Agenda and minutes

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Items
No. Item

11.

Mayor's Communications

To receive any communications from the Mayor.

Minutes:

The Mayor welcomed Councillors Besford, Massey and Wraighte to their first ordinary meeting of Council.

 

The Mayor informed Council that the partner of Councillor Meredith had given birth to a son, both mum and baby were doing well and the best wishes of Council were sent to the family.

12.

Declarations of Interest

Members are required to declare any disclosable pecuniary, personal or personal and prejudicial interests they may have and the nature of those interests relating to items on this agenda and/or indicate if S106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.   

Minutes:

Declarations of interest were made as follows:-

 

Councillors Cocks, Dearnley, Massey, Rana and Taylor declared personal interests in the submitted Motion 3b).

 

Councillor Wraighte declared a pecuniary interest in the submitted motion 3c).  She took no part in the debate or vote on the item.

13.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 121 KB

To authorise the signing of the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 22nd May 2019.

Minutes:

The Mayor informed the Council that Minutes from the meeting held on 22nd May 2019 had been circulated and included within the Agenda pack for the meeting.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.    That the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 22nd May 2019 be approved and signed as a correct record.

14.

Public Questions and Petitions

To consider the following question from Mr A Heaford:

 

“Why isn’t the Council monitoring what the Housing Association (RBH) are doing?”

Minutes:

A question had been submitted by Mr Tony Heaford as detailed in the Agenda papers.

 

The Leader of the Council responded to the question and also provided Mr Heaford with a written answer.

15.

Notices of Motion

The Council is asked to consider the following four Motions that have been submitted in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10:

 

a)    It will be moved by Councillor Kelly and seconded by Councillor Bamford that:

 

This Council believes that the world is in the midst of a climate emergency and that action is required at all levels of Government – local, national and international – in order to protect our planet for future generations.

 

This Council notes that:

 

• on 8th October 2018, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published a report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emissions;

the report warned that the risk of catastrophic climate change including extreme heat, drought, flooding and climate-related poverty would significantly increase unless global warming could be kept to a maximum of 1.5°C;

• the report authors found that global warming is likely to reach 1.5°C between 2030 and 2052 if it continues to increase at the current rate and say that urgent and unprecedented action is required to meet the target.

 

Council recognises that the scale of the challenge is unprecedented. Approximately 97.5% of emissions within the borough are beyond the Council’s direct control, so everyone within the borough has a role to play if we are to successfully reduce emissions. Tackling climate change can only be a common endeavour and will require residents, businesses and other organisations to play their part.

 

This Council resolves to:

 

      declare a climate emergency;

      work towards ensuring that the borough is carbon neutral by 2050, in line with the Mayor and the Government’s targets. Achieving this will require significant investment and policy initiatives from the Government, and Council hopes it would be achieved earlier than 2050;

      work towards ensuring that the Council is carbon neutral by 2030, recognising the leadership role it has in the borough;

      develop a working group to support the Council move from declaration to delivery drawing in cross sector expertise, capacity and capability. The working group should draw on existing expertise within the borough as well as including residents who are representative of the borough as a whole;

      set in place a process of engagement and collaborative action that enables an action plan to be considered by Cabinet and Council in early 2020, based on achieving the aforementioned targets.

 

 

 

b)    It will be moved by Councillor Daalat Ali and seconded by Councillor Robinson that:

 

Due to high house prices and the lack of sufficient social housing, the proportion of people renting privately has doubled since 2004; half of 18-35s, 1 in 4 families with children, and growing numbers of older people now live in privately rented homes.

 

Most of England’s 11 million renters are on tenancies with fixed terms of six months or a year; after this period has ended, landlords can evict their tenants with just two months’ notice, without giving them a reason. These ‘no fault evictions’ were introduced under section  ...  view the full agenda text for item 15.

Minutes:

a)         It was moved by Councillor Kelly and seconded by Councillor Bamford that:

 

This Council notes that:

·         on 8th October 2018, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published a report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emissions;

·         the report warned that the risk of catastrophic climate change including extreme heat, drought, flooding and climate-related poverty would significantly increase unless global warming could be kept to a maximum of 1.5°C;

·         the report authors found that global warming is likely to reach 1.5°C between 2030 and 2052 if it continues to increase at the current rate and say that urgent and unprecedented action is required to meet the target.

 

Council recognises that the scale of the challenge is unprecedented. Approximately 97.5% of emissions within the borough are beyond the Council’s direct control, so everyone within the borough has a role to play if we are to successfully reduce emissions. Tackling climate change can only be a common endeavour and will require residents, businesses and other organisations to play their part.

 

This Council resolves to:

·         declare a climate emergency;

·         work towards ensuring that the borough is carbon neutral by 2050, in line with the Mayor and the Government’s targets. Achieving this will require significant investment and policy initiatives from the Government, and Council hopes it would be achieved earlier than 2050;

·         work towards ensuring that the Council is carbon neutral by 2030, recognising the leadership role it has in the borough;

·         develop a working group to support the Council move from declaration to delivery drawing in cross sector expertise, capacity and capability. The working group should draw on existing expertise within the borough as well as including residents who are representative of the borough as a whole;

·         set in place a process of engagement and collaborative action that enables an action plan to be considered by Cabinet and Council in early 2020, based on achieving the aforementioned targets.

 

An amendment to the motion was moved by Councillor Brett and seconded by Councillor Blundell proposing an amendment to the target date for being carbon neutral to 2038.

 

The amendment to the motion was accepted by Councillor Kelly and Councillor Bamford and on being put to the vote, the motion as amended was declared to be carried and it was RESOLVED accordingly.

 

 

b)         It was moved by Councillor Daalat Ali and seconded by Councillor Robinson that:

 

Due to high house prices and the lack of sufficient social housing, the proportion of people renting privately has doubled since 2004; half of 18-35s, 1 in 4 families with children, and growing numbers of older people now live in privately rented homes.

 

Most of England’s 11 million renters are on tenancies with fixed terms of six months or a year; after this period has ended, landlords can evict their tenants with just two months’ notice, without giving them a reason. These ‘no fault evictions’ were introduced under section 21 of the 1988 Housing Act; before this,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

16.

Members' Quarterly Reports pdf icon PDF 130 KB

To receive quarterly reports from Members of the Cabinet, Chairs of Township Committees and Chairs of Overview and Scrutiny Committees and to permit questions from Members of the Council.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members presented their Quarterly Reports responding to questions and remarks from Members of the Council:-

·         The Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance;

·         Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Resources;

·         Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing;

·         Cabinet Member for Planning, Development and Housing;

·         Cabinet Member for Environment;

·         Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Business, Skills and Employment;

·         Cabinet Member for Children’s Services;

·         Cabinet Member for Adult Care;

·         Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, Community and Culture;

·         Chair of Heywood Township Committee;

·         Chair of Middleton Township Committee;

·         Chair of Pennines Township Committee;

·         Chair of Rochdale North Township Committee;

·         Chair of Rochdale South Township Committee;

·         Overview and Scrutiny Committees – Report of the Chairs;

·         Update on the work of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority;

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.    That the reports be noted.

 

17.

Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report 2018-2019 pdf icon PDF 217 KB

To consider the Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report 2018-2019.

Minutes:

The Council considered the Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report for 2018-2019.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.    That the Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report for 2018-2019 be noted.

18.

Audit and Governance Committee Annual Report 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 91 KB

To consider the Audit and Governance Committee Annual Report 2018/19.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Council considered the Audit and Governance Committee Annual Report 2018/19.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.    That the Audit and Governance Committee Annual Report 2018/19 be noted.

 

19.

Introduction of New Values and Behaviours pdf icon PDF 110 KB

To consider the introduction of New Values and Behaviours.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Council considered the introduction of new values and behaviours. The Council recently commissioned the Local Government Association (LGA) to conduct a review of the current Values and Behaviours, contained within the ‘Rochdale Way’. Between November and December the LGA conducted a number of focus groups and one-to-one interviews and met with over 100 people including staff from across the Council & CGG, Elected Members, senior managers and Trade Union representatives. On the basis of this review, the LGA are recommending replacing the Rochdale Way with three new Values and associated Behaviours. The proposed values are: Proud, Passionate, Pioneering & Open.

 

The LGA have made some recommendations re ensuring these new values are implemented and embedded across the organisation which include communication, embedding into recruitment, induction, Personal Development Review (PDR),  and training and development processes.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.    That the new values and behaviours be approved; 

 

2.    That the implementation suggestions from the LGA be accepted subject to some additional focus on implementing and embedding the new values, for example training on diversity and equalities.

 

 

 

20.

Appointment of the Chief Finance/Section 151 Officer pdf icon PDF 105 KB

To consider the appointment of the Chief Finance/Section 151 Officer.

Minutes:

The Council considered the appointment of the Chief Finance/Section 151 Officer.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.    That Julie Murphy be appointed as the Council’s Chief Finance/Section 151 Officer with effect from 18 July 2019.

 

21.

Amendments to the Council Constitution pdf icon PDF 89 KB

To consider amendments to the Council Constitution.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Council considered amendments to the Council Constitution following the Public Protection function and associated staff resource being transferred from the Public Health and Wellbeing Directorate to the Neighbourhoods Directorate. 

 

The Council Constitution needs to reflect those changes to ensure that appropriate individuals have the relevant authority to act. 

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.    That the amendments to Part 3 of the Council Constitution (as highlighted in red in the appendix to the submitted report) be approved.

22.

Review of AGMA Constitution pdf icon PDF 94 KB

To consider a review of the AGMA Constitution.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Council considered a review of the AGMA Constitution. The GMCA Monitoring Officer has reviewed the AGMA Constitution following the changes to the GM Transport Governance arrangements and is recommending a series of associated changes to reflect the required revisions.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.    That Council notes the AGMA Executive Board & GMCA have agreed the amendments to the AGMA Constitution.

 

2.    That the revised AGMA Constitution be approved.

 

3.    That the GMCA substitute member (Councillor Rowbotham) be appointed as the substitute member for the AGMA Executive Board.