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 either a

(a)   personal interest

(b)   prejudicial interest

(c)    disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI)

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.

Councillor Hobson declared a personal interest in Agenda Item 6(c) ‘Executive Member Report from the Cabinet Secretary (Resilient Communities)’ as a Governor at Woodlands School.

To agree the minutes of the last meeting held on 19 September 2018 as a true and correct record.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the Council meeting held on 19 September 2018, be signed by the Mayor as a correct record subject to the note on Minute 5 being amended to read that the declaration of interest from Councillor Mitchell related to his Council appointed governor position at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Councillors will be asked to observe a minute’s silence as a mark of respect to Honorary Alderman Henry Mitchell who sadly passed away on 30 October 2018 and former Borough Surveyor, Mr Jack Wilson who sadly passed away on 29 September 2018.

Councillors observed a minute's silence as a mark of respect to Honorary Alderman Henry Mitchell who sadly passed away on 30 October 2018 and former Borough Surveyor, Mr Jack Wilson who sadly passed away on 29 September 2018.

There were no announcements from the Mayor, although on his invitation, Councillors I Taylor and Clapham paid tribute to Mr Jack Wilson, former Borough Surveyor.

Following the sad death of Honorary Alderman Henry Mitchell, Council will be asked to pass a resolution of condolence.

Following the sad loss of Honorary Alderman, Henry Mitchell, the Council was invited to pay tribute to his life and work and consider a resolution of condolence.  

Motion:  Councillor T Williams proposed (and Councillor Blackburn seconded):

‘This Council and the Townspeople of Blackpool were deeply saddened to learn of the death on 30 October 2018 of Honorary Alderman Henry Mitchell, former Mayor of the Borough in 1998-1999 and formerly councillor for Anchorsholme and Bispham Wards.

Henry was born in Manchester in 1931 and moved to Blackpool at the age of seven. He was educated at the former Tyldesley School and went onto serve his National Service with the Army in the Armoured Corps. 

On completion of his National Service, Henry went into the retail business and, as well having his own retail business in Blackpool, he also became President of the Northern Branch of the Institute of Marketing.  He was also appointed Chairman and later President of the Blackpool Branch of Commercial Travellers.

Henry was first elected to Blackpool Borough Council in 1979.  During his time at the Council Henry served on many committees and had held the positons of Chairman of the Environmental Health and Public Protection Committee and the Licensing Committee.

As Mayor of Blackpool, Henry attended many events throughout a busy mayoral year, accompanied by his Mayoress, Jill.  Our deepest sympathy goes out to Andy and Jill in their great loss’.

Councillors Mitchell, Mrs Callow and Clapham also paid tribute to Honorary Alderman Mitchell.

Motion carried:  The motion on being submitted to the Council was carried unanimously.

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.

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 25 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 25 Minutes for a response from the Senior Executive Member (or relevant Cabinet Member) at the end of the questions/ comments for each report.

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

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

Notes:

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

·      Councillor Mrs Callow on the numbers of residents contacted as part of the Blackpool Residents’ Survey 2018 that had either hung up or refused to participate

·      Councillor T Williams on the reasons for spending £298,000 on professional fees in relation to the Blackpool Tramway dispute and whether the Council had recovered the costs.

(2)          The Deputy Leader of the Council agreed to provide a written response to Councillor Clapham on whether the contract awarded to ICT Microsoft Licenses included Blackpool schools.

(3)          Prior to consideration of the report from the Deputy Leader, Councillor Owen left the meeting.

(4)          Councillor L Taylor left the meeting during consideration of the report from the Deputy Leader.

(5)          Council agreed to extend the time limits for questions during consideration of the reports from the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Secretary by five minutes and four minutes respectively.

To consider the recommendation of the Executive from its meeting on 5 November 2018 relating to the approval Blackpool Youth Offending Team Strategic Plan for 2018/ 2019.

The Council considered the recommendation of the Executive from its meeting on 5 November 2018 relating to the approval of the Blackpool Youth Offending Team Strategic Plan for 2018/2019.  Members noted that the Strategic Plan had been approved by all multi-agency partners.

Discussion took place on the Strategic Plan and members noted that it would be useful to receive regular reports at the relevant scrutiny committee and as part of the Executive report to Council.

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

‘1.        To approve the Blackpool Youth Offending Team Strategic Plan for 2018/ 2019, attached at Appendix 2(a) to the Executive report.

2.         To remove the requirement for future Youth Offending Team Strategic Plans to be approved by Council and delegate the responsibility to the Executive’.

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

To consider a revised draft Member and Officer Protocol for Planning and amendments to the public speaking arrangements, following reconsideration of the item at the Planning Committee on 16 October 2018 (following the referral at the last Council meeting).

Members considered a revised draft Member and Officer Protocol for Planning and amendments to the public speaking arrangements, following reconsideration of the item at the Planning Committee on 16 October 2018 (following the referral at the last Council meeting).

In doing so, they noted that the proposed changes to the public speaking procedure would bring consistency and parity for both members of the public and ward councillors and that the Chairman, with agreement of the Committee, would have discretion in application of the procedures where it was considered neceesary.

Motion:  Councillor L Williams proposed (and Councillor Humphreys seconded):

‘1.      To approve as part of the Council’s Constitution the revised Member and Officer Protocol for Planning as attached at Appendix 8(a).

2.       To adopt the revised public speaking arrangements outlined in the report namely:

·         that the time period allowed for public representations is increased from five to seven minutes for objectors and applicants

·         that the time period of seven minutes is allowed for each ward councillor who applies to speak (to be aligned with the arrangements for members of the public)’.

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

To consider the appointment to a vacancy on the Independent Remuneration Panel.

At the meeting of the Council on 19 September 2018, it was agreed that the Monitoring Officer be authorised to advertise the vacancy for a member of the Independent Remuneration Panel, following the retirement of Mr Whitehead.

The Monitoring Officer reported that following an interview process, Ms Karen Eaton had been the recommended appointment and this recommendation had been consulted upon with the three Group Leaders.   Members noted that Ms Eaton met the criteria for the position.

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

‘To agree to appoint Karen Eaton as an Independent Remuneration Panel member’.

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

To consider a notice of motion which has been submitted in accordance with Procedure Rule 12.1.

Motion:   Having submitted notice, Councillor Campbell proposed (and Councillor Matthews seconded):

‘This Council notes:

·         That analysis of the 2018 Local Election results by the Fawcett Society found that only 34% of councillors in England are women, up 1% since 2017. Of the seats that were up for election in 2018, 38% went to women, up just 3 percentage points on 2014 when these seats were last contested;

·         That across England, Labour has improved its representation since seats were last up for grabs, with 45% women compared with 40% in 2014, Liberal Democrat representation up from 34% to 36% whilst the Conservative Party saw a fall from 31% to 29% in the share of its councillors who are female;

·         That as of the 2018 local elections, only 26 out of 119 Labour councils and only 33 out of 130 opposition Labour Groups are led by women;

·         As of summer 2017, only 4% of councils in England and Wales have parental leave of absence policies, according to research by the Fawcett Society;

·         That the equalities section of the Labour Party Democracy Review mandates all Labour councils and Labour Groups to introduce a parental leave of absence policy to cover their group and their council as applicable;

·         That the role of a councillor should be open to all, regardless of their background and that introducing a parental leave of absence policy is a step towards encouraging a wider range of people to become councillors and is also a step to encourage existing councillors who may want to start a family to remain as councillors;

·         That parental leave of absence must apply to parents regardless of their gender and that it should also cover adoption leave to support those parents who choose to adopt.

This Council resolves: 

·         To request the Director of Governance and Partnerships to consult with the Independent Remuneration Panel and report back to a future Council meeting on a parental leave of absence policy’.

Members went on to debate the motion.

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