Meeting documents

Council
Wednesday, 16th December, 2009 7.00 pm

Date:
Wednesday, 16th December, 2009
Time:
7.00pm
Place:
The Council Chamber, Town Hall, Bury
 

Attendance Details

Present:
The Worshipful the Mayor (Councillor S P Magnall) in the Chair;
Councillors I Ahmed, D M Ashworth, P Ashworth, K Audin, R L Baum, C A Berry, R A Bibby, D B Bigg, D Boden, K S Briggs, R C A Brown, J Byrne, D M Cassidy, F A Chaudhry, S Cohen, S Costello, Y Creswell, A J Cummings, M D’Albert, V D D’Albert, W J Davison, A J Garner, I B Gartside, J Grimshaw, D L Gunther, M Hankey, J Harris, D M Higgin, T Holt, S Hurst, A Isherwood, A K Matthews, D O’Hanlon, S P Penketh, T D Pickstone, P H Redstone, K Rothwell, R Shori, J Smith, B J Sullivan, J W H Taylor, B Theckston, B Vincent, R E Walker, J F Walton, M J Wiseman, S D Wright and Y S Wright
Co-opted:
17 members of the public attended the meeting
Apologies for absence:
Councillors M Connolly and A S Garner
Buttons
Item Description Decision
Open
C.527 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Preamble for item C.527
 
C.528 MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL
 RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 28 October 2009 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.
C.529 MAYORAL COMMUNICATIONS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Preamble for item C.529
 
C.530 PUBLIC QUESTION TIME
Preamble for item C.530
 
C.531 RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE EXECUTIVE AND COUNCIL COMMITTEES
Preamble for item C.531
RESOLVED:

1. That the recommendations in Minute EX.360 be approved and adopted.

2. That the recommendations in Minute L.417 be approved and adopted.

3.That the recommendations set out in Minute EX.482 be approved and adopted.
C.532 LEADER’S STATEMENT AND EXECUTIVE QUESTION TIME
Preamble for item C.532
 
C.533 SCRUTINY REVIEW REPORTS AND SPECIFIC ITEMS “CALLED IN” BY SCRUTINY COMMISSIONS
Preamble for item C.533
 
C.534 JOINT AUTHORITIES - REPORT BY THE COUNCIL’S REPRESENTATIVE AND QUESTIONS
Preamble for item C.534
 
C.535 QUESTIONS ON THE WORK OF OUTSIDE BODIES OR PARTNERSHIPS
Preamble for item C.535
 
C.536 DELEGATED DECISIONS OF THE COUNCIL COMMITTEES
Preamble for item C.536
 
The meeting started at 7.00 pm and ended at 8.30 pm

Preamble

Preamble
ItemPreamble
C.527(a) Councillor Walton declared a personal and prejudicial in Minute LHP.01 of the Licensing Hearings Panel held on 5 November 2009 - Application for a Premises Licence - Stand Cricket and Tennis Club, Hamilton Road, Whitefield - as a member of that organisation.

(b) Councillors Gartside and Smith both declared personal interests in written question 16 in Minute C.532 below, (Policy of Six Town Hosing in relation to the rent-free period allowed to clear properties following the death of the single tenant) - as Members of the Board of Six Town Housing Limited.

(c) Councillor O’Hanlon declared a personal interest as a Governor of St Monica’s RC High School, Prestwich, which was referred to in the Leader’s Statement (Minute C.532 below).
C.529The Worshipful the Mayor informed the Council that the Colonel and all ranks of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers had expressed their appreciation to the Borough for the warm reception they had received on the occasion of the ‘Welcome Home March’ through the Town.

The Mayor expressed good wishes for a continued return to good health to Councillor Vincent following his recent illness.

The Mayor also offered her best wishes for Christmas and the New Year to those present at the meeting and all residents of the Borough.
C.530Written notice had been given of three questions from the following members of the public:-

Name: Jane Hall
Subject: Radcliffe Riverside School
Answered By: Councillor D Ashworth

Name:Colin Jones
Subject:Regeneration of Radcliffe
Answered By:Councillor Hankey

A third question had been received from Mr McDonagh relating to the Council’s procedures relating to contracts. Mr McDonagh was not present at the meeting.
C.531(a) Minute EX.360 of the meeting of the Executive held on 14 October 2009 - Proposed amendments to the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities’ Constitution.

It was moved by Councillor Bibby and seconded by Councillor Creswell that the recommendations be approved.

On being put, with no Member voting against and with the Mayor abstaining.

(b) Minute L.417 of the meeting of the Licensing and Safety Panel held on 9 November - 2009 - Revision of the Gambling Policy.

It was moved by Councillor Brown and seconded by Councillor Costello that the revisions to the Policy be approved.

On being put, with no Member voting against and with the Mayor abstaining.

(c) Minute EX.482 of the meeting of the Executive held on 2 December 2009 - Executive Arrangements.

It was moved by Councillor Bibby and seconded by Councillor Creswell that the recommendations be approved.

On being put, with no Member voting against and with the Mayor abstaining.
C.532(a) Written questions (four clear days’ notice given)

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Bibby, made a statement on the work of the Executive since the date of the last Council meeting. The Leader and the relevant Executive Members answered questions raised by Councillors on the following issues:-

1. Issue: Compensation payments for trip and slip claimants.
Questioner: Councillor Y Wright
Answered by (and action): Councillor Gartside

2. Issue: 1. Council employees’ Terms and Conditions of Service. 2. Advice to employees affected adversely.
Questioner: Councillor Holt
Answered by (and action): Councillor Walton
3. Issue: 1. The Council’s Newspaper and its impact on advertising revenues of local newspapers. 2. Council action to support local newspapers.
Questioner: Councillor Pickstone
Answered by (and action): Councillor Creswell

4. Issue: 1. How the views of Youth Service users were taken into account in planning the future service. 2. The views of young people in particular
Questioner: Councillor Smith
Answered by (and action): Councillor D Ashworth

5. Issue: 1. Consultations on the review of Civic Halls. 2. Analysis of operational costs and usage statistics through the scrutiny process.
Questioner: Councillor O’Hanlon
Answered by (and action): Councillor Sullivan

6. Issue: 1. Council policy on replying to e-mails from the public. 2. Specific example of a non-response.
Questioner: Councillor Briggs
Answered by (and action): Councillor Creswell
(Councillor Briggs to supply details of the non-response)

7. Issue: 1. Details of any discussions relating to AGMA Authorities signing up to the 10:10 Commitment to Climate Change.
Questioner: Councillor Pickstone
Answered by (and action): Councillor Gunther

8. Issue: Implementation of re-organised waste collection routes.
Questioner: Councillor Smith
Answered by (and action): Councillor Gunther

9. Issue: Improvement of decision-making and democracy within the Council.
Questioner: Councillor V D’Albert
Answered by (and action): Councillor Bibby

10 and 11. Issue: 1. Local Area and Partnerships (LAPs) role and the deployment of Managers. 2. Rotation of Managers between LAPs.
Questioner: Councillors Boden and V D’Albert
Answered by (and action): Councillor Creswell

12. Issue: Numbers of waste bins, dog excrement bins and recycling centres in each Ward.
Questioner: Councillor S Wright
Answered by (and action): Councillor Gunther

13. Issue: Priority gritting of pavements/bin collections in icy weather.
Questioner: Councillor A S Garner
Answered by (and action): Councillor Gunther

14. Issue: The questioner’s suggestion to allow free parking in Bury Town Centre after 3.00 pm.
Questioner: Councillor Baum
Answered by (and action): Councillor Gunther

15. Issue: Success of recent Farmers’ Markets in Prestwich
Questioner: Councillor A J Garner
Answered by (and action): Councillor Gunther

16. Issue: Policy of Six Town Housing in clearance of houses following the death of a single tenant.
Questioner: Councillor M D’Albert
Answered by (and action): Councillor Sullivan

17. Issue: Support by the Council for ‘Speakeasy’, a local charity for sufferers of Aphasia.
Questioner: Councillor A J Garner
Answered by (and action): Councillor Creswell

18. Issue: Leader’s view of the Government’s trial of ID cards
Questioner: Councillor A J Garner
Answered by (and action): Councillor Bibby

19. Issue: Support by the Council for ‘Project 29’ a community charity
Questioner: Councillor Baum
Answered by (and action): Councillor Creswell

Due to lack of time to answer questions 8 to 19 inclusive, the Leader gave an undertaking that copies of the answers to those questions will be circulated to all Councillors.

(b) Oral Questions on the work of the Executive since the last Council meeting (without Notice).

20. Issue: Letter to all Councillors from the Chief Executive and Council Solicitor regarding ethical standards
Questioner: Councillor Boden
Answered by (and action): Councillor Bibby

21. Issue: Town Centre Development Policy - ‘Bury but Better’
Questioner: Councillor Smith
Answered by (and action): Councillor Bibby

22. Issue: Youth Service - Service Improvement Review
Questioner: Councillor Byrne
Answered by (and action): Councillor Bibby
C.533There were no Scrutiny Review Reports or specific items ‘called in’ by Scrutiny Commissions to be considered at the Council meeting.
C.534(a) Councillor Creswell, the Council’s representative on the Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority, gave a verbal report on the work of that Joint Authority.

(b) No written questions had been received on the work of the joint Authorities.
C.535There were no written questions on the work of outside bodies or partnerships on which the Council is represented, submitted in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11.2.
C.536There were no written questions asked on the delegated decisions of the Regulatory Committees or Scrutiny Commissions contained in the Digests of Decisions 6 and 7 (2009/2010).