Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors G A Allman, J Geary, N Smith and D J Stevenson.

Councillor R Johnson advised that Councillor T Eynon was a doctor on call and would be leaving the meeting at 7.00pm.

Councillor R Johnson expressed displeasure at the change of date of the Council meeting as councillors planned their holidays our holidays around full Council.

Councillor J Legrys understood that Councillors D J Stevenson and G A Allman were unwell.  He expressed best wishes for a fast recovery and requested that a letter be sent to them on behalf of the Council.

Members are reminded that any declaration of interest should be made having regard to the code of conduct.  In particular, members must make clear the nature of the interest and whether it is 'pecuniary' or ‘non pecuniary'.

The Chairman explained that the Director of Housing had advised that he had an interest in item 14 – Senior Management Structure, and therefore he would leave the room when it was considered.

Councillors J G Coxon, N J Rushton and M B Wyatt declared a personal interest in item 7 – Motions, as members of the Leicestershire Combined Fire Authority.

The Chairman made the following announcements:

The Chairman made reference to the numerous events attended by himself and the Deputy Chairman.  He advised that there were still some tickets available for his charity event on 10 December.

The Chairman alluded to the series of terrorist attacks which took place on Friday, 13 November in Paris, France, which claimed at least 129 lives and resulted in widespread casualties.  In remembrance of those who lost their lives, and as a mark of respect and expression of solidarity, he invited members to join him in observing a minute’s silence.

The Chairman referred to the current reports in the media concerning the missing teenager, Kayleigh Haywood.  He stated that the Council was working very closely with the police and other partners to assist with the investigation.  He advised that any information that could assist the police with their enquiries should be directed immediately to the Leicestershire Police incident hotline.

The Chairman welcomed Steve Barrett, who had recently joined the Council as the interim Director of Resources.  He hoped that all members would support the Director of Resources in his role.

Members are reminded that under paragraph 11.1 of part 4 of the Constitution, questions can be asked of the Leader and Cabinet Members without notice about any matter contained in any address.  Questions shall be limited to five minutes in total for each announcement.

Councillor R Blunt updated members on the amendments made to the portfolio areas of Councillor T J Pendleton and Councillor A V Smith as outlined in the additional papers.  He advised that Councillor T J Pendleton would continue to lead on community safety, including CCTV, and Councillor A V Smith would lead on community engagement.

Councillor R Blunt gave an update on the Coalville project which was being led by the Chief Executive.  He advised that work was underway on building confidence and meetings with key partners and members would be taking place next month.  He hoped that members would continue to support the Coalville project.

Councillor R Blunt referred to the continuing investment from the local growth fund, which had recently provided a new tree top course at Conkers.

Councillor R Blunt referred to the event last Wednesday which saw the raising of the union flag on Stenson Square for the first time.   He thanked Councillor M B Wyatt and the members of the Coalville Special Expenses Working Party for supporting the idea of installing a new flagpole, and the Head of Community Services for completing the project quickly.

Councillor A V Smith made reference to the free tree scheme, which had exceeded expectations this year with 18,000 trees having been ordered by residents and community groups.  She advised that the scheme would see the planting of native trees and hedgerows, and was funded by the National Forest company and the District Council.  She reported that this year was the most successful to date, which was testimony to the work undertaken.  She advised that trees would be available this Sunday and she looked forward to the district becoming greener.

Councillor R D Bayliss gave an update on the position in respect of building new council houses.  He reminded members that 9 years ago, the District Council had a poor, no star housing service with uncertain prospects.  He added that we had now achieved 100% decency in homes  with a 30 year plan to ensure they remained decent.  He thanked the Head of Housing and the officers who had made that possible.  He advised that the service was now in a position to embark upon a modest programme of building new housing.  He outlined the three sites which had been identified and selected to reflect current demand from home seekers.  He commented that this project would not only provide rented houses, of the type for which there  was demand from tenants, but it would also regenerate run down sties, demonstrating the Council’s confidence in the future,  and showing the commitment to the Coalville project.  He added that this would be something that had not been undertaken for a generation and he was very proud to be in a position to announce the new plans.  He advised that the new builds would be financed from the Council’s own resources and would incur no new borrowing.

Councillor R Adams welcomed the news in respect of new build homes.  He asked Councillor R  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

To receive questions from members of the public under procedure rule no.10.  The procedure rule provides that members of the public may ask members of the Cabinet any question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties which affect the District, provided that three clear days’ notice in writing has been given to the Head of Legal and Support Services.

There were no questions received.

To receive members’ questions under procedure rule no.11.  The procedure rule provides that any member may ask the chairman of a board or group any question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties which affect the District, provided that three clear days’ notice in writing has been given to the Head of Legal and Support Services.

Councillor R Johnson put the following question to Councillor T J Pendleton:

“Because of recent allegations by some members of this authority that there could be political bias in the way planning applications are decided, do you consider it would in any way be beneficial with a recorded vote on all applications brought to the Planning Committee?”

Councillor T J Pendleton gave the following response:

“Planning applications are determined on their individual merits and I am not aware of any evidence to the contrary in any recent decisions made by this Council.  If any Councillor does have evidence to the contrary then they should bring it to the attention of the Director and of course it will be properly investigated.

The legislation does not require any particular form of voting and it is open for the Council to specify the voting process in its procedure rules. 

The current procedure rules reflect the norm as follows;

‘Unless a recorded vote is demanded the Chairman will take the vote by a show of hands, or if there is no dissent, by the affirmation of the meeting’.

I see no reason why the Council should alter this procedure rule which clearly provides the option of recorded votes should a member of the committee choose to request it.”

Councillor R Johnson made reference to political leaflets distributed in the run up to the elections and the subsequent applications which had been permitted.  As a supplementary question, he asked Councillor T J Pendleton whether he felt this demonstrated political bias.

Councillor T J Pendleton responded that he did not feel that this demonstrated any bias, however he advised Councillor R Johnson to take the appropriate recourse if he felt he had evidence to suggest this.

Councillor R Johnson commented that the evidence was there and a recorded vote should be required for all planning applications.

Councillor J Clarke put the following question to Councillor T J Pendleton:

“What is the legal position for the Council with regard to providing sites for the travelling community?”

Councillor T J Pendleton gave the following response:

“Section 225 of the Housing Act 2004 requires that every local housing authority must, when undertaking a review of housing needs in their district under section 8 of the Housing Act 1985, carry out an assessment of the accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers residing in or resorting to their district.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) (March 2012) requires local planning authorities to assess and meet the housing need of its communities, including gypsies, travellers and travelling showpeople.

This is developed further in ‘Planning Policy for Traveller Sites’ issued by DCLG in August 2015.This states that “Local planning authorities should set pitch targets for gypsies and travellers [as defined in Annex 1] and plot targets for travelling showpeople [as defined in Annex 1] which address their permanent and transit site accommodation needs of travellers in their area , working collaboratively with neighbouring local planning authorities”.

It goes on to require that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

To consider the following motion received from Councillor J Legrys:

“Local Plan & Fire Services

It has recently been announced that the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Combined Fire Authority (CFA) are to consult on proposals for reductions to Leicestershire’s Fire and Rescue Service in Coalville and North West Leicestershire.

The North West Leicestershire draft Local Plan which calls for additional increase in housing, employment and retail in the plan period to the following numbers:

Minimum of 10,700 new homes

Additional 96 hectares of employment land

7,300 m² of retail

Approximately half of the draft Local Plan growth will be served or supported by Coalville Fire Station.

In its response to the CFA consultation this Council will:-

outline its proposed housing and economic growth to 2031 and

state that it would be inappropriate to downgrade or reduce services from Coalville & Ashby and any other Fire and Rescue Station serving North West Leicestershire Communities.”

Councillor J Legrys moved the following motion:

“It has recently been announced that the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland

Combined Fire Authority (CFA) are to consult on proposals for reductions to

Leicestershire’s Fire and Rescue Service in Coalville and North West

Leicestershire.

The North West Leicestershire draft Local Plan which calls for additional

increase in housing, employment and retail in the plan period to the following

numbers:

Minimum of 10,700 new homes

Additional 96 hectares of employment land

7,300 m2 of retail

Approximately half of the draft Local Plan growth will be served or supported

by Coalville Fire Station.

In its response to the CFA consultation this Council will:-

outline its proposed housing and economic growth to 2031 and

state that it would be inappropriate to downgrade or reduce services from

Coalville & Ashby and any other Fire and Rescue Station serving North West Leicestershire Communities.”

Councillor J Legrys spoke to the motion, referring to the recent events in Paris which demonstrated how vital and important the emergency services were.  He stated that the motion was simply asking the council to comment and write to the Fire Authority explaining how the Local Plan would increase housing and retail within the district, and that it would therefore be inappropriate to downgrade fire services.  He added that the district would grow quite significantly in the next 20 years and the emergency services needed to be able to deal with that.  He stated that he was not convinced the Fire Authority would be able to provide a response if it was downgraded as expected.  He stated that the community needed to be convinced that what was being proposed would provide the service that was expected.  He referred to a recent fire in a derelict building in Coalville, which required 5 fire fighters to put the fire out.  He felt that had the fire service been cut, the response would have taken a lot longer.  He added that fortunately there was no human loss last weekend.  He expressed concerns about the reductions not only in Coalville, but also in Loughborough and Hinckley, which would result in the fire service having to cover a much wider area.  He expressed concerns that with the growth in the Local Plan, people would have to take out private fire insurance, just like in Victorian times.

The motion was seconded by Councillor D Everitt.

Councillor N Clarke expressed support for the motion.  He made reference to the continuing cuts made by the government and added that difficult decisions needed to be made in respect of funding.  He commented that fire fighters would have to make even more difficult decisions if the proposals became reality.  He urged the Fire Authority follow David Cameron’s advice.

Councillor D Harrison stated that the whole concept of fire brigades and the work they did had to be taken into consideration.  He commented that there had been a dramatic reduction in emergency fires due to advances in modern day house building and therefore the demand upon the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

To receive petitions in accordance with the Council’s Petition Scheme. 

No petitions were received.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 15 September 2015.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on 15 September 2015.

It was moved by Councillor J Bridges, seconded by Councillor J Cotterill and

RESOLVED THAT:

The minutes of the meeting held on 15 September 2015 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Report of the Chief Executive

Presented by the Leader

Councillor R Blunt presented the report to members.  He stated that the proposal was simply a bid to the government for the authorities to formally agree to work more closely together on areas where there should already be collaboration in any case.  He made reference to the public consultation which had been undertaken, showing that 68.8% of respondents were in favour of creating a combined authority.  He explained that the creation of a combined authority would not result in a loss of sovereignty.  He advised that this issue would be debated across Leicestershire in the coming weeks.  He commended the Chief Executive for her work on the project.

Councillor R Blunt moved the recommendations as set out in the report.  The motion was seconded by Councillor A V Smith who reserved her comments.

Councillor S McKendrick stated that in principle, a combined authority could provide benefits with opportunities to share good practice, and devolution was positive for local councils.  She added that it was imperative that this was structured to provide support to local people, and therefore governance and scrutiny became even more important.  She stated that this was an area of concern.  She asked whether there would be an opposition representative involved in scrutiny, and how local people could have an influence upon any issues raised through scrutiny.  She commented that there was little in the scheme to reassure members in this respect.  She made reference to the interest in collaboration from Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, and asked if the bid would be strengthened if Leicestershire had been interested in working with these authorities.  She commented that the scrutiny arrangements were not sufficient and created too much distance for local people.  She acknowledged that a consultation had been undertaken but questioned how robust this had been as she was not convinced that 4 weeks was sufficient to ensure a broad representation had been made.

Councillor S McKendrick moved an amendment to the motion as follows:

Recommendation 4 to be reworded to read; That Council authorises the Chief Executive, following consultation with the Leader, to make any final minor amendments to the scheme and governance review prior to their submission to the Department for Communities and Local Government in December 2015 or January 2016.

Recommendation 6 to be deleted.

Councillor R Blunt welcomed Councillor S McKendrick as the new leader of the Labour Group.  He indicated that he was happy to accept the amendment to recommendation 4; however it was not possible to delete recommendation 6.

Councillor A C Saffell commented that as someone who lived in the northern parishes, he was much closer to Derby and Nottingham than Leicester.  He felt that it would be more beneficial to combine with Derby and Nottingham as North West Leicestershire would then be in the centre if a larger combined authority was created covering the whole of the East Midlands.  He expressed disappointment that Leicester did not want to collaborate with Derby and Nottingham.

Councillor J Legrys sought clarification as to why the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

Report of the Head of Legal and Support Services

Presented by the Corporate Portfolio Holder

Councillor N J Rushton presented the report to members and moved the recommendations. 

The motion was seconded by Councillor M Specht.

Councillor J Legrys stated that there were a number of issues with the report.  He moved that the item be deferred and a better explanation be requested.  In respect of the calling in of planning applications by ward members, he expressed concerns that the comments made by members of Policy Development Group had not been reflected and there was no clarity about how a member could call in an application if they happened to be on holiday.  He expressed his vehement objection to the inclusion of the references in respect of clothing.  He asked whether he would be ejected from a meeting for wearing a red jacket reflecting his political beliefs, and whether this would infringe upon his human rights as he would not be told by an officer what he could or could not wear at a meeting.  He added that Councillor G Jones had proudly worn badges in the past representing his republican connections in the United States.  He expressed support him or anyone else wanting to wear a symbol of their political persuasion.  He requested that this item be deferred until member had been given the opportunity to debate this and to consider the comments made by Policy Development Group.

The Chairman advised that there was already a motion on the table and this needed to be disposed of before the motion to defer the item could be considered further.

Councillor T J Pendleton stated that he was mindful of the issues relating to single member wards, however he was aware of what was happening in his ward and whether he wanted to call in an application.  He added that he did take extended holidays, however he made it his business as a Councillor to ensure he was contactable at all times, and therefore he did not see a problem with the proposals.

Councillor M Specht referred to the comments made in respect of the dress code and political bias in planning matters, and commented that he did not consider wearing garments of a particular colour was an issue.  He felt that the problem arose when members of Planning Committee arrive to go on site visits wearing clothing bearing political slogans.  He felt that exception needed to be taken at this point.  He hoped that members of Planning Committee would not think to wear such political clothing in future.

Councillor R Johnson stated that he wore badges and was proud to do so.  He made reference to the site visits and stated that it was his view that all members should attend these.  He stated that he could not support the document in its present form and added that he would like the item to be deferred.

Councillor D Harrison commented that the wearing of badges was not a problem, however political slogans were not acceptable.  He felt that there had to be an element of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

Report of the Chief Executive

Presented by the Community Services Portfolio Holder

Councillor A V Smith presented the report to members, highlighting the minor changes to the existing policy.

Councillor F Fenning stated his intention to abstain from voting.  He stated that he understood the Council needed a policy and he appreciated the work undertaken by officers, however he felt that the limitations of the gambling act and its three objectives did not take into account the phenomenal growth of lotteries.  He added that it was sad that our society used gambling.

It was moved by Councillor A V Smith, seconded by Councillor V Richichi and

RESOLVED THAT:

The Gambling Act 2005 Statement of Licensing Policy be approved.

Report of the Head of Legal and Support Services

Presented by the Corporate Portfolio Holder

Councillor N J Rushton presented the report to members.

Councillor R Johnson moved the nomination for Councillor J Geary.  He thanked Councillor A V Smith for withdrawing her nomination and added that Councillor J Geary would be a good representative as he was well known in the town. 

The nomination was seconded by Councillor T Gillard.

Councillor M Specht requested a recorded vote.  His request was subsequently withdrawn.

RESOLVED THAT:

Councillor J Geary be appointed as the Council’s representative to the Coalville Town Football Club Committee.

Report of the Chief Executive

Presented by the Leader

Councillor R Blunt presented the report to members, referring to the health check undertaken in 2014 in respect of the management structure which had set out the requirement for an interim Director of Housing.  He advised that the report sought to establish in principle that the post was required permanently.

Councillor R D Bayliss made reference to the list of issues under the rationale on page 176 of the agenda, and commented that all those issues were being amply addressed.  He paid tribute to the officers and managers of the service who had been heroic in delivering the service from the days of non decency.  He felt that the service now needed to be moved forward in order to demonstrate real ambition.  He expressed absolute support for the creation of a permanent post.

It was moved by Councillor R Blunt, seconded by Councillor R D Bayliss and:

RESOLVED THAT:

A permanent post of Director of Housing be approved.

Councillor A C Saffell advised that the clerk of Castle Donington Parish Council had won a national award in recognition of her work and he asked that the Chairman write to her and congratulate her on behalf of the Council.

Councillor M Specht thanked officers and all members on organising another excellent remembrance service.  The Chairman echoed this comment.

Councillor T Eynon left the meeting at 6.58pm during the discussion on item 7 – Motions.