Meeting documents

Council
Wednesday, 23rd February, 2011 7.00 pm

Date:
Wednesday, 23rd February, 2011
Time:
7.00 pm
Place:
Council Chamber, Town Hall, Bury
 

Attendance Details

Present:
The Worshipful the Mayor (Councillor J Byrne) in the Chair;
Councillors I Ahmed, A Audin, K Audin, R L Baum, I Bevan, R A Bibby, D B Bigg, D Boden, R C A Brown, R Caserta, D M Cassidy, S Cohen, M J Connolly, S Costello, Y Creswell, A J Cummings, M D’Albert, V D’Albert, W J Davison, I B Gartside, J Grimshaw, D L Gunther, M Hankey, J Harris, D M Higgin, T Holt, S Hurst, A Isherwood, J Lewis, S P Magnall, A K Matthews, D O’Hanlon, N Parnell, S P Penketh, T D Pickstone, A Quinn, K Rothwell, R Shori, J Smith, T Tariq, J W H Taylor, B Theckston, B Vincent, R E Walker, S Walmsley, J F Walton, M J Wiseman, S D Wright and Y S Wright.

90 members of the public attended the meeting


Apologies for absence:
Councillor A S Garner
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Item Description Decision
Open
C.430 MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL
 RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 15 December 2011 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.
C.431 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
 (a)Councillor Rothwell declared a personal interest in the consideration of the Housing Revenue Account as the tenant of a Council property.

(b)Councillor Rothwell declared a personal interest in the financing of schools, as he is governor of St Paul’s CE Primary School.

(c)Councillor Rothwell declared a personal interest in the Budget for 2011/12, in respect of the financing of the voluntary sector, as he is a Director of Bury Society for Blind and Partially Sighted People and a Trustee of the Bury Society for Deaf and Hearing Impaired People.

(d)Councillors Smith, Brown, Davison and Wiseman all declared personal interests in any matter discussed at the meeting relating to Six Town Housing, as Directors of the Company.

(e)Councillor Connolly declared a personal interest in any matter relating to staffing issues as his partner is an employee of the Council.

(f)Councillor Cassidy declared a personal interest in any matters discussed at the meeting relating to Six Town Housing, as her son is an employee of that organisation.

(g)Councillor Wiseman declared a personal interest in the Budget 2011/12 as she is employed by an organisation that receives Council funding.
C.432 MAYORAL COMMUNICATIONS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS (IF ANY)
 The Mayor read out to Members a letter from Mr Albert Little OBE, who had recently been admitted as an Honorary Freeman of the Borough, expressing his gratitude and pride in the honour bestowed upon him.

The Mayor referred to the imminent retirements of Mr Mark Sanders, Chief Executive and Ms Eleni Ioannides, Executive Director of Children’s Services and paid tribute to their commitment and dedication.

The Mayor reminded Members of the Gallipoli Commemoration and St George’s Day Celebration Dinner and Ball to be held on 16 April 2011, with proceeds benefitting ‘Army Benevolent Charities.’

Finally, the Mayor informed Members of petitions received by him prior to this meeting.
C.433 PUBLIC QUESTION TIME
 Written notice had been given of questions from the following members of the public. The name of the Member responding is shown:-

Mr T Boaden - Local Area Partnerships - Councillor Creswell.

Mrs S Boaden - Equal Pay -Councillor Walton.

Ms K Hopwood - Impact of cuts on services to schools -Councillor Caserta.

Mr I Pringle - Chief Executive’s Salary - Councillor Bibby.

Mr B Bamford - Chief Executive’s Salary and Members’ Allowances -Councillor Bibby
C.434 ASSOCIATION OF GREATER MANCHESTER AUTHORITIES
ARRANGEMENTS FOR ESTABLISHING THE COMBINED AUTHORITY
Preamble for item C.434
It was moved by Councillor Bibby and seconded by Councillor Creswell that the report be approved.

On being put, 49 Members voted for, none against and with the Mayor abstaining, it was:

RESOLVED:

1. That the current position on the draft Order be noted and the progress made on the positive outcome of negotiations with the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) and the Department of Transport (DfT) be welcomed;

2. That although tight, the achievability of the indicative timetable agreed in November for the laying of the Order and its approval by both Houses of Parliament be noted;

3. That the funding arrangements or 2011/12 be noted;

4. That subject to 5 below, the following draft documents which provide for the operation of the new governance arrangements to start on 1 April and which are appended to the report, be agreed:-

a) The operating Agreement between the Combined Authority (CA) and the district councils (Appendix 1)

b) The four transport protocols (Appendix 2)

c) Joint Scheme for the transfer of property, rights and liabilities (Appendix 3)

d) Revised AGMA Constitution (Appendix 4)

5. That authority be delegated to the Director of Legal and Democratic Services (in consultation with the Chief Executive and the Leader of the Council) to agree final amendments to the documents referred to in recommendation 4 and any other documentation associated with establishing the Combined Authority and to arrange for their completion;

6. That appointments to the shadow bodies below be confirmed as follows:

a)one member and one substitute member to the GMCA - Councillor Creswell (substitute Councillor Walton)

b)members to TfGMC as set out in clause 3.2 of the draft Operating Agreement - Councillors Mary D’Albert and Theckston

c)members to the Scrutiny Pool - Councillors Ann Audin, S Hurst and T Pickstone

7.That authority be delegated to the Chief Executive to keep under review and to agree (through the AGMA Wider Leadership Team) amendments to the protocols referred to in paragraph 5 of this report.

8.That in accordance with the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules in the Council’s Constitution and having been advised by the relevant statutory officers, the matter is deemed to be urgent and exempted from call in, in that any delay would seriously prejudice the legal position of the Council and the interests of the residents of the Borough.
C.435 RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE EXECUTIVE AND COUNCIL COMMITTEES
 (a)Housing Revenue Account 2011/12 (Joint recommendation with the Cabinet Member for Health and Well-Being)

At the invitation of the Mayor, Councillor Gartside, Cabinet Member for Resource, HR and Performance made a Statement on the Housing Revenue Account for 2011/2012.

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

An amendment was moved by Councillor Pickstone and seconded by Councillor Baum that:

“The recommendations of the Cabinet Members for Resource, HR & Performance and Health & Wellbeing should be accepted subject to the following amendment:

(a) The Housing Revenue Account estimates set out in Appendix 1 are approved, subject to later amendment to reflect the agreed Management Fee payable to Six Town Housing and subject to amended levels of rent income resulting from changes to the assumed level of the average rent increase.

(b)The average Rent increase by 5.99% from the first rent week in April with actual rent increases/decreases on individual properties being determined by the rent formula.

(c)Garage rents increase by 5.99% from the first rent week in April.

Note: It is anticipated that the amendment will reduce rent income by £150,000 in 2011/12 and this will still leave the balance on the HRA above the minimum prescribed by the Director of Finance and
E-Government.”

On being put, with 49 Members voting for, none against and with the Mayor abstaining, the amendment was declared carried.

On being put, with 49 Members voting for and none against and with the Mayor abstaining, the Substantive Motion was declared carried, and it was:

RESOLVED:

That the recommendations on the Housing Revenue Account 2011/2012, contained in the Decision Notice of the Cabinet Member for Resource, HR and Performance, as amended, be approved and adopted.

(b)Budget 2011/2012

At the invitation of the Mayor, Councillor Gartside, Cabinet Member for Resource, HR and Performance made a statement on the Budget 2011/2012.

(A) It was moved by Councillor Bibby and seconded by Councillor Creswell that the recommendation contained in the Decision Notice of 18 February 2011, concerning the Budget for 2011/2012 be approved and adopted subject to the following amendments:-

“DELETE

That the report is noted and the Council be requested to consider and determine all matters relating to the Budget, the Capital Programme and the level of the Council Tax for 2011/2012 at its meeting on 23 February 2011.

ADD

Section A - Capital Programme
1. That the Capital Programme for 2011/12 and future years, shown in Appendix 1, be approved;
2. That the proposed financing of the Capital Programme be approved;

Section B - Revenue Budget 2011/12
3. That the details of the final Formula Grant Settlement for 2011/12 be noted;
4. That the level of repayment of principal on General Fund debt at the minimum of 4% be approved in line with the current Minimum Revenue Provision policy;
5. That it be noted that under delegated powers the Director of Finance and E-Government calculated the amount of 59912.76 as the Council Tax base for the year 2011/12 in accordance with the Local Government Act 2003 and with regulations made under section 33(5) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992;
6. That the forecast outturn position for 2010/11 be noted;
7. That the Golden Rules enshrined in the Council’s budget strategy be amended as set out in paragraph 4.3.3 so that within the formula the amount below which the balances cannot fall is increased to £3.7m;
8. That the actual minimum level of balances for 2011/12 be increased to £4,300,000 in view of the scale of the savings required;
9. That the recommendations of the Schools’ Forum around education funding issues set out in section 5 be approved;
10. That the statements by the Director of Finance and E-Government on the robustness of budget assumptions and on the minimum level of balances be noted and endorsed;
11. That the Bury element of the Council Tax should be frozen at the 2010/11 level;
12. That the proposals of the major preceptors to freeze their precepts at the 2010/11 level be noted;
13. That the net Revenue Budget for 2011/12 as set out in paragraph 4.5 of the report be approved;
14. That the savings options set out in Appendices 3 to 6 be approved;
15. That the following recommendations in relation to the Revenue Budget and Council Tax for 2011/12 be approved:

1. the following amounts be now calculated by the Council for the year 2011/12 in accordance with Sections 32 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992: -

(a) £446,016,200 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) £302,728,600 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) £143,287,600 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) £67,812,500 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, decreased by the amount of the sums which the Council estimates will be transferred in the year from its General Fund to its Collection Fund;

(e) £1259.75 being the amount at 2(c) above less the amount at 2(d) above, all divided by the Council Tax Base of 59912.76, 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 - £839.83
B - £979.80
C - £1119.78
D - £1259.75
E - £1539.69
F - £1819.64
G - £2099.58
H - £2519.50
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.

2. That it be noted that for the year 2011/12 the Greater Manchester Police Authority and the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue 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 - £96.22
B - £112.26
C - £128.29
D - £144.33
E - £176.40
F - £208.48
G - £240.55
H - £288.66

FIRE:
A - £35.10
B - £40.95
C - £46.80
D - £52.65
E - £64.35
F - £76.05
G - £87.75
H - £105.30

3. 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 2011/12 for each of the categories of dwellings shown below:

A - £971.15
B - £1133.01
C - £1294.87
D - £1456.73
E - £1780.44
F - £2104.17
G - £2427.88
H - £2913.46

16. That, in making the necessary decisions, the Council has taken into account the forecast budget position for 2012/13 as outlined in section 11 of the report submitted.”

(B)A further amendment was moved by Councillor Isherwood and seconded by Councillor Connolly that:

“The revenue budget submitted to Council be approved with the following amendments:-


Restore Area working by retaining three LAP managers - £135,000
Save the Youth service - £800,000
End car parking charges at Fairfax Road, Prestwich - £35,000
Make Bulky waste collection free again - £55,000
Save the Longfield Civic Centre - -£16,000
Stop the privatisation of Radcliffe Civic Centre - £100,000
Keep Education Welfare Officers - £35,000
Save our Lollipop men and women and keep children safe - no cuts to School Crossing Patrols - £46,700
Keep Prestwich Library open on Sundays - £6,500
Keep car parking free at Castle Leisure Centre - £40,000
Keep open the crèches at Radcliffe and Ramsbottom Leisure Centres - £15,000

TOTAL 1,252,200

To be funded by:

Reducing Members’ Basic Allowances by three days, equivalent to three days unpaid leave - £3,300
Reducing Special Responsibility Allowances on a sliding scale - £21,300
Ceasing to pay for Members’ travel within the borough - £500
Making no provision for non-pay inflation - £928,000
Savings from the restructure of the Chief Executive’s Department - £299,100

TOTAL 1,252,200

Note: a proposal to ‘Save Home to School transport for pupils with special educational needs’ (£93,000) was included in the original amendment but was withdrawn at the meeting in view of earlier announcements that the saving was to be found without withdrawing transport from any group of pupils.”

The Mayor called a ten-minute recess for consideration to be given to this and a further amendment. (set out in (c) below)

On being put, with 19 Members voting for, 23 against and with 7 abstentions, the amendment was declared lost.

(C)A further amendment was moved by Councillor Baum and seconded by Councillor Pickstone that:-

“The budget contained in the report head “Budget 2011/12” should be approved subject to the following changes:

1. Reverse the proposed closure of the Longfield Suite so that it can be kept open at least until the redevelopment of the village centre moves forward -
-£16,000.

2. Save Sunday Opening at Prestwich Library - £16,500

3. Remove all short-stay parking charges at Fairfax Road from 1 April 2011
- £30,000

4. Save three posts that are currently LAP Managers - £125,000

5. Provide £30,000 a year for the coming 3 years as Community Grants - £1,000 per ward, and £13,000 centrally (or area based) for cross ward grants - £90,000

6. Make available an additional allocation of £100,000 for the Refuse Collection service so it can achieve the following:
- religious observation issues (i.e. extra capacity at Passover and bags after Christmas)
- flexible receptacles (choice of big, small or super-big bins for all)
- area flexibility, different options for areas where this doesn't work - e.g. specify areas of dense terraces areas - £100,000

TOTAL COST £345,500

To be funded from:

1. Unallocated budget for Council contribution towards Business Rate relief - £30,500.

2. Alternative savings from within the Chief Executive’s Department’s budget - £125,000

3. Transformation Reserve (in respect of the Community Grants which is a fixed sum so funding from reserves is in line with the Golden Rules)- £90,000

4. Further savings in landfill tax costs arising from planned improvements to waste collection - £100,000
TOTAL COST £345,500

We ask the Council to agree to undertake a review of parking facilities in the Fairfax Road and Longfield car parks and surrounding streets with a view of identifying the most appropriate means to provide both short-stay and long-stay parking in the area.

We also call on the Council to retain the Phoenix Centre (the youth service building in Prestwich) for community use.

We ask the Council to agree that the retained LAP Manager posts are re-designated into community development work with detailed proposals to be considered immediately after the budget is set.”

(Note: At this stage in the proceedings it was moved and seconded, and with no member voting against,

RESOLVED:
That in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 9.6, the meeting be allowed to continue in order to enable the business set out in the Summons to be considered.)
On being put, with 49 Members voting for, none against and with the Mayor abstaining, the amendment was declared carried.
The substantive motion on being put, with 23 Members voting for, 19 against and 8 abstaining was declared carried and it was:-

RESOLVED:
That the recommendations contained in the Decision Notice of the Cabinet Member for Resource, HR and Performance dated 18 February 2011, as amended at (A) and (C) above, be approved and adopted.

(c) Treasury Management
Strategy and Prudential Indicators 2011/12

On being put with no Members voting against it was:

RESOLVED:

That the recommendations contained in the Decision Notice of the Cabinet Member for Resource, HR and Performance dated 18 February 2011, be approved and adopted.
C.436 DELEGATED DECISIONS OF THE LEADER AND COUNCIL COMMITTEES
 There were no questions asked on the delegated decisions of the Cabinet Member for Resource, HR and Performance, the Internal Scrutiny Committee, Joint Consultative Committee (Corporate) and Joint Consultative Committee (Teachers).
The meeting started at 7.00 pm and ended at 10.30 pm.

Preamble

Preamble
ItemPreamble
C.434Following the Government’s decision to proceed with the establishment of the combined Authority, the Leader submitted a report which set out arrangements which were being put in place for 1 April 2011. The report provided a comprehensive update both on the draft Order and the Parliamentary processes and timetable and also provided detail on the suite of constitutional documentation to be approved by the AGMA authorities during February 2011 to enable the Combined Authority (CA) and TfGMC (Transport for Greater Manchester Committee) to meet in shadow form at the end of February.