Agenda item

To receive Members questions in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 9.2.

(N.B a maximum of 20 minutes shall be allowed for questions on notice.)

The Service Director Democratic Services & Communication advised that question 5 will fall due to the absence of County Borough Councillor S Pickering

Question from County Borough Councillor G. Holmes to the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Services, County Borough Councillor G. Caple:

“Could the Cabinet Member please make a statement on delayed discharges from hospital and outline what work the Council is undertaking to assist with this?”

Response of County Borough Councillor Caple:

Councillor Caple responded by advising that Adult Social Services continues to facilitate discharges from A&E through its Stay Well at Home Service, on average 10 per week, together with ward discharges it is the single point of access and the complex hospital discharge team, on average 23 patients per week. He added that regular meetings are held with the Health Board to explore more effective discharge processes and examine individual case reviews. In order to support business continuity Adult Social Services has mobilised its workforce in order to provide support critical support.

Councillor Caple advised that an in-reach system of community-based staff has been implemented to expediate the discharge of patients, those who are in a position to leave but are waiting further assessments or support that may be provided in the community ensuring people are safe and well cared for at home. Albeit a complex process, all the skills and disciplines such as therapists, hospital discharge co-ordinators, occupational therapists, mobile responders are being utilised to ensure this system is as swift and effective as possible.

Supplementary question from County Borough Councillor G Holmes:

“If it were not for the proactive, ‘can-do’ approach taken by this council and local government in general, the problem of delayed transfers would be significantly greater for our health colleagues and further exacerbate capacity challenges faced by our health services, including the ambulance services, if it were not for our support?”

Response of County Borough Councillor Caple:

Councillor Caple agreed with Councillor Holmes comments and sentiments and advised that the Council would continue to explore different models of service provision and continue to work with partners, particularly the NHS in leading the transformation of services by using prevention and intervention measures. This may lead to some services being transferred to local government where they may best lie. In the meantime, the Council will continue to work to support an increasing number of people with more complex needs at home, in the community through the additional operating hours of the Stay Well at Home service and also to support the avoidable hospital conveyance and admissions cases.

Councillor Caple wished to recognise and express deep appreciation of the hard work and dedication of the teams within adult social services and other council services such as housing as well as the independent sector providers who have worked under extreme and sustained pressure for a considerable amount of time. Councillor Caple thanked them for going the extra mile to support the NHS.

In conclusion, Councillor Caple commented that across Wales, pressures on A&E departments and hospital services continues to increase with Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board implementing their business continuity process for 3 days in recent weeks due to the increased attendance at A&E leading to some ambulances being delayed at the acute sites. There is currently a 2-week reset period as directed by WG with daily ward rounds, daily meetings and discharge helps are being ably supported by Adult Social Services staff who will continue to work with the Health Board to ensure the safe and timely discharge of patients from hospital to the community.

Question from County Borough Councillor R. Yeo to the Cabinet Member for Education & Inclusion Services, County Borough Councillor J. Bonetto:

“How is the Council progressing investment into Bryn Celynnog Comprehensive, and a new sixth form centre of excellence?”

Response form County Borough Councillor J Bonetto:

Councillor Bonetto responded that work to redevelop the centre is progressing well and the £16.15M investment will see the creation of a new 6^th Form, teaching block and gymnasium with modern and accessible facilities which will complement the recently completed works to the 3G sports area and athletics track. Learner capacity will increase to 1.600 including 400 6^th Form learner places.

Councillor Bonetto added that the planning application will be reviewed by the Planning Committee at the end of the month which, if approved the works will commence July 2022 with completion of the building and sports facilities by July 2023 and completion of the external works completed by December 2023.

Supplementary question from County Borough Councillor R Yeo:

“How will opportunities for community use be maximised?”

Response form County Borough Councillor J Bonetto:

Councillor Bonetto advised that the additional new facilities will be available for community use. Officers of the Council are engaged with the contractor, school staff and school governors to progress the scheme and council staff are in consultation with the contractor to maximise the community benefits to provide opportunities for volunteering and work experience.

Question from County Borough Councillor J. Barton to the Leader of the Council, County Borough Councillor A. Morgan:

“What action can the Council take to improve road safety and reduce speeding traffic in local communities?”

Response from County Borough Councillor A Morgan:

The Leader advised that the local authority has the power to introduce speed control measures such as road humps and crossings but all speeding offences are a matter for the Police or that of the ‘Go Safe’ partnership who install temporary and/or permanent cameras and have responsibility for their enforcement. The local Authority can bid for funding to upgrade existing cameras, but the location of the cameras is determined by ‘Go Safe’.

Supplementary question from County Borough Councillor J Barton:

“With regards to the proposed 20mph default speed limit which Welsh Government is introducing in residential areas and around school locations, what is the cost and what are the timescales for it to be implemented?”

Response from County Borough Councillor A Morgan:

The Leader advised that the work is due to commence in the coming year and Welsh Government has allocated RCT over £1M to do the work. There is much work to determine what is and what isn’t within the 20mph zones and there will be a significant amount of signage to be changed or introduced.

Response of Councillor M Norris:

Councillor Norris advised that providing free access for Wi-Fi in the town centres has been a boost to them and should further encourage residents and businesses to shop locally. The initial pilot enabled the first roll out of free wi-fi in Aberdare followed by a further six town centres and followed by Pontypridd and Tonypandy.

Supplementary question from County Borough Councillor W Lewis:

“Can you provide some feedback from the businesses and global traders on the success of the roll out?”

Response of Councillor M Norris:

Councillor Norris advised that it is one of the many positive investments within the town centres to encourage local spend and offering further information and services to the county borough with visitors able to see the wide variety of businesses available before they visit the town centres. Traders recognise the potential for this investment in technology and footfall has generally improved in the town centres because of the roll out. Councillor Norris added that traders and businesses were grateful for the council support and advised how important it is to help town centres to become more agile and be more digitally focused to support change and the investment demonstrates once again that the council is doing all it can to support its local high streets for the benefit for whole of the community.

Question from County Borough Councillor S M Powell to the Cabinet Member for Education & Inclusion Services, County Borough Councillor J Bonetto:

“How is this Council progressing plans for a new primary school for the pupils of Tonysguboriau?”

Response from County Borough Councillor J Bonetto:

Councillor Bonetto responded that the council has commenced the funding process for a new 300 place Primary School to replace the current school buildings with a brand-new state of the art, net zero carbon, 21^st Century building on the existing school site. She advised that proposals are in the early stages with a business case to secure a mutual investment model, funding via Welsh Government’s Sustainable Communities for Learning (formerly 21^st Century Schools Programme) having recently been submitted to Welsh Government. Subject to funding and planning approval it is helped to deliver the new school building by 2025.                                     

No Supplementary

Question from County Borough Councillor S. Bradwick to the Leader of the Council, County Borough Councillor A. Morgan:

“Can the Leader of the Council provide an update on the progress of flood alleviation scheme bids for the forthcoming year please?”

Response from County Borough Councillor A Morgan:

“Councillor Morgan spoke of the huge amount of work which has been carried out to date since Storm Dennis in terms of upgrading culverts. The Leader explained there are two different types of funding sources, through new bids for upgrading the existing infrastructure, through resilient roads of through the flood risk management team submitting bids with over £40M having been secured in the last two years with further bids submitted in the year ahead in the region of between £67M. The other funding is from WG for the recovery and damage from Storm Dennis, replacing river walls within the Council’s ownership, repairing damage to highways and bridges. He added that the outcome of the bids will be known shortly.

The Leader advised of the recent bids such as flood risk management (£7M), bids for resilient roads (£1-1.5M) and the flood recovery works (£16-18M) for larger works.

Supplementary question from County Borough Councillor S Bradwick:

“Please can you provide an update on the funding for the future for coal tips?”

Response from County Borough Councillor A Morgan:

The Leader confirmed that the council has spent in excess of £7M tackling coal tips, Tylorstown in particular with the fourth phase commencing shortly subject to planning permission. Stabilisation work has been carried out on Wattstown tip with funding from Welsh Government.  There are a number of other sites where the council has installed  monitoring equipment, tried and tested equipment and new technology, in other areas ground testing work is being carried out to test whether they need to be regraded. The Leader expected that there would be further work on how to tackle tips in the future with the need of millions of pounds of investment to support this work through Welsh Government as the UK Government is not prepared to support this work.