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 Deputy 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 the Mayor, Councillor Field, and Councillors W King, Mould and Taylor.

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

There were no declarations of interest.

To pay tribute to the recently retired Councillor Kieth Boyd-Carpenter in recognition of his service to the Borough.

The Deputy Mayor introduced a tribute to a former colleague, Councillor Kieth Boyd-Carpenter, who had recently retired his seat on the Council because of ill-health.

The Deputy Mayor welcomed Councillor Boyd-Carpenter and his wife, Val to the meeting and spoke of Councillor Boyd-Carpenter’s contribution to the Council over a period of more than a quarter of a century, including his time as Mayor of the Borough in 2003/04.

The Leader of the Council and the Leader of the Minority Group continued the tributes to Councillor Boyd-Carpenter, followed by other Members, many of whom commended his work as a good local Councillor to the communities he served.

RESOLVED that

the Council’s thanks to Councillor Kieth Boyd-Carpenter for his contribution to the Council be formally recorded.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meetings of the Council held on 19 January and 23 February 2009.

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 7 - 2008/09)

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meetings of the Council held on 19 January and 23 February 2009 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Deputy 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 Deputy Mayor’s communications and announcements were considered under the following headings:

a)         Mayor’s announcements

The Deputy Mayor advised that since the previous meeting of the Council he and the Mayor had attended various functions, including: the Sports Partnership Awards, the Holocaust Memorial Day event, a Special Olympics Presentation evening at the Town Hall, a Burns Night celebration at Bromsgrove, the AGMs of the Friends of Auxerre, Redditch One World Link and the Student Council, the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Sports Partnership Awards presentation and the Art and Heritage Open Day at the Gallery in Millsborough House.

The Deputy Mayor particularly highlighted the three local winners of awards at the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Sports Partnership Awards presentation, Will James, Georgette Mullen and the Astwood Bank Girls Under 15 Cricket Team, and it was agreed that a letter of congratulation be sent to the individuals concerned.

b)         Forthcoming events

The Mayor advised that forthcoming events included the Worcestershire Young Musicians of the Year event, a Royal Visit to Where Next?, Astwood Bank Operatic Society’s production of “The Count of Luxembourg” and the Chinese New Year Celebration which had been postponed from February owing to the weather.

c)         Urgent Business

The Deputy Mayor advised that he had accepted one additional item of “Urgent Business”:

Item 12 – Civil Parking  Enforcement – Delegations and Authorisations.

The Deputy Mayor had also accepted a late report:

Item 7 – Decision Notice of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 2 March 2009.

A.        To formally receive the minutes of the meetings of the Executive Committee held on 7 January 2009, 13 January 2009 and 28 January 2009.

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

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 7 2008/09 – to follow)

B.        To receive the Minutes and consider the recommendations and/or referrals from the following meeting of the Executive Committee (Decision Notice for 18 February 2009 previously circulated):

18 February 2009

Matters requiring the Council’s consideration include

·        Freedom of the Borough – Mercian Regiment;

·        Treasury Management Strategy 2009/10;

·        Prudential Indicators and Minimum Revenue Provision Policy;

·        Enforcement Policy;

·        Redditch Children and Young People’s Action Plan;

·        Empty Homes Strategy;

·        Interim Management Orders; and

·        Constitutional Review Working Party.

C.        To receive the Minutes from the following meeting of the Executive Committee:

25 February 2009

All decisions here have been previously resolved.

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 7 2008/09 – to follow)

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

2 March 2009

Matters requiring the Council’s consideration include

·        Consideration of the Preferred Draft Core Strategy Evidence Base.

(Decision Notice to follow)

(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 meetings of the Executive Committee held on 7 January, 13 January and 23 February 2009 be received and adopted;

2)         the minutes of the meetings of the Executive Committee held on 28 January and 18 February 2009 be received and adopted and all recommendations approved, subject to:

in respect of Minute 229 (Empty Homes Strategy)

it being further RESOLVED that

the minutes be amended to read “…increase the level of…” rather than “…reduce the level of…”;

in respect of Minute 232 (Constitutional Review Working Party)

it being further NOTED that

recommendations 11-15 (Standing Orders) were intended as guidance and did not reflect an intention to amend Standing Orders; and

3)         the decision notice of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 2 March 2009 be received and all recommendations approved, subject to:

in respect of Minute 246 (Core Strategy Evidence Base)

it being further NOTED that

an amendment was to be made to Appendix B under the delegated authority granted and subsequent to the site visit by Members to a number of the sites in question.

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

Audit Committee                                           -           21 January 2009

Planning Committee                         -           6 January 2009

                                                                        -           3 February 2009

(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 7 – 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 21 January 2009 be received and adopted and all recommendations approved; and

2)         the minutes of the meetings of the Planning Committee held on 6 January and 3 February 2009 be received and adopted and all recommendations approved.

To present the fees and charges for 2009/10 for Leisure Services that were the subject of a request for further Officer consideration at the Council meeting on 19 January 2009. This item updates the Fees and Charges report presented to the Executive Committee on 7 January and includes a recommendation to approve the Fees and Charges in their entirety as submitted at that time. Should any Member wish to receive a further copy of the entire Fees and Charges Booklet please contact Committee Services.

(Report attached)

The Council considered once again the Fees and Charges for 2009/10, incorporating the additional information that had been requested at the last ordinary meeting of the Council in respect of the charges for Leisure Services.

Members were being asked to consider the approval of the Fees and Charges in their entirety following deferral of the recommendations at the meeting on 19 January. There were two additional amendments to those reported to the meeting in January that were tabled on the evening in respect of the charge for beverages in the Civic Suite and the incremental charges for the collection of additional items of bulky waste.

RESOLVED that

1)         in cases where;-

a)         fees or charges are statutory;

b)        fees and charges are set externally (for example under the Model Scheme of Charges for Building Control fees and charges);

c)         the Council has delegated authority for Officers to vary fees and charges to take account of various circumstances; or

d)        fees and charges are established under separate processes, for example the setting of Taxi Fares,

            the requirement for a general minimum 5% increase in fees and charges be waived;

2)         the proposed fees and charges for 2009/10, as listed in the appendices to the report submitted to the Executive Committee on 7 January 2009 and subject to the amendments recommended below, be approved;

3)         the requirement for a general minimum 5% increase in fees and charges for Leisure Services be waived;

4)         the proposed fees and charges as detailed in Appendices 1 and 2 to the additional report be approved; and

5)         the concessionary element of the Reddicard be reduced from 50% to 25%.

To consider the convening of an additional meeting of the Council and the delegation of to Officers, in consultation with certain Members over the scheduling of a further extraordinary meeting of the Council.

There is a need for a further meeting of the Council at the conclusion of the consultation period over the General Fund Revenue Budgets and Capital Bids 2009/10 – 2011/12 as indicated at the meeting of the Council at which the Council Tax was set for the coming year. A second meeting is required on 27 July 2009 in order to consider the twelve month trial period for the Post of Acting Joint Chief Executive. In addition, there is a need for an extraordinary meeting of the Council to be convened at which the Freedom of the Borough of Redditch might be granted to the Mercian Regiment. A date has not been established for this meeting as yet and it is proposed that Officers continue to consult with the Mercian Regiment in order that a mutually convenient date might be established.

RECOMMENDED that

1)         additional meetings of the Council be held on 6 April 2009 and 27 July 2009; and

2)         authority be delegated to Officers, in consultation with the Mayor and the Leader of the Council, to establish a date for an extraordinary meeting of the Council at which the Freedom of the Borough might be granted to the Mercian Regiment.

Members considered the convening of additional meetings of the Council for various purposes and the delegation of authority to Officers to arrange a further extraordinary meeting in connection with the conferring of the Freedom of the Borough.

RESOLVED that

1)         additional meetings of the Council be held on 6 April 2009 and 27 July 2009; and

2)         authority be delegated to Officers, in consultation with the Mayor and the Leader of the Council, to establish a date for an extraordinary meeting of the Council at which the Freedom of the Borough might be granted to the Mercian Regiment.

To note any decisions taken in accordance with Standing Order 36 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 request delegated powers in respect of Civil (Decriminalised) Parking Enforcement in the Borough and to seek authority to enter arrangements required by legislation for adjudication.

The Council considered a request to delegate powers in respect of Civil Parking Enforcement in the Borough and bestow authority to enter into agreements required by legislation for adjudication.

RESOLVED that

1)        authority be delegated to the Director of Housing, Leisure and Customer Services to exercise the Council’s civil parking enforcement powers within the Borough of Redditch, when civil parking enforcement within the Borough comes into effect;

2)        the Council enter into a Deed of Arrangements with the Parking and Traffic Regulations Outside London Adjudication Joint Committee (PATROLAJC) for the functions in relation to adjudicators under Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004; and

3)         authority be delegated to the Head of Legal, Democratic & Property Services to sign any necessary agreements or other documents to enable the introduction of civil parking enforcement within the Borough.