CABINET
MINUTES of a meeting held on 18th
April, 2007.
Present: Councillor Ms. M.E. Alexander
(Chairman); Councillor N. Moore (Vice-Chairman), R.F. Curtis,
S.C. Egan, C.P. Franks, N.J. Gibbs, G. John,
Mrs. M. Randall and C.J. Williams
C2977
APOLOGY FOR ABSENCE –
An apology for absence was received from
Councillor Mrs. M.R. Wilkinson.
C2978
MINUTES -
RESOLVED - T H A T the minutes of the meeting
held on 28th March, 2007 be approved as a correct
record, subject to the inclusion of Councillor R.F. Curtis’ name in
the list of Members present..
C2979
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST -
The following declarations were received:
|
Councillors C.P. Franks, N.J. Gibbs, G. John,
Mrs. M. Randall and C.J. Williams (Town and Community Council
elected members)
|
Agenda Item No. 4 - Development of a Charter
between the Vale of Glamorgan Council and Town and Community
Councils.
|
C2980
DEVELOPMENT OF A CHARTER BETWEEN THE VALE OF GLAMORGAN COUNCIL AND
TOWN AND COMMUNITY COUNCILS (REF) -
This Council’s Community Liaison Committee at
its meeting held on 14th March, 2007 gave
consideration to proposals which sought to establish a working
group to consider the potential development of a charter between
the above mentioned Councils. This proposal was part of
an initiative sponsored by the Welsh Assembly Government and
related to the “Making the Connections, Delivering Beyond
Boundaries Agenda” which, emphasised “putting the citizens first
and working together to deliver”. In achieving these goals it
was considered appropriate that public bodies, including town and
community councils, would have to work together to build effective
relationships and networks in order that they could continuously
and effectively enhance services to their local communities and the
development of an appropriate community charter would assist with
achieving these goals.
It was hoped that once established the working
group would be in the forefront for establishing the Charter, which
would also include officer representatives from this Council and
clerks and town committee councils. It was also acknowledged
that any charter developed by the working group would be subject to
approval by the respective town and community councils and the Vale
of Glamorgan Council Cabinet prior to any adoption by individual
town and community councils.
The Cabinet, having given consideration to the
above and related issues
RESOLVED – T H A T the under mentioned
recommendations of the Community Liaison Committee be endorsed
“(1) T H A T the
Community Liaison Committee supported the Chief Executive of the
Vale of Glamorgan Council establishing a working group to
investigate the development of a Charter between the Vale of
Glamorgan Council and Town and Community Councils.
(2)
T H A T Clerks, Town and Community Councils be apprised of the
Welsh Assembly Government Guidance at the meeting scheduled to take
place on 16th April, 2007 and that the Clerks also be
invited to take part in the working group.
(3)
T H A T the working group initially consist of officers to explore
the Charter proposals and that a report be prepared for Members’
consideration in due course.
(4)
T H A T the above views / recommendation of the Community Liaison
Committee be forwarded to Cabinet.”
C2981
USE OF THE CHIEF
EXECUTIVE’S EMERGENCY POWERS (CX) (SCRUTINY – AS INDICATED BELOW)
–
This matter was for an Executive decision.
RESOLVED – T H A T the exercise of the Chief
Executive’s emergency powers as indicated below be noted:
(a)
Authority to implement the pay award under Joint Education Services
Circular No. 144.
(Scrutiny - Corporate Resources).
(Scrutiny – Corporate Resources).
(c)
Authority to implement the pay award under Joint Education Services
Circular No. 148.
(Scrutiny - Corporate Resources).
(d)
Authority to submit Flying Start plans to WAG by the
specified deadline.
(Scrutiny – Community Wellbeing and Safety).
(e)
Authority to approve a budget of £170k. as part of the 2007/08
capital programme to enable an order for new mowers to be placed
within the required timeframe.
(Scrutiny - Economy and Environment).
Reason for decision
To inform the Cabinet.
C2982
MAKING THE CONNECTIONS: WELSH
AUDIT OFFICE ASSESSMENT (CX) (SCRUTINY – ALL) –
The Cabinet had periodically, between October
2004 and November 2006, received consultation documents from the
Welsh Assembly Government in relation to the above subject
matter.
A recent assessment had been made by the Wales
Audit Office (WAO) of how effectively the Council was implementing
the “Making the Connections” agenda to deliver better public
services. The broad conclusion of the WAO was that “the Vale
of Glamorgan is currently making good progress in implementing the
Making the Connections agenda and has created a momentum for change
that augurs well for future progress”.
The Making the Connections embraced four
themes namely:
·
Working together as the Welsh Public Service
·
Making better use of resources
·
Putting the citizen at the centre to improve customer service and
public engagement
·
Engaging the work force.
Each theme was assessed by the WAO in terms of
four “descriptors” which were:
-
Aware: “the Council recognised the key issues to be
addressed but currently few approaches had been developed to
address them”.
-
Developing: “the Council is aware of key issues with
emerging approaches to address them, though with little
implementation so far”.
-
Practising: “the Council has well developed plans to address
key issues, with significant implementation”.
-
Leading: “the Council can show clear evidence of good
practice which can be shared and is further developing its approach
to ensure sustainability”.
The assessment by WAO was that this Council
was currently at the “developing” stage for Working Together and
Preparing the Workforce, and at the “leading” stage for Customer
Service and Public Engagement.
This matter was for Executive decision.
RESOLVED – T H A T the Council’s progress in
respect of “Making the Connections Agenda” be noted.
Reason for decision
To acknowledge recent progress in relation to
Making the Connections Agenda.
C2983
TOURIST
INFORMATION CENTRE SERVICE (DEER) (SCRUTINY – ECONOMY AND
ENVIRONMENT) –
The Council currently provided TIC service at
Penarth Pier and Barry Island. Both centres were designated
as Wales-networked which resulted in the centres benefiting from a
nationwide corporate service, with easily recognisable branded
signage, training programmes for staff an accommodation booking
service and provision of high quality services. During the
2006 tourist season both centres received a total number of
visitors / enquiries of 11,527 (Penarth Pier) and 8,909 (Barry
Island).
With regard to Llantwit Major and Cowbridge,
there was currently a limited information service provided by the
Llantwit Major Town Council with tourist information literature
also being available at the Vale of Glamorgan Council district
office in Eastgate Cowbridge. The Llantwit Major Town Council
service currently operated all year but was not part of the
Wales-network of TICs and therefore did not have to comply with the
Wales TIC Charter and did not provide an accommodation booking
service. In addition to these matters, the above Town Council
had recently taken the decision to reduce the hours of
opening. Visitor data in relation to enquiries at the
Llantwit Major and Cowbridge was unavailable as these had not been
monitored.
In addition to the above matters, a
non-staffed tourist information point (TIP) at Cardiff
International Airport had been established by Capital Region
Tourism (CRT), the regional tourism partnership for South East
Wales, which opened in 2004. The Council had been
approached to manage the facility for a period of three
years. Two options were now being considered in relation to
this facility:
·
That the Council investigate the feasibility of staffing the TIP at
key times which would enhance tourism within the Vale of Glamorgan
and help establish the facility as a gateway TIC.
Temporary measures were currently in place to
ensure that appropriate tourism literature was re-stocked on a
three times a week basis.
It was acknowledged that Barry Island and
Penarth TICs dealt with different customer requirements due to
their location with Penarth TIC being the busiest of the two
centres due to Waverley Excursions and a proximity to Cardiff
accounting for many of the enquiries. With regard to tourism
on Barry Island this had changed in recent years, and this TIC now
handled fewer genuine tourism enquiries, the staff dealing with
general information, police, traffic and first aid issues. A
significant decrease in accommodation bookings and retail sales had
been noted from this TIC. It was now considered that the
Barry Island TIC no longer fulfilled the role that it was
established to carry out and consequently it was appropriate
therefore to realign the service so that it re-focused towards new
forms of visitor demand.
Having regard to the above, a number of
options were considered in respect of the following:
(i)
Closure of Barry TIC / reducing hours at Penarth TIC. This
would entail the revision of hours at Penarth to better reflect
actual demand with it being proposed that this TIC be opened at
weekends, Bank holidays and school holidays. Complimenting
this revised service would involve tourist information material
being provided at other appropriate locations e.g. Dyffryn Gardens,
Cosmeston, Leisure Centres, libraries and Council offices.
The option in relation to the closure of Barry Island TIC would
lead to the diversion of enquiries to the Tourism Unit at the Dock
Offices, Barry.
(ii)
The option to close Barry Island TIC. This would afford the
opportunity of relocating and providing an improved service to
visitors at Cardiff International Airport TIP. Given that the
volume of literature taken at the Airport TIP was very high, there
was now an argument for partial staffing of this facility,
particularly at times of major events and when there was a large
influx of visitors. The volume of visitors arriving at the
Airport offered a potential revenue earner for the TIC in terms of
accommodation bookings and retail sales. The Airport location
also offered potential in terms of enhancing the Vale’s profile in
creating a memorable first impression of visitors using air
travel.
(iii)
Relocation to Western Vale. Following recent announcements
regarding the Metrix development at RAF St. Athan, initial
indications point to Llantwit Major potentially having a footfall
increase in the future, with an influx of both visitors and
residents. As the time and impact of the Metrix proposal
became clearer it was intended to submit a further report on
options to a future Cabinet meeting.
This matter was for Executive decision.
RESOLVED –
(1) T H A
T the hours of operation at Penarth TIC be reduced as set out in
paragraph 12 of the report.
(2) T H A
T further negotiations be carried out with Capital Regional Tourism
regarding funding to staff the Cardiff International Airport
Tourism and Information Post.
(3) T H A
T, as the Metrix project for a Defence Training College at St.
Athan developed, the future of tourism information in the Western
Vale be considered.
(4) T H A
T the Director of Environmental and Economic Regeneration submit a
further report to the next meeting of Cabinet on the following
matters:
(a) The feasibility of
operating the Barry Island TIC on the same basis as the revised
opening hours of the Penarth TIC.
(b) The potential involvement
of Barry Island Traders in the provision of tourism information
literature.
(c) Options to allow for
the utilisation of space within the Barry Island TIC building for
alternative leisure uses.
(5) T H A
T the Director of Environmental and Economic Regeneration submit a
further report in respect of any service delivery issues that may
arise as a result of the revised opening arrangements of both Barry
Island and Penarth TICs.
Reasons for decisions
(1) To
reflect changing nature of demand.
(2) To
obtain a contribution from CRT to assist in staffing and
maintenance costs.
(3) To
provide a TIC service in the west region of the Vale of
Glamorgan.
(4) To
ensure service provision but acknowledging the changing nature of
demand and to assess options for possible service realignment
(including alternative uses for the building to compliment a TIC
service.
(5) To
address any service delivery related matters.
C2984
EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC -
RESOLVED - T H A T under Section 100A(4) of
the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded
from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds
that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as
defined in Part 4 of Schedule 12A (as amended) of the Act, the
relevant paragraphs of the Schedule being referred to in brackets
after the minute heading.
C2985
MATTER WHICH THE CHAIRMAN HAD DECIDED WAS URGENT -
RESOLVED - T H A T the following matter which
the Chairman had decided was urgent for the reason stated, be
considered.
C2986
URBAN PARKS PROGRAMME: VICTORIA PARK, BARRY (REF) (EXEMPT
INFORMATION - PARAGRAPH 20) -
Urgent by reason of the need for
Cabinet approval to permit the Director of Environmental and
Economic Regeneration to authorise contractual
payments
The Scrutiny Committee (Economy and
Environment) on 17th April, 2007, gave consideration to
matters relating to the progress of the restoration scheme for the
above mentioned Park following the award of grant from the Heritage
Lottery Fund (HLF) under the Urban Parks Programme. The
Scrutiny Committee was also apprised at that time of the problems
encountered with the scheme which were currently being
addressed.
The Cabinet gave consideration to the above
and related issues and
RESOLVED - T H A T the undermentioned
recommendations of the Scrutiny Committee (Economy and Environment)
be endorsed:
“(1) T H A T the
issues in relation to the contract works as outlined in the report
be noted and the measures taken to investigate matters
approved.
(2) T H A
T an application to HLF for uplift funding be supported.
(3) T H A
T Cabinet approval be sought for the Director of Environmental and
Economic Regeneration to authorise contractual payments.
(4) T H A
T a further report be presented to this Committee on the completion
of the internal review of the contract situation, such a review to
include the direct involvement of Internal Audit.”
Reason for decision
To progress resolution of contractual issues,
to enable a formal application to be submitted; to meet contractual
requirements and to ensure that the relevant Scrutiny Committee is
apprised of progress on the matter.