PDF 107 KBVenue: Tatton Room, Town Hall, Macclesfield
Contact: Julie North Senior Democratic Services Officer
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Appointment of Chairman To appoint a Chairman of the Committee for the municipal year 2011/12. Minutes: Nominations were sought for the appointment of a Chairman for the Committee for the municipal year 2011/12.
On discussion however Members agreed that they wished to discuss the terms of reference of the Committee before appointing a Chairman. It was, therefore, agreed that a Chairman be appointed for the meeting and that the appointment be considered further at the next meeting of the Committee.
RESOLVED
That Councillor Louise Brown be appointed Chairman for the meeting. |
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Appointment of Vice-Chairman To appoint a Vice-chairman of the Committee for the municipal year 2011/12. Minutes: In accordance with minute 1 above the Committee agreed to appoint a Vice-Chairman for the meeting.
RESOLVED
That Councillor Lloyd Roberts be appointed Vice-Chairman for the meeting. |
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Apologies for Absence To receive apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillor A Harewood (Committee Member) and Janet Jackson (Participating/Local Member). |
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Declarations of Interest To provide an opportunity for Members to declare any personal and/or prejudicial interests in any item on the agenda. Minutes: There were no declarations of interest. |
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To consider the Terms of Reference of the Committee, as appended to the report of the Borough Solicitor. Additional documents: Minutes: Consideration was given to the proposed Terms of Reference of this Committee which, along with the Local Service Delivery Committee for Crewe, had been established by the Council at its meeting on 16 December 2011; the memberships had been approved at the Annual Council Meeting on 18 May 2012. Members were advised that any changes to the proposed Terms of Reference would need to be approved by the Council this being a responsibility of Council as set out in Part 3 of the Constitution.
Members sought clarification regarding the public speaking provision and it was confirmed that whilst this was not on the present agenda, as it had been intended that this would be a scene setting meeting, it would be a standard agenda item for future meetings.
With reference to the membership of the Committee concern was expressed that it was not as recommended by the Constitution Committee (18 November 2011) which was that it should be comprised of members who represented wards in the unparished area of Macclesfield. The recommendation of the Constitution Committee had been superseded by Council on 16 December 2010, when it was resolved that the Committee be appointed on a politically proportional basis. The current membership reflected this decision. The concern was that this meant that whilst provision had been made for the remaining Local Ward Councillors to receive copies of all agenda papers, and to be invited to participate in the meetings, they would not be entitled to vote.
Assurances were given that that the process to be adopted by the Committee was that Members of the Committee would be invited to speak on a matter in the first instance, followed by Participating/Ward Members, and that heed would certainly be taken of what they had to say before any decisions/recommendations were made.
Concern was also expressed by Participating/Local Ward Members that the proposed terms of reference (3), (4) and (5) related to finance; it was not considered appropriate that the Committee should be able to make recommendations to Cabinet that had financial implications and on which all Local Ward Members in the area concerned had not had the opportunity to vote.
A discussion ensued on the current position in that Macclesfield did not, at this stage, have a Town or Parish Council. It was pointed out that provision still needed to be made, however, for the devolution of services for which appropriate financial arrangements needed to be put in place; the Committee had been established to take on that role until such time as it was replaced by another body.
With regard to the positions of Chairman and Vice-Chairman there was agreement that rather than being decided by the Group as was currently the case, they should be decisions of the Committee. It was, therefore, agreed that an additional recommendation to this effect be added to the proposed Terms of Reference.
In the light of the discussion it was agreed that the following additions be made to the ... view the full minutes text for item 5. |
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Local Service Delivery - Transfer and Devolution To consider the report of the Head of Policy and Performance, which sets out the role of the Committee. Additional documents: Minutes: Consideration was given to a report on those services the Committee might wish to see continued within the unparished area of Macclesfield, these services were consistent with those transferring to parished areas elsewhere in the Borough.
An apology was made for some instances in the report where Crewe had been referred to instead of Macclesfield.
The Cabinet report of 5 September 2011 had been provided for information so that Members of the Committee were aware of the current position for the Boroughs’ existing Town and Parish Councils where negotiations had been taking place over the last 12 months regarding which assets, functions and services they wished to take over in their respective areas and for which they had existing powers and duties. Following these negotiations all of the Town Councils, and some of the Parishes, had registered an interest in the transfer of certain assets and services; these were set out in appendices to the report and approval to their transfer had been given by Cabinet at its meeting on 5 September.
In line with the assets and services to be transferred elsewhere a suggested list of services had been drawn up for Macclesfield along with an estimate of the financial implications.
In considering the report, and the list of suggested assets, Members expressed concern that the Committee was being asked to consider the special expenses payment that should be levied, the inclusion of costs associated with Town Centre Management, double taxation in general, the current (poor) condition of some of the assets on the list, what would happen to the Senior Citizens Hall at such time as approval was given to the Town Centre Redevelopment, and the exclusion of some assets which they might have liked to have seen on the list.
In view of the concerns expressed the Committee asked for further detailed information to be provided on each of the individual assets listed. In addition it was requested that the relevant service managers attend in order assist the Committee in its considerations.
RESOLVED
That further consideration be given to this matter at the next meeting of the Committee, that detailed financial information be provided for each individual asset as requested above, and that service managers be requested to attend. |
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Dates of Future Meetings To agree dates for future meetings, to enable the Committee to report to Cabinet, in due course. Minutes: RESOLVED
That the next meetings of the Committee be held on Tuesday 1 November 2011, and on Friday 25 November 2011, at 9.30 am. |