Agenda and minutes

Councillor Steve Davies, Matthew Woolfall Jones, Maldwyn Lewis, and Mark Strong apologised for their inability to attend the meeting

There were no declarations of personal or prejudicial interest.

a)    Councillor Rhodri Evans congratulated Caryl Haf on being elected Chairperson of the Wales Young Farmers’ Club;

b)    Councillor Rhodri Evans congratulated Lisa Bullman on winning the inter county Clay Pidgeon shooting competition and will now go on to represent Wales;

c)    Councillor Rowland Rees-Evans congratulated Mrs Margaret Jones who will be celebrating her 100^th birthday tomorrow;

d)    Councillor Euros Davies congratulated Sion Jenkins on being elected President of the Ceredigion young Farmers’ Club.

Councillor Ellen ap Gwynn gave a verbal update in relation to COVID-19 in Ceredigion.  She noted that the infection figure for Ceredigion is rising and that there has been a total of 4,993 cases within the County since the start of the pandemic.  The current rate is at 353.3 per hundred thousand and although Ceredigion is the lowest in Wales, the highest is over a thousand per hundred thousand. The average for Wales is at 651.9 per hundred thousand however infection figures for neighbouring counties are extremely high.  There were 192 new cases in Ceredigion over the last two days which are yet to be reported via the Public Health Wales daily reports. , All were reminded that we still need to be careful. Of these, 71 cases were in Schools, and at least one class in one school is now being taught remotely. Two secondary schools and one primary school are also experiencing a high number of cases.

There are 86 hospitalised cases within the Hywel Dda Health University Board, 5 of which are at Bronglais.  298,000 have received the first dose of the vaccine in Wales, and 276,000 have received the second dose. In addition, many have now received the booster vaccine, and 2,000 of people who are immunosuppressed have received their third vaccine..  It was noted that Ceredigion has the highest percentage in Wales of 12 – 15 year olds that have received the vaccine.

COVID-19 has affected the Council’s services, with 28 Members of staff currently with COVID-19.  Several are also self-isolating due to cases within the family, and the Leadership Group have had to re-allocate staff in order to ensure the resilience of key services.

Vaccination centres are based at the Llanbadarn campus and Cwmcou, and there is also a peripatetic unit covering the whole of the Hywel Dda area which could be located in this area.  Testing centres are also available at Canolfan Rheidol, Aberystwyth and Penmorfa, Aberaeron.

It was RESOLVED to confirm as a true record the Minutes of the Council meeting held on 23^rd September 2021.

It was RESOLVED to confirm as a true record the Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Council meeting held on 27^th September 2021.

Councillor Catherine Hughes, Cabinet Member for Porth Gofal, presented the report noting that a systematic review of all structures and service areas was agreed in 2017 to ensure that all services have the capacity and capability to meet the priorities of the corporate plans and objectives.  The final major change related to the integration of social care and lifelong learning into three services, Porth Cymorth Cynnar, Porth Gofal and Porth Cynnal with Customer Contact making up the 4 main areas that fall within the Through Age & Wellbeing Programme of change.

Councillor Alun Williams, Cabinet Member for Porth Cynnal gave an outline of the aims and strategy which underpins the review with a focus on a preventative, positive approach building on the strengths of our service users, our staff and our County. Caroline Lewis, Corporate Director gave a presentation and shared a video which provided an outline of progress in relation to the programme and action plan.

Members asked about budgetary implications, recruitment and the involvement of health services.  It was noted that investing more in prevention would lead to fewer becoming dependent on the more expensive high end support.  It was acknowledged that recruitment is a problem throughout the country, and that this innovative approach is aimed at enticing people to recognise this work as a valued profession, which is supported by an emphasis on workforce development.  It was also noted that local authorities, health boards and the third party sector are working together, and receiving funding for this work through regional partnership boards.

Following a vote, it was unanimously RESOLVED to approve the Through Age and Wellbeing Strategy 2021-2027 and Action Plan.

Councillor Ellen ap Gwynn, Council Leader and Cabinet Member for Policy, Performance and Partnerships presented the report noting that an annual review of the Well-being Objectives was undertaken in June 2021, taking into account the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on service delivery. Councillor Ellen ap Gwynn noted the excellent performance against the objectives, noting that the existing set of Objectives remain fit for purpose and provide a more focused response to COVID-19 to protect and enhance the well-being of everyone now and for the longer term. 

Members asked about the timescale for re-opening the leisure facilities and swimming pools, and it was noted that there had been delays due to problems in sourcing materials to carry out essential work.

Following a vote, it was RESOLVED to agree the draft Well-being and Improvement Objectives Annual Report 2020-21 and to approve the Wellbeing Objectives for 2022/23.

Councillor Rhodri Evans, Cabinet Member for Economy and Regeneration presented the report outlining the situation in relation to Phosphates within the River Teifi Special Area of Conservation (SAC), and the implications for the current Local Development Plan (LDP).  It was noted that the situation with the phosphates has impacted upon the planned replacement Local Development Plan, and gave an appraisal of the options that were open to the Council which included a 6 town plan; a passive approach and a spatial realignment approach

Members noted their dissatisfaction with the actions of Welsh Water and the Welsh Government noting their concern that there may be further restrictions on coastal areas in respect of planning.  It was noted that the situation is extremely frustrating, however the Council would need to take a pragmatic approach in relation to the timeframe for producing the Local Development Plan.

Following a vote, it was RESOLVED to agree a temporary but as yet unspecified length pause for the replacement Local Development Plan, subject to confirmation by Welsh Government.

Councillor Ceredig Davies, Chair of the Democratic Services Committee presented the report to the Council noting that the Democratic Services Annual Report is used to highlight the work carried out by the Democratic Services Committee, show how the Democratic Services Committee has made a difference and support continuous improvements for Councillors. 

He thanked Democratic Services and ICT Officers for their support and all their hard work and support in ensuring that the meetings are able to be held remotely, and asked that Members consider their ICT requirements from May 2022.

The content of the report was noted by Council.

Eifion Evans, Chief Executive presented the report to Council noting that on 11 October 2021, the Minister for Finance and Local Government made an Order, placing into law the recommendations of the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales.  This Order will come into force on the ordinary day of election of councillors, on 5^th May 2022.

He provided a summary of the changes which include a reduction of Councillors from 42 to 38, a reduction of electoral wards from 40 to 34, a total of 18 changes to electoral wards, and 4 multi-member electoral wards.

The content of the report was noted by Council.