Agenda and minutes

The Mayor was pleased to present the Town Hall Catering Team with their certificate for achieving 5 Stars for Excellent Hygiene Standards.

Congratulations were offered to the Town Hall Catering Team for their success.

The Mayor was also pleased to report that Dean Winstanley from Swinton had reached the final of the Darts Championships at Lakeside.

Congratulations were offered to Dean on his achievement.

Resolved:- That the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 8^th December, 2010 be approved for signature by the Mayor.

Mover:-  Councillor Stone                               Seconder:-  Councillor Sharman

(1) The Chief Executive submitted a petition from ninety-three residents of Brinsworth objecting to the proposed skate park on the Millennium Park at Brinsworth, which had been referred to the appropriate Directorate for consideration.

(2) The Chief Executive submitted apologies for absence from Councillors Austen, Donaldson, Goulty, Hodgkiss, Lakin, Littleboy, Mannion, Middleton and Sharp.

(Councillor Buckley declared a personal interest in the petition being a member of Brinsworth Parish Council)

There were no questions from members of the public.

Resolved:- That the reports and minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee (Section B) (pages 14B to 18B) be adopted.

Mover:- Councillor Buckley                             Seconder:- Councillor Gilding

CRB Checks for Members (Minute No. C131) (Pages 96C - 97C)

Capital Programme Monitoring 2010/2011 to 2012/2013 (Minute No. C133) (Pages 98C - 99C)

Submission of BDR Joint Waste Plan (Minute No. C135) (Pages 101C  - 102C)

Housing Rent Increase 2011/12 (Minute No. C149) (Page 109C)

Resolved:- That the reports and minutes of the meetings of the Cabinet (Section C) (pages 88C to 114C) be adopted.

Mover:- Councillor Stone                                Seconder:- Councillor Sharman

(All Members of the Council present declared a personal interest in Minute No. C149 (Housing Rent Increase ) on the basis of either being a Council tenant or related to or associated with a Council tenant)

Safeguarding and Developing Learning Opportunities for Children – Pages 60D to 68D (Section D)

Community Development,  Equality and Young Peoples Issues – Pages 17E to 32E (Section E)

Culture, Lifestyle, Sport and Tourism – Pages 33F to 36F (Section F)

Regeneration and Environment – Pages 60G to 75G (Section G)

Adult Independence Health and Well Being – Pages 50H to 56H (Section H)

Safe and Attractive Neighbourhoods – Pages 52J to 63J (Section J)

Resources and Commissioning – Pages 33K to 35K (Section K)

Town Centres– Pages 22L to 26L (Section L)

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

·              Safeguarding and Developing Learning Opportunities for Children – Pages 60D to 68D (Section D)

·              Community Development,  Equality and Young Peoples Issues – Pages 17E to 32E (Section E)

·              Culture, Lifestyle, Sport and Tourism – Pages 33F to 36F (Section F)

·              Regeneration and Environment – Pages 60G to 75G (Section G)

·              Adult Independence Health and Well Being – Pages 50H to 56H (Section H)

·              Safe and Attractive Neighbourhoods – Pages 52J to 63J (Section J)

·              Resources and Commissioning – Pages 33K to 35K (Section K)

·              Town Centres– Pages 22L to 26L (Section L)

Mover:- Councillor Stone                                Seconder:- Councillor Sharman

Resolved:- That the reports and minutes of the meetings of the Audit Committee (Section P) (pages 24P to 33P) be adopted.

Mover:- Councillor Sangster                           Seconder: Councillor Kaye

Resolved:- That the reports and minutes of the meetings of the Licensing Board (Section Q) (pages 16Q to 19Q) be adopted.

Mover:- Councillor Wootton                           Seconder:- Councillor Barron

Resolved:- That the reports and minutes of the meetings of the Planning Board (Section T) (pages 182T to 222T) be adopted.

Mover:- Councillor Pickering                           Seconder:- Councillor Dodson

(1)  Councillor Thirlwall referred to the Cabinet meeting held on 8th September, 2010 where it was resolved to adopt an interim housing target of 750 new dwellings per annum, which would ultimately result in building some dwellings in the Green Belt and asked could Councillor Sharman say how he voted on this resolution?

Councillor Sharman reported that he chaired the meeting of the Cabinet held on 8th September, 2010 and the meeting approved the report without the necessity for a vote by individuals.

(2)  Councillor Cutts asked what were the total inclusive breakdown costs of the Equality and Diversity Unit in Rotherham?

Councillor Hussain confirmed that the total costs of the Equalities and Diversity Unit, to the end of December, 2010 were £119,000 on salaries and £4,000 on non pay expenditure.  Therefore, the total net expenditure to the end of December, 2010, when the unit disbanded as part of the Policy and Performance Review was £123,000.

(3)  Councillor Gilding asked which schools in Rotherham were in “Special Measures”?

The Leader reported that the schools in Special Measures were:-

·              Broom Valley Community Primary.

·              Ferham Primary.

·              Maltby Redwood Junior and Infant.

·              Meadow View Primary.

·              Thurcroft Junior.

·              No Secondary or Special schools were in a category.

(4)  Councillor Parker asked could the Cabinet Member confirm whether he considered filling potholes and tamping down with the back of a shovel good practice and safe and did it make good economic sense to have to keep going over this process?

Councillor Smith confirmed the Council had a duty to maintain the highway in a safe condition and this meant that temporary repairs to defects (potholes) often had to be made rather than completing a permanent reinstatement.  The response time for potentially hazardous defects was 4 hours and 24 hours for those which were less dangerous, but still met the criteria for repair (e.g. >40mm deep on the highway).  The number of pothole defects reported in the four week period from 4th to 25th January, 2011 was over 4,900, a 34% increase in the same time last year which in turn was the most severe winter for 30 years, so the Council deployed additional resources just to meet its statutory duty to keep the highway safe.  While it was far better to do a permanent reinstatement, this was not an option for dealing with many of the reported defects during this period.

A large number of these potholes were in traffic sensitive locations, i.e. on busy, main roads where it was not always practical to stop traffic in order to make repairs.  Staff were, therefore, often required to make the repair in “live” traffic.  The correct method of repair was, however, to apply compaction and the method described did not achieve an acceptable standard.  If this practice had been observed, staff would be reminded of the correct method of completing these temporary repairs to ensure they were carried out as they should be.

(5)  The question from Councillor Mannion fell as he was not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 82.

(1)  Councillor Thirlwall asked in view of the financial situation that the Police found themselves in, did the Police Spokesperson believe that the Police would be better employed fighting crime than illegally ejecting a democratically elected representative of the people from the Town Hall?

Councillor S. Wright reported the Police Service had a statutory duty to maintain and protect public order as well as fighting and preventing crime. 

(2)  Councillor Gilding asked why was there a planned reduction in Police manpower when the Police Authority had built up a “War Chest” over the last few years?

Councillor S. Wright reported the Police Authority had managed to strengthen its financial position over the last few years by channeling any annual underspends into reserves.  The Authority was now seeing the benefits of this strategy, as it was in a position to use its reserves to phase in the required reductions and to provide up front funding for the severance scheme which would generate permanent long term budget savings.

Councillor Stone referred to the request to fill a vacant post for a Parish Council Member on the Council’s Standards Committee.

Resolved:-  That Parish Councillor David Rowley of Ravenfield Parish Council be appointed as a Parish Council representative on the Standards Committee and Parish Councillor Peter Blanksby of Wales Parish Council be appointed as a reserve member.

Mover:-  Councillor Stone                               Seconder:-  Councillor Sharman

Councillor Whelbourn, Chairman of the Performance and Scrutiny Overview Committee, welcomed the opportunity to update activities by Scrutiny over the past few months, which included consideration of:-

·              The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill.

·              Scrutinisation of Crime and Reduction Partnerships.

·              Councillor Call for Action.

·              Localism Bill.

·              Public Health Consultation Paper.

The Scrutiny Panels had also considered work relating to:-

·              PE and Sport in Schools.

·              Economic Development through Business Centres and the Advanced Manufacturing Park.

·              Operation of the housing sector.

·              Response of Council Services to the adverse weather.

·              Future role of Scrutiny.

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

On behalf of the Council the Mayor offered her best wishes for a speedy recovery both to Councillor Littleboy and to Fred Edwards (Mayor’s Chauffeur), who was currently in hospital.