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At its meeting on 25 November 2021, Cardiff Council approved the 2020/21 pension fund accounts, revised committee seats, and new learning and development documents for councillors. It also carried a motion declaring a Nature Emergency in Cardiff. A motion on public toilets was carried after the Labour Group amended it.
Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Joel Williams and Councillor Sian-Elin Morgan indicated that she would be late in attending the meeting.
The following declarations in accordance with the Members Code of Conduct were received as follows: Councillor Item No Nature of Interest Oliver Owen Item 15 – Motion 1 Personal & Prejudicial Interest – Employed by NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership who are hosted by Velindre Health Board
The minutes of the 21 October 2021 were approved and signed as a correct record of the meeting. Subject to an addition to Minute 81: Councillor Boyle voted AGAINST the approval of the Members Code of Principles on Social Media Use.
It was noted that no public questions were received for this meeting.
he following Petitions were submitted: Councillor No of Relevant Signatures Nature of Petition Cllr Gordon 383 Calling on the Council to impose urgent traffic calming measures in Romilly Road and surrounding roads Cllr Wood 1499 Calling on the Council to save Maindy Velodrome.
The Lord Mayor updated the Council on events he had attended recently, to include : · Opening of the Royal British Legion Field of Remembrance at Cardiff Council; · Laying a wreath at the Ethnic Minority & Commonwealth Service Men & Women Memorial; · Laying a wreath at the Merchant Navy Wales Remembrance Service at the Seafarers Memorial in Cardiff Bay; · Laying a wreath at the Wales National Service of Remembrance on behalf of the citizens of Cardiff; · Attending Diwali celebrations at the Wales Millennium Centre at the Tamil Sangam Diwali event; and · inspecting the troops undertaking the 21 gun royal salute at Cardiff Castle to mark the birthday of HRH the Prince of Wales. Donations to the Lord Mayor’s Charity have recently been made by the Durul Isra Mosque, the South Wales Islamic Centre and the royal Masonic Benevolent Institution. Finally the Lord Mayor referred to the sad passing of Violet Mary Carling, Former lady Mayoress of Cardiff in her 98th year and sad passing of Dr Peter Beck, previous Lord Lieutenant for South Glamorgan.
A warm welcome was extended to Councillor Julia Sangani to her first meeting of the Council as the newly elected Member for Heath Ward following the by-election on 11 November 2021. Councillor Sangani was invited to speak. Councillor Sangani thanked everyone that had helped with the smooth running of the campaign to appoint a new Councillor for Heath. Councillor Sangani confirmed that she would work hard with her ward colleagues to support the community and the City of Cardiff.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: The Council AGREED to approve the revised allocation of seats on Committees as set out in the report and appendix.
The report requested the Council to review and determine the allocation of seats on Committee’s to political groups in accordance with the Political Balance Rules. RESOLVED: The Council AGREED to approve the revised allocation of seats on Committees as set out in the report and appendix.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: The Council AGREED to: 1. Approve the audited Statement of Accounts 2020/21 – The Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund (Appendix 1). 2. Note the Audit of Accounts Reports (ISA 260) from Audit Wales on the Statement of Accounts of Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund for the year ending 31 March 2021 (Appendix 2). 3. Note the final Letter of Representation for the Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund included within Appendix 2. 4. Note that the following documents will be signed following the conclusion of the meeting: · Statement of Accounts for Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund – Lord Mayor and Corporate Director Resources · Audit Certificate for the Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund – Appointed Auditor, Audit Wales. Letter of Representation for the Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund - Lord Mayor and Chief Executive.
The Council was advised that the Statement of Accounts for 2020/21 were presented in order to meet the requirement of the Accounts and Audit (Wales) Regulations 2014 (as amended). This provided that the Statement of Accounts be approved by a relevant committee or by the Council meeting as a corporate body. Due to Covid-19, national timescales in respect to the signing of accounts continue to be extended from 31 May to 31 August and those for publication, extended from 31 July to 30 November. RESOLVED: The Council AGREED to: 1. Approve the audited Statement of Accounts 2020/21 – The Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund (Appendix 1). 2. Note the Audit of Accounts Reports (ISA 260) from Audit Wales on the Statement of Accounts of Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund for the year ending 31 March 2021 (Appendix 2). 3. Note the final Letter of Representation for the Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund included within Appendix 2. 4. Note that the following documents will be signed following the conclusion of the meeting: · Statement of Accounts for Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund – Lord Mayor and Corporate Director Resources · Audit Certificate for the Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund – Appointed Auditor, Audit Wales. Letter of Representation for the Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund - Lord Mayor and Chief Executive.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: The Council AGREED to: Note the Treasury Management Mid-Year Report 2021-22 (Appendix 1).
The report informed members of the Council’s treasury management activities since 1 April 2021 and the position as at 30 September 2021. RESOLVED: The Council AGREED to: Note the Treasury Management Mid-Year Report 2021-22 (Appendix 1).
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: The Council AGREED to: a. Approve and adopt the revised Elected Member Learning and Development Strategy at Appendix A; b. Approve and adopt the Role Descriptions in Appendix B for use in the 2022 induction programme; and Note that the role descriptions may be adapted following the 2022 Local Government Elections to better reflect the roles undertaken by Councillors in Cardiff
The purpose of the report was to inform the Council of some of the key documents which will form the framework for the development of the Elected Member Induction Programme following the Local Government Elections in 2022. RESOLVED: The Council AGREED to: a. Approve and adopt the revised Elected Member Learning and Development Strategy at Appendix A; b. Approve and adopt the Role Descriptions in Appendix B for use in the 2022 induction programme; and Note that the role descriptions may be adapted following the 2022 Local Government Elections to better reflect the roles undertaken by Councillors in Cardiff
The Council received the Governance and Audit Committee Annual Report 2020-2021which was presented by the Chairperson, Mr D Hugh Thomas.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: The Council AGREED to: · Re-appoint Mr David Price with effect from 25 November 2021; Re-appoint Mr Gavin McArthur with effect from 1 December 2021.
The Council was requested to approve the re-appointment of two Independent Members of the Governance and Audit Committee. RESOLVED: The Council AGREED to: · Re-appoint Mr David Price with effect from 25 November 2021; Re-appoint Mr Gavin McArthur with effect from 1 December 2021.
Leaders Statement - Councillor Huw Thomas The Leader responded to questions in relation to: · Cardiff Public Services Board Cabinet Member for Clean Streets, Recycling & Environment – Councillor Michael The Cabinet Member responded to questions in relation to: · Flood Costal Risk Management · Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure · Cardiff Dogs Home Cabinet Member for Children & Families – Councillor Hinchey The Cabinet Member responded to question in relation to: · Welsh Government Funding Cabinet Member for Social Care, Health & Well-being – Councillor Elsmore The Cabinet Member responded to questions in relation to: · Ethnic Minority Engagement Co-ordinator · Cardiff Dementia Centre Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Education, Employment & Skills – Councillor Merry The Cabinet Member responded to question in relation to: · COVID-19 Update for Schools · UNICEF Rights Respecting Schools Awards Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning & Transport – Councillor Wild The Cabinet Member responded to questions in relation to: · Travel Trends · Bike Sharing Scheme Cabinet Member for Investment & Development – Councillor Goodway The Cabinet Member responded to questions in relation to: · Old Library and Norwegian Church Update Cabinet Member for Culture & Leisure – Councillor Bradbury The Cabinet Member responded to questions in relation to: · Christmas 2021 Programme of Events · Refurbishment of Playground Facilities Cabinet Member for Finance, Modernisation & Performance – Councillor Weaver The Cabinet Member responded to questions in relation to: · CardiffGov Mobile App Cabinet Member for Housing & Communities – Councillor Thorne The Cabinet Member responded to questions in relation to: · Community Safety Update · General Crime/Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) · Crime Prevention Infrastructure Graffiti
The Lord Mayor noted that a Notice of Motion proposed by Councillor Derbyshire and seconded by Councillor Henshaw had been received for consideration. Two Amendments had been received from the Conservative Group and Liberal Democrat Group. The Lord Mayor invited Councillor Derbyshire to propose the motion as follows: This Council notes: That the World is already warming at an alarming rate leading to more extreme weather conditions. The ‘Special Report on Global Warming of At a 1.5ºC warmer world, 6% of insects 8% of plants and 8% of vertebrates would be lost; increasing to 18%, 16% and 8% respectively at 2ºC warmer. · Approximately 4% of the global terrestrial land area is projected to undergo a transformation of ecosystems from one type to another at 1°C of global warming, with 13% at 2°C · Biodiversity-related factors such as forest fires, extreme weather events and the spread of invasive species, pests and diseases also need to be taken into account. Many of those are already happening. The latest State of Nature report published by RSPB and other partners in 2019 found that: · Of 3,902 species assessed in Wales, 666 (17%) are threatened with extinction from Wales, and another 73 (2%) have gone extinct already. · The average abundance of butterflies (33 species) has declined in Wales by 52% since 1976. This Council further notes: That Biodiversity was raised as an issue within the Council’s decision to declare a Climate Emergency and forms a key part of our One Planet strategy. The recommendations from the Environmental Scrutiny Committees exercise ‘Managing Biodiversity in Cardiff’, resulted in the Council accepting a wide range of recommendations aimed at protecting, enhancing, and promoting biodiversity. The wide range of actions being undertaken as part of the council's Biodiversity and Resilience of Ecosystems Duty {BRED} Forward Plan, which will be updated in 2022. That bold action to protect and enhance the biodiversity of Cardiff can deliver benefits in terms of wellbeing, in new jobs, economic savings and market opportunities. The exciting new Coed Caerdydd project and that Cardiff Council has committed to working with partners to become a National Park City. This Council therefore resolves to: 1. Declare a Nature Emergency in Cardiff. 2. Place biodiversity with equal prominence to climate change at the heart of decision making in Cardiff Council. 3. Make representations to the Welsh and UK Governments, as appropriate; to provide the necessary powers, resources and technical support to local authorities in Wales to help them successfully achieve this aim. 4. Continue to work with partners across the county, region and nationally to develop and implement best practice methods that can protect Wales’ biodiversity. Including seeking a joint approach with neighbouring authorities. 5. Work with local stakeholders including Councillors, residents, young people, businesses and other relevant parties, to develop a strategy aligned with One Planet and Coed Caerdydd with a target of no net loss of biodiversity. This will also explore ways to maximise the local benefits of these actions in other sectors such as employment, health, agriculture, transport and the economy. The Motion was seconded by Councillor Henshaw. The first amendment to the Motion was received from the Liberal Democrat Group. The Lord Mayor called Councillor Berman to move the first amendment as follows: After ‘This Council therefore resolves to’ add additional bullet point at end, as follows: 6. Having declared a nature emergency, and previously a climate emergency, ensure that all future Council and Cabinet decisions are informed by a prior assessment of their impact on both climate and biodiversity/ The Amended Motion would read as follows: This Council notes: That the World is already warming at an alarming rate leading to more extreme weather conditions. The ‘Special Report on Global Warming of At a 1.5ºC warmer world, 6% of insects 8% of plants and 8% of vertebrates would be lost; increasing to 18%, 16% and 8% respectively at 2ºC warmer. · Approximately 4% of the global terrestrial land area is projected to undergo a transformation of ecosystems from one type to another at 1°C of global warming, with 13% at 2°C · Biodiversity-related factors such as forest fires, extreme weather events and the spread of invasive species, pests and diseases also need to be taken into account. Many of those are already happening. The latest State of Nature report published by RSPB and other partners in 2019 found that: · Of 3,902 species assessed in Wales, 666 (17%) are threatened with extinction from Wales, and another 73 (2%) have gone extinct already. · The average abundance of butterflies (33 species) has declined in Wales by 52% since 1976. This Council further notes: That Biodiversity was raised as an issue within the Council’s decision to declare a Climate Emergency and forms a key part of our One Planet strategy. The recommendations from the Environmental Scrutiny Committees exercise ‘Managing Biodiversity in Cardiff’, resulted in the Council accepting a wide range of recommendations aimed at protecting, enhancing, and promoting biodiversity. The wide range of actions being undertaken as part of the council's Biodiversity and Resilience of Ecosystems Duty {BRED} Forward Plan, which will be updated in 2022. That bold action to protect and enhance the biodiversity of Cardiff can deliver benefits in terms of wellbeing, in new jobs, economic savings and market opportunities. The exciting new Coed Caerdydd project and that Cardiff Council has committed to working with partners to become a National Park City. This Council therefore resolves to: 1. Declare a Nature Emergency in Cardiff. 6. Place biodiversity with equal prominence to climate change at the heart of decision making in Cardiff Council. 7. Make representations to the Welsh and UK Governments, as appropriate; to provide the necessary powers, resources and technical support to local authorities in Wales to help them successfully achieve this aim. 8. Continue to work with partners across the county, region and nationally to develop and implement best practice methods that can protect Wales’ biodiversity. Including seeking a joint approach with neighbouring authorities. 9. Work with local stakeholders including Councillors, residents, young people, businesses and other relevant parties, to develop a strategy aligned with One Planet and Coed Caerdydd with a target of no net loss of biodiversity. This will also explore ways to maximise the local benefits of these actions in other sectors such as employment, health, agriculture, transport and the economy. 10.Having declared a nature emergency, and previously a climate emergency, ensure that all future Council and Cabinet decisions are informed by a prior assessment of their impact on both the climate and biodiversity. The first amendment was formally seconded by Councillor Wood. The second amendment to the Motion was received from the Conservative Group. The Lord Mayor called upon Councillor Lancaster to move the second amendment as follows: After ‘This Council further notes’, add new bullet point: The current Local Development Plan was approved under a Labour administration. Those opposing the plan pointed out and criticised its aim to eradicate large swathes of the last remaining green open space south of the M4 which was based on the incorrect premise that the city’s population would grow by 33% or 113,000 by 2026 with the growth of 40,000 new jobs. The papers recently discussed at Council on the revised LDP reported that these predictions were completely wrong. The mistaken decision to adopt the current LDP has led to the developer’s acquisition of large areas of land leading to irreparable damage to Cardiff’s green open space and biodiversity. This is spite of warnings, including by the present First Minister for Wales, that the scale of growth predicted could not be justified. This green space now finds itself locked away unprotected in the landbanks of developers who can decide on its future use how and when they think fit. The Amended Motion would read as follows: This Council notes: That the World is already warming at an alarming rate leading to more extreme weather conditions. The ‘Special Report on Global Warming of At a 1.5ºC warmer world, 6% of insects 8% of plants and 8% of vertebrates would be lost; increasing to 18%, 16% and 8% respectively at 2ºC warmer. · Approximately 4% of the global terrestrial land area is projected to undergo a transformation of ecosystems from one type to another at 1°C of global warming, with 13% at 2°C · Biodiversity-related factors such as forest fires, extreme weather events and the spread of invasive species, pests and diseases also need to be taken into account. Many of those are already happening. The latest State of Nature report published by RSPB and other partners in 2019 found that: · Of 3,902 species assessed in Wales, 666 (17%) are threatened with extinction from Wales, and another 73 (2%) have gone extinct already. · The average abundance of butterflies (33 species) has declined in Wales by 52% since 1976. This Council further notes: That Biodiversity was raised as an issue within the Council’s decision to declare a Climate Emergency and forms a key part of our One Planet strategy. The recommendations from the Environmental Scrutiny Committees exercise ‘Managing Biodiversity in Cardiff’, resulted in the Council accepting a wide range of recommendations aimed at protecting, enhancing, and promoting biodiversity. The wide range of actions being undertaken as part of the council's Biodiversity and Resilience of Ecosystems Duty {BRED} Forward Plan, which will be updated in 2022. That bold action to protect and enhance the biodiversity of Cardiff can deliver benefits in terms of wellbeing, in new jobs, economic savings and market opportunities. The exciting new Coed Caerdydd project and that Cardiff Council has committed to working with partners to become a National Park City. The current Local Development Plan was approved under a Labour administration. Those opposing the plan pointed out and criticised its aim to eradicate large swathes of the last remaining green open space south of the M4 which was based on the incorrect premise that the city’s population would grow by 33% or 113,000 by 2026 with the growth of 40,000 new jobs. The papers recently discussed at Council on the revised LDP reported that these predictions were completely wrong. The mistaken decision to adopt the current LDP has led to the developer’s acquisition of large areas of land leading to irreparable damage to Cardiff’s green open space and biodiversity. This is spite of warnings, including by the present First Minister for Wales, that the scale of growth predicted could not be justified. This green space now finds itself locked away unprotected in the landbanks of developers who can decide on its future use how and when they think fit. This Council therefore resolves to: 11.Declare a Nature Emergency in Cardiff. 12.Place biodiversity with equal prominence to climate change at the heart of decision making in Cardiff Council. 13.Make representations to the Welsh and UK Governments, as appropriate; to provide the necessary powers, resources and technical support to local authorities in Wales to help them successfully achieve this aim. 14.Continue to work with partners across the county, region and nationally to develop and implement best practice methods that can protect Wales’ biodiversity. Including seeking a joint approach with neighbouring authorities. 15.Work with local stakeholders including Councillors, residents, young people, businesses and other relevant parties, to develop a strategy aligned with One Planet and Coed Caerdydd with a target of no net loss of biodiversity. This will also explore ways to maximise the local benefits of these actions in other sectors such as employment, health, agriculture, transport and the economy. The second amendment was formally seconded by Councillor Walker. The Lord Mayor invited debate on the motion and amendments. The Lord Mayor invited Councillor Derbyshire to respond to the issues raised and confirmed that neither of the amendments had been accepted. The Lord Mayor called for a Vote on Amendment One. The Vote on Amendment One moved by Councillor Berman and seconded by Councillor Wood was LOST. The Lord Mayor called for a Vote on Amendment Two. The Vote on Amendment Two moved by Councillor Lancaster and seconded by Councillor Walker was LOST. The Lord Mayor called for a vote on the Motion as moved by Councillor Derbyshire and seconded by Councillor Henshaw. The Vote on the Motion was CARRIED.
The Lord Mayor noted that a Notice of Motion proposed by Councillor Molik and seconded by Councillor Sandrey had been received for consideration. One Amendment had been received from the Labour Group. The Lord Mayor invited Councillor Molik to propose the motion as follows: Council notes: · That the availability of accessible public toilet facilities within communities plays a vital role in supporting the health and wellbeing of people. The inability to satisfy someone’s physiological needs due to lack of a public facility can lead to health issues such as urinary tract infections, kidney infections and digestive problems. A lack of adequate, publicly available toilet facilities can have a negative effect on the health, dignity, and lifestyle of a very substantial proportion of the population. · The World Health Organisation states that toilets should be “suitable, private and safe to use of all intended users”. · With Cardiff Council operates toilets in various recreational and leisure destinations across the city. However, most facilities are in private business outlets. When these outlets close, such facilities become inaccessible. The Council has a responsibility to assess the community’s need for toilets and to put a plan in place to meet identified needs. · During the pandemic, many toilets were closed to the public, causing many people to be unable to exercise outdoors confidently and safely or come out of lockdown when restrictions eased, without the fear of being caught short or otherwise unable to access necessary hygiene facilities. · Cardiff being the home of many diverse communities, Cardiff Council should embrace the mindset of having accessible toilets for all abilities, genders, ages, ethnicities and religions. Public toilets should meet accessibility requirements for a range of disabilities and the principles of providing bidet or other alternative washing facilities (such as lota/ bodna, water jug or hand shower) which serve the toilet etiquette practised by religions such as Islam should be supported. · Having accessible public toilet facilities has a positive impact on the environment and prevents anti-social behaviour such as fouling of parks, streets, and gardens. Council resolves to: · Provide a report on the current state of council toilet provision across the city, including details on when they are open, how often they are cleaned and maintained, and how accessible they are. · Asks the cabinet member with responsibility for public facilities to produce a toilet strategy that identifies issues raised within this motion to ensure all residents (including people with differing ability, gender, age, ethnicity and religion) can access appropriate facilities when not at home. · Consider the need for additional female toilet provision to reflect the different ways in which genders use facilities, and consider the need and take forward the implementation of having gender-neutral facilities · Conduct a regular audit and monitoring of public toilet facilities, with a report presented by the relevant cabinet member on an annual basis. The Motion was seconded by Councillor Sandrey. An amendment to the motion had been received from the Labour Group. The Lord Mayor called Councillor Elsmore to move the amendment as follows: In the first bullet point delete from ‘A lack of adequate …. to the end of that sentence. Insert an additional bullet point after the first: · Adequate, publicly available toilet facilities can have positive effects on the health, dignity, and lifestyles of a significant proportion of the population. Delete the bullet point ‘With Cardiff Council operates …..’. Thereafter insert the following three bullet points: · That between 2010-2015 numerous Local Authorities across the UK, including Cardiff, rationalised their public toilet provision as a direct result of public sector austerity imposed by the UK Coalition Government’. · Cardiff Council continues to operate toilets in various recreational and leisure destinations across the city. However, in response to the rationalisation of public toilets, the Council has invested in creating superior facilities within our community hubs and core Council buildings and expanding the provision of publicly accessible facilities within the private sector. The total provision across Cardiff can be viewed here Lle - National Toilet Map (gov.wales). · Consequently, most current facilities are in private business outlets. When these outlets close, such facilities become inaccessible. The Council has a responsibility to assess the community’s need for toilets and to put a plan in place to meet identified needs, albeit it should be recognised that provision of local toilets for public use is not a statutory requirement of local authorities in Wales. After the final bullet point in that section insert: The Council further notes that · Cardiff Council Local Toilets Strategy was published in December 2019 following an extensive consultation that included targeted engagement with vulnerable groups. · In June Cardiff was the first UK city to launch Accessible Toilet Signage to support people living with hidden illnesses. This signage is used on all Council toilet facilities, and its use is growing among partners. Delete the four bullet points after ‘Council resolves to’ and insert the following four in their place: · As part of the Biennial Review of the Local Toilets Strategy which starts in December, provide an update on the current state of council toilet provision across the city, including details on when they are open, how often they are cleaned and maintained, and how accessible they are. · Ask the cabinet member with responsibility for public facilities to include in the Biennial Review issues identified and raised within this motion to ensure all residents (including people with differing ability, gender, age, ethnicity and religion) can access appropriate facilities when away from home, including the need for additional female provision. · Ask the Cabinet Member to provide periodical updates to Council by way of inclusion in the Cabinet Member Statement detailing the results of regular audit and monitoring of public toilet facilities, including reporting on the partnerships with other public, private and third sector providers in terms of growing the number of public toilet facilities. · As part of the recent submission to the World Health Organisation to join the Global Network of Age Friendly Communities and Cities, toilet provision has been identified as an area of focus in the Council’s Age Friendly Cities work programme. The Amended Motion would read as follows: Council notes; · That the availability of accessible public toilet facilities within communities plays a vital role in supporting the health and wellbeing of people. The inability to satisfy someone’s physiological needs due to lack of a public facility can lead to health issues such as urinary tract infections, kidney infections and digestive problems. · Adequate, publicly available toilet facilities can have positive effects on the health, dignity, and lifestyles of a significant proportion of the population. · The World Health Organisation states that toilets should be “suitable, private and safe to use of all intended users”. · That between 2010-2015 numerous Local Authorities across the UK, including Cardiff, rationalised their public toilet provision as a direct result of public sector austerity imposed by the UK Coalition Government. · Cardiff Council continues to operate toilets in various recreational and leisure destinations across the city. However, in response to the rationalisation of public toilets, the Council has invested in creating superior facilities within our community hubs and core Council buildings and expanding the provision of publicly accessible facilities within the private sector. The total provision across Cardiff can be viewed here Lle - National Toilet Map (gov.wales). · Consequently, most current facilities are in private business outlets. When these outlets close, such facilities become inaccessible. The Council has a responsibility to assess the community’s need for toilets and to put a plan in place to meet identified needs, albeit it should be recognised that provision of local toilets for public use is not a statutory requirement of local authorities in Wales. · During the pandemic, many toilets were closed to the public due to public health requirements, causing many people to be unable to exercise outdoors confidently and safely or come out of lockdown when restrictions eased, without the fear of being caught short or otherwise unable to access necessary hygiene facilities. · Cardiff being the home of many diverse communities, the Council should embrace the mindset of having accessible toilets for all abilities, genders, ages, ethnicities and religions. Public toilets should meet accessibility requirements for a range of disabilities and the principles of providing bidet or other alternative washing facilities (such as lota/bodna, water jug or hand shower) which serve the toilet etiquette practised by religions such as Islam should be supported. · Having accessible public toilet facilities has a positive impact on the environment and prevents anti-social behaviour such as fouling of parks, streets, and gardens. The Council further notes that · Cardiff Council Local Toilets Strategy was published in December 2019 following an extensive consultation that included targeted engagement with vulnerable groups. · In June Cardiff was the first UK city to launch Accessible Toilet Signage to support people living with hidden illnesses. This signage is used on all Council toilet facilities, and its use is growing among partners. Council resolves to; · As part of the Biennial Review of the Local Toilets Strategy which starts in December, provide an update on the current state of council toilet provision across the city, including details on when they are open, how often they are cleaned and maintained, and how accessible they are. · Ask the cabinet member with responsibility for public facilities to include in the Biennial Review issues identified and raised within this motion to ensure all residents (including people with differing ability, gender, age, ethnicity and religion) can access appropriate facilities when away from home, including the need for additional female provision. · Ask the Cabinet Member to provide periodical updates to Council by way of inclusion in the Cabinet Member Statement detailing the results of regular audit and monitoring of public toilet facilities, including reporting on the partnerships with other public, private and third sector providers in terms of growing the number of public toilet facilities. · As part of the recent submission to the World Health Organisation to join the Global Network of Age Friendly Communities and Cities, toilet provision has been identified as an area of focus in the Council’s Age Friendly Cities work programme. The amendment was formally seconded by Councillor Michael. The Lord Mayor invited debate on the motion and amendment. The Lord Mayor invited Councillor Molik to respond to the issues raised during the debate. Councillor Molik responded to the issues raised and confirmed the Amendment was not accepted. The Lord Mayor called for a Vote on the Amendment as moved by Councillor Elsmore and seconded by Councillor Michael. The Vote on the Amendment was CARRIED. The Lord Mayor called on Councillor Elsmore to speak before a vote on the Substantive Motion as amended by the Labour Group was taken. The Vote on the Substantive Motion as amended was CARRIED
QUESTION FROM COUNCILLOR HUDSON With more big events being held in Cardiff, have we got a working strategy to allow the safe and timely exodus of people from the city? Reply Events are a massive part of what makes Cardiff so special. And I would like to praise the work of my colleague Cllr Bradbury and our officials who do so much behind the scenes to enable this to happen. A transport management plan is a key consideration for every major event that is held in the city but as you will appreciate, each event is very different and takes place with different start and end times, different sizes, different days of the week, and at different times of the year. And we often have more than one event happening on the same day. This often require bespoke solutions to be developed by the Council, partner organisations, Welsh Government, South Wales Police, Transport for Wales, bus operators and that’s why once again I would praise our officers who understand the city so well and undertake this very difficult work. Supplementary Question Well the last big event that we had was a shambles according to my residents. We need to plan for even bigger events in the future so can this be a fluid strategy and can we have some kind of exodus plan when there are very big events in Cardiff. Reply We do have a fluid plan but I absolutely disagree with your comments about the last event. We are in the middle of a Covid crisis all sorts of changes happening in the city and to run massive events going on in the Principality Stadium, all these things kind of things and other things going on the same day. I think our officials do a great job and actually when you consider how many people are coming in and out of the city centre I think it's a remarkable piece of work actually – it happens so smoothly. QUESTION FROM COUNCILLOR BERMAN Please can you detail what representations you, or your administration, have made to the Welsh Government calling for a change in Welsh planning laws to remove permitted development rights for demolishing any properties that are neither listed nor within a conservation area, and can you please advise when such representations were submitted? Reply Cllr Berman I am really quite disappointed by this question because it reveals that you know full well that this Council does not have the powers to prevent the demolition of buildings that are not listed or outside a Conservation zone and of course you know and you knew this because it was exactly the same situation when you were Leader when consent was granted for the demolition of amongst other historic buildings the Vulcan pub - subsequently removed to St Fagans, and the former and Roath Steam Laundry which was also demolished. And yet posts and shares from your social media recently have sought to implicate the Labour Council as being responsible for decisions to demolish and in particular the Chair of Planning despite, again as you know full well planning being a quasi-judicial function and the only decision for council planning to take in matter, concerned the method of demolition. So I've got no intention of playing along with what seems to me to be the politicisation of planning and indeed I invite you really to consider apologising to Councillor Jones for the stress and abuse that I know he has suffered in the last week from a misleading Social Media post from another organisation and which you shared. Supplementary Question Can I make a point of personal explanation first Lord Mayor because I had no point am aware that I attacked the Chair of the Planning Committee in anything that I put on Twitter and I am quite aghast that the Leader of the Council is suggesting that I did. The point that I made on Twitter with the fact that that the Labour party, the same party that is in charge of this Council is in charge of the Welsh government who set the Planning laws and that's why I am asking the Leader of the Council what representations he’s made to have these planning laws changed and I would ask him again because he hasn't actually answered the question -have you made any representations asking for the planning laws to be changed so that they take away at permitted development rights in the circumstances I described in my original question? Reply So for the record permitted development rights can be removed on buildings that are not statutorily listed and are outside a conservation areas by serving an Article 4 Direction but currently these have to be issued by Welsh Governments. This Council on a number of occasions over a period of two decades or more has argued for the delegation of those powers. Councillor Berman may be interested in know that there is now an open consultation on on this issue. We intend to be again submitting a response to that consultation asking for those powers to be devolved to Local Government and I have met with the Deputy Minister who’s got responsibly for Cadw, already indicating our decision to do so, or our intention is to do so. QUESTION FROM COUNCILLOR KEITH PARRY What action is being taken to alter or remove the traffic lights at Cowbridge Road East and Cathedral Road junction that cause needless delays and disruption to buses serving West Cardiff from Westgate Street? Reply With due respect, providing safe time and space for pedestrians, parents and cyclists to get to work or nursery is in no way a needless delay and we have got no plans to remove the traffic signals at the junction. A permanent scheme is currently being designed for this junction and these options will be tested with transport modelling to determine which solution provides the best balance for public transport, cyclists and pedestrians. Supplementary Question A number of people have approached me about the delays on this bit of road and it is disappointing in my own personal experience to observe a person walking along the road from the end of Westgate Street to St David’s Hospital and actually the person gets to St David’s Hospital before the bus does so I know you've got problems in fitting in some phases for cyclists and pedestrians but something needs to be done to improve the speed of the buses along this section of road. Reply I do agree with you in terms of trying to improve the reliability of buses so I met with Cardiff Bus just last week and took a trip with them on exactly that route to look at what improvements we could we can make as well as things like the bus gate as well as other improvements in the city centre to get those times and that reliability increased with those kind of changes and also things like bus lanes and bus gates that would bring in extra seconds or extra minutes that they need to make their services attractive. QUESTION FROM COUNCILLOR JACOBSEN Further to my request of last Thursday, could you advise on any progress by the Council to acquire the woodland near the Hawthorns in Pentwyn, which is currently being sold by a private company? Reply I know from our recent conversation just how eager the Councillor is to protect this piece of green space in his ward. You will be aware from that conversation that we had last week that I have asked my officials to proactively pursue the acquisition of this piece of land via private treaty in advance of the scheduled auction on 7 December 2021. I am sorry but I am not in a position to provide any further information at this time. Supplementary Question That is good news and I pleased to hear that the Labour Council are taking positive steps to try and secure and protect this local amenity. When the news of the sale came to light last Thursday there was a lot of confusion and misinformation about what was happening and accusations that it was going to be sold off by the Council. Are you able to clarify exactly what is happening please? Reply I'm very happy to oblige Councillor. At approximately 13.45 last week Councillor Bradbury received an enquiry from one of the local Liberal Democrat members in Pentwyn enquiring about the land being sold. This was the first thing that any member of the administration knew about the issue. The e-mail was promptly passed to me in my capacity as Cabinet Member with responsibility for strategic estates and within less than two hours of the original inquiry we were able to confirm that the land was being so by a private company. However in the meantime, without waiting for a response from the Council, Liberal Democrat Councillors had posted on multiple social media platforms, including a community Facebook site that they run, accusing and I quote the Labour Council was selling off our woodland. Eventually the Facebook site was updated to reflect reality and having previously accused the council of selling the land it now demanded that the council buy the land, I must confess my disappointment that no apology has been forthcoming from the Liberal Democrat Group either for misleading the public or for falsely accusing the Council – worse, and I do find this extraordinary, posts made by the Leader and Councillor Weaver on that Facebook site correcting the record were summarily deleted even as posts criticising the Council for selling the land had been left in place. Small wonder that their party group did not sign up to the social media code of conduct last month with its focus on honesty – another example of the fake news that is poisoning political discourse in this country and I would urge Pentwyn residents to find a more reliable source of news. QUESTION FROM COUNCILLOR ROBSON There have been recent examples in Cardiff of disabled people unable to access shops as permission has been refused for a ramp, or walked off a bus into a temporary cycle lane. What additional action will the Council take to ensure that disabled residents and visitors can use the city’s facilities safely? Reply I’m not sure that I’d call the number I have seen as many. The policies we have brought forward in Cardiff in providing more space for pedestrians, active travel, and bus travel – in slowing vehicles and adding additional crossings is done very much with the most vulnerable members of our community in mind. When we are making improvements for pedestrians, cyclists, buses we do need to adhere to Active Travel Design Guidance in addition to undertaking Road Safety Audits and Equality Impact Assessments, we are very grateful to the various user groups that have been working closely with us, including the Cardiff Access Focus Group and organisations such as RNIB and the Guide Dogs, to make these changes work for as many user groups as possible. In terms of those smaller very localised issues – I am very aware that Cardiff along with the whole country simply isn’t as accessible as it should be – and there are probable millions of improvements that need to be made across the whole of the country. I know our officers work hard whenever they get issues raised with them to make those changes and I would encourage Members and members of the public to let us know of improvements that can be made with accessibility in mind. Supplementary Question I appreciate that there is more to do to make this city accessible and welcome that a comment from you. In relation to some of the newer infrastructure and in particular you’ll be aware of the incident where the gentleman from the Guide Dogs, with a guide dog stepped off a bus into a pop up cycle lane. Those sorts of incidents, to my mind, are avoidable if the consultation is there. What went wrong there in in terms of that consultation so that Guide Dogs were able to feed into, to point out this potential problem which I presume they identified, bearing in mind, I know it was a couple of years ago, Dog Protection Orders again were an issue was flagged up with by Guide Dogs in my mind there that won't are fully consulted and this raised concerns. I’m just conscious that perhaps with some of these disabled groups, we need to do more to make sure we consult with them properly to avoid some of the problems that we have seen recently. Reply The group's work were consulted and are kept close but there are differences of opinion about how we share space and how we make changes. I think some of it is to do with any change when it comes takes a bit of time for people to get him used to. I think that the bus-stop issue is one that cities across the UK are really struggling with, working out how best to do that. We think the model on Wood Street which will be able to see you know you can see there now is probably the exemplar and I think those groups are very pleased with. I think there are some of the other ones with a pop-up situation maybe we need to work out how we can we can improve slightly there as well. Very much a work in progress, learning all the time and really pleased those groups are staying really close with us on that so we can make sure we get good balanced outcome and do good things for as many people across the city as we can. QUESTION FROM COUNCILLOR CARTER In light of the decision by Nextbike to withdraw their bikes from Cardiff due to the excessive vandalism and intimidation on scale not seen in other city, does the cabinet member now accept that Cardiff has a problem with crime and anti-social behaviour? Reply The Council is working closely with Nextbike, South Wales Police and British Transport Police to renew the bike hire scheme from January. The scheme brings incredible benefits to the city, and we are fully committed to supporting the operator to getting the bikes back into action as soon as possible. We will do this by both minimising opportunities for vandalism and strengthening our approach to enforcement of the very small minority of users who disrespect and abuse the scheme. Their behaviour ruins the experience for everyone else. The issue of vandalism is not unique to Cardiff. Manchester, Reading, Northampton, Edinburgh, Peterborough and many other cities have faced the exact same issue, and we can learn from their experiences and responses to this kind of senseless vandalism. The suggestion that our city has a particular issue with crime isn’t borne out by the data. Following the debate at Council last month, and your question to me the month before, I would emphasise again that Cardiff has the second lowest crime rate of the 11 Core Cities and Anti-Social Behaviour offences are on the decline. Supplementary Question I thank the Cabinet Member for her detailed response and indeed for the statement she's given us today as well. Since the last meeting where Council voted against the motion that I put forward we've seen Nextbike withdrawn, quite humiliatingly, from our city; we’ve seen another stabbing on our streets; we’ve seen consistent problems of anti-social behaviour across our neighbourhoods so I would ask again whether the Cabinet Member has any regrets for voting down the motion last month? Reply I certainly don't have any regrets and it was a real shame that your motion could not be amended because the start of the motion was factually incorrect and I put this statement because you can see from that statement that here is more, much more than what you even asked for in the statement is currently being done, the issue is that not that we believe that there's no crime but you are really scare mongering and this city is a safe place to live, that’s not to say that there not crime but the statement shows that we are working in partnership with all the statutory bodies and third sector organisations to address crime in a proper way which is not just about arresting people. It is also above the prevention and it is about working with communities and is not about scaring communities. I am not sorry I voted against. QUESTION FROM COUNCILLOR KEITH PARRY Tennis and Bowls have disappeared from Fairwater Park. Residents complain of massive fees to join and access Fairwater Leisure Centre. What is the council doing to keep sports activities from being priced out from ordinary peoples reach? Reply It is simply not true that tennis and bowls have disappeared from Fairwater and statements like that do not help when we talk about these issues. I can only assume that you mean Poplar Park in Fairwater, and not Fairwater Park, where we have been working with the local football club to help them develop and they now have a thriving junior section, including girls’ sections. Their Senior Team also made club history by making the First Round of the Welsh Cup this season. The tennis courts have remained open to the public free of charge and we have run tennis coaching and holiday programmes with some success. Fairwater Ladies Bowls Club sadly has folded; however, the bowling green and pavilion remain available and open for use, and we would encourage any prospective Bowls Clubs to book it if they would like to use it. At Waterhall Park, we are working with the Rugby Club to invest in facilities to cater for an ever-growing demand for mini and junior rugby in Fairwater. Clubs such as these are the backbone of our sporting communities and offer so much more than just playing opportunities, which is why I’m supporting them in every which way I can. Fairwater Leisure Centre has received significant investment from this administration in the last five years and the fees charged are in line with the Council’s operating contract with Better Leisure, with a membership concession for those on benefits. We are also planning new community sports facilities for the new Cantonian High School, with guaranteed community access, as part of the 21st Century Schools Programme, which would hugely beneficial to both the local Rugby and Football Clubs. This is all factual information which counters the negative insulation the question poses. Supplementary Question Confusingly Fairwater Park is also called Poplar Park from which bowls has disappeared and the tennis courts, maybe they have been remodelled as tennis courts - updated but they are actually being used as football practice areas at the moment. Reply In the winter the tennis courts have always been used as for football practice, for floodlit football facilities and I’ll tell you what the tennis courts are available in the summer as it the bulk of … I’ll let Councillor Parry into a little bit of information from me … I went to watch Caerau Rugby versus Fairwater the other week and there was not one Fairwater rugby supporter who had a good word to say about their local Councillors and all of them were mentioning the lack of support they have had from all three of their local members in Fairwater. The Football Club have received nothing but resistance from the three local councillors in Fairwater whenever they wanted to do anything to improve the facilities at Poplar Park. In order for sport to thrive in Fairwater we need to ensure that better community facilities are available and I'd ask him to get on board and support the measures we have taken in other parts of city so that Fairwater could get the facilities like, for example like the area, like the one I represent have got and have been really really successful across other areas of the city. QUESTION FROM COUNCILLOR GORDON It is great to see improvements taking place at the Cardiff Riding School, a Council managed amenity located in Pontcanna Fields. The stables, the horses, the yards and the facilities look so well looked after, it is a credit to the staff team. There is a lot going on up there with setting out a new outdoor arena, are there plans to renovate the indoor arena because it is looking very tired and old? Reply Like you, I’m delighted with the new Outdoor School area and the work that’s going on at the Riding School since it reopened after lockdown. I will be sure to pass your kind comments to the staff at the centre. The outdoor area has recently been completed as part of our Parks Capital Programme with financial support from the Friends of the Riding School via fundraising. The improvements made will enable the increase of our lesson capacity and improve standards at the Riding School. We are in the process of carrying out a condition survey of the indoor school to ascertain the best way forward and get a sense of the scale of funding required to improve this facility. I anticipate that the required level of funding will be significant; however, officers are active in exploring funding options and will keep ward members abreast of developments. QUESTION FROM COUNCILLOR LANCASTER How large a fine will the Welsh Government impose on Cardiff, as the result of the Council missing its recycling target yet again? Reply There is no fine. Supplementary Question I was under the impress that the Welsh Government was fining Local Authorities for not meeting their recycling targets, perhaps I’m mistaken. I don’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed that the Welsh Government aren’t interested in enforcing their own targets but that notwithstanding we’ve been failing in our targets for a number of years now. What you do propose to do to rectify the situation? Reply I would suggest that you would wait just over a week and we will have a nice discussion on this at the next Environment Scrutiny, the new recycling strategy will be going through to Cabinet in December. QUESTION FROM COUNCILLOR BERMAN Are you satisfied that, at a time when the overall recycling rate across Wales has risen, the council’s recycling rate has dropped for two successive years (from 59.2% to 58.1% to 55.8%) and that Cardiff now has the lowest recycling rate of any local authority in Wales? Reply Councillor the actual rate at present is something like 60%. That is the latest figures I have so you can see it is going the right way. We are still the best core city in the UK with recycling, far better than the other core cities like Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, all of them. I think you have to accept that over the last couple of years we have had some issues to deal with but overall we changed the management - we’ve now got one of the best, if not the best, fleet in the UK, twice as many as you had when you were Leader. We also have biggest electric fleet in the UK. We've changed the working practices so we know remove weight (inaudible). There are still a couple of issues to deal with one of them is a new Waste Strategy which will take us a world class level which I'm pretty sure you will actually support and that will be launched in the next few weeks as I just informed Councillor Lancaster. Supplementary Question From listening to that answer it sounds as though you happy that we have the lowest recycling rate in Wales. Can you confirm that that is the case? Reply I never said that at all. Do you want to watch the film again and have another stab at this question. QUESTION FROM COUNCILLOR FORD How much did it cost to close off Castle Street and then reopen it? Reply Closing the road last year and maintaining the closure cost £128,000. This was very much to do with creating a safe and welcoming space for the public and to allow many of our businesses to operate. More recently we have undertaken the work linked to our clean air plan, including providing new bus and cycle lanes, and I am advised that this cost approximately £550,000. QUESTION FROM COUNCILLOR GORDON It is about the East-West network across Cardiff. There is a very healthy debate going on on the next door plat form about the East-West cycle path from Leckwith Road to Newport Road. Cyclists are very enthusiastic and pleased the Council have put this route in place. I use it every Thursday when I go to Adamsdown and I can really vouch that crossing the city by bike is a hugely better experience than battling in and out of the bus lanes and moving traffic but there is a bit of problem where the cycle lane meets any pedestrian crossings. I think there is three. There are red and white barriers up and 'Cyclists Dismount' signs. When do the team, who are working on this, get this will be sorted out cos it is quite difficult? Reply The majority of the East-West route is now open and appears to be getting well-used by a variety of different people at different times of the day. The works at that Newport Road section are very complicated and are currently unfinished as we are still having to undertake modelling and ongoing safety tests. The stretches are now open, but works at the junctions are expected to be completed early in the New Year. QUESTION FROM COUNCILLOR DIANNE REES The Council has decided to declare a Climate Emergency. In the light of this, what advice is being given to developers building thousands of houses on previously green fields in the North and East of Cardiff on putting into those properties gas boilers, ovens and hobs? Reply From a Building Regulations perspective, developers will not be permitted to install gas fired boilers from 2025. This is part of a progressive approach by Welsh Government and supports our One Planet Cardiff strategy and associated housing retrofit programme for council properties. Furthermore, national planning policy requires developers of large housing schemes over 100 dwellings to submit to the Council an Energy Masterplan to establish whether there are alternatives to traditional gas boilers that can be used, such as the potential use of local heat networks. Supplementary Question It’s all very well declaring a state of nature emergency and a climate emergency but in a very short time the gas boilers which are being installed in the new properties today, and also in the ones which are planned for up to the next 10 years, will have to be removed long before their useful life is up. So why is the Council granting permission for planning, which you are talking about 2025, well its nearly 2022 that’s a 3 year life for a boiler. They are still permitting those boilers to be put into properties that are being built and are they are also going to put into buildings which are planned to be build but may not be built until 10 years’ time? Reply Like I said from a Building Regulations perspective, developers will not be permitted to install gas fired boilers from 2025, but the Council is working closely with a number of developers on things like where we have heat source pumps being put in, a whole team of young people getting trained in how that form of energy, heating of the houses is delivered so there is an awful lot going on. Of course we are pushing developers all the time for more energy efficiency. I think in the main a lot of the new hours are far more efficient than existing houses in those communities and we will continue to push them to do more and of course as you know we have a new replacement LDP coming forward, at that point our climate emergency that we’ve stated will come into full effect with that policy work as well where as it didn’t with the previous LDP. QUESTION FROM COUNCILLOR NAUGHTON Could the council assist local businesses in the Pentwyn community, to apply to take over the post office franchise for Pentwyn from the One Stop shop? When it hands back the franchise to the post office as it stands Pentwyn would be without a post office from next year. Reply I am content to ask my officials to work with interested parties seeking to take over the Post Office franchise. I am sure that they can bring together internal and external expertise that will be able to advise on the approach to applying for the franchise and the preparation of a business plan to establish the overall sustainability of the business. Supplementary Question Will you ensure that all Ward Members updated at the same time with any information the Council gets? Reply To the best of ability yes, I’m not sure how we will reach out to interested parties but it’s a two way process – if you know of any local business that is interested in taking over the franchise I would be grateful if you would inform me and my officials. QUESTION FROM COUNCILLOR FORD How much was spent on putting children into care and adopting children in the financial years 2020/21, 2019/20, 2018/19, 2017/18, 2016/17? Reply In 2016/17, the Council spent £27.1million on supporting valued children in care and adoption. We spent £29.3million in 2017/18; £34.1million in 2018/19 and £39.2million in 2019/20 Last year (2020/21), we spent £39.6million. Supplementary Question How much has Cardiff paid to adoption agencies in the same period of time, if it could be provided to me in writing I would be grateful. Reply Obviously I would not have that kind of detailed information in front of me, but I can tell you that are in terms of fostering placements, adoption and Children’s Homes the vast majority is in placements of that £39.6 million I talked about earlier on, just to give you an idea £30.8 million was on placements but as Corporate Parents I do not, I would not sort of be ashamed of the kind of support as Corporate Parents we do and the support that we’ve given in terms of investment year on year from this Labour administration in support those children for improving outcomes. QUESTION FROM COUNCILLOR AHMED This month has been Islamophobia Awareness Month. What can the Council do to help call-out and challenge this unacceptable form of racism? Reply Thank you for your question, Councillor Ahmed, and for highlighting this really important issue. Home Office data that was published last month revealed that nearly half of recorded religious hate crimes across Welsh and English police forces targeted the Muslim Community. This stark report should concern us all and adds impetus to the essential work of local government in challenging this pervasive form of bigotry and the threat it poses to all our communities. This administration takes this role seriously and we are actively delivering a programme of extensive partnership work to address racism and to widen opportunities for, and representation of, ethnic minority groups in our capital city. This includes the work of our Race Equality Taskforce, our school-based programmes to address prejudice-related bullying and behaviours, working quite brilliantly actually with the granddaughter of Betty Campbell on that project and also partnerships with Victim Support and Show Racism the Red Card. We also work to raise awareness of key campaigns throughout the year, including Islamophobia Awareness Month, which we have shared on the Council’s social media platforms and I would encourage all members to do the same. Supplementary Question Cardiff is, I think is the best city or one of the best cities in the UK. I am very proud to live in Cardiff, over 300,000 live in Cardiff as one family and 75 members of this Council is the guardian of this very large family and our all faiths of the community. What can you do to make sure that every community and faith is protected? Reply Lets be very clear if you targeted because of your religion it is a hate crime and I think the Council is conscious that that it is not enough just to talk about this once a year, so last month, for example, during National Hate Crime awareness week. We also partner with South Wales Police and Victim Support to raise awareness of hate crime reporting, including religiously aggravated hate crime and that work included providing local sports clubs and teams with banners promoting the partnership and anti-hate crime messages as well as encouraging them to show their support for and commitment to tackling this issue. I think in Cardiff we’ve got this actually quite wonderful tradition of celebrating each other’s festivals and particularly at this time of year that is something that we very much get into, harder of course now with Covid restrictions and limitations but I think that is something that we absolutely want to get to whether your Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu and or any other religion. If you live in Cardiff, you’re not only part of your own community but also part of a wider family in the City and that’s the ethos we will take forward into next year. QUESTION FROM COUNCILLOR PARKHILL What is the Council doing to prevent pollution from the former Ferry Road landfill site from entering Cardiff Bay and the River Ely? Reply We are currently working with Natural Resources Wales and specialist landfill contractors to identify the source of the leak and upgrade the existing infrastructure to ensure that the leachate management system is fully operational moving forward. Supplementary Question It is of considerable concern to me and some of my residents who had children attending the splash pad over the summer. I would be worried that they would potentially be subject to putting their children into what would be effectively into polluted water in in Cardiff Bay. I wonder if you would be able to, in the interest of transparency, be able to bring a full report to the relevant Scrutiny Committee as soon as it is possible so that it can be aired and this matter can be addressed fully Reply I think that that is a matter for the Chair of the Committee if that’s what they would wish to do and I will do my very best to do that. It is part of the old industrial area of the City and we will continue to work with all our other agencies to get to the bottom of this and repair it as soon as possible. QUESTION FROM COUNCILLOR BERMAN When navigating the new segregated cycle lane through the city centre from east to west or vice versa, cyclists are frequently held up for significant periods of time at the new cycle lights in a way which seems to give them lower priority in comparison to other traffic, meaning that it can now take longer to cycle from one side of the city centre to the other. Does the council therefore have plans to review the phasing of the lights to address this? Reply In answer to your question, yes, we are constantly reviewing the phasing and timings of junctions to give the best possible balance for as many users as possible. But I have to say I am somewhat confused by this question given that last month you said virtually the same thing but from a bus point of view, and I quote “I have an issue when cyclists are getting more priority than buses” but now it sounds like you are suggesting you think cyclists should be getting more priority that other forms of transport. I am dead keen to learn and to hear what it is you think and take on board a much advice as I can, so if you can clarify what you think is the right balance or your preferred policy position. I can make sure officers take that into consideration. Supplementary Question I can that obviously my questions are starting to annoy you a little bit but I’ll try and be more helpful. I’m referring to the bit of the cycle lane which is actually open at the moment that I’m using whereas I think you’re talking about the bit in Newport Road which has yet to open but I am find that in using it I have been particularly held up at the junction of North Road and Park Place and later on at Boulevard de Nantes ad Park Place, you seem to be waiting a long time and seen to be deprioritised compared to other traffic and it just means that the overall journey seems to take longer than it used to do before the segregated cycle was there which partly defeats the object of having it. I am just wondering really, I am just trying to be constructive can you look at those particular issues and see if the phasing could be adjusted so it would mean that the cycle journey is quicker. Reply The main purpose of the cycle lane is to keep cyclists safe and well away from cars so if it takes a little bit longer I think most people would put up with that, we can’t all get exactly where we need to get at breakneck speed so I think that we find that balance about right, but as I say when new junctions going in we will continue to look at the phasing. QUESTION FROM COUNCILLOR DE’ATH There are plans to consult on a cycle lane to run next to the path at the Ninian Road end of Roath Rec – meaning carparking spaces can be kept. Could you confirm that as part of this project there are also plans to renovate the path running around the park which, I’m sure you will agree, has seen better days? Reply It has and I’d like to thank you and your ward colleagues for your ongoing support for these schemes and for bringing this one to our attention, and also for the positive involvement of local community groups such as Roath Living Streets. I can confirm that we are sourcing funding from the Welsh Government’s Active Travel Fund for these works as part of our grant process and we have identified finance within various budgets to make sure that this scheme can be delivered in the 2022/23 financial year. Supplementary Question This is great news for people in Roath, it’s something that Ward Members have lobbied for for a number of years, particularly my colleague Councillor Mary McGarry. Could you confirm that as part of the work on the path you would be looking to widen it and possibly raise it to stop parked vehicles from damaging it and from stopping parts of it from flooding and becoming very muddy during the winter months. Reply I think that’s the plan and that’s why it’s most important we work in partnership with Parks and my Cabinet colleague, Councillor Bradbury on trying to do the right thing in that area but I think the other important thing to note on this scheme is that we can bring this forward before some of the other improvements in that wider corridor because I know how important it is to the local community get to get that fixed as you say. QUESTION FROM COUNCILLOR HUDSON To protect businesses in Birchgrove, will the council implement a saturation zone to prevent the proliferation of eateries and takeaways and preserve the character of the area? Reply Birchgrove is a Local Centre as defined by Policy R5 of the adopted Cardiff Local Development Plan and that policy aims to promote and protect the shopping role of Local Centres, while supporting a range of appropriate uses. Furthermore, Planning Policy Wales acknowledges that a range of uses, as well as shops, are appropriate within centres, including food and drink uses. Whilst not defining a “saturation zone”, any proposals that result in or add to a continuous stretch of non-shopping uses (3 or more non-shopping uses in a row) are considered less favourably under this policy framework. I would say Councillor that surely you would agree that existing businesses also stand to benefit from good quality new establishments that are popping up and they draw customers and increase footfall to the area. Supplementary Question Yes they do draw customers to the area, but can you assure me that we will not be faced with a City Road situation where there’s a predominance of eateries, were it is so saturated with takeaways and restaurants and cafes that it is excluding any other form of revenue with the shops. What I found is in City Road particularly, there is very little choice of shops and that means it excludes anyone else from coming in and opening a new shop. Reply Obviously Councillor I cannot make any assurances it is not my role do so. Planning and Licensing are all based on their merits but again I would argue that it isn’t what I see from Birchgrove, having spent a number of evenings there recently with hundreds of other people across Cardiff spending our money in Heath and Birchgrove; the places like the Greek Village, the Organic Café, , the Birchgrove pub, some of these are new places that have absolutely, I think, brought good things to the local area and brought more footfall. the place I went to, I must just mention Coffee and Cakes, we met the owner who is investing a lot of his profits in helping the homeless – these are new places popping up in your community and I think we should be absolutely celebrating them. QUESTION FROM COUNCILLOR SANDREY What is the council planning to do to save a section of woodland in the Hawthorns in Pentwyn which is going to auction on December 7th? Reply I refer the Councillor to the answer I gave a few moments ago and in doing so I ask her to take the opportunity of using her supplementary question, in her capacity as the acting Liberal Democrat Leader, to ask the Council to accept an apology on behalf of her Liberal Democrat colleges for the way that her party’s shared factually incorrect information on their social media platforms and deleting posts that provided the public with the accurate position and to ask the Council to excuse them from potentially bringing the Council and office of Councillor into disrepute. Will she do that? Supplementary Question I find it curious that the Council has first of all been maintaining the woodland it did not own and is now seeking to buy the woodland despite flogging Woodland elsewhere due to being unable to maintain it. Can you therefore reassure residents that regardless of who is successful in the auction the Council will do all it can to ensure access is maintained and the tree protection orders and conservation status are kept in place to protect this important place and that the area will be maintained as well as it has been so far by the Council. Reply I am grateful for the Councillor for advising me that the Council has been maintaining land that’s not in its ownership. I shall take advice from my officials on what is the appropriate course of action in the future. QUESTION FROM COUNCILLOR MACKIE Could the Cabinet Member update the council on the activities the Council is undertaking to promote the city during the Christmas period? Reply Sadly, I’m not going to be able to list everything that we’re doing in one minute, but the main highlights this year include Winter Wonderland, which will be split over two sites at Cardiff Castle and City Hall Lawn, providing greater space on both sites for people to enjoy the attractions. Bute Park is also hosting a new Christmas light trail from today for residents and visitors to enjoy. Other highlights include the annual Christmas Market, Santa’s Grotto and Carousel and The Winter Food offer on Working Street. In addition, our colleagues at FOR Cardiff have introduced a new light maze and projection attraction into St John’s Gardens and a new Pixel Christmas Tree in Central Square. Discussions are already ongoing about collaborative ideas for next year’s Christmas. We launched our 100-day countdown to Christmas on the Visit Cardiff website back on 16th September, and I’m grateful to the Visit Cardiff Team and the wider Visit Cardiff network for their support with this year’s marketing campaign. I have every confidence that there will be a great deal for everyone to see and do safely in Cardiff this Christmas which is fantastic news considering the disappointment we had last year. Supplementary Question I would like to thank the tireless effort of all the officers in putting together such a huge programme in really difficult circumstances and to wish them all a Merry Christmas. QUESTION FROM COUNCILLOR LANCASTER What support does the Council provide for voluntary groups, who do vital work in helping homeless people all year round? Reply The Council’s Homeless services are in regular contact with a range of voluntary groups and charities that work with the homeless in the city, including local churches and a range of homeless charities including Llamau, the Huggard, the Wallich, Salvation Army and YMCA. The Council also has a grant officer in post that can help community groups look for grant funding or signpost them to more specialist support if needed. In addition, the Council funds Cardiff Third Sector Council, which is the umbrella organisation for the third sector, including community and volunteer led groups in the city. They provide specialist advice, support, and information to all local third sector organisations and voluntary groups on issues that affect them, including accessing funding, governance, volunteering and participation. We also have a dedicated website that promotes and supports volunteering in Cardiff, helping to raise awareness of volunteering opportunities across the city and what they can offer. The team that manages the website can provide individuals and community groups with support and training and can also help them to share and recruit to their volunteering opportunities. Supplementary Questions You mentioned church groups in the list organisations who helped, the reason for my question is that and its members of my own church participate along with other churches in a scheme known as the Paradise Run whereby they go into town and provide food every night of the week for the homeless people, a service which is greatly welcomed by advice services, however, recently they have been told that they are not allowed to provide hot food anymore and nor are they allowed to provide a home cooked food which I find pretty much shows difficult decisions to comprehend who therefore is responsible for such a mean spirited decision and how can you be a local authority was working and to speak to be that the knock on effect for voluntary groups who only seek to help this problem, and do who play such avital role in providing for some of the homeless people in Cardiff. Reply I am not sure who provided that information. I am not aware of it. I have been contacted by somebody about the Paradise Run and former Councillor Fenella Bowden and the advice that I gave was that we were asking organisations not to provide foot in the street because of our new operation in terms of homelessness, but asking them actually to contact the Homeless Manager to discuss the opportunities. I am not sure who has told them that they cannot do it, we are not in a position to tell them they can’t but what we would like to do is to work with them. Clearly, we appreciate the support from volunteer organisations but it is better to try and work together to try and reach the same aim together, so that actually we are not encouraging people on to the streets. What we are trying to do is to take the services to the homeless hostels. Please contact me if you have any further information and we will try and sort it out. QUESTION FROM COUNCILLOR CUNNAH We’ve heard at Full Council in recent months how Cardiff is bucking the trend, with footfall in the city returning to near pre-COVID levels. In previous years in the run up to Christmas, we would inevitably have heavy traffic in the city. What can the Council do to encourage shoppers to use sustainable transport modes? Reply You are right we really are bucking the trend in this regard in terms of footfall boosting back up for a number of different reasons; the City is really buzzing, people enjoying the fabulous city centre and the things going on there. As you know we have done a lot to improve certain elements of active travel – and the results for walking and cycling are really pleasing and making a big difference how people get in but we are still really concerned about the slow uptake of public transport. We need those numbers to go back up to give people an option other than driving the car in. We have been working extremely closely with bus operators and rail operators and with the bus operators in particular we are hoping to bring in some form of incentive scheme, although to be frank bus regulations, archaic bus regulations make it very difficult for us to intervene in the market but we are trying to get there on that and I’m hoping we’ll be able to announce something on that soon. Supplementary Question Only to say I’m happy to see the increase in walking and cycling seems to be continuing and if there are any updates on the bus companies and those discussions I would appreciate knowing about that as it needs more people use public travel as well as an active travel, QUESTION FROM COUNCILLOR JACOBSEN From what I saw of the Council’s Summer of Smiles programme, it looked fantastic with kids having a great time. Has the Council done any analysis of the scheme’s success, and are there any plans for a similar project over the winter period? Reply Yes, the Council’s Child Friendly Cardiff Team has undertaken a review of the Summer of Smiles programme in order to understand the outcomes and lessons learned. A report following this review has been produced and is expected to be published shortly. More than 32,000 children took part in the Summer of Smiles activities including the city-wide activities, the main festival site and Churchill Way all delivered with the help of our partners including organisations like Cardiff University, Sherman Theatre, Sport Cardiff and National Museum Wales to name just a few. I can’t personally think of a better symbol of our commitment to a Child Friendly Recovery into becoming a Child Friendly City than see our children take over the space in front of City Hall at the heart of our Civic Centre. As I mentioned in my Council Statement, the Welsh Government announced last month that it is providing £20million to support a national ‘Winter of Well-being’ programme, which will deliver more opportunities for children and young people to develop their social, emotional and physical well-being through play and other social activities outside of formal learning. The Child Friendly City Team will be coordinating the delivery of this programme in Cardiff and will be looking to build on the success of our Summer of Smiles programme. As a City I hope we can all take pride in seeing our City come together to deliver for our children and the values of inclusion underpinned the whole programme. Supplementary Question That’s great news it was well received. If you have any more Summer of Smiles forthcoming in the winter months can you ask for me to join you again because we had great fun last time. Reply We did and my favourite picture of the summer was the pair of us on the space hoppers. QUESTION FROM COUNCILLOR DILWAR ALI The Cabinet Member mentioned at a recent Environmental Scrutiny Committee that he had suggested pop-up recycling collections may happen in Cardiff. Could you update the council on any progress? Reply Thank you for sending me the short video, which I believe was in Birmingham which was indeed one of the cities we have been in contact with. Our Officers are currently working on, with the Hubs to see what kind of opportunities we’ve got to recycle materials that are not picked up at kerbside but you will forgive me for not going too far because I don’t want to be accused of favouritism with you when I’ve had a similar questions asked by Councillor Parkhill and Councillor Lancaster, both valuable members of the Environment Scrutiny Committee, and indeed Councillor Berman, so I would suggest that you wait just a little while longer than will unveil our new recycling strategy that is designed to make a huge difference and will take Cardiff to world class recycling levels and I’m sure you will like what you see as will other members of this Council and will support our aims and objectives.
None
The Committee received and approved the proposed amendments to the Inter Authority Agreement (IAA) as outlined in the report and Appendix 1
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: That, in accordance with the recommendations of the Local Authority Governor Panel, the Council approves the new appointments and re-appointments of Local Authority Governors to the school governing bodies as set out in Appendices 1 & 2 of the report, each for a term of 4 years from the date of the appointment.
The Council received a report to appoint Local Authority School Governors to fill vacancies. RESOLVED: That, in accordance with the recommendations of the Local Authority Governor Panel, the Council approves the new appointments and re-appointments of Local Authority Governors to the school governing bodies as set out in Appendices 1 & 2 of the report, each for a term of 4 years from the date of the appointment.
The Committee received and approved further nominations to vacancies in accordance with political group wishes, which were reported on the amendment sheet.
The Committee received and approved a nomination to a Outside Body in accordance with political group wishes, which was reported on the amendment sheet.
In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 17(f) Written Questions received for consideration will be included as a record in the minutes of the meeting.
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.
Oliver Owen: Personal and prejudicial interest on Notice of Motion 1
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