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.

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

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors Fry, W King, MacMillan and Thomas.

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

Councillor Braley declared a personal and prejudicial interest in Item 7 (Executive Committee) as detailed separately at Minute 66 below.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 14th September 2009.

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 4 2009/10)

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 14th September 2009 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

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)         Mayor’s Announcements

The Mayor advised that since the previous meeting of the Council he had attended various functions, including: 150^th Birthday celebration of Redditch Railways, the “We are Redditch” cultural community event, Civic Services at Bromsgrove District Council and Upton upon Severn Town Council, the County Harvest Festival at Worcester Cathedral, Worcestershire Council for Voluntary Youth Services AGM, NEW College 2009 Graduation Ceremony, Worcestershire Breast Unit Campaign launch, the annual ROWL Seminar, the Chinese Association’s Mid-autumn Moon Festival, the opening of a butcher’s unit at The Stables, Feckenham, the Friends of Gruchet AGM and Quiz, the hand over to its new owners of a recently completed social housing property at Windsor Heights by Persimmon Homes, a Redditch United Football match, Local Democracy Day, with local high school students here at the Town Hall, and Black History events this weekend past.

The Mayor also advised that during this period there was his Charity Quiz – which had raised at least £500 for his charities and the Council’s own Civic Service, which was a very successful and enjoyable event.

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

Members were extremely complimentary about the Mayor’s Civic Service and, in addition to congratulating him on an excellent event, they considered his own contribution to have been commendable and it was consequently

RESOLVED that

the Mayor provide a rendition of ‘The King of Rome’ in exchange for contributions to his charity.

b)         Forthcoming events

The Mayor advised that forthcoming events included: a visit by some New Zealand Rotarians, together with their Redditch counterparts, the Welsh Society’s Annual Concert on 31st October, the Student Council’s Big 5 Event, the annual Fireworks Extravaganza at Arrow ValleyPark, a concert by the Bel Canto Singers; and the Remembrance Sunday event.

c)         Angie Heighway

The Mayor announced that the Council’s Head of Strategy and Partnerships, Angie Heighway, had received a Certificate from West Mercia Police in recognition of her significant work in the area of community safety in Redditch and across Worcestershire as a whole. The Mayor added his congratulations to those of the Police.

d)         Additional matters

During consideration of the Mayor’s announcements, he gave permission to a number of Members to make further announcements in relation to matters not listed on the agenda, namely:

e)         Car Park Seven

The Council Leader thanked those Officers and Members who had been instrumental in getting the owners of the Kingfisher Centre to reopen Car Park Seven.

f)          Redditch New Mosque

The Leader led the Council in condemning the vandalism that had occurred at the new Mosque over the preceding weekend. It was subsequently agreed that a letter be sent to Muslim Community Leaders outlining the Council’s views on the actions over the weekend.

No Questions for the Leader have been submitted according to the requirements of Standing Order 8A.

No questions had been submitted to the Leader.

To consider a Notice of Motion submitted by Councillor C MacMillan, concerning St Stephens C of E First School.

(Report attached)

A Notice of Motion had been submitted by Councillor MacMillan in respect of St Stephen’s Church of England First School. In the absence of Councillor MacMillan, Councillor Gandy proposed the Motion. This was seconded by Councillor Braley.

A number of Members congratulated the School on its achievement, particularly given that it served a population that faced a number of significant challenges. The Mayor and the Leader expressed their willingness and desire to visit the School to meet the staff and pupils and pass on their congratulations in person. It was therefore

RESOLVED that

the Motion be approved in the following terms:

(the Council join with Councillor MacMillan) in congratulating Kathy Skan, Headmistress, and all her staff, governors and, of course, the pupils for this great achievement and ask the Chief Executive to write to them expressing the Council’s recognition of their achievement.

A.        To formally receive the minutes of the meetings of the Executive Committee on 12th and 26th August 2009

(All decisions here have previously been fully resolved. There are no outstanding recommendations or referrals which require the Council’s consideration.)

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

16th September 2009

Matters requiring the Council’s consideration include:

·        Complaints Policy – Reviewed Procedure;

·        Town Centre Strategy;

·        Decent Homes Capital Programme;

·        Redditch Crematorium – Cremator Replacement and Building Upgrades;

·        Redditch Open Air Market – Market Regulations 2009/2010;

·        Arrow Valley Countryside Centre – Installation of Bus Stop;

·        Business Case – Shared Services for CCTV and Lifeline; and

·        Business Case – Shared Services for ICT Services.

22nd September 2009

Matters requiring the Council’s consideration include:

·        Benefits Service Improvement Plan – Quarterly Monitoring Report; and

·        Abbey Stadium Sports Centre.

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 4 2009/10 – to follow)

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

7th October 2009

Matters requiring the Council’s consideration include:

·        Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy; and

·        Disabled Facilities Grant and the Lifetime Grant.

(Decision Notice 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 12th and 26th August and 16th and 22nd September 2009 and the decision notices of the meeting of the Executive Committee on 7th October 2009.

RESOLVED that

1)         the minutes of the meetings of the Executive Committee held on 12th and 26th August 2009 be received and adopted, subject to:

in respect of Minute 82 (Church Hill District Centre – Redevelopment Update) it being further resolved that the desire of the pupils at Church Hill Middle School to be involved in the design of aspects of the Centre be factored into the consideration of this scheme in due course;

2)         the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 16th September 2009 be received and all recommendations approved subject to:

in respect of Minute 127 Development Opportunities – Dingleside and Ipsley) it being noted that Councillor Hartnett wished to receive confirmation from Officers that Redditch Co-op Homes did not have an interest as a possible developer of the Auxerre Avenue site;

3)         the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 22nd September 2009 be received and all recommendations approved; and

4)         the decision notice of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 7th October 2009 be received and all recommendations adopted, subject to:

in respect of Minute 155 (REDI Centre – Leasing Options) it being noted that Officers were to provide a briefing note to all Members outlining the latest position with regard to the leasing of the REDI Centre.

(Prior to consideration of this item, and in accordance with the requirements of Section 81 of the Local Government Act 2000, Councillor Braley declared a personal and prejudicial interest in view of his position as a Corporation Governor of NEW College, a body which now had an interest as a possible lessee of, and service provider at, the REDI Centre.)

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

Audit and Governance Committee -           29th September 2009

Licensing Committee -                                 28th September 2009

Planning Committee -                                   8th September 2009

                                                                        6th October 2009

Standards Committee -                                30th September 2009

(All decisions here have been fully resolved. There are no outstanding recommendations or referrals which require the Council’s consideration.)

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 4 2009/10)

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

The Chair of the Audit and Governance Committee expressed a degree of concern at the conduct of business at the meeting on 29th September and proposed that the minutes be withdrawn and incorporated into Minute Book 5, 2009/10.

RESOLVED that

1)         the minutes of the meeting of the Audit and Governance Committee held on 29th September 20009 be withdrawn and submitted to the next appropriate meeting of the Council.;

2)         the minutes of the meeting of the Licensing Committee held on 28th September 2009 be received and adopted, subject to

it being further resolved that the Council thank Councillor Andy Fry for undertaking the role of the Chair of the Taxi Licensing Forum;

3)         the minutes of the meetings of the Planning Committee held on 8th September and 6th October 2009 be received and adopted; and

4)         the minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee held on 30th September 2009 be received and adopted.

To note any decisions taken in accordance with Standing Order 36 and/or the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules (Constitution), as specified.

(None to date).

There were no Urgent Business decisions under Standing Order 36 for consideration at this meeting.

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 items of Urgent Business for consideration at this meeting.