Council Minutes 25/06/09 (348K)

THE COUNTY COUNCIL OF THE CITY & COUNTY OF CARDIFF

The County Council of the City & County of Cardiff met at City Hall, Cardiff on Thursday 25 June 2009 to transact the business set out in the Council Summons dated 19 June 2009.

Present County Councillor Griffiths, Lord Mayor (in the Chair); County Councillor Hyde, Deputy Lord Mayor.

County Councillors Ali, Aubrey, Aylwin, Berman, Bowden, Bowen, Burfoot, Burley, Burns, Carter, Chaundy, Clark, Ralph Cook, Cowan, Cox, Kirsty Davies, Tim Davies, Dixon, Finn, Foley, Ford, Furlong, Gasson, Goddard, Goodway, Grant, Greening, C Holland, M Holland, Hooper, Howells, Ireland, Islam, Jerrett, Brian Jones, Margaret Jones, Jones-Pritchard, Joyce, Kelloway, Lansdown, Lloyd, Macdonald, McEvoy, McKerlich, Montemaggi, David Morgan, Derrick Morgan, Elgan Morgan, Linda Morgan, Page, Jacqueline Parry, Keith Parry, Patel, Pearcy, Piper, David Rees, Robson, Rogers, Rowland-James, Salway, Singh, Smith, Stephens, Wakefield, Walker, Walsh, Williams and Woodman.

Apologies: Councillors Bridges, Richard Cook, Hudson, Pickard, Dianne Rees

(Prayers were offered by the Reverend Dr John Payne)

14 : COMMONWEALTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT CONFERENCE 2011

The Lord Mayor was delighted to inform Council that Cardiff had been successful in securing the Commonwealth Local Government Conference, one of the world’s most prestigious public sector conferences, in 2011. The opportunity had arisen for the Chief Executive of the conference and the Leader of the WLGA to attend the Council meeting to announce this national achievement.

Council agreed that Standing Orders be suspended for his one item to allow the announcement to be made. County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 13

The Lord Mayor invited Carl Wright, Chief Executive of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum to address Council.

Mr Wright expressed his pleasure that Cardiff had been successful in winning this very prestigious international conference, which would bring together a very high level audience from across the world and would highlight Cardiff in its role as the Capital of Wales. Over 500 senior council leaders, mayors and also several heads of government, ministers and senior private sector representatives were likely to attend this event during Commonwealth Week, the second week of March.

The Commonwealth Local Government Forum comprised something like forty five countries and Mr Wright stated that the outcomes of this conference would be communicated to all the commonwealth prime ministers at the summit leader meeting of the commonwealth leaders in the same year.

Mr Wright concluded by handing over to Councillor Davies a special memento, which had been brought from the last conference hosts in the Bahamas and the Caribbean, to pass on to Cardiff.

The Lord Mayor invited Councillor John Davies, Leader of the WLGA to address Council.

Councillor Davies, in his capacity as Leader of the Welsh Local Government Association stated that it was a real privilege to attend the Council meeting today and to be able to congratulate Cardiff on winning the bid to host the 6 th Commonwealth Local Government Conference on behalf of the UK.

It was an opportunity, he said, to showcase Welsh local government to the rest of the world and to allow politicians, policy makers and practitioners to debate some of the key policy issues facing national and local government.

In conclusion Councillor Davies presented the Lord Mayor with a carving of a boat which was a significant symbol of the history and culture of the Bahamas. It also symbolised Cardiff’s historic maritime and cultural links with other nations throughout the Commonwealth

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The Leader of the Council, Councillor Berman, responded on behalf of the Council.

He thanked the Commonwealth Local Government Forum for selecting Cardiff’s bid to host the 2011 Conference and Councillor Davies for his contribution. He added that the conference would further strengthen Cardiff’s profile and status as a truly international capital city. The successful bid underlined Cardiff’s international policy in attracting major international events to the City.

Cardiff would be working closely with key partners, such as the Welsh Assembly Government, the Local Government Association, the Welsh Local Government Association and the Consular Association in Wales to ensure that the conference was a truly international and tremendous success.

The Lord Mayor thanked Mr Wright and Councillor Davies.

15 : MINUTES

The minutes of the meeting held on 14 May 2009 were approved as a correct record, subject to the inclusion of the names of Councillors Ford, C. Holland, M. Holland and McEvoy in the list of those present for that meeting. The minutes were signed by the Lord Mayor.

16 : CHAIRMAN’S ANNOUNCEMENTS

(The Chairman reminded Members of their responsibility under Article 16 of the Members’ Code of Conduct to declare any interest, and to complete Personal Interest forms, at the commencement of the item of business.)

The Lord Mayor was pleased to say that the Council and individuals had received further awards and details of such awards were circulated to Members and are detailed below. County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 15

1.Awards

(a) Sustainable Cities Award

The regeneration of Cardiff Bay had been honoured with a prestigious “Sustainable Cities Award” by the Globe Forum. Voted for by a panel of experts based in Sweden, the award aimed to honour societies, individuals or companies that had excelled in the area of sustainable development. It was presented to Councillor Margaret Jones by the Crown Princess of Sweden at a high profile ceremony held at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm on 3 June.

In awarding the 2009 Sustainable City title to Cardiff, the panel had considered a number of areas, including social, transport, cultural and environmental advancements. They had acknowledged the Council’s work with partners in the creation of water transport from the city centre to the Bay and in the soon-to-be created Pont y Werin Bridge that would link Cardiff to Penarth for pedestrians and cyclists. Among the many other accomplishments identified by the Judging Panel were the presence of the Cardiff Wetlands Reserve, created with the Barrage in 2002, and the use of parts of the Bay area for festivals, which had proved popular with the local community.

In presenting the award the jury said Cardiff demonstrated practises of a sustainable city with highly creative services and innovation and had “clearly shown that sustainable development and economic development go hand in hand in Cardiff

(b) Centre for Public Scrutiny ‘Good Scrutiny Awards’

Following last year's double in the Centre for Public Scrutiny 'Good Scrutiny Awards', this year Scrutiny Performance and Governance were short listed once again for the Team Award, this time for the work they had been carrying out with the LSB Scrutiny Panel. The team were awarded with a commendation for the work undertaken.

Congratulations were extended to Rhoda Emlyn–Jones from Adult Services who had been awarded an OBE in this year’s Queen’s Birthday

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Honours list for services to disadvantaged people. Rhoda had also won the Western Mail’s ‘Welsh Women of the Year’Award in 2007.

2. Conduct of Council Meetings

The Lord Mayor informed Council of how he intended to chair meetings of Council during his year of office.

“Chairing Council meetings is a privilege but also a responsibility and I intend to chair meetings in a fair, but firm manner.

I will adhere to the Council Procedure rules and to the procedural advice provided to me by senior officers, and will also take into consideration established custom and practice. However, the procedural aspects of Council meetings can, on occasion, be complex and it is not unthinkable that I will, on occasion, make a ruling that a Member believes is wrong. I can assure you that any ruling that I make in these meetings will be made in the spirit of fairness to all and I ask, therefore, Members to respect and adhere to my rulings. Whilst I respect the need for Members to briefly challenge a particular ruling that they feel is against procedure rules, I do not intend to allow lengthy debates about the merits of particular rulings from this Chair.

I will, wherever possible, allow as many Members who wish to participate in a debate, the ability to do so. However, I also have the responsibility to take into consideration the suggested timings for debates agreed by the Business Committee. It is my intention, therefore, at the commencement of any debate that may be lengthy, to outline the time available for debate and how many speakers are likely to be called.

Whilst I recognise that I have a crucial role in ensuring that the conduct of these meetings are fair and reflect good governance, I am not alone in that responsibility. I therefore ask all in this Chamber to respect other speakers and not to speak until I have called them. I fully understand that this Chamber will be focus for political banter, but I will not allow the constant hum of background chatter or constant interruptions of those I have called on to speak.

I also call on Members not to ask to make personal points of explanation or points of order unless they are just that – I can recall too many County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 17 instances where Members have used procedural motions in an inappropriate manner.

I hope I have your support in this approach.”

3.Councillor Ed Bridges

The Lord Mayor referred to the decision of Councillor Ed Bridges to grow his hair over the next 12 months for the purpose of raising money for the Lord Mayor’s charity – Bobath Children’s Therapy Centre – and he urged Members to support Councillor Bridges’ efforts.

4.Webcasting and Recording of Proceedings

Members were reminded of a decision of the Constitution Committee on 10 July 2008 to webcast the Council meeting.

Members were also reminded that the Constitution Committee had previously agreed that Council proceedings be recorded for administrative purposes.

Formal approval to record the proceedings was granted.

(Councillor Ralph Cook sought clarification on a constitutional matter. The Lord Mayor referred to paragraph 14.6 of the Council Procedure Rules (Amendments to Motions))

17 : PETITIONS

The following petitions were submitted:

1. Councillor Woodman – petition signed by 92 parents of children attending Bryncelyn School concerning appropriate conduct of individuals at the school.

2. Councillor Williams – petition of 3800 signatories calling on Cardiff Council to agree to an immediate moratorium on developments in the central city park complex – Bute Park, Sophia Gardens, Pontcanna Fields and Llandaff Fields – until a wide ranging public consultation has been held into their use and a future strategy agreed.

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3. Councillor Cox – 57 residents call on the Chief Constable of South Wales Police to Police Stations open and for the Labour Government to provide more funding to avoid such closures.

4. Councillor Page – 21 residents of Greenfield Avenue, Heath call on the Council to resurface the pavements as a matter of urgency because of their dangerous state.

5. Councillor Bowden – request from residents for pedestrians and cyclists to have a safe crossing at the junction of Birchgrove Road and Manor Way.

6. Councillor Cowan – 38 residents of Rhiwbina call on the Council to create additional car parking on Beulah Road and to undertake improvements to the pavements as a matter of priority.

18 : WELSH LANGUAGE SCHEME ANNUAL MONITORING REPORT 2008-2009

Cardiff Council shared with the Welsh Assembly Government the objectives laid out in Iaith Pawb: A National Action Plan for Wales. Cardiff Council had adopted the principle of equality for both the Welsh and English language when conducting public business and administration. The report provided the formal basis on which compliance with the Council’s statutory Welsh Language Scheme was monitored. The report provided a clear picture of the progress made in 2008/09.

The Leader of the Council welcomed the report and the efforts of the Council.

RESOLVED – That the Welsh Language monitoring report be approved for submission to the Welsh Language Board in accordance with the Scheme.

19 : MUNICIPAL RESIDUAL WASTE TREATMENT (PROSIECT GWYRDD)

Prosiect Gwyrdd comprised a partnership of five South Wales unitary authorities (Cardiff, Newport, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire and Vale of County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 19

Glamorgan). The partnership was working together to identify a suitable location for a major new residual waste treatment facility to provide an alternative recovery option to the disposal of residual municipal waste in landfill.

Members received a report on progress since the 4 December 2008 Executive report on this matter and were asked to endorse the procurement strategy including the outline specification, the Optional site and approval of the affordability envelope. The report also set out the governance proposals for the duration of the procurement and proposed Heads of Terms for the inter-authority agreement to set out the proposed way forward for the procurement of a sustainable waste treatment solution in South East Wales as the procurement would be outside of the Council’s budget framework and entailed very significant legal and financial implications for the Council.

The Executive Member, Environment reported that it was a hugely complex and very significant project. If the report was endorsed by the five authorities it represented the conclusion of two years of very intensive pre-procurement work and the procurement process proper would then commence in the autumn as outlined in the report.

In recommending the report the Executive Member made five key points.

Firstly, the Outline Business Case (OBC) comprehensively assessed the need of the five authorities going forward in terms of discharging statutory responsibilities as waste disposal authorities and how these significant environmental, financial and operational risks were going to be managed for the next generation.

Secondly, the OBC and the submitted report made it absolutely clear that the Council was going into the procurement on a technology neutral basis.

Thirdly the Executive Member made it clear about the dire financial consequences to this authority of doing nothing. Fourthly, the report and the OBC were entirely consistent with emerging national policy and the proposed targets detailed in the report.

Finally, the Executive Member stated that the five authorities were pooling their decision making processes through the Joint Committee

19 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 20 arrangements with this Council as the lead authority and necessary safeguards had been put in place through the Joint Working Arrangements. The final decision would be brought back to this Council.

The Joint Committee would be shadowed by a Joint Scrutiny process across the five authorities.

The Lord Mayor then invited debate on the report and Members commented on the process.

RESOLVED – That:-

(1) Council agrees that the three conditions, of the report dated 4 December 2008/January 2009 (as set out in Appendix A of this report) that approved the Outline Business Case (‘OBC’) for Prosiect Gwyrdd, have been satisfied;

(2) the ‘OBC Health Check addendum 2009’ appended at Appendix B to this report, that represents the revised Outline Business Case for Prosiect Gwyrdd, be approved;

(3) the proposed strategic approach to procurement for Prosiect Gwyrdd be approved, which includes:-

(i) proposals to develop the evaluation criteria and weightings that will be a matter for the Joint Committee to determine following stakeholder consultation;

(ii) the premise of a publicly owned site being made available to bidders (note well that this does not preclude bidders putting forward proposals based at other locations/sites within their control) and that the site proposed is known as Tatton Road, Newport. This recommendation being subject to:

a Newport City Council agreeing to the same; and b Participating authorities agreeing to the terms and conditions pursuant to which such site is to be acquired or an option secured, which terms will address, how the same is to be financed by the five authorities and what is to happen at the end of the project life. County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 21

(4) the project costs as provided in Table 2.0 and paragraph 109 to Preferred Bidder stage for the Project be approved;

(5) Council proceed with the procurement on the basis of affordability envelope contained in appendix G and the financing options set out in paragraphs 99 to 106 be noted;

(6) Council enters into a Joint Working Agreement (JWA1) with the other participating authorities, in the form set out in Appendix D to this report and that pursuant thereto and amongst other things:-

(a) a Joint committee, with the delegated authority set out in the JWA1 be established and that the Executive Members with responsibility for the time being for waste management and financial matters be appointed to represent this authority on the Joint Committee and in his or her absence another Executive Member shall be entitled to act in such capacity; (b) that Cardiff Council will act and shall have full authority to act on behalf of all the authorities as Lead Authority for the procurement process (c) that the decision as to award of contract will be a matter for each authority, though it should be noted that the JWA contains provision that if the proposed solution meets the output requirements and is within the Affordability Envelope then any partner authority that withdraws from the project or determines not to award the contract will be required to compensate the remaining authorities subject to a liability cap of £3,000,000; (d) a Project Board comprising of officers from each authority will be established with the delegated authority set out in the JWA1.

(7) stakeholder consultation on the Project be carried out in accordance with the approach set out in Appendix OBC Health Check Addendum, Appendix B;

(8) the procurement for Project Gwyrdd be commenced subject to

(a) JWA1 being concluded by all participating authorities;

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(b) the matters set out in recommendation 3 (ii) is agreed by all authorities; and (c) the Executive receiving confirmation from WAG that the Scrutiny Panel is satisfied that the terms and conditions of the funding package (see WAG letter dated 30 March 2009 appended to this report as OBC Health Check Addendum, Appendix B) have been met prior to posting OJEU Notice

(9) the matter be reported back to Council when decision is sought to award the contract or beforehand if the Joint Committee wishes to refer any matter back to Council.

20 : STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS 2008/09

The Council was advised that the Accounts and Audit (Wales) Regulations 2005 (as amended) required that the Statement of Accounts for 2008/09 be approved by a relevant Committee or by the Council meeting as a corporate body by 30 June 2009.

The Statement of Accounts (submitted as Annex 1) for the year ended 31 March 2009 was unaudited at this stage and the Wales Audit Office would begin their audit of the accounts shortly. The Council's Outturn Report for 2008/09 described in more detail the financial results for the year. The Annual Treasury Management Report was presented in accordance with the CIPFA Code of Practice on Treasury Management.

The Executive Member referred to some of the points which were evident in the 2008/09 financial statements.

RESOLVED - That

(1) the unaudited Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2009 be approved;

(2) the Council’s outturn for 2008-09 as reported in Annexe 2 of the report be noted;

(3) the Treasury Management Annual Report be noted in accordance with the Financial Procedure Rules as shown in Annexe 3 of the report;

County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 23

21 : SCRUTINY ANNUAL REPORTS

The Lord Mayor invited the respective Chairs of the Scrutiny Committees to introduce their Annual Reports.

The Committees had played an important role in assessing service performance and informing service and policy development across a range of Council services within their particular areas of scrutiny.

(a) Children & Young People Scrutiny Committee

Councillor Bill Kelloway, Chair of the Children & Young People Scrutiny Committee presented the annual report for that committee.

The report presented the main activities during 2008-09 which the Committee had scrutinised. In addition to the routine and normal business of the Committee, additional meetings had been called to consider special items such as the ESTYN inspection report and call-ins of Schools Organisation Plan related issues. The task and finish inquiry into Missing Children had been a particularly detailed piece of work which had involved a considerable number of extra meetings.

Councillor Kelloway answered questions from Members on issues investigated by the Scrutiny Committee.

(b) Community & Adult Services Scrutiny Committee

Councillor Ralph Cook, Chair of the Community & Adult Services Scrutiny Committee, presented the annual report which provided a brief synopsis of the wide and varied work undertaken by the Committee since June 2008. He drew attention to the following items which were of critical importance to the people of Cardiff.

A special meeting had been called to consider Communities First - Programme Bending, which was intended to improve living conditions and prospects for people in the most disadvantaged communities in Wales.

The pilot Cardiff Local Service Board Scrutiny Panel had been set up as a task and finish group of this Committee. The Panel included

23 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 24 representatives of all Local Service Board Partners, as well as the Chairs of the Council’s five scrutiny committees.

Councillor Cook answered questions from Members on issues investigated by the Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor Gwenllian Lansdown, Chair of the Economy and Culture Scrutiny Committee presented the Committee’s report for 2008/09.

The Committee had focussed much of its work helping citizens and businesses to weather the economic storm. The Committee had considered a wide range of topics from up-skilling the workforce to developing credit unions and attracting inward investment in light of the climate crisis.

The Committee had also looked at the way that Cardiff could promote its position as an international Capital to further economic regeneration for the wider city-region through tourism, transport infrastructure and via its marketing vehicle, Cardiff and Co.

Councillor Lansdown answered questions from Members on issues investigated by the Scrutiny Committee.

(d) Environmental Scrutiny Committee

Councillor Simon Wakefield, Chair of the Environmental Scrutiny Committee presented the annual report for that Committee which outlined a wide range of topics that had been scrutinised between June 2008 and April 2009.

He praised the Scrutiny Services in Cardiff as an excellent arm of the Council’s activities, which, he said, should never be taken for granted.

The report concluded by setting out topics that had been identified as suitable priorities for future scrutiny examination in 2009/10.

Councillor Wakefield answered questions from Members on issues investigated by the Environmental Scrutiny Committee.

County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 25

(e) Policy Review & Performance Scrutiny Committee

Councillor David Walker presented the annual report of the Policy Review & Performance Scrutiny Committee in the absence of the Chair, Councillor Dianne Rees, who was unable to be present at this meeting.

The Committee’s work programme had included a wide range of scrutiny methods, from robust monitoring of performance and progress to policy development. There had been opportunities to examine the Waste Management Review, Strategic Technology Partnership and Performance Management. The Committee had presented the findings of two inquiries to the Executive, - Citizen Engagement and the Draft Local Development Plan.

Councillor Walker answered questions from Members on issues investigated by the Policy Review & Performance Scrutiny Committee.

Each of the Chairs expressed their thanks to their Committee Members, including Co-opted Members, Supporting Officers for each of the Committees, those who had given evidence to the Committees and to the Executive Members and officers for their presentations.

RESOLVED – That Annual Reports be noted.

22 : APPOINTMENT AND REMOVAL OF LEA SCHOOL GOVERNORS

The Council was recommended to approve the appointment of LEA School Governors as listed in the appendix to the report, and as shown on the Amendment Sheet.

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RESOLVED - That

(1) the following appointment of School Governors be approved;

School Ward Start of Applications Vacancy Albany Primary Plasnewydd 11/03/08 Mrs T Stephens All Saints C/W Primary Pentwyn 27/11/08 Mrs E Hunt Allensbank Primary Gabalfa 23/06/08 Miss L Rixson Creigiau Primary Creigiau & St 01/12/07 Mr A Parker Fagans Gladstone Primary Cathays 28/03/09 Mrs J Setchfield Glyncoed Infant Pentwyn 22/06/09 Mr R Mitchell Greenhill School Rhiwbina 25/09/06 Mr G D Morris Gwaelod Y Garth Pentyrch 22/06/09 Mr J Rigby Primary Llanishen Fach Primary Rhiwbina Mr A Phillips Llanrumney High Llanrumney 19/01/08 Ms J Dickenson Radnor Primary Canton 20/09/06 Mr D Williams Radnor Primary Canton 25/07/09 Cllr Richard Cook St Illtyd’s Catholic Rumney 12/09/07 Mrs M Greening School Ton yr Ywen Primary Heath 28/01/09 Dr S Jones Ty Gwyn Penylan 23/06/09 Mrs P Barrister

Future LEA Governor Vacancies

School Ward Start of Applications Vacancy Cardiff High School Cyncoed 29/09/09 Mrs D Hill Rumney Primary School Rumney 01/09/09 Mrs L Baldry

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Appointments to Temporary Governing Body of Welsh Starter Classes

School Ward Applications Welsh Starter Class Trowbridge Mrs M Lee (Parent based at Oakfield Governor) Primary School Welsh Starter Class Trowbridge Mr H Phillips based at Oakfield (Parent Governor) Primary School Welsh Starter Class Pentwyn Mrs A Jenaer (LEA based at Bryn Celyn Governor) Primary School Welsh Starter Class Pentwyn Mr M Landers based at Bryn Celyn (LEA Governor) Primary School Welsh Starter Class Pentwyn Ms A Jones (Parent based at Bryn Celyn Governor) Primary School Welsh Starter Class Llandaff North Cllr Ann Rowland- based at Gabalfa Primary James (LEA School Governor) Welsh Starter Class Llandaff North Cllr Jacqui Hooper based at Gabalfa Primary (LEA Governor) School Welsh Starter Class Llandaff North Mr E Havard based at Gabalfa Primary (Parent Governor) School Welsh Starter Class Llandaff North Mr P Burnell based at Gabalfa Primary (Parent Governor) School Welsh Starter Class Llandaff North Mrs H Vine (Parent based at Gabalfa Primary Governor) School

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23 : NOMINATIONS OF MEMBERS TO SERVE ON OUTSIDE BODIES – SOUTH WALES CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

An invitation had been received from the South Wales Chamber of Commerce for the Council to nominate a representative to this organisation.

RESOLVED – That the Councillor McEvoy be approved as the Council’s representative to the South Wales Chamber of Commerce.

24 : CALENDAR OF MEETINGS 2009/10

Council on 14 May 2009 had agreed the calendar of meetings for the Executive and Council for 2009/10. A composite calendar of all meetings for 2009/10 was submitted.

RESOLVED – That the calendar of meetings for 2009/10 be approved;

25 : COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP

The following membership of Committees was noted:

Executive (9)

Councillors Berman, Bowen, Dixon, Howells, Margaret Jones, McEvoy, Salway, Stephens and Woodman

Ordinary Committees

Licensing Committee (12 Members: 6 Liberal Democrats, 3 Conservatives, 2 Labour and 1 Plaid Cymru)

County Councillors Bridges (Chr ), Cox (Dep Chr), Ford, Goddard, Grant, Griffiths, Kelloway, Macdonald, David Morgan, Derrick Morgan, Elgan Morgan, and Smith

Planning Committee (12 Members: 6 Liberal Democrats, 2 Conservatives, 2 Labour, 1 Plaid Cymru and 1 Independent) County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 29

County Councillors Burfoot (Chr), Ali, Bowden, Foley, Islam (Dep Chr), Jerrett, David Morgan, Jones-Pritchard, Derrick Morgan, Jacqueline Parry, Pearcy, and Robson

Public Protection Committee (10 Members: 5 Liberal Democrats, 2 Conservatives, 2 Labour, and 1 Plaid Cymru)

County Councillors Bridges (Chr), Ali, Cox (Dep Chr), Goddard, Grant, Griffiths, Derrick Morgan, Elgan Morgan, Singh and Smith

Constitution Committee (12 Members: 6 Liberal Democrats, 3 Conservatives, 2 Labour, and 1 Plaid Cymru)

County Councillors Berman (Chr), Aubrey, Burley, Goodway, Greening, Howells, Elgan Morgan, Keith Parry, Piper, Dianne Rees, Walker and Walsh

Employment Conditions Committee (8 Members: 4 Liberal Democrats, 2 Conservatives, 1 Labour and 1 Plaid Cymru)

County Councillors Stephens (Chr), Berman, Chaundy, Tim Davies, Kelloway, McEvoy, Walker and Walsh

Scrutiny Committees

Children & Young People (13 Members: 4 Liberal Democrats, 2 Conservatives, 2 Labour, 1 Plaid Cymru and 4 Co-opted)

County Councillors Kelloway (Chr), Ford, Furlong, Gasson, Hooper, Derrick Morgan, Linda Morgan, Pearcy, and Rogers

Co-opted Members – Patricia Arlotte, Kathryn Brock, Bill John & Howard Jukes

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Community & Adult Services (9 Members: 4 Liberal Democrats, 2 Conservatives, 2 Labour and 1 Plaid Cymru)

County Councillors Ralph Cook (Chr), Burley, Kirsty Davies, Gasson, Grant, Martin Holland, Hudson, Singh and Williams

Economy and Culture (9 Members: 4 Liberal Democrats, 2 Conservative, 1 Labour, 1 Plaid Cymru and 1 Independent)

County Councillors Lansdown (Chr), Clark, Tim Davies, Goodway, Ireland, David Morgan, Elgan Morgan, Pearcy and Robson

Environmental (9 Members: 4 Liberal Democrats, 2 Conservative, 2 Labour and 1 Plaid Cymru)

County Councillors Wakefield (Chr), Aubrey, Clark, McKerlich, Page, Jacqueline Parry, Keith Parry, Pickard and Walsh

Policy Review & Performance (9 Members: 5 Liberal Democrats, 2 Conservatives, 1 Labour and 1 Independent)

County Councillors Dianne Rees (Chr) , Bowden, Carter, Chaundy, Richard Cook, Hyde, Brian Jones, Montemaggi and Walker

Other Committees

Business Committee (12 Members: 5 Liberal Democrats, 3 Conservatives, 2 Labour, 1 Plaid Cymru and 1 Independent)

County Councillors Berman (Chr), Ralph Cook, Dixon, Howells, Hudson, Ireland, Brian Jones, McEvoy, Elgan Morgan, Derrick Morgan, Piper and Woodman County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 31

Schools Sub Committee (12 Members: 6 Liberal Democrats, 3 Conservatives, 2 Labour, and 1 Plaid Cymru)

County Councillors Berman (Chr), Bowen, Chaundy, Kirsty Davies, Hooper, Joyce, Derrick Morgan, Linda Morgan, Dianne Rees, Salway, Stephens and Walker

Standards & Ethics Committee (9 Members: 1 Liberal Democrat, 1 Conservative, 1 Plaid Cymru, 5 Non- Council Members and 1 Community Councillor)

County Councillors Bowen, Tim Davies and Wakefield

Akmal Hanuk (Chr ), Maureen Hedley-Clarke, Deidre Jones, Anne Morgan, Paul Stockton, and Community Councillor John Hughes

Council Appeals Committee (9 Members: 3 Liberal Democrat, 2 Conservative, 2 Labour, 1 Plaid Cymru and 1 Independent)

County Councillors Elgan Morgan (Chr), Bridges, Cowan, Goddard, Ireland, Jones-Pritchard, Joyce, David Morgan, and Singh

Appointments Committee

To comprise 5 Members for the appointment of Corporate Directors and Chief Officers, in both cases from those appointed to serve in accordance with the rule on political balance.

Disciplinary & Grievance Appeals Committee

To comprise not less than 3 and not more than 5 members from those appointed to serve in accordance with the rule on political balance.

County Councillors Islam, Jones-Pritchard, David Morgan, Walsh and Woodman

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26 : NOTICES OF MOTION

Motion 1

It was moved by Councillor Rogers and seconded by Councillor Linda Morgan as follows:

Council will be aware of recent publicity resulting in calls to improve outcomes and current practice in the care of Looked After Children.

Councillors may also have heard about some ground breaking work in this field called Social Pedagogy. This work originated in Europe but has been taken forward in the UK by, amongst others, The National Centre for Excellence in Residential Childcare and at least one English Local Authority.

Social Pedagogy is a system which supports the overall development of the whole child. Experience has shown that care staff develop high levels of professionalism, can enjoy and demonstrate positive outcomes for children in their care resulting in marginal turnover rates.

European results have shown that more than 60% of children, cared for in this way, go forward to benefit from higher education. By contrast the UK figure is 6%.

Council calls on the Executive to set up a pilot research group to examine the implications, structures, costs and potential benefits of introducing Social Pedagogy for cared for children in Cardiff. Council further calls on the Executive to bring a report to Council on this topic, setting out its findings and recommendations, by October 2009.

Amendment 1 to Motion 1

It was moved by Councillor Dixon and seconded by Councillor Kelloway that the motion be amended as follows:

In the final paragraph, replace the second instance of the word "Council" with "the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee" so that it reads:

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‘Council further calls on the Executive to bring a report to the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee on this topic, setting out its findings and recommendations, by October 2009.’

The proposed amendment was accepted by the proposer and seconder of the original motion.

Amendment 2 to Motion 1

It was moved by Councillor Cowan and seconded by Councillor Robson that the motion be amended as follows:

Add the following words to paragraph five:

to include making contact with a Local Authority in England who is undertaking this work to learn about their experiences and benefits to the Council.

The amended paragraph would read as follows:

Council calls on the Executive to set up a pilot research group to examine the implications, structures, costs and potential benefits of introducing Social Pedagogy for cared for children in Cardiff to include making contact with a Local Authority in England who is undertaking this work to learn about their experiences and benefits to the Council.

The proposed amendment was accepted by the proposer and seconder of the original motion.

It was moved by Councillor Ralph Cook and seconded by Councillor Goodway and carried that Council proceed to a vote on the motion, as amended.

The substantive motion, as amended, was carried as follows:

Council will be aware of recent publicity resulting in calls to improve outcomes and current practice in the care of Looked After Children.

33 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 34 for Excellence in Residential Childcare and at least one English Local Authority.

European results have shown that more than 60% of children, cared for in this way, go forward to benefit from higher education. By contrast the UK figure is 6%.

Council calls on the Executive to set up a pilot research group to examine the implications, structures, costs and potential benefits of introducing Social Pedagogy for cared for children in Cardiff to include making contact with a Local Authority in England who is undertaking this work to learn about their experiences and benefits to the Council.

Council further calls on the Executive to bring a report to the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee Council on this topic, setting out its findings and recommendations, by October 2009.

(The Lord Mayor adjourned the meeting at 6.45pm. The meeting was re- convened at 7.15pm)

Motion 2

(Councillor Gasson declared a pecuniary interest in this motion as a member of the South Wales Police Authority. Councillor Woodman declared an interesting this item as her son was employed in the South Wales Police Authority but she was entitled to speak and vote.)

It was moved by Councillor Cox and seconded by Councillor Clark as follows:

This Council notes that:

1. The Chief Constable of South Wales Police has made the decision to shut and sell off Grangetown, Cathays, Roath and Canton Police stations in Cardiff.

County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 35

2. Local residents, local councillors and local police are concerned that these closures will remove a valuable community resource and have a negative impact on the police’s ability to deal effectively with crime in these areas. It is feared that police station closures could mean delayed response times to 999 calls due to the distance the police have to travel to get to incidents. The police stations provide a reassuring and visible presence in the community.

3. South Wales Police Authority has received the smallest increase in funding from the UK Government in the last nine years than any other police authority in the whole of the UK.

4. South Wales Police Authority does not get any additional funding in recognition of the extra policing needs of Cardiff as a Capital city, unlike the Lothian and Borders Police for Edinburgh. 5. This under funding means that the police service in Cardiff has less money for front-line policing and to keep the public safe in comparison with other forces across the UK.

This Council calls for:

1. The Chief Constable of South Wales Police to re-consider her decision to shut Grangetown, Cathays, Roath and Canton police stations. 2. The UK Government to provide the South Wales Police Authority with the funding it needs to effectively tackle crime within Cardiff. 3. The funding formula used by the Welsh Assembly Government to allocate revenue funding to Cardiff Council to be revised to fully take account of Cardiff's capital city status and the extra financial burden of servicing capital city events.

Amendment 1 to Motion 2

It was moved by Councillor Williams and seconded by Councillor Smith that the motion be amended as follows:

The deletion of the final paragraph 3 and the substitution of the following paragraph 3

‘3. The Welsh Assembly Government to allocate revenue funding to South Wales Police Authority to take account of Cardiff's capital city status and

35 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 36 the extra financial burden of servicing capital city events, similar to Edinburgh, Belfast and London.’

The addition of a fourth paragraph as follows:

‘4. South Wales Police Authority to recognise that residents of Cardiff value a local police presence, whether a local police officer, police station or police and community support officer, and to acknowledge that front line services must be enhanced not cut.’

Amendment 2 to Motion 2

It was moved by Councillor Cowan and seconded by Councillor Robson that the motion be amended by the addition of a further paragraph under “This Council calls for” as follows:

4. The Chief Constable of South Wales Police to be invited to attend a meeting of all Councillors to discuss policing issues in the City, including stations such as Llanishen, which have been partially closed in recent years on certain days, causing concern to local residents in Cardiff North.

Amendment 3 to Motion 2

It was moved by Councillor Ralph Cook and seconded by Councillor Patel that the motion be amended as follows:

In “This Council notes that:” delete existing paragraph 2 and replace with the following paragraph:

“2. The Council welcomes the investment in the new 64 cell, state of the art Cardiff Central Basic Command Unit HQ nearing completion in Cardiff Bay. The £16m building is due to open this autumn. The Council believes that this will greatly assist in alleviating policing problems in the City and it also welcomes the implementation of the new neighbourhood policing approach which is expected to result in more frontline police officers on the street and improved response times.”

In paragraph 3, after the words “than any other police authority in the whole of the UK.”add the words:

County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 37

“This is partly due to an assessment of need and because nearly three quarters of its budget comes from government grants. The amount of grant given is calculated using a funding formula, which takes into consideration a number of different elements, such as the size of the force and policing problems that have to be tackled. For this financial year, the formula found South Wales Police should receive £184million. However, the total actually received is £181.5million – £2.5million less. This has been deducted from the grant allocation and given to the other three Welsh forces, as they do not reach the minimum funding requirement. Over recent years, this methodology has meant that South Wales Police has lost £17million from its grant through redistribution to the other Welsh forces. This equates to 60 police officers on the street.”

Delete existing paragraph 5. and replace with the following paragraph:

“5. Just over a quarter of the South Wales Police budget is made up of the council tax precept. This equates to £139.38 per year for a Band D household, or just 38p per day for a 24 hour, seven days a week police service – the same as the TV licence.

However, the majority of people in South Wales pay even less than this, with 65% of people living in Band A-C households. The current amount paid by each Band for policing is:

Band A - £92.92 (25p per day) Band B - £108.40 (30p per day) Band C - £123.89 (34p per day) Band D - £139.38 (38p per day) Band E - £170.35 (47p per day) Band F - £201.32 (55p per day) Band G - £232.30 (64p per day) Band H - £278.75 (76p per day) Band I - £325.21 (89p per day)

South Wales has by far the lowest council tax precept for policing in Wales. Prudent management of its budget has enabled South Wales Police to keep the cost to the council tax payer of South Wales to a minimum. The other Welsh forces charge a great deal more to their residents than it does. The Band D comparison is as follows (for 2008/09):

37 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 38

Dyfed Powys - £165.51 per year Gwent - £167.41 per year North Wales - £186.18 per year South Wales - £139.38 per year

Add a new paragraph 6 as follows:

“6. The secretary of South Wales Police Federation has accused politicians of hypocrisy over the criticism of proposals to close these inner-city police stations. Speaking on the BBC Radio Wales programme ‘Eye on Wales’, he said: "Politicians who voted against the precept, or who voted against a change in the funding formula for Welsh police forces are now complaining we're having to close police stations and merge basic command units.”

"I think they're behaving hypocritically. You can't have your cake and eat it.”

"They have to understand that if they want a certain level of policing, they have to pay for it. If that's done by putting two pence a day on a 'D' band council property, well so be it."

The remainder of the motion following the words “this Council calls for:” is unchanged.

Amendment 1 moved by Councillor Williams and seconded by Councillor Smith was lost.

Amendment 2 moved by Councillor Cowan and seconded by Councillor Robson was lost.

Amendment 3 moved by Councillor Ralph Cook and seconded by Councillor Patel was lost.

The substantive motion moved by Councillor Cox and seconded by Councillor Clark was carried as follows:

This Council notes that:

County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 39

1. The Chief Constable of South Wales Police has made the decision to shut and sell off Grangetown, Cathays, Roath and Canton Police stations in Cardiff.

3. South Wales Police Authority has received the smallest increase in funding from the UK Government in the last nine years than any other police authority in the whole of the UK.

4. South Wales Police Authority does not get any additional funding in recognition of the extra policing needs of Cardiff as a Capital city, unlike the Lothian and Borders Police for Edinburgh.

5. This under funding means that the police service in Cardiff has less money for front-line policing and to keep the public safe in comparison with other forces across the UK.

This Council calls for: 1. The Chief Constable of South Wales Police to re-consider her decision to shut Grangetown, Cathays, Roath and Canton police stations. 2. The UK Government to provide the South Wales Police Authority with the funding it needs to effectively tackle crime within Cardiff. 3. The funding formula used by the Welsh Assembly Government to allocate revenue funding to Cardiff Council to be revised to fully take account of Cardiff's capital city status and the extra financial burden of servicing capital city events.

39 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 40

Motion 3

(Councillor Clark declared a personal and pecuniary interest in this motion as she is employed by the University of Glamorgan. Councillor Clark withdrew from the meeting during the debate of this motion.)

Councillor Ralph Cook asked that the Lord Mayor rule on the interpretation of the word “negate” under paragraph 14.6 of the Council Procedure Rules (Amendments to Motions) in relation to Amendment 2.

The Lord Mayor ruled that Amendment 2 did not negate the motion.

Councillor Walker claimed that a factual inaccuracy in Amendment 2 invalidated the amendment.

The Lord Mayor ruled that it was insufficient to invalidate the amendment.

It was moved by Councillor Ralph Cook and seconded by Councillor Williams as follows:

By its actions in seeking to dispose of and destroy areas of open space across Cardiff, the Liberal Democrat and Plaid Cymru controlled Council administration has shown that facilities and amenities are not safe in its hands.

Council therefore calls on the Executive to:

1. immediately cease all developments in Bute Park, Sophia Gardens, Pontcanna Fields and Llandaff Fields subject to 2 below.

2. undertake a wide-ranging consultation on the future use of these parks and to then bring forward a clear strategy for their future use & development.

County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 41

3. immediately restore Pontcanna fields to use for the benefit of the citizens of Cardiff.

Amendment 1 to Motion 3

It was moved by Councillor Robson and seconded by Councillor Brian Jones that the motion be amended as follows:

Add in before the words "This Council recognises…"

This Council notes that the work of its Scrutiny committees is one of the strengths of the Council and that the work is carried out in a non-political way.

This Council notes recommendation 7 of the report “The Economic Role of Parks” by the Economic and Culture Scrutiny Committee which recommends and urges the Executive to:

“Consider a pause in the development work taking place in Bute Park in order to foster dialogue between the opposing sides of the argument about Bute Park. As identified in the key findings, competing claims on space can lead to problems in parks about priorities and use. It appears clear to the Task and Finish group that competing ideas on this important piece of civic space have developed and become entrenched, and that open dialogue is the only way for this situation to be remedied. Despite the desire for dialogue to occur, this should be not at the expense of jeopardising any funding that Council Officers and Members have worked hard to secure. ”

In "Council therefore calls on the Executive to:" add new point 4

4. accept recommendation 7 of the Economic role of parks report by the Economic and Culture Scrutiny Committee

The amended motion would then read:

This Council notes that the work of its Scrutiny committees is one of the strengths of the Council and that the work is carried out in a non-political way.

41 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 42

This Council notes recommendation 7 of the report “The Economic Role of Parks” by the Economic and Culture Scrutiny Committee which recommends and urges the Executive to “Consider a pause in the development work taking place in Bute Park in order to foster dialogue between the opposing sides of the argument about Bute Park. As identified in the key findings, competing claims on space can lead to problems in parks about priorities and use. It appears clear to the Task and Finish group that competing ideas on this important piece of civic space have developed and become entrenched, and that open dialogue is the only way for this situation to be remedied. Despite the desire for dialogue to occur, this should be not at the expense of jeopardising any funding that Council Officers and Members have worked hard to secure.”

Council therefore calls on the Executive to:

1. immediately cease all developments in Bute Park, Sophia Gardens, Pontcanna Fields and Llandaff Fields subject to 2 below.

2. undertake a wide-ranging consultation on the future use of these parks and to then bring forward a clear strategy for their future use & development.

3. immediately restore Pontcanna fields to use for the benefit of the citizens of Cardiff.

4. accept recommendation 7 of the Economic role of parks report by the Economic and Culture Scrutiny Committee.

The proposer of the motion, Councillor Ralph Cook, and seconder of the motion, Councillor Williams, accepted amendment 1 of the motion.

County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 43

Amendment 2 to Motion 3

It was moved by Councillor Howells and seconded by Councillor McEvoy that the motion be amended as follows:

Delete all and replace with: This Council recognises that our city centre park complex, namely Bute Park, Sophia Gardens, Pontcanna Fields and Llandaff Fields are invaluable to our city and are recognised by everyone as treasured open spaces. This Council notes: 1. The decision of the Labour administration on 5 th February 2004 that approved the Parks Partnership Programme and the application for funding under the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Public Parks Initiative for the Bute Park Restoration Project.

2. The approval by the Executive on 5 th July 2007 of the Council’s Parks and Green Spaces Strategy 2007-2012.

3. The unanimous decision of the Full Council on 27 th September 2007 that agreed the provision of a new vehicular and pedestrian access bridge for Bute Park off North Road.

4. The subsequent capital allocations for the Bute Park Restoration Project and the new vehicular and pedestrian access bridge for Bute Park in the Council’s Capital Budgets for 2008/09 and 2009/10. This Council welcomes the award by the Heritage Lottery Fund of a grant of £3.1 million towards a total budget spend of £5.6 million for the Bute Park Restoration Project that will see: • Restoration and repair of the Animal Wall • Re-flooding of the Mill Leat on the western side of the castle • Restoration and conservation of the Blackfriars Friary site • Restoration and conservation of the West Lodge • Development of new visitor facilities at the West Lodge • Development of a new training / education centre at the Castle Nursery

43 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 44

• Reinstatement of the Victorian Summerhouse based on the original Burgess design • Restoration of elements of the Victorian garden layout of Andrew Pettigrew • Appointment of Bute Park based Apprentices in addition to existing horticultural apprentices • Appointment of Bute Park based gardeners • Provision of opportunities for work experience / work placement in conjunction with schools, colleges and universities • Provision of new seating, litter bins, signage and interpretation throughout the park This Council notes the Statement on Continuing Community Involvement included within the Bute Park 10 Year Maintenance and Management Plan. This Council welcomes the intention of the Executive to open up the North Gate of Cardiff Castle thus creating an additional pedestrian access to Bute Park and allowing a natural pedestrian link from St Mary Street and High Street, through Cardiff Castle and on into Bute Park. This Council welcomes the desire to reduce the conflict between pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles within Bute Park, to better control the movement of vehicles within Bute Park and to significantly reduce the number of vehicle miles travelled within Bute Park. This Council notes that following last year’s highly successful National Eisteddfod, the construction work involved in restoring the site is now complete and, subject to aftercare and establishment of the area, the four reconstructed cricket tables will be available for play during next season. This Council notes that Glamorgan County Cricket Club have progressed its own arrangements to facilitate media coverage for the forthcoming Ashes Test at the Swalec Stadium. This Council calls on the Executive to: 1. Develop proposals to encourage community involvement in the restoration programme and the aftercare of Bute Park.

2. Not progress the proposed reconfiguration of the car park at Sophia Gardens.

County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 45

3. Continue to progress the objectives of the Council’s Parks and Green Spaces Strategy 2007-2012.

4. Bring forward a report, within this financial year, outlining the progress of the Parks and Green Spaces Strategy 2007-2012 for scrutiny by the Economy and Culture Scrutiny Committee.

5. Explore opportunities for ensuring the conservation of Bute Park’s unique horticultural and heritage features through protective covenants.

Explore opportunities for ensuring the conservation of Bute Park’s unique horticultural and heritage features through protective covenants.

(The meeting was adjourned for five minutes because of a disruption to the proceedings. The meeting re convened at 8.55pm)

Amendment 1 moved by Councillor Robson and seconded by Councillor Brian Jones was lost.

Amendment 2 moved by Councillor Howells and seconded by Councillor McEvoy was carried.

It was moved by Councillor Ralph Cook under Council Procedure Rule 14.7(a), (Alteration of Motion) and seconded by Councillor Williams that the amendment they had submitted be altered by the removal of paragraph 2.

The proposal to amend the amendment was lost

Following a request for a recorded vote, voting on the amendment proposed by Councillor Howells and seconded by Councillor McEvoy was as follows:

For

Councillors Ali, Aubrey, Aylwin, Berman, Bowden, Bowen, Burfoot, Burley, Carter, Chaundy, Cox, Kirsty Davies, Dixon, Ford, Gasson, Grant, Greening, Hooper, Howells, Hyde, Islam, Jerrett, Margaret Jones, Kelloway, Lansdown, Lloyd, McEvoy, Montemaggi, David Morgan,

45 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 46

Elgan Morgan, Keith Parry, Pearcy, David Rees, Rowland-James, Salway, Singh, Stephens, Wakefield and Woodman.

Total 39

Against

Councillors Ralph Cook, Cowan, Tim Davies, Finn, Foley, Goodway, C Holland, M Holland, Ireland, Brian Jones, Jones-Pritchard, Joyce, Macdonald, McKerlich, Derrick Morgan, Linda Morgan, Page, Patel, Piper, Robson, Rogers, Smith, Walker, Walsh. and Williams.

Total 25

The amendment was carried.

The substantive motion was approved as follows:

This Council recognises that our city centre park complex, namely Bute Park, Sophia Gardens, Pontcanna Fields and Llandaff Fields are invaluable to our city and are recognised by everyone as treasured open spaces. This Council notes: 1. The decision of the Labour administration on 5 th February 2004 that approved the Parks Partnership Programme and the application for funding under the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Public Parks Initiative for the Bute Park Restoration Project.

2. The approval by the Executive on 5 th July 2007 of the Council’s Parks and Green Spaces Strategy 2007-2012.

3. The unanimous decision of the Full Council on 27 th September 2007 that agreed the provision of a new vehicular and pedestrian access bridge for Bute Park off North Road.

This Council welcomes the award by the Heritage Lottery Fund of a grant of £3.1 million towards a total budget spend of £5.6 million for the Bute Park Restoration Project that will see: • Restoration and repair of the Animal Wall • Re-flooding of the Mill Leat on the western side of the castle • Restoration and conservation of the Blackfriars Friary site • Restoration and conservation of the West Lodge • Development of new visitor facilities at the West Lodge • Development of a new training / education centre at the Castle Nursery • Reinstatement of the Victorian Summerhouse based on the original Burgess design • Restoration of elements of the Victorian garden layout of Andrew Pettigrew • Appointment of Bute Park based Apprentices in addition to existing horticultural apprentices • Appointment of Bute Park based gardeners • Provision of opportunities for work experience / work placement in conjunction with schools, colleges and universities • Provision of new seating, litter bins, signage and interpretation throughout the park This Council notes the Statement on Continuing Community Involvement included within the Bute Park 10 Year Maintenance and Management Plan. This Council welcomes the intention of the Executive to open up the North Gate of Cardiff Castle thus creating an additional pedestrian access to Bute Park and allowing a natural pedestrian link from St Mary Street and High Street, through Cardiff Castle and on into Bute Park. This Council welcomes the desire to reduce the conflict between pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles within Bute Park, to better control the movement of vehicles within Bute Park and to significantly reduce the number of vehicle miles travelled within Bute Park. This Council notes that following last year’s highly successful National Eisteddfod, the construction work involved in restoring the site is now

47 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 48 complete and, subject to aftercare and establishment of the area, the four reconstructed cricket tables will be available for play during next season. This Council notes that Glamorgan County Cricket Club have progressed its own arrangements to facilitate media coverage for the forthcoming Ashes Test at the Swalec Stadium. This Council calls on the Executive to: 1. Develop proposals to encourage community involvement in the restoration programme and the aftercare of Bute Park.

2. Not progress the proposed reconfiguration of the car park at Sophia Gardens.

3. Continue to progress the objectives of the Council’s Parks and Green Spaces Strategy 2007-2012.

4. Bring forward a report, within this financial year, outlining the progress of the Parks and Green Spaces Strategy 2007-2012 for scrutiny by the Economy and Culture Scrutiny Committee.

5. Explore opportunities for ensuring the conservation of Bute Park’s unique horticultural and heritage features through protective covenants.

27 : CORPORATE STATEMENT (County Councillor Berman)

Chelsea Flower Show

Over the past 3 years Cardiff has exhibited at Chelsea to sell the city and consistently “punch above its weight” to present itself as a dynamic world class capital city. This May, the ”Cardiff Capital for Shopping” garden was produced in partnership with the St David’s partnership, John Lewis, Curzen Real Estates/Urban City (Cardiff Arcades) and the Cardiff Retail Partnership.

Through this support, and with the dedication and professionalism of our parks team, we were once again able to showcase and promote the City’s horticultural pedigree at the worlds most famous flower show securing a Silver Gilt Medal for our garden. County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 49

In addition, the garden was used as a focal point to sell Cardiff to potential retailers and to promote the opening of one of the UK’s largest city centre regeneration schemes (St David’s) including the largest John Lewis store outside London.

The Cardiff Capital for Shopping garden and marketing theme will also be used to sell Cardiff once again at the Royal Welsh Show in July reaching a further 300,000 visitors from throughout Wales and further afield.

Urdd Eisteddfod 2009

The week of the Whitsun Bank Holiday saw Cardiff again welcome the Urdd National Eisteddfod to the Capital City. The Urdd organisers were delighted with the success of their Eisteddfod at Cardiff Bay. Over 15,000 competitors competed in the week long event with 96,000 visitors in attendance (up from last year).

The setting of the Eisteddfod in Cardiff Bay meant a lot of negotiations with numerous landowners and institutions but, with the support of these partners Europe’s’ largest youth festival was welcomed by all and proved to be a very favourable venue with the children and youth of Wales.

The Wales Millennium Centre was the venue for the competitions, in the splendour of the Donald Gordon Theatre, whilst the Senedd building was the perfect location for the Arts and Craft Exhibition. What other nation would allow a youth organisation to take over a world class opera house and a parliament building for a whole week?

Based on the Urdd’s research, I was also pleased to learn that a great number of local people enjoyed the Eisteddfod – especially with the two for the price of one offer on the final Saturday.

Cardiff Singer of the World

The BBC Cardiff Singer of the World and BBC Cardiff Song Prize 2009 Competitions ran from 6-14 June at St. David's Hall (the heats and final of the former and the finals of the latter) and the New Theatre (the heats of the latter) with extensive media, television and web coverage. With hugely talented competitors chosen from worldwide auditions, the

49 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 50

Russian soprano, Ekaterina Shcherbachenko, was the winner of the main competition and Jan Martinik won the Song Prize. The Audience Prize was won by Italian, Giordano Luca. This competition is an international event of the highest quality. The profile and media coverage it gives to Cardiff, and to St David's Hall (which looked fantastic in the television coverage), is inestimable. The Council has yet to receive statistical data from BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, but this is globally recognised as the most important singing competition in the world of opera. The event has received Council partnership funding support since its inception in 1983.

The 2009 competition was the last in the Council's formal 3-competition partnership agreement with BBC Wales – who enthusiastically and publicly demonstrate their thanks at every opportunity. Members of the Council, including the Lord Mayor and myself, together with partnership representatives of the business community attended performances during the competition, and the Lord Mayor presented the Cardiff Trophy on stage at the end of the final.

Operationally, this is a very complex event, and BBC Wales are unstinting in their compliments to St. David's Hall staff – especially the technical team, for their professionalism and commitment. Preliminary negotiations, initiated by BBC Wales, have now commenced on the renewal of the Council's Partnership arrangements for future competitions to be hosted at St. David's Hall and the New Theatre.

Climate Change Conference – Copenhagen

On 3 June I was invited and funded by the Local Government Information Unit to speak at a workshop at the Local Government Climate Change Leadership Summit in Copenhagen. The conference provided local leaders with a platform before the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen in December (the COP15) to emphasise the important role that cities will play in meeting the challenge of climate change. I spoke about Cardiff’s experiences of Carbon Trading, following the Council’s participation in a Local Government Information Unit pilot project over the last year – a project which anticipates Carbon Trading becoming mandatory for all local authorities through the introduction of the Carbon Reduction Commitment in 2010–11.

County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 51

The workshop provided an opportunity to promote the good work done by the Council in this area, and to promote Cardiff as a city which is taking the challenge of climate change seriously – as well as providing valuable information on how other similar cities are responding to the challenge and what trans-national funding mechanisms are available to develop these responses.

The conference sought to convey the message that over 50% of the world’s population now live in urban areas, and thus a large proportion of the world’s energy use is concentrated in urban areas. As such, national governments must give cities the freedom to design, and the financial mechanisms to support, their own solutions.

Following on from conference, I have been asked to represent the WLGA at the National Assembly Sustainable Energy Group on 7 July – thus bringing the message agreed by local leaders in Copenhagen back to Wales.

Official Opening of Cardiff Central Library

I am pleased to report that the new Central Library building was officially opened by the Manic Street Preachers in the presence of the Lord Mayor on Thursday June 18. Some 30 guests attended, who were closely involved with the construction and opening of the building, and witnessed the band unveiling a plaque commemorating the event. The event was very relaxed and informal and the band’s empathy with literature and libraries meant that they were pleased to open the building at no cost to the Council. Adding to the musical theme, the Cardiff Arms Park Male Voice Choir sang to entertain the guests and even included some Manic Street Preachers material.

This building – which was completed and handed over on schedule and within budget – is already proving a major asset and landmark in the city. Not only is it very popular with the public, it is also now achieving awards for its construction and sustainability credentials, having won the BREEAM award with a sustainability rating of excellent and being awarded a Green Apple award at the end of this month for sustainability in the built environment.

51 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 52

Sustainability Development Panel

The Council's Sustainable Development Panel was established in 2006 to provide drive and accountability for the sustainability agenda. In particular the panel provides guidance on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Action Programme. The panel meets quarterly and is chaired by Councillor Margaret Jones, with membership including myself, Councillor Neil McEvoy, the Chief Executive, the Corporate Director (Environment) and the Chief Strategic Planning and Environment Officer.

In the past the panel has considered issues such as climate change, ecological footprinting, major projects, schools organisation, communication of sustainable development and sustainable energy opportunities. The latest meeting on 19 June included discussions on Carbon Lite Cardiff, the Green Dragon Environmental Standard, the new WAG Sustainable Development Scheme and our recent success in the Globe Award for Sustainable Cities.

N Power Ashes Test, Cardiff 8-12 July 2009

In 2008, the Glamorgan Cricket stadium was redeveloped to world tournament status with a 16,500 capacity and state of the art playing, training and hospitality facilities. As part of this redevelopment Glamorgan cricket successfully won its bid to host the first Ashes test match in Cardiff. The event will bring test match cricket to the South West of the UK for the first time and attract new sports tourists to the city to complement its reputation as a world class host city for sport. Cardiff Council is a key stakeholder in the redevelopment of the stadium and has provided grant support to support the construction of the new stadium and youth and community development of cricket through its sports development team working in partnership with Glamorgan’s sports developments officers.

Cardiff council is working in partnership with the Welsh Assembly Government’s major events team to exploit media and inward investment opportunities presented by the tournament and to provide a memorable visitor experience. County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 53

St David’s 2

I am very pleased to be able to inform you that the new St David’s Development is fully expected to be completed on time and to open to programme. The refurbishment of the existing St David’s Centre is already nearing completion and the Town Wall route to Hills Street will reopen on the 4 August, reinstating a much used covered route through the city. The old Temporary Library buildings are already being dismantled and moved to the Sports Village to clear that site for further development opportunity.

The new John Lewis department store will open on the 24 September to the public. It is the company’s first store in Wales and the largest John Lewis store outside London – an impressive 280,000 square feet – and it will create a much-needed 780 extra jobs in the city. Also, in addition to its well known brands, the new store will feature a 293-cover restaurant and an impressive 129-cover Espresso Bar – the largest in any John Lewis branch. Along with the opening of the store will be the added bonus of 500 new car park spaces in the city in their new basement car park.

To complete the transformation the remainder of the retail development – including the very impressive 240 metre long Grand Arcade with its selected limestone floor – will open on the 22 October. This will, when fully occupied, take the total new jobs created in the city to 4,000. It will also add a further 2,000 car park spaces including disabled provision and Shopmobility.

To achieve all of this in the current economic climate is a major coup for the city and shows the strength of our development partners. Their letting teams are working flat out to bring new and exciting names to the city to populate the development. These names will be publicly released as the companies sign up.

2011 Commonwealth Local Government Forum

As announced earlier today, Cardiff has been named as the host city for the Commonwealth Local Government Conference 2011 – a major international conference which attracts more than 500 delegates from 50 different countries. The conference has regularly featured heads of state

53 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 54 including, in recent years, the Right Honourable Helen Clarke, Prime Minister of New Zealand; senior ministers from a range of Commonwealth countries; senior figures from supra-national bodies including the United Nations, the World Bank and the European Commission; multinational businesses including Microsoft; and respected international commentators and thinkers such as Professor Jeffrey Sachs and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Securing this important international conference is another important coup for Cardiff.

Forthcoming Executive Business

I wish to remind Members that the next scheduled Executive Business Meeting will be held at 2.00 pm on Thursday 2 July 2009. In accordance with the usual arrangements, I wish to advise Members that reports on the matters set out below will be coming forward for consideration by the Executive in the near future. The consideration of each item of business will be subject to the Council’s established business arrangements and timetabling constraints. In accordance with legal requirements, the papers for Executive Business Meetings will be circulated at least three clear days prior to each meeting and posted on the website prior to the meeting taking place.

The following items are currently scheduled to be considered on 2 July 2009:

Communities, Housing & Social Justice: Councillor Judith Woodman

Update to the Local Housing Strategy 2007/12

Education & Lifelong Learning: Councillor Freda Salway

School Organisation Planning: Primary and Secondary Provision in the Whitchurch area

Finance & Service Delivery: Councillor Mark Stephens

Budget Strategy 2010/11

Sport, Leisure & Culture: Councillor Nigel Howells County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 55

Review of the Bereavement Strategy

UK School Games Host Agreement

Traffic & Transportation: Councillor Delme Bowen

Cycling In Vehicle Restricted Areas: Review of 18 Month Traffic Regulation Order Permitting Cycling along Queen Street on a Time Restricted basis

High Street/St Mary Street: Creating a Pedestrian Friendly Environment

I would also like to inform Members that there will be an additional Executive Business Meeting on 22 July at 1.00 pm.

28 : CORPORATE QUESTIONS

Question: County Councillor Ralph Cook

What is your timetable for concluding the issue surrounding the laying of wreaths on Remembrance Sunday, bearing in mind that it is now seven months since the issue first exposed the Council to public embarrassment and there remains less than five months before the next wreath-laying ceremony? What are the issues that prevent the speedy resolution to this controversy that you promised last year?

Reply : County Councillor Berman

I hope this can resolved just as soon as we can find a date for a meeting of leaders, whips and relevant officers that you or other Group leaders don’t have an issue with. Despite various dates having been offered to date, I note that you have personally advised of your non-availability for at least two of those.

Supplementary Question: County Councillor Ralph Cook

I do think the bit about my non-availability was a bit unnecessary. Believe it or not I am a busy human being and we all have difficulty getting to meetings, but we have, I think, sorted out a date. When we do

55 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 56 finally meet on the date that we have now finally agreed, what recommendations will you, as Leader of the largest Authority in Wales and of the Capital City, make regarding the Independent Group’s participation in the Remembrance Sunday Ceremony, or will you, as usual, leave others to provide the leadership of this Council?

Reply: County Councillor Berman

I don’t think I’ve ever left others to provide the leadership of this Council - and that’s my answer.

Question: County Councillor Wakefield

Given that we are half way through 2009, how is the Countdown going?

Reply : County Councillor Berman

The Council is continuing to work closely in partnership with the St David’s Partnership to ensure that the St David’s 2 development is delivered on time, within budget and is a great success for Cardiff.

The Countdown 2009 programme aims to ensure that the impact of the new development is maximised fully through improving the wider city centre environment and ensuring that the city is fully prepared for the opening of the development in the autumn. To this end, I am pleased to say that Countdown 2009 programme is on schedule, with over 50% of the original programme targets having been completed.

The Countdown 2009 Executive Board, which is chaired by the Corporate Director (Economic), continues to meet regularly and monitor progress. It has also refined the work of the various focus groups by either combining or dissolving groups as they reported. It has also set up further sub groups to continue the process beyond the original 2009 deadline as additional initiatives have been included, such as the High Street/St Mary Street pedestrianisation scheme.

Many of the initiatives that were originally put in place to physically improve the city centre have already addressed their objectives – i.e. the refurbishment of Mill Lane; the repaving of Park Place and Charles Street; the renewal of the key ‘gateway’ routes into the city centre; the County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 57 redesign of wayfinding and signage to direct visitors, and the relocation of Cader Idris to prepare for the redevelopment of Central Square.

The ongoing programme is now addressing the various city centre management issues that were identified as needing to be changed in order to complete the transformation of the city centre. These include directional signage for traffic to the new car parks; cleansing regimes to manage the new public realm; managing the dynamics of the city as revised retail opening times are proposed, and improving the management and enforcement in the city, especially taxis and the night time economy.

Question: County Councillor Page

Is it acceptable for a councillor to disenfranchise constituents and refuse to represent them because of differences of opinion?

Reply : County Councillor Berman

It is my general policy not to answer questions such as this that are based on generalities as such matters really have to be judged individually on the individual circumstances and context that may apply in any particular case.

From my own experience, however, I know it is not always possible to represent the viewpoints of all constituents regardless of what those viewpoints might be. An example I would cite is when I was once asked by a resident to represent her in objecting to a planning application put forward be her neighbours for an extension to their property. I was subsequently contacted by those neighbours wanting me to represent them in support of their planning application. Quite clearly, I could not represent both sides at the same time.

There have also been other circumstances in which I have been asked by residents to support them in what, in my view, were clearly racist standpoints against other residents. In such circumstances I don’t think I would be criticised by most people for choosing not to represent such views.

On another occasion a resident asked me to make representations to highways officers to put a stop to proposals to erect safety fencing in front of the entrance to a primary school at a location where there was

57 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 58 already a double-yellow line parking restriction. It turned out this resident had been in the habit of driving a van on to the pavement to park it at this location. He was opposed to the installation of the railings as they would prevent him from continuing what was actually an illegal practice. On that occasion, I explained to him that I did not support his opposition to the safety railings and would not therefore make representations on his behalf to put a stop to them. Given that the safety of school children was at issue in this case, and that the council was also in possession of a petition from parents in support of the safety railings, I believe it was perfectly reasonable for me to decline to represent the resident’s position on this matter.

If you have a specific complaint regarding a specific set of circumstances then I suggest you lodge that complaint in an appropriate manner rather than trying to make a political issue out of the matter by tabling a question at a meeting of the council.

Supplementary Question : County Councillor Page

Thank you for your advice which I shall be following, and I shall be pursuing this matter through official channels, but would you agree there is quite a difference between not supporting residents’ views and refusing to listen to them?

Reply : County Councillor Berman

You didn’t ask me a question about refusing to listen, so I am slightly confused by that reference just now.

Supplementary Question : County Councillor Carter

Would you agree with me that a Councillor who tells any resident that comes to him what they want to hear regardless of their own moral conscience or political views isn’t a very good Councillor?

Reply : County Councillor Berman

I think it probably depends on the circumstances in which they might say such a thing. But I think if you just try to always tell a resident exactly what they want to hear regardless of whether you are actually going to act on that, then that isn’t a very good way to deal with them. County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 59

29 : COMMUNITIES HOUSING & SOCIAL JUSTICE QUESTIONS

Question: County Councillor Wakefield

What is the Council doing to support and promote the Big Lunch on 19 July?

Reply : County Councillor Woodman

There are a variety of ways in which the Council will be promoting The Big Lunch, including placing an article in our Staff Inbox which is sent out to all staff with computer access on a weekly basis. We will also be placing an article on the Staff Intranet and encouraging staff to visit the website which has a host of ideas and posters for people to download to encourage them to organise their own street parties.

A guidance note on applying for temporary road closures for street parties is available from the Council’s Highways & Waste Management Service. If any group or individuals are planning to hold a street party as part of The Big Lunch festivities on 19 July then they are encouraged to contact the relevant highways officers as soon as possible and by Wednesday 8 July at the latest.

To date, the Council has been made aware of two Big Lunch events that are planned in Florentia Street in Cathays and in Denton Road in Canton. In addition, the Council’s Communities First team in Riverside has been involved in organising a Big Lunch event, which is being held in Clare Gardens from 11am – 3pm on 19 July. People are being invited to bring a dish along and there will also be food provided which uses ingredients grown from the Riverside Community Allotment Project. The event has been advertised in the Riverside News and will be advertised in the next Riverside Communities First Newsletter.

Supplementary Question : County Councillor Wakefield

Can we try and publicise this a little bit more than just on the Council website, and such like, because I doubt whether people who are thinking of arranging these sort of street parties, and such like, realise that they will need highways permission, or that you would want something by Wednesday 8 July, so maybe a press release to the Echo or some such

59 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 60 other august organ, who obviously is going to turn up to my next Scrutiny meeting, could actually publicise this a little bit better than just on the Council website?

Reply : County Councillor Woodman

Thank you Councillor Wakefield. Yes, we will certainly try and publicise this more but I have no guarantee the Echo will run with the press release, and as you are probably aware we missed the lead in time for Capital Times. I would hope that Councillors who read these questions, including those who’ve left the Chamber this evening, will also try and promote this in their own Wards as well, but yes I do agree, we do need to publicise this more.

30 : ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT QUESTIONS

Question: County Councillor Robson

As the Executive Member was regrettably unable to attend the Economic and Culture Scrutiny Committee on 18 th June 2009, can he comment on the Economy, Enterprise and Infrastructure Business Plan 2009-12?

Reply : County Councillor McEvoy

Service area business plans are an important managerial tool used by officers to progress corporate objectives and to shape the work plans of operational areas across the Council. They are developed in line with the requirements of a corporate template – with quantitative performance indicators included where appropriate.

Economy, Enterprise and Infrastructure is a new service and its draft business plan for 2009-12 was produced in accordance with a timetable that enabled it to be considered by the Economy and Culture Scrutiny Committee on 18 June 2009.

The Business Plan includes proposals to progress the administration’s key Corporate Plan objectives. However, I am aware that the Committee made a number of observations on the business plan – not least on the formatting and internal focus of what is largely a technical business planning document. The points made by Members will be taken on board County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 61 to sharpen the document’s action plan prior to the document being signed off by the Corporate Director (Economic).

For your information, the Performance, Change & Efficiency team is currently undertaking a desk top review of service business plans that have been prepared and are also leading the discussions on the supporting materials section such as sustainability and workforce planning with the corporate leads for each. The team is also identifying good practice both internally within the Council and externally and this will help inform any developments. The outcome of this will be a sharper, more focused framework for business plans from 2010/11. This will also support the development of the Corporate Planning arrangements and the iterative link to the future Budget Strategies.

Supplementary Question : County Councillor Robson

Councillor McEvoy, thank you for the response here. When we saw the Business Plan at Scrutiny, one thing that I believe is a real failing in this document is the lack of links, mentioned in the document, with outside bodies and stakeholders, such as, for example, Cardiff & Co, or the University, and there will be others. I have to be honest, I was really disappointed at that, and it fundamentally weakens what could be a very good Business Plan. Will you address that urgently, so that those stakeholders actually feel involved, and are not neglected by the Council as they sometimes do?

Reply : County Councillor McEvoy

Thanks Councillor Robson. I think the organisations were linked by the issues, but I take the point, and it is going to be amended, yes.

31 : EDUCATION & LIFELONG LEARNING QUESTIONS

Question: County Councillor Gasson

Were you as concerned as I was to see the recent Welsh BBC programme with Prof. David Reynolds on funding of schools in Wales and the fact that – on average – English schools receive £500 per child more than Welsh schools?

61 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 62

Further, were you concerned at the additional time and bureaucracy involved, both for schools and National Assembly civil servants, by schools having to bid for extra funds via the 100 or so WAG schemes?

Are you aware if the WLGA has put any pressure on the Welsh Assembly Government in light of the above?

Reply : County Councillor Salway

Professor David Reynolds has, for some years now, published comparisons between the levels of funding of schools in England and Wales. I am always concerned to hear of any disparity of funding levels between schools especially if the disparity is as much as £500 per child. To put this in context, for one of our medium sized Secondary schools of 1,000 pupils, this would equate to an extra £500,000. For a medium sized Primary school of 300 pupils, this would equate to an extra £150,000.

Due to the different funding mechanisms in England as compared to Wales, it is very difficult to arrive at a clear comparison so, as we have not seen the detail behind this current comparison; I would not like to comment on its accuracy or robustness.

For some time now, officers and Headteachers have been concerned at the large number of education initiatives and associated grant funding mechanisms that the Welsh Assembly Government continues to make available to schools and education services. Whilst additional funding for education provision is always taken up, I would agree that the additional time and resources required to complete bids and then grant forms does add significantly to the bureaucratic burden placed upon education providers.

I am aware that, for some time now, both the WLGA and the Association of Directors of Education in Wales (ADEW) have raised this particular issue with the Welsh Assembly Government, but the number of these grants has yet to be reduced. Work has also been ongoing with a WAG Task Group, involving school based staff, which has been examining how bureaucracy in schools could be reduced; however, to date, this group has yet to make any significant impact on this issue.

This is also an issue that Councillor Berman has taken up repeatedly with Welsh Assembly Ministers in his role as WLGA finance spokesperson. County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 63

At a meeting of the WLGA full council in the past year which was addressed by Brian Gibbons, the Assembly’s Local Government Minister, Councillor Berman made the point that significant sums of money are wasted in the bureaucracy surrounding so many specific grants which can mean that up to 25% of the funding being allocated through a particular specific grant can effectively be lost in the cost of administering it. He questioned how much money Welsh local authorities were spending employing people to apply for these specific grants and how much money WAG was then spending employing people to process and determine the applications. I understand that Councillor Berman reiterated these points to the Assembly’s Finance Minister, Andrew Davies, when he was in attendance at a subsequent meeting of Council Leaders and Chief Executives from all 22 Welsh Local Authorities.

Supplementary Question : County Councillor Ralph Cook

I understand from the answer that Councillor Berman has made these points a number of times to various people in the Assembly. What it doesn’t say is what answer Councillor Berman received from the Minister. Do you know what answers your colleague has received?

Reply : County Councillor Salway

If there is an answer I will get it to you by e-mail.

Question : County Councillor McKerlich

By now it must be fairly clear which staff in schools are being made redundant this financial year. Can you please advise the number of redundancies of teaching and non teaching staff in Cardiff schools under LEA control, whether the redundancy is voluntary or compulsory, and the total cost inclusive of redundancy cost, LEA pension cost and LEA lump sum cost?

Reply : County Councillor Salway

Decisions on redundancies are primarily a matter for school governing bodies. However, the employment of fewer teachers is clearly an inevitable consequence of falling pupil numbers given that the formula which is used by the Welsh Assembly Government to calculate how much funding we should get for schools as part of the Revenue Support

63 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 64

Grant is largely dependent on pupil numbers. Therefore, as the number of pupils in Cardiff drops, the level of funding given to us by WAG drops and, consequently, there is less funding for us to pass on to our schools.

Figures for compulsory and voluntary redundancies for teaching and support staff in schools for the 2009/2010 financial year are detailed below:

Numbers Redundancy LEA LEA Total Cost Pension Lump Cost Cost Sum Cost Compulsory 3 £38,130 £18,185 N/A £56,315

Voluntary 42 £788,550 £36,790 £123,492 £948,492

Supplementary Question : County Councillor McKerlich

We are now spending very substantial sums annually on these redundancies, Now no one likes being involved in redundancies but they are an unfortunate, unpleasant necessity in everyday life, but as a school governor I have been concerned that the redundancy policies we’ve got appear to maximise the cost to the County Council, whilst minimising the possibility the school might derive any benefit from the necessity to make these redundancies. Can you please review the policy, and in particular can you review the fact, that particularly in primary schools, there is a significant chance it will be necessary to differentiate between candidates for redundancy by drawing lots, which is quite ludicrous?

Reply : County Councillor Salway

As an Authority we wouldn’t have control on school governing bodies who decide on who will be made redundant, and if they are drawing lots and you are a governor, then it is up to you, if you don’t approve, to make your dissent known.

Supplementary Question: County Councillor McKerlich

Has the advice been given at meetings to discuss redundancies by Council Officers?

County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 65

Reply: County Councillor Salway

It may be the advice given if there are more people wanting to be made redundant than need to go. However, you know as well as I know, and others in the Chamber know, that governing bodies run the schools. They manage the schools, so it is up to them. What I am saying is they don’t have to take the advice. The advice is given, and I agree with you that the schools are saving money. The redundancies are caused, as you know, by falling rolls, and schools are funded by the formula funding which is based on capitation. The other part, I agree with you that it is costing this Council large sums of money, but there is very little that can be done about it. I don’t think it’s satisfactory that one draws lots, but if there are more people wanting to be made redundant, you need to ask yourself why? Maybe they are fed up and they’ve come to almost the end of their time, and they want to leave teaching. But we do not have control over the Governors managing their redundancy, and I would hope the school of which you are a governor has a redundancy panel, or sub committee.

Supplementary Question : County Councillor Cowan

Councillor McKerlich asked for a breakdown of the teaching and support staff, and it looks like we lumped them all together here, so we haven’t got a breakdown of teaching support. Perhaps you could circulate that to all Members just for clarification really?

Reply : County Councillor Salway

I’ll consider it.

32 : HEALTH, SOCIAL CARE & WELLBEING STATEMENT (County Councillor John Dixon)

Scrutiny Matters

Since the last ordinary Council meeting on 19 March 2009 the following issues relating to the portfolio have been discussed at Scrutiny

• Single Children’s Plan – Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee (2 June 2009) • Corporate Parenting Panel – Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee (2 June 2009)

65 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 66

• Adult Services Business Plan - Community and Adult Services Scrutiny Committee (17 June 2009)

The Corporate Parenting Panel met on 20 May 2009 to discuss:

• Care Leavers Forum • Out of Area Annual Report • Care First demonstration

Executive Business Matters

There have been no Executive proposals relating to this portfolio considered at Executive Business Meetings since the last ordinary Council meeting on 19 March 2009.

Meetings and Visits

I have met with, visited or attended the following external events:

• 23 March 2009 – Met with the Deputy Minister for Social Services, Gwenda Thomas AM, to discuss person-centred services; National Assembly, Cardiff • 24 March 2009 – Met Charles Willie, Cardiff and Vale Coalition of Disabled People to discuss direct payments service; CVCDP Offices Ely • 24 March 2009 – Met Val Connors, Wales Audit Office, as part of the WAO Review of Adult Mental Health Services; County Hall • 26 March 2009 – Met Wynnford Ellis Thomas to discuss proposals for his “Living Room” project; County Hall • 26 March 2009 – attended and spoke at launch of the Young Carers’ Service; All Nations Centre, Gabalfa • 6 April 2009 – attended Cardiff and Vale LHB Transition Board; OD&T Building, Whitchurch Hospital • 16 April 2009 – attended Cardiff and Vale LHB workshop; County Hall • 21 April 2009 – attended and spoke at official opening of Cardiff East Locality Team, with First Minister, Rhodri Morgan AM, and chair of Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust, David Francis; Llanrumney • 21 April 2009 – met with CSSIW Inspector as part of WAG response to “Baby Peter” case; County Hall County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 67

• 22 April 2009 – met with chair of Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust, David Francis, to discuss future partnership working; County Hall • 22 April 2009 – visited Plas Bryn Extra Care development; Fairwater • 29 April 2009 – attended photo shoot to promote the new Ty Gwyn Respite Care Unit; Caerau • 5 May 2009 – met Emyr Williams to discuss Local Service Board Scrutiny Project; County Hall • 7 May 2009 – met with Barrie Cooper to discuss Age Concern Cymru’s future working relationship; County Hall • 11 May 2009 – attended Cardiff and Vale LHB Transition Board; Llandough Hospital, Vale of Glamorgan • 12 May 2009 – attended a meeting of the Care Council for Wales; City Hall • 13 May 2009 – attended the WLGA programme board regarding the Annual Report on the Performance of Social Services; Local Government Date Unit offices, Butetown • 20-21 May 2009 – Attended as a Peer Assessor for a review team looking at Gwynedd County Council’s application for member support and development programme Charter Status; Caernarfon, Gwynedd • 8 June 2009 – attended Cardiff and Vale LHB Transition Board, University Hospital of Wales, Heath • 9 June 2009 – Met with John Shirref of Pastoral Care Cymru; County Hall • 17-21 June 2009 – attended the WHO Healthy Cities Networks Business and Technical Conference; Viana do Castelo, Portugal • 22 June 2009 – met with Charissa De Zeeuw to discuss WAG approach to internal scrutiny and external regulation; County Hall • 23 June 2009 – attended the Statutory Director of Social Services Annual Performance Report to the council on the performance of social services; County Hall • 24 June 2009 – chaired a meeting of the Cardiff Health Alliance; County Hall

67 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 68

33 : HEALTH, SOCIAL CARE & WELLBEING QUESTIONS

Question : County Councillor Gasson

Do you agree with "Families Need Fathers" call to the Children & Family Court Advisory Support Service (CAFCASS) to promote shared parenting and involve both parents in children’s lives after separation, unless there is a good reason for not doing so?

Reply : County Councillor Dixon

Although the question is in respect of matters related to private law proceedings in respect of children which fall outside the statutory responsibilities of a local authority, I personally find the argument that the default position for the court should be one in which parenting is shared, unless there is a compelling case not to, to be sensible and reasonable.

As a local authority with social services functions in respect of children and their families I feel confident that members would wish all organisations whose responsibilities affect children and families, to deliver services in ways that are consistent with the Council’s responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

Where parents are separated, the continued involvement of both parents in their children’s lives would seem likely to make a positive contribution to meeting the children’s needs, unless there are reasons why this would not be in the interests of the child. I understand that this view informs the practice of CAFCASS.

Supplementary Question : County Councillor Gasson

I wonder whether you heard the programme on Radio 4 this morning, when one of the leading judges of the Family Court criticised the press for not taking more interest in proceedings about childcare. Would you not agree with me that, if there was more press coverage, it would seem to be fairer and, treat fathers the same as mothers? County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 69

Reply : County Councillor Dixon

Unfortunately I didn’t hear that programme but I will take advantage of the iPlayer Service. Yes, I would agree with you. I’ve made it quite clear in my statement that I’ve got here. It’s my belief that it’s in the interests of the children’s welfare for both parents to be involved in their upbringing, even post separation.

Supplementary Question : County Councillor McEvoy

Would you agree with me that if there was a presumption of shared parenting then millions and millions of pounds per year would be saved in litigation fees because I think all most parents want is reasonable responsibility in their child’s life. I am actually a member of Families Need Fathers and am proud to be so and the group also represents mums, grandmothers and grandfathers.

I leave council with this last thought. One hundred thousand more children each year lose contact with one parent and ninety percent of the time that happens to be the male.

Reply : County Councillor Dixon

While obviously this is an issue for the family courts rather than for Council, the evidence I have seen would seem to indicate that the majority of the time is spend wrangling over access rights and if you start on a presumption of equality, then I think you start from an equal access point of view for both parents.

Question : County Councillor Kelloway

Has Cardiff Council any plans to charge parents who voluntarily place their children in care?

Reply : County Councillor Dixon

I understand that there have been press reports that Conwy Council is introducing charges, and that Monmouthshire’s Children and Young Person’s Scrutiny Committee is investigating charges for parents who

69 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 70 voluntarily place their children into care under section 20 of the Children Act 1989. A number of English councils already make these charges.

Children’s Services has given some consideration to the case that parents should make a financial contribution to the costs, but is not currently pursuing this possibility. I share the concerns of the Children’s Commissioner in the perception of any charges being a deterrent to families seeking support.

There is also a general view, not specific to Cardiff, that the introduction of charges is unlikely to be cost effective. Most parents in such circumstances are likely to be in financial circumstances that would prevent them making such a contribution. The costs involved in establishing a system for financial assessment and collection of contributions would therefore be an additional demand on the service area’s budget that it could not expect to recoup from contributions.

Any such system would need to be constructed very carefully so that ensured the continued availability of such services to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in need, and avoid the risk of it being seen as a disincentive to using the service. Parental contributions can be perceived positively as a way of parents continuing to support their children. Any change in policy would have to be designed with this end in mind, rather than as a way of attempting to reduce costs to the Council.

Supplementary Question : County Councillor Kelloway

Can I probe a little further and ask that, if this were to be the case, wouldn’t this just be a short term solution to the long term problem of local authority under-funding?

Reply : County Councillor Dixon

I think, yes. It could well be seen as that, but I think, again, that the evidence I’ve seen would seem to indicate that it would be a rather bad attempt to patch up local authority finances, because the experiences elsewhere would seem to indicate we spend more money on the administration, more money chasing the payments, than you actually get back, so it could end up costing Children’s Services more. So not only would it be, in my opinion, a barrier to accessing Children’s Services, it County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 71 would also end up costing the Council more money and, therefore, be deleterious in both ways.

Supplementary Question : County Councillor Cowan

I was quite surprised with the response Councillor Dixon, but just with a hypothetical situation, we often hear stories in the press that some children are placed in care by their parents when they go on holiday, say, for a week. If we found that that was the case in Cardiff, would you pursue and make sure that the parents were charged for the pleasure of placing their children in care?

Reply : County Councillor Dixon

I’ve not heard of any such cases. If they are brought to my attention, then yes, I may reconsider in those circumstances. But I know that Conwy, for example, is just about to start charging, I think it is about £165 per week per child, for children who are voluntarily placed in their care. My belief is that as a blanket policy that’s wrong.

Question : County Councillor Aubrey

Do you share the Welsh Assembly Government's opposition to personal budgets for adult social services clients?

Reply : County Councillor Dixon

I know that, while WAG is very enthusiastic about the idea of personalised services, which place the views of users at the heart of policy and practice, they are sceptical about the English model of extending this through the use of personal budgets in adult social services.

Cardiff Council was the first local authority in Wales to introduce a direct payment scheme and Adult Services maintains a commitment to the ongoing development and expansion of this scheme.

We are also open to exploring any potential for enhancing person centred care, which puts service users at the heart of the decision making process around their care provision. Recently, the Council explored the possibilities of finding a Welsh model for giving greater control over

71 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 72 services in a one-day conference at City Hall that involved users, carers, social work staff, and providers, which I then personally briefed the Deputy Minister on.

I believe we can find a model for those service users who desire additional control and choice, consistent with the aspirations set out by WAG in Fulfilled Lives, Supportive Communities, which also continues to provide consistent, high-quality support for those who are content for the Council to be the lead agency in arranging their care.

(No supplementary questions were allowed as the Councillor submitting the original question was not present in the Council Chamber).

Question : County Councillor Hooper

“Every Disabled Child Matters” reported that, in England, the NHS is failing to provide basic care to disabled children. What is the situation in Cardiff?

Reply : County Councillor Dixon

In Cardiff the Council’s Children’s Services provides assessments for all disabled children through its Child Health and Disability Service. NHS professionals contribute to these assessments. Care Plans to meet the needs of individual children are developed, implemented and reviewed by professionals drawn from relevant disciplines and agencies using a team around the child approach.

Planning services to meet the needs of disabled children takes place on an inter-agency basis and is incorporated in the Children and Young People’s Plan.

The Plan is based on a needs assessment that acknowledges there are gaps in services. It sets out priorities agreed by the Partnership for action between the years 2008-2011 including a commitment on behalf of the partnership to develop an inter-agency strategy to meet the needs of disabled children which are recognised to be increasing in volume and complexity.

The partnership is required to carry out an annual review of the Plan and its implementation with the first review being due for completion by the County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 73 end of September 2009 for submission to the Welsh Assembly Government. The review will be presented for consideration by the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee.

Question : County Councillor Gasson

Is the recent First Minister's desire to reduce the number of social services senior management teams, by merging smaller authorities with larger councils, likely to have any implications for Cardiff?

Reply : County Councillor Dixon

I am aware of recent media reporting that the First Minister and other ministers of the Welsh Assembly Government have made references to the potential for local authorities to merge directorates in order to reinvest the money saved in managers’ salaries in front-line services.

I believe his comments were aimed at smaller authorities, so his view that geographical boundaries could be relaxed in providing services could possibly result in a smaller neighbouring authority looking to merge its management with ours. In my opinion, such developments would have to be based in a spirit of true partnership in order not to be seen as a “Cardiff takeover”.

Cardiff is already committed to collaborating with other organisations to enhance the delivery of services and make most effective use of resources. Examples of where this is already taking place include the South East Wales Improvement Collaborative (SEWIC) that has been established between 10 local authorities to improve the availability, quality and value for money of placements for looked after children; and the Joint Equipment Service for disabled people that has been established between this Council, the Vale of Glamorgan Council and our NHS partners.

We are also at a very early stage of discussions with the nascent Cardiff and Vale University Local Health Board around the potential for a jointly managed adult community mental health service across the two local authority areas which still respects each council’s local priorities and needs. The ultimate outcome of any discussions would, of course, be subject to the Council’s normal decision-making process.

73 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 74

Supplementary Question : County Councillor Gasson

I want to know whether you, Councillor Dixon, share my concern as the experience when I was a Cardiff Community Health Council Member, when there were discussions about Cardiff and the Vale joining, and the Vale feeling that it would be overtaken by a larger Cardiff, and I think similar debates went on with the LHB, and my experiences in Scrutiny is that the Vale doesn’t seem to want to share scrutiny with us, so I am wondering whether you think, perhaps, the smaller Authorities will feel threatened by the larger Authorities?

Reply : County Councillor Dixon

I think that’s quite possibly the case. I think the subtext of what the First Minister was saying was, to the smaller Authorities, “start co-operating or you will find yourself reorganised”. So I think that the speech in question was not directly aimed at Authorities like Cardiff, which I think are of a sufficient size to be able to offer a full range of services to citizens, but rather to the smaller Authorities who have to try and provide that full range with a much smaller budget and with a much smaller population to provide it to.

We are working with the Vale. I know those concerns are very much ‘live’ today, about the NHS reorganisation. My discussions with my colleagues in the Vale are very much around the fear that they see the new Authority as being very driven by the needs and demands of Cardiff, rather than the needs of the Vale population.

34 : ENVIRONMENT QUESTIONS

Question : County Councillor Jackie Parry

Does the Council have a monitoring process for the removal of graffiti, specifically with regard to gulleys and street furniture/cabinets in relation to the five working days target?

Reply : County Councillor Margaret Jones

The Council policy for graffiti removal states that the target for removal of racist or offensive graffiti is 24 hours and for all other graffiti it is 5 working days. County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 75

All requests for graffiti removal are logged by the service area and this data is then used to provide a monthly monitoring report in terms of meeting the specified target response times.

Whilst officers are endeavouring to meet these targets it should be noted that this is a relatively new service and since its inception there has been a marked increase in the reporting of graffiti that the team need to deal with, which has led to limited instances where these targets have not been met.

Supplementary Question : County Councillor Jackie Parry

We are having success regarding the removal of graffiti on walls etc., but there doesn’t seem to be a lot being done about the cabinets around the City. I think most of our areas suffer with this. All of these utility cabinets are full of paint etc., and they just look terrible, absolutely awful. They’ve turned places into ghettos, so could we have some real monitoring on them please to get rid of the paint?

Reply : County Councillor Margaret Jones

Please send me an e-mail and let me know exactly what cabinets they are.

Supplementary Question : County Councillor Gasson

This came up at our PACT meetings last week and last month. I wonder if the Executive Member is aware that the local Police and the Graffiti Team have to get permission from NTL and BT, who own these boxes, and I wonder whether you would applaud an initiative that I am initiating in my own Ward working with the outreach team, where we are trying to get a grant, and getting the kids to use graffiti, creatively, on a wall giving the history of Ely Hospital site. Would you commend this practice elsewhere?

Reply : County Councillor Margaret Jones

I would Councillor Gasson.

75 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 76

Question : County Councillor Cowan

Do you have any plans to propose a consultation on the collection of black bins or the equivalent on a fortnightly basis?

Reply : County Councillor Margaret Jones

Not at present. The Council’s Corporate Plan 2009-12 does state that consideration will be given for proposals for the roll out of weekly recycling schemes, in consultation with communities.

However, the Council is first reviewing all options for further increases in diverting waste from landfill. The priority for 2009-10 is to expand the existing wheeled bin scheme in order to provide safe and clean containment of waste; therefore, there are no immediate plans to consult on changing collection frequencies.

However, as we review our current Waste Strategy and strive to meet Welsh Assembly Government targets, all possible options will be considered to increase diversion from landfill and to provide a balanced and efficient service. The Council also understands that the Welsh Assembly Government is considering making weekly recycling a statutory requirement by 2012.

Question : County Councillor Cowan

Does this Council have any plans to introduce a scheme which would enable residents to receive reward points according to how much of their household waste is recycled?

Reply : County Councillor Margaret Jones

Currently, the Council is not considering any reward schemes for recycling. Various schemes have been trialled on a small scale across the UK, but these have proven to be difficult to administer and any results are short lived.

Our priority is providing a fair and accessible service for all, with a strong focus on promoting the recycling schemes. However, as we review our current Waste Strategy and strive for 70% recycling by 2020, we will be County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 77 considering all possible incentives and powers available to the authority as we increase diversion from landfill.

Supplementary Question : County Councillor Cowan

Councillor Jones, does the Council have any plans to weigh residents’ waste to generate income?

Reply : County Councillor Margaret Jones

Not at present Councillor Cowan, no.

Supplementary Question : County Councillor Wakefield

What worries me slightly with Councillor Cowan’s goodie bag question is that she wants people to be rewarded for doing what is, in reality, the noble thing. They should be rewarded by saving the planet, not by getting a merit card. Don’t you agree?

Reply : County Councillor Margaret Jones

I agree.

35 : FINANCE & SERVICE DELIVERY QUESTIONS

No questions

36 : SPORT, LEISURE & CULTURE STATEMENT (County Councillor Howells)

Cardiff Libraries

I would like to take this opportunity to endorse the Leader’s words regarding the success of the official opening of the Central Library last week, and inform you of the success of the service in general.

Visits to the Central Library are up on average by 60%, stock issues by an average of 66%, and PC bookings by almost 100% compared with the same period last year. We anticipate further increases in use when the John Lewis store opens its door to the public in September, and St David’s 2 follows suit in October. I’m sure you’ll agree this is an

77 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 78 extremely gratifying outcome for the investment and hard work put into this project over the last few years.

Branch Libraries have also experienced increased use over the last year with a 22% increase in the number of visits, 12% increase in the number of items issued, and a 22% increase in PC bookings. We are hopeful that this improvement across the board will continue in 2009/10, and particularly in Penylan Library which has received over 18,000 visits in its first full month of operation, almost 11,000 issues and 2,455 PC bookings – overall a clear endorsement for the investment made in Libraries over the last 5 years.

UK School Games

Significant progress has been made with preparations to host the UK School Games Wales between the 3rd and 6th September 2009. Cardiff, Newport and Swansea will jointly host the Games with six sports taking place in Cardiff, two in Newport and two in Swansea. The Games are being funded by lottery money which is being administered by Legacy Trust UK - this includes a contribution from the Welsh Assembly Government.

The Volunteer Management Group has already recruited over 300 locally based volunteers to support the delivery of the Games and is ahead of schedule to recruit the 350 volunteers required. The recruitment, training and retention of these volunteers along with the introduction of new and improved opportunities to participate in sport will form part of the Community Development Programme and offer a lasting legacy of the Games at grassroots level in Cardiff.

Pontcanna Cricket Pitches

The Institute of Groundsmanship have received a nomination from the Technical Director of the English Cricket Board for the works at Pontcanna. The nomination is for 'Public Sector Outdoor Facility of the Year' recognising the skills and expertise of Grounds Professionals who maintain publicly used facilities including parks and gardens to the highest standard and is a direct result of the financial commitment and high specification given by the Council towards the provision of first class cricket and sports pitches in Pontcanna Fields. County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 79

Chelsea Flower Show

As reported by the Leader, we once again successfully exhibited at the Chelsea Flower Show where our garden display secured a Silver Gilt Medal. I would like to thank all the staff involved for their dedication and hard work in making our display such a success.

Parks Apprentice Scheme and employment opportunities

Proposals to create employment opportunities throughout the Council's Park Service for 18-24 year olds, the long term unemployed and disadvantaged have been submitted through the Department for Work and Pensions’ ‘Future Jobs Fund'. In addition to this the Council will shortly be advertising five Apprenticeship posts within the Parks Service. This clearly demonstrates our commitment to training and development - skilling and equipping the workforce to ensure that the city’s parks and green spaces are maintained and enhanced for present and future generations.

37 : SPORT, LEISURE & CULTURE QUESTIONS

Question : County Councillor Wakefield

99 years ago last week the Terra Nova left Cardiff for its ill-fated voyage to Antarctica. What plans are there to celebrate the centenary of this glorious failure?

Reply : County Councillor Howells

I can confirm that an initial meeting has been held with The Captain Scott Society to discuss the centenary of Captain Scott’s departure from Cardiff. The Society’s broad vision for 2010 is to promote a series of events during the period 10 th June – 15 th June which mirror the events that took place in 1910.

Cardiff Council and Cardiff Harbour Authority will continue to discuss options with the Society to try to ensure that this centenary is celebrated appropriately in 2010.

79 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 80

Question : County Councillor Ralph Cook

The justification offered for the project to construct a new access into, a new bridge and a two-lane road through one of the best parts of the historic Bute Park revolves around issues of health and safety for the public and to permit the servicing of events and the delivery of goods to the Council nursery:

a) how many accidents involving vehicles and members of the public have occurred in the park within the last ten years?

b) how many deliveries to the nursery and in what quantities have been made by large commercial vehicles since this time last year?

c) are you satisfied that all consultees who responded favourably to the proposal were fully aware of the proposed access provision and that those who the Council list as supporters of the scheme did in fact give their full backing to this element of the Council’s proposals?

Reply : County Councillor Howells

Firstly, I would like to respond by advising that one of the criteria for selecting this location for the bridge was that it lies outside the historic core of the park.

a) Whilst there have been no recorded accidents involving vehicles in the park, I am sure you will appreciate that the Council has a duty to mitigate against identified health and safety risks and, to this end, a Traffic Safety Audit for Bute Park was undertaken. The introduction of the new bridge will serve to eliminate a large proportion of the existing hazards and/or risks associated with vehicle movements within what is a highly populated park. The Highways advice considered as part of the planning application for the new access bridge states:

Considering its size and location in the middle of the City, there are surprisingly few ways into Bute Park. This is due to its origin as a private garden. The [North Gate] is currently used as the main vehicle access into the park…………and concentrates all pedestrian, cycle and vehicular movement along this shared County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 81

tarmac route i.e. there is no segregation due to the restricted width available. Pedestrian flows through the North Road access are also heavy………… and are projected to substantially increase when the Castle Green is opened to free public access. Under these circumstances, pedestrian flow through the area makes vehicle movements using North Gate unsafe. For all of these reasons the continued use of the North Gate as the principal access to the Park is unacceptable. In my opinion, therefore, this location [The proposed new access point off North Road] is the optimum solution for access and egress on safety grounds.

I hope Cllr Cook isn’t seriously suggesting we wait for an accident before acting on this advice.

b) It is estimated that between 50-60 vehicles between a 7.5 ton and HGV category have delivered to the Council’s nursery in Bute Park during the past year; 23 of which were large HGVs and 10 of these had come from continental suppliers. However, the nursery acts as the nursery for the whole of Cardiff and as such Parks Department vehicles deliver and collect from the nursery throughout the day. In the region of 650,000 spring and summer bedding plants are grown at the nursery and then distributed throughout Cardiff. Deliveries into the nursery are primarily bulbs, seeds, plug plants, trees and shrubs. The city’s hanging baskets and floral displays are distributed from the nursery, in the main to sites near the city centre.

c) The responses to the consultation related to the draft Bute Park Restoration Document, which included the proposals to provide a new access at this point into the park. The access was described as ‘a new bridge from North Road’ and a plan showing the proposed layout of paths, subject to detailed design and tree survey, was provided within the draft document circulated for comment. At the time, there were no objections in principle to the provision of this access and the letters of support do not indicate any further comment on this aspect of the proposal. The Cardiff and Vale Coalition of Disabled People have also offered their full and unequivocal support for the project.

81 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 82

Supplementary Question : County Councillor Ralph Cook

In your answer, Councillor Howells, you say “I hope Councillor Cook isn’t seriously suggesting we wait for an accident before acting on this advice”. I am deeply offended, because nowhere in my question is there anything that might suggest that I was looking forward, or suggesting, that there might be an accident. I wonder if you would withdraw that line from your answer.

Reply : County Councillor Howells

I am happy for that clarification from you, and I will make sure that that is removed from my answer. But all I was seeking was clarification on that point from you.

Supplementary Question : County Councillor Dixon

Would you agree with the Cardiff & Vale Coalition of Disabled People that improving access for disabled people improves access for all.

Reply : County Councillor Howells

Absolutely!

38 : TRAFFIC & TRANSPORTATION QUESTIONS

Question : County Councillor Pearcy

In light of what happened on 6 th June 2009, would it be a good idea for all necessary stakeholders to have a practice emergency flooding incident so that everyone knows who is in charge and what their duties are?

Reply : County Councillor Bowen

The Council has a standing group, the Cardiff Area Flood Group, comprising of members of the Environment Agency, Dwr Cymru / Welsh Water, Police, Fire Service, Ambulance Service and Met Office, together with officers from the Council’s Highways, Drainage and Emergency Management sections. The group meets twice a year to discuss, among other things, the roles and responsibilities for planning, exercising, County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 83 response and recovery. It considers all flooding events in the city and seeks to improve plans in the face of the issues that arise.

To reinforce this work, a flooding exercise took place in December 2007 which brought together all agencies and organisations that have a response to flooding in the city in order to look at the planning, to work through a scenario, and to highlight any issues that needed to be revisited and where plans needed to be amended.

Members of the Cardiff Area Flood Group accept that there are issues which arose from the recent flooding in Cardiff on 6 June 2009 and from the Environmental Scrutiny Committee meeting on 9 June that need to be addressed and will ensure that these are investigated further at a meeting of the group which has been arranged for July.

Supplementary Question : County Councillor Pearcy

Would you agree with me Councillor Bowen that actions speak louder than words? I can remember the days when I used to be working in the Health Service when we used to have practice emergency runs, when things went wrong, and you could see how quickly people responded to the emergency call. I think this would be a very good idea for the Environment Agency, and everyone else included, to do the same to stop any incidents like those that happened on 6 June happening again. Would you agree with me that we ought to call for this to happen, rather than just sit having a talking shop?

Reply : County Councillor Bowen

I will investigate whether such practices can be invoked.

Question : County Councillor Robson

What is the policy regarding the distribution of sandbags to areas affected by flooding?

Reply : County Councillor Bowen

The Council does not have the capacity or the budget to provide sandbags across the city on demand. However, following the events of 6 June, guidance has been issued to officers instructing them to address localised

83 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 84 issues within these constraints so as to provide the best possible service to citizens. Revised policies in this regard will be considered by the Executive at the earliest opportunity.

The Council’s stock of sandbags is monitored on a weekly basis with the maximum number held in storage being approximately 1,000. When stock levels are down to approximately 250 bags an order is placed to replenish the number back to 1,000. This is due to sand bags having a limited shelf life and the economies of ordering a full load from the supplier.

Historically, the Council’s Highway Operations team has only needed to re-order this number of sandbags on a yearly basis. However, during prolonged periods of forecast rainfall, the stocks are checked to ensure that the Council has sufficient to deal with localised flooding events within the city and, if required, stocks can be brought back to 1,000 with a part load from the supplier.

Question : County Councillor Cox

What discussions have Highways Officers had with Welsh Water regarding the flooding which took place in Splott earlier this month?

Reply : County Councillor Bowen

Highways officers meet regularly with Dwr Cymru / Welsh Water (DCWW) officials to discuss any problems relating to the city’s highways drains and culverts and the public sewerage system, which are the responsibility of the Council and DCWW respectively.

Highways officers have identified several locations of concern where they believe the recent flooding could be attributable to problems within the DCWW owned drainage systems, which relate to combined surface water/foul systems. These details have been passed on to DCWW and will be discussed at the next meeting which is planned for July.

Supplementary Question : County Councillor Cox

Thank you for the response Councillor Bowen. I am just wondering if you could instruct your Officers who join these regular meetings with Welsh Water, that there is still a lot of, presumably, sewage, debris, and County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 85 other items left in people’s driveways, steps, and front doors from the flooding, which took place on 6 June. I’d also be appreciative if you could ask Officers to raise the problem of flooding in Splott on 6 June, and the issue that apparently took place that employees from Welsh Water were instructed to ‘down tools’ at 9.00pm that night, as the water was increasingly rising and endangering the homes of approximately 10 residents?

Reply : County Councillor Bowen

Thank you Councillor Cox. I will advise the relevant Officers.

Supplementary Question : County Councillor Page

There has been a flooding problem in the Heath for the last 13 years, and I would like to ask the question isn’t it about time something was done to solve it, to stop water flooding into the highway and destroying the highway, and also from sewage coming up and flooding onto the road? I think 13 years is long enough to wait for action.

Reply : County Councillor Bowen

Yes, I am aware of this problem from my discourse with you on a number of occasions, and we are meeting again next week. I think, in respect of the flooding problem at the Heath, we are seeking a response from Dwr Cymru as to whether they will line the drains opposite your home, and adjacent to your home, rather than cut the trees down as you requested.

Question : County Councillor Brian Jones

In the light of the recent spate of problems caused by flooding, what assurances can you give that appropriate measures will be put in place, as a matter of urgency, to ensure that potential ‘bottlenecks’ in watercourses and culverts will be inspected and brought up to 100% functionality by cleaning/dredging as required, and that the Council will put in place an effective emergency response plan in the event of a re-occurrence of the problem?

85 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 86

Reply : County Councillor Bowen

Following the recent flooding that was experienced in various parts of Cardiff, I can confirm that the Council is currently involved in ongoing discussions with relevant organisations that form part of the Cardiff Area Flood Group and, at this point in time, I am unable to give you any assurances as to the specific measures that will be agreed and implemented, at what cost and location, and by which organisation. However, I do want to assure you that the Council will be working closely with those organisations in seeking to develop a more effective and coordinated emergency response to similar flooding incidents which may be experienced in the future.

(No supplementary questions were allowed as the Councillor submitting the original question was not present in the Council Chamber).

Question : County Councillor Aubrey

In a report published on June 15 th , the Association of Train Operating Companies called for a significant programme of branch line reopenings in England, but did not consider the situation in Wales. Can you ensure, in association with Arriva Trains Wales and Network Rail, that a similar assessment is made of the Fairwater-Creigiau line?

Reply : County Councillor Bowen

The Deposit Local Development Plan (March 2009) has identified (at 5.328) the need to consider options for a new segregated public transport link along a westward corridor from Fairwater in Cardiff to Llantrisant. Section 5.329 indicates that the Council will undertake the technical feasibility of this proposal and develop plans for its delivery in partnership with Rhondda Cynon Taf and other partners. It further indicates that the Council will seek to resist proposals for development that would compromise its future development.

Council Officers have undertaken initial investigations into the opening of a segregated public transport route from Fairwater to Creigiau/Llantrisant.

County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 87

This work forms part of the South East Wales Transport Alliance’s Prioritised Investment Programme (March 2007) which sets out six key priorities for rail investment in Sewta. Priority 6 refers to the Beddau – Cardiff network extension which describes the need for the introduction of half hourly passenger services on the former freight line, with new stations at Talbot Green, Llantrisant, Gwaun Meisgyn and Beddau.

A brief for a study investigating the scheme has been developed by Council Officers and has been submitted for discussion with Sewta and other key stakeholders. Further development of the scheme will require funding for the study, which will include an assessment of engineering, operations requirements and a business case for the re-opening of the line. The Council has begun exploring funding sources for this work via Sewta and WAG.

Councillor not in Chamber

Question : County Councillor Cowan

Will the Executive Member advise what discussions he has had with officers following recent flooding events in Rhiwbina and other parts of the City in recent weeks?

Reply : County Councillor Bowen

I refer you to the answer provided to the earlier question from Cllr Pearcy.

Supplementary Question : County Councillor Cowan

I would like to thank Steven Phillips and his team for the help and support they’ve given us since the recent flooding issues in Rhiwbina. The problems were horrendous. Some homes in Rhiwbina are still unhabitable, and will be for about six months. I have just had an e-mail now from a constituent, who is concerned because I’m told that the weather outside is dire at the moment so will the Council organise a meeting with affected Ward Councillors, the Environment Agency, and any other affected individuals, to make sure that we have a plan to deal with things if it does arise in the very near future, which it may do in the next few days?

87 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 88

Reply : County Councillor Bowen

Yes, Scrutiny is aware of this as well, and we are doing that at the moment. Indeed in answer to your question, I refer you to the answer provided to the earlier question from Councillor Pearcy, which explains that such meetings are taking place.

Supplementary Question : County Councillor Gasson

Yes, I wonder whether Councillor Bowen is aware that Martin Murphy, the Operational Manager who looks after Cardiff’s South West Neighbourhood Management Committee, the Councillors from Fairwater, myself and Councillor Goddard, have met with Welsh Water and the Environment Agency to look at flooding from last September, and I also understand, and I don’t know whether you are aware of it, that Welsh Water or somebody, maybe the Environment Agency, have issued a document, for consultation, about proposals for remedial works. I don’t know whether this has come to the Executive yet. I hope that all Members would have a chance to contribute and participate in that.

Reply : County Councillor Bowen

Councillor Gasson. I am very grateful to you for imparting that information to me. I wasn’t aware of it until you indicated that, and we will be prepared to do this for any Group or Ward Members that request it. Thank you.

Question : County Councillor Robson

In the event of an emergency, such as flooding, what procedures are in place to ensure that all available assistance can be given by Council Officers whether on or off duty or on call?

Is there any scheme in place so that vehicles throughout all sections of the Council can be used, for example, to deliver sandbags or other relevant equipment to affected areas? County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 89

Reply : County Councillor Bowen

The Council has plans and procedures in place to respond to emergencies both in and out of hours which engage with all relevant staff that are available.

Outside of working hours, we are reliant mainly on those officers who are ‘on call’ or working. There is a small number of staff that can be called into work, but this solely reliant on them being contactable and available at the time.

Equally, vehicles that are available are reliant on those members of staff that are either ‘on call’ or working and those dedicated to dealing with flooding emergencies to load and drive them. Other ‘on call’ officers (e.g. social services, homelessness, housing repair, structural engineers), would, regardless of flooding, still be expected to undertake the work that they are legislated to do.

In terms of sandbag provision, I would refer you to my answer to your previous question on this matter.

Supplementary Question : County Councillor Robson

Councillor Bowen, thank you for the response. This Council has a whole fleet of vehicles from small to medium to large size ones. In a possible emergency, such as we had on 6 June, or other crises, could there not be a system in place where the fleet of vehicles, throughout the Council, not just within your department, but within, say, Parks or Waste Management, could be called upon, and operators be called upon, to take, for example, sandbags to a flooding area, or other assistance, to ferry people around in the event of emergency, on that sort of minor scale, compared to, say, a terrorist attack, where I presume there are other procedures and plans in place?

Reply : County Councillor Bowen

Well, in my first answer to Councillor Pearcy, I indicated to you that there are special meetings taking place to discuss this co-ordination in July, and following on the scrutiny which had a look at it. Certainly one issue that we can consider is some way of integrating our complete fleet,

89 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 90 depending on what staff can be called in who are available and how much of that fleet we can get out on to the roads, if they are passable. So it’s a fair question and we will add it to the agenda of that meeting in July with the others involved in the group.

Question : County Councillor Cowan

What consultation has been undertaken with the citizens of Cardiff and the Business Communities with regard to decriminalised parking?

Reply : County Councillor Bowen

At this point, the decision about taking on Civil Parking Enforcement relates to the question “Who has the keenest interest in doing this, the Police or the Council?” As Cardiff Council is the highway authority, and has a transportation policy which the enforcement will support, the answer is clear that the Council is best placed to do this.

I can add that over the next 12 months an extensive media and consultation process will be undertaken. By the end of this week, formal consultation letters will be sent to a large number of representative organisations, including Police and other emergency services, bus operators, pedestrian and cycling groups and business representatives. Written responses will be required from them, to be included in the formal application being made in September to the Welsh Assembly Government for the transfer of enforcement powers.

In parallel with this, the media campaign will be developed to give the public full information about the enforcement project, in terms of how it will support the Council’s transportation initiatives, how staff will be deployed and many other issues, including the appeals process when fines have been issued.

I think it will also be important to run a series of workshops for Members so that you can be prepared for the change next summer and so that parking issues in your particular wards can be discussed and assimilated into the enforcement strategy. I will be pleased to advise you of the arrangements for these workshops in due course. County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 91

Question : County Councillor Robson

In light of the flooding which affected many properties in Rhiwbina for the second time in approximately 10 years, what plans will the Council put in place to minimise the risk to residents?

Reply : County Councillor Bowen

I refer you to the answer provided to the earlier question from Cllr Pearcy.

Supplementary Question : County Councillor Tim Davies

Can I ask in view of the number of questions that have been asked this afternoon on the problems of flooding, has the Council got a reserve stock of sandbags to allow for this sort of occurrence?

Reply : County Councillor Bowen

We do and I refer you to the answer I gave to Councillor Robson. You have to renew them. They harden up, they deteriorate. At the moment, our stock is adequate for any perceived meteorological event, and we will keep a regular eye on this now, as we integrate our forces with Dwr Cymru and the Environment Agency.

(The Lord Mayor advised that there was no further time for supplementary questions for the Traffic and Transportation Portfolio)

Question : County Councillor Cowan

Will the Executive Member provide a breakdown, in percentages and figures, of how the set up and continuation of the decriminalisation parking scheme will be funded?

Reply : County Councillor Bowen

The set-up phase will be funded from both capital and revenue sources. A capital loan of around £1.5 M will be used and this will be repaid over the first 5 years of operation. Revenue set-up costs will be met from savings, and on-going income, from the pay-and-display system.

91 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 92

Once the scheme is fully operational, all funding will come from either parking related income or income from parking fines.

A summary of the main elements of the financial model is attached to the Executive report of 11 th June 2009 and can be viewed on the Council’s web-site.

I hope it will be of reassurance to you that this summary indicates that the enforcement operation will run at a deficit annually (ie it is not a “money making” operation) and will be balanced out by the income from other parking activities. Overall, the enforcement and parking accounts together are expected to be self supporting.

Question : County Councillor Robson

During the recent flooding in Rhiwbina, one of the contributory factors which exacerbated the situation was drain covers which were clogged up. When residents lifted the drain covers the water flowed through more freely. Whilst accepting that there are problems with getting access (such as cars parked over drain covers), will the Council increase the number of drain cover and drain cleansings throughout the year, particularly near to watercourses?

Reply : County Councillor Bowen

I refer you to the answer provided to the earlier question from Cllr Brian Jones.

Question : County Councillor Robson

When a flooding event occurs at any scale, are the Environment Agency, Welsh Water and other relevant bodies automatically informed at the time?

Reply : County Councillor Bowen

The Environment Agency and Dwr Cymru / Welsh Water have specific remits and, in certain circumstances such as flooding on the public highway, they would have no responsibility to respond.

County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 93

In the light of what occurred on 6 June 2009, the Cardiff Area Flood Group, which considers flooding matters in the city, will meet to address the current flood alerting process and how it can be improved for future events.

39 : QUESTIONS TO THE NOMINATED MEMBER OF THE SOUTH WALES POLICE AUTHORITY

Question : County Councillor Woodman

As the nominated member of the Police Authority, is it true that South Wales Police have spent money changing the wording on the epaulettes for PCSOs recently, only to discover that they are not compliant with legislation and therefore will be reverting back to the original epaulettes?

Also, is it true that the new Police station recently built in Butetown was built with holding cells which are not compliant with guidelines and therefore further works will need to be carried out to make them compliant, resulting in fewer holding cells being available that was originally envisaged?

Reply : County Councillor Gasson

The power to appoint PCSOs was granted to Chief Officers through the Police Reform Act 2002. However, due to an error in the writing of the legislation, PCSOs were not given the full range of powers they required to deal with vehicles in situations that the community would expect them to (e.g. speeding, anti-social use of vehicles, directing vehicles).

As a result of guidance from the Home Office, South Wales Police was one of a number of forces in the country to accredit PCSOs with Traffic Warden powers, which was an innovative way around the legislators’ error. However, to allow PCSOs to use these powers, they had to comply with the Functions of Traffic Wardens Order 1970 and have the legend “Traffic” (and “Traffig” in Welsh) clearly displayed on their uniform.

South Wales Police initially obtained badges for PCSOs’ outer garments and then later bought epaulettes with the above legends.

In February 2009, the Home Office announced that PCSOs were no longer required to be accredited with Traffic Warden powers, or wear the

93 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 94 above legend on their uniforms, as they had now been granted full powers to deal with vehicles.

As a result of this further change, South Wales Police has had to buy new epaulettes for its PCSOs (the badges are simply removed from the outer garments).

Epaulettes are a relatively small item of uniform that are subject to regular replacement in the course of officer’s duties. The implementation of the change of epaulettes will not take place immediately. There will be a phased introduction to minimise cost over a lengthy period and the change has been included in the profiling of next years uniform budget.

The actual cost of this change is approximately £2,700, which amounts to £6.00 per officer.

In response to your second question, the six floor Cardiff Bay Police Station is the largest capital project ever undertaken by South Wales Police and provides a state of the art building with the latest technology. The 60 cell custody suite is one of the largest in the country and features the most up to date electronic control and surveillance systems.

In order to optimise the footprint available the building has an innovative design with a two floor custody suite, in order to accommodate the required 60 cells together with a large number of interview, medical, consultation rooms etc to support the processing of prisoners.

The cells are of a particularly high standard to minimise maintenance issues caused by detainees. All the cells are fit for custody purposes, however, a small number (12) are fractionally smaller than the guidelines and these would fall within acceptable tolerance levels.

Throughout the building process, South Wales Police have been in regular contact with the Home Office, through reports and visits, in relation to the custody suite and they are fully aware of the cell sizes and the improvements made.

This £20 million project has been well managed with all the usual challenges of a complex facility being addressed in a timely manner. In conclusion, there has been no reduction in the number of cells originally planned. County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 95

Supplementary Question : County Councillor Woodman

Thank you for the response Councillor Gasson. It was very interesting, and I am pleased to note that there will be sufficient cell capacity. Can I ask if there will be sufficient car parking facilities for all police vehicles at the new Station? I ask this because at Cardiff Central we continually see police vehicles parked on double yellow lines, so that tells me there is insufficient capacity there, and I am sure that the residents of Butetown would not like to see the same thing happen there. Indeed I don’t think anybody else in this Chamber would like to see it, because it has been raised here before.

Reply : County Councillor Gasson

Thank you for that supplementary Councillor Woodman. I share your concern and we’ve all seen pictures of abuses by police officers, by parking in improper places. I would be awfully grateful if you could put that supplementary in writing to me as an e-mail, and I will take it up both with the Chief Superintendent, but also more importantly with the planning people at Bridgend to make sure that we do have enough parking places for all the staff who will be employed in the new Police Station.

Question : County Councillor Berman

Whilst I very much welcome the recent application by South Wales Police for a saturation policy in relation to new licenses in the City Road area, I am concerned that such a stance has not always been evidenced in the form of police objections to recent licensing and planning applications for establishments such as pubs and late-night take-aways in the vicinity of City Road. Can I therefore request that a more consistent stance is now adopted by South Wales Police in relation to such planning and licensing applications in the City Road area, particularly as the new licensing policy, if adopted, is still likely to require objections to still be made to individual applications before they can be considered for rejection?

95 County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 25 June 2009 96

Reply : County Councillor Gasson

It has not been possible to obtain an answer the in the time available. However, I will ensure that you are either provided with a response on this matter or contacted directly by the Commander for the area, Chief Inspector Offside, as soon as possible.

Supplementary Question : County Councillor Berman

Councillor Gasson I look forward to getting the more substantive reply when it is available, but in the meantime, I just wondered if you would share my concern that there are times when, as a Ward Member, you want to object to licensing applications or planning applications on the basis that you have a very strong feeling that they will lead to anti-social behaviour problems if they are granted and yet there is no representation from the local police. I can think of, for instance, the planning application for the Varsity pub, a very large pub on Richmond Road, just off City Road, that was granted, I think, without any police objections. Yet we have had problems from people leaving that pub causing anti- social behaviour. So do you share my concern that the police aren’t always backing up what are genuine concerns, and that it would be better if they could be perhaps more consistent?

Reply : County Councillor Gasson

I do share your concern, because there was a recent licence application for an Express Tesco in my Ward in a most inappropriate place and when I pressurised my Sector Inspector on whether they were going to object, I was told it had to go through the Police Licensing Officer, and he said there wasn’t any point objecting, which I found rather strange. I’d be awfully grateful if you could put your question in writing to me via e- mail, because I’ve got a meeting, or will be having a meeting shortly, with the Crime Prevention Officers Partnership people, who are looking at crime prevention initiatives, and I think this is very relevant to all that discussion, so if you will give me an e-mail I can pass it on.

(The meeting finished at 10.15pm)