. • It would be helpful to give consideration to the periods of nomination between the two representative seats if approved in order to enhance rotation but still maintain continuity. • It was important to maintain TCC representation on the PSB whilst the requests for a second representative seat be raised with the PSB. • The request would also give TCCs further time to consider the proposed roles and future nominations. In response to the comments of the Committee, the Operational Manager for Corporate Strategy and Insight advised that the PSB had invited nominations for a TCC representative for the period of two years as it had previously been established that one year was not long enough and officers were happy to take the Committee’s request back to the next meeting of the PSB. The Board met approximately five times each year, during working hours, however, there were also other workshops and engagement activities that TCCs could attend. The Director of Corporate Resources also added that it would be timely to take the request from the Community Liaison Committee to the PSB meeting scheduled in early December 2024 which would be taking place prior to the next meeting of the Community Liaison Committee in January 2025. With no further comments or questions, the Committee subsequently AGREED – (1) T H A T a request be sent to the Public Service Board, that two representatives of Town and Community Councils be appointed to the Board, one representative for Town Councils and one representative for Community Councils. (2) T H A T Councillor S. Hodges (Barry Town Council) continues to represent Town and Community Councils on the Public Service Board until such time that Minutes - AR No. the Community Liaison Committee request, as per Recommendation 1 above, be responded to. Reason for recommendation (1) To increase the number of representative seats available to promote continued rotation of Town and Community Councils who take up a representative seat and subsequently promote better understanding of the Public Service Board and its working links with Town and Community Councils in the Vale of Glamorgan. (2) To provide Town and Community Councils with additional time to consider the Town and Community Council representative role(s) on the Public Service Board ahead of a vote at a future Community Liaison Committee meeting. Minutes - AR
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