Full Council – 17 March 2010

THE MAYOR – Councillor Armitage

Councillors Ali, Bainbridge, Barker, Barkworth, Berry, JBriggs, Mrs Bromby, Bunyan, Carlile, Cawsey, Clark, Collinson, Davison, Eckhardt, Ellerby, England, LFoster, Glover, Grant, Jawaid, Kirk, O’Sullivan, Poole, Mrs Redfern, Regan, C Sherwood, N Sherwood, Mrs Simpson, Smith, Stewart, Swift, K Vickers, P Vickers, Waltham, Wardle, Wells, Whiteley and Wilson.

The Council met at Pittwood House, Ashby Road, Scunthorpe.

1831 MAYOR’S REMARKS – The Mayor welcomed fellow councillors, officers and members of the public to the meeting.

The Mayor indicated that this was the final meeting of her mayoral year and she commented on how fast the last ten months had passed by. She had completed many engagements since May 2009 and had many more to fulfil before the end of her term of office.

1832 DECLARATIONS OF PERSONAL OR PERSONAL AND PREJUDICIAL INTERESTS – Declarations of personal interests were indicated as follows –

Member
Subject/Minute
Councillor M Ali Licensed Hackney Carriage Driver
Councillor S Bainbridge North Lincolnshire Homes – Board Member
Councillor J Briggs Humberside Fire Authority – Member
Councillor A Bunyan Humberside Police Authority – Member
Councillor P Clark North Lincolnshire Homes – Board Member
Councillor Ishaq Jawaid Humberside Police Authority – Member
Councillor M Kirk Yorkshire Forward – Board Member

1833 MINUTES – Resolved – That the minutes of the meetings of the council held on 20 January and 24 February 2010 having been printed and circulated amongst the members, be taken as read and correctly recorded and be signed by the Mayor, subject to the deletion of Councillor Glover from those voting “for”, in minute 1810 – Housing and Employment Land Allocations Development Plan Document – Results of Pre-Submission Consultation – Second Stage at the meeting of the council held on 20 January 2010.

1834 HUMBERSIDE POLICE – ATTENDANCE BY THE CHIEF CONSTABLE – Mr Tim Hollis, Chief Constable of Humberside Police and Chief Superintendent Peter Simmons B Division Commander attended the meeting and outlined some of the current policing issues both nationally and locally. Mr Hollis and Mr Simmons then answered a range of questions from members of the council about policing issues, again both locally and nationally.

At the conclusion of the question and answer session the Mayor thanked Mr Hollis and Mr Simmons for attending the meeting, giving an interesting outline of policing issues and answering members questions.

1835 (20) CONSTITUTION – The Service Director Legal and Democratic submitted a report proposing changes to the Constitution in relation to the council’s current working arrangements.

The Local Government Act 2000 required the council to adopt a Constitution which was a “living document” and which required frequent amendment to keep up with changes made by the council to its management structure and procedures.

It was now necessary to consider changing the Constitution as regards the council appointing a designated “Scrutiny Officer”. Section 31 of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 introduced a new section 212A to the Local Government Act 2000. This required every county council and single tier authority such as North Lincolnshire Council to appoint a designated “Scrutiny Officer” to –

  • Promote the role of Overview and Scrutiny Committees
  • Provide support for Overview and Scrutiny Committees and,
  • Provide support and guidance to members and officers in relation to Overview and Scrutiny Committees

That officer could not be the Monitoring Officer, the Chief Finance Officer or Head of Paid Service. The council’s scrutiny function had been an integral part of Democratic Services since it was introduced by the Local Government Act 2000 in 2001 and it was suggested that this arrangement be confirmed by designating the Head of Democratic Services as the council’s Scrutiny Officer.

Resolved – That the Head of Democratic Services be designated as the council’s Scrutiny Officer for the purposes of Section 31 of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009.

1836 (21) REVIEW OF SCHOOL ABSENCE IN NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE – REPORT OF THE CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S SCRUTINY PANEL– The Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Panel submitted a report on a recent review into school absence in North Lincolnshire. The aim of the review was to explore good practice relevant to improving and maintaining school attendance across North Lincolnshire. The report detailed the objectives of the review, how it was carried out and it contained 17 detailed recommendations.

Resolved – That the recommendations contained in the report be received and referred to cabinet for detailed consideration.

1837 (22) RE-VISIT OF THE REVIEW OF SICKNESS ABSENCE IN NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE COUNCIL – REPORT OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND CORPORATE ISSUES SCRUTINY PANEL – The Economic Development and Corporate Issues Scrutiny Panel submitted a report into a re-visit of the review of sickness absence in North Lincolnshire Council which had been completed in December 2003. The panel had agreed to re-visit this issue taking on board and contributing to the council’s response to comments made in relation to the Annual Audit and Inspection Letter published in March 2009. The report contained sixteen detailed recommendations.

Resolved – That the recommendations contained within the report be received and referred to cabinet for detailed consideration.

1838 (23) THE INVERSE CARE LAW IN NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE – REPORT BY THE HEALTHIER COMMUNITIES AND OLDER PEOPLE SCRUTINY PANEL – A report was submitted by the Healthier Communities and Older People Scrutiny Panel in relation to the Inverse Care Law in North Lincolnshire. The review was a piece of work that the scrutiny panel had agreed to undertake following an invitation from the Centre for Public Scrutiny to bid for funding to complete an innovative scrutiny review. The review had been required to fit around the aims of the 2006 Government White Paper “Strong and Prosperous Communities”. The report contained nine detailed recommendations.

Resolved – That the recommendations contained in the report be received and referred to cabinet for detailed consideration.

1839 (24) CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOL IN PUBLIC PLACES – WESTCLIFF PRECINCT – With reference to minute 1809, the Service Director Legal and Democratic submitted a further report in connection with the proposal to make an Order banning the consumption of alcohol in the Westcliff Precinct, Scunthorpe.

At the meeting of the council held on 20 January 2010 authority had been given for the statutory procedures and necessary consultations to be undertaken with the police and licensees and owners or occupiers of any premises or land in the area which might be affected in relation to the proposed Order. Public Notices had also been published in the local press about the proposal. There had been no adverse representations within the period allowed.

It was now open to the council to follow the remaining procedure to bring the Order into effect and this necessitated making the Order, giving public notice that it had been made and erecting appropriate signs in the designated area. A copy of the Order had to be forwarded to the Secretary of State for Information and it was proposed that it takes effect from 17 March 2010 or as soon as possible thereafter.

Resolved – That an Order be made prohibiting the consumption of alcohol under Section 13 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 in the area comprising the Westcliff Precinct being the area inside the boundary set out in the plan in appendix 1 to the report.

1840 CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REPORT – The Chief Executive presented an oral report which indicated that as part of the ongoing review of the Constitution he had been looking at how the council report back on motions where action was required to be taken. At the present time there was no formal mechanisms in place in relation to this.

Looking back over the current municipal year in July 2009 a motion was considered in relation to Corus referring to the need to work with the company to recognise the importance of steelmaking in the area and to minimise job losses. As a result, meetings have been held with Corus at a very high level and the council would continue to work with the company. References to this had also been included in the Chief Executive’s reports to cabinet on the economic situation.

In September 2009 there had also been a motion in relation to the council reaffirming its position to continue to lobby the government for the abolition of, or a significant reduction in, the cost of crossing the Humber Bridge. The council continued to work with local partners and as a result, the Minister for State for Transport had decided to refuse a toll increase. In addition, a cross party delegation met the Minister to discuss the issue in October 2009 and work was continuing in relation to this.

The most recent motion considered in January 2010 was in relation to the ban on hunting foxes with dogs and the launch of the “Back the Ban” campaign. As a result, letters were sent, as required by the motion, to the current local Members of Parliament and prospective candidates in the forthcoming general election. To date, six responses have been received to the letters, the majority of which supported the campaign.

The Chief Executive indicated that these examples show how motions passed by the council can influence wider issues and arrangements would therefore be made to put in place a more formal mechanism for reporting back to council on motions which required action to be taken.

1841 FORWARD PLAN FOR THE COUNCIL – Councillor Mark Kirk, the Leader of the Council, introduced his forward plan for the period March to June 2010, as required by the Local Government Act 2000 and the council’s Constitution. He then invited and answered questions on the plan’s contents.

Subject
Subject raised by
Response by
(i) Procurement of New Waste Treatment Contract Councillor A Bunyan Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood and Environment – Referred to the ongoing work in relation to the contract, the current situation and again emphasised the decision making process to be undertaken culminating in a final decision by cabinet.
(ii) Appointment of a Management Operator for the Baths Hall Councillor J Briggs Leader of the Council – Referred to the ongoing work in relation to this matter including the appointment of an operator for the Baths Hall. Cabinet would in due course be advised on the outcome of the procurement process and asked to make a decision on the appointment of a suitable operator.
(iii) Play Strategy for North Lincolnshire Councillor T Barker Leader of the Council and cabinet member for Neighbourhood and Environment – Referred to the Play Strategy and the Play Builder Programme and indicated that consultations had been taking place with various bodies including Town and Parish Councils about the location of new play areas. The strategy and programme would be considered by cabinet in June.
(iv) Appointment of a Management Operator for the Baths Hall Councillor D Stewart Leader of the Council – Referred to his previous response in relation to this matter and also commented on the evaluation of proposals made by prospective operators to include the Plowright Theatre in the scope of any management contract.
(v) Play Strategy for North Lincolnshire Councillor S Wilson Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Sport, Leisure and Culture – Referred to the previous response in relation to this matter and also outlined the work carried out with an extensive range of partners to develop a strategy for play in North Lincolnshire
(vi) Appointment of a Management Operator for the Baths Hall Councillor D Barkworth Leader of the Council – Again updated council in relation to the Baths Hall project and indicated that work would start on site on 26 April 2010. He also indicated that three national operators had expressed a wish to work with the council to operate the Baths Hall.
(vii) Appointment of a Management Operator for the Baths Hall Councillor K Vickers Leader of the Council – Referred to the council’s budget decisions in relation to this matter and indicated that the Chief Executive had been involved in discussions with Yorkshire Forward.

1842 PLANNING COMMITTEE – Resolved – That the minutes of the meetings of the Planning Committee held on 13 January and 10 February 2010 be received.

1843 AUDIT COMMITTEE – Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting of the Audit Committee held on 26 January 2010 be received.

1844 STANDARDS COMMITTEE – Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee held on 28 January 2010 be received.

1845 APPEALS COMMITTEE – Resolved – That the minutes of the meetings of the Appeals Committee held on 15 and 28 January 2010 be received.

1846 SAFER AND STRONGER COMMUNITIES SCRUTINY PANEL – Resolved – That the minutes of the meetings of the Safer and Stronger Communities Scrutiny Panel held on 19 January and 2 February 2010 be received.

1847 CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S SCRUTINY PANEL – Resolved – That the minutes of the meetings of the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Panel held on 8 and 22 February 2010 be received.

1848 HEALTHIER COMMUNITIES AND OLDER PEOPLE’S SCRUTINY PANEL – Resolved – That the minutes of the meetings of the Healthier Communities and Older People’s Scrutiny Panel held on 12 January and 9 and 23 February 2010 be received.

1849 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND CORPORATE ISSUES SCRUTINY PANEL – Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting of the Economic Development and Corporate Issues Scrutiny Panel held on 18 January 2010 be received.

1850 SCRUTINY CO-ORDINATING PANEL – Resolved – That the minutes of the meetings of the Scrutiny Co-Ordinating Panel held on 26 January and 16 February be received.

1851 QUESTIONS RELATING TO HUMBERSIDE POLICE AUTHORITY – Councillor N Poole asked the following question in relation to the Humberside Police Authority –

“I believe illegal hunting with dogs and lamping is on the increase in North Lincolnshire and across the Humberside policing area. The latest figures for April to December 2009 show the number of incidents increased by 128.5% compared to the previous reporting year. With this in mind why are there no police officers in the Humberside Police Force with specific roles and duties to deal with these increases in what are barbaric crimes?”

Councillor I Jawaid responded to that question.

1852 QUESTIONS IN RELATION TO NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE HOMES – Councillor T Ellerby asked the following question in relation to North Lincolnshire Homes –

“With the early retirement of North Lincolnshire Homes Chief Executive and a number of other allegations made by staff, it would appear the organisation is in disarray.

Could the council’s representative please say how the ongoing difficulties are affecting tenants and leasholders?”

Councillor L Foster responded to that question.

Councillor M Ali asked the following question in relation to North Lincolnshire Homes –

“Can the council’s representative on the North Lincolnshire Homes Board give a guarantee there will be a thorough review following the departure of their Chief Executive?”

Councillor L Foster responded to that question.

1853 QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC (INCLUDING TOWN AND PARISH COUNCILS) – The Leader of the Council referred to the format of full council meetings which enabled members of the public to ask questions. The following member of the public attended the meeting and asked a question of the Leader.

Question – Mr M Gathercole

“As you are aware Goxhill, following the floods of 2007, needed urgent action to prevent a recurrence of the same. The cause identified for the floods were many, however one factor unique to Goxhill is that its drainage and sewerage system is a one pipe system, consequently all sewerage and surface drainage enters a one pipe system and is subsequently drained away. This is a unique system and the problem will not go away until the sewerage system is improved to a two pipe system.

North Lincolnshire Council in 2008 quite rightly placed a moratorium on all new builds preventing development until both Anglian Water and the Environment Agency improved the sewerage system. To date this has not occurred.

Goxhill Parish Council is therefore quite rightly concerned that your planning service is taking little notice of this and are in fact passing planning applications. Namely – the application for a new build at Orabanche, Stothards Lane Goxhill.

The parish council refused the application for several reasons including flooding had occurred in Stothards Lane and additionally the moratorium was in place.

We therefore quite rightly ask – why was the application approved by the Planning Committee? In the paperwork approving such an application it was stated –

“No flooding in the immediate area.” This is clearly incorrect, Stothards Lane did flood and indeed still does due to the surface water not clearing quickly enough.

No comment from both Anglian Water and the Environment Agency. No there was no comment since it would not be in their interests to make a comment, this is the incorrect question to ask, the question to ask was “has the moratorium been lifted” answer – no therefore the application should have been refused by the council.

I understand one of the council’s scrutiny panels has just published its findings and recommends that until the moratorium is lifted and the issues surrounding the flooding are addressed and local views oppose such applications, then applications should be deferred.

Goxhill Parish Council on behalf of residents of Goxhill are quite concerned that now almost three years following the flooding the root cause is identified still exist and little is being done to alleviate the issues but by passing applications as mentioned exacerbate the concerns.

The Leader of the Council asked the chair of the Planning Committee to respond. He responded as follows –

“It can be confirmed that planning application ref PA/2009/0926 received as valid on 30 July 2009 seeking full planning permission to erect a detached dwelling on land adjacent to Orabanche, StothardsLane, Goxhill. The application was submitted to and approved at Planning Committee on 13January 2010.

The relevant planning history at the site illustrates that a previous planning application PA/2008/1386 to erect 2 dwellings was refused on 1 December 2008 on the basis of a cramped inappropriate form of development and impact upon existing trees on the site.

The moratorium to which the Parish Council refers requires each application for residential development to be assessed on its merits and that in particular the Council should seek technical advice as to the implications of granting approval to new residential development where there may be foul and surface water drainage issues. In this case consultations with the Environment Agency and AnglianWater as part of the process of the determination of the planning application raised no objections and therefore the recommendation to Planning Committee was one of approval subject to conditions.

The report to the Planning Committee highlighted the Parish Councils concerns and advised Members in particular of the issues surrounding flooding in the village. The moratorium on new housing build in the village will be supported unless it can be clearly shown that a particular site will not give rise to any increased flooding. The moratorium imposed by the Council does not prevent all new building within the village but prevents new housing being erected unless it can be proven that there is no adverse impact on flooding issues. This policy position will remain until or unless a further report is considered by the Planning Committee following receipt of an update from Anglia Water on likely sewer improvements within the village.

In this case there was no evidence that a single plot would make matters worse. In particular all foul water was to go to septic tanks and surface water to a soakaway. There was therefore no connections proposed to the main drainage system and therefore it was concluded there was no basis on drainage grounds to withhold approval.”

Question – Mr B Booker –

“As you are no doubt aware all councils will be expected to cut their overall expenditure from 2011 as indeed some council areas have already started to implement by no increases in their council tax in the forthcoming year. When looking at those councils that have frozen council tax to their existing level, we find many of them do not face an area of council expenditure that North Lincolnshire Council faces, namely landfill tax which is currently costing North Lincolnshire Council £24 per tonne to dispose of its non recyclable waste and this is projected to rise by a further £8 per tonne over the next two years.

It has long been recognised that non recyclable waste is an ongoing energy resource in the supply of electricity as in the case of London, where indeed three years ago a local business proposed to build a plant which would burn waste and supply electricity needs. Sadly this now appeared to have fallen by the wayside. I therefore ask when is North Lincolnshire Council going to take practical steps to remove the very high burden of landfill tax as many council areas have done and with many more in the advanced stage of preparation?”

The Leader asked the Deputy Leader of the Council and cabinet member for Neighbourhood and Environment to respond. He responded as follows –

“This Council has already taken significant steps to reduce the burden of landfill tax which from April of this year will rise to £48 per tonne.

Through the promotion of practical waste reduction measures such as home composting and the introduction of an extensive range of recycling schemes, the Council has progressively reduced the amount of waste landfilled each year. In the last two years alone, the tonnage of material disposed of to landfill has fallen from a figure of over 63,000 tonnes to just under 50,000 tonnes. This has avoided the payment of £588,000 in tax, which we have been able to reinvest in the provision of much needed local services.

Despite this and the fact that at nearly 50% recycling the council is the third highest performing Unitary Authority in the country and amongst the top 10% of all authorities, landfill diversion remains the key outcome of our ongoing Waste Procurement Project.

The Waste Procurement Project aims to identify the best technical, environmental and financial solution for dealing with that proportion of the municipal waste stream that we currently do not recycle or compost but yet which has the potential to be utilised as a resource. The outcome of this procurement will be known later this year.”

1854 NOTICE OF MOTION – COUNCIL TAXES –

Moved by Councillor Mrs Redfern.

“In light of the commitment by George Osborne, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, to provide funding to allow all councils which are prepared to set a council tax increase of 2.5% or less in the years 2011/12 and 2012/13, to not increase council tax levels paid by residents in those years, this council publicly commits to introducing council tax levels at beneath 2.5% in the relevant years and urges local residents to give full consideration to this so as to ensure that council tax is frozen for at least two years for the residents of North Lincolnshire.”

1855 TIME OF MEETING – PROCEDURE RULE D1.07 GUILLOTINE –

The time having reached 9.00 p.m. the Mayor informed the meeting that in accordance with Procedure Rule D1.07, the remaining business of the council would be put to the meeting for decision without speech or debate.

The motion set out in minute 1854 above was seconded by Councillor J Briggs.

At the request of members and in accordance with procedure rule 1.23(d) the names of members voting for, against and abstaining from the motion are as follows –

FOR: Councillors Berry, J Briggs, Mrs Bromby, Bunyan, Clark, Eckhardt, England, Glover, Mrs Redfern, C Sherwood, N Sherwood, Stewart, K Vickers, P Vickers, Wardle and Wells

AGAINST: Councillors Ali, Armitage, Bainbridge, Barker, Barkworth, Carlile, Cawsey, Collinson, Davison, Ellerby, L Foster, Grant, Jawaid, Kirk, O’Sullivan, Poole, Regan, Simpson, Smith, Swift, Whiteley and Wilson

ABSTAINING: Nil

Motion Lost

1856 NOTICE OF MOTION – CONSTRUCTION AND INVESTMENT –

Moved by Councillor Kirk and seconded by Councillor L Foster –

“This council notes the report by the UK Contractors Group (UKCG) which states every £1 invested in construction generates £2.84 in total economic activity. The report also states 92p of every £1 spent on construction is retained in the UK.

This council, therefore, welcomes the £14.4m Baths Hall investment, £21m The Pods scheme and £91m Building Schools for the Future project which, combined, will generate roughly £360m in ‘total economic activity’ and create hundreds of new jobs in the process.”

At the request of members and in accordance with procedure rule 1.23(d) the names of members voting for, against and abstaining from the motion are as follows –

FOR: Councillors Ali, Armitage, Bainbridge, Barker, Barkworth, Carlile, Cawsey, Collinson, Davison, Ellerby, L Foster, Grant, Jawaid, Kirk, O’Sullivan, Regan, Simpson, Smith, Swift, Whiteley and Wilson

AGAINST: Councillors Berry, J Briggs, Mrs Bromby, Bunyan, Clark, Eckhardt, England, Glover, Poole, Mrs Redfern, C Sherwood, N Sherwood, Stewart, K Vickers, P Vickers, Wardle and Wells

ABSTAINING: Nil

Motion Carried

1857 NOTICE OF MOTION – BROADBAND – The notice of motion set out on the order paper in relation to broadband to be moved by Councillor N Poole had no seconder and therefore was not put to the council.

↑