PDF 73 KBVenue: The Assembly Room - Town Hall, Macclesfield SK10 1EA. View directions
Contact: Julie North Senior Democratic Services Officer
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Prayers Minutes: As the Mayor’s Chaplain was unable to attend the meeting, Cllr S Wilkinson said prayers, at the request of the Mayor. |
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Minutes of the Meeting Held on 17 October 2013 To approve the minutes as a correct record. Minutes: RESOLVED
That the minutes be approved as a correct record. |
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Mayor's Announcements To receive such announcements as may be made by the Mayor. Minutes: The Mayor:-
1. Informed Members that, since our last Council meeting she and the Deputy Mayor had attended over 60 events across the Borough, details of which had been circulated around the Chamber.
2. Thanked those Members who had attended her Civic Service on 20th October and expressed thanks to her Chaplain, Rev Hazel Rugman, for the way in which she led the Service.
3. Announced that she and Cllr Rhoda Bailey had attended the launch of Family Matters, a resolution service funded by central government in Crewe, for all residents in Cheshire East. The service was for parents going through a break-up and was free if one person was in receipt of a benefit or earning the less than the living wage. A leaflet in respect of the service had been circulated to Members and the Mayor requested that they spread the word, as there were many children in the care of the Borough who would not be in care if the right support and advice had been given to their parents at the right time.
4. Reported that she considered that one of the most important things that the Mayor of any Borough could do was to lead the Borough’s tributes on and around Remembrance Day. This year, she and the Deputy Mayor had attended 7 remembrance services. These occasions were always poignant, but seemed more so this year, approaching the centenary of the outbreak of the Great War.
5. As this was the last meeting of Council in 2013, she wished everyone a very happy Christmas and prosperous New Year.
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Declarations of Interest To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests in any item on the agenda. Minutes: There were no declarations of interest. |
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Public Speaking Time/Open Session In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 35 and Appendix 7 to the rules, a total period of 15 minutes is allocated for members of the public to speak at Council meetings.
Individual members of the public may speak for up to 5 minutes, but the Chairman will decide how the period of time allocated for public speaking will be apportioned, where there are a number of speakers.
Members of the public wishing to ask a question at the meeting should provide at least three clear working days’ notice in writing and should include the question with that notice. This will enable an informed answer to be given. It is not a requirement to give notice of the intention to make use of public speaking provision. However, as a matter of courtesy, a period of 24 hours notice is encouraged. Minutes: Honorary Alderman, Terence Beard spoke in relation to the devolution of some services from Cheshire East Council to Town and Parish Councils and the Council tax precept charged by Cheshire East, where Parish and Town Councils provided services.
The Leader of the Council responded to the question and stated no one would wish to see an increase in Council tax over the next year, or indeed the next 3 years. |
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To consider any Notices of Motion that have been received in accordance with Procedure Rule 12 Minutes: Consideration was given to the following Notices of Motion:-
1 Good Governance: Openness and Transparency
Proposed
by Councillor M Jones and seconded by Councillor
This Council resolves that it will move swiftly to update its open-data policies in order to ensure that Cheshire East Council becomes a leading local authority for openness and transparency. It tasks the Chief Executive, working with and taking direction from Members, to review our governance arrangements to ensure that the objectives of openness and transparency are central to the way in which Cheshire East Council works, and that the use of Part II reports is minimised.
RESOLVED
That the motion be accepted.
2 Local Plan
Proposed by
Councillor David Brickhill and seconded
by Councillor
This Council deplores the fact that an adopted Local Plan is not yet in place.
RESOLVED
That the motion stand referred to Cabinet.
3 Garden Waste
Proposed by
Councillor David Brickhill and seconded
by Councillor
This Council is critical of the recent decisions made concerning the collection of recyclable garden waste.
RESOLVED
That the motion stand referred to Cabinet.
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Recommendation from Cabinet - Council Tax Base 2014/15 To consider the recommendation of Cabinet. Additional documents: Minutes: At its meeting on 10th December 2013, Cabinet was notified of the Council Tax Base for Cheshire East and of important changes to the calculation of the tax base for 2014/2015. Cabinet, in accordance with the Local Authorities (Calculation of Tax Base) Regulations 1992, recommended to Council, the amount to be calculated by Cheshire East Council as its Council Tax Base for the year 2014/2015.
As the Council agenda had been published before the meeting of Cabinet, the Cabinet minute was circulated at the meeting.
RESOLVED
That in accordance with the Local Authorities (Calculation of Tax Base) Regulations 1992, the amount approved by Cheshire East Council as its Council Tax Base for the year 2014/2015 is 137,548.53, for the whole area. |
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Recommendation from Cabinet/Licensing Committee -Revised Statement of Licensing Policy To consider the recommendations of Cabinet and the Licensing Committee. Additional documents:
Minutes: Cabinet, at its meeting on 12 November 2013, had considered the final draft of the Revised Statement of Licensing Policy, which was being recommended to Council by the Licensing Committee. The Council was required to review its existing statement of principles and publish a revised version by 31st January 2014, having consulted those stakeholders identified by the legislation.
It was noted that, before Cabinet considered the Revised Statement of Licensing Policy, the Licensing Committee had received reports on the Policy on two occasions. The minutes of these meetings were appended to the agenda and the recommendations of the Licensing Committee had been incorporated into the revised Policy, which was included at Appendix 1 of the Cabinet report. Cabinet supported the recommendation of the Licensing Committee that the Council should resolve to adopt the revised Statement of Licensing Policy.
RESOLVED
That the revised Statement of Licensing Policy, as set out at Appendix 1 of the Cabinet report, be adopted, to take effect on 1st February 2014. |
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Audit and Governance Committee Annual Report 2012/13 To receive the Audit and Governance Committee Annual Report 2012/13. Additional documents:
Minutes: The Audit and Governance Committee, at its meeting on 28 November 2013, had given consideration to the draft Annual Report of the Committee for 2012/13, prior to its submission to Council. There was a requirement in the Council’s Constitution for the Audit and Governance Committee to submit an annual report to Council, to demonstrate how they had fulfilled their terms of reference and to account for their performance.
RESOLVED
That the Audit and Governance Committee Annual Report 2012/13 be received and noted. |
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Leader's Report to Council and Leader's Announcements Minutes: The Leader of the Council announced:-
· That he was pleased to confirm the appointment of Judith Tench as the Council’s new Head of Governance and Stewardship (Deputy S151 Officer) illustrating his commitment to governance in the strongest terms.
· That he would be asking the Constitution Committee to review the role of planning in the Constitution, especially the Strategic Planning Board, working with all the three planning chairs to create a more transparent, resident friendly and holistic planning framework. This would be alongside Housing, Planning, Economic Development and Regeneration Portfolio Holder, Cllr Don Stockton.
· That he had requested a review of the Council’s financial procedures, working with the Council’s Chief Operating Officer, Peter Bates, with a strong emphasis on procurement, in order to improve this area and give greater transparency on the Council’s finances, which were strong. He also wanted to support procurement locally. He believed that the Council would have a balanced budget this year, next year and the year after, all without increasing the burden on residents.
· That he would be requesting the Head of Paid Service to move away from zero hours contracts towards flexible contracts and also that the Council would move towards the living wage for all its employees, something the Council already did in most areas.
· That the Council would also look to open a controlled redundancy process in 2014, to allow all officers to apply for redundancy. This did not automatically mean that all staff would be allowed terms, as many roles were important to the Council.
· That he would introduce a review of the Council’s Policy Development Groups and would like to know what Members thought should be done to change and adapt in order to strengthen Member decision making.
· That he would also be asking the Council’s Constitution Committee to look into an addendum to the Constitution, illustrating that, where possible, Ward Members would receive information at the earliest opportunity. This protocol already existed, but he wanted it to be strengthened and potentially added into all Council and officer protocols and to be part of officer behaviour. He would also be working with the Council’s Corporate Leadership Board and union colleagues on the introduction of confidentiality and non disclosure clauses in all managers’ contracts of employment.
· That he was committed to strong open leadership, but there must be structures in place to underpin transparency. He would be requesting the Council’s Head of Paid Service and Chief Operating Officer to review the terms of reference of the Monitoring Officer. He wanted a robust and effective officer core and believed that the Council currently had the strongest leadership board in the history of Cheshire East Council and he wanted to ensure that the Monitoring Officer was empowered to deliver the Council’s ambitious agenda.
· That the full introduction of the Alternative Service Delivery Vehicles had been delayed until March 31st 2014. This was so that the Council could get the governance right. Members could already attend any formal meeting and speak, at the discretion ... view the full minutes text for item 58. |
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Questions In accordance with Procedure Rule 11, opportunity is provided for Members of the Council to ask the Mayor, the appropriate Cabinet Member or the Chairman of a Committee any question about a matter which the Council, the Cabinet or the Committee has powers, duties or responsibilities.
Questions to the Mayor or Chairman of a Committee must be sent in writing to the Monitoring Officer at least 3 clear working days before the meeting. There is no requirement for questions to be submitted in writing which relate to the work of the Cabinet.
At Council meetings, there will be a maximum question time period of 30 minutes. Questions will be selected by the Mayor, using the criteria agreed by Council. Any questions which are accepted, but which cannot be dealt with during the allotted period will be answered in writing. Questions must be brief, clear and focussed.
Minutes: The following Members asked questions at the meeting:-
Cllr S Gardiner, in respect of the Council’s receipt of a national award for adoption services and what specific impact this had on families in Cheshire East. – The Children and Family Services and Rural Affairs Portfolio Holder, Cllr Rachel Bailey responded.
Cllr S Wilkinson in respect of HS2- The Leader of the Council, Cllr M Jones responded.
Cllr J Jackson, in respect of whether Macclesfield residents would be given the opportunity to vote on the mode of governance they wanted - The Leader of the Council, Cllr M Jones responded.
Cllr G Walton, in respect of the Leader’s announcement relating to the departure of senior officers - The Leader of the Council, Cllr M Jones responded.
Cllr S Corcoran, in respect of the release of the minutes of a recent meeting of the Strategic Planning Board relating to appeals, the release of the appeal decisions and the DIP report - The Leader of the Council, Cllr M Jones responded.
Cllr F Keegan, in respect of details contained in the highway leaflet circulated on behalf of the Leader, as part of his announcements – The Environment Portfolio Holder, The Environment Portfolio Holder, Cllr D Topping responded.
Cllr J Hammond, relating to the timescale for the advice in respect of the 5 year housing supply - The Leader of the Council, Cllr M Jones responded.
Cllr S Jones, relating to the effect that dementia has on the global health programme, including a request for an update report on dementia services in Cheshire East – The Health and Adult Social Care Portfolio Holder, Cllr J Clowes responded.
Cllr Neilson, in respect of the decision to allow fostering placements to remain with carers until the age of 21 and how Cheshire East would incorporate these changes – The Children and Family Services and Rural Affairs Portfolio Holder, Cllr Rachel Bailey responded.
Cllr Murray, in respect of more suitable venues for Council meetings and acoustic issues – The Mayor responded.
Cllr K Edwards – In respect of the Print Room and Post Room at Macclesfield Town Hall. - The Leader of the Council, Cllr M Jones responded.
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