Agenda item

To consider the report of the Managing Director.

Members considered the report of the Managing Director.

The Managing Director commenced by stating that this was a regular report which detailed the progress and activities delivered by the Cardiff Capital Region. It was noted that Blaenau Gwent was part of the South East Region partnership and the report specifically provided an update on the projects being delivered in the County Borough, which were being progressed as part of the partnership.  These key projects included Metro Plus, promoting and introducing ULE vehicles (particularly taxis), housing scheme in Ashvale, Tredegar and recognising the success of the Aspire Apprenticeship Programme a regional pilot was planned with the aim of rolling the programme out across the region.

These projects resulted in just over £2m investment in the County Borough at present.  It was noted that the Regeneration Scrutiny Committee considered and supported the report in December 2021.

The Managing Director, thereupon, concluded by provided an update in relation to the development of the Regional Corporate Joint Committees (CJC’s) and advised that government legislation now required the four regions in Wales to establish a CJC in 2022.  The inaugural meetings of the CJC’s were currently taking place and the inaugural meeting of the South East Wales CJC would take place the following week to set the budget (by 31^st January, 2022) for the forthcoming year.  The new committee powers for these Committees would come into effect in June 2022.

Members were then given the opportunity to raise questions and comment on the report at this juncture.

Metro Plus Scheme – Abertillery Spur - the Leader of the Labour Group referred to paragraphs 2.4 to 2.6 of the report which related to the Abertillery Spur of the Metro Plus Scheme and expressed his concern that whilst there had been on-going discussions about this project for some time, no definitive conclusion had been reached with regard to the funding for this venture.  He stated in his opinion if the scheme did not come to fruition then perhaps the monies should be invested elsewhere.  The Leader of the Labour Group requested an update in respect of this project and the discussions that had taken place to date.

The Corporate Director of Regeneration and Community Services advised that discussions were on-going with U.K. Government.  It was noted that U.K. Government had announced the previous year a programme called ‘Restoring Your Railways – RYR’ and had sought bids across the U.K. as part of the ‘Levelling Up’ agenda for railways to be developed in various stages.  As part of that programme the Welsh Government had submitted a number of schemes, the Abertillery Spur being one such scheme.  On-going dialogue was taking place between U.K. and Welsh Governments regarding the scheme and an announcement in respect of the RYR Programme from U.K. Government was awaited – this would give an indication of where the scheme was in terms of funding priorities. It was noted that the Abertillery Spur scheme was interrelated with the project work that was progressing on the main Ebbw Valley Railway.

The Leader of the Labour Group said that there was some doubt about the scheme and in his opinion, felt that the project was dwindling. He asked whether it would be a fair to definitively state that the scheme was not anywhere nearer in receiving funding than 5 years ago.

The Corporate Director advised that for the first time dialogue for potential funding sources for the scheme had been taking place and the GRIP 3 development and design work on the Abertillery line funded by Cardiff Capital Region was being progressed by Transport for Wales. U.K. and Welsh Governments were discussing the scope of the project and nature of work.  The scheme was further forward in terms of the development process and the £70m rail project had opened up the opportunity to realise the Abertillery service.  It was noted that whilst the project was moving forward, rail projects were slow to progress and complex because there were a number of organisations involved in the scheme and this interface introduced complications in terms of timelines.

The Leader of the Labour Group pointed out that the U.K and Welsh Government’s also had competing financial priorities and in his view negotiation was still required with Welsh and U.K. Government in terms of achieving funding for the project and the authority was not much closer to the scheme coming to fruition. He added that the partnership with the Cardiff Capital Region was an opportunity for Blaenau Gwent but pointed out that if progress was not being made the authority needed to scope out another project to be progressed elsewhere in the County Borough.

In reply to a question regarding activity that was taking place adjacent to Cwrt Brachty, Aberbeeg the Corporate Director assumed that this activity related to the GRIP 3 design work which was being undertaken to the mainline and the interface between the mainline and Abertillery spur in order to inform the design plans and costings.

Last Train Service on a Saturday – a Member expressed his concern that the last train service from Cardiff on a Saturday was being cancelled at short notice and an alternative bus service was not being provided.  He requested that officers investigate and correspond with Transport for Wales regarding this matter.

E3 Bus Service – a Member advised that the Leader had previously spoken about the priority of Metro and the importance of cross valley transportation links. He asked the Executive Member for Regeneration and Economic Development when he had become aware and had he been consulted that the E3 bus service between Aberbeeg and Cwm was being discontinued.  This had left Cwm with the worst bus service in the County Borough and left constituents in a position who wanted to travel 2 miles to Cwm having to make a 55-minute journey.  He explained that elderly people who needed to attend the hospital had to walk from Aberbeeg to Commercial Road, followed by a 55-minute bus journey (via a change at Ebbw Vale).  The Member expressed his concern that this was wholly unacceptable and requested the Executive Member meet with the public of Cwm and Aberbeeg and make representations to Welsh Government regarding the regulation of the buses.

The Executive Member for Regeneration and Economic Development said that discussions had taken place with an operator to ascertain if some of the routes could be renegotiated but dialogue needed to take place other service providers across the County Borough.  He welcomed the approach regarding meeting with Welsh Government and offered the Member to be involved in those discussions.

The Member said that an integrated transport system was required and he would be happy to attend a joint meeting with the Executive Member at Welsh Government.  He requested that in the meantime, emergency provision be made for residents of Aberbeeg and said that this could be funded from reserves.

A Ward Member for Cwm said that he had in excess of 47 years’ experience of working for a bus service and the area of Cwm had been cut off.  He advised that he would also like to be involved in the discussions going forward.

In reply to a concern raised by a Member regarding the Chair not allowing certain lines of questioning, he advised that this was the only opportunity he had to scrutinise this report because he was not a Member of the Regeneration Scrutiny Committee and asked for a legal opinion on the matter.

The Head of Legal and Corporate Compliance said that a Member had the right to ask questions at Council but this would depend on the nature of the question and if directly related to the report and this would vary according to the circumstances of what was being asked.  The Chair always had the right to permit or not permit a question and the Chair’s remit as outlined in the Constitution was to regulate debate, with support.  The officer suggested that it may be beneficial for a discussion be held outside of the meeting regarding these parameters.

The Leader of the Labour Group said that a discussion would be useful and said as far as he was concern every question that had been asked on the agenda had related to items contained within the reports.

Electric Taxi Vehicle Trial – the Head of Regeneration confirmed that taxi drivers were able to rent electric vehicles since the beginning of the year.  There were some challenges as drivers were now having to learn how to drive electric vehicles as opposed to petrol or diesel vehicles.  In addition, there were a number of charging points that needed to be connected to power sources for taxis to recharge and this was currently being pursued with the utility company to prioritise.

Cross Valley Transportation Links – a Member enquired what work was actually in progress to link the valleys of Tredegar and Brynmawr and the progress made to link these valleys with stations and outlying industrial estates.

The Corporate Director of Regeneration and Community Services advised that currently Tredegar had links to Rhymney as well as Ebbw Vale stations.  However, with the main rail network being upgraded there was a need for a piece of work to be undertaken by the new Council to develop a transport plan.  This work would need to include how the increased frequency of rail services was used and interlinked with local services.  It was noted that the authority was not the transport authority so did not have the remit for the bus routes but in conjunction with the Regional Transport Authority, a regional transport plan could be developed to include how the Metro investments across the region could link in with public transport.

The Corporate Director continued by advising that a ‘flecsi’ bus service was currently being piloted which included services to industrial estates and people working at Rassau Industrial Estate could now travel to this site using this bus service to meet their shift patterns - this had received positive feedback from the businesses. This pilot would inform future decisions and the regional work would inform discussions but he reiterated that the Council was not the transport authority and work was required to be undertaken across multiple organisations to develop a future transport plan for the authority.

The Member continued by referring to electric taxis and pointed out that valley towns were very different to cities and other areas and the costs were prohibitive for taxi drivers.  He asked whether the authority was working on any system to help drivers switch to electric vehicles in the future.

The Head of Regeneration said that a number of valley areas had already raised this concern and Cardiff Capital Region was investigating financing to make it much easier for taxi drivers to afford electric vehicles in the future.  The outcome of this investigation was awaited.

The Executive Member for Regeneration and Economic Development said that further work was required in conjunction with the Regional Transport Authority.  Whilst progress had been made including services to some industrial estates this needed to be extended as quickly as possible and this was recognised by Transport for Wales.  However, investment was key to reach the next level and buses played a key role moving forward.

The Member who commented earlier said that this was disappointing and had raised this point in scrutiny on multiple occasions. 

The Leader of the Labour Group concluded by stating that because the funding for the Abertillery Spur was no closer to being received this may be the opportunity for the Council to reconsider the projects and priorities submitted to the Cardiff Capital Region as part of the programme.

It was unanimously,

RESOLVED, subject to the foregoing, that the report be accepted and the information contained therein be noted.