Council Minutes

Date:
Wednesday, 6th May, 2009
Time:
7.00 p.m.
Place:
Council Chamber, Town Hall, High Street, Stockton-on-Tees, TS18 1AU
 
Please note: all Minutes are subject to approval at the next Meeting

Attendance Details

Present:
The Worshipful the Mayor (Cllr Paul Kirton); Cllr Hilary Aggio, Cllr Mrs Lynne Apedaile, Cllr Paul Baker, Cllr Jim Beall, Cllr Mrs Jennie Beaumont, Cllr Phillip Broughton, Cllr Mrs Ann Cains, Cllr Dick Cains, Cllr Julia Cherrett, Cllr David Coleman, Cllr Robert Cook, Cllr Mrs Eileen Craggs, Cllr Alex Cunningham, Cllr Jackie Earl, Cllr Mick Eddy, Cllr John Fletcher, Cllr Mrs Suzanne Fletcher, Cllr Maurice Frankland, Cllr John Gardner, Cllr Robert Gibson, Cllr David Harrington, Cllr Miss Barbara Inman, Cllr Mohammed Javed, Cllr Terry Laing, Cllr Miss Tina Large, Cllr Colin Leckonby, Cllr Alan Lewis, Cllr Ken Lupton, Cllr Mrs Ann McCoy, Cllr Mrs Kath Nelson, Cllr Steve Nelson, Cllr Bill Noble, Cllr Ross Patterson, Cllr Maurice Perry, Cllr Mrs Maureen Rigg, Cllr Roy Rix, Cllr Fred Salt, Cllr Andrew Sherris, Cllr Mick Stoker, Cllr Mrs Allison Trainer, Cllr Steve Walmsley, Cllr Mrs Sylvia Walmsley, Cllr Mrs Mary Womphrey, Cllr Mick Womphrey, Cllr Bill Woodhead and Cllr Barry Woodhouse.
Officers:
D E Bond, P K Bell, S Johnson (LD); M Robinson (DNS); J Danks (R); J Humphreys (CESC).
In Attendance:
Mr F W Hayes (Chairman of the Standards Committee), C Nester (Standards Committee Member), 4 Members of the Public.
Apologies for absence:
Cllr Aidan Cockerill, Cllr Ian Dalgarno, Cllr Ken Dixon, Cllr Kevin Faulks, Cllr Andrew Larkin, Cllr Liz Nesbitt, Cllr Jean O'Donnell and Cllr Mike Smith.
Item Description Decision
Public
C
24/09		 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
 Councillor Mrs Beaumont declared a personal non prejudicial interest in respect of agenda item 21 - Cabinet minutes - CAB 18/09 on the grounds of her role as a Parish Council member of Castle Leavington and Kirklevington Parish Council which had been affected by the consultation process.

Councillor Mrs McCoy declared a personal non prejudicial interest in respect of agenda item 21 - Cabinet minutes - CAB 9/09 as a result of her membership of Billingham Town Council which had been involved in the tendering process.

Councillor Stoker declared a personal prejudicial interest in respect of agenda item 37 - Planning Committee minutes - P 150/08 as he had made a personal objection to the application.

Councillor Cunningham declared a personal prejudicial interest in respect of agenda item 37 - Planning Committee minutes - P 150/08 as he had made a personal objection to the application.

Councillor Gibson declared a personal non prejudicial interest in respect of agenda item 21 - Cabinet minutes - CAB 9/09 as he was a member of Newtown Resource Centre.

Councillor Gibson declared a personal non prejudicial interest in respect of agenda item 21 - Cabinet minutes - CAB 11/09 as he was a member of Tristar Homes Board Ltd.
C
25/09		 CORPORATE PARENTING PLEDGE
Preamble
 
C
26/09		 PRESENTATION - FIRST LIGHT MOVIE AWARDS - ANOTHER SIDE OF REALITY
Preamble
 
C
27/09		 FORMER COUNCILLOR AND HONORARY ALDERMAN TED WOOD
Preamble
 
C
28/09		 PUBLIC QUESTION TIME
Preamble
 
C
29/09		 MEMBERS' QUESTION TIME
Preamble
 
C
30/09		 MINUTES
Preamble
 
C
31/09		 MINUTES
Preamble
 
C
32/09		 MINUTES
Preamble
 
C
33/09		 MINUTES
Preamble
 
C
34/09		 APPEALS & COMPLAINTS COMMITTEE MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Gibson, seconded by Councillor Sherris and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Appeals and Complaints Committee held on 19th March 2009 (Minute ACC 11/08 - ACC 13/08) be received.
C
35/09		 APPOINTMENTS PANEL (HEADS OF SERVICE) MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Lupton, seconded by Councillor Laing and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Appointments Panel (Heads of Service) held on 18th February 2009 (Minute APP 47/08 - APP 50/08) be received.
C
36/09		 APPOINTMENTS PANEL (HEADS OF SERVICE) MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Cunningham, seconded by Councillor Eddy and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Appointments Panel (Heads of Service) held on 23rd February 2009 (Minute APP 51/08 - APP 54/08) be received.
C
37/09		 APPOINTMENTS PANEL (HEADS OF SERVICE) MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Cunningham, seconded by Councillor Eddy and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Appointments Panel (Heads of Service) held on 3rd March 2009 (Minute APP 55/08 - APP 58/08) be received.
C
38/09		 APPOINTMENTS PANEL (HEADS OF SERVICE) MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Lupton, seconded by Councillor Laing and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Appointments Panel (Heads of Service) held on 17th March 2009 (Minute APP 59/08 - APP 62/08) be received.
C
39/09		 ARTS LEISURE & CULTURE SELECT COMMITTEE MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Sherris, seconded by Councillor Mrs Walmsley and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Arts, Leisure and Culture Select Committee held on 21st January 2009 (Minute ALS 31/08 - ALS 35/08) be confirmed.
C
40/09		 ARTS LEISURE & CULTURE SELECT COMMITTEE MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Sherris, seconded by Councillor Mrs Walmsley and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Arts, Leisure and Culture Select Committee held on 4th March 2009 (Minute ALS 36/08 - ALS 40/08) be received.
C
41/09		 AUDIT COMMITTEE MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Woodhouse, seconded by Councillor Womphrey and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Audit Committee held on 2nd March 2009 (Minute A 41/08 - A 47/08) be received.
C
42/09		 AUDIT COMMITTEE MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Woodhouse, seconded by Councillor Womphrey and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Audit Committee held on 14th April 2009 (Minute A 1/09 - A 6/09) be received subject to the following correction:-

With regard minute A 3/09, Page 4:-

The following wording to be deleted:-

"Members noted that schools would be expected to report back to"

And replace with the following wording:-

"Members noted that, following the audit of a school any resulting recommendations would be presented to the school’s board of governors. Subsequently, the school would be required to, within 3 months, provide Internal Audit with an action plan addressing the recommendations.

It was suggested that the 3 month period be extended to 4 months as this was more likely to fit in with the frequency of governor meetings."
C
43/09		 CABINET MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Lupton, seconded by Councillor Mrs Beaumont and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Cabinet held on 16th April 2009 (Minute CAB 1/09 - CAB 20/09) be confirmed or received as appropriate.
C
44/09		 CORPORATE, ADULT SERVICES & SOCIAL INCLUSION SELECT COMMITTEE MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Stoker, seconded by Councillor Mrs Apedaile and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Corporate, Adult and Social Inclusion Select Committee held on 6th January 2009 (Minute CAS 43/08 - CAS 46/08) be confirmed.
C
45/09		 CORPORATE, ADULT SERVICES & SOCIAL INCLUSION SELECT COMMITTEE MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Stoker, seconded by Councillor Mrs Apedaile and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Corporate, Adult and Social Inclusion Select Committee held on 17th February 2009 (Minute CAS 47/08 - CAS 52/08) be confirmed.
C
46/09		 EMPLOYEE APPEALS PANEL MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Rix, seconded by Councillor Mrs Nelson and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Employee Appeals Panel held on 16th February 2009 (Minute EAP 24/08 - EAP 27/08) be received.
C
47/09		 EMPLOYEE APPEALS PANEL MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Rix, seconded by Councillor Mrs Nelson and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Employee Appeals Panel held on 23rd February 2009 (Minute EAP 28/08 - EAP 30/08) be received.
C
48/09		 EMPLOYEE APPEALS PANEL MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Rix, seconded by Councillor Mrs Nelson and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Employee Appeals Panel held on 19th March 2009 (Minute EAP 31/08 - EAP 33/08) be received.
C
49/09		 ENVIRONMENT SELECT COMMITTEE MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Mrs Rigg, seconded by Councillor Gibson and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Environment Select Committee held on 11th February 2009 (Minute ENV 38/08 - ENV 43/08) be confirmed.
C
50/09		 EXECUTIVE SCRUTINY COMMITTEE MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Gibson, seconded by Councillor Miss Large and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Executive Scrutiny Committee held on 27th January 2009 (Minute EXC 61/08 - EXC 67/08) be received.
C
51/09		 HEALTH SELECT COMMITTEE MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Mrs Cains, seconded by Councillor Beall and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Health Select Committee held on 15th December 2008 (Minute H 59/08 - H 63/08) be confirmed.
C
52/09		 HEALTH SELECT COMMITTEE MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Mrs Cains, seconded by Councillor Beall and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Health Select Committee held on 12th January 2009 (Minute H 64/08 - H 68/08) be confirmed.
C
53/09		 HEALTH SELECT COMMITTEE MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Mrs Cains, seconded by Councillor Beall and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Health Select Committee held on 23rd February 2009 (Minute H 69/08 - H 75/08) be confirmed.
C
54/09		 HEALTH SELECT COMMITTEE MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Mrs Cains, seconded by Councillor Beall and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Health Select Committee held on 16th March 2009 (Minute H 76/08 - H 81/08) be confirmed.
C
55/09		 HOUSING & COMMUNITY SAFETY SELECT COMMITTEE MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Cherrett, seconded by Councillor Mrs Trainer and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Housing and Community Safety Select Committee held on 12th February 2009 (Minute HCS 50/08 - HCS 54/08) be confirmed.
C
56/09		 HOUSING & COMMUNITY SAFETY SELECT COMMITTEE MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Cherrett, seconded by Councillor Mrs Trainer and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Housing and Community Safety Select Committee held on 27th February 2009 (Minute HCS 55/08 - HCS 58/08) be confirmed.
C
57/09		 LICENSING COMMITTEE MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Woodhead, seconded by Councillor Mrs Nelson and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Licensing Committee held on 3rd March 2009 (Minute L 78/08 - L 85/08) be received.
C
58/09		 LICENSING COMMITTEE MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Woodhead, seconded by Councillor Mrs Nelson and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Licensing Committee held on 14th April 2009 (Minute L 1/09 - L 9/09) be received.
C
59/09		 PLANNING COMMITTEE MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Rix, seconded by Councillor Salt and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Planning Committee held on 25th February 2009 (Minute P 149/08 - P 153/09) be received.
C
60/09		 PLANNING COMMITTEE MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Rix, seconded by Councillor Salt and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Planning Committee held on 8th April 2009 (Minute P 1/09 - P 14/09) be received.
C
61/09		 REGENERATION & TRANSPORT SELECT COMMITTEE MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Perry, seconded by Councillor Cains and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Regeneration and Transport Select Committee held on 5th January 2009 (Minute RTS 39/08 - RTS 43/08) be confirmed.
C
62/09		 REGENERATION & TRANSPORT SELECT COMMITTEE MINUTES
 Moved by Councillor Perry, seconded by Councillor Cains and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Regeneration and Transport Select Committee held on 9th March 2009 (Minute RTS 44/08 - RTS 49/08) be confirmed.
C
63/09		 STANDARDS COMMITTEE MINUTES
 Moved by Mr F W Hayes, seconded by Councillor Sherris and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Standards Committee held on 13th March 2009 (Minute S 126/08 - S 136/08) be confirmed.
C
64/09		 CLEVELAND FIRE AUTHORITY - MINUTES
 The minutes of the meeting of the Cleveland Fire Authority held on 30th January 2009 were noted.
C
65/09		 CLEVELAND FIRE AUTHORITY - MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting of the Cleveland Fire Authority held on 6th February 2009 were noted.
C
66/09		 CLEVELAND POLICE AUTHORITY EXECUTIVE - MINUTES
 The minutes of the meeting of the Cleveland Police Authority Executive held on 17th December 2008 were noted.
C
67/09		 LOCAL JOINT CONSULTATIVE PANEL MINUTES
 The minutes of the meeting of the Local Joint Consultative Panel held on 8th September 2008 were noted.
C
68/09		 LOCAL JOINT CONSULTATIVE PANEL MINUTES
 The minutes of the meeting of the Local Joint Consultative Panel held on 15th December 2008 were noted.
C
69/09		 MARKETS FORUM MINUTES
 The minutes of the meeting of the Markets Forum held on 14th January 2009 were noted.
C
70/09		 MEMBERS ADVISORY PANEL-NEW CONSTITUTION MINUTES
 The minutes of the meeting of the Members Advisory Panel held on 6th November 2008 were noted.
C
71/09		 PARISH COUNCIL LIAISON FORUM MINUTES
 The minutes of the meeting of the Parish Council Liaison Forum held on 15th December 2008 were noted.
C
72/09		 SAFER STOCKTON PARTNERSHIP MINUTES
 The minutes of the meeting of the Safer Stockton Partnership held on 3rd February 2009 were noted.
C
73/09		 SAFER STOCKTON PARTNERSHIP MINUTES
 The minutes of the meeting of the Safer Stockton Partnership held on 17th March 2009 were noted.
C
74/09		 STOCKTON HOME SAFETY ASSOCIATION MINUTES
 The minutes of the meeting of the Stockton Home Safety Association held on 16th December 2008 were noted.
C
75/09		 AMENDMENTS TO THE MEMBERSHIP OF HOUSING MEMBER REFERENCE GROUP AND HOUSING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD PARTNERSHIP OF THE MUNICIPAL YEAR 2009/2010
Preamble
RESOLVED that the above nominations be approved.
C
76/09		 FORWARD PLAN AND LEADERS STATEMENT
Preamble
 
7.00 pm - 8.00 pm

Preamble

ItemPreamble
C
25/09		The Worshipful the Mayor presented Rachel Vincent and Scott Ferguson (members of the Children in Care Council) accompanied by Heather Johnson (Children's Rights Officer) with a framed copy of the Stockton on Tees Borough Council - Councillor Corporate Parenting Pledge, containing the signatures of each Councillor of the authority.

Members agreed that the large framed copy should be placed in the Municipal Buildings reception area and 6 smaller framed copies should be hung in various other Council Buildings to be agreed by Corporate Director of Children, Education and Social Care.
C
26/09		The Worshipful the Mayor presented members of the group of young people that worked on Another Side of Reality (a young people’s film making project) with the award that they won at the First Light Movie awards.
C
27/09		The Worshipful the Mayor announced that since the last Council meeting former Councillor and Honorary Alderman Ted Wood had passed away. All those in attendance observed a minutes silence as a mark of respect.
C
28/09		The Director of Law and Democracy informed the Worshipful the Mayor that no Public Questions had been received.
C
29/09		The Director of Law and Democracy informed the Worshipful the Mayor that no Members' Questions had been received.
C
30/09		The minutes of the special meeting of Council held on 25th February 2009 were signed by the Worshipful the Mayor as a correct record.
C
31/09		The minutes of the meeting of Council held on 4th March 2009 were signed by the Worshipful the Mayor as a correct record.
C
32/09		The minutes of the special meeting of Council held on 25th March 2009 were signed by the Worshipful the Mayor as a correct record.
C
33/09		The minutes of the annual meeting of Council held on 1st April 2009 were signed by the Worshipful the Mayor as a correct record.
C
75/09		At its Annual Meeting held on Wednesday 1st April 2009 the Council approved appointments to its Committees, Panels and Joint/Outside Bodies for the Municipal year 2009/2010. Subsequently amendments had been identified that required approval by the Council viz:-

Housing Member Reference Group

Remove - Councillor Tina Large

Nomination - Councillor Julia Cherrett

Housing and Neighbourhood Partnership

Remove - Councillor Fletcher

Nomination - Councillor Mrs Fletcher
C
76/09		The Leader of the Council gave his Forward Plan and Leader's Statement.

Tees Valley Unlimited’s bid for Forerunner City Region status was not successful. The Government preferring the bids from Leeds and Manchester. Hazel Blears, personally told Hugh Lang, the Chair of Tees Valley Unlimited, that the bid was excellent but was not chosen because the impact of the Tees Valley economy on the national economy was not as great as Leeds or Manchester. However, Hazel Blears had written to say she is making a personal commitment to ensure we remain in the vanguard of a devolved and new relationship with Government.

On a more positive note, One North East had allocated £2 million for expenditure on tackling employability in the Tees Valley during the next two years. The projects were:

• A Tees Valley-wide intermediate labour market project for construction and other key sectors such as engineering and logistics.

• A project to work closely with employers to develop employment opportunities and raise skill levels.

• A pilot service for employer support and after care to help businesses deal with health, social and mental problems in the workplace and therefore enable people encountering these to stay in work.

The Leader of the Council had wrote to Geoff Hoon at the Department of Transport regarding the withdrawal of BMI flights from Durham Tees Valley Airport to Heathrow and although they accepted the importance of this service to industry in the Tees Valley he stated that the Government had no powers to intervene.

Geoff Hoon suggested that One North East should apply for a Public Service Obligation to be imposed on this route and this was being investigated with the support of the Regional Minister and other local M.P’s.

In the budget, the Chancellor announced £90million to support proposals for developing coal fired power stations but capturing the carbon dioxide underground in cavities under the North Sea created by the extraction of oil and gas. The Progressive Energy project on the Tees was one of the projects now able to apply for this funding.

Recently Member seminars on scrutiny, CAA, the Momentum project and Safeguarding were well attended and as a report was to be considered by Cabinet next week on the Short, Medium and Long Term plans for Stockton High Street the Leader of the Council urged members to attend drop-in sessions on May 22nd and 26th to add their opinions to the debate as how the Council would move forward.

The Youth Justice Board had congratulated the Youth Offending Team on their success in reducing the number of 10 to 17 year olds receiving custodial sentences. The reduction from 20 to 13 Custodial Sentences from 2007 to 2008 had a significant financial benefit as costs range from £55,018 in Young Offenders Institutions to £206,184 in Secure Children’s Homes.

The Economic Climate Update to be presented to Cabinet on 14th May 2009 identified some positive employment opportunities in the manufacturing and Service sectors but these were again offset by further redundancies throughout these sectors.

One of the most disappointing was the decision by Elementis to close the last remaining chromium plants in the UK with the loss of 138 jobs in June. The Council was working with Job Centre Plus to coordinate assistance to those employees affected and would be seeking assurances from the company regarding the future use of the site.

The numbers in Stockton on Job Seekers Allowance had increased from 3726 in March 2008 to 6155 in March this year, with an increase in March of 83. This represented an increase from 3.2% of the working population in 2008 to 5.1% in 2009.

The long-awaited opening of the Infinity Bridge whose construction was managed by the Council’s own engineers would take place on Thursday 14th May with a spectacular display of sound, light, free-running and fireworks and the Leader of the Council hoped Members would be there and encourage residents and businesses to do likewise.

This would be the start of a three-day festival around the town centre and river to celebrate the opening, which would include an exciting programme of street theatre, music, talks, exhibitions and the Tees Regatta.

  • Contact

  • Democratic Services

    Municipal Buildings
    Church Road
    Stockton-on-Tees
    TS18 1LD

  • 01642 526193 or 01642 528173

  • [email protected]

Can't find it

Can't find what you're looking for? Let us know and we'll do our best to point you in the right direction