Council and democracy

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Rooms 2 & 3, Civic Offices, New Road, Grays, Essex, RM17 6SL.

Contact: Kenna-Victoria Martin, Senior Democratic Services Officer  Email: Direct.Democracy@thurrock.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

37.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 106 KB

To approve as a correct record the minutes of Cabinet held on 13 September 2017.

Minutes:

The Minutes of Cabinet, held on 13 September 2017, were approved as a correct record.

38.

Items of Urgent Business

To receive additional items that the Chair 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.

Minutes:

There were no items of urgent business.

39.

Declaration of Interests

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

40.

Statements by the Leader

Minutes:

The Leader addressed Portfolio Holders informing them of the sad news that former Tilbury Councillor Ken Barrett had passed away. He commented that Ken was a lovely man who wouldn’t have said a bad word about anyone and had continued to work hard for the people of Tilbury.

 

Councillor Gledhill asked that a one minute silent be held.

 

The Leader notified Members of the Civic Awards which took place once every two years and were an opportunity to thank and reward our neighbours who quietly went about supporting their community and were often unnoticed. He continued to state this was the chance to take a few minutes to show appreciation and nominate those local heroes for one of the nine Civic Award Categories. Members were advised information on the awards could be found online with nominations opening on Monday 16 October.

 

Members heard that Councillor Halden has been shortlisted for the Finance and Transformation Award and Councillor S.Little for the Health and Care Award, the Leader wished them all best at ceremony.

 

Councillor Gledhill advised that since April, in just 7 months the council had collected nearly 1,000 tonnes of rubbish, this was the equivalent to 1,000 cars and 9,100 acres of grass being cut which was 18 times the size of the Olympic Park in London.

He continued to state that great work was continuing to take place in Grays, including regular action days with different organisations such as the Police and Enforcement Officers. Members were advised:

 

               On the 28 September, 4 people had been witnessed to be breaking the PSPO, had alcohol confiscated and were banned from the area for 48 hours;

               10 businesses had been visited regarding their trade waste duty of care documents and;

               26 more Fixed Penalty Notices have been issued for not picking up dog mess.

 

The Leader mentioned that four cases of fly-tipping in Grays and Tilbury had resulted in FPNs totalling £1,600 in September.

 

Lastly Councillor Gledhill advised that since the Council had been authorised to remove vehicles that were parked on the highway without the correct road tax on behalf of the DVLA.

 

Members heard that in two weeks the Council had removed 38 vehicles, of which 19 vehicles had been claimed by owners who had paid the release fee. The remaining vehicles remained unclaimed by their owners. It was commented that this was one of the many ways the Council was looking to improve the street scene in Thurrock.

 

The Leader continued to advise Members there were a significant number of abandoned vehicles reported in the borough each year; though a number of these turned out to be poorly parked, vehicles parked for a few days or those on private land where arrangements with the owner allowed such parking of an untaxed vehicle.

 

It was commented that the Council would make information available to residents about the service as it settled in, however if they believed a vehicle had been left on public land they could  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

41.

Briefings on Policy, Budget and Other Issues

Minutes:

The Leader commented that, further to his statement at Full Council where he suspended the Ground Maintenance Fees, he had sought advice from colleagues within the Legal and Housing Departments and formally asked the Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee to review the fees and to bring a report of their findings back to Cabinet.

42.

Petitions submitted by Members of the Public

Minutes:

There were no petitions submitted.

43.

Questions from Non-Executive Members

Minutes:

The Leader of the Council advised that no questions had been submitted from Non-Executive Members.

 

44.

Matters Referred to the Cabinet for Consideration by an Overview and Scrutiny Committee pdf icon PDF 96 KB

Call-in to Cabinet Decision 01104421 Communication Strategy

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Leader of the Council informed Members that there was one matter arising from an Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which was the Call-In of the Communication Strategy.  He continued by inviting Councillor Gerrish, Chair of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee, to present the report to Cabinet.

 

Councillor Gerrish addressed Cabinet Members commenting that the Call-In had not been speedy. He continued by stating that Members would be aware of the Committee’s concerns, in that one element was not best for the Council’s relationship with media colleagues.

 

The Chair of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee mentioned that no communication strategy would be perfect, however the work undertaken by the Director of Strategy, Communications and Customer Service had eased Members’ concerns and they therefore agreed and suggested to Cabinet the amended wording at 3.2-3.4 of the report.

 

Councillor Hebb, Portfolio Holder for Finance, stated he gave his commitment to the process at the last meeting of Full Council on such topics as social media within the strategy. He continued to state the idea behind the communication strategy was to codify what currently wasn’t codified and with that he supported the recommendations.

 

The Leader of the Council commented the Call-In process demonstrated the good work that Overview and Scrutiny Committees completed. He further stated it was clear to see work which had been included in the strategy.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.    That Cabinet note the decision made by the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee to refer the decision back to Cabinet.

2.    That Cabinet agree to the amended wording at 3.2 - 3.4 and reflected within the updated Communication Strategy 2017-20 at Appendix 1.

45.

Quarter 1 Corporate Performance Report 2017/18 pdf icon PDF 110 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Huelin, Portfolio Holder for Performance and Central Services, presented the report which provided a progress update in relation to the performance of Key Performance Indicators, including a focus on some specific highlights and challenges.

 

She continued to state that she was pleased with the recent results as 64% were on or above target, with the borough having cleaner streets and better schools. Councillor Huelin informed Members of the Citizen Engagement Award which was won for supporting people to get online including use of My Account.

 

Councillor Halden commented on focus area 2 stating that for this academic year more children were offered their first choice of preference school. On top of which Corringham Primary, East Tilbury, St Clere’s and The Ockendon School had all received confirmation to expand their schools.

 

He continued to inform Members that moving forward the Council would be completing three Free Schools which had received funding up to £60million from the Government.

 

Councillor S.Little mentioned that for the first quarter there had been no permanent admissions of young adults to residential care home, meaning the target was achieved.

 

Councillor Watkins remarked on focus area 1 advising Members it was the first inspection completed by Keep Britain Tidy. He continued by stating he felt Clean it, Cut it and Fill it was working well and improving the cleanliness of the borough.

 

He touched on focus area 4 commenting that additional communication would be sent to residents on recycling and what could and could not be recycled. Councillor Watkins stated he felt work was moving in a positive direction. 

 

The Leader of the Council observed the general satisfaction of tenants receiving services from the Housing department was at 71.2%, although this was an improvement on previous outcomes, he stated that the target did not include the ‘fair’ rating which if included would bring the target to 89.3%.

 

Councillor Huelin summed up by announcing the Council won the national SOCITM Citizen Engagement Award for Thurrock Online which enabled residents to transact with the council digitally. She continued to express her congratulations to Gary Staples and all involved.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.    To note and comment upon the performance of the key corporate performance indicators in particular those areas which are IN FOCUS

2.    Cabinet identified and discussed areas which required additional consideration

 

46.

Medium Term Financial Strategy Update (Decision 01104440) pdf icon PDF 114 KB

Minutes:

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Legal Services addressed Members providing an update on the work of the Council Spending Review Panel and the wider ambitions on becoming a self-sufficient authority by 2020. Councillor Hebb commented that he touched on this item at the last Full Council meeting and included comments from the external auditors, the LGA and the peer  review team who had all looked at what the Council was  doing and the way it was completing such works.

 

He continued that the report was about raising what we could as a Council, as it was known the Revenue Support Grant Funding from the Government would not be available in 3 years, as the country continued to manage the overspend of the public sector. The Portfolio Holder for Finance remarked it was not for the Council to change its role as a Local authority but instead to raise what it could, so to continue to offer the services residents required and care about.

 

Councillor Hebb stated the Cabinet had committed to present a budget in February and for this to include a further increase to the reserves to the full amount of £10million.

 

The Leader thanked all Group Leader for attending the Council Spending Review Panel; he further thanked the Section 151 Officer for all of his work throughout the budget setting process.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.    That Cabinet note the MTFS set out in appendix 1 and draft service impacts set out in appendix 2;

2.    That Cabinet support an investment approach alongside the principles set out in the report; and

3.    That officers submit a report to Council in October that enables this approach.

 

Reason for Decision – as stated in the report

This decision is subject to call-in

47.

Tilbury Master Planning (Decision 01104441) pdf icon PDF 106 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Gledhill, Leader of the Council, mentioned that although he had no interests to declare on this item, he was a former resident of the town and had family who still lived in Tilbury.

           

Councillor Coxshall introduced the item notifying Cabinet Members the report set out a suite of core principles which had been developed into a refreshed masterplan, providing a clear framework to be used as a reference point for all future development. He continued to comment upon the new health services which would be provided for the community of Tilbury before the year 2020.

 

The Portfolio Holder for Regeneration mentioned there were a number of significant drivers of change which presented opportunities for the town such as the new Lower Thames Crossing, the expansion of the Port of Tilbury and new Power Generation facilities.

 

Councillor Halden thanked the Portfolio Holder for his report and commended him on the wider vision and masterplan for the regeneration of Tilbury which was what the town required and deserved.

 

The Leader commented on the formation of the Local Action Group, which showed residents and communities working together to improve significant issues within the town.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.    Cabinet are asked to approved the proposed Masterplan for Tilbury set out in this report

2.    Cabinet are asked to approved the integration of this Masterplan into the new Local Plan for Thurrock.

 

Reason for Decision – as stated in the report

This decision is subject to call-in