Agenda and minutes

In the absence of the Mayor’s Chaplain and at the request of the Mayor, Councillor Steve Wilkinson said prayers.

Councillor Liz Gilliland

The prayers included a prayer giving grateful thanks for the life of Councillor Liz Gilliland, who sadly had recently passed away. Members and Officers stood for one minute’s silent tribute in memory of Councillor Gilliland.

Following prayers, Councillors Fitzgerald, Neilson, Flude and Edwards paid tribute to Councillor Gilliland and her contribution as a Councillor over many years.

To approve the minutes as a correct record.

RESOLVED

That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.

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

1.      The Mayor referred to the recent news reports concerning the frequent casualties from the 1st Battalion, The Mercian Regiment (Cheshire), who were under a lot of pressure on the frontline, in the fight against the Taliban in Helmand. His thoughts were with the families of the soldiers concerned, at this sad time. He reported that all the families of soldiers who had been killed would receive a letter, on behalf of all the residents of Cheshire East.

                 With this in mind he announced that :-

2.      The Mayor’s Charity Ball would take place, from 7pm on Friday 3 September, in the Tenants Hall, at Tatton Park, Knutsford. Tickets were priced at £35 and included a three course dinner and champagne reception. Any Member wishing to purchase tickets should contact Karen Bedford, in the Democratic Services Section. All proceeds would go to towards the Soldiers’ Charity. Members who were unable to attend could donate a raffle prize, if they wished to support the charity.

3.      The Mayor also urged Members to support the hoedown and hog roast, which were to be held in a marquee at The Waggon and Horses pub, on Manchester Road, in Eaton, Congleton, on Saturday, August 21, at 7.30pm, to raise funds for the welfare of injured troops of the 1st Battalion. Tickets were priced at £10 and details of how they could be obtained were posted on the Council’s website. Proceeds raised would be used to provide equipment and entertainment, such as computer consoles, games and DVDs, to help wounded troops, during their recovery and rehabilitation. If Members were unable to attend, they may wish to sponsor a ticket for a family of an injured soldier.  Any donations of DVDs or Playstation games would also be much appreciated and the Mayor would be happy to pass them on to the soldiers.

4.      The Mayor announced that he had attended the RHS Show, at Tatton Park, on the previous day and that the Authority’s display had won a gold medal for an exhibit in the flowerbed competition, entitled ‘Cheshire Cheese Please’, which was a giant cheeseboard made entirely of flora and fauna. The Tatton gardens were also awarded a silver guilt medal for their garden. The Mayor congratulated all those staff involved in creating the displays.

5.      The Mayor announced that the meeting was the final Council meeting at which John Weeks, Strategic Director for People, would be present and he felt it fitting for John’s hard work, over many years, to be publicly acknowledged. He thanked John, on behalf of the Council and presented him with a small token of the Council’s appreciation.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Fitzgerald and Councillors Flude and Fletcher added their personal comments, together with comments on behalf of their respective groups.

The Mayor reported that, following the sad passing away of Councillor Gilliland, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 17, Council needed to elect a Vice-Chairman of the Environment and Prosperity Scrutiny Committee. This item was not included on the agenda for the Council meeting, due to the timescale for the publication of the agenda papers and in light of the timing of the very recent funeral. The Mayor stated that he was, therefore, content to deal with this as an urgent item, under the provisions of Section 100(B)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, by reason of the special circumstances as indicated.

It was moved and seconded and :-

RESOLVED

That Councillor Andrew Martin be appointed as Vice Chairman of the Environment and Prosperity Scrutiny Committee.

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

Councillor Fletcher declared a personal interest in the item relating to the Wilmslow Community Governance Review, as one of the people listed in the Petition in respect of the area of Styal was related to his wife.

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 must provide 3 clear working days notice, in writing, if they wish to ask a question at the meeting.  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.

Mrs Denise Roberts attended the meeting and used public speaking time to voice her concerns relating to the Council's decision to close Cypress House Community Support Centre, in Handforth. She stated that, for many years this excellent centre has provided respite and day care services to Cheshire East residents, from as far afield as Disley, Higher Poynton, Knutsford and High Legh and also Warrington. It also provided convalescent care for Wythenshawe, Stepping Hill and Macclesfield Hospitals. She had personal concerns regarding its closure, as her aunt, being sole carer for her elderly, disabled husband, had used it regularly for much needed respite care. Whilst she fully understood that the Council needed to make savings, she could not agree with the decision to close down one, out of only two, Local Authority owned Care Centres in Cheshire East, which had the Quality Care Commission’s (CQC) 3 Star excellence award; the other centre being Lincoln House in Crewe. Cypress House had retained this award for the past 3 years, after the Care Quality Commission had visited and inspected the Centre without notification. She stated that very few Private Care Homes in Cheshire, East had this award of excellence. On speaking with Social Workers, Hospital Bed Managers, residents and carers she had heard nothing but praise for the dedicated, happy and professional team of staff. After speaking with Cheshire East’s Head of Adult Services, she had established that bed under occupancy at Cypress house was the reason for closure. All service users had received a letter, late in March, after rumours about the proposed closure of the Centre were printed in the local press. They were given a list of alternative Support Centres, all located in Macclesfield, Congleton and Crewe and, with the exception of Lincoln House, only held CQC's 2 star standard award. Prior to service users receiving this letter, bed occupancy at Cypress house in March was 30 clients per night, February 25-30 per night, January 23-28 per night and December 2009, 21 per night. She stated that the Centre had been closed in November, due to an outbreak of diarrhoea and Vomiting and an illness such as this and C-DIFF and flu pandemics could close Hospital wards, Care Homes, etc in a matter of hours. She questioned, with the closure of Cypress House, whether Cheshire East Care Services had the necessary emergency respite and day care services available to users, when such emergencies happened again. She noted that the Council’s Cabinet agenda stated that Cheshire East had a higher than average number of elderly and residents with dementia. As people were living longer, more pressure would be put on care resources. She stated that, at the recent Cabinet meeting, Councillor Roland Domleo had given a verbal guarantee to Cabinet and herself on his decision to close Cypress house, that all alternative respite and day care services offered to service users would continue to receive the same high standard of care. She hoped, for the sake of Cheshire  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

To adopt the Corporate Plan.

N.B: Copies of the Corporate Plan can be viewed on the Council’s website as part of a supplementary agenda pack to this agenda and are available, upon request, from Democratic services.  Printed copies have been circulated separately to Council Members. Would Members please bring their copy to the meeting.

Consideration was given to the recommendation from Cabinet in respect of the Corporate Plan, which was circulated at the meeting.

Cabinet had considered the final draft of the Corporate Plan, at its meeting on 19 July 2010 and had received a resume of the views and comments on the Plan, which had been considered by the Scrutiny Committees, at meetings throughout June and July. A number of drafting amendments/addition to the Corporate Plan arising from this consultation had been requested and these were agreed by the Cabinet as follows:-

1.      The reference to household income at the end of the first paragraph on page 4 will be amended to read; “Household income also differs, ranging from £65,000 in parts of Macclesfield to £18,000 in parts of Crewe.”

2.      Section 10 on page 22 where it refers to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee will be amended so that the penultimate sentence reads; “Again, you are more than welcome to attend these meetings. 

3.      The final bullet point under “What we will do to achieve our ambition?” in Corporate Objective 4, in Appendix 1, will be amended to read “Improve our parks and green spaces across the Borough.” This replaces “Achieve and increase existing level of Green Flags in our Greenspace sites.” The related outcome under the column headed “How will we know if we have been successful?” which refers to Green Flags will be removed.

4.      It is proposed to add an extra bullet point to Corporate Objective 4, in Appendix 1, under the column headed “What we will do to achieve our ambition?” stating that “Drive forward our work with local partners in the police and justice system to reduce the fear of crime and improve public safety in the borough.”  Likewise it is proposed to add a bullet point to the next column headed “How will we know if we have been successful? Stating that “The residents of Cheshire East will feel safer in their local communities.”  

RESOLVED

For the reasons set out in the report: -

That, subject to the inclusion of the amendments/addition detailed above, the Corporate Plan be approved and adopted. 

To adopt the Sustainable Community Strategy.

N.B: Copies of the Sustainable Community Strategy can be viewed on the Council’s website as part of the supplementary pack to this agenda and are available upon request from Democratic Services. Printed copies have been circulated separately to Council Members. Would Members please bring their copy to the meeting.

Consideration was given to the recommendation from Cabinet in respect of the Sustainable Community Strategy, which was circulated at the meeting.

Cabinet had considered the final draft of the Sustainable Community Strategy, at its meeting on 19 July 2010. The Strategy had also been considered by the Sustainable Communities Scrutiny Committee, at its meeting on 15 July and the following comments had been made: -

·The document was well written and clear.

· A clear definition of a town is needed – the Strategy should refer to the fact  

  that the LDF process will address this. 

· Members questioned whether or not producing such a strategy represented

  value for money.

· Members noted that the strategy was aspirational and not compulsory.

· Members were disappointed that the contribution of agriculture, rural

   economy and productiveness of land, had not been given sufficient

   emphasis or greater reference, throughout the strategy.

· That any reference to the PCT should be replaced with health services

In considering these comments Cabinet had agreed that the following words be inserted as an additional bullet point under the heading ‘We have a strong, sustainable economy’ on page 17 (Cheshire East in 2005, Our Vision):-

‘Farming and agriculture are valued and supported for the contribution they make to Cheshire East’s economy and the distinctiveness of our rural communities.’

RESOLVED

That, subject to the inclusion of the additional words detailed above, the Sustainable Community Strategy be approved and adopted.

To approve the recommendations of the former Governance and Constitution Committee.

Consideration was given to the recommendation from the former Governance and Constitution Committee in respect of Committee Procedure Rules, Recorded Votes.

RESOLVED

That the following provision and its incorporation into the Council’s Committee Procedure Rules, be approved and adopted:

“At Committees, Sub-Committees or Special Committees, when a Member stands in his/her place and asks for a recorded vote to be taken and one other Member stands in his/her place to support the request, the vote will be recorded to show whether each Member present voted for or against the motion or abstained.”

To approve the recommendations of the Constitution Committee.

Consideration was given to the recommendation from Constitution Committee relating to the Wilmslow Community Governance Review, First Stage Consultation.

RESOLVED

1. That :-

(1)   pursuant to Section 87 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007; and having regard to the provisions of the Department for Communities and Local Government and Electoral Commission Guidance, issued in April 2008, for the conduct of Community Governance Reviews; and having received three valid petitions  signed by the required number of electors calling for the constitution of new parishes for the three areas of (1) Handforth; (2) Wilmslow and Handforth; (3) Styal which triggered the Community Governance Review process:

      Having taken into account

• the petitions;

• the results of the consultation with the electors in each of the areas concerned which show in each case that a majority of those who returned their ballot papers were in favour of a new parish council for their area;

• the results of the consultation exercise with stakeholders and the representations from other interested persons;

• the outcomes of the public meetings held in each of the review areas; and

• the information on existing community governance arrangements in the areas concerned and the alternative forms of community governance which might have been appropriate for the areas in question :-

a.      that the interests of effective and convenient local government and community identities in these areas would be served by the creation of new parishes with a parish council for each of Handforth (not including polling district 8EE1 so as to recognise historic and traditional boundaries in the area), Wilmslow (including polling district 8EE1) and Styal, all as shown on the map appended to the minutes of the Constitution Committee held on 24 June 2010, with each parish comprising the polling districts indicated below; such parish councils to be called: Handforth Parish Council, Wilmslow Parish Council and Styal Parish Council respectively, and that Wilmslow Parish Council be advised to consider its designation as a Town Council;

Handforth Parish

Polling districts:       8EF1, 8EG1, 8EH1, 8EJ1

Wilmslow Parish

   Polling districts: 8EA1, 8EB1, 8EC1, 8ED1, 8EE1, 8EK1, 8FA1, 8FB1, 8FC1, 8FD1, 8FE1, 8FF1, 8FG1, 8FH1, 8FJ1

Styal Parish

Polling district:       8FK1

b.      that in Styal the election of parish councillors should be from the area of the parish as a whole;

c.      that given the substantial size of the proposed Wilmslow parish and in order to reflect longstanding community identities, the parish should be divided into wards for the purposes of election to the Parish Council;

d.      that the first year of elections to the new parish councils should be 2011; and

e.      that these proposals form the basis of a second stage of public consultations and that the Boundary Commission be informed of these proposals;

 2.  That :-

(1)   having regard to comparator information for Parish Councils in Cheshire East, and having regard to electoral equality, the number of Councillors to serve on each of the new Parish Councils should be as follows:

a.      Handforth: 7 Councillors

b.      Styal: 5  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

To approve the recommendations of the Constitution Committee.

Consideration was given to the recommendation from Constitution Committee relating to Overview and Scrutiny Working Arrangements, which sought  amendments to the Constitution to reflect the realignment of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees with the new Portfolio responsibilities, reported at Council on 13 May 2010 and to make appropriate reference to the role of the Scrutiny Chairmen’s Group.

.

RESOLVED

1.      That the new Overview and Scrutiny remits, as set out below be approved, subject to the Performance and Capacity Portfolio being added to the list of Portfolios for the Corporate Scrutiny Committee, in relation to the Corporate Plan and risk management responsibilities of that Portfolio and that the  Borough Solicitor be authorised to make any necessary amendments to the Constitution.

2.      That the role of the Scrutiny Chairmen’s Group, in resolving cross-cutting issues and reviewing work programmes and workloads, be recognised and that the Borough Solicitor be authorised to make appropriate reference to the Group’s role, in the Constitution.

To approve the requests for Supplementary Capital Estimates, to be funded from capital reserves, as detailed in Appendix 1 of the report.

Consideration was given to a report of the Borough Treasurer and Head of Assets, which requested that the Council approve the following requests for Supplementary Revenue Estimates, previously approved as subject to outturn, which required funding from balances :-

£2,291,000 for Adults Social Care Redesign  

£125,000 for Economic Development   

RESOLVED

That the requests for Supplementary Capital Estimates be approved and that these be funded from capital reserves, as set out above and as detailed in Appendix 1 of the report.

To receive the Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report 2009/2010.

Consideration was given to the Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report 2009/2010.

RESOLVED

That the Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report 2009/2010 be received.

To note the final recommendations of the Boundary Commission, published on 13th July 2010.

Consideration was given to the independent Local Government Boundary Commission for England’s final recommendations for new local government electoral arrangements in Cheshire East, which had been published on 13 July 2010. An additional covering report relating to the recommendations was circulated at the meeting.

The following motion was proposed and seconded:-

That taking into account :–

a)     That the final recommendations of the Boundary Commission are unreasonable in that they fail effectively to take into account and give due weight to the submissions of this Council and other representatives of the local community.

b)     The final recommendations would be complex and very costly to introduce at a time when this Council is being urged to make budgetary savings.

c)      The final recommendations of the Boundary Commission having just been published will not be laid until October.

d)     If objections to the order are received, it will be at least a further 40 days from October before the proposals can be considered by Parliament and the outcome known.

e)     The proposals involve an increase in the number of Wards for Cheshire East from 27 at present to a total of 52 Wards, involving a mixture of 3, 2 and Single Member Wards, thereby making the administration of elections much more complex.

f)        That the next elections for both Cheshire East Council and the Town & Parish Councils in the area are to be held in May 2011, together with the proposed national referendum on electoral reform.

g)     The above uncertainties over the parliamentary timescale, which indicate it will not be possible to make boundary changes to the electoral registers in time for the annual canvass in the early autumn, meaning that the work would have to be repeated subsequently to enable new electoral registers to be produced based on the new electoral arrangements thereby creating more work and additional administrative cost. 

h)      The proposals also involve consequential changes to the warding arrangements for the Parishes of Congleton, Gawsworth, Nantwich, Poynton, Sandbach, Weston & Willaston.

This Council resolves:

To ask Parliament to reject the Order containing the final recommendations of the Boundary Commission and requests the Leader of the Council to write to the local MP’s and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government accordingly, so that a complete revision of the boundaries can take place at the same time as the Parliamentary Boundary Review in 2014. This would enable the Boundary Commission to take a holistic view of the impact that the radical changes, that are likely in the design of the Parliamentary constituency boundaries, will have on the local authority ward structure and town and parish boundaries.     

A requisition for a named vote was submitted and duly supported with the following results :-

For

The Mayor, Councillor G Baxendle, the Deputy Mayor, Councillor R West,

Councillors C Andrew, Rhoda Bailey, A Barratt, G Barton, D Bebbington, S Bentley, D Brickhill, D Brown, J Crockatt,, M Davies, S Davies, R Domleo, B Dykes, J P Findlow, R W J Fitzgerald,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47.

In accordance with Procedure Rules 11, opportunity is provided for Members of the Council to ask the Chairman, 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 must be sent in writing to the Monitoring Officer at least 3 clear working days before the meeting.

Councillors Flude and Thorley had submitted the following questions to Council. They requested and Council agreed, that written responses be circulated to all Members of the Council, after the meeting, rather than the questions being answered at the meeting :-

(1) Boundary Committee Report

Question to the Cabinet Member for Democratic Services, submitted by Cllr Flude :-

The Local Government Boundary Commission has completed and published its review of Electoral Arrangements for the Borough of Cheshire East. The Commission recommends that there should be 82 members representing 28 single member wards, 18 two member wards and 6 3 member wards.

When accepted by Parliament, the Borough will be expected to put in place electoral arrangements to carry out the Borough elections of May 2011, based on the new wards.

Given the short time span to introduce these changes will the Cabinet Member;

1.      Outline the expected time scale for the introduction of the new electoral system?

2.      Exert all legitimate pressure for the Parliamentary Order to be laid and accepted as quickly as possible?

3.      Assure the Council and the public that the resources are available to organise the changes?

4.      Arrange to publicise the new arrangements to the electorate and all interested parties such as political parties and Town and Parish councils?

5.      Ensure there is an appropriate induction process in place for prospective candidates in the 82 wards?

6.      Run a campaign to encourage participation in the local elections?

(2)  Affordable Housing

 Question to the Cabinet Member with responsibility for strategic planning, submitted by Cllr Flude :-

Eric Pickles Secretary of State for Local Government announced that house building targets set by central government are to be scrapped.

There apparently has been established the need for 1200 houses per year to be provided in Cheshire East Borough to satisfy the need for affordable homes in urban and rural areas. Will the Cabinet member responsible.

1.      Provide estimated figures for the affordable homes required in each of the 7 LAP areas divided into an urban category and a rural category for the next 5 years?

2.      State how many affordable homes have been provided in Cheshire East in 2009/10 and where they have been provided?

3.      State the planned provision of affordable homes in the LAP urban and rural areas for 2010/11 to 2014/15?

4.      State what is being done by the Borough in partnership with other organisations to close the gap between estimated need and provision?

5.      State how the newly formed service run by the Borough for the allocation of social housing will help those in need for that provision?

6.      What encouragement is being given to Town and Parish Councils to work with housing associations to meet the need for affordable housing in rural areas of the Borough?

(3) Secondary Education in Macclesfield

Question to the Cabinet Member responsible for Children and Families, submitted by Cllr Flude :-

Parents and teachers are deeply concerned about the state of secondary education in the Macclesfield area of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.