Agenda and minutes

a)  The Lord Mayor announced that the usual instruction that mobile phones and other electrical equipment in the Chamber should be switched off when Council was in session did apply and did therefore extend to the practice of ‘tweeting’.

b)  The Lord Mayor reported the recent death of Mrs Pat Wilkinson, wife of Councillor Wilkinson and a former deputy Lady Mayoress, and Council stood in silent tribute.

c)  The Lord Mayor referred to the recent winning of the FA Tesco Women’s Premier League Cup Final by the Leeds Carnegie Ladies Football Club and reported that congratulations had been conveyed to the Club on behalf of the Council.

d)  The Lord Mayor reported that the collection held at the last Council meeting in relation to the Haiti earthquake disaster had raised £184.50.

To confirm the minutes of the Council Meeting held on 20^th January 2010.

It was moved by Councillor Bentley, seconded by Councillor Gruen and

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 20^th January 2010 be approved.

To receive any declarations of interest from Members.

To receive such communications as the Lord Mayor, the Leader, Members of the Executive Board or the Chief Executive consider appropriate.

The Chief Executive reported that, following a bye-election held on 18^th February 2010, Gerry Harper was elected to the office of Councillor for the Hyde Park and Woodhouse Ward.

(i)  Revenue Budget

a)  That the Revenue Budget for 2010/11 totalling £569,295,000, as detailed and explained in the submitted report and accompanying papers, be approved, including a 2.5% increase in the Leeds element of the Council Tax.

b)  That with respect to the Housing Revenue Account the following be approved:-

i)  approve the budget at the average rent increase of figure of  3.1%

ii)  increase the charges for garage rents to £6.07 per week

iii)  increase service charges in line with rents (3.1%)

(ii)  Council Tax

1.   That it be noted that at the meeting on 20^th January 2010, Council agreed the following amounts for the year 2010/11, in accordance with regulations made under Sections 33(5) and 34(4) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992:-

a)   236,630 being the amount calculated by the Council, in accordance with Regulation 3 of the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) Regulations 1992 (as amended) as its Council Tax base for the year.

b) 

being the amounts calculated by the Council in accordance with Regulation 6 of the Regulations, as the amounts of its Council Tax base for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which one or more special items relate.

2  That the following amounts be now calculated by the Council for the year 2010/11 in accordance with Sections 32 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992:-

a) £2,098,510,270.94  being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 32(2)(a) to (e) of the Act.

b) £1,527,787,000  being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 32(3)(a) to (c) of the Act.

c) £570,723,270.94  being the amount by which the aggregate at 2(a) above exceeds the aggregate at 2(b) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 32(4) of the Act, as its budget requirement for the year.

d) £303,443,733  being the aggregate of the sums which the Council estimates will be payable for the year into its general fund in respect of redistributed Non-Domestic Rates and Revenue Support Grant, increased by the amount which the Council estimates will be transferred from its Collection Fund into its General Fund under Section 97(3) of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 and reduced by the amount which the Council estimates will be  transferred from its Collection Fund to its General Fund pursuant to the Collection  ...  view the full agenda text for item 91.

Under the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 14.10 leave of Council was given to alter paragraph (ii)3 by the deletion of the words “has Issued” and “are expected to issue” and replacement of the latter with “have issued” and deletion of  “The Fire and Rescue Authority meet to finalise their budget and Council Taxes on 19^th February 2010”.

It was moved by Councillor Brett, seconded by Councillor A Carter

(i)  Revenue Budget

a)  That the Revenue Budget for 2010/11 totalling £569,295,000, as detailed and explained in the submitted report and accompanying papers, be approved, including a 2.5% increase in the Leeds element of the Council Tax.

b)  That with respect to the Housing Revenue Account the following be approved:-

i)  approve the budget at the average rent increase of figure of 3.1%

ii)  increase the charges for garage rents to £6.07 per week

iii)  increase service charges in line with rents (3.1%)

(ii)  Council Tax

1.   That it be noted that at the meeting on 20^th January 2010, Council agreed the following amounts for the year 2010/11, in accordance with regulations made under Sections 33(5) and 34(4) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992:-

a)   236,630 being the amount calculated by the Council, in accordance with Regulation 3 of the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) Regulations 1992 (as amended) as its Council Tax base for the year.

b) 

being the amounts calculated by the Council in accordance with Regulation 6 of the Regulations, as the amounts of its Council Tax base for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which one or more special items relate.

2  That the following amounts be now calculated by the Council for the year 2010/11 in accordance with Sections 32 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992:-

a) £2,098,510,270.94  being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 32(2)(a) to (e) of the Act.

b) £1,527,787,000  being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 32(3)(a) to (c) of the Act.

c) £570,723,270.94  being the amount by which the aggregate at 2(a) above exceeds the aggregate at 2(b) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 32(4) of the Act, as its budget requirement for the year.

d) £303,443,733  being the aggregate of the sums which the Council estimates will be payable  ...  view the full minutes text for item 91.

To consider the following reports admitted to the agenda by the Chief Executive under Council Procedure Rule 2.2(f).

a)  That the report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Corporate Governance) on appointments be approved.

S BENTLEY

b)  That the report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Corporate Governance) submitted in accordance with Executive Procedure Rule 1.4(b) and relating to amendments made to the executive scheme of delegation by the Leader on 1^st February 2009 be noted.

S BENTLEY

c)  That the report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Corporate Governance) on the proposed appointment of Mr Gordon Tollefson, as Chair of the Standards Committee for a term of one year beginning at the Annual Council Meeting 2010, be approved.

J L CARTER

a)  Appointments

It was moved by Councillor Bentley, seconded by Councillor Gruen and

RESOLVED –

a)  That Council notes that the West Yorkshire Integrated Transport and Fire and Rescue Authorities will each be given notice of the termination of the appointment of one Morley Borough Independent Member on each authority and will be notified of the appointment of one Labour member on each.

b)  That Councillor Rafique be appointed to the Fire and Rescue Authority and Councillor G Hyde to the Integrated Transport Authority.

b)  Amendments to the Executive Scheme of Delegation

It was moved by Councillor Bentley, seconded by Councillor J Procter and

RESOLVED – That the report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Corporate Governance) submitted in accordance with Executive Procedure Rule 1.4(b) and relating to amendments made to the executive scheme of delegation by the Leader on 1^st  February 2010 be noted.

c)  Appointment of Chair of Standards Committee

It was moved by Councillor J L Carter, seconded by Councillor Campbell and

RESOLVED – That the report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Corporate Governance) on the proposed appointment of Mr Gordon Tollefson, as Chair of  the Standards Committee for a term of one year beginning at the Annual Council Meeting 2010, be approved

That the report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Corporate Governance) on recommendations of the General Purposes Committee with regard to proposed amendments to the Constitution be approved.

A CARTER

It was moved by Councillor A Carter, seconded by Councillor Brett and

RESOLVED - That the report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Corporate Governance) on recommendations of the General Purposes Committee with regard to proposed amendments to the Constitution be approved subject to an amendment to recommendation (a) in relation to an amendment to Rule 7 of the Area Committee Procedure Rules, as set out in appendix 1 to the report, by the addition of the words “and having regard to the number of Ward based Community Forums “ between the words “relates” and “where” in the fourth line of paragraph 7.4 of that appendix.

(The three recommendations contained in the report and as amended above were each put to the vote and carried.)

To receive the minutes in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 2.2(o).

A CARTER

It was moved by Councillor A Carter, seconded by Councillor Brett and

RESOLVED – That the minutes submitted to Council in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 2.2(o) be received.

Council Procedure Rule 4 providing for the winding up of business was applied prior to all notified comments on the minutes having been debated.

The meeting was suspended at 4.55 pm and resumed at 5.25 pm.

This Council is committed to the proactive and robust defence of Greenfield and Greenbelt sites against the predatory, and speculative, ambitions of the volume house builders.  The Council particularly welcomes the fact that it is challenging flawed Planning Inquiry findings through the High Court.

The Council confirms its significant concerns that the Government’s RSS figures for Leeds are unsustainable particularly in the current economic climate and agrees to write to the Secretary of State for Planning, Building and the Environment, Department for Communities and Local Government asking them to scrap this target, and talk to the Council about agreeing a sustainable and achievable target. 

This Council further confirms its commitment to ensuring that playing fields are protected, and more playing fields are provided throughout the City of Leeds.

Council also notes that decisions on individual planning applications will continue to be taken on their merit in the context of development plans policy and other material planning considerations.

A CARTER

It was moved by Councillor A Carter, seconded by Councillor Golton and

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY- That this Council is committed to the proactive and robust defence of Greenfield and Greenbelt sites against the predatory, and speculative, ambitions of the volume house builders.  The Council particularly welcomes the fact that it is challenging flawed Planning Inquiry findings through the High Court.

The Council confirms its significant concerns that the Government’s RSS figures for Leeds are unsustainable particularly in the current economic climate and agrees to write to the Secretary of State for Planning, Building and the Environment, Department for Communities and Local Government asking them to scrap this target, and talk to the Council about agreeing a sustainable and achievable target. 

This Council further confirms its commitment to ensuring that playing fields are protected, and more playing fields are provided throughout the City of Leeds.

Council also notes that decisions on individual planning applications will continue to be taken on their merit in the context of development plans policy and other material planning considerations.

On the requisition of Councillors A Carter and Andrew, the voting on the motion was recorded as follows:-

YES

Anderson, Andrew, Armitage, Atha, Barker, Bentley, Beverley, A Blackburn, D Blackburn, Blake, Brett, Campbell, A Carter, J L Carter, Castle, Chapman, Chastney, Cleasby, Congreve, Coulson, Coupar, Davey, Dobson, Downes, Dowson, Dunn, Ewens, R Finnigan, Fox, Gabriel, Golton, Grahame, Grayshon, Gruen, Hamilton, Hanley, Harington, Harker, J Harper, G Harper, J Harrand, Harris, Hollingsworth, A Hussain, G Hyde, W Hyde, Illingworth, Iqbal, Jarosz, Kendall, Kirkland, Lamb, Lancaster, Latty, Leadley, J Lewis, R Lewis, Lobley, Lowe, Lyons, Marjoram, Matthews, A McKenna, J McKenna, Monaghan, Morgan, L Mulherin, Murray, Nash, Ogilvie, Parker, Parnham, J Procter, R Procter, Pryke, Rafique, Renshaw, L Rhodes-Clayton, Robinson, Schofield, Shelbrooke, Smith, Taggart, E Taylor, A Taylor, Townsley, Wadsworth, Wakefield, Wilkinson, Wilson, Yeadon

91

The Lord Mayor announced that it had been brought to her attention that mobile phones had been in use in the Chamber when Council was in session, that she regarded this as disrespect for the Chair and that it was not acceptable to her.

Council rose at 6.30 pm.