Agenda for City Council on Monday, 10th September, 2018, 2.00 pm

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - at the Council House. View directions

Contact: Laura Wilson, Senior Governance Officer  Email: laura.wilson@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

31.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

Councillor Cheryl Barnard – leave

Councillor Steve Battlemuch – work commitments

Councillor Josh Cook – personal

Councillor Nick McDonald – work commitments

Councillor David Mellen – other Council business

Councillor Jackie Morris – leave

Councillor Brian Parbutt – unwell

Councillor Chris Tansley – work commitments

32.

Declarations of interests

Minutes:

Councillor Adele Williams declared an interest in agenda item 11 – Motion in the name of Councillor Linda Woodings, as she works for UCU, the University and College Union. However, as this is not a pecuniary interest, Councillor Adele Williams was not required to withdraw from the meeting, and could take part in discussion and voting on the item.

33.

Questions from citizens

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Student Accommodation and Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs)

 

PK asked the following question of the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Planning:

 

1. The December 2004 'Jubilee Campus Development Brief' created an agreed framework between the council and the University of Nottingham for the expansion of the Jubilee Campus. This included the building of a 'Student Village' at the Northern end of Triumph Road where the Player's warehouses have recently been demolished. Does the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Planning believe the University should comply with the Brief by building a student village on the site of the former warehouses to help return houses in areas like Lenton to family occupation? If so, what actions can the council take to ensure the student village progresses?

 

2. According to the February 2018, Arboretum, Dunkirk and Lenton, Radford and Park Area Committee meeting minutes "NCH Enterprises Ltd are intending to buy and build homes for market rent under the name ‘LiviNG’ which will provide well-managed and well maintained properties for citizens as an alternative to some disreputable and private landlords." Does the PH for Housing and Planning believe the issue of high concentration of HMOs could be resolved by asking NCH to buy targeted houses in areas which suffer from the strains of too many HMOs and return them to family use?

 

3. Does the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Planning believe the University of Nottingham should buy HMOs in the area affected by high concentration of students to return them to family use for mature students or for use by visiting academics?

 

Councillor Jane Urquhart replied as follows:

 

Thank you Lord Mayor, and thank you to the questioner for bringing the question. As it is in three parts, as the Chief Executive explained, I’m going to reply in those three sections. So in terms of part one: The Jubilee Campus Development Brief, as the question says, was adopted in December 2004, so quite some number of years ago now, almost 15 years old. It is therefore in planning policy terms very dated, and so the weight that could be applied to it in any planning decisions is quite limited. However, the site of the former bonded warehouses is safeguarded in the Local Plan for the expansion of the Jubilee Campus, and those policies say that permission will be granted for Higher Education, Research & Development, Information & Communication Technology facilities, and ancillary uses such as accommodation and catering facilities for staff or students. So there is some potential for the suggestion that the questioner makes.

 

The University has not yet shared their development proposals for the site of those former bonded warehouses but I would certainly encourage them to do so at the earliest opportunity and to work with us to meet the wholesale needs of the city and the communities in which the University is situated.

 

I think that the use of the site for a well-designed student village could provide much needed purpose built accommodation and could assist with our  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

34.

Petitions from Councillors on behalf of citizens

Minutes:

Councillor Anne Peach submitted a petition to stop the felling of trees in St Peter’s Park adjacent to Radford Grove Lane. The petitioners requested further evidence of the need for the trees removal, and for appropriate consultation to take place with local residents. The petition received 19 signatures.

35.

To confirm the minutes of the last meeting of Council held on 9 July 2018 pdf icon PDF 405 KB

Minutes:

Councillor Jim Armstrong raised a point of order in reference to Standing Order 21 relating to conduct – “Councillors shall at all times during Council meetings behave with courtesy and respect towards others and do nothing which might bring the Council into disrepute or disrupt Council business”. Councillor Armstrong felt that the omission of the answers to supplementary questions in the minutes of Council was misleading, and would therefore bring the Council into disrepute. The Lord Mayor stated that as Standing Order 21 relates to Councillor conduct, it should not be applied to the recording of minutes. Councillor Armstrong requested a recorded vote on confirmation of the minutes of the previous meeting.

 

Councillors voted to approve the minutes of the previous meeting as follows:

 

 

For

Against

Abstained

Councillor Liaqat Ali

P

 

 

Councillor Jim Armstrong

 

P

 

Councillor Cat Arnold

P

 

 

Councillor Leslie Ayoola

P

 

 

Councillor Ilyas Aziz

 

 

 

Councillor Cheryl Barnard

 

 

 

Councillor Steve Battlemuch

 

 

 

Councillor Merlita Bryan

P

 

 

Councillor Eunice Campbell-Clark

P

 

 

Councillor Graham Chapman

P

 

 

Councillor Azad Choudhry

 

 

 

Councillor Jon Collins

P

 

 

Councillor Josh Cook

 

 

 

Councillor Mike Edwards

P

 

 

Councillor Chris Gibson

P

 

 

Councillor Brian Grocock

P

 

 

Councillor John Hartshorne

P

 

 

Councillor Rosemary Healy

P

 

 

Councillor Nicola Heaton

P

 

 

Councillor Mohammed Ibrahim

P

 

 

Councillor Patience Ifediora

P

 

 

Councillor Corall Jenkins

P

 

 

Councillor Glyn Jenkins

P

 

 

Councillor Sue Johnson

P

 

 

Councillor Carole-Ann Jones

P

 

 

Councillor Gul Nawaz Khan

P

 

 

Councillor Neghat Khan

P

 

 

Councillor Ginny Klein

P

 

 

Councillor Dave Liversidge

P

 

 

Councillor Sally Longford

P

 

 

Councillor Carole McCulloch

P

 

 

Councillor Nick McDonald

 

 

 

Councillor David Mellen

 

 

 

Councillor Jackie Morris

 

 

 

Councillor Toby Neal

P

 

 

Councillor Brian Parbutt

 

 

 

Councillor Anne Peach

P

 

 

Councillor Sarah Piper

P

 

 

Councillor Georgia Power

P

 

 

Councillor Nick Raine

P

 

 

Councillor Andrew Rule

 

P

 

Councillor Mohammed Saghir

P

 

 

Councillor David Smith

P

 

 

Councillor Wendy Smith

P

 

 

Councillor Chris Tansley

 

 

 

Councillor Dave Trimble

P

 

 

Councillor Jane Urquhart

P

 

 

Councillor Marcia Watson

P

 

 

Councillor Sam Webster

P

 

 

Councillor Adele Williams

P

 

 

Councillor Malcolm Wood

P

 

 

Councillor Linda Woodings

P

 

 

Councillor Cate Woodward

P

 

 

Councillor Steve Young

P

 

 

 

The minutes of the meeting held 9 July 2018 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

36.

To receive official communications and announcements from the Leader of the Council and/or the Chief Executive

Minutes:

Ian Curryer, Chief Executive, reported the following:

 

International Youth Camp in China

 

I am pleased to report that during the summer break, six young people from Nottingham attended an international youth camp in Chengdu, China hosted by the Sichuan Provincial Government. The group, which consisted of three members of our Children in Care Council and three members of our local Youth Council network, raised £5,000 themselves in order to attend the international youth camp, which was a positive and life-changing experience for all of those involved.

 

Howitt Building

 

The City Council owned Howitt Building on Lenton Boulevard, which was formerly the offices of the Raleigh Cycle Company completed in 1931 to the designs of T Cecil Howitt, has been recognised as a nationally important building.  Historic England announced that the building is the country’s 400,000th Grade II Listed Building. This builds on the Council’s award winning Heritage Strategy – promoting heritage led regeneration within the city.

 

Honorary Alderman Martin Brandon Bravo

 

Honorary Alderman Martin Brandon Bravo passed away on 15 August 2018, aged 86. He was elected to represent the Robin Hood Ward in 1968, where he served until 1970. He was then re-elected to represent the Wollaton Ward in 1976, where he served until 1987. He was appointed as an Honorary Alderman in December 2011.

 

Councillor Andrew Rule spoke in tribute to former City Councillor, former MP, former County Councillor and Honorary Alderman Martin Brandon Bravo, and a minute’s silence was held.

37.

Questions from Councillors - to the City Council's lead Councillor on the Nottinghamshire and City of Nottingham Fire and Rescue Authority

Minutes:

None.

38.

Questions from Councillors - to a member of Executive Board, the Chair of a Committee and the Chair of any other City Council body

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Funding for councils

 

Councillor Michael Edwards asked the following question of the Deputy Leader:

 

Does the Deputy Leader share my anger at the Government’s latest attempt to bailout failing County Councils with ‘negative RSG’ funding while continuing to take money away from places like Nottingham?

 

Councillor Graham Chapman replied as follows:

 

Earlier this summer the government announced £153,000,000 additional funding for local government. Very generous of them you might think. Well, not really given the billions that have been taken away from local government since 2011 and even less so when you realise that 86% of this money went to Conservative councils. Worse still, those councils benefitting are amongst the richest in the UK, and the vast majority of them are in the south of England.

 

But it gets worse, and it gets more unfair. Not only are the benefitting councils overwhelmingly Conservative, not only are they amongst the richest with the highest Council Tax and Business Rates base, they also have had the fewest cuts since 2011. Whereas the poorest councils have received 30% reductions in grant on average, many of the councils benefitting have had less than 10% reductions in grants. And it gets worse still, because most of these same councils have benefitted from £300,000,000 in previous handouts in transitional grants in the last two years, from which not one of the poorer councils has received a penny – including Nottingham.

 

And it gets worse still, because these same authorities are the very authorities which are suffering fewer pressures in terms of the two biggest spending areas of councils; adult care and children’s services. Unlike poorer areas where there are very few self-funding adults in care, there are many self-funders in these authorities.

 

So just to give you an example; in Surrey, one of the richest areas in the UK, between 2011 and 2019 had a 4% reduction in its spending power. Nottingham has suffered over 25% cuts in its spending power. Yet in the last three years, Surrey has received an additional £54,000,000 in government grants. Nottingham in that period has received not a penny of it. Nor has Derby, nor has Leicester, nor any of the northern or Midlands cities. Nor, interestingly, have any of the inner London boroughs, even though a lot of the outer London boroughs have received it. So in the current world of local government finance, the better off the area and the fewer the financial pressures, the less you lose and the more you receive in government handouts. The converse is true; the poorer you are, the more you lose. The biggest losers have been Liverpool, Mosely and Hackney, and the biggest winners have been places down south like Uttlesford, Woking and Wokingham.

 

It is a blatant fix based on political expediency. It is behaviour which makes a mockery of any objective grant distribution. It is verging on a scandal. But we are not taking it lying down. We are working with SIGOMA, an organisation which represents  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

39.

Decisions taken under Urgency Procedures pdf icon PDF 203 KB

Report of the Leader

Minutes:

The Leader submitted a report detailing decisions taken under procedures which include exemption from Overview and Scrutiny Call-In procedure rules and special urgency Access to Information rules, as set out on pages 23-26 of the agenda.

 

RESOLVED to note the urgent decisions (exempt from call in) set out below:

Decision Reference Number

Date of Decision

Subject

Value of Decision

Reasons for Urgency

3224

02/08/18

Future Event Planning

Exempt

Due to very short time scales in the bidding process which failure to meet would result in Nottingham not being included within the bid

 

40.

THE CRIME AND DRUGS PARTNERSHIP PLAN 2015 to 2020 (2018/19 REFRESH) pdf icon PDF 324 KB

Report of the Portfolio Holder for Community Protection

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Portfolio Holder for Community Protection presented a report to refresh the Crime and Drugs Partnership Plan 2015-2020, as set out on pages 27-50 of the agenda.

 

RESOLVED to approve the Partnership Plan 2015 to 2020 (2018/19 refresh), as set out in appendix 1 to the report.

41.

Motion

Motion in the name of Councillor Linda Woodings:

 

The closure of Basford Hall Nursery by Nottingham College on Friday 27th July means the loss of an important community facility and could see some potential college students put off accessing education at Basford Hall in the future.

 

Nottingham College’s own information shows the nursery was at 95% capacity in January 2018 and making a surplus. The last Ofsted inspection rated the nursery ‘Good’ and it is used by the children of 22 college students. Given the college is expanding it is likely that demand for nursery places will rise and therefore this council sees no good reason for its closure.

 

This council resolves to:

·  Continue to support the parents, staff and local residents involved in the Save Nottingham College Nurseries Campaign.

·  Lobby Nottingham College to provide nursery provision on their sites.

·  Campaign to improve the accountability of Further Education establishments to the communities they serve.

·  Look at ways to help users of the nursery find alternative child provision.

·  Reaffirm our commitment to increasing the number of 2 year olds in Nottingham in nursery by 40%.

 

Minutes:

Moved by Councillor Linda Woodings, seconded by Councillor Neghat Khan:

 

The closure of Basford Hall Nursery by Nottingham College on Friday 27 July means the loss of an important community facility and could see some potential college students put off accessing education at Basford Hall in the future.

 

Nottingham College’s own information shows the nursery was at 95% capacity in January 2018 and making a surplus. The last Ofsted inspection rated the nursery ‘Good’ and it is used by the children of 22 college students. Given the college is expanding it is likely that demand for nursery places will rise and therefore this council sees no good reason for its closure.

 

This council resolves to:

·  Continue to support the parents, staff and local residents involved in the Save Nottingham College Nurseries Campaign.

·  Lobby Nottingham College to provide nursery provision on their sites.

·  Campaign to improve the accountability of Further Education establishments to the communities they serve.

·  Look at ways to help users of the nursery find alternative child provision.

·  Reaffirm our commitment to increasing the number of 2 year olds in Nottingham in nursery by 40%.

 

RESOLVED to carry the motion.

42.

Motion

Motion in the name of Councillor Nick Raine:

 

This council notes:

·  Over £288 million has been injected into the local economy over the last three years as a result of the City Council’s Procurement Strategy.

·  Since 2014, a total of 567 contracts have been awarded to firms by the Council as part of its role to provide vital services to local people.

·  364 entry level jobs and apprenticeships have been created for local people as a result of the Council’s Procurement Strategy.

 

This council believes:

·  Procurement processes can and should be used to benefit the local economy and create jobs for local people.

·  The practise of blacklisting is wrong and The Public Contracts Regulations should be more explicit in ‘blacklists’ as a specific ground to exclude bidders.

·  No one should have their livelihood taken away from them on the basis that they are a member of a trade union.

 

The council resolves to:

·  Continue with the current Procurement Strategy to use local suppliers wherever we can to help Nottingham’s economy, creating business for local firms and jobs for local people.

·  Ensure satisfactory evidence is provided by potential contractors that they do not currently practise ‘blacklisting’.

·  Lobby Government to make blacklisting a criminal offence and make it more explicit in the Public Contracts Regulations as a ground for bidders to be excluded.

·  Ensure that contractors comply with any statutory provisions relating to trade unions, in particular with regards to collective agreements and trade union representatives.

Minutes:

Councillor Nick Raine declared an interest as an employee of a trade union; however after seeking advice, The Lord Mayor stated that this was not sufficient to preclude him from proposing, discussing or voting on the motion.

 

Moved by Councillor Nick Raine, seconded by Councillor Adelle Williams:

 

This council notes:

·  Over £288 million has been injected into the local economy over the last three years as a result of the City Council’s Procurement Strategy.

·  Since 2014, a total of 567 contracts have been awarded to firms by the Council as part of its role to provide vital services to local people.

·  364 entry level jobs and apprenticeships have been created for local people as a result of the Council’s Procurement Strategy.

 

This council believes:

·  Procurement processes can and should be used to benefit the local economy and create jobs for local people.

·  The practise of blacklisting is wrong and The Public Contracts Regulations should be more explicit in ‘blacklists’ as a specific ground to exclude bidders.

·  No one should have their livelihood taken away from them on the basis that they are a member of a trade union.

 

The council resolves to:

·  Continue with the current Procurement Strategy to use local suppliers wherever we can to help Nottingham’s economy, creating business for local firms and jobs for local people.

·  Ensure satisfactory evidence is provided by potential contractors that they do not currently practise ‘blacklisting’.

·  Lobby Government to make blacklisting a criminal offence and make it more explicit in the Public Contracts Regulations as a ground for bidders to be excluded.

·  Ensure that contractors comply with any statutory provisions relating to trade unions, in particular with regards to collective agreements and trade union representatives.

 

RESOLVED to carry the motion.

43.

Membership Changes

To note the appointment of Councillor Cate Woodward to replace Councillor Jackie Morris on the Planning Committee.

Minutes:

RESOLVED to note:

 

(1)  the appointment of Councillor Cate Woodward to replace Councillor Jackie Morris on Planning Committee;

 

(2)  the appointment of Councillor Leslie Ayoola to replace Councillor Rosemary Healy on Planning Committee;

 

(3)  the appointment of Councillor Nick Raine to replace Councillor Rosemary Healy on Audit Committee.