MINUTES OF THE VIRTUAL MEETING OF TOWN COUNCIL HELD ON WEDNESDAY, 17 FEBRUARY 2021.

PRESENT: Councillor Aled Roberts, Deputy Mayor, Councillors E Allen, C Evans, V Gay, A B Gregory, R Lloyd, M Parry, B Pickard, Stephen Rodham J Shallcross and the Town Clerk.

123 APOLOGIES

Apologies were received from Councillor H Jones.

124 PUBLIC ATTENDANCE AT ORDINARY COUNCIL MEETINGS – PERSON WISHING TO SPEAK

There was one member of the public present.

125 CODE OF CONDUCT - DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interest.

126 PROTOCOLS AND STANDARDS

Gareth Owens, Monitoring Officer, and Matt Georgiou, Deputy Monitoring Officer, County Council presented a report and its appendices to the Council.

He explained that prior to Christmas, at the invitation of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, he had arranged a meeting, facilitated by a senior governance consultant, to help the Council draw up protocols that expanded upon the Code of Conduct and expectations about behaviour.

The Monitoring Officer reported, in particular, that the Ombudsman had never attended a meeting for a Town Council, his attendance at the meeting held on 3 December 2020 was the first time ever, as Saltney Town Council had submitted far too many complaints to the Ombudsman’s office.

Members noted the appended documents were based variously upon originals prepared by the National Association of Local Councils, the WLGA and Flintshire County Council. If adopted they would set clear written expectations for behaviour and would help to give clarity to the broad requirements within the Code of Conduct.

In conclusion to his report, it was noted that a breach of one of the requirements in a protocol would not automatically be a breach of the Code, although the Ombudsman’s office would take the Protocol into account when assessing whether a breach of the Code had occurred. More importantly, any such breach would represent a failure to meet the legitimate expectations you had of each other, and which the public had of you as their elected representatives. It was hoped that there would be collective disapproval of such behaviour and also action by the Mayor to immediately address non-compliance.

The Deputy Mayor and members of the Council thanked Gareth Owens, Monitoring Officer and Matt Georgiou, Deputy Monitoring Officer for their attendance and appreciated that it was a difficult topic to report.

RESOLVED: That

the report and the protocols be approved.

127 MINUTES

RESOLVED: That

(1) the Minutes of the special Council meeting held on Wednesday 6 January 2021 be confirmed as a correct record.

(2) the Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on Wednesday13 January 2021 be confirmed as a correct record.

128 MATTERS ARISING

There were no matters arising.

129 MINUTES OF THE FINANCE AND GENERAL PURPOSES COMMTTEE

RESOLVED: That

the Minutes of the meeting of the Finance and General Purposes Committee meeting held on Tuesday, 2 February 2021 and the recommendations therein be approved by the Council.

130 POLICE MATTERS

No representation from North Police present.

131 STREETSCENE

No representation from Flintshire County Council Streetscene present.

132 PLANNING APPLICATION

RESOLVED: That

the planning application a first-floor side extension with vehicular access below at 40 Victoria Road, Saltney be noted.

133 WELSH GOVERNMENT - CONSULTATION DOCUMENT DRAFT STATUTORY GUIDANCE - PERFORMANCE AND GOVERNANCE OF PRINCIPAL COUNCILS

This item was deferred from the Council meeting held on 13 January 2021, unfortunately, during the time between meetings the deadline for the consultation had lapsed.

It was noted that some Councillors had responded individually to the consultation.

RESOLVED: That

the deadline for feedback had lapsed due to deferment from previous Council meeting.

134 NHS, SOCIAL CARE & FRONTLINE WORKERS DAY 5TH JULY 2021

This matter was referred to the Environmental and Regeneration Committee to establish an action plan for the event, should it take place on 5 July 2021.

RESOLVED: That

the matter be referred to the Environmental and Regeneration Committee to consider the possible options for the event and report back to Council in due course.

135 ACCOUNTS

In accordance with the instructions from the Auditors, to receive a copy of the cash book and the bank reconciliation report members received for their information were the Annual Budget by Centre and the Cash Book reports.

RESOLVED: That

the reports be received.

136 NOTICE OF MOTION

(1) Notice of Motion in the name of Councillor Aled Roberts, that Saltney Town Council write to both Senedd Cymru's (Welsh Government) Minister for Economy, Transport and (Ken Skates MS at time of writing) and

Flintshire County Council to request that the Industrial/Business Areas within the Township be considered for inclusion within the Deeside Enterprise Zone.

The Deeside Enterprise Zone Area already covers a high proportion of Industrial areas within North East Flintshire from Connah’s Quay to the west and to Broughton/ Airport to the east.

The inclusion of these areas provides significant advantage to existing businesses operating within the zone and incentives to bring additional business and growth to the areas through provision of additional support available through.

Financial Incentives - Additional Grants, Reduced rate business loans, reduced business rates within the zone to small/medium and large-scale businesses. Skills Training and academia support Sector grouping of similar trades within the zone.

Improved Infrastructure investment in transportation and communications (broadband)

Adding Saltney’s Industrial and Business Estates would not only improve prosperity to businesses in the Saltney area but would also benefit the larger community with additional employment opportunities, financial investment and improvements to our transportation links and infrastructure.

With Deeside Enterprise Zone to the west and neighbouring and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership to the east offering incentives to businesses this provides a disadvantage to the Business and Industrial areas of Saltney.

Having researched into the original Deeside Enterprise Zone boundary decision there is no apparent record to why Saltney would be excluded from the zone originally.

Saltney Town Council should add the following to a 5 year’ Development plan to enable Saltney’s business community to grow.

RESOLVED: That

Saltney Town Council write to both Senedd Cymru’s (Welsh Government) Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales (Ken Skates MS) and Flintshire County Council to request that the Industrial/Business Areas within the Township be considered for inclusion within the Deeside Enterprise Zone.

(2) Notice of Motion in the name of Councillor Richard Lloyd, he had received a request from the coastal ranger asking if the Town Council would contribute £8k towards a disability friendly path as a Riverside project for the community to create a very nice circular facility through an area close to the river which has recently been cleared of brambles. This would have to be drawn from reserves, but it would help to improve a very popular area which is used by many members of the public with the added benefit of making the area accessible for wheelchair users as well.

RESOLVED: That

£5k be drawn from the £20k reserve for community projects, towards a disability friendly path as a Riverside project for the community. 137 QUESTIONS

The Clerk had received 11 questions from Councillor Allen.

Question 1 Please fully explain why my motion – to write to all political parties and to our Health Board expressing concerns over our resident’s health & wellbeing – was rejected by you as political.

Answer 1 The Notice of Motion was rejected, and reasons had been given to Cllr Allen, the Clerk also provided Cllr Allen with the relevant documented information.

Question 2 Given the appalling wait times some residents are experiencing, would the Council consider writing to the Hawarden Clinic and Betsi Cadwaladr expressing concern?

Answer 2 It was explained that Besti Cadwaladr had the best progressive figures.

Question 3 Why do you consider updating noticeboards to be impossible due to lockdown restrictions, (refused to place in our Notice Boards the OVW survey “Your town your future!” for everyone’s use) when there is in the Board a notice concerning Cllr Edwards resignation (10.12.20)?

Answer 3 The Town Council must be seen to adhering to the Coronavirus Regulations as per Welsh Government, where during the pandemic notice boards do not have to be updated. Councillor Roberts had agreed to update the notice boards once a month going forward.

Question 4 Why is prominence given to what meeting councillors attended during 2020 in our Notice Boards when no Agenda or Minutes are displayed?

Answer 4 Councillors attendance is displayed on the website, it was displayed in notice board between lockdowns to inform the public.

Question 5 The Website, last modified Jan 28, 2021 9.37 am – a. why is the information regarding October 2020 reconvened meeting still prominent? b. why does all information indicate Meetings continue to be held at the Oddfellows Hall (not virtual)? c. Why is there a statement saying the Agenda is posted in the Notice Boards monthly – when your statement on lockdown prevents that activity (and for (3) above)? d. Why is the Minutes September 2020 published with spelling-grammar and typing errors? e. why are the Minutes for October & November 2020 not available to download? f. why does the Agenda for 13.01.21 open but displays “problem with Agenda 210113-2zip” and when the “resolve” button is pressed, the excel says the page is corrupt? g. Why do we use the compressed .zip file (condensing several files into one) when the .pdf extension (given agenda and minutes are separate entries) would be more familiar to residents and easier to open on all devices?

Answer 5 (a) This has now been removed. (b) This is the wording on the template, there is also a strap line about virtual meeting. (c) As previously explained Councillor Roberts has kindly offered to do the notice boards monthly. (d) Will ensure they are corrected. (e) These are on the website.

(f) The Clerk has opened the files with no issues, she has checked with Vision ICT and there are no issues with opening the files. (g) The Clerk asked the question to Vision ICT, all files need to be zipped.

Question 6 Considering lockdown restrictions, may I ask how are you obtaining the two Cllr’s signatures required to process cheques month on month?

Answer 6 The Clerk explained that they cheques were signed by the signatories 72 hours apart.

Question 7 Why are emails (that include an information link) not tested before circulation to Councillors and/or Residents information? (No. 3 above being a recent example)

Answer 7 It is not up to the Clerk to check every link that is sent to members, if members have issues with any links they should go to the source.

Question 8 May I ask if the lanyard-ID cards (as budget authorised November 2017 and photographs taken mid 2018)) might now be made available for the May 2021 election?

Answer 8 The answer remains the same as in previous months, some Councillors have not had their photos taken and once all photos are in the lanyards can be ordered.

Question 9 Why are there no Flood Plain and no Flood Risk maps (which details roads’ names) available for Councillors and Residents reference use?

Answer 9 The Clerk suggested members should either contact National Resource Wales or Flintshire County Council.

Question 10 Please advise on the length of tenure for any Youth Councillor, and should one not be in attendance for over one year, then should they be asked to step down?

Answer 10 Tenure is normally 2 years Council would need to make a decision either to renew or not.

Question 11 The Standing Orders Review Working Party – set up February 2018 – has not met since October 2018. Given that two from that working party have since left the Council, may I enquire as to when this review might recommence?

Answer 11 This working group was not re-established by Council.

138 INFORMATION FROM THE LOCAL COUNTY COUNCIL MEMBERS

No reports given.

139 PAYMENT OF ACCOUNTS To authorise payment of the following accounts. Code Chq No. Payee Invoice Amount 4000 103096 Staff Salary - Feb 1,100.32 4002 103088 HMRC Town Clerks IT - Feb 292.00 4001 103088 HMRC Town Clerks NI - Feb 144.77 4102 103086 FCC Matched Funding 7,000.00 4103 103089 FCC Annual Rent - Allotment 100.00

4300 103090 FCC Lighting Maintenance 4.12.20 90.05 4300 103091 FCC Lighting Maintenance 11.8.20 140.05 4350 103092 Blachere UK Ltd Christmas lights 2,741.76 4008 103093 JDS Business Data Protection compliance 480.00 fee NB: Monthly 4008 SO Brymau Estates Office Rent 360.00 4008 DD Prism Telecoms 84.44 4003 DD Prism Internet provision 123.46 4008 DD Information Annual fee 40.00 annual Commissioner

The Deputy Mayor agreed to take two confidential items of urgent business. 140. EXCLUSION OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC

To pass a resolution excluding the press and public from the meeting due to the confidential nature of the business under discussion the disclosure of which would be prejudicial to the public interest under the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960.

141. PERSONNEL MATTER

RESOLVED; That

the statement with regards to the matter be noted.

142. UPDATE ON THE TOWN COUNCIL’S BANKING ARRANGMENTS

RESOLVED: That

Members noted the latest position with regard to the bank arrangements.

Chairman …………………………………………………………………………………

Date: ……………………………………………………………………………………...