In the absence of the Dean of Hereford, the Very Reverend Peter Haynes led the Council in prayer.

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors Mrs. E.M. Bew, J.G.S. Guthrie, Ms G.A. Powell, R. Preece, P.G. Turpin, W.J. Walling and A.L. Williams.

To receive any declarations of interest by Members in respect of items on this Agenda.

The following declarations of interest were made:

Councillor Mrs. M.D. Lloyd-Hayes declared a personal interest in Agenda Item 8 - Report of Cabinet in relation to paragraph 27 on page 38 of the agenda.  

Councillor R.J. Phillips declared a personal interest in Agenda Item 8 - Report of Cabinet, paragraph 7.1(iii) Local Government Pension Scheme - Response to Consultation.

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 9th February, 2007.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 9th February, 2007 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive the Chairman's announcements and petitions from members of the public.

The Chairman reminded Council that the Civic Service was to be held at Bridstow Church on Sunday, 11th March, at 3.30 pm and that refreshments would be served after the service.

He advised that it had not been possible to fly the flag on the Shirehall, as was the usual custom for Council meetings, because of a problem with the halyard.  It was expected that the fault would be rectified shortly.

The Chairman advised that Councillor H. Bramer had presented him with a petition protesting about the withdrawal of Stagecoach Service 33 between Ross-on-Wye and Gloucester.  He passed the petition to Councillor D.B. Wilcox, Cabinet Member (Highways and Transportation) for attention.

To receive questions from members of the public.

Under the Constitution a member of the public can ask a Cabinet Member or Chairman of a Committee any question relevant to a matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties, or which affects the County, as long as a copy of the question is deposited with the Head of Legal and Democratic Services more than six clear working days before the meeting.  One question had been received from Mr C. Grover of Bromyard and was included in the agenda.  The question, which was amended to remove reference to an individual Councillor, together with a summary of the response, is set out below:

"Hereford Council owns Bromyard Downs and their management is formally delegated to the Commons Management Committee through Brockhampton Group Parish Council.  The Committee consists of 12 members, eight of whom are appointed by the Parish Council from their own members and four are commoners elected annually by other commoners at the Annual Meeting of Commoners held in April.  In the two previous years requests have been made to the Clerk in good time to publish the electoral procedure for this annual election and provide a copy of  the List of Commoners.   No list of commoners is available for candidates, no proxy votes are allowed for the election and only commoners present at the meeting can vote.  As this is an election to a public body responsible for the management of Hereford Council property, will the Council confirm at the next meeting in April 2007 -

1.                  that normal electoral procedures should prevail since there is no published or approved Management Committee or Parish Council constitution rules to suggest otherwise.

2.                  in the interests of local democracy proxy votes are permitted.

3.                  the list of 90 or so commoners is made available to candidates on request

4.                  the Commoners Annual General Meeting is a public meeting."

Councillor R.V. Stockton, the Cabinet Member (Community Services) stated that the introduction to the question was a broadly accurate statement of the factual position.  He said that the Agreement, dated 22nd May, 1991, between the Council and Brockhampton Group Parish Council was the operating document which determined responsibility for, not only the management of the Bromyard Downs, but also the delegation of the function to the Parish Council.  He said Mr Grover would be aware that a review had started which would consider carefully whether the present system should be maintained, with or without amendment.  He said that under the existing arrangements it was a matter for the Parish Council to carry out appropriate electoral functions rather than the Council.  It followed that electoral arrangements were also a matter for the Parish Council.

He went on to say that the list of commoners is a public document and should be available to any member of the public or the commoners and that the Council is willing to disclose such documents as it hold in relation to the Downs.  He advised that the current management agreement is silent on elections  ...  view the full minutes text for item 80.

To consider any Notices of Motion.

There were no Notices of Motion.

To receive the report and to consider any recommendations to Council arising from the meetings held on 8th and 22nd February, 2007.

Before calling on the Leader of the Council, to present the report of Cabinet, the Chairman advised that the Revenue Budget and Council Tax for 2007/08 would be debated at pages 27 and 28 of the agenda.  He asked any Members wishing to move an amendment to the proposed Council Tax and Budget, to do so once the Leader had proposed the recommendations. 

He advised that, once the Council had agreed the whole of the Cabinet report, it would move to item 9 of the agenda to set the Council Tax and Revenue Budget for 2006/07, formally, in accordance with the legislation.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor R.J. Phillips, presented the report of the meetings of Cabinet held on 8th and 22nd February, 2007.

In relation to Item 1.1 - Revenue Budget and Capital Programme 2007/08 - the Leader spoke of the many challenges facing the Council in terms of existing demands and future expectations in relation to service delivery and warned of the effect that the forthcoming report by Sir Michael Lyons would have on all local councils, but especially rural authorities such as Herefordshire.  He said that the Review of Comprehensive Spending would lead to further pressures on Council funding and Herefordshire would be particularly affected by rising costs in services such as social care and waste management.

He reminded Council that Herefordshire's funding from central government was 20% below the national average and that its schools were the third poorest funded in the Country.  He spoke of Herefordshire's need to maintain a three year medium term financial plan to deal with the funding pressures and that a draft plan, published in July and November 2006, had had the full backing of all the political groups on the Council and that the trade unions had been involved in the consultation.

He said that Herefordshire's situation was different to neighbouring authorities who were proposing significant cuts in front line services.  Instead, Herefordshire was planning to introduce its Herefordshire Connects programme which was expected to produce efficiency savings of £11.5 million over the next few years.  The project would be funded from reserves which had been built up over the past few years. 

He stated that the total budget for 2007/08 was approximately £122 million not including the schools budget which amounted to some £81 million.  He said that it was proposed to make £4 million in efficiency savings which would be used to fund social care for children, the elderly and those with learning disabilities.

The Capital Programme Budget, of approximately £64 million would be used for a range of projects from new schools and libraries to the upgrade of the crematorium as well as the current projects which included the Rotherwas Futures scheme, regeneration of the Edgar Street Grid and the Ross Flood scheme.

He said that the proposed Council Tax increase, at 3.8%, was the lowest in the Council's history.  He confirmed that the Fire Service and the Police had already agreed rises of 4.94%, and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 82.

To set the Council Tax amounts for each category of dwelling in Herefordshire for 2007/08 and to calculate the Council's budget requirements.

Following the resolution at Minute 82 above, it was unanimously formally RESOLVED:  THAT

(1)            In respect of the Council’s 2007/08 Budget:

(a)               a council tax of £1,083.46 be levied (at Band D);

(b)               service areas contain expenditure within “cash limits” i.e. outturn budgets with no further allowance for pay or price inflation beyond that already provided; and

(2)   in respect of council tax for 2007/08 that the following amounts be approved by the Council for the year 2007/08 in accordance with Sections 32 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992:

(a)     £311,899,880 being the estimated aggregate expenditure of the Council in accordance with Section 32(2)(a) to (e) of the Act;

(b)     £187,472,000 being the estimated aggregate income of the Council for the items set out in Section 32(3)(a) to (c) of the Act;

(c)     £124,427,880 being the amount by which the aggregate at (a) above exceeds the aggregate at (b) calculated by the Council in accordance with Section 32(4) of the Act, as its total net budget requirement for the year;

(d)     £47,904,366 being the aggregate of the sums which the Council estimated will be payable for the year into its general fund in respect of redistributed non-domestic rates, revenue support grant, additional grant or relevant special grant, increased by the transfer from the Collection Fund;

(e)     £1,113.39 being the amount at (c) above less the amount at (d) above all divided by the amount of the Council Tax base calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 33(1) of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year;

(f)     £2,056,880 being the aggregate amount of all special items referred to in Section 34(1) of the Act;

(g)     £1,083.46 being the amount at (e) above less the result given by dividing the amount at (f) above by the amount of the Council Tax base calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 34(2) of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which no special item relates;

(h)               that the precepting authority details incorporated in Annex 1 (i-v), relating to Special Items, West Mercia Police and Hereford and Worcester Combined Fire Authority be approved in accordance with Sections 30(2), 34(3), 36(1) and Section 40 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.

(3)               Pursuant to the requirements of the Local Government (Functions and Responsibility) (England) Regulations 2000, any decisions on the application of reserves and balances as required from time to time during the financial year be taken by Cabinet.

To receive the report of the meeting of the West Mercia Police Authority held on 13th February, 2007  Councillor B. Hunt has been nominated for the purpose of answering questions on the discharge of the functions of the Police Authority.

In presenting the report of the West Mercia Police Authority held on 13th February, 2007 Councillor B. Hunt drew particular attention to the Police Authority's precept for 2007/08, an increase of 4.94% on the previous year's Council Tax.  He reminded Council that the West Mercia Constabulary continued to be one of the best performing forces in England And Wales despite receiving one of the lowest government grants.  He also pointed out that accommodation was to be provided for Community Support Officers at Bromyard Police Station.

Councillor Hunt received a number of questions and responses were given as follows:

Arrangements for covering Community Support Officers on long term sick leave - he advised that long term sickness levels among Community Support Officers in Herefordshire was in line with the national average.  He said every effort was made to rearrange shift patterns to cover any absences.

Police Station opening hours - He advised that studies had shown that the number of people wishing to visit police stations after 6.00 pm was extremely low and that most enquiries were made by phone.  He also said that less than 10% of police stations nationally opened after 6.00 pm.

Police Choir - Councillor Hunt thanked Councillor R.I. Mathews for his kind comments about the Police Choir which had recently celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Community Safety Officers - compliments - Councillor Hunt agreed that bad news received more attention than good news, but that the authority was working on ways of spreading good news.

Scrutiny of Policing - In response to a query from Councillor W.J.S. Thomas, Chairman of Health Scrutiny, Councillor A.C.R. Chappell, Chairman of the Community Services Scrutiny Committee advised that Chief Superintendent Mark Turner was due to attend his Committee on 26th March to answer pertinent questions and invited Councillor Hunt to attend the meeting.  Prior to that the Committee would be attending a tour of the Police Station.  In response to a request that some of the additional money raised from the increase in Council Tax be used to operate the CCTV system he advised that a scrutiny review of the CCTV system was ongoing.  Councillor Hunt said he would also continue to lobby for additional police spending on the CCTV system.

Councillor T.M. James returned to a question he had asked at the previous Council meeting about the provision of lollipops in pubs over the Christmas and New Year period, asking how much this had cost and how it had been agreed, saying it would be better to spend the money on an additional Community Support Officer.  Councillor Hunt did not have the figures to hand but advised that studies had shown that people were less likely to commit an assault while sucking or holding a lollipop.

RESOLVED:That the report of the meeting of the West Mercia Police Authority held on 13th February, 2007 be received.

To receive the report of the meetings of the Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority held on 15th February, 2007.

In presenting the report of the meeting of the Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority which was held on 15th February, 2007, Councillor G.W. Davies advised that the Authority had been awarded four stars in its Corporate Performance Assessment and was judged to be progressing strongly.  As a result, the Authority was currently ranked in the top four or five in the country.

In response to a query he advised that an Equality and Diversity Officer had been employed rather than using a uniformed Fire Officer to undertake this role.

He agreed to obtain a breakdown of the number of road traffic accidents attended compared to fire and rescue incidents.

Councillor D.W. Rule, MBE Cabinet Member (Children and Young People) paid tribute to the retained firefighters in the County but expressed concern that employers were increasingly unwilling to release employees to undertake these duties.  He urged to Council to do more to highlight this very important work.

RESOLVED:That the report of the meeting of the Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority which was held on 15th February, 2007 be received.