Among matters considered and discussed at the February meeting of Pembroke Dock Town Council, held at the Pater Hall, were the following:

MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

Dockyard roll of honour board: It was questioned if there had been any movement with this issue. It was commented that the board had been taken down, but the builders were unable to transport the board, so the chairman of the Pater Hall Trust was arranging transport.

Pater Hall Community Trust - building work - asbestos: Clr. P. Gwyther stated that he did not consider the information within the minutes to be a full report, as it did not state enough of the debate which took place, and questioned if what was said during meetings by councillors was being noted.

He commented that there were points raised regarding the hall being safe and these points should have been recorded. These were:

• The Town Council paid for professional firm to come and do an asbestos survey previously and only found asbestos in the boiler room, which had now been removed

• The Town Council accepted the report from the previous town clerk regarding the asbestos only being present within the boiler room.

• A lot of work had been done to the building and no asbestos had been found.

• Architects stated that they did not expect to find any asbestos during the recent refurbishments.

Clr. P. E. George commented that if any asbestos was found, the building would be closed down and a professional would deal with it.

Community issues - pavements, St. Mary's Road: It was questioned if there had been any information regarding the pavements and pothholes. It was stated that the issues had been highlighted, and that Cross Park was particularly bad after the Gas Board had replaced some slabs, but Clr. Gwyther highlighted the issue on the Roadwatch website and received a prompt response.

REPORT OF

THE TOWN CLERK

Draft minute from The Pater Hall Community Trust - presence of asbestos: The town clerk informed members that she had enclosed a copy of a document that was sent by Clr. Gwyther which included a minute of the discussions that took place in the Trust meeting on January 15.

To clarify the situation, she had to explain the description of the Service Level Agreement in this minute which by its name was just that, it was an agreement that defined how the two organisations, the Pater Hall Community Trust and the Town Council, should work together. The Service Level Agreement was a document that was originally devised by Mr. Ian Jones when he was company secretary to the Pater Hall Community Trust and town clerk and amended by agreement and discussion between the Town Council and the Trust.

There was no mention of protecting staff and working conditions within the SLA. The only reference to staff working conditions was to give six months' notice of any permanent change in the working hours of either cleaner or caretaker.

The town clerk stated that the SLA was not a legal document nor was it ever intended to be.

She informed members that Clr. Gwyther seemed to be suggesting in the last paragraph of this minute that the caretaker was solely responsible for the maintenance of the building, thereby inferring that the Town Council had the full responsibility of the building maintenance as they employed the staff.

The lease that the Pater Hall Community Trust had with the Town Council was one that included the care and repair of the building, without that they would not be able to do work such as was being undertaken now.

She stated that this element of the responsibilities was very clearly written in the lease agreed some years ago. The Trust decide what maintenance work was needed and as the manager of the caretaker this was then discussed with herself. Any maintenance work that was undertaken was done on the instruction of the Trust, not the Town Council.

The town clerk stated that she had also included an email which was received from Pembroke Design in answer to the Town Council request for a statement regarding any asbestos in the building. She commented that she had spoken to the Healthy and Safety Executive with regard to the 'duty holder' as referred to previously and had read through the documents available to her.

The 'dutyholder' means: Every person who has, by virtue of a contract or tenancy, an obligation of any extent in relation to the maintenance or repair of non-domestic premises or any means of access thereto or egress.

The town clerk reminded the Town Council that the Pater Hall Community Trust had a 25-year lease from the council (starting in 2007) and this included a care and repair condition, as well as to comply in all respects with the provision of any statutes and any other obligations imposed by law.

The Town Council owns the building; and rents the offices and meeting rooms as required, for which a sum of £7,000 is paid annually to the Pater Hall Community Trust.

The town clerk stated that it was not a matter of choice as to whether management of any asbestos presence in the Pater Hall was addressed. According to Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos regulations 2006 (the asbestos regulations) any non-domestic premises must comply with an approved code of practice with regard to asbestos. She informed members if the dutyholder was prosecuted for a breach of health and safety law and it was proved that the relevant provisions of an approved code of practice were not followed, then it must be shown that the law has been complied with in some other way or a court could find the dutyholder at fault.

Clr. P. Gwyther stated that the dutholder was the Town Council as they were responsible for the maintenance of the building. He commented that the Service Level Agreement was put in place for this and it was therefore a legal document and a contract between the two organisations and, if it was not a legal document, then why was it signed.

He also questioned who would pay for the survey for asbestos, and commented that the Pater Hall Trust was on the edge at present and currently needed an overdraft facility to ensure there was enough money in the accounts to pay for the building work. He felt that the council should not insist that the Pater Hall Trust pay for the survey.

The town clerk stated that the Service Level Agreement was not a legal document. It was set up as a way of operating, changes to the document had been made by agreement between the two organisations, but the document has never been legally written. She commented that the dutyholder was the person who was in charge of the care and repair of the building as previously stated.

As the Town Council employed the caretaker and had a duty to ensure a safe working environment for all employees, until this matter was resolved, should any maintenance work be requested by the Pater Hall Trust, the town clerk suggested that none be undertaken. It was pointed out to the town clerk by the HS&E that the Town Council had a duty to protect their employees and ensure safe working conditions.

Clr. A. Lee commented that the suggestion regarding the asbestos survey was late, but an inspection of the whole building was needed.

Clr. Lee suggested that the Institute of Arbitrators be contacted so that everyone knew where they stood with regards to the Service Level Agreement or could Laurence Harding be contacted for advice.

The town clerk commented that Laurence Harding had already given advice on this matter.

It was resolved that the Institute of Arbitrators would be contacted to ask for advice on the issues surrounding the Service Level Agreement.

Armed Forces Day

The town clerk advised members that this day falls on June 29 this year.

Armed Forces Day was devised to celebrate all servicemen who are or who had been involved with conflict.

Last year, a small service took place in Pembroke, as the service rotates between the two towns.

The town clerk suggested that this year a service be held at the war memorial in St. John's Church, which would include all the standards and the laying of wreaths. Members agreed.

Personnel Report

Administrative support officer: The town clerk stated that she would like to propose that the Town Council employed a third person to work in the office.

She said that over the last few years, office staff had taken on more and more work as the shape of local councils was changing.

The town clerk commented that she had been very concerned that the Town Council puts as much as possible into the community, this was not just putting money in, but also effort in directing, supporting and helping to progress projects which would benefit the people in the town. She felt there was a need to expand the projects they were involved in, as services from the County Council were being squeezed more and more.

Projects such as: funding and build of a skatepark, funding and build of a children's play area, regeneration of the town centre, providing extra street cleaning, trying to improve the situation with regard to dog fouling, developing and specifying a new web site, maintaining that web site, meeting the existing demands such as restoration of the Pump House and ensuring that their policies and risk assessments were up to date and many more.

The town clerk informed members that due to the pressures of our workload, finding time to progress projects was becoming very difficult within the time constraints that they had. "We both regularly work over our contracted hours," she stated.

The town clerk suggested that the job would be for 16 hours a week, at scale points 15 to 18, which pro rata for the 16 hours would be £6,922.24 to £7,404.80 per annum.

The only other expense that would be involved would be an extra computer and a new desk at a cost of around £800.

It was resolved that the Town Council would employ an administrative support officer.

Pension provision for Town Council staff: The town clerk commented that she had sought agreement from council to approach Carmarthenshire County Council to determine how much it would cost the Town Council to enter into their superannuation scheme. All employers would soon be legally obliged to offer a pension plan for all eligible employees. The town clerk said that Carmarthenshire County Council had informed that taking the enrolment date of April 1, 2013, the Town Council would be obliged to pay a contribution of 8.5 per cent in pension payments.

This meant that the employee paid a proportion of salary as pension payments and the Town Council would have to pay 8.5 per cent of the employee's salary into the pension fund.

It was resolved that the Carmarthenshire County Council pension scheme should be made available to all employees starting from April 1, 2013.

Intruder alarm in the office: The town clerk informed members that there was an intruder alarm in the Town Council offices which was installed by Dyfed Alarms.

She stated that the assistant town clerk had investigated the system with a few companies with a view to installing panic button alarms in the offices which would be linked to the police station.

The town clerk commented that she had over the last year or so had two instances where she had been on her own in the building and had felt threatened by visitors to the office. The personal safety of officers in this building had been a concern and it would seem that the panic buttons might be an answer to this.

The town clerk asked to have members' agreement to install panic buttons with Dyfed Alarms at a cost of £353 to help protect the staff in the office. This was agreed.

Civic and Mayoral events

The town clerk commented that it was agreed last year that these events needed to be reviewed. Currently the annual general meeting and the Mayor-making took place on a Thursday evening during May, followed by a buffet for all to attend. The following Friday there was a civic dinner which had been held in the Cleddau Bridge Hotel. The town clerk commented if the new Mayor wished, there was then a civic service held on the following Sunday, usually at St. John's Church, with a parade.

It was commented that in the current austere times, it seemed unwise to continue this regime.

The town clerk stated that the amount of work involved in the organisation by the assistant town clerk was large which obviously had a cost.

The costs included staff time in sending out invitation to the civic dinner, sorting out the venue and the seating arrangements, the menus and the flowers. Invitations were also sent out for the church service. All this was done by the assistant town clerk with a very small input from herself.

The town clerk stated that there was the cost of the buffet and drinks after the Mayor-making, the cost of the dinner and a room to change in at the Cleddau Bridge Hotel. There was no cost involved for the church service, only staff time.

The town clerk suggested to reduce the costs of both staff time and payments for meals etc. that on the Thursday evening of the annual general meeting and the Mayor-making, the Mayors and other guests normally invited to the civic dinner be asked to attend and that a buffet with drinks be provided after the formalities.

The town clerk commented that in normal circumstances she would suggest that the Main Hall in the Pater Hall could be used for both the Mayor-making and the buffet, but as there was currently building work being undertaken, this may not be possible for this year's event. The building work was due to finish on Monday, May 6, but should there be any delay, this would obviously affect the event on May 9.

It was commented that the event on the Friday was the only civic function that the Town Council holds and it was the only chance the Mayor had to meet and promote the town. It was commented that the civic dinner did not have to be on the Friday immediately after the Mayor-making and the buffet on the Thursday evening was not needed.

After discussion, it was resolved that the Mayor-making would take place on May 9, with no buffet, and the civic dnner would take place on May 10, and would be held at the Cleddau Bridge Hotel.

Hywel Dda Health Board

The town clerk commented that she had received a report of the meeting that was held on January 25 containing the decisions made by the Health Board which had been advertised widely. The full reports are available at http://www.hywelddahb.wales.nhs.uk/consultation">www.hywelddahb.wales.nhs.uk/consultation.

It was commented that members of Pembroke Dock Town Council had not done much about the closure of South Pembs Minor Injury Unit, while there had been visual protests taking place in Tenby.

It was commented that the Mayor, Clr. P. Kraus, had been doing a lot of background work, but a visual impact was needed which involved the press.

Election of mayor and Deputy Mayor for 2013/2014

The town clerk asked for nominations for the positions of Mayor and Deputy Mayor for the year 2013/2014 It was resolved that the Mayor would be Clr. J. Phillips, with Clr. P. E. George as Deputy.

Supplementary report of the

town clerk

Louisa Sanders Trust - trustee for Pembroke Dock Town Council: The town clerk stated that she had received notification that currently only one person could be nominated from this council to become a trustee of the Louisa Sanders Trust. Once this trustee had been nominated, another person could be co-opted onto the charity board. The town clerk asked that a nomination for trustee be made by this council and it was resolved that this be Clr. P. E. George.

REPORTS FROM REPRESENTATIVES SERVING on OUTSIDE BODIES

Police Forum: Clr. M. Colgan commented that she had attended a recent police forum meeting which was well attended by members of the public. She stated that issues raised were dog fouling, parking outside the gym in Water Street, and drug issues around the town.

Pater Hall Trust: Clr. P. Gwyther informed members that the Pater Hall Trust had presented a lifetime membership to Mr. Ron Watts.

COMMUNITY ISSUES

Clothing Van - Ferry Lane: It was questioned if the clothing van on Ferry Lane could be moved on as they were classed as a trader. It was stated that they had been moved on numerous occasions by the Police, but always ended up back there the next day. It was commented tthat as the piece of land which they park on was not classed as a layb,y there was not a lot that could be done.

Building Work - corner of Dimond Street and Law Street: It was commented that the recent building work on the corner of Dimond Street and Laws Street was causing issues with the zebra crossing, as the vans for the building site were blocking pedestrians' visual view of oncoming traffic. It was questioned whether the County Council could be contacted to see if there was anything which could be done to make the zebra crossing safer for pedestrians during the building period. The town clerk stated she would contact the County Council to ask.

MAYOR'S REPORT

The Mayor stated that he had been very busy during month and had attended a number of events.

He commented that work was underway at the Military cemetery with regards to filling in the holes which had appeared, and he had visited a number of schools regarding a 'Stars in Your Eyes' event which he had been arranging.