Agenda and minutes

The Mayor will open the meeting and welcome all present.

The Mayor’s Celebrant, Ms June Saville, will lead the Council in a moment’s reflection.

The Mayor opened the meeting and welcomed all present. The Mayor’s celebrant, June Saville, led the Council in a moment’s reflection.

To receive any apologies for absence on behalf of Council members.

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors Robin King and Wanda King. The Mayor advised that Councillor Robin King was very unwell at present and she would be sending a letter to Robin and Wanda on behalf of the Council conveying Members’ sincere best wishes.

To invite Councillors to declare any interests they may have in items on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 5th December 2011.

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 6 - 2011/12)

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 5th December 2011 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.

To consider Announcements under Procedure Rule 10:

a)         Mayor’s Announcements

b)         Chief Executive’s Announcements

c)         Leader’s Announcements.

(Oral report)

a)         Mayor

The Mayor’s communications and announcements were considered under the following headings:

i)          Former Councillor Maurice Clarke

The Mayor informed the Council of the recent sad death of former Councillor Maurice Clarke, an Independent Member for the Crabbs Cross Ward from 1979 until 1983 and a significant local figure in many other respects. A letter of condolence had been sent to the family on the Council’s behalf.

ii          Abbey Stadium – Preview

The Mayor advised that an invitation had been sent to all Councillors to visit the new Abbey Stadium and Pool on 30th January, prior to its public and official openings the following month.

iii)        Mayoral functions

The Mayor advised that since the previous meeting of the Council she had attended many events over the Christmas period, a highlight of which had been her attendance at the Salvation Army’s Pathways to Recovery Christmas lunch. A second event of note had been the opening of the new British Heart Foundation Home and Electrical Store on Church Green.

iv)        Forthcoming events

The Mayor advised that forthcoming events included the Holocaust Memorial Day event which was to be held on Sunday, 29th January 2012 and which would this year feature a talk from a Holocaust survivor, Simon Winston at the Redditch Ecumenical Centre at 1.00pm.

b)         Chief Executive

The Chief Executive had no announcements.

c)         Leader

The Leader’s announcements were considered under the following headings:

i)          Council Roadshow, Kingfisher Centre, 14th January

The Leader thanked those Councillors and Officers who had attended the Council Roadshow the preceding weekend and spoken to many members of the public about their perception of the Borough and of the Council. The Leader was happy to report that most people had a very positive attitude to the Borough and the services provided by the Council.

ii)         CCTV Team / Procurement Team

The Leader congratulated 17 members of the Council’s CCTV team who had successfully passed their Level 2 Award in CCTV Operations. The Leader also congratulated the Council’s Procurement Team on receiving national recognition as a part of a partnership of eight local authorities that took second place at the 2011 Society of Purchasing Officers’ (SOPO) award for Outstanding Achievement in Procurement.

iii)        Halifax Quality of Life Survey

The Leader was delighted to announce that Redditch had done very well in the 2011 Halifax Quality of Life survey, being judged the second best district in Worcestershire and the 4th best in the West Midlands in which to live. The Leader praised the hard work that had been carried out by the Council’s Economic Development Unit and Community Safety Team and the County Council’s efforts in improving educational attainment.

No questions have been submitted to date under Procedure Rule 9.2.

No questions had been received.

No Motions have been submitted under Procedure Rule 11.

No motions had been received.

To receive the minutes and consider the recommendations and/or referrals from the following meetings of the Executive Committee:

6th December 2011

Matters requiring the Council’s consideration include:

• Homes Insulation – Funding Opportunity; and
• Quarterly Budget Monitoring – Quarter 2 – July to September 2011;

(Reports and decisions attached)

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 6 – 2011/12)

10th January 2012

Matters requiring the Council’s consideration may include:

• Core Strategy Consultation; and
• Constitutional Review Working Party  - Minutes of meeting on 12th December 2011

(Reports attached – Core Strategy appendices available via the Council’s website and, for elected Members, in the respective Group Rooms - Decisions from the 10th January meeting to follow)

Members received the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 6th December 2011 and 10th January 2012.

RESOLVED that

1)         the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 6th December 2011 be received and all recommendations adopted, subject to:

in respect of Minute 132 (Hewell Road Pool – Play Area) it being noted that Officers had undertaken to endeavour in the future to consult with Ward Members in good time prior to such circumstances arising; and

2)         the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 10th January 2012 be received and all recommendations adopted, subject to:

in respect of Minute 143 (Core Strategy Consultation) it being noted that

a)         Councillor Hartnett wished his thanks to the Officers who supported the Planning Advisory Panel to be put on record; and

b)        the Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Tourism, Councillor Derek Taylor, undertook to address concerns that participation in the arts had not been afforded sufficient weight in the Consultation documents at the present time.

To formally receive the minutes of the following meetings of the Council’s Regulatory Committees:

Planning Committee -                       13th December 2011

                                                            4th January 2012

(The one outstanding recommendation from the meeting on 13th December will be addressed during Item 8  - Executive Committee - Constitutional Review Working Party  - Minutes of meeting on 12th December 2011, earlier on the agenda.)

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 6 – 2011/12)

The Council received the minutes of recent meetings of the Planning Committee. It was noted that the outstanding recommendation relating to the Planning Committee’s Procedure Rules at Minute 60 on pages 17 – 18 in the Minute Book had been considered during the previous item (Executive Committee) and so required no further decision.

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meetings of the Planning Committee held on 13th December 2011 and 4th January 2012 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 Business decisions under the Council’s urgency procedures for consideration at this meeting.

To consider any additional items exceptionally agreed by the Mayor as Urgent Business in accordance with the powers vested in her 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 and/or on the Leader’s Forward Plan.)

There were no separate items of Urgent Business for consideration at this meeting.