Agenda and minutes

(a)  The Lord Mayor informed Council of Councillor Lobley’s recent engagement to be married and of the recent marriage of Councillors James and Andrea McKenna (nee Harrison) and Council offered their congratulations.

 

(b)  The Lord Mayor announced that John Wilson, Sergeant at Mace, had recently achieved thirty years of service with the Council and Council offered their congratulations.

 

(c)  The Lord Mayor reported details of a Civic reception to be held for Leeds Rhinos following their recent grand final success.

 

(d)  The Lord Mayor invited Council to note the one hundredth anniversary of the right of women to seek election to this chamber.

 

(e)  Following the recent death of Jane Tomlinson OBE, Honorary Freeman of the City, Council stood and applauded her achievements.

 

To receive any declarations of interest from Members

 

The Lord Mayor announced that a list of written declarations submitted by Members was on deposit in the public galleries and had been circulated to each Member’s place in the Chamber.

 

Following an invitation to declare further individual interests declarations in accordance with the Council’s Code of Practice were made as follows:

 

(a)  Councillor A McKenna declared a personal interest in relation to minute 42 of this meeting (question 19) as a Trustee of Relate.

 

(b)  Members declared personal interests in minute 45 of this meeting as follows:

 

  Councillor A Taylor    - Governor of Harehills Primary School

 

  Councillor P Ewens    - Governor of North West SILC

    - LCC Appointment to Board of Burley

     Lodge Centre

 

Councillor G Kirkland  - Otley Town Councillor

 

Councillor R Brett    - Chair of Children Leeds Partnership

 

(c)  Members declared personal interests in minute 50 of this meeting, the motion referred to being subsequently withdrawn:

 

  Councillor B Anderson  - Member of Regional Planning Forum

        - Member of Regional Planning Board

      - Chairman of ALMO

 

  Councillor J Bale    - Fellow and Past President of the

      Chartered Institute of Building

 

Councillor Mrs A Carter  - Member of Regional Housing Board

    - Member of West Yorkshire Housing

           Partnership

      - Member of Leeds Bradford Corridor Group

 

Councillor J L Carter - Chair of Re’new

 

Councillor A Castle    - Member of Leeds Civic Trust

 

Councillor C Fox  - Member of West North West Homes

             Leeds area panel for the

           North West Outer Area

 

Councillor G Latty    - Member of ALMO Outer North West Area

        Panel

 

Councillor P Wadsworth  - Member of East North East Homes ALMO

 

Councillor G Wilkinson  - Director of East North East Homes ALMO

 

(d)  Members declared personal interests in minute 48 of this meeting as follows:

 

  Councillor B Anderson  - Member of Environment Agency Ridings

          Area Environment Group

    - Member of Yorkshire Power Station Joint

     Environment Committee

 

Councillor J Bale    - Chartered Environmentalist (Society of

       Environment)

 

Councillor S Smith    - Member of Greenpeace

 

(e)  Members declared personal interests in minute 51 of this meeting as follows:

 

  Councillor B Lancaster  - Son serving in the Royal Navy and

              Honorary Member of Normandy

    Veterans

 

Councillor Andrew Carter  - Member of Royal British Legion

 

Councillor W Hyde    - Vice President of Royal British Legion

 

Councillor R D Feldman  - Member of the Leeds Jewish

               Ex-Servicemen’s and Women’s

            Association

 

Councillor G Latty    - Member of Royal British Legion

 

Councillor J Jarosz    - Member of Royal British Legion

 

Councillor M Coulson  - Member of Royal British Legion

 

Councillor J Elliott    - Member of Royal British Legion

 

(f)  Councillor J L Carter declared a personal interest in minute 52 of this meeting as Chair of Re’new and Councillors M Rafique, M Iqbal and A Hussain declared personal and prejudicial interests in the same item as landlords.

 

(g)  Members declared personal interests in minute 53 of this meeting as follows:

 

  Councillor K Parker    - Member of Leeds Rugby Foundation

 

  Councillor E Minkin    - Husband, a Rhinos season ticket holder

 

  Councillor C Townsley  - A  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

To receive deputations in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10

Two deputations were admitted to the meeting and addressed Council as follows:

 

1.  Local Residents concerned about Britannia Quarry, Morley.

 

2.  Queenswood Heights Tenants and Residents Association Regarding Anti Social Behaviour in the Flats

 

RESOLVED – That the subject matter of the deputations be referred to the Executive Board for consideration.

 

To approve the recommendations in the following report considered by the Monitoring Officer as appropriate to be received at this meeting in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 2.2.f:

 

(a)  The report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Corporate Governance) on temporary changes to Council Procedure Rules

 

J PROCTER

 

(b)  To approve recipients for the Leeds Award and names for memorial inscriptions

 

M HARRIS

 

Reports admitted to the agenda in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 2.2(f) were considered as follows:

 

(a)  Temporary Amendment to Council Procedure Rules

  The Lord Mayor announced that this item, 5(a) as contained on the Council Summons, would not be proceeded with.

 

(b)  Memorial Inscriptions

  It was moved by Councillor Harris seconded by Councillor Wakefield and

 

  RESOLVED – That inscriptions be made in the Wade Memorial Garden in memory of Danny Freeman and Wilson Armistead.

 

(c)  Amendments to the Members Allowance Scheme

  It was moved by Councillor J Procter seconded by Councillor Gruen

  that Council approve amendments to the Members’ Allowance Scheme as detailed in paragraph 2.6 of the report of the Chief Democratic Services Officer and that the Assistant Chief Executive (Corporate Governance) be authorised to make any consequential changes to the Members’ Allowance Scheme.

 

  An amendment was moved by Councillor D Blackburn seconded by Councillor Russell in section 2. Recommendations

  ADD after “this report” in Para 3.1

  “apart from Recommendations (a), (e), (f), (i) and (j).”

 

  The amendment was lost and upon being put as the substantive motion it was

 

  RESOLVED – That Council approve amendments to the Members’ Allowance Scheme as detailed in paragraph 2.6 of the report of the Chief Democratic Services Officer and that the Assistant Chief Executive (Corporate Governance) be authorised to make any consequential changes to the Members’ Allowance Scheme.

 

  (The Lord Mayor had agreed to the admission of this matter as a late item of business, in view of the fact that the operative date for a number of the proposals was the beginning of the municipal year.

 

To deal with questions in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11

1.  Councillor Wakefield to the Executive Member (Children’s Services)

 

  Can the Executive Board Member for Children’s Services please update us to the financial position of the Children’s Services Department? 

 

The Executive Member (Children’s Services) replied.

 

2.  Councillor Andrew to the Executive Member (Development and Regeneration)

 

  Will the Executive Member for Development and Regeneration please inform Council of the changes the Government is making in terms of the Planning Delivery Grant.

 

  The Executive Member (Development and Regeneration) replied.

 

3.  Councillor Taylor to the Leader of Council

 

  Would the Leader of Council comment on the progress of the “Narrowing the Gap – Engaging the Private Sector” project, launched earlier this year?

 

  The Leader of Council replied.

 

4.  Councillor Finnigan to the Executive Member (Learning)

 

  Could the Executive Member responsible for the Youth Service confirm the specific figures for the youth service budget for both Morley North and Morley South including a breakdown of monies spent on staffing?.

 

  The Executive Member (Learning replied).

 

5.  Question 5 in the name of Councillor D Blackburn was withdrawn.

 

6.  Councillor Beverley to the Leader of Council

 

  In the interest of promoting an interest in local democracy and narrowing the gap between Leeds City Council and the general public, would the leader of council please tell us if he will consider introducing webcasts of council meetings so as to allow them to be viewed online, as is done in other local authorities such as Epping Forest District Council?

 

  The Leader of Council replied.

 

7.  Councillor Murray to the Executive Member (Learning)

 

  Can the Executive Board Member for Learning please comment on this year’s GCSE and A-Level results?

 

  The Executive Member (Learning) replied.

 

8.  Councillor Robinson to the Executive Member (Leisure)

 

  Would the Executive Member for Leisure care to comment on the successful results gained by Towns and Villages within Leeds at the Yorkshire in Bloom Awards Presentation held recently in Hull.

 

  The Executive Member (Leisure) replied.

 

At the conclusion of Question Time the following questions remained unanswered and it was noted that under the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 11.6 written responses would be sent to each Member of Council:

 

9.  Councillor Ewens to the Leader of Council

 

10.  Councillor Finnigan to the Executive Member (Development and Regeneration)

 

11.  Councillor Lowe to the Executive Member (Children’s Services)

 

12.  Councillor Kendall to the Executive Member (Adult Health and Social Care)

 

13.  Councillor Townsley to the Executive Member (Learning)

 

14.  Councillor Driver to the Executive Member (Leisure)

 

15.  Councillor Bale to the Executive Member (Children’s Services)

 

16.  Councillor M Hamilton to the Executive Member (Development and Regeneration)

 

17.  Councillor Blake to the Leader of Council

 

18  Councillor Taylor to the Executive Member (Leisure)

 

19.  Councillor A McKenna to the Leader of Council

 

20.  Councillor M Hamilton to the Leader of Council

 

21.  Councillor Wilson to the Executive Member (Learning)

 

To consider the report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Corporate Governance) on recommendations of the Executive Board

 

M HARRIS

It was moved by Councillor Harris seconded by Councillor A Carter and

 

RESOLVED – That the recommendations of the Executive Board on the proposed promotion of a local Act of Parliament in relation to Street Trading as presented in the report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Corporate Governance) be approved.

 

(In accordance with the provisions of Section 239(2)(a) of the Local Government Act 1972 this resolution was passed by a majority of the whole number of the members of the authority)

 

To consider the report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Corporate Governance) on recommendations of the Corporate Governance and Audit Committee

 

M HARRIS

 

It was moved by Councillor Bale seconded by Councillor Campbell and

 

RESOLVED – That the recommendations of the Corporate Governance with regard to proposed changes to the Council’s Budget and Policy Framework as detailed in the report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Corporate Governance) be approved.

 

To confirm the minutes of the Council Meeting held on 18^th July 2007.

 

Prior to formally moving the minutes Councillor Harris :

 

(a)  presented Councillor Atha with a bottle of champagne as a token to mark fifty years since Councillor Atha’s election to Council and with leave of the Lord Mayor Councillor Atha responded;

 

(b)  made a brief statement with regard to his decision to stand down as Leader/alternate Leader of Council with effect from 1^st December 2007 and with leave of the Lord Mayor Councillors Wakefield, A Carter, Finnigan and D Blackburn responded.

 

It was moved by Councillor Harris seconded by Councillor J Procter.

 

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

 

An amendment (reference back) was moved by Councillor Minkin seconded by Councillor Blake.

 

To add the following words at the end of item 9:

 

“but to ask the Executive Board to reconsider the decision in relation to The Holt Park District Centre and Tinshill Recreation Ground as contained in minute 87 of the Executive Board minutes of the  17^th October 2007”.

 

The amendment was lost and upon the motion being put to the vote it was

 

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

 

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

 

On the requisition of Councillors Gruen and Taggart the voting on the amendment was recorded as follows:

 

YES

 

Armitage, Atha, A Blackburn, Blake, Congreve, Coulson, Coupar, Davey, Dobson, Dowson, Driver, Dunn, Gabriel, Grahame, Gruen, S Hamilton, Hanley, Harington,  A Hussain, K Hussain, G Hyde, Illingworth, Iqbal, Jarosz,

Langdale, Leadley, J Lewis, R Lewis, Lowe, Lyons, A McKenna, J McKenna, Minkin, Morgan, Mulherin, Murray, Nash, Ogilvie, Parker, Rafique, Renshaw, Russell, Selby, Taggart and Wakefield

 

  45

 

 

 

 

 

NO

 

Anderson, Andrew, Bale,  Barker, Bentley, Brett, Campbell, A Carter,

Mrs A Carter, Carter J L, Castle, Chapman, Downes, Elliot, Ewens,

R D Feldman, R Feldman, Finnigan, Fox, Gettings, Golton, Grayshon, M Hamilton, Harker, Harrand, Harris, Hollingsworth, W Hyde, Jennings, Kendall, Kirkland, Lamb, Lancaster, Latty, Lobley, Monaghan, Morton, J Procter, R Procter, Pryke Rhodes-Clayton, Robinson, Shelbrooke, Smith, Taylor,  Townsley, Wadsworth, Wilkinson and Wilson

 

  49

 

ABSTAIN

 

D Blackburn

 

   1

 

 

 

During the debate under minute 45 above it was moved by Councillor Gruen seconded by Councillor J Procter and

 

RESOLVED – That under the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 22.1, Council Procedure Rule 3.1(a) and (b) be suspended to extend the time allowed for the discussion of minutes by a period of twenty minutes.

 

(The meeting was suspended at 5.20 pm and resumed at 5.45 pm).

 

 

 

 

Upon resumption of the meeting the Lord Mayor announced that an Extraordinary Council meeting for specified purposes would be held at 1.30 pm on 12^th December 2007.

 

This Council is opposed to an incinerator being constructed anywhere in the city and calls upon the ruling Administration to make their waste strategy clear to the people of Leeds.

 

J BLAKE

 

It was moved by Councillor Blake seconded by Councillor Lyons

 

That this Council is opposed to an incinerator being constructed anywhere in the city and calls upon the ruling Administration to make their waste strategy clear to the people of Leeds.

 

An amendment was moved by Councillor A Blackburn seconded by Councillor Russell.

 

Delete all after “City” and replace with:

 

“Council further calls upon both the Administration here in Leeds and National Government to take action to further encourage the principles of Refuse, Reduce, Re-use, Repair and Recycle, and in so doing reduce the levels of residuals that need processing”.

 

A second amendment was moved by Councillor Smith seconded by Councillor J L Carter.

 

Replace all after “This council” with

 

“welcomes the Integrated Waste Strategy for Leeds and in particular its targets to reduce waste and increase recycling as far as possible.  The Council clarifies that its preferred option is not energy from waste but notes the Government’s advice on taking a neutral approach to the procurement of a waste solution”.

 

The mover and seconder of the motion having accepted the first amendment with the consent of council, the first amendment was put to the vote and lost and upon the second amendment being put as the substantive motion it was

 

RESOLVED – That this Council welcomes the Integrated Waste Strategy for Leeds and in particular its targets to reduce waste and increase recycling as far as possible.  The Council clarifies that its preferred option is not energy from waste but notes the Government’s advice on taking a neutral approach to the procurement of a waste solution.

 

On the requisition of Councillors Taggart and Lyons the voting was recorded as follows:

 

On the first amendment

 

YES

 

Armitage, Atha, Beverley, A Blackburn, D Blackburn, Blake, Congreve, Coulson, Coupar, Davey, Dobson,  Dowson, Driver, Dunn, Gabriel, Gruen,

S Hamilton, Hanley, Harington, A Hussain, K Hussain, Illingworth, Iqbal, Jarosz, Langdale,  J Lewis, R Lewis, Lowe,  Lyons, A McKenna, J McKenna ,

Minkin, Morgan, Mulherin, Murray, Nash,  Ogilvie, Parker, Rafique, Renshaw,

Russell, Selby,  Taggart and  Wakefield

 

  44

 

NO

 

Anderson, Andrew, Bale,  Barker, Bentley, Brett, Campbell, A Carter,

Mrs A Carter, J L Carter, Castle, Chapman, Downes, Elliot, Ewens,

R D Feldman, R Feldman, Fox, Gettings, Golton, Grayshon, M Hamilton, Harker, Harrand, Harris, Hollingsworth, W Hyde, Jennings, Kendall, Kirkland, Lamb, Lancaster, Latty, Leadley, Lobley, Monaghan, Morton, J Procter,

R Procter, Pryke, Rhodes-Clayton, Robinson, Shelbrooke, Smith, Taylor, Townsley, Wadsworth, Wilkinson and Wilson,

 

  49

 

 

On the substantive motion

 

YES

 

Anderson, Andrew, Bale,  Barker, Bentley, Brett, Campbell, A Carter,

Mrs A Carter, J L Carter, , Castle, Chapman, Downes, Elliot, Ewens,

Mrs R Feldman, R D Feldman, Fox, Gettings, Golton, Grayshon, M Hamilton,

Harker, Harrand, Harris, Hollingsworth, W Hyde, Jennings, Kendall, Kirkland,

Lamb, Lancaster, Latty, Leadley, Lobley, Monaghan, Morton, J Procter,

R Procter, Pryke, Rhodes-Clayton, Robinson, Shelbrooke  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

During the debate under minute 48 above it was moved by Councillor J Procter seconded by Councillor M Hamilton and

 

RESOLVED – That under the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 22.1, Procedure Rule 3.1(c) be suspended to allow the debate on this item to be concluded.

 

(At the conclusion of the debate under minute 49 the provisions of Council Procedure rule 3.1 (d) were applied).

 

Under the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 14.11, with the consent of the seconder and of Council, Councillor a Carter withdrew the motion in his name relating to Government targets for new housing.

 

This  Council notes the excellent work carried out by  the various branches of The Royal British Legion throughout the City of Leeds.

 

In particular we note the work of  the “Its time to Honour the Covenant” campaign and request that the Chief Executive write to the Secretary of State for Defence and  to all Leeds MP’s showing the support of Leeds City Council to this campaign.

 

T GRAYSHON

 

It was moved by Councillor Grayshon seconded by Councillor Lancaster and

 

RESOLVED – This Council notes the excellent work carried out by the various branches of The Royal British Legion throughout the City of Leeds.

 

In particular we note the work of the “Its time to Honour the Covenant” campaign and request that the Chief Executive write to the Secretary of State for Defence and to all Leeds MP’s showing the support of Leeds City Council to this campaign.

 

Council notes that:

 

- in England a family house and a house in multiple occupation (HMO) are in the same Use Class, in planning terms, which means that planning permission is not required to use what was a family house as an HMO.

 

- If the planning rules in England were changed to create a separate Use Class for HMOs, it would be much easier to control their distribution and local density in the City.

 

- Having a high density of HMOs can have a detrimental effect on local communities, for example in terms of waste, parking and noise, and can eventually lead to communities becoming unbalanced and unsustainable.

 

Therefore Council instructs the Council Leader to ask the Government to change the planning rules in England to create a separate Use Class for HMOs, and to write to all Leeds MPs to lend their support.

 

J MONAGHAN

 

It was moved by Councillor Monaghan seconded by Councillor Illingworth and

 

RESOLVED – That Council notes that:

 

- in England a family house and a house in multiple occupation (HMO) are in the same Use Class, in planning terms, which means that planning permission is not required to use what was a family house as an HMO.

 

- If the planning rules in England were changed to create a separate Use Class for HMOs, it would be much easier to control their distribution and local density in the City.

 

- Having a high density of HMOs can have a detrimental effect on local communities, for example in terms of waste, parking and noise, and can eventually lead to communities becoming unbalanced and unsustainable.

 

Therefore Council instructs the Council Leader to ask the Government to change the planning rules in England to create a separate Use Class for HMOs, and to write to all Leeds MPs to lend their support.

 

This Council congratulates Leeds Rhinos on their fantastic grand final success, and furthermore urges the administration to appropriately celebrate their achievement in this Leeds 800^th year.

 

Finally this Council joins with the councillors for Kippax and Methley Ward in congratulating the Castleford Tigers on the promotion back to the Super League.

 

K PARKER

 

Consent of Council was given under the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 14.10(a) for the mover to alter the motion by removing the words “urges the administration to appropriately celebrate” in the first paragraph and replacing them with “welcomes the Council’s plans to celebrate” and to move as follows:

 

It was moved by Councillor Parker seconded by Councillor J Lewis and

 

RESOLVED – That this Council congratulates Leeds Rhinos on their fantastic grand final success, and furthermore welcomes the Council’s plans to celebrate their achievement in this Leeds 800^th year.

 

Finally this Council joins with the councillors for Kippax and Methley Ward in congratulating the Castleford Tigers on their promotion back to the Super League

 

(Council rose at 7.40 pm).

This report was admitted as a Late Item. The report advises Council of the receipt of two reports from the Independent Remuneration Panel and asks Council to make a number of changes to the Members’ Allowances Scheme.