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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 approve the appointment of Jeff Phillips, Karen Mackenzie, Nigel Clubb and Rachael Lovering as Co-Opted members from the date of the meeting, with their membership to be reviewed in September 2029.
1.1 Councillor David Williams started the meeting as previous Chair, which was confirmed as quorate, due to one not being elected at the previous meeting.
Part of an issue followed across 7 meetings
2.1 Apologies were received from Councillors Sue Edmunds (Blaenau Gwent CBC) and Julian Simmonds (Caerphilly CBC).
3.1 The DMO&S stated that it was Caerphilly’s turn to nominate a Chair for the forthcoming year. Councillor Forehead was elected Chair for the municipal year. 3.2 Councillor Forehead thanked Councillor David Williams for chairing for the previous year. 3.3 No interests were declared.
4.1 The minutes of the meeting held on 21 June 2024 were confirmed as a true and accurate record.
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: • Improvements to the building would not require it to be closed off to the public. It was mostly taking place behind the scenes which would mean that temporarily, there would be less room for staff to work. This would impact the ability to be able to do cataloguing. It could require some staff to work from home. It was hoped that the works would only take a couple of months and so there would be minimal impact. • Disabled parking outside of the building would be picked up as part of the Disability Access Review. • They were having to employ someone externally as they were looking for a qualified archivist; everyone employed were already archivists. The two year pension contribution had already been factored into the finances. However, they would have to submit a business case with all of the information on costs. • There had been changes in personnel at Blaenau Gwent CBC and other factors which had led to there being a delay in receiving the service charges. She was now working with staff with the aim of receiving them as soon as they were able to after year end. They met with Finance and Blaenau Gwent colleagues quarterly to discuss things and so they would have a better idea of where they stood going forward. The main aim immediately was to catch up. • In terms of the service charges, they had paid a portion and then accrued an amount into the budget. The question was whether they had accrued enough and so they needed to receive the final bill in order for them to compare it with what they had and then to make a plan going forward. The LFO commented that they could provide information around what percentage increases they had over the years once they receive the final bill, but they had spotted a lot of errors in what they had received so far as some of the charges had already been paid. They were negotiating with colleagues and checking that service charges were not increased too high. A meeting was planned for October and so they were hoping to have more information in time for the next committee meeting, where Members would be provided with a distinct report on the issue. • They had been taking their own meter readings and so they were getting there in terms of clarifying information. Blaenau Gwent had new members of staff working on it who were keen to get it right and did not want to be subject to challenge. The aim was to get all of the information up front and transparent. 5.2 The Joint Committee AGREED to note the contents of the report.
Decision as recorded
AGREED to approve the appointment of Jeff Phillips, Karen Mackenzie, Nigel Clubb and Rachael Lovering as Co-Opted members from the date of the meeting, with their membership to be reviewed in September 2029.
6.1 The CA presented her report to the Joint Committee. 6.2 Members commented that it was a very strong field and that they were impressed with the calibre of people who applied. 6.3 The Joint Committee AGREED to approve the appointment of Jeff Phillips, Karen Mackenzie, Nigel Clubb and Rachael Lovering as Co-Opted members from the date of the meeting, with their membership to be reviewed in September 2029.
7.1 The LFO confirmed that Lynne Jones, the previous ASO had retired and introduced Jane Roynon as her replacement. She stated that Lynne had worked for the local authority for 26 years and spent a lot of that time involved with the Joint Committee. Members commented that Lynne would be a great loss and wished her all the best in her retirement. 7.2 Mr Hanbury-Tenison referred to Julian Mitchell’s collection and asked whether the CA could possibly contact him. His painting collection and books were at Chepstow Museum, which could include other items that could add value to the catalogue of works at Gwent Archives. The CA confirmed that everything had been transferred to the new system which included the ability to link in with other collections. She agreed to make contact.
8.1 The date of the next meeting was confirmed as 13 December 2024. 8.2 Meeting ended at 11.03am.
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.