Agenda and draft minutes
Venue: Conference Room 1A, County Hall, Ruthin
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APOLOGIES |
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DECLARATION OF INTERESTS PDF 116 KB Members to declare any personal or prejudicial interests in any business identified to be considered at this meeting. Minutes: Councillor Ann Davies declared a personal interest in Agenda Item 3 “Urgent Item” because her son-in-law was employed at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd. |
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URGENT MATTERS AS AGREED BY THE CHAIR Notice of items which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency pursuant to Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act 1972. Minutes: In accordance with the
requirements of Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the Chair
declared that he intended to include for discussion the following matter
requiring urgent attention under Part II:- 1.
Closure of Community
Development Agency:- Members expressed concerns about
the loss of this service at the end of March, 2015. Albeit a Rhyl based
facility it does serve the whole County, particularly individuals and community
groups in the county's most deprived wards.
The Director of Social Services advised that a decision had been taken
in 2013 to reduce the funding to the Community Development Agency (CDA) by
£25K. This
decision had been taken partly to deal with reducing budgets, but also to meet
the needs of developing and delivering social care services to meet the
requirements of new social care legislation.
Transitional arrangements had been in place during the last two years
and the two staff members affected would move to new roles within the
Service. Officers, including the
Director had met with Rhyl Town Council and the Rhyl Coastal Partnership with a view to the future of the
building and alternative methods of delivering the services available there at
present. It
was emphasised that some of the services which the Council currently offered at
the Agency were non-statutory services, but during austere times the Authority
had to concentrate on statutory services and core functions. Since some services offered by the CDA were
offered through other agencies such as the Job Centre it would not be an
efficient use of limited Council resources for it to duplicate those services. The Director advised that the Council was
content for a 'partner' organisation to take over the facility and to have use
of the equipment there which was currently owned by the Council. If a social enterprise took over the building
it could benefit from incentives such as reduced rents, rates, utility costs
etc. However, the Council could not
provide the staff for the Centre as its aims would no longer comply with the
Welsh Government's (WG) vision and expectations for social care services going
forward. The Corporate Director informed
members that another meeting was scheduled to take place within the next few
days with the Rhyl Coastal Partnership, which in
response to members' questions she advised was a registered constitutional
body, to see if its interest in the facility could be progressed. The
Committee were of the view that Rhyl was yet again
losing a valuable community service.
They informed officers that the community owned a number of items of
equipment at the CDA and advised that therefore they should not be moved from
the facility without the community's consent.
Responding to Members' concerns about how the void left by the CDA's
closure could be filled the Director advised that the voluntary sector had an
important role to play in this area as it could access funding to support such
services from central government. She
suggested that it may be useful for the Committee to invite both Denbighshire
Voluntary Services Council (DVSC) and Rhyl Coastal
Partnership to a future meeting to discuss their role in supporting community
groups across Denbighshire going forward.
It was:- RESOLVED – that representatives from Denbighshire
Voluntary Services Council (DVSC) and the Rhyl
Coastal Partnership be invited to a future meeting to discuss their role in
supporting communities to access services and funding when non-statutory
Council services were withdrawn. 2. Welfare Rights Unit and Macmillan Nursing:- Concerns were raised by Members with respect to the availability of the Macmillan Nursing services to Denbighshire residents following the closure of the Welfare Rights ... view the full minutes text for item 3. |
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MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING PDF 135 KB To receive the minutes of the Partnerships Scrutiny
Committee meeting held on the 18th December, 2014 (copy enclosed) 9.30am – 9.35am Minutes: The Minutes of a meeting of
the Partnerships Scrutiny Committee held on Thursday, 18th December,
2014 were submitted. Matters arising:- 8. Rural Development Plan
Partnership – The Scrutiny Coordinator explained that a response to a question
from Councillor M.Ll. Davies, in relation to the
awarding funding for projects by Cadwyn Clwyd, would
be provided under Agenda Item 5. RESOLVED – that, subject to the above,
the Minutes be received and approved as a correct record. |
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CO-ORDINATION OF COMMUNITY FUNDING STREAMS PDF 145 KB To consider a report by the Team Leader Economic and Business Development South (copy enclosed) which outlines the current position with European Union (EU) and other funds currently available for Community benefit.
9.35 a.m. to 10.10 a.m. Additional documents: Minutes: A copy of a report by the Team Leader Economic and Business
Development South (TLEBD), which outlined the the current
position with European Union (EU) and other funds currently available for
Community benefit, had
been circulated with the papers for the meeting. The report provided the current position and
availability of potential funding sources, subject to eligibility criteria, for
Community benefit. It detailed the
support available to Community groups in applying for funding which was also
available via external agencies and support networks, and provided a guide to the main sources of EU and other
types of funding currently available. A guide to the main funding sources currently
available had been provided and included EU Funds and EU Structural Funds
2014-2020. It was explained that the amount
of matched funding would vary according to each theme and project. The programme level grant rates had been
provided to give an indication of grant levels anticipated. The investment objectives for the programmes
in Wales had been outlined in the report. the TLEBD
during the presentation of her report informed the Committee that:- · that the focus of the new round of
European Funding had changed. Under the
new programme fewer local projects would be funded, the emphasis would be on
large strategic projects that would be delivered on either a sub-regional,
regional or even a national basis: · Cadwyn Clwyd had been appointed
as the Local Action Group (LAG) to deliver the LEADER element of the Rural Development Plan (RDP)
2014/20, but as the European Union (EU) was yet to approve the RDP, funding for
projects could not be released and as a result staff had been released or were
under notice of redundancy. This was not
an ideal situation but it was out of the Council's control; · Conwy Voluntary Services Council (CVSC) had recently been
appointed as administrators for the Gwynt y Môr Windfarm Fund. This had been a consortia bid, which had
included Denbighshire Voluntary Services Council (DVSC) and Flintshire
Voluntary Services Council (FVSC) amongst other partners. The Advisory Group was now scheduled to meet
on 7 April to discuss project eligibility criteria and how to progress with the
distribution of grants and monies. In
response to Members' questions the TLEBD advised that:- - with
respect to the Gwynt y Môr
Community Fund there was some discrepancies on how far inland the benefits of
the Fund should be distributed, the reason for this being that whilst the
turbines themselves were offshore their visual impact was seen along the coast,
and the associated connections and substation were inland, the substation being
near St. Asaph, and as - as part of the Gwynt y Môr Advisory Group work Denbighshire officers had a very
good working relationship with all partners, including CVSC. To date Denbighshire had been represented on
the Gwynt y Môr Advisory
Group by officers, but now that the fund administrator had been appointed it
was likely that the membership and the structures would be reviewed; -
commuted sums monies was administered by various Council departments e.g.
Public Realm, Planning and Public Protection, Highways and Environmental
Services dependent on the basis on which the commuted sums had been
granted. She confirmed that all open
spaces commuted sums monies had been committed; - match-funding requirements for the new round of European funding would be: Structural Funds: 75% grant funding, 25% match funding; RDP: 80% grant funding, 20% match funding. No match funding monies had been allocated yet by the Council. The award and allocation of march funding would be considered on each projects' merit. One project had to date been put ... view the full minutes text for item 5. |
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SCRUTINY WORK PROGRAMME PDF 101 KB To consider a report by the Scrutiny Coordinator (copy enclosed) seeking a review of the committee’s forward work programme and updating members on relevant issues. 10.55 a.m. – 11.05 a.m. Additional documents:
Minutes: A copy of a report by the
Scrutiny Coordinator (SC), which requested the Committee to review and
agree its Forward Work Programme and provided an update on relevant issues, had been circulated with the
papers for the meeting. A copy of the
‘Member’s proposal form’ had been included in Appendix 2 and details of the
form were provided by the SC. In future
no items would be included on a forward work programme
without a ‘scrutiny proposal form’ being completed and accepted for inclusion
by the Committee or the SCVCG. The SC
explained that assistance in completing forms would be available if required. The
Cabinet Forward Work Programme had been included as Appendix 3, and a table summarising recent Committee resolutions and advising on
progress with their implementation, had been attached at Appendix 4. Betsi Cadwaladr University Health
Board:- It was explained that as Professor Trevor Purt, Chief Executive of the Betsi
Cadwaladr University Health Board, had attended a
Council Briefing on the 16th March, 2015 to discuss the Board’s
three year plan with all Councillors it was considered premature to invite
BCUHB representatives to the Committee on the 30th April to discuss
progress to date. Members agreed that
the meeting with Health Service representatives should be deferred until the 17th
September, 2015 with the 3rd September as a possible alternative
date if required. Members agreed that Councillor J.
Butterfield be appointed the Committee Representative on the Education Service
Challenge Group. Appendix 5 included an
up to date list of Scrutiny representatives on the Service Challenge Groups. The
Committee considered its draft Forward Work Programme for future meetings,
Appendix 1, and the following amendments and additions were agreed:- 30th
April, 2015:- The Scrutiny
Coordinator explained that the Principal Countryside
Officer: Warden Services had
indicated that he would be unable to attend the meeting scheduled for the 30th
April, 2015 to present the report on the AONB Joint Committee, and it was
agreed that the meeting be cancelled.
The Committee agreed that a meeting be convened for either the 14th
or 21st May, 2015, depending on the availability of those required
to attend, to consider the report on the AONB Joint Committee. It was also agreed that representatives
from Denbighshire Voluntary Services Council (DVSC) and the Rhyl
Coastal Partnership be invited to the meeting to discuss their role in
supporting communities to access services and funding when non-statutory
Council services were withdrawn. In
response to questions from Members, details of the Membership of the Rhyl Coastal Partnership were provided for the Committee. 30th
July, 2015:- - The SC explained
that an officer request for the Committee to consider a report on the
Denbighshire Communities First Cluster had been permitted and scheduled into
the forward work programme for the 30th July, 2015. The Scrutiny
Chairs and Vice-Chairs Group (SCVCG) had, on the 19th February,
2015, considered the Welsh Government’s recent White Paper Devolution, Democracy
and Delivery – Reforming Local Government:
Power: Power to Local
People. Chapter
8 of the White Paper, ‘Strengthening the Role of Review’, set out the WG’s
proposals for scrutiny, and a brief summary of the proceedings was provided by
the SC. The Annual Report
on the Scrutiny Committees’ activities during the year would be presented to
the Annual Council meeting in May. An
evaluation exercise of Scrutiny had been undertaken with a questionnaire having
been circulated to Scrutiny Members, and to a wider group including all
Councillors and members of SLT. The SC
requested that the questionnaires be returned as soon as possible. RESOLVED – ... view the full minutes text for item 6. |
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FEEDBACK FROM COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVES To receive any
updates from Committee representatives on various Council Boards and Groups 11.05 a.m. – 11.15 a.m. Minutes: No reports from Committee representatives had been received. Meeting ended at 11.55 a.m. |