The meeting includes discussions on the performance of the council in the past financial year, changes to polling districts and places across the county borough, and scrutiny arrangements for the recently established North Wales Corporate Joint Committee. It also includes a motion related to an industrial dispute at the Oscar Mayer food processing plant. The minutes from the previous two meetings are to be confirmed.

Motion on Oscar Mayer Industrial Dispute

Councillor Marc Jones has submitted a motion¹ for discussion on the recent actions taken by management at Oscar Mayer in Wrexham.

The motion expresses disagreement with the company's attempts to reduce wages and 'fire and rehire' employees who do not accept the lower pay. It calls for a halt to the practice of 'fire and rehire' and urges the company to collaborate with trade unions to find a resolution to the dispute.

The motion also proposes that the Council suspends its cooperation with Oscar Mayer until the dispute is resolved and asks that dismissed workers be reinstated.

Self-Assessment Report 2023/24

Wrexham Council is required by the Local Government & Elections (Wales) Act 2021 to produce a self-assessment report every year. The report allows the public to understand how their council is performing. The report for 2023/24 is presented for discussion by Councillor Mark Pritchard, the Lead Member for Finance and Performance.

The report assesses the council's performance against nine themes² and rates them using a traffic light system of red, amber, yellow or green. Green represents the best performance, and red represents the worst.

The 2023/24 report (Item 9) shows an improvement from last year's assessment, with two themes moving from amber to green and only one theme moving from yellow to amber. No themes are assessed as red.

The two themes that improved to green are:

• Corporate Planning - Now assessed as Green (improved from Yellow in 2022/23) (Item 9). This theme assesses the council's ability to make plans for its future and includes criteria such as taking a long term view, balancing the needs of all of the council's stakeholders, taking account of all available resources, and responding to changes in the council's operating environment.
• Risk Management Arrangements - Now assessed as Green (improved from Yellow in 2022/23) (Item 9). This theme assesses the council's systems and processes for identifying, evaluating, and managing risks. It includes criteria such as active monitoring of risks, clearly defined ownership of risks, using risks to inform decision-making, and regular reporting on risks.

The theme that declined to amber is:

• Leadership and Organisational Culture - Now assessed as Amber (declined from Yellow in 2022/23) (Item 9). This theme assesses the council's leadership capacity and the culture within the organisation, including the way the council operates, the council's values and behaviours, and the way that the council works with its stakeholders and the public.

The report (Item 9) discusses at length the challenges that have been faced in delivering the council's priorities and in making progress with areas identified for improvement. The financial challenges the council faces, along with the uncertainty around future funding, mean that it is increasingly difficult to plan effectively for the future. In response to these pressures, the council has established a 'Change Programme' to reduce the costs of delivering services while maintaining quality.

The report also discusses the need to do more to improve employee sickness absenteeism.

Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2025/26

The Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTRS) provides financial assistance to residents on low incomes to help them pay their Council Tax. It is a statutory scheme which is delivered by local councils and funded by Welsh Government.

The report (Item 10) for discussion proposes that Wrexham Council adopts the existing Welsh Government framework for the CTRS for the 2025/26 financial year. The report explains that the council has the option to be more generous than the national scheme, but doing so would increase the cost of administering the scheme.

The council has consulted on this topic previously and is proposing to maintain the existing local arrangements, which are already more generous than the national scheme in some areas.

Semi-Annual Treasury Management Review 2024/25

The council borrows money to fund major building and infrastructure projects. This borrowing is subject to regulations that require local authorities to demonstrate that the money they borrow is affordable, that they are managing the risks associated with borrowing, and that they are achieving value for money in their borrowing decisions.

The report (Item 11) for discussion reviews the council's borrowing activities for the first six months of the 2024/25 financial year. It summarises the financial context, both locally and globally, in which the council's decisions have been made, and outlines how the council's borrowing strategy ensures that borrowing is affordable and sustainable in the long term.

It highlights that the council's need to borrow will increase in the future due to the costs of the council's capital projects, such as the ongoing works required to achieve the Welsh Housing Quality Standard.

The report also explains how decisions are made in relation to treasury management.

Scrutiny Arrangements for the Corporate Joint Committee

The North Wales Corporate Joint Committee (CJC) was established in 2021 to carry out specific functions across all six North Wales councils. It is a separate local authority body which has its own legal responsibilities and must comply with the statutory requirements of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021.

The report (Item 12) for discussion asks the council to consider the best way to scrutinise the work of the CJC. It explains the existing arrangements, which allow local scrutiny committees to review and comment on the work of the CJC, and proposes that a joint committee is established to oversee the CJC. This committee would be made up of elected members from all six North Wales councils.

The report explains the rationale for this proposal and explains how the joint committee will not take away the right of local councils to scrutinise the work of the CJC in their own local area.

The report also outlines the proposed terms of reference (Appendix 1) for the joint overview and scrutiny committee.

Polling District and Polling Places Review

Local councils are required to review their polling districts and polling places every five years. Polling districts are geographical areas within a constituency and a polling place is the location within a polling district where residents go to vote. Each polling district has its own polling place.

The report (Item 13) for discussion outlines the outcome of the recent review. It explains the criteria the council must consider when deciding where to locate a polling place, such as accessibility, location, and suitability.

It highlights that the review included a public consultation, which closed on 13 November 2024. Feedback and comments from this consultation, including the views of the Acting Returning Officer, have been used to inform the recommendations in the report.

The report proposes a number of changes to the existing polling arrangements for the new constituency of Wrexham (Appendix 3). These changes include re-locating polling places from schools and moving the polling place for one district from The Sun Inn in Rhosllanerchrugog to Ysgol Maes Y Mynydd due to an increase in the number of electors using this polling place following the boundary review.

Governance & Audit Committee Annual Report 2023/24

The Governance & Audit Committee is a key part of the council's governance framework and provides independent assurance that the council's internal systems and processes for managing finances, risks and performance are effective. It is made up of both elected members and independent lay members.

The report (Item 14) for discussion provides a summary of the committee's work during the 2023/24 financial year. It explains how the committee holds the council to account and provides details on the range of reports considered by the committee, including those relating to Internal Audit, External Audit, performance management, and the Statement of Accounts.

The report (Item 14) states that there have been no major areas of concern for the committee to note during the year, and highlights the positive contribution that the Governance and Audit Committee has made towards improving governance and control arrangements.

Appointment of Chair to the Homes and Environment Scrutiny Committee

Councillor Paul Pemberton, the current Chair of the Homes and Environment Scrutiny Committee has indicated that he wishes to step down as Chair.

The report (Item 15) proposes that Councillor Paul Rogers be appointed as the new Chair of the Committee. This appointment would be in accordance with the proportional allocation of seats on committees, which is calculated using the number of councillors that belong to each of the political groups on the council.

If this appointment is agreed, then a new Vice-Chair for the committee will also need to be appointed. The report proposes that Councillor Claire Lovett be appointed as Vice-Chair.

Review of Appointment of Members to the Executive Board, Committees, Scrutiny Committees and Various Panels

Councillor Robert Ian Williams has indicated that he wishes to be considered as a non-aligned member of the council.

The report (Item 16) proposes that the council reviews the allocation of seats on committees and panels to take account of this change, along with any changes that have been made since the last review in September 2024.

The report also proposes that the council considers filling the existing vacancies on a number of committees. These vacancies are a result of the political groups deciding that they do not want to take up their allocated seats.

The report sets out in detail the existing allocation of seats on the council's committees and panels and details the changes that are required to ensure that the political balance is maintained.