| 96 | Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Beeston, Bexon, Boot, G Clarke, Gillam, Glover, Hewson, Hughes, Pepper, Tomlinson. |
| 97 | The Mayor passed on the sad news that Roy Francis had recently passed away. His voluntary work in the Arnold Community would be greatly missed. The Mayor also informed Council that the funeral for Les Allsopp, a Royal British Legion veteran, would take place tomorrow morning.
The Mayor also reported that her chosen charity, Headsmart, had recently won an award recognising the work that it does. |
| 99 | Councillors Barnfather, J Clarke, Creamer and Pulk declared personal interests in agenda item 8 (minute 101 refers) as members of Nottinghamshire County Council, a landowner of a site mentioned in the Aligned Core Strategy.
Councillor J Clarke declared a prejudicial interest in item 12 (minute 101 refers) as remuneration for positions he held on the Council would be discussed. He said that he would withdraw from the meeting for the item. |
| 100 | The Chief Executive advised that two questions from the public had been received. Due to the bad weather, the questioners were unable to attend the meeting so a written response would be provided. |
| 101 | In response to a question from Councillor Parr, the Deputy Leader, Councillor Payne gave the following answer:
"As Portfolio Holder for Public Protection and a member of the Strategic Group of the South Nottinghamshire Community Safety Partnership, I too am pleased with the overall drop in crime and anti-social behaviour in this borough and across the South Nottinghamshire Community Safety Partnership area - this shows that the activities we are regularly involved in planning and delivering with the police and other partners are providing real benefits to local people.
Local people are telling me that they feel safer and I know that statistically they are safer.
Across the CSP area:
• The all crime figure is currently down by 16% (compared with last year) - that's 1860 offences less
• Anti-social behaviour is down by 37% ( compared with 12 months ago - 3,000 incidents less)
• Burglary, one of the most intrusive crime you can ever be the victim of is down 24% - that's 211 offences less that 12 months ago across our partnership area
• In Cllr. Parr's own ward crime is down 36.1% compared with May 2011 and anti-social behaviour is down 53.1%
Whilst these improvements demonstrate the effectiveness and impact of good partnerships this administration is determined to see further reductions.
Tackling crime, and preventing it in the first place, still remains at the forefront of our agenda for Gedling and we continue to be innovative in our plans and actions;
Our new Community Protection Policy will add to this.
Our work with Neighbourhood Coordinators will add to this.
Our work in improving the economy will add to this.
Our work to support young people will add to this.
Our work around health and housing will add to this.
This administration has sound plans for tackling crime and the fear of crime and those plans are delivering real results.
We know that because of Government cuts the police have had to take unprecedented actions to take 42 million out from their overall budget - police numbers locally have fallen.
Here at Gedling Borough Council we will continue to support the police as they face difficult budget settlements from the Government. Unlike this Conservative-Liberal Democrat government we know that cutting crime not the police is the real answer to making our communities safer.
Our shared service hub will be a flagship for this borough and the County as a whole - others will follow what we do here.
This administration's decision to support the police by contributing £20,000 to increase the number of Special Constables dedicated to working in Gedling Borough is another tangible commitment to supporting our communities and supporting the police.
I have been working closely with Special Constable John Kenton to make that commitment happen and I am delighted to report that currently:
• The first 3 Specials were recruited in April and started a 22 week training course in May 2012
• 6 Specials having completed training were transferred to Gedling Borough in September and October 2012 (4 at Carlton & 2 at Arnold)
• During 5 months on division to date, the 6 Specials have committed 668 duty hours to policing Gedling Borough, giving an average of 111 hours per officer at over 28 hours per month - significantly more than the minimum requirement of 16 duty hours per month
• The Specials are currently working with a Tutor Constable (Regular Police Constable) and their typical duties generally fall into two categories;
o Response Policing - Mobile patrol attending 999 emergency calls including; Anti-Social Behaviour incidents, Road Traffic Collisions, Domestic incidents, Burglaries etc
o Neighbourhood Policing - Mobile and High Visibility Foot patrol attending; Anti-Social Behaviour incidents, Night Time Economy town centre patrols plus special events; Christmas Carnivals, Remembrance Day Parades, Fetes/Galas, Fun Runs etc
• By the end of March 2013, a further 3 Specials will have transferred to Carlton bringing the division based total under the sponsorship scheme to 9 Specials
• The remaining 11 officers are currently completing their training at the Hucknall Force Training Centre with 6 transferring to Gedling in May 2013, 4 in June 2013 and 1 in October 2013.
• Of the final total of 20 Specials, 11 will be based at Carlton and 9 at Arnold
• A further Specials Recruitment event will be held at the Civic Centre on Wednesday 27th February to recruit Specials for the Greater Nottingham area as part of the normal recruitment programme for 2013/14
We have recently transferred £10,000 to Nottinghamshire Police and the remainder will be paid to them when the total complement of staff is deployed as I have described.
This represents good value for money, good partnership working and joined up local services working together to make our communities safer.
It does not finish there, because every month officers from this Council meet with the local police to discuss and plan interventions in relation to vulnerable people and anti-social behaviour.
At these meetings Council staff and the local police work together to tackle local issues that really matter to the public. This partnership working is mutually beneficial and brings more ‘collective' resource to bear on local problems.
We also support the Police and Crime Commissioner's plans to recruit 150 more officers to police our streets this year and then a further 240 over the next three years.
Crime and anti-social behaviour remains a top priority for me, the Cabinet and this administration.
Whilst Cllr. Parr's Group were sceptical about the original introduction of the Neighbourhood Wardens in Gedling, sceptical about us funding 20 additional Special Police Constables for Gedling borough and whilst his government have cut the number of police officers across the county and country, this administration will continue to invest in new and effective measures to ensure the streets of our borough are safe for our residents." |
| 102 | Consideration was given to a report of the Planning Policy Managers which presented the Aligned Core Strategy for Council approval prior to it being submitted to the Secretary of State.
Councillor Pulk seconded by Councillor J Clarke proposed the motion.
After discussion and on the requisition of two Members the motion was put to a named vote and the motion was carried.
For the motion:
Councillors Ainley, P Allan, R Allan, P Barnes, S Barnes, Blair, Brooks, J Clarke, Collis, Creamer, Ellis, Feeney, Fox, Gregory, Hewlett, Hollingsworth, Key, Lawrence, McCauley, Miller, Paling, Payne, Pulk, Truscott, Weisz and Wheeler
Against the motion:
Councillors B Andrews, P Andrews, Barnfather, Ellwood, Hewson, Nicholson, Parr, Poole, Powell, Prew-Smith, Quilty, Spencer, Tomlinson, Tunnicliffe.
Abstentions:
Councillors Bailey and Hope. |
| 103 | Consideration was given to a report of the Service Manager for Housing and Localities which presented the Joint Homelessness Strategy for Council adoption. |
| 104 | Consideration was given to a report of the Service Manager for Housing and Localities which presented the Choice Based Lettings and Housing Allocations Policy for Council adoption. |
| 105 | Consideration was given to a report of the Corporate Director which asked for Council approval to waive Contract Standing Orders to appoint contractors to allow for delivery of a fuel poverty project between Gedling Borough Council and Derbyshire County Council, funded through the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) Fuel Poverty fund. |
| 106 | Councillor J Clarke left the meeting
Consideration was given to a report of the Corporate Director which outlined the findings of the Independent Remuneration Panel in respect of allowances payable to Councillors in the next financial year. |
| 107 | Councillor J Clarke re-joined the meeting
Consideration was given to a report of the Corporate Director proposing minor variations to the Injury Allowance Policy. |
| 108 | Consideration was given to a report of the Corporate Director advising of a request from the Labour Group Business Manager to make a change to representation on the Planning Committee. |
| 109 | The recommendations from the Appointments and Conditions of Service Committee were moved by Councillor J Clarke and seconded by Councillor Payne and |
| 110 | In accordance with Standing Order 11.01, a number of comments were made and responded to by the appropriate Cabinet Member or Committee Chair. |
| 111 | None received. |
| 112 | None received. |
