To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 21 March 2016 and the Council’s Annual Meeting held on 20 May 2016 as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 21 March 2016 and 20 May 2016 were agreed.

Councillors will be asked to make declarations of interest in respect of items on this agenda. A flowchart providing guidance on interests is attached to assist councillors.

The following declarations of interest were made by councillors in accordance with the code of conduct in respect of items under consideration at the meeting -

The Head of Legal Services will report on vacancies on committees, outside bodies etc and of changes notified to us.

The following changes reported to the Head of Legal Services were noted -

Councillors were reminded that they should update their Register of Interest to take account of any changes to their membership of Outside Bodies.

(a)        To receive announcements from the Lord Mayor, Chief Executive, Assistant Director for Finance or Head of Legal Services;

(b)        To receive announcements from the Leader, Cabinet Members or Committee Chairs.

The Lord Mayor welcomed members of staff to Council and presented certificates and trophies to individuals and teams who had been successful in achieving the following:

·         Enhanced skills in maths and English

·         RTPI Award for Local Authority Planning Team of the Year

·         European Urban and Regional Planning Award

·         MJ Award - commended in the category of  Excellence in Public Engagement

·         Excellence in Special Planning

·         Excellence in Planning to Deliver Housing

·         Silver Jubilee Cup

·         Quest Accreditation

·         Association for Project Management Challenge

To receive questions from and provide answers to the public in relation to matters which are about something the council is responsible for or something that directly affects people in the city, in accordance with Part B, paragraph 11 of the Constitution.

Questions, of no longer than 50 words, can be submitted to the Democratic Support Unit, Plymouth City Council, Ballard House, West Hoe Road, Plymouth, PL1 3BJ, or email to democraticsupport@plymouth.gov.uk. Any questions must be received at least five complete working days before the meeting.

Mr Sharpe attended the meeting and asked the following question.  Councillor Nicholson responded as set out below -

Cabinet Member: Councillor Bowyer (Council Leader)

The City Council will be asked to adopt the revised Corporate Plan 2016 - 19.

The minute of Cabinet held on 28 June 2016 will be submitted together with the report considered at Cabinet.

Councillor Bowyer (Leader) proposed and Councillor Nicholson (Deputy Leader) seconded the recommendation to adopt the revised Corporate Plan 2016 – 19.

Following a request from ten councillors for a recorded vote on the proposal, the vote was taken and the proposal was lost.

For the proposal (27)

(Councillors Bowyer, Mrs Bowyer, Mrs Bridgeman, Carson, Churchill, Cook, Darcy, Deacon, Downie, Drean, Foster, Mrs Foster, Fry, James, Jordan, Kelly, Martin Leaves, Mike Leaves, Sam Leaves, Loveridge, Dr Mahony, Nicholson, Pengelly, Ricketts, Riley, Storer and Wigens).

Against the proposal (27)

(Councillors Mrs Aspinall, Bowie, Coker, Dann, P Davey, S Davey, Evans, Hendy, Lowry, Mavin, McDonald, Morris, Murphy, Parker-Delaz-Ajete, Penberthy, Rennie, Singh, Smith, Sparling, Stevens, J Taylor, K Taylor, Tuffin, Tuohy, Vincent, Wheeler and Winter).

As there was an equality of votes, the Lord Mayor exercised her casting vote which resulted in 28 against and 27 for the proposal.

Tracey Lee (Chief Executive) will submit a report seeking endorsement for this ‘in principle’ agreement.

Councillor Bowyer (Leader) proposed and Councillor Evans seconded the recommendations in the report for a Devolution Deal for the Heart of the South West. Following a vote, Council agreed to:

1.    Endorse the current approach to devolution and agree to sign up to the principle of creating a Combined Authority for the Heart of the South West, as set out in the Prospectus for Productivity, as the basis for negotiation with Government towards a Devolution Deal for the area.

2.    Note that giving this endorsement does not commit the Council to entering into a Devolution Deal, or becoming a member of a Heart of the South West Combined Authority. This would be subject to future debate and agreement by the Council and subject to negotiations with Government.

Lesa Annear, Strategic Director for Transformation and Change will submit the Financial Outturn 2015 – 2016 (including Capital Programme and Treasury Management).

Councillor Darcy (Cabinet Member for Finance/ICT) presented the report on the Financial Outturn 2015 – 2016 (including Capital Programme and Treasury Management) for noting.  Council noted:

1.           The provisional outturn position as at 31 March 2016.

2.           The adjusted revenue surplus for the year of £0.032m and that this will be transferred to the General Fund Working Balance.

3.           The additional transfers to and from reserves reflected within the outturn figures:

·                Creation of a Modernisation Enabler Reserve                       £1.100m

·                Transfer to Redundancy Reserve                                           £1.000m

·                Release from Insurance Provision and Reserve                     £(0.962)m

·                Transfer to Business Rates Reserve                                       £1.000m

·                Transfer to Pensions Reserve                                                 £0.400m

·                Release from General Fund Bad Debt Provision                   £(0.158)m

·                Transfer to provision for Housing Benefit Overpayments    £0.500m

4.           The Capital Financing Requirement of £62.224m and the borrowing requirement of £11.277m for 2015/16.

5.           The re-profiling changes to the Capital Programme identified during the outturn process.

6.           The additions to the Capital Programme, which total £9.198m for the period November 2015 – March 2016.

7.           The Treasury Management Outturn Position and the new operational and authorised limits for 2015/16 to 2017/18.

Andrew Hardingham (Assistant Director for Finance) will submit the Annual Report on Treasury Management Activities for 2015/16.

Councillor Darcy (Cabinet Member for Finance/ICT) presented the Annual Report on Treasury Management Activities for 2015/16 for noting.  Council noted the Annual Report.

David Shepperd (Head of Legal Services and Monitoring Officer) will submit a report to inform Council of the Leader’s decision to make changes to his Scheme of Delegation for Executive Functions.

Councillor Bowyer (Leader) advised Council about changes he had made to his scheme of delegation as follows:

·         Included a new category, ‘Assurance Services’, in the portfolio of the Cabinet member for Finance/ICT (Cllr Ian Darcy).  This was for clarity and included risk management, insurance, corporate fraud, information governance and statutory complaints in adult social care

·         Responsibility for the Bereavement Service had been transferred from the Cabinet member for Safer and Stronger Communities to the Cabinet member for Strategic Street Scene/Environment (Cllr Mike Leaves)

·         Responsibility for decisions concerning the Social Enterprise Investment Fund had been allocated to the Cabinet member for Safer and Stronger Communities (Cllr Dave Downie)

·         Amended the portfolio for HR/Democracy and Governance/Licensing to HR and Democracy

Councillor McDonald proposed and Councillor Evans seconded a motion on the Academisation of Schools.

An amendment was moved by Councillor Bowyer and seconded by Councillor Nicholson as follows –

To insert the following words:

‘The Council meeting welcomes the recent decision of the Secretary of State for Education to abandon plans to force all of England’s schools that are still maintained by their local authorities to become academies.  However, it regrets that some schools may still be forced to convert, including those in local authorities where academies are in a large majority, those in authorities whose maintained schools are deemed to be failing overall to meet a minimum performance threshold, and those seen as struggling or failing to improve sufficiently.’

And to amend a) as follows:

a)            ‘Ask the Leader of the Council to write to the Secretary of State for Education expressing the concerns of this council as set out in this motion about the proposals to force all schools to become academies in Plymouth;’

The meeting adjourned for 5 minutes to seek legal clarification on the amendment to the motion.  Following the adjournment, the Lord Mayor confirmed that the amendment was lawful.

Following a request from ten councillors for a recorded vote on the amended motion, the amendment was agreed.

For the amendment (27)

(Councillors Bowyer, Mrs Bowyer, Mrs Bridgeman, Carson, Churchill, Cook, Darcy, Deacon, Downie, Drean, Foster, Mrs Foster, Fry, James, Jordan, Kelly, Martin Leaves, Mike Leaves, Sam Leaves, Loveridge, Dr Mahony, Nicholson, Pengelly, Ricketts, Riley, Storer and Wigens).

Against the amendment (26)

(Councillors Mrs Aspinall, Bowie, Coker, Dann, P Davey, S Davey, Evans, Hendy, Lowry, Mavin, McDonald, Morris, Parker-Delaz-Ajete, Penberthy, Rennie, Singh, Smith, Sparling, Stevens, J Taylor, K Taylor, Tuffin, Tuohy, Vincent, Wheeler and Winter).

Abstention (1)

Debate continued on the amended motion and, following the vote, Council agreed:

‘This council believes –

No single system of school organization has a monopoly on success and that the model as proposed by the White Paper would not deliver the improvement in schools standards and outcomes that this council wishes to see.

The Council meeting welcomes the recent decision of the Secretary of State for Education to abandon plans to force all of England’s schools that are still maintained by their local authorities to become academies.  However, it regrets that some schools may still be forced to convert, including those in local authorities where academies are in a large majority, those in authorities whose maintained schools are deemed to be failing overall to meet a minimum performance threshold, and those seen as struggling or failing to improve sufficiently.

This Council meeting therefore resolves to –

a)       Ask the Leader of the Council to write to the Secretary of State for Education expressing the concerns of this council

b)      Ask the Leader of the Council to write to our local MPs expressing the council’s concerns and to seek their views on the proposals

c)       Ask the lead member for Children and Young People to ensure engagement with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25a

Councillor McDonald proposed and Councillor Evans seconded the motion on Family Holidays and School Fines.

An amendment was moved by Councillor Bowyer and seconded by Councillor Darcy to insert additional wording (additional wording shown in italics) –

‘The City Council agrees to,

ceaseaction in respect of the practice of fining those parents for unauthorised absence in order to take their children on holiday until the legal position is clear; following the appeal to the Supreme Court in the case of Isle of Wight Council v Jon Platt.

During this period all cases waiting to be heard by the court will be reviewed and Head teachers will continue to follow the current policy, which is the policy adopted by the previous administration in September 2015.  When the information is sent to the Local Authority we will write to every family concerned and advise them that we will not be issuing a penalty notice at this stage and instead will consider whether to take any action when the legal position is clear.’

The meeting was adjourned for 5 minutes to allow members to read and consider the amendment.

Following a request from ten councillors for a recorded vote on the amendment, the amendment was put to the vote and lost.

For the amendment (24)

(Councillors Bowyer, Mrs Bowyer, Carson, Churchill, Cook, Darcy, Deacon, Downie, Drean, Foster, Mrs Foster, Fry, James, Jordan, Kelly, Martin Leaves, Mike Leaves, Sam Leaves, Loveridge, Dr Mahony, Nicholson, Pengelly, Ricketts, and Wigens).

Against the amendment (29)

(Councillors Mrs Aspinall, Bowie, Mrs Bridgeman, Coker, Dann, P Davey, S Davey, Evans, Hendy, Lowry, Mavin, McDonald, Morris, Parker-Delaz-Ajete, Penberthy, Rennie, Riley, Storer, Singh, Smith, Sparling, Stevens, J Taylor, K Taylor, Tuffin, Tuohy, Vincent, Wheeler and Winter).

Abstention (1)

Debate on the original motion continued and, following a request from ten councillors for a recorded vote, the original motion was put to the vote and Council agreed to cease the practice of fining those parents for unauthorised absence in order to take their children on holiday.

For the motion (30)

(Councillors Mrs Aspinall, Bowie, Mrs Bridgeman, Coker, Dann, P Davey, S Davey, Evans, Hendy, Lowry, Mavin, McDonald, Morris, Murphy, Parker-Delaz-Ajete, Penberthy, Rennie, Riley, Storer, Singh, Smith, Sparling, Stevens, J Taylor, K Taylor, Tuffin, Tuohy, Vincent, Wheeler and Winter).

Against the motion (24)

(Councillors Bowyer, Mrs Bowyer, Carson, Churchill, Cook, Darcy, Deacon, Downie, Drean, Foster, Mrs Foster, Fry, James, Jordan, Kelly, Martin Leaves, Mike Leaves, Sam Leaves, Loveridge, Dr Mahony, Nicholson, Pengelly, Ricketts, and Wigens).

Abstention (1)

Suspension of Standing Orders

Councillor Darcy proposed and Councillor Nicholson seconded a motion to suspend standing orders to allow the meeting to continue after 7.30 pm.  Following a vote, this was agreed.

Councillor Philippa Davey proposed and Councillor Dann seconded the motion on Make Fair Transitional State Pension Arrangements for 1950s Women.

Following a vote the motion was carried and Council agreed the following:

This Council calls upon the Government to make fair transitional state pension arrangements for all women born on or after 6th April 1951, who have unfairly borne the burden of the increase to the State Pension Age (SPA) with lack of appropriate notification.

Hundreds of thousands of women had significant pension changes imposed on them by the Pensions Acts of 1995 and 2011 with little/no/personal notification of the changes. Some women had only two years notice of a six-year increase to their state pension age.

Many women born in the 1950's are living in hardship. Retirement plans have been shattered with devastating consequences. Many of these women are already out of the labour market, caring for elderly relatives, providing childcare for grandchildren, or suffer discrimination in the workplace so struggle to find employment. Women born in this decade are suffering financially. These women have worked hard, raised families and paid their tax and national insurance with the expectation that they would be financially secure when reaching 60. It is not the pension age itself that is in dispute - it is widely accepted that women and men should retire at the same time. The issue is that the rise in the women's state pension age has been too rapid and has happened without sufficient notice being given to the women affected, leaving women with no time to make alternative arrangements.

This Council calls upon the Government to reconsider transitional arrangements for women born on or after 6th April 1951, so that women do not live in hardship due to pension changes they were not told about until it was too late to make alternative arrangements.

Councillor Philippa Davey proposed and Councillor Morris seconded the motion on Tackling Racism, xenophobia and hate crimes.

An amendment was moved by Councillor Downie and seconded by Councillor Bowyer as follows –

Words crossed through to be deleted and words in italics to be added:

?         Plymouth City Council states that we are proud to live in a diverse and tolerant society. Racism, xenophobia and all hate crimes have no place in our city. This Council condemns racism, xenophobia and hate crimes absolutely unequivocally. It is our duty to provide leadership to the city and we will never allow any form of hate crime to become acceptable.

·                    Plymouth City Council will work to ensure local programmes, organisations and individuals have support and the necessary resources to fight and prevent racism, xenophobia and crimes of hatred.

?         Welcomes appropriate work with organizations and individuals to fight and prevent racism, xenophobia and crimes of hatred.

?         We send a message of friendship and support to all people living in Plymouth, wherever they were born, whoever they may be, and further state that they are valued members of our community.

The City Council agrees to –

(1)       a.  Notes and welcomes recent statements from the Leader, Shadow Leader and Cabinet member for Safer and Stronger Communities and on ‘Staffroom’ condemning hate motivated incidents.

       b. Requests the Chief Executive to issue this statement as forcefully as possible in all forms and in all outlets available to us.

(2)       a.   Welcomes on going work to actively engage with partners and stake holders on this issue to help promote our message across Plymouth.

       b. Requests the Chief Executive to actively engage with all partners and stakeholders on this issue to send this message to the widest possible audience in Plymouth.

(3)       Welcomes staff training on how to report hate crimes and how to access support and requests that the Chief Executive also makes this available to councillors

(3)       Welcomes appropriate work with organisations and individuals to fight and prevent racism, xenophobia and crimes of hatred.

(4)       Request that the Chief Executive ensures all Councillors are aware of the schedule of Citizenship ceremonies and investigate appropriate measures to enable Councillors to attend ceremonies in order to welcome new citizens to the city.

The meeting was adjourned for 5 minutes to allow Members to read and consider the amendment.

(Following the adjournment the Lord Mayor left the meeting and the Deputy Lord Mayor took the Chair until the end of the meeting.  With the agreement of Council, Councillor Bowie acted as Vice-Chair until the end of the meeting.)

The debate continued and, following the vote, the amendment was carried.

Following further debate, a vote was taken on the motion as amended and the motion was carried as follows:

?       Plymouth City Council states that we are proud to live in a diverse and tolerant society. Racism, xenophobia and all hate crimes have no place in our city. This Council condemns racism, xenophobia and hate crimes absolutely unequivocally. It is our  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25d

Questions to the Leader, Cabinet Members and Committee Chairs covering aspects for their areas of responsibility or concern by councillors in accordance with Part B, paragraph 12 of the constitution.

Due to the lateness of the hour, Council agreed to defer this item to the next meeting of Council.  In the meantime, any questions Members had could be made in writing to Cabinet members or committee chairs.