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 Juliet Brunner and Brenda Quinney.

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 15^th October 2012.

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 6 - 2012/13)

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 15^th October 2012 be conirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To consider Announcements under Procedure Rule 10:

a)         Mayor’s Announcements

b)         Leader’s Announcements

c)         Chief Executive’s Announcements.

(Oral report)

a)   Mayor

The Mayor’s communications and announcements were as follows:

i)    White Ribbon Campaign

The Mayor advised Members of the annual White Ribbon Campaign against Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence. The Portfolio Holder for Community Safety was invited to say a few words about the campaign.

The Portfolio Holder drew Members’ attention to the scale of domestic abuse and sexual violence in this country. It was suggested that, by publicly confronting this abuse, others could gain the courage to do likewise. The Portfolio Holder added that she had attended an event at Redditch United Football Club at which players, staff and supporters had pledged their support in the lead-up to the campaign and added their handprints and signatures to the Council’s campaign banner, entitled ‘These Hands are not for Hurting’. It was proposed that the Council meeting be adjourned to allow Members the opportunity to contribute to their own campaign banner.

The Leader of the Council was also invited to speak and added his support to the campaign. Members were informed that a number of other authorities across Worcestershire were following Redditch’s lead in respect of the creation of campaign banners and a number of men were to take part in a walk on 30^th November to demonstrate their opposition to violence against women. The proposal to adjourn was seconded and it was consequently

RESOLVED that

the meeting be adjourned in order that Members might offer their handprints and signatures in a personal and public commitment to the White Ribbon Campaign.

(The meeting adjourned at 7.08pm and reconvened at 7.26pm)

Other Members then took the opportunity to add their support to the campaign, among their number several who had first-hand experience of abuse of this nature. James Cooper and other members of the Community Safety Team were thanked for their efforts in supporting the promotion of the campaign.

Mayoral Functions

The Mayor advised that, since the last meeting of the Council, he had attended a number of engagements, including Fireworks at Arrow Valley Park, Eid celebrations at St Stephen’s School, Terryspring Court’s 12^th anniversary celebrations, the Remembrance Day Parade & Service, the presentation of swimming medals at Abbey Stadium and the Christmas Lights switch on in Redditch.

ii)   Forthcoming Engagements

The mayor advised that forthcoming engagements included the Worcester Christmas Fayre, a function hosted by the Redditch Association for the Blind, the Sunset Club Christmas Party and the Mayor’s Charity Quiz.

b)   Leader’s Announcements

The Leader’s Announcements were as follows:

i)    Hereford and Worcester Sports Awards

The Leader advised that he had been present at the recent Hereford and Worcester Sports Awards and had been delighted in the success of Redditch Road and Pathways Cycling Club in winning the Junior Team Award.

ii)   Remembrance Day

It was reported that the Remembrance Day Parade and Service had been very well attended and had taken place at both the War Memorial on Church Green and that on Plymouth Road. It was noted that the Editor of the Redditch  ...  view the full minutes text for item 75.

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:

16^th October 2012

Matters requiring the Council’s consideration include:

• Local Development Scheme; and
• Localism Act – Community Right to Bid.

(Reports and decisions attached)

20^th November 2012

Matters requiring the Council’s consideration may include:

• Sickness Absence Policy and Disciplinary Policy Review; and
• Access to Information Rules – Update.

(Reports attached – Minutes to follow)

(Minutes of the meeting on 16^th October 2012 circulated in Minute Book 6 – 2012/13)

Members received the minutes of the meetings of the Executive Committee held on 16^th October  and 20^th November 2012.

RESOLVED that

1)         the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 16^th October 2012 be received and all recommendations’ adopted; and

2)         the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 20^th November 2012 be received and all recommendations adopted, subject to:

in respect of minute 96 (Sickness Absence Policy and Disciplinary Policy – Review) it being noted that the A5 laminated guide to the Council’s Sickness Absence Policy be made available to those Councillors who wished to receive one.

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

Audit & Governance Committee   - 26^th September 2012

Planning Committee                       - 31^st October 2012

Standards Committee                     - 22^nd October 2012

There are no outstanding recommendations for the Council to consider.

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 6 – 2012/13)

Members received the minutes of the most recent meetings of the Council’s Regulatory Committees.

RESOLVED that

1)         the minutes of the meeting of the Audit and Governance Committee held on 26^th September 2012 be received and adopted;

2)         the minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 31^st October 2012 be received and adopted; and

3)         the minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee held on 22^nd October 2012 be received and adopted.

To consider an update to the Council’s Scheme of Delegations to Officers in the light of recent changes to the Regulation of the Investigatory Powers Act.  This report also proposes an addition to the Planning Code of Practice to recognise shared service arrangements beyond the Redditch and Bromsgrove agreement.

(Report attached)

The Council received a report which updated it on changes considered beneficial to the Scheme of Delegations to Officers following on from amendments made to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and, secondly, an amendment to the Planning Code of Practice to reflect the Shared Service arrangement beyond the Redditch Borough Council and Bromsgrove District Council agreement.

RESOLVED that

1)                             the changes to how the Council conducts investigations under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) be noted;

2)                             the Head of Legal Services be delegated authority to authorise Officers to appear on the Council’s behalf in Court proceedings, including as required as a result of the changes to RIPA procedures;

3)                             the addition to the Council’s Planning Code of Practice as set out in Appendix 1 to the report be approved; and

4)                             the Head of Legal Services be authorised to make the necessary changes to the Scheme of Delegations and the Planning Code of Practice within the Council’s Constitution to reflect the decisions at 2) and 3), above.

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:

Greater Birmingham And Solihull Business Rate Pool - Draft Governance Arrangements.

(Executive Director, Finance and Resources)

Agreement was sought on delegation for the approval of draft Governance Arrangements for the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP to the Chief Executive and Section 151 Officer. The grounds for urgency was that the final version of these draft arrangements was only completed on Monday, 5^th November and there was a Government deadline of Friday, 9^th November for sign off by participating Councils’ Chief Executives and S151 Officers.

It was therefore RESOLVED that

authority be delegated to the Chief Executive and Section 151 Officer to approve the Governance Arrangements for the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Business Rates Retention Scheme Pooling Arrangement on behalf of Redditch Borough Council.

(Council Decision)

(Governance Arrangements attached)

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

Greater Birmingham and Solihull Business Rate Pool – Draft Governance Arrangements

The decision was in respect of delegation to the Chief Executive and Section 151 Officer of the approval of the draft Governance Arrangements for the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Business Rate Pool.

In response to a question from a Member, the Leader undertook to have Officers provide a written answer detailing how the charge (£65,000) to the Accountable Body, Birmingham City Council, was apportioned between the members of the Pool.In addition, following a discussion about the responsibility on individual Members to attend meetings of the Local Enterprise Partnership and the Business Rates Pool Executive Body, the Chief Executive made himself available to speak to any Member following the meeting on this matter.

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 Work Programme.)

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