Agenda and minutes

Councillor Caswell declared a personal non pecuniary interest in Motion i) by virtue of being the Chair of Duston Parish Council.

To approve the minutes of the proceedings of the Meetings of the Council held on the 13^th March and the 3^rd April 2017.

The minutes of the Council meetings held on the 13^th March and the 3^rd April 2017 were agreed and signed by the Mayor. 

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Flavell and Marriott.

The Mayor announced that as the General Election had been announced for the 8^th June, it would be proposed at the Annual Council meeting that the Council meeting scheduled for the 85^th June would be postponed until the 19^th June 2017.

The Mayor thanked Councillors who had attended Charity Curry Night at the Saffron on the 10^th April 2017 and noted that raised almost £900  almost £900 had been raised for Guide Dogs.

The Mayor announced that he and the Mayoress had supported a number of events for St David’s Week of Action which commenced on the 1^st April. Amongst the activities were opportunities for budding young detectives to help Northamptonshire Police solve a case as part of a crime mystery workshop and the RSPCA were also present, offering reduced-price dog microchipping.

The Mayor congratulated his chaplain, Mr Haydon Spenceley Assistant Curate, Northampton Emmanuel, as he has was to be appointed Team Rector and would be licensed by Bishop John on 8^th May 2017.

Finally the Mayor thanked all of those who have supported him over his year in Mayoralty. He informed the Council that he would be attending his 500^th engagement as Mayor and had so far raised £21,000 for Guide Dogs Northampton. 

Mr Robert Jones addressed Council and commented that he had a number of concerns about the current levels of pollution that he believed had increased since the erection of the Northgate Bus Station.  

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The Mayor advised that 6 questions had been received from Councillors and that the answers had been tabled in accordance with the Constitution.

Questions and answers were given as tabled (included in an update agenda on the Council’s website) unless where stated, supplementary questions were asked as detailed below.

In response to a supplementary question asked relating to question 5, Councillor Hadland stated that he did not have figures about the length businesses had lasted or job turnover but noted that there were 13 new businesses with 300 new jobs having been created.

In response to a supplementary question asked relating to question 6, Councillor Hadland stated that the food outlets in the town centre would allow the Council to clawback some capital as opposed to empty units.

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Councillor Nunn, the Leader of the Council, submitted a report and elaborated thereon. He noted that the contract for the work in commissioning the assessment for a possible future Unitary Council model for Northamptonshire, had been awarded to Deloittes. He further reported that the administration of relieving traffic flow in the Town Centre, specifically the Drapery had led to a number of improvements being made with the County Council. The Leader informed Council that a Governance and Risk Manager had been employed on an interim basis as part of the Governance improvements. He further reported that he had recently visited the Nightshelter and spoke of the inspirational place it had become and encouraged other Members to visit.

In response to questions asked, the Leader confirmed that a briefing session would be organised for cross party updates on Unitary discussions. He further explained that with regards to new contracts, there was limited consideration that could be given to the potential impact of Unitary status as there were no definitive timescales. Responding to further questions, Councillor Nunn explained that he had attended a breakfast meeting with BID members, including shop owners on the Drapery, and that the administration continued to work with the County Council to resolve traffic issues and that Councillors should await the outcome of the Scrutiny Panel in their examination of the Emission Strategy. In response to a further question, Councillor Nunn explained that work with Network Rail was still ongoing and that progress of the St James Mill Link would be reported when significant advancement had been made.

Councillor Larratt submitted his Cabinet Member report and elaborated thereon. He thanked Councillor Duffy for her work with Thorplands Club 81. He noted that the next Markets Advisory Group meeting would be held in June 2017. In response to questions asked, Councillor Larratt explained that the majority of the light bulbs in the Town were owned by the County Council and he was not aware of any substandard Borough owned lights but any that were reported he would look into. Responding to a further question, Councillor Larratt stated that although a meeting would be set up with several agencies to discuss Match Day Parking, a specific date had yet to be set.

Councillor Eldred submitted his Cabinet Member report and elaborated further, noting that the Revenue and Benefits Service at Northampton were in the process of procuring new technology which would speed up the processing of new claims. In response to questions asked, Councillor Eldred explained that it was anticipated that the final accounts would be signed of as all recommendations that had been made, had been considered and that they have achieved value for money.

Councillor Hadland submitted his Cabinet Member report and elaborated thereon. In response to questions asked, he explained that the Queen Eleanor’s Cross was a County Council responsibility but that some repairs and works had been undertaken by the Borough Council. Responding to further questions, he informed Council the Delapre Abbey had received many reviews  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Councillor McCutcheon to make a statement on ‘Retail Job Losses’.

Councillor McCutcheon stated that the amount of job losses in the retail industry within the town centre could potentially have a domino effect. He commented that everyone was aware of the stores and chains that were present in the Town Centre but suggested that there had been a growth in the number of retail jobs that were unseen and out of sight, primarily in warehouses. He stated that much of the warehouse work undertaken came with zero hour contracts and a number of workers were being paid less that the national minimum wage. He further asked why there was such disparity between the reported increased footfall in the Town Centre and the decrease in the numbers of shops. He suggested that executive powers were needed to address the issue and commented that he considered a Local Economy All Purpose Working Group an option in addressing those concerns.

Councillor Hadland, in response commented that the retail industry was a reactive not dictating industry and noted that there had been many changes to the retail sector due to changing demands and shopping habits. He stated that Town Centres were becoming more leisure focused due to a change in internet shopping as well as other contributing factors. He further explained that by increasing the number of leisure based activities, residents were still being encouraged into the Town Centre.

i)             Councillor Beardsworth to propose and Councillor B Markham to second:

“This Council calls on the Administration to review the 2017/18 Council Tax increase levied on the Parished areas of Northampton”. 

ii)            Councillor B Markham to propose and Councillor Meredith to second:

“Given the clear public interest and concern expressed at the last council meeting regarding the inadequacy of the Northgate Bus Station and the congestion caused in the Drapery the Council is concerned that no Air Quality monitoring was undertaken in the vicinity of the Bus station during 2016.

To reassure the public that this Council is taking the traffic congestion and resultant air quality problems seriously we call on the Administration to bring a report to this Council twice a year detailing the trend in air quality readings and details of actions that are being taken to protect the public”.

iii)           Councillor Beardsworth to propose and Councillor B Markham to second:

“This Council notes that the Administration has included in the 2017 / 18 financial plan capital expenditure of £7 million to redevelop the Central Museum. This money will increase the council's borrowing at a time when interest rates are predicted to rise.

Council is extremely concerned that the administration has once again embarked on a major investment project without first having considered the business or financial case for such a large investment.

The Council therefore calls on the administration to bring a halt to this project until Scrutiny and all councillors have had an opportunity to consider a business plan”.

iv)           Councillor Stone to propose and Councillor Birch to second:

“That this council notes and supports the House of Commons Education Select Committee Report's conclusion that local councils should be allowed to sponsor academies.

This goes even further than the Local Government Association's recent call for councils to be permitted once again "to play a direct role in raising education standards and improving life chances" by setting up and running academy schools and, where necessary, taking on the running of failing academies.

Consequently, this council should:

• Press the Secretary of State for Education to amend the legal ruling which currently prevents local authorities sponsoring academy chains and setting up free schools
• Use its influence to remove unnecessary red tape that currently prevents high performing maintained schools from becoming academy sponsors
• Once this has been done, build this Borough Council’s capacity to take on these responsibilities”

v)            Councillor Smith to propose and Councillor McCutcheon to second:

“This Council believes it needs to open and as transparent to the public as much as possible.

This Council notes that Northamptonshire County Council does successful webcasting of its official meetings, including full Council and Cabinet.

This Council asks the Overview & Scrutiny Committee to consider whether introducing webcasting would be successful at the Borough Council. Paying particular attention to the need for being transparent to the public and costs. Once this has been done the Overview & Scrutiny Committee will report back with its views to Cabinet”.  

Mr Brian Hoare addressed Council on Motion i) and stated that he wanted fairness, transparency and legality in the increased levy on Parished areas of Northampton. He commented that the increase in Parish precepts had resulted in year on year increases in tax paid by residents and questioned the fairness of it since it affected a third of residents. He further questioned what consultation had been undertaken as he could find little evidence of any having been completed.

i)             Councillor Beardsworth proposed and Councillor B Markham seconded:

“This Council calls on the Administration to review the 2017/18 Council Tax increase levied on the Parished areas of Northampton”. 

Council debated the motion.

Upon a vote, the motion was lost.

Mr Martin Sawyer addressed Council on motion ii) and questioned why the Council had stopped monitoring Air Quality around the Bus Station in 2016 and stated that this was a legal responsibility under the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985. He further questioned why Air Quality monitoring had commenced again in 2017 despite half of the population living in an area that was damaging to health.

ii)            Councillor B Markham proposed and Councillor Meredith seconded:

“Given the clear public interest and concern expressed at the last council meeting regarding the inadequacy of the Northgate Bus Station and the congestion caused in the Drapery the Council is concerned that no Air Quality monitoring was undertaken in the vicinity of the Bus station during 2016.

To reassure the public that this Council is taking the traffic congestion and resultant air quality problems seriously we call on the Administration to bring a report to this Council twice a year detailing the trend in air quality readings and details of actions that are being taken to protect the public”.

Councillor Nunn proposed and Councillor Hallam seconded and amendment:

Amended motion read:

“Given the clear public interest expressed at the last council meeting regarding the Northgate Bus Station and the congestion caused in the Drapery this Council resolves to implement any recommendations from the current Scrutiny Review concerning Air Quality in this area of the Town Centre and receive any monitoring reports that Scrutiny considers should be reported.

To reassure the public that this Council is taking the traffic congestion seriouslythis Council notes that the Administration is working with partners to address the abuse by motorists of the Traffic Regulation Orders applying to The Drapery, and are pursuing other measures to enable improved vehicle flows.”

Council debated the amendment.

Upon a vote, the amendment was carried and became the substantive motion.

Council debated the substantive motion

Upon a vote he motion was carried.

iii)           Councillor Beardsworth proposed and Councillor B Markham seconded:

“This Council notes that the Administration has included in the 2017 / 18 financial plan capital expenditure of £7 million to redevelop the Central Museum. This money will increase the council's borrowing at a time when interest rates are predicted to rise.

Council is extremely concerned that the administration has once again embarked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

There were none.