Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Arculus, Goldspink, Goodwin, Lamb, Lane, Shabbir, Sharp, Todd and Winslade.

Councillor M Dalton declared a personal interest that was prejudicial in motion 4 of item 14 on the agenda and would leave the meeting for that section of the meeting.

Councillor S Dalton declared a personal interest that was prejudicial in motion 4 of item 14 on the agenda and would leave the meeting for that section of the meeting.

Councillor Khan declared a personal interest in item 12 on the agenda as he was involved in work with Gladstone Connect that had received a grant.

Councillor Sandford declared a personal interest in item 13 due to his employment with the Woodland Trust.

Councillor Shearman declared a personal interest in item 12 on the agenda as he was involved in work with Victoria Residents Association.

Councillor Murphy declared a personal interest in item 12 on the agenda as he was involved in work with Gladstone Connect that had received a grant.

The minutes of the meetings held on 12 October 2011 were agreed and signed by the Mayor as an accurate record.

Members noted the updated report outlining the Mayor’s engagements for the period 1 October 2011 to 27 November 2011.

Councillor Fower questioned whether the report that showed use of Civic resources for a political group event caused conflict to the Mayor in her duties.  It was confirmed that the Mayor’s car was not used for the event and that the Mayor had travelled independently.

There were no announcements from the Leader.

There were no announcements from the Chief Executive.

One question was raised by a member of the public concerning accessibility and recording of council meetings. 

A summary of the question and answer raised within agenda item 7 is attached at Appendix A.

Questions relating to Ward matters were raised in respect of the following:

·         Resurfacing of pavements in Werrington South ward;

·         Street lighting replacements in Walton Ward;

·         Traveller Sites in Dogsthorpe Ward; and

·         Resurfacing of Southview Road in Walton Ward.

A summary of all questions and answers raised within agenda item 8 are attached at Appendix A.

Questions to the representative of the Police Authority were raised in respect of the following:

·         Actions to tackle cruel animal sports following spending cuts.

No questions to the representative of the Fire Authority were raised.

A summary of all questions and answers raised within agenda item 9 are attached at Appendix A.

Lisa Forbes submitted a petition from local residents in Orton Longueville requesting immediate and ongoing action to tackle graffiti.

Councillor Seaton submitted a petition from young people in the Hampton area requesting an urban sports park be constructed in Hampton.

Councillor Saltmarsh submitted a petition from local residents against a permanent Gypsy and Traveller site in the Welland area of the city.

Questions to the Leader and Members of the Executive were taken as read in respect of the following:

·                           Support for the Ploughman public house in Werrington Centre;

·                           Public take up of the Local Authority Mortgage Scheme with Lloyds bank;

·                           By-laws for dogs off leads in public places and play areas;

·                           School place provision; and

·                           Action to tackle homelessness.

Questions unable to be dealt with at the meeting due to time constraints were in respect of the following:

·         Healthy school meal provision;

·         Outsourcing of council services;

·         Localism Bill and the Cabinet system of governance;

·         Lord Mayor of Peterborough;

·         Previous Directors of Children’s Services;

·         Use of public transport and park and ride schemes; and

·         Progress on the installation of photovoltaic panels.

A summary of all questions and answers raised within agenda item 11 are attached at Appendix B.

Members received and noted a report summarising:

·         Decisions from the Cabinet Meeting held on 7 November 2011;

·         Use of the Council’s call-in mechanism, which had not been invoked since the last meeting;

·         Special Urgency and Waiver of Call-in provision, which had been invoked twice since the previous meeting; and

·         Cabinet Member Decisions taken during the period 4 October 2011 to 18 November 2011.

Questions were asked about the following:

Street Lighting Efficiency Programme 2011/12 – Award of Contract

Councillor Sandford requested whether the process for reporting and repairing street lights could be made more efficient for the public considering the number of organisations responsible for different street lights across the city area?  Councillor Hiller advised Council that all faulty street lights should be repaired promptly and ward councillors should make him aware of any difficulties in having street lights repaired.

Councillor Khan requested whether the contract was a new contract or a renewal as some works that started have stopped and was this related to the new contract?  Councillor Hiller advised Council that this was a new contract and any problems or delays with repairs could be reported to him.

Award of contract: Drugs and Alcohol Misuse Services for Children and Young People

Cllr Murphy requested whether the TUPE for officers referred to in the contract would be completed in the timescale and why the £500,000 Key Decision limit was exceeded.  Councillor Murphy also requested why a call-in request for this decision was not dealt with.  Councillor Cereste advised Council that a written response would be provided regarding the TUPE question.  Councillor Scott advised Council that the decision was not about money but about ensuring the right services were obtained for Peterborough.  The monetary value of the contract was weighted at 20% when considering the final contract award.  The contract was about the best service for Peterborough.

Award of Grants to not-for-profit organisations 2011 through to 2011-2012

Councillor Fower requested how the work and success of the Faith and Cohesion Network and East of England Faith Council projects were managed and assessed.  Councillor Seaton advised Council that agreements with organisations were in place for all of the grants awarded and that a new project was under way to ensure that best value was received for all the grants awarded and he would be happy to keep Councillor Fower updated on the progress of the project.

Councillor Shearman requested why there was a delay in awarding the grant to the Victoria Park Residents Association and other organisations.  The Mayor advised Councillor Shearman that the question was not about the decision taken. 

Councillor Saltmarsh requested why the residents’ associations listed had not yet received the grants.  The Mayor advised Councillor Saltmarsh that the question was not about the decision taken.

Discretionary Rate Relief from Business Rates for Charities, Similar Organisations Not Established or Conducted for Profit (renewals)

Councillor Jamil requested whether Appendix A and B were available for public inspection.  Councillor Cereste advised that the papers were available on the Council’s website.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

Cabinet at its meeting of 7 November 2011 received a report following approval of the Consultation Draft version of the Peterborough Planning Policies DPD for the purposes of public participation at the meeting of Cabinet on 13 December 2010 and following the ensuing public participation and further evidence gathering since that date.

Councillor Hiller introduced and moved the recommendation that Council approves the Peterborough Planning Policies DPD (Proposed Submission Version) for the purposes of public consultation and submission to the Secretary of State.

During debate, a concern was raised regarding the wording of PP17, Ancient, Semi Natural Woodland and Ancient and Veteran Trees and the protection offered from development ‘unless it was in the public interest’.  Councillor Hiller confirmed that protection of trees and woodland was considered and policies retained in the document.

Following debate, a vote was taken (unanimous) and it was RESOLVED to:

Approve the Peterborough Planning Policies DPD (Proposed Submission Version) for the purposes of public consultation and submission to the Secretary of State.

1.      Councillor Murphy requested the consent of the meeting that an alteration was made to his first motion to the effect that the words in paragraph four were left out.  Council did not consent to the alteration (5 in favour, 34 against, 3 abstentions).  Councillor Murphy moved the following motion:

That this Council:

1.   Recognises the current challenging financial circumstances it is facing and notes the considerable amount of money spent on member’s allowances and expenses, with a high number of cabinet members and special responsibility allowances being paid to councillors in what is a relatively small unitary authority;

2.   Recognises that in view of the need for public services to be efficient and economic, bearing in mind the reduction and scope of responsibilities carried out by Peterborough City Council since the introduction of expenses and payments following local government reorganisation, it will ask the Leader to consider an immediate reduction in the number of members of the administration receiving additional allowances and the amount being spent on these allowances;

3.   Resolves to reduce expenditure this financial year by £40,000 by reducing payments to the council leader, and asks that the Leader cuts the number of cabinet members and special advisers and reduces the amount paid to these council members’ allowances; and

4.   Will seek further reductions to achieve a budget saving of £150,000 next year.

This motion was seconded by Councillor Jamil.

Following a brief debate the motion was DEFEATED: 8 in favour, 35 against, 2 abstentions.

2.      Councillor Murphy moved the following motion:

That this Council:

1.   Notes the government’s reintroduction of the kick start housing programme and desire to see brown field sites and publicly owned land made available for housing development and job creation;

2.   Notes that in Peterborough we have a public owned site at the former Peterborough District Hospital (PDH), a need for homes both for social housing and a desire to develop some prestige homes; and

3.   Notes that there is an identified need to urgently address the shortage of adequate primary school places in the neighbourhood around the PDH site; and

4.   Instructs the corporate property officer to investigate the acquisition (perhaps in partnership with a local housing association) of the PDH site or part of it to be used to provide a new primary school, additional council/social housing and in doing so provide local jobs and apprentice opportunities.

This motion was seconded by Councillor Khan.

Following debate on the motion in which issues raised included budget constraints to buy and develop the land and development of the whole site was preferable to small pieces, a vote was taken and the motion was DEFEATED: 11 in favour, 31 against, 0 abstentions.

3.      Councillor Fower moved the following motion:

Supporting Local Businesses

That in order to assist local businesses during the current difficult economic times, this Council:

1.      Resolves that any business in the Peterborough unitary authority which provides goods or services to the Council be paid within 20 days of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

Councillor Cereste moved a report requesting Council notes the recommendations of the Independent Members’ Allowances Panel as summarised in paragraph 3 of the report and determine the action it wished to take in response to the recommendations contained within the report.   Councillor Cereste recommended that:

1.      Council notes the recommendations and agrees with the principle of the member’s allowances panel and I recommend to council that it takes the following action in response:-

The Panel’s recommendations would result in an increase to the overall members allowance budget despite what the report indicates and in these very difficult economic times I recommend that the Members Allowances and Special Responsibility Allowances remain the same for the next year.  I am minded to agree the panel’s recommendation for seven Neighbourhood Chairs and will call a meeting of the various group leaders in order to discuss the practicalities and possible implementation next year.

2.      There are no changes to Members Allowances.

This was seconded by Councillor Lee.

Councillor Sandford moved an amendment to the recommendation from Councillor Cereste so that:

1.      Council welcomes the report of the Independent Panel on Members’ Allowances and its proposed measures which seek to rebalance the Members Allowances Scheme away from excessive use of special responsibility payments and in favour of an enhanced level of basic allowance for all councillors;

2.      Council agrees to implement in full the proposals of the panel with the exception that, in view of the current severe economic situation facing the city and the country, the level of basic allowance for councillors be frozen at its current level until the council meeting in December 2012, when it will be reviewed again.  This will result in a saving on the members’ allowances budget of over £100,000; and

3.      Council recommends a change to the administration arrangements for car parking permits in that each councillor should only be allowed to purchase one permit.

This was seconded by Councillor Shaheed. 

During debate Councillor Sandford confirmed that the amendment would see the current level of Special Responsibility Allowance (SRA) retained but would reduce the number of councillors in receipt of an SRA by reducing the number of Cabinet members by one.

Following debate the amendment was DEFEATED (11 in favour, 30 against).

Following debate of the recommendations from Councillor Cereste a vote was taken (29 for, 10 against, 2 abstentions) and it was RESOLVED to:

1.      Retain the current Members Allowances and Special Responsibility Allowances for the next year; and

2.      Hold a meeting of the group leaders in order to discuss the practicalities and possible implementation next year of a reduction to the number of Neighbourhood Chairmen.

Councillor Seaton moved a report recommending Council approves the polling districts and polling places as set out at Appendix A to the report.  The Electoral Administration Act 2006 introduced a duty on all local authorities in Great Britain to review their Parliamentary polling districts and places at least once every four years.  The Council’s last review was undertaken in 2007.  Polling districts and places for local government elections are not automatically part of this review.  However, reviews of local government polling arrangements should nevertheless be conducted simultaneously with a review of UK parliamentary arrangements.   This was seconded by Councillor Cereste.

An updated report had been circulated to all Members to include a full list of polling places for West Ward (to include WES 3 - WestTown School WilliamsonAvenue and WES4 - RamadaHotel,Thorpe Meadows).

During debate it was noted that corrections were needed to be made to polling places listed for Fletton and Woodston Ward (FLE1 should be Queensgate Hotel; and FLE4 should be Riverside Pavilion) and also to polling places listed for Barnack Ward (BAR - Barnack Village Hall; HEL - Helpston Community Centre; and SOU - Barnack Village Hall).

It was AGREED to:

Approve the polling districts and polling places as set out at Appendix A to the report subject to the noted corrections being made.

Councillor Seaton moved the recommendation to approve a revised budget process and timetable to include commencing budget consultation during January 2012.  This was seconded by Councillor Matthew Dalton.

It was AGREED to:

Approve a revised budget process and timetable that included commencing budget consultation during January 2012.