Agenda and minutes

The Mayor’s Chaplain, the Reverend Charles Razzall said prayers.

To approve the minutes as a correct record.

Having acknowledged that Councillor Arnold had requested that the numbers voting for and against the motion, at minute 175 be recorded, it was

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on 25 February 2010 be approved as a correct record.

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

The Mayor:-

(1) Announced that the Council had opened a Book of Condolence for the victims of the planecrash, which had claimed the lives of the Polish President and scores of his top  officials. There were many in the Borough with ties to Poland and she was sure  that Members would wish to express their sympathies to the Polish people and the families of the crash victims.The Book of Condolence was situated at the Municipal Buildings in Crewe, which was open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

(2)  Announced that, in time for the better weather, the Council had opened 

      three new playareas at Lacey Green, Wilmslow, South Park,

      Macclesfield and Colshaw, near Handforth.

(3) )  Announced that the Vanuatu Ambassador had made a very successful

        visit to Crewe, in the previous week, to visit the Olympic training facilities,

         including the running track, Manchester Metropolitan University and  

         Crewe Football Academy.

(4) )  Announced that a partnership, led by Cheshire East Council, had been

         selected from 32 nationwide to receive a £136,000 Government grant, to

         pioneer a social networking website, to support people affected by

         dementia and their Carers.

(5)  Sent best wishes to the troops from the 1^st Battalion Mercian Regiment

      (Cheshire), who had deployed to Helmand Province, in Afghanistan, for a

      six month active service tour. The Battalion recruited from Congleton,

      Sandbach, Holmes Chapel, Middlewich, Macclesfield and Crewe and

      therefore, local  men were involved.

(6)     Informed Members that notification had been received

        concerning the sad news of the death of Mr Arthur Molyneux, who was

        Chief Executive of Congleton Borough Council from 1972 to 1989. The

        funeral service would be held at   2.45pm on, Thursday 29 April 2010, at

        Lancaster and Morecambe Crematorium.

(7)     Made reference to Cheshire East Council’s first birthday, on 1 April and 

      thanked Members and Officers for all their hard work, during what had

      been a challenging, but extremely rewarding first year. 

(8)         As this was the Mayor’s last meeting as Mayor and Chairman of the

        Council, she took the opportunity to thank Members, Officers and her 

        Chaplain for their help and support throughout her year as Mayor.

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

Councillor G Baxendale declared a personal and prejudicial interest in item 9 of the agenda, relating to the Election of Mayor and Deputy Mayor for the 2010/11 Civic Year, by virtue of the fact that it was recommended in the report that he be designated as Mayor Elect. Councillor R West declared a personal and prejudicial interest in item 9, as he understood that he was to be nominated to be designated as Deputy Mayor Elect. 

In accordance with the Member Code of Conduct, Councillors Baxendale and West left the meeting during consideration of this item.

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.

There were no members of the public wishing to address the meeting.

To consider the attached Notice of Motion, submitted in accordance with Procedure Rule 12, by Councillor J Weatherill.

A Notice of Motion, which had been submitted by Councillor J Weatherill, had been withdrawn, by written notice, prior to the meeting.

To receive the Standards Committee Annual report.

The Independent Chairman of the Standards Committee, Mr Nigel Briers, was unable to attend the meeting. Therefore, the Vice-chairman of the Committee, Mr David Sayer attended and presented the Standards Committee Annual report to Council. Mr Sayer thanked the Monitoring Officer, Chris Chapman, The Deputy Monitoring Officer, Julie Openshaw and Democratic Services Officer, Carol Jones for their support to the Committee during the past year.

Following the presentation, Members of the Council were given the opportunity to make comments and ask questionsupon any issues raised in the report. However, it was noted that these should not relate to any personal issues arising from the deliberations of the Committee.

RESOLVED

That the report be noted and that Mr Sayer be thanked for presenting the report and that the Committee Members be thanked for their hard work during the year.

To resolve that Councillor G Baxendale be designated as the Mayor Elect and that a second Member be designated as the Deputy Mayor Elect, with a view to their formal election as Mayor and Deputy Mayor for Cheshire East, for 2010/2011, at the Mayor Making ceremony to be held on 12^th May 2010.

           Consideration was given to the nominations for the office of Mayor and Deputy Mayor for 2010/11.

Council was requested to resolve that Councillor G Baxendale be designated as  Mayor Elect and that a second Member be designated as Deputy Mayor Elect, with a view to their formal election as Mayor and appointment as Deputy Mayor for Cheshire East for 2010/2011.

           It was proposed and seconded that Councillor R West be designated as Deputy Mayor Elect.

RESOLVED

           That Councillor G Baxendale be designated as Mayor Elect and that  Councillor R West be designated as Deputy Mayor Elect, with a view to their formal election as Mayor and appointment as Deputy Mayor for Cheshire East for 2010/2011, at the Mayor Making ceremony to be held on 12 May 2010.

To consider the recommendations of the Governance and Constitution Committee from its meeting held on 25 March 2010.

Consideration was given to the recommendations of the Governance and Constitution Committee in respect of the Cheshire East Council Scheme of Members’ Allowances 2009/10, following the mid-year review by the Independent Remuneration Panel, held on 8 January 2010.

RESOLVED

1. That subject to the following amendments, the Scheme of Member Allowances be

     adopted :-

(a) save as below, no increase be applied to the 2009/2010 rates

 fixed  by the Cheshire East Council Scheme of Members’ Allowances for 2010/2011 with effect from 1 April 2010;

      (b)  the position be reviewed following agreement of the Local

            Government Employers pay award to Local Government employees

            for 2010/2011;

      (c)  the following statements be incorporated into the Scheme:  

(i)     the rate applicable to Subsistence claims made in respect of  attendance at the Local Government Association (LGA) Annual Conference to be the rate applied to London and abroad, irrespective of where in the UK the event is held;

(ii)   where elected Members are billed directly for a broadband/telephone line used or partly used for the purpose of carrying out Council duties, the associated line rental cost be reclaimable from the Members’ Allowances Scheme on submission of a bill;

(iii)  where a Member is acting in an official capacity at an event as the  

       Council’s representative, travel allowance will be paid. Travel and 

       subsistence allowance may also be claimed where a Member is

       contributing to the business of a meeting in any of the following

       capacities:

?       as a member of the body

?       as a substitute for a member of the body

?       as a local ward member in attendance for an agenda item

?       having registered to speak

?       being required to give evidence

?       being expected to attend, eg Cabinet Members attending scrutiny meetings, Group Whips attending Governance and Constitution Committee Briefings, scrutiny chairmen and spokesmen attending Cabinet and Portfolio Holder meetings.

(iv)      the right to Basic Allowance, Special Responsibility Allowance  

       and Travel and Subsistence Allowance may be withdrawn by the Council while a Councillor is suspended or partially suspended from his/her responsibilities or duties as a member of the Council as a result of a breach of the Members’ Code of Conduct in accordance with Part III of the Local Government Act 2000 or Regulations made under that Part; 

2.            That, subject  to 1 above, the Guide to Members’ Allowances

         2010/2011 be approved and adopted, with effect from 1 April 2010. 

3.     That the  Independent Remuneration Panel be invited to conduct a

         survey of the work of Cheshire East Members to help inform the

         Panel’s future recommendations on Member allowances.

   The Leader of the Council to report the following Key Decision, which has been taken under the urgency provisions contained within Council Procedure Rule 44 :-

Proposed Traffic Regulation Order and Off-Street Parking Places Order to facilitate civil enforcement of parking contraventions in the Congleton area.

The Leader reported that, on 26 February, the Cabinet Member for Environmental Services had made a decision in respect of a proposed Traffic Regulation Order and Off-Street Parking Places Order, to facilitate civil enforcement of parking contraventions in the Congleton area.

The Chairman of the Environment and Prosperity Scrutiny Committee had agreed that the decision would be considered as urgent for the purposes of Scrutiny Procedure Rule 13.

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.

The Mayor reported that one question had been submitted by Councillor Flude as follows :-

The Vision for Crewe

SQW Consulting, The Vision for Crewe, what is the cost of the contract for this work?

The Leader of the Council, in summary, responded :-

One of the early priorities of the new Council was to identify the development priorities for our major towns of Macclesfield and Crewe. The contract with SQW to prepare an economic vision for Crewe has cost a total of £210,616.  The work has been jointly funded through the Council and the North West Development Agency.

This work was tendered through the North West Development Agency’s Framework Contract for regeneration work. Seven tenders were considered and the submission by SQW was assessed to offer both the best value for money and be most likely to deliver an authoritative document that would command wide spread support.

As a result, we got some great value for money. Feedback from public and private stakeholders has been positive and SQW need to be congratulated. 

Recent quotes from high profile figures include:

Bombardier Transportation UK chairman Colin S Walton said: “As a major employer in Crewe, Bombardier is pleased to be able to offer its expertise and support to this exciting plan to transform the town.

Chris Gibb, chief operating officer at Virgin Trains: “Crewe is a key part of the Virgin Trains network and we have been delighted with the growth in customer numbers using the service in Cheshire in recent years.

"Now we also need to move to another level of customer service at the station and today's announcement is a clear sign of the vision that is required to attract more customers to rail.”

NWDA chief executive Steven Broomhead said of the recent Government  announcement: “The decision over Crewe train station is a big step forward – plans for future development can begin to move forward and Crewe can maximise the opportunities of its excellent infrastructure.

Partners must now work together on a single vision for Crewe which will deliver real change.”

Mr Broomhead has said that he would personally like to sit on what ever Task Group we appoint to move things on in Crewe. At last, we are now getting money coming through. Crewe also received a massive boost with the recent government announcements on the £3m National Skills Academy for Rail Engineering, which we anticipate will be based in Crewe and the DfT support of £22m for Crewe Green Link Road. This is sign that confidence in Crewe is growing and that the Crewe Vision work has provided a momentum that did not exist twelve months ago.