Meeting documents

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Hesketh, Higgins, Ms Mawson, Mrs Mort and Rainsbury.

Councillors Hancock and Wooldridge declared prejudicial interests in the Penwortham Neighbourhood Development Plan item as they were members of the working group on Penwortham Town Council that considered this matter.?They both would leave the meeting during the discussion and voting thereon.

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Councillors Howarth, Martin, Patten and Watkinson declared personal interests in the Penwortham Neighbourhood Development Plan item as they were members of Penwortham Town Council.

(At this point of the meeting, Councillor Ms Bell apologised publicly for her remarks made at a previous Council meeting.)

There was a lengthy discussion on minute no. 93 relating to Councillor Foster’s remarks about the membership of committees for the next municipal year.

RESOLVED (YES: 26, NO: 2, ABSTAIN: 0):

That the minutes of the meeting held on 1 March 2017 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Mayor subject to minute no. 93 being amended to include the following sentence at the end of the final paragraph –

“Councillor Foster subsequently stated that unless there were changes, the Labour Group would withdraw from every committee.”

The Mayor provided an update on the events she had recently attended and her forthcoming engagements.

The Leader, Councillor Mullineaux, presented the reports of the Cabinet meetings held on 20 February and 29 March 2017. The reports were seconded.

20 February 2017

Improvement Plan

In respect of the strengths and weaknesses of the Improvement Plan, the Leader reported that the plan was to strengthen?this Council?over a number of months. The Leader added that this was needed and it showed that the Council could progressively move forward with this.

Standing Order 38 Decision ? Land at Leyland

In respect of the reason as to why this decision was taken under Standing Order No. 38 (Delegation of Urgent Decisions), Councillor Foster indicated that he was happy to meet with the Leader to discuss this further or for the Leader to provide him with a detailed written response. The Leader confirmed that he was happy with Councillor Foster?s request on this matter.

15 March 2017

Organisational Development Strategy 2017/19

Councillor Ms Bell commented that the meeting with the Leader, Cabinet Member for Finance and the Improvement Manager on member development was positive/constructive and she hoped that this was the start of political groups working together.

Safeguarding Annual Self-Assessment

Councillor Ms Bell commented that although lone working for officers had been included in the self-assessment, she added that the level of risk associated with lone working for members could also be hazardous and should be taken into account.

RESOLVED: that:

1) the reports be noted [unanimously]; and

2) Pay Policy 2017/18 [unanimously]

the updated Pay Policy 2017/18 appended to the report be approved and that the financial implications of the revision be accommodated within existing budgetary provisions for 2017/18.

Councillor Titherington presented the reports of the meetings of the Scrutiny Committee held on 31 January, 16 February and 14 March 2017. The reports were seconded.

The Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Leisure referred to the meeting on 16 February 2017 (Councillor Call for Action) and indicated that he felt that it was a very useful meeting in which a number of quality questions were asked by the committee. He suggested that members (if they have not yet had the chance) should read the full set of minutes of the meeting.

The Cabinet Member took the opportunity to thank the officer again for producing the excellent minutes of that meeting.
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Councillor Ogilvie presented the report of the meeting of the Governance Committee held on 1 February 2017. The report was seconded.

In response to a?question on the recent residents? survey, the Leader explained that the survey showed excellent results. The Leader felt that this was down to the excellent work of staff of this Council under difficult circumstances. The Leader added that this survey would help the Council move forwards. In respect of the conditions of the roads and potholes, the Leader indicated that this was a national problem and was the remit of the county council.

In respect of recent Labour leaflets over the administration?s confirmation of plans to close leisure centres in South Ribble, the Leader was aware of the comments however he assured the Council that there were no plans to close leisure centres at this stage. Any proposals would be developed and full consultation would take place with all members and the public before any decisions were made.

Responding to a question on Combined Authorities, the Leader confirmed that this authority was still in shadow form. The process had slowed down in the light of central government?s Cabinet changes and that there was?a reluctance?on the part of?a few Lancashire authorities who did not wish to enter into the devolution deal. The Council was still waiting to see what would?develop and the Leader envisaged that any decisions would now be made after the county council elections. In respect of a subsequent question, the Leader agreed that Combined Authorities was important and together with this authority?s financial strengths it would put this Council in a great position.

In respect of the recent budget, the Leader explained that the administration was aware of the problems of the ?3m deficit; however, it was only a few weeks since the budget was approved. The Leader assured the Council that there were things in place. In respect of charges for the green waste collections, the Leader indicated that the administration felt that it was not the right?time to bring this in this year as the county council had funded this Council up to 2018 for the collections. The implementation of green waste charges would be looked at again if there were other opportunities/alternatives.

In respect of the set-up cost of ?86k for the green waste collection service, the Leader explained that while the decision of implementing this service had been deferred there was a chance that this could be prevented. Through the Leader, the Cabinet Member for Finance reiterated her budget speech she made at the Council meeting on 1 March 2017 and explained that she did say that the Council would be charging for the collection of garden waste from April 2018 together with the increase of Council Tax however we would try and negate that if we could. The Council was exploring other forms of income however at present there was nothing available and it would be implemented as planned.

In response to the cuts of funding of ?44k for Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs), the Leader referred to the budget deficit and stated that this had been funded by this Council for a number of years. The Leader noted the concerns made however he felt that this was the remit of Lancashire Constabulary and was not a statutory responsibility/function for this Council to provide that service.

Responding to the City Deal, the Leader stated that a report on the City Deal would be submitted to the next scheduled meeting of the Council?s Governance Committee on 12 April 2017. The Leader added that the next City Deal meeting was the following day and that he would be attending. City Deal 2 would be looked at in the near future.

In response to the review of Leisure Services on the Cabinet?s Forward Plan, the Leader reiterated that there had not been any decisions/commitments made. It was envisaged that the matter would be discussed at the next scheduled meeting of Cabinet Workshop/Cabinet. The Leader added that as a responsible Council, he assumed that residents would expect the Council to review its leisure facilities periodically.

In respect of a question, the Leader agreed that there was a need for members of this chamber to be honest and not to be economical with the truth.

In respect of the employees? survey, the Leader indicated that there had been a recent staff briefing with group leaders. The Leader indicated that he noted the comments made and added that he did explain at the briefing that once the Peer Review had been completed the Council would be able to assess the situation. The Leader would then consider a constructive way forward. The Leader added that a lot of things had been put in place in the last 18 months that benefited the way we do things and the way we work here at this Council.

In respect of no action being taken against members undermining officers/other members of this Council on social media, the Leader explained that this was not something that could be carried out immediately. The matter was still being addressed/considered and the Leader indicated that he was happy to have staff meetings on a regular basis to keep in touch on what was going on. Training was needed to help move this Council forward.

At this point of the meeting, the Mayor asked all members to stand up and agree to work together. All members of the Council stood in respect of this.

Corporate Support & Assets

No questions were asked.

Finance

In response to when the set-up cost of ?86k for the green waste collection service would be spent, the Cabinet Member indicated that the provisional date for?when a decision was required for the way forward was within the first quarter of the financial year (next three months). As reported earlier, the Cabinet Member reiterated that the Council would look at other forms of income it could raise and reconsider the implementation of the charges.

In respect of the facilities at the Civic Centre?s banqueuting suite, the Cabinet Member reported that any refurbishment to the suite would commence when the timescales had been agreed.

Neighbourhoods & Street Scene

Responding to a question, the Cabinet Member agreed that this Council would look at all other alternative options before taxation on the public was imposed. The Cabinet Member referred to the green waste service collection scheme and added that this was the reason why the charges was deferred this year. He reiterated the comments made earlier in the meeting by the Leader that the Council was still receiving credits from the county council up to April 2018. The Council was continuously in discussion with partners and looking at alternative options some of these being, the variation of the timing of recycling collections and the collections in winter months etc. The Council?s intention was always to keep taxation down for the residents of the borough.

In respect of a subsequent question, the Cabinet Member stated that the waste collection contract was signed last year because it saved this Council ?600k. The Cabinet Member went on to explain how the new green waste service collection would work if the scheme was to be set up.

Public Health, Safety & Wellbeing

No questions were asked.

Regeneration & Leisure

No questions were asked.

Strategic Planning & Housing

No questions were asked.

In respect of a question, the Chairman of Planning Committee agreed to commend the residents of Penwortham for voting in the recent referendum on the Neighbourhood Plan for Penwortham Town.

In respect of a question, the Armed Forces Champion referred members to the signing of the Armed Forces Covenant a number of years ago to help ex-service personnel back into the community. He was pleased to report that on Saturday, 22 April 2017 (10.00 to 12noon) there would be the opening of a veterans? caf? at Roccoco Coffee Lounge & Bakery, Chapel Brow, Leyland. This event would take place on a monthly basis for 6 months initially.

The Armed Forces Champion explained that it had been decided that the ceramic poppies that appeared on memorials (made by children of Lostock Hall Academy) would be refurbished and would be put up for sale. All proceeds from the sale would go to the Royal British Legion, ssafa (the Armed Forces charity) and My Neighbourhoods for similar type of projects. He would appreciate any support from members/public for those initiatives.

(Councillors Hancock and Wooldridge declared prejudicial interests in this item as they were members of the working group on Penwortham Town Council that considered this matter. Both Councillors Hancock and Wooldridge left the meeting during the discussion and voting thereon.

Councillors Howarth, Martin, Patten and Watkinson declared personal interests in this item as they were members of Penwortham Town Council.)

The Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Housing presented the report.

The introduction of the Localism Act in 2011 brought about the concept of neighbourhood development planning and introduced regulations on how to prepare, consult, examine and adopt Neighbourhood Development Plans (NDP).

In December 2013, this Council received an application to develop a NDP for the area of Penwortham Town. This was a planning document created by local people that guided and shaped development in the local area.

The plan was examined in 2016 and the Examiner?s report was considered by Planning Committee on 9 November 2016 (and then by full Council on 16 November 2016) and the Examiner?s recommendations were agreed, including that a referendum be held covering the same area as the plan. The referendum was held on Thursday, 9 February 2017.

90.2% of those who voted were in favour of the plan being used to help decide planning applications in the area. As this figure was over 50%, the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 required this Council to ?make? (adopt) the Neighbourhood Plan.

The preparation of the Penwortham Town Neighbourhood Development Plan had now satisfied all the procedural steps and must now be formally ?made? (adopted).

RESOLVED (unanimously):

that the Council approves to make Penwortham Neighbourhood Development Plan with the consequence that it becomes part of the statutory development plan for the area.