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Contact: Democratic Services Committee Manager
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To Elect a Mayor for the Municipal Year 2017/18 Minutes: Councillor Cantrill proposed and Councillor Sarris seconded the nomination of Councillor George Pippas as Mayor for the Municipal Year 2017/18. Resolved (unanimously) that: i. Councillor George Pippas be elected for the Municipal Year 2017/18. Councillor Pippas then made the statutory declaration of acceptance of the Office of Mayor. |
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To Elect a Deputy Mayor for the Municipal Year 2017/18 Minutes: Councillor Price proposed and Councillor T Moore seconded the nomination of Councillor Nigel Gawthrope as Deputy Mayor for the Municipal Year 2017/18. Resolved that: i. Councillor Nigel Gawthrope be elected Deputy Mayor for the Municipal Year 2017/18. Councillor Gawthrope then made the statutory declaration of acceptance of the Office of Deputy Mayor. |
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To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 23rd February 2017 Minutes: The minutes of 23 February 2017 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Mayor. |
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To Note the Returning Officer's Report that the following have been Elected to the Office of Councillor · Arbury: Patrick Sheil Minutes: It was noted the following had been elected to the Office of Councillor: · Arbury: Patrick Sheil |
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To Note the Appointment of the Mayor's Chaplain for the Ensuing Year Minutes: The Council noted the appointment of Father Dr Isidoros Katsos as the Mayor’s Chaplain for the Municipal Year 2017/18. |
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To Pass a Resolution of Thanks to the Outgoing Mayor Minutes: Resolved (unanimously), on the proposal of Councillor Roberts, seconded by Councillor Bick that: i. The Council expresses its appreciation of the manner in which the duties of Mayor were discharged by Councillor Jeremy Benstead, during his period of office and that the Common Seal be affixed to a copy of this resolution for presentation at the next Council meeting. |
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To Pass a Resolution of Thanks to the Outgoing Deputy Mayor Minutes: Resolved (unanimously), on the proposal of Councillor Hipkin, that: i. The Council expresses its appreciation of the manner in which the duties of Mayor were discharged by Councillor Holland, during her period of office. |
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Mayor's Announcements Minutes: Civic Church Service Members were reminded that the Mott Sermon would be preached at All Saints Church on Sunday, 28 May at 9.30am, and to confirm attendance with the Mayor’s Secretary. Proclamation of
Midsummer Fair The Proclamation had been scheduled to take place on Wednesday 21 June and further details would be circulated. Mayor’s Day Out The Mayor confirmed that the Mayor’s Day Out would take place on Wednesday 16 August and the venue was once again Great Yarmouth. |
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To Elect from among the Members of the Council Four Bailiffs of the City for the Municipal Year 2017/18 Minutes: Resolved (unanimously) to: Appoint Councillors T Moore, McPherson, Page-Croft and Sarris Bailiffs of the City for the Municipal Year 2017/18. |
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To consider the recommendation of the Executive for Adoption |
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Minutes: Resolved (unanimously) to:
i.
Approve the nominations of
Councillors Ratcliffe and Roberts and Mr Clive Brown to the office of the
Conservators of the River Cam to 31 December 2018. |
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To consider the recommendations of Committees for Adoption |
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Planning Committee: Report Concerning Local Government Ombudsman Complaint PDF 267 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: The report was noted. |
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Civic Affairs: Nominations for Committees for the Municipal Year 2017/18 PDF 187 KB Minutes: Appointment of Committees: Resolved (unanimously) to: i. Agree the number and size of committees and membership of committees as listed below: ii. Agree to depart from proportionality on the Planning Committee. Scrutiny Committees
Regulatory Committees
Other Committees
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Civic Affairs: Nominations for Committees Chairs and Vice-Chairs Municipal Year 2017/18 PDF 79 KB Minutes: Resolved (unanimously) to: i. Agree the Chairs and Vice-Chairs as listed below:
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Civic Affairs: Independent Person and Deputy PDF 165 KB Minutes: Resolved (unanimously) to: i. Confirm the appointment of Mr Sean Brady as the Council’s Independent Person and Mr Robert Bennett as the Council’s Deputy Independent Person for the municipal year 2017/18. |
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Civic Affairs: Constitutional Amendments PDF 622 KB Minutes: Resolved (by 30 votes to 0) the following changes to the Constitution as set out in bold and “”: Council Procedure Rules 6. Appointment Of Alternate Members Of Committees And Sub-Committees 6.2 Number 6.2.1 For each committee or sub-committee, the Council (or committees in respect of sub-committees) will appoint one alternate member in respect of each political group represented on that committee or sub-committee, “and two in the case of the major Scrutiny Committees for groups with more than one Committee member,” but shall not appoint an alternate member for a political group which declines to nominate an alternate member. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21. Length of speeches Generally 21.1 “Except for Executive Councillors, Chairs and spokespersons, who may speak for up to 5 minutes,” no other speech shall subject to the exceptions provided elsewhere in Council Procedure Rules exceed “3 minutes” length (without the consent of the Council given by reason of the exceptional importance of the subject and which consent shall be ascertained by the Mayor either on his/her own initiative or on a motion made which shall be put without amendment or discussion. Provided that it shall be within the discretion of the Mayor to permit up to a further 3 minutes beyond the time so mentioned without the necessity for any such consent. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PART 4B-ACCESS TO
INFORMATION RULES-APPENDIX 2 PUBLIC SPEAKING RIGHTS “Extraordinary
Council Meetings – public questions will only be taken on the single item of
business for which the extraordinary meeting has been called.” Part 4EE-AREA COMMITTEE PROCEDURE RULES 4.1 Each area committee shall invite county councillors “where the clear majority of a County Council Division is within” the area to be co-opted members. “County Councillors may vote on all matters except for any decision relating to city council funding and the election of the Chair and Vice-Chair.” Area committees may appoint such other non-voting co-opted members as they choose. Co-opted members may be appointed either in respect of the whole work of the area committee, or in respect of specific aspects of that work. 6.1 An area committee shall, at its first meeting of the municipal year, elect “City Councillors as” Chair and Vice Chair…… 6.1.2 In the absence from any meeting of the Chair and Vice Chair, a “City Councillor as” Chair for that meeting…… |
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Group
Leaders will each have the opportunity to speak for not more than 15 minutes on
their Group’s priorities for action and objectives for the forthcoming
municipal year in the following order: Councillor
Herbert Councillor
Bick Councillor
Hipkin Annual Statement of
the Labour Group is appended. Minutes: Councillor Herbert
spoke to a written Annual Statement on the Labour Group’s priorities for the
forthcoming Municipal Year, which had been appended to the agenda for the
meeting. Councillor
Bick spoke to a written Annual Statement on the Liberal Democrat Group’s
priorities for the forthcoming Municipal Year, which had been appended to the information
pack for the meeting Councillor Hipkin gave an oral Annual Statement on the Independent/Green Group’s priorities for the forthcoming Municipal Year. |
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Adoption of Policies and Priorities The scheme for Annual Statements provides that the Statement
of the Leader of the largest group on the Council shall be deemed to be a
motion for adoption. It may therefore be debated and amendments proposed after
which it shall be put to the vote and, if carried, shall be adopted as Council
policy for the municipal year. The Council will therefore consider the Annual Statement of the Labour Group as a motion for adoption. If the adopted Annual Statement contains proposals which
fall outside the Council’s budgetary or policy framework, the proposals shall not be acted upon until there has been a report to the relevant Scrutiny Committee(s) and Executive Councillor(s) in the normal way and approval at a subsequent meeting of the Council. Minutes: Under the Scheme for Annual Statements, that of Councillor Herbert was deemed to be a motion for adoption by the Council. Resolved (by 30 votes to 0) that: i. The Annual Statement of the Labour Group, as appended to the agenda, be adopted as Council policy for 2017/18. |
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Update on Combined Authority The Leader of the Council will update Council and answer questions from members. Minutes: The Leader of the Council Councillor Herbert stated that being part of the Combined Authority process would present economic prospects for Cambridge and the surrounding areas; he welcomed collaborative working with follow Councillors to ensure those opportunities and highlighted the commitment to the affordable housing programme. The Leader explained he had taken the lead on spatial
planning, which would link local plans, national infrastructure commitment and the
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough footprint. The role would also take into
account land commission, focusing on the environment and supporting
disadvantaged communities and individuals to benefit from growth and prosperity. A detailed report would be presented to the Strategy and Resources Scrutiny Committee in July providing further updates on the Combined Authority. In response to Members’ questions the Leader said: i. Central Government had shown no commitment to devolution. ii. There was a need for integration for the different funding streams available to Peterborough City Council, Cambridgeshire County Council, Local Enterprise Partnership, City Deal and funding for transport from the office of the newly created Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. iii. A decision had to be made to determine which organisation would lead on transport. iv. The Local Enterprise Partnership and the Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough should work together as they both had a significant amount of growth funding. v. The City Deal and the Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough had to collaborate; one was responsible the transportation strategy for greater Cambridge and the other for Peterborough and Cambridge. But it had yet to be worked on how this would occur to determine what was the best future transport options. vi. Believed that progress could be made on a shared term of reference with the Mayor of Peterborough and Cambridgeshire and the City Deal. vii. Committed to a clean air zone in the City Centre. |
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Oral Questions Minutes: 1) Councillor
Austin to the Executive Councillor for Streets and Open Spaces How can homeless
people in the City be confident their belongings will not be disposed of in the
future? The Executive Councillor responded that the Council shared a commitment
to support the homeless and vulnerable spending £1.2 million in assisting rough
sleepers. A further grant of £400,000 had been awarded to continue the
Council’s work. While the Council did have a legal duty to keep the streets, safe, clean
and accessible, it was not the Council’s policy to dispose of personal effects
belonging to homeless people in the City and apologised to those
concerned. The Executive Councillor advised that she had been out with the
Council’s Street teams and had seen the care that was administered when working
with those who were homeless and vulnerable. An accessible central collection point for personal items to be claimed
could be available in the future. Currently if personal processions needed to
be removed they were kept at the Council’s depot and Officers worked closely
with outside agencies to reunite those processions with the correct owners. The Executive Councillor concluded the City Council and their partners
would continue to work with those who were homeless and vulnerable to address
the issues that they faced to move forward. 2) Councillor
Tunnacliffe to the Executive Councillor for Streets and Open Spaces Is the Executive
Councillor happy with the extent of routine car parking on Midsummer Common in
front of the Fort St George pub in breach of the rules of the common? The Executive Councillor stated that neither she nor Officers were happy
to see vehicles parked on the Common that should not be there. Access to the
Common for vehicles was limited and should remain that way. The matter was recently
discussed at the Annual General Meeting of the Friends of Midsummer Common and
a recent visit had shown some of the issues that had been raised, such as
damage to the grass caused by delivery vehicles which had not used the newly
constructed loading bays. Reassurances had been given
that the Executive Councillor, fellow Councillors and Officers would continue to work hard to resolve these issues.
Midsummer Common was a special area of the City and should be kept that way. 3) Councillor
O'Connell to the Leader Does the Leader
believe the Punt Tout Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) is working
effectively? The Leader replied that the PSPO was a result of extensive consultation
following previous efforts to reduce the issue of punt touts in the City
Centre; such as the approval of a byelaw on Bridge Street and the introduction
of a voluntary code of conduct, which many punt operators had refused to abide
to. Outside agencies such as the Police had taken part in the consultation
and it had been determined that a PSPO would be a good idea. Since the introduction of the PSPO over forty fixed penalty notices had
been issued to those who had been caught breaching the order, second notices
had been issued to a small number of operators. Legal advice had determined that a PSPO could not be issued on the basis
of just touting (advertising or being on the streets) but there had to be a
wider breach to issue a notice. The Leader resolved that future intervention would ensue as it was
evident the matter was not be taken seriously. 4) Councillor
Avery to the Executive Councillor for Housing Could the
Executive Councillor please give figures for homes known to be unoccupied in
Cambridge and, in so doing, comment on his perception of the urgency of
bringing empty homes into occupation? The Executive Councillors specified that bringing empty properties back
into occupation was a priority of the City Council and an empty Property
Officer within Environmental Services had been employed full time to address
this issue. There were currently in the region of 500 empty properties within the
City that had been empty for at least 6 months.
317 of those empty properties had
been recorded as being empty between 6 and 12 months, many of which being part
of a natural turnover of property, between lets, being sold or
refurbished. The Empty Property Officer had reported 75 long term empty privately
owned properties which without the Councils on-going intervention would remain
un-occupied and a wasted resource in the City. The Executive Councillor acknowledged that empty properties could have a
negative effect on the neighbourhood and environment, falling into disrepair,
becoming a magnet for anti-social behaviour. Between the months of April 2016 to the end of March 2017 a total of 39
long term empty properties had been brought back into use with the intervention
of the Empty Property Officer. 5) Councillor Bick
to the Executive Councillor for Housing How satisfied is
the Executive Councillor that tenants of the City Council’s two-storey
sheltered housing scheme at Stanton House recently had to wait 12 weeks for a
repair to the scheme’s only lift? During this time it remained inoperative,
leaving access only to a chairlift which proved completely inadequate in
enabling tenants to carry washing, shopping and rubbish, let alone their
strollers, trolleys and medical equipment - absolute necessities for older
people? The Executive Councillor stated that this had been an unsatisfactory
situation but everything had been done within the Council’s control to resolve
the matter as quickly as possible. Those residents who had not able to use the stairs had access to a stair
lift and City Homes staff were regularly on site to help residents such as
carrying items between floors. The existing lift, approximately 20 years old, was maintained as part of
an annual servicing programme with a specialist lift contractor. Repairs were carried
out by the same specialist as required on both a routine planned and response
basis. When the lift had failed the parts required were not available and were
sourced direct from the original manufacturer in Germany. The delivery of parts
did not materialise as quickly as promised and the extended delay did lead to
some unavoidable inconvenience to residents. When the parts arrived they were
expressed delivered to site and installed by a manager from the Council’s
contractor rather than wait for the next available engineer. The Executive Councillor confirmed installation was now fully
functioning but a project had also been included in the Council’s five year
planned works programme for complete replacement of the lift in 2018/19 subject
to budget. 6) Councillor
Cantrill to the Leader What is the
Leader’s view of the extensive agenda for the city deal meeting in July that
will consider a number of important schemes within the city? The Leader responded that the General Election in June had left no other
choice than to rearrange June items to July. This would also allow more time
for Officers and allow them to work with outside organisations such as resident
associations. There would be a proposal to split the meeting into two, a
morning and afternoon. As standard all items would be given considerable
consideration. |
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To consider the following Notices of Motion, notice of which has been given by: |
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Councillor O'Connell: Member-Led Review of Waste Collection Routes Council calls on the Executive Councillor for Environmental Services and City Centre to establish a member-led review of the planning and delivery of the recently reorganised waste collection routes in the city. Minutes: Councillor O’Connell proposed and Councillor Bick seconded the following
motion: Council calls on the Executive Councillor for Environmental Services and
City Centre to establish a member-led review of the planning and delivery of the
recently reorganised waste collection routes in the city. Councillor R Moore
proposed and Councillor Roberts seconded the following amendment to the motion
(deleted text Council calls on the On a
show of hands the amendment was carried by 26 votes to 12. It was resolved (26 votes to 0) that: Council calls on the Environment Scrutiny Committee to undertake at its
next meeting a review of the planning and delivery of the recently reorganised
waste collection routes in the City and consider the already planned Officer’s
report to the Committee. |
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Special Urgency Decision |
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2017/18 Housing Revenue Account Affordable Rents Special Urgency Decision PDF 193 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: The decision was noted. |