Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Tony Anderson, Darren Clifford and David Whitworth.

It was noted that Councillor Carrington was on parental leave.

To receive as a correct record the Minutes of the Meeting of the City Council held on 16 December 2020 (previously circulated). 

It was proposed by Councillor Guilding, seconded by Councillor Redfern and agreed unanimously that the minutes of the meeting held on 16 December 2020 be accepted as a correct record.

It was noted that the minutes would be signed by the Mayor when the minute book was available.

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. 

Councillor Gardiner reported that he had a pecuniary interest in Item 15, the question on notice to Councillor Caroline Jackson from Councillor Jenkins. This was not an item for debate.

The Mayor made three announcements. He reported that today was Holocaust Memorial day, 27^th of January and a time to remember those who lost their lives in the Holocaust.

He asked Members to reflect on the number of deaths due to the pandemic, the UK having reached the tragic milestone of 100,000 lives lost to Coronavirus.

The Mayor then reported the sad passing of Mr Bill Pearson, the City Council’s Town Clerk and Chief Executive from 1979 to 1996.

Bill was awarded the Honorary Freedom of the City in 1995.

Members observed a minute’s silence in memory of lives lost.

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.

To receive the Cabinet Leader’s report on proceedings since the last meeting of Council. 

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. 

Report of Cabinet (this report was published on 25 January 2021. It also incorporates Council Tax 2021/22, which is shown as Item 10)

The Mayor informed Councillors that, whilst the agenda showed two separate items, with the Budget and Policy Framework as Item 9 and Council Tax 2021/22 as Item 10, both items had been drafted in one report and would be dealt with together. Councillor Whitehead, portfolio holder for Finance and Resources, presented the report of Cabinet.

Councillor Whitehead responded to a number of questions from Members before proposing:-

“That Council approves a City Council Tax increase of £5 to the Band D Council Tax (from £231.95 to £236.95) for 2021/22, together with a year on year target of the maximum allowable under the Government’s local referendum thresholds for future years.”

Councillor Hamilton-Cox seconded the proposition.

Debate was followed by a roll call vote, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule  19.7 which required a recorded vote to be taken on any decision relating to the making of a council tax calculation.

The votes were recorded as follows:

For the proposition: Councillors Anderton, Bannon, Biddulph, Black, Boyd-Power, Brookes, Bryning, Cleet, Dant, Dowding, Evans, Frea, Goodwin, Greenwell, Hamilton-Cox, Hanson, Hartley, Jackson (Caroline),  Jenkins, King, Lewis, Matthews, Mills, O’Dwyer-Henry, Parr, Penny, Pritchard, Redfern, Reynolds, Sinclair, Stubbins, Thornberry, Whearty, Whitaker, Whitehead, Wood and Young (37).

Against the proposition: Councillor Wild (1).

Abstentions: Councillors Austen-Baker, Barber, Budden, Dennison, Duggan, Gardiner, Greenall, Guilding, Heath, Jackson (Joan), Knight (Geoff), Knight (Sarah), Scothern, Thomas and Yates (15).

(It was noted that Councillor Robinson was unable to cast his vote due to connection issues at the time of voting)

Resolved:-

That Council approves a City Council Tax increase of £5 to the Band D Council Tax (from £231.95 to £236.95) for 2021/22, together with a year on year target of the maximum allowable under the Government’s local referendum thresholds for future years.

To consider the motion on notice received from Councillor Bannon and seconded by Councillors Dant, Frea, Parr and Wood.

The full motion, complete with an officer briefing note, is set out in the agenda papers.

Councillor Bannon had submitted a motion on notice to the Chief Executive in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 15. The motion, which is shown below, had been included with the agenda papers, accompanied by a briefing note from officers.

"Lancaster City Council is deeply concerned about the grave threat that nuclear weapons pose to communities throughout the world. We firmly believe that our residents have the right to live in a world free from this threat. Any use of nuclear weapons, whether deliberate or accidental, would have catastrophic, far-reaching and long-lasting consequences for people and the environment.

Lancaster City Council therefore resolves to:

·       Warmly welcome the adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons by the United Nations in 2017

·       Call on our national government to ratify the treaty

Action

That the Chief Executive:

·       Writes to the UK government – Secretaries of State for 1) Defence and 2) Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy - to inform them that Lancaster City Council has endorsed the ICAN Cities Appeal to call for our Government to sign the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.  

·       Informs our residents and media about our support of the ICAN Cities Appeal, and informs ICAN by emailing them at info@icanw.org

·       Takes steps to ensure that funds administered by Lancaster City Council are not invested in companies that produce nuclear weapons. See www.dontbankonthebomb.com.”

However, earlier in the day, Councillor Bannon had, with the agreement of her seconder, requested to alter her motion slightly. The alteration was in the form of adding words to the last bullet point of the motion, as follows (change italicised):-

·       “Takes reasonable steps to ensure that when investments are made or reviewed, funds administered by Lancaster City Council are not invested in companies that produce nuclear weapons.”

The Mayor asked Councillors if they would agree to allow Councillor Bannon to alter her motion. There were no indications that any Councillor would vote against this, therefore agreement of the meeting was signified without discussion, in line with Council Procedure Rule 17.7 (a).

Councillor Bannon then moved her altered motion, seconded by Councillor Wood.

There were a number of questions from Councillors which Councillor Bannon responded to. Officers pointed out that further information would be required on the extent of bullet point (3) to estimate the work required, as this could be extensive.

A lengthy debate about the motion followed, with many Councillors speaking both for and against. Councillor Whitehead proposed an amendment to revise the wording of bullet point (3) to allow further work by officers to estimate the effect on resources and asked if this would be accepted as a friendly amendment. Councillor Bannon said she would be willing to discard bullet point three altogether if this were permissible. In view of this, Councillor Whitehead put forward an amendment to discard bullet point three from the motion. Councillor Bannon and her seconder accepted this as a friendly amendment.

At the conclusion of the debate a roll call vote  ...  view the full minutes text for item 99.

Report of the Director of Corporate Services

The Director of Corporate Services presented a report informing Council of a change to the Executive Arrangements, with Deputy Leader Councillor Hanson replacing the former Deputy Leader, Councillor Frea, on the Lancaster and South Cumbria Joint Committee.

The report was simply for noting.

Resolved:

That the report be noted.

To appoint a Mayor Elect to be put forward for election by the City Council in May 2021, for the municipal year 2021/22.

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

It was then moved by Councillor Heath and seconded by Councillor Budden:

“That Councillor Greenall be invited to hold the office of Mayor of the City of Lancaster for the Municipal Year 2021/22.”

With no one indicating that they wished to speak or vote against the motion, the Mayor declared the motion clearly carried.

Resolved:-

That Councillor Greenall be invited to hold the office of Mayor of the City of Lancaster for the Municipal Year 2021/22.

To note that since the last meeting of Council, there have been two changes to the Budget and Performance Panel. Councillor Joan Jackson has replaced Councillor Whitworth for the Conservative Group and Councillor Bannon has been named as a substitute member for the Green Group.

Any further changes to Committee Membership will be reported at the meeting. 

The Mayor reported that, since the last Council meeting, there had been two changes to the Budget and Performance Panel. Councillor Joan Jackson had replaced Councillor Whitworth for the Conservative Group and Councillor Bannon had been named as a substitute member for the Green Group.

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 one question had been received from Councillor Jenkins to Councillor Caroline Jackson.

Councillor Jenkins asked:

We have been alerted to a serious situation where residents in the Poulton and West End areas of Morecambe have received eviction notices from a property company. 

We believe that this property company have also purchased 40+ properties (in excess of 160 beds) in the area to create houses of multiple occupancy (HMO) for ex-offenders and others with a wide range of needs who are not from this area. 

Please can I request further information and reassurances from the Council that residents will be fully supported with this issue?

Councillor Caroline Jackson responded, saying:

Before Christmas Council Officers became aware that Dawson Housing a for-profit Social Landlord had bought around 40 properties in Poulton and West End in Morecambe.  Many of these include self-contained flats and therefore we understand the occupancy levels of these properties could be in the region of 140 flats (not all of which are currently tenanted).  We had been advised that where tenants were still in situ eviction notices had been served with many of the residents being vulnerable and elderly.  Council Officers sought immediate confirmation from Dawson Housing that these notices would be rescinded and secured verbal confirmation (subsequently followed up in writing) that this was the case for those living at Anderton Court. 

An initial engagement meeting was held before Christmas and a further meeting with wider Council Officers, the Police and Dawson Housing was held in early January.  During the meeting concerns about their approach in purchasing properties against earlier advice from the Council was raised, as were our concerns around the current management approach of the properties and advice was provided around what they should do to reassure themselves that they are working within the appropriate realms of planning regulations.  Officers from the Council have visited all residents we believe have been affected to offer advice and support and on-going conversations with Dawson Housing continue.  We are awaiting confirmation that other residents served an eviction notice will also have their notices rescinded. 

Dawson Housing has advised that they are looking to provide temporary supported accommodation for a range of individuals who are homeless, and whilst this will undoubtedly include ex-offenders and others with a wide range of needs, Officers are seeking to ensure that no placements are made into the vacant units without prior approval from the Council to ensure the suitability of residents and help reduce potential issues of ASB.  This model has been developed in Preston and therefore there is no reason it cannot be replicated in this District. 

Whilst Officers are disappointed that Dawson Housing went against our previous advice in buying up these properties, we are also mindful that there is nothing illegal in this either.  However, a complaint has been logged with the Regulator of Social Housing with regards to their behaviour which is being investigated.  Nevertheless Officers’ main priority is in ensuring residents currently in this accommodation  ...  view the full minutes text for item 103.

To receive the minutes of the meeting of Cabinet held on 24 November 2020. 

Council considered the Cabinet minutes of the meeting held on 24 November 2020. The Leader responded to Members’ questions.

Resolved:

That the minutes be noted.