Minutes for Council meeting, Mar 26 2009, 6.30PM official page

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Brennan, Byrne, Colbert, Larkin, McGuire, Porter, B. Rimmer, Robertson and Tonkiss.

Members and Officers are requested to give notice of any personal or prejudicial interest and the nature of that interest, relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the relevant Code of Conduct.

No declarations of interest were made.

Minutes of the meeting held on 26 February 2009

That the Minutes of the Council Meeting held on 26 February 2009 be confirmed as a correct record.

Mr. Stan Mercer

The Mayor reported with great sadness that Mr. Stan Mercer - Mayor Attendant, had been recently diagnosed with the later stages of Leukaemia.  The thoughts of the Council were extended to Stan, his wife Sharon and their family.

Mayoral Ball

The Mayor reported that the Mayor of Sefton’s Charity Ball held in the Royal Clifton Hotel in Southport on 13 March 2009 had been a resounding success and in excess of £4000 was made towards the Mayor’s Charity.  He extended his thanks to all those who attended and to those who contributed in any way.

Fairtrade Event

The Mayor reported that the Civic and Mayoral Services Section with the kind assistance of VMI Ltd had held a “Fairtrade Tasting Session” in the Mayor’s Parlour in Southport Town Hall on 26 February 2009.  The event was a success with over 60 visitors attending on the day.

To deal with matters raised by members of the public within the Borough, in accordance with the procedures relating to Petitions, Public Questions.and Motions set out in Rule 11 of the Council and procedure Rules.

(Details of any further Petitions notified or Questions submitted to the Legal Director by members of the public in accordance with Rule 11 will be circulated at the meeting).

The Mayor reported that members of the public had not submitted any petitions or questions.

To receive and consider questions to Cabinet Members, Chairs of Committees or Spokespersons for any of the Joint Authorities upon any matter within their portfolio/area of responsibility, of which notice has been given in accordance with Rule 12 of the Council and Committee Procedure Rules.

The Council considered a schedule which provided details of the written questions submitted by Councillors Papworth, Booth and Shaw to the Leader of the Council and by Councillor Shaw to the Cabinet Member - Communities together with the written responses from the Leader and Cabinet Member.

Councillors Papworth and Shaw put forward a supplementary question to the Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for a written response due to their absence from the meeting.

Report of the Legal Director

Further to Minute No. 273 of the Cabinet Meeting held on 26 February 2009, the Council considered the report of the Legal Director which detailed the programme of meetings for the 2009/10 Municipal Year.

It was moved by Councillor Brodie-Browne, seconded by Councillor Blackburn and

RESOLVED:   That

(1)       the comments of the Cabinet set out in paragraph 2(2) of the report relating to the arrangements for Area Committee meetings be noted;

(2)       the Programme of Meetings for the Council; Regulatory Committees; Overview and Scrutiny Committees; Area Committees; and Members’ Briefings for 2009/10 as set out in Annexes A, B and C of the report be approved subject to the meeting of the Southport Area Committee on 13 May 2009 been revised to 20 May 2009;

(3)       the meeting of the Cabinet scheduled to be held on 7 May 2009 be rearranged to take place on 14 May 2009; and

(4)            subject to (3) above, the Programme of Meetings for Cabinet and Cabinet Members, as set out in Annexe D of the report, be noted.

To consider any changes to the Membership of any committees etc.

There were no changes made to the membership of Committees.

Report of the Leader of the Council.

The Council received a report of the Leader of the Council setting out details of those matters dealt with in accordance with Rule 16 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules (Special Urgency).

Report of the Legal Director.

The Council considered a report of the Legal Director setting out details of those matters dealt with in accordance with Rule 17 of the Scrutiny Procedure Rules (Call-In and Urgency).

To consider the following Motion submitted by Councillor Sir Ron Watson:

“That the Council:

1.       Views with concern, proposals to introduce a new level of

          Council Tax for "Nice Neighbourhoods"

2.       Believes that such an increase in Council Tax cannot be justified and 

          would be particularly unfair on those communities that have made a 

          positive effort to improve their environment.

3.       Expresses concern that the only comment from the Government is that

          there are no proposals to introduce such a new tax level "in the current 

          Parliament."

4.       Understands that the Government Department concerned has already

produced a map of each Local Authority Area showing the properties likely to be affected and calls for this to be released to Sefton as a matter of urgency in view of the public concern over this matter.”

It was moved by Councillor Sir Ron Watson and seconded by Councillor D. Jones.

“That the Council:

(1)       views with concern, proposals to introduce a new level of Council Tax for “Nice Neighbourhoods”;

(2)            believes that such an increase in Council Tax cannot be justified and would be particularly unfair on those communities that have made a positive effort to improve their environment;

(3)            expresses concern that the only comment from the Government is that there are no proposals to introduce such a new tax level “in the current Parliament”;

(4)            understands that the Government Department concerned has already produced a map of each Local Authority Area showing the properties likely to be affected and calls for this to be released to Sefton as a matter of urgency in view of the public concern over this matter.”

During the debate thereon, Councillor P. Dowd moved a form of wording to amend the motion, which was ruled out of order by the Mayor.

Following further debate thereon, the motion was put to the vote and, on a show of hands, the Mayor declared the motion was carried by 36 votes to 20 and it was RESOLVED:

“That the Council:

(1)       views with concern, proposals to introduce a new level of Council Tax for “Nice Neighbourhoods”;

(2)            believes that such an increase in Council Tax cannot be justified and would be particularly unfair on those communities that have made a positive effort to improve their environment;

(3)            expresses concern that the only comment from the Government is that there are no proposals to introduce such a new tax level “in the current Parliament”;

(4)            understands that the Government Department concerned has already produced a map of each Local Authority Area showing the properties likely to be affected and calls for this to be released to Sefton as a matter of urgency in view of the public concern over this matter.”