The Very Reverend Michael Tavinor led the Council in prayers.

He informed the Authority that the Right Reverend Richard Frith had been appointed as the new Bishop of Hereford and sent his greetings to the Authority.  The Bishop would be seeking to meet civic leaders at the earliest opportunity.

The Chairman welcomed newly elected Councillors JM Bartlett and TL Widdows.

Apologies were received from Councillor CNH Attwood, JW Hope MBE, JG Jarvis and PJ McCaull.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 23 May 2014.

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting held on 23 May 2014 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman, subject to the deletion of the final sentence of the paragraph headed Terms of Reference – Audit and Governance Committee on page 15 of the agenda papers: “However, all Members had had the opportunity to comment if they wished.”

Council noted the Chairman’s announcements as printed in the agenda papers.

The Chairman added her congratulations to the Right Reverend Richard Frith following his appointment as the 105th Bishop of Hereford.

Petition

The Chairman also reported the receipt of a petition from Councillor H Bramer regarding reducing the speed limit at Gorsley Goff’s Primary School.  The Cabinet Member – Transport and Roads received the petition.

A copy of the public questions and written answers is attached to the Minutes at Appendix 1.

Council considered the one Notice of Motion that had been received:

Notice of Motion – Draft Local Plan Core Strategy

Councillor Powers proposed the motion.  He commented that all Councillors wanted the Council to adopt a sound core strategy.  The motion therefore proposed that if the Inspector deemed that major amendments were necessary it was important that Council considered these amendments.  This would also allow for appropriate further public consultation.  The Inspector and Officers should be able to determine the difference between major and minor amendments.

Councillor Swinford spoke in support of the motion, expressing concern about the soundness of the Core Strategy.  He highlighted the proposed housing development in Bromyard which he said had no employment land designated to accompany it, contrary to policy.

The Cabinet Member - Infrastructure indicated support for the motion.  He commented that the responses to the pre-submission consultation had not identified the need for any major amendments. The responses were being consolidated for submission to the Inspector.  If the Inspector identified a need for major amendment this would need to be considered at a meeting of Council.

Councillor Powers commented that in his view the decision of Council in July 2013 had not made it explicit that any major amendments would need to be considered by Council.  The Notice of Motion provided that clarity.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY:  That the Notice of Motion be agreed:

“In the event that officers deem it necessary to make any major amendments to the Pre-Submission Publication Core Strategy to ensure ‘soundness’ prior to its submission to the Inspector, this Council reviews and approves the final version of the Core Strategy. This will also allow for appropriate further public consultation on any major amendments.”

To exercise the powers reserved to Council to approve the allocation of seats to political groups.

Please note that the Council will be asked under this item to approve alternative arrangements to strict political proportionality for appointments to Committees and other bodies in accordance with Regulation 20 of the Local Government (Committees and Political Groups) Regulations 1990.

Council considered the allocation of seats to political groups.

Appendices 1 and 2 to the report showing the political composition of the Council, a proportionate allocation of seats, and an allocation of seats on outside bodies were circulated at the meeting.

The Cabinet Member – Corporate Services presented the report and proposed a slight alteration to the allocation of seats set out at table 2 of appendix 1.

RESOLVED:

That      (a)     the allocation of seats on ordinary committees to political groups be made as indicated in appendix 2 to these Minutes;

              (b)     the seats on other bodies to which the allocation of seats to groups falls to be made by Council be as indicated in appendix 2 to these Minutes; and 

(c)     the suspension of the rules of proportionality, in respect of the Regulatory Sub-Committee, the River Lugg Internal Drainage Board and the Wye Valley AONB Joint Advisory Committee, be approved.

To adopt the Herefordshire Community Safety Strategic Plan 2014 – 17.

Council was invited to adopt the Herefordshire Community Safety Strategic Plan 2014-17.

The Cabinet Member – Corporate Services presented the report.

In discussion the following principal points were made:

·         It was suggested that the relationship between the Environmental Health function and the Public Health function required further work.

·         The General Overview and Scrutiny Committee had received a presentation from a representative of the Probation Service who had expressed disquiet about reforms to that Service.  The Committee had asked for these to be forwarded to the Ministry of Justice.   It was noted that no response had as yet been received.  The Cabinet Member commented that the Community Safety Partnership had recently received a much more positive view on the reforms than had been presented to that Committee.

·         It was requested that preventative measures were increased to address the number of serious accidents on the County’s roads.  The Cabinet Member commented that the Partnership was to discuss this matter at its next meeting.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Herefordshire Community Safety Strategy 2014-2017 be adopted.

To approve the Treasury Management outturn for 2013/14 and associated Prudential Indicators.

Council was invited to approve the Treasury Management outturn for 2013/14 and associated prudential indicators.

The Leader of the Council presented the report.

In discussion the following principal points were made:

·         The Head of Technical Accounting clarified the Council’s approach to borrowing in the light of indications that there may be changes in the Bank of England base rate.  She confirmed that the authority sought professional advice on its borrowing strategy.  The present advice was that the Council should continue with its current strategy.

·         With reference to page 62 of the agenda papers (paragraph e) it was asked if Council owned land blocks such as smallholdings which could be opened up by strategic infrastructure projects were part of the receipts which are reported as protected fixed asset sales of £20m in both 2015/16 and 2016/17.  It was further questioned whether the estimated receipts included the sale of smallholding land to facilitate road construction.

The Head of Technical Accounting commented that the sums did include an estimate of receipts from surplus assets and that the estimated sums were based on today’s valuations.

The Leader agreed to provide a written answer to all Members setting out the detailed position.

·           In response to criticism of the transparency of the process for disposing of assets the Leader stated that decisions on the disposal of assets would be taken by Cabinet.  He would brief Group Leaders on any sensitive proposals such as those relating to smallholdings in advance of any decisions being taken.

RESOLVED: That the final Treasury Management out-turn for 2013/14 and associated prudential indicators be approved.

To receive the Leader’s report, which provides an overview of the Executive’s activity since the last Council meeting, and also contains the annual report from the executive including any executive decisions taken under urgency provisions.

The Leader presented his report on the activities of Cabinet since the meeting of Council in March 2014 and an overview of key activity in 2013/14.

The Leader highlighted the following matters:

·         A recent Ofsted inspection had confirmed there had been progress in delivering the children’s safeguarding improvement plan, with adoption services rated as good.   He thanked all those staff involved for their work.

·         There had been a rise in the DfE funding of Herefordshire’s pupil premium for 2014/15, although it was to be noted that the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) per pupil in Herefordshire remained 5% below the average for education authorities.

·         The development of the old livestock market had been a success and in relation to the effect on High Town, whilst it was still early in the life of the development to draw conclusions, he had not received any complaints.

·         He highlighted progress in increasing access to broadband across the county and thanked the team involved in the project.

·         The Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) through the strategic economic plan it had submitted to Government had secured some £43m to support economic growth in the County. The bid had been for £47m.  He believed it was the best per capita allocation in the Country.  The significance of the allocation could not be overstated.  He congratulated the Council and LEP teams involved in developing the bid including Councillor RJ Phillips who supported this aspect of the Leader’s portfolio.

The following principal points were made during discussion of the report (references in brackets are to the relevant page (and paragraph number) of the published agenda papers):

·         (p67 (20)) – The current operation of the Council’s two scrutiny committees was questioned.  The Leader commented that he had held discussions with the new Chairmen of the two Committees.  The scrutiny committees continued to have a full role to discharge and this would include discussions on policy.  .

·         (p67 (13)) – In response to a question about a recruitment exercise by the LEP the Leader emphasised the importance of the LEP’s role and for it to have the resources required to support its work.  Councillor RJ Phillips emphasised the need to ensure appropriate staff were in post to account for the money allocated by Government and deliver the projects to which it had been allocated.  He noted that economic development teams within the LEP area were working with the LEP to avoid duplication of effort.

·         A Member questioned the link between  the road and transport schemes and job creation outlined in paragraph 13 of the report, including an A49/A456 link road, to which it was proposed to allocate funding secured via the LEP.  He also questioned the degree to which the funding was provisional.  The Leader stated that the proposed infrastructure was necessary to release the potential of the Enterprise Zone.  The funding was provisional in the sense that it would be made available as the Council met various Government requirements, and submitted its detailed plans, as was normal practice.  

Councillor Phillips  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

To note the following annual reports:

A)   Audit and Governance Committee

B)   General Overview and Scrutiny Committee

C)   Health and Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee

D)   Health and Wellbeing Board

E)   Planning Committee

F)    Regulatory Committee

Council was invited to note the following annual reports:  Audit and Governance Committee, General Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Health and Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Health and Wellbeing Board, Planning Committee and Regulatory Committee.

The Chairman of the Planning Committee commented on the Committee’s demanding workload and thanked Members and officers for their work.

RESOLVED:  That the annual reports from committees be noted.

To receive the annual report of the Hereford & Worcester Fire Authority.

Councillor Brig. P Jones presented the annual report of the Hereford & Worcester Fire Authority.

Several Members expressed concern about the implications of proposals within the Fire Authority’s draft Community Risk Management Plan to reduce fire cover in Herefordshire.  It was suggested that the possible reduction in Herefordshire was also disproportionate compared with the proposals for fire cover in Worcestershire.

The Chief Fire Officer commented that the Community Risk Management Plan was required to balance risk against the available resources.  A number of further options were to be submitted to members of the Fire Authority for consideration.

It was also highlighted that if a merger with Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service were to proceed it would be essential to ensure that Herefordshire secured proper representation on any managing body.

RESOLVED:            That the annual report of the Hereford & Worcester Fire Authority be received.

A copy of the Member questions and written answers, together with the supplementary questions and answers asked at the meeting is attached to the Minutes at Appendix 3.

Council noted that two long-serving members of the Governance Services team were leaving and thanked them for their direct support to Councillors.

The Chairman acknowledged the Council’s gratitude to all staff.