Agenda and minutes

Councillors Clucas, Harman and Holliday

Apologies were received from Councillors Clucas, Harman, Harvey, Hegenbarth, Holliday and Savage.

There were no declarations of interest.

Minutes of the meetings held on 24 April 2017 and 15 May 2017.

With regard to the Council meeting on 24 April 2017 Councillor Stennett requested that it be marked on the minutes that he attended the meeting but left as he had declared an interest.

Councillor Collins wished to ensure that his apologies were recorded for the meeting held on 15 May 2017.

The minutes of the meetings held on 24 April and 15 May 2017 were approved and signed as a correct record.

In the light of the tragic events which had taken place in London and Manchester the Mayor invited Members to hold a minutes silence.

She informed Members that in the light of the Grenfell tower fire on 14 June she had written to the Mayor of Kensington and Chelsea to share our condolences. The Cabinet Member Housing, had also written to offer accommodation if any of those affected had a link with Cheltenham.  She wished to place on record her own appreciation of firefighters and those in Gloucestershire in particular.

She explained that the focus of her mayoral year would be to celebrate the ethos behind our town motto, Salubritas et eridutio -  health and education. She had already written to schools in Cheltenham asking for nominations of staff who have gone the extra mile for pupils. She also wished to hear from people who worked in the health sector who have made a difference by going above and beyond the call of duty for patients in their care.

She explained that this year her charities were Cheltenham and Gloucester Hospitals Charites Focus Fund and for the Hollie Gazzard Trust. Her charity committee were working really hard on a diverse programme of fundraising events. She informed Members that she had set up an account on justgiving for the Mayors charity appeal https://www.justgiving.com/mayorofcheltenhamscharity.

The Mayor then highlighted some mayoral engagements she had undertaken since being in office.

The Leader made the following announcements :

·         a briefing note on fire safety had now been circulated to all Members

·         the Ofsted report on Safeguarding had now been published which deemed children’s services in Gloucestershire to be inadequate with an unacceptable level of service and serious concerns expressed about the integrity of the senior leadership team. This was a cause for concern for CBC and reflected the experiences it had with the domestic homicide review. The Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles and the Cabinet Member Housing had met with representatives from the County Council in December to discuss the issues. A statement had been issued by the County with regard to the report and changes which have subsequently been made but CBC remained unconvinced that these were adequate and more discussions were required to rectify the situation. The council would be working closely with the council on this. Council may wish to debate this issue in full.

·         Councillor Williams would be replacing Councillor Sudbury on Asset Management Working Group

·         Councillor Wheeler would be replacing Councillor Sudbury on the JNC Disciplinary Panel and the Appeals Panel

None received.

These must be received no later than 12 noon on Tuesday 13 June.

These must be received no later than 12 noon on Tuesday 13 June.

Report of the Leader

Councillor Peter Jeffries read out a statement on behalf of the West Cheltenham Greenbelt Group which is attached in full to these minutes.

The Leader responded to the comments and made the following points :

·         The reference to asthma was more due to the location of the town at the base of the Cotswold hills rather than the impact of development

·         Nitrous oxide was found in hotspots in the town such as the inner ring road of the town centre due to the volume of stationary traffic. This would be addressed via the Cheltenham Transport Plan and the wider review of traffic and transport in the town.

·         He understood the concerns regarding the Severn Trent sewage works and highlighted that the intention was to manage the issue through the technological management of the procedure or move the existing plant to somewhere different. This would be reviewed within the framework of the JCS through a sustainability appraisal and habitat assessment and would be subject to debate in the examination in public. Should there be a planning application an Environmental Impact Assessment would form part of it, developed by the consortium for that area.

·         The JCS Examination in Public was likely to be around 10 July. There would be a full debate of the new areas and would give the public the opportunity to express their concerns to the Inspector in terms of soundness of the plan.

The Leader proposed that officers would reference this petition as part of the presentation to the Inspector. This was seconded by Councillor McKinlay.

A Member commented that whilst there were known air quality hotspots around the town centre it was reasonable that professional technical advice be sought regarding the impact of the loss of green land absorbing air pollution from the M5.

RESOLVED (unanimously)

To instruct officers to reference the petition (that has been submitted by West Cheltenham Greenbelt Group to the Joint Core Strategy Proposed Main Modifications consultation) and strength of feeling behind it in their opening statement to the inspector at the commencement of the next set of Joint Core Strategy hearings.

Report of the Cabinet Member Corporate Services

The Cabinet Member Corporate Services introduced the report which sought approval from Council for the deletion of the post of Benefits Manager and consequential costs with a proposed implementation date of 1 July 2017.

The Cabinet Member explained that the restructure was a direct result of the introduction of Universal Credit which was an ongoing process up to 2022. In December 2017 CBC would go live on all new claims for Universal Credit which would see the start of a drop in workload over the following 12/18 months. It was anticipated that in 2019/20 any remaining working age caseload would be transferred to the Department of Work and Pensions meaning CBC would just process council tax support claims for working age customers and rent benefit/council tax support for pensioners until 2022/23 when the rent benefit side may transfer to pension credit.

The Cabinet Member explained that revenues and benefits were currently separate departments at the council, however the restructure, which would create a post to provide technical support across all functions of the revenues and benefits service, would involve the deletion of one post at a combined cost of in excess of £100,000. This would deliver a budget revenue saving of £47,500 per annum.

In light of the fact that the transfer to universal credit would be ongoing until 2022 a Member asked whether the council had sufficient resources to manage the transformation process. In response the Cabinet Member confirmed that due to the creation of other posts within the service there would be sufficient resources to manage the department in the future.

RESOLVED (unanimously) that

The deletion of the post of Benefits Manager and consequential costs with a proposed implementation date of 1^st July 2017 be approved.

None received.

The Council is recommended to approve the following resolution:-

“That in accordance with Section 100A(4) Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the remaining agenda items as it is likely that, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, if members of the public are present there will be disclosed to them exempt information as defined in paragraph 3, Part (1) Schedule (12A) Local Government Act 1972, namely:

Paragraph 3; Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular

person (including the authority holding that information)

RESOLVED THAT in accordance with Section 100A(4) Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the remaining agenda item as it is likely that, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, if members of the public are present there will be disclosed to them exempt information as defined in paragraphs 3 and 5, Part (1) Schedule (12A) Local Government Act 1972, namely :

Paragraph 3 : Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

Paragraph 5 : Information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings

Exempt Minutes of the meeting held on 24 April 2017

The exempt minutes were approved and signed as a correct record subject to minor amendment.