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Grass-cutting on council properties | Due to wet conditions of the grass, we may not be able to cut all of the grass areas of our council properties at this current time; this includes our parks, open spaces and play areas. Our team are surveying the sites and as soon as the areas are dry enough, our team will be grass-cutting as usual. Sorry for any inconvenience caused. 

Meeting documentation

Meeting documents

Policy Development Group
Wednesday, 3rd October, 2012 6.30 pm

ItemDescriptionResolution
Declaration of interests - members are reminded that following the adoption by Council of the new Code of Conduct, any declaration of interest should be made having regard to the new code. In particular, members must make clear the nature of the interest and whether it is 'personal' or 'prejudicial'.

The Monitoring Officer would like to remind members that when they are considering whether the following items are exempt information under the relevant paragraph under part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 they must have regard to the public interest test. This means that members must consider, for each item, whether the public interest in maintaining the exemption from disclosure outweighs the public interest in making the item available to the public.
33 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors P Clayfield and A C Saffell.
  
34 DECLARATION OF INTERESTS
Councillors J Coxon and T Gillard declared an interest in item 5 - Leicestershire Street Lighting Energy Reduction Project, 'Part Night' Lighting Scheme (Coalville Area) as Members of Leicestershire County Council.
 
35 PUBLIC QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION
There were no questions received.
  
36 MINUTES
Minutes of the Meeting held on Monday, 9th July, 2012
Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on 9 July 2012.
 RESOLVED THAT:

The minutes of the meeting held on 9 July 2012 be approved and signed as a correct record.
37 LEICESTERSHIRE STREET LIGHTING ENERGY REDUCTION PROJECT - 'PART NIGHT' LIGHTING SCHEME (COALVILLE AREA)
Mr T Bull and Mr P Hoskins addressed the Committee outlining the proposals of the consultation, as set out in the report, and asked Members for their comments.

In response to a question regarding the areas where the scheme would be implemented, it was explained that all areas were risk assessed and decisions made with the guidance of the police.

Questions were raised regarding the lamp posts and it was reported that sensor cells would be placed onto each lamp post at a small cost, which worked with a timer. It was confirmed that energy efficient light bulbs were already in use.

Regarding the consultation process, it was reported that once the scheme was in place it was unlikely that there would be an opportunity in the future to reverse the decision and turn the street lights back on.

Members welcomed and supported the proposals, mainly due to the amount of light pollution the street lights currently caused.

The Chairman asked Members to forward any further comments to Mr T Bull.
  • Report of the Head of Community Services - att5496
 
38 LOCALISATION OF COUNCIL TAX SUPPORT
The Head of Finance presented the report and referred Members to the Cabinet Report attached at the appendices.

A Member raised concerns regarding the proposed changes to council tax entitlements; he proposed that there should not be a reduction to below 100 percent as it would be detrimental to families in the District. He believed that this part of the scheme was unfair. The Head of Finance explained that the consultation was on a nationwide scheme and that not all parts of it had to be adopted; it was the responsibility of Full Council to make the final decision on the scheme for the District.

In response to a question regarding consultation data, the Head of Finance reported that there had been 132 responses at present which equated to 1.9 percent of people on benefits within the District. Other Authorities response rates were approximately 3 percent, this was the reason for an extension to the consultation period. Members were informed that Customer Services and visiting officers were providing information and forms for people to fill in. Also the Communications Team were publicising the consultation.

Concerns were raised that although people were not responding to the consultation they would react once the scheme was in place and this could have an impact.

 RESOLVED THAT:

The views of the Committee be conveyed to Cabinet.
39 ITEMS FOR INCLUSION IN THE FUTURE WORK PROGRAMME
  • Executive Decision Notice for September 2012 - att5499
RESOLVED THAT:

The following item be placed on the work plan for the next meeting:

To create a working party to investigate the effectiveness of current methods of consultation measured against the aims of the community engagement strategy and to suggest any improvements as required and to highlight areas where consultation works well.
Published on Monday, 12th November, 2012
The meeting closed at 7.35pm.

Attendance Details

Present:
Councillor T Gillard (Chairman) (In the Chair)

Councillors N Clarke, J Cotterill, J G Coxon, D Everitt, R Holland, T Neilson and N Smith

Officers: Mr R Bowmer, Mr L Butler, Mrs R Wallace and Mrs S Williams-Lee.

In attendance: Councillor A V Smith. Mr T Bull and Mr P Hoskins, Leicestershire County Council.