Agenda and minutes

A webcast of the meeting can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWFpwBLs6MnUzG0WjejrQtQ

The Centenary of the First World War

 

The centenary of the end of the First World War had been commemorated across the county with Armistice services and parades being held in many towns and villages.  Leicestershire’s communities had really worked hard to ensure this most important centenary was marked in a dignified way. The Chairman applauded all those who have been responsible for organising the many tributes.

 

The County Council paid its own tribute on 9 November with a short, but moving, service at the Stand Easy memorial.

 

The City and County Councils, together with the Leicestershire Lieutenancy, marked this centenary with a special service at Leicester Cathedral. More than 400 attended this wonderful service, which concluded the work of the City and County Councils to mark the centenary.

 

The Chairman thanked colleagues in the Corporate Resources Department who had raised £4,775 for the Poppy Appeal from their initiatives at County Hall.  Members joined with the Chairman in passing on their appreciation for this effort.

 

Visitors

 

The Chairman welcomed to the meeting all visitors, guests of members and anyone joining the meeting via the webcast.

 

It was moved by the Chairman, seconded by the Vice-Chairman and carried:-

 

“That the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 26 September 2018, copies of which have been circulated to members, be taken as read, confirmed and signed.”

 

The Chairman invited members who wished to do so to make declarations of interest in respect of items on the agenda for the meeting.

 

Mr J Poland CC declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in the notice of motion on Police Funding (minute 37(a) refers) as he was an employee of Leicestershire Police.  Mr Poland undertook to leave the room during discussion of that item.

 

Mr L J P O’Shea CC declared a personal interest in the notice of motion on Police Funding (minute 37(a) refers) as he had previously been employed by Leicestershire Police and was now in receipt of a pension from the Police Force.

 

Mr S D Sheahan CC, Mr R Blunt CC and Mr J G Coxon CC declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in the appointment of Mr T J Pendleton CC as Cabinet Support Member (minute 36(a) refers) as his proposed portfolio included representing the County Council on meetings related to the construction of HS2, the route of which was expected to affect their properties.  They undertook to leave the room during discussion of that item.

 

(A)   Mr Crooks asked the following question of the Leader or his nominee:-

 

“The 159 route runs between Coalville and Hinckley, via local villages of Ibstock, Nailstone, Barlestone, Newbold Verdon, Market Bosworth, Stapleton and Barwell.  Some villages such as Stapleton will have no buses at all if this service is cut!

 

The service is used by School Children/Students who go to College in Hinckley, people who work and more senior residents who have no other means of transport to go shopping, etc. With local Post Offices, Pubs and Shops closing in the rural areas, the loss of this service will only increase isolation of villagers who do not drive.

 

Could the Lead Member advise me what the Council intends to do to ensure that the residents served by the 159 bus route will continue to have a public bus service?”

 

Mr Pain replied as follows:-

 

“On 16^th October 2018 the Cabinet adopted its new passenger transport policy and strategy.  This policy and strategy sets out how the County Council will meet its statutory duties and deliver (where the policy need is established) fit for purpose and value for money passenger transport services across Leicestershire.

 

The County Council fully appreciates the importance of people being able to access key services.  This is why the new policy and strategy affords priority to connecting people to food shopping, primary healthcare and employment opportunities at local centres.

 

I can confirm, following Roberts Coaches registration to withdraw the 159 service from 22^nd December 2018, that the County Council has agreed to provide a subsidy to enable them to continue running the service until the end of June 2019.  This is in line with the majority of the other services currently subsidised by the County Council.  This extension to June 2019 also allows time for a full review of this, and all other subsidised services, against the new policy assessment criteria with the results of that assessment being used to decide on the most fit for purpose passenger transport outcome for each service from mid 2019.

 

The County Council will continue to provide transport funding support for eligible school pupils and community transport continues to be a service on offer for those people unable to use conventional passenger transport.”

 

(B)   Dr Eynon asked the following question of the Leader or his nominee:-

 

“Despite increasing prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes in Leicestershire many public events still rely on unsuitable sweet-biscuits and cake as the default snack option. What are the barriers and enablers to developing this Council’s public-facing catering offer so that it demonstrates our Public Health priorities?”

 

Mrs Posnett replied as follows:-

 

“The catering ordering page on the Council intranet has options such as wraps and fruit readily available to order.  Therefore the issue is down to changing the behaviour of people placing the order.

 

To promote healthy eating alternatives a paragraph has recently been added to the online order form:

 

“Before you order your refreshments we thought you may be interested to know that more healthy options are available in buffets, and fruit is available as well as/instead of biscuits.  Also please do contact us if you have any special dietary requirements or need information about allergens.”

 

The head chef has also been asked to review the range of alternatives on offer.

 

Ultimately diet is a matter of individual responsibility, but by making healthy alternatives more prominent on the order form the Council would seek to encourage healthy eating.  Members can play their part by taking a lead in putting down the custard creams and picking up the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

The Leader gave a position statement on the following matters:-

 

·       iMPOWER – most productive council;

·       Unitary Local Government;

·       County Councils Network Annual Conference 2018;

·       East Midlands Collaboration;

·       Leicester and Leicestershire Local Enterprise Partnership;

·       Social Value;

·       Broadband.

 

The Cabinet Lead Member for Children and Family Services gave a position statement on the following matters:-

 

·       Ofsted – ‘Focus visit on the Front Door’;

·       Innovation Partnership;

·       New Lubbesthorpe Primary School;

·       Newlands Community Primary School;

·       Ministerial Visit to Leicestershire Youth Offending Service;

·       Fostering and Adoption.

 

A copy of the position statements is filed with these minutes.

 

It was moved by Mr Bedford, seconded by Mr Richardson and carried unanimously:-

 

“That the proposed amendments to the Contract Procedure Rules, set out in Appendix 1 to the report of the Corporate Governance Committee, be approved.”

 

It was moved by Mr Rushton, seconded by Mr Rhodes and carried unanimously:-

 

“That the proposed changes to Part 3 (Responsibility for Functions) of the Constitution relating to the extension of role and responsibilities of the Constitution Committee to deal with the functions of the County Council as a Charitable Trustee, be approved.”

 

It was moved by Mr Rushton, seconded by Mr Rhodes and carried:-

 

“(a)     That those Members who submitted an Annual Report be thanked for doing so.

 

(b)      That those Members who have not submitted an Annual Report for the municipal year 2017/18 do so at the earliest opportunity.

 

(c)      That all Members of the County Council be required to prepare and submit a second Annual Report for publication on the County Council’s website by June 2019 and it be noted that the Panel intends to reconvene in the autumn of 2019 to review the outcome of this recommendation.

 

(d)      That Group Leaders and Whips, in particular the Conservative and Labour Group Leaders and Whips, be thanked for their hard work in ensuring that all Members of their Group submitted an Annual Report.

 

(e)      That Group Leaders and Group Whips be reminded of their responsibility for ensuring that all Members of their Groups complete and submit a second Annual Report.

 

(f)       That the allowance payable to Group Whips continues to be paid at the current rate of £60.20 per Member.

 

(g)      That it be noted that the Panel will review the Group Whips allowance at its next meeting (Autumn 2019).”

 

It was moved by Mrs Posnett, seconded by Mr Ould and carried unanimously:-

 

“That the Director of Public Health Annual Report 2018 be noted with support.”

 

It was moved by Mr Rhodes, seconded by Mr Shepherd and carried unanimously:-

 

“That the Annual Delivery Report and Performance Compendium 2018 be approved.”

 

Mr Sheahan, Mr Blunt and Mr Coxon, having declared a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in this matter, left the Chamber and therefore took no part in the discussion.

 

It was moved by Mr Rushton, seconded by Mr Shepherd and carried:-

 

“That Mr T J Pendleton CC be appointed as Cabinet Support Member until the next Annual Meeting of the County Council, as provided for in Article 7 of the Council’s Constitution.”

 

(a)        That this Council notes:-

 

(i)          concerns expressed by the Home Office Select Committee predicting dire consequences for public safety unless police budgets are increased;

 

(ii)         the view of the National Audit Office that the funding model for policing is financially unsustainable;

 

(iii)        that since 2010 Government grant received by Leicestershire Police has gone from £134m in 2010, down to £104m this year resulting in police numbers falling from 2,300 in 2010 to 1806 this year;

 

(iv)       the most recent Treasury decision to pass on to local forces the full cost of pension revaluation that will cost Leicestershire Police £5 million per annum, equivalent to the cost of employing approximately 180 police officers;

 

(v)        the considerable effort undertaken by Leicestershire Police to date to reduce back office costs and improve efficiency through transformation and innovation and as a result saving £8 million since 2010;

 

(vi)       the increasing pressures faced by the police as a result of an increasing population, the proliferation of cyber-crime and fraud and increased demands arising from safeguarding vulnerable people.

 

(b)        That this Council believes that the current level of police funding is inadequate to meet the needs of the people of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland and supports the representations made by the Chief Constable and Police and Crime Commissioner to Leicestershire MPs urging them to make representations to Government on this matter.

 

Mr Poland, having declared a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in this matter, left the Chamber and therefore took no part in the discussion.

 

It was moved by Mr Bill and seconded by Mr Crooks:-

 

“(a)     That this Council notes:-

 

(i)              concerns expressed by the Home Office Select Committee predicting dire consequences for public safety unless police budgets are increased;

 

(ii)             the view of the National Audit Office that the funding model for policing is financially unsustainable;

 

(iii)            since 2010 Government grant received by Leicestershire Police has gone from £134m in 2010, down to £104m this year resulting in police numbers falling from 2,300 in 2010 to 1806 this year;

 

(iv)           the most recent Treasury decision to pass on to local forces the full cost of pension revaluation that will cost Leicestershire Police £5million per annum equivalent to the cost of employing approximately 180 police officers;

 

(v)            the considerable effort undertaken by Leicestershire Police to date to reduce back office costs and improve efficiency through transformation and innovation and as a result saving £8million since 2010;

 

(vi)           the increasing pressures faced by the police as a result of an increasing population, the proliferation of cyber-crime and fraud and increased demands arising from safeguarding vulnerable people.

 

(b)      That this Council believes that the current level of police funding is inadequate to meet the needs of the people of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland and supports the representations made by the Chief Constable and Police and Crime Commissioner to Leicestershire MPs  urging them to make representations to Government on this matter.”

 

An amendment was moved by Mr Rhodes and seconded by Dr Eynon:-

 

“That the motion be amended to read as follows:-

 

(a)      That the County Council fully supports Leicestershire Police and notes recent speculation about Government intentions on police funding, including further council tax rises, and that the most recent issue affecting police funding, the question of pension costs, may be the subject of court proceedings.

 

(b)      That the County Council is not in a position to comment on the above but believes that the answer to any of the serious funding shortfalls affecting front-line public services does not lie in short-term fixes but in medium to longer term funding changes and therefore notes the crucial importance of the Government’s forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review.

 

(c)      That accordingly, the County Council asks Leicestershire MPs to support the County Council, Leicestershire Police and the Fire and Rescue Service and to draw the attention of Government to the Council’s view that, in order to be effective, the CSR as a minimum should adopt the following principles:

 

·     Taxpayers’ money should be focussed on maintaining and improving services.

·     Services must be cost-effective.

·     Recognition of service demand.

·     Recognition of the impact of austerity.

·     Fairness in public sector funding.

·     Equity in service provision.

·     An end to silo decision-making within Government which frustrates local service delivery.

·     The importance of prevention in longer term solutions to societal and service pressures.”

 

The amendment was put and carried with 39 members voting in favour and 12 members voting against.

 

The substantive motion was put and carried, with 39 members voting in favour and 12 abstentions.