To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors J Hardwick and EL Holton.

Agenda item no. 5: Election of Leader of the Council

Councillor JG Lester declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in agenda item no. 5 as a candidate for Leader of the Council.

Agenda item no. 8: Notices of Motion under Standing Orders

Councillor RJ Phillips declared a non-pecuniary interest in agenda item no. 8 as a member of Hereford and Worcester Fire Authority. (Councillor Phillips also declared on behalf of Councillors KS Guthrie, JLV Kenyon, RI Matthews and SD Williams).

Councillor DW Greenow declared a non-pecuniary interest in agenda item no. 8 as a member of Hereford and Worcester Fire Authority. 

Councillor AJW Powers moved a proposal, in accordance with paragraph 4.1.32 of the constitution, to vary the order of the agenda. It was proposed that agenda item no. 10: notices of motion under standing orders was brought up the agenda to follow agenda item no. 6: questions from members of the public. The proposal was put to the vote and was lost.  

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 26 January 2018.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 26 January 2018 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive the Chairman, Leader and Chief Executive’s announcements.

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

The Chairman corrected an announcement listed in his report; he had been unable to attend the Mayor of Bromyard’s Community Service on 4 March as it had been cancelled due to the adverse weather.

The Chief Executive introduced his announcements and outlined the work undertaken by Balfour Beatty Living Places to respond to the adverse weather conditions recently experienced by the county. Thanks were expressed to those individuals across the county who had helped in efforts to clear roads and reach people cut off by the snow. Tribute was paid to the work of the 4x4 emergency response team in particular. 

Councillor AJW Powers raised a query regarding the funding secured under the Building Better Opportunities Partnership and whether this had been secured for Herefordshire. The Chief Executive confirmed that the issue would be addressed following the meeting.

The Leader announced formally his resignation as Leader of the Council. 

To elect the Leader of the Council.

Council considered the election of Leader of the Council.

Councillor JG Lester left the meeting room.

Councillor AW Johnson proposed Councillor Lester as the Leader of the council and Councillor BA Durkin seconded the nomination. There were no other nominations.

The motion was put to the vote and was carried.

Councillor Lester re-joined the meeting.

The Leader thanked the Council for his election as Leader and paid tribute to Councillor Johnson for his leadership of the Council. The success of the council recently and the challenges faced were outlined along with the approach that the new Leader would take.

RESOLVED: That Councillor JG Lester is elected as Leader of the Council.

To receive questions from members of the public.

Deadline for receipt of questions is 5:00pm on Tuesday 6 March 2018.

Accepted questions will be published as a supplement prior to the meeting.

A copy of the public questions and written answers, together with supplementary questions asked at the meeting and their answers, is attached to the Minutes at Appendix 1.

To receive questions from members of the Council.

Deadline for receipt of questions is 5:00pm on Tuesday 6 March 2018.

Accepted questions will be published as a supplement prior to the meeting.

A copy of the Member questions and written answers, together with supplementary questions asked at the meeting and their answers, is attached to the Minutes at Appendix 2.

To approve the council tax amounts for each category of dwelling in Herefordshire, including precepts from West Mercia Police, Hereford and Worcester Fire Authority and Herefordshire parishes for the financial year 2018/19.

Council considered a report by the cabinet member finance, housing and corporate services to set the council tax and precepts for 2018/19.

The Leader introduced and moved the report which was seconded by Councillor NE Shaw. The cabinet member finance, housing and corporate services outlined the precepts that Herefordshire as the billing authority would combine in a single council tax charge and explained that the council tax reduction scheme was in place to assist those people who may struggle to meet their council tax liability.

Members made the points below in the debate which followed:

·         Local residents should be made more readily aware of the full council tax liability. The cabinet member finance, housing and corporate services explained that this detail was contained in the appendices to the report which provided a breakdown of the council tax charges by parish.

·         It was recognised that the council was being asked to do more with less money and the importance of the management of responsibilities was emphasised.

·         The importance of raising awareness of help available to meet council tax obligations was raised. It was felt that the website should be clear and helpful to those in difficulty. The cabinet member finance, housing and corporate services reminded members that it was also the responsibility of the local ward member to highlight to local residents what help was available.

·         The retention of business rates was raised. The cabinet member finance, housing and corporate services explained that the Council had not been selected to participate in the proposal pilot from central government to share business rates.

·         It was noted that parish precepts had increased significantly as a result of lengthsman schemes being passed onto parish councils.

·         It was recognised that the increase in the council’s precept was necessary in order to sustain local services. The current collection rates were queried. The cabinet member finance, housing and corporate services explained that the collection rates were reported to cabinet every 6 months as part of the performance report. The section 151 officer explained that the current rates were available on the website and all councillors would be made aware.

A named vote was held to agree the recommendations set out in the report.

The recommendations were approved 48 votes in favour, 1 vote against and 2 abstentions.

For (48): Councillors SP Anderson, PA Andrews, BA Baker, JM Bartlett,  WLS Bowen, TL Bowes, H Bramer, CR Butler, ACR Chappell, MJK Cooper, PE Crockett, P Cutter, BA Durkin, PJ Edwards, CA Gandy, DW Greenow, KS Guthrie, DG Harlow, EPJ Harvey, JA Hyde, TM James, PC Jinman, AW Johnson, JF Johnson, JLV Kenyon, JG Lester, MD Lloyd-Hayes, PP Marsh, RL Mayo, MT McEvilly, SM Michael, PD Newman, FM Norman, CA North, RJ Phillips, AJW Powers, PD Price, P Rone, AR Round, A Seldon, NE Shaw, WC Skelton, J Stone, EJ Swinglehurst, LC Tawn, A Warmington, DB Wilcox, SD Williams.

Against (1) RI Matthews

Abstentions (2) EE Chowns, D Summers

Resolved – that:

(a) the precepting authority details incorporated  ...  view the full minutes text for item 57.

To receive a report from the Leader on the activities of the executive (cabinet) since the meeting of Council on 13 October.

Councillor AW Johnson as the outgoing Leader presented his report on the activities of the cabinet since the meeting of full council on 13 October 2017. Councillor Johnson explained to members that this was the last report he would present and that the Council was in a strong position and all members had accomplished remarkable success.

Questions were invited to the Leader which included those issues raised below:

·         The call-in of the charity shop waste decision was a good example of work with the voluntary sector. It was a good example of assisting charities to receive more donations and reduce the amount of waste the county was required to handle. Councillor Johnson acknowledged that the report should have included mention of the third sector.

·         It was requested that in future the Leader’s report more clearly identify those decisions which were taken under the general exception procedure. The Leader confirmed that this would occur.

·         The timing of the conclusion of the fairing funding consultation and the limited time that group leaders had available to comment was raised. It was felt that this was distinct from the LGA consultation and that detail had been shared with group leaders too late to provide a meaningful all-member representation. Councillor Johnson explained there were two requests; the fairer funding consultation had been received in December 2017 but the LGA request had only been received at the end of February which had necessitated its late circulation to group leaders very close to the deadline for responses.

·         It was queried when data would be available for an assessment of the effectiveness of the city link road in reducing congestion in Hereford. The use of traffic lights along the road was questioned and it was requested that roundabouts should be considered before any more traffic lights were introduced. It was contended that data did exist which the council could consider. Councillor Johnson explained that the city link road was part of a package of measures. Once complete the benefit of the city link road would be clearly seen. The cabinet member for infrastructure explained that data from the city link road could not be assessed until data modelling from the Hereford Transport package and the bypass had been completed. 

·         The potential loss of restaurants from the Old Market development was raised and whether there was a waiting list of restaurants waiting for space. The cabinet member economy and communications confirmed that there was a waiting list with restaurants waiting for space in the site.

·         The energy from waste plant was raised and it was queried how much plastic recyclate was currently being sent to the incinerator. It was confirmed that currently no sorted plastics were being incinerated as there was a good market for the product. The cabinet member contracts and assets confirmed that a written response would be provided.

·         The proposed changes from central government to the national planning policy framework were raised and the impact on neighbourhood plans. The cabinet member infrastructure explained that the council,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.

To consider Notices of Motion.

Councillor EPJ Harvey stated that she wished to withdraw her motion concerning the code of conduct.

Councillor BA Baker requested that his motion concerning verge parking be deferred to a later meeting date.

Council considered a motion concerning the introduction of video casting of council meetings.

In moving the motion Councillor AJW Powers made the following points:

·         The introduction of video-casting would be in accordance with the openness principle contained within the councils PEOPLE ethos;

·         The introduction of audio-casting was welcomed but in order to be fully visible and accountable to the public video-casting was required;

·         The general public were not well treated when they attended public meetings and were sat in a confined space at a distance from the meeting taking place;

·         Up to 111 local authorities across the UK were using video-casting and all Hereford’s neighbouring authorities, except Shropshire, used the facility;

·         Video was a method many people now used to access information; and

·         The cost could be assumed to be £40k-£50k per year and an additional capital start-up cost which would represent value for money.

In seconding the motion Councillor FM Norman made the following points:

·         The proposal would maximise openness at the council and ensure that all would have access to information;

·         Members would become accustomed to the new facility very quickly;

·         Video-casting would increase the democratic accountability of the Council.

The following principal points were raised by members in the debate:

·         Meetings were open to the public;

·         It was the contention of some members that the cost would not represent good value for money particularly if it could be spent on social workers instead. Other members felt that cost would be minimal and the investment worthwhile;

·         There had been a trial of video-casting at a planning committee meeting which had been a success;

·         It was not felt that the Shire Hall was an ideal venue for a webcasting facility;

·         The motion asked for the executive to consider the facility which was a reasonable request;

·         It was requested that the wording in paragraph (a) of the motion was changed to “to consider again the merits…” in place of the term “re-consider”. The change was acceptable to the proposer of the motion.

The motion was put to the vote and was carried.

Resolved – that:

Recognising that, following It’s Our County’s proposal and after a nine month trial period, this council has recently decided to audio-cast public meetings and to adopt these recordings as audio minutes; and knowing that almost all our neighbouring authorities (Gloucestershire, Monmouthshire Powys and Worcestershire), and many others already routinely video-cat their meeting – an option originally rejected by this council on cost grounds.

That, to align this council with best practice elsewhere, the executive is asked:

a)            to consider again the merits of ‘up-grading’ from audio to live on-line video streaming so that the public meetings of Herefordshire Council and its elected members would be publically open and visible to those unable to attend, and that the recordings should be archived and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 59.

The next meeting of the full Council is the annual meeting which takes place on 25 May 2018 at 10.30 a.m.

To agree the schedule of forthcoming full Council meeting dates as set out below:

13 July 2018

12 October 2018

1 February 2019

8 March 2019

24 May 2019

Council considered and agreed the following dates for meetings of the full Council in the 2018/19 municipal year:

·         13 July 2018

·         12 October 2018

·         1 February 2019

·         8 March 2019

·         24 May 2019