Agenda and minutes

The Mayor reported that the setting of the precept was to be considered during this meeting in both the minutes of the Cabinet and in the setting of the Council Tax.

Elected Members who had either a property or a Council house tenancy in the Borough had a disclosable pecuninary interest in the setting of the precept.  A dispensation had, therefore, been granted by the Monitoring Officer allowing Members to participate in the discussion and vote upon the matter.

Resolved:-  That the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 30th January, 2013, be approved for signature by the Mayor.

Mover:  Councillor Stone                            Seconder:-  Councillor Akhtar

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

·           Containing 28 signatures asking that the Council refuse to lease and/or dispose of land on Herringthorpe Playing Fields to Rotherham Rugby Club Ltd.

·           Containing 187 asking the Council to approve the proposed lease with Rotherham Rugby Club Ltd to provide decent facilities to be developed for amateur rugby.

(2)  The Chief Executive submitted apologies for absence from Councillors Burton, Pitchley, Mannion, Robinson, G. A. Russell, P. A. Russell, Steele, Tweed and Whysall.

A member of the public asked why his question had been altered slightly from the original submitted and refused to ask his question until he had been informed.

The Leader reported that the member of the public had already been furnished with all information that his question related to.

Sheffield City Region Combined Authority (Minute No. C138) (Page 81C)

Revenue Budget and Council Tax Setting (Minute No. C155) (Pages 92-95C)

Capital Programme Budget 2013/14 to 2015/15 (Minute No. C156) (Pages 95-96)

Treasury Management Strategy & Prudential Indicators 2013/14 (Minute No. 157) (Pages 96-97)

Resolved:-  That the reports and minutes of the meetings of the Cabinet (Section C) (pages 80C to 100C) be adopted.

Mover:-  Councillor Stone                               Seconder:-  Councillor Akhtar

(The Mayor (Councillor Dave Pickering)) and Councillors Ahmed, Akhtar, Ali, Andrews, Astbury, Atkin, Barron, Beaumont, Beck, Buckley, Clark, Currie, Dalton, Dodson, Donaldson, Doyle, Ellis, Falvey, Foden, Gilding, Godfrey, Gosling, Goulty, J. Hamilton, N. Hamilton, Havenhand, Hoddinott, Hussain, Jepson, Johnston, Kaye, Lakin, Lelliott, License, McNeely, Middleton, Read, Roche, Roddison, Rushforth, R. S. Russell, Sangster, Sharman, Sims, Smith, Stone, Swift, Wallis, Watson, Whelbourn, Wootton and Wyatt declared disclosable pecuniary interests in Minute No. C155 (Revenue Budget and Council Tax Setting), but were allowed to participate in the discussion and vote as dispensation had been granted by the Monitoring Officer on the basis that they were either a property owner or Council house tenant in the Borough)

Children, Young People and Families Services – Pages 45D to 51D (Section D)

Communities and Cohesion – Pages 19E to 23E (Section E)

Culture and Tourism – Pages 24F to 30F (Section F)

Regeneration and Development – Pages 55G to 61G (Section G)

Adult Social Care – Pages 46H to 53H (Section H)

Safe and Attractive Neighbourhoods – Pages 46J to 53J (Section J)

Health and Wellbeing – Pages 30K to 32K (Section K)

Waste and Emergency Planning– Pages 46L to 53L (Section L)

Deputy Leader - Pages 35N to 41N (Section N)

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

·               Children, Young People and Families Services – Pages 45D to 51D (Section D)

·               Communities and Cohesion – Pages 19E to 23E (Section E)

·               Culture and Tourism – Pages 24F to 30F (Section F)

·               Regeneration and Development – Pages 55G to 61G (Section G)

·               Adult Social Care – Pages 46H to 53H (Section H)

·               Safe and Attractive Neighbourhoods – Pages 46J to 53J (Section J)

·               Health and Wellbeing – Pages 30K to 32K (Section K)

·               Waste and Emergency Planning– Pages 46L to 53L (Section L)

·               Deputy Leader – Pages 35N to 41N (Section N)

Mover:- Councillor Stone                                Seconder:- Councillor Akhtar

Resolved:-  That the reports and minutes of the meeting of the Audit Committee (Section P) (pages 34P to 37P) be adopted.

Mover:  Councillor Sangster                      Seconder:  Councillor Kaye

Resolved:-  That the reports and minutes of the meeting of the Licensing Board (Section Q) (Pages 22Q to 24Q) be adopted.

Mover:-  Councillor Wootton                      Seconder:-  Councillor Barron

Resolved:-  That the reports and minutes of the meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board (Section S) (pages 38S to 44S) be adopted.

Mover:-  Councillor Wyatt                           Seconder:-  Councillor Lakin

Resolved:-  That the reports and minutes of the meetings of the Planning Board (Section T) (pages 91T to 94T) be adopted.

Mover:-  The Mayor                                      Seconder:-  Councillor Dodson

(Councillor Pickering)

Resolved:-  That the reports and minutes of the meetings of the Staffing Committee (Section V) (pages 1V to 2V) be adopted.

Mover:-  Councillor Stone                          Seconder:-  Councillor Akhtar

(1)  Councillor Gilding asked what steps were being taken to bring Rotherham’s ‘Third World’ roads up to an acceptable standard after a decade of neglect?

Councillor Smith stated that Rotherham Borough Council’s primary objective was to ensure that Rotherham’s roads were maintained to the nationally recognised safety standards.   This was achieved by the Highway Network Management Team, which carried out routine Safety Highway Inspections on a regular basis. For example, all main roads in Rotherham had safety inspections carried out every month.  The Council had very good procedures in place to enable it to respond to actionable defects. 90% of Insurance claims were successfully defended as a result.

As part of the Council’s long-term maintenance plan, surveys were carried out on all roads in Rotherham.  This information enabled Streetpride to place roads in priority order, which ensured that the worst effected and most cost effective roads were dealt with first. Unfortunately, budgets were limited and the Council was unable to carry programmed repairs on all roads that had been identified.  Where this was the case, the Council would always ensure that it carried out routine inspections and arrange for the immediate repair of any hazardous defects if they did occur.

Central grant funding of £5m was secured between 2008 and 2010 to arrest the deterioration of the principle network (‘A’ Roads), with only 4% of those roads now requiring significant works.  Of the Unclassified network (estate type roads), approximately 18% of those roads required significant works.   However, a £3M investment programme was currently being carried out on large patching type works on these roads, which was also being supported by a Department of Transport additional highway maintenance grant of approximately £430,000 for 2013/4 and £228,000 in 2014/15. 

(2)  Councillor Middleton stated that work had ceased on Firsby Reservoirs in December.  Both reservoirs had been reduced to muddy and apparently lifeless ponds.  Most of the wildlife has disappeared.  When would the restoration work be completed and at what past and future cost?

Councillor Wyatt agreed that this was a very popular spot, but stated that the recent works at Firsby Reservoir were prompted by subsidence that appeared in the main Dam near to the reservoir cottage early in October. The Council sought professional advice in this respect from the All Reservoirs Panel Engineer who was already overseeing ‘matters in the interest of safety’ and was advised to reduce the water level in the lakes immediately and in the manner that could now be seen on site. It was recognised that the emergency works had had some impact on wildlife and on the mussels living in the lake.

The works were carried out during mostly wet weather in November and early December. It was felt that the site had been left in a reasonable condition under the circumstances. The site would improve generally in the spring when the site dried out. It was also expected that natural colonisation of the exposed areas by vegetation would mitigate the visual impact of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 93.

There were none.

Further to Minute No. C138 of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 6^th February, 2013, consideration was given to the report which detailed the rationale behind and process for establishing a Sheffield City Region combined authority (“Sheffield City Region Authority” or “SCR Authority”) and summarised the body’s proposed remit, as detailed further in the document submitted.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the progress to date and next steps in establishing a combined authority for Sheffield City Region

(2)            That Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council become a member of the Combined Authority.

Mover:- Councillor Stone                               Seconder:- CouncillorAkhtar

The Director of Finance submitted a report on the amount of Council Tax for Rotherham both for parished areas and unparished areas for the financial year 2013/14 and included both the Police and Fire and Rescue Authority precepts. 

Resolved:- (1) That a net revenue budget for the Council in 2013/14 of £221.474 million, which after receipt of Central Government Grants and the use of Collection Fund, leaves £78.269 million to be funded, be approved.

(2)  That the Council Tax Requirement for 2013/14 of £80,407,216.74 (Item R in the formula in Section 31B of the Act) be noted, for the whole Council area a Council Tax Base of 63,631.44 (Item T in the formula in Section 31B of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 as amended (the Act)) be noted, and that the Council Tax base for dwellings in those parts of the Council’s area to which a Parish Precept relates are as set out in column D of the table at (4a) below.

(3) That the following amounts be calculated by the Council for the year 2013/14 in accordance with Sections 31B to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 as amended by the Localism Act 2011:-

(a)  £724,554,546.74 being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A (2) of the Act taking into account all precepts issued to it by Parish Councils (Gross Council Expenditure including Parish Precepts).

(b)  £644,147,330.00 being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A (3) of the Act. (Council Income including Formula Grant, Council Tax Freeze Grant and the Collection Fund Balance).

(c)  £80,407,216.74 being the amount by which the aggregate at (a) above exceeds the aggregate at (b) above, calculated by the Council in accordance with Section 31A(4) of the Act as its Council Tax requirement for the year (Item R in the formula in Section 31B of the Act). 

(d)   £1,263.6397 being the amount at (c) above (Item R) divided by Item T (2 above) calculated by the Council in accordance with Section 31B of the Act as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year (including Parish Precepts). 

(e)  £2,138,636.74 being the aggregate amount of all special items (Parish Precepts) referred to in Section 34(1) of the Act as per the table in (4) below.

 (f)  £1,230.03 being the amount at (d) above less the result given by dividing the amount at (e) above by item T (2 above) calculated by the Council in accordance with Section 34(2) of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which no Parish Precept relates (Band D Council Tax for Rotherham MBC Services).

(4) (a) That the Town and Parish Council Precepts for 2013/14 detailed below total £2,138,636.74 and result in an average Band D Council Tax figure of £1,263.6397 be noted:-

The amounts in column F being  ...  view the full minutes text for item 96.

Further to Minute No. A80 of the meeting of the Council held on 30^th January, 2013, consideration was given to the report which following the recent release of statutory instruments for prescribed classes of dwellings the Government had notified Local Authorities that the current 'six week rule' relating to disregarding periods of when a property was furnished or occupied had not been included in the new legislation for certain discounts.

Unoccupied and unfurnished properties were currently classed as exempt properties and the current legislation contained a provision to ignore occupation of a property if that occupation was for less than six weeks. If it did not contain that provision, properties occupied for such a short time would then become exempt again after the occupier vacated. This provision was generally considered to be necessary in order to prevent Council Tax avoidance.

Resolved:- That the proposed amendment to the Council Tax Discounts previously approved by be amended in order to allow the Council to administer Council Tax for empty and unfurnished properties with the same type of provision as currently existed.

Mover:- Councillor Stone                               Seconder:- CouncillorAkhtar