northlincs.gov.uk

Present

THE MAYOR – Councillor Armitage

Councillors Ali, Bainbridge, Barker, Barkworth, Berry, B Briggs, JBriggs, Mrs Bromby, Bunyan, Carlile, Cawsey, Clark, Collinson, Davison, Eckhardt, Ellerby, England, L Foster, T Foster, Glover, Gosling, Grant, 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.

1755 MAYOR’S REMARKS – The Mayor welcomed fellow councillors, officers and members of the public to the first full council meeting following the summer recess.

The Mayor thanked Denise Lawton, Chair of the Multi-Faith Partnership for saying prayers. The Mayor then referred to some of the mayoral duties she had undertaken during the summer and indicated that one of her proudest moments had been to start the first stage in the Tour of Britain Cycling Race. She was also looking forward to her Civic Service on Sunday 11 October at Normanby Hall when the Reverend David Beverley would conduct the service and the Gunness and Burringham Primary School Choir would sing some songs.

1756 DECLARATIONS OF PERSONAL OR PERSONAL AND PREJUDICIAL INTERESTS – Declarations of personal interests were indicated as follows –

1757 MINUTES – Before calling on Councillor Kirk and Councillor Len Foster to move and second the minutes the Mayor asked council to agree the following corrections to the declarations of interest in those minutes. In respect of Councillors Gosling, Grant and Kirk the reference should be to the Community Trade Union, as regards Councillors Ellerby and Smith UCATT, Councillor Davison GMB and Councillor Swift UNITE. It was then –

Moved by Councillor Kirk and seconded by Councillor L Foster –

That the minutes of the meeting of council held on 8 July 2009, having been printed and circulated amongst the members, be taken as read and correctly recorded and be signed by the Mayor with the exception of minutes 1751 and 1752.

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, Gosling, Grant, Kirk, O’Sullivan, Regan, Simpson, Smith, Swift, Whiteley and Wilson

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

Motion Carried

1758 (8) CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNANCE ISSUES – The Service Director Legal and Democratic submitted a report which proposed some changes to the Constitution in relation to the council’s current working arrangements and considered a name change for Crowle Town Council in accordance with the council’s community governance role.

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 delegated powers relating to the Service Director Adult Social Care and in redefining the role of the Safer and Stronger Communities Scrutiny Panel to enable it to fulfil the role of the council’s Crime and Disorder Committee in accordance with the Police and Justice Act 2006. A request had also been received from Crowle Town Council regarding a change of name to Crowle and Ealand Town Council. Section 75 of The Local Government Act 1972 provides that the council of the district in which the parish is situated may change the name of the parish at the request of the parish council. The report indicated that both ward members had been consulted and had raised no objections.

Resolved – (a) That the proposed delegation to the Service Director Adult Social Care as set out in the report be approved; (b) that the Safer and Stronger Communities Scrutiny Panel be designated as the council’s Crime and Disorder Committee; (c) that the Constitution be amended as appropriate to reflect (a) and (b) above, and (d) that the proposed change of name from Crowle Town Council to Crowle and Ealand Town Council be approved subject to the town council carrying out appropriate consultations.

The LDF will be a “folder” of documents that will replace the current local plan. It will consist of a core strategy and a number of Development Plan Documents (DPDs) and Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) along with a Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) and a Local Development Scheme (LDS) which sets out a timetable for the production of the DPDs and SPDs.

The production of the LDF and its constituent documents had to be informed by an “evidence base”. Planning Policy Statement 12 – Local Spacial Planning (PPS12) requires that decisions should be founded on a robust and credible evidence base and must be the most appropriate strategy when considered against the reasonable alternatives. It further requires that the evidence base should contain two elements (i) participation – evidence of the views of the local community and others who have a stake in the future of the area, and (ii) research/fact finding – evidence that the choices made by the plan are backed up by the background facts.

The relevant regulations under the Local Government Act 2000 set out a number of documents that form the policy framework. Only the full council may approve or adopt those documents and included in the policy framework are “the plans and strategies which together comprise the development plan.” This now means the LDF.

The report detailed the LDF documents which would need to be considered shortly. These dates were approximate and might be subject to change and were detailed in paragraph 2.4.

The report also indicated that under the current arrangements the Planning Committee had advisory powers in relation to “structure and local plans”. These plans were to be replaced by the LDF and it was now considered more appropriate for these to be considered by all members of the council, especially in the light of the LDF intending to constitute a strategic vision for the area and not to be, as local plans were, simply concerned with land use planning issues. In addition to the formal LDF documents that required adoption by the council, the production and maintenance of the evidence base will require the commissioning of a large number of research/fact finding documents and consultation exercises. It is not considered practical or necessary for all these to be considered by full council.

It would be more appropriate for reports relating to LDF documents such as those referred to within paragraph 2.4 of the report to be considered by full council. In order to allow for a proper discussion on the major documents it would be advisable to hold special meetings and suspend relevant procedure rules. In order to facilitate this it would be necessary to amend the Planning Committee’s terms of reference by deleting the reference to structure and local plans and also to rescind minute 1672(d) of council of 21 January 2009 which referred to the involvement of the Planning Committee. Finally, there was currently no formal mechanism in place to commission fact finding documents that would together form the evidence base. Whilst these were essentially factual documents that informed the LDF process rather than LDF documents in themselves, the council does have to have regard to them in considering the LDF documents. The number of the evidence base documents and the timescales involved would make it difficult to have them considered by full council or even Planning Committee and it was suggested therefore that authority to commission and accept them could be delegated to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader.

Suggested wording for these proposed changes were contained in appendices 1 and 2 to the report.

Resolved – That the proposed changes to the Constitution to take account of the issues set out in the report and as set out in appendices 1 and 2 be approved and that council minute 1672(d) of 21 January 2009 be rescinded.

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

The organisers of the tour had commented on the crowds in North Lincolnshire and were impressed with all the arrangements that had been put in place to make the start of the tour go smoothly. This very high profile event had helped put North Lincolnshire on the map with local, regional and national media coverage.

Secondly, the council continued to work with partners, especially health colleagues, to deal with the potential impact of swine flu. A cross council group was meeting regularly to ensure that the council was well placed to both help our communities and also carry on providing vital services.

The latest advice was that the situation with swine flu was likely to get worse over the winter and the council and partners had plans in place to deal with an upturn in the number of people catching swine flu and greater levels of complications for people with the virus. So far thankfully the council had had only a small number of staff off ill with swine flu and this had not impacted on service delivery.

1762 FORWARD PLAN FOR THE COUNCIL – Councillor Mark Kirk, the Leader of the Council introduced his forward plan for the period October 2009 – January 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.

1763 PLANNING COMMITTEE – Resolved – That the minutes of the meetings of the Planning Committee held on 24 June, 22 July and 19 August 2009 be received with the exception of minute 1167(xiv).

1764 RE – APPLICATION PA/2009/0810 – With regard to excepted portion (a) it was –

Moved by Councillor Collinson and seconded by Councillor Whiteley –

That the minute be received.

Motion Carried

1765 LICENSING COMMITTEE – Resolved – That the minutes of the meetings of the Licensing Committee held on 30 June, 20 and 31 July and 7 August 2009 be received.

1766 STANDARDS COMMITTEE – Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee held on 30 July 2009 be received.

1767 AUDIT COMMITTEE – Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting of the Audit Committee held on 30 June 2009 be received, approved and adopted with the exception of minutes 116 and 124.

1768 RE – AUDIT COMMITTEE – TERMS OF REFERENCE – With regard to excepted portion (a) it was –

Moved by Councillor Whiteley and seconded by Councillor Wilson –

That the minute be received.

Motion Carried

1769 STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS 2008/2009 – With regard to excepted portion (b) it was –

Moved by Councillor Whiteley and seconded by Councillor Wilson –

That the minute be received.

Motion Carried

1770 APPEALS COMMITTEE – Resolved – That the minutes of the meetings of the Appeals Committee held on 22 May, 22 June and 17 August 2009 be received.

1771 SAFER AND STRONGER COMMUNITIES SCRUTINY PANEL – Resolved – That the minutes of the Safer and Stronger Communities Scrutiny Panel held on 23 June and 21 July be received with the exception of minute 173.

1772 RE – LEADER OF THE COUNCIL’S FORWARD PLAN – With regard to excepted portion (a) it was –

Moved by Councillor Davison and seconded by Councillor Waltham –

That the minute be received.

Motion Carried

1773 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 14 July and 8 September 2009 be received.

1774 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND CORPORATE ISSUES SCRUTINY PANEL – Resolved – That the minutes of the meetings of the Economic Development and Corporate Issues Scrutiny Panel held on 22 June and 20 July 2009 be received.

1775 SCRUTINY CO-ORDINATING PANEL – Resolved – That the minutes of the meetings of the Scrutiny Co-ordinating Panel held on 1 and 7 July and 9 September 2009 be received, approved and adopted.

1776 QUESTION RELATING TO HUMBERSIDE POLICE AUTHORITY – Councillor M Ali asked the following question in relation to the Humberside Police Authority –

“Can the North Lincolnshire Council representative on the Humberside Police Authority please confirm what training is undertaken for front line officers with regard to the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000?

Can he also confirm the boundaries of B Division within Humberside Police and the number of officers working within it? Finally can the representative state which methods are used to monitor the performance of the police here in North Lincolnshire?”

Councillor A Bunyan responded to that question.

1777 QUESTIONS RELATING TO NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE HOMES – Councillor T Ellerby asked the following question in relation to North Lincolnshire Homes –

“Can the council’s representative on North Lincolnshire Homes please clarify the ongoing situation at Kingsway House, Bushfield House, Queensway House and Redbourne House? I receive many comments from tenants that the buildings are in a terrible condition. Can the board member please inform me if there are any plans in place for the future of these properties and what consultation, if any, has been carried out with tenants?”

Councillor L Foster responded to that question.

1778 NOTICE OF MOTION – HUMBER BRIDGE TOLLS –

Moved by Councillor Kirk and seconded by Councillor L Foster –

“This council reaffirms its position to continue to lobby the government for the abolition of, or a significant reduction in, the cost of crossing the Humber Bridge. This council also welcomes the decision by Sadiq Khan MP to reject the proposed increase to the toll, despite the recommendations of a Public Inquiry held earlier this year. Furthermore, this council remains committed to meeting Mr Khan MP as part of a cross-party delegation of all four local authorities in a bid to continue the lobby campaign.”

Motion Carried

1779 NOTICE OF MOTION – WIND ENERGY –

Moved by Councillor J Briggs and seconded by Councillor England –

“This council resolves to review North Lincolnshire Council Local Plan Supplementary Planning Guidance 13 (Wind Energy Development) (approved March 2005), in order to ensure that the guidance continues to accurately reflect the planning needs of the local area in relation to the number and scale of windfarm developments.

Further, the council resolves to contact the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to request that regional targets for windfarm power generation be amended to end the practice of increasing targets upon the attainment of the initial target level, to prevent an uneven distribution of clean energy provision. The council resolves to impress upon the Secretary of State that all areas should be required to provide a proportionate share of renewable energy.”

Moved by Councillor Grant and seconded by Councillor Regan as an amendment –

“This council recognises the need for using new technology, such as wind turbines, to meet our future energy needs. This council notes the controlling group has written to Ian Cawsey MP who, in turn, has written to the Minister regarding this issue. Council also gives a commitment to raising the issue at regional and sub regional planning boards.

This council will happily support any moves that put the welfare of local residents and the environment above those seeking monetary gain. Furthermore, this council denounces any political group in North Lincolnshire that receives donations from those who benefit from wind turbines to be built on their land.”

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 amendment as follows –

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

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

ABSTAINING: Councillors B Briggs and Poole

Amendment Carried

Substantive Motion Carried

1780 NOTICE OF MOTION – PENSIONS –

Moved by Councillor Poole and seconded by Councillor B Briggs –

“This council believes that hard working people who have paid into their company pension schemes should receive guarantees from the current and future governments that their pensions are safe.

The present government has bailed out the fat cat bankers and shareholders who will receive millions of pounds in pensions and dividends largely paid for by UK taxpayers.

Those who have worked hard and paid their dues should be protected. This council therefore urges this and future governments to ensure that every UK citizen should have the option of transferring their pension into a guaranteed government pension scheme.”

Moved by Councillor Mrs Redfern and seconded by Councillor J Briggs as an amendment –

“This council believes that hard working people who have paid into their company pension schemes should receive guarantees from the current and future governments that their pensions are safe.

The present government has during the last twelve years, as we all know, desecrated pension provision leaving what was once the strongest pension industry in Europe with a rapidly expanding black hole, by the then Chancellor and now Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s decision to ignore much advice and increase taxes on pension funds in 1997. The removal of at least £75 billion of assets from the funds, which equates to over £20,000 per household, has directly caused the closure of many final salary pension schemes and has greatly reduced the level of the pensions which are at present and which will for many in the future, be received by hard working people.

As the government has bailed out numerous banks and funded the pay offs of those which led the financial institutions to failure, this council urges the government to repay every penny that has been removed from the pensions of hard working people, to demonstrate that the security in old age of the hard workers is as important to Labour as the security of the so called “fat cats”.”

Amendment Lost

Moved by Councillor L Foster and seconded by Councillor Barkworth as an amendment –

“This council believes that hard working people in North Lincolnshire, from both the public and private sector, who had paid into their pension schemes, should receive the relevant guarantees their pensions are safe.

This council notes – and condemns – Vince Cable’s recent comments about cutting public sector pensions and therefore welcomes the apparent u-turn from the Liberal Democrats on this issue.

This council also condemns the bandwagon jumping of the Liberal Democrats and their blatant electioneering and instead focusses on ensuring North Lincolnshire residents receive the best possible deal.”

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 amendment are as follows –

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

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

ABSTAINING: Councillor B Briggs

Amendment Carried

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 substantive motion are as follows –

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

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

ABSTAINING: Councillors B Briggs and Poole

Substantive Motion Carried