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Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: THE COUNCIL CHAMBER - FIRST FLOOR, TOWN HALL, TOWN HALL SQUARE, LEICESTER

Contact: Matthew Reeves 0116 4546352 (376352) Email: matthew.reeves@leicester.gov.uk; 

Media

Items
No. Item

57.

LORD MAYOR'S ANNOUNCEMENTS

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Cyclone Idai

The Lord Mayor expressed his sympathies on behalf of the city for all those victims of the recent cyclone in Mozambique, where thousands of people either lost their lives, had been bereaved or left without shelter or food.

 

Attack in New Zealand

The Lord Mayor noted the recent tragic events following the attack on Mosques in New Zealand where people had lost their lives or had been seriously injured. He expressed dismay at such actions and noted that he was happy to agree to add the urgent motion to the agenda where Council could express its collective condemnation.

 

Out of respect for the victims of both the above incidents, Council stood for a minute’s silence.

 

Council Prayers – the Sikh Faith

The Lord Mayor referred to prayers prior to the previous Council meeting. He believed that the Sikh faith was inadvertently omitted when a list of the major faiths in the city was mentioned. He said that it was his intention for prayers to be as inclusive as possible throughout his year in office and he apologised to anyone who may have been offended by this omission.

 

Local medal winner at the Special Olympics

The Lord Mayor congratulated local resident Julie Freestone for her major achievement of being awarded a bronze medal as part of the Great Britain basketball team at the Special Olympics which were being held in Abu Dhabi.

 

The Lord Mayor also thanked her coaches, sponsors and supporters, who enabled her to attend the Special Olympics.

 

He intended to invite Julie and her team to join him in a reception at the Town Hall where her achievements could be truly recognised.

 

Final Council meeting before the forthcoming election

The Lord Mayor noted that it was the final Council meeting before the up-coming election. He noted that a number of members would not be standing for re-election. They would however be welcomed to attend a thank you event which he would host on 13th May.

 

He took the opportunity to thank all those not standing for their service to the city and wished them well for the future.

58.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Additional documents:

Minutes:

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

 

No declarations were made.

59.

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS

The minutes of the meetings held on 24 January and 20 February 2019 are available to view at:

 

24 January 2019

http://www.cabinet.leicester.gov.uk:8071/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=81&MId=8708&Ver=4

 

20 February 2019

http://www.cabinet.leicester.gov.uk:8071/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=81&MId=8710&Ver=4

 

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

Additional documents:

Minutes:

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

 

30.       That the minutes of the meetings of Council held on 24th January and 20st February 2019, copies having been circulated to each Member of the Council, be taken as read and that they each be approved as a correct record.

60.

STATEMENTS BY THE CITY MAYOR/EXECUTIVE

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The following statements were made:

 

City Mayor

 

The City Mayor noted that many Councillors were not standing in the forthcoming election and he wished them well. He did however note that some may return at some point in the future. He paid particular thanks to his Executive colleagues, Councillors Andy Connelly and Manjula Sood as they were not standing.

 

Deputy City Mayor – Councillor Russell

 

Councillor Russell referred to the role of all Councillors as a corporate parent, and the recent ‘Celebrating Success’ event which celebrated the achievements of the Council’s looked after children. She noted the importance of the corporate parent role and the difference it could make to young people’s lives. She wanted to pay particular tribute to two Councillors who had gone above and beyond in their commitment to looked after children. They were Councillor Danny Myers and Councillor Ted Cassidy. They had shown unbending commitment and focus on seeking every possible opportunity for children in the Council’s care.

61.

PETITIONS

-           Presented by Members of the Public

-           Presented by Councillors

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Petitions from Members of the Public

 

Mr Martin Buchanan presented a petition with 14 valid signatures in the following terms:-

 

“We the undersigned petition Sir Peter Soulsby to allow Beaumont Lodge Neighbourhood Centre to be transferred as an asset to the residing charity Beaumont Lodge Neighbourhood Association CIO.”

 

Petitions from Councillors

 

No petitions for presentation had been received from Councillors.

 

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

62.

QUESTIONS

-           From Members of the Public

-           From Councillors

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Lord Mayor: I invite Mr Hersh Thaker to ask his question.

 

Matthew Reeves: He’s not attending.

 

Lord Mayor: He’s not attending so we will supply that answer in writing. I invite Mrs Zena Morris to ask her question.

 

Zena Morris: The City Mayor’s Public Briefing on Thursday 16th October 2014 considered a report for “Proposals for policy provision schemes and new schemes in the Housing Capital Programme 2014/15”. It contained a recommendation for St Leonard’s Court, that a second lift is installed, and the first lift is refurbished within the next 5 years. I live in St Leonard’s Court and we the tenants and residents are still suffering with a series of breakdowns, almost a weekly occurrence just lately, I’d like to know when the second lift will be procured and installed?

 

Lord Mayor: Thank you. Assistant City Mayor, Councillor Connelly to reply.

 

Councillor Connelly: Thank you Lord Mayor and thank you Zena for the question. I will say I do share your frustrations as to the issue of the second lift in St Leonards Court. I’d like to thank Councillor Kitterick for his initial lobbying which highlighted the necessity to install a second lift. I know that Councillor Kitterick has been as frustrated as I am as to how long it has taken. As Zena said the decision to install a second lift was taken in 2015, and to create them we must procure that lift along with a need list for the entire refurbishment project. However, once we began the process it was recognised that the location that had been identified for the second lift was the store room off the communal landing which had unfortunately had been sold under the right to buy to the adjacent lease-holder. This meant that the Council did not own the cupboard anymore, so we couldn’t fit the new lift. The reason for fitting the new lift was because the original lift had become unreliable and needed renewing, as Zena adequately just stated. We could not do this while getting proper lift access to all floors, so we need to fit the new lift first. The Council started negotiations with the lease-holders, and most of those negotiations were completed apart from with the lease-holder who owned the cupboard space. We are pleased to say that those negotiations are now recently been concluded, and we plan to install the lift in the summer. It doesn’t give a date, but I would assume it would get to work in 2019. There will be a resident’s open day which has been planned for June, which all tenants, lease-holders and residents will be invited to. I will ensure that the ward councillors are invited to as well, though I won’t be here. But when the second lift has been installed we will renew the existing lift, so the block can have two lifts, we can’t be dependent on just one lift anymore. We hope though that we can repair both by 2020, thank you.

 

Lord  ...  view the full minutes text for item 62.

63.

MATTERS RESERVED TO COUNCIL pdf icon PDF 44 KB

7.1       Pay Policy Statement 2019/20 and Gender Pay Gap Report 2018.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

7.1       Pay Policy Statement 2019/20 and Gender Pay Gap Report 2018

 

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

 

31.   That Council approves the Pay Policy Statement for 2019/20 and notes the Gender Pay Gap Report 2018.

64.

EXECUTIVE AND COMMITTEES

-       To note any changes to the Executive

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

·         To confirm the appointment of the parent governor co-optee on the Children, Young People and Schools Scrutiny Commission.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

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

 

32.     That Mr Mohit Sharma be appointed to the Children, Young People and Schools Scrutiny Commission as parent governor representative (primary school) co-optee for a term of 4 years.

65.

ANY OTHER URGENT BUSINESS pdf icon PDF 95 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Lord Mayor stated that he agreed to accept the following notice of motion as an item of urgent business. This was in order to allow the Council to respond to the recent tragic events in New Zealand in a timely and reassuring manner.

 

Notice of Motion – New Zealand attack

66.

NOTICE OF MOTION

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Moved by Councillor Dr Chowdhury, seconded by Councillor Waddington and carried:

 

33.     It is imperative that the survivors of last Friday's terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand - plus their families and the Muslim community of which they are a part - realize the extent of the outrage felt around the world. It is crucial that every public body, as an act of solidarity, expresses this outrage and also conveys its most sincere and heart-felt sympathy to those directly affected.

 

Leicester City Council, therefore, utterly condemns the murderous attack made by the far-right fanatic who is now, thankfully, in custody. The Council can confidently say that the citizens of the cosmopolitan city it represents, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, fully concur with this condemnation of the massacre, for warped, racist reasons, of fifty men, women and children and the serious wounding of many others. This hateful ideology cannot be allowed to prevail.

67.

CLOSE OF MEETING

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The City Mayor, noting that this was the last business meeting of the Lord Mayor’s term, thanked him for his competent and even-handed chairing over the past year.

 

There being no further items of urgent business, the Lord Mayor declared the meeting closed at 8.02pm.