DONCASTER METROPOLITAN BOROUGH COUNCIL COUNCIL MEETING 30TH JANUARY, 2014

Transcription

1 DONCASTER METROPOLITAN BOROUGH COUNCIL COUNCIL MEETING 30TH JANUARY, 2014 An EXTRAORDINARY MEETING OF THE COUNCIL was held at the CIVIC OFFICE, WATERDALE, DONCASTER, on THURSDAY, 30TH JANUARY, 2014 at 5.00 p.m. PRESENT: Chair - Councillor Eddie Dobbs Vice-Chair - Councillor David Nevett Mayor - Ros Jones Deputy Mayor - Councillor Glyn Jones Councillors Patricia Bartlett, Iris Beech, Joe Blackham, Andrew Bosmans, Elsie Butler, Paul Coddington, Phil Cole, Richard Cooper-Holmes, Tony Corden, Linda Curran, Monty Cuthbert, Nuala Fennelly, Bob Ford, Pat Haith, Stuart Hardy, Rachel Hodson, Charlie Hogarth, David Holland, Sandra Holland, Moira Hood, Barbara Hoyle, Eva Hughes, Deborah Hutchinson, Mick Jameson, Bob Johnson, Alan Jones, R. Allan Jones, Jane Kidd, Ted Kitchen, Pat Knight, Sue Knowles, Chris McGuinness, Sue McGuinness, John McHale, Hilary McNamee, Christine Mills, Bill Mordue, John Mounsey, Jane Nightingale, Susan Phillips, Cynthia Ransome, Tony Revill, Kevin Rodgers, Craig Sahman, Patricia Schofield, John Sheppard, Austen White, Sue Wilkinson, Jonathan Wood and Doreen Woodhouse. APOLOGIES Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Barry Johnson, Ken Keegan, Tracey Leyland-Jepson, Eric Tatton-Kelly, Yvonne Woodcock and Paul Wray. 58. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST No declarations were made at the meeting. 59. FREEDOM OF THE BOROUGH APPLICATION - SARAH STEVENSON, MBE The Council received a report, presented by Councillor Moira Hood, Chair of the Elections and Democratic Structures Committee, recommending conferring the Freedom of the Borough to Sarah Stevenson, MBE, in recognition of her sporting achievements, her influence on the sport of Taekwondo nationally and her endorsement and promotion of local charities. At its meeting held on 26th November 2013, the Elections and Democratic Structures Committee considered an application from Mr Gary Sykes, Taekwondo Master and Olympic Coach, who had approached the Council to ask them to consider bestowing this honour on Sarah Stevenson. A. 1

2 It was reported that Authorities were able to bestow the Freedom of the Borough on individuals who had provided exceptional service to their town or enhanced its reputation through their actions. Born in Doncaster, Sarah was arguably the most successful GB Taekwondo athlete in history. She became Junior World Champion in 1998 at the age of 13 and two years later became Senior World Champion, overcoming more mature and experienced athletes to achieve this goal. Sarah repeated this victory in 2005 and 2011 and was Junior and Senior European Champion for over a decade, in addition to being the first female athlete to represent Team GB in Taekwondo at the Olympic Games in Sydney, as well as Athens, Beijing and London. Further to Councillor Hood s presentation of the report, Members from all political parties acknowledged the magnitude of Sarah s achievements and gave their full support to bestowing this honour upon Sarah which was considered by all to be richly deserved. It was unanimously RESOLVED to agree to bestow the Freedom of the Borough on Sarah Stevenson, MBE, in recognition of her sporting achievements, her influence on the sport of Taekwondo nationally, her endorsement and promotion of local charities and continued support of sport in schools and martial arts clubs across the Borough. 60. APPOINTMENTS TO OUTSIDE BODIES Members considered a report seeking approval to changes to the Council s representatives on the Police and Crime Panel (PCP), the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE), the Black Drain Internal Drainage Board and Doncaster East Drainage Board. It was reported that at the Annual Council meeting held on 24th May 2013 appointments had been made to a number of outside bodies for the forthcoming municipal year. A number of requests had subsequently been made by political groups to review the appointments made to the PCP and the SACRE to ensure the Council would continue to be represented on these outside bodies. Due to recent resignations on the Black Drain Internal Drainage Board and Doncaster East Drainage Board, the Council was now required to make appointments to these outside bodies in order to ensure it maintained full and adequate representation. RESOLVED that: (1) Councillor John McHale be appointed to replace the Mayor on the Police and Crime Panel; (2) Councillor Joe Blackham be appointed as the substitute for Councillor McHale on the Police and Crime Panel; A. 2

3 (3) Patricia Schofield be appointed to replace Councillor Doreen Woodhouse as the Conservative representative on the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education; (4) Richard Ward (DMBC Officer) be appointed as the replacement representative for Mark Houlbrook on the Black Drain Internal Drainage Board; (5) the above appointments take immediate effect and be subject to review at Annual Council in June 2014; and (6) Jeremy Crooks (Coal Authority) be appointed as the replacement representative for Stuart Widdowson on the Doncaster East Drainage Board with immediate effect and until 31st October PROPOSALS FOR LOCALISED COUNCIL TAX SUPPORT FOR 2014/15 (THE LOCAL COUNCIL TAX REDUCTION SCHEME) Council considered a report, presented by Mayor Ros Jones, which sought approval of a revised Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme. It was reported that from 1 st April 2013, Council Tax Benefit had been replaced by Local Council Tax Support (LCTS), meaning that the authority would have to decide who was eligible for support and what level of support they should receive. It was noted that there were over 30,600 households currently receiving a reduction in their Council Tax from the Local Support scheme in Doncaster. Of these, over 14,000 were of pensionable age and more than 16,600 were of working age on a low income. The Council needed to revise the scheme from 1st April 2014 due to the loss of 460,000 Government transitional grant that had been provided for the first year of Local Council Tax Support and to take into account the Government s Prescribed Requirements Regulations. Members noted that in line with the Local Government Finance Act 2012, before making or revising a scheme, the Authority must consult such other persons as it considers are likely to have an interest in the operation of the scheme. Accordingly, the Authority had carried out a public consultation exercise between 7th October 2013 and 17th November 2013, the results of which were detailed in the report. The report also set out a revised Equality Impact Assessment and the response received from the Chair of the Council s Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee and final recommendations in respect of a revised Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme. RESOLVED that: (1) the loss of the Government s Transitional Grant of 460,247 (plus an additional 56,301 for South Yorkshire Police and 25,598 for South Yorkshire Fire), be noted; A. 3

4 (2) the protection for pensioners as a result of the annual uprating of allowances, premiums and non-dependant deductions which were prescribed by the Government and the associated change in expenditure which was funded locally, be noted; (3) the Authority should uprate allowances and premiums for those of working age in line with the annual uprating set by the Government and used in the current scheme and in other forms of support including Housing Benefit, and that it be noted that the uprating of allowances and premiums results in a reduction in expenditure of approximately 80,000; (4) it be noted that any increase in Council Tax liability for the Council, its major preceptors and local parish preceptors will increase the cost of Local Council Tax Support; (5) Options 1 and 2, as set out in section 4 of the report, be approved in relation to revising the Authority s Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme; and (6) the revised scheme, as linked at Appendix 5 of the report and amended to take into account Options 1 and 2 and the final Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013, be approved. 62. OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY UPDATE REPORT AND REVIEW AND REFRESH OF THE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY FUNCTION The Council considered a report, presented by Councillor John Mounsey, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee, which provided an update on the work of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee (OSMC) and the three standing Overview and Scrutiny Panels for the period June 2013 to December The report also detailed the proposed changes to the Overview and Scrutiny function which would be taken forward during These proposed changes had been developed by a cross party working group which met during summer 2013 and the proposals sought to ensure that Overview and Scrutiny became more robust and focused, contributed towards the delivery of priorities and improved the delivery of services to the public. RESOLVED that: (1) the work of the OSMC and the three standing Scrutiny Panels for the period June to December 2013 be noted; (2) the proposed changes to the Overview and Scrutiny function as detailed below, be supported, to take effect from Annual Council 2014:- A. 4

5 i. that political proportionality be disapplied to OSMC and the standing Panels to support wider cross party Member engagement; ii. iii. iv. that the OSMC consist of eight Members and include the Chairs of the four standing Panels; that Vice Chairs of the standing Panels substitute for Chairs where they are unable to attend; the proposed membership of nine elected members on each of the standing Panels, be supported; v. it be noted that the statutory co-optees will be appointed to the Panel that considers educational issues and will be invited to attend meetings of OSMC where educational issues are being considered; vi. vii. that the new role and remit of OSMC and the standing Panels outlined at paragraphs of the report, be approved; the Panel structure outlined in the report, be approved, noting that further work will be undertaken to align issues to the relevant Panels; viii. the scheduling of meetings as detailed at paragraphs of the report, be approved; ix. the establishment of a Health and Adult Social Care Panel that will incorporate the Council s statutory health Scrutiny function, be supported; x. it be noted that further work will be undertaken to align Cabinet Member portfolio areas to the relevant Panels to ensure clear lines of responsibility; xi. that a further report be submitted to Council in March 2014 identifying any Constitutional changes resulting from this new structure. 63. ELECTORAL REVIEW PROPOSALS FOR NEW WARD BOUNDARIES The Council considered a report with regard to the on-going Electoral Review being undertaken by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE). The first part of the review carried out by the LGBCE had resulted in a recommendation that the number of Elected Councillors within the Borough should be reduced from 63 to 54 in the future, and now, following this, the Council had been invited to look at submitting proposals for new Ward boundaries in order to accommodate the reduced number of Councillors, A. 5

6 ensuring that electoral equality for voters was delivered, and that the interests and identities of all electors were reflected. The Assistant Director of Legal and Democratic Services informed Members that two proposed options would be put before them at today s meeting, one being a proposal as recommended by the Elections and Democratic Structures Committee (EDSC) and the other being a proposal from the Conservative Group. He stressed that it was important to ensure that both proposals were given an appropriate airing and fully considered. The date for submission of the Council s proposals to the LGBCE was Monday 3rd February, 2014, and therefore it was imperative that a decision was reached on this matter today. Members were informed that their submission to the LGBCE could include as many options as they felt appropriate, although it was expected that more weight would be given to the submission approved by Council. Before opening the debate on this matter, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 26.1, the Chair proposed that Council Procedure Rules 17.1, 17.4 and 17.6 be suspended in order to allow Members to have a free-flowing and robust debate on this important issue. RESOLVED that in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 26.1, Council Procedure Rules 17.1, 17.4 and 17.6 be suspended for the debate on this item. Councillor Moira Hood, Chair of the EDSC, confirmed that at its Extraordinary Meeting held on 28th January 2014, the Committee had supported the draft warding proposals developed by the Cross Party Working Group, a copy of which was tabled at the meeting (see appendix A to these minutes). She then handed over to the Chair of the Cross-Party Working Group, the Deputy Mayor, Councillor Glyn Jones, who outlined the process followed by the Working Group and the factors it had taken into account in drawing up its warding proposals, including the detailed criteria laid down by the LGBCE. Councillor Jones expressed the view that the Working Group s agreed proposal that had been subsequently supported by the EDSC and recommended to Full Council was a balanced, fair and well intentioned submission. He pointed out that a later submission to the Working Group from the Conservative Group had been incomplete at the point where a decision had to be made by the Group in making its recommendation to the EDSC. Councillor Jones concluded by placing on record his thanks to everyone who had participated and contributed to this process, particularly the Officers who had ably supported the Cross-Party Working Group. Councillor R. Allan Jones advised that the Conservative Group wished to propose an amendment to the draft warding proposals as recommended by the EDSC, in the form of an alternative option for submission to the LGBCE, a copy of which was then tabled at the meeting (see Appendix B to these minutes). In presenting the alternative warding proposals in detail, Councillor Jonathan Wood confirmed for the purpose of clarification that ward numbers 19 and 20 (map references (s) and (t) respectively) each comprised 3 x 2 Member wards. Councillor Wood explained that the basis of his Group s proposal was 27 wards each containing 2 Members, which was felt to be a more preferable arrangement A. 6

7 in terms of equality, identity and convenience and represented the interests of everyone. In response to a query by Councillor Wood, the Chief Executive confirmed that more than one submission on draft warding arrangements could be made to the LGBCE by the Council, but she explained that the proposals would be presented to the LGBCE with a clear indication being made as to which proposal was the preferred option supported by the majority of Members, and which was the minority submission. The Chair of Council then afforded all Members in the Chamber the opportunity of commenting on the draft warding proposals before them and Members discussed both options at length. It was then proposed by Councillor R. Allan Jones, seconded by Councillor Patricia Schofield, that the alternative warding proposals as put forward by the Conservative Group and tabled at the meeting (detailed in Appendix B to these minutes) be agreed as an amendment to the draft ward proposals recommended by the EDSC. In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 20.4, a recorded vote was taken on the amendment proposed by Councillor R. Allan Jones, which was declared as follows:- For 7 Councillors Patricia Bartlett, Bob Ford, Barbara Hoyle, R. Allan Jones, Cynthia Ransome, Patricia Schofield and Jonathan Wood. Against 42 The Chair of Council, Councillor Eddie Dobbs, the Vice-Chair of Council, Councillor David Nevett, the Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones, the Deputy Mayor, Councillor Glyn Jones and Councillors Iris Beech, Joe Blackham, Andrew Bosmans, Elsie Butler, Phil Cole, Richard Cooper-Holmes, Tony Corden, Linda Curran, Nuala Fennelly, Pat Haith, Stuart Hardy, Charlie Hogarth, David Holland, Sandra Holland, Moira Hood, Eva Hughes, Debbie Hutchinson, Mick Jameson, Bob Johnson, Alan Jones, Jane Kidd, Ted Kitchen, Pat Knight, Sue Knowles, Chris McGuinness, Sue McGuinness, John McHale, Hilary McNamee, Christine Mills, Bill Mordue, John Mounsey, Jane Nightingale, Sue Phillips, Tony Revill, Kevin Rodgers, John Sheppard, Austen White and Sue Wilkinson. Abstain 0 On being put to the meeting, the amendment proposed by Councillor R.Allan Jones was declared LOST by 7 votes to 42 (0 Abstentions). A. 7

8 It was then proposed by the Deputy Mayor, Councillor Glyn Jones, and duly seconded, that the recommendations of the EDSC (as detailed in Appendix A to these minutes) be supported as this Council s main submission to the LGBCE on proposed future warding arrangements. A vote was then taken on the recommendations of the EDSC, which was declared as follows:- For - 43 The Chair of Council, Councillor Eddie Dobbs, the Vice-Chair of Council, Councillor David Nevett, the Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones, the Deputy Mayor, Councillor Glyn Jones and Councillors Iris Beech, Joe Blackham, Andrew Bosmans, Elsie Butler, Paul Coddington, Phil Cole, Richard Cooper- Holmes, Tony Corden, Linda Curran, Nuala Fennelly, Pat Haith, Stuart Hardy, Charlie Hogarth, David Holland, Sandra Holland, Moira Hood, Eva Hughes, Debbie Hutchinson, Mick Jameson, Bob Johnson, Alan Jones, Jane Kidd, Ted Kitchen, Pat Knight, Sue Knowles, Chris McGuinness, Sue McGuinness, John McHale, Hilary McNamee, Christine Mills, Bill Mordue, John Mounsey, Jane Nightingale, Sue Phillips, Tony Revill, Kevin Rodgers, John Sheppard, Austen White and Sue Wilkinson. Against - 8 Councillors Patricia Bartlett, Bob Ford, Barbara Hoyle, R. Allan Jones, Cynthia Ransome, Patricia Schofield, Jonathan Wood and Doreen Woodhouse. Abstain - 1 Councillor Monty Cuthbert. On being put to the meeting, the recommendations of the EDSC were declared CARRIED by 43 votes to 8 (1 Abstention). RESOLVED that: (1) the draft warding proposals recommended by the EDSC (Appendix A) be supported as this Council s formal warding submission to the LGBCE; (2) the proposals by the Conservative Group (Appendix B) be forwarded to the LGBCE as a second submission; and (3) both proposals referred to above be put to the LGBCE with an explanation of the respective weight attached to each submission by the Council as evidenced by its vote at the Council Meeting. A. 8

9 A. 9 APPENDIX A

10 Ward N Map Ref No. of Cllrs Proposed Electorate 19 Electorate Per Cllr Variance Broad Area/Name Comment 1 a % Conisbrough & Denaby 2 b % Edlington & Warmsworth 3 c % Tickhill 4 d % Rossington & Bawtry 5 e % Finningley 6 f % Hatfield 7 g % Thorne Over threshold (distinct community) 8 h % Sprotbrough & Barnburgh iii 9 i % Brodsworth Grange i 10 j % Bentley iv 11 k % Bessacarr 12 l % Armthorpe Under threshold (distinct community) 13 m % Mexborough & Dearne iii 14 n % Barnsdale i 15 o % Kirk Sandall, Edenthorpe & Barnby Dun 16 p % Balby 17 q % Town ii 18 r % Greater Wheatley ii 19 s % Roman Ridge iv 20 t % Stainforth & Moorends NOTES i OD Split 659 into ward 9 and 860 into ward 14 * OE Split 590 into ward 14 and 218 into ward 9 ii DA Split 989 into ward 17 and 1324 into Ward 18 iii TB Split 857 Into ward 8 and 747 in ward 13 iv MC Split 657 into ward 10 and 1175 into ward 19 A. 10

11 A. 11 APPENDIX B

12 Ward N No. of Cllrs Proposed Electorate 19 Electorate Per Cllr Variance Map Ref Ward/Area Comments % a Adwick % b Askern % c West Rural Ward**** % d Thorne Over Threshold (distinct community) % e 6a 2 6b % f % g % h 9a 2 9b % i % j % k % % m % n % o % p % q % r l Northern Rural Ward Question of division amongst Armthorpe and Edenthorpe Conisbrough Edlington & Warmsworth** Question of east and west division of Balby Mex West* Mex East & Denaby* Kirk Sandall, Barnby Dun & Clay Lane Southern Rural Ward** Great North Road South Rossington Bessacarr/Blaxton Hatfield and Eastern Rural*** Stainforth & Hatfield*** Under threshold FOUR COUNCILLORS -Two Wards (2x2). The Armthorpe & Edenthorpe area to be split with exact details determined by the Boundary Commission. - FOUR COUNCILLORS - Two Wards (2x2) The Balby area to be split with exact details determined by the Boundary Commission. A. 12