Agenda and decisions

To receive any announcements from the Mayor and Chief Executive.

The Mayor announced that the Council had received an award at the Annual Meeting of the Association of Democratic Services Officers in recognition of its work on the Democracy Commission. The award was presented to the meeting by Councillor Marchington.

 

In respect of Agenda Item 9 (Changes to Procedures for the Dismissal of Statutory Officers), the Chief Executive declared an interest on behalf of herself and the Service Director – Legal, Governance and Commissioning.

 

To receive any apologies for absence.

 

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors Dad, Grainger-Mead, Greaves, Loonat, Pervaiz, Sheard and Sarwar.

 

To receive the Minutes of Council held on 15 November 2017.

Approved as a correct record.

 

The Councillors will be asked to say if there are any items of the Agenda in which they have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interests, which would prevent them from participating in any discussion of them items or participating in any vote upon the items, or any other interests.

 

Councillors N Turner, Lowe, Marchington, D Hall, Smith, Scott, O’Donovan, Hill, Pandor, Khan and A U Pinnock declared an ‘other’ interest in Agenda Item 19 on the grounds that either they, or a family member, were employed within the public sector.

 

Councillor Pandor declared an ‘other’ interest in Agenda Item 10 on the grounds that he may have family members affected by the Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

 

To receive any Petitions from Members of the Council in accordance

with Council Procedure Rule 9.

 

Councillor Marchington presented a petition on behalf of residents of Golcar, Longwood and Milnsbridge requesting that the Council reconsiders the decision to remove the play area and litter bins from the Rufford Road Playing Field, Golcar.

The Council will receive any petitions and hear any deputations from members of the public. A deputation is where up to five people can attend the meeting and make a presentation on some particular issue of concern. A member of the public can also hand in a petition at the meeting but that petition should relate to something on which the body has powers and responsibilities.

 

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10 (2), Members of the Public should provide at least 24 hours’ notice of presenting a deputation.

Debby Fulgoni submitted a petition which requested that the Council save the Cemetery Road allotments by rejecting any proposed development of the site and preserving Huddersfield’s natural heritage.   

 

The Council will hear any questions from the general public.

No questions were asked.

 

To consider the report.

 

Contact: Carl Whistlecraft, Head of Democracy.

That approval be given to the changes to the Councillor’s Allowances Scheme, as set out at Appendix 1 of the considered report.

 

To consider the report.

 

Contact: Samantha Lawton, Legal Services.

1)    That Option A, as detailed within the considered report, be approved.

2)    That the terms of reference and composition of the Committee, as set out at Appendix B of the considered report, be approved.

3)    That approval be given to the amendments to the Officer Employment Procedure, as set out at Appendix C of the considered report.

4)    That authority be delegated to the Head of Legal Services to make amendments to the Constitution to reflect these changes.

 

To consider the report.

 

Contact: Julian Hobson, Exchequer and Welfare Service.

1)    That Options 4 and 6, as detailed within the considered report, be approved.

2)    That authority be delegated to the Service Director (Finance, IT and Transactional Services) to approve the taxbase as a result of changes to the scheme, and that the impact be incorporated into the budget report to be submitted to Council on 14 February 2018.

 

To consider the report.

 

Contact: Eamonn Croston, Strategic Finance.

 

1)    That the half-year treasury management performance on 2017-2018 be noted.

2)    That approval be given to the ‘opt-up’ application to professional client status as part of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive in order for the Council to continue to be able to access the widest range of instruments in line with approved strategy, from January 2018.

3)    That approval be given to the changes as set out in Appendix 6 of the report regarding current Treasury Management Practices wording and the substitution of Director of Resources with Chief Finance Officer.

4)    That it be noted that the CIPFA consultation on the current treasury management and prudential codes and that any revisions will be incorporated as appropriate into the forthcoming Treasury Management Strategy 2018/2019.

5)    That approval be given to the ‘liquidity risk’ Management Strategy and approach in relation to the Council and Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing.

To receive written questions to the Leader, Cabinet Members, Chairs of Committees and Nominated Spokespersons in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12/12(1).

 

The schedule of written questions will be tabled at the meeting.

 

(1)       Question by Councillor Cooper to The Cabinet Member for Corporate (Councillor Khan)

 

“When will the play area that the Council has removed between Manor Rise and Manor Street, Newsome, be replaced?”

 

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

 

 

(2)       Questionby Councillor Cooper to The Cabinet Member for Corporate (Councillor Khan)

 

“Why did the report on the changes to Bereavement Services charges go forward to the Cabinet meeting in September?”

 

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

 

 

(3)       QuestionbyCouncillor Cooper to The Cabinet Member for Corporate (Councillor Khan)

 

“Given the predictable nature of the responses to the engagement exercise on Bereavement Charges how and when will the Council respond?”

 

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

 

 

(4)       QuestionCouncillor Cooper to The Cabinet Member for Economy                 (Councillor Mather)

 

“What action has the Council taken to implement the recommendations of the motion on flying lanterns passed by Full Council on 2 September 2015?”

 

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

 

 

(5)       QuestionbyCouncillor Cooper to The Deputy Leader of the Council (Councillor Pandor)

 

“We understand that you will be leading for the Cabinet on the Kirklees Budget.

 

Can you detail for us your priorities in the Budget Setting Process?”

 

The Deputy Leader replied thereto.

 

 

 

(6)       QuestionbyCouncillor Cooper to The Cabinet Members for Economy (Councillors Mather /McBride)

 

“When will Cabinet consider the Passivhaus report referred from Policy Committee several months ago?”

 

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

 

 

(7)       QuestionbyCouncillor Burke to The Cabinet Member for Economy (Councillor Mather)

 

“What proportion of plastic in Kirklees’ domestic waste is recycled?”

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

 

 

(8)       Question by Councillor Burke to The Cabinet Member for Children (Councillor Ahmed)

 

“The Kirklees population is estimated to be 461,500 by 2025, an increase of 27,200 people from 2015. What provision is being made for new schools and school places?”

 

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

 

 

(9)       Question by Councillor N Turner to The Cabinet Member for Corporate (Councillor Khan)

 

“In regard to gritting night patrols, please would the Cabinet member inform us as to how these patrols are carried out in particular with reference to vehicles used and exactly what equipment is used to measure the temperature?”

 

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

 

 

(10)     Question by Councillor N Turner to The Cabinet Member for

 Corporate (Councillor Khan)

 

“Please would the Cabinet member tell us how residents are to be informed about which bins are being collected on which days now that the Council is no longer providing a calendar?”

 

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

 

 

 

 

 

(11)     Question by Councillor N Turner to The Cabinet Member for Corporate (Councillor Khan)

 

“Please would the Cabinet Member tell me when I can expect the Speed Indicator Device in Outlane to be repaired/replaced?”

 

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

 

 

(12)  ...  view the full decision text for item 12:

To receive for information; the minutes of Cabinet held on 22 August, 19 September, 17 October and 8 November 2017, and Cabinet Committee – Local Issues held on 20 September 2017.

 

That the Minutes of Cabinet held on 22 August, 19 September, 17 October and 8 November 2017, and Cabinet Committee – Local Issues held on 20 September 2017, be received and noted.

(a)  To receive a Portfolio Updates on (i) Adults and Public Health Portfolio – Councillor Kendrick and (ii) Children’s Portfolio – Councillor Ahmed

 

 

(b)  Oral Questions/Comments to Cabinet Members on their Portfolios and relevant Cabinet Minutes;

 

(i)            Adults and Public Health Portfolio (Councillors Kendrick and Scott)

(ii)          Children’s Portfolio (Councillors Ahmed and Hill)

(iii)         Corporate Portfolio (Councillors Khan and Turner)

(iv)         Economy Portfolio (Councillors Mather and McBride)

Strategy and Strategic Resources Portfolio (Councillors Sheard and Pandor)

Council received Cabinet Member Portfolio Updates from Councillors Kendrick (Adults and Public Health Portfolio) and Councillor Ahmed (Children’s Portfolio).

 

Within the remaining time permitted for this item, oral questions were presented to the following Cabinet Portfolios; Adults and Public Health, Children’s Services and Corporate.

To receive for information the minutes of the following Committees;

 

(i)    Appeals Panel

(ii)  Corporate Governance and Audit Committee

(iii)Corporate Parenting Board

(iv)Licensing and Safety Committee

(v)  Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee

(vi)Personnel Committee

(vii) Strategic Planning Committee

Received and noted.

(a)  Appeals Panel (Councillor Dad)

(b)  Corporate Governance and Audit Committee (Councillor Richards)

(c)  Corporate Parenting Panel (Councillor Hill)

(d)  Employee Relations Sub Committee (Councillor Sheard)

(e)  Health and Wellbeing Board (Councillor Sheard)

(f)   Licensing and Safety Committee – including Licensing Panel and Regulatory Panel (Councillor Pattison)

(g)  Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee (Councillor Stewart-Turner)

(h)  Personnel Committee (Councillor Sheard)

(i)    Planning Sub Committee - Heavy Woollen Area (Councillor Kane)

(j)    Planning Sub Committee – Huddersfield Area (Councillor Lyons)

(k)  Strategic Planning Committee (Councillor S Hall)

(l)    Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing (Councillor Smaje)

(m)Kirklees Active Leisure (Councillor Sokhal)

(n)  West Yorkshire Combined Authority (Councillor Sheard)

(o)  West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Committee (Councillor Kaushik)

(p)  West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority (Councillor O’Donovan)

(q)  West Yorkshire Joint Services Committee (Councillor Pandor)

(r)   West Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel (Councillor Hussain)

 

Item not considered (due to time constraints).

To consider the following Motion in the names of Councillors Sheard, D Hall, McBride, N Turner, Greaves and Cooper.

 

“The Council calls on the Secretary of State for Transport to recommit to the electrification of Transpennine Railway. We note that on the day he confirmed support for the £30 billion Crossrail project he cancelled electrification of strategic significance to Yorkshire, the Midlands, North West and South West and deferred a decision on Transpennine.

 

As the Transpennine Railway is the main artery for rail freight and passenger movements in the North, we therefore seek the support of our Yorkshire MP’s and particularly those in Kirklees, to join forces with the Mayors of Liverpool and Manchester and the Leader of Leeds Council, in stressing the urgency of this matter and its significance as a project which could in part redress the imbalance of regional investment in the UK and lend some meaning to the term Northern Powerhouse.”

 

Item not considered (due to time constraints).

To consider the following Motion in the names of Councillors Khan and Kendrick;

 

“This Motion calls upon the Environment Secretary Michael Gove to urgently review the Government’s updated clean air plan and produce a national Clean Air Act which demonstrates the Government taking responsibility as well as local authorities.

 

Clean air is considered to be a basic requirement of human health and well-being. However, air pollution continues to pose a serious threat to health of the public. Air pollution is contributing to approximately 40,000 early deaths a year in the UK. When dissected down to a Kirklees level that was the equivalent to 137 deaths per year associated with poor air quality in 2015.

 

This Council believes that air pollution in the UK is a public health crisis, with the World Health Organisation and Public Health England describing it as the largest environmental risk to public health.

 

Currently Kirklees Council are working on the following improvement projects;

 

·         Kirklees Council led on the creation of the West Yorkshire ECO-Stars freight recognition scheme. The scheme encourages operators of commercial vehicles to clean up their fleets and at the same time saves operating costs. This scheme is a free initiative to West Yorkshire businesses. The success of this scheme is currently under review and an extension to the scheme is being explored for 2017/18 &2018/19

·         Over 100 school transport buses have been retrofitted with exhaust technology to remove harmful exhaust emissions.

·         Kirklees Council have installed Smart traffic lights at the busier junctions across the district to improve vehicle flows and reduce congestion where possible, which in turn reduces emissions

·         Further to this Kirklees Council are working with a 3rd party company to rationalise this traffic management system to improve air quality further by running a pilot which uses modelled air pollution emissions to dictate traffic light changes. The pilot for this scheme is along the A62 Leeds Road.

·         West Yorkshire has been awarded funding from central government to encourage low emission taxis. Kirklees along with the other 4 West Yorkshire Authorities are looking to install a strategic electric vehicle (EV) taxi charging network across the district, along with funding for the private hire sector.

·         Kirklees Council are considering releasing further Hackney License plates for E.V Taxis in order to encourage further EV uptake

·         Air Quality Assessments were conducted on the Local Plan to assess the cumulative impact of development on air quality across the district.

·         Kirklees are working with the West Yorkshire Authorities and the combined authority to create a public electric vehicle charging network.

·         Kirklees Council has the Green Parking Season Ticket, which allows Ultra Low Emission Vehicles to Park within Council car parks for free

·         Working with DEFRA to improve the understanding of West Yorkshire Air Quality issues by installing a National AQ monitor within Kirklees

·         Continuing to integrate the West Yorkshire Low Emission Strategy into Kirklees Council policy & operations and also working with partnership agencies to include relevant elements of the WYLES into their operations

 

The Council urges the Government  ...  view the full agenda text for item 18:

Item not considered (due to time constraints).

 

To consider the following Motion in the names of Councillors G Turner, Kendrick, N Turner and Lawson;

 

 “This Motion calls on the Government to remove the 1% pay cap for all public sector workers.

 

The current plan to remove the cap for police and prison officers is divisive and unfair; why should nurses saving lives, be valued less

than a prison officer?

 

The public sector needs a rise for all and this must be fully funded by government and not come from existing budgets, as this would

continue the decline in the vital services provided by the public sector.

 

With inflation currently above 2% a rise of only 1% since 2013 and a total pay freeze for the two years before that means that the public sectors living standards will fall at well over 1% this year and have fallen significantly since 2010. Public sector workers are effectively receiving real time pay cuts.

 

This policy has created staff shortages in large parts of the public sector and has added to the costs of parts of the public sector as agency staff have to be employed, only adding to the costs of the sector at a time when it’s struggling to deliver services due to the general underfunding of public services.

 

A low  wage public sector does nothing to attract the talent and much needed workers of the future in to the sector, and largely discriminates against woman who make up 2 thirds of the public sector.

 

Higher wages among public sector workers would lead to increased spending and increased income tax collected by the Treasury.

 

This Council, therefore, agrees that:

 

The Chief Executive should write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to request that:

 

·         The pay cap is lifted across the public sector, to allow the implementation of the recommendations of Pay Review Bodies and negotiations with employers; and

·         Subsequent pay increases be fully funded via the central

government settlement, not through existing departmental

budgets, which could result in further cuts to public services.”

Item not considered (due to time constraints).

 

To consider the following Motion in the names of Councillors N Turner, A Pinnock, K Pinnock, Burke, Marchington, Lawson, Eastwood and Wilkinson;

 

“This Council notes that:

 

1)    Last year, a number of young people (aged 16 or over) left the care of Kirklees Local Authority and began the difficult transition into adulthood;

2)    The recent Ofsted report on the authority’s Children’s Services identified the experiences and progress of care leavers as requiring improvement and recommended proactive support;

3)    A 2016 report by The Children’s Society found that when care leavers move into independent accommodation, they begin to manage their own budget fully for the first time. The report showed that care leavers can find this extremely challenging and with no family to support them and insufficient financial education, are falling into debt and financial difficulty;

4)    Research from The Centre for Social Justice found that over half (57%) of young people leaving care have difficulty managing their money and avoiding debt when leaving care;

5)    The local authority has a duty of care to care leavers.

 

This Council believes that:

 

1)    Care leavers need support to make their transition from care to adult life as smooth as possible and to reduce the chance of falling into debt as they begin to manage their own finances;

2)    Care leavers are a particularly vulnerable group for council tax debt.

 

This Council, therefore, resolves:

 

1)    To investigate options to exempt care leavers from Council Tax until they are 25;

2)    To report back to Council in time for budget setting for 2018/19.”

 

 

Item not considered (due to time constraints).