Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Lucie Carrington, Gina Dowding, Erica Lewis and Michael Mumford.

To receive as a correct record the Minutes of the Meeting of the City Council held on 25^th September 2019 (previously circulated). 

The minutes of the meeting held on 25 September 2019 were signed by the Mayor as a correct record.

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

Councillors 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, Councillors 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, Councillors 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. 

There were no declarations of interest made at this stage.

The Mayor expressed thanks to all the staff and volunteers involved in arrangements for the various Remembrance Services throughout the district and all those that had attended them.

The Mayor requested that Councillors showed respect to each other and to officers during the meeting and limited debate to the issues on the agenda.  The Council were there to discuss matters in Lancaster district not national politics.

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 no questions had been received from members of the public in accordance with the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 11.

The Mayor informed Members that no petitions or requests to address Council had been received from members of the public.

The Deputy Leader presented the Leader’s report updating Members on various issues since the last Leader’s report to Council and responded to questions from Councillors.

Resolved:

That the report be noted. 

To consider the motion proposed by Councillor Tim Dant. Seconded by Richard Austen-Baker, Stephie Barber, Tim Hamilton-Cox and Tricia Heath.

“This council believes that it could make better use of the skills of all its councillors and improve the democratic accountability of decision making by ceasing the current leader and cabinet model of governance and implementing a committee system. Council requires the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in conjunction with Cabinet to investigate the best way to introduce a committee system of governance, taking into account the experiences of other councils. The investigation will lead to a detailed, legally and constitutionally sound proposal, including a programme for implementation, to be presented to full Council for consideration on or before its Annual Meeting in May 2020.” 

An officer briefing note is attached.

Councillor Dant had given the required notice to the Chief Executive in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 15 to move the following motion set out in the agenda:-

“This council believes that it could make better use of the skills of all its councillors and improve the democratic accountability of decision making by ceasing the current leader and cabinet model of governance and implementing a committee system. Council requires the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in conjunction with Cabinet to investigate the best way to introduce a committee system of governance, taking into account the experiences of other councils. The investigation will lead to a detailed, legally and constitutionally sound proposal, including a programme for implementation, to be presented to full Council for consideration on or before its Annual Meeting in May 2020.” 

An officer briefing note had been included with the agenda. In light of comments in the briefing note, Councillor Dant had circulated a revised version of his motion via email:-

“This council believes that it could make better use of the skills of all its councillors and improve the democratic accountability of decision making by ceasing the current leader and cabinet model of governance and implementing a committee system. Council will establish a Committee of the Council, with membership in balance, to investigate the best way to introduce a committee system of governance, taking into account the experiences of other councils. The investigation will lead to a detailed, legally and constitutionally sound proposal to be presented to full Council for consideration on or before its meeting in September 2020. That proposal will set out a future programme for implementation of a committee system of governance.” 

With the Mayor’s permission, the Deputy Monitoring Officer explained that there was an error in the briefing note she had drafted. It referred to a Committee of Council being an appropriate mechanism for investigating a committee system of governance, when this should have been a Working Group. A note of explanation had been provided on the revised version of the motion on Members’ desks. This was why the text of the motion on the tables referred to a Working Group rather than a Committee of Council.

The Mayor asked for a vote to be taken to allow Councillor Dant to revise the wording of his motion. In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 17.7 he reminded Members that the vote would be taken without any discussion. Council voted to allow the revised wording below to be debated.

“This council believes that it could make better use of the skills of all its councillors and improve the democratic accountability of decision making by ceasing the current leader and cabinet model of governance and implementing a committee system. Council will establish a Working Group, with membership in balance, to investigate the best way to introduce a committee system of governance, taking into account the experiences of other councils. The investigation will lead to a detailed, legally and constitutionally sound proposal to be presented to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 81.

To consider the motion to be proposed by Councillor Mel Guilding. Seconded by Councillors Stephie Barber, Keith Budden, Mike Greenhall, Alan Biddulph and Peter Yates.

“This Council believes it could better support and therefore enhance the services provided by this Council for the disabled communities and their families by re-instating the position of Champion for the Disabled.”

An officer briefing note is attached.

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

“This Council believes it could better support and therefore enhance the services provided by this Council for the disabled communities and their families by re-instating the position of Champion for the Disabled.”

An officer briefing note had been supplied with relevant background information.

An amendment to the motion was moved by Councillor Sinclair:

“That this Council believes it can better support and improve the services provided by this Council for people with disabilities and their families by re-instating the role of ‘Champion for the Disabled’ and renaming it ‘Disability Champion.’

Council will establish the ‘Disability Champion’ role and the role holder will work with the portfolio holder for Communities & Social Justice and support the Lancaster City Council Wellbeing Advisory Group in its exploration of wellbeing and social justice issues in the district.  The new ‘Disability Champion’ role will be filled by nomination and voting at the next Council meeting on the 18 December 2019.”

With the agreement of her seconder, Councillor Guilding accepted this as a friendly amendment.

There was no debate.  The motion, as amended, was clearly carried when put to the vote.

Resolved:-

(1)          This Council believes it can better support and improve the services provided by this Council for people with disabilities and their families by re-instating the role of ‘Champion for the Disabled’ and renaming it ‘Disability Champion.’

(2)          Council will establish the ‘Disability Champion’ role and the role holder will work with the portfolio holder for Communities & Social Justice and support the Lancaster City Council Wellbeing Advisory Group in its exploration of wellbeing and social justice issues in the district.  The new ‘Disability Champion’ role will be filled by nomination and voting at the next Council meeting on the 18 December 2019.

To consider the motion to be proposed by Councillor Paul Stubbins. Seconded by Councillors Mandy Bannon and Tim Dant.

“Purpose:

·         To increase the proportion of local household waste that is recycled and to minimise residual waste (which cannot be recycled).

·         To achieve this through greater collaborative work between Lancaster City Council and its residents by raising awareness of recycling issues, sharing targets and consulting widely on how best to facilitate this.

Recommendations

Full Council, welcomes the progress that is being made to reduce residual waste per household and to increase the scope of plastic that can be recycled. 

Council recognises that there is a pressing need however to improve recycling efforts within our City and with the support of County.  Council aims to achieve this by putting recycling high on our agenda and committing to share the responsibility and actions needed to be taken.

Full Council therefore:

-       Commits to being active in promoting waste prevention, reduction and reuse activities in all wards across our City.

-       Requests that Overview and Scrutiny committee investigates best practice in achieving higher recycling rates by consulting with other councils, residents and City Councillors. For example asking residents and members what they want to know about recycling, how this might be presented and how they wish to be kept informed.   

-       Requests County provides the necessary local recycling information needed to support our aim to substantially increase public engagement and outcomes for recycling.  

-       Requests that better, more meaningful targets for recycling be set and progress reported at least quarterly on the Council Website, annually on the recycling guidance cards that are posted to residents, and by any other means that Overview and Scrutiny may recommend.

-       Requests that more detailed information be provided on the Council’s website of the ways materials can be recycled in our own district particularly where materials might be reused by local organisations.

-       Encourages individuals and community groups to create specialist reuse or recycling projects for their areas. 

Notes  

There are many effective ways to reduce the generation of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. Composting reduces anaerobic decomposition of organic waste at landfill, whilst reducing waste and increasing recycling saves energy that would have been used in the production of materials.

Using recycled materials, instead of trees, metal ores, minerals, oil and other raw materials harvested from the earth, also conserves the world's scarce natural resources.

Whilst the majority of Household Waste is derived from households, it also includes waste from street bins, street sweepings, parks and grounds.

Lancaster is making progress in reducing residual waste per household.  In 2017/18 residual waste per household was 482.9kg, the 6th best in Lancashire.  We continued to reduce that figure in 2018/19, achieving the biggest in-year improvement in Lancashire.

In the financial year 2017/18, 35.64% of household waste was recycled in Lancaster, which fell below the North West and England rates of 44.7% and 43.2% respectively.  At the district/unitary level, recycling, reuse and composting rates varied between a  ...  view the full agenda text for item 83.

Councillor Stubbins proposed the following motion having given the required notice to the Chief Executive in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 15:-

“Purpose:

·         To increase the proportion of local household waste that is recycled and to minimise residual waste (which cannot be recycled).

·         To achieve this through greater collaborative work between Lancaster City Council and its residents by raising awareness of recycling issues, sharing targets and consulting widely on how best to facilitate this.

Recommendations:

Full Council welcomes the progress that is being made to reduce residual waste per household and to increase the scope of plastic that can be recycled. 

Council recognises that there is a pressing need however to improve recycling efforts within our City and with the support of County.  Council aims to achieve this by putting recycling high on our agenda and committing to share the responsibility and actions needed to be taken.

Full Council therefore:

-       Commits to being active in promoting waste prevention, reduction and reuse activities in all wards across our City.

-       Requests that Overview and Scrutiny committee investigates best practice in achieving higher recycling rates by consulting with other councils, residents and City Councillors. For example asking residents and members what they want to know about recycling, how this might be presented and how they wish to be kept informed.   

-       Requests County provides the necessary local recycling information needed to support our aim to substantially increase public engagement and outcomes for recycling.  

-       Requests that better, more meaningful targets for recycling be set and progress reported at least quarterly on the Council Website, annually on the recycling guidance cards that are posted to residents, and by any other means that Overview and Scrutiny may recommend.

-       Requests that more detailed information be provided on the Council’s website of the ways materials can be recycled in our own district particularly where materials might be reused by local organisations.

-       Encourages individuals and community groups to create specialist reuse or recycling projects for their areas. 

Notes  

There are many effective ways to reduce the generation of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. Composting reduces anaerobic decomposition of organic waste at landfill, whilst reducing waste and increasing recycling saves energy that would have been used in the production of materials.

Using recycled materials, instead of trees, metal ores, minerals, oil and other raw materials harvested from the earth, also conserves the world's scarce natural resources.

Whilst the majority of Household Waste is derived from households, it also includes waste from street bins, street sweepings, parks and grounds.

Lancaster is making progress in reducing residual waste per household.  In 2017/18 residual waste per household was 482.9kg, the 6th best in Lancashire.  We continued to reduce that figure in 2018/19, achieving the biggest in-year improvement in Lancashire.

In the financial year 2017/18, 35.64% of household waste was recycled in Lancaster, which fell below the North West and England rates of 44.7% and 43.2% respectively.  At the district/unitary level, recycling, reuse and composting  ...  view the full minutes text for item 83.

Report of the Chief Executive

(The Acting Head of Legal Services left the meeting at this point, having an interest in the following item.)

The Chief Executive submitted a report recommending that the Acting Head of Legal Services, Mr Luke Gorst, be appointed Monitoring Officer for the City Council.

Council was informed that the current Monitoring Officer had stepped down from the role.

Councillor Hanson proposed the recommendation as set out in the report, seconded by Councillor Robinson and requested that the Council’s appreciation for the monitoring officer support previously provided by Mr Rephael Walmsley be minuted.

The Mayor called for a vote and the proposal was clearly carried.

Resolved:

(1)          That the Acting Head of Legal Services, Mr Luke Gorst, be designated as the Council’s Monitoring Officer with immediate effect.

(2)          That the Council’s appreciation for the support provided by the previous Monitoring Officer, Rephael Walmsley, be noted.

Report of the Chief Finance Officer

Report to follow

The Chief Finance Officer submitted a report to enable Council to consider the Annual TreasuryManagementreportandPrudentialIndicators.

Resolved:

That the report be noted.

Group Administrators to report any changes to Committee Membership.  

No appointments or changes to committee memberships were reported.

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 no questions had been received by the Chief Executive in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.

To receive the Minutes of the Meeting of Cabinet held 1^st October 2019.

Council considered the Cabinet minutes of the meeting held on 1 October 2019.

Resolved:

That the minutes be noted.