Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were submitted from Councillors Clare Cleary, Melissa Fisher, Stephanie Haworth, Terry Hurn, Abdul Khan and Bernadette Parkinson.

There were no declarations of interest or dispensations.

1)            The late Douglas Deakin 

The Mayor paid tribute to former Councillor Douglas Deakin who had passed away in September.

Mr Deakin had been a Hyndburn Conservative Councillor representing the residents of Huncoat from 1979 to 1980, 1982 to 1986 and 1999 to 2001. His funeral was held on the 12^th October at Accrington Crematorium.

2)            The late Sheelagh Delaney

The Mayor also paid tribute to former Councillor Sheelagh Winifred Delaney who had died on the 7^th November.

She was a former Labour Councillor for the Immanuel Ward in Oswaldtwistle between 1990 and 1998. Her funeral would take place on the 16^th November at 3.00pm in Carlisle.

Councillors Jean Battle, Tony Dobson, Tim O’Kane, Dave Parkins and the Leader of the Council, Councillor Miles Parkinson also added tributes to both.

A minutes silence was held as a mark of respect for both former Councillors.

3)            Pakistan Trip

The Mayor reported on his recent trip with fellow Councillors to Pakistan and Kashmir. The delegation from Hyndburn had met with the High Commissioner and Federal Minister to promote the borough of Hyndburn overseas and visit the Mayor’s home village.

4)            Remembrance Weekend

The Leader of the Council placed on record his thanks to volunteers and Council Officers for the World War 1 centenary events that had taken place at the weekend.

The Accrington Pals Working Group had planned for the anniversary some years ago and it was fitting that the new square in Accrington town centre had been officially opened at the same time. The borough had received good news coverage in both the local and national media.

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the Council meeting held on the 20^th September 2018 (attached).

The Minutes of the Council meetings held on the 20^th September 2018 were submitted for approval as a correct record.

The Leader of the Council confirmed he had received a reply from Manchester Airport and would pass this onto the mover of the motion made at the meeting.

Resolved        -           That the Minutes of the Council meeting held on the 20^th

September 2018 be approved as a correct record.

To deal with any questions submitted under Council Procedure Rule 2.2(vi).

It was noted that no questions had been submitted under Council Procedure Rule 202 (vi)

Report attached.

A report was submitted, advising Council that a letter had been sent to the Department for Transport and the Secretary of State for Transport strongly urging them to extend the planned direct service from Leeds to Burnley Rose Grove through to Accrington.

The key Department for Transport report about the Skipton to Colne line was presented to Ministers in early November and it was important that Hyndburn Borough Council wrote to them prior to the finalisation of the report.

Resolved        -           That the decision be noted.

To receive the Minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on the 10^th October 2018 (attached).

Rules of Debate

·         The Leader of the Council will move he 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 comment 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 meeting of the Cabinet held on 10^th October 2018 were submitted.

The following issues were raised from the Minutes:

Cabinet Meeting, 10^th October 2018 - Minute 167, Council Tax and National Non Domestic Rates Collection and Recovery Policies - Councillor Sara Britcliffe commented on the need for a vibrant High Street and that the former Co-op store now called McColls on Union Road, Oswaldtwistle would be closing in February 2019. There was a need for the store which housed Oswaldtwistle’s Post Office and she had approached a national supermarket chain. Lancashire County Council’s library service had also been contacted in relation to the Post office operating inside the public library. Councillor Britcliffe called on both Cabinet and Council to support the need for a Post Office in Oswaldtwistle.

Response by Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Education, Leisure and Arts – Councillor Gareth Molineux reported that there was no exact figure available on how local authorities can obtain the percentage of rates and called on the Government to explain how much local authorities would receive in rates collections.

Cabinet Meeting, 10^th October 2018 - Minute 168, National Non Domestic Rates Mandatory, Discretionary and Hardship Relief Scheme– Councillor Tony Dobson asked if the information about the hardship relief fund could be promoted via the local media to highlight that local businesses could make a claim

Response by Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Resources – Councillor Joyce Plummer reported that she had wrote to the relevant Council departments and asked Officers how the hardship fund can be advertised.

Resolved        -           That the Minutes be received and noted.

To receive the Minutes of Committees and Sub-Committees, as set out below:-

Rules of Debate

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

·         Any Member may raise any issue form 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:

COMMITTEE                                                                                     DATE

Judicial Committee (Private Hire & Hackney Carriage Licensing)    5^th September 2018

Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee                                 11^th September 2018

Planning Committee                                                                           12^th September 2018

Judicial Committee (Private Hire & Hackney Carriage Licensing)    1^st October 2018

Communities & Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee         5^th October 2018

Planning Committee                                                                           10^th October 2018

Standards Committee                                                                         16^th October 2018

Judicial Committee (Private Hire & Hackney Carriage Licensing)    30^th October 2018

Management Review Committee                                                      31^st October 2018

The following issues were raised from the minutes:

Planning Committee, 12^th September 2018 - Minute 127, Town & Country Planning Act 1990- Planning Applications for Determination– Councillor Judith Addison commented on Section 106 legal agreements and that as a planning committee member they were not aware of the full details when voting on planning applications. Reference was made to finance from S106 payments being allocated to the Parks Department for match funding projects and ward Councillors having no say where the S106 money should be allocated. Councillor Paul Cox commented that the Parks and Open Spaces budget had been greatly reduced in recent years and funding was harder to obtain to aid with improvements.

Management Review Committee, 31^st October 2018 - Minute 194, Changes to Senior Management Structure Councillor Tony Dobson referred to the new management structure and town centre responsibility. He commented that the Remembrance Sunday event in the town centre during the evening was well run with the town looking clean and tidy and congratulated the controlling group. Councillor Paul Cox also thanked the street cleansing teams for all their hard work over the weekend.

Resolved        -           That the Minutes be received and noted.

To consider any Motions for debate in accordance with Council Procedure Rule A9.

The following motion was moved by the Leader of the Council and seconded by Councillor Paul Cox under Council Procedure Rule A9:-

“That this Council notes that many council budgets are now at breaking point. Austerity has caused huge damage to communities up and down the UK, with devastating effects on key public services that protect the most defenceless in society – children at risk, disabled adults and vulnerable older people – and the services we all rely on, like clean streets, libraries, and children’s centres;

•       Tory cuts mean councils have lost 60p out of every £1 that the last Labour Government was spending on local government in 2010;

•       Councils had to spend an extra £800m last year to meet the demand on vital services to protect children by over;

•       With an aging population and growing demand adult social care faces a gap of £3.5 billion – with only 14% of council workers now confident that vulnerable local residents are safe and cared for

•       Government cuts have seen over 500 children’s centres and 475 libraries close, potholes are left unfilled, and 80% of councils workers now say have no confidence in the future of local services

•       Northamptonshire has already gone bust due to Tory incompetence at both national and local level, and more councils are predicted to collapse without immediate emergency funding

•       Councils now face a further funding gap of £7.8 billion by 2025 just to keep services ‘standing still’ and meeting additional demand. Even Lord Gary Porter, the Conservative Chair of the Local Government Association, has said ‘Councils can no longer be expected to run our vital local services on a shoestring’

This Council condemns Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss for stating on BBC Newsnight on 1^st October 2018 that the government is ‘not making cuts to local authorities’, when all independent assessments of government spending show that this is entirely false; and that this Council further notes that Prime Minister Theresa May has also claimed that ‘austerity is over’ despite planning a further £1.3bn of cuts to council budgets over the next year;

This Council agrees with the aims of the ‘Breaking Point’ petition signed by labour councillors across the country, in calling forthe Prime Minister and Chancellor to truly end austerity in local government by”:

•       Using the Budget to reverse next years planned £1.3bn cut to council budgets;

•       Immediately investing £2bn in children’s services and £2bn in adult social care to stop these vital emergency services from collapsing;

•       Pledging to use the Spending Review to restore council funding to 2010 levels over the next four years

After a debate, the motion was put to the vote and declared carried.

Resolved                           (1)   That this Council supports the ‘Breaking Point’ campaign, recognising the devastating impact that austerity has had on our local community;

                                            (2)   That the Leader of the Council writes to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Prime Minister, and the Secretary of State for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 216.

The following motion was moved by Councillor Glen Harrison and seconded by Councillor Stewart Eaves under Council Procedure Rule A9:-

“That this Council will implement the modern day slavery charter, as modern day slavery is a scourge on our society, and together, we will end it, holding the Government on its implementation and enforcement of the Modern Slavery Act, and in particular, section 54 which requires businesses to publish a statement on modern slavery. Collectively, local authorities in England spend more than £40bn per year procuring goods and services our behalf. From car washes to cleaning and construction, councils do business with literally hundreds of different suppliers–both big and small. Many of those firms will have contractors and suppliers of their own too.

This motion moved that Hyndburn Borough Council will”;

• Train its corporate procurement team to understand modern slavery through the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply’s (CIPS) online course on Ethical Procurement and Supply.
• Require its contractors to comply fully with the Modern Slavery Act 2015, wherever it applies, with contract termination as a potential sanction for non-compliance.
• Challenge any abnormally low-cost tenders to ensure they do not rely upon the potential contractor practising modern slavery.
• Highlight to its suppliers that contracted workers are free to join a trade union and are not to be treated unfairly for belonging to one.
• Publicise its whistle-blowing system for staff to blow the whistle on any suspected examples of modern slavery.
• Require its tendered contractors to adopt a whistle-blowing policy which enables their staff to blow the whistle on any suspected examples of modern slavery.
• Review its contractual spending regularly to identify any potential issues with modern slavery.
• Highlight for its suppliers any risks identified concerning modern slavery and refer them to the relevant agencies to be addressed.
• Refer for investigation via the National Crime Agency’s national referral mechanism any of its contractors identified as a cause for concern regarding modern slavery.

• Report publicly on the implementation of this policy annually.

After a debate, the motion was put to the vote and declared carried.

Resolved                               -   That this Council will implement the modern day slavery charter.

The following motion was moved by Councillor Glen Harrison and seconded by Councillor Stewart Eaves under Council Procedure Rule A9:-

“That this Council notes that despite knowing Universal Credit causes serious problems for claimants, this Conservative government is pressing ahead and rolling it out to thousands of people who will have to wait to receive any money. Claimants are descending into debt, relying on food banks, getting into rent arrears and in many cases getting evicted from their homes because of in built problems with universal credit.

Universal credit replaces five benefits; child tax credit, housing benefit, income support, income based jobseekers allowance, income related employment and support allowance and working tax credit.

According to Citizens advice in Hyndburn they state that 33% of all cases are around benefits with 34% dealing with debt. In Hyndburn there is a significant increase in problems arising from Universal credit, people whom are experiencing financial difficulty can invariably lead to homelessness. Only 1% of people requiring support from citizen’s advice contacts them via email, with 73% contacting them face to face. 17% of UC claimants are still waiting more than 5 weeks to receive their full payment.

People not being paid on time are 23% more likely to get into debt Online claiming process is problematic, 25% of the people Citizens advice help take a week or more to complete the claim online

Complexity of managing online journal can lead to delays in payments, sanction and suspensions in payments especially for people who are disadvantaged. 2 out of 5 people find that providing evidence of housing costs is difficult. Advance payments are available but claimants can have difficulty managing their finances going forwards.”

After a debate, the motion was put to the vote and declared carried.

Resolved                               -   That this Council calls on the government to:

·         Abandon the long waits for claimants to receive money;

·         Allow people to apply for universal credits at the job centre, not just online;

·         Provide people with better help when the system fails them;

·         Pay landlords directly to stop people getting into rent arrears and losing their homes;

·         End benefit sanctions for in work and out of work claimants;

·         Stop payments going to one named person of a household;

·         Make work pay-universal credit takes 63p in every £1 people earn.

The following motion was moved by Councillor Noordad Aziz and seconded by Councillor Munsif Dad under Council Procedure Rule A9:-

“That this council resolves to write to the Department of Transport and Transport for the North to highlight to them the recent report by the National Infrastructure Commission that placed Accrington and Rossendale as 26th most congested place in the country and the first non-city in the list.

This council has been at the forefront for calling infrastructure investment in East Lancashire through a rail and road Infrastructure programme. The lack of infrastructure investment is having a detrimental impact on the area as this report highlights and reinforces the message transport connectivity is key in driving economic growth and area regeneration.

We, the council, reinforce our messages that the following infrastructure projects be given serious consideration”:

1. The re-establishment of the Skipton to Colne Rail Line.

2. The expansion of the M65 to linking into Yorkshire and to the A1 (M) including a link to Leeds Bradford Airport.

3. The upgrade of the A56 from the M65 to the M66 into full motorway with upgrade capacity of 3 lanes.

After a debate, the motion was put to the vote and declared carried.

Resolved                               -   That this council resolves to write to the Department of Transport and Transport for the North to highlight to them the recent report by the National Infrastructure Commission. It placed Accrington and Rossendale as 26th most congested place in the country and the first non-city in the list and reinforce the message about infrastructure projects listed in the motion to be given serious consideration.

The following motion was moved by Councillor Noordad Aziz and seconded by Councillor Munsif Dad under Council Procedure Rule A9:-

“That this council resolves to write to the Department of Transport and Blackpool Airport in support of Blackpool Airport recommencement as a commercial airport and operating passenger flights, intercity hoppers to European destinations as well as for freight. This should be considered as a way of making the airport viable.

This council has been at the forefront for calling infrastructure investment in East Lancashire through a rail and road Infrastructure programme and this now needs to encompass air transport for Lancashire.

The lack of infrastructure investment is having a detrimental impact on the area and we need additional ways of improving transport connectivity as this is key in driving economic growth and area regeneration.”

After a debate, the motion was put to the vote and declared carried.

Resolved                               -   That this council resolves to write to the Department of Transport and Blackpool Airport in support of Blackpool Airport recommencement as a commercial airport operating passenger and freight flights.