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)   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.

Councillors Hunter, Singleton and Robertson declared prejudicial interests in agenda item 4(b), Report from the Deputy Leader of the Council, as Council-appointed non-executive directors of Blackpool Housing Company Ltd and indicated that they would leave the room if any discussion arose in relation to the information in the report relating to that company.

As a Director of Blackpool Sixth Form College, Councillor Clapham declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in agenda item 4(b), Report from the Deputy Leader of the Council , in reference to the contract between Blackpool Sixth Form College and HeadStart – Creative Experiences and also indicated that he would leave the room if there were questions or comments on the paragraph in the report.

To agree the minutes of the last meeting held on 28 February 2018 as a true and correct record.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the Council meeting held on 28 February 2018, be signed by the Deputy Mayor as a correct record.

There were no announcements on this occasion.

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 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.

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

The Deputy Leader of the Council presented the report on behalf of the Leader and went on to present her own report.  The Cabinet Member for Adult Services and Health presented the report on behalf of the Cabinet Secretary.

All reports outlined the work under undertaken in the respective portfolio areas and  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 Jackson presented a report detailing the work of the authority from the meetings held in September and December 2017 and February 2018.

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)          On behalf of the Leader, the Deputy Leader agreed to provide a response to:

-          Councillor Mrs Callow on the reason for the protracted renovations to the Municipal Buildings to accommodate the Job Centre

-          Councillor M Scott on the rationale for the revised opening time of 10.00 am on Wednesdays  for the Customer First office

-          Councillor Callow as to the reason for representatives from the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley Council inspecting trees on grass verges within the Norbreck ward

-          Councillor Mrs Callow on the amount of Government grants and grants from other organisations that the Council had received during 2017/ 2018

-          Councillor T Williams as to why the Council had used Mr Andy Spinoza’s Company (SKV Communications) to advertise the Museum Project, along with confirmation of the cost and duration of the contract and the reason why the Council’s own Communications Team had not been used.

(2)          In presenting her own report, the Deputy Leader agreed to provide a response to:

-          Councillor T Williams to clarify whether more court cases were being referred to the law courts in Chorley and confirmation about the future of the Blackpool Magistrates, County and Family Courts

-          Councillor Mrs Callow on the cost of the feasibility study for the Central Leisure Quarter (CLQ) site, which had been funded through external money from the Cabinet Office

-          Councillor Clapham on details of the exact location of the potential development site for new housing on Blackpool Road.

To consider the recommendation of the Chief Officers Employment Committee from its meeting on 12 March 2018 regarding the proposed Pay Policy Statement and local election fees.  Following Council approval, the Pay Policy Statement has to be published by 31 March 2018.

The Council considered the recommendation from the Chief Officer’s Employment Committee in relation to the Pay Policy Statement, which was required to be approved for the 2018/2019 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.

The Committee had also recommended the approval of election fees ahead of the 2019 local elections, in order to assist with planning and recruitment of election staff for May 2019.  Members noted that the proposed changes did not affect the overall budget for election payments, and contained some minor increases and reductions and clarity over the Returning Officer’s fee for multiple by-elections.

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

‘To approve the Pay Policy Statement and the local elections fees as submitted to the Chief Officers Employment Committee’.

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

To consider the attached Notice of Motion, which has been submitted in accordance with Procedure Rule 12.1.

Telephone Boxes and Antisocial Behaviour

Motion:   Having submitted notice, Councillor Humphreys proposed (and Councillor Ryan seconded):

‘That the Council recognises that whilst being a community asset, telephone boxes can also be a source and cause of crime and anti-social behaviour particularly drug dealing.  The Council therefore calls upon British Telecom to review its criteria for the removal of telephone boxes to take into account such crime and anti-social behaviour issues evidenced by responsible authorities.  The Council therefore asks the Chief Executive to write to the Home Secretary to request that the Council’s concerns be raised with Telephone Box providers’.

Members went on to debate the motion.

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