Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Penny Edwards.

There were no declarations of any prohibited party whips.

The Chair advised that no public questions had been received.

The Committee received a report presented by Councillor C. Campbell, Executive Board Member for Communities and Rural Affairs providing an update on the Council’s Corporate Strategy for 2018-23, as at April 2021.

The report detailed the progress being achieved against the Council’s Well Being objectives adopted in June 2018, as amended to reflect developing priorities and the impact of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, Brexit and climate change.

The Committee noted that while it was considered good practice to ensure the Corporate Strategy was up to date and resources allocated to priorities, the Improvement Objectives must be published annually in accordance with both the Local Government (Wales Measure 2009) and The Well-being of Future Generations Act.

Supporting presentations were also made by Executive Board Members Councillors H. Evans, Executive Board Member with responsibility for Environment and P.M. Hughes, Executive Board Member for Public Protection in relation to their specific portfolios.

The following questions/issues were raised on the report:-

·      Reference was made to Well-being objective 8 - Support community cohesion, resilience & safety.  In relation to the statistic that five years ago 73% of Carmarthenshire residents felt they lived in a cohesive community, concern was expressed that this had reduced to half (51.5%).  It was asked, if there was an explanation for the significant reduction?  The Executive Board Member for Communities and Rural Affairs explained that a report was recently presented to Executive Board on work surrounding social cohesion.  Following extensive consultation, it was evidenced that tensions had arisen around the Brexit debate, which had divided families, friends and communities.  In addition, the report recognised that the Covid-19 pandemic was also a contributing factor as well as the public debate on the Black Lives Matter movement.

It was requested that the abovementioned report to Executive Board be forwarded to Committee Members.  This was duly noted and would be actioned accordingly.

·      Reference was made to Community Resilience (WBO 8).  Whilst acknowledging that the pandemic was a significant challenge which brought communities together, however there was an escalating issue in Carmarthenshire due to climate change, the consequences of which had resulted in reoccurring examples of flooding.  It was asked if the Council was able to learn from this period in order to build more community resilience? The Executive Board Member for Communities and Rural Affairs explained that during the pandemic many communities worked together to help the most vulnerable.  In relation to flooding specifically, it was accepted that flooding incidents were occurring more frequently, highlighting that due to the complexity of the of the issues it was suggested that the best way to tackle the reoccurring issues would be to develop a strategic long-term solution by working together with the Welsh Government, Natural Resource Wales (NRW), Carmarthenshire Council and Farmers Unions.

Whilst understanding the challenges, it was raised that it would be beneficial for more opportunities to be available for communities to work alongside 3 sector organisations, particularly in the recovery process.

·      Reference was made to WBO 10.  It was raised if the role of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Committee received a report which was introduced by the Chair of the Task and Finish Group currently reviewing the Financial Exploitation Safeguarding Scheme (FESS).  The Task and Finish Group, which was conducting a review of the wider interventions the team operate under FESS, proposed that the information provided in the report would be beneficial to all members of the Committee.

The aim of the report was to raise awareness and inform the Committee members of the proactive work undertaken by the Trading Standards team on financial exploitation and its work in protecting those vulnerable to exploitation during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

The report included the following information:-

• Covid-19 No Cold Calling Zones support flyer, Rogue Training, Fraud and Scams
• Digital infographics - details of the interventions that Trading Standards offer
• Business Advice infographic - containing examples of common business scams and other essential information
• Information on the Buy with Confidence scheme
• Statistical information in relation to the innovative trueCall© device monitoring tool

The report was presented by Councillor Philip Hughes, Executive Board Member for Public Protection supported by the Consumer and Business Affairs Manager.

The following questions/issues were raised on the report:-

• A member expressed that as a victim of fraud, the support provided by the Trading Standards team throughout the ordeal was invaluable and advocated the departments work on FESS.

• It was commented that with cold calling on the increase it was good to note that the Trading Standards team were working together with the police.

The Executive Board member wished to extend his sincere thanks to all the officers of the Trading Standards team for their excellent work.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the Covid-19 and the Financial Exploitation Safeguarding Scheme report be received.

[Note: Councillor K. Lloyd having earlier declared a personal interest in this item remained in the meeting, participated in the consideration but did not partake in the decision thereof].

Following the approval of the Net Zero Carbon (NZC) Plan by County Council on 12^th February 2020, the draft Net Zero Carbon Plan update was developed in accordance with Action NZC-28 of the Plan that required performance reports on progress towards becoming a net zero carbon local authority by 2030 to be published annually. 

The Committee received the draft progress report presented by Councillor Cefin Campbell, the Executive Board Member for Communities and Rural Affairs.  The draft report comprised of detailed information within following sections:-

• High Level Summary including Progress against Actions
• COVID-19 and Climate Change
• Progress Update
• Future Actions
• Wider Response to Climate Emergency (Appendix 1)

The following questions/issues were raised on the report:-

• In terms of flooding matters, a query was raised how the Council was going to work with the farming unions?  The Executive Board for Communities and Rural Affairs stated that the Rural Affairs Working Group had considered slurry management which had noted that river pollution had decreased, however there were a number of other factors involved not just farming industry.  Farmers were required to adhere to set regulations, whereby breaches of the regulations could be a better measurement.

• Reference was made to the funding that had been awarded by Welsh Government to install an electric vehicle superfast charging hub at Crosshands, it was asked if more information on this could be received? The Executive Board Member for Communities and Rural Affairs stated that there were currently 26 charging points across the County and the ambition was to install more.  The Head of Transportation & Highways provided an update confirming that a grant bid had been submitted to the Welsh Government to install a further 14 charging points next year.  In terms of development of the Crosshands superfast charging hub, it was confirmed that this was on schedule to ready for commission in April this year.

• It was asked if electric vehicle charging points should be included as a planning condition for large developments e.g., supermarkets? The Head of Highways and Transportation explained that Welsh Government were currently developing a national strategy on electric vehicle charging for release later this year. Following the release of this strategy, the Council’s electric vehicle strategy could potentially seek a developer’s commitment regarding electric charging infrastructure. 

• In response to a query on whether Western Power Distribution had any plans to improve the capacity of the local electricity distribution network system (Grid), the Executive Board Member for Communities and Rural Affairs stated that he was aware of discussions with Western Power Distribution on this matter.  The Sustainable Development Manager confirmed that Officers were in discussions with Western Power Distribution and Welsh Government Energy Service.  It was reported that Western Power Distribution had recently issued a call for evidence to identify ‘ready to go’ low carbon projects should there be sufficient Grid  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Committee received an explanation for the non-submission of the following scrutiny reports:-

·       Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) – Future Delivery Plan

·       Anti-Social Behaviour Policy

·       Departmental Business Plans

The Executive Board Member for Public Protection informed the Committee that with regard to the Anti-Social Behaviour Policy, unfortunately there was a further delay and that this report would now be presented to the Committee next meeting in May 2021 and not April as stated in the report.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that:

7.1      the revised date for the Anti-Social Behaviour Policy be accepted;

7.2      the explanation for the non-submission be noted.

The Committee noted the number of reports on the agenda for the next meeting which was due to a cumulation of delayed reports over the last few months.  However, the Chair explained that it was important to ensure that the Committee was provided to carry out quality scrutiny and therefore proposed to extend the Committee meeting into the afternoon.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that:

8.1      the list of forthcoming items to be considered at the next scheduled      meeting on the 19^th April 2021 be noted;

8.2      the E&PP Scrutiny Committee meeting in April be extended into the afternoon.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the
1^st February, 2021 be signed as a correct record.