Agenda for City Council on Monday, 12th May, 2014, 2.00 pm

Agenda and minutes

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

Contact: Rav Kalsi, Constitutional Services, Tel: 0115 8763759  Email: rav.kalsi@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

Councillor Eunice Campbell - notified the meeting she would arrive after the start of the meeting due to another commitment.

Councillor Nick McDonald - notified the meeting he would arrive after the start of the meeting due to another commitment.

Councillor Eileen Morley – non-Council business.

2.

DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS

Minutes:

No declarations of interests were received.

 

3.

TO ELECT THE LORD MAYOR AND APPOINT THE SHERIFF FOR THE ENSUING YEAR

Minutes:

RESOLVED to

 

(1)  elect Councillor Ian Malcolm as Lord Mayor of the City of Nottingham until the next annual meeting of the City Council, on the motion of Councillor Chris Gibson, seconded by Councillor Michael Edwards;

 

(2)  appoint Councillor Jackie Morris as Sheriff of the City of Nottingham until the next annual meeting of the City Council, on the motion of Councillor Alex Norris, seconded by Councillor Ginny Klein.

 

4.

TO NOTIFY THE APPOINTMENT OF THE LORD MAYOR'S CHAPLAIN

Minutes:

The Lord Mayor informed Council of the appointment of the Reverence Ann Noble, Team Vicar of the Clifton Parish as the Lord Mayor’s Chaplain.

 

5.

TO RECEIVE:

6.

QUESTIONS FROM CITIZENS;

Minutes:

Questions from citizens

 

No questions from citizens were received.

 

7.

PETITIONS FROM COUNCILLORS ON BEHALF OF CITIZENS.

Minutes:

Petitions from councillors on behalf of citizens

 

No petitions from citizens were received.

 

8.

TO CONFIRM THE MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING OF COUNCIL HELD ON 14 APRIL 2014 pdf icon PDF 311 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 14 April 2014 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Lord Mayor.

 

9.

TO RECEIVE OFFICIAL COMMUNICATION AND ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE LEADER OF THE COUNCIL AND/OR THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Minutes:

Carole Mills

 

I am pleased to inform Council that our Deputy Chief Executive, Carole Mills has been appointed Chief Executive of Milton Keynes Council and will take up her post later this summer.

 

Whilst Acting Chief Executive in 2012, Carole oversaw the launch of the Nottingham Growth Plan, the landing of the City Deal and the transfer of Public Health into the City Council. She has also led a programme to reduce bureaucracy and modernise our ways of working, including greater commercialism. As well as acting as the Council’s Chief Finance Officer, She also instigated an innovative shared service - East Midlands Shared Services - with Leicestershire County Council and led many major projects including the move to Loxley House, citizen-focused working and capital programmes.

 

I am sure you will join with me in wishing Carole well in her new role.

 

10.

TO RECEIVE:

11.

ANSWERS FROM THE CITY COUNCIL'S LEAD COUNCILLOR ON THE NOTTINGHAMSHIRE AND CITY OF NOTTINGHAM FIRE AND RESCUE AUTHORITY TO QUESTIONS ON THE DISCHARGE OF THAT AUTHORITY'S FUNCTIONS;

12.

ANSWERS FROM A COUNCILLOR FROM THE EXECUTIVE BOARD, THE CHAIR OF A COMMITTEE AND THE CHAIR OF ANY OTHER CITY COUNCIL BODY TO QUESTIONS ON ANY MATTER WITHIN THEIR REMIT. pdf icon PDF 11 KB

Minutes:

Bedroom tax and Council tax changes

 

Councillor Steve Battlemuch asked the following question of the Portfolio Holder for Community Safety, Housing and Voluntary Sector:

 

Can the Portfolio Holder for Housing and the Voluntary Sector give a report on the effects of the Bedroom Tax and the changes to council tax benefit a year on from their introduction? Could the Portfolio Holder explain the position on DHP, stating how much of this budget has been spent and what more can be done to alleviate hardship of Nottingham residents. Finally, can the Portfolio Holder explain what the Council has done to support those calling for changes to these schemes?

 

Councillor Dave Liversidge replied as follows:

 

Following the Welfare Reform Act 2012, people on benefits have had the following slashed from their budgets. Firstly, with the abolition of Council Tax Benefit and the localisation of Council tax support, people of working age are being faced with a massive increase in Council tax. For example, a person living in a Band A property had a new charge last year of £1.79 per week which this year rises to £8.59 per week. This is affecting 25,600 households. The minimum charge is currently set at 20% reduced by using Council resources. If this continues these figures will continue to rise exponentially. Just to make things worse, in April 2014, the Government introduced changes to bailiff fees. Citizens will now expected to pay £75 once a liability order has been issued and at least a further £200 if an enforcement agent visits them.

 

Just to remind everyone that since April 2013, Housing Benefit for working age tenants in social housing has been limited to help them afford a property judged to be appropriate to their family size. Housing benefit is now reduced by 14% of the eligible rent, which is about £11 if there is one spare bedroom or 25% (£22 per week) of the eligible rent if there are 2 or more spare bedrooms.

 

So, how is this impacting on citizens? Last year we identified that 5,000 households were affected by both deductions, with some having a reduction in their income of £30 per week but averaging £14.50 per week which is £3.8 million taken from the Nottingham economy. With Bedroom tax this time last year there were 6,000 households affected which has been reduced to just less than 4,000 by measures we have put into place.

 

First of all, we have set up an evictions prevention protocol, with Nottingham City Homes and Nottingham Community Housing Association to ensure that tenants who are affected by under occupancy are given support and advice before court action is taken which may result in them being evicted. This includes requesting a Discretionary Housing Payment for every tenant suffering financial hardship and who engages with tenancy sustainment teams.

 

Nottingham City Homes and Nottingham City Council have also had an initiative from a wide range of social housing organisations. Its aim is to tackle both overcrowding and under occupation in social  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

13.

REPORT OF THE LEADER ON GENERAL AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION pdf icon PDF 335 KB

Minutes:

The Leader submitted a report, as set on pages 25 to 40 of the agenda, on general amendments to the Constitution.

 

RESOLVED to agree and note the constitutional amendments as set out in Appendix 1 to the report.

14.

REPORT OF THE LEADER ON EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENTS, REMITS AND FIRST MEETINGS pdf icon PDF 124 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Leader submitted a report, as circulated around the chamber, on Executive appointments, remits and first meetings. 

 

RESOLVED

 

(1)  to note the appointment of Councillors as Portfolio Holders and Executive Assistants as detailed in Appendix 1 of the report;

 

(2)  to note the remits of Portfolio Holders and Executive Assistants as detailed in Appendix 2 of the report;

 

(3)  to note the membership, terms of reference and first meeting date of the Executive Board, the Executive Board Commissioning Sub Committee, the East Midlands Shared Service Joint Committee and the City of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Economic Prosperity Committee, as detailed in Appendix 3 of the report.

15.

REPORT OF THE LEADER ON APPOINTMENTS AND FIRST MEETING OF COMMITTEES, BOARDS, PANELS, JOINT BODIES ETC pdf icon PDF 89 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Leader submitted a report, as set out on pages 41 to 80 of the agenda on appointments and first meetings of Boards, Committees and Joint Bodies etc.

 

RESOLVED

 

(1)  to agree the membership, terms of reference and first meeting dates of Council bodies, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report;

 

(2)  to note the City Council membership of Joint Bodies, dates of first meetings and terms of reference, as set out in Appendix 2 to the report;

 

(3)  agree substitutes, where applicable, as set out in the appendices to the report.

16.

REPORT OF THE LEADER ON DECISIONS TAKEN UNDER THE URGENCY PROCEDURES pdf icon PDF 151 KB

Minutes:

The Leader submitted a report, as set out on pages 81 to 84 of the agenda on decisions taken under the urgency procedures.

 

RESOLVED to note the urgent decisions taken, as follows:

 

(1)  Urgent decisions (exempt from call-in)

 

ref

 

Date of decision

Subject

Value

Reasons for urgency

1383

19/03/14

Equal Pay Settlements

Exempt

Any delay would seriously prejudice the Council’s interest.

1406

31/03/14

Transfer of music service to become Nottingham Music Service Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)

£134,000

The delay caused by call-in would seriously disadvantage the Council’s or the public’s interest.

1430

11/04/14

Green Deal Communities Funding

Exempt

The Council is obliged to accept the funding by 14 April 2014.

 

(2)  Key decisions (special urgency procedure)

 

Date of decision

Subject

Value of decision

Decision Taker

Reasons for special urgency

11/04/2014

Green Deal Communities Funding

Exempt

Leader

The decision could not be delayed because the Council had to return the paperwork to accept the funding by 14 April 2014.

 

17.

REPORT OF THE CHAIR OF LICENSING COMMITTEE ON THE REVIEW OF STATEMENT OF LICENSING POLICY pdf icon PDF 115 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair of Licensing Committee submitted a report, as set out on pages 85 to 88 of the agenda on the Review of Statement of Licensing Policy.

 

RESOLVED to approve the draft revisions to the Statement of Licensing Policy relating to the City Centre Saturation Zone and policy for release for public consultation.

18.

TO CONSIDER MOTION IN THE NAME OF COUNCILLOR CHAPMAN

This Council believes that the government’s economic policies and funding regimes endemically disadvantage cities in the Midlands and North to the benefit of rural and suburban areas in the South.

 

The Council calls on the government to make fairer the way it allocates funding to Councils by:

 

-  restoring the needs criteria to the grant settlement

-  abolishing the new homes bonus and restoring the 'top slice' to the basic rate support grant

-  repealing the changes to the Council tax support system

-  to urgently re-evaluate business rates

 

in order to address this unfairness.

 

It further calls on the government to implement a series of measures in the Heseltine Report and Core Cities report, Competitive Cities, Prosperous People: A Core Cities Prospectus for Growth, including:

 

-  establishing a regional banking system to share the risk of infrastructure investment risk with local authorities and to help investment in small businesses

-  in addition to HS2, better transport links between cities with transport budgets devolved to regions

-  devolution of powers over funding for infrastructure, skills and economic and business development

-  a far less London centric approach to major government project funding

 

in order to rebalance the economy for the benefit not just of the regions outside of the South East but for the UK as a whole.

Minutes:

Moved by Councillor Graham Chapman, seconded by Councillor Steve Battlemuch:

 

“This Council believes that the government’s economic policies and funding regimes endemically disadvantage cities in the Midlands and North to the benefit of rural and suburban areas in the South.

 

The Council calls on the government to make fairer the way it allocates funding to Councils by:

 

-  restoring the needs criteria to the grant settlement

-  abolishing the new homes bonus and restoring the 'top slice' to the basic rate support grant

-  repealing the changes to the Council tax support system

-  to urgently re-evaluate business rates

 

in order to address this unfairness.

 

It further calls on the government to implement a series of measures in the Heseltine Report and Core Cities report, Competitive Cities, Prosperous People: A Core Cities Prospectus for Growth, including:

 

-  establishing a regional banking system to share the risk of infrastructure investment risk with local authorities and to help investment in small businesses

-  in addition to HS2, better transport links between cities with transport budgets devolved to regions

-  devolution of powers over funding for infrastructure, skills and economic and business development

-  a far less London centric approach to major government project funding

 

in order to rebalance the economy for the benefit not just of the regions outside of the South East but for the UK as a whole.”

 

Moved by Councillor Georgina Culley by way of an amendment and seconded by Councillor Roger Steel to:

 

“After ‘This Council’ DELETE:

‘believes that the government’s economic policies and funding regimes endemically disadvantage cities in the Midlands and North to the benefit of rural and suburban areas in the South.

 

The Council calls on the government to make fairer the way it allocates funding to Councils by:

 

-  restoring the needs criteria to the grant settlement

-  abolishing the new homes bonus and restoring the 'top slice' to the basic rate support grant

-  repealing the changes to the Council tax support system

-  to urgently re-evaluate business rates

 

in order to address this unfairness.

 

It further

 

AMENDED MOTION TO READ:

 

This Council calls on the government to implement a series of measures in the Heseltine Report and Core Cities report, Competitive Cities, Prosperous People: A Core Cities Prospectus for Growth, including:

 

-  establishing a regional banking system to share the risk of infrastructure investment risk with local authorities and to help investment in small businesses

-  in addition to HS2, better transport links between cities with transport budgets devolved to regions

-  devolution of powers over funding for infrastructure, skills and economic and business development

-  a far less London centric approach to major government project funding

-  in order to rebalance the economy for the benefit not just of the regions outside of the South East but for the UK as a whole.”

 

After discussion, the amendment was put to the vote and was not carried.

 

RESOLVED to carry the substantive motion as follows:

 

“This Council believes that the government’s  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

19.

DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS

To agree the following dates for meetings of Council for the ensuing year, unless City Council should, at any time otherwise order:

 

2014

 

·  9 June

·  14 July

·  8 September

·  13 October

·  8 December

 

2015

 

·  26 January

·  9 March

·  13 April

·  26 May

Minutes:

RESOLVED to hold meetings of Council at 2.00 pm on the following dates, unless the City Council should at any time otherwise order:

 

2014

2015

9 June

26 January

14 July

9 March

8 September

13 April

13 October

26 May