Agenda and minutes

The Mayor will open the meeting and welcome all present.

The Mayor’s Chaplain, the Reverend Mike Herbert, will lead the Council in prayer.

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 from Councillors Hicks, MacMillan, Mould and Thomas.

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

Kevin Dicks, Acting Joint Chief Executive and Sue Hanley, Acting Borough Director declared a prejudicial interest in Item 10 (Joint Chief Executive - Appointments) as detailed separately at Minute 68 below

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 11 August 2008.

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 3 2008/09 – under separate cover – To follow)

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 11 August 2008 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.

To receive a report from the Mayor on civic matters which have arisen since the last meeting or events which may be occurring in the near future.

To give notice of any variation to the items listed in the Forward Plan and/or items accepted as “Urgent Business”.

(No separate report / oral update)

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

a)         Nightstop

The Mayor led the Council in congratulating the local Redditch Nightstop charity which had won by a public vote additional funding to support that organisation’s work. The Manager of Redditch Nightstop, Ms Gill Groom, was present to accept the thanks and congratulations of the Members of the Council for this recent success and the good work that was carried on by the organisation.

b)         Mayoral engagements

The Mayor advised that since the previous meeting of the Council he had attended various functions, including: the opening of the revamped garden at Keats House, the unveiling of a new flag to celebrate the handover of the Olympic flag in London from Beijing, a charity event at the Redditch Cricket, Hockey & Rugby Football Club, judging the scarecrow competition at Arrow Valley Countryside Centre, hosting the Mayor, Bishop, Director of Social Affairs and a party of young people from Setubal in Portugal who came over here via their connection with Christchurch Matchborough, judging the Best Kept Garden competition, visiting the residents of Terry Spring Court, attending Wychavon’s Civic Dinner, visiting the Masonic Hall in Redditch and finally attending the Council’s own Civic Service the previous day.

c)         Forthcoming engagements

The Mayor advised that forthcoming events included a visit to the National Memorial Arboretum and a photocall for a Heritage event which was due to happen on 15 November in the Town Hall, in aid of his charities and the Primrose Hospice

d)         Mr Paul Patten

The Mayor led the Council in expressing its thanks to the outgoing Director of Leisure, Customer and Business Support, Mr Paul Patten, who was leaving the Council that day.

e)         Urgent business

The Mayor advised that he had accepted no additional items of “Urgent Business” this evening. However, he had accepted two late reports:

Redditch & Bromsgrove Concordat / Terms of Reference; and

Joint Chief Executive – Appointments.

To consider a Notice of Motion submitted by Councillor J Pearce concerning Batchley Ward name.

(Report attached)

A Notice of Motion had been submitted by Councillor Pearce in accordance with Standing Order 6 in respect of the Batchley Ward name. This was seconded by Councillor Cookson.

Members were in general agreement with the Motion as presented and it was duly

RESOLVED that

the Motion be approved in the following terms:

“We would seek that the name of the current Batchley Ward should be updated, to acknowledge the inclusion of the Brockhill area, which has developed considerably over recent years and which now has an identity in its own right, which is separate from that of Batchley.

Brockhill is acknowledged as a separate area of Redditch for postal and other purposes and, it is believed, a change of ward name to ‘Batchley and Brockhill’ would not only ensure that all residents in the ward feel that they are equal partners in the ward but also ensure residents feel more a part of, and therefore more committed to, the town as a whole.”

A.        To formally receive the minutes from the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 23 July 2008:

(All decisions here have previously been fully resolved. There are no outstanding recommendations or referrals which require the Council’s consideration.)

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

13 August 2008

Matter requiring the Council’s consideration is:

·                    Budget Bid – Housing Services

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 3 – 2008/09 – To Follow)

C.        To receive the Decision Notice and consider the recommendations and/or referrals from the following meeting of the Executive Committee:

3 September 2008

Matters requiring the Council’s consideration are:

·                    The Council’s Economic Priorities 2008 – 2018;

·                    Budget Preparation Guidelines;

·                    Weekend Voting – Government Consultation;

·                    Policy on Minimum Revenue Provision;

·                    Television Licences – Concessionary Scheme;

·                    Pavement Licensing Scheme;

·                    Church Hill District Centre – Members’ Panel;

·                    Update from the District Centres Task and Finish Group; and

·                    Free Swimming Initiative – Consultation

(Decisions Notice previously circulated)

Any matters arising, not covered elsewhere in the agenda, will be considered under this heading.

Confidential matters may be taken after the Exclusion of the Public, subject to notification at this point in the meeting.

RESOLVED that

1)         the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 23 July 2008 be received and adopted;

2)         the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 13 August 2008 be received and adopted and all recommendations approved; and

3)         the decision notice of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 3 September 2008 be received and all recommendations approved, subject to:

in respect of Minute 74 (Church Hill District Centre – Members’ Panel), it being further

RESOLVED that

the third member of the Members’ Panel be from the Church Hill Ward.

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

Audit Committee                   -           5 August 2008

Planning Committee -           15 July 2008

                                                -           12 August 2008

(There is one recommendation from the Audit Committee that requires the Council’s consideration. Otherwise, all decisions here have been fully resolved.)

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 3 – 2008/09 – To follow)

The Council received the minutes of recent meetings of the Audit and Planning Committees.

RESOLVED that

1)         the minutes of the meeting of the Audit Committee held on 5 August 2008 be received and adopted, subject to:

in respect of Minute 17 (Internal Audit – Annual Report 2007/08), it being

RESOLVED that

in view of the benefits that could be seen to accrue to the organisation through the activity of the Internal Audit team, further resources be allocated to Internal Audit; and

2)         the minutes of the meetings of the Planning Committee held on 15 July and 12 August 2008 be received and adopted.

To consider a draft ‘Concordat’ / Terms of Reference for the joint Chief Executive arrangements between Redditch and Bromsgrove Districts.

(Report attached)

Members considered a report that sought approval to a Concordat for joint working between Redditch Borough and Bromsgrove District Councils. The Council discussed the Concordat in some detail, amendments were tabled and a number of further amendments proposed and considered during the course of debate. Most discussion centred around the principle of the Joint Chief Executive arrangements. The Leader of the Minority Group on the Council indicated that he and his Group supported the broader Shared Services agenda but did not support, at this time, the principle of a Joint Chief Executive.

RESOLVED that

1)      the terms of reference and governance arrangements detailed within the draft Concordat document attached at Appendix 1 to the report be approved, subject to the recommended arrangements proposed by the Shared Service Board and the amendments, below:

a)      removal of the word “will” from and insertion of “subject to the agreement of the Shared Services Board and both Councils” within paragraph 5.6 of the Concordat;

b)     acceptance of an undertaking that matters as described in paragraphs 6.1 and 6.2 of the Concordat would be agreed through the Executive Committees and Councils of either organisation; and

c)      amendment of paragraph 7  of the Concordat to read “Either Council may choose to bring to an end…”

2)      the six month review process referred to in the Concordat be undertaken by the Executive Committee in accordance with the criteria detailed at 4.3 within the draft Concordat (attached at Appendix 1 to the report);

3)      the quick wins for further joint working / shared services between Redditch and Bromsgrove Councils as recommended by the Shared Services Board and outlined in the Quick Wins report (attached at Appendix 3), namely in respect of:

a)            Elections

b)           Community Safety

c)            Performance and financial management

d)           Equality and Diversity

e)            Member Development

f)             Head of Financial Services

         be approved for further investigation and business case preparation;

4)      an offer of membership on the Shared Services Board be offered to the Leaders of the two Councils’ respective Labour Groups; and

5)      the sum of £40,000 be provided from balances to support the production of a full business case for shared services, as set out in Appendix 2 to the report.

Further to the previous item, to consider formal appointments to the positions of :

Head of Paid Service;

Returning Officer;

Electoral Registration Officer; and

Deputy Electoral Registration Officer.

(Report to follow)

Members considered a report proposing a number of appointments to various Council functions required as a result of the departure of the former Borough Director and the appointment of a Joint Chief Executive.

Following an initial discussion of the report, Members discussed a matter that necessitated the disclosure of exempt information. It was therefore agreed to move to exclude the press and public prior to any further debate on the grounds that information would be revealed in respect of the financial affairs of particular persons, employment terms and conditions currently under negotiation and information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings.

There was clarification sought over the appropriateness of certain terms and conditions of the secondment agreement given that the Acting Joint Chief Executive would have significantly different lengths of service at Bromsgrove District and Redditch Borough Councils. Officers undertook to enter into further discussions with their counterparts at Bromsgrove over the details of this arrangement. The other significant proposal to arise from discussions was the agreement that the Leaders of all parties on the Council be invited to enter into negotiations regarding the terms of the secondment arrangement.

RESOLVED that

1.         authority be delegated to the Head of Legal, Democratic & Property Services, in consultation with the Leaders of all groups on the Council, to agree the terms of and enter into a secondment agreement with Bromsgrove District Council for the secondment of Kevin Dicks to Redditch Borough Council to enable him to perform the role of Acting Joint Chief Executive;

2)         subject to the signing of the secondment agreement referred to at 1) above, Kevin Dicks, Acting Joint Chief Executive,  be appointed as the Council’s Head of Paid Service for the duration of his secondment to Redditch Borough Council;

3)         all references in the Council’s Constitution to the “Borough Director” be construed as referring to the Acting Joint Chief Executive;

4)         Sue Hanley, Deputy Borough Director, be re-titled asActing Deputy Chief Executive and appointed as the Council’s Returning Officer;

5)         Sue Hanley be appointed as the Council’s Electoral Registration Officer;  and

6)         authority be delegated to the Council’s Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to determine appropriate arrangements to resolve any issue that may arise from a conflict of interest during the arrangements for the Acting Joint Chief Executive in respect of matters that relate to Redditch Borough Council.

(In view of the fact that the report contained information in respect of the financial affairs of particular persons, employment terms and conditions currently under negotiation and information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings, disclosure of which was not considered to be in the public’s best interest, part of this discussion took place after the exclusion of the press and public. There is nothing exempt, however, in this record of the proceedings.)

(Prior to consideration of this item, and in accordance with the requirements of Section  ...  view the full minutes text for item 68.

To note any decisions taken in accordance with SO36 and/or the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules (Constitution), as specified.

(None to date).

There were no Urgent Business decisions under Standing Order 36 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 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 and/or on the Leader’s Forward Plan.)

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

It may be necessary, in the opinion of the Acting Borough Director, to consider excluding the public from the meeting in relation to the following items of business on the grounds that exempt information is likely to be divulged. It may be necessary, therefore, to move the following resolution:

“that, under S.100 I of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following matter(s) on the rounds that it/they involve(s) the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the relevant paragraphs (to be specified) of Part 1 of Schedule 12 (A) of the said Act, as amended.”

RESOLVED that

under S.100 I of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following matter on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 of Part 1 of Schedule 12 (A) of the said Act, as amended:

Joint Chief Executive – Appointments etc. (as detailed in Minute 68, above)