Council - Thursday, 5th October, 2017 7.00 pm - Agenda and minutes

To confirm the Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of the Council held on 27th July, 2017 (copy Minutes attached).

It was MOVED by Cllr Barbara Hurst; SECONDED by Cllr D.E. Clifford and

RESOLVED:  That the Minutes of the meeting held on 27th July, 2017 (copy having been circulated previously) be taken as read, approved and signed as a correct record of the proceedings.

(1)          The Mayor reported that Merchant Navy Day had been marked at the Council Offices on 1st September, 2017 with a short service which had been led by the Mayor’s Chaplain, followed by the hoisting of the Red Ensign.  The event had been attended by representatives of the Merchant Navy, Royal Navy, Royal British Legion and Councillors.  The Red Ensign had been flown until the end of Sunday, 3rd September, 2017 which was Merchant Navy Day.

(2)          The Mayor advised that a charity cycle ride had taken place on 3rd September, 2017 around the Borough in aid of her charities.  The Mayor expressed her gratitude to her Charity Fundraising Committee, the Rushmoor Cycle Forum and Naya Yuva for organising the event and to all those who had taken part.  The event had been well supported and had raised £280 for her charities.

(3)          The Mayor reported that she and the Mayoress had had the honour of attending the Canal Zoners National Service of Remembrance on 10th September, 2017, which had been held at North Camp Methodist Church.  The Mayor advised Members that Canal Zoners was an organisation for servicemen and women who had served in the Suez Canal Zone of Egypt in the late 1940s up to and including the Suez Crisis of 1956.

(4)          The Mayor reported that her Charity Golf Tournament had been held at Southwood Golf Course on 15th September, 2017 and had been supported by nineteen teams, including TAG Farnborough Airport, Aldershot Town Football Club, the Gurkha Golf Society, Fluor Ltd, the Meads Shopping Centre, Aspire Defence and the Royal School of Military Engineering.  It was anticipated that the event would raise around £2,000 for her charities.

(5)          It was noted that Aldershot and Farnborough’s best gardeners had been celebrated at the Rushmoor in Bloom presentation evening held at Princes Hall on 18th September, 2017.  Awards had been presented in thirteen different categories, from Best Sports Ground to Best Newcomer.  The Best Front Garden award had gone to Mr. Ken Howard of Field Way in Aldershot, the award for Best Sheltered Housing Complex had been won by Shaftesbury Court in Farnborough and the Best Kept Vivid Tenant’s Garden had been awarded to Mr. Thomas Rogers of Basing Drive, Aldershot.  The Best Community Garden had gone to the residents of Cheyne Way, Farnborough.

The Chairman’s Award had been presented to the family of the late Mr. Brian Stephens, who had been a highly regarded supporter of Rushmoor in Bloom over many years and an Officer of the Council.  Mr Stephens had won Rushmoor both the Southern England in Bloom Best Large Town/Small City category and the highest accolade of the Winner of National Britain in Bloom, beating many big towns and cities.  His colourful, floral legacy remained throughout the Borough for all to see.

The Forum Award had gone to Honorary Alderman Mr. Colin Balchin because of his continued support for Rushmoor in Bloom and the amount of time he volunteered to help judge gardens and school  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

To receive any questions by Members submitted in pursuance of Standing Order 8 (3).

The Mayor reported that one urgent question had been submitted under Standing Order 8 (3) by Cllr A.H. Crawford. 

Cllr Crawford asked, with winter approaching, what arrangements the Council had in place that year to meet its statutory responsibility to provide Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) responses in order to prevent deaths of people sleeping rough, given that the Vine Centre had not been asked to provide the Emergency Winter Night shelter at Holy Trinity Church, Aldershot, for which Housing Justice had awarded its Quality Mark for night shelters the previous year.

In response, the Cabinet Member for Health and Housing (Cllr Barbara Hurst) stated that the Council had supported the winter night shelter in Aldershot for the previous four winters in partnership with the Vine Centre, community groups, local churches and the previous year with Hart District Council and Surrey Heath Borough Council.  The Severe Weather Emergency Protocol came into force when temperatures reached freezing for three consecutive days.

Members were advised that, in recent months, the Council had taken legal action against several rough sleepers and had supported a ‘hub’ to address their needs.  In 2017, the North Lane Lodge had opened providing nine beds for rough sleepers with drugs and alcohol problems and this accommodation was managed by the Society of St. James.   Rushmoor therefore currently had between three and five rough sleepers in Aldershot.  The Council continued to work with The Vine Day Centre, which provided a successful ‘journey’ programme for single homeless people and the Stonham Home Group, which provided assertive outreach in the Borough to engage and support rough sleepers to come in off the street and connect with those who did not have a local connection to the area.  The Council was also strongly committed to ‘No Second Night Out’, which was a Government initiative focused on ending rough sleeping, specifically for those who were new to the streets. 

It had been hoped that The Vine Centre would be able to develop a self-funding model to provide this facility going forward, however, this had proved impossible in the current financial situation.  The Vine Centre had since changed its operating model and had moved away from working with people that had no desire to engage with its services to a more structured model based on customer engagement, which the Council fully supported. 

It was felt that an alternative to the winter night shelter would be to rely on bed and breakfast accommodation.  There were currently between three and five rough sleepers in Aldershot.  Included in this number were those proving hard to engage and some waiting for specialist provision such as supported accommodation or North Lane Lodge. 

Cllr. Hurst advised Members that the previous year, the winter night shelter had opened for 25 nights at a cost of £14,830.  In comparison, it was noted that to provide bed and breakfast for 25 nights for five people would cost approximately £7,500, based on a cost of £60 per night.   This was likely to be a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

To consider the following Notices of Motion, which have been submitted pursuant to Standing Order 9 (1):

(1)                Universal Credit

Cr. Jennifer Evans to propose:

"Recent reports by Citizens Advice and the Rowntree Foundation have highlighted problems associated with the roll-out of Universal Credit, which are leading to increases in debt, rent arrears, evictions and families in temporary accommodation.

In view of this, Rushmoor Borough Council calls upon HM Government to pause the implementation of Universal Credit immediately in order to introduce measures to avoid these problems, and, in this way, protect our residents from them."

(2)                Social Value in Procurement

Cr. J.B. Canty to propose:

“This Council:

·       Notes the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 which requires local authorities to consider how services they procure might secure wider social, economic and environmental benefits for an area.

·       Recognises that embedding Social Value within contracts for goods and services can help drive positive outcomes for residents.

Therefore, this Council will strengthen the role of Social Value in procurement by:

·     Giving Social Value greater weighting when scrutinising bids for future contracts in goods and services;

·     Including a section on Social Value in the new Procurement Strategy; and

·     Developing a Social Value Policy to underpin the new Procurement Strategy.

The Council was asked to consider two Motions which had been submitted in accordance with the provisions of Standing Order 9 (1).

(1)       Universal Credit

It was MOVED by Cllr Jennifer Evans; SECONDED by Cllr A.H. Crawford – That

“Recent reports by Citizens Advice and the Rowntree Foundation have highlighted problems associated with the roll-out of Universal Credit, which are leading to increases in debt, rent arrears, evictions and families in temporary accommodation.

In view of this, Rushmoor Borough Council calls upon HM Government to pause the implementation of Universal Credit immediately in order to introduce measures to avoid these problems and, in this way, protect our residents from them.”

In introducing the Motion, Cllr Evans stated that she felt that no one was opposed to the idea of simplifying the complicated benefits system and rolling up a number of benefits into one payment.  She felt that, in theory, new technology should enable a more flexible and responsive system to be put in place. 

Cllr Evans considered that there were a number of delays which had been built into the system.  Firstly, new claimants had to wait one week after losing their job before they could apply.  Secondly, applications could only be made online and, until an online application had been made, an appointment could not be made with Job Centre Plus to progress a claim.  Even if computer literate, and a person had access to the internet, there was another wait that had been built into the system.   However, she felt that the big delay, and the one which caused the most problems and anxiety for claimants was that there was a minimum wait of six weeks before the first payment could be made.

Cllr Evans advised that research by Citizens Advice had shown the effects of this on households.  Its survey had showed that almost 40% of people waited more than six weeks for their first payment and that over half of claimants had to borrow money whilst waiting for their first payment.  The research had also revealed that one quarter of people seeking advice from the CAB about Universal Credit had debt problems.   Citizens Advice had called upon the Government to postpone the roll-out until the system was more robust. 

Cllr Evans felt that the dangers of this delay for low-income families with no savings to tide them over were obvious.  They would not be able to pay their rent on time, and thereby risking eviction.   Private landlords, who provided a substantial number of homes in the area, were less likely to be sympathetic than housing associations and were likely to be less willing to rent to tenants on Universal Credit.  It was understood that housing associations were worried about rent arrears and a drop in income as Universal Credit was rolled out.  Rushmoor had one of the most effective housing benefit teams in the country, but this function would be handed over to staff in job centres and the time waited for payments would jump  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

To receive any questions by Members to Cabinet Members submitted in accordance with the Procedure Note.

The Mayor reported that no questions had been submitted for the Cabinet.

To receive and ask questions on the Reports of the following Meetings (copy reports attached):

(1)          Cabinet

It was MOVED by Cllr D.E. Clifford; SECONDED by Cllr Barbara Hurst and

RESOLVED:  That the Reports of meetings of the Cabinet held on 25th July, 22nd August and 19th September, 2017 be received.

(2)          Development Management Committee

It was MOVED by Cllr B.A. Thomas; SECONDED by Cllr J.H. Marsh and

RESOLVED:  That the Reports of meetings of the Cabinet held on 19th July, 16th August and 13th September, 2017 be received.

To note the Reports of the following meetings of the Policy and Review Panels (copy reports attached):

RESOLVED:  That the Reports of the undermentioned meetings of the Policy and Review Panels be received.