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.)
Minutes:
1. Question from County Borough Councillor K. Johnson to the Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Corporate Services, County Borough Councillor T. Leyshon:
“Please can you advise of a go live date for the Electric charge points that have been installed throughout RCTCBC, with support from Cardiff Capital Region funding? These assets have been sitting idle after installation for a considerable period, when provision across RCTCBC is very limited?”
Response from County Borough Councillor Leyshon:
Councillor Leyshon agreed that the situation is frustrating but added that the Council has secured funding from Welsh Government and recently secured an additional round of U.K. Government funding, however, National Grid (formerly Western Power Distribution) have not done the connections despite the Council’s Corporate Estates ordering the facilities well within the timeframe.
Councillor Leyshon commented that in terms of the programme itself, the Council continues to focus its efforts on publicly available charging at Council car park facilities via the Cardiff Capital Region partnership. To date, over 70 EV charge points have been installed at 31 Council car parks across the County Borough at the present time. Councillor Leyshon reiterated that the Council is waiting on National Grid for the connections and Officers are working with them to try and ensure a swift and positive completion to the installation process before the end of the financial year.
In addition, Councillor Leyshon advised that the funding from the U.K. Government’s Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) has been awarded to facilitate a further phase of installations across an additional 28 Council-owned car parks throughout the County. In anticipation of future funding, the Council has proposed an additional list of potential sites for charge point installation, primarily across Council workplaces.
In conclusion, Councillor Leyshon stated that there are a variety of grant funding schemes available from Welsh Government and OZEV, which the Council is actively looking to utilise to bid for monies to put towards the cost of EV charge point installation and associated works.
There was no supplementary question
2. Question from County Borough Councillor M. D. Ashford to the Cabinet Member for Education, Youth Participation and Welsh Language, County Borough Councillor R. Lewis:
“With the Welsh Government recently announcing funding under the MIM for the new school in Pontyclun, can the Cabinet Member outline a timeframe for the works and when pupils and residents can expect the new facility to open?”
Response from County Borough Councillor Lewis:
Councillor Lewis advised of the Welsh Government granted funding approval for three new school projects, including the brand-new facility for Pontyclun Primary and added that the scheme will be delivered under the Mutual Investment Model, or MIM, which is the revenue element of the Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme (formerly 21st Century Schools and Colleges programme).
Councillor Lewis explained that the works for Pontyclun Primary, will entail that all existing buildings (including temporary classrooms) will be demolished to construct a new two-storey school building, sports and recreation facilities – including landscaping, drainage and infrastructure work. It will accommodate two rooms for nursery, two for reception, five infant classrooms, nine junior classrooms, a central ‘heart space’ area and a main hall with various supporting facilities and areas. Hard play areas will be provided externally, along with two Multi Use Games Areas (MUGAs) and other informal grass play areas. Two car park areas will support 40 spaces (10% of which will include EV charging) and extensive cycle storage will be provided. The site will also benefit from a Sustainable Urban Drainage System.
In conclusion, Councillor Lewis advised that construction of the facility commenced in December last year and is due to be completed by early 2025.
There was no supplementary question
3. Question from County Borough Councillor J. Edwards to the Leader of the Council, County Borough Councillor A. Morgan:
“Can the Leader outline what support is available to help RCT residents with the cost- of-living crisis?”
Response from the Leader of the Council, Councillor A Morgan:
Councillor Morgan advised that in terms of financial support, Council staff have provided assistance accessing the Winter Fuel Support Scheme, the Family Payments scheme (where eligible), as well as national support schemes.
Councillor Morgan commented that to date a total of £16.7m has been paid to residents and households since April 2022 in relation to the Welsh Government Cost of Living Schemes. In addition to this, £5.8m has been paid to nearly 29,000 households since October 2022 through the Welsh Government’s Winter Fuel Support Scheme. He added that the Council is doing all it can to support families and households, including offering additional financial support via the Discretionary Cost of Living Schemes. This includes the following payments:
Ø Two Family Payments (£50 & £75) to families that have children of compulsory school age;
Ø Further funds of £50,000 to make Discretionary Housing Payments to households most in need with support for their housing costs;
Ø This is in addition to the £404,000 of Discretionary Housing Payments made from the grant monies allocated to the Council by the DWP;
Ø Further to this, provided an extra £50,000 to local foodbanks to help them continue to deliver their vital work.
The Leader concluded that residents are able to request support at any time via the Community Resilience Hubs by completing a ‘request for support form’ online and support will be provided by Council Staff, Community Resilience Volunteers, 3rd Sector organisations, and community partners. Since October 2022, the Hubs have seen a total of 287 resident requests for support.
Supplementary Question from Councillor J Edwards:
“Can the Leader provide further information on the Winter Welcome Centres?”
Response from the Leader of the Council, Councillor A Morgan:
The Leader provided an update and confirmed that the Council provides support to community organisations to open as Winter Welcome Centres which are places where residents can go to keep warm, feel safe, have a chat and gain information and advice on what to do if they are struggling. There are 92 Winter Welcome Centres operating across RCT and since the centres opened late last year, an estimated 3,200 people have visited or accessed the facilities. The Leader advised that over £459,600 has been allocated to support the services available.
4. Question from County Borough Councillor S. Morgans to the Leader of the Council, County Borough Councillor A. Morgan:
“Can the Leader outline what measures are being considered to help bridge the funding gap that this Council faces in the next financial year?”
Response from the Leader of the Council, Councillor A Morgan:
The Leader commented that the budget position facing not just RCT Council, but all Councils across Wales and the U.K. is truly unprecedented. He acknowledged the Welsh Government prioritising and passporting as much money as possible to local government in the provisional settlement announced in December. However, the Leader considered this to be a sticking plaster in view of the way the Westminster Government is treating public services.
The Leader provided Council with the latest projection, that the Council is facing a £38.3m budget gap, slightly up from the £36.5m reported in September. This is due to ongoing significant cost pressures the Council is facing. The Leader stressed the importance of protecting and prioritising the Council’s core statutory services as much as possible, including schools and social care. He added that the school’s budget has already increased by 28% over the last 10 years whilst the Council’s budget has increased by 11%.
The Leader advised that phase 1 of the budget consultation process has recently closed and Officers are now working to bring a report to Cabinet before consultation takes place on the final proposals in the run-up to March. In total, 1,300 people were engaged, including 515 survey responses and 525 ‘quick poll’ responses.
The Leader provided detail around some of the consultation responses:
o 72.6% of respondents agreed the Council should fully-cover increased pay and non-pay costs in schools
o 91.7% felt the current approach to efficiencies is a good strategy
o 84.3% said that individual reviews of fees and charges is a reasonable approach
o 68.3% felt that protecting services through a reasonable Council Tax increase was preferable, and it is likely that RCT Council will once again implement one of the lowest Council Tax rises in Wales.
There was no supplementary question
5. Question from County Borough Councillor N. H. Morgan to the Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Corporate Services, County Borough Councillor T. Leyshon:
“Will the relevant Cabinet Member please make a statement on the Council’s biodiversity policy?”
Response of Councillor Leyshon:
Councillor Leyshon commented that the Council has an extensive track record in delivering biodiversity enhancements right across the County, primarily under the framework of its general biodiversity duty. She added that this will draw together all of the Council’s biodiversity work, the land use policies contained in the LDP and through Action for Nature, the local biodiversity plan which was considered by the Cabinet Climate Change Sub-Committee at its last meeting.
Councillor Leyshon outlined the Living Landscape Project which is a landscape-scale project which aims to link a network of biodiversity rich and sustainably managed sites throughout RCT with local communities. The first phase of the project focusses on 29 sites in Council ownership, located across 23 wards and includes countryside and parks, cemeteries and Council-adopted S106 sites, all of which provide crucial habitat connectivity for a range of priority species.
Councillor Leyshon explained that managing peatlands and grasslands is important both for biodiversity and carbon storage and currently 39 wards within RCT Council have areas for wildflower management. Furthermore, the Planning and Countryside teams continue to successfully secure funding & S106 contributions for schemes that restore the Council’s peatbogs and their rich habitats. A recent project in Hirwaun was highlighted in the COP26 summit.
Councillor Leyshon advised that ecological mitigation secured through planning agreement is an area that RCT Council has a significant ‘track-record’ in delivering. Long-term habitat management agreements, usually through S106, have been used to secure largescale habitat mitigation and enhancement provision. As a result, over 1,000 hectares of habitat management area has been negotiated
In conclusion, Councillor Leyshon explained that the Action for Nature programme is a web-based resource outlining current plans for nature recovery and provides information to communities and professionals. It also gives a number of habitat actions that people can take and provides case studies on a variety of local projects.
There was no supplementary question
6. Question from County Borough Councillor S. J. Davies to the Cabinet Member for Education, Youth Participation and Welsh Language, County Borough Councillor R. Lewis:
“Can the Cabinet Member make a statement on the three new school developments for the south of the County Borough?”
Response of Councillor Lewis:
Councillor Lewis refrained from providing the same detail in his response as he had done with his earlier response to Councillor Ashford in terms of the funding model and the delivery arrangements for the scheme. He added that the projects will deliver brand new education facilities at each school and will further demonstrate the Council’s significant recent investment via the Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme, formerly known as the 21st Century Schools Programme.
Councillor Lewis confirmed that Morgan Sindall (contractors) have started work at all three sites but added that there are slightly different timescales involved for Llanilltud Faerdref and Penygawsi. The first phase of the works will see the construction of the new school buildings on each site, with external works taking place once the buildings are open.
Councillor Lewis provided detailed updates for both the Llanilltud Faerdref Primary School (delivered by spring 2024) and Penygawsi Primary School (delivered by summer 2024) and described both the interior and exterior proposals at the Llanilltud Faerdref Primary School which will comprise one nursery classroom, one reception classroom, four infant classrooms and five junior classrooms – along with a central ‘heartspace’ area and main hall with various supporting facilities and areas.
Externally, there will be landscaped areas and hard and soft play areas set around the school with a total of 23 parking spaces (four of which will include EV charging) and extensive cycle storage spaces will be provided.
In the case of the Penygawsi Primary School Councillor Lewis explained that all its buildings will be demolished to construct a new two-storey building at the north-east corner of the site and will accommodate two nursery, one reception, three infant and six junior classrooms, along with a central ‘heartspace’ area and main hall with various supporting facilities and areas. Hard play areas will be provided externally, along with a grass sports pitch (7-a-side), two MUGAs and informal play areas at the southern end of the site. A total of 28 parking spaces (four of which will include EV charging) and extensive cycle storage will be provided, and the site will also include a Sustainable Urban Drainage System.
Supplementary Question from Councillor S J Davies:
“Can the Cabinet Member explain what environmental benefits the new buildings will bring?”
Response of Councillor Lewis:
Councillor Lewis confirmed that all three new buildings will be built in accordance with the Council’s Climate Change goals with the aim of achieving Net Zero carbon. This is also a required condition for the Welsh Government on all Sustainable Communities for Learning projects.
7. Question from County Borough Councillor D. Owen-Jones to the Leader of the Council, County Borough Councillor A. Morgan:
“Can the Leader please provide an update on the progress of schemes awarded funding under the Levelling Up fund?”
Response from the Leader of the Council, Councillor A Morgan:
Councillor Morgan confirmed that the Council was successful in receiving approval for three projects in Round 1 of the UK Government Levelling Up Fund in late 2021 with funding totalling £20.3 million. Councillor Morgan provided an update on the three successful bids. The first that work on the Muni Redevelopment in Pontypridd is due to start imminently following work undertaken behind the scenes by the Council’s Corporate Estates in collaboration with external partners on the design and tendering process. The A4119 Dualling –work is progressing with completion due in Spring next year. The Porth Transport Hub is also developing well and will be completed shortly. Discussions with Transport for Wales have taken place with a view to them managing the site. This will provide a major new transport interchange next to Porth railway station with bus and interchange and passenger facilities and a much-needed facility for the Rhondda Fach. The Leader confirmed all three are progressing well, two are underway with the third commencing shortly and the fourth bid awaiting UK Government approval. The Leader outlined the fourth as the Robertstown project in the Cynon Valley with the construction of much needed industrial units together with a Park and Ride facility alongside the units. The Leader concluded that the Council was eagerly awaiting the outcome of the fourth bid.
There was no supplementary question due to the lapse of the allotted time.
Supporting documents:
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