Council Leader reveals who is responsible for what in Wrexham for the next five years

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This article is old - Published: Thursday, Jun 9th, 2022

The Leader of Wrexham Council has formally detailed which Executive Board members will be responsible for which portfolio areas – as the duties to serve and represent the people of Wrexham have been released.

The Council Leader Mark Pritchard had previously announced the headline titles for his picks for the £34k pa roles and has now detailed what exactly each will be responsible for.

The councillors below now effectively politically leading the respective areas for Wrexham. That should include policy development, recommending items to the Executive Board and being the link between the officers running and executing the policies in the departments.

Lead Councillors should also monitor performance with a view to seeing policy is delivered, hopefully with an eye on improvement, as well as being representatives at external meetings – for example with stakeholders, Welsh or UK Governments.

On a wider view in line with the council’s formal plan, the work and activity in each department should fit that framework, ‘vision’ and overall principles.

Hopefully they will also be vocal in public debates, and communicate with the people of Wrexham about the work they do.

We invited Cllr Mark Pritchard to give a few words on each of his picks and why he thought they were suited to the job.

Below has the Executive role, the comment from the Council Leader, as well as some detail on what exactly they will be in-charge of – possibly for the next five years.

Lead Member for Economy & Regeneration – Councillor Nigel Williams

“Councillor Nigel Williams has a history in the banking profession, he worked for banks for many years – he used to work as a business bank manager with regards to allocating funds to businesses in Wrexham. He is very good, I have every confidence in Nigel and he will deliver for the economy and Wrexham”

Economic Development

Rural & Urban Development
Physical Regeneration
Business Support
Tourism and inward investment
Place Marketing, Promotion and Events
Twinning
Wrexham town centre and markets
Cadwyn Clwyd
AONB
World Heritage Site

Lead Member for Education – Councillor Phil Wynn

“Cllr Wynn obviously was the previous Lead Member for education. We’re in the middle of inspections, and we’re progressing and things are improving in education. It was wise of us keep in there to see through the inspections and to move forward with improving education and increasing the standards within Wrexham, so I am comfortable with that.”

Primary Education
Secondary Education
Early Years
Pupil Referral Units
Special Educational Needs
Adult Community Learning
Youth Services and Play provision
Youth Justice Service
School Catering

Lead Member for Children’s Services – Councillor Robert Walsh

“I have every confidence in Rob, he is a long serving member. I would like to have brought Rob to the Executive Board last time – and he is within the new administration now. He’s got the experience and knowledge”

Child Protection
Children’s Health
Child & Adolescent Mental Health
Looked After Children
Fostering
Adoption
Young Carers
Family Centres

Lead Member for Adult Social Care – Councillor John Pritchard

“John was our previous Adult Social Care lead member, he hadn’t been in there long actually because of the changes in there. John didn’t put a foot wrong and he’s just continuing his good work and commitment to Adult Social Care. Again, I didn’t want to bring someone in, I wanted to keep continuity – and officers were very pleased with John.”

Cllr Pritchard has two areas, with Health:

Health Promotion
NHS/Local Health Board
Mental Health
Drug and Alcohol Abuse
Area Planning Board

…and Adult Social Care

Social Care assessments
Adult Protection
Home, day & residential care
Disability service
Welfare Rights
Older People
Occupational Therapy
Supporting People
Telecare

Cllr Pritchard will also be the council’s Older People’s Champion

Lead Member for Partnerships and Community Safety – Councillor Paul Roberts

“Paul is a new executive board member. He was put forward by the Conservative Group, and Paul is a new member of the Executive Board. I look forward to working with him and I think the Partnerships and Community Safety portfolio is a good match for him. It is a portfolio that you can work on and can learn during the process”

Cllr Roberts covers Communities, which includes cultural elements:

Community Cohesion
Museums
Tŷ Pawb and the Arts
Heritage
Archives and Records

Cllr Roberts also covers Crime & Disorder, so:

Community Safety
Anti-social behaviour
Safer North Wales Partnership Board
County Lines Task & Finish Group

In quite a broad ranging portfolio he also is responsible for Equality & Diversity, Migration and Resettlement, Town and Community Councils, the council’s FAW Football Partnership.

Cllr Roberts is also Wrexham Council’s Diversity Champion

Lead Member for Corporate Services – Councillor Beverly Parry-Jones

“Beverly previously sat on the Executive Board, and we have just changed things around with regards to Corporate Services, we put them under one umbrella, which makes sense. I think it’s beneficial for officers and ourselves that we have a lead member with regards to corporate services”.

Cllr Parry-Jones has a wide ranging portfolio that includes…

Corporate Services:

Legal and Democratic Services
Human Resources Organisation, development & corporate training
ICT
Customer Services
Communication and social media
Registration services
Electoral services
Information management

Corporate policy development, Corporate governance and Corporate policies & strategies also comes under the “Governance” role.

In another shift, Cllr Parry-Jones’ portfolio now has responsiblity for Leisure, Libraries, Resource Centres.

As well as being in-charge of the Well-being of Future Generations , Cllr Parry-Jones is the Wrexham Council ‘Champion’ for Anti-Poverty, Gender-based violence, domestic abuse and sexual violence as well as the Anti-Slavery and Ethical Employment Champion.

Lead Member for Housing – Councillor David A Bithell

“David has left the environment department and gone into housing, it is a big portfolio and I think he will take it forward. It is a big area, there’s a lot of work going there is a massive capital program with regards to housing, we are spending millions of pounds on our council stock. I have every confidence that he will continue to take that forward.”

The Housing portfolio includes:

Allocations
Rent Collection /Arrears
Voids
Repairs & Improvements
Homelessness
Sheltered accommodation
Private Sector Housing

Cllr Bithell is also responsible for non-housing matters in Strategic transport, Mersey Dee Alliance and Corporate Health and Safety

Cllr Bithell is Wrexham Council’s Climate Champion.

Lead Member for Environment – Councillor Hugh Jones

“Obviously it is a change for Hugh going in to the environment department. Again, I have every confidence in Hugh, he is a long serving member and understands the council and understands the working of it. I think it was time for a change for Hugh and David. So, obviously, we’ve moved things around.”

Cllr Jones takes on the Environment Department, that includes:

Streetscene Services : Grounds Maintenance, Refuse Collection , Recycling , Street Cleaning , Highway Maintenance , Waste Disposal , Winter Maintenance
Crematorium & Cemeteries
Parks, Countryside & Public Rights of Way
Allotments
Arboriculture
Highway Infrastructure
Road Safety
Traffic Management
Integrated Transport Unit : – Transportation – Fleet , Enforcement , Emergency planning / management

Cllr Jones keeps his Welsh Language Champion role.

Lead Member for Finance and Performance – Councillor Mark Pritchard

“Myself – I think it’s important that the leader of the council does have a very close understanding of the finance in the council, I think it’s so important. Some elected members feel that the leader of the council shouldn’t have a portfolio, that he should just be the leader of the council and have the time to go out and do more work on regional side and growth deals and prosperity funds and levelling up. But I do that anyway. I’m confident that I can continue doing the same as we did last time.”

The Finance role includes:

Budgets
Treasury Management
Financial Regulations
Insurance Services
Investment & Borrowing
Internal Audit
Fraud Investigation
Benefits
Procurement, Commissioning & Contracts
Income

The “Performance” part of the portfolio contains; Performance Management Governance, Risk Management.

As well as the above, Cllr Pritchard retains the responsibility over council Assets, so “All Council buildings (including community centres, schools, agricultural estate and car parks), Commercial Estates & Markets”.

Having taken it away from Environment previously, he retains control over Parking Services (including parking enforcement).

Other responsibilities include; CCTV, North Wales Growth Bid, Levelling up & prosperity fund, Communities first, Community Development.

Cllr Pritchard is Wrexham Council’s Disability Champion

Lead Member for Planning and Public Protection – Councillor Terry Evans

“Terry is a long serving member and I thought it was a time for a change for Terry, who had the economy and the town center. So we’ve moved Terry around and he has got a good opportunity now to make his mark in planning and public protection. I think that’s a good match with planning and public protection, we have put them together for obvious reasons. I think it’s a good match.”

Cllr Evans will have the Local Development Plan 2 on his plate as well as responsiblity for: