Agenda and minutes

Councillor Alex Norris – leave

Councillor Dave Smith – personal reasons

Councillor Jon Collins – other Council business

Councillor Liaqat Ali – personal reasons

Councillor Steve Battlemuch – work commitments

None.

Councillor Chris Gibson spoke in tribute to the outgoing Lord Mayor, Ian Malcolm.

RESOLVED to

1)  elect Councillor Jackie Morris as the Lord Mayor of the City of Nottingham until the next annual meeting of the City Council, as nominated by Councillor Nick McDonald and seconded by Councillor John Hartshorne.

2)  appoint Councillor Mohammed Saghir as Sheriff of the City of Nottingham until the next annual meeting of the City Council, as nominated by Councillor Mohammed Ibrahim and seconded by Councillor Glynn Jenkins.

The Lord Mayor informed Council of the appointment of the Reverend Andy Morris, of St Philip, Top Valley and St Matthew on the Hill, Bestwood, as the Lord Mayor’s Chaplain.

RESOLVED to note the election of Councillors to their wards, and welcome the newly elected Councillors to the Chamber.

RESOLVED to elect Councillor Jon Collins as Leader of the City Council for a 4 year term ending in May 2019, as nominated by Councillor Graham Chapman and seconded by Councillor Sally Longford.

Councillors Jim Armstrong, Georgina Culley and Andrew Rule requested that their votes against these resolutions be recorded.

Questions from citizens

No questions from citizens were received.

Petitions from councillors on behalf of citizens

No petitions from citizens were received.

The minutes of the meeting held on 9 March 2015 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Lord Mayor.

The Deputy Chief Executive reported the following:

Chief Constable Commendation

Two Community Protection colleagues have been nominated for a Chief Constables Commendation: Darren Mitchell and Scott Clancy.

Former Councillor Stewart Argyle

Former Councillor Stewart Argyle passed away on Monday 4 May. Stewart was born in Long Eaton, and brought up in Attenborough before going to school in Bramcote, and eventually settling in the Park. He was a major figure in Nottinghamshire’s Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), and was the first regional CAMRA leader in the country. He also worked for a number of years as a Sergeant in the Police, and became the Police Federation’s Secretary. He had a strong desire to help local people, and in 1991 he became a Labour City Councillor for the Park Ward. During his time as a Councillor he served on committees for leisure, planning, tourism, public relations, health and safety, and personnel.

His funeral will take place at 11:30 on Tuesday 16th June at the Albert Hall in Nottingham.

Councillors Trimble and Culley spoke in tribute to former Councillor Stewart Argyle, and a minute’s silence was held.

Support Through Austerity

Councillor Wendy Smith asked the following question of the Deputy Leader/ Portfolio Holder for Resources and Neighbourhood Regeneration:

Could the deputy leader tell the Council how we intend to support our residents through the next period of austerity?

Councillor Graham Chapman replied as follows:

Thank you for the question. I do not need to remind Councillors of the current situation facing Local Government, which has faced 40% cuts since 2010. Indeed, the government itself has been reminded only this week, by a letter signed by every council in England, protesting about the level of reductions. That is Labour, the odd Liberal, and Conservative councils, they all signed this letter. Nor do I have to remind council about the disproportionate level suffered by Nottingham, the Midlands, and the northern cities over this period. £100 million plus has been taken from our grants in Nottingham alone.

And that is the present. As for the future, many of the cuts to government spending to the city have not yet filtered through. Moreover, there is a promise of a further £27 billion worth of cuts to public spending by 2019. Moreover still, we are told that the health service, schools, overseas development, and possibly even defence, are likely to be ring fenced. This means that there are a few areas left in order to bear the burden of those cuts, and local government is one of them. The police is probably another. Then we have the promise and the potential threat of devolution.

Devolution can be a good thing, but I suspect that the devolved responsibilities will not come with the commensurate budget. Indeed, it could well be a mask for reductions. For example, by giving us a total control over the business rates, we would lose the cross subsidy we currently get from places like the City of Westminster. Then outside the council budget there will be an additional £12 billion worth of cuts in welfare, mostly directed at the young, the vulnerable, and the disabled. The consequences of this will fall on the council, because we are the safety net. So prospects for large sections of our population are actually quite bleak.

That's not to say that we will not act, or that we are not already acting to help those affected. I have four pages of examples, but I'll quote just a few, which I’m sure you’ll be relieved about.

Welfare Hardship Support Scheme – to help people in emergencies. Government funding for this was withdrawn in April this year. Yet without good management over the last few years we’d not be able to extend the service over the next 2, which we can do. That is because we made provision for the continuation of a Conservative government. I didn’t, in fact, share the optimism of some of my colleagues.

Welfare Partnership - working with charities, housing associations, and churches to support food banks, debt management, homelessness, and those sanctioned by the DWP. Also helping to prepare people  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

The Deputy Leader submitted a report on Executive appointments, remits and first meetings for the 2015-16 municipal year, as set out on pages 9 to 42 of the supplementary agenda.

RESOLVED to:

1)  note the appointment of Councillor Graham Chapman as Deputy Leader;

2)  note the following appointment of Councillors as Portfolio Holders and Executive Assistants:

3)  note the remits of the Portfolio Holders, as detailed in appendix 2 to the report;

4)  note the terms of reference and first meeting dates of Executive Board, Commissioning and Procurement Sub Committee, Executive Board Strategic Regeneration Committee, East Midlands Shared Services Joint Committee, Executive Board City Centre Committee, and the City of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Economic Prosperity Committee, as detailed in appendix 3 to the report.

The Deputy Leader submitted a report on appointments and first meetings of Committees and Joint Bodies for the 2015-16 municipal year, as detailed on pages 43 to 94 of the supplementary agenda.

Councillor Georgina Culley raised queries regarding the allocation of seats on various committees to Conservative Councillors, which she referred to Monitoring Officer Glen O’Connell for discussion after the meeting, with any further changes to membership to be dealt with as an in-year change, or brought as an item to a future meeting of Council.

RESOLVED to:

1)  agree the membership, terms of reference and first meeting dates of Council bodies, as detailed in appendix 1 of the report;

2)  agree the City Council membership of Joint Bodies, dates of first meetings and terms of reference, as detailed in appendix 2 of the report;

3)  agree substitutes where applicable, as detailed in the appendices to the report;

4)  agree the voting arrangements and membership of the new Health and Wellbeing Board Commissioning Sub-Committee, as detailed in paragraph 3.2 of the report;

5)  appoint Councillor David Liversidge as the Chair of the Appointments and Condition of Services Committee.

The Deputy Leader submitted a report on general amendments to the Constitution, as set out on pages 95 to 100 of the supplementary agenda.

RESOLVED to:

1)  note the amendments required to the Employment Procedure Rules to meet the requirements of The Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 as outlined in the report, and agree that the Council’s Employment Procedure Rules will be applied as if Schedule 3 (Appendix 1) to these regulations has replaced any existing relevant provisions, until resolution 5 has been implemented;

2)  approve the proposal for a panel to make recommendations with regard to disciplinary action and dismissal of the Head of Paid Service, Monitoring Officer or Chief Finance Officer as outlined in this report;

3)  delegate authority to the Monitoring Officer to recruit two independent persons as required by the Localism Act 2011 and The Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2015, with the final appointments to be confirmed by Council;

4)  note that a general review of the Employment Procedure Rules (Part 2 of the Constitution) is being carried out to ensure that it is compliant with legislation and reflects the changing make-up of the Council’s employment structure and workforce;

5)  agree that the revised Employment Procedure Rules are reported to July Council for approval to reflect the outcomes of the review and to incorporate the changes required by the new regulations.

The Deputy Leader submitted a report on decision taken under the urgency procedures, as set out on pages 25 to 32 of the agenda.

RESOLVED to note the urgent decisions taken, as follows:

1)  urgent decisions (exempt from call-in)

The Portfolio Holder for Early Years and Early Intervention submitted a report on the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, as set out on pages 33-34 of the agenda. A brief video from Dolly Parton was also shown in the chamber, and can be viewed online: http://www.dollybooksnottingham.org/

RESOLVED to:

1)  support the expansion of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library to reach all new babies in the City.

2)  support all Nottingham City Councillors in becoming advocates of the scheme across their community.

2015

13 July

14 September

9 November

2016

11 January

14 March

Councillors Jim Armstrong, Georgina Culley and Andrew Rule asked that their objections to the reduction in the number of meetings be recorded.

RESOLVED to hold meetings of Council at 2.00 pm on the following dates:

2015

13 July

14 September

9 November

2016

11 January

14 March