Agenda and minutes

Venue: Town Hall, Moorgate Street, Rotherham. S60 2TH

Contact: Debbie Pons, Principal Democratic Services Officer 

Items
No. Item

92.

Presentation of Awards

Minutes:

(1)  The Mayor (Councillor John Foden) invited the Deputy Leader to present the Annual Employee Recognition Awards, which were an important opportunity to formally recognise the efforts and brilliant services employees provided on a daily basis of behalf of Rotherham’s citizens, to:-

 

Young Person of the Year Award 2013 – Gillian Moss from Neighbourhoods and Adult Services.

 

Manager of the Year Award 2013 – Elenore Fisher from Environment and Development Services.

 

Employee of the Year Award 2013 – Sue Bennett from Children and Young People’s Services.

 

Team of the Year Award 2013 – Highway Network Management Team.

 

(2)  The Mayor (Councillor John Foden) was also pleased to announce that Rotherham Central Station won the Station Excellence Award at the Rail Business Awards 2013, presented to the partner agencies – S.Y.P.T.E, Northern Rail, Network Rail and Rotherham Council. 

 

Congratulations were offered to all those involved in gaining these awards.

93.

Council Minutes pdf icon PDF 101 KB

Minutes:

Resolved:-  That the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 5th March, 2014, be approved for signature by the Mayor.

 

Mover:  Councillor Stone                            Seconder:  Councillor Akhtar

94.

Communications

Minutes:

(1)          The Chief Executive submitted the following petitions which had been referred to the appropriate Directorate for consideration:-

 

·                Containing 44 signatures from the residents of Beechwood Lodge, Eastwood, requesting that the situation with the derelict property at Parkhurst and the problems associated with it are looked at and appropriate action taken as a matter of some urgency.

·                Containing 66 signatures from the residents of Cook Avenue, Maltby requesting that permanent road surface repairs be carried out at the utmost urgency before any serious personal injuries were received or any damage to residents’ vehicles.

·                Containing 71 signatures from the residents of Arnside Road, Maltby and surrounding areas asking the Council to take action on the state of the area of Little London.

 

(2)  The Chief Executive submitted apologies for absence from Councillors Beaumont, Donaldson, Godfrey, Jepson, Mannion, Pitchley, Robinson and Whysall.

95.

Questions from the Public

Minutes:

The Mayor suspended the meeting whilst a member of the public was removed from the public gallery by the Police.

96.

Standards Committee pdf icon PDF 36 KB

Minutes:

Resolved:-  That the reports and minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee (Section B) (pages 24B to 27B) be adopted.

 

Mover:  Councillor Gosling                        Seconder:  Councillor Sims

97.

Cabinet Minutes pdf icon PDF 86 KB

Capital Programme Monitoring 2013/14 and Capital Programme Budget 2014/15 to 2016/17

(Minute No. C208) (Pages 122C-123C)

 

Debt Management and Recovery Policy for Adult Social Care Debt

(Minute No. C211) (Pages 124C-125C)

Minutes:

Resolved:-  That the reports and minutes of the meetings of the Cabinet (Section C) (pages 121C to 134C) be adopted.

 

Mover:-  Councillor Stone                         Seconder:-  Councillor Akhtar

98.

Delegated Powers pdf icon PDF 62 KB

 

Children, Young People and Families Services – Pages 50D to 58D (Section D)

 

Communities and Cohesion – Pages 27E to 38E (Section E)

 

Culture and Tourism – Pages 28F to 33F (Section F)

 

Regeneration and Development – Pages 46G to 54G (Section G)

 

Adult Social Care – Pages 45H to 49H (Section H)

 

Safe and Attractive Neighbourhoods – Pages 48J to 59J (Section J)

 

Health and Wellbeing – Pages 25K to 29K (Section K)

 

Waste and Emergency Planning– Pages 33L to 35L (Section L)

 

Deputy Leader – Pages 24N to 30N (Section N)

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Resolved:- That the reports and minutes of the meetings of Cabinet Members as listed below be adopted:-

 

·                Children, Young People and Families Services – Pages 50D to 58D (Section D)

 

·                Communities and Cohesion – Pages 27E to 38E (Section E)

 

·                Culture and Tourism – Pages 28F to 33F (Section F)

 

·                Regeneration and Development – Pages 46G to 54G (Section G)

 

·                Adult Social Care – Pages 45H to 49H (Section H)

 

·                Safe and Attractive Neighbourhoods – Pages 48J to 59J (Section J)

 

·                Health and Wellbeing – Pages 25K to 29K (Section K)

 

·                Waste and Emergency Planning – Pages 33L to 35L (Section L)

 

·                Deputy Leader – Pages 24N to 30N (Section N)

 

Mover:- Councillor Stone                                Seconder:- Councillor Akhtar

99.

Licensing Board pdf icon PDF 26 KB

Minutes:

Resolved:-  That the reports and minutes of the meeting of the Licensing Board (Section Q) (Pages 24Q to 25Q) be adopted.

 

Mover:-  Councillor Wootton                      Seconder:-  Councillor Barron

100.

Health and Wellbeing Board pdf icon PDF 72 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Resolved:-  That the reports and minutes of the meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board (Section S) (pages 55S to 75S) be adopted.

 

Mover:-  Councillor Wyatt                           Seconder:-  Councillor Doyle

101.

Planning Board pdf icon PDF 53 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Resolved:-  That the reports and minutes of the meetings of the Planning Board (Section T) (pages 45T to 59T) be adopted.

 

Mover:-  Councillor Pickering                    Seconder:-  Councillor Dodson

102.

Questions to Cabinet Members and Chairmen

Minutes:

(1)  Councillor Gilding asked could he be given details of the claims by Property Search Companies and what was the cost of the proposed settlement of the first set of claims by Rosemount Legal Services?

 

The Deputy Leader explained that the claims were in respect of charges made to Property Search Companies, by the Local Authority under the relevant legislation between 2005 and 2010. This national legislation allowed for these charges to be made, but the legislation was revoked in 2010 as being incompatible with EU Directive. As such backdated claims were made for the above period. The cost of the proposed settlement was £211,398.12.

 

The LGA had also commissioned some work to have a forensic account under the existing rules and advice was provided to indicate that payment should be made to the first tranche of claims and covered the period 2005 to 2010.

 

(2)  Councillor Wallis explained that as a Member for Rotherham East she had noted that one of the Rawmarsh Councillors raised concerns about litter in Eastwood. She was very surprised that he did not join residents and the three Councillors for Eastwood at the litter pick on 8th April and asked did the Leader share her surprise?

 

The Leader confirmed he was not surprised that the Ward Councillors for Eastwood were not joined by the Ward Councillor for Rawmarsh for the litter pick on the 8th April, 2014.

 

(3)  Councillor Gilding asked the Cabinet Member what his reaction was to the recent television programme shown on Channel 5 relating to the Roma community in Rotherham and did he think it would affect race relations in the town?

 

The Cabinet Member for Communities and Cohesion explained that there had also been significant media interest in Roma communities following national coverage of ‘tensions’ in the Paige Hall area of Sheffield last year. This had led to an increased focus on the Roma community within Rotherham and the Council was aware of a number of media requests over recent months from both national and local media (print, radio and broadcast) to meet with and follow Roma families from various angles.

 

The Council was aware of the recent TV programme “Gypsies On Benefits And Proud” which was aired on the 11th April, 2014, which was partly filmed in the Rotherham area and an Eastwood family was one of several to be featured in this documentary.    The family from Rotherham had been exploited and paid by the television company to appear on television.  This had resulted in some tensions locally as the family had been threatened by their own community.

 

The documentary unfortunately only presented one controversial side of the story of immigration. Immigration into this area had happened for many years and those that have come to settle in the area have made a positive contribution to the economic and social life of this Borough.

 

Immigration had led to growth in the economy and some research undertaken by the University of Lancaster had shown that people arriving  ...  view the full minutes text for item 102.

103.

Questions to Spokesperson

Minutes:

There are none.

104.

Scrutiny Update

Minutes:

Councillor Whelbourn, Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board, invited Councillor Ann Russell, Chairman of the Improving Lives Select Commission, to report on the work undertaken this year which had focused principally on:-

 

·                The core member responsibilities of safeguarding and corporate parenting.

·                Spotlight meeting on whether the work to address child sexual exploitation in Rotherham was effective.

·                Scrutiny review on how well different agencies work together to support women and men and their families who have experienced domestic abuse.

·                Work undertaken by the Youth Cabinet, with help from Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board, exploring what support and advice was available to young people around issues of self-harm.

 

Resolved:-  That the update on the work of Scrutiny be noted.

(The Mayor authorised consideration of the following item in order to progress the urgent matter without delay - Standing Order 10(4) (Receipt of Notice of Motions was suspended to enable the motion in respect of the national demonstration by the English Defence League to be considered)

105.

English Defence League - National Demonstration

Minutes:

Moved by Councillor Steele and seconded by Councillor Kaye:-

 

The Council notes with deep regret that the English Defence League (EDL) intends to hold a national demonstration in our town on 10th May.  The EDL is perceived by many to be a racist organisation that seeks to promote division and disharmony in our communities via street demonstrations that typically attract people who are determined to cause fear through the use of intimidation and violence.

 

The EDL held a demonstration in our town in October 2012, which necessitated a police operation that cost the public purse approximately £800,000.  The cost to our local economy cannot be quantified but shops and businesses suffered considerably as many shoppers avoided the town centre on what should have been the busiest day of the week.  During this time of austerity it is reprehensible that such vast sums of public money are spent facilitating a demonstration that will damage our local economy and place sections of our community in fear for their safety.

 

The Council condemns the EDL and their proposed demonstration.  We are opposed to all that they stand for and we reject their politics of hate.  We stand together with the citizens of Rotherham under our motto of ‘One town, one community’ and tell the EDL that they are not welcome here.“ 

 

The motion was put and carried unanimously and was adopted by the Council.