Meeting documents

130. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS

Councillor Crossley welcomed everybody to the meeting.

131. EMERGENCY EVACUATION PROCEDURE

The Chair(person) drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure.

132. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interest made.

133. TO ANNOUNCE ANY URGENT BUSINESS AGREED BY THE CHAIR(PERSON)

There were no items of urgent business.

134. QUESTIONS FROM PUBLIC AND COUNCILLORS

The following people had given the appropriate notice of their request to ask a question of an Executive Member. The text of the questions and responses, including the supplementary questions, are contained in a Q&A document which is attached to the minutes electronically, once it has been finalised.

Question from Councillor Francine Haeberling regarding recommendations arising from the Victoria Climbie inquiry - no supplementary question was asked.

Question from Councillor Vic Pritchard regarding the Chew Valley Community Warden scheme plus supplementary question.

Question from Councillor Vic Pritchard regarding funding for the Chew Valley Explorer - no supplementary question was asked.

4 questions had been submitted by Councillor Peter Jovcic-Sas. As Councillor Jovcic-Sas was not present, these questions were not asked at the meeting - Councillor Paul Crossley stated that written responses would be provided to Councillor Jovcic-Sas within 5 working days.

Question from Councillor Vic Pritchard regarding the opening date of the Spa plus supplementary question.

135. STATEMENTS, DEPUTATIONS OR PETITIONS FROM PUBLIC AND COUNCILLORS

A petition was presented by Susan Traill from Bath Friends of the Earth asking the Council to make Bath & North East Somerset a GM free area. Ms Traill also spoke in support of the petition. Councillor Symonds responded and reminded the meeting that he had put a motion to Council in July 1999 asking for a 5 year freeze on GM foods, which had not been carried. Councillor Symonds gave a commitment to bring forward another motion to Council on this issue.

136. MINUTES: 15^TH JANUARY 2003

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 15^th January 2003 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair(person), subject to a minor amendment to minute number 120, resolution 2 (b), to change a reference to paragraph 7.3 of the report, to paragraph 6.3 of the report.

137. OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY MANAGEMENT BOARD (Item 9).

Councillor Francine Haeberling, Chair of the Overview & Scrutiny Management Board, explained that draft reports were being finalised for the four in-depth reviews that Overview & Scrutiny had been conducting. They would be going to Council in March, and she hoped that they would be endorsed.

Councillor O'Flaherty requested that, when dates for Overview & Scrutiny Panels were changed, the relevant Executive Member could be consulted about the new date. Councillor Haeberling responded that every effort would be made to ensure this happened.

138. REVENUE AND CAPITAL BUDGET AND COUNCIL TAX 2003/04 (Report 10).

Councillor Crossley thanked officers for all their work in helping the Executive prepare this budget. He drew the meeting's attention to the Update report which had been circulated at the meeting. He then invited any questions from the floor.

Rae Harris asked a question on behalf of Action for Pensioners regarding minor improvements to pavements, to which Councillor Todd responded.

David Redgewell of Transport 2000 asked a question regarding supported bus services and integrated ticketing arrangements. Councillor Metcalfe responded that these issues had been raised at a Department of Transport meeting earlier this week which Councillor Metcalfe had attended, and also were on the agenda for the Joint Committee.

Councillor Perry made an enquiry about funds being made available for public conveniences and there followed some discussion about this, with contributions from Councillor Symonds, Councillor Dawson and Councillor Derrick.

Councillor Todd then moved the motion as set out below, running through the main points from the Update report which had been circulated. This was seconded by Councillor Crossley.

Councillors Symonds, Dawson, Crossley and Metcalfe then drew attention to specific elements in the new Appendix 11.

On being put to the vote, it was then

RESOLVED that the Council Executive:

(1) Recommend the attached draft Budget Proposal, as amended by the Update report, to the Resources & Customer Service Overview & Scrutiny Panel for its comment, and to the Council for its approval;

(2) Recommend to Council;

(a) a Council Tax increase for Bath & North East Somerset for 2003/04 of 5.95%, and

(b) use of the unallocated revenue and capital sums as set out in Appendix 11.

(This will therefore amend Sections 5 & 6 of the draft Budget proposal).

(3) Authorise the Executive Member (Resources Planning & Support Services) to make presentational improvements to the draft Budget Proposal prior to submission to Council.

139. CITY OF BATH WORLD HERITAGE SITE MANAGEMENT PLAN (Report 11).

Various contributions were made by members of the public and other Councillors. Councillor Symonds encouraged people to feed comments back as part of the consultation exercise.

Councillor Symonds thanked Abby Harrap, Project Officer, for her work in bringing this document together and described the challenge of preserving the World Heritage site for future generations, promoting its tourist aspect and ensuring that any new development and access to the site were sensitively managed.

Other Executive Members added their support for this document. Councillor Tapper requested that consideration could be given to access to Bath for disabled people, people with pushchairs etc and to creative ways for them to access the city's amenities.

On a motion from Councillor Symonds, seconded by Councillor Metcalfe, it was then

RESOLVED that the document entitled Consultation Draft, City of Bath World Heritage Site Management Plan is approved for public consultation as set out in section 4.7 of the accompanying report.

140. FAIR TRADE IN THE COUNCIL (Report 12).

Councillor Symonds introduced this report and explained the links between this issue, the Sustainability Action Plan and the Change 21 initiative. He then moved, and it was seconded by Councillor Dawson and

RESOLVED that the Executive Member for Economic Development and Environment prepare a detailed action plan for the Council Executive aimed at delivering objectives on fair trade and integrating those principles into corporate objectives and policies.

141. HMO INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT PROGRAMME (Report 13).

Councillor Hedges introduced this report and explained his reasons for the recommended course of action.

Councillor Curran explained that, at a recent meeting with Avon Fire Brigade, the Chief Fire Officer had stated that an officer would be made available to progress this.

Councillor Hedges then moved, seconded by Councillor Dawson, it was

RESOLVED

(1) that Option 2 in the report (the employment of one additional in-house team) be approved on the basis that this option requires additional resources which can be allocated within the Department without impacting on other services; and

(2) that officers and the Council Executive continue to look for ways of improving the inspection rates in houses in multiple occupation (HMO).

142. PUBLIC SERVICE AGREEMENTS; FEEDBACK FROM NEGOTIATIONS (Report 14).

Councillor Crossley introduced this report and then invited questions from the public and other Councillors.

David Redgewell, Transport 2000, asked whether the bus targets were being met and what monitoring was taking place. Councillor Metcalfe explained that this issue had come up informally at his recent meeting with the Department of Transport and it was hoped that the Council would reach a position of monitoring on an annual basis. [Councillor Crossley undertook to ensure that a fuller response would be provided in due course to David Redgewell, Councillor Pritchard (in response to a request for this) and the Political Research Assistants.]

Councillor Dawson thanked Andy Thomas, Corporate Projects Officer, for his work on this, in particular his frequent contacts with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, which had resulted in considerable progress being achieved. Councillor Dawson also hoped that this would lead to greater freedoms for the Council in the future.

On a motion from Councillor Crossley, seconded by Councillor Dawson, it was

RESOLVED that:

(1) The Executive approve the proposed changes to the housing target as set out in paragraph 4.5 of the report;

(2) The Executive endorse the timetable set out in paragraph 4.9 of the report

(3) Progress on PSA negotiations be reported to the Council on 20^th February 2003, linked to recommendations contained in the Budget and in the Financial Plan.

143. CULTURE & LEISURE 4-MONTHLY PERFORMANCE REPORT (Report 15).

On a motion from Councillor Dawson, seconded by Councillor Hedges, it was

RESOLVED that the Executive note the performance of Culture & Leisure services for the period August-November 2002 and the issues arising during this period, as detailed in the report.

144. CUSTOMER 4-MONTHLY PERFORMANCE REPORT (Report 16).

On a motion from Councillor Dawson, seconded by Councillor Hedges, it was

RESOLVED that the report be noted.