The committee discussed the regeneration of Cyfarthfa Castle, the activities of their town centre safety wardens and CCTV operators, and their forward work programme. The committee noted all of the reports they considered.

Cyfarthfa Castle Regeneration

The committee discussed the ongoing regeneration of Cyfarthfa Castle. The meeting received a report on the dilapidated condition of the building, and the work that had been done to date. This work included emergency repairs to the roof, funded by CADW¹ and the council.

The condition of the property has continued to deteriorate and is now fast approaching a state of dereliction, raising serious safety concerns and an increasing cost of rehabilitation. Since 2023, additional ceilings have collapsed, and a tap-test of the ceilings has resulted in certain rooms being isolated from entry.

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The committee heard about the three options that were being considered: full coverage of the building with a temporary roof, partial coverage, and minimal coverage. The report explained that a decision had been made to progress with the full coverage option at a previous meeting, but explained in detail the risks and complexities of that option.

Due to the entire Castle requiring coverage under Option 1, the height of the tower on the south-east corner, which is notably taller than the average roof height of the rest of the structure, presented challenges to the designers.

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The report explained the reasons for the delay in progressing that option, including ecological surveys required to secure a bat license, the need to assess the ground conditions and potential archaeological impact of the work, and the complexity of the scaffolding required.

It is relevant to note that the delays caused by the Museum works and the drainage issues encountered may provide an insight into how timescales may continue to be impacted in the future. These delays were out of the Council control.

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The report explained that, due to the cost and complexity of that option, an alternative plan was being considered to first erect scaffolding and a temporary roof over the part of the building currently occupied by Cyfarthfa Museum. It explained that this plan had been welcomed by CADW and the Cyfarthfa Foundation², and that the council was investigating funding sources and planning the next steps.

The Cyfarthfa Foundation is a charity set up to support the regeneration of Cyfarthfa Park

The report went on to explain that the drainage at the castle was inadequate, and that a new drainage system had been designed to take rainwater from the castle to a culvert to the east of the building, in a way that would avoid visual intrusion and would not overwhelm the existing drainage infrastructure. The committee was told that this new system would form part of a long term solution to the drainage problems at the castle and in the wider Cyfarthfa Park.

Town Centre Safety

The committee received a report on town centre safety that focused on work done by the council's community safety wardens and CCTV control room. The report explained that the wardens had been in post since July 2023 and the additional CCTV staffing had been in place since September 2023, both funded by the UK Government's Shared Prosperity Fund³.

Sourcing funding is critical to the long-term sustainability of the warden and CCTV projects. We are currently discussing the current position with future SPF funding however this will not provide the long-term sustainability required for onward enforcement.

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The report explained the work that had been done in that time, and the impact it had had.

Since the introduction of the database 3772 records have been recorded by the wardens.

A staggering 91% of all engagements, incidents and recorded work is “PROACTIVE” and generated from the warden team.

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Since its implementation 2641 incidents have been logged.

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It explained that as well as their work deterring crime, the wardens and the CCTV team had generated intelligence that had been used by other council departments and by the police, had supported vulnerable people in the town centre, and had provided evidence for prosecutions. The report included details of some of their successes, and explained that they were beginning to work with the council's parking enforcement team to expand the range of issues they could deal with.

The wardens are in the early phase of taking on parking enforcement. Staff are undertaking parking enforcement training to obtain a City & Guilds. From December wardens will be trained and able add this to their work.

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The report concluded by highlighting the need to find long term funding for the roles, and explaining the risks of not doing so.

Forward Work Programme

The committee discussed their draft forward work programme for 2024/25, which had been developed by the committee chair in consultation with the cabinet member and council officers.

The scrutiny FWP (appendix 1) identifies the topics for consideration at scrutiny. These were discussed and developed following a series of scrutiny work planning sessions held with the Chair, Scrutiny Members, the Director and supported by officers from the Policy and Improvement Section. Scrutiny Members were also given the opportunity to feed into the FWP.

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The report explained the four principles of scrutiny the programme was designed to fulfil, and the model of scrutiny used to develop the plan. It explained that quarterly technical meetings would take place to ensure the plan captured public voice and reflected the council's strategic priorities, and that task and finish groups were likely to be set up to take forward work on a number of the topics in the programme. The meeting considered the programme, and made a number of minor amendments.