Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Victoria Room, Loughborough Town Hall, Market Place, Loughborough LE11 3EB

Media

Items
No. Item

40.

Apologies

Minutes:

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillors J Bradshaw, Draycott, Hunt, Lowe, Rollings, Pacey, Radford, Savage and Ward.

 

Apologies for absence had also been received from Honorary Freeman Jones and Honorary Aldermen Bush, Stott and Tormey.

41.

Disclosures of Pecuniary and Personal Interests

Minutes:

The following disclosures of pecuniary and personal interests were made:

 

42.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 260 KB

To confirm the minutes of the Council meeting held on 21st June 2021.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting of Council held on 21st June 2021 were confirmed and signed.

43.

Announcements

44.

Mayor's Announcements

To receive announcements from the Mayor (if any).

Minutes:

The Mayor made the following announcements.

 

“The Annual Council meeting scheduled for 2022 will be moved to a week later from 16th May 2022 to 23rd May 2022.”

45.

Leader's Announcements

To consider significant, recent matters affecting the Council or the Borough (if any).

Minutes:

There were no Leader’s announcements.

46.

Chief Executive's Announcements

To receive announcements from the Chief Executive (if any).

Minutes:

The Chief Executive made no announcements.

47.

Petitions

To allow councillors to formally submit petitions for consideration under the Council’s petition scheme, as set out in Full Council Procedure 9.8.

Minutes:

Councillor Parton presented a petition regarding anti-social behaviour at Lodge Farm Playing Fields.

 

The Mayor confirmed that the petition would be considered and responded to in accordance with the Council’s petition scheme.

48.

Business Reserved to Council

To consider the following matters reserved to Council in accordance with Section 5 of the Constitution:

49.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT & SOCIAL CARE OMBUDSMAN REVIEW LETTER 2020/21 pdf icon PDF 253 KB

A report of the Monitoring Officer to make Members aware of the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman’s (LGSCO) review letter for 2020/21 and one case of a complaint that was upheld by the LGSCO during the year, in accordance with the LGSCO’s guidance which is that the Monitoring Officer should make a periodic report to Councillors summarising any upheld complaints.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

A report of the Monitoring Officer to make Members aware of the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman’s (LGSCO) review letter for 2020/21 and one case of a complaint that was upheld by the LGSCO during the year, in accordance with the LGSCO’s guidance which is that the Monitoring Officer should make a periodic report to Councillors summarising any upheld complaints, was submitted (item 6.1 on the agenda filed with these minutes).

 

It was proposed by Councillor Smidowicz, seconded by Councillor Barkley and

 

RESOLVED that the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman’s appended review letter for 2020/21, and the summary of the upheld complaint as set out in Part B of this report, be noted.

 

Reason

 

To comply with the guidance from the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman that the Monitoring Officer should make Members aware of upheld complaints on a periodic basis.

50.

Call-in References

There are no references to Council following the call-in of a Cabinet decision under Scrutiny Committee Procedure 11.7.

Minutes:

There were no call-in references from Scrutiny.

51.

Position Statements

To consider the following position statement requested by the Labour Group under Full Council Procedure 9.10:

Minutes:

No position statements had been requested.

52.

Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy pdf icon PDF 191 KB

 

To consider a position statement submitted by the Labour Group under Full Council Procedure 9.10.

Minutes:

The Labour Group had given notice of a position statement on the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (item 8.1 on the agenda filed with these minutes).

 

The statement was introduced by the Leader and the following points were raised by Councillors:

 

Members recognised the importance of the scheme and of ensuring that the Afghan people that arrive in Charnwood, and across the region and country, are treated with kindness, fairness and respect.

 

Lead Member for Private Housing, Councillor Mercer, appealed to members of the public with suitable properties to let to Afghan Refugees through the Council.

 

The Leader acknowledged the points made by Councillors and stated that Members would be kept updated through the Chief Executive and Leader Briefings, held on a fortnightly basis.

53.

Motions on Notice

No motions on notice have been received.

Minutes:

No motions on notice had been submitted.

54.

Questions on Notice pdf icon PDF 474 KB

To deal with the following questions on notice, submitted under Full Council Procedure 9.9(a):

Minutes:

The questions on notice and the responses of the Leader or his nominee were submitted (item 10 on the agenda filed with these minutes).

55.

GPDR and Data Protection Breaches

 

Question submitted by Councillor Draycott.

Minutes:

Councillor Draycott had sent apologies for the meeting and so was unable to ask a supplementary question.

56.

Green and Sustainable Housing Developments

 

Question submitted by Councillor Bolton.

Minutes:

Councillor Bolton thanked the Lead Member and Officers for the response and asked whether a meeting could be scheduled in order to discuss the matter further?

 

Councillor Bailey responded by confirming that he would meet with Councillor Bolton.

57.

Market Place Risk Assessment

 

Question submitted by Councillor Boldrin.

Minutes:

Councillor Boldrin did not wish to ask a supplementary question.

58.

Attachments on Benefits and Bailiffs

 

Question submitted by Councillor Goddard.

Minutes:

Councillor Goddard did not wish to ask a supplementary question.

59.

Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund

 

Question submitted by Councillor Draycott.

Minutes:

Councillor Draycott had sent apologies for the meeting and so was unable to ask a supplementary question.

60.

Impact on Business Delays in Bedford Square Gateway Project

 

Question submitted by Councillor Hamilton.

Minutes:

Councillor Hamilton thanked the Lead Member and officers for the response provided and asked whether hardship relief of business rates was explored in an attempt to help alleviate financial impacts on businesses in the area.

 

The Leader responded by confirming that the businesses in the specific area already had 100% business rates relief. In addition, the Council was working with Love Loughborough in order to further support businesses where possible. He also explained that investment in Loughborough was critically important and that measures to mitigate issues were being undertaken where possible.

61.

Bedford Square Gateway Project Update

 

Question submitted by Councillor Parton.

Minutes:

Councillor Parton asked that a good level of communication with businesses affected by the Bedford Square Gateway Project would continue.

 

The Leader agreed that a good level of communication with businesses in the area was vital and explained that the Council was engaging with businesses to ensure the impact on businesses was as minimal as possible.

62.

Graffiti in Southfields

 

Question submitted by Councillor Parton.

Minutes:

Councillor Parton asked that Councillors and members of the public report any graffiti they see in the Borough as soon as possible.

 

Councillor Bokor did not wish to comment.

63.

Rogue Landlord Detection

 

Question submitted by Councillor Parton.

Minutes:

Councillor Parton asked what assurances were in place to hold Landlords to account for issues associated with Houses in Multiple Occupation?

 

Councillor Mercer stated that he worked closely with officers to ensure relevant conditions were included within policies and that he believed the most prominent issues were rubbish and noise pollution.

64.

Accessibility of the Local Plan Consultation

 

Question submitted by Councillor Needham.

Minutes:

Councillor Needham thanked the Lead Member and officers for the response provided. She asked to schedule a meeting with the Lead Member to outline some of the feedback that had been provided to her by residents, including the obstacles they had faced in accessing the online system of consultation.

 

Councillor Bailey responded by agreeing to meet with Councillor Needham to discuss the feedback.

65.

Minute References

There are no minute references.

Minutes:

There were no minute references.

66.

Urgent Executive Decisions Exempted from Call-in pdf icon PDF 330 KB

To note decisions which were exempted from call-in in accordance with Scrutiny Committee Procedure 11.9.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

A report of the Chief Executive to note decisions which were exempted from call-in in accordance with Scrutiny Committee Procedure 11.9, was submitted (item 12 on the agenda filed with these minutes).

 

Councillor Bolton stated that she was concerned that additional funding was sometimes required for the continuation of projects and asked for more information on budgeting processes to be supplied outside of the meeting.

 

The Leader stated that most of the budgets for current projects were created before the pandemic and that budgeting had changed significantly since then.

67.

Delegation of Executive Functions pdf icon PDF 149 KB

 

To inform Council of delegations of Executive functions to the Head of Strategic and Private Sector Housing,  the Strategic Director – Environmental and Corporate Services and the Leader.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

A report of the Chief Executive to inform Council of delegations of Executive functions to the Head of Strategic and Private Sector Housing, the Strategic Director – Environmental and Corporate Services and the Leader was submitted (item 13 on the agenda filed with these minutes).

 

It was highlighted that an addendum to the decision of the Leader taken relating to the ‘Participation in the Afghan Locally Employed Staff (LES) relocations scheme was circulated as part of the supplementary agenda for the meeting.

68.

Appointments to Committees

To consider any changes to Committee membership for the current Council year (2021/22) (if any).

Minutes:

Councillor Poland confirmed that with immediate effect, Councillor Murphy be appointed Chair of the Member Conduct Committee and Councillor Ranson be appointed Vice-Chair of the Member Conduct Committee.