To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Council, held on 25 January 2017.

The Minutes of the meeting of Council held on the 25 January 2017 were approved as a correct record.

Councillor Collins stated that his declaration of interest should have read “Bata” instead of “Barter” at Item 94 of the minutes.

To receive additional items that the Mayor is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency, in accordance with Section 100B (4) (b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

The Mayor informed the Council that she had not agreed to the consideration of any items of urgent business.

To receive any declaration of interests from Members.

No interests were declared.

Firstly, the Mayor invited all those present to reflect on and remember Thurrock’s fallen of World War One.

The Mayor reminded Members that tickets were still available for the Blue Light Charity Ball being held on the 3 March 2017.

The Mayor informed Members that a Golf Charity Day in aid of the Fire Fighters, Epilepsy Action and Thurrock Community Chest Charities would be held on the 21 March 2017at the Langdon Hills Golf and Country Club.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Gledhill, informed Members of the following updates:

The Council had secured a funding grant of £10.8 million for the regeneration of Grays Town Centre. Councillor Gledhill stated that this was the kick start to the regeneration of Grays to bring it into the 21st Century.

That the consultation by the Police Crime Commissioner on the proposal to merge the police and fire services together under a single organisation in Essex was available on-line and encouraged members to take part. This consultation would run for the next 12 weeks.

In accordance with Chapter 2, Part 2 (Rule 14) of the Council’s Constitution.

A copy of the transcript of questions and answers can be viewed under the relevant meeting date at http://democracy.thurrock.gov.uk/thurrock and are attached at Appendix A to these minutes.

In accordance with Chapter 2, Part 2(Rule 14) of the Council’s Constitution.

The Mayor informed Members that, in accordance with the Council’s petition Scheme, the requisite notice had been given by two members who wished to present petitions at the meeting.

Councillor Allen presented a petition on behalf of residents of Grays South Estate on the caretaking quality and proposed reduction in service levels.

Councillor Barbara Rice presented a petition on behalf of residents on the proposed service charge for sheltered accommodation.

Members received a report on the status of those petitions handed into Council Meetings and Council Officers over the past six months.

The Council are asked to agree any changes to the appointments made to committees and outside bodies, statutory and other panels, as requested by Group Leaders.

There were no changes to the appointments previously made to committees and outside bodies, statutory and other panels.

Councillor Hebb, Portfolio Holder for Finance and Legal, introduced the report to review the vision and priorities so that they better reflected the ambition of the Council and Thurrock. The aim was to make both more succinct and easy to communicate and to articulate the new focus and priorities. Feedback from recent consultations had given some clear opinions from residents on the most important issues for Thurrock and these had been used to focus on the new vision and priorities.

An initial draft of the proposed vision and priorities had been presented to the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee and other stakeholders during November and December 2016 to which feedback had been used to focus on the final proposed version.

Councillor J Kent stated that he would not be supporting the recommendation tonight as he thought the process was to arrive at the priorities collectively and to give members the opportunity to take part in the process. He had only seen the report on the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee agenda in December 2016 to which members had disagreed with the recommendations. Councillor J Kent questioned Councillor Hebb whether the report and the recommendations made by the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee had already gone through Cabinet.

Councillor J Kent agreed that education had improved over the years and that this had been a measureable priority in the past. Councillor J Kent stated that education would fail if it was not a measureable priority and asked Councillor Hebb why this had not been included in the review.

Councillor Snell stated that he would not be supporting the recommendation tonight and that the report was full of unnecessary jargon and had not focused on anything in particular. Councillor Snell stated that the Council had been driving the borough forward well before the Conservatives came into administration.

Councillor Gledhill stated that he would be supporting the recommendation tonight and that the process of reports going to overview and scrutiny committees before Cabinet still stood. Councillor Gledhill stated that the Council should be striving for quality and had to move forward and in doing so listen to residents views.

Councillor Duffin stated that it was ironic that recommendations made by the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee had been ignored by Cabinet.

Councillor Gerrish stated that he would not be supporting the recommendation tonight as he believed more work was needed to be undertaken in narrowing the ambition of the review and that all members should come to the same consensus.

Councillor G Rice stated that recommendations made by the Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee had been ignored by Cabinet and that members should have been involved in the workshops and the consultation process.

Councillor Hebb stated that a report had gone to Cabinet where no opposition member attended to ask a question and that the administration cared and listened to their residents and the results from the surveys had been fed into the vision.

Councillor Hebb thanked Members for an interesting debate and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 118.

Councillor Hebb, Portfolio Holder for Finance and Legal, presented the report which sought the approval of the Council’s Annual Pay Policy Statement for 2017/18. It included the requirement, under the Localism Act 2011, to publish its policy relating to pay for chief officers.

Councillor J Kent stated that he would be supporting the recommendations tonight. He felt that Public Sector Chief Executive salaries should be benchmarked against the salaries of senior civil servants and not the Prime Minister or other politicians, which he felt, were not comparable posts.  Councillor J Kent also commented that he was glad to hear that there would be no five per cent reduction cut on senior management pay. Councillor J Kent also thanked Officers for the sterling job that they undertake.

Councillor Coxshall commented that the no five per cent reduction on senior management pay indicated that times and economy had changed and that everyone deserved a pay rise.

Councillor Gledhill congratulated the Chief Executive in reducing staff numbers as part of the five per cent reduction.

The Mayor invited the Chamber to vote on the recommendations.

Upon being put to the vote, Members voted unanimously in favour of the recommendations, whereupon the Mayor declared these to be carried.

RESOLVED

1.         That the Annual Pay Policy Statement 2017/18 was agreed in line with the Council’s obligations under the Localism Act 2011, the Single Status Agreement and the recommendations by the independent market assessment.

2.         That the Agreement to continue to pay the UK Living Wage as a supplement to its lowest-paid employees and remain competitive. This rate should rise on 1 April 2017 in line with the Living Wage Foundation’s recommended rate of £8.45ph.

The Mayor invited the Leader of the Council, Councillor Gledhill, to introduce the budget and advised that he had 20 minutes to do so.

Councillor Gledhill

As already mentioned by Councillor Hebb, last May I received the privilege of becoming Leader of Thurrock Council.

I inherited a budget that I did not agree with, a budget we were told that was too small to supply basic services like street cleaning, grass cutting, pothole filling. A budget where the reserves had not been reviewed for six years. Although in good fairness to Councillor Kent had increased to a more acceptable level. A budget where despite repeated calls for a complete change in approach the previous administration were doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result, I know Councillor Duffin will understand that statement. A budget that frankly was dying the death of a thousand cuts.

In the 9 months since taking the administration we have seen the highest number of unaccompanied asylum seeker children, over 100, an unbudgeted pressure costing the Thurrock taxpayer £3.2 million since June alone. Staffing levels cut to the bone from previous budgets. Vital equipment was either sold or unserviceable. Claims that we overspend and would wipe out reserves in a matter of weeks. Significant increases in criminally organised fly-tipping and unlawful incursions causing our green spaces to be dumped on and become diminished.

However, 9 months later I bring to you the results of that same budget, the same amount of money, where we have put the priorities of Thurrock residents first. As I say, remember with the same amount of money we had last year and we have delivered.

An increase in the number of street cleaners and enforcement officers in the environment team with residents saying how much nicer areas of the borough looks. All parks no longer have grass long enough to lose a small child in as I found out on the day I look over administration. Fly-tipping and incursions hotspots target hardened. Thousands of extra bags of rubbish off our streets. Hundreds of acres of extra grass had been cut. Thousands of potholes filled. Nearly half a million pound extra in to the reserves. Kept weekly bin collections. Brought non-essential budgets that overspent year on year in on budget.

Those are some of the positive headlines of last year. But again I said on day one we would be an open and honest administration and as such I would highlight just some, and it is just some, of the things that we have not managed to do. We have not cleaned every street to the high standard of some of town centres, every pothole hasn’t been filled and every green space isn’t perfect, but again I made clear on day one that it wouldn’t happen, six years of neglect cannot be fixed overnight, we also need residents to do their bit to help, you know what they are coming out in their droves and doing it either  ...  view the full minutes text for item 120.

Councillor Gledhill, Leader and Portfolio Holder for Housing, introduced the report that set out the base position after developing a new Housing Review Account Business Plan for 2017/18. This Plan needed to be financially viable whilst being able to continue to deliver the Council’s Housing priorities.

Councillor Gledhill stated that the continuation of the government’s rent reduction policy reduced the resources available in the Housing Review Account and as a result other ways of generating additional resources had been explored.

A review of the housing service which included all activities funded by the Housing Review Account was currently underway.

Councillor Gledhill stated that no agreement would be given to any new proposals that were under consultation.

Councillor B Rice stated that she was delighted that the consultations had been noticed and that the Council should respect all residents views and to recognise the anger that some residents are currently feeling.

The Mayor invited the Chamber to vote on the recommendation.

Upon being put to the vote, Members voted as follows:

For                   :           18

Against            :           19

Abstain            :           5

Whereupon the Mayor declared the recommendation lost.

Councillor Hebb referred members to the report in the agenda and asked requested the recommendation go to the vote.

The Mayor invited the Chamber to vote on the recommendation.

Upon being put to the vote, Members voted unanimously in favour of the recommendation, whereupon the Mayor declared this to be carried.

RESOLVED

1.         That the Council approves the Treasury Management Strategy for 2017/18 including approval of the Annual Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) Statement.

2.         That the Council approves the adoption of the Prudential Indicators as set out in Appendix 1.

3.         That the Council notes the revised 2016/17 and 2017/18 Treasury Management projections as set out in paragraph 2.33.

Councillor Hebb referred members to the report in the agenda and asked requested the recommendation go to the vote.

The Mayor invited the Chamber to vote on the recommendation.

Upon being put to the vote, Members voted unanimously in favour of the recommendation, whereupon the Mayor declared this to be carried.

RESOLVED

That the Council opts in to the appointing person arrangements made by Public Sector Audit Appointments (PSAA) for the Council’s local auditor appointments from 2018/19.

In accordance with Chapter 2, Part 2 (Rule 14) of the Council’s Constitution.

The Mayor informed the Members that questions submitted would either receive a written response or have the option to withdraw and resubmit.

Councillor Kerin requested a written response from Councillor Tolson.

Councillor Fish requested a written response from Councillor Halden.

Councillor Sammons withdrew her question and would resubmit.

Councillor J Kent withdrew his question and would resubmit.

The Mayor informed the Chambers that no reports had been received.

The Minutes of Committees as set out in the Agenda were received.

Members received an information report updating the progress in respect of Motions received at Council over the last year.

Councillor Duffin withdrew and would resubmit this Motion.

The Motion, as printed in the Agenda was proposed by Councillor J Kent and seconded by Councillor Gledhill. The Motion read as follows:

The Thameside Theatre is held in great affection by residents across Thurrock. Therefore the sudden announcement that the theatre is likely to close by April 2019 is causing real concern in many quarters. Council is of the collective view that the Thameside Theatre should remain open until a new civic theatre for Thurrock, situated in Grays, has opened.

Councillor J Kent introduced the Motion and stated that a unanimous message should be sent out that the Thameside Theatre would not close until a provision had been provided elsewhere in the borough.

The Mayor called a vote on the Motion.

Following a clear majority in favour, the Mayor declared the Motion carried.

The Motion, as printed in the Agenda was proposed by Councillor Snell and seconded by Councillor Gledhill. The Motion read as follows:

In order to demonstrate transparency on its policies, implementation of its policies and overall performance and further to Gloriana Limited willingness to co-operate with such scrutiny from Members, Thurrock Council believes that Gloriana Limited should: provide an Annual Report to the Council; provide regular quarterly updates to our General Services Committee, voluntarily submit to the full democratic scrutiny of Full Council and General Services Committee on the thoroughness of its Business Plan and funding requirements. This is not to seek to inappropriately discuss the specific merits of any material planning considerations or predetermine the quasi-judicial decision properly within the remit of our Planning Committee on the current part heard planning application.

Councillor Snell introduced the Motion to bring Gloriana Limited into the scrutiny of Full Council and have the opportunity to have an oversight of the substantive amount of monies being put into Gloriana Limited. Councillor Snell stated that although in full support and Gloriana Limited being a worthwhile scheme it required more scrutiny and that Full Council was the place for this to be undertaken.

The Mayor called a vote on the Motion.

Following a clear majority in favour, the Mayor declared the Motion carried.

Councillor Hebb withdrew and would resubmit this Motion.