MEMBERS at Bridgend County Borough Council met on Wednesday 14 May for the Annual Meeting of Council to confirm the positions of Leader and Cabinet for the year ahead, and to elect a new Mayor and Deputy Mayor.
Councillor John Spanswick was returned as Leader of the authority, and the following Cabinet positions were also confirmed:
- Deputy Leader / Cabinet Member for Social Services, Health and Wellbeing – Councillor Jane Gebbie
- Cabinet Member for Finance and Performance – Councillor Hywel Williams
- Cabinet Member for Education and Youth Services – Councillor Martyn Jones
- Cabinet Member for Climate Change and the Environment – Councillor Paul Davies
- Cabinet Member for Resources (Job Share) – Councillor Eugene Caparros / Councillor Melanie Evans
- Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Economic Development and Housing – Councillor Neelo Farr
Councillor Huw David will succeed Councillor Heather Griffiths as Mayor of Bridgend County Borough, while Councillor Heidi Bennett will act as Deputy Mayor. The Youth Mayor of Bridgend County Borough will be Phoebe Evans, and Adam Cloutier will serve as Deputy Youth Mayor.
Political groups and group leaders were confirmed as follows:
- Labour – 26 (Councillor John Spanswick)
- Bridgend County Independents – 13 (Councillor Amanda Williams)
- Democratic Alliance – 8 (Councillor Ross Penhale-Thomas)
- Conservative – 1 (no group leader – requires a minimum of two members)
- Reform – 1 (no group leader – requires a minimum of two members)
Two councillors – Councillor Jeff Tildesley and Councillor Sean Aspey – opted to remain independent and not to join any groups.
Addressing the meeting, newly returned Leader John Spanswick said: “Thank you to everyone who voted for me. I know that we may have our political differences and will not agree on everything, but we are still one group, representing the residents of the county borough of Bridgend, and I want to work with everybody here.
“I also want to say a massive thank you to the 6,000 staff who work for Bridgend County Borough Council, and who work so tirelessly, day-in-day-out, to deliver services for local people. We often hear about things when they go wrong, but we don’t spend enough time acknowledging when they go right, either. That is why I want to share some of the successes that we have enjoyed over the last year.
“As part of our ongoing maintenance of 882km of road and 614km of rights of way, our rolling programme of investment will see more than 7km of roads resurfaced in 2024–2025, including 39 residential streets. Last year, this work included undertaking repairs to more than 3,445 reported potholes. For the current financial year, we have repaired almost 3,000 potholes to date.
“With a recycling rate of 73%, Bridgend County Borough has been officially named as the best performing local authority in Wales for recycling and dealing with waste. During the last financial year, we recycled 39,000 tonnes of waste, avoided 20,000 tonnes of carbon emissions, and saved an approximate £4m on disposal costs.
“In its first year of operation, the £2.3m new waste and recycling centre at Pyle has handled 1,312 tonnes of green waste, 1,226 tonnes of wood, 690 tonnes of plasterboard and rubble, 426 tonnes of electrical items, 286 tonnes of metal waste, 174 tonnes of plastic, and 88 tonnes of other recyclable materials.
“A further 62 tonnes of items which are still in great condition have been given a new lease of life through the site’s new reuse shop at the site which is finding plenty of uses for items that are still in good condition. In addition, a network of 1,194 litter bins placed at carefully selected locations have been emptied 180,000 times over the last year, with more than 911 tonnes of litter collected.
“After a huge amount of hard work and effort, ground works are now taking place at the former Ewenny Road Industrial Estate in Maesteg to prepare the 16-acre site for an ambitious redevelopment and regeneration programme. This will transform the area by providing 200 new homes, shops, public open space, community facilities, and a new enterprise and employability hub.
“In Education, plans for a new-build replacement Mynydd Cynffig Primary School have moved forward as part of a capital investment of nearly £100,000, so please don’t let anyone say that we are not investing into educational facilities.
“We have also completed the roll-out of universal free school meals to all primary school year groups, and our ongoing play area refurbishment programme will deliver further upgrades at up to 40 more council-maintained sites over the next financial year. By the time it is complete, the initiative will have delivered improvements to a total of 98 play areas.
“In Social Services, our Carers Wellbeing Service has supported 1,249 unpaid carers within the community and we have delivered seamless partnership working alongside police, health and other agencies as part of our Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub, or MASH.
“We have welcomed the Edge of Care and Early Help screening teams to our new children and families division as part of our work in constructing a single front door for children and families in Bridgend County Borough, while the Assia domestic abuse service has achieved Leading Lights accreditation from the charity Safe Lives – the only Welsh council to do so.
“In terms of our ongoing drive to recruit more social care staff, nine social worker students have completed their three-year degrees and have started working for the council, and we have taken on a further nine social worker students.
“One social worker student – Dominique Lima – has even become the first in Wales to secure a place on the Open University Social Work degree course via the Social Services Practitioner route. We have also welcomed an additional 13 international social workers to the directorate since March.
“We were also the first in Wales to complete the Telecare digital switch-over, with 2,380 clients catered for in time for the change.
“Elsewhere, our overall council response to storms and severe weather has seen first rate interaction between departments such as Highways, Land Drainage, Emergency Planning, Communications, the Town Centre team, Customer Services and Housing Solutions. They have all worked closely together to keep the county borough safe, informed and moving.
“Council staff have helped to attract the organisers of the 2025 Women’s Open Golf championship to the Royal Porthcawl – the largest female sporting event to ever come to Wales – and we continue to attract national and international visitors to events such as the Elvis Festival and the Park Run. We also continue to support events such as the forthcoming Beach Fest.
“At the Grand Pavilion, enabling works have paved the way for sourcing a main contractor to undertake the ambitious improvement works that have been planned for the iconic building, while Welsh Government has partnered with the council to help deliver the waterfront regeneration .
“We completed the regeneration of the derelict site at Cosy Corner, and have turned it into a new visitor destination complete with retail units, public open space, an all weather canopy, toilets, seating and a large children’s play area.
“The regeneration of Maesteg Town Hall has been a huge success, and the newly opened facility has drawn massive amounts of praise from people who are taking advantage of the services and benefits it offers for the local community.
“Keep Wales Tidy Green Flag status has been awarded to nine sites across Bridgend County Borough. For Coychurch Crematorium, this will be a particularly significant achievement as it marks the 15th consecutive time that their first-rate facilities have been recognised by the awards.
“We have launched Quickstart Bridgend, an innovative programme which seeks to support residents looking for employment by offering them paid work placements hosted by employers from across the county borough.
“We have also held a Social Enterprise Marketplace – the first event of its kind in Bridgend County Borough – to support growth opportunities for local businesses, and have allocated development grants to 11 businesses based within our valley areas.
“Elsewhere, thanks to an effective management plan, air quality continues to improve on Park Street and is expected to be fully compliant with national targets by 2026, and work is continuing on the all-new Bridgend College campus in Bridgend town centre.
”Finally, we have successfully undertaken the recruitment for a number of key senior roles in areas such as Education and Adult Social Care, and have appointed a new chief executive officer, all of whom will soon join us to offer some fresh perspective as we turn and look towards the future of Bridgend County Borough Council.”
