Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the last meeting of the Council held on 9 December 2015

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the Meeting of Council held on 9 December 2015 be signed by the Mayor as a true and correct record.

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 the Local Authority Trading Company, Persona. Councillor Connolly further declared a prejudicial interest in Minute C.697 below, Recommendations of Cabinet and Council Committees, and took no part in the discussion or vote relating to Mayoralty 2016/2017

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 which related to staffing as his wife is an employee within a Bury High School.

5.   Councillors Hodkinson, Hussain, Nuttall, Sarah Southworth, Susan Southworth and Wright declared prejudicial interests in relation to the Private Renters Notice of Motion as property landlords and left the Chamber during consideration of this item.

6.   Councillor Fitzwalter declared a prejudicial interest in relation to the Private Renters Notice of Motion as she and her husband were property landlords and left the Chamber during consideration of this item.

7.   Councillors J Daly, J Walker and R Skillen declared prejudicial interests in relation to the Private Renters Notice of Motion as private tenants in Bury and left the Chamber during consideration of this item.

8.   Councillor Isherwood declared a prejudicial interest in relation to the Private Renters Notice of Motion as his wife is a property landlord and also declared a prejudicial interest in relation to the Rail Franchise Notice of Motion as a shareholder in Alstom Transport Ltd.  Councillor Isherwood left the Chamber during consideration of both items.

9.   Councillor Walmsley declared a personal interest in relation to the private Renters Notice of Motion as a tenant in a private rented property in Bury.

10.                Councillor R E Walker declared a personal interest in respect of the Rail Franchise  Notice of Motion as his son is employed by a rail company

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 paid tribute to Henry Donn and Tracy Neville following their recognition in the Queen’s New Years Honours List

2.   The Mayor passed on the commiserations and sympathies of the High Sheriff, Sharman Birtles, to the victims of recent flooding in the Borough

3.   The Mayor reported that over £2500 had been raised from the Mayoral Ball with donations still coming in.

4.   The Mayor, on behalf of the Council, wished Councillor Cassidy a speedy recovery from her recent operation.

5.   The Mayor informed Members of the recent death of ex- Council Director, Mr John Benson.

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 the receipt of four written questions as set out below:

On inviting questions from members of the public present, the following issues were raised:-

Minute CA.626 of the meeting of the Cabinet on 13 January 2016 – Mayoralty 2016/2017.

It was moved by Councillor Shori and seconded by Councillor Walmsley and it was:-

RESOLVED:

That Councillor M Connolly be proposed as the Mayor of Bury 2016/2017

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 question (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 16 to 36 inclusive, the Leader gave an undertaking that copies of those questions and responses 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 Leader’s Speech and the work of the Cabinet since the last Council meeting (without Notice)

(A)        A report from the Council’s representative on the work of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, Councillor Matthews

(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 Matthews, the Council’s representative on the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service gave a verbal report on the work of the Authority 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:-

(i)                 Flooding

"This Council pays tribute to all the Council Officers, emergency services  and volunteers  for their heroic  and selfless work in helping those devastated by the Boxing Day floods which hit our borough.

It calls on the Government to reverse the savage cuts to all  these services especially  to this  Council, the fire and police service and the Environment Agency  which threaten the maintenance of infrastructure and the ability to help those in need in a crisis,  and to recognise the need to act now to mitigate the effects of climate change.

It also calls on the Government to apply immediately  for the £125 million available  for flood relief from the EU solidarity Fund which incredibly it has so far failed to do."

          In the names of Councillors  P Adams, N Bayley, J Black, S Briggs, D Cassidy, M Connolly, E FitzGerald, L Fitzwalter, J Grimshaw, S Haroon, P Heneghan, T Holt, A Isherwood, M James, D Jones, J Kelly, S Kerrison, J Lewis, J Mallon, A Matthews, E O’Brien, N Parnell, C Preston, A Quinn, R Shori, A Simpson, R Skillen, Sarah Southworth, Susan Southworth, T Tariq, J Walker, S Walmsley and M Whitby

(ii)                Fair Deal for Private Renters

Council notes

1                     The important contribution private-rental property makes to our housing market in Bury (nearly 14% at the last survey);

2                     That some private rented homes fall beneath a decent standard and there is a continuing problem with rogue landlords in a minority of cases;

3                     That private renters spend a higher proportion of their income on housing than in with other tenures, and that moving costs can be prohibitively expensive, with high letting fees and large deposit requirements.

Council calls on the Government

1.           To carry on work started in the last Parliament to tackle rogue landlords, revenge evictions.

2.           To move towards a system where letting of homes in the private rented sector to be professionalised through the licensing of landlords;

3.           To provide proper funding for local authorities to enable them to support tenants through improved housing and legal advice.

Council Resolves

1.           To look to significantly increase the take-up and awareness of the Landlord Accreditation Scheme (currently less than 1.5% of rented properties).

2.           To consider the business case for extending the Paperless Bond facility to a wider group of potential tenants in financial need.

3.           To continue to work, together with Six Town Housing, to look at how the Council can help bring empty properties into use through assisting with private sector renting, in return for nomination rights.

4.           To write to the Borough’s MPs to inform them of this motion and ask to support this issue in their work.

In the names of Councillors T Pickstone and M D’Albert

(iii) Rail Franchises

This Council Meeting welcomes the Government’s announcement on 9 December, 2015 that the new Northern and TransPennine Express Franchises have been awarded, in a massive boost to rail services bringing the  ...  view the full agenda text for item C. 700

Three Notices of Motion had been received and set out in the Summons.    

(i)     Flooding

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

Councillors  P Adams, N Bayley, J Black, S Briggs, D    Cassidy, M Connolly, E FitzGerald, L Fitzwalter, J Grimshaw, S Haroon, P Heneghan, T Holt, A Isherwood, M James, D Jones, J Kelly, S Kerrison, J Lewis, J Mallon, A Matthews, E O’Brien, N Parnell, C Preston, A Quinn, R Shori, A Simpson, R Skillen, Sarah Southworth, Susan Southworth, T Tariq, J Walker, S Walmsley and M Whitby

It was moved by Councillor Fitzwalter and seconded by Councillor Quinn:

"This Council pays tribute to all the Council Officers, emergency services  and volunteers  for their heroic  and selfless work in helping those devastated by the Boxing Day floods which hit our borough.

It calls on the Government to reverse the savage cuts to all  these services especially  to this  Council, the fire and police service and the Environment Agency  which threaten the maintenance of infrastructure and the ability to help those in need in a crisis,  and to recognise the need to act now to mitigate the effects of climate change.

It also calls on the Government to apply immediately for the £125 million available for flood relief from the EU solidarity Fund which incredibly it has so far failed to do."

It was moved by Councillor Gartside and seconded by Councillor Daly as an amendment:-

That the Motion be amended by the deletion of paragraphs 2 and 3 and the substitution of:

“This Council recognises the £200 million pounds direct emergency funding provided by Government to all flood affected areas and notes that this was needed immediately rather than having to rely on funding applications from the EU which will take several months to be processed. In Bury’s case we welcome the 1.5 million pounds of direct funding assistance by the Government, which is more than many of our surrounding councils.

We also welcome the Government’s continued work to recognise climate change through “Climate Change Adaption Reporting” and to reduce the effects of climate change through the 2015 Paris Agreement, the Natural Capital Committee, and further investments in clean air and water.

           “Council welcomes the announcement by Government that all forms funding assistance, including that of the EU Solidarity fund, will be pursued to help with Britain’s flood relief effort and flood defences”

Prior to the vote on the amendment, in excess of 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 a follows:-

For the amendment:

Councillors I Bevan, R Caserta, J Daly, I Gartside, D Gunther, M Hankey, J Harris, R Hodkinson, K Hussain, G Keeley, S Nuttall, R Walker, M Wiseman and Y Wright

 Against the amendment:

 Councillors  P Adams, N Bayley  ...  view the full minutes text for item C. 700

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 questions received 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 Decision 5 (2015/16)published  since the last ordinary meeting of the Council, providing four clear working days’ notices has been given of the question.

Members are asked to bring to the meeting their copy of Digest 5 (2015/16)

There were no written questions asked on the delegated decisions of the Committees or Scrutiny Committee contained in the Digest of Decisions 5 (2015/16).