Agenda and minutes

The Mayor will open the meeting and welcome all present.

The Mayor’s Chaplain, Canon David Rogers, will lead the Council in prayer.

The Mayor opened the meeting and welcomed all present.

The Reverend Julie Humphries had kindly agreed to deputise for the Mayor’s Chaplain, Canon David Rogers, who was unable to attend.

To receive any apologies for absence on behalf of Council members.

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillor MacMillan.

To invite Councillors to declare any interests they may have in items on the agenda.

Councillors Banks, Chance, Hartnett and Taylor declared personal and prejudicial interest in Item 7 (Executive Committee) as detailed separately at Minute  52 below.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 27 July 2009.

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 3 - 2009/10)

RESOLVED that

subject to the deletion of  Councillor Cookson’s name from the list of those voting against the original motion to approve, subject to the agreed amendments, the Executive Committee’s Recommendation 2 in relation to Minute 41, (Shared Services Board – Business Case), the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 27th July 2009 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To mark the success of the Redditch Rugby Club First Team in winning the league title for the second consecutive year.

A reception will be held at 6.15pm, prior to the Council meeting, for Members to meet with players from the successful team and Redditch Rugby Club committee members.

The Council held a Civic Reception immediately prior to the meeting at which Redditch Rugby Club were honoured for achieving league championship successes during the last two rugby union seasons. The club had won the Midlands Six South West Division in the 2007/08 season followed by victory in the Midlands Five West South Division during the 2008/09 season.

There was an exchange of gifts between the Mayor and the rugby club Chairman, Mr Tom Cresswell, and it was formally

RESOLVED that

the warm congratulations of the Council to Redditch Rugby Club on their achievements in the past two seasons be placed on record.

To receive a report from the Mayor on civic matters which have arisen since the last meeting or events which may be occurring in the near future.

To give notice of any variation to the items listed in the Forward Plan and/or items accepted as “Urgent Business”.

(No separate report / oral update)

The Mayor’s communications and announcements were considered under the following headings:

a)         Announcements of losses to the Borough

It was with regret that the Mayor announced the death of former Councillor and District Council Chairman, John Coleman.

The Mayor also recorded the passing of two other significant local characters, Mr John Emms a popular professional and amateur actor and Mr Philip Rowland, secretary of the Redditch Disabled Access Group.

The Mayor announced the death of Lance Corporal Dale Hopkins of the Paratroop Regiment who had been killed in action in Afghanistan. The funeral for Lance Corporal Hopkins had been attended by the Mayor and a number of other Councillors.

It was with regret that the Mayor announced the death of another member of the Mercian Regiment, Acting Sergeant Michael Lockett MC of the local 2nd Battalion, who had been killed in action in Afghanistan.

The Mayor asked the Council to join him in a minute’s silence and stated  that he either already had or was proposing to send the Council’s condolences to the families of the bereaved, as appropriate.

b)         Mercian Regiment – Returning Home Parade

The Mayor announced that two dates were being consulted upon for a Returning Home Parade through the town by the 2nd Battalion the Mercian Regiment in the spring of 2010. The proposed dates were Saturday 6th or Saturday 20th March 2010.

c)         Bus Shelter Artwork

The Mayor drew Members’ attention to the signed and framed prints on display in the Chamber. The artwork had been created in collaboration with local young people and used to adorn a number of the bus shelters around the town. The Council was delighted to have received the copies of the original artwork and it was agreed that Officers be requested to investigate the permanent siting of these initial pieces around the Council Chamber.

d)         Ron Passingham

The Mayor asked the Council to join him in congratulating ex-Mayor and ex-Councillor Ron Passingham on reaching the age of 90 at the beginning of September.

e)         Mayor’s Announcements

The Mayor advised that since the previous meeting of the Council he had attended various functions, including: Redditch Ability Football Club presentation evening, a Monks Supper at Wychavon, the opening of the Massala Club restaurant at Headless Cross, the Graffiti art project at Batchley, the unveiling of the Youth Arts project skate ramps at Lowlands Lane skate park, a Scarecrow Day competition at Arrow Valley Countryside Centre, the welcome service for the Reverend Bob Thomas at the Ecumenical Centre, a visit to the County Air Ambulance Service at its Strensham base, the Council’s Best Garden Competition, the Masonic Open Day, the “Freedom” event at Forge Mill and a Civic Service at Tenbury

The Mayor thanked Councillor Banks for stepping in and taking on engagements he had been unable to attend.

f)          Forthcoming events

The Mayor advised that forthcoming events included, the West Midlands Ambulance Service Awards Ceremony, the 150^th Birthday of Redditch Railways, the “We are Redditch” cultural  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51.

A.        To consider a Matters arising report in respect of the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee on 1st July 2009, submitted to the previous meeting of the Council but subsequently not resolved upon

(Report attached)

B.        To formally receive the minutes of the meetings of the Executive Committee held on 10th June, 22nd July and 27th July 2009

(All decisions here have previously been fully resolved. There are no outstanding recommendations or referrals which require the Council’s consideration. The minutes of the meeting on 10th June should have been submitted to the previous meeting of the Council for formal adoption but were omitted from the minute book.)

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 3 2009/10 – to follow)

C.        To receive the decision notices and consider the recommendations and/or referrals from the following meetings of the Executive Committee:

12 August 2009

Matters requiring the Council’s consideration include:

·        Worcestershire Land Drainage Protocol;

·        Church Hill District Centre – Redevelopment Update;

·        Maintenance of Unadopted Paved Areas; and

·        Shared Services Board.

26 August 2009

Matters requiring the Council’s consideration include:

·        Older Person’s housing and Support Strategy;

·        Strategic Housing – Selection of Registered Social Landlords;

·        Constitution – New Executive Arrangements / Whole Council Elections;

·        Governance Arrangements – Adoption of Written Member Roles;

·        Overview and Scrutiny Committee; and

·        Arrow Valley Social Club.

(Decision Notices attached)

Any matters arising, not covered elsewhere in the agenda, will be considered under this heading).

Confidential matters may be taken after the Exclusion of the Public, subject to notification at this point in the meeting.

Members received the minutes of the meetings of the Executive Committee held on 10th June, 22nd July and 27th July 2009 and the decision notices of the meetings of the Executive Committee on 12th and 26th August 2009.

In addition, in relation to the Executive Committee minutes of 1st July 2009, in respect of minute 36 (Insurance Premium Savings), Members’ received additional information with regard to the need to amend Resolution 36.3 (giving delegated authority to an Officer of the Council) to a recommendation for the Council’s consideration, as detailed in Paragraphs 2 and 3.1 of the Matters Arising report.

In respect of minute 43 (Delegations to Officers – Enforcement Powers), Members also received additional information comprising a further explanation of the delegations as set out in paragraphs 3.3 and 3.4 of the Matters Arising report.

INSURANCE PREMIUM SAVINGS – CONSORTIUM TENDER (Minute 36)

RESOLVED that

1)         authority be delegated to the Head of Financial, Revenues and Benefits Services, in consultation with the Risk Monitoring Group and the relevant Portfolio Holder, to utilise these monies;

SCHEME OF DELEGATION TO OFFICERS – PLANNING SERVICES AMENDMENTS RELATING TO PLANNING ENFORCEMENT AND PLANNING OBLIGATIONS (Minute 43)

RESOLVED that

2)         the update to the recommendation, as set out in paragraphs 3.3 and 3.4 below, in respect of the implementation of the new scheme be noted;

MINUTES AND DECISION NOTICES

RESOLVED that

3)         the minutes of the meetings of the Executive Committee held on 10th June, 22nd July and 27th July be received and adopted;

4)         the decision notice of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 12th August 2009 be received and all recommendations approved; and

5)         the decision notice of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 26th August 2009 be received and all recommendations approved, subject to:

in respect of Minute 101 (Governance Arrangements – Adoption of Written Role Descriptors) it being recorded, in accordance with Standing Order 16, that Labour Group Members did not support the proposal so approved;

in respect of Minute 102 (Irrecoverable Debts – Market Kiosks) the assertion from Officers that the information in Appendix 2 to this report was now considered to be suitable to be in the public domain (subject to removal of named Officers) being formally recorded;

in respect of Minute 103 (Overview and Scrutiny Committee) it being noted that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had been requested to reconsider the proposed size of the Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Panel; and

in respect of Minute 110 (Arrow Valley Social Club) it being noted that Officers had undertaken to provide a written response to Councillor Hartnett in respect of the actions that had followed the decisions taken in respect of this matter; and

(Prior to consideration of this item, and in accordance with the requirements of Section 81 of the Local Government Act 2000, Councillors Banks, Chance, Hartnett and Taylor declared a personal and prejudicial interest in view of their personal connection to (Taylor) or as Board Members of (Banks, Chance and Hartnett) Redditch  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.

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

Audit and Governance Committee-           4 August 2009

Planning Committee                         -           14 July 2009

                                                                        -           11 August 2009

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 3 2009/10 – to follow)

The Council received the minutes of recent meetings of the Audit and Governance and Planning Committees.

RESOLVED that

1)         the minutes of the meeting of the Audit and Governance Committee held on 4th August 2009 be received and adopted and all recommendations approved; and

2)         the minutes of the meetings of the Planning Committee held on 14th July and 11th August 2009 be received and adopted.

To note the following decision taken in accordance with SO36 since the last meeting of the Council:

The Redditch Borough Council Group Life Assurance Scheme

(Head of Financial, Revenues and Benefits Services)

(Decision Reference 478)

The case for urgency was that, due to deaths in service, the Scheme has been operated recently. Funds have been received by the Council and they need to be paid out by Authorised Officers as soon as possible..

It was therefore RESOLVED that

the Scheme of Delegation be amended to delegate authority to administer the Redditch Borough Council Group Life Assurance Scheme to the Section 151 Officer and Financial Services Manager for the time being.

GCSx (Government Connect Secure Exchange) Personal Commitment Policy

(Head of Customer Services and IT)

(Decisions Reference 479)

The case for urgency was that the Department of Works and Pensions have withdrawn the use of email communication via any unsecured network now that the connection to Government Connect network has been approved. This will enable Officers to continue to interact with DWP across the secure network.

It was therefore RESOLVED that

the Council adopt this document as policy for the personal commitment statement for access to the Government Connect network.

Members noted two Urgent Business decisions which had been approved in accordance with Standing Order 36, namely:

The Redditch Borough Council Group Life Assurance Scheme

(UB Reference 478)

GCSx (Government Connect Secure Exchange) Personal Commitment Policy

(UB Reference 479)

RESOLVED that

the matters be noted.

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 I 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 Urgent Business items to be considered at the meeting.

It may be necessary, in the opinion of the Chief Executive, to consider excluding the public from the meeting in relation to the following items of business on the grounds that exempt information is likely to be divulged. It may be necessary, therefore, to move the following resolution:

“that, under S.100 I of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following matter(s) on the rounds that it/they involve(s) the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 3 and 4 of Part 1 of Schedule 12 (A) of the said Act, as amended.”

Item 12 – CCTV and Lifeline Shared Services Business Case – Procurement Process

Item 13 – Shared Services Board

RESOLVED that

under S.100 of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006, with the exception of Mr Colin Williams of the West Midlands Local Government Association, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following matters on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 3 and 4 of Part 1 of Schedule 12(A) of the said Act, as amended.

CCTV and Lifeline Shared Services Business Case – Procurement Process (as detailed at minute 57, below)

Shared Services Board – Recommendations (as detailed at minute 58, below).

To seek full Council authority to proceed with procurement processes relating to the CCTV/Lifeline Shared Services proposal to meet required timelines.

(In view of the fact that it contains information relating to expenditure proposed to be incurred by the Council in future contracts, this report is confidential and has been circulated to Members and relevant Officers only.)

(Report attached)

The Council considered a report seeking authority to proceed with procurement processes relating to the CCTV Lifeline Shared Services proposal to meet required timelines.

RESOLVED that

authority be delegated to the Director of Housing, Leisure and Customer Services to commence the procurement process in advance of consideration of the recommendations of the Executive Committee of the business case for a shared service for CCTV and Lifeline services and their referral to full Council on 26th October 2009.

During the consideration of this item, Members discussed matters that necessitated the disclosure of exempt information. It was therefore agreed to move to exclude the press and public prior to any debate on the grounds that information would be revealed relating to expenditure proposed to be incurred by the Council in future contracts, disclosure of which was not considered to be in the public’s best interests.

There is nothing exempt, however, in this record of the proceedings.)

To consider the recommendations arising from the meeting of the Shared Services Board held on 8th September 2009.

(In view of the fact that it contains information relating to individuals, which might reveal the identity of individuals and also contemplated consultations or negotiations in connection with labour relations matters arising between the authority and employees of the authority, this report is confidential and has been circulated to Members and relevant Officers only.)

(Minutes attached – Report to the Shared Services Board circulated to Members under separate cover)

The Council  considered and approved detailed proposals for a single team of Officers to manage both Redditch and Bromsgrove Councils.

The report, and subsequent debate, was considered in confidential session in view of the fact that information relating to individual Officers and their financial affairs, together with labour relations matters still under negotiation, was to be discussed. It was agreed that as full as possible a public record be provided, as soon as possible after the meetings of both Redditch and Bromsgrove Councils had taken place.  The following is the full list of decisions taken at the meeting:

The Council AGREED that

1)         subject to the change of title of the proposed Assistant Chief Executive to ‘Director of Policy, Performance & Partnerships’, the proposed Single Management Structure attached at Appendix 3 to the Shared Services Board (SSB) report be adopted for formal consultation with the affected staff and trade unions;

2)         the proposed Timetable attached at Appendix 5 to the SSB report be approved, together with the Ringfencing proposals detailed in the preamble to the SSB minutes of the 8^th September 2009 (Minute 5 d) final paragraph -  Recruitment and Selection Processes refers *);

3)         the proposal to seek volunteers from the directly affected staff in the first instance for Voluntary Compulsory Redundancy / Early Retirement, in order to minimise the number of Compulsory Redundancies, be approved;

4)         the proposal to make a payment, subject to consultation with the affected staff and trade unions, of pay in lieu of notice (PILON) to anyone unsuccessful in securing a post on the Single Management Team be approved, for the reasons outlined at section 13.12 of the SSB report,  from 30th March 2010;

5)         the proposed salary levels of the Single Management Team posts, as independently evaluated and outlined at paragraph 4.16 of the SSB report, be approved; all new posts to have an incremental salary range, with progression subject to satisfactory performance;

6)         it be noted that independent advice on outstanding job evaluation to existing members of the Corporate Management Team for Redditch Borough Council has been sought and the potential impact on severance costs also be noted;

7)         it be noted that the offer of employment contracts to members of the Single Management Team may need to be provisional because of the more detailed work on terms and conditions that is required;

8)         the potential need for the application of salary protection, where displaced members of the existing management teams may be redeployed into lower level posts within the proposed new structure, be noted;

9)         the preliminary response of the recognised trade unions to the timetable and proposed structure be noted;

10)      the projected savings of £1.282m over the 5 year period arising as a result of the Single Management Team proposals be noted and endorsed;

11)      the sum quoted in the main body of the SSB report be split between the two Councils and released from balances to cover the potential costs associated with progressing to a Single Management Team;  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.