Transcript
You have been summoned to attend the meeting of the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff on the 27th of June 2024 for the purposes set out in the summons.
This meeting will be recorded on the Council's website. The whole of the meeting will be recorded except where there are confidential or exempt items.
A copy of the recording will also be retained in accordance with the Council's data retention policy.
I also ask that Members are respectful of each other at all times during the debates.
Could you please indicate in advance if you wish to speak in Welsh in order to give Members time to access the English simultaneous translation if they wish to do so.
I gather that if you are in the Chamber for the simultaneous translation, please set your microphone to English and if you are joining remotely, go to Channel 1. Thank you.
My colleagues, we are reminded that we are currently in a pre-election period until the close of poll on the 4th of July 2024.
During this period, ordinary Council business can continue but this may become increasingly politicised.
The Council must take special care not to issue any publicity which may be seen as creating a political advantage or disadvantage for any candidate or political party,
or which influences voters in the general election, or which suggests the use of Council resources for political purposes.
As Council meetings are webcast to the general public, this means that any political debate during this meeting may breach the pre-election rules,
making the decisions vulnerable to legal challenge and potentially placing individual Members in breach of the Members Code of Conduct.
The agenda items for this Council meeting have been carefully selected to avoid any politically controversial matters,
and Members are strongly advised to refrain from political comments and debate at this meeting,
having careful regard to the pre-election period restrictions and they have shown me how to turn you all off.
The first item on the agenda is apologies for absence. We have had apologies from Councillors Davies, Councillor Henshaw, Councillor Taylor, Councillor Schimming, Councillor Waldron and Councillor Jackie Jones.
Are there any other apologies?
Councillor Parry wasn't sure if she was able to come or not, so I'm not sure if she's online, but if she isn't, please pass on her apologies as well.
We have just been advised that the ICT officers and the VP AV are supporting this meeting and should any remote attendees have any issues,
if you please contact Gary Jones as advised in the email that he circulated before the meeting,
and they will tap into the expertise of sitting outside. Thank you.
The second item on the agenda is our declarations of interest.
Members are reminded of their responsibility under paragraph 10 and 11 of part 3 of the Member's Code of Conduct
to declare any interest at the commencement of the meeting and complete personal interest forms.
Even if you have completed an annual form, there is a need to declare any disclosable interest at this meeting.
This is especially important for recording the interest in the minutes.
Moving on to item three, subject to an amendment to item 131 in the minutes of the Annual Council meeting held on 23 May 2023,
may we approve them as a correct record, please?
Aye.
Now, I am absolutely thrilled today to welcome our new Councillor for Grangetown, Councillor Waheed Abdul-Satar,
and I'm trying to find you there, great, to her first meeting following the by-election on Thursday 25 April 2024.
May I invite Councillor Satar to say a few words?
Thank you, Deputy Lord Mayor and the Cardiff Councillors for welcoming me to the Council following the Grangetown by-election.
As you can imagine, it has been a difficult time for me and my family, with the sudden passing of my husband, an amazing father to our four children, Abdul.
I'd like to thank you all for the kind messages of support you all sent.
I'd also like to thank you to all my Labour colleagues for the help and support they gave through this election,
especially Linda, Ashley, Sarah, Hugh and Stephen.
I shall always be grateful for all the help you've given me.
Lastly, I'd like to thank the people of Grangetown.
Abdul loved helping people no matter where they were from or what beliefs they had.
To him, everyone was equal.
The outpour of votes that I received on the 25th showed me how much you loved him all, so thank you Grangetown for allowing me to continue his legacy.
Thank you.
Thank you and you're very welcome.
We have one public question. I am looking for Ruben.
The question is from Mr Ruben Kellman to Councillor Mary.
Mr Kellman, would you like to ask your question?
I ask the Deputy Lord Mayor, how is the Council protecting school budgets across our city?
Councillor Mary, would you like to respond?
Thank you Ruben and thank you, Lord Mayor. Approximately 42% of the Council's total budget is spent on schools.
And of this, around 86% is delegated to schools in Cardiff, which is the highest delegation rate in Wales.
Excluding home to school transport, our delegation rate in 23/24 was 90%.
In this year's budget, schools received a 4.3% uplift of £12.8 million a year to help deal with rising costs.
This matched the Welsh Government's funding increase to the Council and removed the budget requirement for efficiency savings.
Budgeted net revenue expenditure on education in Cardiff increased from £307 million in 22/23 to £339 million in 23/24,
which was an increase of 10.4%, the second highest increase in Wales.
Schools budgeted expenditure increased by 10.5%, from £3.64 million in 22/23 to £403 million in 23/24,
the fourth highest increase in Wales.
From 2019 to 20 to 24 to 25, delegated schools budgets in Cardiff increased by around £66 million, from £241 million to £307 million,
with annual increases between 2.61% and 9.76% during this period.
Is there a supplementary?
Please, Deputy Lord Mayor. I love a statistic, but the reality on the ground is school budgets aren't being protected.
Clinician High have just set a deficit in excess of £350,000, as have many other secondaries in the city,
despite best efforts by our senior leaders and our governors to protect our anti-poverty schemes,
like our free 4pm bus that allows all pupils to access extracurricular activities.
We've got no money for any sort of maintenance to our crumbling estate.
Councillors Hunton were actually with me today to see the state of our school building.
It's going to be drafty windows for a long while yet, as there's no sign of a new school building.
And that isn't to mention no action still, after three years on our dismal bus services that are directly harming attendance.
Stronger, fairer, greener, this situation is anything but, and it's most definitely not child-friendly.
Cabinet Member, is it therefore not the time?
Mr Calman, please forgive me. We are in a pre-election period,
and we are really not allowed to go into any more detail and discussion with matters that can be considered political.
So for today, I'm going to close you down. My apologies.
Thank you, Deputy Lord Mayor.
Item 5 on the agenda is one about petitions, and I'm delighted to tell you,
or perhaps I shouldn't be delighted, but I can confirm that we don't have any valid petitions today.
The next bit is my moment of glory when we tell you about the events that the Lord Mayor has attended over the past couple of weeks.
But of course, I've been doing it on behalf of our Lord Mayor, Jane Henshaw.
I've attended a Seafarers Remembrance Service, an LGBT+ memorial service in Llandaff,
a Philippines Independence Day flag-raising ceremony, a royal gun salute for His Majesty's birthday,
an annual events tour for St John's Ambulance Cymru, a tour to Barchester, and I've also attended the Cardiff Mellor,
and several citizenship ceremonies at the Mansion House.
I would like to congratulate those members of Cardiff Council who have been awarded honours in the King's birthday list.
So the congratulations go to our own Ken Poole, who's been awarded an MBE.
He's head of the economic development, and he received his MBE for services to economic and community development in Cardiff.
Karen O'Donoghue-Harris has also been awarded an MBE for services to life saving.
You may have noticed that we did not have prayers this morning, this afternoon,
as we would normally do, and that is because the Reverend Canon Stewart-Liss is currently taking a well-deserved rest in Pembrokeshire.
He has been awarded a BEM, which is again the British Empire Medal,
for his services to community cohesion and to charity, and for his work with the Council here.
Letters of congratulations to all the people on the King's birthday honours from Cardiff have been sent by the Lord Mayor to them.
Coming back to the Reverend Canon Stewart-Liss,
he has served as an honorary chaplain here since the annual Council meetings in May 1992,
when it was originally the South Glamorgan County Council, and then he continued when it became the County Council.
He is also chaplain to the Lieutenant of South Glamorgan, and during 2022-23 he was also chaplain to the High Sheriff.
He is instrumental to the successful delivery of many of the Council's civic events,
and his advice, dedication and support is hugely appreciated.
We are missing him today, and I would like, since we are at the start of a new municipal year,
and things are slightly interesting out there in the big bad world,
to read the first verse of the late Queen's favourite poem, which feels appropriate.
It was read by her father, King George VI, at his Christmas speech in 1939,
and it begins, And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year,
'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.'
And he replied, 'Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.'
So I went forth, and finding the hand of God, trod gladly into the night,
and he led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone east.
I think it's something we need to remember occasionally.
We also very much want to thank Taylor Swift for her donation to the Cardiff Food Bank.
It's the largest donation that charity has ever received from an individual.
It will provide the equivalent to feeding 1,200 people three meals a day for three days,
and assist in meeting the recent increase in demand.
We are very, very grateful to her.
And I'm sure we all want to wish our Lord Mayor a speedy recovery.
She has sent her apologies following major surgery.
She is now at home and recovering well, but can't wait to get back to earth.
We also would like to wish those of our fellow councillors,
who have also been in hospital, a swift return to good health.
Finally, we would like to acknowledge former Councillor Lieutenant-Colonel Gareth Neill,
who passed away on the 29th of April 2024, aged 89.
He was first elected to the Cardiff District Council in 1979 for Robina,
and was made Lord Mayor in 2006.
And he served until 2008.
We're moving on to item 7.
If you need simultaneous translation,
this might be the time to make sure that you've set yourself up for it.
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Will you please propose the report?
Our leader.
Thank you, Deputy Lord Mayor.
It's lovely to have you cheering with us this evening.
This is the annual report on the Welsh Language Standards 2023 to 2024.
And this is traditionally the item in our meeting,
where everyone will make a contribution in Welsh.
And I think this is an opportunity to remind everybody,
including myself in this,
to use a little bit more Welsh on other items as well as this item.
Anyway, the preparation and publication of this document
are statutory requirements under the Welsh Language Standards.
The statutory publication date is the 30th of June.
The report reflects all of the work done by the Council and its partners
in meeting the Welsh Language Standards
and the implementation of the Bilingual Cardiff Strategy.
I would like to draw your attention in particular to the new policy document,
which can be found in Appendix 2.
Policy development and compliance with the Welsh Language Standards.
This policy has been drafted to support Council officers
to make conscientious effort to consider all of the possible impacts
on the Welsh language when any policies are developed and amended.
I won't list all of the numerous achievements within the report,
but just a summary, perhaps.
It was good to see that there's been further increase
in the number of staff who do have Welsh skills, over 400.
And this now represents over a quarter of all of the workforce
who are registered on DigiGov.
And strikingly, the number of Council staff with the required level
of Welsh skills to deliver services in Welsh, three or above,
has grown further by 32% since last year.
These outcomes demonstrate the positive impact that the Council has had
in promoting the Welsh language and the commitment of the workforce
to learn and, more importantly, use the language when offering
bilingual services of the highest standard to Cardiff citizens.
There was also a greater focus on collaboration with partners
in Cardiff and across the south-east region.
For example, the partnership was launched to support
the regional Welsh Education Champion role and was branded Camaraghibow,
or Welsh for All, to promote Welsh medium education across the south-east,
with Cardiff Council playing a leading role in this important work.
In its first year, the partnership has already delivered
on a number of projects, including promoting Welsh medium education
to black and ethnic minority communities,
as well as additional learning needs provision through the medium of Welsh.
You can see the wide range of the Welsh education promotional work
taking place on a regional level by going to the new website,
welshforall.wales.
As well as this work, Bilingual Cardiff also chairs
and holds a series of subgroups to support delivery on individual objectives
in the bilingual Cardiff strategy and also within the Welsh
in Education Strategic Plan, or the WESP for short.
These groups enable discussion and development of these objectives
with specialist partners from Bilingual Cardiff Forum
and the Welsh in Education Forum.
It was good to see the Welsh language youth provision being further developed
and expanded under the CFT brand.
There are now 19 Welsh medium youth sessions being held every week
across Welsh and English medium colleges and schools
with the support of youth services in Cardiff and mentored Cardiff
and youth workers.
The brand new website, indinaStYaith or our city or language,
was launched this year on St. David's Day offering a one-stop shop
for all Welsh language opportunities and activities in Cardiff.
I'm so sorry, but I'm not sure whether the translation is working.
Is that right?
A lot of people have taken their earphones out.
It is working.
Is there anybody who is struggling with it working?
Okay, sorry.
Apologies for that.
There are some people still having trouble.
They are struggling as well.
Just testing the translation equipment.
Is that coming through okay?
There we are.
Okay, almost at the end of the speech.
And way better to engage with the Welsh language.
Hopefully the translation is coming through.
But whether it is or not, way better to enjoy Welsh
than the Welsh language festival in Cardiff.
This is now taking place on the 13th and 14th of July next month.
So in just over a fortnight.
And I extend a warm welcome to all of you to join me
in one of the main Welsh language festivals of Wales now.
Something which is supported by Cardiff Council
to fully immerse yourself in the language
and the culture that we have which is so unique to Cardiff.
And as we always will, something to be celebrated
in one of the truly bilingual cities of the world.
Welsh language does belong to all of us.
Whether we speak it or not.
And using however much Welsh you do have
is an important step towards realizing that vision
of creating a truly bilingual Cardiff.
So the annual report demonstrates a lot of important progress.
And it's a pleasure to present the report.
Thank you very much.
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I believe that Councillor Jamie Green will second it.
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Jamie, [INAUDIBLE]
If you might be able to turn your camera off.
Camera off?
Yeah.
OK, then we'll just hear your voice.
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Can you hear me now?
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Second it, please.
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It's lovely to see you from home tonight.
It's a pleasure to second this evening's report,
a report that shows that the council is developing
on its commitments to the language across the city.
Not only is the Welsh language growing
in terms of the people learning to speak it,
it is also becoming more influential.
I'm so sorry, Jamie.
I'm going to accept that you have seconded the motion,
and I'm going to move on to the debate.
And I'm going to pray that the people who are online
will be slightly clearer than your transmission has been.
So anybody, can I move now to the debate, please?
And will you please press your Speak button on your microphone
or on your screen if attending remotely,
and you'll be added to the speaker's list.
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Councillor Melbourne.
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Thank you, and [INAUDIBLE]
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I'm pleased to respond to the achievements in the Welsh
language report for the past year.
The report highlights Cardiff's ongoing commitment
to promoting and integrating the Welsh language
within Cardiff Council and the wider community.
So thank you to everybody who has worked towards the million
speaker target.
Wow, thanks to the translation services.
They translated over 14 million words last year,
achieving 99.8% or almost 100% of the work on time.
This efficiency demonstrates the dedication
to bilingual communication.
It's good to see that the number of staff with Welsh skills
has increased by 35% since 2022 to 2023.
As Hugh mentioned, it was great to see over 1,700 council staff
taking part in Welsh language training courses last year,
an increase of 11%.
It was pleasing to read that over 450 staff
attended formal courses delivered
by Cardiff Academy and the National
Centre for Learning Welsh.
Well done to the nearly 1,000 staff
who completed the Welsh language awareness e-module.
It was good to see that there were 52 roles advertised
as Welsh essential and over 1,000 jobs advertised as Welsh
desirable by the council last year.
This approach supports the aim of integrating and normalising
the Welsh language in professional settings.
The South East Wales Welsh Language Education Champion
Partnership was launched in 2023 to 2024
to promote Welsh medium education with funding
from Welsh government, and it has made substantial headway
to further promoting Welsh medium placements.
Deal also to Welsh youth provision in Cardiff,
which is supported by three Welsh youth officers
in partnership with Cardiff Youth Service,
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
Fantastic work being done for everyone across the city.
The Welsh Career Fair, [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
was a wonderful event held at Cardiff and Vale College
with over 300 year nine pupils in attendance.
A great opportunity for Cardiff pupils
to discover the value of a career in Welsh.
Thank you very much.
I know that you haven't finished,
but I want to give somebody else a chance to speak.
Congratulations on successfully promoting Welsh events
such as Welsh Music Day, St. David's Day,
Shamay Day, and Welsh Language Rights Day across the council.
Perhaps next year we can celebrate these
in the chamber too.
So following on from the success is outlined,
we as elected representatives are proud of these achievements
and can do to be committed to supporting the Welsh language
and the culture in our communities.
Thank you to all of you.
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
I think that-- would you like to support us, Councillor?
I'm going to read this on behalf of Jamie Green,
Councillor Jamie Green.
Thank you, Deputy Lord Mayor.
It's lovely to see you in the chair this evening.
It's a pleasure to second this report,
a report which demonstrates that the council is delivering
on its commitments to the language across the city.
Not only is the Welsh language growing
in terms of the people learning to speak it,
but it is also becoming more influential.
Indeed, at Principality Stadium last week,
we learned that the world's biggest pop store
is even speaking it now.
I'll have to check what are Swifties in Welsh,
but I'm definitely one of them.
Inside the council, the language is growing well.
The number of speakers has increased by 35%
over the past year, meaning that more than a quarter
of the workforce now speaks Welsh.
More than 1,700 of the workforce have attended Welsh courses,
and more than 500 attend regular lessons
with the support of the council.
I also aware that Councillor Hunter started going to lessons,
so Paul looked to him on his Welsh language journey.
These numbers are important because it is vital
that the council reflects the people that we serve.
In the city itself, the report shows the council's positive work.
For example, the council has supported events such as Tarvoil,
which is growing year on year.
More places in Welsh medium schools
to meet the growing demand across the city.
The website Ain't Dina St Jaith
to help people to find opportunities
to use the Welsh language in our capital city.
And I was happy to hear about the Welsh language career fair
just to find out how they can use Welsh in their future.
If Wales is to reach its target of 1 million speakers by 2050,
Cardiff has an important role to play.
This report shows that the council takes this job very seriously,
and I'm grateful to the officers carrying out this work.
Finally, every year I encourage councillors
to use their camraig more in the chamber.
It's good to see that councillors like me,
Councillor Proctor, Taylor Davis, and of course Councillor Thomas
have made contributions in Welsh this year outside of this debate.
It was just me before, so I'm delighted that more councillors
are using their right to speak in two languages in the chamber.
I'm encouraging more of the same this year,
and I'm happy to commend this report.
[applause]
Thank you. Just to sum up the discussion,
I think this has been a very convenient item to have in a meeting
where we can't be political,
as there is cross-party support to increase the use of the language
in the council, so thank you to everybody,
and thank you to Councillor Melbourne for her contributions,
and thank you to Councillor Proctor for stepping in,
reading the speech in Welsh,
and thank you to Jamie for his words.
Councillor Melbourne had referred to these sessions
and carried out with our comprehensive schools
to promote the use of the Welsh language for their careers.
The event, as if I believe, was held back in Cardiff and Vale College,
and one event which I didn't mention,
but which was supported by Bilingual Cardiff,
was the Kertant Festival,
which was also held in the college back in November last year.
It was the first time the Kertant Festival came to Cardiff in 40 years.
It was a sweeping success,
introducing this Welsh unique tradition to a new generation of people in the city,
so hopefully having the Koil Kertant at the festival,
we can have that back soon in future.
I just wanted to add two things.
Firstly, I think with the Deputy Lord Mayor
chairing with the Medium of Welsh,
I think this is a historic moment.
I don't remember anybody chairing through the Medium of Welsh before,
so thank you very much for doing that, Deputy Lord Mayor,
and just to thank the Bilingual Cardiff team
for the work that they do throughout the year,
promoting the Welsh language,
as well as the very important statutory work,
but also translating 14 million words,
bringing almost 600,000 in external income into the council as well,
which is good news for all of us, I think.
So I think that's all for tonight.
Thank you, Deputy Lord Mayor.
On your report, we do actually have to vote on it,
so I'm now going to pass onto the officer to start the vote.
Thank you, Deputy Lord Mayor, Councillors.
We will now vote on the recommendations as outlined in the report.
If you are for the recommendations, please select yes.
If you're against the recommendations, please select no.
Or if you wish to abstain, please select abstain.
And I will start the vote now.
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The report is carried.
Thank you.
The next item on my list is the Democratic Services Annual Report,
and I believe that Councillor Lancaster intends to propose it, sir.
Thank you, Deputy Lord Mayor.
It has been a privilege to chair the committee over this past year.
The report goes through in some detail the work that has been undertaken in that time,
and I'll just highlight a few of the key achievements regarding members' inquiry service.
This is one of the key services provided by elected members,
which assists us all to manage our casework.
The Democratic Services Committee has undertaken an active role
in ensuring the usability and effectiveness of the system.
All inquiries are monitored by the member services team who chase, escalate,
and report performance of the response times.
An online portal to enable members to initiate their inquiries more easily
was created in March 2023.
The portal was reviewed in June prior to the rollout of the corporate compliments,
complaints, and inquiry system on Halo.
The corporate system and processes provided immediate improvements.
These include a reduction in the response time due to enhanced monitoring
and reporting facilities.
The improved monitoring facilities are also able to identify processes
and support challenges which are regularly reviewed,
and any necessary improvements are implemented.
The Democratic Services Committee has been instrumental in the improvements
made to the Council's conferencing system.
We have received several reports outlining the issues that have been experienced
and directing the actions needed to address them.
In Committee Room 4, where most committee meetings are held,
the conferencing system has been improved with the installation of a fixed system
with audio enhancement and device connectivity.
The conferencing software has been upgraded,
which has resulted in easier and more secure access for remote attendees.
But as we've seen already this evening, remote attendance at meetings continues
to provide a significant challenge due to the necessary integration
of complex components, provision of a robust network connection,
appropriate ICT security, and the individual's device capability,
updates, and use.
This has required greater collaboration between the provider,
Democratic Services, and the Council ICT team
to ensure that the system operates as effectively.
Regarding member development, a program to support all councillors
and provide opportunities for collective and individual learning
was planned and delivered.
During this year, Council approved the mandatory completion
of key member induction modules within six months.
These modules reflect legislation to be considered by elected members
when undertaking their role.
All mandatory modules have been successfully completed
within the prescribed time scale.
A wide range of member development sessions have been provided
to support members in their role via a variety of delivery methods,
including face-to-face, online briefings using MS Teams,
and the Council's eLearning facility.
Regarding personal safety for elected members,
the Authority has continued the use of PeopleSafe
to support the loan working protection,
not only for elected members, but for all the Council's loan workers.
It was especially pleasing to learn that the LGA has identified
Cardiff Council's process for supporting the personal safety
of elected members as an exemplar of good practice
and used it to provide a case study for their website.
Public engagement has improved by a pilot,
which has been undertaken for school visits to County Hall
to increase awareness of the importance of electoral registration
and the decision-making processes of the Council.
The pilot was supported by the Lord Mayor,
Cabinet member and the relevant ward member.
The pilot was successful, and further dates were identified in 2024
to continue this engagement with several schools with Cardiff Citizens First.
Relevant ward members will also be requested to support these events.
Regarding the fall of the plan for 2024,
there will be more support for the participation strategy.
Continued development of the Council's conferencing system
and members' enquiry system.
Review of the elected member learning and development strategy.
Review of the members' ICT protocol.
Development of the research protocol for elected members.
Scrutiny services will be enhanced by the continued development
of scrutiny processes to enhance the engagement
and participation of the public in security activities.
And there will also be a self-assessment of the scrutiny function.
So to summarise, the whole team has worked tirelessly
and at times beyond what could normally be expected
of them to deliver positive outcomes
that have supported all elected members
and the good governance arrangements of the authority.
To ensure that positive outcomes continue to be achieved,
some re-profiling of the team is required in the forthcoming year,
which will enhance the support of elected members and the authority.
I'll conclude by placing on record my thanks
to the whole Democratic Services team
for their continual hard work and support,
not only of the committee, but of us all as councillors.
Thanks also to the members of the committee
for your contributions, both during and outside of meetings.
I'm happy to take any questions.
We will now move on to any questions and comments.
I know that Councillor Bradbury has already pressed his button to speak.
So can we start with Councillor Bradbury
and then Councillor Wood and Councillor Berman.
Thank you, Deputy Lord Mayor,
and thank you, Councillor, for your work on this committee
and to all the members of the committee
and otherwise a thorough and detailed report.
My question is on security and members
and I understand the work that people are safe for doing
and around not just the rest,
but for other loan workers here at the council.
I still think this needs a little bit more work
and I don't think it's anybody's fault.
I think we're learning more about this,
but as I look in other responsibilities that I have in another life
in terms of what MPs and MSs get in terms of support from the local police,
it is more further than it is for ourselves
and more importantly for the staff who work for us
who are putting obviously at the front line in often difficult cases.
And I know in your own group, John,
there's been issues with members who've had issues.
I myself have had some issues in the past
where I've been put in some very difficult situations
and I know other members, I won't name names,
who come to me from my group who find this an increasingly difficult aspect of the job.
Could you commit on behalf of your committee
and also the demographic service team
to look at this area and see what more we can do
to build on the excellent work that people are safe for doing
with local police to ensure that members and those people who work for us
and are lone workers and are put in vulnerable positions
are as protected as they possibly can
given the society that we're now living in.
Once again, I echo your words congratulating the committee and the staff
who do fantastic work in this area.
Thank you, Councillor.
Councillor Wood.
Thank you, Deputy Lord Mayor.
In regard to the member inquiry system,
the report notes only about 39% of inquiries were registered by members using the self-serve.
I certainly found it a great improvement in the new system.
I was just wondering, has there been any feedback listed so far from members
regarding the self-serve system
and any barriers or issues identified that may be preventing wider uptake and use?
Also, regarding resident satisfaction,
it never been reduced with delays in obtaining and being provided with responses.
The report shows that the average time exceeded the 10-day target in every quarter.
I was interested to know, though, some more about the distribution of response times
contributing to those averages,
particularly if it is due to long delays in providing responses to a small number of inquiries
or is it more moderate delays across a larger proportion?
Perhaps in future reports, maybe providing a percentage of inquiries
which are responded to within the 10-day target
may be a useful thing in addition to the average delay.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Councillor Burman.
Thank you, Deputy Lord Mayor.
I also wanted to talk about the member inquiry system.
I tend to find that it does work well
and I think it's an improvement on the previous version of the system.
But sometimes I'm not sure we always get quite the best result from it,
so I'm just wondering as to what we do to assess that
and whether we do pick up any problems with it.
For instance, I was previously led to believe that the system would flag
if responses were outstanding and hadn't been responded to
and then member services staff could then chase up a response on behalf of members
to make sure the service areas are responding.
But colleagues tell me that they don't think that's always the case,
so maybe that's something that we could look at.
I have noticed sometimes, for instance, that staff and service areas don't use it appropriately
and sometimes they just put comments in about something needing to be followed up or whatever
and then the inquiry gets closed down because they close it down
and then it doesn't get followed up.
So again, there are a few problems that maybe we need to iron out
and I've also on occasions come across staff in some service areas
who are not using the system properly and just responding directly
rather than necessarily putting it on the system, and that sometimes makes it hard
to keep on track of things.
The other issue I have, though I don't know if it's necessarily through the system as such,
but I find that very often when responses come back from service areas,
they've anonymised them in that you maybe have written on behalf of, say,
Mrs Jones of 15 High Street, but when the response comes back,
there's no referencing it to Mrs Jones or where she lives.
You've just given a reference number and that does slow you down a little bit
because you have to then try and do a search on the system, search on the reference number,
try and find your original query so you can work out who to send the reply back to
and I'm just wondering if there's anything we can do that might make that a little bit easier.
Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Berman.
Councillor Lancaster, you don't actually have to respond, but if you wish to, you may.
Who'd pass up the chance to be on our webcasting service?
We need to improve participation and here I am.
Hello, everybody.
Councillor Bradbury, yes, there are some valid ball points made on members' safety.
We do have the PeopleSafe system, which I alluded to.
Only 19 members out of all of us are registered and I think you pointed yourself there as well.
So yes, I would encourage everyone, if you wish, to register with PeopleSafe.
It's looking at helping to protect people.
I'm sure there are ways at which that could be enhanced as well.
So yes, I encourage that to everybody.
Councillor Wood, you mentioned the members' enquiry system.
They have already had some feedback to it.
I think the portal has already been found easy to use and functioning well on mobile devices
and things like that, so feedback has already been received on that.
But yes, I appreciate there are varying response times, which I think can be,
according to department or queries, some queries are by nature more complex,
so that does cause a variation in response times.
But the reporting of those response times enables, in itself,
enables the response times to be improved according to departments
because it allows more accurate pinpointing of data according to which departments
are able to respond quicker and all that sort of thing.
So that's the whole point of having that feedback, but a good point definitely.
Councillor Berman also mentioned the members' enquiry system chasing up responses,
looking at ways to do it better, and some enquiries being shut down prematurely
and with anonymised responses.
So I'm sure there are ways which we could feedback via the committee
to improve ways that the members' enquiry system is used and reported back on.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Councillor Lancaster.
Is the report noted?
I think we can assume it's noted. That's brilliant. Thank you.
I'm going on to Item 9, which is the Corporate Parenting Advisory Committee annual report.
This is another report that we just have to note it.
I believe that Councillor Lister is going to propose it.
Brilliant deal, Deputy Lord Mayor. Apologies. That's probably going to be the extent of my Welsh this evening.
I'm really, really pleased to stand before Council this evening and propose this year's corporate parenting annual report
and just really to stand here and have the opportunity to remind everyone in the Chamber
that it is everybody's responsibility to the children that are in our care
that we do our very, very best to make sure they receive the best possible services
whenever they engage with the Council once they become in our care,
but also at that very, very delicate period where actually our social workers are working with the families
to try and prevent them from becoming looked after.
It's not a decision that is taken lightly and our social workers do a fantastic job in very, very difficult circumstances often.
I would probably want to start by thanking Councillor Mary, the Deputy Leader, for continuing to chair the panel
and actually giving it that status amongst us as Councillors, recognising that it is an extremely important committee.
New members came on since the 2022 elections and I get regularly informed
that they are some of the more interesting meetings that this Council hosts,
but actually that's because of the opportunity for us to speak directly to children and young people
who are care experienced who tell us actually if we are doing a good job or not.
There is nothing like the filter of a young person who has gone through some difficult and challenging periods
and is coming out the other side in the sense that it doesn't often exist as a filter.
The report before you is, as many reports have seen, a standard annual report
that actually encompasses a lot of the work that the committee has done over the last year,
supported very, very ably by officers.
It covers our attendance and training as members, the engagement with our children and young people,
as I just mentioned, that is probably the key part of the work this committee does,
is sitting down, listening to our children and young people that we look after
and ensuring that we are doing our very, very best for them.
The activity and monitoring of the committee, many members go out regularly to meet with officers,
to meet with our residential homes to actually make sure that we've got that first-hand insight and experience as well,
so we can continue to have that eye on the ball at all times.
The report also covers the Bright Sparks Awards, which for those of you who have attended
will know actually how much that means to the young people.
They're key in organizing the event themselves, but it's an opportunity for them to come together,
put on an event just to celebrate their achievements in the same way that many of us would have celebrated with our families.
It's an opportunity for them to celebrate with their families, both their birth families, foster families,
the residential care families, social workers, and us as members to show that despite the adversity they often face,
they can come out the other side very, very strongly and ably.
Actually, I very much remember my first Bright Sparks Award seven years ago,
and I was given an award to present and then heard that it was about a young person who had sadly passed away.
Actually, it's such a moving, moving event, and it isn't an event that is limited to members of the committee either,
and I would actually encourage members when the awards comes up at the end of this year,
if you see a diary marker come out, please come out and attend it.
Please come out and enjoy the evening with the multiple people who are there.
So just a final thank you again to the members of the committee and our fantastic staff who do great work day in and day out.
And just that reminder that corporate parenting is not a responsibility just of Children's Services,
or myself as the cabinet member for Children's Services.
It's all of our responsibilities on a daily basis.
Thank you, Councillor Ooster.
I cannot see anybody who has pressed the speak button, but if anybody does want to speak, Councillor Driscoll, over to you.
Yes, thank you, Deputy Lord Mayor, and firstly, thank you for the annual report.
And thank you to all the Councillors who sit on the Corporate Parenting Advisory Committee,
also the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee for their work in help to inform and shape the report.
I note the success of the Bright Sparks Awards and congratulations to everyone receiving awards.
And I'm pleased the committee has set five priorities moving forward and just hope they can achieve those.
I was pleased to accept an invitation this week to attend with Councillor for Boot Town, Margaret Lewis,
to the School Governor Training Seminar at Cardiff West Community High School,
to understand and discuss the children looked after virtual school and the work that they do.
And I do draw Councillors who have not had the presentation to see it.
Now, Deb Williams, who runs a scheme and a team, spoke passionately about the great work they do
to enhance opportunities for our looked after children.
Now, I know that Welsh Government put funding into the scheme two years ago as a pilot scheme,
and although it has been extended, it is coming to an end.
It's been really successful. The scheme has been working, let's say, elsewhere for 12 years,
and it's a statutory requirement for local authorities elsewhere.
Despite the scheme being offered to all 22 authorities in Wales, only three local authorities took it up,
and I'm pleased Cardiff Council were one of them.
We also heard this week that Neath and Port Albert have had some excellent results
in reducing the numbers of looked after children with, I think, about half their children have gone off the list.
So, some excellent results in reducing the numbers with their PAN scheme.
And the question for me is, are we looking to engage with their programme to see if we can also benefit from their work?
And I know you have a corporate parenting meeting on Monday, so perhaps the important continuation
of the virtual headteacher pilot scheme could be discussed and consider requesting funding is made available,
and it is made a permanent scheme.
Finally, a big thank you to all our officers who do an amazing job in ensuring our children looked after are exactly that.
Looked after in the best way we can.
And the foster carers that open their homes and hearts to our children.
Also our team that do amazing work recruiting new foster carers.
Thank you.
Thank you, Councillor Driscoll.
Councillor Lister, would you like to come back for any other comments made?
Thank you, Lord Mayor. It's absolutely Lord Mayor, sorry.
Thank you, Councillor Driscoll.
It's great to see your continued interest in the best opportunities for our children and young people,
and actually making sure those that we do look after get the best possible service.
I think that key point around education, I know that the virtual headteacher role in Cardiff has been a really,
really great appointment that has actually been rolled out really, really strongly,
creating that link between Children's Services and Education and our schools,
which is the most important thing given that kind of collective holistic view of a child looked after education.
So I'm definitely happy to work with Councillor Mary and take that up with the appropriate people,
because we want to see that to continue as much as possible.
Thank you.
Thank you, Councillor Lister.
Are we okay to go on to is the report noted?
Thank you.
Item 10 on your agenda is the licensing, the review of the cumulative impact assessment for licensed premises in the city centre.
And I believe Councillor Michael is going to propose it.
Thank you, Deputy Lord Mayor.
All authorities that have a cumulative impact assessment have to renew them every three years.
This is the latest for us.
It's important to note that the city centre is not huge in this city,
but contains something like 300 licensed premises from clubs, pubs, takeaways, restaurants.
It's also important to note the massive effect that it has on the city's night time economy.
We are careful to try to balance all of those things in this assessment.
The thriving nature of our city centre means you have to be careful not to damage it.
The policy aims to reduce incidents of alcohol-related problems, crime, disorder, public nuisance, risk to public safety, particularly at late night.
We try to discourage an increasing number of late opening premises.
We try to encourage different forms of opening, family restaurants, etc.
And generally I think that we've managed successfully for a number of years with this policy, so I'm just asking the council to note and renew it again for another three years.
Thank you, Deputy Lord Mayor.
Thank you, Councillor Michael.
I believe Councillor Michael is going to second the report.
Thank you, Deputy Lord Mayor.
I'd just really like to be happy to second this report, which enables us to continue the use of the cumulative impact in the city centre to help ensure our safety and the reduction of crime in Cardiff.
I would like to thank the officers for the preparation and implementation of the policy and the licensing committee for agreeing to keep the policy in place, and I would recommend this policy to you. Thank you.
Thank you. Is there anybody who wishes to make any comments about the report? No, I think not. Okay, that's brilliant.
I will now pass to the officer to start the vote.
Thank you, Deputy Lord Mayor, Councillors. We will now vote on the recommendations as outlined in the report.
If you are for the recommendation, please select yes.
If you're against the recommendation, please select no, or if you wish to abstain, please select abstain, and I will start the vote now.
The report has been carried.
We're now at a stage where we have a choice as to whether we go on to oral questions straightaway, or whether we have a comfort break for ten minutes.
I'm going to suggest... Yes, a comfort break? Okay, if you want to go for it. We will start with the oral questions. Here we go.
The first is from County Councillor Carl Cohen. Are you there? Do I need to read it for her?
County Councillor Cohen, can you hear me please?
I'm going to suggest we go on to the next question, which is from County Councillor Molech, and then if Councillor Cohen comes back online, we will return to her.
So, Councillor Molech. Thank you. So, my question is, should someone elderly or disabled want to travel from out of Cardiff, i.e. Newport, to Ruth Park Lake via public transport? What would be their route of travel?
I believe. Thank you, Deputy Lord Mayor. Councillor Molech, Chami, it's lovely to have you back with us holding our feet to the fire. I hope you enjoyed your year as Lord Mayor.
There are obviously a huge number of routes into Cardiff, depending on where you start, depending on what day you travel and what time.
There's a variety of journey planners available, such as Travel Line Cymru. You can access that via their website, via an app, or via a free phone line, which I'm sure elderly residents might prefer.
They can also offer specialist advice to people with disabilities. With the particular example you've given, Travel Line would recommend you travel from Newport to Cardiff by train, and then got the number 29 or 28 bus.
That stops very near Cardiff Central Station, and that would go all the way to Lake Road East, and you get off vaguely near the Promenade on Ruth Park Lake.
Thank you. Is there a substantive question? Is there a supplementary question? Sorry.
Yes, thank you. Yes, that's a great suggestion indeed, and it would work when you're more able-bodied.
When you say coming from Newport to Cardiff by train, coming into Cardiff Central, I assume, and trying to catch 28 and 29, how far from Central Station and how much walking distance are you talking about for someone perhaps on a wheelchair, perhaps with sight loss, perhaps quite elderly?
One would arrive at Cardiff Central Station, one would then go to stop JH, which is by the Hayesbridge. I couldn't give you that in feet, but it's a quite short walk or wheel.
Thank you. There's a question from Councillor McGarry.
Thank you, Deputy Lord Mayor. Yes, it's just to do with litter. What is the Council doing to discourage littering?
I believe that's going to be responded by Councillor Mackey.
Thank you very much, Deputy Lord Mayor. The source of litter needed to be fully understood really before we were able to discourage littering.
A source of littering across Cardiff relates to split bags from commingled recycling and 10% of Cardiff's properties present in residual black bags. That's where we get most of it from.
Recycling and neighbourhood services are currently delivering a segregated recycling programme of change where girl-proof sacks are removing the impact of the split bags.
An independent report, Keep Wales Tidy, revealed an on-the-go food and drink package in litter was found on 64.2% of the streets across Wales, so a major problem with that.
Currently, proposals related to extending producer responsibility will provide the Council additional funding to manage this litter through cleansing and intervention projects.
Carrie Cymru Litter-Free Zones is a brand new scheme that's designed to encourage businesses to keep their communities litter-free.
It promotes businesses to adopt specific zones to clean up on a regular basis.
It's hoped businesses of all shapes and sizes will get involved, from village shops to takeaways, private offices, supermarkets and industrial estates to take this up and hopefully have a good result.
Thank you.
I was thinking more about deterring people from actually dropping the litter in the first place.
I just wondered if there were ways that we could do more of catching the pulpits and fining them.
If we looked at what other councils do to try and stop people dropping the litter in the first place,
most of what you've said is reactive to the litter that people are dropping, and it is awful, the mess.
I was wondering what we could do to stop them doing it in the first place.
It's a difficult one, deterring people, and I think it's a matter of education in all sorts of areas, and we are certainly looking at how we do that.
It's getting people to be proud of the area they live in or that they are visiting, like coming into the city centre and not just throwing things everywhere.
It's a difficult one because it's very hard to enforce when you've got to see them doing it, and so that's what makes it quite difficult.
But we are looking at different ways of doing it by encouraging people, encouraging students particularly to get involved in litter picks,
and maybe we should look at that for schools as well, so that the education is there from the beginning.
If they're picking it up, then maybe they won't be so keen to be dropping it. Thanks.
I notice that Councillor Cowan is now online. Councillor Cowan, would you like to come forward and speak on your question?
Thank you, Love Mayor. I'm not sure what happened before. I was online. It must be a glitch. I'm sorry about that.
It says, Question one, how many schools are having to make compulsory redundancies this year due to the budget settlement?
I think, Councillor Mary, that's for you.
Sorry, there was slight variation in the question then. There are two schools in Cardiff that have had to progress to making compulsory redundancies.
Thank you. Do you have any supplementary question, Councillor?
Yes, please. Thank you for the response, Councillor Mary.
What consideration have you given to producing a three-year indicative budget for schools?
I'm afraid that the UK Government doesn't give the Welsh Government that indicative budget,
and neither are we able to do the same thing within Cardiff Council without knowing what future money we will be receiving.
I'm going to close it at that. Thank you, vote.
Councillor Driscoll, I believe you have a question.
Yes, thank you, Lord Mayor. We had news this week from 24 August.
Stagecoach are reducing the service of the 122 route that serves Cardiff West and also serves Day's Court and Llandaff.
The 144 will continue to serve Pantriston Road, as will the 62 Cardiff bus,
but what more can we do to improve Cardiff bus services to compensate for this loss?
Councillor Dior?
Thank you, big question.
Councillor, the reduction in frequency of the 122 service will still leave Pantriston Road with three services per hour,
and together with the 63 bus service, there will be four bus services per hour between the city centre and Hoya South Junction.
The 62 and 63 were supported services funded by the Welsh Government's Bus Network Fund,
which is fully committed and the fortune is no more money to subsidise any further services.
Have you got a supplementary question? Sorry, have you got a supplementary question, Councillor Driscoll?
Yes, thank you, Lord Mayor. I can't find it, but I'll add it.
Thank you for the response to the question.
You may remember a couple of years ago I delivered a petition to the Council to save the 66 route.
There was Council that runs through the centre of Llandaff and also serves parts of Fairwater as well.
I know the former First Minister and my local MS made representations too on behalf of residents in my ward and my joining ward.
The demographic in Llandaff is quite an older one without any slurring on people who live on Fairwater Road, especially the young cities.
But it's an important service that we've lost there.
We've still got the infrastructure there, we've still got the bus stops there,
but our 66 route is really important to some of the older generations that do feel isolated,
that do feel stuck in their homes without that service.
So is there something you can do to maybe perhaps get that 66 route reinstated,
because it does run through the centre of Llandaff that people will need quite a distance to walk to Lantreson Road
or walk down to West Llandy to get the 101 or the 102. Thank you.
I certainly agree with you, Sean, and all bus services are really, really important to people who use them, particularly elderly residents.
I think in the round, I know these are famous last words, I think we're turning the corner on the bus service.
It's had some really, really difficult years post Covid. I think things are finally stabilising.
We've got a route map to a much improved service, partly through our bus priority plan, which came forward a few months ago.
And hopefully, I don't know how much I can say, hopefully the funding package around bus services will slowly get better going forward.
I mean, we're in dialogue with all the bus operators in Cardiff constantly.
So we constantly negotiate, constantly seeing what we can change to optimise all the routes that are running in Cardiff.
But I mean, who knows what the future holds. We certainly lobby for, we absolutely appreciate how your residents feel.
Fair play to you for lobbying on their behalf, but going forward, I'm optimistic that slowly but surely things will get better.
Thank you. Now we're going to try and find if Councillor Carter can come online. Councillor Carter.
Hello, LORD MAYOR, DEPUTY LORD MAYOR. Lovely to see you. So my question, question of the file,
what is the Council doing to help the Muslim community of Penta and Plannan find a location for a future mosque?
I believe it's Councillor Goodway who's responding.
Thank you, DEPUTY LORD MAYOR. The Council is aware of the requirement identified by members of the local community to assist with identifying land for a potential new mosque.
As the Councillor will be aware, the Council is continually reviewing its land and property assets across the city to meet Council objectives.
Where land is declared surplus to requirements, it may be considered appropriate for disposal and listed in the Council's annual property plan.
At this point, parties may register their interest in the site.
Whilst the surplus site within the Pentwin Ward is not currently available, should such an opportunity arise, the Council will inform the relevant parties.
Thank you, Councillor Goodway. We're now on to question six and this is another question from Councillor McGarry.
Councillor McGarry, would you forgive me? I forgot to offer the opportunity to Councillor Carter to have a supplementary question.
I apologise, Councillor Carter. Thank you, DEPUTY LORD MAYOR. I was getting worried there for a second.
Thank you for that, Councillor Goodway. It's greatly appreciated.
In terms of a supplementary, whilst we need to map our housing need and our need is great over the coming years,
would you agree with me that we also need to map our community need in terms of mosques, synagogues, temples, churches in our new communities,
that we're not simply building homes, but actually we're building communities in these new areas and also catering for new communities moving into existing areas as well?
I do agree. Thank you. We wouldn't have deliberately ignored you, Councillor Carter, honestly.
Councillor McGarry. Thank you, DEPUTY LORD MAYOR. My question is, at this time of year, fly tipping seems to get worse.
How is the Council ensuring that the culprits get caught and fined?
Councillor McKelvie. Thank you.
A 2022-23 report which analysed fly tipping, recorded by Councils 1st April 2022-21st March 23,
showed that Cardiff is one of the highest performing local authorities in Wales when dealing with fly tipping,
with the Council issuing 511 fixed penalty notices and securing nine prosecutions.
Recycling and neighbourhood services are currently developing an enlisted and fly tipping strategy to support providing the approach to tackling issues in this area.
Fly tipping requires evidence to support any implementation of fines or prosecution.
The evidence can be provided by third parties, such as witnesses, statements, videos and photographic evidence of vehicles undertaking the activity,
or an open bag being searched by Council officers for evidence of addressed labels within the bags.
A restructure of the enabled services, encompassing cleansing and environmental enforcement alongside the digitalisation,
will support more officers from being able to search bags for evidence.
The restructure will be concluded by the end of 2024.
The Council is unable to utilise CCTV unless it has the explicit intent of prosecuting the offender and it can't be used for fixed penalty notices.
The Council has to utilise dedicated overt and covert cameras with the associated authorisation required by the Regulation of Investigative Powers Act 2020.
Thank you.
I'm now hoping that Councillor Robson is on the system.
Councillor Robson?
Oh sorry, I keep forgetting these righteous supplementaries. Sorry McGarrick.
Councillor McGarrick, my apologies.
Actually, Deputy Lord Mayor, I don't have a supplementary, but a very, very good comprehensive reply, thank you.
Excellent, thank you.
So let's go back now to Councillor Robson. I think I saw that you were coming in online.
Thank you Deputy Lord Mayor.
What discussions has the Parliament member had with Transport for Wales about plans for increasing the frequency of trains on the Coratine Line?
That's going to you, sir.
Councillor Robson, my dear friend, might I start by offering you my warmest, my most fulsome congratulations on your election as Chair of the PrEP Scrutiny Committee.
I'd love, I'd sincerely love to take some time just to unpack this, you know, just to go through some of the details around this, you know, just so we can all kind of, you know, explore it together.
May we just stick to the question, please?
I've been there just too late. I've antagonised the Deputy Lord Mayor and I feared I wouldn't antagonise the Interim Monitoring Officer, so I won't do that.
All I will say is, it was a tremendous victory, Adrian, and I know you will do an absolutely superb job.
I think we've discussed the Coratine Line previously. I think you asked me a question last year. I think the case for 4TPH on the Coratine Line, and the City Line for that matter, is unanswerable.
I mean, Professor Mark Barry points out that, you know, who's going to wait half an hour for a 15, 20 minute journey? You don't need to be a professor to obviously realise that.
I mean, Transport for Wales studies have shown that with some slight alteration to the tracks and the loop to allow trains to pass four trains per hour is eminently achievable.
In terms of what discussions have we had, I mean, like with Cardiff Bus, we managed to cancel the fiscal.
I mean, we have dialogue with Wales Government and TFW on an ongoing basis, but the leader and I met with Kensgate about this very issue only a few weeks ago.
And I have written down supplementary against every single question still to follow, so fingers crossed I will remember.
Councillor Robson, do you have a supplementary?
Yes, thank you for the floor, Mayor, and thank you, Councillor DF, for the congratulations. As you've mentioned, there are only two trains per hour on the Coratine Line, and I actually find myself in agreement with Professor Mark Barry.
And that doesn't happen often, but he has pointed out as the City Councillor that waiting 30 minutes for a 15 minute train journey is a real disincentive to get the train.
It means this line has some of the least used stations in Cardiff, despite having a large catchment population with an easy breach.
With the drive to encourage people to commute and leave their cars at home, will the Council push the Welsh Government and TFW to seriously look at what infrastructure could be installed to enable four trains per hour?
Do you agree, for example, that such infrastructure, like a passing loop, need not be overly expensive compared to the benefits that it will produce?
Thank you, Adrian. I completely agree with your analysis. What we have done, we've suggested those improvements to allow four trains per hour be included in the Regional Transport Plan for the South East Wales Corporate Joint Committee to try and attract some funding.
So hopefully, if we're successful, the case for four trains per hour will be even more compelling. I really appreciate you lobbying for other Councillors in the North, Councillor Carr, Councillor Palmer, Councillor Ash Edwards, to name but a few have also been lobbying vociferously for this as well.
To me, it's just a no-brainer. Thank you. I'm going to move on now to Councillor Norton.
Thank you, Mayor. Will the Council introduce the safety measures to tackle dangerous parking on Penchman Drive?
Thank you for your question, Dan. It would be really useful to have a little bit more information about this. I've asked officers to contact you and your ward colleagues to discuss this and see what investigations are needed and possible solutions can be suggested.
Thank you. Do you have a supplementary, Councillor? Yes, thank you, Deputy Mayor. Very briefly, I know obviously we can speak offline, but the main issues around the area was Penchman Arms, which has become an emergency housing, which is great, but the issue is now there's more demand for parking and it's already very busy because you've got a one-stop shop there and there's issues with people parking by the end of the school and there are these issues when people drive and it's becoming a bit of a dangerous situation.
Officers did say they would get back to me last year. I'm looking for this, but it's been about a year and we haven't heard back, so it would be great to have an outline of what the officers plan to do.
I'm sorry to hear they've not got back to you. I didn't realise you had raises with them previously. I'll absolutely arrange a site visit. You can go out, you can meet with them, you can discuss what's feasible.
Thank you. I believe we've got a question from Councillor Dilua Ali. Are you online, sir? Councillor Dilua Ali.
Councillor McAvoy, it's good to see that you've come to the meeting and we are just running through the questions and you are on the list.
Is there any information from Councillor Dilua Ali? In which case I'm going to skip the question from him at the moment and see if he comes back online.
I'm going to go to question 10, which is from Councillor Cowan. Councillor Cowan, are you there? Are you able to come in? Okay. I'm going to go to Councillor Cowan because I've called her, then I'll go back to Councillor Dilua Ali.
Councillor McAvoy, you are actually further down the list, but you are there.
Thank you, Lord Mayor. Question 11. When will the replacement site for the Weddell Road Household Recycling Centre be unveiled?
Thank you for your question, Councillor Cowan. I think I've heard this one before.
There is significant capacity at the moment within our existing recycling centres. There's also an existing funding allocation within our Capital Investment Programme to support the exploration of options in the north of the city and any required land acquisition for new recycling, repair and reuse facilities in partnership with the third sector.
The service is also looking as to how work related to reuse and borrowing could be further promoted in Cardiff through working with the third sector and friendship groups.
Thank you. Do you have a supplementary?
I do. Thank you, Lord Mayor. Thank you very much for the comprehensive answer. I'm very grateful. As you know, this issue has been around for a very long time and lots of local residents in Ribina really did rely on the Weddell Road to help with your recycling targets.
So I'm very pleased to hear that you are exploring a facility in Cardiff North. Could you give me some idea of a timescale and what involvement local members will have with that, please? Thank you.
I'm sure local members will definitely be involved in whatever is going to be proposed for there. I can't give you a timescale. I'm afraid at this time as conversations are going on and of course we still have to raise that budget as well. It will take a little time, I'm sure. Thank you.
So we're now going back to my list and on my list I have got a question from County Councillor Dilwah Ali.
Thank you, Deputy Lord Mayor. Can you hear me? Yes.
Thank you, Lord Mayor. Can the cabinet member provide an update on the school meals and how many schools provide halal and vegetarian food in the city? Thank you.
Thank you, Councillor Ali. Every school in Cardiff provides a vegetarian option as part of the menus on a daily basis, with the vast majority of these meal options also being plant-based.
Halal food is currently served in eight schools with two of those schools designated as holy halal. The Education Catering Service can provide halal options to any school that requests this option and is currently working with a number of schools regarding halal food being served from the start of the 24/25 school year.
Work has also been undertaken with the Muslim Council of Wales to produce a set of protocols for dual standard halal school meal provision. We will also be looking to undertake a public consultation on these protocols, supported by the Muslim Council of Wales.
Thank you, Councillor Mary. Have you got a supplementary, Councillor Ali? No, Lord Mayor. Thank you for the detail of this one. Thank you.
The next question on my list is from Councillor Molic. Are you ready? I have offered Councillor Dilwar a supplementary and he said no, so it's your turn if you wish to.
My question is, given our long-awaited bus station has now opened, could you tell me when and who decided 14 Bays would be sufficient for a bus station in a capital city?
And that bus station would not be accommodating National Express and other such coaches that travel from outer city.
When the bus station received planning permission, it was based on a transport assessment that showed it had equal capacity to the old bus station and capacity for coaches. When it opens this Sunday, it will start with 44 buses per hour. When it's up to 14, it will be 60 an hour.
Theoretically, and under the right conditions, it could go as high as 80 plus buses an hour in certain circumstances. I mean, I stress it's for transport for Wales rather than ourselves to decide who and what goes in there.
But it's not the case that National Express couldn't go in there for some reason, they couldn't fit, they've just chosen not to go in there at this time. There's no issue with the bus station preventing them from going in.
And we as a council fully engaged with them, we've spoken about producing a coach strategy. I mean, we could even see a standalone coach station somewhere in Cardiff, so these are all things we're currently considering.
Do you have a supplementary, Councillor Molek?
Yes, thank you for that. You didn't quite answer who and when that decision was made, which would be useful to know, of course. Going up to 80 buses, but still excluding connection to much of the city, which is why my first question was raised earlier.
So could you please clarify, because we were given the impression that the manoeuvring isn't coach.
I mean, it's not about election, it is about our bus station, and it is about decisions that have been pre-made before the election period, of course. But nonetheless, the coach station, we were given the impression was there wasn't enough space for the large coaches to manoeuvre in this coach station, bus station, sorry. Is that not correct information?
I think I was pretty clear in my original answer, the issue of there's not enough bays and whatnot is a nonsense. I mean, there's enough bays to have 80 buses an hour. I mean, my God, that's a huge amount. It's not too small, there's nothing wrong with it, it looks brilliant.
The reason why stagecoachs haven't gone in, it's not, they can't get in there or there's some problem. They've chosen not to go in. The bus station looks great. It's a huge achievement for our city. We should be celebrating instead of trying to talk down, you know, really, really, you know, silly, silly ways. So, you know, I mean, I'm glad you went to look around at the recent open day.
For the public this weekend, I would encourage people watching to go along. It's a really, really, really great thing. I think we should all celebrate.
I'm going to move on now to Councillor Driscoll. You have a question for us, I believe.
Yes, thank you, Deputy Lord Mayor. Over some time, the Bishop's Palace in Llandaff has suffered from vandalism, generally at night, but there's a feeling amongst residents that the historic gates at the entrance to the palace are in need of some sort of additional protection to safeguard their condition.
Can a cabinet make a statement on whether a nightly lock-in regime would benefit the Bishop's Palace and better protect this historic asset?
Thank you very much for your question. I'm aware that officers have shared a report with yourself and your ward colleague, Councillor Jenkins, in February following a structural inspection of the site by a CADU approved structural engineer. Findings from that report will inform the Conservation Management Plan and I anticipate that this will refer to the refurbishment of the gates that you're referring to.
It's possible that a locking regime could help to reduce the vandalism. However, there is significant all year round undertaking that the council is not currently resourced to fulfil.
The council has, however, been successful in creating a park watch scheme with the Friends of group and local individual volunteers, whereby park locking and unlocking arrangements are introduced and the council provides support with an induction of risk assessment.
Furthermore, I'm aware that the Llandaff 50+ group has shown an interest in the scheme for the Bishop's Palace, for which our vast officers provide full support.
Do you have a supplementary, Councillor Driscoll?
Yes, thank you Deputy Mayor. Thank you for the comprehensive response as a trustee of the Llandaff 50+ group. I've not seen that, but if it is something they'd like to volunteer, is that something we could put in place quite quickly or would we need to take some time to consult on it?
I will speak to officers to ascertain the timeline for you, but I shouldn't think there would be a problem if you haven't already had a copy of it, to make sure that you see it.
Thank you. Councillor Lancaster, I believe you have a question.
Will you advise on the number of planning applications received into the service over the past three years with a breakdown of commercial and residential per year?
Thanks for the question, Councillor. The average number of applications over the last three years was about 2,550. The planning service is quite stretched. It's not just with applications, it's with pre-applications and increasingly things like appeal decisions.
They are a stretch service, but despite that, I have asked officers if they will email you with the specific breakdowns you've asked for.
Thank you. Do you have a supplementary, Councillor Lancaster?
Thank you for your response. I look forward to receiving a more detailed response. You mentioned the service being stretched and that's indeed the question. Residents have contacted us repeatedly about frustrations to things like getting simple responses to queries from the planning department, also delays in responses via telephone inquiries and things like that. What are your plans to improve the response efficiency of the system, please?
I have to be a bit careful, obviously, in the pre-election period, but we all have to be mindful when we ask anything of a council service that council services and the public sector are increasingly stretched. All I'll say is we know why that is.
So, what I would encourage residents to do is to just be mindful of that. If there are any individual issues that councillors have about particular applications, I would encourage them to take them up with the chair of planning.
But if you look at the sheer number of applications that are coming in, 2,500 a month, and that doesn't even paint the full picture of what the service is doing, significant amount of enforcement issues, significant numbers, increasing numbers, disappointingly almost, of appeals, significant numbers of pre-planning applications.
This is a growing city. We are chasing growth. Part of that growth means that people are putting in planning applications, and that's something we should welcome. But let's work with the service. If there are any specific issues, please let me know, or let Simon Gilbert, the Chief Planning Officer know.
Thank you. Councillor McAvoy, I'm aware that you were unable to come early, and I know your reason. I'm sorry that you've had to go to a funeral this afternoon. I had to read for everybody's benefit information about the fact that we are currently in a pre-election period, and I have been closing people down if they are straying into that area just to protect them.
We are aware that you have put in a written question and an oral question that are very, very similar. We know that the written question has actually got more information on it than the oral. You're welcome to take the oral question, but you're also welcome, if you would like, to say, okay, I'll take the written one because it's got more detailed information on it. Choice is yours, sir.
I'll take the oral question, please. The question is, how much has been spent on play areas since 3 May 2012 in the following wards, Canton, Ealy, Fairwater and Riverside, including Thunderfields?
Thank you for your question, Councillor McAvoy. A full breakdown of Capital Section 106 funding used for play area improvements within the wards you've already specified has been provided to you in response.
Councillor McAvoy, do you have a supplementary question? Wait until the mic comes on.
Fairwater, Canton, Section 106. If we look at the Ealy ward, for example, we're looking at roughly 80,000. If we're looking at Fairwater, we're looking at roughly, quickly doing the maths here. I know you didn't give me the figures.
Sorry, Councillor McAvoy, do you actually have a question? To be fair, Chair, I've asked the question about figures. I've not been given figures and I'm asked to do it off the top of my head.
They are actually in the written review. The years that you've asked, so it's been broken down by ward, it's been broken down by year, it's all on there for you. Your papers were provided earlier today.
You probably haven't had a chance to look at them, but they are there. Thank you, it's enough here for the supplementary. Because what you're looking at here are the working class areas of this city, Fairwater, Ealy, challenged, having next to nothing spent on them in terms of pay.
I'm really sorry because of the pre-election rulings. Do you agree would be the word? I'm unable to establish class discrimination perpetrated on our communities by this council.
Right, may we move on please? I wish to move, Neil, Councillor McAvoy, I have to move you on. Sorry.
We're going to move on to item 12, which is urgent business. And as far as I'm aware, there is no urgent business.
And then I'm going across to unopposed business and we have three items which have been submitted as unopposed business. I'll go through each in turn. I'm just seeking the council approval on each of the items as follows.
The first one is committee membership. Are the recommendations in the report agreed? And as outlined on the amendment sheet.
And then I have one more coming up. I have the appointment of local authority governors to school governing bodies. Are the recommendations in the report agreed?
And then we go on to the fact that we have written questions. The written questions and their answers have actually been published on the website and circulated to members by email prior to this meeting.
And I think all I have to do now is say thank you very much for coming and I hope you have a very pleasant evening.
