Minutes of the Full Council Meeting

Transcription

1 Minutes of the Full Council Meeting Date & Time: Wednesday, 13 July 2016 at 7:00 pm Place: The Council Chamber, Town Hall, Ripley Present: Councillor R Iliffe (Mayor) and Councillor D Wilson (Deputy Mayor) Councillors: T M Ainsworth, B Aistrop, R P Ashton, B R E Bellamy, M Bennett MBE, D J Booth, J W Booth, J W Brown MBE, C N Bull, K Buttery, J A Cox, T G Curran, R Emmas-Williams, S M Evanson, G B Gee, B Gration, I Harry, S A Hayes, K J D Hill, P A Hillier, T Holmes, E Johnsen, P Jones, H Longdon, B J Lyttle, J McCabe, P C Moss, M R Neville, S G Oakes, J Orton, C J M Short, P J Smith, A G Stevenson, D H Taylor, V J Taylor, M Tomlinson, J A Walker and A S Ward. Officers present: S Delahay Executive Director (Resources), C Potter Assistant Director (Legal & Democratic Services), D Stafford Assistant Director (Community Planning), A Steeples Democratic Services Officer (Cabinet and Council) and J Townsend Executive Director (Operations). Apologies: Councillors: G G Dolman, C Emmas-Williams, E Hamilton, V Thorpe and M Wilson. Prior to the start of the meeting, prayers were said by the Reverend John Wigram. The prayers made reference to the centenary of the Battle of the Somme and also to Jo Cox MP, who was recently killed as she prepared to hold a surgery in her constituency in West Yorkshire. Those present took part in a minute s silence as a mark of respect MAYOR S ANNOUNCEMENTS The Mayor made reference to numerous engagements he had attended since he was elected Mayor, with the most memorable one being the Somme Commemoration service at Derby Cathedral VARIATION OF ORDER OF BUSINESS NOTING: No variation to the order of business, as set out on the agenda, was made DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting. Page 1

2 4080 PUBLIC SPEAKING - SUMMARY Mrs Anderson spoke regarding Agenda Item No 11(a) Amber Valley Borough Local Plan 2016 Update and also Agenda Item No 11(b) Revised Local Development Scheme for Amber Valley She asked whether the previous Core Strategy was now obsolete in all of its forms. She also questioned whether the 109 potential sites listed in Appendix A to Agenda Item No 11(a) were guaranteed MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON 25 MAY 2016 That the Minutes of the Annual Council meeting held on 25 May 2016 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Mayor EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC There was no exclusion of the public REPORT OF THE LEADER OF THE COUNCIL The Leader of the Council reported that the Authority had hosted a crisis meeting to look at job opportunities for former employees at Courtaulds, Belper which had recently gone into administration. The Authority, with assistance from other organisations, also held a Jobs Fair at the Strutts Centre in Belper, which was extremely well attended, followed by a further 4 drop-in sessions to offer continued support and advice to those seeking employment. The Leader extended thanks to all of those involved in supporting the Jobs Fair to make it a success and assisted former employees of Courtaulds to find new jobs MEMBERS QUESTIONS TO THE LEADER ON THE REPORT 1. Q. Councillor E Johnsen asked whether help would also be offered to the people who were facing the loss of their jobs at ABRU in Belper. A. Councillor K Buttery replied to say he was aware of the issue and had requested meetings with the owners and managers at ABRU, although he was still awaiting a response. Some of their workforce had attended the recent Jobs Fair and he had spoken with them. He stated that the employees had known about the closure for some time, as the firm is looking at centralisation. He stated that the Council would support the employees as best as they could. Page 2

3 RESPONSIVE VALUE FOR MONEY SERVICES: 4085 APPOINTMENT OF A NOMINATED SUBSTITUTE TO DERBYSHIRE POLICE AND CRIME PANEL AND APPOINTMENT OF A REPRESENTATIVE TO BELPER NORTH MILL TRUST The Council considered a report seeking approval for appointments to the Derbyshire Police & Crime Panel and the Belper North Mill Trust. 1 That Councillor R P Ashton be appointed as the Authority s nominated substitute to serve on the Derbyshire Police and Crime Panel; and 2 That Councillor M R Neville be appointed as the Authority s representative on the Belper North Mill Trust. REASON FOR RECOMMENDATIONS: To ensure that the Authority is properly represented ADDRESSING THE GENERAL FUND REVENUE BUDGET DEFICIT The Council considered a report regarding the General Fund Budget deficit currently faced by the Authority and a number of proposals to begin to address the situation. Pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 16.4 and with the support of more than one third of the Members present and voting, the names of those Members voting for and against the resolutions below were recorded as follows: The following 22 Members voted FOR the resolutions below: Councillors T M Ainsworth, R P Ashton, D J Booth, J W Booth, J W Brown MBE, C N Bull, K Buttery, J A Cox, S M Evanson, G B Gee, S A Hayes, P Hillier, R H Iliffe, P C Moss, J Orton, C J M Short, A Stevenson, D H Taylor, V J Taylor, M Tomlinson, A S Ward and D Wilson. The following 18 Members voted AGAINST the resolutions below: Councillors B R Aistrop, B R E Bellamy, M Bennett MBE, T G Curran, R Emmas-Williams, B Gration, I Harry, K J D Hill, T Holmes, E Johnsen, P Jones, H Longdon, B J Lyttle, J McCabe, M R Neville, S G Oakes, P J Smith and J A Walker. Following the result of the recorded vote, it was therefore:- 1 That consultation be carried out on the proposed closure of three Town Centre Offices in Alfreton, Belper and Heanor and the centralisation of their services at the Ripley Town Centre Office, and Page 3

4 that the outcome of the consultation process be reported to a future Council meeting for a decision; 2 That an annual charge of 40 be re-introduced for the Green Waste collection service, commencing in March 2017, subject to the service only continuing if it is cost neutral; 3 That the decisions which are to be actioned by Management Team (as detailed in Appendix A to the Officer s report) be noted and their implementation be monitored by the Cabinet; 4 That the amendment of the Financial Plan, to include for the Borough element of Council Tax to be increased from 1 April 2017, 1 April 2018 and 1 April 2019 by 5 on a Band D property and pro rata for the other bands for each year, be agreed; 5 That a contribution of 1 million per annum be credited to the General Fund Reserve from the New Homes Bonus on 1 April 2017, 1 April 2018 and 1 April 2019; 6 That Burial Charges be increased by 2% per annum or by 1% above RPI (whichever figure is higher) from 1 August 2016, 1 April 2017, 1 April 2018 and 1 April 2019, subject to the service being no more than cost neutral; and 7 That a budget for severance costs of 600,000 be created from the General Fund Reserve. REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS: 1 The Authority is faced with the complete withdrawal of the Revenue Support Grant from central government by 2020/21, equating to 2.3 million per annum. 2 The Authority has an existing budget deficit following reductions in external grant during 2014/15 and 2015/16. The total projected deficit of 3.8 million per annum needed to be addressed at the earliest opportunity, in order to enable the Authority to be able to function and to set a legal budget, as required by the Local Government Finance Act The projected revenue budget for the three years 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19 show that the 5% minimum General Fund Reserve can be achieved for only 2016/17 and that the budget goes in to deficit during 2017/18. 4 The savings will need to be achieved at the earliest opportunity in order to preserve the level of the General Fund Balances for as long as possible. It will be necessary to supplement the General Fund by utilising one off funding from the New Homes Bonus over the next 2 years and on an on-going basis from In order to place this challenge in perspective the level of external grant in 2009/10 was Page 4

5 9.7 million per annum. In 2019/20 it is expected to be 3.4 million, which is a reduction of 6.3 million per annum or 65% over the 10 year period CORPORATE PLAN The Council considered a report seeking adoption of the Corporate Plan and associated Performance Management and Data Quality Guidance. 1 That the Corporate Plan and associated performance targets for 2016/17 be adopted; 2 That the Performance Management and Data Quality Guidance be adopted. REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS: 1 The Corporate Plan sets out the Council s plans for the next three years; balancing the aspiration to address local priorities with the continuing reduction in external grant. 2 The Authority should have a specific Strategy document in place concerning data quality and performance management. A PROSPEROUS AND HEALTHY AMBER VALLEY: 4088 AMBER VALLEY BOROUGH LOCAL PLAN UPDATE The Council considered a report regarding an update on current progress towards securing an up-to-date Local Plan for Amber Valley. A call for sites, inviting landowners/developers to either confirm previous submissions of potential development sites, or to put forward additional potential sites, was carried out between January and March A total of 109 potential sites were submitted through this process. It was emphasised that the inclusion of any potential site on the list at Appendix A to the Officer s report did not imply that it would automatically be included as a proposed allocation in the Local Plan. The Council would only reach a conclusion as to which sites it proposed to allocate in the Local Plan, once the comprehensive process of site assessment had been completed. The proposed sites would then be included in a Draft Local Plan and it was anticipated that this would be published for public consultation in early Page 5

6 1 That the update in relation to the Local Plan be noted. REASON FOR RECOMMENDATION: To ensure that the Council is kept informed on progress towards securing an up-to-date Local Plan for the Borough, having regard to the target for adoption by March REVISED LOCAL DEVELOPMENT SCHEME FOR AMBER VALLEY The Council considered a report seeking approval of a revised Local Development Scheme (LDS) programme for Amber Valley, to cover the three year period from 2016 to If approved, it was intended that the revised LDS would formally come into effect from 1 August That a revised Local Development Scheme (LDS) programme for Amber Valley, as set out in Appendix A to the Officer s report, be approved; and 2 That the Executive Director (Operations) be authorised, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and Deputy Leader/Cabinet Member for Regeneration and with the Local Plan Member/Officer Working Group, to agree the detailed wording of the revised LDS document, prior to its publication and to revise the key milestones in the LDS, as necessary, prior to any subsequent review of the LDS programme. REASON FOR RECOMMENDATIONS: To comply with the requirements of the relevant legislation and regulations. The principal regulations are the Town and Country Planning (Local Development) (England) Regulations 2004, the Town and Country Planning (Local Development) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2008, the Town and Country Planning (Local Development) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2009 and the Town and Country Planning (Local Development) (England) (Amendment) Regulations TO ANSWER QUESTIONS PURSUANT TO COUNCIL PROCEDURE RULE 11(2) 1. Councillor R Emmas-Williams put the following question to Councillor C J M Short, Cabinet Member for Environment:- The Conservative group s election leaflets stated that the Garden Waste collections will be expanded, so all residents can participate. With the Page 6

7 decision to unilaterally impose a charge of 40, without consultation, on every garden waste user, will this scheme be implemented to the whole Borough of Amber Valley? Councillor C J M Short replied Yes, the scheme will be implemented to all of Amber Valley, subject to it being cost neutral. The Council did consult the service users in 2014 regarding a potential charge and 73% of respondents said they d be prepared to pay a charge rather than to see the service discontinued. We are also publicising the service to encourage additional households to join the scheme. 2. Councillor R Emmas-Williams proposed the following supplementary question to Councillor C J M Short: It is noted from recommendation 2.2 that the 40 charge be re-introduced, subject to the service only continuing if it is cost neutral. How many charges of 40 will you need to collect to achieve this? Councillor C J M Short replied that he could not answer this, until the current service users had been contacted to see if they wished to continue with garden waste collection at the annual rate of 40, then that data could be calculated and negotiations commenced. 3. Councillor P J Smith put the following question to Councillor K Buttery, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Policy: Given that you highlighted the Councillors Community Fund as one of your achievements in 2015 in the recent Cabinet report, when will you be re-introducing the scheme? Councillor K Buttery replied that the Corporate Plan had to list achievements, irrespective of politics. He confirmed there were no plans to reinstate the Councillors Community Fund. 4. Councillor B R E Bellamy put the following question to Councillor D H Taylor, Cabinet Member for Housing and Public Health: Since the Olympics in 2012, the number of people practicing sport for at least 30 minutes at moderate intensity, at least once a week, has slowly declined. Most recently, the number of people participating in sport once a week fell by 222,000 compared with October What is the Council doing to help reverse this trend? Councillor D H Taylor replied to say there had been a number of headline statements in the press regarding the Olympic legacy and the latest national figures had indicated a drop-off in sports participation. However, although detailed figures were not available for the Amber Valley area, in Derbyshire as a whole the percentage playing more sport as measured by the Active People Survey has increased from 21.25% in 2012 to 24.4% in 2014/15. In Amber Valley there has been an increase in people meeting the national guidelines for physical activity (rather than just formal sport) since 2012 and the percentage is now higher than the national average. Page 7

8 The Council s Wellbeing team deliver a vast number of community initiatives to encourage physical activity and participation in sport. He confirmed he would let Councillor Bellamy have an advanced copy of the annual report. He also stated that visits to the PFI Leisure Centres had topped 1 million in 2015/16 for the first time ever. 5. Councillor B R E Bellamy proposed the following supplementary question to Councillor D H Taylor: The Council spent 1,136,000 on buying a moderately sized bungalow by Field Lane in Belper, supposedly for the building of a new leisure centre, then turned it into a car park extension with the total cost of the project being 1,634,691. That is at least 498,961 that cannot be recovered, but which could have transformed the existing leisure centre in the town, had the Council had the imagination to work closer in partnership with them. So when the land at Field Lane is sold, no doubt at a huge loss, will the Council use at least some of this money to improve sports and leisure facilities across the Borough? Councillor D H Taylor replied You said you would spend the money on the Tea Rooms, now you want it to be spent on sport as well. 6. Councillor M R Neville put the following question to Councillor K Buttery, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Policy: Does the Leader support the comments in Pauline Latham s press release about the closure of Courtaulds in Belper, that the owners of the Company had already transferred its real assets into other holding companies, leaving only limited assets available for the administrators? Councillor K Buttery replied that he was not privy to Pauline Latham s press releases. He confirmed that although he did not know the full details of the situation, he was aware of some of the concerns. 7. Councillor M R Neville proposed the following supplementary question to Councillor K Buttery: Would you urge for measures to protect businesses from aggressive take overs? Councillor K Buttery replied that this would be a matter for Parliament and the Police. 8. Councillor P Jones put the following question to Councillor K Buttery, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Policy: Why did the current Conservative group deliberately deceive the electorate at the last election about the state of the Council s finances by lowering the Council Tax? Councillor K Buttery replied that a report General Fund Revenue Budget Requirement 2016/17 had been considered by Full Council at the meeting held on 2 March This report was still available on the Council s Page 8

9 website for anyone to read and was open and transparent. 9. Councillor P Jones proposed the following supplementary question to Councillor K Buttery: Will the Leader be writing to Mr Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequer, to request a better funding settlement? Councillor K Buttery replied We have listened to the people and that s why we are proposing an increase in Council Tax. 10. Councillor T Holmes put the following question to Councillor K Buttery, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Policy: Will the Leader confirm if the Council has had any communication to or from any police force in connection with the investigations of potential electoral fraud in Amber Valley in respect of the 2015 General Election campaign of Nigel Mills? Councillor K Buttery replied that the Council had received a Court Order asking for the retention of all of the 2015 General Election expenses returns. 11. Councillor T Holmes proposed the following supplementary question to Councillor K Buttery: Will this Council be pro-active in supporting the fraud investigation? Councillor K Buttery replied that the Council would comply with any requests from the Police and Court. 12. Councillor I Harry put the following question to Councillor J Orton, Cabinet Member for Community Safety: A report to the last Police and Crime Panel on the impact of funding cuts on community safety services in Derbyshire states that they wrote to all Derbyshire Borough and District Councils inviting them to submit evidence to the review Why did not Amber Valley submit a response, especially given that you are the Council s representative on the panel? Councillor J Orton replied that no response was given, as the press did not show an interest in it and it was not considered to be an effective use of Officer time. She added that out of the 8 authorities who had been contacted, only 3 submitted a response. 13. Councillor I Harry proposed the following supplementary question to Councillor J Orton: Does that mean that you consider cost to be more important than the safety of the community and also, do you have any evidence on the impact these funding cuts have had on the community? Councillor J Orton replied that she did not consider cost to be more Page 9

10 important and reiterated that only 3 authorities had given a response. She replied that she would arrange for a written response to be sent to Councillor Harry with regard to the evidence of impact on the community. 14. Councillor E Hamilton had submitted the following question to Councillor K Buttery, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Policy: Will this Council support the women of the WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality) group in their campaign to redress this situation where women of the Borough born in the early 1950s have been denied thousands of pounds in lost pension? Councillor K Buttery replied that in the absence of Councillor Hamilton at this evening s meeting, a written answer would be sent to her MOTION UNDER COUNCIL PROCEDURE RULE 12 The following motion was proposed by Councillor K J D Hill and seconded by Councillor P J Smith:- We are proud to live in a diverse and tolerant society. Racism, xenophobia and hate crimes have no place in our country. Amber Valley Borough Council condemns racism, xenophobia and hate crimes unequivocally and will not allow hate to become acceptable. The Council will exercise its community leadership role to foster good relations amongst our diverse communities, celebrating diversity and identifying opportunities to promote equality and diversity. It will continue to work to eliminate unlawful discrimination, victimisation and harassment within Amber Valley. We reassure people living in Amber Valley that they are valued members of our community. Upon being put to the vote, the motion was CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. The meeting closed at 8:22 pm. Page 10