Agenda item

Festival Park

To consider the report of the Corporate Director of Regeneration & Community Services.

 

Minutes:

Having regard to the views expressed by the Proper Officer regarding the public interest test, that on balance, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information and that the report should be exempt.

 

RESOLVED that the public be excluded whilst this item of business is transacted as it is likely there would be a disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 14, Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act, 1972 (as amended).

 

The Managing Director made the following statement prior to the consideration of the report.

 

Council would be aware that a press article, regarding this report and its recommendations, appeared in the South Wales Argus last Friday evening.  This was an exempt and confidential report and it appeared, from the article, that the journalist was given a copy of the report.

 

The publication of the contents of this report had now introduced some significant additional risks for the Council – not least of which was the ability to negotiate a good commercial position and the reputational damage, to the Council, with our partner, and most notably Welsh Government.  

 

As Managing Director, she had written to the Editor of the South Wales Argus regarding this matter.  She also reminded Council that both Officer and Elected Member Codes of Conduct impose a duty of confidentiality on all and that the disclosure of this exempt report amounted to a serious breach of that duty.

 

The Managing Director advised that in making this statement today to impress on Council the impact of the action of sharing this report with a journalist and as a firm reminder that exempt reports must remain confidential.

 

The Leader of the Council supported the statement made by the Managing Director and said that he was aware first hand through discussions the level of disappointment, and anxiety there had been about this issue. Any individual who could do something like this with potential commercial and reputational ramifications had little or no regard for the Council.  He personally felt that this was a leak too far and said that there should be some form of investigation into this to attempt to uncover where this leak had emanated from.

 

The Deputy Leader of the Council concurred with the comments of the Leader and said that all Members and relevant officers should make the relevant electrical devices available as part of the investigation process.

 

The Leader of the Labour Group expressed his concern that some Members had external confidential information available on their devices and the particular organisation in question would not allow this to be accessed as part of the GDPR regulations.

 

Another Member said that this information had been in the public domain long before the report had become available to Members and officers the previous week.  In addition, the Member of Parliament was also aware of the content of the report.

 

A lengthy discussion ensued when various views were expressed when one Member said that whilst he agreed with an investigation this needed to go back as far as December 2019 when people had first been made aware of the situation.

 

The Head of Legal and Corporate Compliance (Monitoring Officer) advised that the disclosure of a confidential report to the press was a breach of both the Member and Officer Code of Conducts and this was a serious matter. She noted the comments that had been made with regard to electrical devices such as laptops and advised these were Council devices and it would be perfectly proper and in order that such devices were part of any investigation.  It was noted that data protection compliance and requirements would be considered as part of any investigation. 

 

The Chair concluded by stating that any investigation would be left at the discretion of the Managing Director to conduct.

 

Consideration was given to the report of the Corporate Director of Regeneration and Community Services.

 

The Corporate Director spoke in detail to the report and highlighted the points contained therein.  Approval was sought to enter into Heads of Terms negotiations for the purchase of the freehold of Festival Shopping and associated premises and to consider accepting a surrender of lease from the current owners.  In addition, to develop a business case outlining the uses and costs of the proposed development for consideration and agreement.

 

The Executive Member for Regeneration & Economic Development said that this was a huge opportunity in terms of regeneration and the development of a business case would be vital to achieve this.  There would be linkages to other regeneration projects across the County Borough and there was an opportunity to redefine and consider the delivery of front line services and if and how they could be provided more closely to the residents within town centre hubs.  Partnership working would also be key to deliver the vision and to take services forward.

 

The Executive Member proposed that a Working Group be established comprising of the Executive, Chair and Vice-Chair of Regeneration Scrutiny Committee and 2 Labour Group Members to help progress the business case.  Consultation with other Members including Ward Members would take place at the appropriate juncture.

 

The views of Members were, thereupon, sought which were summarised below:

 

-      Complaints had been received from residents regarding cold calling from the Council requesting information about shopping habits.  The Member asked who had authorised this and requested an indication of the cost implications.

 

-      There was a wider picture that had to be considered including the impact on the local economy.  Blaenau Gwent received a considerable number of visitors and these visitors spent up to £55m per annum which contributed to the local economy and Festival Park was one of main reason to visit the area.  This proposal would have a major impact on food, beverage and hotels outlets and concern was expressed that this level of revenue would not be available if there were no visitors.  The Member requested that as part of any discussions, consideration should be given to the possibility of retaining an element of retail as part of the proposal as there to support the traders within the site and also the surrounding businesses that relied on this site to bring in tourism into Blaenau Gwent. 

 

-      All avenues should be explored in relation to the site including the parking restrictions at the site and transport links.

 

-      Concern was expressed that the report provided little financial information.

 

-      A Member said that his main concern was the reputation of the Council as the proposal was to use part of the site for office space.  Whilst the report indicated that there was no interest in the site, no information had been provided detailing how the Council had tried to market the site.  It was also pointed out that the Owl Sanctuary was in close proximity to the site.

 

-      Concern was expressed that consultants had been commissioned to undertake this initial piece of work but the Council had the relevant expertise in-house to do this work which could have saved money.

 

The Corporate Director of Regeneration & Community Services responded as follows:

 

-      The business case would provide further details in respect of the financial element of the scheme.  In terms of the cost alluded to which was outlined in paragraph 5.1.2 of the report, this cost could potentially be shared with Welsh Government.  The Corporate Director had been granted delegated powers to commission the specialists named in the report and to progress and explore the potential opportunity.  This had been undertaken in consultation with the Executive Member.

 

-      The inter-relationship between tourism and spend was acknowledged and this work would be linked and looked at in conjunction with the Valley Regional Park.  In addition, the business case would also include details of the future of the tourism assets at the site.

 

-      All economic development opportunities would be explored and there was a compelling reason and argument to look at the regeneration as a real opportunity and this should not become a missed opportunity.  In terms of reputation this would be questioned if the Council had failed to act. 

 

-      Transport links had been included in the report and would be explored as part of the overall scheme.

 

-      Discussions had taken place with the current owner’s agents who had confirmed that prior to contact with the Council only one expression of interest had been received but the interested party was unable to complete.

 

-      In terms of the cold calling of residents the Corporate Director had not been aware of this but undertook to pursue and advise the Member accordingly.

 

The Leader of the Labour Group requested that written answers be supplied.

 

The Executive Member for Regeneration & Economic Development said that in its current position there were more questions than answers and it was anticipated that the development of a business case would address many of these matters.  He, thereupon, proposed that Option 2 be endorsed with the additional proposal to establish a Working Group to assist in the development of the business case going forward.  This business case would then be submitted to the September Meeting of the Council for consideration.

 

In reply to a question regarding the involvement of Ward Members on the Working Group, the Executive Member advised that there would be opportunities to co-opt Ward Members onto the Working Group as it progressed.

 

It was unanimously,

 

RESOLVED, subject to the foregoing, that the report which related to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority) be accepted and Option 2 be endorsed, namely that the following be approved:

 

·        Option Two be taken forward and detailed negotiations commence with the current owners of Festival Shopping with a view towards agreeing Heads of Terms for acquisition of the site for refurbishment/redevelopment.

 

·        A Business Case be prepared for acquisition and future use, for consideration by Council in September 2020.

 

·        The costs associated with commissioning specialist external advice should be funded through the Council’s Transformational Fund.

 

·        Discussions with Welsh Government be taken forward regarding funding for any acquisition, refurbishment and redevelopment of the site.

 

FURTHER RESOLVED that

 

-      a Working Group be established comprising of the Executive Members, Chair and Vice-Chair of the Regeneration Scrutiny Committee plus 2 Members of the Labour Group to work on the business case alongside officers.

 

-      An internal investigation be undertaken into the circumstances surrounding the content of a confidential report being published within the public domain.