Agenda and minutes
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Contact: Michael Carr Pauline Ross
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Apologies for absence Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillors A. N. Blagg, R. J. Deeming and Mrs. J. D. Luck. |
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Declarations of Interest and whipping arrangements Minutes: Councillor S. R. Peters declared a personal interest in the Worcestershire Hub Joint Scrutiny Committee in view of the fact that he was a Member of an Overview and Scrutiny Committee at Worcestershire County Council that was considering the matter. |
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Minutes: The minutes of the meeting of the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Board held on 1st December 2009 were submitted.
RESOLVED that the minutes of the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Board be approved as a correct record. |
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Medium Term Financial Plan 2010/11-2012/13 Additional documents:
Minutes: Members considered a report by the Head of Financial Services which provided information to enable them to review the current position on the Medium Term Financial Plan for 2010/11 to 2012/13. The Head of Financial Services introduced the report and presented the key points to the Board including the key assumptions that had been made.
The Head of Financial Services outlined the key unavoidable pressures on the budget for 2010/11-2012/13, together with the key bids and the key savings. Members’ attention was also drawn to the Capital Programme for 2010/11-2012/13.
Members asked where the costs of demolition of the Market Hall were in the Medium Term Financial Plan and were informed that these costs were being met out of financial balances.
In response to a query as to whether additional advertising revenue could be raised though advertising in the Older Peoples Directory, the Head of Financial Services advised that it was difficult to gauge how much revenue could feasibly be raised through this in the current economic climate.
The Chairman thanked the Head of Financial Services for her presentation.
RESOLVED that the contents of the report and presentation be noted. |
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Petition - "Fairtrade Bromsgrove" Additional documents:
Minutes: The Board received a public petition entitled “Fairtrade Bromsgrove”, submitted by Mr. Art Lavelle. The petition contained approximately 150 signatures. The petition read as follows:
“This petition asks for support for the Fairtrade Bromsgrove Steering Group. In signing this you will be-
The Chairman summarised the role of the Board in receiving petitions and outlined the process to be followed in consideration of petitions. He explained that the Board considered topics concerning the Council and the District and received evidence from various perspectives.
The Chairman explained that the Board was constitutionally independent from the Cabinet and where appropriate could make recommendations to the Cabinet. He said that the Board would interview key witnesses from different perspectives in respect of the petitions by asking them a series of questions. The Board would then consider if it wished to make any recommendations and if so what these would be.
The Chairman invited the Lead Petitioner, Mr. Art Lavelle to present his petition, allowing up to 5 minutes. Mr. Lavelle explained that the Fairtrade Foundation supported farmers and workers in developing countries to guarantee a minimum income and basic health, educational and community amenities regardless of prevailing market conditions. He said that between 4-20% of the cost of fair trade products went towards community projects, with spending priorities usually decided on a collective democratic basis.
Mr. Lavelle stated that the Fairtrade Foundation encouraged towns to achieve fair trade status and there were 454 towns in the UK with Fairtrade status at that time. He said that there were 5 conditions to achieve Fairtrade status and that one of them was for the Council to support the idea with a resolution.
Mr Lavelle explained that Fairtrade was not a contradiction to free trade and that the Government supported both free trade and Fairtrade. He said that the national Conservative Party also supported Fairtrade. He said that there are 2 billion people world wide that live below the poverty level of $2 a day and that Fairtrade intended to help alleviate this problem.
Mr. Lavelle indicated that they had contacted local organisations such as churches and the Oxfam shop and started a petition to canvas support and outlined the key reasons why the Council should support the campaign.
The Chairman thanked Mr. Lavelle ... view the full minutes text for item 17. |
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Petition - "Save the Market Hall" Additional documents: Minutes: The Board received a petition submitted by Mr. Fred Stanley entitled “Save the Market Hall”. The petition contained over 1000 names and addresses. The petition read as follows:
“We the undersigned feel the market hall should not be pulled down, as this town has had a market hall since the time of King Henry the 8th or even earlier than that. The market hall should be put to another use rather than pulling it down. We are looking for all the support we can get and need people to lobby the council and our local mp’s to save our market hall”.
The Chairman reiterated the role and purpose of the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Board in considering petitions and explained the process for the petition for the benefit of members of the public that joined the meeting later. He explained that he had agreed to put back consideration of the agenda item on this petition until 6.00 p.m. to allow time for members of the public with an interest in this item to attend.
The Chairman outlined the process for the consideration of the petition as follows:
The Chairman pointed out that at least one fraudulent signature had been identified in the petition on the Market Hall and that the person concerned had confirmed that his signature had been falsified and that he had not in fact signed the petition. The Chairman warned that fraudulent signatures undermined the credibility of petitions and that the Board would be likely to take a dim view of petitions presented to it which contained deliberately falsified signatures.
RESOLVED that the identified falsified signature entered on the petition “Save the Market Hall” be struck off from the petition.
At this stage of the meeting there was some disturbance and interjections from the public gallery. The Chairman asked members of the public and Councillors not on the Board not to interrupt the proceedings.
The Chairman invited the lead petitioner to present the petition. Mr. Alan Mitchell presented the petition on behalf of Mr. Fred Stanley. Mr. Mitchell presented some key reasons why the petition to save the Market Hall had been organised and presented to the Board.
Mr. Mitchell referred to comments allegedly made by the Leader of the Council that the people of Bromsgrove had agreed to the plans for the regeneration of the town centre, including the planned demolition of the Market Hall site. He said that the plans for the redevelopment of the site had not been made available for public inspection and that ... view the full minutes text for item 18. |
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The Worcestershire Hub Joint Scrutiny Committee Minutes: The Board considered a report of the Head of Legal, Equalities and Democratic Services inviting the nomination of a Member to represent Bromsgrove District Council on the Worcestershire County Council Overview and Scrutiny Performance Board task group on the Worcestershire Hub. After discussion it was
RESOLVED that Councillor C. B. Taylor be nominated as the Bromsgrove District Council representative on the Worcestershire County Council Overview and Scrutiny Performance Board task group on the Worcestershire Hub. |
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To consider any other business, details of which have been notified to the Head of Legal, Equalities and Democratic Services prior to the commencement of the meeting and which the Chairman considers to be of so urgent a nature that it cannot wait until the next meeting |