Minutes



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Minutes

Pontypridd Town Council

6.30 p.m. Thursday, 26th September 2019

Pontypridd Museum, Bridge Street, Pontypridd

Present:

Councillor L. Tomkinson – Chair

Councillor J. Baxter

Councillor L. Bengough

Councillor A. Bevan

Councillor M. Brown

Councillor J. Brencher

Councillor S. Duggan

Councillor H. Fychan

Councillor N Kiff

Councillor N. Llewellyn

Councillor S. Powderhill

Councillor S. Presse

Councillor S. Pritchard

Councillor C. Thomas

Councillor L. Tomkinson

Councillor B. Watts

In attendance:

Tony Graham – Chief Executive

Jacqui Hopkins – Administrative Officer

28. Apologies for absence

Councillors L. Davies, B. Fox, S. Carter and D. Paul.

29. Declarations of Interest:

None declared.

30. Well-Being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015

RESOLVED:

To note the duty imposed by the Act.

31. Minutes of Meetings

RESOLVED:

31.1 The minutes of the Town Council Meeting on the 25th July 2019 be approved as a correct record and signed.

31.2 The minutes of the Regeneration and Museum Committee on the 2nd September be accepted and adopted.

31.3 The minutes of the Policy and Finance Committee Meeting on the 18th September 2019 be accepted and adopted.

32. Mayor’s Announcements

Members were provided with a list of events that the Mayor had attended and gave feedback to Council.

33. Motion on Annual Attendance at Meetings and Publication of Remuneration

Councillor Carl Thomas requested the following motion be approved by Council:

“That in the interests of transparency the attendance details of Members for Council and Committee meetings be published either as part of the Council’s Annual Report or on the Council’s website. Further in accordance with S151 Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011 that the details of Councillors Remuneration also be published on the Council’s website”.

RESOLVED:

(i) That the motion be approved subject to the amendment that they be ‘published on website and in Annual Report’.

(ii) That the Chief Executive and Leader commend Councillor Carl Thomas for bringing forward the motion and that all Councillors be encouraged to bring forward motions.

33. Chief Executive’s Report

The Chief Executive had received a request to delay items 7.1 and 7.2 of his report until later in the agenda and started his report with item 7.3.

33.3 Reserves Policy and Investment Strategy

The Council will shortly be embarking on the next budget setting cycle (Sept-Dec). As part of the review of the Council’s policies and procedures it has come to light that the Council does not have a reserves policy or an investment strategy.

The lack of these policies does not prohibit a council from functioning. However, both policies enable more thoughtful and strategic thinking around how a council sets its budgets and how it might invest its reserves.

There is concern that there is no clarity in what levels of general and earmarked reserves are held which as a consequence leads to ‘loose’ decision making during the budget setting process. In addition, it is considered sensible to have an investment policy which allows the holding of significant sums of money in less accessible accounts that allow a higher rate of investment return. In addition, the Council may wish to invest some of its reserves in non-traditional bank accounts or invest in local projects and greater flexibility underpinned by an investment strategy agreed by the Council would aid that flexibility.

This matter was considered by the Policy & Finance Committee on 18th September 2019 and the Committee recommend adoption of the Reserves Policy and Investment Strategy

RESOLVED:

i) To adopt the attached Reserves Policy.

ii) To adopt the attached Investment Strategy.

34.4 Bus Shelter Procurement Policy

Following a recent meeting of the bus shelter working group (15/8/19) a programme of works was agreed. This programme covers both replacement bus shelters and planned maintenance. On 19/8/19 Councillors were asked for their input into this document and invited to respond by 30/8/19 at the latest. At the time of writing two responses have been received and these will be incorporated into the forward planning.

One key item is expenditure on an initial 7 new shelters which are badly in need of replacing. This will be followed by the replacement of a further 7-9 shelters depending on their relative conditions. Members were invited to note that the approximate cost of the initial expenditure will be in the region of £21-24k.

Currently our Financial Regulations (see FR 11.1.2) state that any purchases in excess of £4k are subject to a tendering process that is costly and time consuming. Our Financial Regulations will be amended in due course to reflect a more realistic level before a full tendering process is required (e.g. a number of other similar size councils set their level at £25k).

We are aware that RCTCBC having gone through a procurement process use a preferred supplier (Bus Shelters Wales). The same company have offered us the same preferential terms as given to RCTCBC.

However, we are not permitted to ignore our own Financial Regulations unless they are formally suspended and the Responsible Financial Officer (i.e. the Chief Executive) believes we would obtain value for money from a particular supplier – in this case Bus Shelters Wales.

The Chief Executive has sought advice from One Voice Wales who have confirmed that suspension of the financial regulation that requires a full tendering process over £4k is appropriate in this case.

Councillors should be informed in advance when work is being carried out in their Wards and also advised is there is any amendments to the scheduled works to enable them to communicate with their Wards.

That the Chief Executive look at the design which will identify the Bus Shelters as Pontypridd Town Councils.

This matter was considered by the Policy & Finance Committee on 18th September 2019 and it is recommended that the works contained on the schedule be carried out and that Financial Regulation 11.1.2 be suspended.

Councillor Bevan left the meeting at 6.53 p.m.

RESOLVED:

i) That Financial Regulation 11.1.2 is suspended and that the bus shelters detailed in the schedule of works agreed by the bus shelter working group may be awarded to Bus Shelters Wales without a formal tendering process.

ii) The Chief Executive (through his officers) is instructed to carry out the works contained in the agreed schedule of works including any amendments that may be required subject to the discussions which had taken place.

33.5 Annual Return – 31st March 2019

Members were provided with a copy of the letter from the External Auditors, BDO LLP. Members were referred to this correspondence and will be pleased to note that the External Auditor’s Report on the Annual Return states:

“There were no matters which came to our attention which required the issuing of a separate additional issues arising report.”

Consequently, we have been provided with Notice of Conclusion of Audit, which is dated 2nd September 2019 and is being displayed in the civic offices for a period of fourteen days, during which period the accounts must be made available for inspection.

Council is therefore presented with the Annual Return for consideration, and the approval and formal acceptance. Confirmation that this process has been duly followed will then be provided to the Auditor.

RESOLVED:

That the Annual Return for year ended 31st March 2019 for Pontypridd Town Council is approved and accepted.

33.1 Updated Standing Orders

During the Summer period the Standing Orders have been reviewed and the document has been compared to the model SOs recommended by the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) and One Voice Wales (OVW).

The current SOs were reviewed in October 2018 and more recently on 18th September 2019 by the Policy & Finance Committee. They were somewhat unwieldy and difficult to navigate. They have been in their current form for a number of years and various sections have been added over the years. There are a number of repetitions and some of the language used was not clear. In addition, various related sections are found in different parts of the document.

From discussing the SOs with a number of Councillors it appeared that it is not a document regularly referred to or understood by Members. This is unhealthy as Members should be aware of the SOs at the very least and key members (Mayor, Chairs and Group Leaders) should be familiar with the document as it forms the foundation of how the Council conducts its business.

It should be noted that under our current SOs (see SO 38b) the SOs can only be changed if two thirds of Councillors present at Full Council agree. Under the new SOs this will change to a simple majority being able to vary, revoke or change the SOs in the future.

The Policy & Finance Committee considered this matter on 18th September and recommended the adoption of the new Standing Orders subject to review in April 2020 and incorporating the following amendments:

SO 3 Meetings Generally

Add item w (xiii) “the minutes shall record the Councillors present at the commencement of the meeting and the times at which Councillors joined or left the meeting”.

Add item bb “To be entitled to vote on a matter a Councillor must be present for the discussion on the whole of the matter under consideration”.

Add item cc “Should a Councillor fail to attend a Council or Committee meeting for a period of six consecutive months without the absence being agreed then that Councillor shall cease to be a Member of the Council and/or that Committee subject to a motion being agreed at a meeting of the Council”.

The Leader commended the Chief Executive on the work involved in producing such a detailed document.

RESOLVED:

(i) That the new Standing Orders be adopted subject to the amendments listed above.

(ii) That any reference to “letter” be amended to read “correspondence”.

(iii) That the Standing Orders be reviewed in April 2020.

33.2 Scheme of Delegation

Pontypridd Town Council currently has a cumbersome process of decision making which has evolved over the years. Certain decisions have to be passed by at least two Committees before ratification at full Council. In addition, there seemed to be a limited level of confidence placed on the Chief Executive and Officers to make standard decisions within agreed budgetary and organisational parameters. This has led to a lack of nimbleness in decision making that is often unhelpful.

It is entirely appropriate that Councillors are the ultimate decision makers but for an organisation of our size there should be a delegation of decision making within agreed parameters. It is not appropriate that the Chief Executive/Town Clerk and his/her team are constantly bringing decisions back to Committee/Council if authority has been given and a budget is agreed and available.

To aid clarification of responsibilities and speed up decision making a scheme of delegation was brought forward for Members consideration and approval. Agreed levels of responsibility are set out for key parts of an organisation (in our case the Council, Committees and Chief Executive and his Officers). Decision making is allowed within clearly agreed parameters without the Council losing any sense of control (all delegated authority can be reviewed by the Council at any time).

The Policy & Finance Committee considered this matter on 18th September 2019 and recommend the adoption of the Scheme of Delegation subject to a review in April 2020.

RESOLVED:

(i) That the Scheme of Delegation be adopted.

(ii) That the Scheme of Delegation be reviewed in April 2020.

34. Correspondence Received

Members received the following correspondence:

8.1 Proposals to Re organise Primary Schools, Secondary Schools and Sixth Form Provision in the Pontypridd Area – Objection Report and Decision Notice

8.2 Planning Survey

RESOLVED:

To note items 8.1 and the Leader encourage Members to respond to item 8.2.

35. Planning Applications

Members noted the planning applications.

RESOLVED:

That the Chief Executive and Leader set up a meeting to discuss planning issues with Councillor Powderhill.

The meeting closed at 8.15 p.m.

Signed: _______________________________

Councillor Lorretta Tomkinson

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