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On behalf of all members, the Presiding Member expressed her concern, support and prayers to the people of Ukraine. The Presiding Member recognised that this meeting was the final Full Council meeting of the current term, and she thanked all members and officers who had served and would continue to serve the residents of Torfaen. 1 ATTENDANCE Councillors: Rose Seabourne (Chair) Stuart Ashley Huw Bevan Glyn Caron Richard Clark (Deputy Leader) Lynda Clarkson Leonard Constance Veronica Crick JP Fiona Cross David Daniels Giles Davies Kathy Evans Steven Evans Stuart Evans Joanne Gauden Elizabeth Haynes Jon Horlor Anthony Hunt (Leader) Gaynor James Keith James Gwyn Jenkins Fay Jones Janet Jones Nicholas Jones Peter Jones Robert Kemp John Killick Sue Malson Jason O'Connell Richard Overton Amanda Owen Norma Parrish Jessica Powell Kelly Preston Emma Rapier Louise Shepphard Alan Slade Chris Tew Colette Thomas David Thomas David Yeowell Officers: Nigel Aurelius, Assistant Chief Executive (Resources) Louise Day, Communications Manager Niall Flack, Apprentice Democratic Services Delyth Harries, Monitoring Officer and Assistant Chief Legal Officer Dave Lily, Head of Financial Services Rachel Jowitt, Chief Officer Neighbourhoods, Planning & Public Protection Jason Lewis, Head of Strategic Human Resources Lyndon Puddy, Head of Public Services Support Unit Dominique Redman, Deputy Team Leader Democratic and Member Services Tom Roberts, Senior Corporate Improvement and Scrutiny Officer Keith Rutherford, Chief Officer Social Care & Housing Nansi Salkeld, Head of Democratic Services Chris Slade, Senior Business Support Officer (Democratic Services) Sarah Tipping, Partnership, Policy and Equalities Manager Stephen Vickers, Chief Executive Dave Weaver, Group Finance Officer - Service Accounting
2.1 Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ron Burnett and Mike Jeremiah.
3.1 The Monitoring Officer and Assistant Chief Legal Officer (MO&ALO) advised of the following personal interests in relation Agenda Item 9, Budget 2022/23 and Medium-Term Financial Plan, which were subsequently confirmed by Members: Councillors: · Stuart Ashley, Member of Cwmbran Community Council · Richard Clark, Member of Croesyceiliog & Llanyrafon Community Council · Lynda Clarkson, Member of Pontypool Community Council · Veronica Crick JP, Member of Croesyceiliog & Llanyrafon Community Council · Giles Davies, Member of Pontypool Community Council · Stephen Evans, Member of South Wales Fire and Rescue Authority · Joanne Gauden, Member of Croesyceiliog & Llanyrafon Community Council · Gaynor James, Member of Pontypool Community Council · Keith James, Member of Pontypool Community Council · Gwyn Jenkins, Council appointed member of the Gwent Police Crime and Disorder Panel · Fay Jones, Member of Cwmbran Community Council · Nicholas Jones, Member of Pontypool Community Council · Peter Jones, Member of Henllys Community Council · Robert Kemp, Member of Cwmbran Community Council · John Killick, Member of Pontypool Community Council and council appointed member of the Gwent Police Crime and Disorder Panel · Sue Malson, Member of South Wales Fire and Rescue Authority · Richard Overton, Member of Pontypool Community Council 3.2 The following members declared a personal and prejudicial interest in relation to Agenda Item 13, Pay Policy Statement 2022 as they had a close personal associate who worked for the authority: Councillors: Giles Davies Kathy Evans Stuart Evans Joanne Gauden Janet Jones Sue Malson Jason O’Connell Rose Seabourne Alan Slade 3.2 The MO&ACLO advised that all officers should leave the meeting for Agenda Item 13, Pay Policy Statement 2022, as the content of the report concerned them, members all agreed that Jason Lewis, Head of Strategic HR (HoSHR) who was presenting the report , and Democratic Services Officers namely Niall Flack, Dominique Redman and Chris Slade who were taking the minutes and assisting with the operation of the meeting could remain for this item.
4.1 Council confirmed the minutes of the Council meeting held on 25 January 2022 as an accurate record.
5.1 Council noted the action sheet.
6.1 There were no petitions submitted.
7.1 There were no public questions.
8.1 The Leader commented as follows: · He expressed his support and solidarity to the people of Ukraine following the invasion of their country. He had met with Welsh Government alongside Leaders from Councils across Wales who had agreed to help in any way possible, as they had done with other crises such as those in Syria and Afghanistan recently. He thanked the people of Torfaen for their generous donations and he directed those wishing to make donations to charities such as the Red Cross and Unicef who were urging people to make cash donations if they could. In a show of the council’s support and solidarity he had agreed to light up the civic centre in yellow and blue on each evening of the week. · He thanked staff for going above and beyond during the recent storms, and he also thanked residents for their patience and understanding of disruption to services caused by the storms. · He provided an update on Covid rates in Torfaen which were down to 153.3 cases per 100k over 7 days, and the positivity rate was down below 20% for the first time in a long while. He also informed members that the percentage of patients in ICU in Gwent was also down. Despite the reduction in figures, he reminded people that virus had not gone away. He thanked staff at Test, Trace and Protect, Public Health teams and officers involved in the vaccination coordination, alongside ABUHB and Torfaen Leisure Trust for their tremendous ongoing efforts. · He congratulated the Play Service who had won a National Play Work Award for their work during the pandemic. Some of this work involved childcare hubs for key workers and vulnerable children, delivering play packs to families during lockdown, helping create resources for home learning, helping with refuse and recycling, delivering of free school meals during the initial lockdown, and helping with play and wellbeing camps. He was proud of the unique service the team provided and the inspirational way they carried out their duties. The work carried out by the tam had been recognised by the Children’s Commissioner as a model of good practice. He thanked all staff and volunteers involved in this work which make a huge difference to the lives of so many young people. · He expressed a special thanks to retiring members for their service during an extraordinary term, where they had adapted and adjusted work due to the pandemic. He also expressed a special thanks to the Presiding Member, the Deputy Presiding Member and all other Committee Chairs where he understood the challenges around chairing hybrid meetings. 8.2 The Chief Executive supported the points raised by the Leader. In addition, he informed members that around 2142 young people aged 16-18 had registered to vote, this was out of an estimated population of just over 5k, which was up from 30% from those who registered for the Senedd Election. He recognised the real progress made and congratulated the team on their exceptional efforts. He also credited the young people who had shown an interest to the county’s democracy.
9.1 Councillor Kelly Preston, Executive Member Resources, commented as follows: · There had many challenges caused by the Pandemic over the past year and she hoped that the recovery was now beginning to take shape; · The 9.3% settlement from Welsh Government was positive. This, alongside a number of mitigations that had no effect on service delivery meant that the council was looking at a positive position of £7.8m; · Welsh Government had recognised the vital frontline role that local authorities had played during the pandemic and would continue to play as they recovered; · The positive settlement presented an opportunity to invest in key areas which are vitally important to residents, such as education and social care. Longer term it was also important to address the impact of the pandemic on residents and the community; · A further £1.1m towards Covid recovery and hardship had been proposed, with delivery of the real living wage for care workers, funding for the continuation of the approved Council Tax Reduction scheme, a funding uplift to schools, additional money for social care providers, additional money for workforce, transformation and to re-establish a new service area focused on communities, mitigations that see no service cuts, the continuation of the school leaver employment scheme and an additional capital investment of £1 million for highways. · It was proposed to reduce the Council Tax increase that was initially modelled in the Medium Term Financial Plan down from 3.95% to 1.95% for this year and next year. In light of forward settlement indications for the years ahead, and the rise of the cost of living, this proposal would ensure that Council Tax is kept as low as possible for 2 years providing some financial certainty for residents. · Anyone struggling to pay their Council Tax should reach out to the Council’s Revenues and Benefits Team as they may be entitled to support via the Council Tax Reduction Scheme. · It had been beneficial to present the budget proposals to January’s all member scrutiny meeting. Scrutiny members considered the budget proposals and their feedback was considered before presenting the final proposals to Council. · She thanked Members across the chamber for their input and for their support. · The recommendation made on the budget proposals during the scrutiny meeting to include Scrutiny in the establishment of the criteria for the Covid recovery and hardship fund, had been fully accepted and the idea was welcomed. · She thanked all Chief Officers and staff for their continued work over the past year and she recognised the commitment of officers and staff who had provided vital services and support to local people and businesses. · She commended the budget and thanked the Assistant Chief Executive Resources and all Finance officers for their commitment. She praised their calm and prudent approach to the challenges faced and thanked them for their help in ensuring that the Council did its best for the residents of Torfaen. 9.2 The Assistant Chief Executive Resources (ACER) outlined in detail, the Council’s Revenue and Capital Budgets for 2022/23, and the Medium-Term Financial Plan for 2023/24 to 2026/27. 9.3 The ACER expressed his thanks to David Lily, Head of Financial Services and his colleagues for their support and professionalism. He also thanked Richard Davies, Head of Revenues and Benefits and Deb Smith, Deputy Head of Revenues and Benefits, for their hard work in administering significant welfare and busines grant schemes as a result of the pandemic. He thanked his colleague Chief Officers for their support in developing the budget and referred in particular to Keith Rutherford, Chief Officer Social Care and Housing, recognising that this would be the last budget they would work on together as Keith was due to retire at the end of the month. He commented that Keith had always been very corporate in his approach, which is something he had always valued as the Treasurer. He also thanked Tom Roberts and his team in respect of the overview and scrutiny of the budget which had again improved this year, despite the challenging times the authority had worked in. 9.4 In response to comments and questions asked by members, the following comments were made: · There was £7m of Covid grant drop off in the budget, this was inclusive of £1.2m of reserve usage to support the Covid recovery, £2m from Welsh Government to support the social care recovery in 2021/2022, £528k worth of budgeted hardship funding, £732k worth of housing hardship funding, £2.4m for the Contract Tracing Team. · There were certain schemes which had dropped out including £3.6m from Torfaen Training which had ceased during the year, a one off £1.3m grant from Welsh Government for school maintenance and £2.6m for the Community Renewal Fund which was yet to be announced. Notification of Concessionary Fares Allocation was yet to be received from Welsh Government, however this was anticipated to be £600k. In addition, there was funding regarding the ongoing Gov Tech project which was circa £900k. The anticipated amounts were not included in the figures within the budget. · The report stated that the development of the solar farm had been removed from the strategy until costs could be confirmed. The Executive Member signed off a report last summer, which gave approval for the appointment of a preferred bidder as that bid had given assurance that the economic model, as received by scrutiny and Cabinet had been met, and the authority could therefore proceed with appointment. During contract negotiations before final signing of the contract, further changes were requested by the bidder, this was still being reviewed and a report was due to be considered by the Chief Officer Neighbourhoods, Planning & Pubic Protection and the Executive Member Environment shortly, on the future of the solar scheme proposals. · With reference to the additional investment of £360k required for children’s services placement for 48 fewer placements, was due to the categorisation and the different types of placements. Figures from 2021/2022 included a higher proportion of lower cost placements such the authorities own foster carers and kinship placements. Whilst the totality of placements has come down this year, the cost of these placements had increased. 9.5 In summary, the Leader commented as follows: · The uplift of 5.3% on schools budgets was vital to help schools to recover and to continue on their improvement journey. The council was continuing to invest in schools who had a lot of work to do in terms of helping young children catch up on work missed due to the pandemic. Good staffing levels, including support staff were an important part of this. · The living wage expansion was the start of a repositioning of the view of social care and the value of care workers in society, who were valued and deserved to be paid more than the living wage. Care agencies were currently losing members of staff to areas such as retail and whilst retail was important, carers looked after some of the most vulnerable people in the community. · The additional £1m for highways was welcomed. It would make a real difference and improve some of the conditions of the highways, which was a problem across the UK. · Funding for Covid recovery was vital. Some announcements already made were inclusive of play and the outdoor environment. Covid had shown the value of the outdoor environment in respect of people’s wider wellbeing and physical fitness. This should be built upon as the Covid Recovery Plan was taken forward, particularly making the most of places such as the Canal, parks and facilities for young people to play sports. · He welcomed the approach outlined by the Executive Member Resources’ in relation to the reduction in the Council Tax rise and he commented that it was right to keep the rise as low as possible this year in respect of the cost of living pressures that people were facing. · He felt it was right for the council to continue to invest in the Council Tax Reduction scheme and also Discretionary Housing Payments that had done so much to help people in need. · He welcomed the council tax rate of 1.95% which was 3% below some councils elsewhere in the UK who were raising their Council Tax by around 5%. He felt this would be welcomed by residents and it showed that the council were doing what they could to keep council tax as low as possible without affecting local services and without doing something this year that would necessitate a steeper rise next year. · The budget setting this year showed potentially signs of the end of austerity and the pandemic. He looked forward to building better services, improving outcomes, helping the community recover and taking long term decisions to build upon over the next few years. · The settlement however, did not mean that things were easy. There was a huge number of pressures that the authority needed to take into account moving forward. There was a considerable amount of demand on services, and also unknown demand that will likely have been caused by the pandemic. He believed that the approach being taken by the Welsh Government showed that they valued the local authority as partners in delivering local services. · He thanked the Executive Member Resources and officers for their calm and prudent approach to setting budget. · He thanked scrutiny members for the way they had engaged, Councillor Stuart Ashley for chairing the budget scrutiny sessions, and Nigel Aurelius, Dave Lily and Dave Weaver, for being open to member questions and for taking the time to explain things professionally and understandably. 9.6 Members recognised the better than expected settlement from the Welsh Government and, in the main, they supported the budget. However, some members expressed concerns around build-up of Welsh Government reserves, calls upon the council’s reserves to fund projects such as the British, the £30m back log in Torfaen for essential highways maintenance, the rise in the cost of living and lack of investments in wards over recent years. 9.7 In response to these comments, the Executive Member Resources commented that the settlement from Welsh Government had provided an opportunity to move forward with a positive budget whilst being able to do more for the people of Torfaen. She stated that the lowering of the Council Tax increase provided financial certainty for residents. She recognised that the cost of living was a nightmare affecting everyone and would be at the top of the agenda moving forward. 9.7 Other members commented around the British project and the years of campaigning to the make the site a safe place, and also the development of the formal industrial area into a safe place for the residents of Torfaen to visit. 9.8 Members thanked officers for their work in producing the report. They also thanked Keith Rutherford for his guidance and support over the years and wished him a happy and healthy retirement. 9.9 A recorded vote was taken, with members voting as shown in the table below with 29 members voting for and 12 members voting against. COUNCILLOR FOR AGAINST ABSTAIN Stuart Ashley ü Huw Bevan ü Glyn Caron ü Richard Clark ü Lynda Clarkson ü Leonard Constance ü Veronica Crick ü Fiona Cross ü David Daniels ü Giles Davies ü Kathy Evans ü Steven Evans ü Stuart Evans ü Joanne Gauden ü Elizabeth Haynes ü Jon Horlor ü Anthony Hunt ü Gaynor James ü Keith James ü Gwyn Jenkins ü Fay Jones ü Janet Jones ü Nicholas Jones ü Peter Jones ü Robert Kemp ü John Killick ü Sue Malson ü Jason O’Connell ü Richard Overton ü Mandy Owen ü Norma Parrish ü Jessica Powell ü Kelly Preston ü Emma Rapier ü Rose Seabourne ü Louise Shepphard ü Alan Slade ü Christopher Tew ü Colette Thomas ü Dave Thomas ü David Yeowell ü Council agreed, with the majority voting in favour, that:- Part One: (i) The Budget for 2022/23 and the Medium-Term Financial Plan, as set out in Appendix One (and Annexes 1-4 within that Appendix) to this report, are approved; Part Two (statutory recommendations): (ii) It is noted that at its November 2021 meeting, Cabinet approved the following amounts for the year 2022/23 in accordance with regulations made under Section 33(5) of the Local Government Act 1992 (as amended):- a) 34,147 being the amount calculated by the Council in accordance with regulation 3 of the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) (Wales) Regulations 1995 (as amended), as its Council Tax base for the year. b) the Council Tax base estimate for each Community Council levy for 2022/23 is as follows:- 2022/23 Council Tax Base Cwmbran 13,634 Pontypool 13,178 Blaenavon 1,963 Henllys 1,149 Croesyceiliog & Llanyrafon 3,480 Ponthir 743 a) Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent proposes the following amounts in precept issued to the Council, in accordance with Section 40(2)(b) of the Local Government Act 1992 for each banding of dwellings:- A B C D E F G H I £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ 202.53 236.29 270.04 303.80 371.31 438.82 506.33 607.60 708.87 (iii) That the following amounts be now calculated by the Council for the year 2022/23 in accordance with the Section 32 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992:- a) £301,511,120 - being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 32(2) (a) to (e) of the Act. b) £90,299,886 - being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 32(3) (a) to (c) of the Act. c) £211,211,234 - being the amount by which the aggregate at (iii) (a) above exceeds the aggregate at (iii) (b) calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 32(4) of the Act, as its budget requirement for the year. d) £89,000 - being the amount the Authority estimates in relation to Section 37 and 49 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 (as amended), discretionary non-domestic rate relief. e) £160,117,098 - being the aggregate of the sums the Council estimates will be payable for the year into its Council Fund in respect of the redistribution of non-domestic rates and Revenue Support Grant. f) £1,498.91 - being the amount at (iii)(c) above plus the amount at (iii)(d) and less the amount at (iii)(e) above all divided by the amount at (ii)(a) above calculated by the Council in accordance with Section 33(1) of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year. g) £1,697,987 - being the amount of all special items referred to in Section 34(1) of the Act. h) £1,449.18 - being the amount at (iii) (f) above less the result given by dividing the amount at (iii) (g) above by the amount at (ii) (a), calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 34(2) of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which no special item relates. i) The County Borough Tax including Community Council Precepts Valuation Bands. 2022/23 A B C D £ £ £ £ Cwmbran 995.54 1,161.46 1,327.39 1,493.31 Pontypool 1,002.34 1,169.40 1,336.45 1,503.51 Blaenavon 1,028.95 1,200.44 1,371.93 1,543.42 Henllys 985.43 1,149.66 1,313.90 1,478.14 Croesyceiliog & Llanyrafon 993.44 1,159.01 1,324.59 1,490.16 Ponthir 983.56 1,147.49 1,311.41 1,475.34 2022/23 E F G H I £ £ £ £ £ Cwmbran 1,825.16 2,157.00 2,488.85 2,986.62 3,484.39 Pontypool 1,837.62 2,171.74 2,505.85 3,007.02 3,508.19 Blaenavon 1,886.40 2,229.38 2,572.37 3,086.84 3,601.31 Henllys 1,806.62 2,135.09 2,463.57 2,956.28 3,448.99 Croesyceiliog & Llanyrafon 1,821.31 2,152.45 2,483.60 2,980.32 3,477.04 Ponthir 1,803.19 2,131.05 2,458.90 2,950.68 3,442.46 Being the amounts given by multiplying the amount at (iii)(f) above by the number which in the properties set out in Section 5 (1) of the Act, is applicable to dwellings listed in a particular valuation band divided by the number which is that proportion applicable to dwellings listed in Valuation band D calculated by the Council in accordance with Section 36(1) of the Act, as the amounts to be taken into account for the year in respect of categories of dwellings listed in different valuations bands. j) That having calculated the aggregate in each case of the amounts (ii)(c) and (iii)(i) above the Council in accordance with Section 30(2) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, hereby sets the following amounts as the Council Tax for the year 2022/23 for each of the categories of dwellings shown below:- 2022/23 A B C D £ £ £ £ Cwmbran 1,198.07 1,397.75 1,597.43 1,797.11 Pontypool 1,204.87 1,405.69 1,606.49 1,807.31 Blaenavon 1,231.48 1,436.73 1,641.97 1,847.22 Henllys 1,187.96 1,385.95 1,583.94 1,781.94 Croesyceiliog & Llanyrafon 1,195.97 1,395.30 1,594.63 1,793.96 Ponthir 1,186.09 1,383.78 1,581.45 1,779.14 2022/23 E F G H I £ £ £ £ £ Cwmbran 2,196.47 2,595.82 2,995.18 3,594.22 4,193.26 Pontypool 2,208.93 2,610.56 3,012.18 3,614.62 4,217.06 Blaenavon 2,257.71 2,668.20 3,078.70 3,694.44 4,310.18 Henllys 2,177.93 2,573.91 2,969.90 3,563.88 4,157.86 Croesyceiliog & Llanyrafon 2,192.62 2,591.27 2,989.93 3,587.92 4,185.91 Ponthir 2,174.50 2,569.87 2,965.23 3,558.28 4,151.33 Part Three – Related plans, strategies and assessments (iv) The update on the Workforce Plan and Procurement Strategy be noted and the revised Asset Management Strategy at appendix 7 be approved; (v) The wellbeing assessment in appendix 4 be noted; (vi) The virement policy in paragraph 7 and appendix 5 is approved; Part Four – Capital Strategy and Prudential Indicators: (vii) The Capital Strategy as outlined in paragraph 8 and appendix 6 are agreed.
10.1 The Policy Partnerships and Equalities Manager (PP&EM) outlined her report and provided members with the annual report for 2020-2021 on Torfaen Council’s progress on its Strategic Equality Plan. 10.2 Council unanimously agreed to note the content and approve the 2020-2021 annual progress report on the Council’s Strategic Equality Plan as set out in Appendix 1 to the report.
11.1 The Business and Democratic Support Services Manager (B&DSSM) outlined the report presenting Council with the Biennial Scrutiny Review for 2020/21 and 2021/22. He thanked all current and past scrutiny chairs and members who had contributed to the council’s critical business through the scrutiny process. He also thanked Executive Members, officers, external experts and residents whose efforts and commitments had supported committees to undertaken their statutory role. 11.2 Scrutiny Chairs expressed their thanks to the Scrutiny Team, Democratic Services, Co-optees and Invitees who had supported them and contributed to the scrutiny process. They also thanked Executive Members and officers for respecting the scrutiny process. Lynne Williams, Head of Business Support and Intelligence, who had sadly passed away last year, was also remembered for the role she had played in supporting the scrutiny process. Members recognised the value of scrutiny and commended the report. 11.3 The Leader thanked members and officers for their contribution to the scrutiny process. He hoped that the scrutiny process was considered to be constructive and would result in better policy directions. He commented around potential opportunities in the coming term where scrutiny could have a role in forward thinking and in optimistic conversations about how the council could better work with and invest in communities. 11.4 Council unanimously agreed to note the content of the 2020-22 the Biennial Scrutiny Review.
12.1 The B&DSSM outlined the report updating members on the necessary changes to committee membership numbers as a result of the boundary commission review and the resulting reduction in the number of electorate wards and the reduced number of elected members. 12.2 The Head of Democratic Services (HoDS) was thanked for consulting with the leaders of political parties prior to the report being published, providing reassurance that there would be no change in procedure or practice and that committees would continue to be politically balanced. Some members expressed concern around the reduction in numbers on the Planning Committee, particularly given that ward members provided areas of expertise within their own wards. Some members felt that the reduction in numbers placed greater reliance on members of the Planning Committee going forward, however, Members recognised that the actions outlined in the report were required due to the impact of the Boundary Commission Review. 12.3 Councillor Haynes expressed concerns around not being consulted on the report as an individual independent member. The HoDS explained that she had consulted with group leaders as is normal practice and a pragmatic approach was being taken to reduce the number of seats on committees, therefore enabling politically balanced seats moving forward. Councillor Haynes commented that individual independent members had also been consulted on such matters previously. The MO&ACLO stated that there was no legal requirement to consult with individual independent members and that officers had consulted appropriately. Councillor Haynes questioned who determined this practice and where this legislation could be found. 12.4 Councillor Kemp commented that further to council approval of this report, and of the Local Government Elections, the next step would involve political balance. He stated that the council had previously voted against total political balance for all members and he felt that the council was not equitable. 12.5 Council agreed, with the majority voting in favour, to the following changes to committee membership, i) Reduction in the number of members of the Planning Committee to 12 members ii) Reduction in the number of members of Licensing Committee to 11 members iii) Reduction in the number of local authority members of Governance and Audit Committee to 5 iv) Reduction in the number of members of the following four scrutiny committees to 9 on each committee – Healthier Communities, Prosperous Communities, Cleaner Communities and Education. In addition, the Monitoring Officer be granted delegated authority in consultation with the Members Constitution Working Party to amend the Constitution to reflect the changes outlined in the report.
13.1 Councillors Kathy Evans, Stuart Evans, Joanne Gauden, Janet Jones Sue Malson, Jason O’Connell, Rose Seabourne and Alan Slade, left the meeting as they had declared a personal and prejudicial interest in relation to this item. All officers present also left the meeting, with the exception of Jason Lewis, Niall Flack, Dominique Redman and Chris Slade. Councillor Peter Jones, Deputy Presiding member, replaced Councillor Seabourne as Chair of the meeting. 13.2 The HoSHR&AM outlined the report seeking approval of the 2022 Pay Policy Statement in accordance with the Localism Act 2011. 13.3 Councillor Kelly Preston, Executive Member Resources, praised the council’s commitment to continuing to provide a fair wage to the lowest paid staff in line with those recommended by the living wage foundation. She stated that this was higher than the national minimum wage and it impacted over 400 council staff. She also made reference to the council’s modest median employee wage being £24,491, the ratio of top pay to median pay dropping substantially in recent years remaining one of the lowest Wales, and also savings made in the cost of senior management in recent years including a reduction in the number of Chief Officer posts which had fallen from 34 in 2012 to 22 this year. She welcomed the content of the report and the council’s commitment to continue to pay a fair wage to their staff. 13.4 The Leader commented as follows: · Torfaen had one of the lowest rates for senior pay in Wales. · The Chief Executive pay to median pay ratio had decreased and was well below the recommended maximum rates set by the pay foundation. · The Chief Officer to median had also decreased and showed that Torfaen was one of the most even payers in the public sector in Wales and this was far below rates seen elsewhere in the private and public sectors. · The number of officers on Chief Officer grades had decreased. · Confirmation in the report of senior remuneration of senior officers and that one to a maximum of two senior officers in the authority are paid over £100k annually. The Leader welcomed the report which set out true and accurate information. 13.5 Council unanimously agreed to approve the Pay Policy Statement 2022 attached as Appendix 1 to the report, as an accurate summary of the council’s current policy for the purposes of publication under the Localism Act. 13.6 Members with personal and prejudicial interests who had left the meeting were invited to re-join. Councillor Jenkins indicated that he had wrongly been removed from the meeting. Chris Slade, Senior Business Support Officer apologised for the confusion and explained that this may have been due to technical difficulties. Councillor Rose Seabourne, Presiding Member, returned to the meeting and resumed her position as Chair.
14.1 Councillor Colette Thomas proposed the following motion: ‘This Council has declared a climate change and nature emergency and now could show even more consideration to our wildlife population by protecting our much threatened Hedgehogs. A small change could make a big difference. I would like Council to consider the following proposal: That the Council includes Hedgehog Highways in all Council developments. Tunnels to be inserted in solid walls and fences or hedges to be used as boundaries, making spaces for Hedgehogs to roam. The Council encourages all local private developers to follow this practice and provide Hedgehog Highways in all future developments. The Hedgehog is listed as a conservation priority under section 7 Environmental Wales Act 2016 and as species of principle importance. Public authorities therefore, have a duty to seek to maintain and enhance biodiversity while it carries out its functions and have full regard to the Section 7 listing.’ 14.2 The motion was seconded. 14.3 Considerable discussion ensued and in the main, members commended the motion, recognising the declining numbers of hedgehogs and the importance of encouraging nature in a safe environment. 14.4 Coucillor Huw Bevan supported the motion, however, he expressed concerns around the motion specifically referring to safe highways in all future developments only. He asked for further information on what measures were currently in place to provide hedgehog tunnels on existing highways. Councillor Amanda Owen, Executive Member for Environment, would request a briefing with officers and relay this information to all Members. 14.5 It was clarified that hedgehog highways referred to safe natural routes for hedgehogs which could be as simple as a hole in a fence, rather than a manmade highway. 14.6 Councillor Huw Bevan proposed an amendment to the motion as follows in bold. He requested that the words ‘and existing’ be added to the sentence that referred to hedgehog highways in all future developments: He amendment would read as follows: ‘The council encourages all local private developers to follow this practice and provide Hedgehog Highways in all future and existing developments.’ 14.7 The Leader commented that members should be cautions when consideration this amendment as to retrofit all developments seemed to be an impossible promise to make and members were unaware of costs and other possible implications. He felt that the motion clearly related to future intentions. 14.8 Councillor Robert Kemp called a point of order, commenting that Councillor Bevan’s proposed amendment should be seconded before being debated. 14.9 The Presiding Member asked Councillor Bevan if he wished to withdraw his proposed amendment further members comments. Councillor Bevan confirmed that he wished to proceed with his suggested amendment. He commented that he did not feel that his proposed amendment would have significant financial ramifications to the council and that the Council’s Environmentalists and Ecology Team would be aware of the location of populations of hedgehogs and could undertake any work required to ensure safe highways for hedgehogs. 14.10 On the request of the Presiding Member, Councillor Bevan repeated his proposed amendment as follows: ‘The council encourages all local private developers to follow this practice and provide Hedgehog Highways in all future and existing developments.’ 14.11 Councillor Bevan’s proposed amendment was not seconded. 14.12 Councillor Nicholas Jones requested that information be circulated to Members to provide clarity on existing practices in relation to hedgehog highways, whey the highways existed and if there were identified and if a resident was found to ‘close’ what is already seen as a hedgehog highway, would it be requested to re-open the highway. Councillor Amanda Owen, Executive Member for Environment would request this information and circulate to all Members. 14.13 Councillor Colette Thomas commented around the ongoing work concerning planning legislation the work of the Council’s Ecologists in relation to hedgehog highways. She hoped that members would support her motion as a starting point to providing safe hedgehog highways. 14.14 Council unanimously agreed to support the motion. 14.15 Councillor Anthony Hunt proposed the following motion: ‘This council endorses the WLGA Fair Campaign Pledge, endorsed by all 22 Welsh Council Leaders. In doing so, this council pays tribute to Sir Stephen Amess MP and regrets that his tragic death comes after the murder of Jo Cox MP and the stabbing of Stephen Timms MP in recent years. This council also expresses concern about the attack on 68 year old Barnsley councillor Pauline Markham, assaulted while walking her dog by a man who made remarks about her political work before punching her in the face, knocking her to the ground. This council notes with alarm the reports from MPs such as Dawn Butler and Virginia Crosbie about the appalling abuse and threats they have faced, and notes that this abuse is something that affects councillors as well as national politicians, and is disproportionately targeted at women and other representatives from historically under-represented groups. We also note with concern the scenes of Keir Starmer being targeted outside Parliament following untrue allegations made against him from the Despatch Box. This council believes that all politicians of all levels and all parties, groups or political persuasions should be entitled to go about their work and their lives free of attacks and abuse aimed at them and their families, including on social media. As members, we therefore pledge not to encourage abuse or act in a way that causes, excuses, encourages or makes it more likely for others to abuse or attack elected representatives for the difficult job we do, in either our role within the chamber, in our role outside the chamber or on social media.’ 14.16 The motion was seconded. 14.17 Councillor Kelly Preston, Executive Member Resources, commented around the importance of members being able to campaign and undertake their work safely, regardless of their political party. She commented around the unpopular decisions that members were sometimes required to make and stated that whilst members should expect to be open to challenge, they should not be subjected to abuse. She also referred to the unacceptable use of social media on occasions when things had been disagreed with and she commented that whilst social media could be a useful tool, it could also be a source of abuse. She commended the motion. 14.18 The motion was fully supported by Members, with some members commenting around unacceptable incidents of abuse they had experienced which also concerned their families. Particular concern was expressed around women and mothers and the fact that member’s addresses were in the public domain. Members felt that all abuse should be stamped out at the lowest possible level. 14.19 Members discussed the importance of the need to protect current and new members and of being provided with information on security measures being taken by the Council to further protect elected members to ensure they can carry out their roles. 14.20 The Leader recognised the concerns raised by members in relation to making the role of councillor safe. He commented that the motion was also about members taking a lead and the importance of councillors controlling their own behaviour and the standards they set. He thanked members for their support and for sharing their experiences. He stated that as a parent himself, he particularly recognised the concerns raised around families being made to feel unsafe or subjected to abuse. 14.21 Council unanimously agreed to support the motion.
15.1 Member questions with replies are set out in Appendix A to these minutes.
16.1 Council unanimously agreed to note the Cabinet decisions.
17.1 The next meeting was scheduled for Tuesday 24 May 2022. 17.2 The MO&ACLO clarified that meetings would not be held during the election period starting on 18 March 2022. Should there be a request for any meeting, a decision would need to be taken at the particular time and would be dependent upon the nature of the meeting.
18.1 It was agreed that members of the Press and Public were excluded from the meeting as the following report is not for publication under Paragraph 12 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended) as the report contains information identifying individuals which should not be made available to the public in accordance with the local resolution protocol adopted by the council and public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.
Councillors must say when they have a personal link to something being discussed, such as a job, a property or a family member. A prejudicial interest is one strong enough that the councillor usually leaves the room and takes no part.
Declarations are read from the minutes once they are published.
Lists the council's current councillors only. Co-opted members, officers and former councillors aren't shown.