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 Hunt and Smith.

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

There were no declarations of interest other than as detailed separately in the papers for the meeting.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 29th March 2010

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 9 - 2009/10)

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 29th March 2010 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.

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 last meeting of the Council, he had attended various functions, including: the Walkwood Middle School production of “Score”, an inaugural Professorial lecture at Worcester University, an assembly at Tenacres First School, the Good Friday Walk of Witness, the Worcester City Council end of term of office supper, a production of “School for Scandal” at Stratford, a St George’s Day Parade at St Stephen’s Church, his own Variety Spectacular at the Palace Theatre and he had DJ’d a slot on Kingfisher FM.

The Mayor thanked Councillor Banks for stepping in to take on engagements he had been unable to attend and for joining him at others.

b)         Forthcoming events

The Mayor advised that forthcoming events included the Redditch Roadway Arts Gallery event, the Wychavon St George’s Day Celebration, the Council’s own St George’s Day Celebrations outside St Stephen’s Church, Worcestershire County Council’s Civic Service, the visit of a party from Auxerre and a Charity Coffee Morning at the Arrow Valley Countryside Centre.

c)         Departing Members

The Mayor, on behalf of the Council, paid tribute to those Councillors who were standing down at the forthcoming elections, these being Councillors Colin MacMillan, Phil Mould and David Smith. Special mention was made of Councillor Mould who had served on the Council for almost a quarter of a century and in many senior positions, including three years as Leader of the Council.

RESOLVED that

a formal vote of thanks to those Members standing down at the forthcoming elections be recorded.

d)         Kingfisher FM

Further to his announcement that he had DJ’d a slot on Kingfisher FM, the Mayor was fulsome in his praise of this community, not-for-profit radio station. Mr Phil Dent attended the meeting to accept a Redditch Borough Crest on behalf of his colleagues at the station.

The Mayor informed the meeting of the excellent work that Kingfisher FM was undertaking, broadcasting around the clock over the internet and supporting numerous local events such as the Mercian Regiment parade, the visit by the Countess of Wessex and the Variety Spectacular at the Palace Theatre. The station had recently received a 28 day licence from Ofcom as part of the process for gaining a full licence.

Members congratulated Mr Dent and his colleagues for their achievement in establishing this enterprising community asset.

e)         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:

f)          Relocation of central Government departments

The Leader reported that, in view of recent announcements regarding the decentralisation of Government departments from London, the Council had written to the Justice Minister inviting the Government to relocate the Ministry of Justice to Redditch.

g)         Provision of educational opportunities for aphasia sufferers

The Leader informed the Council of a threat to the provision of educational opportunities for residents of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 134.

A.        To formally receive the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 10th March 2010.

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

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 9 – 2009/10)

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

            31st March 2010

Matters requiring the Council’s consideration include:

·        Local Development Scheme No. 4;

·        Communications Strategy 2010-2013; and

·        Referrals from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 9 – 2009/10)

Members received the minutes of the meetings of the Executive Committee held on 10th and 31st March 2010.

RESOLVED that

1)         the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 10th March 2010 be received and adopted; and

2)         the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 31st March 2010 be received and all recommendations approved, subject to:

in respect of Minute 284 – Referral from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee – Local Strategic Partnership Task and Finish Group – Interim Report it being noted that the recommendations from the Local Strategic Partnership Task and Finish Group were to be submitted for consideration by the Redditch Partnership.

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

Audit & Governance Committee -   21st January 2010

Planning Committee -                       30th March 2010

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 9 – 2009/10)

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 21st January 2010 be received and adopted; and

2)         the minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 30th March 2010 be received and adopted.

To consider the Annual Report of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for 2009/10.

(Report under separate cover)

The Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Mould, introduced the Annual Report that had been produced by the Committee for the 2009/10 municipal year.

Council was informed that the Committee had achieved a considerable amount, with four Task and Finish reviews being concluded, three still ongoing and a number of short sharp reviews besides.

Certain weaknesses identified in previous years had been addressed successfully, with a significant extension in pre-scrutiny activity. The role of the Committee in the budget-setting process was also being investigated to see how it could more usefully participate in this essential aspect of the decision-making process.

A new Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Panel had been established and had commenced its activities and a procedure had been introduced for the Councillor Call for Action process.

The Chair of the Committee contended that Overview and Scrutiny had made tremendous progress in Redditch over recent years and was now performing well. The report was commended to the Council.

Members welcomed the report and commented favourably on the activities of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The reports produced as a result of Task and Finish reviews undertaken were recognised as having a positive impact on the Council’s policy development and decision-making process. It was highlighted that the majority of the recommendations that were received by the Executive were approved or recommended for approval.

RESOLVED that

the Annual Report of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for 2009/10 be received and adopted.

To consider the appointment of two representatives to the Joint Committee for the Worcestershire Enhanced Two Tier (WETT) Regulatory Service.

(Report attached)

The Council considered a report seeking the appointment of two representatives to the Joint Committee for the Worcestershire Enhanced Two Tier (WETT) Regulatory Service. The requirement that at least one of the representatives be a member of the Council’s Executive Committee was noted.

RESOLVED that

the following Members be appointed to the Joint Committee for the Worcestershire Enhanced Two Tier (WETT) Regulatory Service:

i)          Chair of the Licensing Committee (Councillor Braley, also an Executive member); and

ii)         Leader of the Opposition (Councillor Hartnett, also an Executive member), or their nominated representative.

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 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 and/or on the Leader’s Forward Plan.)

There were no separate items of Urgent Business for consideration at this meeting.