Agenda and minutes

Leicester Children’s Holiday Centre

The Lord Mayor reported that he had visited, with his daughter, a new venue for the provision of holidays for children from the city in Sheringham, Norfolk, following the closure of the historic holiday centre in Mablethorpe. It was noted that the new provision was of a high standard and the Lord Mayor said he would be happy for his daughter to go on a holiday there. He hoped this reassured Councillors who had previously expressed concerns about the closure of the centre in Mablethorpe and that support would continue to be provided to the charity.

Lady Mayoress’ Coffee Morning

The Lord Mayor thanked those who supported the recent Lady Mayoress’ Coffee Morning, either through the organising or attending on the day. In particular he thanked the former Lady Mayoress Mita Joshi and her friends for running their stall. He further put on record, his and the Lady Mayoress’ thanks for those who helped them personally on the day. He hoped everyone enjoyed themselves and noted it was possibly the first time that face painting and face glitter decorations had taken place in the Town Hall Tea Room.

Events for the Lord Mayor’s Charity Appeal

The Lord Mayor reminded Council about other events taking place for the Lord Mayor’s charity appeal. This included a Sunday lunch at Grimsby Fisheries restaurant, an 80’s band night at the Y Theatre in November and a spring ball at the Grand Hotel on March 2^nd 2019.

Leicester Riders

The Lord Mayor invited Councillors to join him on 15 October to congratulate the Leicester Riders on their continued success in the domestic league and for representing the country in European competitions. He also sought to wish them every success in their attempt at winning a fourth successive domestic champions title.

Engagements

The Lord Mayor noted that amongst many engagements, he was able to wish, on behalf of the Council, Ms. Lillian Wignall happy birthday on reaching the age of 111, which made her the third oldest person in the United Kingdom and the oldest Freeman alive.

Chief Fire and Rescue Officer Presentation

The Lord Mayor informed Council that there would be a presentation in the chamber immediately prior to the next Council meeting on 15^th November from the Chief Fire and Rescue Officer. The presentation would be looking at the Hinckley Road explosion, detailing the incident, the response and the lessons learned. All Members were encouraged to attend.

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

No declarations were made.

The minutes of the meeting held on 14 June 2018 are available to view at:

http://www.cabinet.leicester.gov.uk:8071/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=81&MId=8705&Ver=4

Copies are also available from Democratic Support on (0116) 454 6350 or committees@leicester.gov.uk

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

14.    That the minutes of the meeting of Council held on 14^th June 2018, copies having been circulated to each Member of the Council, be taken as read and that they each be approved as a correct record.

No statements were identified.

-           Presented by Members of the Public

Presented by Councillors  

Petitions to be debated

5.1 - Remove the Evesham Road link road from the Local Plan

Petitions from Members of the Public

No petitions for presentation had been received from members of the public.

Petitions from Councillors

Councillor Waddington presented a petition with 161 valid signatures in the following terms:-

“We the residents of Stokes Drive, Darlington Road, all side roads and plot holders of Stokeswood Allotment Society, request that Leicester City Council introduce traffic calming measures and 20mph speed limit on Stokes Drive and Darlington Road in order to reduce the dangers of accidents to residents and children and visitors.”

Councillor Rae Bhatia presented a petition with 92 valid signatures in the following terms:-        

“We the residents and road users of the area would like to petition Leicester City Council to double lane the eastbound stretch of Glenfrith Way A563 between Hallgate Drive junction (just after the bus shelter) and Anstey Lane Roundabout. The lane, as it currently stands, is wide enough for the traffic to form two parallel queues in peak hours, but just not wide enough for it to be safe and legal. The traffic forms into two queues within one wide lane which is highly dangerous. An accident is waiting to happen. The vehicles come dangerously close trying to outmanoeuvre each other and many times this leads to road rage behaviour. Therefore, this request must be addressed urgently. Thank you.”

Councillor Dr Moore presented a petition with 90 valid signatures in the following terms:-

“We the undersigned petition the council to review the speed of Guilford Road and consider the introduction of additional traffic slowing measures.

Residents have become increasingly concerned about the excessive speed of vehicles using Guilford Road. In a 30mph zone, they are often witnessed exceeding speeds of 50mph, making it a treacherous task for residents getting in and out of their cars and manoeuvring into the road. This is not only a problem during the busiest times of the day; it is even common to hear cars reaching phenomenal speeds in the small hours of the morning.

Adding to this, satellite navigation systems are now directing traffic along Guilford Road to avoid congestion on the London Road and many commercial vehicles are showing a disregard for the 7.5T weight restriction.

Having exchanged numerous reports of bumps and near misses, we feel it is time for additional measures to be put in place, before a serious incident occurs.”

Under Council Procedure Rule 13a the aforementioned petitions were referred to the Monitoring Officer for consideration and action as appropriate.

Petitions to be debated

The Monitoring Officer noted that under the terms of the Council’s Petitions Scheme each petitioner had been invited to speak on their petition for a maximum of five minutes.  This would be followed by a debate on the issues raised by the petition for a maximum of 15 minutes.

Remove the Evesham Road link road from the Local Plan

A petition (made up of two parts) was presented by Ms Kim Burley Jones which had been verified as having the required number of verified signatures  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

COUNCIL QUESTIONS – 4^th OCTOBER 2018

Lord Mayor: Moving on to questions. There are no questions from members of the public so we will move on to questions from Councillors. Can I request that if any Members have questions for tonight’s meeting they bear in mind the requirements of the constitution that questions should be asked and answered without discussion and that supplementary questions must be a question for the purpose of clarifying the reply and not a statement. Please note I will curtail any Member that does not comply with those requirements and to start Councillor Waddington your question please.

Councillor Waddington: Thank you Lord Mayor. “Could the City Mayor please tell me which services Leicester City Council currently contracts out, and which ones he would consider bringing back in-house and when?”

Lord Mayor: City Mayor.

City Mayor: Thank you Lord Mayor. The Council of course, as Members will be aware, has until recently had almost a billion pounds of expenditure each year and while that figure is now somewhat below a billion it is still very substantial and like other Councils we do have a wide range of providers of the services that the people of Leicester expect from their Council.  Some of them we provide directly, some of them we provide through third parties, some of them, quite a lot of them, are provided through voluntary and community sector partners. And, of course, you know like all other Councils that does involve some degree of the exchange of contracts and ensuring that the services are delivered according to those contracts. I think as Councillor Waddington will be aware the biggest contracted out service is one that was actually contracted out in 2003 under a previous Labour administration. They contracted out for 25 years the waste collection and disposal service.  Very much I think to my regret they did that with the benefit of a private finance initiative, and I am very pleased to say that since I was elected as Mayor we have not entered into any private finance initiatives unlike previous Labour administrations.  It does mean though because of that, we have a considerable number of difficulties with that contract, particularly difficulty to deal with the issues that of course Councillor Byrne is often drawing to our attention, those associated with the Ball Mill.  But we have actively sought to deal with that but are aware that they tied us up to a contract of 25 years and we are not at the end of that 25 years yet so are not able to consider bringing that back in house.  We have brought other services back in house – car park management being a notable one – and of course I have been pressed repeatedly to consider options for contracting out some leisure facilities, grounds maintenance, highway maintenance, building cleaning, all of which I have stood firm against unlike some previous administrations, and I do intend to continue to look always to direct provision of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

7.1       Food Safety Service Plan 2018/19

7.2       Youth Justice Plan 2018/19

Note: Black and White copies of the reports are provided. Colour Pages can be viewed online or copies obtained from Democratic Support by phoning 0116 4546358.

Food Safety Service Plan 2018-19

Moved by Deputy City Mayor, Councillor Clair, seconded by Councillor Thomas and carried:-

16.      That Council adopt the Leicester City Council Service Plan for Food Law Regulation 2018/2019.

Youth Justice Plan 2018/19

Moved by Deputy City Mayor, Councillor Russell, seconded by Councillor Dawood and carried:-

17.       That Council:

a)         adopt the Leicester City Youth Justice Plan for 2018/19; and

b)        note the review of progress and agree the priorities in the report.

-        To note any changes to the Executive

-        To vary the composition and fill any vacancies of any Committee of the Council

No items identified.

a)         Brexit

Proposed by the City Mayor, seconded by Councillor Myers:

This Council believes that:

“Leicester City Council is deeply concerned that, although two years have passed since the referendum, no agreement has yet been reached with the EU and there remains great uncertainty about the impact of Brexit on the well-being of the city, its economy and its people.

The Council calls on the government to give the British people an opportunity to vote on the acceptability or otherwise of the final terms of leaving the EU. “

b)        Universal Credit

Proposed by Councillor Waddington, seconded by Councillor Master:

This Council believes that:

“Leicester City Council wishes to express strong concern about the impact of the roll out of Universal Credit. We are aware of the financial hardship experienced by many people and families who have been moved onto this new system of benefits.

The problems experienced include;-

• Long waits for payments and the requirement to repay advanced UC ‘loans’
• An increase in rent and council tax arrears
• Increased use of sanctions leaving people without adequate resources
• Difficulties with the complex online application and follow up
• Lower rates of financial support impacting particularly on people with disabilities or long term illnesses and upon single parent families.

The Council will within its resources seek to help those adversely affected by the roll out of Universal Credit in Leicester by;-

• Ensuring that there are sufficient welfare rights advisers who are accessible to all claimants who need help in making their on line claims, chasing up late and inaccurate payments, appealing adverse decisions and providing debt management support.
• Providing support to food banks who are helping more people as a result of the roll out of Universal Credit
• Agreeing not to evict Council tenants who are in arrears with their rent as a consequence of late, inaccurate or postponed UC payments and urging other landlords to do the same.
• Ensuring that the LCC hardship grants are sufficient and accessible to help those adversely affected by UC to enable them to meet their basic needs for things like electricity, gas, rent, council tax bills, clothing and food.
• Reviewing the use of bailiffs and debt recovery agents where UC has contributed to the problems faced by those in debt.

Despite all of the above measures Leicester City Council is aware that the implementation of a Full Service Universal Credit system in the City is likely to prove seriously detrimental to the health and well being of thousands of local residents.

We will write to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions asking for the system to be redesigned so that it removes the risks of increasing poverty and hardship identified in this motion.”

BREXIT

Under Council Procedure Rule 18c, the City Mayor, seconded by Councillor Myers put forward an amended motion to be put to Council. (The amendment is detailed in bold at the end of the motion below):

“Leicester City Council is deeply concerned that, although two years have passed since the referendum, no agreement has yet been reached with the EY and there remains great uncertainty about the impact of Brexit on the well-being of the city, its economy and its people.

The Council calls on the government to give the British people an opportunity to vote on the acceptability or otherwise of the final terms of leaving the EU in a referendum with all options on the table.”

There followed a debate.

The Lord Mayor put the amended motion (incorporating the amendment) to the vote and declared it carried:

18:      “Leicester City Council is deeply concerned that, although two years have passed since the referendum, no agreement has yet been reached with the EU and there remains great uncertainty about the impact of Brexit on the well-being of the city, its economy and its people.

            The Council calls on the government to give the British people an opportunity to vote on the acceptability or otherwise of the final terms of leaving the EU in a referendum will all options on the table.”

UNIVERSAL CREDIT

Moved by Councillor Waddington, seconded by Councillor Master and carried:

19.      “Leicester City Council wishes to express strong concern about the impact of the roll out of Universal Credit. We are aware of the financial hardship experienced by many people and families who have been moved onto this new system of benefits.

The problems experienced include;-

·         Long waits for payments and the requirement to repay advanced UC ‘loans’

·         An increase in rent and council tax arrears

·         Increased use of sanctions leaving people without adequate resources

·         Difficulties with the complex online application and follow up

·         Lower rates of financial support impacting particularly on people with disabilities or long term illnesses and upon single parent families.

The Council will within its resources seek to help those adversely affected by the roll out of Universal Credit in Leicester by;-

·         Ensuring that there are sufficient welfare rights advisers who are accessible to all claimants who need help in making their on line claims, chasing up late and inaccurate payments, appealing adverse decisions and providing debt management support.

·         Providing support to food banks who are helping more people as a result of the roll out of Universal Credit

·         Agreeing not to evict Council tenants who are in arrears with their rent as a consequence of late, inaccurate or postponed UC payments and urging other landlords to do the same.

·         Ensuring that the LCC hardship grants are sufficient and accessible to help those adversely affected by UC to enable them to meet their basic needs for things like electricity, gas, rent, council tax bills, clothing and food.

·         Reviewing the use of bailiffs and debt recovery agents where UC has contributed to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

There being no further or urgent items of business the Lord Mayor declared the meeting closed at 9.10pm.