Agenda and minutes

The Deputy Mayor welcomed all those present to the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors Salman Akbar, Joanne Beecham, Juliette Brunner and John Fisher.  In the absence of the Mayor the Deputy Mayor, Councillor Roger Bennett, chaired the meeting.

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 Council meeting held on 18^th June 2018 be agreed as a correct record and signed by the Deputy Mayor.

To consider Announcements under Procedure Rule 10:

a)           Mayor’s Announcements

b)           The Leader’s Announcements

c)           Chief Executive’s Announcements.

a)        The Mayor’s Announcements

In the absence of the Mayor a written list of the engagements that the Mayor had attended since the previous meeting of Council was circulated for Members’ consideration.  In addition the Deputy Mayor advised that he had also attended the following engagements:

·                The Webheath Photo Club and an awards ceremony for the club held at the Kingfisher Shopping Centre.

·                The Brambles Residential Care Home summer fete

·                Arrow Valley Park, where the Deputy Mayor had judged a classic cars competition.

·                Astwood Bank Carnival.

The Deputy Mayor noted that a number of civic events were due to take place shortly including the Pankhurst party on 28th July at the bandstand, a charity car wash at the Fire Station in aid of the Mayor’s charities on 25^th August, from 10.00am-2.00pm, the Civic Service on 7th October at 10am and the Civic Dinner on 2^nd March 2019.  Members were urged to attend these events.

b)        The Leader’s Announcements

The Leader announced that Councillor Roger Bennett was standing down from the Executive Committee and would be replaced as the Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Tourism by Councillor Michael Rouse.  Consequently, Councillor Rouse would be standing down from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and would be replaced by Councillor Joanne Beecham.

Members were advised that the Leader had recently attended a meeting of the Worcestershire Leaders’ Board where an update had been provided in respect of the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and a discussion had ensued around the future vision for Worcestershire. 

Councillor Dormer had also attended recent meetings of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) SEP Board, the WMCA Housing and Land Delivery Board and the WMCA Board. He advised that he would ensure that the Borough continued to be well represented at a range of meetings held across the region and to ensure that Redditch maximised the opportunities from being a Non Constituent Member.

c)         Chief Executive’s Announcements

The Chief Executive confirmed that he had no announcements to make.

The Deputy Mayor confirmed that no questions had been received for this meeting.

No Motions have been submitted for consideration at this meeting.

The Deputy Mayor confirmed that no Motions on Notice had been received for this meeting.

Members considered a number of recommendations arising from the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 10^th July 2018.

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on Monday 18^th June 2018 be received and all recommendations adopted.

[During consideration of this item Members discussed matters that necessitated the disclosure of exempt information.  It was therefore agreed to exclude the press and public during the course of the debate on the grounds that information would be revealed which relates to the financial and business affairs of the local authority.  However, there is nothing exempt in these minutes].

The Council considered the minutes from the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 13^th June 2018.

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on 13^th June 2018 be received and adopted.

To note any decisions taken in accordance with the Council’s Urgency Procedure Rules (Part 6, Paragraph 5 and/or Part 7, Paragraph 15 of the Constitution), as specified.

(None to date).

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.)

The Chief Executive advised that, following the appointment of Councillor Rouse to the Executive Committee, a vacancy had arisen in respect of the Council’s appointment to the Worcestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  This representative had to be a Member of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Members noted that it was important to ensure that all appointments were made in line with constitutional requirements.

RESOLVED that

Councillor Michael Chalk be appointed as the Council’s representative on the Worcestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee.