Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors R Adams, G A Allman, J G Coxon, R Holland and D Howe.

The Deputy Chairman advised that he had been in contact with Councillor G A Allman and he was due to be released from hospital imminently.  On behalf of all members he extended best wishes and support to Councillors R Adams, D Howe and their families.  He wished them a speedy return to health.

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'.

Councillor S Sheahan declared a non-pecuniary interest in item 9 – Budget and Council Tax 2015/16, as a member of Leicestershire County Council.

Councillor J Legrys declared a non-pecuniary interest in item 9 – Budget and Council Tax 2015/16, as a volunteer at Hermitage FM.

Councillor M B Wyatt declared a non-pecuniary interest in any items relating to Coalville in item 9 – Budget and Council Tax 2015/16, as an owner of a local business.

Councillor T Neilson declared a non-pecuniary interest in item 9 – Budget and Council Tax 2015/16, as a secretary of DE12 SK8, being one of the groups which had received funding from the £20,000 for seven initiative.

The Deputy Chairman reminded members of the civic charity dinner taking place at Yew Lodge, Kegworth on Thursday, 23 April 2015.  He added that the event would be very worthwhile and entertaining, and would raise a good amount of money for the Chairman’s charities.  He urged all members to attend.

The Deputy Chairman referred to the ‘get well soon’ cards that had been circulated prior to the meeting for Councillors R Adams, G A Allman and D Howe.  He invited any members who wished to sign the cards to do so following the meeting.

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 echoed the best wishes to members as conveyed by the Deputy Chairman. 

Councillor R Blunt referred to the Pick and Shovel application, for which permission had been granted in January, and development would commence at the end of March.  He commented that the Council had provided additional funding to ensure the development went ahead.  He added that this would remove an eyesore, improve a gateway site in the town centre, and would provide 14 new good quality homes.

Councillor R Blunt highlighted the shop fronts scheme, whereby the Council would be investing in improving the shop fronts on Hotel Street.  He added that this was just the first phase, and would be a shop by shop, street by street way of improving Coalville.  He stated that the scheme would be rolled out further in Coalville and other town centres going forward.

Councillor R Blunt announced that Ruth Mulvany and Jacqui Sykes were shortlisted at the Keep Britain Tidy awards and were highly commended for their work.  He highlighted that Friends of Thringstone had won an award and he congratulated all involved.

Councillor R Blunt referred to the £20,000 for seven scheme which had provided funding for 17 community projects; 7 of which had received £20,000 and a further 10 had received £10,000.  In particular he highlighted the project for a skate park submitted by Measham Parish Council, which had received £20,000 funding and had now been ordered; and the new pavilion as Castle Donington which was scheduled to be completed in April.  He added that all schemes would have a big impact.

Councillor R D Bayliss highlighted two recently approved housing policies which would have very positive implications for the district.  In November, Cabinet approved the Council’s Tenancy Policy to continue to offer two types of tenancy – a 12 month introductory tenancy for new tenants, followed by a lifetime secure tenancy.  He stated that the Localism Act had provided the opportunity to consider offering fixed term tenancies, and this was a matter of balance and not a straightforward decision.  However he had decided to recommend to Cabinet to continue with the principle of lifetime secure tenancies as it was his view that a transient population should be avoided and tenants should not be treated as commodities.  He added that by offering lifetimes tenancies, the Council was helping to foster stable communities.

Councillor R D Bayliss advised that earlier this month, the Council had also approved an Acquisitions Policy which would allow the Council to purchase assets, be it land or housing or other buildings. This policy would see the Council buying land or existing housing to bring into use as affordable housing.  He drew attention to the fact that an additional £400,000 was proposed in next year’s budget for the provision of affordable housing, meaning that the Council would be investing over £1.3 m next year towards increasing the supply of affordable housing in the District, which would allow people in housing need on the Housing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 53.

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 J Legrys put the following question to Councillor R Blunt:

“How many negative comments, formal complaints, threats of litigation and/or actual litigation have tenants made against this Council and/or its Contractors regarding housing since the commencement of the Decent Homes Contract?”

As the question related to the Housing portfolio, Councillor R Blunt invited Councillor R D Bayliss to respond on his behalf.  Councillor R D Bayliss gave the following response:

“As at 31 January 2015 we had completed decent homes improvement works to 3,468 properties through our partnership with Kier and Lovell. The vast majority of this work has been both complex and disruptive and has been undertaken around tenants and their families within their homes. The programme has included replacing:

·     kitchens to 2,011 homes;

·     bathrooms to 1,520 homes;

·     new heating systems to 988 homes;

·     full electrical rewiring to 536 homes; 

·     new doors or windows to 3,117 homes;

·     new roof to 415 homes.

Since September 2012 when the contracts commenced, 1,065 tenants have returned questionnaires upon the completion of work, with 97% indicating that they were satisfied or very satisfied with the service. Only 29 tenants indicated some form of dissatisfaction.  During this period there have been 85 complaints, one housing ombudsman enquiry (for which a decision is still pending). To date £27m has been invested in improving the Council’s stock and recompense of £2,156 has been paid to tenants for issues relating to the service”.

As a supplementary question, Councillor J Legrys stated that he was aware of at least two people in his ward who he had been told were taking litigation against the Council and its contractor due to their dissatisfaction with the Decent Homes Improvement Programme.  He thanked officers for providing these statistics, however he stated that he had not been given an answer and asked again how many people were taking litigation against the Council or its contractors.

Councillor R D Bayliss responded that he was unable to expand upon the answer which had already been given.  He added that if Councillor J Legrys was convinced that there were two people who were taking litigation against the Council, he would make it his business to find out who they were and what the likely outcome was.  He reiterated that as far as he was concerned, no one was taking litigation against the Council or its contractors.

Councillor J Geary put the following question to Councillor A V Smith:

“Three anaerobic material lagoons have been constructed on land belonging to Hall Farm at Piper Lane Ravenstone. These lagoons take waste from anaerobic treatment plants and other liquid organic waste which is then stored in the open lagoons until required for agricultural use. The County Council, as the Waste Disposal Authority have deemed that the lagoons are Agricultural Permitted Development and do not require Planning Permission. The Environment Agency has granted temporary waste storage licences for the site.

The lagoons now radiate strong smells and odours resulting in many complaints from residents in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55.

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 11 November 2014.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on 11 November 2014.

It was moved by Councillor J Bridges, seconded by Councillor T Gillard and

RESOLVED THAT:

The minutes of the meeting held on 11 November 2014 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Report of the Head of Finance

Presented by the Corporate Portfolio Holder

Councillor N J Rushton presented the report to members.  He stated that fantastic efforts had been made with spending in Coalville.  He added that this had been a period of austerity; however for the sixth year in a row, front line services had been protected and Council Tax had been frozen.  He stated that continuing to increase efficiency had ensured a balanced budget.  He outlined the initiatives in next year’s budget, including £400,000 to acquire sites for affordable housing projects, £150,000 to pump-prime sustainable transport between the north and south of the district, and £100,000 to extend free Wi-Fi in towns.  He added that this was on top of over £3,000,000 of projects made possible through underspendings in previous years, as outlined in the Cabinet report at Appendix 1, which included £1,000,000 to support affordable housing, £500,000 for a business bidding fund, £360,000 to improve the environment in Coalville and around the district, £350,000 for investing in our communities, £300,000 for phase two of Improving the Customer Experience (ICE), £250,000 for round two of £20,000 for Seven, and £216,000 for rural broadband.  He stated that he was proud that the General Fund reserve had increased from £1,137,000 to £2,414,000, which reflected some of the current risks.  He added that under a Labour government, the New Homes Bonus would be stripped, so the reserve needed to be maintained in order to prepare for dealing with a loss of £2,400,000.  He felt that members should be proud of what the Council was doing in terms of long term assured tenancies, and added that tenants would be pleased with this.  He highlighted that the Housing Revenue Account budget for 2015/16 required a rent increase for tenants next year, however in return for this they had seen a massive investment in improvements to their homes bringing them up to the Decent Homes standard, which would be maintained through continued investment each year.

Councillor J Legrys sought to raise a point of order in that he found some of the terminology used by Councillor N J Rushton with respect to the opposition to be offensive.

The Deputy Chairman reminded Councillor N J Rushton to confine his comments to the matter under debate.  He asked him to conclude his speech as he had spoken for almost five minutes.

Councillor N J Rushton summarised that this was a sound budget, and a great budget to present to the electorate in the run up to the elections.  He moved the recommendations as set out in the report.

Councillor R Blunt seconded the motion and reserved his comments.

The Deputy Chairman referred to the amendment submitted by Councillor D De Lacy which had been circulated in the additional papers.  He invited Councillor D De Lacy to put forward his amendment.

Councillor D De Lacy commented that it was a shame that Councillor N J Rushton did not take the same credit for the County Council’s budget.  He referred to the planned increases in car parking charges and the staff  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.

Report of the Chief Executive

Presented by the Community Services Portfolio Holder

Councillor A V Smith presented the report to members.  She stated that the Council’s first street trading policy had been introduced in 2009 to create a street environment which complimented premises-based trading, to provide diversity and consumer choice and to enhance the character and safety of the local environment.  She advised that a significant review of the content of the policy and procedures had been carried out in 2013, which included a change from a zonal approach to the whole district being a consent area. She added that the changes previously made had a positive impact; however a further review had been carried out.  She highlighted the proposed changes to the policy.

Councillor T Neilson stated that he was happy to serve on the Licensing Committee and was therefore well versed in the development of the policy.  He commended the Portfolio Holder and officers as the process had been very transparent and he was happy to see that all comments from the Licensing Committee had been taken on board.  He added that the changes would make a big difference and would have an impact.  He expressed concerns about decisions being delegated to officers, and stressed the importance of open and transparent decision making.  He felt that recommendation 3 was contrary to that principle.  He moved that recommendation 3 be removed from the motion.

The Deputy Chairman stated that he had been advised that this did not constitute an amendment as it negated the position in the recommendations.

Councillor T Neilson stated that he believed the main thrust of the recommendations was to adopt the policy, and the amendment did not impact upon the policy.

Councillor S Sheahan stated that all that the amendment was seeking was for the status quo to be maintained.  He could not see how this negated the motion and he felt this seemed entirely reasonable.

Councillor D De Lacy referred to the Constitution which stated that an amendment could remove words.  He added that the main thrust of the changes set out in the recommendation were being supported and he felt the amendment did not negate the motion.

The Deputy Chairman stated that he would put the amendment to the vote.  The motion was declared LOST.

The Deputy Chairman referred members to the substantive motion as set out in the report.

Councillor M Specht congratulated officers and members on a very transparent policy.  He stated that he was happy to support it.

It was moved by Councillor A V Smith, seconded by Councillor M Specht and

RESOLVED THAT:

a)   The draft Street Trading Policy at Appendix 1 be approved.

b)   The Head of Service in consultation with the Portfolio Holder be delegated authority to amend the list of mandatory conditions within the Street Trading Policy.

c)   The Head of Service in consultation with the Portfolio Holder be delegated authority to approve changes to the Street Trading Policy.

Report of the Head of Legal and Support Services

Presented by the Corporate Portfolio Holder

Councillor N J Rushton presented the report to members.  He advised it would be in the Council’s interests to extend the term of office, as a joint county-wide recruitment process would take place next year.

Councillor T Neilson stated that he was happy to support the recommendation.

It was moved by Councillor N J Rushton, seconded by Councillor R Blunt and

RESOLVED THAT:

The term of office of the independent persons be extended to the end of the 2015-2016 municipal year.