Agenda for City Council on Monday, 12th November, 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

44.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

Councillor Nicola Heaton – work commitments

Councillor Mohammed Ibrahim - unwell

Councillor Sue Johnson – unwell

Councillor Dave Smith – personal

Councillor Chris Tansley – personal

Councillor Marcia Watson - personal

45.

Declarations of interests

Minutes:

None

46.

Questions from citizens pdf icon PDF 129 KB

Minutes:

Bed and Breakfast Accommodation

 

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

 

In January the Council passed a motion to ensure ‘that no family is placed in Bed and Breakfast accommodation by the end of 2018’.  What action has been taken to ensure this is achieved, and what still remains to be done?  In particular can the Council explain what provisions are in place for the families displaced from Bed and Breakfast accommodation?  Does the Council believe it is still on target to eliminate Bed and Breakfast accommodation for families by the end of the year?

 

Councillor Woodings replied as follows:

 

Thank you, Lord Mayor. I would like to thank this citizen for their question. It is correct that in January 2018, this Council passed a motion promising, along with other commitments, to ensure sufficient provision of temporary accommodation so that no family is placed in bed and breakfast accommodation by the end of 2018. We did this because our city, along with the rest of the country, is facing an unprecedented crisis in housing caused by a broken housing market, 8 years of austerity, and changes to welfare. I can report that we are making steady progress against our targets to achieve this. In relation to action taken over the last twelve months, the City Council has introduced the following measures:

·  A new supply of alternative temporary accommodation (90 units) is being brought in by the end of December and that includes 50 properties which are being bought by Nottingham City Homes specifically as temporary accommodation.

·  Additional staffing and resources in place to support people to avoid being made homeless or to facilitate access to new tenancies in the private rented sector.

I am pleased to report that over 250 new tenancies have been created in the last 12 months. In order to prevent unnecessary eviction from social housing, Nottingham City Homes has put in place an effective mechanism to identity and prevent eviction of families at risk. We have made changes to the way we allocate housing to allow people a fair chance of accessing the limited supply of social housing before reaching homelessness. We have made widespread contact with empty homeowners and offer to purchase properties to bring them back into use and we estimate there are approximately 750 empty properties in the city. The introduction of a private sector leasing scheme whereby Nottingham City Homes will lease properties from landlords for a fixed period of time and take on the property management for use as temporary accommodation is another scheme in train and the introduction programme of home visiting and promotion of the right messages to ensure people know they can remain with extended family whilst the City Council helps them to find more settled accommodation. This is all being driven in a systematic way by a cross Council task group with a targeted action plan which meets every week to drive progress under clear corporate leadership and political scrutiny.

 

So  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

47.

Petitions from Councillors on behalf of citizens

Minutes:

Councillor Raine submitted a petition from residents of Staplehurst Drive, Tring Vale and Desford Close proposing that residents of those streets are issued with resident parking permits with the restrictions being Monday to Saturday 8am – 5pm, due to ongoing problems caused by Nottingham City Hospital staff parking. The petition received 73 signatures.

48.

To confirm the minutes of the last meeting of Council held on 10 September 2018 pdf icon PDF 337 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 minutes of Council were abbreviated and therefore brought the Council into disrepute.  Councillor Toby Neal raised a point of order because he felt that Councillor Armstrong’s continued raising of the same issue at successive Council meetings without taking what Councillor Neal considered to be the appropriate action to resolve his concerns brought the Council into disrepute.  The Lord Mayor stated that the minutes were recorded in accordance with usual practice and suggested that if Councillor Armstrong wished to change this practice then this could be done by proposing an amendment to the Constitution.

 

Councillor Jim Armstrong requested a recorded vote on confirmation of the minutes but the Lord Mayor declined this request.

 

The minutes of the meeting held on 10 September 2018 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

 

Councillor Jim Armstrong raised a point of order that councillors who had not been present at the meeting on 10 September 2018 had voted on the accuracy of the minutes of that meeting.  The Lord Mayor confirmed that only those councillors present at a meeting could vote on confirming the accuracy of the minutes of that meeting and the vote of councillors not present at the meeting on 10 September 2018 had not been taken into account.

 

49.

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:

 

Councillor Roger Steel

I would like to welcome Councillor Roger Steel who was elected to represent the Clifton North ward at the by-election held on 27 September 2018.

 

Centenary to mark the end of World War 1

11 November marked the centenary of the end of the First World War.  This has been commemorated by people across the Country and the City in a variety of different ways. In Nottingham the Victoria Embankment was the focal point.  Commemorations took place in the morning and the evening. Tributes to the Armed Forces were made through the Service of Remembrance and a minute’s silence at 11o’clock and an event in the evening ‘The Battle’s Over’ featuring sound and lightscapes, music and poetry and a beacon that lit up the front of the war memorial.


Green Energy Award for Former Councillor Alan Clark

Former councillor Alan Clark was posthumously awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Solar Power Portal Awards in October in recognition of his achievements whilst serving as the Council’s Portfolio Holder for Energy and Sustainability from 2011 to 2016.  The Award acknowledged his leading role in making Nottingham the UK’s most energy self-sufficient City including identification of solar as a key part of Nottingham’s sustainable journey.  The awards also announced a new category recognising public sector projects from next year, which will be named in his honour.

 

BME Housing Leaders 2018

 Inside Housing has recently published its inaugural list of outstanding housing professionals from a black and minority ethnic background and Delroy Beverley, Nottingham City Homes' Director for Construction, Repairs and Maintenance has featured in the inaugural list. In 2015, he became the first BME person from social housing sector to be named the Institute of Directors’ director of the year and, as a BME leader, works hard to inspire the next generation.

 

Former Councillor Tim Bell

Former Councillor Tim Bell passed away on 17 September 2018.  He was elected to represent the Beechdale Ward on 4 May 1995 where he served as a councillor until 2003.

 

Councillor Graham Chapman spoke in tribute to former Councillor Tim Bell, and a minute’s silence was held.

50.

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

Minutes:

None.

51.

Questions from Councillors - to a member of Executive Board, the Chair of a Committee and the Chair of any other City Council body pdf icon PDF 107 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Financial management

 

Councillor Roger Steel asked the following question of the Deputy Leader:

 

Does the Deputy Leader of the Council recall the Leader of the Council writing in The Guardian in 2011 that he was “damn sure that at Nottingham City Council there is absolutely no political gesturing in the very tough budget decisions” and that he has himself acknowledged that there is a need for prudency in financial management. Was the Council therefore displaying such prudency when it chose to use its apparent limited resources to fund a politically charged sign, advocating support against perceived education cuts, in Old Market Square?

 

Councillor Graham Chapman replied as follows:

 

Can I thank Councillor Steel for his question and can I welcome him and his questions back to the Council. To be frank, we have probably missed his questions more than we have him, but he’s back now and so welcome.

 

No I can’t remember what Jon said in the Guardian whenever. Life is too short for me to do that. Nevertheless, I do have to say that last year the Government’s proposed national funding formula would have resulted in 98% of schools in Nottingham from April of this year losing in total £22million. I do know about that and I also know that it was going to work out at £578 per pupil and thanks to the outcry and hard work of a number of campaigns, including ones organised by the City Council working with schools to write to every Nottingham parent, the Government made some revisions to its proposals to the point where the loss was reduced to £10million. So we only lost £10million, our children, and it is £263 per pupil instead of £578. This is not money that went on “little extras”, to quote the Chancellor but on teachers, on books, on learning support and support in particular for children with special education needs. Some examples from my own ward, Aspley, which is one of the more deprived: Brocklewood school, £199 per pupil lost. Ambleside, £215 lost. Rosslyn, £153 per pupil lost. Bluecoat, which services the whole city, £620. Trinity, which again services a lot of the estate, £477 and St Theresa’s £159 per pupil. That is substantial.

 

What the first campaign did was to show that public condemnation does pay and in May this year, we in this Council discussed a motion that set out a number of ways we could work to try bring about further changes to the government’s proposal, hence the sign. I think, referring to the sign in Old Market Square, he might mean the school cuts campaign banners that were recently put up in response to the Council resolution, but I am only guessing. The Council’s contribution to these banners was the princely sum of £1,000 and given the very real detriment the funding cuts will have, we were happy to help the school cuts campaign and it was not our campaign, gain a presence in the city centre. At this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51.

52.

Review of Statement of Licensing Policy pdf icon PDF 111 KB

Report of the Chair of the Licensing Committee

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair of the Licensing Committee presented a report seeking adoption of a new Statement of Licensing Policy, as set out on pages 25-78 of the agenda.

 

RESOLVED to adopt the Statement of Licensing Policy as set out in appendix 1 to the report with effect from 7 January 2019.

53.

Statement of Gambling Policy pdf icon PDF 212 KB

Report of the Chair of the Licensing Committee

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair of the Licensing Committee presented a report seeking adoption of a new Statement of Gambling Policy, as set out on pages 79 – 126 of the agenda, giving councillors the opportunity to renew the ‘no casino’ resolution should they wish to do so which will otherwise cease to have effect in January 2019.

 

RESOLVED to

 

(1)  renew the previous ‘no casino’ resolution pursuant to Section 166 of the Gambling Act 2005 so that with effect from 31 January 2019 no casino licences will be issued within the administrative area of the City of Nottingham;

 

(2)  adopt the Statement of Gambling Policy as set out in appendix 1 of the report; and

 

(3)  authorise the Corporate Director of Commercial and Operations to comply with the relevant statutory requirements in respect of the advertisement and publication of the Statement.

 

54.

Amendments to the Constitution pdf icon PDF 199 KB

Report of the Leader

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Leader of the Council presented a report proposing amendments to the Council’s Constitution, as set out on pages 127-144 of the agenda, including amendments to:

·  committee terms of reference

·  the Scheme of Delegation

·  Standing Orders; and

·  committee memberships.

 

RESOLVED to

 

(1)  amend the Area Committee Terms of Reference, as detailed in appendix A to the report, to clarify the Committees’ role in relation to consultation on Section 106 funding;

 

(2)  amend the Audit Committee Terms of Reference, as detailed in appendix B to the report, to ensure that it reflects the roles and responsibilities of local authority audit committees;

 

(3)  amend the Health and Wellbeing Board Terms of Reference to add the Nottingham City Council Chief Executive as a non-voting member of the Board;

 

(4)  approve non-executive changes to the Scheme of Delegation, as detailed in appendix C to the report;

 

(5)  amend Standing Orders, as detailed in appendix D to the report, to

i)  make the deadline for citizen questions submitted for a response at Full Council 9am 2 clear working days before the Council meeting; and

ii)  clarify what constitutes an appropriate Council question;

 

(6)  note the executive change to the Scheme of Delegation, as detailed in appendix E to the report;

 

(7)  note changes to committee memberships, as detailed in appendix F to the report, approved by the Corporate Director for Strategy and Resources as in-year changes; and

 

(8)  approve the amendments to the relevant parts of the Constitution as required by the above changes.

55.

Decisions Taken Under Urgency Procedures pdf icon PDF 212 KB

Report of the Leader

Minutes:

The Leader of the Council 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 145-150 of the agenda.

 

RESOLVED to note

 

(1)  the urgent decisions (exempt from call-in):

 

Decision Reference Number

Date of Decision

Subject

Value of Decision

Reasons for Urgency

3274

5 October 2018

Engagement of professional services

Exempt

A letter of engagement was required by 5 October 2018 in order to engage the provider of professional services

3297

26 October 2018

Investment acquisition – Project Fothergill

Exempt

The terms for the purchase stated that contracts had to be exchanged on this property matter within 15 days of receiving a full legal pack and that completion shall be 5 days after. 

 

(2)  the Key Decisions taken under special urgency procedures:

 

Decision Reference Number

Date of Decision

Subject

Value of Decision

Reason for Special Urgency

3270

28 September 2018

Investment Acquisition – Project Brookfield

Exempt

Heads of Terms had been agreed with the vendor and a condition of the sale was an exchange within 10 days of receiving the full legal pack, and completion 5 days thereafter.

3297

26 October 2018

Investment Acquisition – Project Fothergill

Exempt

Heads of Terms had been agreed with the vendor and a condition of the sale was an exchange within 15 days of receiving the full legal pack, and completion 5 days thereafter.

3301

26 October 2018

Investment Acquisition – Project Aston

£1,750,

000

Legal work was already underway and waiting 28 days would have delayed receiving income from the investment further.

3309

30 October 2018

Progressing Development Projects

Exempt

Orders needed to be placed urgently in order to provide programme certainty.

 

56.

Amendments to Polling Districts and Places pdf icon PDF 117 KB

Report of the Deputy Leader

Minutes:

The Deputy Leader of the Council presented a report setting out proposed delegations to the Chief Executive to make changes to polling districts and places, as set out on pages 151 – 154 of the agenda.

 

RESOLVED to

 

(1)  delegate authority to the Chief Executive to make any changes to polling districts for the elections in 2019, which in his view are made necessary by the ward boundary changes brought into force by the Nottingham (Electoral Change) Order 2018;

 

(2)  delegate authority to the Chief Executive to make any changes to polling places for the elections in 2019 in those affected polling districts, which in his view are made necessary by the ward boundary changes brought into force by the Nottingham (Electoral Changes) Order 2018;

 

(3)  delegate authority to the Chief Executive on an on-going basis to identify and resolve any changes to polling places, where the venue is no longer available or fit for purpose in between scheduled formal polling districts and places reviews; and

 

(4)  note that a full polling districts and places review will commence after the local elections in summer 2019, in conjunction with the scheduled Parliamentary Polling Districts and Places Review, which is required to be completed by no later than January 2020.

 

 

57.

Nottingham Homelessness Prevention Strategy 2019 to 2024 pdf icon PDF 198 KB

Report of the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing and Heritage

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Portfolio Holder for Housing and Planning presented a report seeking adoption of a new Homelessness Prevention Strategy for 2019 to 2024, as set out on pages 155 – 246 of the agenda, which had been developed and supported by a cross-sector partnership led by Nottingham City Council.

 

RESOLVED to approve the Homelessness Prevention Strategy 2019 to 2024, as set out in appendix 1 of the report.

58.

Motion

Motion in the name of Councillor Nick Raine:

 

This Council notes that:

·  Government cuts have resulted in more than one in four children (27.7%) in the UK living in poverty with this expected to rise to almost one in three (31.3%) by 2021-22.

·  A survey by Plan International UK found that 1 in 10 teenage girls have been unable to afford sanitary products.

·  56% of teenage girls stated they would rather be bullied at school than talk to their parents about their periods.

·  This is a particular problem for girls from low-income families where the choice is often between buying food or sanitary items.

·  In many cases girls lose a significant number of days of schooling.

·  Women in low-income employment are sometimes unable to afford sanitary products when struggling to meet household bills and feed their families and the choice is often between buying food or sanitary items.

·  In many cases women miss work, training and career opportunities.
Only female prisoners have a statutory right to access free sanitary products.


This Council resolves to:

·  Take a partnership approach to ensuring that sanitary products are available in schools across Nottingham.

·  Encourage businesses in the City to provide sanitary products for staff.

 

Minutes:

Moved by Councillor Nick Raine, seconded by Councillor Linda Woodings:

 

This Council notes that:

·  Government cuts have resulted in more than one in four children (27.7%) in the UK living in poverty with this expected to rise to almost one in three (31.3%) by 2021-22.

·  A survey by Plan International UK found that 1 in 10 teenage girls have been unable to afford sanitary products.

·  56% of teenage girls stated they would rather be bullied at school than talk to their parents about their periods

·  This is a particular problem for girls from low-income families where the choice is often between buying food or sanitary items.

·  In many cases girls lose a significant number of days of schooling.

·  Women in low-income employment are sometimes unable to afford sanitary products when struggling to meet household bills and feed their families and the choice is often between buying food or sanitary items.

·  In many cases women miss work, training and career opportunities.
Only female prisoners have a statutory right to access free sanitary products.


This Council resolves to:

·  take a partnership approach to ensuring that sanitary products are available in schools across Nottingham;

·  encourage businesses in the City to provide sanitary products for staff.

RESOLVED to carry the motion.

59.

Brexit Update pdf icon PDF 290 KB

Report of the Chair of the Audit Committee

Minutes:

The Chair of the Audit Committee presented a report updating Council on recent developments in relation to Brexit, some potential impacts and the actions that the Council has taken to date, as set out on pages 247 – 252 of the agenda.

 

RESOLVED to

 

(1)  reaffirm the Council’s policy, originally adopted at Full Council on 9 November 2015, that the City Council believes it is in the best interests of business, residents and the whole city of Nottingham for the UK to continue its membership of the European Union, while seeking reform on a number of key issues;

 

(2)  note the report from officers on the potential impact of leaving the European Union on Nottingham City;

 

(3)  ask that all service and project plans are reviewed with regard to Brexit and that assurances of progress are reported to the Audit Committee; and

 

(4)  ask that a report of the status of the authority’s emergency planning with regard to Brexit is presented to the Audit Committee in the new year.