Agenda and minutes

Members are asked to declare any interests in the items under consideration and in doing so state:

(1) the type of interest concerned; and

(2) the nature of the interest concerned

If any member requires advice on declarations of interests, they are advised to contact the Head of Democratic Governance in advance of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest at this point in the meeting.

To agree the minutes of the last meeting held on 23 February 2017 as a true and correct record.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the Council meeting held on 23 February 2017, be signed by the Mayor as a correct record.

The Mayor welcomed Councillor Michele Scott to her first meeting of the Council, following her recent election at the Warbreck by-election.

With the permission of the Mayor, the Leader of Council also welcomed Councillor Scott to the meeting.  The Leader then, on behalf of the Council, expressed thanks to the cross-party support across Blackpool in paying tribute to the victims of the recent Westminster terror attack.

The Mayor also announced that the Mayor Elect, Councillor Ian Coleman, had chosen Councillor Gary Coleman as the Deputy Mayor Elect for the forthcoming civic year.

To consider the attached reports to Council from the Leader of the Council, the Deputy Leader of the Council (Tourism, Economic Growth and Jobs) and the Cabinet Secretary (Resilient Communities), the Combined Fire Authority report and the Chairman of the Audit Committee report.

Members are reminded that:

·         Each Senior Executive Member * has up to three minutes to present their report, after which there will be a period of no longer than 15 minutes per report for questions/comments (a green card will give a one minute warning, red for the end of the debate).

·         There will be three minutes per question/ comment from any Councillor on anything within the portfolio and no limit to the number of times a Councillor can ask a question.

·         There will be a period of up to ten minutes for a response from the Senior Executive Member * (or relevant Cabinet Member) at the end of the questions/ comments for each report.

* or Combined Fire Authority representative or Chairman of the Audit Committee.

The Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Secretary presented reports to the Council on work undertaken in their own portfolio area and those portfolios under their responsibility.   The Leader of the Council also presented the report on behalf of the Deputy Leader.  The reports covered corporate, strategic and policy issues, together with work being undertaken in transforming services and with partners. 

On behalf of the representatives of the Lancashire Combined Fire Authority, Councillor T Williams presented a report detailing the work of the authority from the meetings held in September and December 2016 and February 2017.

The Chairman of the Audit Committee also presented his report to the Council, which detailed work of the committee during the last municipal year and its future work programme.

Questions, comments and debate were invited from all councillors on each of the report areas.

Notes:

(1)          During discussions on the reports from the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council, the Council agreed to extend the time permitted for questions and comments by a further ten minutes, and the response time by five minutes.

(2)          The Leader of the Council agreed to provide written responses to:

·           Councillor Mrs Callow on the costs incurred when pursuing the collection of outstanding Council Tax debt and the proportion of monies recovered paid to bailiffs

·           Councillor T Williams on the number of businesses that had requested for their Business Rates to be remitted under Section 49 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988

·           Councillor Mrs Callow as to the proportion of the £50,000 funding secured from the Department for Communities and Local Government to support the production of a Masterplan for the Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone, that would be spent on consultancy fees

·           Councillor Mrs Callow on whether there had been any interest in the development of the former Harry Ramsden building on the Promenade.

(3)          The Leader, on behalf of Councillor Campbell, agreed to provide clarification for:

·           Councillor Mrs Callow as to whether there had been any changes to the Planning Protocol and the involvement of Members at pre-application stage in view of the recent discussions of a proposed development in Norbreck ward

·           Councillor Mrs Callow on the number of fathers that had been involved in the FRED (Fathers Reading Every Day) project.

(4)          Following consideration of the report from the Deputy Leader, Councillor Mrs Henderson left the meeting.

(5)          During discussion on the report from the Cabinet Secretary, Councillor Blackburn declared a personal interest on the drug and alcohol tender paragraph within the report, as a non-executive director of the Calico group.

(6)          In response to a request from Councillor Clapham, Councillor Cain agreed to confirm the level of money being spent on drug and alcohol support.

To consider changes to the Council’s constitution resulting from the cessation of the interim arrangements for the statutory director of children’s services position and the commencement of employment of the newly appointed Director of Children’s Services.

The Council was advised that Ms Diane Booth, who had been appointed as Director of Children’s Services by the Chief Officers Employment Committee on Wednesday 25 January 2017 and who was currently serving her contractual notice with her current employers, had requested a start date for her new role as 24 April 2017. 

Members were reminded that in line with the statutory guidance, the Council had agreed Ms Gani Martins as designated interim statutory Director of Children’s Services whilst the Council recruited to the post. 

Members were accordingly recommended to confirm Ms Booth as the statutory Director of Children’s Services from the intended commencement date of her employment and to agree contingency arrangements in the case of any unforeseen events to appoint or vary the appointment of an interim Director of Children’s Services.

Motion:  Councillor Cain proposed (and Councillor Blackburn seconded):

‘1.      To agree to appoint Ms Diane Booth as the Council’s new statutory Director of Children’s Services in accordance with Section 18 of the Children’s Act 2004 with effect from 24 April 2017.

2.       To agree to note that Ms Gani Martins will cease to be Council’s interim statutory Director of Children’s Services in accordance with Section 18 of the Children’s Act 2004 with effect from 24 April 2017.

3.       To agree to delegate authority to the Chief Executive to make any further necessary arrangements to appoint or amend the appointment of an interim statutory Director of Children’s Services in accordance with Section 18 of the Children’s Act 2004 in the event of any unforeseen events occurring between this meeting and the 24 April 2017.

4.       To request that the Director of Governance and Partnerships makes all necessary amendments to the Council’s Constitution.’

Motion carried:  The motion was submitted to the Council and carried.

To consider the Council’s Proposed Pay Policy Statement.

The Council considered the Pay Policy Statement, which was required to be approved for the 2017/ 2018 financial year.  The Statement set out policy on Chief Officer Remuneration, remuneration of its lowest paid employees including the definition used for this group as well as the relationship between the chief officer remuneration and that of other staff.

Members noted that the policy was likely to be reviewed during the 2017/ 2018 year as a result of a number of changes proposed by the Government to the terms and conditions of public sector workers and that appropriate changes would be made and resubmitted to Council, when further guidance was issued.

Motion:  Councillor Blackburn proposed (and Councillor Cain seconded):

‘To approve the Pay Policy Statement for the 2017/18 financial year’.

Motion carried:  The motion was submitted to the Council and carried.