Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Priory House, Monks Walk, Shefford

Contact: Helen Bell  0300 300 4040

Items
No. Item

28.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 93 KB

To approve the minutes of the Council meeting held on 21 July 2016.

 

(Attached pages 5 to 12)

 

Minutes:

 

RESOLVED

 

that the minutes of the meeting of Council held on 21 July 2016 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

 

 

29.

Members' Interests

To receive from Members any declarations of interest.

 

 

Minutes:

(a)

Personal Interests:-

 

 

None.

 

(b)

Personal and Prejudicial Interests:-

 

 

None.

 

 

30.

Questions, Statements and Deputations

To receive any questions, statements and deputations from members of the public in accordance with the Public Participation Procedure as set out in Annex 1 of part A4 of the Constitution.

Minutes:

 

There were none.

 

 

31.

Petitions

To receive and discuss petitions if any, in accordance with the Public Participation Procedure as set out in Annex 2 of part A4 of the Constitution.

Minutes:

                       

A petition stating “We the undersigned are against the proposed cuts to bus services 188 & 190” containing 128 signatures was delivered to the Council by Mrs Gibson.  The Chairman confirmed that the petition would need to be validated by the Monitoring Officer and, if accepted, could be considered at the Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee as part of the Transport Strategy review on Monday 26 September 2016.

 

The Executive Member for Community Services confirmed that no decisions had yet been made and the recommendations from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee would be considered by the Executive where future bus services would be determined. 

 

 

32.

Chairman's Announcements and Communications

The Chairman to announce any matters of communication.

Minutes:

 

The Chairman informed the Council that he had:

 

·         attended the memorial services for Tracy Houghton, an officer of the Council, along with staff

·         attended the recent visit to Keech Cottage by the Duke ands Duchess of Cambridge

·         attended the High Sheriff’s Service for the Judiciary

 

 

33.

Leader of the Council's Announcements and Communications

The Leader of the Council to announce any matters of communication.

Minutes:

 

The Leader of the Council reported on the following:

 

·                SEMLEP, including the forthcoming merger with Northamptonshire Economic Partnership

·                Heart of England’s emerging plans for infrastructure, including roads, electricity capacity and broadband. In part, this was in response to the National Infrastructure Commission’s interest in the Oxford to Cambridge Arc

·                Progress with the Legacy project in Houghton Regis.

 

 

34.

Executive Member Presentations

To receive reports from up to three Executive Members on recent matters of interest and ask questions on matters contained within the reports.

 

Reports are anticipated from Councillors Jones and Dixon.

 

 

Minutes:

 

Councillor Jones, Executive Member for Health reported on the work within Health, including:

 

·                Heath and Social Care integration

·                the Better Care Fund which for 2016/17 would focus on:

o    Out of hospital services

o    Prevention

o    Social Services Support

·                A Task Force being set up by the Social Care, Health and Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee to help develop the strategy for integration.  Members were urged to register their interest in participating in the Task Force.

 

Councillor Dixon, Executive Member for Education and Skills reported on the work within Childrens Services including:

 

·                Performance on school readiness and collaboration across many services

·                Provisional ‘A’ levels results which appeared to have remained level with last year and possibly higher

·                the refreshing of the  All Age Skills Strategy

·                GCSEs - 5 or more A* to C grades: provisional results suggested that that CBC performance was up by 4 points compared to the national trend which was down 2 points

Locality workshops were being held with headteachers as part of the refreshing of the Partnership Vision for Education.

 

 

35.

Recommendations from the Executive pdf icon PDF 11 KB

To consider a recommendation from the meeting of the Executive, 2 August 2016and answer questions asked under Rule No. 13.1.

 

A421 Dualling Project – Memorandum of Understanding and Compulsory Purchase Order

 

( Attached page 13)

Minutes:

 

That the Council considered a recommendation from the Executive concerning the A421 Dualling Project – Memorandum of Understanding and Compulsory Purchase Order.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the £3m be added to the Capital Programme for this scheme.

 

 

36.

Treasury Management Outturn 2015/16 pdf icon PDF 84 KB

To consider a report of Councillor Wenham, Executive Member for Corporate Resources on Treasury Management activities for the year ended 31 March 2016.

 

(Attached pages 15 to 36)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

 

The Council considered a report from the Executive Member for Corporate Resources that provided a review of Treasury Management activities for the year ended 31 March 2016, in compliance with relevant codes of practice adopted by Central Bedfordshire Council.

 

RESOLVED

 

that the Treasury Management and the Prudential Indicators’ performance for the year ended 31 March 2016 be noted.

 

37.

2015/16 Capital Programme End of Year Report pdf icon PDF 60 KB

To consider a report of the Leader of the Council providing an update on the capital programme.

 

(Attached Pages 37 to 57)

 

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

 

The Council considered a report from the Leader of the Council that reflected on the progress made with capital projects approved  in February 2015 and their impact on  the Council’s priorities.

 

A presentation showing delivered capital projects was made.

 

RESOLVED

 

that the wide range of capital projects delivered and underway in 2015/16 and their impact on  the priorities of the Council be noted.

 

 

38.

Motions (if any)

To consider motions by Members of the Council under Rule No. 17 in the order received.

Minutes:

 

There were no Motions received under Procedure Rule No. 17.

 

 

39.

Written Questions (if any)

To answer written questions from Members of the Council under Rule No. 13.2.

 

 

Minutes:

 

No written questions were received.

 

 

40.

Open Questions

To answer Open Questions asked by Members of the Council under Rule No. 13.7.

Minutes:

 

The Chairman invited the Independent Group Leader to ask a question prior to consideration of questions that had been placed in the Open Questions receptacle.

 

1.         Councillor Zerny asked if the Planning Department was sufficiently resourced?

 

The Executive Member for Regeneration and Business confirmed that some difficulties were being experienced with the recruitment and retention but undertook to look into the specific issues raised by Councillor Zerny.    

 

2.         Councillor Goodchild asked about the state of the cycle paths in Houghton Regis?

 

The Executive Member for Community Services agreed to provide a written response from the Director for Community Services.

 

3.         Councillor Goodchild asked about the deployment of a grant to increase exercise in care settings. 

 

The Deputy Executive Member for Community Services confirmed that there were staff within the Leisure team who would be overseeing this.  He agreed to provide a written response which would include a full list of activities available.