Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the Meeting held on 21 June and the Extraordinary Meetings held on 14 and 19 July 2022 were agreed and signed as true records.

The City Council noted that Councillor Seyi Agboola, was elected as a Councillor for Binley and Willenhall Ward in the City, on 14 July 2022 for a term of office expiring in 2026.

To be presented by the Lord Mayor

On behalf of the City Council, the Lord Mayor presented Mohammed Ilyas Deen with the Good Citizen Award. His citation read:

“Mr Deen cares passionately about his local community and helping the people who live there. He has always shown the highest levels of commitment and dedication to the residents of Foleshill and the wider city of Coventry through his charitable acts and community activism.

Mr Deen works tirelessly to help develop, enhance and improve his local community. He often seeks to ensure that any problems in the area are raised; anything from road repairs and fly tipping to crime and anti-social behaviour, and faulty street lighting and abandoned vehicles. He does this not for selfish reasons, but to ensure these problems are addressed for the good of the wider community and to help protect the safety of residents.

Mr Deen displays care and compassion for those in need and always does what he can to make sure they get the help they need when they most need it. Through his work in the community and his wider relationships with faith groups in the area, he is often approached by people who are struggling for one reason or another and who are unsure where to turn for help. Mr Deen is always happy to talk with them, listen to their concerns and point them in the direction of help.

Through his community activism, Mr Deen has shown incredible commitment to the residents of Foleshill and the wider City of Coventry by investing his time and considerable efforts to help others in his area and improve his local community. His actions over many years reflect his altruistic character, therefore a worthy recipient of the Good Citizen Award.”

(a)  Councillor Seamus Walsh

  The Lord Mayor referred to the recent sad death of Councillor Seamus Walsh on 17^th July.

  Seamus had served the Sherbourne Ward of the City since 2010 winning his seat 4 times, most recently in May of this year. 

Seamus was Chair of the Ethics Committee and had held this role since 2016.  He was also a member of the West Midlands Fire & Rescue Authority.  Seamus had served on both Planning and Licensing & Regulatory Committee and sat on a number of Scrutiny Boards.

His funeral service was held at Christ the King Church on the 9 August and was very well attended which demonstrated how well-respected Seamus was.

He would be sadly missed by all who knew him. 

(b)  International Children’s Games

  The Lord Mayor referred to the International Children’s Games, hosted in Coventry from 12th-15th August.  There were 73 teams of athletes aged 12-15 years from 31 countries taking part competing in various different sports including 3 x 3 basketball, athletics, climbing, football, swimming, table tennis and tennis, with para-sport competitions included.

  The Games were a great success and the Lord Mayor congratulated all those who organised this event as well as those who participated.

RESOLVED that the following petitions be referred to the appropriate City Council bodies:

(a)  Requesting the ability to access to Floyds Fields, Tanners Lane, Tile Hill, by wheelchair and pushchair users  – 71 signatures, presented by Councillor M Lapsa.

(b)  Objecting to the change of existing surgery to 4 one-bed flats and office at 16-18 Henley Road, application FUL/2022/1970 – 25 signatures, presented by Councillor L Bigham.

(c)  Requesting the prevention of HGV lorries from using the Scotchill and Burnaby Road as a cut through from Lyons Park to and from the M6 – 121 signatures, presented by Councillor S Keough.

(d)  Requesting road safety on Beake Avenue – 612 signatures, presented by Councillor T Jandu.

(e)  Requesting residents parking on Sandy Lane – 27 signatures, presented by Councillor M Ali

(f)  Two petitions, each requesting residents parking schemes for Crabmill Lane and Silverton Road – 94 signatures (in total), presented by Councillor S Nazir

Councillor G Ridley declared an interest in the matter referred to at Minute 47 (City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement).  His interest arose as his employer was referred to in the report.  He withdrew from the meeting during the consideration and voting on this item.

From the Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee, 22 June 2022

Further to Minute 4 of the Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee, the City Council noted the Scrutiny Annual Report 2021/22.

From the Ethics Committee, 30 June 2022

Further to Minute 5 of the Ethics Committee, the City Council noted the Annual Report of the Ethics Committee, 2021/22.

From the Audit and Procurement Committee, 25 July 2022

Further to Minute 20 of the Audit and Procurement Committee, the City Council noted the Annual Report of the Audit and Procurement Committee 2021/22.

From the Cabinet Member for Policing and Equalities meeting, 25 August 2022

Further to minute 10 of the Cabinet Member for Policing and Equalities, the City Council considered a report of the Director of Law and Governance which outlined proposed changes to the Constitution.

The Constitutional Advisory Panel at its meeting on 12 July considered the following proposed changes to the Constitution:

(a)  Clarification of Notices of Motion for Council (paragraph 9.1 of the Council Procedure Rules)

(b)  Casual vacancy – Failure to Attend meetings (insertion of a new paragraph into the Constitution to facilitate prompt declaration of a Casual Vacancy).

Details of the proposed changes were set out in the report.

RESOLVED that the City Council approves Recommendations (1) and (2) below with immediate effect and authorises the City Solicitor and Monitoring Officer to make any necessary amendments to the Constitution:

1.  With regard to Notices of Motion, amendments to paragraph 9.1 of the Council Procedure Rules as detailed in Appendix A to the report; and

2.  With regard to Casual Vacancies following a failure to attend meetings, amendments to the Constitution by delegating authority to the City Solicitor and Monitoring Officer as the Proper Officer of the Council, following consultation with the appropriate Group Leader (where applicable), to declare vacancies that occur in relation to Section 86 of the Local Government Act 1972, as detailed in Appendix B to the report.

Further to Minute 20 of the Cabinet, the City Council considered a report of the Director of Transportation and Highways which indicated that the Council’s transport capital programme has secured a further £115.9 million, which took the total investment in Coventry’s transport network to just over £250 million for the next 5 years.  This enabled the Council to further its reputation as an innovative city and to tackle corporate priorities – including tackling the causes of climate change.  The report sought approval to enable the funding to be drawn down and the schemes designed and delivered.

RESOLVED that the City Council

1.  Approves the submission of Business Cases to the WMCA and, in the case of CVLR, to the DfT, to secure CRSTS funding and delegates authority to the Chief Legal Officer, Chief Operating Officer and the Director of Transportation and Highways, following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change, to accept the CRSTS £80 million funding and add to the Council’s Transport Capital Programme.

2.  Retrospectively approves the award of £2.7 million Active Travel Fund for Binley Cycle Route, £1 million Active Travel Neighbourhood and £1.63 million Sustrans ‘Paths for Everyone’ Funding and approve the addition of this funding to the Council’s Transport Capital Programme.

3.  Delegates authority to the Chief Legal Officer and the Director of Transportation and Highways following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change, to finalise the terms of, and enter into, the relevant legal agreements as well as any associated documents deemed necessary to complete the projects relating the CRSTS Funding up to £80 million, Active Travel Fund £2.7 million for Binley Cycle Route, Active Travel Neighbourhood £1 million and £1.63 million Sustrans ‘Paths for Everyone’ Funding, including any match funding which is not yet secure up to the amount of £5 million.

4.  Delegates authority to the Director of Transportation and Highways following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change, to approve the programme of public consultation and engagement and works to be undertaken for the Council’s Transport Capital Programme, including the CRSTS projects.

5.  Delegates authority to the Director of Transport and Highways following consultation with Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change and the Cabinet Member for City Services, to approve the programme of works and public consultation and engagement to be undertaken for the Active Travel Neighbourhood schemes.

(Note: Having declared an interest Councillor G Ridley withdrew from the meeting during consideration and voting on this matter).

Further to Minute 21 of the Cabinet, the City Council considered a report of the Director of Education and Skills which detailed the Department for Education’s (DfE) consultation on further reforms to the National Funding Formula (NFF) which determines funding allocations for Local Authorities (LAs) and for all schools.

The Council had previously set out that it did not agree with the move towards a nationally determined funding formula. LAs have knowledge of local factors and understood the context of the local requirements of schools and therefore were best placed to distribute funding in the most effective way for the children in their authorities. However, the DfE had made clear this was the national policy direction and it was therefore in the Council’s best interest to continue to engage with these consultations in order to influence the final outcomes for the benefit of the Council and Coventry schools.

The proposals covered a range of specific school funding areas with the main theme of implementing a direct National Funding Formula, where the DfE would calculate and allocate funding directly to schools without local intervention. Some of the proposed changes were planned to take effect from 2023-24 but the DfE anticipated full implementation of the direct NFF will take until 2027-28.

The majority of the consultation proposals were not yet fully developed and as such it was not possible to be specific about their direct impact at this stage. However, the proposals did reveal a likely direction of travel on some key issues, and the potential impact that these could have on both Council and school finances is detailed within the report.

The report sought approval to submit a Local Authority (LA) response to the consultation which outlined Coventry City Council’s view on the proposals, as detailed in an Appendix to the report. The response clearly highlighted the Council’s concerns about changes which could negatively impact on the LA or on schools. Where appropriate the response also outlined areas that needed further consideration and made suggestions to improve proposals.

RESOLVED that the City Council approves the proposed response to the Schools National Funding Formula consultation, as appended to the report.

Further to Minute 24 of the Cabinet, the City Council considered a report of the Director of Streetscene and Regulatory Services which sought authority to consult for an eight-week period on the draft HMO DPD and associated Article 4 Direction. The proposed consultation would be a “Regulation 18” consultation, where the public were asked to consider the issues identified and provide their views on whether any issues had been overlooked. The Council would then propose policy responses to the identified issues and again ask members of the public for their views on these policies.

The report indicated that Houses in Multiple Occupancy (HMOs) could provide entry level accommodation but could also bring significant disruption to settled neighbourhoods. In order to ensure that HMOs can only come forward in ways that integrate with existing neighbourhoods, a Development Plan Document (DPD) had been drafted that identified the key issues and proposed planning policy responses.

Furthermore, in order to ensure that these policies could be engaged comprehensively, an Article 4 Direction was proposed on the wards most impacted by HMOs currently, and those most likely to be in the future.

In order to make sure that this change of policy can be applied to all HMOs, a draft Article 4 Direction was also proposed and was attached as Appendix 4 to the report. It was proposed to consult on this at the same time as the HMO DPD, acknowledging that many consultees would want to comment on both simultaneously.

An Equalities Impact Assessment (EqIA) had been undertaken (Appendix 3 to the report) and would also form part of the public consultation.

Following the eight-week consultation, responses would be analysed and taken account of when considering amendments that may be required. A further report would be considered by Cabinet and Council to approve a second round of consultation prior to submission for Independent Examination.

RESOLVED that the City Council approves the draft documents for an eight-week public consultation, to begin at the earliest opportunity.

Report of the Director of Law and Governance

The City Council considered a report of the Director of Law and Governance on changes to Council bodies.

Sadly, this year, vacancies had arisen as the result of the deaths of Councillor John Mutton and Councillor Seamus Walsh. The report informed Council of appointments made under delegated authority to some of those vacancies, sought approval to the appointment of the Chair of the Ethics Committee and to the West Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority and requested a further delegation to deal with the rest of those vacancies following the outcome of the Sherbourne Ward by election on 22 September 2022. 

RESOLVED that the City Council

(1)  Notes the following appointments made under delegated authority by the Director of Law and Governance, following consultation with the Leader

•  Councillor C Miks as the Deputy Chair of the Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee

•  Councillor R Singh as the Chair of the Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3)

•  Cllr S Nazir to the Ethics Committee

•  Councillor S Agboola to the Audit and Procurement Committee and the Communities and Housing Scrutiny Board (4) 

(2)   Approves the appointment of Councillor S Nazir as the Chair of Ethics Committee

(3)  Approves the appointment of Councillor C Miks and G Lloyd to the West Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority, and that Councillor Miks be the City Council’s Lead Member for that body.

(4)  Delegates the appointment of the remaining vacancies to Council bodies (and any subsequential amendments to appointments) to the Director of Law and Governance following consultation with the appropriate Group Leader following the Sherbourne Ward by-election on 22 September 2022.

16.1  Written Questions – Booklet 1

16.2  Oral Questions to Chairs of Scrutiny Boards/Chair of Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee

16.3  Oral Questions to Chairs of other meetings

16.4  Oral Questions to Representatives on Outside Bodies

16.5   Oral Questions to Cabinet Members and Deputy Cabinet Members on any matter

Councillor J O’Boyle provided written answers to the questions set out in the Questions Booklet together with oral responses to supplementary questions put to them at the meeting.

The following Members answered oral questions put to them by other Members as set out below, together with supplementary questions on the same matters:

* Members agreed to provide a written response to the question.

1.  Statement of the Leader

The Leader, Councillor G Duggins, made a Statement in respect of a number of issues including the ‘City of Culture’ year, the Commonwealth Games, Childrens Games, and outcome of the recent Ofsted Inspection of Childrens Services.

Councillor G Ridley responded to the statement.

2.  Statement of the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People

The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Councillor P Seaman, made a statement in respect of the recent Ofsted Inspection of Childrens Services, which had rated the service as ‘good’ and thanked all involved.

Councillor J Lepoidevin responded to the statement.

“The forecast rise in household energy bills is now a national crisis. It is expected that the average monthly cost of energy will rise to £355 a month by next January compared to the current average figure of £164 per month. Ordinary working families simply cannot afford this especially when added together with inflation driving up food and fuel costs. In May the government announced a package of support, including a £400 discount on energy bills for all UK households and an additional £650 for more than eight million low-income households. Things have moved on since May and now this is simply nowhere near enough. Millions of children and vulnerable people face a cold and hungry winter whilst upstream energy companies rake in billions of excess profits. This Council urges the Government to declare a national crisis and put into place a realistic and immediate plan to mitigate the effects of this crisis on not just hard-working Coventry families but for the whole of the UK.”

The following Motion was moved by Councillor R Brown and seconded by Councillor R Lakha:

“The forecast rise in household energy bills is now a national crisis. It is expected that the average monthly cost of energy will rise to £355 a month by next January compared to the current average figure of £164 per month. Ordinary working families simply cannot afford this especially when added together with inflation driving up food and fuel costs. In May the government announced a package of support, including a £400 discount on energy bills for all UK households and an additional £650 for more than eight million low-income households. Things have moved on since May and now this is simply nowhere near enough. Millions of children and vulnerable people face a cold and hungry winter whilst upstream energy companies rake in billions of excess profits. This Council urges the Government to declare a national crisis and put into place a realistic and immediate plan to mitigate the effects of this crisis on not just hard-working Coventry families but for the whole of the UK.”

RESOLVED that the amended Motion, as set out above, be unanimously adopted.

“This Council resolves to support the Local Electricity Bill”

The following Motion was moved by Councillor P Male and seconded by Councillor R Simpson:

“This Council resolves to support the Local Electricity Bill”

The following amendment was moved by Councillor A Tucker, seconded by Councillor J O’Boyle and, in accordance with the Constitution, accepted by Councillor P Male:

After the word “Electricity”:

Amend the word “Bill” to “Bill’s” and add

“ ..ongoing scrutiny by Parliament, but we call on the Government to allow more time for Parliamentary debate on this vital issue”

The amended Motion to now read:

‘ This Council resolves to support the Local Electricity Bill’s ongoing scrutiny by Parliament, but we call on the Government to allow more time for Parliamentary debate on this vital issue.’

RESOLVED that the amended Motion, as set out above, be unanimously adopted.