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 Robin King, Wanda King and Alan Mason. It was reported that Councillor Robin King had been readmitted to hospital. The Mayor passed on the Council’s best wishes to Robin and Wanda.

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 meetings of the Council held on 16th January and 20th February 2012.

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 7 - 2011/12)

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meetings of the Council held on 16th January and 20th February 2012 be confirmed as correct records and signed by the Chair.

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:

Mayoral functions

The Mayor advised that, since the previous ordinary meeting of the Council, she had attended many events and engagements, the highlights of which had been the re-opening of the Abbey Stadium complex and an afternoon at Studley Castle with two local residents who had been married for 70 years and were celebrating their platinum wedding anniversary.

b)         Chief Executive

The Chief Executive had no announcements.

c)         Leader

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

i)          Work placements from Auxerre

The Leader informed Members that the Council had managed to secure work placements for two Auxerrois at the Town Hall during the summer months, one in the Housing Team and a second in the Directorate Support Team. Officers were thanked for arranging the placements and accommodation for the individuals concerned.

ii)         Big Lottery funding

The Leader was pleased to be able to inform Members that the Borough had received a significant amount of funding from the Big Lottery fund to be spent in the Church Hill area over the coming years. The Council, in conjunction with the Big Lottery fund, local residents and other partners would consider and decide upon priorities and develop a plan to cover the period of the funding. A meeting was to be arranged in the near future involving Officers and relevant Members to consider the implications for the Church Hill area.

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:

31st January 2012

Matters requiring the Council’s consideration include:

• Adoption of a Corporate Anti-Bribery Policy and Amended Officer Code of Conduct

(Report and decision attached)

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 7 – 2011/12)

20th February 2012

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

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 7 – 2011/12)

21st February 2012

Matters requiring the Council’s consideration include:

• Review of Housing Revenue Account

(Report and decision attached)

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 7 – 2011/12)

Members received the minutes of the meetings of the Executive Committee held on 31st January, 20th February and 21st February 2012.

RESOVED that

1)         the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 31st January 2012 be received and all recommendations adopted;

2)         the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 20th February 2012 be received and noted; and

3)         the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 21st February 2012 be received and all recommendations adopted, subject to:

in respect of Minute 173 (Housing Revenue Account – Outcome of Review) it being noted that the Leader had provided an assurance that a number of considerations would be covered in the report proposed to be submitted to the Executive Committee on the building of Council houses by the authority, including:

a)      a cost-benefit analysis of the scheme;

b)     an analysis of the number of sites suitable for housing;

c)      timescales for the development to be delivered on each site;

d)     the means by which the Council was proposing to deliver the housing;

e)      details of the tendering process to engage the outside contractors;

f)       a measure of the prudent level of reserves to be retained in the HRA budget; and

g)     a financial appraisal and feasibility study for each site.

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

Audit & Governance Committee -   23rd January 2012

Licensing Committee -                     9th January 2012

Planning Committee -                       4th January 2012

                                                            1st February 2012

There are outstanding recommendations from the Audit and Governance Committee and Licensing Committee for the Council to consider.

(Reports and decisions attached)

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 7 – 2011/12)

The Council received the minutes of recent meetings of the Council’s Regulatory Committees. It was noted that the minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 4th January 2012 inadvertently had been submitted for the Council’s consideration for a second time.

RESOLVED that

1)         the minutes of the meeting of the Audit and Governance Committee held on 23rd January 2012 be received and all recommendations adopted;

2)         the minutes of the meeting of the Licensing Committee held on 9th January 2012 be received and all recommendations adopted; and

3)         the minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 1st February 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.