Agenda and minutes

No apologies were received.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the previous Council meeting.

The minutes of the meeting held on 25^th February 2021 were presented for approval.

RESOLVED

The minutes of the meeting held on 25^th February 2021 were approved.

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To receive declarations of interest from Members in accordance with the Code of Conduct (Members are directed to the guidance sheet attached)

Councillor Mackiewicz made a declaration of interest as a Director of AMPA Associates Ltd which provided contracts procured by Solihull Council.

Councillor Adeyemo made a declaration of interest as he was employed by a company which provided insurance to HS2 Ltd.

To receive petitions from Members of the Council.

Councillor Rolf submitted a petition on behalf of local residents which requested that Planning Committee reject application PL/2021/00189/PPFL.

Councillor Dicicco submitted a petition on behalf of local residents which requested HS2 Ltd build a continuous haul route along the trace of the HS2 line instead of through Balsall Common and Berkswell.

Councillor McCarthy resubmitted a petition on behalf of Elmdon residents which opposed the potential relocation of the HWRC to Damson Parkway.

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To receive any announcements from the Mayor, Leader of the Council or Members of the Cabinet.

His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Following the death of His Royal Highness The Price Philip, Duke of Edinburgh the Mayor advised Council that on behalf of the people of Solihull he had sent a letter to Her Majesty the Queen and members of the Royal Family to express the Council’s deepest sympathy at the death of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Council observed a 2 minute silence.

Mayor’s Announcements

Councillor Tildesley, Mrs Tildesley and Mrs Hammond had been recognised by the Police and Crime Commissioner for their efforts to prevent Mrs Hammond’s car being stolen, in which Councillor Tildesley was injured in the process.

Maria Demosthenous had won the EPAT UK National Children’s Champion Award for 2020. EPAT is a national charity which campaigns to raise awareness of child exploitation and the award recognises Ms Demosthenous’ outstanding commitment to victims of child trafficking.

Leader’s Announcement

Solihull Council had acquired ownership of the Mell Square holding company, which included the ground lease interests and freeholds of a number of key commercial town centre properties. This would help to retain the vital role of the town centre with a vibrant retail sector and dynamic leisure offer. It would also enable the Town Centre masterplan to be delivered.

Deputy Leader’s and Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health Announcement

An update was provided on the local health situation in relation to COVID-19.

To answer questions asked by residents of the Borough under Standing Order 9 and to hear petitioners or deputations in accordance with Standing Order 12.

No questions or deputations were received.

To answer questions asked under Standing Order 8 by Councillors (30 Minutes)

Councillor Wilson to Councillor K Grinsell, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health

“What is the turnaround time for housing maintenance query submitted via the Solihull Community Housing (SCH) ‘Out of Hours’ service?”

The Cabinet Member explained that SCH out of hour’s service was provided by a contact centre called Orbis, for residents who may have issues outside of business hours. The following statistics were provided:

•  97% of calls were answered by Orbis

•  87% of calls were answered within 30 seconds

•  The average wait time was 2 minutes

•  The longest wait time was 21 minutes.

At the point of escalation from Orbis to the SCH out of hours Duty Manager, the response time for an out of hours operative to attend a property was two hours. This tended to be dependent on the number of calls the engineer had at that time.

Councillor Wilson flagged an incident at Pembroke House, where a resident suffered a heating failure and was unable to speak to the service for five hours. Councillor Wilson asked what the appropriate waiting time should be for someone in this position.

The Cabinet Member responded that there had been fluctuations in performance for this service as a result of COVID-19 which had impacted on the workforce. However, the mentioned issue should have been flagged and it was not an appropriate time to wait. The contract was to be reviewed annually. Councillor Wilson would share details of the incident with the Cabinet Member outside of the meeting.

Councillor K Thomas to Councillor Mackiewicz, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Planning and Housing

“Like many councils, we have declared a climate emergency and the early working group sessions are indicating the scale of the change required. This level of change will require substantial investment. What national or regional funding is being made available to enable us to deliver the required change and what percentage/actions of our targeted improvement is this expected to deliver?”

In response the Cabinet Member highlighted that the Net Zero Action Plan Green Paper had recently been published, which would flag what activities would be required to achieve net zero. Some funding had been secured for this already from the West Midlands Combined Authority, Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP and the government. The Council would continue to identify and pursue funding opportunities from both private and public sources when they become available.

Councillor Thomas requested further information about future funding streams.

The Cabinet Member explained that there were a number of schemes that the Council would look to access future funding. This would be from a variety of sources. It was flagged that they had already raised £11.1mill in the first year, and more funding would be available moving forward.

Councillor Wilson to Councillor Rolf, Cabinet Member for Stronger and Safer Communities

“Data collected by the Don’t Trash our Future campaign has revealed there is a 37% fall in FPNs issues by Councils nationally. 85% of people see rubbish as the main  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To deal with any Topic of Debate submitted.

There was no topic of debate.

To deal with any Motions received.

There was no notice of motion.

To present updates to the Council Plan, 2020 - 2025 for approval.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Courts presented the updates to the Council Plan for Council approval.

Members raised a number of questions and sought clarification on a number of points, which the Leader responded to.

RESOLVED:

That the updates to the Council Plan 2020-2025 be approved.

To deal with the following recommendation from Committees:

Governance Committee 24 March 2021

Minute 4 Financial Regulations – 2021/22 Update (page 149)

RECOMMENDED

That the revised Financial Regulations and other associated guidance documents as set out in Appendices A-C to the report be approved by Council with the revised Regulations to be enforced from April 2021.

Minute 6 New Code of Conduct for Elected and Co-Opted Members (page 150)

RECOMMENDED

That the Council adopt the Local Government Association Model Code of Conduct as set out in the Appendix to the report with effect from the start of the 2021/22 Municipal Year, subject to paragraph 10.2 being amended to read “I register with the Monitoring Officer any gift or hospitality within 28 days of its receipt”.

Minute 7 Independent Remuneration Panel Review of Special Responsibility Allowances for Minority Group Leaders (page 150)

RECOMMENDED

That no change be made to the existing Scheme of Members’ Allowances.

Minute 8Update to Constitutional Standing Orders (page 150)

RECOMMENDED

That Standing Order 38 be amended to include the following:

·  Appeals Panel (appointed by Governance Committee) – 3 Members

·  Remuneration Committee – 7 Members of the Council and a co-opted non-voting independent member

The following recommendations from Committees were considered by Council

Governance Committee 24 March 2021

Minute 4 Financial Regulations – 2021/22 Update

The Chairman of the Governance Committee presented the recommendation.

RESOLVED

Council approved the revised Financial Regulations and other associated guidance documents as set out in Appendices A-C to the report with the revised Regulations to be enforced from April 2021.

Minute 6 New Code of Conduct for Elected and Co-Opted Members

The Chairman of the Governance Committee presented the recommendation.

RESOLVED

Council approved the adoption of the Local Government Association Model Code of Conduct as set out in the Appendix to the report with effect from the start of the 2021/22 Municipal Year, subject to paragraph 10.2 being amended to read “I register with the Monitoring Officer any gift or hospitality within 28 days of its receipt”.

Minute 7 Independent Remuneration Panel Review of Special Responsibility Allowances for Minority Group Leaders

The Chairman of the Governance Committee presented the recommendation to Council.

RESOLVED

Council approved that no change be made to the existing Scheme of Members’ Allowances.

Minute 8 Update to Constitutional Standing Orders

The Chairman of the Governance Committee presented the recommendation to Council.

RESOLVED

Council approved that Standing Order 38 be amended to include the following:

·  Appeals Panel (appointed by Governance Committee) – 3 Members.

·  Remuneration Committee – 7 Members of the Council and a co-opted non-voting independent member.

To receive a summary of decisions, reports from and to deal with any subsequent questions in relation to the following Cabinet Portfolios:

a) Leader of the Council Cabinet and Portfolio (Economy) Report

(pages 27-38)

b) Cabinet Member for Resources (pages 39-44)

c) Cabinet Member for Stronger and Safer Communities (pages 45-49)

d) Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Planning and Housing (pages 51-55)

e) Cabinet Member for Children Education and Skills– (pages 57-63)

f)  Cabinet Member for Environment and Highways (pages 65-71)

g) Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health including Solihull Health and Wellbeing Board minutes  (pages 73-93)

h)  Cabinet Member for Growth and Infrastructure (pages 95-97)

(i) Cabinet Member for Leisure Tourism and Sport (pages 99-103)

Councillor Courts – Leader of the Council

The Leader advised Council of the decisions taken at the Cabinet meetings on 11 February, 11 March and 8 April 2021 and provided a summary of the meetings and activities he had been involved in on behalf of Solihull and the West Midlands.

Councillor Caudwell asked whether the new proposed multi-story car park on the UK Central site would continue to have bus stops 700 metres from the terminal. The Leader advised that they were still in the planning phase for the allocation and distribution of transport links at the site.

Councillor Adeyemo and Councillor McCarthy sought confirmation that the Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) would not be located at Damson Parkway. The Leader highlighted that the Local Plan required land use allocation which would not mean that the land would be developed for that purpose. There remained a lease on the current site of the HWRC and would not support its location to Damson Parkway.

Councillor Sleigh – Cabinet Member for Resources

The Cabinet Member advised Council of the decisions taken at the decision session on 23 February 2021. They also congratulated Maria Demosthenous for their EPAT UK National Children’s Champion Award for 2020.

Councillor Rolf – Cabinet Member for Stronger and Safer Communities

The Cabinet Member advised Council of the decisions taken at the decision session on 23 February 2021.

Councillor Cole asked how long it would be until the smaller libraries in the Borough would reopen. The Cabinet Member stated that a written response with a breakdown of when all libraries were due to reopen would be circulated to Councillor Cole.

Councillor Mackiewicz – Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Planning and Housing

The Cabinet Member advised Council of the decisions taken at the decision session on 1 March 2021.

Councillor Kathryn Thomas asked whether it would be possible to get an additional report provided for future full Council meetings from the Climate Change Commission to oversee the output the Commission’s meetings and activities. The Cabinet Member explained that the intention for the Committee would liaise with the Cabinet Member and Opposition Spokespersons, as well as present a report to full Council. It was not expected to present a report to every meeting.

Councillor Adeyemo queried about the Wildlife Ways work which had taken place on Hobbs Moat Road, which did not match the quality of other locations. The Cabinet Member refuted that it was not the same quality as other locations, and noted there were a number of factors which impacted the growth at individual sites. A full response would be provided by Officers to Councillor Adeyemo.

Councillor Meeson – Cabinet Member for Children, Education and Skills

The Cabinet Member advised Council of the decisions taken at the decision sessions on 22 February and 29 March 2021.

Councillor Hawkins – Cabinet Member for Environment and Highways

The Cabinet Member advised Council of the decisions taken at the decision sessions on 16 February and 17 March 2021.

Councillor K Grinsell –  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

The minutes of the following Scrutiny Board are presented for information:

a)  Resources and Delivering Value (pages 105-115)

b)  Health and Adult Social Care (pages 117-123)

c)  Children’s Services, Education and Skills (pages 125-132)

d)  Stronger Communities and Neighbourhood Services (pages 133-138)

The minutes of the following Scrutiny Board were presented for information:

·  Health and Adult Social Care (17 February and 22 March 2021)

·  Resources and Delivering Value (8 February and 8 March 2021)

·  Children’s Services, Education and Skills (10 March 2021)

·  Stronger Communities and Neighbourhood Services (16 March 2021)

The minutes of the following Committees are presented for information:

a)  Audit Committee (pages 139-142)

b)  HS2 Implementation Advisory Group (pages 143-148)

c)  Governance Committee (pages 149-269)

The minutes of the following Committees were presented for information:

·  HS2 Implementation Advisory Group (1 March 2021)

·  Audit Committee (10 February and 15 March 2021)

·  Governance Committee (24 March 2021)

To receive the following reports:

a)  Minutes of the WMCA Overview and Scrutiny Minutes

The following minutes of the WMCA Overview and Scrutiny Committee were presented for information:

·  2 November 2020

·  23 November 2020

·  11 December 2020

·  11 January 2021

To deal with any questions by Leaders of political groups to the Leader of the Council, a member of the Cabinet, a Chairman of a Committee, Board, Sub-Committee or Task and Finish Group.

No questions were received.

The Chief Executive to report on any urgent matters.

The Chief Executive highlighted that he would attend a service alongside the Mayor to celebrate the life of the Duke of Edinburgh on behalf of Solihull Council.

That, pursuance of Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be now excluded from the meeting for the remainder of the business to be transacted, on the grounds that there would be disclosure to them of exempt information in terms of paragraph 3 of Part 9 of Schedule 12A to the said Act.

That, pursuance of Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be now excluded from the meeting for the remainder of the business to be transacted, on the grounds that there would be disclosure to them of exempt information in terms of paragraph 3 of Part 9 of Schedule 12A to the said Act.

The following sets of minutes are presented for information:

(a)  Audit Committee (pages 295-297)

(b)  Resources and Delivering Value Scrutiny Board (pages 299-300)

The following private minutes were received for information:

·  Audit Committee (10 February and 15 March 2021)

·  Resources and Delivering Value Scrutiny Board (8 March 2021)