73 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 21 July, 2011 to transact the business set out in the Council Summons dated 15 July 2011. Present: County Councillor Delme Bowen, Lord Mayor (in the Chair); County Councillor Jayne Cowan, Deputy Lord Mayor. County Councillors Ali, Aubrey, Aylwin, Berman, Bowden, Bridges, Burfoot, Burns, Carter, Chaundy, Clark, Ralph Cook, Richard Cook, Cox, Kirsty Davies, Foley, Ford, Furlong, Gasson, Goddard, Goodway, Gordon, Grant, Greening, Griffiths, Clarissa Holland, Martin Holland, Hooper, Howells, Hudson, Hyde, Ireland, Islam, Jerrett, Brian Jones, Margaret Jones, Jones-Pritchard, Joyce, Kelloway, Macdonald, McEvoy, McKerlich, Montemaggi, David Morgan, Derrick Morgan, Elgan Morgan, Page, Jacqueline Parry, Patel, Pearcy, Pickard, Piper, David Rees, Dianne Rees, Robson, Rogers, Salway, Singh, Stephens, Wakefield, Walker, Walsh, Williams and Woodman. Apologies: County Councillors Finn, Lloyd, Linda Morgan, Keith Parry, Rowland-James and Smith (Prayers were offered by Professor John Morgan) 39 : MINUTES The minutes of the meeting held on 16 June 2011 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman. 40 : DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST The Chairman reminded Members of their responsibility under Article 16 of the Members’ Code of Conduct to declare any interest, & to complete Personal Interest forms, at the commencement of the item of business. (Councillor Kirsty Davies declared a personal interest in Items 4 and 16 matters relating to the Cardiff & Vale Music Service as her mother works for the Music Service. Councillor Pearcy declared a personal interest in Item 6 Estyn Inspection Report as her husband works in a Welsh Medium Secondary School in Cardiff) County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 21 July 2011 74 41 : LORD MAYOR’S ANNOUNCEMENTS (a) Microphone System, 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. (b) Awards The Lord Mayor was pleased to advise Council of the following Awards: Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation Awards 2011 The Council has received a ‘Highly Commended Award’ at the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation Awards 2011 for the Queen Street Gateways Public Realm Enhancement Scheme. Input into this scheme was made by a several Council officers: Huw Williams, Emergency Planning, Michael Barnett, Strategic Planning and Environment, Ray Hanigan and Paul Thomas, Transport Network Management team. County Councillor Judith Woodman had attended the awards with the team. Green Flag Award Congratulations to the Cardiff Harbour Authority, on the achieving the standard, once again for the Green Flag Award for the Cardiff Barrage. (c) Welcome The Lord Mayor welcomed the Chair of the Standards & Ethics Committee, Akmal Hanuk, and other Members of the Committee to Council. Council would receive the Annual report from the Committee later on the Agenda. County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 21 July 2011 75 (d) Message of Sympathy The Lord Mayor on behalf of Members expressed his condolences to the family of Guy Weinzweig following his untimely death and their sad loss. Guy was a very well respected and dedicated Officer of the Council, who passed away on 14 July 2011. The funeral would take place on 22 July 2011 in Swansea and donations were to Cancer Research Wales. (e) Get Well Soon Message Members will be pleased to hear that Councillor Brian Finn is recuperating at home after a recent spell in hospital. Councillor Bob Smith had also been in hospital again and was making good progress at home. Members best wishes were sent to Councillor Ann Rowland-James who was recovering at home from a car accident. The Lord Mayor indicated that he would write to each Member with Council’s good wishes and hoped to see them all soon. (f) Paul Orders Corporate Director The Lord Mayor advised that Paul Orders Corporate Director (Place) would be leaving the authority shortly to take up the post of Chief Executive of Dunedin City Council in New Zealand. This was a great opportunity for him and it was good to see senior figures from Cardiff being recognised with such high-level appointments. Paul will be missed and on behalf of the Council the Lord Mayor wished him all the very best for the future. Councillors Berman, McEvoy, Walker, Goodway and Robson all added their own thanks for his work with the Council and their best wishes for the future. County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 21 July 2011 76 42 : PUBLIC QUESTIONS QUESTION 1 Question: Essex Havard I understand that the Chief Schools and Lifelong Learning Officer has informed Cardiff Council Music Service staff of his intention to move the Service from The Friary to the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. The outline date for this move is September 2011. Parents and tutors have many justifiable concerns and questions regarding this proposed move. Initial feedback from parents and staff of the Music Service, amongst several issues, suggests there are major concerns regarding space available at RCWMD, the lack of a risk assessment for the move, and the timing of the proposed move (September does not allow for adequate feedback from stakeholders due to the summer holidays). Can I ask Cllr. Salway that her officers implement a proper consultation process, beginning in September 2011, in order to make an informed decision on this proposed move. Such a consultation should include all stakeholders: parents, children, Music Service staff, and both Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama staff and students? Reply: County Councillor Salway Thank you for your question. I can confirm that the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) approached Council Officers with a proposal to accommodate the Music Service at their premises on North Road and as a result officers have been in discussions with the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama about the potential for moving the Music Service from the Friary into recently refurbished and brand new facilities, state of the art premises on North Road. Discussions with the college are ongoing and once a full business case has been developed officers will report back to the Executive. Any decision on the future of the music service will only be taken following full and further consideration of the issues and in the meantime Officers have written to staff and parents updating them on the current position, clarifying that the music service will not be moving from the Friary in September, and if you are a parent you should have had a letter. County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 21 July 2011 77 Supplementary Question: Essex Havard Thank you Councillor Salway for clarifying who made the initial contact towards the move of the Cardiff and Vale Music Services into the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, I can confirm that I have had no letter from anybody in the Council about this move. However, unless full and further consideration of the issue (which are your words) means a proper stakeholder consultation, including parents, staff and pupils of the Cardiff and Vale Music Service and staff and students of the Royal College, then unfortunately you have in no way answered my question. What is the Council’s motivation for considering a potential move of the Cardiff and Vale Music Service from a purpose built orchestral space into a space which, is albeit modern and high quality, too small to accommodate the full service, and that is from staff of the service themselves; is it to save money or is it to improve the service provided to the musically talented children of Cardiff, the capital city of a cultured nation? Reply: County Councillor Salway Firstly, can I say you can have this copy of the letter, it is dated 18 July 2011 so you should have had it by now, but who can say with the Royal Mail. There are a number of reasons why it is under consideration, one of which is the fact it is, or it will be when it is up and running fully, a world ranking conservatoire, but we are aware that it cannot accommodate the full junior schools orchestra and we were looking, and we still will be looking at other options for that, so we are being quite up front with all people, and the Head of the Music Services actually, was aware of that, and in fact I have made a visit with the Head of the Music Service to the College of Music and Drama. Also it is financial, because the cost of the Friary building is astronomical believe it or not, not least the business rates that we have to pay, albeit to this Council, although I suppose it goes to the Assembly and we get some back. Business rates in the city centre, particularly near to Queen Street are very very high. So that is the truth, as I say we are considering all the issues and they won’t begin to be considered, although work will be going on whilst I am away, because I am away for 4 weeks, so certainly nothing will happen in the near future. County Council of the City & County of Cardiff 21 July 2011 78 QUESTION 2 Question: Roman Corria Will the Council's plans for libraries and leisure centres lead to an end in the provision of library and leisure services at any sites in Cardiff, which in turn may lead to job losses? Reply: County Councillor Howells Thank you Mr Corria.