Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Stuart Bateson, Susie Charles, Andrew Gardiner, Helen Helme, Rebecca Novell and Phillippa Williamson.

To receive as a correct record the Minutes of the Meeting of the City Council held on 19th December 2018 (previously circulated). 

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 December 2018 were signed by the Mayor as a correct record.

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

Members are reminded that, in accordance with the Localism Act 2011, they are required to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests which have not already been declared in the Council’s Register of Interests. (It is a criminal offence not to declare a disclosable pecuniary interest either in the Register or at the meeting). 

Whilst not a legal requirement, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 9 and in the interests of clarity and transparency, Members should declare any disclosable pecuniary interests which they have already declared in the Register, at this point in the meeting. 

In accordance with Part B Section 2 of the Code Of Conduct, Members are required to declare the existence and nature of any other interests as defined in paragraphs 8(1) or 9(2) of the Code of Conduct. 

Members advised of the following interests at this stage:

Councillor Scott reported that she would declare a personal, non-prejudicial interest should there be any reference to Lancaster Museum during discussions on budgetary matters, as an ex-officio appointee of Lancaster City Council Museum. (Minute Nos. 106 and 114 refer.) 

The Deputy Mayor, Councillor Cozler declared a Section 106 (Local Government Finance Act) interest, which would preclude her from taking part or voting on matters of the budget.  (Minute No. 114 refers.)

Councillor Mace declared a personal, non-prejudicial interest in relation to Lancaster Museum as a member of the Friends of the City Museum group. (Minute Nos. 106 and 114 refer.)

The Mayor reported that he had accepted one item of urgent business, a referral report from the Chief Executive Recruitment Committee, which required a decision to be made at this meeting. (Minute 109 refers.)

The Mayor informed Council that a petition was to be debated and there was also a motion on notice, both regarding Climate Change. As a number of members of the public had registered to speak about this topic, he would be re-ordering the agenda to take the petition, public speakers and motion on notice directly after the next item, which was questions from members of the public. He would then take the item of urgent business straight after the motion on notice.

To receive questions in accordance with the provisions of Council Procedure Rules 11.1 and 11.3 which require members of the public to give at least 3 days’ notice in writing of questions to a Member of Cabinet or Committee Chairman. 

The Mayor advised that two questions had been received from members of the public in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11, Ms Julia Krier and Ms Holly Blackwell.  Copies of the questions had been circulated at the commencement of the meeting.

The Mayor invited the first questioner, Ms Julia Krier, to put her question to the Council, which was:

"Where in the City Museum is it proposed that the Visitor Information Centre be relocated?"

A response was given by the Cabinet Member for Leisure, Tourism, Culture and Climate Change, Councillor Clifford. He thanked Ms Krier to attending to ask her question and said:

“The option to relocate the Visitor Information Centre (VIC) in the City Museum is at an early stage and has not yet been consulted upon, developed or fully assessed so, at this time, no decision has been made on where the VIC would be located in the City Museum.  However, to meet service user requirements and to encourage additional visitors to the museum, the VIC would need to be on the ground floor reasonably close to the main customer access point.

Bearing in mind space constraints and the aspiration to make museums more accessible to our communities and to visitors, officers are currently developing options for use of a range of other spaces in the city and the district to deliver a wider programme of museums exhibitions and activities.”

Ms Krier asked a supplementary question:

“What will be the nature and timing of the consultation?”

Councillor Clifford explained that a report would go to Cabinet and this could possibly be to the new Cabinet after the elections on 2^nd May 2019.

The Mayor thanked Ms Krier for asking her questions. He then invited Ms Holly Blackwell to put her question, which was to the Leader of the Council, Councillor Blamire:

“My name is Holly. I am one of the eight members of the Musicians’ Coop Steering Group.  This group is making sure we carry out the work that is needed to fulfil the decision of council to rescind the eviction order, to do necessary structural repairs and to have a lease in place by the end of July this year.  We are happy to say that as a result of steering group work, all the conditions set by council were fulfilled in December so that after some unexpected difficulties before Christmas the first part of the council’s decision has been carried out and the eviction order was rescinded.

So now we are focused on making the building structurally sound, safe and watertight.  We know from our architect and surveyor of the amount of work necessary and we also know that in order to get the lease in place this work needs to be planned, prepared for, and completed, by June 2019 at the latest. The council motion stated that the Council is “accepting responsibility for the most significant urgent structural repairs needed to make the building safe”.

We want a high quality job done to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 106.

To receive a petition to the Council, notification of which has been received by the Chief Executive in accordance with the Council’s Constitution.

Members are advised that the petition has in excess of 1,500 signatures and meets the trigger level for a Council debate. A motion relating to the same topic is already scheduled for debate at item 16.

The young people of Lancaster District declare a ‘climate emergency’.

We, the young people of Lancaster, are the generation which will feel the effects of global warming, yet there is little action to reduce these effects. As a generation, we have never lived in a time of stable climate conditions. We are seeing its devastating effects in many ways already; sea levels are rising, habitats are being destroyed and our future is uncertain. If the current global trend continues, it is very likely that the earth’s temperature will rise by 2 degrees Centigrade. The consequences will be disastrous. As a society, we need to involve the opinions of young people in the decision-making processes to tackle this climate emergency, to help protect our future.

We the undersigned, live, work or study in the district and petition the Council to:

1.     Declare a “climate emergency”.

2.     Conduct a consultation with young people of all ages, by young people of all ages, for what they want for a sustainable future in Lancaster district.

3.    Include consultation ideas in council plans to make Lancaster District carbon neutral by 2030.

4.    Create a young person’s climate panel to review and support Council climate strategies.

An officer briefing note is attached to Item 16.

(Deputy Mayor in the chair)

Ms Rosie Mills presented a petition and addressed Council in accordance with the provisions of the Council’s Petition Scheme and Council Procedure Rule 13 as follows:

"We, the young people of Lancaster, are the generation which will feel the effects of global warming, yet there is little action to reduce these effects. As a generation, we have never lived in a time of stable climate conditions. We are seeing its devastating effects in many ways already: sea levels are rising, habitats are being destroyed and our future is uncertain. If the current global trend continues, it is very likely that the earth’s temperature will rise by 2ºC. The consequences will be disastrous. As a society, we need to involve the opinions of young people in the decision-making processes to tackle this climate emergency, to help protect our future.

We, the undersigned, live, work or study in the district and petition the Council to:

1.       Declare a ‘climate emergency’.

2.       Conduct a consultation with young people of all ages, by young people of all ages, for what they want for a sustainable future in Lancaster district.

3.       Include consultation ideas in council plans to make Lancaster district carbon neutral by 2030.

4.       Create a young persons’ climate panel to review and support council climate strategies.

A copy of Ms Mills’ speech had been circulated to Members.

The Deputy Mayor thanked Ms Mills for her speech and for the petition. She informed Council that the petition contained more than the 1500 signatures required by the Petition Scheme to trigger a debate.

Councillor Clifford, the relevant Cabinet Member, thanked Ms Mills for attending Council.  He noted that this would be debated after all the public speakers had been heard, and the motion on notice had been proposed and seconded.

Six other members of the public who had registered to address Council presented speeches on the subject of Climate Change. Mr Andrew Jarvis, Ms Alison Cahn, Mr Alistair Sinclair, Mr Martin Paley, Mr Paul Young and Ms Millie Prosser each made an address to Councillors.

It was noted that a motion on notice had been submitted by Councillors Frea, Kay, Hamilton-Cox and Caroline Jackson, which also called upon the Council to declare a ‘climate emergency’. In view of this, the Deputy Mayor indicated that she proposed to debate both the petition and the motion on notice together, as the next item of business.

Officers had submitted a briefing note on the issue to aid the debate.

To consider the following motion submitted by Councillors Kevin Frea, Andrew Kay, Caroline Jackson and Tim Hamilton-Cox;

“Full Council Notes:

Lancaster City Council has already committed to reducing carbon emissions to zero by 2050, but the recent IPCC Report shows it is imperative that this target is reached much sooner. Lancaster City Council can play its role. Business as usual is clearly no longer an option. We need local wisdom to increase our resilience and to prepare for the climate changes already in the system.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 1.5°C report, published in October 2018, humanity has 12 years for “ambitious action from national and sub-national authorities, civil society, the private sector, indigenous peoples and local communities” to deliver the “rapid and far-reaching transitions in land, energy, industry, buildings, transport, and cities” needed to turn this around, so we can avoid reaching tipping points where we no longer have the ability to avoid extreme weather events.

It is vital that rural communities play their part in reducing carbon emissions.

Bold climate action can deliver economic benefits in terms of new jobs, new income streams, and localising wealth generation; as well as improved well-being for people locally and worldwide.

Our inspiration:

A number of City & District Councils, together with the Mayor of London, have passed motions declaring a ‘Climate Emergency’.

We, the undersigned, therefore call on Lancaster City Council to

1.    Declare a ‘Climate Emergency’;

2.    Support the setting up of a Climate Change Advisory Board immediately, involving Councillors, residents, businesses, experts from the two Universities and other relevant parties. Over the following 6 months, the Board will revisit and update the 2010 Lancaster City Council Climate Change Strategy and help the Council develop a new carbon budget taking into account both production and consumption emissions (scope 1, 2 and 3) and set a target date of 2030, to:

• make the Council’s activities net-zero carbon;

• Consider systematically the climate change impact of each area of the Council’s activities;

• increase local resilience to climate impacts already in the system;

• maximise local benefits of these actions in other sectors such as health, agriculture, transport and the economy;

• support and work with all other relevant agencies towards making the Lancaster District zero carbon within the same timescale.

We recognize the current financial constraints that the Council faces and expect that both the development and implementation of a carbon budget are likely to need a significant measure of additional external funding. Some of the potential actions may have a positive or neutral financial impact.

Actions that could be recommended include: increasing the energy efficiency of buildings; prioritizing these measures for council housing and private sector housing to address fuel poverty; building solar and other renewable energy generating and storage plant; requiring all new housing and commercial developments to be low carbon; replacing the vehicle fleet with electric and/or hydrogen powered vehicles;, switching to 100% renewable energy; setting up a council run energy company (eg. Robin  ...  view the full agenda text for item 108.

The following motion, of which notice had been given to the Chief Executive in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 15, was moved by Councillor Frea and seconded by Councillor Kay:-

“Full Council Notes:

Lancaster City Council has already committed to reducing carbon emissions to zero by 2050, but the recent IPCC Report shows it is imperative that this target is reached much sooner. Lancaster City Council can play its role. Business as usual is clearly no longer an option. We need local wisdom to increase our resilience and to prepare for the climate changes already in the system.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 1.5°C report, published in October 2018, humanity has 12 years for “ambitious action from national and sub-national authorities, civil society, the private sector, indigenous peoples and local communities” to deliver the “rapid and far-reaching transitions in land, energy, industry, buildings, transport, and cities” needed to turn this around, so we can avoid reaching tipping points where we no longer have the ability to avoid extreme weather events.

It is vital that rural communities play their part in reducing carbon emissions.

Bold climate action can deliver economic benefits in terms of new jobs, new income streams, and localising wealth generation; as well as improved well-being for people locally and worldwide.

Our inspiration:

A number of City & District Councils, together with the Mayor of London, have passed motions declaring a ‘Climate Emergency’.

We, the undersigned, therefore call on Lancaster City Council to

1)  Declare a ‘Climate Emergency’;

2)  Support the setting up of a Climate Change Advisory Board immediately, involving Councillors, residents, businesses, experts from the two Universities and other relevant parties. Over the following 6 months, the Board will revisit and update the 2010 Lancaster City Council Climate Change Strategy and help the Council develop a new carbon budget taking into account both production and consumption emissions (scope 1, 2 and 3) and set a target date of 2030, to:

•      make the Council’s activities net-zero carbon;

•      Consider systematically the climate change impact of each area of the Council’s activities;

•      increase local resilience to climate impacts already in the system;

•      maximise local benefits of these actions in other sectors such as health, agriculture, transport and the economy;

•      support and work with all other relevant agencies towards making the Lancaster District zero carbon within the same timescale.

We recognize the current financial constraints that the Council faces and expect that both the development and implementation of a carbon budget are likely to need a significant measure of additional external funding. Some of the potential actions may have a positive or neutral financial impact.

Actions that could be recommended include: increasing the energy efficiency of buildings; prioritizing these measures for council housing and private sector housing to address fuel poverty; building solar and other renewable energy generating and storage plant; requiring all new housing and commercial developments to be low carbon; replacing the vehicle fleet with electric and/or hydrogen powered vehicles;, switching to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 108.

(The Assistant Chief Executive left the Chamber at this point)

The Mayor informed Council that he would take the item of urgent business next on the agenda.

Councillor Kershaw, as the Chairman of the ad hoc Chief Executive Recruitment Committee, presented a report setting out progress with the recruitment process and asking Council to make a decision regarding an interim Chief Executive appointment.

There were a few questions from Members which Councillor Kershaw responded to, before proposing:

“That the recommendations, as set out the report, be approved.”

Councillor Hamilton-Cox asked if he could propose an amendment to the decision of the ad hoc Committee regarding appointment of an external advisor. However, after checking the minutes of the December Council meeting, the Monitoring Officer informed Members that Council had delegated authority to the Committee to make such decisions regarding the recruitment process, so the amendment could not go forward.

There was a short debate before the Mayor called for a vote and the proposition was clearly carried.

Resolved:

That:

(1)          Council approves the offer of appointment to Mr Kieran Keane as Chief Executive and Head of Paid Service for a fixed term.

(2)          Agrees the term of appointment of Mr Keane is 25 March 2019 until 31 October 2019 which may be extended until the completion of the full recruitment process.

(3)       Agrees that the post of Chief Executive remains a full time permanent appointment.

(4)       Notes the progress and decisions made with the recruitment process as set out in Paragraph 2 of the report.

(The Assistant Chief Executive returned to the Chamber)

To receive questions in accordance with the provisions of Council Procedure Rules 12.2 and 12.4 which require a Member to give at least 3 working days’ notice, in writing, of the question to the Chief Executive. 

(The Mayor took back the chair at this point)

The Mayor reminded Councillors that four questions had been received by the Chief Executive in accordance with Council Procedure Rules in time for the December meeting. The questions had been deferred to this meeting and were as follows:

(1)      Councillor Mace to Councillor Blamire regarding a time recording system for senior officers to analyse costs.

(2)      Councillor Mace to Councillor Whitehead about Local Authority Trading Companies.

(3)      Councillor Hamilton-Cox to Councillor Hanson about the Council’s Local Plan.

(4)      Councillor Hamilton-Cox to Councillor Whitehead about agency-sourced interim senior officers.

The questioners agreed to receive written answers, Councillor Hamilton-Cox agreeing to this on condition that he could ask a supplementary question if he wished. He was assured that he could.

Details of the questions and answers are appended to the minutes.

Councillor Edwards asked why his question, asked at a recent Council meeting, had not been answered. He had asked how much money the Council had spent on consultants. The Monitoring Officer agreed to assist Councillor Edwards with this, however the word ‘consultant’ was very broad and would need to be defined before information could be collated and supplied.

To receive the Minutes of Meetings of Cabinet held on November 6^th 2018 and December 4th 2018.

Council considered the Cabinet minutes of the meetings held on 6 November and 4 December 2018, which had been deferred from the December Council meeting. There were no questions arising from the minutes.

Resolved:

That the minutes be noted.

The Leader presented her report updating Members on various issues since her last report to Council. She then responded to a number of questions from Councillors.

Resolved:

That the report be noted. 

Referral from Personnel Committee.

Councillor Kershaw presented a report of the Personnel Committee to enable Council to designate an officer to be the Council’s Chief Financial Officer (Section 151 Officer) with effect from 1 March 2019. He responded to questions from Councillors.

Councillor Kershaw, seconded by Councillor Blamire, proposed:

“That Paul Thompson, the Council’s current Accountancy Manager, be designated as the Council’s Chief Financial Officer (Head of Finance & Section 151 Officer) with effect from 1 March 2019, for the purposes of Section 151 of the Local Government Act 1972.”

There was no debate and the proposition was clearly carried when put to the vote.

Resolved:

(1)          That Paul Thompson, the Council’s current Accountancy Manager, be designated as the Council’s Chief Financial Officer (Head of Finance & Section 151 Officer) with effect from 1 March 2019, for the purposes of Section 151 of the Local Government Act 1972.

Referral from Cabinet

The Mayor reminded Councillors that a recorded vote would be required on the following item to comply with regulations and in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 19.7 as these were ‘budget decisions’ within the terms of the regulations.

Councillor Whitehead, Cabinet Member with the portfolio for Finance, presented a report to update Council and gain its feedback on the latest position regarding the development of the budget and policy framework for 2019/20 to 2023/24 and, in that context, to seek approval of the level of council tax increase for 2019/20 and for Cabinet’s proposed revenue budget for 2019/20.

Councillor Whitehead, the Director for Communities and the Environment, and the Section 151 Officer responded to numerous questions from Members, before proposing the recommendations, as set out in the report.

Councillor Clifford seconded the recommendation.

After debate on the proposals, a recorded vote was taken. Votes were recorded as follows:-

For the proposition:

Councillors Barry, Betts-Patel, Biddulph, Blamire, Brayshaw, Brookes, Brown, Bryning, Burns, Clifford, Clift, Denwood, Devey, Frea, Hall, Hamilton-Cox, Hanson, Hartley, Hughes, Caroline Jackson, Kay, Kershaw, Leyshon, Metcalfe, Mills, Parr, Pattison, Redfern, Reynolds, Rivet, Robinson, Sands, Scott, Warriner, Whitaker, Whitehead and Wilkinson. (37)

Against the proposition:

Councillors Edwards, Goodrich, Guilding, Joan Jackson, Knight, Mace, Parkinson, Rogerson, Sykes, Thomas, Wild, Peter Williamson and Yates. (13)

Abstention:

Councillor Ashworth. (1)

Resolved:

(1)       That Council approves a City Council tax increase of 2.99% for 2019/20, together with a year on year target of 2.99% for future years, subject to Government confirming local referendum thresholds.

(2)       That the proposed revenue budget for 2019/20 as set out in section 4 of the report, be noted.

Referral from Cabinet

(Due to an error in publication, a paper version of the draft Strategy had not been delivered by the courier service. An apology, explanation and an electronic version of the document had been emailed to all Councillors by Democratic Services on 24^th January. A paper version had been circulated to all Councillors at the start of the meeting.)

Councillor Sykes noted that it was the first time Councillors had seen a paper copy of the draft Property Investment Strategy. In view of the significance of the issues set out in the report, she asked whether this could be deferred to the next meeting of Council.

It was noted that Council had determined that the February meeting be reserved for budget issues only. In view of this, the Mayor asked for special agreement for this report to be deferred and considered at the budget meeting, before the budget item itself. Members gave their consent. 

Resolved:

That the Property Investment Strategy report be deferred to the Budget Council meeting on 27 February 2019.

Referral from Cabinet

The Proposals for Governance Arrangements for Investment Decisions report was intrinsically linked to the Property Investment Strategy which had just been deferred. In view of this, Councillors agreed to defer the Governance report to the Budget Council meeting on 27 February 2019.

Resolved:

That the Proposals for the Governance Arrangements for Investment Decisions report be deferred to the Budget Council meeting on 27 February 2019.

To consider the report of the Director for Communities and the Environment.

Council considered a report submitted by the Director for Communities and the Environment seeking Council’s approval for the Council’s Statement of Gambling Licensing Policy for 2019/2022. The Statement of Policy was due to be updated in accordance with Section 349 of the Gambling Act 2005.

The Director responded to questions from Councillors.

The recommendation, as set out in the report, was proposed by Councillor Metcalfe and seconded by Councillor Hartley.

There was no debate and the proposition was clearly carried when put to the vote.

Resolved:

That the draft Statement of Gambling Licensing Policy 2019/2022, appended to the report, be approved for publication in accordance with the requirements of the Gambling Act 2005.

To consider the report of the Chief Executive.

The Chief Executive submitted a report asking Council to consider the role of Returning Officer and Electoral Registration Officer, in light of her departure from the Authority in March 2019.

Councillor Blamire, seconded by Councillor Barry, proposed:

“(1)      That the role of Returning Officer be detached from the post of Chief Executive.

(2)       That Mr Dan Bates, who will take up the post of Director of Corporate Services on 1 March 2019, also be appointed to the role of Returning Officer and Electoral Registration Officer for Lancaster City Council from the same date.”

There was no debate. The proposition was carried unanimously when put to the vote.

Resolved unanimously:

(1)       That the role of Returning Officer be detached from the post of Chief Executive.

(2)       That Mr Dan Bates, who will take up the post of Director of Corporate Services on 1 March 2019, also be appointed to the role of Returning Officer and Electoral Registration Officer for Lancaster City Council from the same date.

To appoint a Mayor Elect to be put forward for election by the City Council in May 2019, for the municipal year 2019/20.

The Chief Executive advised that she had contacted Councillor David Whitaker, being the most senior Member of the City Council, who had indicated that he would be happy to accept the office of Mayor if offered by the Council.

It was then moved by Councillor Pattison and seconded by Councillor Thomas:

“That Councillor David Whitaker be invited to hold the office of Mayor of the City of Lancaster for the Municipal Year 2019/20, subject to his re-election in May 2019.”

A vote was taken on the motion which was clearly carried. Councillor Whitaker thanked his fellow Councillors for their support.

Resolved:-

That Councillor David Whitaker be invited to hold the office of Mayor of the City of Lancaster for the Municipal Year 2019/20, subject to his re-election in May 2019.

To consider the report of the Chief Executive.

Council considered a report submitted by the Chief Executive. The report noted that Council had been invited to nominate a Member for appointment to the role of trustee at Morecambe Football Club Community Sports Charity.

It was noted that the Charity worked alongside Morecambe FC to deliver a diverse range of activities throughout the district with other partners.

The Mayor asked for nominations. Councillor Pattison nominated Councillor Clifford. The nomination was seconded by Councillor Redfern.

There were no further nominations.

Resolved:

That Councillor Clifford be nominated by Council to Morecambe Football Club Community Sports Charity to fill the vacancy for a Council trustee. 

Group Administrators to report any changes to Committee Membership.  

No changes were put forward.

To receive questions in accordance with the provisions of Council Procedure Rules 12.2 and 12.4 which require a Member to give at least 3 working days’ notice, in writing, of the question to the Chief Executive. 

The Mayor advised that two questions had been received by the Chief Executive from Councillor Hamilton-Cox in accordance with Council procedure rules.

Councillor Hamilton-Cox asked Councillor Whitehead:

“Can the cabinet member set out what action has been taken both within the city council, and in conjunction with the district's 'anchor institutions', to localise procurement contracts since the presentation by the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) last summer?”

Councillor Whitehead informed Councillor Hamilton-Cox that a number of activities were underway.

The Council had now purchased Spendpro, a data analysis tool used by a number of other Councils to report on local spend. Staff were familiarising themselves with the software and it was expected that data would be provided for analysis in February.

A fixed term, part time Local Wealthbuilding post had been created to help to deliver against a number of activities including the local procurement project. The post was expected to be filled by March 2019.

Officers were in discussion with Preston City Council regarding its work with anchor institutions in its local area. This would help to inform the development of the Council’s own local procurement policies.

A meeting was to take place in February with CLES to discuss how the Council could develop an approach to Local Wealthbuilding that would be most useful to Lancaster district and its economy.

Councillor Hamilton-Cox put a supplementary question, asking whether CLES had been in contact directly with anchor institutions in the district. Councillor Whitehead said there would be discussions with CLES about that in the near future.

Councillor Hamilton-Cox then asked Councillor Blamire:

“Given the key decision notice issued on Friday 25th January regarding a 4-year purchasing contract for electricity from nPower, can the Leader please itemise the procurement criteria according to which the supplier has been chosen?”

The Leader replied:

“The procurement process was undertaken in the same way as it was four years ago.

Procurement was undertaken on our behalf by the Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation (YPO) via an OJEU (Official Journal of the European Union) compliant tender process. YPO undertook the tender on behalf of 114 organisations, mainly public sector which included a number of Lancashire districts and North Western Metropolitan Unitary Councils.

The exercise was conducted in compliance with OJEU and YPO’s own procurement regulations. YPO provided to the Council a presentation on the results of the tender exercise which considered tenders from six organisations based upon price and quality considerations. The chosen supplier was assessed as providing the best tender in respect of these considerations.”

Councillor Hamilton-Cox asked, by way of a supplementary question, whether the carbon intensity of the electricity being purchased had been a consideration?

Councillor Blamire said she would supply a written answer to that question.

To receive the Minutes of Meetings of Cabinet held on 18^th December 2018 and 15^th January 2019*. 

*Please note the decisions contained within these minutes are subject to a call-in period up to the 29^th January 2019.

Council considered the Cabinet minutes of the meetings held on 18 December 2018 and 15 January 2019. There were no questions.

Resolved:

That the minutes be noted.