The Council Plan is …

Our current Council Plan was first approved in 2017 and it contains four themes: Economy, People, Place and Organisation.  Under each of these themes there are a number of objectives (14 in total).  This Plan is reviewed annually and in late 2018 Elected Members discussed concerns that the Plan had become too broad for us to deliver with the shrinking budget which the Council has.  In response we have tried to define a clearer vision for each of our themes, reviewed our strategies, projects and other commitments and have now developed a smaller, more focused set of priorities to work on this year.  These are tightly defined with clear activities that will be the main focus of work for 2019/20, contributing to our priorities and other shared priorities agreed with partners through Wrexham’s Public Service Board. 

These six priorities are:

• Developing the economy
• Ensuring a modern and resilient Council
• Ensuring everyone is safe
• Improving secondary education
• Improving the environment
• Promoting good health and well-being

We received 244 responses to this consultation.  Whilst this is a disappointingly low response, it is not unexpected given that we were not proposing specific service cuts or changes.

The results showed general support for the priorities, with scores for importance of more than six for all of them.

• People were asked to read a description of each priority, which explained broadly what we intended each priority to mean and include.  People were then asked to what extent they agreed with the description of each priority.  There were higher levels of agreement than disagreement; with improving secondary education receiving the highest level of agreement (64.64%), and ensuring a modern and resilient council receiving the lowest level of agreement (40.18%).
• People were then asked to read a series of bullet points which detailed our key activities and areas of work (in the short and longer term).  People were asked to what extent they agreed that these work areas and activities would contribute towards the aim of the priority.  There were higher levels of agreement than disagreement; with developing the economy receiving the highest level of agreement (68.93%) and ensuring a modern and resilient council receiving the lowest level of agreement (44.09%).

Feedback was provided to the Council's Priority Programme Boards in order to help revise the in-year priorities for 2019 into Council priorities for the Council Plan 2020-23. 

Public consultation on the draft Council plan for 2020-23 then took place for six weeks in February and March 2020.

Wrexham Council has a track record of making cuts - £33.8m in the last five years and nearly £60m since the economic crisis began in 2007/08. Over 3/4 of these have been achieved with minimal impact on the majority of the public and without having to drastically reduce the range of services we provide. 

However we are now at the stage where we are having to reduce these services (i.e. a tipping point). The money that UK and Welsh Government gives to us (which is about 3/4 of our entire funding) is already below the Welsh average per person, alongside this we have kept our council tax low and we are now facing increasing demand for services such as children and adult's social care. 

We have been lobbying the Government, along with other Welsh Local Authorities, for a fairer proportion of their overall budget. But unfortunately we found out in early October that we have not received enough funding to allow us to meet all of our budget pressures for 2019/20, and leaves us with budget risks for 2020/21. Therefore we have to find an additional £9m this year to balance our books. In addition, we cannot afford to take our eyes off the future, as even if we do everything we are proposing in this document, we anticipate we will still need to make further cuts of around the same amount in in 2020/21.

In October and November 2018, Wrexham County Borough Council asked the public of Wrexham to take part in the ‘Difficult Decisions’ consultation, to inform the decisions we had to make in order to contribute to the estimated £9million we need to save in 2019/20.

The consultation involved a survey and a market stall event. A number of individuals and groups also submitted letters/emails of response. 3,350 people took part in the consultation in all , and we would like to thank all those people and groups who took part.

A really important part of any consultation is feeding back to the participants about what has happened since they gave their opinions, and what effect their views have had. This process of feedback is about being able to show where your views have directly impacted on a proposal, and also explaining when there are times where we could not do everything suggested by the public (and explaining why).

So, we are now presenting this ‘You Said, We Did’ report to show you the final decisions that have been made about each of the proposals presented for consultation.

If you want to read all of the details about the proposals the Council made, and the results of the consultation, you will find a full report here.

Our heritage is a ‘finite and irreplaceable resource’ it represents the sum of our and our ancestors shared experience; it provides both a sense of self and of community, understanding it provides lessons for the present and for the future. Heritage is also a significant economic driver, in Wales the sector supports close to 40,000 jobs, generates £749m and is twice the size, for example, of the agricultural sector. Heritage in turn is a major factor in the success of North Wales as a visitor destination, being judged recently by Lonely Planet as the World’s 4^th best place to visit.

Wrexham published its last Heritage Strategy in 2005, that strategy established a vision for our shared heritage to ‘Enable the full potential of our heritage to flourish, so that it can make the maximum possible contribution and enrich all aspects of life in the County Borough, for the benefit of local residents and visitors alike’, and saw the establishment of the Wrexham Heritage Forum, an umbrella organisation to represent all of our community based heritage groups, since incorporated into the North East Wales Heritage Forum.

Since the last strategy was published, the ‘age of austerity’ has led to unprecedented cut backs in public spending, which have impacted on non-statutory services like heritage. In Wrexham, we have seen the closure to the public of museums at Minera, Bersham Ironworks and Bersham Heritage Centre and even consideration given to the potential for heritage services to be transferred away from local authority control.

Given this context we are developing a new heritage strategy for Wrexham.  This new strategy, Making Connections, seeks to encourage a heritage sector that is both resilient and sustainable by seeking a more joined up approach. The ultimate objective is to create a heritage sector that effectively utilises heritage as both a tool for economic regeneration and for engagement, but at its core aims to better conserve and interpret what we have. 

The Heritage Strategy was agreed by the Executive Board in November. The public consultation in September and October yielded 31 responses.  This showed strong support for the main recommendations with between 90 and 97% of respondents either agreeing or strongly agreeing with them. Respondents were also given an opportunity to comment on the draft text. Examples of comments received included, for example, the inclusion of women’s history; the need for town centre interpretation; that the strategy was vague and not particularly inspirational. With the exception of the latter comment we agreed with most of the comments made although none actually required a material change to the draft strategy and as they were either explicitly or implicitly already covered by the draft.

Wrexham County Borough Council has received some funding to provide female sanitary equipment and products across Wrexham schools.  A small group of Councillors has been set up (a Scrutiny Task and Finish Group) to consider what the Council can do to improve provision locally and to make sure that this money is spent in the right way.

The full report on the findings and recommendations of the Task & Finish Group can be found here (http://moderngov.wrexham.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=172&MId=4433 ).  Key messages were as follows:-

Availability of sanitary products/sanitary disposal facilities:

• There appears to be some provision of sanitary products across all schools, but pupils don’t necessarily know about it.
• There is disparity between where free sanitary products are available and how pupils would like to access them – pupil preference for direct access through vending machines or boxes in toilets/cubicles vs staff preference for indirect access through nominated member of staff.
• Although there is provision of sanitary disposal facilities (bins) across schools, there appears to be inconsistency in following the Council’s model hygiene policy which is based on Welsh Government guidance (ie Sanitary disposal units are available in all age-appropriate female toilets within individual cubicles). 

   

Choice and Quality of Sanitary products

• Overall, sanitary towels and tampons are the preferred products, but towels are the main preference for primary schools.
• Less than 50% of pupil respondents thought the choice and quality of products were suitable in both primary and secondary.  Most of the comments related to the need for pupils to have more choice.

The Lifelong Learning Scrutiny Committee made a number of recommendations to the Head of Education, based on the feedback from schools, pupils and local groups involved in the distribution of free sanitary products in Wrexham.  These included the following:-

1. That sanitary dispensing shelves be provided in as many female toilet cubicles as possible across all secondary schools, within the limited Welsh Government grant funding available.

    

2. That, with regard to the provision of free sanitary products, the Welsh Government revenue grant funding be prioritised as follows:-

    

   (a) the provision of sanitary towels across all Secondary Schools for direct access within the toilet cubicles, with tampons also being made available on request from a nominated member of staff, in accordance with education guidance. 

    

   (b) some provision of sanitary towels in all primary schools

    

The Chair, Councillor Carrie Harper, also forwarded the report and recommendations to the relevant Welsh Government Ministers to highlight the ongoing need for specific and sufficient funding to address this issue.

In March 2019, Welsh Government issued additional funding of £96,507 to the Council to ensure sanitary products are made available to all learners in all schools free of charge.   The funding has been allocated as follows:-

• All secondary schools have been provided with a range of free sanitary products (range of tampons and towels).   From September 2019, secondary schools will also be provided with a small supply of reusable products (reusable towels and mooncups). 
• All primary schools received a supply of products (range of sanitary towels) during June 2019, with additional products being made available throughout the year.
• Unfortunately, the dispensing shelves in school toilets proved too costly.  Instead, all secondary schools were supported with funding to enable them to develop local distribution systems which are developed in conjunction with the pupils and considers their view that the products should be freely accessible within the toilet cubicles

All schools have been asked to feedback on the usage of the products, which will inform future deliveries throughout the year and potential future spending.

Wrexham County Borough Council (along with all other Welsh Local Authorities) is required under the Active Travel (Wales) Act 2013 to produce an Integrated Network Map setting out a 15 year programme of improvements. The public consultation is to inform the development of the Integrated Network Map will be undertaken during 2018. The feedback received from the consultation will be used to help inform the development of the Integrated Network Maps.

Wrexham County Borough Council is preparing the Local Development Plan (LDP) which will replace the current adopted Unitary Development Plan. The LDP will be a long-term land use and development strategy focused on achieving sustainable development and will:

• guide development for housing, employment, retail and other uses;
• set out policies that will be used to decide planning applications; and
• safeguard areas of land requiring protection or enhancement.

Wrexham County Borough Council needs a housing strategy to respond to the challenges of providing housing and has a clear framework which sets out the forthcoming direction of housing in Wrexham County Borough.

The Local Housing Strategy 2018-2023 will provide information on current provision, demand and main influences as well as outline what is required for the next five years. The strategy will consist of three parts. A one page strategy will deliver the headlines of what we want to achieve, further detail will be provided in an accompanying booklet which is a continuation of the one page strategy and an Action Plan which will detail the actions, targets and measures of how the Council will achieve the commitments outlined in the strategy.

The Strategy may need to be reviewed during its lifetime in order to respond to any changes in  legislation, funding and resources which cannot be predicted at present.

This strategy is not a stand-alone document and reflects the priorities in Wrexham County Borough Council’s Plan. Both the Council Plan and the Local Housing Strategy support and are underpinned by a  number of themes in current legislation. We recognise that a housing strategy is not just about “bricks and mortar”. It is about regeneration, prosperity, aspirations, economic growth and supporting people to live in their homes and communities.

The Local Housing Strategy will follow three themes:

• More Housing More Choice
• Improving Homes and Communities
• Better Services to improve people’s lives

This is one of a series of local planning guidance notes, amplifying local development plan policies and reflecting national guidance in relation to developments affecting Great Crested Newt (GCN)  Triturus cristatus populations.  This guidance note is intended to provide advice and guidance to developers, land owners, members and other local authority council officers when assessing development proposals involving, or in close proximity to GCN population, together with other material planning considerations.  

The purpose of the draft revision Local Planning Guidance Note 5: Houses in Multiple Occupation is to set out criteria for how proposals for houses in multiple occupation (HMO) will be assessed so that smaller/more affordable units of accommodation can continue to be developed whilst at the same time trying to avoid over concentrations of HMOs in specific areas. The guidance also sets out the important planning requirements for HMOs, including minimum external areas for large HMOs.

In parallel with the proposed up addition an update to Local Planning Guidance Note 16: Parking is proposed.

The draft SPG seeks to provide clear and easy to understand guidance to raise awareness of the AONB and improve the quality of development and landscape design in and around the AONB. When approved by each of the Local Planning Authorities the SPG will be a material planning consideration in determining planning applications and appeals.