Agenda and minutes

Members of the Council are requested to declare any interests which they have in any items or issues before the Council for determination.

1.     Councillor Connolly declared a personal interest in any item which related to staffing as his partner is an employee of Bury Council.

2.     Councillor Jones declared a personal interest in any item which related to staffing as his wife is an employee of Bury Council.

3.     Councillor Bevan declared a personal interest in any item which related to staffing as his wife is an employee within a Bury School.

4.     Councillor Mallon declared a personal interest in any item relation to staffing as his partner is an employee within a Bury high school.

5.     Councillors D Bailey and M Bailey declared personal interests in Minute No. C.104, Leader’s Statement and Cabinet Question Time, as they are parents of children attending Radcliffe Hall Primary School and Governors of that school.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Council held on 3 June 2014 (Minutes attached)

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Council held on 3 June 2014 be signed by the Mayor as a true and correct record. 

To receive communications from the Mayor and any announcements by the Leader of the Council or the Chief Executive on matters of interest to the Council.

1.     The Mayor referred to the recent passing of former Borough Treasurer, John Cook and Members observed a brief silence by way of tribute.

2.   The Mayor congratulated Mrs Pamela Simpson on being awarded the British Empire Medal in recognition of services to the community. 

3.   The Mayor thanked those who had attended the Mayoral Sunday service on Sunday, 29 June 2014.

4.   The Mayor congratulated Mike Owen, Executive Director of Resources and Regulation, on his becoming National President of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA).

To answer questions from members of the public, notice of which has been given, on any matter relevant to the Council or its services to the community.  Up to 30 minutes will be set aside for this purpose.  If time permits, further questions will be invited from members of the public present.

The Mayor reported that no written questions had been submitted.  On inviting questions from members of the public present, the following issues were raided:-

The Mayor reported that there were no recommendations before Members.

To receive a Statement from the Leader of the Council on the work of the Cabinet and to answer written questions from Members of the Council to the Leader and Cabinet Members on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties which affect the Borough, provided the necessary written notice has been given.

Verbal questions on the work of the Cabinet since the last Council meeting will be allowed subject to a limit of one question per Councillor.

(a)        Written questions (Notice given)

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

Due to the lack of time to answer questions 10 to 23 inclusive, the Leader gave an undertaking that copies of those questions will be circulated to all Councillors. The Leader also gave an undertaking to make these available on the Council Web Site.

(b)    Oral questions on the work of the Cabinet since the last Council meeting (without Notice)

                   (A)     A report by the Council’s representative on the work of the Crime and Police Panel, Councillor Connolly.

                   (B)     Questions (if any) on the work of the Joint Authorities to be asked by Members of the Council for which the necessary notice has been given in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11.2.

(a)     Councillor Connolly, the Council’s representative, on the Police and Crime Panel, gave a verbal report on the work of the Panel to all Members of the Council.

(b)     The following questions had been received in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11.2.

The following Notices of Motion have been received:-

1.   Bury’s Core Strategy

“THIS COUNCIL notes its disappointment at the decision of the Inspector to suspend examination of the Bury Core Strategy.

THIS COUNCIL RESOLVES TO:

1.   Instruct officers that any future Core Strategy submitted for examination must reflect existing Council policy that it is inappropriate to develop on the green belt. 

2.   Instruct officers to delete all reference to Gin Hall being a preferred location for economic development as the site sits within the green belt. Council recognises that if the Gin Hall proposal remains within any future Core Strategy proposal as there is the real risk this will lead to that document being found to be unsound, leading to further delay and the waste of taxpayers’ money.

3.   Instruct officers to delete all reference to capitalising on opportunities to harness wind energy along the western and northeastern boundary and north of the Irwell Valley in relation any sites that sit within the green belt.

4.   Include the Council’s scrutiny process before responding to the Inspector.”

In the names of Councillors I Bevan, R Caserta, J Daly, I Gartside, D Gunther, R Hodkinson, K Hussain, S Nuttall, R Walker, J Walton and Y Wright

2.   Local Government Finance

“...Since 2011 Bury Council has seen the funding that it receives from central Government cut by nearly 30%.  To make matters worse, the fact that the grant distribution formula favours southern councils means that every man, woman and child in Bury receives just £381 from Government grant compared to an average for the country of £445.

As a result the Council has been forced to make budget cuts of £38million over the past four years; over a third of our controllable net budget

Bury is widely recognised as a low spending, high performing Council and we have done everything possible to achieve the cuts through further efficiency savings in order to protect, as far as possible, vital local services.

However this situation is no longer sustainable and the fact that the Council is facing £15.8m of further cuts in 2015/16 means that we will have no alternative but to make significant changes to our services.

The Council agrees to call on the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and both local MPs to meet with the Council to explore ways to deliver a Fair Deal for Bury and a level of on-going funding that means we can provide sustainable local services to the people of Bury.”

In the names of Councillors  P Adams,  D Bailey, M Bailey, N Bayley, J Black, S Briggs, P Bury, G Campbell, S Carter, D M Cassidy, M Connolly, A J Cummings, E FitzGerald L Fitzwalter, J Frith, J Grimshaw, S Haroon, P Heneghan, T Holt, A Isherwood, M A James, D Jones, S Kerrison, J S Lewis, A K Matthews, J Mallon, E O’Brien, N A Parnell, A Quinn, K Rothwell, R Shori, A Simpson, S Smith, J  ...  view the full agenda text for item C. 106

Two Notices of Motion have been received and set out in the Summons.

1.        Bury’s Core Strategy

A motion had been received and set out in the Summons in the names of:-

Councillors I Bevan, R Caserta, J Daly, I Gartside, D Gunther, R Hodkinson, K Hussain, S Nuttall, R Walker, J Walton and Y Wright

It was moved by Councillor Daly and seconded by Councillor Gartside:

“THIS COUNCIL notes its disappointment at the decision of the Inspector to suspend examination of the Bury Core Strategy.

THIS COUNCIL RESOLVES TO:

1.  Instruct officers that any future Core Strategy submitted for examination must reflect existing Council policy that it is inappropriate to develop on the green belt. 

2.  Instruct officers to delete all reference to Gin Hall being a preferred location for economic development as the site sits within the green belt. Council recognises that if the Gin Hall proposal remains within any future Core Strategy proposal as there is the real risk this will lead to that document being found to be unsound, leading to further delay and the waste of taxpayers’ money.

3.  Instruct officers to delete all reference to capitalising on opportunities to harness wind energy along the western and northeastern boundary and north of the Irwell Valley in relation any sites that sit within the green belt.

4.  Include the Council’s scrutiny process before responding to the Inspector.”

              It was moved by Councillor Walmsley and seconded by Councillor Isherwood as an amendment:

“THIS COUNCIL notes its disappointment at the decision of the Inspector to suspend the Examination of Bury’s submitted Core Strategy.

THIS COUNCIL RESOLVES TO:

1.   Continue to lawfully exercise our right as community champions to defend the green belt.

Delete 2, 3 and 4 and insert:

2.   Give detailed consideration to the Inspector’s concerns and what implications these may have for the Core Strategy before determining an appropriate way forward in seeking to get an up-to-date development plan in place as soon as possible.

3.   Send an all-party letter to the Government expressing strong concerns regarding the significant difficulties associated with the current planning system in general, and with progressing development plans to adoption.

4.   That the response to the issues raised in the Inspector’s letter be the subject of a report to Cabinet which would give the opportunity for matters to be considered by Scrutiny.”

             It was moved and seconded that the vote be now put and this was declared carried.

             Prior to the vote on the amendment, in excess of the eight Councillors requested that voting be recorded to show how each Member cast their vote, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 17.5.

             The result of the vote was as follows:-

             For the amendment:

             Councillors P Adams, D Bailey, M Bailey, N Bayley, S Briggs, P Bury, G Campbell, S Carter, D M Cassidy, M Connolly, A J Cummings, E FitzGerald, L Fitzwalter, J Grimshaw, P Heneghan, T Holt, A Isherwood, M A James, D Jones, S Kerrison, J S Lewis,  ...  view the full minutes text for item C. 106

There were no Scrutiny Review Reports or specific items “called in” by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to be considered at this Council meeting.

Questions on the work of outside bodies or partnerships on which the Council is represented to be asked by Members of the Council (if any).

There were no written questions on the work of the outside bodies or partnerships on which the Council is represented, submitted in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11.2.

Questions on the delegated decisions made by the Regulatory Committees and Scrutiny Committees contained in the Digest of Decisions 9 (2013/14) published since the last ordinary meeting of the Council, providing four clear working days’ notice has been given of the question. 

Members are asked to bring to the meeting their copy of Digest (2013/14).

There were no written questions asked on the delegated decisions of the Committees or Scrutiny Committee contained in the Digest of Decisions 9
(2013-2014).