Agenda and minutes

None.

To approve the minutes of the proceedings of the Meetings of the Council held on 27^th October 2008 and 8^th December 2008.

(i)  27 OCTOBER 2008.

Subject to the addition on page 4 to the third paragraph by the inclusion of Councillor Clarke’s question in respect of statements made by lorry drivers delivering the bund infill to Delapre and Councillor Woods response, the minutes of the meeting of Council held on 27 October 2008 were signed by the Mayor.

(ii)  8 DECEMBER 2008.

The Mayor noted that the final paragraph of item 8 referred to a point of order raised by Councillor Clarke in relation to the motion moved by Councillor P D Varnsverry during item 7 and there stated that he ruled at the time that the motion had been disposed of correctly.  After further consideration he was clear that the motion did not comply with paragraph 10.1 of the Council’s Rules of Procedure in that as Mayor he had not notified or named Councillor Clarke prior to the motion being moved.

The Mayor wished to clarify that he did not consider that Councillor Clarke behaved irregularly improperly or offensively and his ruling recorded in the minutes should not be taken as an indication that he had done so.

Councillor Malpas queried why the minutes of the meeting of 8 December did not record a reason as to the deferral of the minutes from 27 October 2008 meeting.  He further commented that an answer given to a question from Mr Adams was recorded but not the question.  He also noted that a comment he made about the Guildhall car park had not been recorded.  Councillor Malpas also stated that the record of the debate on motion 12A had not been recorded and proposed that due to these omissions that considering the minutes of this meeting should be deferred pending appropriate amendment.

The Mayor withdrew the minutes of the meeting of Council held on 8 December 2008 from consideration.

Apologies were received from Councillors Caswell, S Chaudhury, I Choudary, De Cruz, M Hoare, Lane and Larratt,

The Mayor reported that he had attended the funeral of Corporal Mark Birch formerly a Royal Marine on 23 December 2008 and had been impressed by the dignity and pride of Corporal Birch’s widow and family.  He had on behalf of the Council passed on condolences to the family.  He also thanked all those employees from the Parks, Street Cleansing and Cemeteries departments who had assisted with the funeral and to the Guildhall staff for flying the Union flag at half mast.

The Mayor noted that earlier in the evening he had presented the Lexcel award from the Law Society to members of the Legal Services Team and noted that the Council was only the second local authority in the sub-region to achieve this status.

The Mayor stated that he had recently attended a 105^th birthday party at St Crispins House and had met a former Mayor Mr Don Wilson who was 97 years old.  Mr Wilson had been Mayor in 1965/66.

Beverley Mennell stated that her comments were addressed to the Administration.  She commented that when the Council was proposing to spend public money it needed to undertake proper consultation and to keep a proper account of that expenditure.  She did not feel that the public were getting that.  She commented that at present there was no tenants’ voice and that this was causing a problem across the town.  In respect of the interest in PFI she commented that it was important for proper consultation to take place.

Mr De Rosier stated that the credit crunch did not appear to have affected the Liberal Democrats with £33,000 spent on the fake Christmas trees and another £30,000 proposed for a Sports Officer.  He commented that the Council apparently couldn’t find funding to support Sixfields.  He stated that the there had been no consultation on expenditure but he was pleased to see that the Leader of the Council’s car had been removed from the Guildhall car park.

Mr Adams referred to page 6 of the Portfolio Holder for Housing’s report and the problems caused by the power cut on New Year’s Day to Melbourne House, Abbey House and Devonshire House.  He noted that whilst staff were dealing with these problems some other sheltered housing tenants elsewhere in the town were not visited.  He suggested that cuts to the sheltered housing warden service had gone too far so that emergencies such as the one on New Year’s Day would not allow the service to be maintained and suggested that the sheltered housing service needed to be got back on the tracks.

A copy of the tabled questions and answers are attached.

The Mayor advised that six questions had been received from members of the public and Councillors and that these and the answers had been tabled in accordance with the Constitution.  The Mayor advised that he would take the questions in the order in which they had been received. 

Mr Adams asked a question of Councillor Beardsworth as the relevant Portfolio Holder as to how many sheltered housing units were occupied and in terms of floating support how many were in each category.  Mr Adams noted the response as tabled and asked a supplementary question as to what protocol existed between the Borough and County Councils to ensure a full package for emergency and non-emergency care is available.  Councillor Beardsworth referred to her report under item 7 and also referred to the Sheltered Housing Forum which was the main consultative mechanism for sheltered housing tenants.  She stated that the Council worked with the County Council’s Supporting People Department and systems for dealing with emergencies were in place.  She apologised if any sheltered housing tenants had not received their normal service on New Year’s Day due to the emergency.

Councillor Capstick asked a question of Councillor Glynane as the relevant Portfolio Holder in respect of the options appraisal on the future of Brookside Communtiy Centre.  Councillor Capstick noted the response as tabled and Councillor Glynane in answer to a supplementary question noted that Brookside Community Centre had been in a poor state for many years and should be considered as part of the regeneration of the wider area.  There was the possibility of a PFI scheme.

Councillor Capstick asked a question of Councillor Glynane as the relevant Portfolio Holder in respect of the administration’s commitment to allocate more resources to Overview and Scrutiny.  Councillor Capstick noted the response as tabled.  Councillor Capstick noted that the report to Cabinet had identified Overview and Scrutiny as an area of strength and queried whether Councillor Glynane agreed that this would be a risk if support to Overview and Scrutiny was not increased.  Councillor Glynane commented that he agreed with the report that Cabinet had considered and noted that the Chairs of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees had not approached him seeking further support.

Councillor Scott asked a question of Councillor Crake as the relevant Portfolio Holder in respect of all areas of the town to have at least one dedicated Neighbourhood Warden and the current budget consultation which proposed the reorganisation of them.  Councillor Scott noted the response as tabled and in answer to a supplementary question Councillor Crake commented that there were no current plans to make any of the Neighbourhood Wardens compulsorily redundant.

Councillor Malpas asked a question of Councillor Church as the relevant Portfolio Holder in respect of the adequacy of scrutiny of planning applications.  He noted the response as tabled and asked a supplementary question particularly referring to the scrutiny of Section 106 Agreements.  Councillor Church commented that Councillors if they had concerns concerning planning applications or Section 106 Agreements could  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

At this point each of the Cabinet members made a presentation on their respective portfolios which had been circulated with the agenda.

Councillor Woods as Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Partnerships and Improvement submitted his Portfolio update and noted that an Audit Commission Inspector had visited the Council on 15 & 16 January 2009 and the resulting Direction of Travel statement was due in March or April.  Councillor Woods also stated that the Government Monitoring Board had met on 15 January and the Lead Official had indicated that he hoped that that would be its last meeting although a final decision on this was for the Minister to make.  Councillor Woods reported that a meeting had been arranged with the Minister about the Council’s Formula Grant allocation which would take place on 27 January 2009  which the town’s MPs would attend.  In answer to a question from Councillor Hadland, Councillor Woods stated that the public meeting arranged for 29 January 2009 was for Nick Clegg MP to discuss with local people issues of national and international significance.  He further stated that a public budget meeting had not been arranged this year as previous experience had shown that e-mail and other written responses to the budget consultation had proved more successful.  He further commented in these difficult economic times it was difficult to draw a line in the sand in terms of a stable position.  He stated that ideas from any source to help with the Council’s financial situation would be welcomed.  Councillor Clarke queried how democratic the meeting with the Minister would be in terms of those people who had not voted for candidates from the main political parties.  He also queried the representation of Northampton’s position by Councillor S Barnes of South Northants District Council on the Leader’s Board for East Midlands.  Councillor Woods noted that Councillor Clarke could only claim to represent those people who voted for him in Castle Ward but between himself and the town’s MPs all three major parties would be represented at the Minister’s meeting.  In respect of the Leader’s Board for the East Midlands the arrangements were such that without Councillor Barnes nomination the Council would have no representation at all.  The arrangements that had been agreed were for one District Council representative per County area.  Councillor Woods stated that he would ensure that Northampton’s voice would be heard.

In answer to a question from Councillor J Lill, Councillor Woods noted that Councillor Meredith was the Council’s representative on the Northampton Town Supporters Trust and had attended matches when he could and had visited other grounds as well.

Councillor Church as the Portfolio Holder for Regeneration submitted his Portfolio update and in response to a comment made by a member of the public earlier in the meeting noted that the Council had never received a request for funding of the Sixfields Stadium but the issues raised with the Council all related to planning.  In answer to a question from Councillor Hadland,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Conservative statement on the likely impact on Northampton and Northampton Borough Council of the present and future state of the economy

Councillor Hadland stated that he was concerned that the Council was ignoring or appearing to ignore various facets of the Northampton community whilst they tried to deal with probably the greatest challenge in living memory.  He noted that the Credit Crunch affected everyone but that some people were more insulated from it than others.  Local Government would not go bankrupt.  The Council should acknowledge this position and work to help vulnerable individuals and groups.  The Council should be lobbying Government to be sympathetic towards Local Government and the role it could play and that the Council should be looking to reduce the cost of the organisation.  It was clear that Local Government would not receive more funding from Government and that people would not be able to pay above inflation increases in Council Tax and the Council needed to be a smaller organisation; the country as a whole needed to be able to afford Local Government.

Councillor Perkins commented that the current situation had been brought about by greed and that Thatcherite capitalism was now dead.  The situation had been exacerbated by the Government continuing its predecessor’s policies.  The Council’s £7m funding gap was a direct result of Government policy.  The Administration would help the people of Northampton and the Council would be better organised and would focus on its statutory services.  Service delivery would be examined and regeneration encouraged.  Increased resources would be given, benefits and help would be given to businesses and the public.

Councillor Hadland commented that the Council was where it was and had to slim down and deal with real debts and real problems.  The Council needed to demonstrate that it understood the problem and could deal with it.  He was not convinced that there was evidence of this.  He noted that in the Portfolio Holder report considered earlier in the meeting one line was devoted to the budget and nothing else related to the economic situation.  He commented that the Council should be lobbying Government to reverse the empty business property rate charges and also reduce the amount of regulation that encumbered Local Government.

Report of Director of Finance and Support.

Councillor Mildren submitted a report that set out the calculation of the Council’s Tax Base for 2009/10.  Councillor Perkins seconded the adoption of the report.

RESOLVED:(1) That the recommendation set out below as agreed by Cabinet on 22 December 2008 be agreed.

(2) That approval be given to the recommended change to the level of reduction of discount to be applied on Class C Long Term Empty Homes.

(3) That the tax base for 2009/10 at £66,166 Band D equivalent properties and associated parish tax bases within this be approved.

Councillor Hadland to propose and Councillor Palethorpe to second :-

“This council congratulates Northamptonian Matt Smith on being chosen to be the next Doctor Who, and applauds the effect that such an achievement has in serving as a positive example to Northampton's young people.”

Councillor Hadland proposed and Councillor Palethorpe seconded that;

“This Council congratulates Northamptonian Matt Smith on being chosen to be the next Doctor Who and applauds the effect that such an achievement has in serving as a positive example to Northampton’s young people”.

The Council debated the motion.

Upon a vote the motion was carried.

None.