Councillor the Reverend Prebendary Carl Attwood led the Council in prayers.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors MJK Cooper, PGH Cutter, DW Greenow, RI Matthews, RL Mayo, PM Morgan, GR Swinford, GA Vaughan-Powell and PJ Watts.

Councillors RJ Phillips and DB Wilcox declared non-pecuniary interests in Agenda item 9, the Youth Justice Plan; the former as a Justice of the Peace and member of the Youth Justice Panel, the latter as a Youth Magistrate.  Councillors J Hardwick and Brigadier P Jones CBE declared non-pecuniary interests in Agenda Item 7, Notices of Motion under Standing Orders; the former as his brother was a retained fire-fighter in Fownhope, the latter as the Council representative on the Hereford and Worcester Fire Authority.

.

To approve and sign the Minutes of the extraordinary meeting and the ordinary meeting held on 19 July 2013.

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the Ordinary and the Extraordinary meetings of Council held on 19 July 2013 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.  

In the Chairman’s announcements the Chairman:

·         Introduced Sir John Foley and Air Vice Marshal Mike Smart, who provided Council with a presentation  on the Honours system in the County on behalf of the Lord Lieutenancy of Herefordshire.  Councillors had a key role in putting forward deserving members of the public through their understanding of the people in their wards;

·         Following the resignations of Councillor A Hempton-Smith and Councillor RB Hamilton the Chairman thanked the two former members for their contribution as ward councillors, and for the considerable work undertaken by Councillor Hamilton as Cabinet Member, Environment, Housing and Planning.  The Tupsley by election would be held on 7 November, and the Pontrilas by election would be held on 21 November.

·         Informed Council that a service to commemorate the 60^th anniversary of the Korean War Ceasefire was held at St Peter’s Church on 4 August and was attended by many Korean veterans, military and councillors;

·         Informed Council that the construction of the County’s new archive and records centre at Rotherwas had begun;

·         Informed Council that this was the 6^th year of the Pride of Herefordshire Awards;

·         Informed Council that the Herefordshire Diamond County Award would be held again in 2014, and a pre launch will take place towards the end of the year;

·         Informed Council that Pembridge had won a Gold award representing the West Midlands in the national “Britain in Bloom” awards;

·         Thanked Councillor Nenadich for commencing the fund raising for the Chairman’s appeal for St Michael’s Hospice by organising a Caribbean Lunch which raised over £4,000. 

·         Informed Council that a petition had been received from Councillor J Stone on behalf of the Wigmore catchment area, from parents in Brimfield and Little Hereford regarding school transport charges and would be received by Councillor Millar (Cabinet Member – Children’s Wellbeing).

A copy of the Public Questions and written answers is attached to the Minutes at Appendix 1.  There were no supplementary questions asked.

There is one Notice of Motion for consideration by Council.

NOTICE OF MOTION

Proposed by Councillor MD Lloyd-Hayes and seconded by Councillor RI Matthews.

Potential Combination of the Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service and Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service/Resource at Hereford Fire Station

On 3 October 2013 the Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority considered a report that sought approval for the Chief Fire Officer to progress discussions with Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service regarding future options for combination. The Authority resolved that the matter be deferred until the next meeting of the Fire and Rescue Authority.

This motion proposes that this Council does not support a merger of the Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service with Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service.  A combined organisation would stretch from the Welsh Borders to Northamptonshire, resulting in Herefordshire having even less influence than it does at present – an unwelcome democratic deficit.

This Council therefore resolves to inform Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority that, whilst we would welcome closer collaboration with any neighbouring Fire and Rescue Service, we totally oppose any merger because of the obvious deleterious impact on the people we represent.

Also on 3 October 2013 the Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority agreed that the draft Community Risk Management Plan 2014-2020 be approved for consultation.

This motion proposes that this Council does not support the proposed reduction of staff or vehicles at the Hereford Fire Station for the following reasons: Hereford City is the only 24 hour station in the County; as a standalone station it is isolated from any other 24 hour support.  Herefordshire covers an area larger than Worcestershire but relies on part time or retained fire fighters.

Worcester Fire Station, however, is supported by Kidderminster, Redditch, Bromsgrove whole time cover with additional back up from Droitwich, Evesham and Malvern. 

Herefordshire is further disadvantaged by the poor road infrastructure and lack of motorways.  Any reduction in personnel would seriously affect the response times to the life threatening road traffic accidents and call outs to flooding incidents in this County. 

This Council therefore resolves to inform Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority that it opposes the reduction in staff, pumps or equipment at Hereford Fire Station.

(Councillors J Hardwick and Brig P Jones CBE declared an interest)

Potential Combination of the Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service and Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service/Resource at Hereford Fire Station

In accordance with paragraph 4.16.17 of the Constitution, the Notice of Motion, moved by Councillor MD Lloyd-Hayes and seconded by Councillor WLS Bowen was amended as follows:

‘This Authority is concerned by proposals currently under consultation regarding a merger of the Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service with Warwickshire FRA. Such a combined Authority stretching from the Welsh Borders to Northamptonshire, may result in Herefordshire having even less influence than it does at present – an unwelcome democratic deficit.

This Authority whilst welcoming closer collaboration with any neighbouring Fire and Rescue Authority would require assurance that any merger would not have a deleterious impact on the people we represent.

In addition, this Authority has concerns about a proposed reduction of staff or vehicles at the Hereford Fire Station for the following reasons: Hereford City is the only 24 hour station in the County; as a standalone station it is isolated from any other 24 hour support.  Herefordshire covers an area larger than Worcestershire but relies on part time or retained fire fighters.

Worcester Fire Station, however, is supported by Kidderminster, Redditch, Bromsgrove whole time cover with additional back up from Droitwich, Evesham and Malvern. 

Herefordshire is further disadvantaged by the current road infrastructure and lack of motorways.  Any reduction in personnel could seriously affect the response times to the life threatening road traffic accidents and call outs to flooding incidents in this County: therefore this Authority whilst understanding the financial pressures facing all public bodies at this time would not support a reduction in staff, pumps or equipment at Hereford Fire Station without significant assurance of how service levels will be maintained in the county.

In order to inform the development of the  response to this consultation which closes on 10 January, this Council resolves to request that the General Overview & Scrutiny Committee consider the impacts of the proposals to inform the response that Full Council will submit’.

Councillor MD Lloyd Hayes addressed Council and made the following points:

·         That whilst the issues were addressed in the Hereford and Worcester Fire Authority’s Community Risk Management Plan, this was a complex document to digest within the allotted 12 week consultation period.

·         That forced austerity cuts were taking their toll and the Fire and Rescue Service, an already lean organisation, was being asked to make savings of £4.7m over the next 2 years.  These cuts would inevitably have an impact on front line services.

·         That the Fire Authority was a statutory body with a core function of responding to fires.  Since the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, fire fighters were required to respond to emergencies, road traffic accidents, chemical spills and increasingly to flooding as a result of unpredictable weather. Civil unrest and terrorism threats required specific training for the incident response unit vehicle crews, together with training  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor AW Johnson, presented his report.

In the ensuing discussion, the following points were made:

·         That the HM Treasury were concerned about the funding model for the Waste Management contract for the scheme with Worcestershire County Council, and it would be reviewed, together with alternative options

·         There was no viable option to use the site at Rotherwas, as the Council did not own the site and there was no secured funding in place

·         That there was no basis to the rumour that Blue School Street would be reduced to one lane before the new City Link Road was operational;

·         In reply to a Member’s comment that she had requested that the format of the Leader's report should be reviewed, the Leader said that he was not prepared to give assurances about the length of a report, but there would be fortnightly meetings with Group Leaders to disseminate information within the Executive Rolling Programme.

·         That whilst it was appreciated that there were concerns regarding the proposals for changes to school transport, it had to be realised that the level of cuts that it would be necessary to make would affect all within the County and transport would continue to be provided for pupils to their nearest school..

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

To approve the Youth Justice Plan as recommended by Cabinet on 25 July 2013.

(Councillors RJ Phillips and DB Wilcox declared an interest)

Council received a report on the Youth Justice Plan which was prepared on an annual basis on behalf of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and Worcestershire County Councils. The West Mercia Youth Offending Service were tasked with setting out the basic plan which laid out how youth justice services across West Mercia were structured and identified key actions to address risks to service delivery and improvement.

RESOLVED: That the Youth Justice Plan as prepared be approved. 

To designate the post of Chief Finance Officer as the authority’s Section 151 officer.

A report to designate the post of Chief Officer Finance as the Authority’s Section 151 Officer was received.

RESOLVED

THAT:

(a)           the person holding the post of Chief Officer Finance be designated as Section 151 Officer for Herefordshire Council; and

(b)           the Monitoring Officer be authorised to make any consequential amendments to the Constitution as necessary.

To consider the following appointments where vacancies have arisen:

(a)       Vice-Chairman of the Audit and Governance Committee; and

(b)          Vice-Chairman of the Health and Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Council considered the appointments, where vacancies had arisen, for the roles of Vice Chairman of the Audit and Governance Committee and Vice Chairman of the Health and Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

RESOLVED: 

THAT:

(a)       Councillor NP Nenadich be appointed as Vice Chairman of the Audit and Governance Committee; and

(b)       Councillor WLS Bowen be appointed as Vice Chairman of the Health and Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

To inform the council about the matters within the responsibility of the monitoring officer and the council’s performance for 2012-2013 with regard to the complaints under the standards framework.

Council received the Monitoring Officer’s Annual Report 2012/13.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted. 

To receive a supplementary annual report of the Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority.

Councillor Brig. P Jones presented a supplementary Annual Report of the Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority.

RESOLVED:  That the report be received.

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

The following meetings of Council are scheduled:

Friday 13 December 2013 (10 am)

Friday 7 February 2013 (10 am)

Friday 7 March 2013 (10 am)

Friday 23 May 2013 (10 am)

RESOLVED: That the meeting of Council scheduled for 13 December 2013 be cancelled and a meeting held instead at 10.00 am on Friday, 17 January, 2014.