Minutes:
(1) Councillor Fenoughty asked why was there no disabled access to the public galleries and what would be the cost of making disabled access to the public galleries possible?
Councillor Smith reported that disabled people were never discounted and the Council Chamber design was undertaken with consultation with the Access Officer. This was an existing building and, therefore, design was limited by the restrictions of the space available. The brief was to provide a Council Chamber with raised seating, which itself created a problem if disabled people were to be fully integrated. The ramps required for wheelchair users required a great deal of space which just was not available. The same applied to the Public Galleries which had to be raised even higher than the Chamber seating. The more steps there were, the longer the ramp had to be. The length of ramp required to cover this distance would have taken up the whole of the space and there would not have been any room for any seating, thus defeating the object. The only way ramps could have been included to the Public Galleries would have been to have eliminated the Committee Rooms at either side of the Chamber and utilised that space. Another option would have been to have installed lifts, but again this required a great deal of space and considerable expense. These difficulties were raised with the Access Officer who agreed that it would be the best compromise in the circumstances for wheelchair users to sit at the front of the Chamber.
(2) Councillor Gilding asked what were the anticipated costs of fitting out and furnishing the new Civic Offices at Main Street?
The Leader explained that as negotiations and commercial tendering activities for the fit out were still ongoing it was not currently appropriate to disclose any figures without putting the Council at a commercial disadvantage.
It was for this reason that the Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Environment’s report on the 13th September, 2010 was exempt.
(3) Councillor Thirlwall referred to advice from the Housing Finance Expert who claimed that it was no longer appropriate to contribute £410,000 per annum from the Housing Revenue Account to support the Area Assemblies and asked did the Cabinet Member believe now was the time to abandon Area Assemblies and use the money saved to protect frontline services?
Councillor Akhtar pointed out that this answer had already been provided to Councillor Thirlwall in advance of the meeting.
(4) Councillor Gilding asked the Cabinet Member to update Members on the situation at the Lincoln Street Workshops, Maltby.
Councillor Smith reported the lease to the Chamber expired on the 28th September, but the Council had offered to extend the period of occupation if the Chamber desired to do so in order to allow alternative premises to be sought by the Chamber for existing tenants. The Council’s RIDO team were assisting in this process.
The latest information from the Chief Executive of the Chamber was that the main tenants have plans to leave the site by the end of September, but there were still some tenants who have not responded at all. It was the Chamber’s hope that that the site would be vacated by end of October at the latest and not the end of November as was provisionally agreed with the Chamber.
(5) Councillor Thirlwall asked n view of the fact that there was virtually no work or responsibilities involved how could the Leader justify establishing the Cabinet position for Town Centres.
The Leader reported this year the Local Strategic Partnership had set out two key priorities, one of which was the town centre. Much progress had been made this year, despite a very difficult financial climate:-
· 28 new businesses opened in the town centre this year, with more to come.
· Despite removal of central Government funding there was a continuation of business vitality grant scheme and parking incentives (free after three until October, free on Saturday until the end of the calendar year).
· Consolidation of new operational management responsibilities under Town Centre Streetscene Manager and development of joint-working initiatives with South Yorkshire Police, PCSOs, Town Centre Wardens and SNT; daily joint briefings have now been established.
· Delivery of enhanced maintenance service standards based a Gold, Silver and Bronze approach, initially focused on the Council’s own activities, but to be extended to include Utilities for example.
· New safer neighbourhood team created specifically for the town centre.
· Development of spending plans for delivering small-scale environmental improvements in key areas of the town centre from the budget of £25,000 made available through the LAA reward grant.
· Over 7,000 residents and 96 businesses signed up to the shop local campaign.
· Ongoing regeneration projects, such as the railway station, Riverside House, community stadium, Minster Yard public realm, college re-development, on site and being delivered.
· A number of Townscape Heritage Initiate schemes on site on the High Street.
The community clearly see the town centre as a major asset and the delivery of the regeneration programme was likely to remain a Council priority in the future. It was, therefore, entirely appropriate to have a Cabinet Member focused on the town centres.
It was also worth noting that the role did not just include the Town Centre, but other centres initially Wath, Dinnington and Maltby covering the maintenance and improvement of Local Environmental Quality in all those areas. In addition, the role had responsibility for parking services and the Waste disposal PFI, which was a significant project covering Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster.
(6) Councillor Gilding asked why had it been necessary to provide a loan of £200,000 to 2010 Rotherham Ltd?
Councillor Akhtar replied that in line with work going on within the Council, 2010 Rotherham Ltd. was also seeking to deliver its services in the most cost efficient ways. The loan to 2010 Rotherham Ltd., would cover the diagnosis, design and implementation of systems and IT changes which would cost an estimated £200k. This was a one-off cost in 2010/11 which would deliver ongoing savings of approximately £650k year after year. Phase 1, (to be introduced this year) would deliver £450k, with an anticipation that phase 2 (to be delivered in 2011/12) would deliver an additional £200k.
This was an excellent initiative that the Cabinet Member full endorsed.