Venue: Council Chamber
Contact: Bernie Carr
No. | Item | |
---|---|---|
Declarations of Interest To receive
any declarations of interest. Minutes: There were
no declarations of interest received at this point in the meeting. |
||
Minutes - Council - 22 September 2021 PDF 387 KB Minutes: The minutes of the Council meeting held on 22 September 2021 were submitted and approved as a correct record. |
||
Announcements/Communications
Minutes: The Chair
welcomed members back into the Council Chamber. The Chair requested
that members join him in a minutes silence to remember Sir David Amess MP who
was tragically murdered on 15 October 2021, whilst carrying out his
constituency surgery. All those present
stood in silence to remember Sir David Amess MP. |
||
Questions from Members of the Public (if any). Minutes: There were no valid questions submitted from
members of the public for this meeting. |
||
Mayor's Statement and Report Minutes: The Mayor
stated that he wished to speak about the following issues: Covid The Mayor
stated that there had been an increase in the rate of Covid
infections, and he reminded everyone that Covid was
lethal to some people. He urged people not to panic, but to be sensible and to
continue to wear face masks. Middlesbrough was
currently about 80th position in the table of rates of Covid cases, but as the town suffered from high
unemployment and had a dense population; compared to other towns with the same
issues, Middlesbrough had a lower rate of infections. The Mayor stated that this was largely down to
work of the Council’s Public Health Team. He encouraged people to take up the
offer of having a vaccination or booster. Hemlington Ward The Mayor
referred to a small group of people in the Hemlington
area that were carrying out anti-social behaviour and
intimidating residents. Some residents that lived in the Hemlington
area were afraid to report any instances of anti-social behaviour
to the police or the council. The groups carrying out the anti-social behaviour were aged between 12 – 16 years of age and they
were committing serious crimes. He stated that he was pleased to see that some
people had been arrested and that action would be taken against the
perpetrators. The same groups had been throwing bottles at the police and the
fire brigade. The Mayor
urged people living in the Hemlington Ward to report
any instances of anti-social behaviour to the police
or crime stoppers. He stated that the Council also needed to put pressure on
those involved in the sentencing process. Wardens had
been under attack along with the police and the fire brigade. The Wardens had
been involved in numerous different tasks whilst performing their role as a
Warden, including saving 13 lives, reuniting dementia sufferers and lost
children or pets with their families and assisting the homeless by signposting
them to the correct services in order for them to be re-housed. The Mayor also
referred to the work of the Fly-Tipping Enforcement Team. Standards
Complaints The Mayor referred
to the amount of money and time being spent on investigating complaints against
councillors. He urged councilors to think whether a
complaint was necessary, before submitting a Standards complaint against
another councillor. The Mayor
stated that if any person felt lonely, isolated or intimidated, the Council was
available to help improve their life. He urged residents to get in touch with
the Council and they would do what they could to assist. Councillor Mawston referred to the good response to attending for
vaccinations at the mobile vaccination centre in
Newport. He stated that only a few members were involved in submitting
complaints against other councillors. The Mayor stated that there was currently a culture in the Council of councillors using the Standards complaints process to bully other councilors. This was causing a strain on the department responsible for dealing with the complaints in terms ... view the full minutes text for item 21/61 |
||
Executive Member reports PDF 92 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: The Chair invited Members to raise items for general discussion arising from the Information Booklet of Executive Member reports which detailed activities carried out within the respective Executive Member portfolios (Section 1), Executive decisions taken (Section 2) or to be taken where known, prior to and following the meeting (Sections 3 and 4). Question on the Mayor’s Executive Member report Councillor Uddin in relation to Looked After Children Councillor Uddin queried whether foster carers had been invited to take part in the Life-story work and the Berri training that had recently been delivered to staff? He thanked the foster carers for their commitment with regard to looking after children. He also congratulated the fostering/adoption team on securing three Adoption Orders this month. Councillor Uddin also referred to the Adoption Tees Valley Annual Report 2020-2021 which reported that, in total 17 children had been placed on a fostering for adoption basis, prior to the Court authorisation to place for adoption, and he congratulated the teams involved in the fostering/adoption process on their efforts. The Mayor stated that he joined Councillor Uddin in congratulating the foster carers for assisting in looking after children in care. Children thrived better in a stable family unit. The Mayor advised that he was not sure if foster carers did receive the same training as staff, but he would look into it and report back to Councillor Uddin. Questions on the Deputy Mayor and Executive Member for
Culture and Communities report Councillor Thompson in relation to Events Councillor Thompson referred to the details of various events that had been held in the town that had been included in the Executive Member’s report. Councillor Thompson queried why there was no reference in the report to the ‘Walk and Talk’ event held at the Dorman Museum to celebrate Black History month. Councillor Thompson also queried whether there had been any training on black history issues. The Executive Member advised that she had been aware of the event held at the Dorman Museum but had been unable to attend due to a prior engagement. The Executive Member stated that it was important to celebrate different cultures and she advised that she would encourage people from all different cultures or political persuasion to become a councillor. The Black History Youth Awards were due to be held on Friday to honour exceptional achievement of black youths in the Tees Valley. There were a number of different events and initiatives that had been organised to celebrate black history month in the libraries and community hubs and the libraries were promoting black literature. In response to why the event at the Dorman Museum had not been referenced in the report, the Executive Member advised that there was so many different events taking place in the town, it would be difficult to include them all in the report. The Executive Member advised that she would ensure that it was included in next year’s report. Councillor J Thompson queried with regard to progress made in relation ... view the full minutes text for item 21/62 |
||
Report of the Overview and Scrutiny Board PDF 255 KB Minutes: The Vice-Chair of the Overview
and Scrutiny Board presented a report, the purpose of which was to provide an
update on the current position regarding progress made by the Overview and
Scrutiny Board and each of the individual Scrutiny Panels. ORDERED that the report be noted. |
||
Flexible Use of Capital Receipts Strategy PDF 417 KB Minutes: The Executive Member for Environment. Finance and
Governance presented a report which sought the approval of a proposed Flexible
Use of Capital Receipts Strategy. Under the
Statutory Guidance on the Flexible Use of Capital Receipts, full Council was
required to approve the Council’s Flexible Use of
Capital Receipts Strategy. Details of the
individual projects which were planned to be funded from the flexible use of
capital receipts, in accordance with the Guidance, were included within the
report. Councillor Rooney
requested clarification with regard to what members were being asked to
approve. The Director of Finance advised that the flexible use of capital
receipts was a back-up plan to increase reserves by £5.1m. It provided an extra
buffer for the Council however, if the reserves proved not to be required in
the future then the process could be reversed. Councillor Hellaoui queried with regard to the impact on the Capital
Funding Budget. The Director of Finance advised that instead of funding
projects with capital receipts, it would be funded by borrowing at a cost of
interest of £200k per year. The Mayor advised
that the flexible use of capital receipts would give the Council some
flexibility by boosting reserves and although the Council might not be required
to use the reserves, it provided a safety net, should it be required. The Director of
Finance advised that the current figures did not indicate that the Council
would need to use the flexibility but future costs and
income had become more uncertain. The increase in the revenue reserves held by
the Council would provide insulation against any future unexpected financial
pressures. Councillor Hellaoui queried with regard to how the Council could be
certain that they were getting value for money. The Director of
Finance advised that whenever the Council was required to borrow money, it
always made full use of the market to ensure that it secured the best rates
available. In order to achieve this the finance was usually borrowed using a
mixture of short term and long term loans. Councillor S
Walker stated that he was in favour of the principle of the flexible use of
capital receipts. He stated that he fully appreciated that Children’s Services
were in need of funding, but was concerned that capital receipts were being
used to fund a service that continually required additional funding. The Director of
Finance advised that the reason why the majority of spending was in relation to
Children’s Services was because it would help support the significant and continued
transformation work currently taking place within the Council which commenced
as a result of the Ofsted Improvement Plan. The transformation work would
assist in delivering improvement and efficiencies to the service. Following a vote,
it was ORDERED as follows: That the proposed
Flexible Use of Capital Receipts Strategy be approved. |
||
Adoption of the Marton West Neighbourhood Plan - 2021-2029 PDF 375 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: The Executive Member for
Regeneration, Councillor Polano presented a report,
the purpose of which was that the Council adopt the Marton
West Neighbourhood Plan 2021-2029, as part of the Council’s
Policy Framework, so that the Plan could be used in the determination of future planning
applications within the designated Marton West
Neighbourhood Area. Following
a vote, it was ORDERED as follows: That the Marton West Neighbourhood Plan 2021-2029 be adopted, as
part of the Council’s Policy Framework, so that the Plan could
be used
in the determination of future planning applications within the designated Marton West Neighbourhood Area. |
||
Urgent Items
Minutes: There were no urgent items submitted within the specified
deadlines for this meeting. |
||
Members' Question Time PDF 175 KB Minutes: The Chair announced that one question
had been received from a member of the Council. The detail of the specific
question was included at Agenda Item 12. Question 8/21 - Councillor Thompson to the Deputy Mayor and Executive Member for Culture and Communities regarding progress to date of the Middlesbrough Lottery with regard to the uptake, ticket sales and the benefits that the organisations that had signed up had received? The Deputy Mayor
and Executive Member for Culture and Communities advised that the first weekly
draw of the Middlesbrough Lottery took place on September 4th.As of October
15th the lottery had 635 players purchasing a total of 1,264 tickets each week. Based on the current
uptake, the lottery was on track to raise almost £40k for good causes around
Middlesbrough per year. 50p from every £1 ticket was donated to the good cause
of the player’s choice, with 10p from every £1 ticket coming to the council to
support cultural activity. Players could
choose to donate the full 60p proceeds to the council’s fund and 225 players were
choosing to do so. The council had received a payment of over £1k for the past
month. In terms of other
good causes, 43 organisations had signed up so far. The three most popular with
players so far, were My Sister’s Place, Marton Community Centre Group and
Bloodrun EVS. Each organisation was
required to set their own funding target. A tracker was available on the
Council website for people to log on to see the progress of each organisation in
terms of achieving their funding target. |
||
Minutes: The Chair advised that he had received a request for Motion 150 to be
withdrawn, as the proposer and seconder of the Motion were unable to attend the
meeting. The Chair advised that he had consented to the withdrawal of the
Motion, due to the absence of the proposer and seconder. |
||
Notice of Urgent Motions (if any) Minutes: There were no Notice of Urgent
Motions submitted within the specified deadlines for this meeting. |