Agenda and minutes

The Mayor will open the meeting and welcome all present.

The Mayor opened the meeting and welcomed all present.

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

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors Michael Chalk and Andy Fry.

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 March 2012

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 8 - 2011/12)

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 5th March 2012 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To pay tribute to late Councillor Robin King in recognition of his contribution to the Borough and its residents.

The Mayor introduced a tribute to a former colleague, Councillor Robin King, whose death following a prolonged period of illness had occurred in March.

The Mayor welcomed Robin’s son and daughter, Stephen and Lisa, who were accompanying their mother, Councillor Wanda King, to the meeting and expressed the Council’s deepest condolences to them. Members of the Council were invited to offer up words they might wish to offer in memory of Councillor Robin King and of his services to the Borough.

The Leader of the Minority Group commenced the tributes to Councillor Robin King, and read a personal tribute on behalf of Wanda. She thanked all those who had provided support to her family at this difficult time.

The Leader of the Council then led other Members in expressing their thoughts on the character and achievements of Councillor Robin King. All agreed that he had been a passionate proponent of causes in which he believed, a dedicated local Councillor and devoted family man.

Members observed a minute’s silence as a mark of respect and it was subsequently

RESOLVED that

the Council formally place on record its gratitude to former Councillor Robin King for his service to the Council and to the community.

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 as follows:

i)          Captain Rupert Bowers

With regret the Mayor advised the Council of the recent death in action of Captain Rupert Bowers of the 2nd Battalion, the Mercian Regiment. It was reported that a letter offering the Council’s sincere condolences had been sent to the Regiment.

ii)         Vivien Salt

The Mayor regretfully advised the Council of the unexpected death of Mrs Vivien Salt, wife of Canon David Salt, who had only recently moved from Redditch to Wiltshire. A letter of condolence had been sent to Canon Salt.

iii)        Mayoral functions

The Mayor advised that, since the previous meeting of the Council she had attended numerous events and engagements, including the starting of the Abbey Stadium Sport Relief Mile and a Charity Ping-Pong Community Cup event at Arrow Valley Sports Centre. The Mayor advised Members of a forthcoming Charity St. George’s Day and Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Celebration event at the Town Hall.

iv)        Trish Buckley

The Mayor advised that Trish Buckley, Members’ Services Officer, was attending her final Council meeting that evening following many years’ service to the Council. The Mayor wished her well during her retirement.

b)         Chief Executive

The Chief Executive had no announcements.

c)         Leader

In the light of the cancellation of the march planned by the E.D.L. to take place in Redditch in April, the Leader thanked all the community agencies who had worked together in preparation for the event, notably leading Borough Councillors and Officers, and key Police and community representatives.

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

(Other than in exceptional circumstances, no questions on notice are permitted for meetings which fall within a formal election period)

No questions had been received.

There are no motions on notice in accordance with Procedure Rule 11.

No motions that were in accordance with Procedure Rule 11 had been received.

To receive the minutes and consider the minutes from the following meetings of the Executive Committee:

13 March 2012

There are no outstanding matters requiring the Council’s attention.

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 8 – 2011/12)

3 April 2012

There are no outstanding matters requiring the Council’s attention.

(Minutes to follow)

Members received the minutes of the meetings of the Executive Committee held on 13th March and 3rd April 2012.

RESOLVED that

1)         the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 13th March 2012 be received and noted; and

2)         the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 3rd April 2012 be received and noted.

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

Planning Committee 29th February 2012

There are no outstanding matters requiring the Council’s attention.

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 8 – 2011/12)

The Council received the minutes of a recent meeting of the Council’s Planning Committee.

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 29th February 2012 be received and adopted.

To receive the Annual Report of the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

(Report under separate cover)

Councillor Phil Mould, the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, introduced the Annual Report of his Committee for 2011/12. The Overview and Scrutiny Support Officers, Jess Bayley and Michael Craggs were thanked for their hard work during the course of the year as were all those Members who had contributed to the work of the Committee and its Task and Finish Groups.

The Leader responded by commending the Committee and Officers for a very good report. The Pre-decision Scrutiny work was highlighted as a strength during the course of the year as were the reviews carried out by the Task and Finish Groups. The Recycling review was highlighted as being an excellent piece of work and the Executive Committee was looking forward to discussing the two forthcoming reports on Access for the Disabled and the Youth Services Provision. The Leader expressed some disappointment only that the Sports Provision review had not been concluded as swiftly as had been hoped given the original intention to link it to the London Olympics. The Leader also expressed the hope that, where recommendations were being made that impacted upon an outside organisation, the necessary contact could be made with such organisations, in advance of the final reports, to discuss the feasibility of any proposals.

Finally, the Leader noted that the overwhelming majority of recommendations from the Committee had been agreed by the Executive, emphasising the good work that was taking place in Overview and Scrutiny.

RESOLVED that

the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Annual Report be received and noted.

Further to the outcomes of the Shared Services Review of Democratic Services, to appoint a new Deputy Electoral Registration Officer for Redditch (the Electoral Registration Officer being Mrs S Hanley).

It is RECOMMENDED that 

Mrs Claire Felton be, and hereby is, appointed Deputy Electoral Registration Officer for Redditch.

Further to the outcomes of the Shared Services Review, the Council was asked to consider the appointment of a new Deputy Electoral Registration Officer for Redditch.

RESOLVED that

Mrs Claire Felton be, and hereby is, appointed Deputy Electoral Registration Officer for Redditch.

To note the following decision taken in accordance with Paragraph 5 of Part 6 of the Constitution since the last ordinary meeting of the Council:

Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Celebrations – Street Closure Fund.

(Deputy Chief Executive)

Unallocated funding from the Voluntary & Community Sector Grants Programme was to be made available to fund Street Closures and Public Liability Insurance for community events being held in celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. There is a four week lead time for the processing of a road/street closure, necessitating applications for road/street closures to be with the correct department by Friday 4^th May at the latest.  The next full Council meeting was the present one, on 16^th April, so, due to the timescales involved, Officers  requested that this matter be resolved urgently, allowing promotion of the road/street closure programme; applications to be received and processed; Officers to process the correct paperwork and documentation in readiness for the events taking place during the Jubilee weekend (1^st – 5^th June).

It was therefore RESOLVED that

1)                 the outstanding balance of £7,660 from the Voluntary & Community Sector Grants Programme 2011/12 be rolled over into the 2012/13 Voluntary & Community Sector Grants programme for the purposes outlined above;

(Council Decision)

2)         the unallocated balance from the Voluntary & Community Sector Grants Programme be made available for the funding of Street Closures and Public Liability Insurance pertaining to Community events being held in celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee; and

3)         any groups that have already paid the fee for a road closure or Public Liability Insurance in respect of Diamond Jubilee Events be permitted to apply retrospectively for funding.

(Executive Decision)

The Council considered an Urgent Business decision which had been approved in accordance with the Council’s urgency procedures, namely:

Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Celebrations – Street Closure Fund

(Urgent Business Reference 496)

The decision involved adjustments to budgets to permit grant funding to reimburse the costs of Street Closures and Public Liability Insurance for those wishing to organise street parties.

RESOLVED that

the decision be noted.

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.