Agenda and minutes

The Mayor welcomed all those present to the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors Brandon Clayton and Alan Mason.

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.

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on Monday 29^th July 2024 be approved as a true and correct record and signed by the Mayor.

To consider Announcements under Procedure Rule 10:

a)           Mayor’s Announcements

b)           The Leader’s Announcements

c)           Chief Executive’s Announcements.

The following announcements were made at the meeting:

a)          The Mayor’s Announcements

The Mayor advised that since the previous Council meeting she had attended a number of civic events.  This had included:

·             The Mayor’s Civic Service, which she had hosted at Forge Mill Needle Museum on 8^th September 2024.

·             The High Sheriff’s drinks reception at Hartlebury Castle on 12^th September 2024.

·             The Licensing of the new Reverend at St Stephen’s Church.  Members took the opportunity to welcome the new Reverend, Dr Fraser Oates and to thank the previous Reverend, Paul Lawlor, for his hard work serving the town.

The Mayor also advised that she had received an email from Mr John Leighfield, Chief Executive of ISTEL, regarding a heritage event that had been held at Redditch library.  Unfortunately, the Mayor had been unable to meet with Mr Leefield on this occasion.  However, the Mayor read out the following email that had been received from him regarding this event for Members’ consideration:

“I would have liked to meet with you when I came to the library on Saturday morning.  I wanted, through you, to express my gratitude to Redditch for the help Redditch gave to us when we set ISTEL up in the 1970s.  It was a textbook example of how a town can help a young company get off the ground, something that’s as relevant now as it was back in those days.  I do hope I’ll have a chance to say this personally at some point, perhaps when the blue plaque is unveiled at Grosvenor House.  Meanwhile, can I say on behalf of all of us who had the ISTEL experience, thank you Redditch.”

b)          The Leader’s Announcements

The Leader commented that he had spoken to the Chief Executive about bringing the Christmas Staff Quiz back to the Council.  It was hoped that this would boost staff morale whilst also raising money for the Mayor’s charity.

Since the previous meeting of Council, the Mayor had attended a meeting with representatives of West Midlands Employers to discuss the services that they provided.  The Leader had also participated in a visit to the Gateway site, alongside Councillor Matthew Dormer and Councillor Karen May, Leader of Bromsgrove District Council.  Members were asked to note that this was a very large site.  In addition, the Leader had visited a number of community groups based in the Borough to help demonstrate the Council’s support.

c)          The Chief Executive’s Announcements

The Deputy Chief Executive confirmed that there were no announcements to make on behalf of the Chief Executive on this occasion.

The Questions on Notice will be published in an Additional Papers pack.

The Mayor confirmed that no Motions on Notice had been received for consideration on this occasion.

Composting

Councillor Claire Davies presented a Motion on Notice on the subject of composting.  The Motion read as follows:

“That the Executive Committee commits to increasing recycling rates for garden waste through home composting and develops Community Networks to support this.”

The Motion was proposed by Councillor Davies and seconded by Councillor Sharon Harvey.

In proposing the Motion, Councillor Davies commented that the Motion was asking the Executive Committee to commit to increasing recycling rates for garden waste in the Borough through home composting.  Members were asked to note that at the Executive Committee meeting held on 9th July 2024, a report had been considered which had demonstrated that there were decreasing rates of recycling in Redditch.  Many residents did not use the garden waste service that the Council provided and therefore a lot of garden waste was disposed of in the grey waste bins.  As a consequence of this approach, there were increasing in CO² emissions which had negative implications for carbon emissions in the Borough.

Members were advised that domestic composting in home compost containers was more environmentally friendly than the existing approach.  The benefits of home composting included increasing recycling rates, reducing waste, reducing CO² emissions and increasing the accessibility of recycling for those residents who could not afford or otherwise could not access the Council’s garden waste collection service. 

Councillor Davies suggested that Redditch Borough Council could work with Worcestershire County Council on home composting.  This could include a public awareness campaign to help educate residents on the benefits arising from home composting.  The Council could also potentially request additional support from Worcestershire County Council, in terms of asking them to increase their subsidy for the service and exploring the potential to introduce free composting bins.  Other partner organisations could also potentially be asked to assist, including garden centres and community groups through local networking.  Community composting schemes had been found to work well in other parts of the country and there were examples of good practice that Redditch Borough Council could learn from. 

Subject to agreeing the Motion, Councillor Davies suggested that the Council should monitor the uptake of home composting by local residents and that there should be an annual report to Council on this subject.  The aim of the Motion was to enhance sustainability in the Borough whilst helping to reduce costs in the long-term which could arise if this resulted in a decrease in the amount of waste that the Council collected from households.

In seconding the Motion, Councillor Harvey suggested that the action proposed in the Motion would support recycling as a whole in the Borough.  This would also be a timely addition, given requirements to introduce a food waste collection service by 2026.  The Council was aiming to increase the garden waste (brown bin) collection service but there was also a duty to support any action that could be taken to increase composting rates in the Borough.

During consideration of this item, Councillor Matthew Dormer proposed an amendment  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

The Mayor advised that two sets of minutes from meetings of the Executive Committee held on Monday 29^th July and Tuesday 3^rd September 2024 had been included in the Council agenda for Members’ consideration.  However, there had been no recommendations made to Council at the first of these meetings and therefore the minutes of the Executive Committee meeting held on 29^th July 2024 had been included to provide Members with an opportunity to ask questions of clarification and to adopt the minutes.

Quarter 1 Revenue and Performance Monitoring Report 2024/25

The Portfolio Holder for Finance explained that there was £350,000 included in the capital programme for the three years of the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) which were due to be spent on upgrading the Arrow Valley Countryside Centre.  The Executive Committee was recommending an amendment to the budget to enable £100,000 of this funding to be spent at an earlier stage than previously anticipated.  This would ensure that the works could be delivered at a quieter period for the venue and thereby minimise disruption for income from food and beverage sales during the busy summer period.

Members discussed the proposal and in doing so commended Rubicon Leisure Limited for the positive impact that the company was having on the delivery of leisure services in the Borough.  Particular reference was made to the positive contribution of the Managing Director of Rubicon Leisure Limited and he was thanked for his hard work.  Members also praised improvements that had been made in the last 12 months to the services available at the Arrow Valley Countryside Centre.

In considering this matter, Members noted that it was important to ensure that all funding was accompanied by appropriate performance indicators.  These would enable the Council to assess the impact of the funding moving forward.  The suggestion was made that the Shareholders Committee should consider this accordingly.

The recommendation was proposed by Councillor Ian Woodall and seconded by Councillor Craig Warhurst.

Treasury Management Outturn Report

The Portfolio Holder for Finance presented the Treasury Management Outturn report for the 2023/24 financial year.  Members were advised that there was a requirement for this report to be considered by Council each year.  The report detailed the Council’s Treasury Management arrangements, including in respect of management of prudential indicators.  The Council had made some financial investments and it was important to ensure that these were managed appropriately.  In particular, Members were urged to consider the content of paragraphs 3.2 to 3.21 of the report, as these provided useful information about the Council’s position.

The recommendations were proposed by Councillor Ian Woodall and seconded by Councillor Joe Baker.

Shopmobility Future Options

The Portfolio Holder for Community Services and Regulatory Services presented the Shopmobility Future Options report for Council’s consideration.  Members were advised that the base for the service was due to move from its current location into a unit in the Kingfisher Shopping Centre.  This would make the service more visible and accessible and it was hoped that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.

To consider the following updates to the Outside Bodies Appointments for the remainder of the 2024/25 Municipal Year:

·       that Councillor Sharon Harvey be appointed to the Worcestershire Armed Forces Covenant Partnership.

The Mayor advised that a vacancy had arisen since the previous Council meeting for the position of the Council’s Armed Forces Champion on the Worcestershire Armed Forces Covenant Partnership.

RESOLVED that

Councillor Sharon Harvey be appointed to the Worcestershire Armed Forces Covenant Partnership as the Council’s Armed Forces Champion for the remainder of the 2024/25 municipal year.

To note any decisions taken in accordance with the Council’s Urgency Procedure Rules.

There is one attached urgent decision on the subject of Council Housing.

Members noted that there had been one urgent decision taken since the previous meeting of Council on the subject of securing the future of Council housing.

To consider any additional items exceptionally agreed by the Mayor as Urgent Business in accordance with the powers vested in him 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 was no urgent business for consideration on this occasion.