Minutes:
Councillor Ellen ap
Gwynn re-iterated the congratulations to Elin Jones AS, and also thanked her and Ben Lake, MP for their
support and co-operation during the recent challenging times.
Councillor Ellen ap Gwynn congratulated
Councillors Paul Hinge and Ifan Davies on being elected Chair and Vice Chair
respectively. The Leader also paid tribute to Councillor Gareth Davies on his
service during his year as Chairman.
The Leader addressed the Council on the main
matters which had impacted the Council during the previous year and reflecting
on a year during COVID-19. Gold Command was established under the leadership of
the Chief Executive, Eifion Evans to address matters relating to COVID-19;
regular meetings were held with the Minister for Local Government, the Minister
for Health and Social Care, the Minister for Education and many others.
She thanked the Council’s Information
Technology team for their support in ensuring that staff were able to work from
home and that virtual Council meetings could be held., Particular recognition
was extended to staff from Social Services, our care homes, private care homes
and domestic care teams who recognised the risk of COVID-19 early and
established safety guidelines to safeguard our most vulnerable residents. She thanked the Schools Services for
providing clear guidelines and up-skilling school staff to teach online, and
the Early Intervention and Prevention teams who ensured that food boxes
containing products by local suppliers were provided to individuals that were
self-isolating. The Leader noted that
the Waste Collection Services had continued throughout the whole period, and
was greatly appreciated, and she thanked the Finance Services who worked
tirelessly distributing £50 million in grants to local businesses.
The Leader noted that one of the highlights
of the period was the recognition given to Barry Rees and Carwen Evans for
establishing the first track and trace programme in Wales, for which Barry Rees
was recognised with an MBE. Appreciation was extended to all Council staff
across a range of services, led by Eifion Evans who have work tirelessly to
support the County’s efforts to protect the residents of Ceredigion from the
effects of COVID-19
The Leader noted that despite the pandemic,
the day to day work of the Council continued, noting that it had an exceptional
year for partnership working especially with the Hywel Dda University Health
Board, CAVO and Aberystwyth University.
During the year the Council adopted its Economic Strategy for 2021 –
2035; agreed to purchase land and assets in order to build a new school in the
Aeron Valley; approved a Tackling Poverty Strategy; and well as a programme for
dealing with Ash Die-back. The Heads of
Terms for the Growing Mid Wales partnership was signed with the UK Government
and Welsh Government, with a promise of an investment of £110million investment
in the region over 10 years.
In conclusion, Councillor Ellen ap Gwynn thanked Eifion Evans and staff for their loyalty and conscientious work, she thanked her Cabinet colleagues for their work and their support, and to Council Members and partners for their support and co-operation.