Agenda item

To receive a statement by the Leader of the Council on the activities and decisions of Cabinet and items included on the Forward Plan.

 

Report to follow.

The Leader, Councillor Simon Tagg submitted a report which provided an update to Members on the activities and decisions of the Cabinet, together with the Forward Plan.

 

The statement was taken a paragraph at a time to allow for questions to be asked. 

 

 

Paragraph 2:

 

Councillor Robinson asked the Leader if any staff operating the CCTV in Stoke on Trent would be affected by the job cuts that had been announced by the Authority.

 

The Leader stated that, as far as he was aware the redundancies at Stoke were voluntary ones and therefore could not comment as to any affect.  However, the Borough was paying the city for the service to continue.

 

Councillor John Williams commented that Newcastle had been accused of ‘selling out’ to the City Council.

 

The Leader advised that local business had taken the CCTV on.  The equipment would be owned by the Borough Council and the BID.  Stoke on Trent City Council would monitor it for us as they have a sophisticated system.

 

Councillor John Cooper asked if, when the system was up and running, if Community Centres, for example could be added into the link.

 

The Leader advised that discussions could be had with other areas about being included in the upgraded system, adding that Madeley had invested in a system which could be linked in.

 

Councillor Hutton stated that, as Chair of the Local Safer Network Panel he could confirm that the Police were very supportive of the initiative.

 

The Leader confirmed that the Police do agree with the initiative but as yet were not putting any money into the scheme.  The Police were looking to a Staffordshire wide scheme which they could invest in.

 

Councillor Sweeney stated that the Business Improvement District had put a large sum of money into the scheme and thanked them for their support.

 

 

Paragraph 3:

 

Councillor Gill Burnett commended the Leader and officers for producing the Plan which included Newcastle Town Centre and Kidsgrove.  Councillor Burnett added that its success depended upon working with partners and asked the Leader what part Kidsgrove Town Council would play in any discussions.

 

The Leader stated that he was pleased with the document and referred to the Action Plan.  With regard to Kidsgrove Town Council, Go Kidsgrove were coming on board and the Leader would welcome any dialogue from the Town Council.

 

Councillor John Williams asked what the money would be spent on.

 

The Leader referred Members to the Strategy.

 

Councillor Stubbs asked why Kidsgrove Town Council were not approached at the start of the process and why nothing had been brought up at Town Council meetings.

 

The Leader stated that everyone needed to work together and made reference to the Local Neighbourhood Development Plan which was currently being worked on.

 

 

Paragraph 4:

 

Councillor John Cooper thanked officers for the work that had been done on this on behalf of people suffering from dementia or autism.

 

Councillor Panter welcomed the assurance that the face to face contact would not be lost.

 

The Leader agreed that Councillor Cooper and Panter’s comments were well made.

 

Councillor Sweeney stated that it was an excellent Strategy.  It costs £8 for face to face contact and 8p for online.  Councillor Sweeney added that the online form filling process was straight forward.

 

Councillor Brian Johnson stated that the Council’s website was not as easy to navigate as it could be and asked that, in the interest of transparency, would this be looked at.

 

The Leader stated that the Council’s website had been ‘four stars’ for years but now needed overhauling and agreed that navigation to the required pages often involved too many ‘clicks’.

 

Councillor Northcott welcomed the Strategy stating that the public were becoming more confident in engaging digitally.  More people were doing online shopping and form filling online.

 

 

Paragraph 5:

 

Councillor Fox-Hewitt stated that the Council, as an employer was legally obliged to include the additional holiday pay.

 

Councillor Sweeney stated that constructive discussions had taken place with the Trade Unions.

 

Councillor Proctor congratulated the Trade Union Representatives and the Council’s Human Resources section who had been involved in the discussions stating that an element of trust was being shown.

 

The Leader stated that the Council now had a good relationship with the Trade Unions and that more HR agreements were in the pipeline.

 

 

Paragraph 8:

 

Councillor Burnett advised that Kidsgrove residents were happy with the Deal and were looking forward to seeing what benefits it would bring.

 

Councillor Robinson asked if a bid was required to apply for the fund and, if so, could members see it or be advised how Kidsgrove was chosen.

 

The Leader advised that no bids had been submitted. The Government had looked at areas requiring regeneration and would work with the Council on a Town Deal.

 

Councillor Jenny Cooper stated that it was good news that Newcastle Town Centre had progressed to the next stage and enquired as to the next steps.

 

The Leader thanked Councillor Cooper for her comments adding that the fact that Newcastle was through to the next stage was testament to the hard work of officers.

 

Councillor Holland stated that guidance was being produces on how the Future High Streets Fund would work.

 

The next stage would be more difficult and would require more preparation.

 

Councillor John Williams welcomed any money coming into the town centre and hoped that the community would be involved as to how it could be spent.

 

Councillor Williams added the Country had suffered with austerity for years and it was well known that former industrial areas would suffer post-Brexit and money would need to be spent wisely to bring prosperity back.

 

Councillor Paul Waring welcomed the funding and asked that Town Councillors be involved in the production of the Kidsgrove Town Plan.

 

Councillor Julie Cooper asked if, when the bid was received, could money go to smaller areas within the Borough.

Councillor Olszewski asked the Leader if he had considered working with stakeholders and if so, who.

 

Councillor Brian Johnson asked if the bids for Newcastle Town Centre and Kidsgrove were two separate entities or if it was one bid, would money be spent equally.

 

The Leader confirmed that they were two separate bids and the Council would be working with the Government, County Council, Parish and town Council’s and local stakeholders to progress the bids.

 

 

Paragraph 9:

 

Councillor John Cooper thanked the staff for their hard work.  Councillor Hutton referred Members to the final paragraph under number 9 regarding the judges comments.

 

Councillor Robinson expressed his thanks to the volunteers who had helped with the Reginald Mitchell Memorial Garden.  This was the first year that they could enter Britain in Bloom and had received an invitation to the awards ceremony.

 

Councillor Holland also expressed thanks to people in the community that had joined in and gave special congratulations to Silverdale Country Park.  Councillor Holland added that this was the eighteenth year that Newcastle had won a Gold Award.

 

Next year marked the thirtieth anniversary of Newcastle’s participation of Britain in Bloom.

 

The Leader echoed everything that had been said by Members adding that the Newcastle in Bloom Awards would take place in November.  In addition, the Leader stated that the thirtieth anniversary of the Borough participation in the competition should be celebrated.

 

The Queens Gardens looked good for every season and were a credit to the Borough.  The Leader expressed his thanks to the Executive Director for operations – Dave Adams and his team.

 

 

Paragraph 10:

 

Councillor Maxfield queried the reference to Kidsgrove Sports Centre being discussed at the Cabinet meeting in October.

 

The Leader confirmed that a report would be taken to October Cabinet.  A lot had happened over the summer, with an architect and project manager being appointed.

 

Councillor Brian Johnson stated that there were 1000 empty homes in the Borough and asked for an update on the homeless and rough sleepers.

 

The Leader advised that the Portfolio Holder for Community Safety and Wellbeing, Councillor Jill Waring would prepare a written response to all Members.