Loading
The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
AGREED to note the contents of the report.
AGREED to note the contents of the report.
AGREED to note the contents of the report.
1.1 Apologies were received from Councillors Carol Andrews and Julian Simmonds, Caerphilly County Borough Council; Russell Deacon, Stephen Duffin and Jonathan Perons.
2.1 Councillor Peter Strong declared a personal, non-prejudicial interest as the Secretary of Gwent County History Association.
3.1 The minutes of the meeting held on 24 June 2022 were agreed as a true and accurate record.
Decision as recorded
AGREED to note the contents of the report.
4.1 The CA presented her report, which was a deferred item from the previous meeting, highlighting key points. Following, she responded to questions from the Joint Committee as follows:- · Members of the public weren’t charged for downloads as it was impossible to monitor, and there wasn’t a cost to the Archives which they needed to pass on. However, there was a 10p a sheet cost to printing which created a little loss. If people didn’t bring a memory stick with them, they had some for sale at cost. · Some information captured pre-pandemic was different to what was being collected now, but it could be used as a comparison in order to see what the road to recovery was looking like. Visitor numbers were certainly down but this was happening across the board for all archive services, but context could be used in a report about it to the Committee. Remote enquiries had tripled as there still seemed to be a reluctance to travel and also, more people were online. They had spent some time in getting information out to the public, rather than waiting for people to visit; there was a lot more available online. Performance indicators had shifted to include online information, which was a real benefit. · They were able to get information around how much was being accessed from the commercial website partners. They had only been getting it for around two years. The figures were detailed within the report and they also received royalties. They were able to get the number of hits but they weren’t able to determine how long people were staying on there for. Some information was reported at different times of the year and so they wouldn’t have a full picture until the end of the year. · Pricing was reviewed every March and was reported to the Joint Committee. Prices had been steadily increasing over the year. Benchmarking was done against neighbouring services as they would be compared to them by the public. 4.2 The Joint Committee AGREED to note the contents of the report.
Decision as recorded
AGREED to note the contents of the report.
5.1 The CA presented her report, pulling out key points. Following, she responded to questions from the Joint Committee as follows:- · Some of the windows in the building let in a draft but in general were ok. Some had problems opening and closing; they were simply aging. Collection security was a bit of an issue as some of them were letting in damp and the walls were flaking, so there were problems which also presented for staff too. There were plans in place to look at the windows, but this was building-wide. There was sign of little maintenance over the years. · They were being proactive and passing issues about the building on to the landlord, which in this case was Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council. CADW were not wanting to lose the building, but then were also concerned about the listed building aspect and so if damp was present, they would want repairs to be made but in an appropriate way. They were being helpful with their advice. A comprehensive report could be brought to the next meeting which highlighted issues with the building. 5.2 The Joint Committee congratulated Gwent Archives’ staff for achieving Archive Accreditation. 5.3 Members agreed that it might be beneficial to invite all Gwent AS’ to have a walk around Gwent Archives as grants were often applied to at Welsh Government. 5.4 The Joint Committee AGREED to note the contents of the report.
6.1 The C presented her report, which was a deferred item from the previous meeting, highlighting key points. 6.2 Following the report, there were no questions but Members agreed that it would be helpful if future changes to policies highlighted tracked changes, in order for any alterations to be easily identified. The CA agreed to do this going forward. 6.3 The Joint Committee APPROVED the revised Collections Care and Conservation Policy.
Decision as recorded
AGREED to note the contents of the report.
7.1 The CA presented her report and following, there were no questions. 7.2 The Joint Committee AGREED to note the contents of the report.
8.1 Members agreed that it would be beneficial for the Joint Committee to meet up in person for a future meeting. It was anticipated that this would take place in March due to possible inclement weather in December and in order to ensure that a room could be made available. 8.2 It was agreed that Members would put pressure on relevant partner organisations and stakeholders in order to move things forward; in particular Blaenau Gwent CBC, SRS, CADW and Natural Resource Wales. 8.3 The ASO reported that the internal audit had been signed off by Audit Wales with no issues. A short report to be brought to the next meeting. 8.4 Councillor Mayer left the meeting. 8.5 The CA reported that they were undertaking a marketing review. They had received Welsh Government grant funding to work with a branding company. They had produced promotional materials in-house but needed more of a consistent brand. They wanted photographs of the team performing their day-to-day tasks etc. and so had managed to obtain funding for a photographer too, so this would put a really good package together. A lot of work had been done to their website and had been re-written in parts to make sure it was user-friendly and up to date. The team ran their social media so were involved with lots on online groups where they were answering queries and promoting their page in order to raise their profile.
9.1 The date of the next meeting was confirmed to take place on Friday, 16 December 2022. 9.2 Meeting ended at 11.11am.
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.