Council to receive any communications from the Mayor.

The Mayor reported that he had had a busy few months as Civic Mayor following the lifting of Covid restrictions, and that along with his consort he had been pleased to support a variety of events across the Borough.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillor Shakil Ahmed, Councillor Elsie Blundell, Councillor Burke, Councillor Hussain, Councillor O'Rourke, Councillor Paolucci and Councillor Peter Williams.

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.   

In relation to agenda Item 6 – Motion 2, Councillor Taylor declared that he rented out a small number of properties.

In relation to agenda Item 7 – Members’ Quarterly Reports, Councillor Place declared a personal interest by virtue of her employment at Rochdale Connections Trust being contracted to provide domestic abuse support services and youth programmes.

Councillor Taylor and Councillor Place remained in the room throughout the meeting.

To authorise the signing of the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 18 May 2022.

That the minutes of the Council meeting held on 18^th May 2022 be approved and signed by the Mayor as a correct record.

To receive petitions and questions from members of the public, where these have been received in accordance with the Petitions Scheme and/or Council Procedure Rules.

There were no submitted questions or petitions.

Motion 1

To be moved by Councillor Winkler and seconded by Councillor Anstee

During the recent pandemic, people around the world adopted many new technologies and found new ways of working.  Here in Rochdale members of this council embraced online meetings which were able to be live-streamed on the web, this technology brought wider transparency to our processes by helping the public to see how their elected members represent them.  This council believes that this kind of transparency is vital for accountability and enhances our democratic process.

This council therefore propose that Officers be asked to explore the options to implement the live-streaming of all public meetings and those meetings held in public, in buildings with suitable technology as soon as possible, subject to feasibility, cost and resource implications.

Motion 2

To be moved by Councillor S. Smith seconded by Councillor Meredith

Elected Members will be aware of excellent partnerships that Rochdale Council is participating in to develop a mix tenure of housing across our Borough, from affordable/social rented, shared ownership, private rented and owner occupied. Even with this great work, Middleton, Heywood, Pennines and Rochdale residents, are feeling the pinch on their bills, especially rents and mortgages.

In our Borough, there are currently around 8,000 households on our Housing Register and it’s a real challenge for Council Officers to assist residents to stay in their current home and allow them to access homes they can afford.
Due to the increased cost of living and inflationary pressures,  the Local Housing Allowance and wages are not keeping pace with the increase in ‘market rents,' meaning that many residents are unable to access both the private sector housing and housing association housing or able to sustain their current tenancies. Elected Members are aware of cases when people applying for affordable housing are failing the affordability test as the housing providers have increased their affordability indices for applicants.

As a Council, we request the Chief Executive to write to the Government, to ask the relevant Ministers, to increase Local Housing Allowance, fund more grants to build social rented homes (currently Rochdale Borough is not eligible) and help residents ‘weather the cost of living storm' with a rent cap to stop an increase above the current 9.1% inflation.

Motion 3

To be moved by Councillor Emsley and seconded by Councillor Dale.

This Council notes that the reduction in roads policing has been detrimental to road safety and recognises the concerns that residents have with regard to Road Safety across the Borough.

This Council regrets that in making cuts to funding for our emergency services the Government has effectively taken out the wherewithal for much of the intervention work that has previously been so important in safety on our roads.

This Council recognises that targeted enforcement is vital.

Rochdale Borough Council welcomes the news:

·         That the Chief Constable has sought and been given funding from the Traffic Enforcement and Road Safety Reserve which is being used for the purpose of establishing a new centrally co-ordinated  ...  view the full agenda text for item 80.

Motion 1 - Live-streaming of public meetings

It was MOVED by Councillor Winkler and seconded by Councillor Anstee that:

“During the recent pandemic, people around the world adopted many new technologies and found new ways of working.  Here in Rochdale members of this council embraced online meetings which were able to be live-streamed on the web, this technology brought wider transparency to our processes by helping the public to see how their elected members represent them.  This council believes that this kind of transparency is vital for accountability and enhances our democratic process.

This council therefore propose that officers be asked to explore the options to implement the live-streaming of all public meetings and those meetings held in public, in buildings with suitable technology as soon as possible, subject to feasibility, cost and resource implications”.

On being put the vote, the motion as moved by Councillor Winkler and seconded by Councillor Anstee was carried and it was RESOLVED accordingly.

Motion 2 - Housing

It was MOVED by Councillor Susan Smith and seconded by Councillor Meredith that:

“Elected Members will be aware of excellent partnerships that Rochdale Council is participating in to develop a mix tenure of housing across our Borough, from affordable/social rented, shared ownership, private rented and owner occupied. Even with this great work, Middleton, Heywood, Pennines and Rochdale residents, are feeling the pinch on their bills, especially rents and mortgages.

In our Borough, there are currently around 8,000 households on our Housing Register and it’s a real challenge for Council Officers to assist residents to stay in their current home and allow them to access homes they can afford.  Due to the increased cost of living and inflationary pressures,  the Local Housing Allowance and wages are not keeping pace with the increase in ‘market rents,' meaning that many residents are unable to access both the private sector housing and housing association housing or able to sustain their current tenancies. Elected Members are aware of cases when people applying for affordable housing are failing the affordability test as the housing providers have increased their affordability indices for applicants.

As a Council, we request the Chief Executive to write to the Government, to ask the relevant Ministers, to increase Local Housing Allowance, fund more grants to build social rented homes (currently Rochdale Borough is not eligible) and help residents ‘weather the cost of living storm' with a rent cap to stop an increase above the current 9.1% inflation”.

On being put the vote, the motion as moved by Susan Smith and seconded by Councillor Meredith was carried and it was RESOLVED accordingly.

Motion 3 - Road Safety

It was MOVED by Councillor Emsley and seconded by Councillor Dale that:

“This Council notes that the reduction in roads policing has been detrimental to road safety and recognises the concerns that residents have with regard to Road Safety across the Borough.

This Council regrets that in making cuts to funding for our emergency services the Government has effectively taken out the wherewithal  ...  view the full minutes text for item 80.

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.

Consideration was given to Members’ Quarterly Reports.

RESOLVED: That the following reports be noted:

1.    The Leader of the Council

2.    Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Health

3.    Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Equalities, Safety and Reform

4.    Cabinet Member for Economy and Regeneration

5.    Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate

6.    Cabinet Member for Adult Care and Wellbeing

7.    Cabinet Member for Children’s Services

8.    Cabinet Member for Highways and Housing

9.    Cabinet Member for Communities and Co-operation

10. Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment

11. Chair of Heywood Township Committee

12. Chair of Middleton Township Committee

13. Chair of Pennines Township Committee

14. Chair of Rochdale North Township Committee

15. Chair of Rochdale South Township Committee

16. Chair of Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee

17. Chair of Communities, Regeneration and Environment Overview and   Scrutiny Committee

18. Chair of Health, Schools and Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Corporate and Finance / Interim Director of Resources

Council was advised that the Monitoring Officer would be leaving on 11^th September 2022 to take up a senior position in a different local authority. 

The Council was required to appoint a Monitoring Officer to discharge the statutory function.  A recruitment process was currently underway, however it was unlikely that a successor would be in post prior to 11^th September 2022.

Therefore, it was proposed that the current Deputy Monitoring Officer be appointed as Interim Monitoring Officer for the intervening period, until the appointment of a permanent successor.

RESOLVED:  That Susan Hedges, Head of Legal/Deputy Monitoring Officer be appointed as the Council’s Interim Monitoring Officer in accordance with the Local Government & Housing Act 1989, with effect from 12th September 2022.

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Health / Director of Commissioning (DASS)

Consideration was given to a report that outlined the Health and Care Act 2022 and the introduction of Integrated Care System from 1^st July 2022.

Integrated Care Systems were partnerships of health and care organisations that brought together NHS, local authority and third sector bodies to take the responsibility and resources of health and care in an area, with the aim to deliver better, more integrated care.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the Council establish the Locality Board, as a Joint Committee between the Council and NHS partner organisations to act as the Integrated Care Partnership for Rochdale Borough.

2.    That the existing Integrated Commissioning Board be disestablished and the functions and delegations be transferred to the Locality Board with safeguarding of voting rights in relation to Section 75 executive decisions.

3.    That the Terms of Reference of the Locality Board be approved, as set out in Appendix 1 of the report.

4.    That Rochdale Borough Council’s Chief Executive and Director of Strategic Commissioning be approved to undertake the additional roles of Place Lead and Deputy Place Lead respectively.

5.    That the Monitoring Officer be delegated authority in consultation with the Leader of the Council to amend appointments to the Locality Board.