Agenda and minutes

Before the meeting formally commenced the Lord Mayor invited his Chaplain to say an appropriate prayer.

The Legacy of Abraham Lincoln

The Lord Mayor informed Council that this year ‘2015’ marked the 150^th anniversary of the assassination of the US President Abraham Lincoln.  Back in 1865 the City Council had marked this terrible event by passing a resolution and writing a letter expressing its condolences.  Following a request from the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, the Lord Mayor and City Mayor had agreed to write to the museum expressing support for the project highlighting Lincoln’s continuing inspirational legacy for the issues we still face today through his work for the emancipation of slaves 150 years ago.  The letter would then be paired with the earlier letter and exhibited in the museum and viewable across the world via the online archive.

Annual Council 2015

The Lord Mayor asked Members to note that, in line with the legislative requirements concerning when Annual Council can be held in an election year, the Annual Council for 2015 would be held on 21^st May.

Black Tie Dinner

The Lord Mayor was pleased to announce that the total for his appeal currently stood at £11,756 and gave details of two forthcoming events:

·         ‘The Lord Mayor’s Charity Black Tie Dinner’ in support of the Lord Mayor’s Appeal to be held on Saturday 21 February 2015 at Devonshire Place, London Road, Leicester; and

·         Charity Quiz Night on Thursday 26^th February 2015 to be held at the Railway Club. 

Tickets and information for both events were available from the Member & Civic Support Office.

The Lord Mayor informed Council that the amount raised for his appeal currently stood at £11,756.

Former Councillor Mohammed Nasim and Honorary Alderman Bert Russell

The Lord Mayor informed Council with great regret of the loss of former Councillor Mohammed Nasim (who represented the Crown Hills ward) who had passed away on 15 December 2014 and Honorary Alderman Bert Russell, a former Councillor for the Abbey Ward who had passed away in January 2015 and paid tribute to their work for the City.

The Council observed a minutes silence in their memory.

The Lord Mayor invited Members to declare any interests they may have in the business on the agenda.

Councillor Potter declared an Other Disclosable Interests in relation to

·         Question 12 at Item 5 on the agenda as she was a Council tenant and had family members who were Council tenants.

·         Question 14 at Item 5 on the agenda as she was a regular user of the road; and

·         Item 6.1 ‘Capital Programme 2015/16’ as she was a Council tenant and had family members who were Council tenants.

The minutes of the meeting held on 13^th November are available to view at: http://www.cabinet.leicester.gov.uk:8071/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=81&MId=6578&Ver=4. Copies are also available from Democratic Support on (0116) 454 6352 or Committees@leicester.gov.uk.

Moved by the Lord Mayor, seconded by the Deputy Lord Mayor and carried:

25.       That the minutes of the Meeting of Council held on 13 November 2014, a copy having been circulated to each Member of the Council, be taken as read and that they be approved as a correct record.

PETITIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC

            None.

PETITIONS FROM COUNCILLORS

Councillor Dawood presented a petition with 151 signatures in the following terms:

“We, the undersigned, are concerned citizens who urge our leaders to act now to rectify the ramps and remove the bollards in our areas. (Morley Road /St. Saviour’s Hill and surrounding roads.)

The supporting background information for submitting the petition is that the current ramps are used by children as a playing surface, which can be a dangerous hazard; furthermore the bollards are taking up vital parking space, which is already in shortage in our areas.”

Councillor Chaplin presented a petition with 52 signatures in the following terms:

“We, the undersigned, petition the City Council to extend the lighting for (festival) Eid celebration to include St Stephen’s Road, Leicester.  We demand that the Council fully fund and install the lighting for Eid.”

The Lord Mayor stated that under Council Procedure Rule 13a the aforementioned petitions will be referred to the Monitoring Officer for consideration and action as appropriate.

Lord Mayor:   Question 1, Councillor Singh.

Councillor Singh:  Thank you my Lord Mayor.  “Will the Deputy City Mayor inform this Council of the recent performance figures at the Leicester Royal Infirmary’s Accident and Emergency over the December/January period and what involvement has he had with the UHL management in addressing these failings in services at the A&E Unit?”

Lord Mayor:  Deputy City Mayor.

Deputy City Mayor:  Thank you my Lord Mayor.  Can I first of all thank Councillor Singh for tabling this question about this very important issue which I am sure is of concern to all Members of the Council.  Before I say anything else on the issue I hope and I assume that this Chamber can be absolutely united in paying tribute to the work of our NHS staff, particularly A&E, but indeed across the whole health system at this time of real pressure.  They do a phenomenal job in extremely challenging circumstances and emit a lot of political and sometimes heated debate on this issue at the moment.  We should be absolutely resolute and clear in my view in making clear that this is not a crisis of the making of our NHS staff, they are doing a phenomenal job as I say in incredibly challenging circumstances.  The performance at UHL A&E for December averaged at 83% on the headline 4 hour target.  Obviously some way short of the 95% target and the performance which we would all want to see and expect.  I wrote to Members early in the New Year setting out the City Council’s contribution and our efforts in trying to alleviate some of the current pressures on A&E.  That includes allocating additional social work capacity to support timely discharges from hospital, it includes providing 7 day a week access and on site presence of our integrated crisis response service to support those timely discharges and to identify people entering A&E who obviously can be moved through the system more quickly where it is safe and clinically appropriate to do that.  We have a senior officer taking part in daily tele-conferences with the UHL’s team and the wider health system to identify patients who can be moved through the system much more quickly where it is safe to do so.  The City Council continues to be represented on the Urgent Care Board and indeed on the, what is called the System Resilience Group which monitors the A&E performance very closely and continues to identify interventions that are required and which can make a difference to addressing some of these challenges.  I continue to liaise regularly with UHL’s management, to discuss the current challenges, to make sure the City Council is doing all it can do to alleviate some of that pressure and our contributions as an organisation have been acknowledged very positively by key organisations across the system, and indeed were identified in a peer review of our Adults Social Care Department in March of last year.  So  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

6.1 Capital Programme 2015/16*

6.2 Treasury Strategy 2015/16

6.3 Call-In of Executive Decision – City Council Golf Courses

* A colour list of the ‘rag’ overview of projects is attached to the agenda for Councillors.

Capital Programme 2015 / 16

A report of the Director of Finance was considered which sought for a Capital Programme for 2015/16.  It was noted that the capital programme was split into 2 parts, immediate starts where schemes have the authority to commence following approval of the programme and policy provisions where the purpose of funding is defined but monies will not be released until specific proposals have been considered by the Executive.

Moved by the City Mayor, seconded by the Deputy City Mayor and carried:

26.       That Council:

(a)          Approve the capital programme described in this report and summarised at Appendix 2 to the report, subject to any amendments proposed by the City Mayor;

(b)        For those schemes designated immediate starts, delegate authority to the lead director to commit expenditure, subject to the normal requirements of contract procedure rules and finance procedure rules;

(c)        Delegate authority to the City Mayor to determine a plan of spending for each policy provision; and to commit expenditure up to the maximum available;

(d)        For the purposes of finance procedure rules:

·         Determine that service resources shall consist of service revenue contributions; HRA revenue contributions; and government grants/third party contributions ring-fenced for specific purposes (which, for the avoidance of doubt, includes grants for which we are the accountable body);

·         Designate the transport maintenance programme as a programme area, within which the director can reallocate resources to meet operational requirements;

·         Designate the transport improvement programme as a programme area;

·         Designate the following HRA schemes as 3 discrete programme areas:  investment in council owned housing, business and technological investment, and environmental improvements.

(e)        Determine that the City Mayor may increase any scheme in the programme, or add a new scheme to the programme, subject to a maximum of £10m corporate resources;

(f)        Determine that the City Mayor may reduce or delete any capital programme provision, subject to a maximum of 20% of scheme value for “immediate starts”;  and may transfer any “policy provision” to the “immediate starts” category;

(g)        Delegate to directors, in consultation with the relevant assistant mayor, authority to incur expenditure in respect of policy provisions on design and other professional fees and preparatory studies, but not any other type of expenditure.

Treasury Strategy

A report of the Director of Finance was considered which sought to establish the strategy for the management of Council’s borrowing and investments during 2015/16.

Moved by the City Mayor, seconded by the Deputy City Mayor and carried:

27.       That Council:

Approves the treasury strategy, and the authorised borrowing limit as detailed in paragraph 6.3 of the report.  Other than limits which apply specifically to 2015/16, the Council gives this strategy immediate effect.

The Lord Mayor called a short adjournment at 7.12pm

The meeting restarted at 7.35pm

Call-In Of Executive Decision – City Council Golf Courses

In accordance with Rule 12 of the City Mayor and Executive Procedure Rules, Councillors Barton (proposer), Unsworth (seconder), Cole, Westley and Newcombe had objected to the decision of the City Mayor of 11 December  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

7.1       Revision to the Constitution

Please note that this item was withdrawn and not considered at the meeting.  As such in order to avoid confusion with the Council’s published Contract Procedure Rules, the appendix to the report which detailed a draft amended Contract Procedure Rules has been removed from the Internet. However a copy is available by contacting Democratic Support on 0116 454 6352.

7.2       Access to Information Procedure Rule 17 – Monitoring Report

Revision to the Constitution

Moved by the City Mayor, seconded by Councillor Clayton and carried:

29.       That the report be withdrawn.

Access to Information Procedure Rule 17 – Monitoring Report

Moved by Councillor Connelly, seconded by City Mayor and carried:

30.       That Council note that the Special Urgency provisions were used once in the preceding quarter, in the circumstances set out at 3.5 of the report.

To report on any changes to the Executive, or fill any vacancies of any Committee of the Council.

None.

Proposed by Councillor Potter, seconded by Councillor Naylor:

The council notes:

·         It has been estimated that the UK Treasury loses as much as £12 billion to tax dodging by multinational companies every year. Developing countries lose three times more to tax dodging than they receive in aid each year – enough to give a basic education to the 57 million children currently missing out.

·         The UK has a particular responsibility to end tax dodging, as it is responsible for 1 in 5 of the world’s tax havens in the British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.

·         The use of tax havens by UK companies is rife, with 98 of the FTSE 100 companies routinely using tax havens.

·         Large multinational companies pay as little as 5% in corporate taxes globally, while smaller businesses pay up to 30%.

This council believes:

·         As a local authority we have a duty to provide the best possible public services.

·         Our ability to provide quality local services would be significantly enhanced by the increased revenues from the government tackling tax dodging.

·         All who benefit from public spending should contribute their fair share.

·         The UK must take a lead role in creating a fairer tax system and combatting tax dodging.

This council resolves:

·         To support the campaign for tax justice by supporting the motion:

“While many ordinary people face falling household income and rising costs of living, some multinational companies are avoiding billions of pounds of tax from a tax system that fails to make them pay their fair share. Local governments in developing countries and the UK alike would benefit from a fairer tax system where multinational companies pay their fair share, enabling authorities around the world to provide quality public services. The UK government must listen to the strength of public feeling and act to end the injustice of tax dodging by large multinational companies, in developing countries and the UK.”

Moved by Councillor Potter, seconded by Councillor Naylor and carried:

31.       The council notes:

·         It has been estimated that the UK Treasury loses as much as £12 billion to tax dodging by multinational companies every year. Developing countries lose three times more to tax dodging than they receive in aid each year – enough to give a basic education to the 57 million children currently missing out.

·         The UK has a particular responsibility to end tax dodging, as it is responsible for 1 in 5 of the world’s tax havens in the British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.

·         The use of tax havens by UK companies is rife, with 98 of the FTSE 100 companies routinely using tax havens.

·         Large multinational companies pay as little as 5% in corporate taxes globally, while smaller businesses pay up to 30%.

This council believes:

·         As a local authority we have a duty to provide the best possible public services.

·         Our ability to provide quality local services would be significantly enhanced by the increased revenues from the government tackling tax dodging.

·         All who benefit from public spending should contribute their fair share.

·         The UK must take a lead role in creating a fairer tax system and combatting tax dodging.

This council resolves:

·         To support the campaign for tax justice by supporting the motion:

“While many ordinary people face falling household income and rising costs of living, some multinational companies are avoiding billions of pounds of tax from a tax system that fails to make them pay their fair share. Local governments in developing countries and the UK alike would benefit from a fairer tax system where multinational companies pay their fair share, enabling authorities around the world to provide quality public services. The UK government must listen to the strength of public feeling and act to end the injustice of tax dodging by large multinational companies, in developing countries and the UK.

None.

The Lord Mayor declared the meeting closed at 8.56pm.