Agenda and draft minutes

The Chair advised that item 13 on the agenda would be moved to immediately following item 11 with item 12 to be taken after item 13. 

Those Members who had provided helpful feedback following the 10 minute time limit which had been suggested at the last Council meeting were thanked. The Chair advised that the Chair must balance the demands of Members wanting to speak against the need to manage the good and timely conduct of business of the Council.  On reflection and following feedback from colleagues a more flexible approach would be adopted and the support of all Members was requested in ensuring arrangements worked in a way which facilitated appropriate debate and challenge whilst ensuring that business was conducted in a business-like and constructive fashion.  How this would be managed during this meeting was set out as follows:

•         Members would be called in order while trying to reflect political balance, with preference to those who had not previously spoken.

•         Participants were asked to avoid repetitive questions and were encouraged to make fresh points so as to ensure that everyone who wanted to speak was able to do so.

•         Members were asked to keep to the point in both questions and answers and as a guideline for all contributors to keep to two minutes so far as possible.

•         Contributors would be brought back to the point should they stray from the issue and he would ensure that questions did not go on so long that they ceased to shed further light on the matter.

The Director of Law and Corporate Governance had been requested to oversee a review with Members of the effectiveness of arrangements before the end of the municipal year.

Apologies were received from Councillors D. Bawn, C. Dunbar, P.D. Ezhilchelvan, S. Fairless-Aitken, N Oliver, W Pattison and G Stewart.

Minutes of the meeting of County Council held on Wednesday 6 September 2023, as circulated, to be confirmed as a true record.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of County Council held on Wednesday, 6 September, 2023, be confirmed as a true record.

Unless already entered in the Council’s Register of Members’ interests, members are required where a matter arises at a meeting;

a.       Which directly relates to Disclosable Pecuniary Interest (‘DPI’) as set out in Appendix B, Table 1 of the Code of Conduct, to disclose the interest, not participate in any discussion or vote and not to remain in room. Where members have a DPI or if the matter concerns an executive function and is being considered by a Cabinet Member with a DPI they must notify the Monitoring Officer and arrange for somebody else to deal with the matter.

b.       Which directly relates to the financial interest or well being of a Other Registrable Interest as set out in Appendix B, Table 2 of the Code of Conduct to disclose the interest and only speak on the matter if members of the public are also allowed to speak at the meeting but otherwise must not take part in any discussion or vote on the matter and must not remain the room.

c.        Which directly relates to their financial interest or well-being (and is not DPI) or the financial well being of a relative or close associate, to declare the interest and members may only speak on the matter if members of the public are also allowed to speak. Otherwise, the member must not take part in discussion or vote on the matter and must leave the room.

d.       Which affects the financial well-being of the member, a relative or close associate or a body included under the Other Registrable Interests column in Table 2, to disclose the interest and apply the test set out at paragraph 9 of Appendix B before deciding whether they may remain in the meeting.

e.       Where Members have or a Cabinet Member has an Other Registerable Interest or Non Registerable Interest in a matter being considered in exercise of their executive function, they must notify the Monitoring Officer and arrange for somebody else to deal with it.

NB Any member needing clarification must contact monitoringofficer@northumberland.gov.uk. Members are referred to the Code of Conduct which contains the matters above in full. Please refer to the guidance on disclosures at the rear of this agenda letter.

This years' Service of Remembrance was to be held at County Hall on Friday, 10th November.  If any Member wished to bring a wreath to lay there would be a briefing in the restaurant at 10.30 am, and the service would commence 10.50 a.m.  Refreshments would be available after the service outside of the restaurant and Members were asked to confirm attendance to Susan Taylor.

The MOD Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award revalidation had been approved and Northumberland County Council would now hold this for a further 5 years. This represented exemplary support provided to our Armed Forces community.

An initial request for the Council to support a march which was planned for 204 Battery, Kingston Park, 101 Regiment on 27-28th January 2024.  The intention was that marching troops would leave Kingston Park on Saturday 27th and arrive in Alnwick on Sunday 28th. The march would come to a halt at Alnwick Castle. The reason for this march and this route was, the 1st Battalion Tyneside Scottish marched from Newcastle to Alnwick on 29-30 Jan 1915 to begin their military training during WW1. 

A Request would be made by the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers for a St Georges Day march through Ashington on 20 April 2024 which would also mark the 350th anniversary of when the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers was first formed in Northumberland.

Former County Councillor Mike Stott had sadly recently passed away. Mike represented the Blyth Valley Kitty Brewster ward from 1981 to 1985 and was Chair of the Amenities Committee during that time. Members observed a minute's silence in memory of former Councillor Stott.

The Leader advised that Cabinet the following week would be discussing Devolution and the final stage of moving to the North East Mayoral Combined Authority (NEMCA).  All of the seven local authorities involved would be taking the decision making paper around the same time so that they could all proceed with this potentially important development for our region.  Relationships between the Leaders of all the authorities remained cordial and respectful and this was expected to continue going forward.  He looked forward to seeing whoever was chosen to be the Mayor to lead with passion with care.

To receive questions provided on notice from and to provide answers to the public in accordance with the Council’s Procedure Rules.

No public questions had been received.

To receive questions provided on notice from and to provide answers to Members of the Council in accordance with the Council’s Procedure Rules.

Question 1 from Councillor Hill to the Leader

Scottish Power’s net profit last year was £487 million, which must bring great joy to their shareholders.  Having less fun were the residents in my ward and within Councillor Hunter’s ward who had recently been walking home nervously in the dark as, once again, Scottish Power were taking weeks (sometimes many months) to fix faults impacting street lighting.  Do you think this was acceptable and what was this authority doing about it?

The Leader advised that investigations identified a fault with the underground electricity cable.  Once the fault was identified as being with the mains supply it must be dealt with by the power company who had 20 working days to complete the repair.  The repair was carried out within this timescale.  The Council did everything they could to encourage private companies to think about residents when the lighting fails. 

Councillor Hill asked in light of the fact that last year in Highcliffe that Scottish Power took over a year to fix a fault and that Renfrewshire Council had written to the Chief Executive of Scottish Power, quite rightly, to say that given the profits that they make, that the delays and lack of urgency were unacceptable, would the Leader write to the Chief Executive of Scottish power advising these delays and lack of urgency were unacceptable?  She was aware of three or four examples of these unacceptable delays.

The Leader advised he would need to consider how many similar issues there had been and the timescales involved along with which utility companies these involved.  If there was a common thread then this would be taken up with whichever utility company it was.  The Council did try to work with people on good terms as much as they could, but he would look at this and if appropriate write to them.

Question 2 from Councillor Murphy to the Chair

Would the Leader agree with me, that openness and accountability were critical components of a well-run Local Authority, and that, in order to achieve these a full Council meeting should not be restricted by arbitrary and artificial time constraints, which bore no relation to the importance of the issue being discussed, nor of the interests of members who wished to contribute to the debate, and effectively disenfranchise back bench councillors?

The Chair advised that he had addressed this in his introductory remarks at the beginning of the meeting and work would continue to make this a good Council and make meetings productive and he hoped that the issue was now resolved. 

Question 3 from Councillor Darwin to Councillor Jones

It was reported to members earlier this year that there had been a steep rise in Domestic Violence. Did Northumberland Adult social care work closely with Northumbria Police when it came to tackling Domestic Violence and issues of safeguarding? Also, what steps were put in place, if any, to ensure cases of Domestic Violence which were reported to Northumbria Police were also reported to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

Annual Portfolio Report – Looking after our Environment

This is the Annual Report from the Cabinet Member for Looking after our Environment. The report contains issues that set the context for delivery of the Portfolio. It highlights achievements over the past year and, outlines the areas of focus for the coming year.

Annual Portfolio Report – Looking after our Environment

The Annual Report from the Cabinet Member for Looking After Our Environment contained information that set out the context for delivery of the Portfolio. 

Councillor Horncastle, provided an introduction to the report highlighting the achievements and examples of excellent work over the previous year, and expressed his gratitude for the hard work of officers and their expertise, without which, he would not be able to carry out his role. 

Councillor Daley welcomed the report which contained many good things and asked what was to happen with the old Hexham Middle School site, and whether this could be used to provide affordable housing.  Councillor Horncastle advised that a lot of work went on behind the scenes when a school closed in relation to the delisting and permissions required from Government Departments and Sport England.  Special architects would soon be commissioned to develop a masterplan for the huge site which would be followed by consultations with stakeholders and then the public.  It was known there was a shortage of affordable housing within the Tyne Valley and Hexham, with a number of developable sites in private ownership.  However, this site was in the ownership of the Council and the Administration would do its best to ensure that as much affordable housing would be provided on that site as possible.

Councillor Wallace highlighted that the number of affordable housing units actually provided fell well short of the target number and requested clarification on the difference between the numbers in this report and those contained in the Corporate Performance report also on the agenda. 

Councillor Wearmouth advised that this report contained up to date figures whilst the performance report provided figures at the end of the previous financial year in April 2023.  Councillor Horncastle stated that the provision of affordable housing was very important to him and that the area in which he lived had no affordable housing.  Whilst there was some affordable housing in the South East of the County, it was very difficult to provide this in more rural parts of the County due to planning restrictions within these areas.  He was not happy with the figures and was doing his best to improve the numbers.  He highlighted the Housing Summit which was to take place shortly advising that Housing Associations were cash rich, but site poor and officers did their best to identify sites for affordable housing. It was up to all Councillors to identify any sites in their areas and drive forward the provision of affordable housing.

Councillor Hill stated that a range of issues had been raised at the Local Area Committee in relation to the management, maintenance and future proofing of cemeteries and the provision of crematoria.  She asked if there was a Cemetery Strategy or Plan, and if so when was it last refreshed or when was it due to be refreshed.

Councillor Horncastle stated he did not have the information regarding the Cemetery Strategy, but it would be provided.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

Annual Portfolio Report – Inspiring Young People

This is the Annual Report from the Cabinet Member for Inspiring Young People. The report contains issues that set the context for delivery of the Portfolio. It highlights achievements over the past year and, outlines the areas of focus for the coming year.

Annual Portfolio Report – Inspiring Young People

The Annual Report from the Cabinet Member for Inspiring Young People contained information that set the context for delivery of the Portfolio, highlighting achievements and outlined the areas for focus for the coming year. 

Councillor G Renner-Thompson provided an introduction to the report.  He acknowledged that the achievements would not be possible without the hard work of the staff of Children’s Services, school staff and partners along with the cooperation of parents, carers and indeed the pupils and cared for children.   Council was advised that currently 95% of schools within the County were good or outstanding and it was hoped that the work undertaken by the School Improvement Team would be trailed in other local authorities.  It had been said by the industry, that the new welding and fabrication centre in Blyth was the best example within the Country with investment also being made in other vocational centres across the County. Dame Andrea Leadson, Government Minister for Early Years along with others had visited the family hubs in Blyth and Berwick and had been quoted as saying they demonstrated best practice in the Country.  Support had also continued to be provided to families in the school summer holiday with arranged activities and health food provided for those attending.

Councillor Kennedy offered congratulations on the excellent figures in the report.  He advised that at the end of the end of the last school year he had raised an issue that the staff of the Thursday Club for special needs children, which his son attended had advised him that they, along with a number of other staff, were being made redundant.  He had been reassured that the service would be reinstated and would be started again before the beginning of the new school term in September.  It was now November and the service had still not been reinstated and he had now been advised by a member of staff that it would not happen this year.  He had accepted the original answer that it would start again in September in good faith, however he now wished to know when the service would be reinstated.

Councillor Renner-Thompson advised that he did not have that specific information, but he would obtain the information from A. Kingham, Executive Director for Children and Young People.

Councillor Ball stated that the report entitled inspiring young people did not mention youth work and she highlighted that there had been a cut of almost £1b decline in youth work spend since the Conservative Party took power as quoted in the YMCA and UK Youth Reports.  The Cabinet Member had stated when Family Hubs were being discussed at FACS OSC that there would be no loss of youth workers.  She questioned where youth workers were now in the County, as additional strain could not be placed on the voluntary and community sector as people were destitute, poverty was through the roof and young people were very important.  She had stated in this meeting  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

To receive a report from the Chair of the Family and Childrens’ Services OSC.

Councillor Daley, Chair of the Family and Children’s OSC advised that interim reports from the Committee would now be presented at Council replacing the minutes of meetings which had previously been included. The membership of the Committee included co-opted representatives from different educational faith organisations along with teacher union representatives providing a detailed level of debate and scrutiny overview of the very granular detail provided in the reports.

A comprehensive introduction was provided on the report with Council advised that the Annual Report of the Principal Social Worker was a statutory report providing assurance on the work of the Social Work team.  In response to the reliance of agency staff the Council had created an Academy initiative to support newly qualified social workers in their first year which had been very successful.  Of the 36 key recommendations from the Home to School Transport Review 30 of them had now been adopted. The work had been undertaken in conjunction with an interested parent to develop a solution to issues with the system.  The School Improvement Team was made up of very experienced and knowledgeable staff who worked with schools to improve attainment and attendance.  A recommendation had been made to Cabinet not to reduce the funding for this service, which has been agreed. There had been a massive increase in the number of children and young people with an EHCP (Educational and Healthcare Plan) and a great deal of work had been undertaken to improve the quality of these plans and support pupils to stay in mainstream education. 

He offered thanks to Councillor Richard Dodd who had previously served as Vice-Chair of the Committee and welcomed Councillor Eve Chicken to that position, and thanked all those involved with the education of children and young people for their continued work.  Members were asked to contact him if they wished questions to be asked at the Committee or if there were issues that they felt required the Committee to scrutinise.

Councillor Grimshaw thanked the Committee for their excellent report and asked what was in place to ensure that the children of refugees were able to attend schools or SEND provision closest to their homes and if siblings were still being split up and sent to different schools.

Councillor Daley advised that the children of Ukrainian, Syrian and Afghanistan refugees were given priority in being offered the nearest school with available places, he was unable to answer whether siblings attended different schools, however Councillors should contact the Executive Director - Children, Young People and Education if they were aware of this as a guarantee had been given that children would attend their nearest school and that support with translation and mental health would be provided.

Councillor Gallacher wished to acknowledge the work undertaken by the School Transport section who had professionally dealt with problems caused by Covid, cost of living crisis and increases in fuel prices along with contractors entering into liquidation.   There was always an open dialogue between the Section and the contractors  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

To receive a report from the Chair of the Health and Wellbeing OSC.

Councillor Dodd, Chair of the Health and Wellbeing OSC provided an introduction to the report and started by thanking Councillor Veronica Jones for her work as Chair for the past two and a half years.  The Committee played a  vital role in public health and adult social care and covered a great deal of topics.  The first two topics outlined in the report had similar traits in relation to the recruitment and retention the workforce, with shortages impacting on the number of people waiting to access services.  Initiatives had been commenced to alleviate these shortages and make the conditions better by increasing rates of pay for carers and mileage to make the positions more attractive.  There had been some consideration of bringing the service in-house, but this did have financial risks.  Concern was expressed regarding the closure of the 100 hour pharmacies in Cramlington and it was feared that this would not be a one-off situation and a number of pharmacies providing this would follow if the problem was not addressed.  He Highlighted that a Task and Finish Working Group (T&FWG) had been set up to look at the issue which was Chaired by Councillor Nisbet.

In respect of the HM Senior Coroner’s Annual Report, Members were asked to take an interest in the various areas of review coming forward advised that the   North East Ambulance Service was to attend a meeting shortly.  A further T&FWG had been set up to look at the provision of defibrillators, identifying where they are and who has responsibility for replacing the batteries/pads, how they can be accessed and how were people trained to use them.

Councillor Dickinson agreed that it was right to set up the T&FWG to look at the closure of pharmacies, but advised that another major problem within his own area and others was the closure of dental practices which impacted on access to services for children and Northumberland residents.  He had been invited to the Committee when this was discussed to provide a local view and had been assured that access would not be affected, however they had now lost two practices and he had been advised that there was a waiting list of 800 to join another practice.  This was replicated across Northumberland and whilst it was a national funding problem, there needed to be local monitoring and a spokesperson to give our voice. 

Councillor Dodd agreed that this would be added as an agenda item for a future meeting.

Councillor Cartie advised that there were concerns regarding the closure of pharmacies in Newsham and Blyth.  There had been a lot of new houses built within the area along with an aging population and the situation needed to be addressed either by making sure these were kept open or providing the pharmacy within another shop to ensure that the service was maintained.   She welcomed that something was being done, and asked to be kept involved.

Councillor Dodd advised that part of the problem had been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

Corporate Performance – Quarter 4 2022/23 Outturn Report

This report provides a summary of the progress against the Council’s three Corporate Plan priorities using the Council's performance at the end of Quarter 4, 2022/23 (Q4).

Corporate Performance – Quarter 4 2022/23 Outturn Report

Councillor Wearmouth, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Corporate Services provided an introduction to the report which provided a summary of the progress against the Council’s three Corporate Plan priorities using the Council’s performance at the end of Quarter 4 of 2022/23.  Thanks were provided to the customer services team who had answered 92% of calls in an average time of 136 seconds, which was exceptional and related to a wide variety of questions.  In relation to the financial position of the Council it had been a turbulent year however the year had been ended with an underspend of £5.8m for 2022/23.  He had been very pleased to see the improvement in using local contractors and this would be continued to be pushed forward through the BEST programme and other projects.  Good progress was being made with the provision of superfast broadband, noting however that there was always more that could be done.  There was a great deal of data contained in the report which would be of interest to Members.

Councillor Dale highlighted the digital phone switchover which would have a massive impact for residents especially in rural areas where additional equipment might need to be purchased to ensure phone connectivity during storms etc.  The possibility of having a partnership between the Council, BT and other organisations with an interest was suggested to make sure all worked together and as people were rightly concerned about this. 

Councillor Wearmouth advised that this would be addressed during Policy Conferences and this would also be picked up by Scrutiny.  There was need for discussions with the relevant Companies and residents needed to know that this was going to happen and innovative ways of providing resilience would be required.

Councillor Ball questioned when the levelling up money was to be spent in Ashington and when a consultation on how this was to be used would take place as she had been told this would take place in autumn and she had heard nothing with residents becoming disillusioned and frustrated.

Councillor Wearmouth responded by thanking her for bringing to Members’ attention the Government funding which Ashington had attracted and, with which he believed, good progress was being made.  Councillor Ploszaj and the Regeneration team would be providing more information in due course.  This funding was in addition to that already being provided for the new station in Ashington and College with lots of things for the residents of Ashington to look forward to.

Councillor Carr was pleased to see the broadband targets were being met, however he also had concerns when in 2025 the pstn lines would cease to exist and questioned if anything was being done to identify the small demographic of residents who did not have internet connection and would be trapped with no way of contacting the Council as often they also did not have mobile phones.

Councillor Wearmouth advised that this would be work the team would be undertaking as it was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

Treasury Management Annual Report for the Financial Year 2022-23

This report provides details of performance against the Treasury Management Strategy Statement (TMSS) 2022-23 approved by the County Council on 23 February 2022. The report provides a review of borrowing and investment performance for 2022-23, set in the context of the general economic conditions prevailing during the year. It also reviews specific Treasury Management prudential indicators defined by the (CIPFA) Treasury Management Code of Practice and CIPFA Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities, (the Prudential Code), and approved by the Authority in the TMSS.

Treasury Management Annual Report for the Financial Year 2022-23

Councillor Wearmouth, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Corporate Services provided an introduction to the report which provided details of performance against the Treasury Management Statement 2022-23 which had been approved by Council on 23 February 2023.  The report provided a review of borrowing and investment performance for 2022-23 set in the context of the general economic conditions which had prevailed throughout the year.  It had been a difficult time, but had been well led by the S151 Officer and whilst there had been little bumps from time to time the financial heart of the organisation was still good.

Councillor Grimshaw commented that this had been a difficult time but Officers had done an excellent job.

RESOLVED that the report be received and the performance of the Treasury Management function for 2022-23 be noted.

Annual Report from the Audit Committee

The purpose of this report is to present an Annual Report from Audit Committee to Council for 2022/23.

Annual Report from the Audit Committee

Councillor Towns, Vice-Chair of the Audit Committee provided an introduction to the report which was the annual report of the Audit Committee to Council for 2022/23 and which had been agreed by the Audit Committee at their meeting on 27 September 2023.

Councillor Towns thanked the officer team who had worked with the Committee to produce the interesting and detailed reports provided to the Committee.  He continued on behalf of the Committee by thanking S Watson the former Independent Chair, who had fulfilled that role in an excellent manner and who had stepped down recently.  Council was now looking to recruit another Independent Chair to fulfil that role.

He advised that the Council’s Audit Committee, as part of its Group Audit function, had audit oversight of Advance Northumberland who also had their own Audit Committee.  The two Committees had worked well together and as part of his Independent Chair role, S. Watson had been attending the Advance Audit meetings.  As Vice-Chair, he would continue to do this to ensure liaison between the two entities until a new Independent Chair was appointed.   Audit Committee were to receive a further detailed report, as indicated at the last meeting, which would wrap up all outstanding issues related to severance payments.  As that would be an issue for that Committee to comment on once all information had been provided to them he would not be commenting or answering any questions related to that issue.

Councillor Grimshaw also added her thanks to S. Watson who in her opinion had been an excellent Chair and had handled difficult meetings well.  She echoed the comments in thanking all the team who worked behind the Audit Committee.

Councillor Dale highlighted the statements made by the Tax Payers Alliance in relation to the sign off of accounts by the County Council and advised that it should be made clear that the Statement of Accounts had been signed off and it was actually the Value for Money report which had not been signed off as these two things were being confused.

Councillor Dickinson thanked the Committee for their work, and advised that he had raised with the Leader certain behaviours at the Committee which had not been ideal for Members of his party and he hoped that this would improve going forward.

Councillor Hill highlighted that reports in the press had used incorrect legal terminology and asked that if Councillor Towns was to Chair the meeting that he would ensure that the correct terminology was being used. 

Councillor Towns advised that Audit Committee looked forensically at information and that it was important that the correct legal terminology was used and he would step in if this was incorrect or misleading. 

RESOLVED that Council note the Audit Committee Annual Report for 2022/23, attached as Appendix A to the report.

S. Gerrard, Director of Law and Corporate Governance (Monitoring Officer) left the meeting at this point.

Director of Law and Corporate Governance (Monitoring Officer) - contractual change from fixed term to permanent status

The purpose of this report is to seek approval that the current postholder in the role of Director of Law and Corporate Governance (Monitoring Officer) be contracted on a permanent basis.

The Staff and Appointments Committee will meet on 25 October 2023 to consider the proposal and due to the timings of this committee meeting, it is not possible to submit a full report for consideration by Full Council with the agenda papers which are now attached.

The full report received by Staff and Appointments Committee is attached as appendix 1 to this report.

Director of Law and Corporate Governance (Monitoring Officer) – contractual change from fixed term to permanent status.

Councillor Sanderson, Leader advised that the Staffing and Appointments Committee had met on 25 October 2023 to consider the proposal to seek approval that the current postholder in the role of Director of Law and Corporate Governance (Monitoring Officer) be contracted on a permanent basis.  An additional report of the Staffing and appointments Committee asking that Council consider their recommendations had been circulated in advance of the meeting.  The Leader continued by stating that following some solid work by S. Gerrard, and the fact that the Council wished to appoint a full time permanent Monitoring Officer, that he was happy to propose the recommendation as outlined in the circulated report which was seconded by Councillor Towns and it was

RESOLVED that Council approved the recommendations from the Staffing and Appointments Committee held on 25 October 2023 as follows:-

1.       The current postholder be offered a permanent contract in the role of Director of Law and Corporate Government (Monitoring Officer);

2.       That permanent contractual status be offered from 2 November 2023; and

3.       It be noted that all other terms and conditions of employment, including salary of £139,366 per annum would remain unchanged.

S. Gerrard returned to the Chamber to a round of applause.