Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors David Bush, Michael Chalk, Matthew Dormer, Gareth Prosser and Paul Swansborough.

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.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 25^th June 2015..

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 2 - 2015/16)

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of Council held on 15th June 2015 be agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

a)        The Mayor

The Mayor explained that she had attended a number of events in the community over the previous month.  However, there were two key issues that she wanted to highlight:

·                A group of six young people from Redditch were representing the UK at the World Scout Jamboree in Japan.

·                A young resident from Redditch, Isabelle Rooke, had participated in the BMX national Championships.

b)        The Leader’s Announcements

The Leader referred to a number of recent events that he had attended.  These included:

·                The Redditch Has Talent show at the Palace Theatre, which had been entered by a range of talented local young people.

·                The Kerala Cultural Association Redditch’s Family Sports’ Day at the Abbey Stadium.

·                The Green Fair at the Arrow Valley Park delivered in partnership with the Redditch Lions.

·                The Care Quality Commission (CQC) Listening Event at Redditch Town Hall.  Further information about the outcome of inspections of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust sites would potentially be available later in the year.

·                Astwood Bank Carnival.

·                Redditch Bandstand Event and music festival.  There had been so much interest in participating in the music festival that the event had had to start an hour early and had eventually overrun in length.

To consider questions from members of the public received in accordance with Procedure rule 9.

The Leader responded to three questions that had been submitted in accordance with Procedure Rule 9.2 from Mr D. Rose, Ms E. Morris and Mr I. McQuaid as detailed below.

a)        Borough of Redditch Local Plan No. 4 – Inspector’s Hearing

Mr D. Rose asked the following question:

With regard to the BORLP4/BDP what are the Leader's views upon the HM Inspector's concerns as voiced at the hearing on the 23rd/24th June and outlined in his note posted 13/07/15?

The Leader replied as follows:

I am familiar with the Inspector’s post hearing note and the initial response from officers to the Inspector.

The Inspector is tasked with providing independent scrutiny to the plan making process. This is a good thing. I am pleased that the Inspector has recognised the amount of work that has already gone in to preparing Local Plan No.4. Work on the emerging plan commenced in 2007.

As offered by the Inspector in paragraph 21 of his recent note, the Council's next steps will be to consider how to take the plan forward in light of the concerns raised. This piece of work is commencing (on both the SA and the evidence base as applicable). It is recognised that this extra work will delay plan making for several months but this relatively modest delay (in the context of how long it takes to prepare a plan) is necessary.

After the Local Plan examination for Local Plan No. 4 re-convenes the Inspector will let us all know of his final conclusions.  As you are no doubt aware the continued progression of Local Plan No. 4 will be very much in the public arena and via the Inspector you will be able to let your views be known about the next steps.

A supplementary question was raised about how the concerns raised by the Planning Inspector would be addressed by the Council and the approach that would be adopted in future to considering whether to undertake housing development in Webheath. 

The Leader responded by suggesting that this question had already been addressed in his previous answer.

b)        Borough of Redditch Local Plan No. 4 (BORLP4) – Sustainability Appraisal

Ms E. Morris asked the following question:

Regarding BORLP4/BDP and particularly the HMI’s concerns with the problematic Sustainability Appraisals, are you happy with the quality of this Local Plan and confident that the points he raised can be addressed by your officers?

The Leader explained that his answer to Mr D. Rose’s question also applied in his response to Ms E. Morris’s question.

A supplementary question was raised concerning the approach that would be adopted by the Council’s Planning Department to ensure that a fair approach was adopted to scoring when identifying sites suitable for development in the Borough.

The Leader’s response emphasised that he had no concerns regarding the approach that would be adopted by the Council’s Planning Department.  He also suggested that he had already addressed this question in his previous response.

c)         Planning Policy Documents – Funding  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

To consider questions from Councillors received in accordance with procedure rule 9.

The Leader responded to two questions submitted in accordance with Procedure Rule 9.2 from Councillors Tom Baker-Price and Juliet Brunner as detailed below.

a)        Economic Productivity

Councillor Tom Baker-Price asked the following question.

Following the recent statistics showing unemployment in the Borough is at the lowest level in a decade, can the Leader explain to the Council how Redditch's economic policy written in 2007 is able to meet the current economic challenge of improving economic productivity?

The Leader replied as follows:

I would like to thank Councillor Baker-Price for his question.

Firstly it is worth acknowledging that in June 2015 unemployment in Redditch (as measured by the number of residents claiming Job Seekers Allowance - JSA) stood at 769 people, or 1.4% of the resident population.  It is pleasing to note that this rate is well below the West Midlands rate of 2.2% and the national rate of 1.7%.

However I would also add that some of those in employment may be in part time jobs, zero hours contracts, low paid jobs or minimum wage jobs.

The Council does have a published Economic Development Strategy which covers the period 2009-2018 and was approved in July 2009. It is worth reflecting that the number of residents claiming JSA for Redditch in August 2008 (as published in the Strategy) stood at 1,230, so we have seen nearly a 40% reduction in the number of Redditch residents claiming JSA over the last seven years. 

Clearly, we want to see a further reduction in the unemployment rate in Redditch, but we are on an upward curve and making positive progress.  We also want to see well paid secure skilled jobs in Redditch.

The economic environment has changed significantly since 2008, as we have moved through a major economic recession into a period of recovery. 

The economic development environment has also changed significantly. When the strategy was originally published we were required to work with Regional Development Agencies, Regional Assemblies and Regional Spatial Strategies - they are now all gone. 

The agenda has changed and the Council is actively working with the two Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) - it is a member of both the Worcestershire LEP and the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP (GBSLEP).  The Council is also engaged in the discussions around the emerging Combined Authorities. 

The economic conditions are changing and we are seeing a renewed appetite for investment in the manufacturing sector, a sector which is vital for Redditch and supports 8,500 jobs, that’s nearly 24% of the total employment for Redditch.  The manufacturing sector is becoming more efficient and productive and Redditch is well placed to capitalise on further growth in high value sectors such as automotive, aerospace and engineering. 

The future development of sites, such as “The Redditch Eastern Gateway”, have the potential to support new inward investment into the area and provide high value employment opportunities for our residents.  A recent report estimated that the development of the Redditch Eastern Gateway will create up to 1,200 new net  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

No motions had been submitted.

To receive the minutes and consider the recommendations and/or referrals from the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 14^th July:

There are recommendations from this meeting about the following items:

Risk based verification;

Future Arrangements for Worcestershire Shared Services Joint Committee and Regulatory Services;

Review of Operation of Leisure Services

Minutes of the meeting are enclosed in Minute Book 2.  Recommendations and reports are included with this agenda.

Members considered the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 14th July 2015.

Review of the Operation of Leisure Services

Council discussed the Review of the Operation of Leisure Services.  A number of points were raised during consideration of this item including:

·         The use of balances to offset the savings identified in the budget for 2015-16 and the impact of this on the Council’s overall budget.

·         The content of the Options Appraisal and the information that had been provided in this document about the length of time it would take to implement any changes.

·         The length of time that had been taken to review leisure services to date.

·         The role of the Abbey Stadium Task Group in proposing that the Council investigate the potential for a trust to manage the Council’s leisure services.

·         The benefits for residents of making an informed decision about the future operation of leisure services.

·         The need to undertake a balanced assessment of both the financial savings that could be secured as well as the best way to ensure quality services for the customer.

·         The potential for further financial savings to be secured through service transformation.

·         The option for Overview and Scrutiny to undertake a more detailed investigation of this subject and to make suggestions regarding the future operation of leisure services.

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 14th July 2015 be received and adopted.

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

Planning Committee – 10^th June and 8^th July

Minutes are enclosed in Minute book 2

Audit, Governance and Standards Committee – 2^nd July (copy to follow)

The Council received the minutes from  meetings of the Audit, Governance and Standards and the Planning Committees. 

RESOLVED that

1)        the minutes of the meetings of the Planning Committee held on 10th June 2015 and 8th July 2015 be received and adopted; and

2)        the minutes of the meeting of the Audit, Governance and Standards Committee held on 2nd July 2015 be received and adopted.

The Council reviews its constitution on an annual basis.  To consider the enclosed report which highlights updates over the last year.

The current constitution is published on the Council’s website under “Council” and also on the website with the agenda for this meeting.

Paper copies of the constitution are available in the Group rooms and from Democratic Services. 

Council considered a report outlining updates that had been proposed to the Council’s constitution.

RESOLVED that

1)        that the Council’s constitution as presented be approved with the following changes;

2)        that the Petitions scheme be removed from the constitution, the ability to present petitions at Council and Executive Committee meetings being retained and the petitions protocol be agreed; and

3)        that the Council procedure rules be amended to remove references to two-thirds majority votes.

Council is asked to agree the following change in membership from the Conservative Group on the Licensing Sub-Committees:

Premises (Sub-Committee A) – Councillors Tom Baker-Price and Antonia Pulsford, substitute Councillor Gay Hopkins;

Taxis (sub-Committee B) – Councillors Anita Clayton, Roger Bennett with Councillor Gay Hopkins as substitute.

RESOLVED that the following changes be made to the membership from the Conservative Group on the Licensing Sub-Committees:

1)        Premises (Sub-Committee A) – Councillors Tom Baker-Price and Antonia Pulsford with Councillor Gay Hopkins as substitute.

2)        Taxis (Sub-Committee B) – Councillors Anita Clayton and Roger Bennett with Councillor Gay Hopkins as substitute.

There were no urgent decisions to note.

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.)

There were no separate items of urgent business to consider at this meeting.