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 Field and Shurmer.

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

Councillor Fry declared a personal interest in Item 7 (Executive Committee) as detailed separately at Minute 95 below.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 7th December 2009.

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 6 - 2009/10)

The Leader confirmed that a reply had been received to the letter sent on behalf of the Council regarding the provision of speech, language and communication therapy across the County following the meeting on 7th December 2009.

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 7th December 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)         Former Council Leader Albert Wharrad

The Mayor reported with deep regret the sad loss to the Borough of former Council Leader Albert Wharrad. Former Councillor Wharrad had passed away over the Christmas period after a short illness. The Mayor admired and saluted his commitment to the town and the people of Redditch and added that former Councillor Wharrad’s contribution had been immeasurable during his half-century association with the Council.

The leader of the Labour Group echoed the Mayor’s views and added more detail regarding the life and political career of former Councillor Wharrad. His long political career was profiled as was his devotion to the Borough and the people who lived here. His pre-eminent position in the local party over the course of many decades was highlighted, as was his interest in the local history and genealogy of Redditch.

The Leader of the Council and other Members then proceeded to add their own tributes to former Councillor Wharrad in recognition of his long and great service to the Council and the Borough, whereupon it was

RESOLVED that

1)         the Council place on record its gratitude to Albert Wharrad for the long years of dedicated and exceptional service to the Borough, its residents and the Council; and

2)         the Council respect a minute’s silence in his memory.

b)         Mayor’s Announcements

The Mayor advised that, since the last meeting of the Council, he had attended various functions, including: the Pershore Community Christmas celebrations, turning on the lights for the Batchley Christmas tree, the Arrow Vale Singers’ Christmas concert, the Pantomime at the Palace Theatre, a meeting with local spring makers, the County Council Christmas Carol Concert,  Bromsgrove’s Carol Service and the Redditch Town Centre Carols, the Redditch Rotary Christmas lunch, a Citizenship Ceremony; and visiting various wards at the Alexandra Hospital on Christmas Day.

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

c)         Forthcoming events

The Mayor advised that forthcoming events included: a Chinese New Year celebration in Worcester, the Annual Redditch Sports Partnership Awards evening, a Burns Night at Bromsgrove, a visit to the local Territorial Army, a Charity Cabaret in February that he was organising and the Council’s Civic Dinner in March.

d)         Urgent Business

The Mayor advised that he had accepted one item of Urgent Business, the referral from the meeting of the Shared Services Board on 7th January 2010 on voluntary compulsory redundancies.

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

No questions had been submitted to the Leader.

A.        To formally receive the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee on 2nd December 2009.

            (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 6 – 2009/10)

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

9th December 2009

Matters requiring the Council’s consideration include:

·        Tenant Involvement Strategy 2009-12;

·        Voluntary Sector Grant Applications 2009/10;

·        ‘Opt-in’ Chargeable Garden Waste Collection – Business Case;

·        Feckenham Allotments;

·        Fees and Charges 2010/11; and

·        Community Centre Service – Options for Future Delivery.

(Matters arising report attached –

minutes circulated in Minute Book 6 – 2009/10)

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

6th January 2010

Matters requiring the Council’s consideration include:

·        Worcestershire Enhanced Two Tier (WETT) Programme;

·        Local Development Framework – Office Needs Assessment;

·        Water Quality Policy; and

·        Private Sector Housing Strategy 2010-2015.

(Decision notice to follow)

Members received the minutes of the meetings of the Executive Committee held on 2nd and 9th December 2009. A decision notice from the meeting on 6th January 2010 had not been forthcoming as that meeting had been cancelled because of the inclement weather.

Members agreed some rewording was required to accurately reflect a decision taken at the Executive Committee meeting of 9th December in respect of the Opt-in Chargeable Garden Waste Collection item. Members noted that the meeting scheduled for 6^th January, which would normally have dealt with this, had been cancelled, as mentioned above. However the Committee, at its next meeting on 27th January 2010, would settle the issue of accuracy of the minutes.

RESOLVED that

1)         the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 2nd December 2009 be received and adopted; and

2)         the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 9th December 2009 be received and all recommendations approved, subject to:

in respect of Minute 201 (Opt-inChargeable Garden Waste Collection – Business Case – Amended Version) it being further RESOLVED that Recommendation 7 be amended to read

7)         the Council’s current collection policy relating to garden waste in grey bins be restated to coincide with the start of the new service to discourage through education garden waste being placed in grey bins; and

in respect of Minute 202 (Feckenham Allotments) it being noted that Officers were to provide an update to Councillor Hartnett on the future security of the Council’s grant funding following the meeting.

(Prior to consideration of this item, and in accordance with the requirements of Section 81 of the Local Government Act 2000, Councillor Fry declared a personal interest in view of the use by some of his clients of Matchborough Barn (Minute 211 – Community Centre Service – Options for Future Delivery)).

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

Audit and Governance Committee -           29th September 2009

(The minutes of the meeting of the Audit and Governance Committee on 29th September 2009 had previously been submitted to Council on 26th October 2009 but, at the request of the Chair, were withdrawn to be re-submitted to a later meeting of the Council.)

Planning Committee -                                   1st December 2009

Standards Committee -                                8th December 2009

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 6 – 2009/10)

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

RESOLVED that

1)         the minutes of the meeting of the Audit and Governance Committee held on 29th September 2009 be received and adopted;

2)         the minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 1st December 2009 be received and adopted; and

3)         the minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee on 8th December 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 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.)

The Council received an item of Urgent Business in respect of the meeting of the Shared Services Board held on 7th January 2010. The business comprised a recommendation to both Councils regarding requests for voluntary compulsory redundancy.

RESOLVED that

the two applications for Voluntary Compulsory Redundancy proposed in Appendix 1 to the report be approved.