Agenda and minutes

Resolved:- That the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 1^st February, 2012 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:-

·              From forty-six residents of Wickersley requesting a fence to be restored between Scarborough Road and Markfield Drive.

·              From seven hundred and thirty residents of Rotherham objecting to the principle of any commercial enterprise on Herringthorpe Playing Fields.

(2) The Chief Executive submitted apologies for absence from Councillors Hodgkiss, Johnston, Kirk, License, McNeely, Roddison, Turner, Whelbourn and Wootton.

(1) A member of the public asked Councillor Pickering, could he and Councillors Atkin, Dodson, Roddison and Tweed each explain to this assembly, without recourse to one; the Council Officer recommended this application, and two; the Belvedere Public House could become a retail unit anyway, their personal reasons for passing this misconceived, unwanted and superfluous development?

The Leader replied that decisions of the Planning Board were decided collectively by majority vote as expressed in the minutes of the meeting.  It would, therefore, be inappropriate and offend against the doctrine of collective responsibility, which applied to all decisions of the Council and its committees including the Planning Board, to require individual Members to give their reasons for voting for or against a recommendation. 

In a supplementary question, the member of the public pointed out that it took a great man to admit that he was wrong and asked if the Members would be great men and admit that the decision they made was wrong?

The Leader pointed out that the Planning Board had met and made a decision and suggested that the member of the public be a great man and accept the decision made.

(2)  A member of the public asked what were the costs for full page advertisements for the 'Riverside' opening - notices could have been displayed  in the existing facilities - this expense  when the Public were now required to pay twenty pence to have  a 'pee' towards Council expenses and remember  the public were denied a preview of Riverside ?

Councillor Smith replied that the information which appeared in the Rotherham Advertiser was a combination of a paid-for advertisement and also editorial space alongside it. The information also appeared in the Rotherham Record.

The “advertorial” space was taken as part of the communications plan to inform residents about changes to service provision for Riverside House and other Council buildings. The objective of the communication was to ensure that residents were aware of the changes, to minimise any inconvenience and to ensure new customers were aware of the services available from Riverside House. Effective communication in this case was, as always, a critical part of efficient and effective service delivery. Other communications mechanisms included the Council website, news releases to the local media and posters displayed in Council buildings.

Total cost for the page which appeared in both the Rotherham Advertiser and the Rotherham Record was £2,030.

Given the significant number of people affected and the major change in the location of service delivery, the Council believed this to be good value for money, as by using these publications a combined reach of 87,900 households was achieved.

In a supplementary question the member of the public referred to the toilets in All Saints’ Square, the open till in use, the auditing of collections and whose responsibility it was.

Councillor Smith pointed out that this method of payment had been in operation for many years and that the auditing of income was closely monitored.

Resolved:- That the reports and minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee (Section B) (pages 16B to 19B) be adopted, subject to an amendment to Minute No. B19 to alter the resolution to a recommendation to Council.

Mover:-  The Mayor                             Seconder:- Councillor Middleton

Application of BDR Joint Waste Plan (Development Plan Document) (Minute No. C140 (Pages 97C and 98C)

Discretionary Home to School Transport Provision (Minute No. C143) (Pages 101C and 102C)

Civic Theatre Building Work Priorities (Minute No. C146) (Pages 103C and 104C)

Revenue Budget 2012/13 (Minute No. C147) (Pages 104C to 106C)

Capital Programme Monitoring 2011/12 and Capital Programme Budget 2012/13 to 2014/15 (Minute No. C148) (Page 107C)

Prudential Indicators and Treasury Management and Investment Strategy 2012/13 to 2014/15 (Minute No. C149) (Pages 107C and 108C)

Resolved:- (1)   That Minute No. C147 relating to the Budget be adopted.

Mover:- Councillor Stone                                Seconder:- Councillor Akhtar

(2)  That the remaining reports and minutes of the meetings of the Cabinet (Section C) (pages 97C to 113C) be adopted.

Mover:-  Councillor Stone                               Seconder:-  Councillor Akhtar

Safeguarding Children and Adults – Pages 32D to 34D (Section D)

Community Development,  Equality and Young Peoples Issues – Pages 38E to 45E (Section E)

Lifelong Learning and Culture – Pages 37F to 38F (Section F)

Town Centres, Economic Growth and Prosperity – Pages 69G to 77G (Section G)

Adult Social Care – Pages 44H to 50H (Section H)

Safe and Attractive Neighbourhoods – Pages 39J to 42J (Section J)

Health and Wellbeing – Pages 36K to 43K (Section K)

Waste and Emergency Planning– Pages 23L to 26L (Section L)

Deputy Leader and Organisational Change and Governance – Pages 13N to 14N (Section N)

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

·              Safeguarding Children and Adults – Pages 32D to 34D (Section D)

·              Community Development,  Equality and Young Peoples Issues – Pages 38E to 45E (Section E)

·              Lifelong Learning and Culture – Pages 37F to 38F (Section F)

·              Town Centres, Economic Growth and Prosperity – Pages 69G to 77G (Section G)

·              Adult Social Care – Pages 44H to 50H (Section H)

·              Safe and Attractive Neighbourhoods – Pages 39J to 42J (Section J)

·              Health and Wellbeing – Pages 36K to 43K (Section K)

·              Waste and Emergency Planning– Pages 23L to 26L (Section L)

·              Deputy Leader and Organisational Change and Governance – Pages 13N to 14N (Section N)

Mover:- Councillor Stone                                Seconder:- Councillor Akhtar

The Strategic Director of Resources submitted a report on the amount of Council Tax for Rotherham both for parished areas and unparished areas for the financial year 2012/13 and included both the Police and Fire and Rescue Authority precepts. 

Resolved:- (1) That a net revenue budget for the Council in 2012/13 of £213.290m, which after receipt of £2.325m estimated Council Tax Freeze Grant leaves £210.965m to be funded, be approved.

(2)  That the Council Tax Base of 75,898.06 (Item T in the formula in Section 31B of 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 2012/13 in accordance with Sections 31B to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 as amended by the Localism Act 2011:-

(a)  £692,343,731 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)  £596,730,963 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)  £95,612,768 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)   £1259.7525 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)  £2,255,877.18 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)  £1,230.0300 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 2012/13 detailed below total £2,255,877 and result in an average Band D Council Tax figure of £1,259.75 be noted:-

The amounts in column F being the amounts to be added to the amount at (f) to give the basic amounts of its Council Tax for the year for dwellings in those parts of the Council’s area to which Parish Precepts relate.

(b.)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 91.

Resolved:- That the reports and minutes of the meetings of the Audit Committee (Section P) (pages 27P 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 23Q to 24Q) be adopted.

Mover:- Councillor Barron                           Seconder:- Councillor Falvey

Resolved:- That the reports and minutes of the meetings of the Health and Wellbeing Board (Section S) (pages 25S to 31S) be adopted.

Mover:- Councillor Wyatt                                Seconder:- Councillor Doyle

Resolved:- That the reports and minutes of the meetings of the Planning Board (Section T) (pages 75T to 82T) be adopted.

Mover:- Councillor Pickering                           Seconder:- Councillor Dodson

Pay Policy (Minute No. V 1) (Pages 1V to 2V)

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

Mover:- Councillor Stone                           Seconder:- Councillor Akhtar

(1)  Councillor Foden asked could the Cabinet Member please give Members an update with regards to the present stage of the proposed Free School in Rotherham?

Councillor Rushforth replied that following rigorous continued assessment by the Department for Education of all Free Schools they have decided that the Rotherham Central Free School proposal, in its current form, did not meet the criteria that they have set for proposals to move to the next stage of the process.  Therefore, the Secretary of State had withdrawn the approval for the project to proceed any further.

(Councillor Fenoughty declared a personal interest in this question on the basis that he was named as a Director of the Future Access Schools Trust)

(2)  Councillor Gilding referred to Meadowbank Road (a ‘Gateway Entrance’ to the town) which he declared was in an appalling Third World standard of a highway and asked when was it going to be put into a proper condition?

Councillor Smith replied that as part of the long term highway maintenance plan, detailed condition surveys were carried out on all roads/footways in Rotherham, for major roads such as Meadowbank Road these were done every four years.  In addition safety inspections were completed every month.

This information enables the Council to prioritise repairs to ensure that the worst affected roads were dealt with first.  Meadowbank Road required over half a million pounds to bring it back up to standard, but it was competing against other gateways so, due to pressures on budgets, work would be phased over several years.  Work on Meadowbank Road would begin in 2012/13.

In the meantime, Officers would continue to carry out routine inspections and arrange for any hazardous defects that did occur to be rectified immediately.

(3)  Councillor Middleton asked, following statistics revealed by the Department of Education showing that 80.8% of children whose first language was not English gain at least 5 GCSE's at Grades A to C, as opposed to 80.4% of those whose first language was English, could Members be told the equivalent results for Rotherham?

Councillor Rushforth replied that the release from the DfE statistics website on the 9th February, 2012 stated that looking at last years 5+ A* - C for the characteristics of first language was:-

Rotherham Pupils whose first language is other than English – achieved 81.8%

Nationally this is at– 82.5%

Rotherham is 0.7% down against the national percentage

Rotherham Pupils whose First language is English – achieved 81.9%

Nationally this is -80.4%

Rotherham is 1.5% up against the national percentage

(4)  Councillor Gilding asked how many insurance claims (and the costs involved) have been made over the past twelve months against this Council from motorists who have had their vehicles damaged by poor road maintenance on all of the Borough’s highways?

Councillor Smith replied that since 1st April, 2011, the total number of Highway Claims was 57. 

·              One settled at a cost of £325.

·              Forty-one were still being processed with an average claim value of £437 (it  ...  view the full minutes text for item 97.

Councillor Hughes, Vice-Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board, welcomed the opportunity to give an update on activity and introduced Councillor G. A. Russell, Chairman of the Improving Lives Select Commission, to give a short overview of progress from a young people, schools and adult social care perspective.

By way of a work programme progress summary, the Improving Lives Select Commission had looked at the areas concerning:-

·              School Governing Bodies.

·              Education Maintenance Allowance and Introduction of the Bursary Fund.

·              Government Consultations.

·              Proposed Ending of the Ofsted Annual Children’s Services Assessment.

·              Early Years Provision.

·              Council’s Transitional Arrangements for Young People moving from Child to Adult Social Care.

Resolved:-  That the update on the work of the Improving Lives Select Commission be noted.