Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 2 December 2021.

The Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor Michael Vincent, proposed and the Leisure, Health and Community Engagement Portfolio Holder, Councillor Bowen, seconded that the minutes of the meeting of the full Council held on 2 December 2021 be confirmed as a correct record.

It was agreed (by 37 votes to 5) that the minutes of the full Council meeting held on 2 December 2021 be confirmed as a correct record.

To receive any declarations of interest from any Member on any item on this agenda.

None.

To receive any announcements from the Mayor, Leader of the Council, Deputy Leader of the Council, Members of the Cabinet, a Chairman of a Committee or the Chief Executive.

Councillor Bridge presented the Mayor with an award that the council and Danfo had won at the British Toilet Association Awards.

The Mayor announced that £250 had been raised by Fleetwood Town Flyers Walking Football Club and Cllr Ian Amos’ team and that a number of events would be held before the end of the mayoral year

To receive any questions or statements from members of the public under Procedure Rule 9.1.

None received.

To receive any questions from Members of the Council to the Mayor, a member of the Cabinet or the Chairman of a Committee under Council Procedure Rule 12.1.

None received.

To receive reports from Cabinet Members. (In accordance with Procedure Rule 11.3 Councillors will be able to ask questions or make comments).

The Leader of the Council submitted a report.

Cllr Henderson noted a general point made by Cllr Fail asking that all Members should be given a response to any questions asked at Council.

The report was noted.

The Resources Portfolio Holder submitted a report.

Cllr Vincent congratulated Marianne Unwin on her ADSO Rookie of the Year award as did Cllr Fail who also praised Peter Foulsham and Duncan Jowitt whose mentoring had contributed to her award.

Cllr Sir R Atkins asked about the progress of the Bourne Hill site development. Cllr Vincent said that specific details were commercially sensitive but it was progressing nicely and new building regulations from 1 June 2021 would make it much harder for developers to build anything other than carbon neutral properties.

Cllr Vincent said he would provide a written response to a question from Cllr Longton about the high volume of change of circumstances notifications in respect of Universal Credit and the introduction of a system of tolerances.

The report was noted.

The Street Scene, Parks and Open Spaces Portfolio Holder submitted a report.

Cllr Fail said that Wyre Labour Group had set up an operation to report dog fouling incidents to council. Cllr Bridge appreciated this being reported and said he believed enforcement was going well and that dog fouling issues were due to the actions of the irresponsible few.

The report was noted.

The Planning Policy and Economic Development Portfolio Holder submitted a report.

The report was noted.

The Neighbourhood Services and Community Safety Portfolio Holder submitted a report.

Cllr Berry announced that

• bathing water quality at Fleetwood and Cleveleys beaches had retained “good” status
• a presentation by the Rural Crime Task Force was to be made on Friday 11 February at Lancaster House and Members should contact him if they would like to attend.

Cllr Smith put a question to Cllr Berry about Wyre’s rough sleepers. Cllr Berry said the Housing Team had helped 28 rough sleepers into permanent accommodation and had saved about 450 people from being homeless. Cllr Fairbanks praised the council’s Housing Team who, she said were second to none and the Mayor congratulated the Housing Team on their work over the Christmas period and the Baines Trust for supporting them.

Cllr D Atkins asked about a closure of Garstang’s High Street car park that had taken place and a protocol to inform councillors in the event of closure. Cllr Berry confirmed that there was such a protocol but Keyworker Homes had not followed it. Theyhad been advised to do so in future.

The report was noted.

The Leisure, Health and Community Engagement Portfolio Holder submitted a report.

Cllr Gerrard asked what was planned for the borough in respect of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Cllr Bowen said that Chris Wyatt and the new Communications Team were working on events throughout the borough and two children’s events themed around the “Frozen” film had just been announced for Poulton and Garstang

The report was noted.

Report of Councillor David Henderson, Leader of the Council and Garry Payne, Chief Executive.

The Leader of the Council, Cllr David Henderson and the Chief Executive, Garry Payne, submitted a report to provide Full Council with an update on work undertaken towards development of strengthened joint working, a long term strategic plan and a County Deal for the Lancashire area and seek agreement to progress this work.

Cllr Henderson obtained the permission of the Mayor to allow Cllr Michael Vincent to answer any questions that were in relation to relevant meetings that he had attended.

Cllr Ibison commented that the principles were sound and it was good for Lancashire and for Wyre. Cllr Beavers and Cllr Fail thanked Cllr Henderson and those who had contributed to the report whilst expressing concerns about the lack of detail included in the report as did Cllr O’Neill. Cllr Alan Vincent thanked all district leaders for helping put together the package, which was, he said, the first step on the journey.

Cllrs Henderson and Michael Vincent responded to the points made.

The recommendations were approved unanimously.

Report of Councillor David Henderson, Leader of the Council and Garry Payne, Chief Executive.

The Leader of the Council, Cllr David Henderson and the Chief Executive, Garry Payne, submitted a report asking Council to consider the recommendation of the Standards Committee to adopt the LGA Model Code of Conduct (“the model code”) as amended.

The recommendations were approved unanimously.

The Mayor advised that all councillors were expected to attend the Code of Conduct training event on Thursday 3 February.

Report of Councillor David Henderson, Leader of the Council and Garry Payne, Chief Executive.

The Leader of the Council, Cllr David Henderson and the Chief Executive, Garry Payne, submitted a report to enable changes to be made to the membership of committees for the remainder of the 2021/22 Municipal Year.

The recommendation was approved unanimously.

Report of Councillor Kay, Children and Young People’s Champion.

Cllr Kay submitted a report to update the Council on some of the activities she had been involved in over the last year as Lead Member for Children and Young People.

Cllr Ballard informed the council about Mood Tracker, a tool that could be offered to schools that would help young people by tracking their anxiety levels, etc. and could be demonstrated to councillors at a future pre-Council session (subsequently arranged for 6pm on 20 April 2022).

Cllr George added that her Support Teenage Parents group was well underway.

The report was noted.

None.

None received.