Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Civic Centre, Oldham, West Street, Oldham, OL1 1NL. View directions

Contact: Liz Drogan 

Items
No. Item

1.

To receive apologies for absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Briggs, Curley, Haque and Moores.

2.

To elect the Mayor for the 2019/20 Municipal Year

Minutes:

Councillor Harrison MOVED, Councillor C. Gloster SECONDED and Councillor Hudson SUPPORTED the election of Councillor Ginny Alexander as Mayor for the forthcoming Municipal Year.

 

On being put to the vote, the nomination was CARRIED.

 

Councillor Alexander then made and signed the declaration required by law which enabled her to act in the Office of Mayor.

 

The retiring Mayor (Councillor Javid Iqbal) invested the newly elected Mayor with the chain of office; the Mayor’s Consort was presented with his chain.

 

(The Mayor, Councillor Alexander, in the Chair.)

 

The Mayor then made a speech of acceptance of office.

 

Councillor Akhtar MOVED, Councillor C. Gloster SECONDED and Councillor Hudson SUPPORTED a vote of thanks to the retiring Mayor and Mayoress.

 

RESOLVED that:

 

1.         Councillor Ginny Alexander be appointed Mayor of Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council for the 2019/20 Municipal Year.

2.         The sincere thanks and appreciation of the Council be recorded to Councillor Iqbal for his valuable services during his term of office as Mayor of the Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council for the 2018/19 Municipal Year.

 

3.

To elect the Deputy Mayor for the 2019/20 Municipal Year

(At this juncture the Mayor will adjourn the meeting for lunch. It is anticipated that the meeting will reconvene at 3.30pm).

Minutes:

Councillor Fielding MOVED and Councillor Sykes SECONDED the election of Councillor Jenny Harrison as Deputy Mayor for the forthcoming Municipal Year.

 

On being put to the vote, the nomination was CARRIED.

 

Councillor Harrison then made and signed the declaration required by law which enabled her to act in the office of Deputy Mayor.

 

RESOLVED that Councillor Harrison be appointed Deputy Mayor for Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council for the forthcoming Municipal Year.

 

At this point in the meeting, the Mayor adjourned the meeting for lunch.

4.

To order that the minutes of the meeting of Full Council held on 20th March 2019 be approved as a correct record pdf icon PDF 291 KB

Minutes:

The meeting reconvened at 3.30 p.m.

 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Council meeting held on 20th March 2019 be approved as a correct record.

 

5.

To receive declarations of interest in any matter to be determined at the meeting

Minutes:

The Mayor informed the meeting that the Standards Committee had granted a dispensation to allow all Members to vote on Item 20, Members Allowance Scheme 2019/20 – Report of the Director of Legal Services.  All members declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in this item, but the dispensation was applicable which allowed members to participate and vote on Item 20.

 

6.

To deal with matters which the Mayor considers to be urgent business

Minutes:

There were no items of Urgent Business.

7.

To receive communications relating to the business of the Council

Minutes:

The Mayor advised the meeting that the following members had notified their wish to speak about retiring members:

 

Councillors Garry, Williams and Sykes paid tribute to the work of Councillor P. Jacques during his time served on the Council.

 

Councillors Leach, Hewitt and Sykes paid tribute to the work of Councillor A. Alexander during his time served on the Council.

 

Councillors Ahmad, Mushtaq, Sykes, Ball and Jabbar paid tribute to the work of Councillor Qumer during his time served on the Council.

 

Councillors C. Gloster and Roberts paid tribute to the work of Councillor Turner during her time served on the Council.

 

Councillor Fielding paid tribute to the work of Councillor Azad and Councillor Rehman during their time served on the Council.

 

8.

To note the report of the Returning Officer containing the results of the Local Elections which took place on 2nd May 2019 pdf icon PDF 90 KB

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report of the Returning Officer which informed members of the results of the Local Election which had taken place on 2nd May 2019.

 

RESOLVED that the results of the Local Election be noted.

9.

Leader of the Council - To note the appointment agreed by Council 23rd May 2018 pdf icon PDF 85 KB

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report regarding the appointment of the Leader of the Council in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government Act 2000 as amended.

 

RESOLVED that the appointment of Councillor Sean Fielding as the Leader of the Council from the 23rd May 2019 and ending on the day when the Council holds its first annual meeting of the Leader’s normal day of retirement as Councillor as outlined at paragraph 1.2 of the report be noted.

10.

Appointment of Deputy Leader, Cabinet Members and Deputy Cabinet Members and allocation of Portfolios and Delegation of Executive Functions pdf icon PDF 96 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report of the Leader of the Council which detailed the Cabinet portfolios and the appointments to the Cabinet for the 2019/20 Municipal Year.

 

RESOLVED that the appointment of the Deputy Leaders, Cabinet Members, Deputy Cabinet Members, the allocation of portfolios to Cabinet Members and the determination of delegations to executive functions for 2019/20 be noted as outlined below:

 

Councillor Sean Fielding                            Leader of the Council        

                                                                        Cabinet Member, Economy and

Enterprise

 

Councillor Shaid Mushtaq                          Cabinet Member,

                                                                        Education and Skills

 

Councillor Ateeque Ur-Rehman                Cabinet Member,

                                                                        Neighbourhoods Services

 

Councillor Abdul Jabbar                             Deputy Leader of the Council and

                                                                        Cabinet Member, Finance

                                                                        And Corporate Services

 

Councillor Amanda Chadderton               Cabinet Member,

                                                                        Children’s Services

 

Councillor Zahid Chauhan                         Cabinet Member,

                                                                        Health and Social Care

 

Councillor Arooj Shah                                 Statutory Deputy Leader and

                                                                        Cabinet Member, Social Justice and

Communities

 

Councillor Hannah Roberts                        Cabinet Member, Housing

 

Councillor Martin Judd                                Deputy Cabinet Member

                                                                        Economy and Enterprise

 

Councillor Cath Ball                                    Deputy Cabinet Member

                                                                        Education and Skills

 

Councillor Mohon Ali                                   Deputy Cabinet Member

                                                                        Neighbourhoods Services

 

Councillor Chris Goodwin                          Deputy Cabinet Member

                                                                        Finance and Corporate Services

 

Councillor Marie Bashforth                        Deputy Cabinet Member

                                                                        Health and Social Care

 

Councillor Steve Williams                           Deputy Cabinet Member

                                                                        Social Justice and Communities

 

Councillor Valerie Leach                            Deputy Cabinet Member

                                                                        Housing

 

11.

Opposition Nominations to the Shadow Cabinet 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 59 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the appointment of the Opposition Leader and the Shadow Cabinet as circulated at the meeting and as set out below be noted:

 

Councillor Howard Sykes                           Opposition Leader  

                                                                        Shadow Cabinet Member

                                                                        Economy and Enterprise

 

Councillor Chris Gloster                              Deputy Opposition Leader

                                                                        Shadow Cabinet Member

                                                                        Finance and Corporate Services

 

Councillor Hazel Gloster                             Shadow Cabinet Member

                                                                        Children’s Services

           

Councillor Garth Harkness                         Education and Skills

 

Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani                      Housing

 

Councillor Diane Williamson                      Social Justice and Communities

 

Councillor Dave Murphy                             Neighbourhoods Services

 

Councillor Louie Hamblett                          Health and Social Care

12.

Reviewing District Working in Oldham pdf icon PDF 274 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Fielding MOVED and Councillor Shah SECONDED a report which set out a number of recommendations following a review of District Working. 

 

The District Executives were reviewed in the context of meaningful local democratic engagement, devolved decision making and support for elected members to secure local democratic engagement and strong leadership, considered how elected members could be supported in their role as democratic leaders and, in particular, at a place based level, reviewed the resources allocated to the districts and district working and gave consideration to district working in the context of the wider reform agenda, to ensure it operated in the most effective way to support elected members and deliver better outcomes for residents.

 

A series of consultations and workshops had been held as well as a desktop review. 

 

As part of the proposals it was recommended that elected member budgets be increased, role of the District Executive Chair be amended through the creation of a District Lead role which involved working closely with all elected members in their district to support them in their role as strong local leaders, encouraging and coordinating the contribution of all members across ward and District boundaries.  The proposals also included a member development programme which would ensure members had the skills and support needed, a review of how District Teams were connected into and supported by Council services, more effective ways of engaging with residents, a new casework system to improve management of casework and communication, and better tools and systematic partnerships to identify the area priorities and to plan effectively for more integrated working with partners.

 

Options/Alternatives

Option 1 – Continue with District Executives as currently constituted for 2019/20, revisiting the option to remove once multi-agency decision making teams are in place.

Option 2 – Dis-establish District Executives with immediate effect, including the attached revenue and capital budgets, establish the District Lead Role, increase elected member budgets to £6k, remove any unallocated revenue funding, totalling £225k and create a £500k Local Improvement Fund to support District priorities, reprioritising the remaining £752k in the capital programme.

 

Amendment 1:

 

Councillor Williamson MOVED and Councillor Harkness SECONDED the following AMENDMENT:

 

“Section 4 – Options/Alternatives

That Option/Alternative 1 be amended to read as follows:

‘1.       Continue with District Executive as currently constituted, with the attached revenue and capital budgets.

Remove any unallocated revenue, capital or elected member budgets from the 2018/19 financial year or previous finance years and claw these back into the central budget. 

Create a Local Improvement Fund.

Review the arrangements once the multi-agency decision making teams are in place and no later than September 2019.

Section 5 – Recommended Option –

That the recommended option be replaced with:

1. Continue with District Executive as currently constituted, with the attached revenue and capital budgets.

Remove any unallocated revenue, capital or elected member budgets from the 2018/19 financial year or previous finance years and claw these back into the central budget. 

Create a Local Improvement Fund.

Review the arrangements once the multi-agency decision making  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

13.

GM Transport Committee - Role and Responsibilities pdf icon PDF 812 KB

Appendix to follow.

Minutes:

Councillor Fielding MOVED and Councillor Sykes SECONDED a report which outlined the current Greater Manchester Transport Governance Arrangements.  In the context of the Devolution Agreement and, specifically the GMCA Transport Order 3, the report presented broad revised terms of reference for a reconstituted GM Transport Committee, options for its structure, responsibilities and examples of how it might work in practice.

 

The ambition for integrated transport in support of place and people would be most efficiently achieved if managed by an accountable, efficient and well-informed governance system.  A joint committee of the GMCA, Mayor and District Councils enables the appropriate functions to be delegated from all of these bodies equipping one body with broad and balanced elected member representation from across Greater Manchester to assess all modes of transport as a whole.  The proposed basic structure for GM Transport Governance is as follows:

·       Mayor and GMCA: to continue to undertake all strategic decision-making in relation to policy strategy (LTP), funding and scheme decision-making.

·       New Joint Transport Committee: refocused role as transport user champion – performance monitoring / management of all modes and highway network, holding operators to account, oversight on delivery (e.g. capital and other schemes) and ensuring the integration of transport policy within the parameters set by the Local Transport Plan (i.e. Transport Strategy 2040) and existing policy.  A well briefed and informed Committee would be in a strong position to make recommendations to the Mayor, GMCA and Districts, as appropriate.

·       Greater Manchester Scrutiny: Scrutiny of Mayoral, GMCA and Transport Committee decisions as above, including wider integration with spatial issues, housing, environment, currently undertaken by the Housing, Planning and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  Transport budget issues were scrutinised by the Corporate Issues and Reform Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

 

The revised membership, Terms of Reference and Operating Agreement were outlined in the report.

 

RESOLVED that:

1.       The establishment of the new GM Transport Committee as a joint committee of the 10 districts, GMCA and Mayor be approved.

2.       The Terms of Reference and Operating Agreement for the Committee as set out in Schedule 1 of the report be approved.

3.       The functions as set out in the Terms of Reference be delegated to the Transport Committee.

14.

Appointment to Committees and Composition of Political Groups 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 153 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Fielding MOVED and Councillor Sykes SECONDED the report of the Director of Legal Services which sought a review of the political composition of committees and the composition of political groups as previously notified under Regulation 8(1) of the Local Government (Committees and Political Groups) Regulations 1990 and under Sections 15 and 16 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.  The report sought to constitute and appoint members on the several Committees as detailed in the Constitution and as listed in the report and appendices as circulated.

 

Councillor Byrne MOVED and Councillor Sheldon SECONDED that Councillor Hudson be appointed as the Saddleworth and Lees District Lead. 

 

On being put to the VOTE, 3 votes were cast IN FAVOUR of the AMENDMENT, 43 VOTES were cast AGAINST with 9 ABSENTIONS.  The AMENDMENT was therefore LOST.

 

RESOLVED that:

 

1.            The composition of the political groups as shown in paragraph 1.1 of the report as circulated be noted.

2.            The several Committees detailed at paragraph 1.5 as circulated by constituted with the Terms of Reference and delegated powers as detailed in the Constitution and that the Health Scrutiny function be fulfilled by a standalone Health Scrutiny Committee rather than a sub-committee of the Overview and Scrutiny Board with the existing Terms of Reference as detailed within the Constitution.

3.            The number of seats on the various Committees for the 2019/20 Municipal Year be as detailed in paragraph 1.6 of the circulated report be approved.

4.            The allocation of seats to the political groups be confirmed and appointments made to fill the seats in accordance with Sections 15 and 16 of the Local Government and Housing Act 989, as detailed in Appendix 1 as circulated.

5.            The Chair and Vice-Chair of each of the various Committees for the 2019/20 Municipal Year, as detailed in Appendix 1 of the circulated report, with the exception of the Selection and Appeals Committees and appoints a District Lead for each of the District Areas.

6.            The Co-opted Members detailed at paragraph 1.9 of the report be appointed to the Overview and Scrutiny Board and the Statutory Co-optees be given full voting rights in respect of education matters only.

7.            The Traffic Regulation Order Panel remains outside political balance be confirmed.

8.            The political balance rules be waived as in previous years in relation to the Standards Committee to ensure appropriate representation.

9.            Any outstanding appointments be delegated to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Leader of the Main Opposition Group.

10.         Councillor Hewitt be appointed District Lead for Saddleworth and Lees.

15.

Appointment to Outside Bodies 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 38 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Fielding MOVED and Councillor Sykes SECONDED a report of the Director of Legal Services which detailed the appointments to Outside Bodies for the Municipal Year 2019/20.

 

RESOLVED that:

1.       The appointments to the Outside Bodies as listed in the Appendices as circulated for the 2019/20 Municipal Year be agreed.

2.       Any outstanding appointments be delegated to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Leader of the Main Opposition Group.

 

16.

Council Meetings and Municipal Calendar 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 88 KB

a)    To confirm the meetings of Full Council will be held on the undermentioned dates during the 2019/20 Municipal Year, Commencing at 6.00pm unless otherwise shown:

10th July 2019

11th September 2019

6th November 2019

11th December 2019

26th February2020

28th March 2020

 

b)    To approve the calendar of meetings for the 2019/20 Municipal Year.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Legal Services which set out the Calendar of Meetings for the 2019/20 Municipal Year.

 

RESOLVED that:

 

1.            The meetings of the Council be held on the following dates in the 2019/20 Municipal Year, commencing at 6.00 p.m. unless otherwise shown:

 

10th July 2019

11th September 2019

6th November 2019

11th December 2019

26th February 2020 (Budget)

18th March 2020

 

2.         The Council’s Calendar of Meetings for the Municipal Year 2019/20 be approved.

3.         Approval of any outstanding dates or changes to dates be delegated to the Chief Executive in consultation with Group Leaders.

 

17.

Notice of Administration Business

(time limit 30 minutes)

 

None received.

Minutes:

There were no items of Administration Business.

18.

Notice of Opposition Business

(time limit 30 minutes)

 

None received.

Minutes:

There were no items of Opposition Business.

19.

Update to the Constitution and Amendments pdf icon PDF 162 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Council was required to consider its Constitution annually to determine whether any amendments were required.  Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Legal Services which detailed proposed constitutional changes and amendments which would now be required as agreed by the Constitutional Working Group and Group Leaders.

 

On being put to the VOTE, 46 votes were cast IN FAVOUR of the RECOMMENDATIONS, 0 VOTES were cast AGAINST with 9 ABSENTIONS.  The RECOMMENDATIONS were therefore CARRIED.

 

RESOLVED that:

 

1.         The proposed amendments / changes to the Constitution as detailed within the report be approved.

2.         Any future changes to the Specific Officer Functions be delegated to the Monitoring Officer and reported to the next available Council.

3.         The Council’s existing Constitution be reaffirmed.

20.

Members Allowance Scheme 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 24 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Legal Services which set out the recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel.  The Panel had given consideration to information from the Leader of the Council and the Leader of the Main Opposition Group on special responsibilities and schemes within Greater Manchester.  The Panel made the recommendation that the members’ allowances for 2019/20 remain the same as in 2018/19 but with increases linked to the officer pay increase.  The relevant officer pay increase was 2% for 2019/20.

 

RESOLVED that:

1.         The recommendation of the Independent Remuneration Panel be noted.

2.         The Members Allowances Scheme for 2019/20 as detailed at Appendix 1 of the report be approved.

3.         The proposal that District Executive Leads receive the allowance specified for District Executive Chairs be agreed following the approval of the District Working Report.

4.         The allowance for the Health Scrutiny Chair following the agreement of a stand-alone Health Scrutiny Committee be agreed as circulated.