Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence submitted on behalf of Councillors Dominik Allen, Noordad Aziz, Melissa Fisher, June Harrison, Susan Hayes, Eamonn Higgins, Abdul Khan, Caroline Montague, Dave Parkins, Paddy Short and Kate Walsh.

There were no declarations of interest or dispensations notified.

a)  Mayor

b)  Leader of the Council

c) Chief Executive

The Mayor made the following announcements:

1)         Engagements

The Mayor provided a summary of recent engagements that she had attended.  These events had either raised money for good causes or recognised the efforts of individuals and groups within the local community.  The Mayor was proud to have been able to lend her support to those celebrations.

2)         Annual Mayor’s Ball

Last Friday the Civic Calendar had reached a crescendo, with the staging of the Mayor’s Annual Ball.  The event had been well attended with VIPs and local citizens alike coming together for a night of great food and entertainment.

The event had also raised money the Mayor’s four chosen charities:

·         RNLI;

·         Pioneer Swimming Club;

·         Rosemere Cancer Foundation; and

·         Community Solutions North West.

The Mayor thanked those who had attended the event, as well as the hard-working members of her Charity Committee, who had organised the evening to perfection.

3)         Resignation of Councillor Chris Knight

The Mayor remarked that earlier in the week, Councillor Chris Knight had submitted his resignation from the Council, due to family and work constraints.

Chris had been elected to the Council in 2019, serving the St Oswald’s ward, and in a short space of time had distinguished himself, particularly with his work as Chair of the Audit Committee.

The Mayor called upon those present to join her in wishing Chris all the very best for the future.

4)         Elections 2022

Members were reminded that this was the final Council meeting before the local government elections on 5^th May 2022.  The Mayor noted that Councillors Diane Fielding, Jenny Molineux, Dave Parkins and Bernadette Parkinson had already announced that they did not intend to seek re-election in May.  Collectively these councillors had given a total of 48 years of service to the Council.  The Mayor commented that their experience would be greatly missed.

On behalf of the Council, the Mayor thanked all of the retiring councillors for their service and wished them every happiness for the future.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Miles Parkinson OBE, made the following announcements:

5)         Resignation from the Labour Party

The Leader announced that after 11 years as Leader of the Labour Group and of Hyndburn Borough Council he would be tendering his resignation from the Labour Party immediately after the Council meeting.  He would then register as an independent councillor.

Councillor M Parkinson reported that this had not been an easy decision, particularly in the light of his long-standing membership of the Labour Party and trades unions.  He expressed a view that the Hyndburn Labour Party was being misdirected by certain individuals behind the scenes.

The Leader reflected on the many good friends he had made during his tenure.  He considered that teamwork been a key feature of his leadership style and, in particular he thanked his Cabinet colleagues and councillors from all parties for their support.  He also thanked the MP for working closely with the Council on its plans for the future and the staff for their on-going  ...  view the full minutes text for item 320.

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meetings held on 3^rd February (Special Meeting) and 24^th February 2022 (Budget Meeting)  (attached).

The minutes of the Council meetings held on 3^rd February (Special Meeting) and 24^th February 2022 (Budget Meeting) were submitted for approval as correct records.

Resolved                                    -    That the Minutes of the Council meetings held on 3^rd and 24^th February 2022 be approved as correct records.

To deal with any questions submitted under Council Procedure Rule A2.2(vi).

·         One question has been received in connection with taxi provision in Hyndburn (report attached).

One question had been submitted under Council Procedure 2.2(vi), to the Leader of the Council, by a member of the public, Mr Nick Whittaker.  The question concerned taxi provision in Hyndburn.  The Mayor read out the question, the details of which were as follows:

“How many independent taxi firms are there in Hyndburn?

Who are they owned by?

I ask these questions because yet again on a Friday evening (25th Feb 2022) I order a taxi from my house into Accrington to socialize.  To be told by the taxi firm “your taxi is on its way”

I waited 30 minutes with no taxi arrival.

I contacted the Max taxi office to speak to an operator who reported that the firm was busy but, in my view, aspects of the response received were not particularly customer focused.

People are getting fed up of unacceptable service levels and a lack of provision and availability of taxis. I have many employees who use taxis to get to work and have the same issues daily with not being able to obtain a taxi when they need one. I am concerned that there seems to be a very limited number of licensed operators in the town.

Please can this be addressed at the top level and let myself and the residents of Hyndburn know that there is a fair taxi service and competition in Hyndburn.

The residents of Hyndburn are fed up of the sub-standard service of taxis in Hyndburn and this needs addressing. Is this fair that a limited number of operators can have a stranglehold on provision within the Borough?”

Councillor Joyce Plummer, Portfolio Holder for Resources, provided a verbal response, which included the following information.

The Portfolio Holder had already written to the enquirer at the time of receipt of the original letter, along the following lines.  There were 31 private hire licences issues in Hyndburn, although some of these were to very small operators who focused on airport runs or school contracts.  There were also 59 hackney carriage licences issued in the Borough.

The firms operating in Hyndburn were owned by different people and a link to the public register of licences had been provided to the enquirer.

Any complaint about taxis lodged with Hyndburn’s Licensing Team would be investigated and appropriate action taken.

It was not true that there was only one taxi firm in Hyndburn – No a single firm had a monopoly.

Resolved                                    -    That the Council notes the question received and response provided in connection with taxis in Hyndburn.

Report attached.

Councillor Joyce Plummer, Portfolio Holder for Resources, provided a reportsetting out a draft Pay Policy for 2022/23.

The report indicated that the Localism Act 2011 (Chapter 8 - Pay Accountability) required all local authorities to set out its position on a range of issues relating to the remuneration of its employees.  The Policy had to be approved by the Council in open forum, by the end of March each year and then be published on its website.

The Pay Policy set out the existing approach to the remuneration of all posts within the Council.  In particular, it specified certain mandatory requirements that had to be detailed within the Policy, as follows:

• The pay structure of the Council and how it was set;
• Senior Management Remuneration, providing details of the pay grade for posts defined as Chief Officer and the accompanying allowances;
• The recruitment arrangements for a Chief Officer;
• The relationship between the salaries of Chief Officers and other employees;
• Details of the lowest paid posts within the Council;
• Employer’s Pension Contribution details; and
• Termination of employment payments.

The Council already published pay and remuneration details of its senior managers on its website, within the annual Statement of Accounts.

The purpose of the Pay Policy was to ensure there was transparency as to how pay and remuneration was set by the Council, for all of its employees and particularly for its most senior level posts.

There had not yet been any agreement on the national pay award for April 2022, so the policy contained the 2021 pay rates.

Resolved                                    -    That Council approves the Pay Policy 2022/23.

Report attached.

Note:   Due to the large file sizes of maps and to ensure reasonable download speeds, the Local Plan Area Maps and Open Space Maps are presented in low resolution.  High resolution versions can be supplied on request by contacting the Democratic Services Team (see agenda cover for details).

Members considered a report of Councillor Miles Parkinson OBE, Leader of the Council, on the Hyndburn Local Plan (Strategic Policies and Site Allocations) – Regulation 19 Consultation.

The Local Plan was the long-term development framework for the area.  It had a key role to play in:

• meeting the full needs of communities for housing, employment and service provision;
• delivering new development in a sustainable way; and
• helping to contribute to wider policy ambitions at the regional and national scales.

Work had reached an advanced stage in the preparation of the new Local Plan for Hyndburn.  The next step was the publication of the Local Plan (Strategic Policies and Site Allocations – henceforth referred to as the “Local Plan”) for public consultation at Regulation 19 stage of the plan making process.  Once adopted, these documents would replace the final saved elements of the 1996 Local Plan and the 2012 Core Strategy.  A similar report on this matter had presented to Cabinet on the 16^th March 2022 and the report to Council now sought approval from all Members for the authority to take the Local Plan out to public consultation.

This report explained the context and content of the consultation documents that were proposed to be the subject of a public consultation exercise, due to be commenced in May 2022.  The version of the Local Plan being consulted on would represent the settled view of the Council on what the Plan should contain (under Regulation 19 of the Town Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012).  This was also known as the “Pre-submission” Plan as, after the consultation concludes, it would be the version which was submitted to an Inspector for Examination in Public.

The main report set out the full reasons for the proposals and included detailed information on the following:-

• Purpose of the Local Plan;
• Key documents;
• Reasons for review;
• Timetable and progress to date;
• Summary of Local Plan contents; and
• Consultation details.

The Leader commented that the process for developing the new Plan had been on-going for some time, but was still around 2 years from completion.  The last version had been published in 1996.  Ward councillors had already been involved in the site allocations process.  In general, housing would be focused on Huncoat Garden Village, with some other development in Rishton.  Employment sites would been centred on Altham and Whitebirk.

The final document would be the Council’s key strategy until 2037 for the provision of a diverse housing stock and employment land.  The Borough must grow to be economically sustainable and the Council aimed to bring in around £100m of investment through this approach.  The Council would also need to work closely with the MP.  Change was often difficult for some people to accept and there would always be some objections raised whatever was proposed.  Nevertheless, change remained an important step.

Resolved                                 (1)   That Council notes the work which has already taken place, including previous statutory public consultation, on the earlier stages of preparation of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 324.

Report attached.

Members considered a report of Councillor Miles Parkinson OBE, Leader of the Council, providing the Council with an update on the Parliamentary Boundary Review 2023, notifying Members of the initial proposals from the Boundary Commission for England (the Commission) concerning the Hyndburn constituency and seeking the Council’s support for the Commission’s initial recommendations after considering the responses to the first consultation.

The Leader gave a brief introduction to the report as follows.  Maintaining the status quo was not an option.  The Commission’s various proposals had been discussed at length.  Broadly there was support for the latest proposals across the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat political groups within Lancashire local authorities, although some disagreement remained over the proposed division of Whalley.  Various proposals had been discussed over time, which included differing options affecting both the Ribble Valley and Padiham.  However, as the current proposals for Lancashire would see only the Wyre and Preston North constituency abolished, there was a need to make all of the remaining pieces fit together.  Further attempts at rearrangement could potentially put other constituencies as risk.

Some respondents had put forward arguments for constituency boundaries based on the historical connections between certain areas, but the reality was the residents now lived in the digital age with less emphasis on traditional on geographical considerations.  Appropriate representation was the most important factor.  Historical connections could be made between Hyndburn and other many communities.  For example, in earlier times, both St James; Church, Altham and St James’ Church, Church Kirk, had links with Whalley Abbey.  Links with other urban areas had developed later as a result of the industrial revolution.

Members were reminded that earlier proposals by the Boundary Commission had sought to divide Hyndburn, across two new constituencies.   However, the current proposals retained Hyndburn within a single constituency.  There was general agreement for this model, notwithstanding the question about the Whalley wards.

The main report included the following information.  The Boundary Commission for England (the Commission) was an independent and impartial non?departmental public body, which was responsible for reviewing Parliamentary constituency boundaries in England.

On the 8^th June 2021 the Commission had published a report on their initial proposals to ensure that the number of electors in each constituency was more equal (electorate equality), which included a boundary change to the Hyndburn constituency and again proposed the name Hyndburn CC (County Constituency) which the Commission proposed in the final review back in 2018. 

The Commission’s latest proposals for the Hyndburn constituency included the loss of the Haslingden area to the West Pennine Moors constituency and the gain of three additional wards (Billington & Langho; East Whalley, Read & Simonstone; Whalley & Painter Wood) from the Ribble Valley constituency, whilst keeping Hyndburn coterminous with the district council’s boundary.

Following the passing of the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 2020 in December 2020, and the publication of the relevant Parliamentary electorate data in January 2021, the Commission had begun a new review of all Parliamentary constituencies in England.  They referred  ...  view the full minutes text for item 325.

To receive the Minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 12^th January and 9^th February 2022 (attached).

Rules of Debate

·         The Leader of the Council will move the Minutes, the Deputy Leader of the Council will second the Minutes.

·         Non-executive Members will be invited to make comment or ask questions on the Minutes (5 Minutes).

·         Cabinet Members will be invited to make comments and respond to any points raised (5 Minutes).

·         The Leader of the Council will be given up to 15 Minutes to respond and to answer any questions raised.

The minutes of the meetings of Cabinet held on 12^th January and 9^th February 2022 were submitted.

Councillor Britcliffe paid tribute to the work and achievements of Councillor Miles Parkinson OBE in leading the Cabinet, and as Leader of the Council.  He commented that this could be a difficult task at times, since the role involved dealing with numerous people and a wide range of personalities.  Councillor Britcliffe suggested that external forces had made the Leader’s position in the Labour Party untenable.  However, the residents of Hyndburn would continue to benefit from his legacy for years to come.  He wished him well for the future.

Councillors Patrick McGinley and Jenny Molineux also reflected upon the circumstances of the Leader’s resignation, and wished him well.  As this was her last Council meeting, Councillor Molineux also thanked the councillors and officers who had supported her throughout term of office and, in particular, Policy Officers Stuart Sambrook and Ben Caulfield.

Resolved                                    -    That the Minutes be received and noted.

To receive the Minutes of committees, as set out below:

Rules of Debate

·         The Leader of the Council will introduce the Minutes as a whole.

·         Any Member may raise any issue from the Minutes; the Chair of the relevant Committee may respond (5 Minutes).

·         The Leader of the Council will close the debate (5 Minutes).

The Minutes of the following meetings were submitted:

Resolved                                    -    That the Minutes be received and noted.

The Mayor remarked that this was her last full meeting in the Chair and that it had been a great pleasure and privilege to undertake the role.  She thanked everyone for their support and good intentions during her term of office.

The next meeting of the Council would be the Annual Meeting on 19^th May 2022, at which the Mayor was looking forward to welcoming Councillor Abdul Khan as the new Mayor for 2022/23.