Agenda and minutes

The Revd Dr Paul Smith said prayers at the request of the Mayor.

The Mayor referred to the commemoration of the centenary of the start of the First World War; “the war to end all wars” and informed Members that, over the next four years, the Council would mark the centenary of a number of key First World War landmarks. The first of those, the First Battle of Ypres, would be marked at today’s Council meeting.

He called upon Councillor Gordon Baxendale, as Armed Services Champion, to speak. Each Group Leader was then invited to speak in turn. The Leader of the Council then asked for the Last Post to be played and following this a period of silence was observed.

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

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 17 July as a correct record.

RESOLVED

That the minutes be approved as a correct record.

The Mayor:-

1.    Announced that, since the last Council meeting, he and the Deputy Mayor had undertaken over one hundred engagements and that details  had been circulated around the Chamber.

2.    Thanked his Chaplain, Rev Doctor Paul Smith, for so ably conducting his Civic Service on Sunday 28 September. There had been an excellent turnout at St Bartholomew’s Church in Wilmslow and he thanked all Members who had been able to attend.

3.    Stated that he would like to put on record his pride by the way in which Cheshire East has commemorated the centenary of the start of the First World War and he congratulated those that organised the two marvellous and very well attended events that he had had the pleasure of hosting in August. He considered that it was very fitting that the Council had remembered the centenary of the First Battle of Ypres at today’s meeting.

4.    Announced that, in a private capacity, since the last meeting of Council, he had visited Normandy with representatives of ABF, the Soldiers Charity, one of his two charities for his Mayoral year. It had been a privilege to learn at first hand of the good work that this wonderful charity did. He had concluded his visit with the laying of a wreath on behalf of ABF.

5.    Announced that the second of his two charities was MacMillan Cancer Support and he had had the pleasure of being part of MacMillan World’s Biggest Coffee Morning a couple of weeks earlier. Thanks to the generosity of the people of Macclesfield, over £200 had been raised for this very good cause.

6.    Announced that he had been informed of the death of Keith Bagnall, a former Congleton Borough Councillor and serving Middlewich Town Councillor.  He was sure that Members would join with him in sending condolences to Mr Bagnall’s family and friends.

7.    Referred to much of the good work in society that went unnoticed and unrecognised and stated that one of the joys of being Mayor was having the opportunity to celebrate this good work. Since he had been appointed in May he had been truly astounded by the commitment and energy that he had seen from those providing services for people with disabilities and life limiting illnesses. What he had seen had been truly inspirational and he gave two examples:-

·         On 24 September he and the Mayoress had had the pleasure of visiting the Donna Louise Children's Hospice; this was outside of the Borough, in Stoke, but provided services to the Borough’s residents.   He had learnt a lot; not least that the majority of Children who used the services of the Hospice moved on to other forms of treatment or were in remission when they left. The visit was truly life affirming.

·         In August, he had been entertained to afternoon tea by the Parkinson’s Disease Society. Again, he was extremely impressed by what he saw; dedicated volunteers, a thriving organisation and perhaps most impressively many of examples of self  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

Mr J Smith, an Allotment holder in the Borough, used public speaking time to address Council concerning the Heyes Lane allotments in Alderley Edge. He read out a draft letter, which was to go out to all residents of Alderley Edge from Alderley Edge Parish Council concerning the future of the allotments. He stated that the Parish Council wished to replace the allotments with a road and car park, that Cheshire East Council leased them and there was clause in place which indicated that they must remain as allotments. He stated that, in February, the Parish Council had given the allotment holders three months notice to quit, citing that the allotments were not fit for purpose and that the Parish Council had passed a resolution taking away the statutory status of the land and he questioned whether this was legal. He considered that there were other solutions and options which should to be explored by the Parish Council and stated that the Parish council had voted to carry out a survey of the villagers in respect of the issue, following pressure from residents. He also referred to a petition which had been signed by 49% of the population of Alderley Edge.

The Leader of the Council responded to say that this was very much a matter for the Parish Council and he hoped that Mr Smith would be able to find a satisfactory resolution to this issue.

Consideration was given to the following Notices of Motion :-

1          Location of Strategic Planning Board meeting.

Proposed by Councillor David Brickhill and seconded by Councillor Arthur Moran

In the light of the Chairman’s decision to hold a Strategic Planning Board meeting in Macclesfield when all the items of the agenda (bar one in Ollerton) were in the south of the Borough, it is clear that the previous decision of Council is not being observed by him.  Therefore his discretion in this matter is withdrawn. The location of the meeting in Crewe or Macclesfield  shall be decided only on the basis of whether the majority of the agenda items are in the  south or north  of the Borough, as this was clearly the intention of council especially to avoid residents having to travel long distances e.g. Wrenbury to Macclesfield.  

RESOLVED

That the motion be deferred.

2          Risk Assessment before Changes to Current Respite/Short Term Break Arrangements

Proposed by Councillor Laura Jeuda and seconded by Councillor Dorothy Flude

That this Council adopts a policy of carrying out a thorough risk assessment, using criteria agreed with our Clinical Commissioning Groups, before making any decision or changes to the current respite/short term break arrangements, and that the results of the risk assessment will be announced publicly and shared with all Consultees.

RESOLVED

That the motion stand referred to Cabinet.

3          Health Care

Proposed by Councillor Brendan Murphy and Seconded by Councillor Lloyd Roberts

In the light of plans for the development of sub-regional Specialist  Hospitals and the consequent downgrading of other Hospitals in the Greater Manchester conurbation, the Council requests the Health and Wellbeing Board to consider the impact that such developments could have on the future of Macclesfield General Hospital and, in particular, to ensure that the wellbeing of North East Cheshire residents will not be adversely affected in the event of Stepping Hill Hospital being downgraded as result the changes being currently considered.

RESOLVED

That the motion stand referred to the Health and Wellbeing Board, following which it will be referred to Cabinet.

4          Work Experience for Young People

Proposed by Councillor Brendan Murphy and Seconded by Councillor Paul Edwards.

This Council regrets its failure to provide work-experience opportunities for young people and calls upon the Cabinet to implement an appropriate scheme at the earliest opportunity.

RESOLVED

That the motion stand referred to Cabinet.

5          Reunification of Cheshire

Proposed by Councillor Brendan Murphy and Seconded by Councillor Roy Cartlidge

In the light of the proposed escalation of power for combined city authorities, this Council welcomes the Leaders proposal for the restoration of a Cheshire-wide authority to ensure the County is not disadvantaged or threatened by city region growth,

PROVIDED

a.    The new Authority consists of elected members appointed “proportionally” by the existing Borough Councils.

b.    Appropriate powers – such as Strategic Planning, Economic Development et al  -are transferred from the Borough Councils to the new Authority

c.    Given the arrival of Alternative Service Delivery Vehicles, there should  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

On 16^th September 2014, Cabinet had received a report on the 2014/15 First Quarter Review of Performance. The report set out the Council’s financial and non financial performance at the first quarter stage, including the projected capital outturn position and commentary on the delivery of the capital programme. The report provided details of the strong and improving financial management of the Council’s budget. The report also contained a recommendation that Council approve a fully funded supplementary capital estimate of over £1m, recognising the receipt of additional grant funding to support the highway investment programme in Cheshire East, detail of which was contained in an appendix to the report.

RESOLVED

That, in accordance with the Council’s Finance Procedure Rules, the supplementary capital estimate of over £1m, as recommended by Cabinet, and as set out in Appendix 1 of the report be approved.

The Audit and Governance Committee Annual Report for 2013/14 was submitted to Council. The report set out the performance of the Committee in relation to its terms of reference and detailed the findings, conclusions and recommendations in respect of the adequacy and effectiveness of its governance, risk management and internal control frameworks, financial reporting arrangements and internal and external functions.

RESOLVED

That the report be received.

Consideration was given to a report relating to the determination of the political representation on the Council’s Committees. The political group representations were set out in an appendix to the Report.

RESOLVED

That the political group representation, as set out in Appendix 1 of the report and the methods, calculations and conventions used in determining this, as outlined in the report, be adopted and the allocations of places to Committees  be approved.

           Consideration was given to a report relating to the review of the memberships of the Council’s decision-making bodies.

The nominations made by the Group Leaders to the bodies were listed in Appendix to the report.

          In addition to the nominations contained in the Appendix, Cllr Rod Fletcher was nominated to fill the Liberal Democrat vacancy on the Lay Members Appointments Committee.

           RESOLVED

That, subject to the above additional nomination, the nominations made by the Group Leaders to the bodies listed in Appendix 1 to the report be approved.

.

           Consideration was given to a report seeking Council approval in respect of a proposed change to the date of the Council’s 2015 Mayor-Making and Annual  Meeting.

RESOLVED

That the Council’s 2015 Mayor-Making and Annual Meeting be re-scheduled to take place on 27^th May 2015.

The Leader of the Council announced :-

1.    That, in the last two months, he had attended various important and high level meetings in London.  

2.    That he had recently attended an Astra Zeneca Task Force meeting; the taskforce having been set up to assure the future of the Alderley Park site. There were over 3,000 people in the Borough who worked for Astra Zeneca and he thanked the Chairman of the Task Force group for inviting him to attend the meeting.

3.    That he had attended a number of meetings with Government, with the aim of acquiring additional funding for Cheshire East.

4.    That, with regard to value for money, he considered that Cheshire East was financially strong, but there were challenges ahead for the Council. The formation of a new ASDV for planning services was due to be considered by Cabinet and he would also be confirming ASDVs for transport and energy.

5.    That David Higgins, the Chairman of HS2, would be making his recommendations in respect of the route of HS2 on 27 October. This would be an important piece of work for the Council, whatever the outcome.

6.    That he had attended a meeting of Middlewich Town Council in the previous week.

7.    That, with regard to jobs and housing, the five year housing supply was the highest figure that the Council had ever put forward.

8.    That the Council was in a strong position to bring many things forward and he outlined a number of proposed changes to the senior management structure.

Members asked the following questions :-

Cllr Hardy, in respect of governance arrangements in Macclesfield – The Governance Portfolio Holder, Cllr Findlow, responded.

Cllr Merry, in respect of why there were such large number of road works in the Borough – The Service CommissioningPortfolio Holder, Cllr D Topping responded.

Cllr Jackson, in respect of the date for the next meeting of the Constitution Committee to consider future governance arrangements in Macclesfield – The Chairman of the Constitution Committee, Cllr A Martin responded.

Cllr Faseyi, in respect of what arrangements the Council had in place in respect of Ebola - The Care and Health in the Community Portfolio Holder, Cllr Clowes, responded.

Cllr Domleo, in respect of the Council’s decision regarding Mount View Care  Home - The Care and Health in the Community Portfolio Holder, Cllr Clowes, responded.

Cllr Whiteley, in respect of the removal of defective street lights - The Service Commissioning  Portfolio Holder, Cllr D Topping responded.

Cllr Hoyland in respect of the Council’s standards for adopting and fostering – The Safeguarding Children and Adults Portfolio Holder, Cllr Rachel Bailey, responded.

Cllr Mcgrory, in respect of reviewing the Council’s policy relating to the storage of disability scooters, following a recent incident where a scooter had exploded - The Care and Health in the Community Portfolio Holder, Cllr Clowes, responded.

Cllr A Moran, in respect of the arrangements for the forthcoming elections – The Leader of the Council, Cllr M Jones, responded.

Cllr Gardiner, in respect of missed bin collections - The Service Commissioning  Portfolio Holder, Cllr D Topping responded.

Cllr Rhoda Bailey, in respect of HS2 – The Leader of the Council, Cllr M Jones, responded.

Cllr Hough, in respect of the affect of planning decisions relating to geothermal energy on Alsager - The Leader of the Council, Cllr M Jones, responded.

Cllr Barratt, in respect of how much had been spent on the Local Plan to date how many houses would be built due to lost appeals - The Leader of the Council, Cllr M Jones, responded.

Cllr Corcoran, in respect of changes to the planning website – The Housing and Jobs  Portfolio Holder, Cllr Stockton, responded.

Cllr Hough, in respect of refusal by the Commonwealth Graves Commission for permission to erect a plaque for the war dead at Macclesfield cemetery  - The Leader of the Council, Cllr M Jones, responded.

Cllr Hunter, in respect of HS2 - The Leader of the Council, Cllr M Jones, responded.