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.

There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

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.

The Mayor as Bury’s first citizen updated Members of the Council on work undertaken since the last meeting.

Minutes attached.

The minutes of the two meetings held on 21^st May 2025 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.

Council considered a notice of motion received from Youth Cabinet.

The Motion was moved by Youth Cabinet Mayor, Violet Eadington and seconded by Laraib Malik, Deputy Youth Mayor and on being put to a vote all Members voted in favour, Council agreed to:

(a)  Encourage schools to participate in the provided training and forums.

(b)  Promote the benefits of School Councils to encourage widespread adoption.

(c)  Support full Youth Cabinet meetings and student representation initiatives.

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.

Notice had been received of the following questions:

In relation to Question 2 submitted by Andrew Luxton, the Mayor permitted Councillor McBriar to ask his supplementary question at that time, as it aligned with a pre-submitted Member question.

Questions without notice:

(I)           Housing Advisory Board Updated Terms of Reference

It was moved by Councillor Cummins and seconded by Councillor FitzGerald and on being put, with all Members voting for and the Mayor abstaining; that, Council, approves:

Council to approve updated Terms of Reference

(II)          Amendment of transitional arrangements for existing Hackney Carriage and Private Hire vehicles in respect of emissions standards and a review of Council Age Policy.

It was moved by Councillor Morris and seconded by Councillor Rafiq and on being put, with all Members voting for and the Mayor abstaining; that, Council, approves:

For existing vehicle licence proprietors with a non-complaint vehicle:

1.    A vehicle proprietor of a hackney carriage and private hire vehicle licence that is due for renewal after the 1 January 2026 which is non-compliant with emission standards (EURO 4 Petrol vehicles and EURO 6 diesel vehicles) is permitted to make an application to renew the vehicle licence and provided the vehicle passes its compliance test it will be issued with a 12- month vehicle licence. The vehicle licence would be granted subject to a condition that the non-compliant vehicle is removed from the fleet and replaced with a Euro 4 or 6 compliant vehicle by the 31 December 2026.

2.    Allow existing vehicle licence holders to continue to renew their vehicle licence with the same non-emissions compliant vehicle until the age limit of that vehicle in accordance with the vehicle age policy.

3.    Extend the upper age limit for purpose-built Hackneys and wheelchair accessible Private Hire vehicles from 15 years to 17 years.

4.    Extend the upper age limit for non-wheelchair accessible Private Hire vehicles to 12 years.

5.    To delegate powers to the Head of Public Protection/Licensing Unit Manager and/or the Deputy Licensing Officer to suspend any vehicle licence that has been issued after the 4 January 2027 where the vehicle proprietor(s) have not complied with the condition to replace the non-compliant vehicle with a compliant vehicle by the 31 December 2026

(III)        Greater Manchester Joint Minerals and Waste Plan: Decision Making Process

It was moved by Councillor O’Brien and seconded by Councillor Alan Quinn and on being put, with all Members voting for and the Mayor abstaining; that, Council, approves:

1.    Agree to the principle of the making of a joint development plan document with the other 9 Greater Manchester councils (Bolton, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan), to cover planning for minerals and waste across Greater Manchester.

2.    Note that Cabinet agreed, subject to the above recommendation, to delegate the formulating and preparing of the draft joint development plan document to AGMA Executive Board.

3.    Note that there will be further reports to the Council in respect of, matters, which are within the remit of the Council including adoption of the joint development plan document.

(IV)        Review of Corporate Core Senior Structure

It was moved by Councillor Gold and seconded by Councillor Rizvi and on being put, with all Members voting for and the Mayor abstaining; that, Council, approves:  ...  view the full minutes text for item C. 6

It was moved by Councillor O’Brien and seconded by Councillor Bernstein; on being put with all Members voting for and the Mayor abstaining; that, Council, approves:

1. That Council notes the report of the Independent Remuneration Panel dated May 2025 (Appendix 1)

2. Following consultation with the Group Leaders, the Mayor and the Standards Committee Council consider the recommendations 1 – 27.

1.    The IRP recommends that the Basic Allowance remains at £11,954, subject to indexation going forward.

2.    The IRP recommends that the SRA for the Leader remains at £35,862 for 2025/26.

3.    The IRP recommends that the SRA for the two Deputy Leaders is reset at £19,724, which is 55 per cent of the Leader’s recommended SRA (£35,862).

4.    The IRP recommends that the SRA for the six other Members of the Cabinet is maintained at £16,138, which has been set at 45% of the Leader's recommended SRA.

5.    The IRP recommends that the SRA for the nine Deputy Cabinet Members is maintained at £2,421, which is 15 per of the recommended SRA (£16,138) for the other Cabinet Members.

6.    The IRP recommends that the SRA for the Chairs of the six main Committees is maintained at £8,965, which is 25 per cent of the recommended SRA (£35,862) for the Leader.

7.    The IRP recommends that the SRA for Members who sit on Licensing Hearings Sub Committees is maintained as follows:

· Meetings over 4 hours: £106

· Meetings up to 4 hours: £53

8.    Furthermore, it recommends that the threshold for this SRA to be payable should be reset at over four Hearings attended in a year.

9.    Also, as per current practice this SRA should only be paid to Members who are not otherwise in receipt of an SRA.

10. The IRP recommends that the SRA for the Leader of the Main Opposition Group is maintained at £11,834, which is 33% of the Leader’s recommended SRA of (£35,862).

11. The IRP recommends that the SRA for the Deputy Leader of the Main Opposition Group is maintained at £4,734, which is 40 per cent of the recommended SRA for the Leader of the Main Opposition Group (£11,834). Furthermore the IRP recommends that the threshold for this SRA to be payable is reset at five Main Opposition Group Members.

12. The IRP recommends that the SRA for Leader(s) of Other Opposition Groups is maintained at £5,917, which has been set at 16.5 per cent of the recommended SRA for the Leader.

13. The IRP recommends that where there are two Main Opposition Groups of equal size their respective Leaders and Deputy Leaders are paid an SRA as follows:

                                                  i.    Main Opposition Group Leaders £8,876

                                                ii.    Main Opposition Group Deputy Leaders £3,255

14.  The IRP further recommends that the SRA for the Deputy Leaders of two Main Opposition Groups of equal size is only payable if each Main Opposition Group reaches the qualifying threshold of five Group Members.

15. The IRP recommends that the SRA paid to the Leader as a  ...  view the full minutes text for item C. 7

To receive a report 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, Cabinet Members and Chair of a Committee 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. (30 minutes)

A member may ask a verbal question of the Leader, any Member of the Cabinet or Chair of a Committee about any matter on the Council agenda and which the Council has powers or duties or which affects the Borough.  Only one verbal question per Councillor. (15 minutes)

(a)             Written question (Notice given)

The Leader of the Council, Councillor E O’Brien, 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 9 to 20 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)         Verbal Questions

The Leader received verbal questions from the following Councillors present: 

M Smith, J Rydeheard, Cllr Bernstein, K Simpson, S Arif and J Lancaster

(A)         A combined authority update report is attached, for information

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

The Council received a report on the work of the Combined Authorities. The following questions had been received in accordance with Council Procedure Rules:

(i)            The Design of Future Active Travel Schemes

Council considered a motion in the names Carol Birchmore, Cllr Donald Berry, Cllr Andrea Booth, Cllr Des Duncalfe, Cllr Glyn Marsden, Cllr Ken Simpson, Cllr Mike Smith and Cllr Mary Walsh

The motion was moved by Councillor Birchmore and seconded by Councillor Berry and on being put; with 18 members voting for and 30 members voting against and the Mayor abstaining, the Mayor declared the motion lost

(ii)          Take Back Control of Our Highways

Council considered a motion in the names A Arif, Bayley, Boles, Cummins, Farooq, Fitzgerald, Frith, Gold, Green, Grimshaw, Haroon, Hayes, Hook, Ibrahim, McGill, Morris, Moss, O'Brien, Pilkington, A Quinn, D Quinn, Rafiq, Rahimov, Rizvi, Rubinstein, Ryder, L Smith, Southworth, Staples-Jones, Tariq, Thorpe and Walmsley.

The motion was moved by Councillor O’Brien and seconded by Councillor FitzGerald and on being put; with 43 members voting for and 5 members voting against and the Mayor abstaining, the Mayor declared the motion carried.

(iii)         The Nolan Principles

Council considered a motion in the names Bernstein, Lancaster, McBriar and Vernon.

The motion was moved by Councillor Bernstein and seconded by Councillor McBriar and on being put; with 46 members voting for and 1 member voting against and the Mayor and one other abstaining, the Mayor declared the motion carried.

A report setting out progress in respect of Motions passed at the last meeting of Council is attached for information.

Attached for information only.

There were no scrutiny review reports and specific items "called in" by scrutiny committees.

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 on the work of outside bodies or partnerships.