LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOUNDARY COMMISSION FOR WALES
27 JULY 2006 AT CARADOG HOUSE, ST ANDREW'S PLACE, CARDIFF
Present:
Commission
Mrs Susan Smith (Chairman), Mr John Davies (Deputy Chair), Mr Dennis Roberts (Member)
Secretariat
Mr Edward Lewis (Secretary), Mr Steve Halsall, Mr Dave Carr
1. DECLARATION OF INTERESTS
1.1 There were no new interests declared.
2. MINUTES OF COMMISSION MEETING HELD ON 30th JUNE 2006
2.1 These were agreed subject to minor amendments.
3. MATTERS ARISING
3.1 Merlin Issues
3.1.1 It was reported that Merlin had not as yet sent an engineer to the Commission's offices to undertake the outstanding re-wiring work in the main office. The Commission expressed concern at the length of time it was taking for Merlin to action tasks required by the Commission. It was agreed that the Secretary would draft a formal letter from the Chair to the National Assembly addressing this issue.
3.2 Accounting Software
3.2.1 It was believed that, as reported to the Audit Committee, Merlin were in the process of installing the accounting software on the Commission's server.
3.3 Management Statements and Financial Memorandum (MSFM)
3.3.1 Mr. Lewis advised that there had been no progress since the last Commission meeting and that the draft MSFM was still awaited.
3.4 Commissioners' Appointments
3.4.1 It was noted that up to date assessments for the Deputy Chair and Member were still required. The Secretary reported that he had requested blank assessment forms from the National Assembly. The Assembly had informed him that they expected the interviews to be held on 9th October 2006.
3.5 Community Review Directions
3.5.1 It was agreed that the Secretariat would liaise with the Sponsor division to draw up a pro-forma outlining what information the Commission required to ensure that any directions drafted were correct.
3.6 Dyffryn Clydach Community Council
3.6.1 The Secretary informed the meeting that legal advice had been sought on the draft reply to Dyffryn Clydach Community Council. The legal advice had been incorporated into the reply, which had then been issued.
4. REFURBISHMENT OF CARADOG HOUSE
4.1 The Commission noted the situation in respect of the revised lease terms for occupiers of Caradog House and the change in responsibilities for refurbishment of minor occupier areas. It was agreed that the exercise to refurbish the Commission's offices would be deferred, as it now seemed likely that the landlord would undertake this in 2007-08. It was agreed that the Secretariat would check to see whether the refurbishment would cover provision of notice boards. If this was not the case the Secretariat would purchase of notice boards for the conference room.
5. FINANCE REPORT - FIRST QUARTER 2005-06
5.1 The Commission received the report for the first quarter of 2005-06 and the estimated underspend in funds resulting from the change in requirements for refurbishment. The situation would be monitored and any scope for surrendering funds back to the National Assembly would be examined at the end of the third quarter when there would be a clearer picture of expenditure requirements.
6. ANNUAL OPEN MEETING
6.1 It was noted that the Chief Executive of Powys County Council, Mark Kerr, and the Chief Executive of One Voice Wales, Simon White, had both confirmed that they would be available to attend the AOM and make presentations. The National Assembly's Local Government Policy Research Officers had also confirmed that they would be able to make a presentation. The invitations had been dispatched and to date there had been approximately 30 acceptances received.
7. WLGA AND OVW ANNUAL MEETINGS
7.1 It was reported that details of the OVW annual meeting had now been received, it was to be held in Llandrindod Wells on Saturday 14th October 2006. It was agreed that Mr Roberts would attend on behalf of the Commission.
7.2 Details of the WLGA annual meeting had not yet been released. It was agreed that the Secretariat would continue to check with the WLGA and obtain the information as soon as it was made available.
8. ELECTORAL REVIEWS EVALUATION IN ENGLAND
8.1 The Secretary explained that this document included the outcome of a consultation undertaken by the Electoral Commission on the legislation and processes involved in the conduct of electoral reviews in England. The Commission noted the report.
9. CONSULTATION: TOWARDS E-WALES
9.1 The Secretary advised that this consultation had been initiated by the National Assembly to seek views on key issues relating to the use of ICT in Wales. The deadline for submissions was 31 October 2006. It was agreed that Members would give this issue consideration and decide on any response they may wish to make at the September meeting.
10. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
10.1 The Chair informed members that a letter had been received from the Chairman of the Committee for Standards in Public Life thanking the Commission for giving evidence at the recent inquiry held in Cardiff. The Secretary said that Members might now wish to give consideration to the possibilities for the form which both the local government and parliamentary commissions for Wales could take. It was agreed that the Secretary would discuss this issue with the sponsor division and that a paper would be included on the agenda for the September meeting.
10.2 It was reported that the Chair and Secretary had held a meeting with the Chief Executive of the WLGA to discuss issues regarding communities in Wales and the proposed review work. They had presented details of the uncontested community council seats from the 2004 elections to the WLGA and also promised to provide him with the information on the current situation in respect of the progress of local authorities in addressing possible community reviews in their areas. The response had been positive and the Chief Executive had agreed to highlight the importance of community reviews in his forthcoming general letter to local authority Chief Executive Officers.
10.3 The Secretary advised that correspondence had been received from Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council querying the line of the boundary between Caerphilly and Blaenau Gwent in the area of the Tafarnaubach Industrial Estate. When the Commission had originally reviewed the boundary in this area it had been the intention that the new boundary should run along the centre of the road to the south of the industrial estate. Further investigation, however, revealed that the boundary as shown on the map included in the National Assembly's Order giving effect to the proposals, showed the boundary following the south side of the road, with the road itself therefore falling within Blaenau Gwent. The Commission considered that the National Assembly's Order must be taken as definitive and therefore the line of the boundary had to be that shown on the Order map. It was agreed that a reply to the query would be issued to that effect and that it should also be made clear that should this create problems for either Blaenau Gwent or Caerphilly Council they would be welcome to contact the Commission to request that the situation be reviewed.
11. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
11.1 Date for next meetings were set for Wednesday 27 September 2006, Wednesday 11 October 2006 and Wednesday 8 November 2006.
4/4/2007