Agenda and minutes

The Mayor will open the meeting and welcome all present.

The Mayor opened the meeting by announcing the recent death of a long-serving member of staff, Mr Andrew Walker, and led the Council in paying tribute to him by observing a minute’s silence.  Members were advised that Mr Walker had worked for the Council for 27 years since March 1990.  During his career at the Council Mr Walker had worked in a range of services and had been well respected by colleagues for his knowledge and ability to help when issues needed to be resolved.

The Leader advised that he had known Mr Walker throughout his career with the Council.  Mr Walker had started as a Litter Picker and had been promoted several times during his career.  By the time of his death Mr Walker was acting as Interim Manager of the Repairs and Maintenance team.  Mr Walker had been involved with a range of high profile initiatives in Redditch over the years, including the introduction of fortnightly waste and recycling collections and the Ricky the Rat advertising campaign.  The Leader was also aware that Mr Walker was a dedicated family man with seven children and a loving wife.

Councillor Brunner passed on condolences on behalf of the Conservative Group. She mentioned that Mr Walker had been well liked and respected by both staff and elected Members.  He had accompanied Members on various walkabouts within their wards and had always been really helpful.

A number of other Members testified to their like and respect for Mr Walker.  In so doing Members noted that Mr Walker had been passionate, hard-working and very knowledgeable about his service area.  Mr Walker had continued to answer work related phone calls whilst in hospital and Members concurred that this was a testament to his good character and dedication to his work.

Following these discussions the Mayor invited Mrs Laney Walsh, Branch Secretary to the Redditch and Bromsgrove Branch of Unison, who had been directly involved in work on the Time to Change initiative at the Town Hall, to speak on the subject of young people and mental health.

Mrs Walsh advised Members that mental health was an important subject both for her and the wider community.  Unfortunately many people in society continued to misunderstand the subject and often judged people who were experiencing mental health problems.  This could send a problematic message to young people.

Members were advised that people needed to consider the language that they used when referring to mental health issues.  Negative language could reinforce judgemental perceptions and this could resonate for the rest of a young person’s life.  Adults had a duty to encourage young people to participate in society as well as to explore their emotions.  This was only likely to happen if older adults set a positive example.

Socialisation was important to enable everybody to address potential mental health and wellbeing problems.  As part of this social media could be a positive force where used constructively.  Unfortunately some people chose to bully and harass others in a variety of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 73.

An apology for absence was received on behalf of Councillor Gay Hopkins.

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Disclosable Interests they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests.

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of Council held on 29^th January 2018 be agreed as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.

To consider Announcements under Procedure Rule 10:

a)           Mayor’s Announcements

b)           The Leader’s Announcements

c)           Chief Executive’s Announcements.

a)        Mayor’s Announcements

The Mayor advised that she had attended the following events since the last meeting of Council:

·                The Time to Talk event at the Town Hall.

·                The Polish Saturday Morning School event, to present certificates of achievement to the students.

·                The Snowdrop weekend at Beoley Church.

·                The Charity Spring Ball hosted by the Mayor of Kidderminster.

·                A Valentine’s Day meal.

The Mayor thanked the Deputy Mayor for her hard work and support during this period.

Members were asked to note that the civic dinner would take place on Saturday 17^th March 2018.  All Members were invited to attend.

b)        The Leader’s Announcements

The Leader provided a number of updates for Members’ consideration.  Firstly the Leader advised that he had met with Rachel Maclean MP and representatives of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust (WAHT) and the Redditch and Bromsgrove Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to discuss the findings in the latest Care Quality Commission (CQC) assessment of the trust.  The Leader had been calling for further improvements to be made to acute hospital services and had reminded those present that the Council had not supported the changes proposed by the CCG in 2017.  Positive news had been received regarding improvements in terms of recruitment of new staff by the trust.  However, there remained financial difficulties which still needed to be addressed.  The chair of the Board had reported that the trust had plans in place to reduce the deficit by changing procurement arrangements and reducing the use of agency staff.

Members were advised that the Leader had also attended a roadshow for the National Citizen Service in Church Hill.  This involved participants working in small teams on particular projects and positive feedback had been received from all those involved.

Members learned that the Leader had recently attended an official launch of the Swift card at Redditch bus station.  The swift card was already available in many parts of the West Midlands.  Redditch had been selected as the first non-constituent area in the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) to launch the card.  The response to the Swift card had been very positive and all the available cards had been taken by the end of the launch day.

Finally, the Leader had also attended the Four Choirs night at the Palace Theatre recently.  This had been a very enjoyable evening.

c)         Chief Executive’s Announcements

The Chief Executive confirmed that he had no announcements on this occasion.

The Council received the minutes and considered the recommendations from the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 6^th February 2018 as well as the recommendations that had been agreed at the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 19^th February immediately before full Council.

6^th February 2018

Independent Remuneration Panel Report and Recommendations for 2018/19

Members noted that the proposals that had been received from the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP) would require an additional £68,500 if approved.  There was general consensus that, given the funding difficulties for local government, such an increase would not be appropriate at this time.

RESOLVED that

having regard to the report and recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP):

1)        the Basic Allowance for 2018/19 not be increased and this continue at the current level set for 2017/18, as detailed in Appendix 1 to the IRP’s report;

2)        the Special Responsibility Allowances remain at the current levels set for 2017/18, as detailed in Appendix 1 to the IRP’s report;

3)        travel allowances for 2018-19 continue to be paid in accordance with the HMRC mileage allowance;

4)        subsistence allowances for 2018-19 remain unchanged;

5)        the Dependent Carer’s Allowance remains unchanged; and

6)        the Parish Council in the Borough, if travel and subsistence is paid, is paid in accordance with the rates paid by Redditch Borough Council and in accordance with the relevant Regulations.

HRA Initial Budget 2018/19 – 2020/21

Members considered the content of the HRA Initial Budget 2018/19 – 2020/21 and noted that in line with Government requirements there had been a one per cent decrease on the rents paid by tenants for Council properties over a four year period. This decrease on the rents had financial implications for the Council.  In addition on the one hand it was suggested the rental decrease would help some of the most vulnerable tenants. On the other hand it was noted that this decrease would mainly be reflected in changes to housing benefit entitlements for many residents.

Members also noted that the Council was investing in new properties through the Housing Growth Programme and the Mortgage Buy Back Scheme.  The outcomes from these would have implications for the Council’s HRA in the long-term.

RESOLVED that

1)        the draft 2018/2019 Budget for the Housing Revenue Account attached to the report at Appendix A be approved;

2)        the budget projection for 2018/19 incorporating the 1% rent reduction be approved;

3)        the actual average rent decrease for 2018/2019 be 1%;

4)        that a capital budget of £150k be approved for a stock condition survey to be carried out

5)        that £0.876k be transferred from the general reserve in 2018/19 to fund the future HRA revenue budgets

6)        that £5.1m be transferred from the Major Repairs Reserve to fund the HRA capital programme.

Minutes

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 6^th February 2018 be received and all recommendations adopted.

19^th February 2018

Medium Term Financial Plan for 2018/19 to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 78.

To consider the recommendations from the Audit Governance and Standards Committee meeting of the 1^st February 2018 in respect of the Treasury Management Strategy.  The recommendations and the report are enclosed with this agenda

An extract from the minutes of the meeting of the Audit, Governance and Standards Committee held on 1^st February 2018, when the Treasury Management Strategy 2018/19 had been discussed, was considered.

RESOLVED that

1)        the Strategy and Prudential Indicators at Appendix 1 to the report be approved; and

2)        the Treasury Management Policy at Appendix 2 to the report be approved.

There were no urgent decisions to note.

To consider any additional items exceptionally agreed by the Mayor as Urgent Business in accordance with the powers vested in him by virtue of Section 100(B)(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

(This power should be exercised only in cases where there are genuinely special circumstances which require consideration of an item which has not previously been published on the Order of Business for the meeting.)

There were no separate items of urgent business to consider at this meeting.