Author Topic: CCBC costs and cutting  (Read 150486 times)

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Offline norman08

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Re: CCBC costs and cutting
« Reply #420 on: July 21, 2021, 10:15:17 pm »
Yes Brian the tenants voted for catrefi to take over the stock after being promised loads, many are sorry.

Offline Bri Roberts

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Re: CCBC costs and cutting
« Reply #421 on: July 22, 2021, 06:55:35 am »
Surely they were only promised their homes would be brought up to a higher standard and they were?

I should declare I was a board member and at the time of my resignation I was chair of development.


Offline SteveH

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Re: CCBC costs and cutting
« Reply #422 on: July 30, 2021, 01:58:34 pm »
A discussion about the impact of unregulated accommodation raised strong emotions with one councillor accusing local authorities of “neglecting their duties” by not inspecting Air BnB properties.

Conwy county council’s economy and place scrutiny committee meeting heard a report from officer John Merrick which highlighted the growth of Air BnB properties in the county from 135 in 2016 to 1,627 in 2019.

Councillors heard Welsh Government was looking at whether to implement a recommendation, contained in a Gwynedd council report on holiday homes, which suggested implementing a mandatory licensing scheme for them, similar to one introduced for homes of multiple occupation (HMOs).

cont https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/19479811.council-discussion-air-bnbs-gets-heated/

Offline SteveH

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Re: CCBC costs and cutting
« Reply #423 on: August 16, 2021, 09:41:36 am »
A council is advertising for an “empty homes officer” as it bids to help solve the housing crisis.

Conwy county council has advertised the £30,451 role nationally on a three-year fixed-term contract.

The new postholder will be tasked with working with “the development teams of local housing associations, private landlords and empty home owners” on bringing empty properties back into use.

According to the authority’s five-year local housing strategy released in 2018, more than 1,600 homes had been empty for six months or more, but it has since said around 1,000 of those are genuinely long term.

More than 1,400 homes are second homes used for holidays, putting the county in the top 20 for second homes in the UK.

cont  https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/19515495.empty-homes-officer-help-solve-housing-crisis-employed-conwy-council/

Offline SteveH

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Re: CCBC Latest planning applications
« Reply #424 on: August 25, 2021, 10:06:24 am »
Conwy Planning Applications

THE following planning applications have been registered with Conwy County Borough Council between Monday, August 16 and Sunday, August 22.

cont   https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/19534200.latest-planning-applications-registered-denbighshire-conwy-councils/

Offline SteveH

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Re: CCBC Latest planning applications
« Reply #425 on: September 01, 2021, 10:00:02 am »
Conwy Planning Applications
THE following planning applications have been registered with Conwy County Council between Monday, August 16 and Sunday, August 22.

https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/19548077.latest-planning-applications-registered-denbighshire-conwy-councils/?ref=rss&IYA-mail=a05105fc-304d-4c50-9807-edab51f779a4

Offline SteveH

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Re: CCBC costs and cutting
« Reply #426 on: September 02, 2021, 10:16:10 am »
Conwy County Borough Council is digitally transforming its business management and finance systems, which are used by thousands of employees, after awarding a contract to enterprise SaaS provider software company TechnologyOne.

The Welsh unitary authority, which employs over 4,400 people and provides 118,000 residents with services ranging from education, leisure facilities, social services, waste management and highways maintenance, will replace on-site legacy systems that date back many years and switch to new state-of-the-art OneCouncil Software as a Service (SaaS).

The move to the new software will help the council improve real-time financial decision making and business reporting.

TechnologyOne’s SaaS technology will provide hundreds of managers and council executives with fully integrated, modern financial and business management tools, including general ledger, accounts payable, purchase to pay, expense management, procurement and financial reporting. The new system also includes additional modules for budget forecasting and asset management, which are currently managed on spreadsheets.

cont  https://www.wales247.co.uk/conwy-council-invests-in-the-cloud-to-run-services?IYA-reg=a05105fc-304d-4c50-9807-edab51f779a4

Offline SteveH

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Re: CCBC Planning applications
« Reply #427 on: September 20, 2021, 10:14:55 am »
Latest planning applications registered with Denbighshire and Conwy councils

One of the local applications......
Unit C (Part) Mostyn Champneys Retail Park Charlotte Road Llandudno LL30 1RY
Proposed change of use from private pedestrian walkway to external private pedestrian seating area for use in association with adjacent permitted coffee shop (REF 0/47485), Unit C (Part), Mostyn Champneys Retail Park, Charlotte Road, Llandudno, LL30 1RY

cont/ Conwy's applications lower down in the article......

https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/19586411.latest-planning-applications-registered-denbighshire-conwy-councils/?ref=rss&IYA-reg=a05105fc-304d-4c50-9807-edab51f779a4

Offline SteveH

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Re: CCBC ............ New Boundaries
« Reply #428 on: September 27, 2021, 02:54:28 pm »
The Welsh Government has approved moves which will see Conwy county lose four of its county councillors.  ref pioneer

Ministers have approved the county’s new electoral map which will come into force in time for May’s local elections.

With the number of councillors being slashed from 59 to 55, it will also mean the merging of some wards while the boundaries of others will be altered.

Resulting in an average of 1,625 voters per councillor, the number of wards will be reduced from 38 to 30 with 17 of those being multi-member wards.

As a result, 10 wards will elect two councillors, six wards will elect three councillors, and one ward (Llandrillo yn Rhos) will elect four councillors.

Despite this, 18 current wards will see no change under these reforms, namely: Betws yn Rhos, Bryn, Colwyn, Conwy, Craig-y-Don, Deganwy, Eirias, Glyn, Kinmel Bay,  Llansanffraid, Llansannan, Llysfaen, Mochdre, Pandy, Penrhyn , Towyn, Tudno, Uwch Conwy.

The council leader, Charlie McCoubrey said: “We note the new arrangements as outlined in the Commission’s Final Recommendations Report.

“Our electoral team are now working to implement the changes in preparation for the next Local Government elections, which take place in May 2022.”

Those included using the ward name of Betws-yn-Rhos rather than Betws yn Rhos, Craig-y-Don rather than Craig-y-don and Pen-sarn Pentre Mawr instead of the recommended Pensarn Pentre Mawr.

Shereen Williams MBE OStJ, Chief Executive of the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales said: “I’m delighted that the Welsh Government has accepted these recommendations with only minor modifications.

“These changes will mean greater electoral parity for the people of Conwy.

“I’d like to thank everyone who contributed to the review, the members of the public, councillors, Conwy Council, and everyone else who sent us a representation or contributed in any other way.”

The Boundary Commission’s full proposals can be found at: https://ldbc.gov.wales/reviews/05-19/conwy-final-recommendations


Conwy Final Recommendations   https://ldbc.gov.wales/reviews/05-19/conwy-final-recommendations


Offline SteveH

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Re: CCBC Planning applications
« Reply #429 on: October 01, 2021, 10:07:44 am »
Planning applications registered by Conwy County Borough Council up to September 26
Your Conwy County Borough Council lanning news

28 September 2021

https://www.inyourarea.co.uk/news/planning-applications-registered-by-conwy-county-borough-council-up-to-september-26/

Offline SteveH

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Re: Council costs and cutting
« Reply #430 on: October 07, 2021, 10:09:17 am »
Warning of bumper council tax rises to meet Government promises
Council tax may need to rise by up to 5% a year for the next three years to keep services running and pay for social care reforms, an influential think tank has warned.
7 October 2021

Council tax may need to rise by up to 5% a year for the next three years to keep services running and pay for social care reforms, an influential think tank has warned.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) ? ....said that under current Government spending plans, a rise of at least 3.6% on council tax bills will be needed per year just for town halls to keep services running at the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic.

But the researchers said this would likely be a minimum requirement, with extra cost pressures and demand potentially meaning bills could rise by up to 5% every year up to 2024/25.

And they said social care aims announced by the Government last month are currently underfunded and would cost £5 billion a year in the long term – almost three times the additional funding allocated over the next three years.

cont https://www.inyourarea.co.uk/news/warning-of-bumper-council-tax-rises-to-meet-government-promises/

Offline SteveH

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Re:The terrifying future of Wales' decimated councils
« Reply #431 on: October 24, 2021, 11:02:30 am »
An in depth Sunday article, well worth reading...........

The terrifying future of Wales' decimated councils, where millions are being lost each month and broken staff are in short supply
They were already 'cut to the bone' and then the pandemic struck


"Cut to the bone".

"Under huge pressure"

"At tipping point".

They are all phrases which were all used to describe the state of Wales' councils before March 2020. And then the pandemic hit.

Overnight the revenue on which councils rely, from things like parking, tourism, museums or music venues stopped and the costs of the services they needed to provide skyrocketed.

The shops and hospitality venues which pay business rates closed their doors, many, like Debenhams, never to reopen, those who needed help to pay their council tax increased.

The statutory services councils have to offer remained obligatory, and probably more crucial than ever before, and the emergency plans they need in place for things like flooding still had to be up to date.

But the older and sick people still needed care in their homes, and still needed food delivering to their door. Schools still needed to teach. The children who only get a hot meal because they are at school still needed that food. The museums and libraries still had valuable stock to protect. The pandemic changed the regulations pubs, taxis and venues had to adhere to - which councils enforce - often dramatically and at short notice.

And, on top of providing all the services they always have, there were new demands. How do you ensure all bins still get emptied when you need three refuse collectors to socially distance inside a lorry cab? How do you get meals or vouchers to every child who needed them? How can social care be delivered in private homes when the advice was to stay apart? The list went on.

Councils are the biggest employers in their areas, so responding to all those and more had to be done while getting thousands of staff set up to work remotely.

Not one of Wales' 22 councils will have held a meeting in the last 11 years where money - and the lack of it - has not come up.

Story and 52 comments   https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/terrifying-future-wales-decimated-councils-21894603?IYA-reg=a05105fc-304d-4c50-9807-edab51f779a4#comments-wrapper

Offline Dave

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Re: CCBC costs and cutting
« Reply #432 on: October 24, 2021, 01:34:32 pm »
Is the reason councils are struggling to maintain levels of service down to the fact that much of their income goes on paying out pensions?

Offline Bri Roberts

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Re: CCBC costs and cutting
« Reply #433 on: October 24, 2021, 01:51:57 pm »
and repayments on all the PFI’s they signed up to.

Offline SteveH

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Re: CCBC costs and cutting
« Reply #434 on: October 25, 2021, 02:58:44 pm »
HOLIDAY home owners will not get discount on their council tax in Conwy.

Conwy County Borough Council met last week to discuss the level of council tax discount for holiday homes as well as unoccupied and unfurnished properties.

A report revealed Conwy has 57,704 dwellings, of which 1,533 fall into class A or B homes, usually described as second homes or holiday homes. Class C homes are homes that are either unoccupied or unfurnished. Conwy has 979 of these class C properties. Councils have discretion to grant up to 50% council tax discount.

cont  https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/19670336.conwy-no-council-tax-discount-holiday-home-owners/