Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED – that the minutes of the last meeting held on 3 March 2015 be approved as a correct record for signature by the Mayor.

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any pecuniary interest in respect of matters contained in this agenda.

If you have a pecuniary interest you must withdraw from the meeting. Normally you should leave the room before the business starts to be discussed. You do, however, have the same right to speak as a member of the public and may remain in the room to enable you to exercise that right and then leave immediately. In either case you must not seek to improperly influence a decision on the matter.

There were no declarations of interest received.

The Mayor gave an update on his fundraising activities, thanking those who had supported his recent charity events. “Youth Got Talent” had raised over £1000 and “Chorley’s Got More Soul” had raised over £1700.

As this was the last meeting in the Council year, the Mayor paid tribute to the four councillors who were standing down and not seeking re-election this time, namely Conservative Councillors Peter Goldsworthy and Kevin Joyce and Labour Councillors Matthew Crow and Pauline Phipps.  He thanked them for their service on the Council and wished them well for the future.

Political group leaders added their tributes. Councillor Alistair Bradley referred in particular to Councillor Goldsworthy’s influence as Leader of the Council for 6 years and the good natured debate between the two parties over the years.

Councillor John Walker referred to Councillor Goldsworthy’s 16 years on the Council, 11 of which were as Leader of the Conservative group. He referred to the wisdom and guidance he brought to the role and their achievements as a group during that time.

Councillor Ralph Snape thanked Pauline Phipps in particular for her support as a ward colleague.

All party leaders thanked the four councillors for their contributions and wished them well for the future.

Councillors Goldsworthy, Joyce and Phipps responded with their thanks to Members and Officers for their support and good wishes.

Members of the public who have requested the opportunity to ask question(s) on any item(s) on the agenda will have three minutes to put their question(s) to the relevant Councillor. Members of the public will be allowed to ask one short supplementary question.

There were no public questions.

General report of meetings held on 22 January, 12 February, and 26 March 2015 (enclosed).

Members considered a general report of meetings of the Executive Cabinet held on 22 January, 12 February and 26 March 2015.

Councillor Alistair Bradley, Executive Leader proposed, Councillor Peter Wilson, Executive Member for Resources seconded and it was RESOLVED – that the report be noted.

Report of the Chief Executive agreed by Executive Cabinet on 26 March 2015 and requiring full Council approval (enclosed).

The Executive Member for Resources, Councillor Peter Wilson, presented the Revenue and Capital Budget Monitoring Report for 2014/15 which had been approved by the Executive Cabinet on 26 March 2015 and required Council approval to a number of recommendations.

Members raised queries on the Change Management Reserve and the intended use of this fund; the scale of Council reserves and the aim of increasing this from £2m to £3m in view of the investment in major capital works; and concerns about investment in Bengal St depot when Recycling Lives, the current tenant, had been under licence and not paying rent.

In response to the latter item, Councillor Wilson stated that on completion of the work at the Depot, Recycling Lives would only continue to occupy the premises if they signed a lease.

Councillor Peter Wilson, Executive Member for Resources proposed, Councillor Alistair Bradley seconded, and it was RESOLVED – that

1.    Approval be given to the setting aside of around £100,000 of additional forecast revenue income from Council Tax Summons and Liability Order charges in 2014/15 to offset any future increased liability in bad debts as a result of these charges.  Paragraph 36 of the report refers.

2.    Approval be given to the use of £40,000 from in-year revenue underspends to fund additional temporary staffing resources required in the Single Front Office.

3.    Approval be given to the following additions to the capital budget all externally funded from Section 106 receipts:

·         £35k for the improvement and equipping of the existing trim trail in Carr Brook;

·         £9.6k play and open space contribution on the Union Street, Whittle-le-Woods play area;

·         £12.4k for play and open space provision at Coronation Recreation Ground.

4.    Approval be given to the addition to the capital budget of £8.5k subsidy to Adactus Housing to be funded from the Regional Housing Pot.

5.    Approval be given to the transfer of budgets within the capital programme to better reflect budget requirements.

6.    Approval be given to the transfer of budgets between the capital and revenue budgets to better reflect future delivery of schemes. Paragraph 58 of the report refers.

7.    Approval be given to the proposed re-profiling of the capital programme to better reflect delivery in 2014/15.

General report of meetings of the Committee held on 29 January, the Performance Panel held on 12 March 2015 and task group meetings (enclosed).

Members considered a general report of meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 12 January and the Performance Panel held on 12 March 2015, including an update from task groups.

Councillor John Walker, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee proposed, Councillor June Molyneaux, Vice Chair seconded, and it was RESOLVED – that the report be noted.

General report of meetings held on 14 January and 11 March 2015 (enclosed).

Members considered a general report of meetings of the Governance Committee held on 14 January and 11 March 2015.

Councillor Paul Leadbetter, Chair of the Governance Committee proposed, Councillor Peter Goldsworthy, Vice Chair seconded, and it was RESOLVED – that the report be noted.

There were no questions under procedure rule 8.

The following notice of motion has been submitted by Councillor Alistair Bradley:

“Chorley Council congratulates Lancashire County Council on achieving an allocation of 92% of first choice Secondary School places for the 2015 intake on the initial applications and note that it is hoped that this figure  will probably rise further as the process concludes.

This compares well with the Lancashire average of 87%, and is despite the legacy left to the new Labour led administration by the former Conservative Leadership, who patently have failed to forward plan for increasing student numbers in our area.

We are also concerned as to the forthcoming allocation of Primary places due to be released shortly. It is also even more surprising that the Conservative parliamentary candidate appears to be attempting to make  short term political capital out of his colleagues failure to adequately plan for the well documented increase in Chorley’s population, and can only assume that this is a direct criticism of the former Executive Member for Young People Services at LCC.

The Council therefore will write to LCC to highlight ongoing public concern around the allocation of local school places and to encourage a cross party support of their attempts to deal with the difficult situation inherited from the Conservative former leadership”.

Councillor Alistair Bradley submitted the following motion for debate under procedure rule 10:

“Chorley Council congratulates Lancashire County Council on achieving an allocation of 92% of first choice Secondary School places for the 2015 intake on the initial applications and note that it is hoped that this figure  will probably rise further as the process concludes.

This compares well with the Lancashire average of 87%, and is despite the legacy left to the new Labour led administration by the former Conservative Leadership, who patently have failed to forward plan for increasing student numbers in our area.

We are also concerned as to the forthcoming allocation of Primary places due to be released shortly. It is also even more surprising that the Conservative parliamentary candidate appears to be attempting to make short term political capital out of his colleagues failure to adequately plan for the well documented increase in Chorley’s population, and can only assume that this is a direct criticism of the former Executive Member for Young People Services at LCC.

The Council therefore will write to LCC to highlight ongoing public concern around the allocation of local school places and to encourage a cross party support of their attempts to deal with the difficult situation inherited from the Conservative former leadership”.

Councillor Bradley presented the motion, referring to the failure of the County Council to provide sufficient school places to meet the increased demand generated by the amount of house building in the borough. He attributed this to the previous Conservative administration of LCC in which the former Executive Member for Young People held a position.

The Motion above was proposed by Councillor Alistair Bradley and seconded by Councillor Graham Dunn.

In response, Councillor Leadbetter referred to the excellent schools in Chorley and the need for strategic planning to link school places and housebuilding. He pointed out that the former Cabinet Member for Young People at LCC did not have portfolio responsibility for the planning of school places, this had been the remit of the Cabinet Member for Children and Schools.

Members debated the motion.

An amendment to the motion was then proposed by Councillor Kevin Joyce and seconded by Councillor Keith Iddon to accept the motion put forward but with a change to the final paragraph which would read:

“The Council therefore will write to LCC to highlight ongoing public concern around the allocation of local school places and to encourage a cross party support of their attempts to deal with the difficult situation.”

On being put to the vote, the amendment was LOST.

The substantive motion (amended by the change of wording from Executive Member to Cabinet Member) was then put to the vote and CARRIED.