Agenda and minutes

Prayer was offered by Reverend John Whittaker.

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Allen, Bessant, Cope, Crooks, O’Shea and Sutton.

On the motion of Councillor Nichols, seconded by Councillor Mayne, it was

RESOLVED – the minutes of the meeting held on 16 July 2013 be approved and signed by the Mayor.

One additional item of business was announced as printed on the supplementary agenda: membership of Planning Committee. This would be taken at the end of the agenda. This item was deemed urgent as it had come to light after despatch of the agenda but was considered prudent to take at this meeting prior to the next Planning Committee.

No declarations were made at this stage.

During her communications, the Mayor made reference to Tim Norton from Groundcare who had broken his neck in a kayaking accident on holiday. Members joined with her in sending their best wishes to Tim.

The Mayor also referred to the Local Democracy event on 15 October 2013 which would again see pupils from local schools attending to take part in various activities including an exercise to identify the qualities required of a councillor.

With regard to local events, the Mayor highlighted the success of Hinckley Carnival, the Classic Car Show and the over 50s day.

Regarding charity events, the Mayor referred to a walk along the canal undertaken by the sea cadets, Cllr Hulbert’s weight loss challenge, her son-in-law and a friend’s sponsored bike ride and her forthcoming casino night.

The Mayor concluded by presenting certificates from Grand Quevilly to two chefs from North Warwickshire and Hinckley College – Jason Thacker and Peter Anderson, who had accompanied her on this year’s town twinning visit in order to take part in a culinary event with chefs from other twin towns.

(a)        Question from Cllr Hulbert to the Executive Member for Culture & Leisure

Does the Executive Member agree with me that the increased amount of activities and youth clubs for children and young people in Barwell  in recent times is positive news for the village and will he join me in paying tribute to those who lead it, especially the many volunteers?

            Response from Cllr Cope

Volunteers are valued and fully appreciated by myself and my colleagues. Without their dedicated commitment, the offer to our families would be significantly diminished.

To demonstrate this here are some examples:

595 young people from Barwell, supported by 24 volunteers and staff from the Community House attended a variety of fun activities during the summer. These activities were complemented by new provision at The George Ward Centre.

Supporting the National Play Charter that the Council adopted in January 2013, the HBBC Play Workers supported Barwell Methodist Church, along with other partners who engaged with 72 children offering them a healthy lunch and play activities, encouraging team work and sociability, imagination, group cohesion, compassion, participation in activities, behaviour improvement.

To tackle the healthy weight issues in children HBBC are working with education and health partners to deliver physical activity programmes.

The feedback received from parents/grandparents/carers and residents were that it was an “excellent summer in Barwell for children with such an array of activities and trips going on”.

I thank the volunteers, Partners and HBBC Officers for their continued support. Barwell should be proud of its achievements.

(b)        Question from Cllr Hulbert to the Executive Member for Finance, ICT & Asset Management

I'd like to ask the lead member how many successful benefit fraud prosecutions there's been in the borough in each of the past five years?

Response from Cllr Lynch

I thank Cllr Hulbert for his question. The number of successful benefit fraud prosecutions in the Borough over the last 5 years are listed below:

(c)        Question from Cllr Moore to the Leader of the Council

Our letter head proclaims “A Borough to be proud of”. At the last meeting of this Council, the Party I’m honoured to represent took the decision to underline this boast by taking positive action to drive forward our Town’s regeneration.

Could I ask the Leader, has he like me noted the fact that this building, which is the Civic Centre of our Borough, seems to be keeping its light under a bushel. It sits at one of the prime gateways to our Town, every vehicle entering from the South has to pass its doors, yet we have a situation where the flag pole, which I believe should be proudly flying our Borough flag, is tucked away behind the building.

Additionally, others districts in the country are proud to associate themselves with their “twinned towns”, as I’m sure is true of our town, by placing  ...  view the full agenda text for item 194.

(a)        Question from Cllr Hulbert to the Executive Member for Culture & Leisure

Does the Executive Member agree with me that the increased amount of activities and youth clubs for children and young people in Barwell in recent times is positive news for the village and will he join me in paying tribute to those who lead it, especially the many volunteers?

            Response from Cllr Cope

Volunteers are valued and fully appreciated by myself and my colleagues. Without their dedicated commitment, the offer to our families would be significantly diminished.

To demonstrate this here are some examples:

595 young people from Barwell, supported by 24 volunteers and staff from the Community House attended a variety of fun activities during the summer. These activities were complemented by new provision at The George Ward Centre.

Supporting the National Play Charter that the Council adopted in January 2013, the HBBC Play Workers supported Barwell Methodist Church, along with other partners who engaged with 72 children offering them a healthy lunch and play activities, encouraging team work and sociability, imagination, group cohesion, compassion, participation in activities, behaviour improvement.

To tackle the healthy weight issues in children HBBC are working with education and health partners to deliver physical activity programmes.

The feedback received from parents/grandparents/carers and residents were that it was an “excellent summer in Barwell for children with such an array of activities and trips going on”.

I thank the volunteers, Partners and HBBC Officers for their continued support. Barwell should be proud of its achievements.

(b)        Question from Cllr Hulbert to the Executive Member for Finance, ICT & Asset Management

I'd like to ask the lead member how many successful benefit fraud prosecutions there's been in the borough in each of the past five years?

Response from Cllr Lynch

I thank Cllr Hulbert for his question. The number of successful benefit fraud prosecutions in the Borough over the last 5 years are listed below:

(c)        Question from Cllr Moore to the Leader of the Council

Our letter head proclaims “A Borough to be proud of”. At the last meeting of this Council, the Party I’m honoured to represent took the decision to underline this boast by taking positive action to drive forward our Town’s regeneration.

Could I ask the Leader, has he like me noted the fact that this building, which is the Civic Centre of our Borough, seems to be keeping its light under a bushel. It sits at one of the prime gateways to our Town, every vehicle entering from the South has to pass its doors, yet we have a situation where the flag pole, which I believe should be proudly flying our Borough flag, is tucked away behind the building.

Additionally, others districts in the country are proud to associate themselves with their “twinned towns”, as I’m sure is true of our town, by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 194.

The Mayor has agreed to accept the following question which is deemed urgent as the announcement was made after the deadline for questions under item 7 above.

Question from Councillor Lay to the Executive Member for Finance, ICT and Asset Management

Could the Executive Member for Finance confirm that Leicestershire County Council is looking to make redundant all disabled employees who were previously employed under the Work Choice Programme. Can the Executive Member for Finance also inform us if this Council has any co-hosted posts under this scheme that will now be under threat and what are the financial implications for this Council?

Response from Cllr Lynch

Thank you Cllr Lay for this question. I can confirm that Leicestershire County Council is currently consulting with all disabled staff who are affected by this decision which is part of the County Council’s cost reduction programme. This Council has one post in our Housing Repairs service that will be affected by this decision. The arrangement with the County Council to host this post started in 1989, initially under the Sheltered Placement Scheme. This has since changed to the Workstep grant and subsequently to the Work Choice Programme. Officers of this Council are currently in discussions with the County Council to clarify the employment status of this post. I can assure Cllr Lay that we will be doing everything we can to safeguard this post but the impact of retaining this post will be around £10,000.

The Mayor allowed the following urgent question to be put due to the information being made public after the deadline for questions and it being considered an urgent matter:

Question from Councillor Lay to the Executive Member for Finance, ICT and Asset Management

Could the Executive Member for Finance confirm that Leicestershire County Council is looking to make redundant all disabled employees who were previously employed under the Work Choice Programme. Can the Executive Member for Finance also inform us if this Council has any co-hosted posts under this scheme that will now be under threat and what are the financial implications for this Council?

Response from Cllr Lynch

Thank you Cllr Lay for this question. I can confirm that Leicestershire County Council is currently consulting with all disabled staff who are affected by this decision which is part of the County Council’s cost reduction programme. This Council has one post that will be affected by this decision. The arrangement with the County Council to host this post started in 1989, initially under the Sheltered Placement Scheme. This has since changed to the Workstep grant and subsequently to the Work Choice Programme. Officers of this Council are currently in discussions with the County Council to clarify the employment status of this post. I can assure Cllr Lay that we will be doing everything we can to safeguard this post but the impact of retaining this post will be around £10,000.

By way of a supplementary question and following expressing his alarm at the rumoured 600+ job losses that could result from the withdrawal of this funding, Cllr Lay asked if HBBC would look to ensure that any individuals based at this authority under the scheme could continue their employment and that the County Council be lobbied regarding withdrawal of such important funding. In response, Cllr Lynch stated that the number of employees affected across Leicestershire was in fact 42, and that the possibility of retaining the affected post at HBBC was already being investigated. He also confirmed that the matter would be taken up with Leicestershire County Council.

Madam Mayor

Tonight's Statement concentrates on four main issues: the Council's financial capability, in the face of increasing pressures from government and service users; an update on the developments at The Crescent and Argents Mead; progress (or lack of it) with City Deals; and the ongoing saga of Mallory Park.

Before I move to those items, I must make mention of the serious accident which Tim Norton suffered whilst kayaking on holiday recently.

Tim, who is a Team Leader in the Grounds Maintenance Team, broke his neck when his kayak overturned and was saved by the prompt action of his wife. He will be absent form work for a lengthy period, but I am sure you will join with me in wishing him a full recovery in the longer term.

Members will be aware of the moves to have the remains of Richard III placed in Leicester Cathedral. I can advise that I have signed the petition in support of this action, recognising the significant benefits this will bring to this area, not least because of the association with Bosworth battlefield.

As regards our budget position for 2013/14, we are still predicting an underspend on the General Fund of £200k, largely based on one-off income increases. In the longer-term, we know we will have to make further savings/income increases from 2015/16 and officers have begun the process of planning ahead, already targeting £250k savings in 2014/15 to give us a head start. I have asked that we make absolutely sure that we identify any underlying underspends before we commit to further savings and that any such savings do not involve service reductions or compulsory redundancies in 2014/15.

Development of the Crescent remains on track. The Council will become directly involved in the positive ongoing discussions between Tin Hat and Sainsbury's in October. The consultation with the Town Centre Partnership gained their full support for the action being taken. Procurement of the Leisure Centre on the Argents Mead site is progressing and is at the Pre Qualification Questionnaire stage. We have received four submissions and are on target to select the preferred position in January 2014, for start on site in March 2014. An officer group has been convened to ensure co-ordination of activity at the town centre sites.

Whilst there is a great deal of work and discussion on the two City Deals, the government, yet again, has put back the timescale for decision - it is now due in early 2014. The problems seem to be at that level, not with anything at the local level in either Coventry/Warwickshire or Leicester/Leicestershire. I will advise Members when we have a final position.

Finally, I must make comment on the position of Mallory Park, on which there has been media comment recently. Senior officers and I have made every effort to secure a position which enables the long-term continuation of operation at the circuit by Mallory Park (Motorsport) Ltd, but at levels of noise and activity acceptable  ...  view the full agenda text for item 196.

In his position statement the Leader referred to the financial position of the council, expressed his disappointment regarding the delay in progress with City Deals, sent his best wishes to Tim Norton, encouraged Members to sign the petition to keep Richard III in Leicestershire and provided an update on the negotiations with regard to Mallory Park.

Lead Members from the other group responded to the position statement, echoing many of the Leader’s points but also expressing concern regarding the future financial position of the authority from 2015 onwards.

The Chairman of the Scrutiny Commission introduced the minutes of the previous two meetings for information.

Members were informed of the Clean Neighbourhood Strategy which had been updated for adoption following restructure of the street cleansing and neighbourhood warden services. It was noted from a national survey that the service provided by the Council was:

• one of the top 25% of best performing Councils,
• the sixth lowest costing service;
• second quarter of best performing Councils for customer satisfaction;
• nominated for the APSE best street cleansing service award.

During discussion, the following issues were raised:

• The loss of five mechanical sweepers which had been purchased in 2008;
• The problem of serving notices to clean up land when the owner of the land could not be contacted;
• The possibility of taking action against residents whose refuse and/or recycling bins were kept permanently on the street;
• The provision of road sweeping dates/times to town and parish councils for their assistance in moving cars off the road in order to facilitate cleaning;
• The problem of bins not being returned to the exact property from which they were removed for emptying and of the internal recycling caddy being damaged during emptying.

A member commended the street cleansing staff, namely the team in Barwell, for their hard work. Members confirmed that they were generally proud of the service provision.

It was moved by Councillor Bray, seconded by Councillor Bill, and

RESOLVED – the Clean Neighbourhood Strategy be adopted.

Members were informed of the licensing requirements of the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 and the associated changes to the scheme of delegation and licensing fees. Members hoped that metal theft would be reduced as a result of the new Act. It was moved by Councillor Gould, seconded by Councillor Nichols and

RESOLVED –

(a)        the charges of £280 for a new site and collector’s licence and £180 for a variation of licence be approved;

(b)        all contested applications be considered by a Licensing Panel consisting of three members of the Licensing Regulatory Committee;

(c)        the Authorised Officers for enforcement of the legislation be approved as follows:

·         Principal Licensing Officer;

·         Licensing & Compliance Officer;

·         Environmental Health Officers;

·         Environmental Health Technical Officers;

·         Chief Officer (Environmental Health);

·         Environmental Health Manager (Commercial).

This item was withdrawn from the agenda and would be given consideration by Scrutiny Commission.

The Annual Governance Statement and the Statement of Accounts were presented and discussed together. In response to Members’ comments and questions, the following points were made:

• Stock data work in the Orchard system had been necessary as the historical information had to be physically checked and manually updated. Officers agreed to provide the cost of this to members;
• Sickness absence was monitored closely by the Chief Executive and by managers and there was a reporting process for sickness when home working;
• Despite the implementation of ‘bedroom tax’, the hardship fund was showing an underspend and had not been accessed as much as had been anticipated;
• A further report on Hinckley Club for Young People would be brought before the Finance, Audit & Performance Committee following the request for the club to provide a forward forecast.

Reference was also made to:

• The high quality of training that had been delivered to members of the Finance, Audit & Performance Committee;
• Disappointment at Hinckley Club for Young People not accepting the offer of HBBC’s audit services;
• The unqualified opinion that would be provided by the external Auditor.

It was moved by Councillor Lynch, seconded by Councillor Bray and

RESOLVED – the Annual Governance Statement 2012/13 be approved.

The Statement of Accounts 2012/13 had been presented and debated with the Annual Governance Statement (the previous minute refers). It was moved by Councillor Lynch and seconded by Councillor Bray that the Statement of Accounts be approved.

Councillor Lynch, along with eight other members, stood to request that voting on the Statement of Accounts be recorded. The vote was taken as follows:

Councillors Bannister, Batty, Bill, Bray, Camamile, Cartwright, Chastney, Gould, Mrs Hall, Mr Hall, Hodgkins, Hulbert, Inman, Lay, Lynch, Mayne, Moore, Morrell, Mullaney, Nichols, Richards, Smith, Sprason, Taylor, Ward and Witherford voted FOR the motion (26);

Councillor Boothby abstained from voting.

Members were provided with the report of the Independent Panel on Members’ Allowances and were also advised of the recommendations of the Scrutiny Commission on 29 August 2013 which had been endorsed by the Executive on 11 September.

The report of the Independent Panel had identified that members of Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council received lower allowances than members of many other authorities and had recommended increases in all basic and special responsibility allowances.

Whilst members welcomed the recommendations of the Independent Panel and acknowledged the increase in their level of responsibility and workload, they felt that in light of the current economic climate, the pay freezes or low pay rises in public and private sector and the reduction in benefits to many residents, they could not accept an increase in the basic allowance and the special responsibility allowances.

With regard to the allowances for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, all Members who had previously undertaken these roles stated that the cost to the individual whilst carrying out the role was far higher than the sum received in allowances, resulting in a high level of personal expenditure which may prevent some members putting themselves forward to be Mayor. It was also felt that the financial pressure was often as apparent during the year as Deputy Mayor as it was during the term as Mayor. The recommendations to increase the allowances for the Mayor and Deputy were therefore supported. It was also felt that the allowances should be reviewed annually.

It was moved by Councillor Witherford, seconded by Councillor Lay and

RESOLVED –

(i)         the recommendations of the Independent Panel for increases in members’ allowances be welcomed;

(ii)        the increase in allowances for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor be approved;

(iii)               the increase in all other allowances be not approved.

(iv)              The level of allowances be reviewed annually.

To be moved by Councillor Inman and seconded by Councillor Gould:

Council notes with regret the current decline in the number of public houses operating within the Borough and nationally, and supports moves to keep as many community public houses open as possible. As one method of achieving this the Chief Executive is instructed to write to the Secretary of State supporting action under the Sustainable Communities Act to ensure that planning permission is required before community pubs are converted into betting shops, supermarkets, pay-day loan stores or other uses or are allowed to be demolished.

Council notes that if this can be achieved the Council as planning authority would be able to decide applications as to whether community pubs should be demolished or converted into other uses and this action could save many community pubs in both the urban and rural areas. The Chief Executive is also instructed to write to our Members of Parliament asking them to support this proposal.

The following motion had received from Councillor Inman, seconded by Councillor Gould, in accordance with Council Procedure Rules 13.1 and 13.2:

“Council notes with regret the current decline in the number of public houses operating within the Borough and nationally, and supports moves to keep as many community public houses open as possible. As one method of achieving this the Chief Executive is instructed to write to the Secretary of State supporting action under the Sustainable Communities Act to ensure that planning permission is required before community pubs are converted into betting shops, supermarkets, pay-day loan stores or other uses or are allowed to be demolished.

Council notes that if this can be achieved the Council as planning authority would be able to decide applications as to whether community pubs should be demolished or converted into other uses and this action could save many community pubs in both the urban and rural areas. The Chief Executive is also instructed to write to our Members of Parliament asking them to support this proposal.”

During debate, it was noted that many public houses provided community facilities and were an essential part of villages and communities. It was reported that an average of 26 pubs were closing each week, they could be demolished without requiring planning permission and many were run down. It was felt that breweries could be partly responsible due to the high charges imposed on landlords and it was suggested that this problem also needed to be addressed.

It was moved by Councillor Inman, seconded by Councillor Gould and

RESOLVED – the motion be supported.

To agree a change to committee membership with immediate effect as follows:

Councillor Boothby for Councillor Smith.

An amendment to the membership of the Planning Committee, namely Councillor Boothby to replace Councillor Smith, was put to the meeting. Upon being put to the vote the amendment was REFUSED and it was therefore

RESOLVED – the membership of Planning Committee remain unchanged.