Contact: Nia Jones
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Apologies Minutes: Councillor Bryan Davies, Rhodri Davies,
Elaine Evans, Hag Harris, Maldwyn Lewis, Rowland Rees-Evans and Mark Strong apologised
for their inability to attend the meeting. Councillor Alun
Williams apologised for this inability to attend the meeting due to being on
other Council duties. Councillor
Rhodri Evans apologised that he would be joining the meeting late. |
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Disclosure of personal / prejudicial interests Minutes: There were no declarations of
personal or prejudicial interest. |
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Personal matters Minutes: a)
Councillor Ray Quant paid tribute to all
involved in the campaign to reverse the decision to downgrade the life-boat at
New Quay, noting that following review an All-weather lifeboat will now be
available at New Quay. Councillor Dan Potter who is also the coxswain of New
Quay life-boat noted the importance of this location, and thanked the lifeboat
crew and flank stations that supported then in this campaign, and the important
work keeping up the highest tradition of the RNLI, saving lives at sea. Councillor Elizabeth Evans also highlighted
that following a Motion to Council, and the unanimous support of the Members
there was a definite gear change by the RNLI, which demonstrates the effectiveness
of bringing such motions to Council; b)
Councillor Euros Davies congratulated the
Ceredigion Young Farmers’ Clubs on a successful Eisteddfod at the Pavilion in
Pontrhydfendigaid and to all those who won in the various categories to include
Llanwennog who won first prize, Pontsian, second and Troedyraur who came
third. Twm Ebbsworth won the Crown and
Ianto Jones who won the Chair at the Eisteddfod. Twm Ebbsworth went on to come
second for the Crown throughout Wales, and Ianto Jones won the Chair for the
whole of Wales; c)
Councillor Euros Davies congratulated Eluned Jones
on winning the Crown and Martha Evans on winning the Chair at the
Carmarthenshire Young Farmers’ club Eisteddfod; d)
Councillor Euros Davies congratulated the Young
Farmers’ Club on a successful ‘Field Day’, which was won by Llangwyryfon Young
Farmers’ Club, and gave his best wishes to all those who will be progressing to
the next round at the Winter Fair; e)
Councillor Euros Davies congratulated Dai Thomas
of Llanwnnen on winning the best bullock competition at the Winter Fair in England,
and to all others who were successful; f)
Councillor Meirion Davies congratulated
Llangwyryfon Young Farmers Club on winning at the Field Day for the 7th
year in succession which was held at Trawscoed Farm in his Ward; g)
Councillor Lyndon Lloyd MBE congratulated Eluned
Jones on her 102nd birthday; h)
Councillor John Adams-Lewis noted that the
roadworks at Ystad Brynhafod are now complete due to a Welsh Government scheme,
and thanked Officers for their support; i)
Eifion Evans, Chief Executive wished Caroline Lewis,
Corporate Director well on her retirement and thanked her for all her work over
the past 15 years, especially her contribution over the past 12 months in
driving forward the Through Age and Wellbeing Strategy. Thanks were re-iterated by Councillor Ellen
ap Gwynn; j)
Councillor Elizabeth Evans wished Amanda
Roberts, Corporate Manager for Internal Audit well on her retirement and
thanked her for all her work over the past 36 years supporting and instilling
confidence to the Audit Committee. Thanks were re-iterated by Councillor Ellen
ap Gwynn; k) Councillor Ellen ap Gwynn congratulated Elgan Evans from Talybont on winning with the Welsh Black cattle and rare breeds at the Winter Fair in England. |
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A verbal update by the Leader of the Council in relation to COVID-19 Minutes: Councillor Ellen ap Gwynn gave a verbal update in relation to COVID-19
in Ceredigion. She noted that the total
infection cases for Ceredigion is 6,330.
Cases are higher now than at the beginning of the outbreak, however they
are beginning to fall. The current weekly infection rate for Ceredigion is at 266.9 per hundred thousand with a 12.6% positivity rate, compared to the whole of Wales which is at 499.9 with a 19% positivity rate. At a local level, during the period 14 to 20 November the infection rate is at 450.6 per hundred thousand in Cardigan and Aberporth, with 40 cases; 270.6 cases per hundred thousand in Beulah, Troed-yr-aur and Llandysul with 20 case; 502.1 cases per hundred thousand in New Quay and Penbryn with 33 cases; 157.7 cases per hundred thousand in Lampeter and Llanfihangel Ystrad with 13 cases; 338.2 cases per hundred thousand in Aberaeron and Llanrhystud with 24 cases; 147.2 cases per hundred thousand in Rheidol, Ystwyth and Caron with 17 cases; 328.7 cases per hundred thousand in Aberystwyth South with 22 cases; 113.2 cases per hundred thousand in Aberystwyth North with 10 cases; and 210.6 cases per hundred thousand in Borth and Bontgoch with 15 cases. All were reminded that we still need to be careful. It was noted that there are 2 COVID-19 cases at Bronglais Hospital, 29 at Glangwili
Hospital, 5 at Prince Philip Hospital and 12 at Withybush
Hospital and that it appears that the numbers are also falling in all the
Hospitals in the Hywel Dda University Health Board area. Three of the Council’s care homes are categorised red due to
COVID-19 cases among staff, and three are categorised amber, due to one member
of staff testing positive. An increase in cases was seen in schools following half term,
however this is considerably lower now and we hope that it will continue to
fall between now and the Christmas break. The waste centres are now fully operational and click and collect
arrangements are still in place at our libraries. This will be reviewed in the
New Year. Work is ongoing at Plascrug Leisure
Centre, Cardigan Leisure Centre and Lampeter Swimming Pool. The work has taken
longer than expected, and we apologise for any inconvenience because of this. The NERS exercise programme under medical supervision which has been meeting online will start to meet face to face, and members of the public are advised to monitor the public road-map on the Council’s website for updates on changes to services. |
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Minutes of the Meeting of the Council held on 21 October 2021 PDF 210 KB Minutes: It was RESOLVED to confirm as a true record the Minutes of the Council meeting held on 21st October 2021. |
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Minutes of the Special Meetings of the Council held on 21 October 2021 PDF 116 KB Minutes: It was RESOLVED
to confirm as a true record the Minutes of
the Special Meeting of the Council
meeting held on 21st October
2021. |
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Annual Governance Statement 2020/21 update PDF 1 MB Minutes: Councillor
Ray Quant, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member Legal and Governance, People and Organisation and Democratic Services introduced the updated
Annual Governance Statement (AGS) 2020/21 to the Council, noting that the draft
Annual Governance Statement was approved by Council on 18 March 2021, and
reviewed by the Governance and Audit Committee earlier today. He noted that two minor amendments have been made to the 2020/21 Annual
Governance Statement in reference to the ‘Local Government and Elections
(Wales) Act 2021’. No amendments have
been recommended by Audit Wales, however amendments have been made to reflect actions taken
which have now been actioned and completed. Following a vote, it was unanimously RESOLVED in accordance with the
recommendation of the Council’s Governance and Audit Committee, to approve the
amended Annual Governance Statement 2020/2021 |
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ISA260 Report of Audit Wales on the 2020/21 Statement of Accounts PDF 810 KB Minutes: The Chair welcomed Eleanor Ansell of Wales Audit to
the meeting. Eleanor Ansell presented the ISA260 Report in respect
of the Council’s Statement of Accounts for 2020/21, noting that the statutory deadlines
had been relaxed by Welsh Government and that Ceredigion County Council would
be meeting these revised deadlines. She noted that there are no significant issues arising from the audit. They have also reviewed the harbour return, and there are no issues arising from this either. She thanked the staff for working with effectively with them and concluded that it was their intention to issue an unqualified audit opinion on this year’s accounts. |
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Comments from the Chairman of the Governance and Audit Committee on the report Minutes: Councillor Elizabeth Evans, the
Chairman of the Governance and Audit Committee, stated
that the Audit Committee had considered the Statement of Accounts for 2020/21
in detail earlier in the day, and thanked the team noting that you cannot get a
better outcome than this. She thanked
Audit Wales for working with officers so constructively, noting that it had not
been necessary to address any issues regarding Estates this year, and thanked
the Service for addressing previous issues. Councillor
Ellen ap Gwynn congratulated everyone on an excellent
report especially under such difficult circumstances. |
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2020/21 Statement of Accounts PDF 2 MB Minutes: Councillor Gareth Lloyd, Cabinet Portfolio Member for
Finance and Procurement Services and Public Protection Services commended the
Statement of Accounts and the ISA260 report, noting that in accordance with the
Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004 that statements of accounts must be approved by
Council by 30 November 2021. He
noted that the outturn is a break even position, the level of the General Fund
of £6.1m and the level of Earmarked Reserves have remained unaltered, and that
the Auditor General’s intention is to issue an unqualified audit report on the
Accounts. He
thanked all the staff and Auditors for their hard work in delivering the clean
Statement of Accounts whilst dealing with additional responsibilities. Councillor
Elizabeth Evans, noted the gratitude of small businesses for processing the
£49million grants so quickly, without which several businesses would have
failed. Following
discussion, it was RESOLVED to
approve the Council’s Statement of Accounts and the Ceredigion
Harbour Authority Statement of Accounts for 2020/21. |