Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillors L A Bentley, F Broadley, Mrs L Broadley, M L Darr, Mrs L Eaton and R Morris

It was resolved that Councillor G A Boulter support the Mayor in the chairing of this Council Meeting in the absence of the Deputy Mayor, Councillor M L Darr.

Cllr K Loydall declared that he knew Mr John Whiting in relation to Agenda Item 9 (Appointment of Member of the Remuneration Panel).

The Report was a matter for information only.

RESOLVED: that the minutes of the following meetings be taken as read, confirmed and signed:

(a) Council Meeting - 29th April 2014

(b) Annual General Meeting - 13 May 2014

The Action List be noted.

None received.

The Council noted events attended by the Mayor within report pages 14 & 15.

The Mayor wished to record and pass on the whole Council's best wishes to Councillor Linda Broadley who is ill in hospital at the moment and hope that she has a speedy recovery.

The Mayor thanked members for the support they have given to her and her events so far

The Mayor announced the following forthcoming events and encouraged members to attend by letting Lesley Evans, The Mayors Secretary know.

Fashion Show on 24th September

Civic Service on 28th September

The Mayor also referred members to the new loyalty card being launched by the Pride of the Borough Group, details of which had been distributed, and encouraged them to become a member.

None.

The Leader noted that a Memorandum of Understanding between all the Leicestershire authorities would be presented to the next Policy, Finance and Development Committee. This will build on all the excellent work done by the Council over the last few years in developing and approving its Core Strategy and other Planning Policies.

He went on to say that it will strengthen the protection that these documents and policies already provide. The Leader also noted that there may a slight increase in the housing numbers that the Borough may have to accommodate over the coming years.

The Leader referred to the County Council's Medium Term Financial Strategy and its proposed sweeping budget cuts. As part of this there had been discussions with all the districts councils regarding the possibility of removing the recycling credits it pays for green waste. Up until now these have only been discussions and the Leader wanted Council to know that no formal notification of any changes had been given by the County Council so no formal process has been started. If and when that were to happen then members would be updated.      

The Leader updated members on a Leicestershire Police briefing session he had attended earlier in the week with Councillor Kevin Loydall, Chair of the Oadby &v Wigston CSP and the Chief Executive. This focused on the Change Programme that the Police Force was undergoing

The Leader reported that the new policing model that is being proposed will allow Leicestershire Police to:

• handle non-emergency calls for service through an appointment system;
• refocus a smaller Force-wide Response Team on incident response;
• provide dedicated Neighbourhood Teams to focus on community engagement and problem solving;
• Neighbourhood policing also supported by new Neighbourhood Priority Teams.
• introduce a crime triage function that will allocate crimes to a dedicated investigation team or deal with the crime within the unit where that is appropriate;
• introduce an ASB triage function that will allocate ASB cases to Neighbourhood Teams or file incidents where further case management is not required and the matter has been dealt with;
• remove the crime investigation workload from response and neighbourhood and investigate through a dedicated team to improve timeliness, outcomes and victim follow up;
• handover the majority of detained persons to a prisoner handling capacity to ensure frontline officers are available for deployment and visible to communities.

The Leader's main concern, which he had raised at the briefing, was that there should be a clear understanding of how this would affect and be of benefit to residents and that there should be an effective communications plan.

It was also noted that the likelihood is that due to its geography that the Policing Command Unit for Oadby and Wigston would be combined with the south of the city and create the South Leicester Policing Area. 

The Chief Executive introduced the report on page 16 of the agenda which was a matter for information only.

The Chief Executive clarified that Mr Whiting's senior public sector experience related to taxation.

RESOLVED: That the appointment of the new Independent Panel Member be noted and endorsed.

The Chief Executive introduced the report on page 18 of the agenda.

Councillor Boyce referred to 3.5 of the report which related to the Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014 and proposed that the Constitutional Working Group also be asked to look at the possibility and implications of the Council recording and broadcasting its meetings. 

RESOLVED: That the recommendations set out in Section 2 of the report be approved with the addition that the Constitutional Working Group also be asked to look at the possibility and implications of the Council recording and broadcasting its meetings.

Members pointed out that the notes of the Place Shaping Working Group on pages 103 - 116 had been omitted from the agenda however all members will have received these minutes during the last week and these should be inserted accordingly.

RESOLVED: that the minutes of the meetings of the committees, forums and working groups as set out in the agenda be received.

RESOLVED: That the Common Seal of the Council be affixed to all contracts, orders, deeds and other documents arising out of the Minutes and Reports in the foregoing items.

None.