Get your dogs 'chipped' by council

DOG owners are being invited to have their pets chipped for free as part of an ongoing Rhondda Cynon Taf Council canine scheme.
The council's animal shelter in Dinas will micro-chip your dog on Saturday mornings as part of the initiative to encourage more pet owners to abide by the law, which states all dogs must wear a collar and identification by law.
Micro-chipping is a further step forward to ensuring the identification of an animal is discovered quickly should they go missing.
The project, led by the council's Streetcare team, is designed to further crackdown on the issue of dog fouling which pervades certain communities more than others.
For further details call 01443 682789 or 01685 876831.



Get in the swim for free this summer

Children can learn to swim, improve their swimming skills or enjoy water-based fun and games for FREE at all
Rhondda Cynon Taf swimming pools this summer.

Junior learn-to-swim sessions will be held at every pool between 8.30am-midday from Monday to Friday every week during the summer holidays, as part of the Council's High 5 free Leisure programme. To book junior learn to swim sessions, please contact your local pool now.

Other pool-based activities on offer include:

· Aquafit sessions, disability swimming classes, snorkelling, water polo and diving at Aberdare Pool.

· Snorkelling, water polo, flip'n'fun, Octopush and junior lifesaving at Abercynon Sports Centre.

· Safe for Summer at Bronwydd Pool, Porth (Helping children learn about the dangers posed by open water).

· Crawl, fly and breaststroke workshops at Hawthorn Pool. Also, snorkelling and parent and toddler sessions on selected dates.

· Water polo and swimming stroke improvement classes at Llantrisant Leisure Centre.

· Diving, flip'n'fun, lifesaving skills, snorkelling and water polo at Rhondda Sports Centre, Ystrad.

· Canoeing and aquafun at Rhondda Fach Sports Centre, Tylorstown

· Lifesaving skills, snorkelling and water polo at Tonyrefail Leisure Centre.

Youngsters can also swim for free between 11am and 4.30pm during the holidays at all RCT swimming pools. Up to two adults and three children can swim for free as a family group between 11am and 5.30pm.

Parents can also join youngsters aged 16 and under for free 'dry side' leisure activities including football, squash, table tennis, badminton and use of the Zenith Fitness Suite facilities from July 19-August 27.

Free swimming will also be available on Tuesday, August 31 and Wednesday, September 1 and some leisure centres will be offering free 'dry side' activities on those dates. Please check with your local centre to find out what's available and when.

High 5 was launched to provide children and young people with safe and healthy activities during the school holidays.

Cllr Robert Bevan, Rhondda Cynon Taf Cabinet Member for Culture, Recreation and Tourism said: "Swimming is an important skill for children to have and we are delighted to once again be able to offer free swimming lessons, as well as many other fun water-based activities, at our pools this summer."

To find out exactly what's on and where, go to www.rctcbc.gov.uk/high5 where you will find a timetable of High 5 activities for each leisure facility. You can also ask for details at your local leisure centre or pool.

To find your nearest leisure centre or pool go to
www.rctcbc.gov.uk/Leisure or call Leisure Services on 01443 400563

· Free swimming is a Welsh Assembly Government initiative.

Great value junior gym sessions on offer this summer

Children can take part in regular exercise throughout the summer holidays - at the cost of just a few pounds - in Rhondda Cynon Taf's junior gym scheme.

Zenith Kidz is aimed at getting juniors more active and is open to youngsters aged 12 and 13, who can use the facilities at the 'Zenith' gyms in Rhondda Cynon Taf's leisure centres.

During the summer 2010 holidays, as part of the Council's High 5 Leisure scheme, children will be able to use the Zenith Kidz gym free of charge from Monday to Friday after their initial induction, which costs just £3.30.

Children can use cardiovascular machines such as bikes, rower, treadmills, summit trainer and cross trainers. Gyms are supervised by a fully-qualified member of staff at all times.

Zenith Kidz is available at Abercynon Sports Centre, Hawthorn Leisure Centre, Llantrisant Leisure Centre, Michael Sobell Sports Centre, Aberdare, and Rhondda Fach Sports Centre, Tylorstown. Please contact your nearest centre to check the hours during which gyms can be used.

Cllr Robert Bevan, Rhondda Cynon Taf Cabinet Member for Culture, Recreation, and Tourism, said: "Zenith Kidz is a great value way for children to get involved in regular exercise during the long summer holidays. It is part of the Council's action-packed High 5 scheme, which provides a wide range of opportunities that are healthy and fun."

Parental consent forms must be signed and an induction booked in advance of children coming to use the fitness studio. Low-income families will pay just £1.65 for their children to join. During the weekends (Sat & Sun), Zenith Kidz members will pay the usual £2.35 per session, as weekends are not included in the High 5 programme.

For more information on Zenith Kidz, please ask at your local centre. To find your nearest leisure centre or pool go to www.rctcbc.gov.uk/Leisure or contact 01443 400563.

Council leader's warning as UK government cuts kick in

GOVERNMENT spending cuts may result in tough times and unpalatable choices in Rhondda Cynon Taf - but the council aims to avoid massive redundancies.
The "brace yourselves" message comes from council leader Russell Roberts as the county faces a likely £20m gap between spending and resources next year - which might rise to £60m by 2013 - but he said his authority will aim to leave vacancies unfilled rather than axing public jobs.
In a one-to-one with the Leader, he likened the new government's drive to the sledgehammer approach Margaret Thatcher took to the mining industry - jobs in the Valleys have yet to recover 30 years on.
But the retired engineer fears the dramatic increase in the speed and severity of the Coalition cutbacks to tackle the deficit might destabilise a local economy heavily reliant on council spending.
He pledged to protect services to the most vulnerable and try to share, reshape, prioritise and reorganise according to greatest need and widest usage to avoid cuts in priority services.
In "unprecedented" times, the council considered that public spending is "genuinely under fire from the Government" and anticipated the Welsh Assembly Government would have to reduce its financial support for councils but RCT would still look to act sympathetically rather than simply slash jobs like some sister authorities.
The authority was obliged by law to deliver certain core services but in a period of austerity may look again at enhanced and discretionary spending to see if they can be afforded.
"With potentially a £20m funding gap, to be blunt, there are tough and difficult decisions ahead for this and other councils in Wales.
"As politicians we do not seek to make unpopular decisions. The choices we will make in prioritising services will be because of drastic cuts from central government decisions.
"It's not because of the behaviour of this council - which has put strong financial management and efficient services at the top of its agenda for many years - but through necessity to protect, as far as possible, those services that are most important to local people."
On cutbacks: "The honest answer is the unprecedented financial outlook means we will have to look at every aspect of the council's budget. It is evident though that with these kind of sums needing to be saved, no guarantee can be made for any part of our services."
On redundancies: "Around 80% of RCT costs are connected to the 14,000 people on the county payroll so the council plans to manage its head count and assess vacancies when they arise to decide if the post needs replacing."
On council efficiencies: Coun Roberts said the authority had, since being elected in 2004, pursued the mantra of ''doing more for less'' and had achieved more than £40m of savings and he has been working with other public sector bodies to see if resources can be shared and costs reduced perhaps by delivering a service in a different way as has been done in social care services with the local health board.
But the leader conceded: "The kind of reductions we are talking about, cannot be secured through efficiencies alone."
On council tax: Coun Roberts said the decision will be made in early 2011 in the knowledge that any increase would be unwelcome though it would not hurt the most vulnerable who are shielded by Council Tax Benefit. However, every 1% increase in council tax raised £700,000 for vital services needed to offset the anticipated £20m shortfall next year.

Council's retrieved Icelandic funds are a 'remarkable achievement'

FINANCE bosses have already clawed back more than a third of the money RCT invested in a failed Icelandic bank, councillors heard this week.
Corporate services chief Steve Merritt predicted the borough could get back as much as £2.55m out of the £3m they had in the Heritable Bank.
The bank collapsed nearly two years ago, along with Reykjavík-based parent company Landsbanki.
In a report before Rhondda Cynon Taf's 75 elected members, Mr Merritt said: "The failure of the Icelandic banking system in October 2008 had a major impact on local authority finances across the UK.
"More than 100 local authorities had deposits of almost £1bn with these institutions."
RCT was one of at least 20 British councils to confirm it had six- or seven-figure sums deposited in Icelandic banks.
Kent County Council was the biggest potential loser, with £50m invested in the North Atlantic nation, but Transport for London was not far behind, on £40m. Caerphilly was Wales's biggest depositer, with £15m.
Mr Merritt told the RCT meeting: "This council has £3m investments with Heritable Bank.
"The administrators' latest estimate, based on present information and conditions, indicate a return to creditors of between 79 and 85 pence in the pound.
"To date, this council has received dividend payments of £1,053,000."
Mr Merritt was briefing councillors on the state of the borough's treasury.
He described the previous year, 2009-10, as "challenging" and said the council had pursued a "low-risk" financial strategy to minimise further losses.
Tonyrefail East councillor Russell Roberts, who leads RCT's Labour administration, thanked Mr Merritt for keeping a "firm control" on the borough's funds.
He told the meeting - at The Pavilions, in Clydach Vale - that the country is facing "some of the most difficult financial times in its recent history".
Coun Roberts added: "To maintain the results we've seen in your report is quite a remarkable achievement."

South Wales' Chief Constable Peter Vaughan answers questions from Rhondda councillors

THE CHIEF of South Wales Police says he is "not inclined" to increase PCSO powers in case they start to rival fully-fledged constables.
Peter Vaughan started his police career in the Rhondda and was appointed Chief Constable in January.
This week the 47-year-old returned to the valley to address RCT's 75 councillors.
He told them that his force dealt with 445,000 incidents a year, making it the eighth-busiest in the UK. "Last year we policed 186 events, from civic functions like the recent Armed Forces Day, through to the 'friendly' derby matches between Cardiff City and Swansea City," he said.
He added that crime was at a 20-year low on the South Wales Police patch, down to just 110,000 offences annually.
Tylorstown councillor Mark Adams asked if Mr Vaughan had any plans to increase the powers enjoyed by his force's 300 Police Community Support Offices.
"For example, are you considering giving them the power of arrest?" the Labour member asked.
Mr Vaughan said he was "watching with interest" after the Government announced it was planning to standardise the powers of PCSOs across all 48 British forces.
But he added: "I'm not inclined to give them any more powers.
"Many PCSOs want them, but if you keep giving them, eventually they become police constables."
From his perspective, he said, their most important feature was the way they could integrate with their communities.
Fellow Labour councillor Robert Bevan, who also represents Tylorstown and sits on RCT's 10-member cabinet, asked how South Wales Police were planning to deal with a planned reduction in its budget.
"I understand you have already had to make some cuts, and that's not going to go down well with the public," Coun Bevans said.
"I'm just wondering if you've got a strategy to make sure there's some continuity of recruitment.
"The key is, surely, to make sure we don't see people going off at one end but being blocked from coming in at the other."
Mr Vaughan replied: "My commitment is to try to ensure we've got people on the front line, visible in communities.
"We had 200 police officers doing office jobs. My philosophy was, if you've got a warrant card, you should be out there and able to use it, so we replaced those officers with civilian office staff."

Another Big Weekend for Soph!

OVER the Rainbow star Sophie Evans has been added to bill at Ponty's Big Weekend.
The Tonypandy teenager will join Hayley Westenra, Faryl Smith and Andrew Ansell for the concert in Ynsyangharad Park on Sunday, July 25.