Meeting documents

Council
Wednesday, 25th February, 2004 7.00 pm

Date:
Wednesday, 25th February, 2004
Time:
07:00pm
Place:
Council Chamber Town Hall Bury
 

Attendance Details

Present:
The Worshipful the Mayor (Councillor W J Davison) in the Chair;
Councillors P Ashworth, K Audin, R A Bibby, D B Bigg, D Boden, E B Briggs, K S Briggs, J Byrne, W A Campbell, D M Cassidy, T P Chamberlain, F A Chaudhry, M Connolly, J P Costello, S Costello, Y Creswell, A J Cummings, V D D’Albert, C M Fitzgerald, A S Garner, M A Gibb, E K Grime, J Grimshaw, D L Gunther, D M Higgin, T Holt, A Isherwood, W Johnson, S P Magnall, A K Matthews, P J Nesbit, S R Perkins, T D Pickstone, G Sharkey, J Smith, S M Smith, B J Sullivan, J W H Taylor, B Theckston, P Timperley, S J Treadgold, B Vincent, R E Walker, J F Walton, M J Wiseman and Y S Wright

Co-opted:
18 members of the public attended the meeting.
Apologies for absence:
Councillor A P Hughes
Buttons
Item Description Decision
Open
C.1273 MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL
 RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 28 January 2004 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.
C.1274 COUNCILLOR W JOHNSON MBE
Preamble for item C.1274
 
C.1275 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Preamble for item C.1275
 
C.1276 MAYORAL COMMUNICATIONS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Preamble for item C.1276
 
C.1277 PUBLIC QUESTION TIME
Preamble for item C.1277
 
C.1278 RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE EXECUTIVE
 (a) Minute EX.1227 of the Executive on 18 February 2004 - Housing Revenue Account 2004/2005

i) Councillor Chamberlain made a Statement on the Housing Revenue Account

ii) It was moved by Councillor Byrne, seconded by Councillor Campbell and -

RESOLVED:

That the recommendations contained in Minute EX.1227 of the meeting of the Executive held on 18 February 2004 concerning the Housing Revenue Account 2004/2005 be approved and adopted.

(b) Minute EX.1228 of the Executive on 18 February 2004 - Capital Programme 2004/2005

i) Councillor Campbell made a Statement in the form of a presentation on the Capital Programme.

ii) It was moved by Councillor Byrne, seconded by Councillor Campbell and -

RESOLVED:

That the recommendations contained in Minute EX.1228 of the meeting of the Executive held on 18 February 2004 concerning the Capital Programme 2004/2005 be approved and adopted subject to the following amendment:-

a) The deletion of the following words:-

“That the report be noted and that consideration of the Capital Programme for 2004/2005 be referred to the special meeting of the Council on 25 February 2004 for determination”; and

b) The addition of the following:-

“1. That the Capital Programme set out in Appendix B of the report in respect of 100% funded schemes and committed schemes be approved;

2. That the amount shown for the Liveability Scheme (in the section showing 100% funded schemes) be reduced to £1.270M for 2004/2005 with the balance of £1.380M being included in 2005/2006 in line with the grant approval;

3. That the discretionary resources schemes shown in Appendix B be replaced by the schemes shown below:-

External Bid Total
Funding
£000 £000 £000
NCN- Kirklees Trail
26 10 36
Prestwich Clough
75 30 105
Buckley Wells Project
176 15 191
Pimhole Road Project
660 24 684
Elton Youth Centre
50 353 403
Ramsbottom Library
0 375 375
Unit for Autism Spectrum Disorder
148 250 398
Adult Education - Bury T Centre
0 222 222
Highways Maintenance to ACG
0 3,681 3,681
Pimhole Renewal Area
0 2,210 2,210
Mosses Initiative
0 100 100
Spurr House
0 190 190
Private Sector Housing Assistance
0 550 550
Recycling Initiative Extension
220 190 410
Opportunity Land Purchases
0 106 106
Empty Properties CPOs
0 100 100
TOTAL
1,355 8,406 9,761

4. That an additional £0.400M of capital receipts brought forward from 2003/2004 be utilised to fund the approved Capital Programme;

5. That allowance for slippage of £0.343M within the overall Programme be approved;

6. That the use of a total of £3.784M of capital receipts to support the Programme be noted; and

7. That the Capital Programme Monitoring Group be asked to monitor carefully capital expenditure and resource availability during 2004/2005 and that the Executive be advised immediately should remedial action be necessary to keep the Programme within available resources.”

(c) Minute EX.1229 of the Executive on 18 February 2004 - Revenue Budget 2004/2005

i) Councillor Campbell made a Statement in the form of a presentation on the Revenue Budget proposals for 2004/2005.

ii) It was moved by Councillor Byrne and seconded by Councillor Campbell that the recommendations contained in Minute EX.1229 of the meeting of the Executive held on 18 February 2004 be approved and adopted subject to the following amendment:-

(a) The deletion of the following:-

“8. That consideration of the Revenue Budget for 2004/2005 be referred to the special meeting of the Council on 25 February 2004.

9. That consideration of the level of the Band D Council Tax for 2004/2005 be referred to the special meeting of the Council on 25 February 2004.

10. That, in making the necessary decisions, the Council be asked to give appropriate consideration to the results of the budget consultation process and to the budget position for 2005/2006 and future years, as outlined in section 10 of the report submitted”; and

(b) The addition of the following:-

“8. That the Revenue Budget for 2004/2005 as set out in paragraph 4.4.1 of the report be approved subject to the following amendments -

LESS
Savings identified in paragraph 4.6.1
£1,600,000

Additional capitalisation of maintenance
£600,000

Additional contribution from balances
£606,500

9. That the following recommendations in relation to the Revenue Budget and Council Tax 2004/2005, in accordance with Standing Order 57(b), be approved:

1. That £1,106,500 be drawn from General Fund balances to support the 2004/2005 Revenue Budget.

2. That the following amounts be now calculated by the Council for the year 2004/2005 in accordance with Sections 32 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992:-

(a) £304,528,500 being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 32(2)(a) to (e) of the Act;

(b) £110,600,000 being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 32(3)(a) to (c) of the Act;

(c) £193,928,500 being the amount by which the aggregate at 2(a) above exceeds the aggregate at 2(b) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 32(4) of the Act, as its budget requirement for the year;

(d) £137,350,000 being the aggregate of the sums which the Council estimates will be payable for the year into its General Fund in respect of redistributed Non-domestic Rates and Revenue Support Grant, increased by the amount of the sums which the Council estimates will be transferred in the year from its Collection Fund to its General Fund;

(e) £975.78 being the amount at 2(c) above less the amount at 2(d) above, all divided by the Council Tax Base of 57982.65, calculated by the Council in accordance with Section 33(1) of the Act as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year; and

(f) Valuation Bands

A £650.52
B £758.94
C £867.36
D £975.78
E £1192.62
F £1409.46
G £1626.30
H £1951.56

being the amounts given by multiplying the amount at 2(e) above by the number which, in the proportion set out in Section 5(1) of the Act, is applicable to dwellings listed in a particular valuation band divided by the number which in that proportion is applicable to dwellings listed in valuation band D, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 36(1) of the Act, as the amounts to be taken into account for the year in respect of categories of dwellings listed in different valuation bands.

3. That it be noted that for the year 2004/2005 the Greater Manchester Police Authority and the Greater Manchester Fire and Civil Defence Authority have stated the following amounts in precepts issued to the Council, in accordance with Section 40 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, for each of the categories of the dwellings shown below:

Police
A £65.68
B £76.63
C £87.57
D £98.52
E £120.41
F £142.31
G £164.20
H £197.04

Fire
A £28.44
B £33.18
C £37.92
D £42.66
E £52.14
F £61.62
G £71.10
H £85.32

4. That, having calculated the aggregate in each case of the amounts at 2(f) and 3 above, the Council, in accordance with Section 30(2) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, hereby sets the following amounts as the amounts of Council Tax for the year 2004/2005 for each of the categories of dwellings shown below:

A £744.64
B £868.75
C £992.85
D £1116.96
E £1365.17
F £1613.39
G £1861.60
H £2233.92

10. That, in making the necessary decisions, the Council has taken into account the results of the budget consultation process and the budget position for 2005/2006 and future years, as outlined in section 10 of the report submitted.”

iii) An amendment was moved by Councillor Pickstone and seconded by Councillor D’Albert by way of the addition of the following:-

“(I) Restoration of Weekly Bin Collections

Restore weekly “grey” bin collections, whilst maintaining fortnightly collections of recyclables to those residents affected in the current phase of alternate week collections.

Cost: £260,000

(II) Abolition of remaining Non-Residential Social Services Charges

Abolish remaining charges for non-residential social services (less the cost of collecting these and carrying out means-testing)

Increase the extra money available for social services from £1.2 million to £1.4 million and within this abolish these charges (net cost £311,000).

Cost: £200,000

(III) Increasing Role of Area Boards in Budgetary Decisions

(a) Provide additional resources to allow continued “Kick-Start” grants during 2004-2005 - £10,000 per Area Board.

(b) Earmark existing resources within Environment and Development Services to allow continued “Cleaner, Safer, Greener” projects at an Area Board level - £30,000 per Area Board.

(c) Devolve a more meaningful amount of Highways Repairs budget for determination by Area Boards (after advice from officers) from existing Highways budgets - £100,000 per Area Board.

Cost: £60,000

To be funded by:

(a) Utilising £250,000 from Airport Dividend Reserve

(b) Utilising £270,000 from Balances”

On being put, 3 voted for, 27 against and with 16 abstentions, the amendment was declared lost.

(iv) A further amendment was moved by Councillor Walker and seconded by Councillor Walton as follows:-

“(a) That this Council should not increase the Council Tax demand made in 2004/2005 by 3.08% but by only 2%.

(b) That the savings to achieve this be sought from:-

Staff Advertising £300,000
Consultants £100,000
Best Value expenditure £100,000
Civic Newspaper (suspended one year) £ 36,000
Outside Bodies £ 90,000
Staffing Costs across Departments £ 600,000

(c) That this Council undertake an immediate investigation of where other potential savings can be identified:-

For example -

• No increase in Councillors’ Allowances in the coming year
• Reduced expenditure on refreshments for Councillors with normal 7.00 pm start for meetings
• Consideration of alternative modes of service delivery eg Leisure Centres and Catering
• Temporary Moratorium on new posts, with emphasis on those needed in essential services
• Use of natural wastage to reduce overall staffing establishment
• Transfer of any surplus staff in departments to fill vacancies where appropriate (ie capable/qualified) in other departments
• Immediate embargo on advertising new posts and strict scrutiny by elected Members of such posts whether new or replacement to determine necessity
• Examination of revenue consequences of expenditure on Cycling Strategy and to transfer any savings here to basic road repairs
• Examination of Training Budget to see if savings possible

(d) That this Council notes the lack of the necessary extra funding from Central Government to support the provision of new powers and duties imposed on this Local Authority and urges representations to be made to the appropriate Minister.”

(v) In accordance with Rule 9 of the Council Procedure Rules, at 10.22 pm, the Mayor interrupted the meeting and called for a vote on the amendment.

(vi) On being put 15 voted for, 30 against and with one abstention, the amendment was declared lost.

(vii) The substantive motion, as amended, was then put and before the counting of the votes, 8 Members requested that the voting on the Motion be recorded so as to show how each Member cast their vote. The result of the voting was as follows:-

For the motion:

Councillors Audin, Boden, E B Briggs, K S Briggs, Byrne, Campbell, Cassidy, Chamberlain, Chaudhry, Connolly, J Costello, S Costello, Cummings, Fitzgerald, Gibb, Grime, Grimshaw, Holt, Isherwood, Matthews, Nesbit, Perkins, Sharkey, J Smith, S Smith, Timperley and Treadgold (27)

Against the motion:

Councillors Ashworth, Bibby, Bigg, Creswell, D’Albert, Garner, Gunther, Higgin, Magnall, Pickstone, Sullivan, Taylor, Theckston, Vincent, Walker, Walton, Wiseman and Wright (18)

Abstained from voting:
The Worshipful the Mayor (1)

The substantive Motion, as amended, was declared carried and it was:-

RESOLVED:

That the recommendations contained in Minute EX.1229 of the meeting of the Executive held on 18 February 2004, as amended at (ii) above, concerning the Revenue Budget 2004/2005, be approved and adopted.

(viii) It was then moved by Councillor Byrne and seconded by Councillor Campbell:-

“That the whole of the remaining business before the Council be approved.”

On being put, 1 voted against, 1 abstained and with the majority voting for, the Motion was declared carried and therefore no questions were allowed on the remaining item concerning the ‘Delegated Decisions of the Executive and Council Committees’ contained in the Digest of Decisions Number 13.
The meeting started at 7.00 pm and ended at 10.30 pm

Preamble

Preamble
ItemPreamble
C.1274Councillor Johnson thanked the Members of the Council and Officers for the good wishes conveyed to him during his recent illness.
C.1275(a) Councillors Sharkey and Fitzgerald declared prejudicial interests in Minute EX.1227 (Housing Revenue Account) in relation to sheltered support charges, took no part in the discussion on it and did not vote.

(b) Councillor J P Costello declared a personal interest in Minute EX.1229 (Revenue Budget) in relation to home care charges and took no part in the discussion on them (having left the meeting during this part of the discussion).

C.1276Death of Former Mayoress, Mrs Hilda McCarthy

The Worshipful the Mayor was saddened to refer to the recent death of Mrs Hilda McCarthy.

Mrs McCarthy was Mayoress of the Metropolitan Borough during the Municipal Year 1982 - 1983 and was also a former Mayoress of Radcliffe.

Her husband, John, served on this Council and the former Radcliffe Borough Council for very many years. Mrs McCarthy, together with her husband, made an important contribution to the Civic Life of our Community and were well respected and held in high esteem.

The sympathy and condolences of the Council and Metropolitan Borough have been conveyed to Mrs McCarthy’s family.

All present stood in silence as a mark of respect and in memory of Mrs McCarthy.

C.1277Questions were asked on the following issues during public question time:-

• Mr K Rothwell concerning the rumours about the phasing out of Local Authority residential care homes except for small specialist units, which were denied in a response by Councillor Connolly, Executive Member for Health and Social Services.

• Mr A Withington concerning the revenue budget for 2005/2006 and the projected shortfall.

• Mr Sprason concerning the closure of a ward at Fairfield Hospital.