Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors Simon Chalk, Brandon Clayton, Roger Hill, Luke Stephens and Derek Taylor.

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Disclosable Interests they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests.

Note:  Under Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, any Councillor who is 2 or more months in arrears with their Council Tax payments cannot participate in any item at the Council meeting concerning the budget.  This statutory provision overrides any dispensation granted.

Members were reminded of the statutory provision under Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 regarding the participation of Members who were more than two months in arrears with their Council Tax payments.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 27^th January 2014.

(Minutes attached)

Further to Minute 79, a member questioned the record as contained within the minutes, stating that it had been the existing rental income rather than the future ownership of the Post Office premises which had been in question.

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 27^th January 2014 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.

To consider any exceptional announcements under Procedure Rule 10:

a)         Mayor’s Announcements

b)         Leader’s Announcements

c)         Chief Executive’s Announcements.

(Oral report)

(a)       As this was not an ordinary meeting of the Council, the Mayor informed Members that she would not be making any of her usual announcements.

(b)       The Leader’s Announcements were as follows:

i)          Winyates

            The Leader reported that he had recently attended the opening of the SPACE and Wellbeing Hub in Winyates.

ii)         Chinese New Year

The Leader advised that he had recently attended a Chinese New Year celebration at the Kingfisher Centre.

iii)        North Worcestershire Police Awards evening

The Leader advised that he had attended an Awards evening at Hindlip Hall at which a number of individual Officers and Policing Teams  had received awards for their outstanding service.

iv)        Redditch Local Strategic Partnership (LSP)

The Leader reported that the last meeting of the Redditch LSP had discussed new ways of working and had decided to proceed with a system of one annual meeting, the continuation of existing sub-groups and the suspending of the schedule of bi-monthly meetings for the Partnership.

v)         Sue Horrobin

The Leader expressed his gratitude to Sue Horrobin for many year’s dedicated service on the occasion of her leaving the Council to take up a new post in Scotland.

vi)        Angie Heighway

The Leader expressed his gratitude to Angie Heighway, the Head of Community Services for many years dedicated service and wished her well as she would shortly be leaving the Council.

viii)      Acorns Hospice

The Leader reported on his attendance at a recent fund-raising event for the Acorns Hospice.

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

11^th February 2014

Matters requiring the Council’s consideration will include:

·        Housing Revenue Account Initial Estimates / Rent Setting 2014/15;

·        Fees and Charges (Appendices under separate cover);

·        Independent Remuneration Panel for Worcestershire District Councils – Annual Report and Recommendations for 2014/15;

·        Redditch Borough Council Response to Birmingham Development Plan Pre-Submission Consultation; and

• Policy for Securing Repayment of Disabled Facilities Grants and Lifetime Loans.

24^th February 2014

Matters requiring the Council’s consideration will include:

·        Medium Term Financial Plan 2014/15 – 2016/17

(Minutes and reports from the meeting on 11^th February 2014 attached; report for 24^th February 2014 to be included with the agenda papers for that Executive Committee meeting)

The Council considered the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 11^th February 2014 and the recommendations of the Executive Committee meeting immediately preceding this meeting of the Council.

During the discussion on the proposed Fees and Charges for 2014/15, there was some disquiet at the recommended increase in charges for Junior Swimming Lessons. The proposed rise in charges was contrasted with the continued provision of Free Swimming for under-16s and the Portfolio Holder was requested to reconsider this recommendation. The recommended charges for several other service areas, such as Environmental Services, were also noted as being very substantial compared to the charges levied in the previous year. The Leader advised that the overall increase in the levels of Fees and Charges was 3%, meaning that in some areas charges had increased by a greater amount whereas in others proposed charges were the same or lower than in previous years. In respect of Junior Swimming charges, it was noted that the charges proposed by Redditch Borough would still compare very favourably with the charges in neighbouring authorities. Members voted on an amendment recommending a review of the proposed increase in Junior Swimming charges but the amendment was lost.

In respect of the Report and Recommendations from the Independent Remuneration Panel, Members repeated a long-standing concern that they were placed in an invidious position in having to take a decision on their own remuneration. To that end, it was further recommended that their views be reported to central Government through the local Member of Parliament.

There was considerable Member interest in the Medium Term Financial Plan and robust discussion of a number of matters included within the proposed expenditure and savings and included amongst the unavoidable pressures highlighted within the report. The surrender of the lease on Threadneedle House by Barclays Bank and the subsequent decision to declare the property surplus and place it on the market was the subject of further debate. In the course of the debate, the issue of the money received from Barclays Bank in respect of dilapidations and the possibility of this money being clawed back by the Bank was raised. Officers stated their confidence that no such claw back would occur but undertook to verify this fact.

11^th February 2014

RESOLVED that

Housing Revenue Account Initial Estimates  / Rent Setting 2014/15

1)         the draft 2014/2015 Estimates for the Housing Revenue Account attached to the report at Appendix A, be approved;

2)         the actual average rent increase for 2014/2015 be 5.13% (3.2% RPI plus 1.93% due to rent restructuring);

3)        £3.5m be transferred to a reserve as a Revenue Contribution to Capital to fund the future Capital Programme and repay borrowing;

Fees and Charges 2014/15

4)        the fees and charges for 2014/15 as set out in Appendix 1- 9 to the report be approved; other than in cases where:-

a)         fees or charges are statutory,

b)    fees and charges are set externally, or

c)    other Council- approved circumstances apply.;

5)        the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 87.