LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOUNDARY COMMISSION FOR WALES

7 FEBRUARY 2006 AT CARADOG HOUSE, ST ANDREW'S PLACE, CARDIFF

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

DECLARATION OF INTERESTS

There were no new interests declared.

1. MINUTES OF COMMISSION MEETING HELD ON 30th NOVEMBER 2005

1.1 These were agreed subject to some minor amendments and the redrafting of paragraph 4.1.

2. MATTERS ARISING

2.1 Merlin Issues

2.1.1 It was reported that the major networking issues had now been resolved by Merlin. However, there were still some minor issues in respect of wiring in the main office that were still outstanding. Discussions with Merlin regarding this were still ongoing.

2.2 Accounting Software

2.2.1 The Secretary advised that Merlin had installed the accounting software on the Commission's workstations. However, they had not as yet resolved the issue of how to install the software on the Commission's server. Discussions with Merlin regarding this were still ongoing.

2.3 Management Statements and Financial Memorandum (MSFM)

2.3.1 The Secretary reported that the Commission's suggested changes to the MSFM had been passed to Assembly Compliance Office (ACO) via the sponsor division. ACO were currently considering and consulting on the proposed changes. It was agreed that a copy of the original MSFM would be sent to Mr Roberts.

2.4 Electoral Reviews

2.4.1 The Secretary informed Commissioners that the letter had now been agreed and sent to the Local Government Minister. It was agreed that a copy of the letter would be circulated to all Members.

2.5 Operational Plan 2006-07

2.5.1 The Secretary stated that the sponsor division had now confirmed the Commission's budget for 2006-07. At their recent meeting with the Secretariat, the sponsor division had suggested changes to the operational plan. The Secretariat would be liaising with the sponsor division regarding the necessary changes and a draft version of the new operational plan would be circulated to Members as soon as it was available.

2.6 Web Site

2.6.1 Mr Halsall reported that the new web site was now operational although there were still some further improvements to be made in respect of meeting accessibility guidelines.

2.7 Community Councils

2.7.1 The Secretary updated Commissioners on the current situation:

A further meeting was to be held with officers from Rhondda Cynon Taff and the sponsor division regarding the Council's community review requirements;
Conwy were still in the process of preparing to make a submission to the Assembly;
Wrexham had submitted their community review requirements to the Assembly;
A meeting with Caerphilly had been arranged for March 2006;
It was expected that Powys would complete their community reviews by the Autumn of 2006; and
The Vale of Glamorgan had contacted the Commission to seek advice on a community boundary anomaly. They had also requested a meeting with the Commission to discuss possible Community reviews.

3. COMPLAINTS CODE

3.1 It was reported that the Assembly had issued a revised version of their complaints code and consideration was being given to redrafting the Commission's complaints code accordingly.

3.2 It was considered that, as the Commission's code allowed for complaints to be ultimately referred to the sponsor division then this would automatically bring them under the Assembly's code. It was noted that the Commission's code did not include a contact address to which complaints should be lodged. It was agreed that the Commission's complaints code adequately covered the requirements but that a contact address should be added at the end of paragraph 2.3.

4. COMMUNITY WARD BOUNDARY PROJECT

4.1 Steve Halsall reported that the first stage of the project, scanning the order maps, had been completed and that the next stage of the project was to digitally capture the boundary data. This stage had been postponed until 2006/07 due to budgetary constraints and concern had arisen that the project would be delayed to the point where the Commission would not have the finished data in time for the start of the forthcoming electoral reviews. He had therefore decided to do some of the work in-house and had so far captured data for ward boundaries for 10 of the 22 principal authorities. It was estimated that data for all principal authorities could be completed by autumn 2006.

4.2 There was a slight drawback, however, in that the data captured in-house was not quite as accurate as it would be if captured professionally. The quality of the in-house data was sufficient for the requirements of the Commission's electoral review work but would not be of sufficient standard for use with more detailed mapping such as Ordnance Survey MasterMap. Assuming it was agreed that the capture of the data were to proceed in-house, it would still be possible to upgrade the data to the higher specification at a later date. It may even be possible for local authorities to undertake the upgrading of data for their areas.

4.3 It was agreed that the work to capture the data in-house at the lower specification should continue and that after completion an exercise could be undertaken to assess the requirement for the data to be upgraded to the higher specification. It was agreed that at that point, should further work be deemed necessary, the Welsh Local Government Association should be contacted to see whether they would be in a position to assist with the project.

5. FINANCE CHECKLIST

5.1 The Secretary advised that the checklist had been issued by the Assembly to remind ASPBs of areas where lapses in financial management could occur. Most of the points listed were covered by the Wales Audit Office as part of their annual audit of the Commission. The Commission noted the checklist and requested that the Secretariat continue to operate within its guidelines.

6. BUDGET REPORT - THIRD QUARTER 2005-06

6.1 The Commission noted the situation for the third quarter 2005-06 which showed an overall surplus in the budget for that period. It was noted that although several budgets were currently in deficit at the end of the third quarter, it was estimated that these would revert to a small surplus by the year end.

6.2 The Finance Manager reported that although it was estimated that by the end of the year the Commission's expenditure would be within their annual budget on an accruals basis, it was also estimated that expenditure would exceed the budget on a cash basis. This was due to two factors:

Expenditure on an accruals basis for the year would only leave a small surplus in the budget; and
A large accrual for 2004-05 in respect of the community ward mapping project that could not be paid until 2005-06, therefore being included in cash expenditure for 2005-06.

6.3 The MSFM stated that the Commission were required to notify the Assembly as soon as possible should it become apparent that expenditure was likely to exceed approved provision. The sponsor division had been informed of the likely cash overspend and their approval was being sought. However, there was some confusion as to whether the Commission's budget for 2005-06 included funds carried over from 2004-05 to meet the cost of accruals. It was agreed that the Finance Manager would seek clarification on this point with Internal Audit and further assess the Commission's cash situation based on their advice.

7. ESTIMATED EXPENDITURE 2006/07

7.1 The Secretary informed Commissioners that since this paper had been issued it had been discovered that there was to be a redrafting of lease agreements (MOTOs) for all minor occupiers of Caradog House. The new MOTOs would place greater responsibility on the landlord for the refurbishment of the offices of minor occupiers but would consequently result in higher quarterly charges.

7.2 The Commission noted the proposed budget plan for 2006-07. It was agreed that the intended redecoration of the Commission's offices should be postponed and the need to undertake the work reassessed when the change in responsibilities of the landlord and occupiers of Caradog House had been confirmed.

8. REVIEW OF THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN THE COMMUNITIES OF DYFFRYN CLYDACH AND BLAENHONDDAN - REPRESENTATIONS RECEIVED IN RESPONSE TO DRAFT PROPOSALS

8.1 The Commission considered the representation received. It was noted that there was not a significant majority in favour of a change to the boundary. It was also noted that several representations made reference to the river, which the existing boundary followed, being more clearly defined than the line of the proposed boundary. The Secretary reported that he had received information which indicated that Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council were to remove the traffic barriers in the area although he had not received confirmation of this from the Council.

8.2 It was agreed that the Secretary would write to Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council to confirm whether the traffic barriers had been removed. Having considered all of the representations, it was agreed that the Final Proposals report should recommend no change to the existing boundary. It was agreed that, as there was to be no meeting held in March, the draft of the Final Proposals report would be circulated to members for approval by email.

9. ASSET MANAGEMENT PLANNING

9.1 The Commission noted the draft plan and agreed that it should be reviewed annually in conjunction with the operational plan.

10. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

10.1 It was reported that a seminar on Public Service for Wales was to be held at the Millennium Stadium in May. It was agreed that it would not be necessary for Members to attend.

10.2 It was agreed that the Secretary would draft briefing notes for the inter-commission liaison meeting and that the briefing would be circulated to all Members.

10.3 The Secretary confirmed that the Assembly Local Government Minister's Decision Report approving a research project into the role and function of elected members had been circulated to Members the previous week. Members had noted the content of the report.

10.4 The Secretary reported that he had been contacted by a representative of the Public and Commercial Services Union with regard to union representation for the Commission's directly employed staff. This would require a formal agreement that the Commission would recognise the union. It was agreed that the Commission would recognise the union to enable directly employed staff to become union members should they wish to do so.

10.5 The Secretary advised that the sponsor division would require job descriptions for Commissioners for the next round of appointment. It was agreed to provide the sponsor division with the necessary documents. The Secretary reminded Members that the Chair would need to provide up to date assessments for the Deputy Chair and Member. This was noted.

10.6 The Secretary reported that a quarterly liaison meeting with the sponsor division had been held the previous day. The sponsor division had requested that the Commission make two changes to their existing procedures for publishing reports. They considered that it would be helpful in the drafting of orders if the Commission retained their draft proposals reports on their web site in addition to their final proposals reports rather than replacing the draft proposals report with the final proposals report as was the current practice. It was agreed that the Commission would retain their draft proposals reports on their web site until the relevant order for the review had been made. The sponsor division had enquired whether it would be possible for the Commission to provide them with text descriptions of amended boundaries in addition to a map for final proposals. They considered this would be helpful since the maps they used for their orders were black and white and not as detailed as the Commission's maps and therefore open to misinterpretation. The Commission considered that it would be difficult to provide text descriptions of proposed boundaries and that it was also possible for text descriptions to be misinterpreted. It was agreed that the Commission would not provide text descriptions of their proposed boundaries but would continue to define the boundary by using large scale mapping.

11. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

11.1 The date of the next meeting was set for Thursday 27th April 2006. It was agreed that an Audit Committee meeting would also be held and therefore the meeting would commence at 10.00 a.m. The Chair requested that her papers be forwarded to her as early as possible as she would be unavailable during the week preceding the meeting.

8/06/2005