Agenda and minutes

To receive any declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of interest received at this point in the meeting.

The minutes of the Council meeting held on 30 November 2022 were submitted and approved as a correct record, subject to the following amendment:

Page 3, Fourth line of paragraph 1 should read:

The Captain Cook Birthplace Trust had started work on the visit over 3 years ago.

The Chair of the Council announced with sadness, the death of Thomas Wilkinson former Councillor for Park Ward 1957 – 1964. He requested members to join him in a minutes’ silence as a mark of respect.

Councillor Davison paid tribute to Thomas Wilkinson.

There were no valid questions submitted from members of the public, within the required timescale for this meeting.

The Chair advised that as the Mayor had submitted apologies, there was no report from the Mayor for this meeting.

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 in relation to report of Deputy Mayor and Executive Member for Children’s Services

Councillor C Hobson in relation to why the opening of Outwood Riverside new school had been put back and whether this would affect pupils and availability of places.

The Deputy Mayor and Executive Member for Children’s Services advised that the new school was supposed to have been completed this year, however the opening date had been put back to May 2025. The building of the school was a project between the Department for Education and the contractor. Because of delays, the Department for Education had decided to engage a different contractor. Work would commence on the design of the new school in February 2023.

The Outwood Riverside school would remain in its temporary accommodation in Russell Street until 2025 but they would be taking on an additional 120 pupils. The DFE had also agreed to provide extra funding to build further temporary accommodation for the year after to ensure that there were enough places for all the children. 

Questions in relation to report of Executive Member for Adult Social Care, Public Health, Public Protection and Digital Inclusion

Councillor Blades in relation to Support for Hospital Discharge over the Christmas and New Year Period and minimising delays.

In response to the question from Councillor Blades, the Executive Member for Adult Social Care, Public Health, Public Protection and Digital Inclusion advised that at a recent meeting held the day before it had been advised that the reasons for issues at the hospitals over Christmas time had been put down to the increase in cases of covid, flu and other reasons.

The Executive Member thanked the Council’s Social Services department and the Director of Adult Social Care and Health Integration who had worked hard over the Christmas period. The Managing Director of James Cook University Hospital (JCUH) had thanked the Council’s Social Services department for facilitating the support for hospital discharge.

The crisis at the moment in hospitals was being caused by cases of covid and the pandemic and although figures were reducing, it was anticipated that they would rise in the future. The Executive Member advised that he accepted the points raised by Councillor Blades and he would raise them with the appropriate people.

Councillor Branson in relation to Support for Hospital Discharge over the Christmas and New Year Period and the fact that the country was spending 20% less per capita than other European countries despite the fact that the country had an expanding older population.

The Executive Member advised that many problems faced by the hospital were caused by PFI as it was costing £17m per quarter. This money should be directed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22/70

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.

The Chair invited members to note the report.

ORDERED that the report be noted.

A recorded vote will be carried out in respect of the above item. Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 places a duty to declare an interest on any councillor who is two or more months in arrears with their Council Tax payments if they attend any meeting involved in setting the Council Tax rate for the local authority. They must abstain from any vote involved in the setting of the Council Tax rate until they are no longer in arrears.

The Executive Member for Finance and Governance and the Director of Finance submitted a report, the purpose of which was to set the council tax base for the financial year 2023/24 by the statutory deadline of 31 January 2023.

The Executive Member for Finance and Governance presented the report.

The Chair invited the Deputy Monitoring Officer to conduct a recorded vote.

Prior to the vote, the Deputy Monitoring Officer reminded Members that in accordance with Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, any member that was more than 2 months in arrears with their Council Tax account, must declare an interest and must not take part in the vote.

The Deputy Monitoring Officer noted that no declarations of interest had been declared and proceeded to conduct a recorded vote.

The result of the vote was as follows:

Votes For: (34)

Councillors Bell, Blades, Branson, Cooke, Cooper, Coupe, Davison, Dean, Dodds, Furness, Grainge, Hellaoui, Hill, C Hobson, J Hobson, Hubbard, Hussain, Jones, Mason, Mawston, McCabe, Nugent, Platt, Polano, Rathmell, Rostron, Sands, Smiles, M Storey, P Storey, Thompson, Uddin, J A Walker, S Walker

Against: (0)                

Abstentions: (0)

Following the recorded vote, it was ORDERED as follows:

That Council:

•           Notes the contents of the report.

•           Approves the council tax base for 2023/24 as 35,749.

•           Approves 2,269 and 1,319 as the council tax bases for the parishes of Nunthorpe and Stainton & Thornton respectively for 2023/24.

•           Following approval, agrees to notify the Police and Crime Commissioner, the Cleveland Fire Authority, and the Parish Councils of the 2023/24 council tax base.

The Executive Member for Finance & Governance and the Director of Finance (S151 Officer) submitted a report, the purpose of which was to consider the current position on the Council’s Capital Strategy for 2022/23 and approve the change being proposed on Minimum Revenue Provision for 2022/23 which was approved by Executive on 6 December 2022.

The Executive Member for Finance and Governance presented the report and responded to a query from Councillor Hellaoui.

The Chair invited the Deputy Monitoring Officer to conduct a vote.

Following the vote, it was ORDERED as follows:

That the Council:

•           Note the current position on the capital strategy for 2022/23.

•           Approve the change being proposed on Minimum Revenue Provision for 2022/23.

There were no urgent items submitted within the specified deadlines for this meeting.

There were no Members Questions submitted within the specified deadlines for this meeting.

There were no Notice of Motions submitted within the specified deadlines for this meeting.

There were no Notice of Urgent Motions submitted within the specified deadlines for this meeting.

The Mayor and the Chief Executive submitted a report, the purpose of which was to present the work of the Corporate Governance Improvement Board.

The Board was given the mandate to develop and agree a detailed improvement plan to drive the Council’s response to the issues identified by the Council’s external auditors EY and further investigated by CIPFA.

In the absence of the Mayor, the Executive Member for Finance and Governance presented the report.

ORDERED that Council note the progress made to date and the revised improvement plan.