Agenda and minutes

To appoint a Chairman of the Committee.   

Two nominations for Chairman were put forward; Councillor John Hammond and Councillor Steven Hogben.  Councillor Hogben declined his nomination and it was therefore - 

RESOLVED: That Councillor John Hammond be appointed Chairman of the Committee.      

To appoint a Vice Chairman for the Committee. 

Councillor Steven Hogben was nominated as Vice Chairman of the Committee but he declined the nomination.  Councillor Derek Bebbington was then nominated for the position and it was –

RESOLVED: That Councillor Derek Bebbington be appointed Vice Chairman of the Committee.      

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any personal and/or prejudicial interests in any item on the agenda.

Members who sat as Crewe Charter Trustees sought advice from officers as to whether their position constituted a personal interest under the Code of Conduct.  Having received advice from the Democratic and Registration Services Manager, no declarations of interest were made in respect of the business on the agenda. 

In accordance with Procedure Rules Nos.11 and 35 a period of 10 minutes is allocated for members of the public to address the meeting on any matter relevant to the work of the meeting. Individual members of the public may speak for up to 5 minutes but the Chairman or person presiding 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 are not required to give notice to use this facility. However, as a matter of courtesy, a period of 24 hours’ notice is encouraged.

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.

The Council’s Constitution provided for public speaking at its meetings.  In accordance with Procedure Rules Nos 11 and 35, a total period of 10 minutes was allocated for members of the public to address the Committee on any matters relevant to its work. 

As this was the inaugural ‘scene setting’ meeting of the Committee and in the absence of a Chairman, the public speaking provision had not been included on this occasion.  Nevertheless, the Committee considered that the public should still be afforded the opportunity to speak and the Chairman invited members of the public, who were present at the meeting, to address the Committee.   

Mrs Kay spoke briefly, seeking reassurance that the work of the Committee would be conducted in an open and transparent manner.          

To consider the Terms of Reference for the Committee as appended to the report of the Borough Solicitor.   

The Committee was invited to consider its draft Terms of Reference. 

In order to clarify the role of local Ward Members on the Committee, the Chairman stated it was his intention for Ward Members to be invited to participate in and ask questions during meetings, subsequent to the Committee Members having made their own observations but they, unlike Committee Members, would not have voting rights. 

The Committee was supportive of this approach. 

Appendix A set out the original recommendation made in respect of the membership of the Committee (i.e. that Ward Members representing the un-parished areas of Crewe be appointed), which had been superseded by Council on 15 December 2010, when it resolved that the Committee be appointed on a political proportional basis.  The current membership of 4 Conservative, 1 Labour and 2 Independents reflected this decision.  

A list of the un-parished wards of Crewe was provided in the appendix to the report.  A Member commented that Leighton should also have been included as a small proportion of the ward fell outside the parish boundary.  Conversely, two of the wards included in the list (Crewe South and St. Barnabas) had areas which were parished and clarification of the composition of each ward was requested for the next meeting. 

RESOLVED: That, subject to the wording relating to membership of the Committee being amended to reflect the political proportionality of the Council and the inclusion of Leighton in the wards affected, the Terms of Reference for the Local Service Delivery Committee (Crewe) be recommended to Council for approval. 

(Note: The Democratic and Registration Services Manager left the meeting at this point in the proceedings.  Councillor Martin arrived during consideration of the item but took no part in the discussion nor voted thereon.) 

To consider the report of the Head of Policy and Performance that sets out the role of the Committee.    

Local Service Delivery Committees had been established by the Council for the areas of Crewe and Macclesfield to ensure that the provision of services was fair and consistent across the borough.  So that each area had the same opportunities and choices as other parished areas regarding the provision of services (consistent with those transferring to parished areas), the Committee, as part of its work, would be invited to consider issues relating to a potential Special Expenses Levy (SEL) which may be imposed on the residents of the area to deliver such services.   

In introducing the report, the Head of Policy and Performance explained that the purpose of the paper was to ensure that Members were aware of the current service provision in Crewe by highlighting areas for consideration, thus enabling Members to challenge the arrangements, where appropriate.  Members were also asked to identify what additional information they required to consider the matters before them.

Running in parallel with the work of the Committee; a second Community Governance Review was being conducted to consider options for how Crewe should be governed in the future.  Despite a difference of opinion amongst Members as to the merits of the review, the Committee accepted that the outcome would impact on its work moving forward.           

During the debate, the following points were raised/noted:

§         It was important to avoid duplication with activities being provided by the Crewe Charter Trustees

§         The list of current services under consideration could be added to or removed as appropriate by the Committee or Cabinet 

§         Any public consultation exercise over and above the Council’s Business Planning Process would be dependent on the recommendations of the Committee

§         The Special Expenses Levy (SEL) quoted in the report was indicative at this stage and would be clarified as budgets were finalised

§         The differential between the SEL indicated for Macclesfield and that for Crewe required further explanation

The Committee also asked for additional information to be provided as follows

§         Figures relating to the numbers of Council Tax payers/population in the non-parished areas of Crewe and Macclesfield for comparision purposes   

§         Detailed breakdown of budget heads/operational costs referred to in the report 

§         Copy of the Crewe Charter Trustees budget

§         Further information regarding the operation of Crewe Market 

RESOLVED: That the report be received. 

Members to be invited to agree date(s) for future meetings to enable the Committee to report back to Cabinet in due course.     

As recommendations from the Committee would help inform the 2012/2013 budget, future meetings would need to fit in with those scheduled for Cabinet and full Council.   

To provide sufficient time for the recommendations to be considered it was -   

RESOLVED: That meetings of the Local Service Delivery Committee (Crewe) be arranged for i) Monday, 31 October 2011 at 10.00am; and ii) Thursday 24 November 2011 at 1.30pm, venues in Crewe to be confirmed.