Minutes:
· The Chair extended his sincere condolences, on behalf of Elected Members and Senior Officers, to Councillor Louvain Roberts and her family on the passing of her husband Mel earlier this month;
· The Chair extended his congratulations to Mr Eric & Mrs Betty Jones, Twyn, Garnant, who had celebrated their 70th Wedding Anniversary at the end of September;
· The Chair expressed his best wishes to Mrs Irene Williams of Llangunnor who would celebrate her 100th birthday on the 30th October 2021.
· The Chair extended his congratulations to Jonney Clayton, one of the Council’s employees, on winning the 2021 World Darts Grand Prix;
· The Vice-Chair, Cllr Ken Lloyd stated that he had recently attended the Carmarthenshire Scouts AGM and awards evening on the Chair’s behalf.
· The Chair advised that on the 9th September, he and his consort Mrs Joyce Williams had the pleasure of meeting Nerys Davies who had cycled from Tignes in France to Capel Bryn Iwan, Carmarthenshire a distance of over 1,000 miles to raise funds for Calon Cymru.
· The Council was advised that the Chair and his consort had attended the Civic Service of the newly elected Mayor of Carmarthen Town Council namely Councillor Gareth John.
· The Chair informed the Council that a new Facebook page had been launched to help him share news and updates about his activities as Chairman of Carmarthenshire County Council and also to share information about his chosen charity, the Wales Air Ambulance. Anyone who wished to follow his activities could search for ‘Cadeirydd Cyngor Sir Gâr | Carmarthenshire County Council Chair’.
· Councillor Mair Stephens launched the Council’s annual Toybox appeal which provided gifts for families in need. The Authority had provided 7,500 gifts to 1,256 children last Christmas which was a remarkable achievement and further details for this year’s appeal would be available on the Council’s website from Monday 18th October 2021.
· Councillor Ann Davies reminded Council that October was Black History Month which gave everyone the opportunity to share, celebrate and understand the impact of black heritage and culture. In addition, Hate Crime Awareness Week, was taking place from the 9th to the 16th of October and the Council was working with communities and with key partners to make it clear that hate crime was not welcome in Carmarthenshire.
· The Leader, with the Chair’s permission provided an update on the Covid situation in Carmarthenshire. He provided an update on the Covid figures in the County and advised that whilst figures remained high there were signs of positive cases slowing down. He stated that whilst there were escalating pressures in the social care system the figures were manageable currently for the Health Service. The Leader expressed his sincere gratitude to social care staff and those who continued to work on the front line for their continued hard work and dedication. He advised that the Statutory Director of Social Services had provided a report to Cabinet members on the impact of national social care pressures within Carmarthenshire; the challenges facing social care in Wales; the impact of this on the residents of Carmarthenshire and some of the actions taken to mitigate this. He asked the Authority’s Political Group leaders to join with him in writing to Welsh Government to undertake a radical change in how social care was managed and a national solution to pay and conditions.