Agenda and minutes

Visitors

 

The Chairman welcomed to the meeting all visitors and guests of members.

 

He was particularly pleased to welcome the Local Government Council Worker of the Year Award winner Andy Hollingshead and his wife Pam, who had joined him earlier for lunch.

 

It was moved by the Chairman, seconded by the Vice-Chairman and carried:-

 

“That the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 17 June 2009, copies of which have been circulated to members, be taken as read, confirmed and signed.”

 

The Chairman invited members who wished to do so to make declarations of interest in respect of items on the agenda for the meeting.

 

No such declarations were made.

 

 

(A)       MR BRAY asked the following question of the Leader or his nominee:

 

"During the recent local elections, the former County Councillors for the Burbage Castle Division made the following statement about parking problems in Hinckley town centre:-

 

"The Highways Authority is now starting the process of putting a residents' parking scheme in place."

 

Can the Leader confirm this is the case and, if so, give local residents an idea of when they can expect any scheme to be implemented?"

 

Mrs Pendleton replied as follows:

 

"Historically, dealing with parking issues in towns such as Hinckley has been undertaken on a tactical basis.  Following the more strategic approach of the West Loughborough parking study, we are developing a policy framework for assessing local parking needs in urban areas across the County and this approach will be applied in Hinckley.

 

The implications of the Hinckley Masterplan and the development of its associated transport and parking strategy must be understood before starting any further work in relation to local parking, lorry routeing or other local traffic management issues.  This also applies to wider strategic highway modelling work in relation to the long term future development of the town and its infrastructure.  As the Masterplanning sites come forward for development, this will necessarily affect the priority in which areas of the town are considered and schemes implemented in order to ensure that streets are properly managed and local residential areas guarded from the effects of development.

 

In line with this strategy and at the request of the former County Councillors for the Burbage Castle Division, officers have begun the process by starting to identify and prioritise the key areas of the town with known parking problems and developing a strategy for tackling them over the coming few years with a view to establishing a package of local traffic management measures.  Such measures may include residents’ parking schemes, aimed at addressing the parking problems being experienced by local residents.

 

Once the policy framework and the initial appraisal have been completed, we will begin a programme of local consultation and detailed parking surveys across the town. It is hoped to start engaging with local councillors in terms of policy and approach towards the end of the year."

 

(B)       MR BRAY asked the following question of the Leader or his nominee:

 

"A number of residents in Hinckley town centre in congested streets such as Priesthills Road have applied for dropped kerbs to be installed to enable them to park their cars off the road on the front of their properties.  This has the advantage to the residents of them being able to park near to their property and also helps reduce the number of parked cars on busy streets.  Many of these applications have been refused as they do not meet current Highways guidelines.  Does the Leader or his nominee agree with me that some flexibility in this area would help solve this problem, and would he please ask officers to look again at some of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

The Leader presented a position statement on the following matters:

 

Local Government Council Worker of the Year Award

Go Awards

Birstall Park and Ride

'Total Place' Project

The 21st Century Councillor

 

The Lead Member for Children and Young People's Service presented a position statement on recent achievements.

 

Copies of the position statements are filed with these minutes.

 

It was moved by Mr Parsons, seconded by Mr Rhodes and carried:-

 

"That the County Council agrees to accept, pursuant to the Local Government Acts 1972 and 2000, the delegation of functions from Leicester City Council in relation to unauthorised encampments within the area of Leicester City and from Rutland Council in relation to unauthorised encampments in the area of Rutland, such delegation to take effect from the date of completion of the Compact Agreement as referred to in the Appendix to the report to Cabinet."

 

It was moved by Mr Galton, seconded by Mr Boulter and carried:-

 

"That the information contained in the report of the Scrutiny Commission, on the activities of Scrutiny, be noted."

 

It was moved by Mr White, seconded by Mr Kershaw and carried:-

 

"That the information contained in the first Annual Report of the Standards Committee, on the activities of the Committee, be noted."

 

It was moved by Mr Parsons and seconded by Mr Rhodes:-

 

"(a)      That the proposed amendments to the Council’s Constitution, as set out in Appendix B to the report of the Constitution Committee, be approved;

 

(b)       That the Independent Remuneration Panel be requested to put forward recommended changes to the Members’ Allowances Scheme to reflect the proposed new structure and the new political composition of the Council, on the basis that any resultant revisions to the scheme will apply retrospectively from the date on which the new structure is adopted."

 

Having received an assurance from the majority party that the Liberal Democrat Spokesman on the Children and Young People's Service Overview and Scrutiny Committee would be invited to attend agenda meetings and briefings of that Committee, Mr Bill indicated that he no longer wished to proceed with the amendment set out (on the Order Paper) in his name.

 

An amendment was moved by Mr Max Hunt and seconded by Ms Betty Newton:-

 

"That the motion be amended to read as follows:-

 

'(a)       That this Council recognises

 

• the important role that non-executive members have in developing and scrutinising policy;

 

• the importance for non-executive members in consistent and regular team work, advised by officers, as exists in themed scrutiny teams (eg education, social care, transport);

 

• the value of in depth, well supported and open scrutiny panels on topics of the day;

 

• the critical role of scrutiny to monitor performance, risk, tax, income and spending;

 

• the central position of stakeholder consultation in the development and ownership of policy;

 

(b)       That, accordingly, it be agreed that:-

 

1.         there be a fixed period of consultation on the proposed scrutiny arrangements with a firm timetable for final implementation reporting back through Constitution Committee to Council on 23 September 2009;

 

2.         such consultation should commence with a presentation of fully developed proposals including clear job descriptions, support arrangements, costs etc;

 

3.         regard should be had to experience elsewhere;

 

thereby giving all members of Council a chance to participate in determining the new scrutiny system for the County Council.' "

 

The amendment was put and not carried. 

 

The original motion was put and carried.

 

 

A.        TO APPOINT MEMBERS OF SCRUTINY BODIES

 

It was moved by Prof Preston, seconded by Mr Charlesworth and carried:-

 

            "That the membership of the Scrutiny Commission and Committees, as set out in List 'A' (attached to these minutes), be approved."

 

B.        SPOKESMEN OF SCRUTINY BODIES

 

            PROF PRESTON named the members shown in the second column of List 'S' as Conservative Spokesmen of the bodies as shown.

 

            MRS FOX named the members shown in the third column of List 'S' as Labour Spokespersons of the bodies as shown.

 

            MR CHARLESWORTH named the members shown in the fourth column of List 'S' as Liberal Democrat Spokesmen of the bodies as shown.

 

            A copy of List 'S' is filed with these minutes.