Agenda and minutes

The Mayor’s Chaplain said prayers, at the request of the Mayor.

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests in any item on the agenda.

With regard to item 8, Adoption of the Local Plan Strategy, the Acting Director of Legal Services/Acting Monitoring Officer advised that there were four matters that should be noted for the record.

Members had those interests in property within Cheshire East which were recorded on the Council`s Register of Interests.

Members may:-

a)    be a Member of a Town or Parish Council

b)    be a School Governor

c)     be a member of an external organisation or amenity group such as the National Trust or The Ramblers Association.

d)    have previously been involved in or expressed a view on the preparation of the Local Plan

e)    be a Director of a Council owned company or have been appointed by the Council to a role in an external organisation

f)      be involved in decisions about land in their role as a Member of the Council or in any of the “wider public life” roles that Members routinely undertake.

Except for any specific declarations, he gave a standing declaration on behalf of those Members present that:-

(a) they did not have a Disclosable Pecuniary or Non-Pecuniary Interest in the local plan strategy;       

and

(b) they approached the debate and vote on the Local Plan Strategy with an open mind.

All of the above matters were regarded by the meeting as being formally declared.

If any Member did in fact consider themselves to have a disclosable pecuniary or non-pecuniary interest and/or if they felt that they were unable to approach the debate and vote on the Local Plan with an open mind, they should declare that to the meeting.

The following declarations were made:-

With regard to item 8, Adoption of the Local Plan Strategy, Cllr M Jones declared that he had fettered his discretion in respect of the Local Plan and that he would leave the meeting during consideration of this matter.

With regard to item 8, Cllr B Dooley declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in respect of the Local Plan and stated that she would leave the meeting during consideration of this matter.

With regard to item 9, 2016/17 Financial Outturn and Review of Performance, Cllr D Hough declared an interest in respect of the virement relating to the waste strategy implementation, as he was a Director of TSS, who would be sharing the related facility with ANSA and that he would leave the meeting during consideration of this matter.

With regard to item 9, 2016/17 Financial Outturn and Review of Performance, Cllr J Hammond declared an interest on behalf of himself and Cllrs G Baggot and S Hogben, in respect of the virement relating to the waste strategy implementation, as they were Directors of ANSA and would leave the meeting during consideration of this matter.

To approve the minutes of the Annual meeting of Council held on 17 May 2017 as a correct record.

RESOLVED

That the minutes be approved as a correct record.

The Mayor:-

Reported that in the previous eleven weeks since the Mayor Making ceremony, he and the Deputy Mayor had undertaken over 60 engagements.

Reported that, sadly one of his first responsibilities as Mayor had been to lead a short tribute and a minutes silence in Crewe in memory of the victims of the Manchester terrorist atrocity. The Deputy Mayor had led a comparable event in Macclesfield, and the Leader  at Westfields. Such simple tributes had been repeated twice in the following weeks; once to mark the terrorist attack in London and once in response to the terrible fire and loss of life at Grenfell Tower. He considered it right and proper that Cheshire East joined in with these national commemorations, but it was sad that three such events in quick succession had had to be marked in this way. One of the victims of the Manchester atrocity had been Nell Jones, a 14 year old school girl who attended Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School and it had been his privilege to visit the school, with the Leader, to lay flowers and sign a book of remembrance.  

Thanked the Highways Team for their very generous contribution to his charity fund. He had had the pleasure of visiting them in Congleton a few weeks before, where they had presented him with a cheque for the amazing sum of £1,590.55. The money had been raised in a variety of ways by staff and supply chain partners. Every pound raised would make a difference for his charities – Target Ovarian Cancer and Leighton Hospital Prostrate Cancer Support.

Announced that, at the Mayor Making ceremony, he had appointed Rev Cannon Dr Barry Wilson as his Chaplain. Barry had been appointed Vice Dean of Chester Cathedral and was due to take up that appointment in August and he was sure that Members would wish to join with him to wish him all the best in his new appointment. He was, therefore, appointing the Rev Stephen Snelling of St Mary's Nantwich as his Chaplin for the rest of his Mayoral year.

Announced two dates for Members’ diaries. On Friday 15 September he would be holding a charity funding raising event at Nantwich Civic Hall and he asked Members to join him in having a good time and raising money. The second date was his Civic Service, which would be taking place on Sunday 1 October, at St Mary’s Church, Nantwich. Whilst he appreciated that October seemed a long way away, it would be lovely to see as many Members as possible at the service. He would be writing to Members nearer the time with more details.

The Mayor then handed over to Councillor Dorothy Flude, to make an announcement.

Cllr Flude announced that Cllr David Newton would be resigning from the Council at the beginning of August and she read out a letter on behalf of Cllr Newton. Cllr Flude then added her own comments and sentiments.

Following this, Cllrs Corcoran, Burkhill and Fletcher said  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

Mr A Wood used public speaking time to address Council regarding the possibility of the Council taking part in a shared project for the introduction of a new market in Chelford.

Mr K Evans, Mr M Golding, Mr A Weinberg, Mrs N Brown, Sandbach Town Councillor M Benson, Middlewich Town Councillor J Parry and Cheshire East Councillor M Jones used public speaking time to address Council in respect of the Local Plan.

Ms J Smith used public speaking time to speak in support of Cllr Corcoran’s Notice of Motion relating to badger culling.

Mr T Wall used public speaking time to address Council concerning a recent article in the Crewe Chronicle concerning the Council’s Staffing Committee.

To receive such announcements as may be made by the Leader.

The Leader of the Council, in summary:-

1.     Echoed the Mayor’s words regarding the recent horrific events nationally, which had reached all corners of the country, including Cheshire East and asked Members to join her in sending condolences to all those impacted or who had sadly lost loved ones. 

2.     Referred the Council’s Critical Incident Response Team, which offered advice and psychological support to schools, settings and services at the time of an incident, when staff, pupils and parents may have experienced acute, even prolonged distress. The team had been and were key to the cross service response that Cheshire East delivered whenever required. She stated that, following a recent incident at a Sandbach school, she had received formal appreciation and thanks from the Headteacher and governors for the work of officers in providing sensitive help and support to both staff and students.  The team had also been involved in the support to schools following the aftermath of the Manchester bombing, and when she and the Mayor and Mayoress had visited Holmes Chapel High School, had been there, working in partnership with the school and the faith sector.

3.     Stated that Councillors rightly referenced the importance of their role as corporate parents to cared for children, which currently numbered well over 400 in Cheshire East. She stated that she had been delighted to learn of the success of two care leavers at the recent South and West Cheshire College Awards Evening. Equally, Cheshire East Primary Pupils had achieved an impressive set of Key Stage 2 results across core subjects. She stated that provisional figures showed that 64% of pupils had achieved the expected standard or higher for combined reading, writing and maths. The overall performance across Cheshire East was above the national average for all curriculum test indicators. She noted that these achievements had taken place during a time of major uncertainty as to Cheshire East schools future funding under the Governments fair funding for schools policy.  She and Jacky Forster, DoE, had accompanied Headteachers from Cheshire East to a meeting with the Schools Minister, Nick Gibb, in January.  The meeting had been convened by Fiona Bruce MP and fellow Cheshire East MP’s had either been in attendance or represented.  The outcome had been that Headteachers and Cheshire East officers would provide an evidence base of the annual cost of educating a pupil in Cheshire East. She was, therefore, delighted to report that this piece of partnership working had been recognised with: -

·       A minimum of £4800 per pupil provided for every secondary school.

·       An increase in the basic amount that every pupil attracted through the formula

·       Continued protection for funding for additional needs.

·       For the next two years gains of up to 3% a year for underfunded schools and 0.5% a year per pupil cash increase. 

She reported that the Council would shortly be publishing the operational guidance for 2018 to 2019 and the baselines for local authorities spending in the current year. She stated that this may have  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

To adopt the Cheshire East Local Plan Strategy

Members are reminded to bring their copy of the documentation to the meeting.

A limited number of paper copies of the documents will be available at the meeting for members of the public to refer to, but not to take away.

Copies of the documentation are available for purchase on request. For further details contact the Local Plan Team by telephone number 01270 685893 or by e-mail: localplan@cheshireeast.gov.uk

(Having declared an interest and fettering of discretion respectively, Cllrs B Dooley and M Jones left the meeting during consideration of this matter).

A report was submitted requesting that Council approve the adoption of the Cheshire East Local Plan Strategy as part of the Council’s Statutory Development Plan. This followed previous approvals by Council for the Submission version of the Local Plan Strategy (28 February 2014), the Proposed Changes version of the Local Plan Strategy (26 February 2016) and the approval to consult on proposed Main Modifications (15 Dec 2016).

The Strategic Planning Board, at its meeting on of 24 July 2017 and Cabinet, at its meeting on 26 July 2017, had considered this matter and the relevant minute from both meetings had been circulated around the Chamber in advance of the meeting.

The Mayor reminded Members that the decision today was whether or not to adopt the local plan strategy in the form presented. Government Advice within the Planning Practice Guidance advised that a local plan, following examination, would have been through a significant process locally to engage communities and other interests in discussions about the future of the area, and it was to be expected that the authority would proceed quickly with adopting a plan that had been found, through examination by a planning inspector, to be sound. Timely adoption would enable the document to become part of the development plan, and its policies to benefit from the statutory weight in planning decisions. Council could only adopt a development plan document in accordance with the recommendations of the Inspector, save for minor modifications which did not materially affect the substance of the policies. There was, therefore, no scope to make material changes to this document at this stage. He, therefore, encouraged Councillors to concentrate on the substantive issue of whether or not to adopt the Plan.

A motion to approve the recommendation, as set out in paragraph 2.3 and 2.4 of the report, was proposed and seconded.

AMENDMENT

An amendment to include the following additional recommendation (2.5) was proposed and seconded:-

“That this Council recommends to Cabinet that work should immediately start on a new Local plan that takes into account the implementation of HS2 and the correct air quality information”.

The amendment was put to the meeting and was declared lost.

The substantive motion was then put and a requisition for a named vote was submitted and duly supported. The motion was put to the meeting with the following results:-

For

Cllr A Arnold, Cllr G Baggot, Cllr Rachel Bailey, Cllr Rhoda Bailey, Cllr G

Barton, Cllr P Bates, Cllr G Baxendale, D Bebbington, E Brooks,

Cllr D Brown, C Browne, Cllr P Butterill, Cllr J Clowes,

Cllr H Davenport, Cllr S Davies, Cllr M Deakin, Cllr T Dean,Cllr L Durham, Cllr S Edgar, Cllr JP Findlow, Cllr R Fletcher, Cllr H Gaddum, Cllr S Gardiner, Cllr S Gardner, Cllr L Gilbert, Cllr P Groves, Cllr J Hammond, Cllr D Hough,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

To consider the recommendation from Cabinet

(Cllrs D Hough, J Hammond, G Baggot and S Hogben had declared an interest in the following item and left the meeting during consideration of this matter).

Cabinet, at its meeting on 13 June 2017, had considered the 2016/17 financial outturn and review of performance.

Cabinet had approved recommendations 1 and 2 of the report and recommended that Council approve fully funded supplementary capital estimates and virements above £1,000,000 in accordance with Financial Procedure Rules, as detailed in Appendix 4, Table 7 of the report. 

RESOLVED

That the supplementary capital estimate for the Crewe Green Roundabout scheme and the Waste Strategy Implementation virement, as set out in Appendix 4, Table 7 of the report, be approved.

The Following Notices of Motion had been submitted in accordance with Procedure Rule 12:-

1        Schools Education Funding

Proposed by Councillor L Durham and seconded by Councillor D Flude

This Council notes:

·       that in March 2016 the Government announced a review and consultation(s) on school funding reform;

·       that the average per-pupil school funding received from the Government varies considerably;

·       the Institute for Fiscal Studies report of December 2016 indicated that schools were predicted to see cost increases of around 8% by 2019/20;

·       schools in England are facing the first real-terms cuts to their funding in a generation;

·       that schools in England are already facing significant additional costs which the Government does not intend to pay for, including the removal of the Education Support Grant later this year;

·       that there is subsequently the need to move toward a more transparent system of Schools funding allocation.

This Council believes that:

·       investment in education is investment in the future of our nation;

·       investment in education is essential to provide all our young people with the chance to succeed;

·       the formula proposals presented in the National Fairer Funding Formula (NFFF) Stage 2 Consultation fall short of what was expected, lock in historical inequalities and will not deliver fairness as promised;

·       the national Government should make funds available for national Government policy initiatives in schools;

·       the basic level of funding allocated to all schools must be adequate for the school for both operational costs and the sufficient provision of staffing;

·       additional needs funding should be, as the name suggests, additional- and therefore should be targeted at Additional Education Needs (AEN) factors, and not come at the expense of the basic entitlement funding which is imperative to achieving a fair, balanced and equitable funding formula;

·       schools funding should follow a formula which combines need-based assessment with lump sum funding per pupil, to ensure all schools can function with appropriate pupil-teacher ratios and meet a defined set of costs-  this should be provided in accordance with 75% pupil funding and additional needs factors of 14% (deprivation 8%, prior attainment 5% and EAL 1%);

·       pupils of similar characteristics should attract similar levels of funding wherever they are in the country (allowing for the area cost adjustment);

·       while the Stage 2 consultation is about finding a fair funding methodology and not about the quantum of funding available, Cheshire East schools have been making cuts for many years now and have reached the limit of where further cuts can be identified;

·       the outcome of the fair funding for school’s consultation should be fair.

This Council further resolves to ask the Leader of the Council to write to the Secretary of State for Education asking them to:

·       ensure the budget for Schools is kept in line with inflation from the year 2015;

·       ensure the Government’s policy commitments to the apprenticeship levy, national living wage and pension contributions in schools are fully funded by national Government;

·       commission a comprehensive review of education funding covering ages 0-19;

·       publish the methodology used to calculate  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

The following questions were asked by Members :-

1.     Cllr Rhoda Bailey asked for assurance that notification of planning applications would be submitted to the press on a weekly basis so that they appeared in each edition of the relevant newspapers. - Cllr A Arnold, Housing and Planning Portfolio Holder, responded.

2.     Cllr L Gilbert referred to the bus service review and the withdrawal of services in rural areas and asked what measures would be put in place to ensure mobility of residents. - Cllr D Brown, Highways and Infrastructure Portfolio Holder, responded.

3.     Cllr D Flude asked why it was deemed to be political for Members to ask questions at the Staffing Committee about staff care and bullying and referred to a letter from the Leader of the Council recently published in the Crewe Chronicle. - The Leader of the Council responded.

4.     Cllr L Jeuda referred to the Government decision not to accept unaccompanied child refugees under the Dubs Amendment and asked what pressure the Council was going to apply to ask the Government to change this policy. - Cllr P Bates, Finance and Communities Portfolio Holder, responded.

5.     Cllr M Deakin referred to the recent report considered by the Health and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee concerning the proposed Branch Surgery Closure at Rhode Heath, Scholar Green and stated that the Alsager surgery was also close to capacity. With the inevitable population expansions, he asked whether the Council could begin working on the introduction if a new surgery in the near future. - The Leader of the Council responded.

6.     Cllr S Carter referred to ongoing roof problems at Hurdsfield Primary School and the need for repairs to the roof. He asked the Leader if she could expedite action in respect of this issue. - The Leader of the Council responded.

7.     Cllr Corcoran referred to Notices of Motion being routinely referred to Cabinet and made reference to a Notice of Motion that he had submitted in respect of fossil fuels, which he had not heard anything further about. He asked the Leader if she would give consideration to how Notices of Motion should be dealt with in the future. - The Leader of the Council responded and undertook to consider this.

8.     Cllr N Mannion referred to the ongoing discussions concerning air pollution caused by congestion and the Government’s announcement, on the previous day, regarding a ban on petrol and diesel by 2040. He asked whether the Leader would consider the establishment of a cross party working group to look at reducing pollution and congestion on roads, to report to Cabinet. - The Leader of the Council responded to say that this would probably be more appropriate to dealt with by a Scrutiny Task and Finish group, but that she would consider the matter and report back.

9.     Cllr T Fox referred to the lack of a confirmed date for improvements to the link Road on to the A34 at the Summerfields development and asked when  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.