Public Document Pack Council Thursday, 23 March 2017 at 7.00 pm, Council Chamber, Town Hall, Accrington Membership Councillor Tim O'Kane (Mayor) in the Chair, Councillors Judith Addison, Lisa Allen, Mohammad Ayub, Noordad Aziz, Jean Battle, Peter Britcliffe, Stephen Button, Clare Cleary, Loraine Cox, Paul Cox, Munsif Dad, Bernard Dawson, Tony Dobson, Stewart Eaves, Diane Fielding, Melissa Fisher, Glen Harrison, June Harrison, Stephanie Haworth, Eamonn Higgins, Terry Hurn, Abdul Khan, Julie Livesey, Gareth Molineux, Jenny Molineux, Ken Moss, Bernadette Parkinson, Miles Parkinson, Joyce Plummer, Kath Pratt, Malcolm Pritchard, Jeff Scales, Paddy Short and Paul Thompson A G E N D A 1. Apologies for Absence 2. Declarations of Interest and Dispensations 3. Announcements 4. Confirmation of Minutes (Pages 5 - 14) To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the Council meeting held on 23rd February 2017. Telephone Enquiries: Monica Bell, 4 Email: [email protected] Published on Wednesday, 15 March 2017 Page 1 of 3 5. Question Time (Pages 15 - 16) To deal with any questions submitted under Council Procedure Rule2.2(vi). 6. Draft Pay Policy 2017-18 (Pages 17 - 26) Report attached. 7. Secondary Consultation Period for the New Parliamentary Constituency Boundary for Hyndburn (Pages 27 - 44) Report attached. 8. Revised Statement of Principles - Gambling Act 2005 (Pages 45 - 108) Report attached. 9. Minutes of Cabinet (Pages 109 - 128) To receive the Minutes of meetings of the Cabinet held on 4th January and 8th February 2017. Rules of Debate The Leader will move he Minutes; the Deputy Leader will second. Non-Executive Members will be invited to make comment or ask questions on the Minutes (5 minutes). Cabinet Members will be invited to make comment and respond to any points raised (5 minutes). The Leader will be given up to 15 minutes to respond and to answer any questions raised. 10. Minutes of Committees (Pages 129 - 180) To receive the Minutes of Committees as set out below:- Rules of Debate The Leader will introduce the Minute Book as a whole. Any Member may raise any issue from the Minutes; the Chair of the relevant Committee may respond (5 minutes) The Leader will close the debate (5 minutes) Meeting Date Standards Committee 30th November 2016 Audit Committee 12th December 2016 Page 2 of 3 Communities and Wellbeing Overview and 13th December 2016 Scrutiny Planning Committee 14th December 2016 Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee 15th December 2016 Judicial Committee (Private Hire and Hackney 19th December 2016 Carriage Licensing) Judicial Committee (Private Hire and Hackney 24th January 2017 Carriage Licensing) Standards Committee 30th January 2017 Planning Committee 1st February 2017 Communities and Wellbeing Overview and 3rd February 2017 Scrutiny Committee Communities and Wellbeing Overview and 7th February 2017 Scrutiny Committee Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee 14th February 2017 Judicial Committee (Private Hire and Hackney 15th February 2017 Carriage Licensing) Planning Committee 1st March 2017 11. Motion(s) Submitted on Notice (Pages 181 - 186) To consider any motions for debate in accordance with Council Procedure Rule A9. Chief Executive Scaitcliffe House, Ormerod Street, ACCRINGTON BB5 OPF Wednesday, 15 March 2017 Page 3 of 3 This page is intentionally left blank Agenda Item 4. COUNCIL Thursday, 23rd February, 2017 Present: Councillor Tim O'Kane (Mayor), Councillors Judith Addison, Lisa Allen, Mohammad Ayub, Noordad Aziz, Jean Battle, Peter Britcliffe, Stephen Button, Clare Cleary, Loraine Cox, Paul Cox, Munsif Dad, Bernard Dawson, Tony Dobson, Stewart Eaves, Diane Fielding, Melissa Fisher, Glen Harrison, June Harrison, Stephanie Haworth, Eamonn Higgins, Terry Hurn, Abdul Khan, Julie Livesey, Gareth Molineux, Jenny Molineux, Ken Moss, Bernadette Parkinson, Miles Parkinson, Joyce Plummer, Kath Pratt, Malcolm Pritchard, Jeff Scales, Paddy Short and Paul Thompson 381 Apologies for Absence There were no apologies for absence. 382 Declarations of Interest and Dispensations It was noted that all Councillors had been granted a dispensation to speak and vote in relation to setting Council Tax or a precept under the Local Government and Finance Act 1992. 383 Announcements (a) Boxing Event The Mayor reported that the Mayoral Charity Boxing Night held on 18th February 2017 at Accrington Town Hall had been very successful and had raised over £4,000 for the Mayoral Charity Fund. (b) Hyndburn Mayoral Charity Ball The Mayor announced that his Mayoral Charity Ball was to be held on 18th March 2017 at Accrington Town Hall and that tickets cost £30 each. 384 Confirmation of Minutes The Minutes of the meeting of Council held on 5th January 2017 were submitted for approval as a correct record. Resolved - That the Minutes be approved as a correct record. 385 Nomination for the Title of Honorary Freeman The Portfolio Holder for Resources (Councillor Gareth Molineux) submitted a report seeking approval for the conferment of the title of Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Hyndburn to Mr. Geoffrey Hanson. The title was the highest honour that the Council could award, the 201 Page 5 right being contained in Section 249(5) of the Local Government Act 1972. In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, the nomination had been considered in the first instance by the Leader’s Policy Development Board who had recommended that the nomination be supported. Mr. Hanson had been consulted and had agreed to accept the title. Resolved (1) That in accordance with Section 249(5) of the Local Government Act 1972, Mr. Geoffrey Hanson be conferred with the title of Honorary Freeman of the Borough and be presented with the award at the Mayor- making meeting of the Council on 13th May 2017; (2) That the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Resources, be authorised to make the necessary arrangements. 386 Appointment of External Auditor from 2018/19 The Leader of the Council (Councillor Miles Parkinson) submitted a report seeking consideration of arrangements for appointing the External Auditor to the Council from 2018/19. In January 2014, the Local Audit and Accountability Act received Royal Assent and Part 3 of that Act contained provisions for the appointment of local auditors. The Council, as a ‘relevant authority’ must appoint a local auditor to audit its accounts for a financial year not later than 31st December in the preceding financial year. The Public Sector Audit Appointments had been specified by the Secretary of State as an appointing person under Regulation 3 of the Local Audit (Appointing Person) Regulations 2015 and had issued their formal invitation to opt in to the national scheme for auditor appointments. The deadline for any Council to formally accept that invitation was 9th March 2017 and regulations required the decision to accept the invitation and opt in to be made by Full Council. As at 10th February 2017, 288 local government organisations from a list of 496 listed local government organisations had already opted in to the Public Sector Audit Appointments model. Resolved - That the Council opt in to the appointing person arrangements made by Public Sector Audit Appointments for the appointment of external auditors from 1st April 2018. 387 Medium Term Financial Strategy 2017/18 to 2019/20 The Portfolio Holder for Resources presented a report relating to the Medium Term Financial Strategy which set out income and spending projections for the Council for the next three years, 2017/18 to 2019/20. The report had been submitted to Cabinet and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 8th and 14th February 2017. The objectives of the Strategy were:- To be the financial expression of the Corporate & Performance Plan, providing the resources to deliver the plan. To ensure that commitments did not exceed forecasted anticipated resources over the period and for each year. 202 Page 6 To ensure that expenditure was increasingly focused on those areas which the Council had determined as its priority areas. To ensure that the level of Council Tax was planned in line with what the Council and the community as a whole regarded as being acceptable, albeit within the context of guidelines from Central Government. To review the effectiveness of delivery of additional resources into priority areas, to ensure that the objectives set for those target areas were actually being achieved. To ensure that the Council was in a strong financial position as measured by size of balances and reserves (consistent with the Chief Financial Officer’s recommendations). To improve value for money assessments in all services by delivering increased efficiency savings. The key elements of the Strategy were:- Forecasting Resources Budget Monitoring and Forecasting Commitments Corporate Strategic Direction and Priorities Resolved - That the report and the accompanying Medium Term Financial Strategy be approved. 388 Performance Indicators and Treasury Management Strategy The Portfolio Holder for Resources submitted a report setting out the Council’s policy and objectives with respect to treasury management, explaining how it would achieve its objectives and manage its activities, and seeking agreement to an investment strategy for 2017/18. Treasury Management was defined as:- “The management of the Council’s investment and cash flows, its banking, money market and capital market transactions; The effective control of the risks associated with those activities; and, The pursuit of optimum performance consistent