Agenda and minutes

(The Deputy Mayor in the Chair)

An apology for late attendance was received from the Mayor and therefore the Deputy Mayor was in the Chair.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Lumley and Steadman. 

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting held on 17 July 2019.

The minutes of the meeting held on 17 July 2019 were confirmed and authorised to be signed by the Mayor.

Members to declare any interest as appropriate in respect of items to be considered at this meeting.

Councillors Pearson, Posnett MBE and Orson declared personal interests in any matters relating to the Leicestershire County Council due to their roles as County Councillors.

The Leader presented his report which contained the following updates :

(a)  despite the summer recess it had been an extremely busy time since the last meeting and he had to start with the fantastic announcement on Friday 1 November of the Council’s success in securing a further £15m to support the southern section of the relief road. This brought  the total amount  secured from government to £65m and he had to pay tribute to the fantastic support that Melton had enjoyed from its outgoing MP Sir Alan Duncan. He had been such a strong advocate for this project and its success was in no small part to his support and work within government. He wished him all the best for the future following 27 years of dedicated service to his constituency.  In due course this Council would need to consider whether to enter into an infrastructure funding agreement with the County Council and this would be considered in detail at a future meeting;

(b)  whilst referring to the County Council, the Council had recently received their business case into a single unitary for Leicestershire which was due to be considered at the County Council meeting in December.  It was disappointing that the County Council had time and again failed to more proactively involve the districts in the development of these proposals. The County Council had  spoken with town and parish councils as part of developing them, but not any of the 7 districts, despite numerous requests for the County Council to work with the districts and to look more collaboratively at options for improvement.  According to government’s own announcements, any proposals for structural change in local government should have a strong local consensus and it was hard to see this emerging when all 7 districts had stated their opposition to this ‘one size fits all’ approach. This viewpoint was mirrored by the 7 Leicestershire MPs who had also been critical of the County’s plan.  As a Council we would ultimately need to look at the County’s plans in more detail but he would resist any plan which made finances the main driver and failed to consider a multitude of options. Ultimately democracy costs and Melton Borough Council was a lean and agile organisation and well connected to its communities.  The Council must ensure any proposals for change don’t undermine this because quite clearly big was not always beautiful;

(c)  alongside the Council’s success with the HIF bid, the Council had also recently secured £200k of revenue funding to support the development of proposals for a Food Enterprise Centre and to further support development of proposals at the Sports Village site. Securing major infrastructure investment, regenerating our town and finding a sustainable future for the Borough’s leisure facilities would be key parts of the Council’s new Corporate Strategy.  At that meeting the Council would  consider the Housing Improvement Plan which would form another key part of the Council’s plans and which would see over £2m invested in to the management  ...  view the full minutes text for item CO34

(The Mayor entered the meeting during the preceding item.  The Mayor in the Chair.)

In accordance with the Constitution, Members of the Council may answer questions from the public of which notice has been given.

      i.        The following question was received from Mr Mark Faulkner :

‘Following the licensing decision to inspect all of my vehicles following a spurious complaint. How many other vehicles have subsequently been inspected by the licensing team?  As I was told other vehicles will be called in for inspection.’

Councillor John Illingworth, the Portfolio Holder for Environment and Regulatory Services, to respond.

    ii.        The following question was received from Mr Gareth Batchelor:

‘Regarding concerns for improved patient care and another Doctors’ surgery for Melton and due to current pressures on the local health service and the expected increase in housing as a result of the bypass, what progress has been made by the Council in securing this provision with professional healthcare services and developers?’

Councillor Joe Orson, Leader of the Council, to respond.

In accordance with the Constitution, Members of the Council may answer questions from the public of which notice had been given.

(a)  The following question was received from Mr Mark Faulkner.  Mr Faulkner was present at the meeting and read out his question :

‘Following the licensing decision to inspect all of my vehicles following a spurious complaint. How many other vehicles have subsequently been inspected by the licensing team?  As I was told other vehicles will be called in for inspection.’

Councillor John Illingworth, the Portfolio Holder for Environment and Regulatory Services, responded as follows :-

‘I am informed that an initial complaint was received from a member of the public in respect of diesel fumes emanating from two licensed vehicles.  A further complaint was received in respect of a vehicle failing to comply with the policy.  The Council’s policy stipulates that it will check that vehicles are suitable for the purpose, safe to operate and maintained to the appropriate standard and that authorised officer may carry out checks at any time, it was clearly necessary for the Council to investigate this further.

In light of the fact that there were only 9 vehicles in the fleet in consultation with the company a decision was taken to inspect all 9 vehicles to ensure that the vehicles were suitable and to mitigate any further complaints.  The inspections proved useful as a number of minor defects were identified and advice was given.  No formal action was necessary and the complaints were ultimately not upheld.

In the past 12 months the two Licensing Officers have inspected approximately 14-15 vehicles, totalling approximately 30 vehicles.  Since this particular complaint was received, two further vehicles have been inspected. 

The Council has however recognised that the Licensing Team require additional resources and as part of the developing Corporate Strategy is making commitments to boost our ability to take enforcement action and increase administrative resources. The administrative capacity of the Licensing team has recently been increased and on Wednesday 30th October Cabinet agreed to the creation of a new Enforcement Officer who will assist with these issues, and in the meantime the existing Environment Enforcement Officer offering support. Cabinet also decided that the Licensing function will be included in a new dedicated Regulatory Services team, within a newly formed directorate for Governance and Regulatory Services providing focus and priority to this area of our work. We are confident this will ensure we can be more effective and proactive in these matters in future.’

Mr Faulkner asked the following supplementary question :

‘According to Kieran Stockley, for the council to investigate complaints, some evidence is required to corroborate the process.  Please can you tell me what evidence and corroboration was sought before the decision to investigate was taken?  To my knowledge, no vehicle was being used illegally and neither complainant had travelled in either car.’

Councillor Illingworth advised that a full written response would be provided to Mr Faulkner following the meeting.

(b)  The following question was  ...  view the full minutes text for item CO35

In accordance with the Constitution, a Member may ask the Leader, the Chair of the Council or a Committee Chair, a question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties or which affects the Borough.

No questions were received by the deadline

There were no questions received.

The Mayor

(a)   thanked the Deputy Mayor for chairing the first part of the meeting;

(b)   referred to the long period of time since the last meeting in July during which he had made preparations for the family parachute jump by losing 2 stones in weight before he could join in the team.  He, the Mayoress and other members of his family had completed the parachute jump on 23  September in aid of his Mayor’s Appeal for Rainbows and thanked everyone for their sponsorship which had totalled £20,000 so far;

(c)    referred to the success of his Civic Service held at Sproxton Church on 22 September and special thanks to Councillor Chandler who gave a reading in the service;

(d)   also thanked the Deputy Mayor for representing him at the Remembrance Service on Sunday 10 November as he would be out of the country;

(e)   introduced the appointment of the new Mayor’s Cadet, a role which had been initiated in 2016 by former Mayor, Councillor Wright.  He referred to the difficulty in selecting the new Mayor’s Cadet as all the candidates were so impressive and he thanked all those who had taken part in the selection process.  After outlining the purpose and function of the role he thanked the outgoing Mayor’s Cadet, Cadet Flight Sergeant Olivia Browne, who gave a presentation on her year in office.  The Mayor commemorated her year in office with a framed certificate. He then invited the Air Training Corps’ nominated candidate, Cadet Sergeant Alexia Agrafioti to be officially appointed as the 2019/20 Mayor’s Cadet and would assist the Mayor at key functions such as the Remembrance Day parade during her term of office. Cadet Sergeant Agrafioti was presented with the specially commission brassard which was to be worn when supporting the Mayor;

(e)  reported that he had agreed to move the scheduled date of the December Council meeting to Wednesday 18 December in order to accommodate the Parliamentary Election arrangements and Members had been advised.

In accordance with the Constitution, motions on notice must be signed by at least two Members and be about matters for which the Council has a responsibility or which affect the Melton Borough.

No motions were received by the deadline

There were no motions on notice received.

To receive a report from the Cabinet on recommendations referred to the Council for determination.

The Porfolio Holder for Growth and Prosperity (and Deputy Leader) proposed the recommendation at 2.1(a) and thanked the Council and especially those who represented the Sysonby and Newport wards for  bringing this matter to the attention of the Council.   He referred to the cemetery having received a green flag award and being an outstanding piece of sanctuary for residents in difficult times.  He highlighted the changes in relation to child burial plots, which would be free of charge with effect from December 2019.  The Leader seconded the motion.

It was noted that recommendation 2.1(b) in the report had been withdrawn due to the announcement on the Housing Infrastructure Fund not being received in time for the report to be considered at the 30 October Cabinet meeting.

On being put to the vote, the motion was carried.

RESOLVED that the use of special expense reserve to cover the one-off cost for the Cemetery Improvement Plan as detailed in the report be approved.

There were no recommendations or reports received from Committees.

There were no recommendations and reports received.

The Assistant Director for Planning and Regulatory Services and the Portfolio Holder for Growth and Prosperity to submit a report which seeks the Council’s agreement to adopt a revised and updated Statement of Community Involvement.

The Portfolio Holder for Growth and Prosperity (and Deputy Leader) proposed the recommendations and provided a brief summary of the report.  The Portfolio Holder noted that the report set out the proactive approach that was being taken and provided clarity on the approach to consultation with the community on planning applications and planning policy documents.

The Leader seconded the motion.

During debate the following points were noted:

·         Training events on planning were very important for Parish Councils;

·         It was important to engage the public as early as possible to ensure all stakeholders are involved through key stages;

·         It was clear that some policy wording could be ambiguous and that those making decisions on applications must adopt a sensible and consistent approach when balancing relevant considerations in accordance with the development plan;

·         The Chair of Planning Committee and Portfolio Holder for Growth and Prosperity were available to discuss planning matters and were very involved in improving the quality of planning applications coming forward by involving developers, the community and key stakeholders, including Ward Councillors and Parish Councils; and

·         The document was the result of a lot of hard work and would be an useful reference document by Councillors.

RESOLVED

(1)  To NOTE the responses given to consultation comments as outlined in Appendix 3 of the report;

(2)  To APPROVE the adoption of the Statement of Community Involvement which appears at Appendix 1 of the report.

The Chief Executive, the Leader of the Council and the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Communities to submit a report to propose the adoption of a Housing Improvement Plan in order to address current resourcing issues, manage health and safety obligations and to deliver changes within the housing and landlord service to enable the Council to effectively manage and maintain its housing stock. 

The Leader proposed the recommendations in the report and noted the following:

(a)  over the last 18 months, the Council had reinvested in housing services, following a number of years of decline and under investment.  In 2018 the Council worked to rebuild the tenancy function, creating two housing officer roles and three neighbourhood support officers to refocus on  priority neighbourhoods.  In early 2019 the Council introduced a new Fire Safety and Scooter policy and through the newly established Fire Safety Management Group had worked closely with the fire service to improve all the Council did in this important area;

(b)  despite these positive steps, over recent months it had become increasingly apparent that over a number of years the Council had not invested sufficiently in its housing stock and some significant issues had developed which now must be addressed.  Since 2010 the number of non-decent homes had steadily risen to an unacceptable level, without effective intervention or oversight. The HRA Business Plan was last published in 2012 and was in significant need of a refresh.  Over a number of years the Council rationalised and eroded resources in housing services, unnecessarily in his view, and when things started to deteriorate there did not appear to have been any effective strategic action to address them prior to my time as Leader.

(c)  he was convinced that one of the key reasons for this was the significant lack of strategic grip and transparency caused by the former governance processes. In 2018 as part of the LGA Governance review, they were clear that there were significant issues in terms of leadership and accountability at the Council and that the old committee system was a key part of the problem. That was why he was delighted that the new Cabinet had made resolving these issues such a key part of its early work.  Councillor  Pearson had shown great leadership and determination to put these issues right and he was delighted that the work he had done with officers in developing the Housing Improvement Plan provided such a strong and rigorous response to the issues faced.  No-one could now say there was no transparency or accountability and that as a Council they were now  demonstrating a desire to put this right;

(d)  The Council had much work to do and it would take some time to put it right. The Council was taking immediate action to ensure compliance with health and safety requirements and would work closely with the Regulator for Social Housing and Local Government Association to ensure the Council had  the support required to make the improvements.  The Council would be  creating a new housing directorate, investing in more officers and refreshing the HRA Business Plan to ensure the Council was clear and focussed on what needed to be done.  The Council had  come a long way over the last two years and he was very confident that with the additional resources and actions proposed in this report that the Council would  rebuild its  ...  view the full minutes text for item CO42

The Director for Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer to submit a report which seeks approval for proposed amendments to the Constitution.

The Portfolio Holder for Corporate Governance, Access and Engagement proposed the recommendation and added that there was no surprise that amendments were required to the Constitution due to the restructuring of the Council’s governance arrangements over such a short period of time.    The Leader seconded the motion.

During debate points were made relating to the introduction of substitute members at the Audit and Standards Committee.  The Director for Law and Governance advised that she would consult with the Leader on these appointments and bring the matter back to the Council in December.

With regard to replacement Councillors attending task groups, the Director felt that mostly these relied on continuity and a set number of people being committed.  She also advised that it depended on how the group had  been constituted and whether substitutes had been agreed.

During debate the following points were noted:

·         The named substitutes on Audit and Standards Committee would be approved by Council in December;

·         Substitutes would only be allowed on Working Groups where the Terms of Reference specifically allowed.  In some cases it was not appropriate to allow substitutes on Working Groups in order to preserve continuity.

RESOLVED

To APPROVE the proposed amendments to the Melton Borough Council Constitution at Appendix A of the report.