Agenda and minutes
PDF 491 KBVenue: Parkside Suite - Parkside
Contact: Jess Bayley
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To receive apologies for absence Minutes: Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors R. Jenkins, A. Kent, S. Robinson and M. Sherrey.
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Declarations of Interest To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Disclosable Interests they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests. Minutes: There were no declarations of interest.
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Minutes: The minutes of the Council meeting held on 23rd February 2022 were submitted.
During consideration of this item, Councillor S. Douglas suggested that the record of the answer provided to the Question on Notice submitted by Councillor S. Robinson at the previous meeting should have been numbered throughout.
RESOLVED that, subject to the amendment detailed in the preamble above, the minutes of the Council meeting held on Wednesday 23rd February 2022 be approved as a true and correct record.
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To receive any announcements from the Chairman and/or Head of Paid Service Minutes: On behalf of the Council, the Chairman congratulated Councillor S. Robinson and her husband on the birth of their baby daughter, Aoife Josephine Robinson, in March 2022. Members were advised that both mother and baby were doing well.
The Head of Paid Service confirmed that he had no announcements to make on this occasion.
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To receive any announcements from the Leader Minutes: The Leader confirmed that she had no announcements to make on this occasion.
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To receive comments, questions or petitions from members of the public A period of up to 15 minutes is allowed for members of the public to make a comment, ask questions or present petitions. Each member of the public has up to 3 minutes to do this. A councillor may also present a petition on behalf of a member of the public.
Minutes: The Chairman advised that no comments, questions or petitions had been received from members of the public for consideration at the meeting.
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Additional documents: Minutes: Members were informed that two urgent decisions had been taken since the previous meeting of Council. These decisions related to the purchase of an asset located on Windsor Street from Worcestershire County Council, which had been undertaken as part of the Levelling Up project.
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Outside Body Appointment To consider the appointment of Councillor H. Jones to replace Councillor A. Kent on the West Mercia Police and Crime Panel.
Members are asked to note that, to ensure that membership of the panel reflects the wider political balance of the West Mercia Police force area, the Councillor appointed to the Panel must be a member of the controlling group.
Minutes: Nominations were requested for the position of the Council’s representative on the West Mercia Police and Crime Panel to replace Councillor A. Kent.
A nomination was received for Councillor H. Jones to be the Council’s representative on the West Mercia Police and Crime Panel. This nomination was proposed by Councillor K. May and seconded by Councillor G. Denaro.
RESOLVED that Councillor H. Jones be appointed as the Council’s representative on the West Mercia Police and Crime Panel.
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Constitution Review Working Group Recommendations Additional documents:
Minutes: The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Enabling presented a report detailing recommendations that had been made at a meeting of the Constitution Review Working Group held on 28th February 2022.
Council was informed that the recommendations in the report focused on three distinct areas: the introduction of parental leave guidance for Councillors, the proposal to introduce additional delegated powers for officers to act in emergencies, including a cyber incident, and a proposal not to hold Council meetings during a pre-election period.
In relation to the introduction of parental leave guidance for Councillors, Members were advised that the guidance would enable the Council to provide support and guidance to Councillors on maternity, paternity and adoption leave. This subject had been reviewed by the Constitution Review Working Group, following receipt of a Motion on the subject submitted by Councillor S. Robinson in January 2022. The introduction of the Parental Leave Guidance at Bromsgrove District Council would match best practice arrangements in place at other local authorities in the country. However, Members were asked to note that, despite the introduction of the guidance, there would remain a legal requirement for Councillors to attend at least one meeting every six months.
On the subject of the proposed delegations to the Chief Executive, Members were informed that Officers already had some limited powers to act in an emergency. However, there was a risk that civil emergencies could occur at any point and the Council would need to be able to respond swiftly under these circumstances. Increasingly, the Council, like other modern organisations, was reliant on IT software and systems and it was important to ensure that the authority did everything possible to keep these systems safe and secure from attack. Unfortunately, a cyber security incident at Gloucester City Council in December 2021 had demonstrated that smaller district Councils could be subject to a cyber attack as well as the damage that this could cause. By granting additional officer delegations to the Chief Executive to act in the event of an emergency, including a cyber attack, Bromsgrove District Council would be ensuring that the authority was better prepared to act in the event of an emergency and to minimise disruption to the vital services the Council delivered.
In respect of the proposal not to hold Council meetings during a pre-election period, Council was advised that it was important to note that it was not appropriate to set Council policy during a pre-election period. At Bromsgrove, there were elections every four years, and it was suggested that whichever administration was in control should have set Council policy prior to the start of the pre-election period at the end of those four years. Whilst a Council meeting had been booked in the 2022/23 calendar of meetings to take place in the pre-election period, if this recommendation was approved then officers would review the potential to reschedule the meeting prior to the start of the pre-election period. Members were also asked to note that the recommendation as ... view the full minutes text for item 105\21
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Members are asked to note that this report focuses on community safety only. Environmental Services were the subject of a separate report from the Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services and Community Safety considered in January 2022.
Minutes: The Chairman explained that, in the absence of the Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services and Community Safety, the Portfolio Holder’s report on the subject of Community Safety would be postponed for consideration at a Council meeting in June 2022. In the meantime, Members were urged to contact the Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services and Community Safety in writing regarding any urgent questions so that a response could be provided as soon as possible.
During consideration of this item, Members questioned the reasons why another Portfolio Holder could not present the report and answer questions in the absence of the Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services and Community Safety. Members were informed that the Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services and Community Safety had been keen to present the report but had unfortunately unexpectedly become poorly the night before Council.
Questions were also raised about the reasons for the report addressing only one part of the Portfolio. The Leader clarified that the Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services and Community Safety had presented a report on the subject of Environmental Services only at the Council meeting held in January 2022. This was because she had only very recently been appointed as the lead Portfolio Holder for Community Safety at that time. The Portfolio Holder report that had been included in the agenda for the meeting in April 2022, and which had been postponed to June 2022, would address the outstanding Community Safety element of her Portfolio.
In concluding the discussions on this item, reference was made to an issue that had been reported with dog fouling in Rock Hill ward, which had been raised by residents on a number of occasions. The Leader requested that further information should be provided to her in writing on this subject so that the matter could be raised with the relevant Officers.
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Recommendations from the Cabinet To consider the recommendations from the meeting of the Cabinet held on 30th March 2022.
Minutes: Members considered recommendations arising from the Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday 30th March 2022.
Land Drainage Watercourse Maintenance Operation
The Leader presented a report on the subject of the Land Drainage Watercourse Maintenance Operation.
Members were asked to note that this report was being presented in a context in which the climate was changing and there had been an increase in the number of flooding events. To help mitigate this and maintain healthy water courses, North Worcestershire Water Management (NWWM) had been working on a maintenance schedule for all the water courses within Bromsgrove District.
The Council owned approximately 8 km of watercourses, primarily through recreational areas and adopted open spaces. In addition, NWWM, on behalf of the Council, inspected and maintained several un-registered stretches of watercourses. This brought the total length of watercourses maintained for Bromsgrove to over 9 km. Keeping these watercourses well maintained would benefit the community and create an excellent habitat for wildlife including protected species, such as native crayfish, water voles, great crested newts, and nesting birds.
The aim of the plan was to proactively schedule routine inspections and maintenance of each section of a watercourse, to improve both the flood risk and the ecology. The first year was to be viewed as a pilot where there was likely to be more emphasis on inspections. Some activities might need to be undertaken more or less frequently, depending upon the season, and this could be refined over time.
The contractor would not replace the Parks and Place teams, who would still be responsible for wider landscaping maintenance and litter picking. In addition, NWWM would continue to routinely inspect sites on a frequency determined by the potential flood risk of each site. The estimated cost to the Council would be in the region of £45,000 per year.
The Leader concluded by commenting that she believed that the implementation of this plan would significantly improve the flood risk from water courses in the District and also benefit the wildlife that depended on them.
Members subsequently discussed the report in detail and in so doing welcomed the proposed action to address flooding in the District. It was noted that this followed flooding in recent years in parts of the District, including Wythall, which had had a devastating impact on the local community. The extension of the NWWM’s work to undertake inspections of additional sites, including in Beoley and Hagley, was also welcomed and Members commented that flooding was increasingly a risk in areas that had not previously been affected by the phenomena.
During consideration of this item, Members noted that flooding had been the focus of a recent scrutiny Task Group. The report had also been pre-scrutinised at a meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Board. Members noted that it was important to ensure that action was monitored. For this reason, the Overview and Scrutiny Board would be revisiting the subject in a year’s time when the impact of the planned works would be considered alongside the ... view the full minutes text for item 107\21 |
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Additional documents: Minutes: The minutes of the Cabinet meetings held on Wednesday 23rd February and Wednesday 30th March 2022 were submitted.
RESOLVED that the minutes of the Cabinet meetings held on Wednesday 23rd February and Wednesday 30th March 2022 be noted.
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Questions on Notice To deal with any questions on notice from Members of the Council, in the order in which they have been received.
A period of up to 15 minutes is allocated for the asking and answering of questions. This may be extended at the discretion of the Chairman with the agreement of the majority of those present.
Minutes: The Chairman explained that three Questions on Notice had been received for consideration at the meeting and would be taken in the order in which they had been included in the agenda. A maximum of 15 minutes had been allocated to the consideration of the Questions on Notice and the answers provided to those questions and no supplementary questions would be permitted.
Question Submitted by Councillor S. Robinson
Councillor R. Hunter asked the following question on behalf of Councillor S. Robinson:
“Do you agree with me that the levelling up funds awarded to Bromsgrove should stay in Bromsgrove and will you lobby Worcestershire County Council to invest the proceeds from the sale of the former Bromsgrove Library and fire station site into regenerating Bromsgrove High Street?”
The Leader responded by commenting that she regularly lobbied for Bromsgrove at the County level as did all Members who were both District and County Councillors. It was as a result of this lobbying at both the County Council and the Fire and Rescue Authority that the Council was able to secure the deal in very short timescales.
Question Submitted by Councillor R. Hunter
“Can you confirm what your plans are for the Stourbridge Road car park now that it is being decommissioned as a covid testing centre and what the timescales will be for returning the site to a car park?”
In response to this question, the Leader commented that the mobile units were still on site and not likely to be removed until May 2022. Once they had been removed, officers would survey the site and ensure that all reinstatement work was carried out. At this point, it would return to use as a car park.
Question Submitted by Councillor J. King
“What are your plans for regenerating the vacant plot of land on School Drive formerly occupied by the Sports Hall? Will you commit to putting it back in to use as a public space for the benefit of the local community and explore whether it could also make a contribution to enhancing the natural environment?”
The Leader explained that from the Council’s perspective as landowner, information considered to date, suggested that this would be an ideal site for housing development. A business case was being developed that would be reported to Members in due course.
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Motions on Notice (To Follow) The Motions on Notice will be published in a supplementary pack for this meeting.
A period of up to one hour is allocated to consider the motions on notice. This may only be extended with the agreement of the Council.
Additional documents:
Minutes: The Chairman advised that four Motions on Notice had been received for consideration at the meeting. An hour had been allocated to the consideration of the Motions.
In advance of the meeting, group leaders had agreed that the Motion submitted by Councillor G. Denaro, on the subject of remote meetings, should be agreed without debate. That Motion would not therefore be discussed during the meeting.
Prior to the debate in respect of the Motions, a request was received for the Motion in respect of the 144 bus route to be the first to be debated, to ensure that it could be considered within the time available for the consideration of Motions. The Chairman advised that, out of respect for the Councillors who had submitted Motions on Notice, they would be considered in the order in which they had been received. However, should it be necessary, the time dedicated to the discussion of Motions could potentially be extended.
Televising Council Meetings
Council considered the following Motion on Notice that was submitted by Councillor P. McDonald:
"A great number of local authorities televise their council meetings allowing residents to watch local democracy from the comfort of their homes. This opens the council to full scrutinisation of its actions in the council chamber and shows local democracy at work. Therefore, we call upon officers to present options as to how meetings of full Council can be televised by the next Council meeting."
The Motion was proposed by Councillor McDonald and seconded by Councillor H. Rone-Clarke.
In proposing the Motion, Councillor McDonald commented that since the Covid-19 pandemic, Councils had undertaken a lot of remote working and had made use of far more technology than in previous years. Many local authorities were live streaming their Council and Committee meetings and this enabled their residents to access meetings in a range of ways as well as to engage with the local democratic process, which helped to hold Members to account. For many people, it was more convenient to watch a Committee meeting at home on their personal devices, rather than to attend a meeting in person at Parkside. Live streaming also enabled people who had work, caring and other commitments to learn about the decisions that the Council was making. By televising Council meetings, Bromsgrove District Council would be taking action suitable for local democracy in the twenty-first century.
In seconding the Motion, Councillor Rone-Clarke advised that he had raised the possibility of live streaming Council and Committee meetings in 2019. There were many Councils that already live streamed their meetings and the Council had managed to live stream remote meetings when these were held in the 2020-2021 municipal year. By live streaming Council meetings, Bromsgrove District Council would be in a better position to enable certain groups within the local community to engage in the democratic process, including people with physical disabilities and residents who worked shifts.
In response to the Motion, the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Enabling explained that Bromsgrove District ... view the full minutes text for item 110\21 |
Carried