Agenda and minutes

Les Pointer, representing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, said prayers.

Councillors V A Fletcher and I T W Fletcher declared an interest in minute number 153b Response to review of Parliamentary Boundaries as it affected the ward they represented.

To confirm the minutes of the last meeting of the Council.

RESOLVED – that the minutes of the meeting held on 29 April 2021 be confirmed and signed by the Mayor.

The Leader of the Council may give an oral report on matters of significance to the Borough, comment upon the Cabinet decisions or make any announcements.

The Leader welcomed newly elected Councillors I Preece and J Gough to their first Council meeting. The Leader reflected on the coronavirus pandemic and stated that everyone had been impacted by the virus, which had not gone away and noted that the pandemic was not over.

The Leader discussed the fire at the recycling centre in Ketley and expressed his thanks to partners in the fire and rescue service. Thanks to the efforts of the Council and partners the fire took weeks to extinguish not months. He noted that the Council had, on multiple occasions, refused planning permission on the site, but this had been overturned by the planning inspectorate.

The Leader noted that he had written to the Secretary of State for Local Government in regards to the Levelling Up Fund. Telford had been placed in tranche 3, behind places like Oxford, Shropshire and parts of Essex and expressed his frustration with this.

The Council had secured £22.3m from the Towns Fund and the Leader thanked all partners and staff involved in the bid for this. All the funding would be spent in the Borough and the Council had managed to secure £100m of matched funding.

The Leader announced that the Council had been awarded the Cooperative Council of the Year award and was a finalist in the Local Authority of the Year awards with the MJ.

To note the Mayoral Engagements undertaken since the previous Council meeting.

The Mayor noted his engagements since the last meeting. He noted that he had been delighted to attend many events around the Borough, including BikeFest in Wellington, National Armed Forces Day in Donnington and the opening of the new Veterinary Education Centre at Harper Adams University where Her Royal Highness, Princess Anne was in attendance.

The Mayor announced that his chosen charities for this year would be Telford Crisis Support and the Midlands Air Ambulance.

To receive any questions from the public which have been submitted under Council Procedure Rules 7.11 and 7.12. The session will last no more than 15 minutes with a maximum of 2 minutes allowed for each question and answer. Questions can be asked of the Leader and Cabinet Members.

None Received.

No questions were received.

To receive the report on the Cabinet decisions made since publication of the last Council meeting agenda. Cabinet Members may speak on these decisions and Members may ask questions about key decisions of the relevant Cabinet Member for the purposes of clarification only.  Members are asked to note the additional delegations to officers granted at those meetings.

Members received the report on the Cabinet decisions made since the last meeting of the Council.

Telford & Wrekin Council Becoming Carbon Neutral Action Plan Annual Review

Councillor N A Dugmore asked if there was a target for the number of electric vehicle charging points to be provided.

Councillor D Wright responded that he would provide a written response with the exact figures. He stated that the Council would be producing a comprehensive strategy and would look to identify priority sites.

To answer questions received under Council Procedure Rule 6.2.

NB      In accordance with the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 6.2.9 there will be a maximum of 30 minutes allowed for questions and answers.  Any question not answered within the 30 minute time limit will receive a written reply within 5 working days.

The following questions were asked under Council Procedure Rule 6.2.2:-

(a)       Councillor T J Nelson asked the following question of Councillor S Davies, Leader:

‘With the announcement that the Council has submitted over a million pages of evidence to the Telford Child Sexual Exploitation Inquiry, does the leader and his fellow councillors still claim that the CSE Inquiry was not needed?’

Councillor S Davies responded that it was too early to say if the inquiry had achieved what the Council had wanted it to. The administration had asked for a Government Led Inquiry, which was declined, so it was felt that a council commissioned inquiry was better than no inquiry at all. The Council commissioned inquiry did not have statutory powers and could not compel witnesses to attend or answer questions.

Councillor Nelson asked a supplementary question in regards to the amount of evidence submitted by the Council.

Councillor Davies stated that the way the inquiry had been run was managed by the Chair of the Inquiry as it is completely independent. The Council had released all information it had been asked to do so. The Leader stated that he would be asking questions of who didn’t provide evidence or attend the inquiry.

(b)       Councillor N A Dugmore asked the following question of Councillor D Wright, Cabinet Member for Economy, Housing, Transport and Infrastructure:

‘What changes have been made following the review of the relationship between APT and the planning authority announced in January?’

Councillor Wright responded that the report was due to conclude within the next few weeks and would be brought before Scrutiny.

(c)       Councillor S Bentley asked the following question of Councillor C Healy, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Green Spaces, Natural and Historic Environment:

‘Since the publication of the Boroughs’ climate change strategy the Shropshire Star reported that there has been a 33 percent reduction in carbon emissions across the Borough in the last 12 months. What is the largest contributing factor to this reduction?’

Councillor Healy indicated she would provide a written reply.

(d)         Councillor S Bentley asked the following question of Councillor D Wright, Cabinet Member for Economy, Housing, Transport and Infrastructure :

‘What tonnage of freight has the Donnington Rail Freight terminal handled during the 12 months leading up to lockdown?’

Councillor Wright advised he would provide a written reply.

(e)       Councillor S Bentley will ask the following question of Councillor S Davies, Leader:

‘Following the £1.3m investment in 110 homes within the Borough to create a social rented arm of NuPlace ,can the leader guarantee these properties will provide accommodation to residents of the Borough whose limited opportunities for social housing have existed for many years? ’

Councillor Davies stated he would provide a written response.

(f)                Councillor Eric Carter asked the following question of Councillor D Wright, Cabinet Member for Economy, Housing, Transport and Infrastructure :

‘Could I ask the Cabinet Member for Transport why neither he nor any officers attend the most effective and influential rail organisation in the Area,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 151.

Recommended that:

(i) -      the Revenue outturn position for 2020/21,which remains subject to audit by the Council’s external auditors, and related virements in Appendix 3 of the report be approved

-           the transfers and changes to reserves and associated approval to the relevant members of the Senior Management Team (as determined by the Chief Executive) and after consultation with the relevant Cabinet Member to spend the reserves detailed in section 5 and Appendix 5 of the report be approved.

(ii)        To approve the Capital outturn position and related supplementary estimates, re-phasing and virements shown in Appendix 4 and as summarised in the report

(iii)       To grant delegated authority to the Director: Finance & HR to make any changes required as the outturn is finalised, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Council Finance & Governance

(iv)       To note the performance against income targets

(v)        To approve the 2021/22 Public Health Grant and update the 2021/22 budget strategy accordingly

Councillor R C Evans, Cabinet Member for Council Finance & Governance, presented the report of the Director: Finance & Human Resources (Chief Financial Officer).

RESOLVED - that:

a)    The revenue outturn position for 2020/21 which remains subject to audit by the Council’s external auditors, and related virements in Appendix 3 of the report be approved

b)   The transfers and changes to reserves and associated approval to the relevant members of the Senior Management Team (as determined by the Chief Executive) and after consultation with the relevant Cabinet Member to spend the reserves detailed in Section 5 and Appendix 5 of the report be approved

c)    The Capital outturn position and related supplementary estimates, re-phasing and virements shown in Appendix 4 of the report and as summarised in the report be approved

d)   Authority be delegated to the Director: Finance and HR to make any changes required as the outturn is finalised, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Council Finance and Governance

e)    The performance against income targets be noted

f)     The 2021/22 Public Health Grant be approved and the 2021/22 budget strategy be updated accordingly.

Recommended that the changes to the capital programme detailed in Appendix 1 of the report be approved.

Councillor R C Evans, Cabinet Member for Council Finance & Governance, presented the report of the Director: Finance & Human Resources (Chief Financial Officer).

RESOLVED – that the changes to the capital programme as detailed in Appendix 1 of the report be approved.

The Lead Scrutiny Member, Councillor Derek White, presented the Annual Report for information.

RESOLVED – that the Annual Scrutiny Report 2018/19 be noted.

Recommended that:

a) Considers the comments made by the Boundary Review Committee in respect of a proposed response to the Boundary Commission for England regarding the proposals arising out of the Parliamentary Boundary Review; and

b) Delegated authority be granted to the Associate Director: Policy & Governance, in consultation with the Chair of the Boundary Review Committee, to finalise the wording of the draft response.

Councillor Richard Overton, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Enforcement, Community Safety and Customer Services presented the report of the Associate Director: Policy & Governance.

RESOLVED- that:

a)      A representation is made to the Boundary Commission for England (‘BCE’) that the title of the proposed Newport and Wellington constituency does not properly reflect local identity and that the constituency should retain the name of ‘The Wrekin’

b)      Representations to be made to the BCE that the Council supports the initial proposals for the neighbouring constituencies of North Shropshire, Shrewsbury and Ludlow & Bridgnorth

c)       Representations to be made to the BCE that the Council agrees that The Wrekin constituency should incorporate the areas of Cheswardine and Hodnet from the existing North Shropshire constituency.

d)      Representations to be made to the BCE that the Council agrees with the majority of the proposals in relation to the boundaries for the Telford and The Wrekin (Newport & Wellington) constituencies save that the Council proposes:-

i-                    That the area of Priorslee should comprise part of The Wrekin constituency; and

ii-                  That the area of Hadley & Leegomery should comprise part of the Telford constituency with both of these proposals being made to better reflect community ties.

e)      Authority be delegated to the Chair of the Boundary Review Committee to write to the BCE in the terms set out above.

Recommended that Council approves the Member Development and Support Strategy as attached at Appendix A to the report, to be adopted with immediate effect.

Councillor R C Evans, Cabinet Member for Council Finance & Governance, presented the report of the Associate Director: Policy & Governance.

RESOLVED- that the Member Development and Support Strategy as attached at Appendix A of the report be adopted with immediate effect.

Recommended that Council approves the Code of Conduct as attached at Appendix A of the report to be adopted with immediate effect.

Councillor R C Evans, Cabinet Member for Council Finance & Governance, presented the report of the Associate Director: Policy & Governance.

RESOLVED- that the Code of Conduct as attached at Appendix A of the report be adopted with immediate effect.

“Council resolves to:

•           Ask the Chief Executive to write to the Secretary of State for Transport requesting that the Government’s response to the ‘Pavement Parking: Options for Change’ consultation now be published as promised over 3 months ago.

•           Ask the relevant officer to conduct a survey amongst the elected members of this Council asking members to identify streets within their ward where nuisance pavement parking occurs.

•           Ask the relevant Cabinet Member to bring to a future meeting of this Council a report with the findings of this survey and details of the enforcement action that this Council proposes to take, taking account of any new powers the Government promises to make available to local authorities in their published response to the consultation.”

The Motion will be seconded by Councillor W L Tomlinson.

Councillor W L Tomlinson formally moved, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 7, the following Motion:

‘Council resolves to:

•           Ask the Chief Executive to write to the Secretary of State for Transport requesting that the Government’s response to the ‘Pavement Parking: Options for Change’ consultation now be published as promised over 3 months ago.

•           Ask the relevant officer to conduct a survey amongst the elected members of this Council asking members to identify streets within their ward where nuisance pavement parking occurs.

•           Ask the relevant Cabinet Member to bring to a future meeting of this Council a report with the findings of this survey and details of the enforcement action that this Council proposes to take, taking account of any new powers the Government promises to make available to local authorities in their published response to the consultation’

The Motion was formally seconded by Councillor K T Tomlinson.

Following a robust debate, the Motion was approved by a majority vote.

RESOLVED - that the motion be approved.

“This Council joins the growing opposition against phasing out of the £20 uplift in Universal Credit in September and calls on the Government for the uplift to remain in place permanently.  This funding has been a life saver for many families during the pandemic, many of whom are in work or want to be in work.  The Government’s plans to cut Universal Credit will hit the lowest paid hardest and hurt our economic recovery.  Over six million families, which include 6,205 families in Telford & Wrekin, are set to lose £1,000 a year, with 16 of our 29 wards in Telford and Wrekin seeing an over 100% increase in claimants from March 2020, whilst out of work support has been left at its lowest level in decades.”

The Motion will be seconded by Councillor K MIddleton.

Councillor A D McClements formally moved, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 7, the following Motion:

‘This Council joins the growing opposition against phasing out of the £20 uplift in Universal Credit in September and calls on the Government for the uplift to remain in place permanently.  This funding has been a life saver for many families during the pandemic, many of whom are in work or want to be in work.  The Government’s plans to cut Universal Credit will hit the lowest paid hardest and hurt our economic recovery.  Over six million families, which include 6,205 families in Telford & Wrekin, are set to lose £1,000 a year, with 16 of our 29 wards in Telford and Wrekin seeing an over 100% increase in claimants from March 2020, whilst out of work support has been left at its lowest level in decades.’

The Motion was formally seconded by Councillor K Middleton.

Following a robust debate, the Motion was approved by a majority vote. In accordance with Committee Procedure Rule 9.5, a recorded vote on the motion was taken, the voting being as follows:

For: Councillors A J Burford, E Callear, L D Carter, G H Cook, S Davies, A R H England, R C Evans, C Healy, V Holt, A S Jhawar, J Jones, J E Lavery, J Loveridge, A D McClements, R Mehta, K Middleton, G Offland, R A Overton, G C W Reynolds, S A W Reynolds, S J Reynolds, H Rhodes, K S Sahota, P J Scott, C F Smith, M J Smith, B J Thompson, K T Tomlinson, W L Tomlinson, C R Turley, P R Watling, D R W White, D Wright.

Against: 0

Abstain: Councillors S Bentley, S P Burrell, E J Carter, N A Dugmore, A J Eade, I T W Fletcher, V A Fletcher, E J Greenaway, M B Hosken, R T Kiernan, A Lawrence, T J Nelson, J M Seymour.

RESOLVED - that the motion be approved.

“This Council believes that local democracy should be at the heart of the planning system which includes the rights of communities to object to individual planning applications.

The Government already exercise major control over local planning matters, often overturning locally made decisions on appeal.  We are therefore concerned that these new proposals announced by the Government in the Queen’s Speech aim to change both the current and strategic approach to the planning system.

This Council believes that the Government reforms will lead to a further loss of local control and will give local residents less opportunity to actively participate in and directly influence the planning process. The planning reforms will lead to remote, standardised and formula based decision making led from Whitehall and in that context this Council calls on the government to abandon its existing proposals and ensure that the principle of local decision making is restored to the whole planning process”.

The Motion will be seconded by Councillor C F Smith.

Councillor D Wright formally moved, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 7, the following Motion:

‘This Council believes that local democracy should be at the heart of the planning system which includes the rights of communities to object to individual planning applications.

The Government already exercise major control over local planning matters, often overturning locally made decisions on appeal.  We are therefore concerned that these new proposals announced by the Government in the Queen’s Speech aim to change both the current and strategic approach to the planning system.

This Council believes that the Government reforms will lead to a further loss of local control and will give local residents less opportunity to actively participate in and directly influence the planning process. The planning reforms will lead to remote, standardised and formula based decision making led from Whitehall and in that context this Council calls on the government to abandon its existing proposals and ensure that the principle of local decision making is restored to the whole planning process.’

The Motion was formally seconded by Councillor C F Smith.

Following a robust debate, the Motion was approved unanimously.

RESOLVED - that the motion be approved.

“This Council wishes to again put on record our heartfelt thanks and appreciation for all of our frontline key workers from doctors, nurses, the armed services, carers, teachers, police, council staff, including all our volunteers across Telford and Wrekin and so many, many more local heroes who have worked tirelessly on the frontline to care for all our residents during the pandemic.  They have and continue to be truly inspirational and we have been humbled by the selflessness and dedication during these unprecedented and challenging times for our borough – thank you to each and every one of them! This Council also recognises the incredible achievement of our England Football team. Their leadership, determination, generosity and performance has brought our community together after one of the most difficult years our country has faced in peacetime.”

The Motion will be seconded by Councillor G Offland.

Councillor E Callear formally moved, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 7, the following Motion:

‘This Council wishes to again put on record our heartfelt thanks and appreciation for all of our frontline key workers from doctors, nurses, the armed services, carers, teachers, police, council staff, including all our volunteers across Telford and Wrekin and so many, many more local heroes who have worked tirelessly on the frontline to care for all our residents during the pandemic.  They have and continue to be truly inspirational and we have been humbled by the selflessness and dedication during these unprecedented and challenging times for our borough – thank you to each and every one of them! This Council also recognises the incredible achievement of our England Football team. Their leadership, determination, generosity and performance has brought our community together after one of the most difficult years our country has faced in peacetime.’

In the spirit of cross-party co-operation, Councillor Callear agreed that the following sentence would also be included in the motion:

‘This Council also deplores the actions of those individuals who choose to use social media to make derogatory comments against individuals on the grounds of their ethnic background.’

The Motion was formally seconded by Councillor G Offland.

Following a robust debate, the Motion was approved unanimously.

RESOLVED - that the motion be approved.

“This Council supports retaining the name 'The Wrekin' following any review of the current Parliamentary constituency.”

The Motion will be seconded by Councillor S Bentley.

The Motion proposed at agenda item 12(e) was withdrawn by Councillor N A Dugmore with the agreement of Councillor S Bentley (seconder).