LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOUNDARY COMMISSION FOR WALES
10 OCTOBER 2005 AT BELLE VUE ROYAL HOTEL, ABERYSTWYTH
Present:
Commission
Mrs Susan Smith (Chairman), Mr J E Davies (Deputy Chair), Mr Dennis Roberts (Member)
Secretariat
Mr Edward Lewis (Secretary), Mr Steve Halsall, Mr Dave Carr, Mrs Liza Brough, Mrs Catherine Thomas
1. DECLARATION OF INTERESTS
1.1 There were no new interests declared.
2. MINUTES OF COMMISSION MEETING HELD ON 8th SEPTEMBER 2005
2.1 These were agreed and adopted.
3. MATTERS ARISING
3.1 Merlin Issues
3.1.1 It was reported that there were still some minor networking issues to be resolved in respect of the upgraded link.
3.2 Community Councils
3.2.1 Further to the meeting with the Minister in which the issue of Community Councils was raised, it was agreed that the Secretary would contact WLGA to confirm that they would be including this issue on the agenda for their quarterly meeting with the Minister.
3.3 Accounting Software
3.3.1 The Secretary advised that the SAGE software had been ordered from Merlin but had not yet been delivered.
3.4 Refurbishment
3.4.1 The Chair confirmed that she had received the three quotations for the re-polishing of the conference tables. The Commission considered that in light of current budgetary restraints it would not be prudent to have the tables re-polished at this time.
3.5 Review of the Communities of Brackla and Coity Higher
3.5.1 The secretary informed the meeting that the final proposals report was currently being considered by the Minister.
3.6 Management Statement & Financial Memorandum
3.6.1 The Secretary advised that he was waiting for the sponsor division to confirm a suitable date for a meeting to discuss suggested changes to the management statement.
3.7 Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) and One Voice Wales (OVW)
3.7.1 Mr Roberts confirmed that he had attended WLGA annual meeting and that he would also be attending the OVW annual meeting later in the month. It was agreed that Mr Roberts would report back to the Commission on these events at the next Commission meeting.
4. REVIEW OF THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN THE COMMUNITIES OF BLAENHONDDAN AND DYFFRYN CLYDACH
4.1 The Commission considered changes to the letter to the occupants and some minor amendments to the draft proposals report. It was agreed that the letter would include an additional paragraph outlining the next stages of the review process. It was also agreed that the question form would include the occupants name and require the occupant's signature.
4.2 It was noted that the Bryn-Côch South ward of the Community of Blaenhonddan had a disproportionate number of community councillors. It was agreed that an additional paragraph would be included in the report saying that the Commission would welcome any comments regarding the Community electoral arrangements.
5. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING ARRANGEMENTS
5.1 The Commission noted the arrangements for the Annual General Meeting.
6. FINANCE REPORT- SECOND QUARTER 05/06
6.1 Commission noted the situation for the second quarter and the estimated overall underspend. It was reported that some budget categories were over spent and would require funds transferred into them.
6.2 It was noted that there was an estimated overspend in the capital budget, due to the cost of the link cabinet provided by Merlin. This was because at the time of setting the budget it was not known if this was to be a purchased or a leased item. It was also noted that it would be necessary to obtain authority from the sponsor division in order to transfer the necessary funds into the capital budget.
7. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
7.1 The Secretary reminded members that the Commission was due to submit their operational plan for 2006/07 by the end of November 2005. Following the recent meeting with the Minister, it was acknowledged that it would be difficult to prepare the plan until further information had been received from the Sponsor Department. The preparation of the plan would therefore be deferred until the necessary information was available.
7.2 It was agreed that the Secretary would send follow up letters to the Chief Executives of those authorities that had expressed an interest in carrying out Community reviews to seek confirmation of the current status.
7.3 The Commission considered that it would be useful to re-establish the practice of holding annual meetings with the head of the sponsor division. It was agreed that the Secretary would write to the head of the sponsor division to arrange a meeting.
7.4 It was reported that one of the Commission's assets, a hand held PC & cradle, had been stolen from the Commission's office. The theft was reported to the police who had issued a crime number for the incident. The Secretary had agreed to liaise with the Police and the estates manager in regard to improving the office security.
8. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
8.1 It was noted that a provisional date of 30th November had been suggested for the Commission to present their annual report to Assembly's Local Government Committee. It was agreed that if this date were confirmed, then the next Commission meeting would also be held on that date.
8/06/2005